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alt title(s): Moe Moe; Moe Blob
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redirected from Main.MoeMoe
Mikuru: Conversion to perfect Moe-blob 92% complete.
Not to be confused with certain other Moes or the town in Victoria, Australia ; note that this trope is pronounced "mo-eh", and thus sometimes written "moë".
Coined in Japan around the year 2000, "Moe" (萌え) is an ill-defined otaku term that means, amongst others, "cute", "huggable", "endearing". While it's sometimes used to describe a series, it's more about a specific kind of character. Can also incorporate sexiness, to some. To others it invokes a Big Brother Instinct.
Or to put it another way, Moe is the ability of a character to instill in the audience an irrational desire to hug them, protect them, comfort them, help them with whatever they need/want, etc.
Traditionally, these sorts of characters grew organically from 'regular' stories, especially those of young heroines. While some audiences grow irritated and dislike a male character for being conflicted, whiny, or less manly, these traits seem inherently tolerated in heroines, with the audience more likely to be sympathetic or at least dismiss them as 'girly' moments, especially if the child is a growing and awkward teenager. Moe can be thought as a step up from that: vulnerable or innocent qualities that are endearing to the viewer. Well, to some viewers.
Moe characters are cute. This is usually the specific aim, even over sexiness. Moe characters are implicitly youthful, congregating to high school age and below. Adult female characters who qualify are almost always in their low twenties. Any characters older than that have this fact unmentioned, or the character's appearance is altered as little as possible.
If this can't technically be done, the personality will reflect an 'innocent' outlook on something vital. A popular one is about romance. This is sometimes handwaved by the character being shy , but can befall even gorgeous characters. A related implication is that moe characters are implicitly virgins, even if this occasionally changes during the story or is revealed not to be the case (which can cause an Internet Backdraft). Related to this is that all Moe characters have at least one overwhelming character flaw, invoking the 'love for imperfect things' philosophy, which should hopefully make them endearing.
Moe characters are quirky, and rely on Costume Inertia, odd language, strange hobbies and the like to make them seem unique and noticeable. Occasionally, these traits are completely unrelated and seem a bit disjointed. If a character is plain, they are 'loudly plain' in the way Hollywood Homely characters are 'ugly'; sometimes they're just more moderate than the rest of the cast, and the writers implicitly suggest the audience is kind for liking the character for being plain.
An interesting result of this is some moe characters are quasi- Animated Actors; the series they star in need not be related at all, being only devices to enable the viewer to enjoy the character. Many of them feature in Gag Series, and only the merchandise for the series shows off its intended and occasionally creepy roots.
As might be guessed, Moe characters are not liked by everyone. Ones directly created as such are often disliked for being gimmicky, childish, and appealing to all the stereotypical desires of geeky fandom, including sexist or youth-obsessive themes. Characters who are seen to be insultingly obvious attempts at Moe with no redeeming value as a character are sometimes referred to disparagingly as "Moe-blobs".
Interestingly, male characters can also be moe characters to a female audience, and figure prominently in Shoujo and Josei. Like their female counterparts, moe boys are usually ridiculously, obnoxiously cute. Not even Bishonen cute—cute-cute. The Cute Shotaro Boy is a good example. The closest equivalents to the female variety tend to exist in Boys Love stories, and the Uke tends to fill most of these traits.
However, woobies or other awkward male characters can be seen as "moe" by fans. Like their Distaff Counterparts, they posses traits like quirkiness, clumsiness, social awkwardness, and other Character Tics that give them an endearing vulnerability. This can be especially effective if they possess a tough outer shell that belies a soft, squishy heart. If you ever hear a male character referred to as " adorkable" chances are good they're pretty moe. If they aren't generically cute in canon, expect them to be so in fanfic and fanart. Also, despite general belief that moe females are more tolerated, often the "bad traits" that make moe girls "offensive", "sexist" and "bad role models" are somehow seen as "cute, squishy and adorable" in boys.
If the character proves not to be quite as, uh, pliant as initially assumed, congratulations, you've just encountered the Badass Adorable. While they may inspire the same feelings of protectiveness, they are quite capable of taking care of themselves, thank you very much.
