"Oh, Arnold, how I love you. And yet I hate you! And yet I love you. And yet I hate you! And yet I LOVE you."
—
Helga Pataki of
Hey Arnold, summing it up quite nicely.
"I know she's just hiding her lust for me with cruelty and violence."
The Japanese term
tsundere refers to a character who "runs hot and cold", alternating between two distinct moods:
tsuntsun
(
aloof or
irritable) and
deredere (
lovestruck).
The tsuntsun can range from the "silent treatment" to "lovestruck kindergartener who pushes you into the sandbox." The reasons behind a Tsundere's behavior vary widely. Some are reasonable
justifications. Others simply flow from the conflict between their feelings about the object of their affections and their reactions to having them.
The Tsundere
stock characterization is very popular with writers of
Romantic Comedy because the conflicts between both personality facets can be easily utilized to generate both drama and comedy. Can be form of
Wish Fulfillment especially if it's obvious the male lead is an
Author Avatar.
Tsundere can be divided into two main categories, depending on their default mood:
- Type A (alias Type Tsun or harsh): These Tsundere have tsuntsun as their default mood. It takes something special to trigger their deredere side. The intensity of the tsuntsun can range from "I must glare and fight my way through life" (Louise of Zero no Tsukaima) to grumpy pessimism (Kagami of Lucky Star). It's about which part of the tsundere personality is the public face and which the hidden. If the Tsundere is The Rival, she is more likely to be Type A. Helping a rival out is usually accompanied by a line like "Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this for you."
Type A can overlap with a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, but usually not. The moods of a Tsundere tend to switch in reaction to the actions of select people or adverse scenarios; the deredere side usually only comes out when someone has acted in a way to trigger it. A Jerk with a Heart of Gold is jerkish in general regardless of whether the other person is mean or nice, and shows their Hidden Heart of Gold only when the situation warrants, regardless of how the other person had been acting. Male characters in particular should be considered for Jerk with a Heart of Gold status, as arguably because of Double Standards, men are generally that instead of tsundere, although the kuudere subtype is more equally split in gender. Oranyan is sometimes used to refer to a male tsundere character - incorrectly since it means the complete opposite.
- Type B (alias Type Dere or sweet): These Tsundere have deredere as their default mood. They are sweet, kind and generous, but just happen to have a hidden violent side as well. In this case, temper is almost always triggered by someone or something else, usually a Love Interest. Either they have Belligerent Sexual Tension, or are an idiot, or are an Accidental Pervert, or just has no idea how to handle feelings of love and attraction.
Type B should not be confused with a Yandere. If a Type B Tsundere were really convinced that their Love Interest didn't want them, they would revert back to the deredere side and probably enter an I Want My Beloved to Be Happy phase.
See also the
Analysis page for more detailed information on common "strategies" employed by
Tsundere characters, and other, related topics.
A common way of showing that a Tsundere has
mellowed or has had her heart won over by the
Love Interest is to have her shift from Type A to Type B. If her motivations are inquired, she will often engage in a
Suspiciously Specific Denial, complete with a
Luminescent Blush and total evasion of eye contact (cue the squeaks of
Moe Moe).
When paired with a
Jerk with a Heart of Gold, together they produce
Belligerent Sexual Tension. Sometimes a way of creating a
Jerk Sue. Compare with
Well, Excuse Me, Princess!,
Jerk Ass, and
Jerk with a Heart of Gold. When
Flanderized tends to overlap with
Mood Swinger. Also see
Don't You Dare Pity Me and
Anger Born of Worry.
Aloof Ally may show the same hot-and-cold behavior but for differing reasons. Very fond of
Pervert Revenge Mode.
Shana Clone is a specific subtrope with a particular set of characteristics.
No Real Life Examples, Please. People in real life are rarely so simple to fit the definition of this trope, not to mention calling someone a mean person is not a good idea. For invoked examples (ex. Tsundere Cafes), those can go to the "Other" category.
Examples:
What? You actually did read it all the way through? I'm actually... quite impressed.
*
beat* B-but not by you, of course.
I'm just impressed by your attention span, that's all.