See also Moe Anthropomorphism, Moe Couplet, Moe Stare; compare The Woobie. Also see When She Smiles for situations where applicable characters get massive Moe points for finally breaking out a smile. Weakness Turns Her On is a sort of Distaff Counterpart that concerns women's attraction to moe males. Contrast: GAR.
Examples:
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- One of the ur-prototypes for the modern type is widely agreed to be Neon Genesis Evangelion's Rei Ayanami; exotically beautiful, physically and emotionally vulnerable (even if it isn't obvious at first), in utterly pitiable circumstances once you discover what that is, coolly logical where others are uncertain... and, well, occasionally shown bandaged up. An absolutely staggering amount of what constitutes the modern trope has its origins in Rei, which is particularly hilarious when you consider that the creator was trying to make Rei disturbing. Talk about swing and a miss.
- Shinji Ikari himself, for that matter.
- Amelia from The Slayers seems to be another somewhat-prototype for the trope (having been around since before the trope was really identified at large). Although much (much) more go-getting, positive, and active than most modern characters who fall under the banner, she is the youngest of the four cast members, is very naive, possesses a rather impressive chest for her supposed age (14 in the first season!), comes from a fairly chaste background and religious city-state, and is often used as a punching bag by the villains to show how evil they are, which seems intended to produce an extremely sympathetic and protective feeling from the audience. It doesn't seem a coincidence that a larger number of shows like this began airing in the years following Slayers going off the air.
- The final, iron-clad ur-example for what is identified as the modern trope is almost certainly Sakura Kinomoto from Card Captor Sakura. While it's quite arguable that the entire show can be classified as moe, Miss Kinomoto takes the cake, between her clumsiness, her age-based cuteness, her verbal tics, and her city-crushing onmi-powers. What makes CCS and Sakura so notable is that the show's run marks the point when the industry noticed what kind of Periphery Demographic Sakura (alongside Rei and Amelia) had, and how much they were willing to spend on her; this was noticed, the money was counted... and the producers began to create works to match. Modern moe shows sprang to life not very long after CCS ended its television run.
- Ruri from Nadesico may also be a prototype as a young Emotionless Girl and Deadpan Snarker.
- Sailors Mercury and Saturn in Sailor Moon are also prototype cases - in fact, there's a theory that the term Moe was originally derived from Saturn's civilian name, Tomoe Hotaru.
- Milfeulle, Mint, and Vanilla from Galaxy Angel.
- Marian, from Sei Juushi Bismarck. . . until WEP got ahold of it.
- Hinata from Naruto.
- Art Evolution has made Tsuna from Katekyo Hitman Reborn very Moe.
- 7 year old Son Goten of Dragonball Z is a male example of this trope. He is basically the happy, sweet, innocent, considerate, well-mannered, kind-hearted, cute and huggable little brother that we all wish we had, who is simply too good to ever be true outside a 1950's sitcom.
- In Dragonball GT, he becomes a playboy who is nevertheless still chaste and warm hearted.
- One of the major themes parodied in Ouran High School Host Club, where the Host Club members each cultivate an exaggerated trait/fetish for their female guests, and their self-elected consultant Renge frequently monologues her opinion of what is moe to girls. More satirically, Club President Tamaki views his feelings towards Haruhi as moe (protective and fatherly) even though his classmates realize it's unusually thick-headed way of dealing with actually being attracted to her despite her not really being impressed by him.
- Haruhi as a whole could be seen as Moe. Despite her general snarky, and apathetic nature she does still have some moe traits (the former two traits could possibly be moe, too). Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru often never fail to point out how 'plain' and 'dull' she is treating it as more of an endearing quality, rather than an insult. The boys also love to dress her up in all sorts of outfits (granted, most are unisex or male—and Haruhi's not enthusiastic about it). She has few weaknesses with the exception of a Fear Of Thunder. Haruhi is also painfully Oblivious To Love. Read chapters 57 and 58 for an unusually Moe Haruhi (she goes back to her normal self a chapter or so later).
- Haninozuka Mitsukuni is definitely moe. Although he's 18 at the beginning of the series, he still takes afternoon naps, adores sweets, and carries around his precious Usa-chan. Honey could also fit under Badass Adorable considering he is more than capable of taking care of himself.
- Mikuru Asahina from Suzumiya Haruhi is recruited for the S.O.S. Brigade specifically because Haruhi decides that there needs to be a moe mascot character (specifically a short, babyfaced girl with huge boobs). She then tries to make Mikuru even more moe by forcing her into a maid outfit and glasses, and constantly molests her to get sympathy points. Some fans have coined the term "Moe-blob" for her (and characters like her), because to a casual watcher, all she actually does in the series is stand around and be moe, and oh yeah, serve tea. Of course, she's actually driving the entire plot via Time Travel. It's in the books.
- Yu Gi Oh: Ryou Bakura. seriously◊. look at this.◊ come ON, people!
- Endless Eight, infuriating as it it was, adds another layer layer to this by making even more of The Woobie. And if we get pictures like this one◊, maybe it wasn't such a bad arc after all...
- And that isn't nothing compared as how the fans have made Kyonko. If Mikuru and Yuki are moe, I don't even want to know what Kyonko is.
- "Moeblob" is actually a derogatory term for a character who is useless in anything but and/or fails at the moe factor. Or at least that's what it is now.
- Mai-HiME skewered the concept in a Post Episode Trailer (where a lot of things did indeed "burn") as well as foreshadowing the show's darker themes much later.
- Can a Humongous Mecha be Moe? Well,if the mecha in question is Dolores from Zone Of The Enders, then yes.
- One episode of Keroro Gunsou features a one-shot character rife with disjointed moe characteristics: a cute, pale, spacey, soft-spoken, transfer student prone to bad luck who's interested in the occult. When Fuyuki takes a shine to her, his secret admirer Momoka outright describes her as a "retarded moe character."
- In Lucky Star, when Miyuki talks about how absentminded and clumsy she is, Konata tells her that "these are not faults, but elements of moe". And then subverts the dojikko elements by dismissing them as something cute in anime, but annoying in real life.
- Also, Tsukasa.
- And Yutaka. Especially in the dub — her voice actress is Hynden Walch, voice of Starfire and young Nia.
- Let's set the record straight here. Miyuki and Yutaka were outright called "walking moe points" by Konata. And, what's more, the manga called themselves moe-yonkoma— the genre of yonkoma that started with Azumanga Daioh, and hence maybe should be listed below with Hidamari Sketch etc...
- The entire cast, really. It's arguably the what the series is best known for.
- Mahou Sensei Negima's Setsuna is an interesting case, as her friendship with Konoka was essentially a mechanism to show off her moe traits, until it was emphasized into a romantic feeling.
- The manga series itself is notable. Class
2-1 3-1 and their Magic World friends represent most of the moe traits with widespread popularity; the strongest evidence being early notes for the series released as promotional material containing a chart with over 50 traits he thought would be interesting (with each girl seemingly getting about two or three). Robot Girl, Cute Mute, Tsundere, Elegant Gothic Lolita, twin lolitas, Cute Witch, tomboy, Shrinking Violet bookworm... with Akamatsu-san's frequent Naughty Tentacles, pantsu and Clothing Damage situations.
- You can't have a page on Moe without mentioning Negi.
- Hell, even the current Big Bad and his minions have Moe elements. especially Shiori, whose face on the last page of chapter 283 is perhaps one of the most Moe things yet seen in the manga.
- Subverted in Welcome To The NHK by creating a character that combines as many moe aspects as possible, with creepy results◊ (though the anime version◊ scales it back enough to actually be moe).
- The novel version is WORSE. Visualizing it is impossible, however, as the traits contradict!
- Specifically, she is a childhood friend who is a Meido robot, Ill Girl, an apparition, alien, and a Kitsune.
- The protagonist Satou would qualify as moe if he wasn't a creepy nerd in his twenties.
- And Misaki qualifies as fairly moe, too, once her past is revealed.
- In Seto No Hanayome, a horrific episode of men crossdressing as schoolgirls and catgirls and trying to play off moe stereotypes culminates in San suddenly wearing cat ears — something everyone agrees is incredibly moe (before being sent flying).
- Much of the show Girls Bravo revolves around this, especially with the main character Miharu, who is completely oblivious to her own attractiveness.
- Yukinari counts, especially in the episode where he dressed as a girl.
- Going by the series timeline, glasses-wearing nerd Yomiko Readman should be about thirty years old during R.O.D. the TV. But unlike Nenene, Yomiko looks exactly the same as she did in early stories.
- Likewise, Fate's adopted mom in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha doesn't seem to age after the timeskip.
- To say nothing of Nanoha, Fate and Hayate when they were little girls ... And don't get me started on Nanoha and Fate's adorable adopted daughther, Vivio.
- Despite anyone watching the show probably not having a problem with an older lead female, Mizuho's age in Onegai Teacher is discretely never mentioned. Adding to the problem is that the plot treats her position as Kei's teacher as being the illicit detail, and not apparently an age gap. She seems to inhabit a magical twenties-something spot that is also somehow young enough to give her a little sister and a first kiss during the show's run. Mizuho's mother is no help, as she REALLY has no problem with Kei being younger...
- Mizuho is listed as 23 years old on several sites, making her five or eight years older than Kei, depending on whether you use Kei's mental or physical age.
- Nyu, the innocent split personality of Ax Crazy Lucy from Elfen Lied. Also, Kisaragi with the bonus of being a dojikko, despite which she doesn't last very long.
- The first two seasons of Da Capo feature a character actually named Moe. Given her large breasts, easygoing personality and way of speaking, she is indeed what many would consider moe.
- The appropriately named Moe Katsuragi in Risky Safety.
- Every teenaged female character from Hayate The Combat Butler. Hell, Hayate himself falls into this during his crossdressing moment(s); so much so that Maria and Nagi feel uncomfortable, and Klaus, unaware it is Hayate, is instantly smitten.
- As is Tama the pet tiger.
- And it's not just the teenagers either. Isumi's mom is just as moe as her daughter, and Nagi's late mother looked remarkably like Hayate.
- Hayate even states (in a side story) that Izumi leads in this function.
- Subverted hard and fast in The Daughter Of Twenty Faces; main character Chiko first appears to be weak, defenseless, naive and spoiled, but by the end of the first episode we've already learned how clever and perceptive she is and by the sixth episode she can easily hold her own physically against The Dragon of the first narrative arc - and in all her flipping around still manages to avoid any trace of a Zettai Ryouiki. Chiko is the embodiment of what happens when an Action Girl decides to go "the hell with moe".
- Rika and Satoko from Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni. The show then goes on to royally mess them up, time and time again. By the time the second season rolls around Rika stops
being acting moe, but Hanyuu more than makes up for it.
- Rena is plenty moe as well, she just has a far less emphasis on loli moeness. At one point she plays this up in order to fluster Keiichi long enough to win one of their club's games of tag.
- In its Spiritual Successor, Umineko, you have Shannon, who fulfills most of the stereotypical moe traits (Meido, Shrinking Violet, The Ingenue, etc.), and also Beatrice (oddly enough), when you get glimpses of what the fandom has dubbed "Moetrice".
- Sakuno Ryuzaki and Tomoka Osakada from The Prince Of Tennis.
- Maylene from Kuroshitsuji is clumsy, bespectacled, and blushes easily. She's also a maid. And we love her for it. She's also a crack sniper, but that's just a bonus!
- Ciel fits this quite nicely as well. In fact in certain flashback scenes, he's so moe, it's almost obscene.
- Finni could be classed as moe as well in this trooper's opinion. What, with having the big green eyes, blond hair that he holds back with clips and an undeniably innocent expression, this trooper fangirl's everytime she sees him!
- Played half-seriously, half for laughs in Yu-Gi-Oh GX. In her first appearance, Rei/Blair is a 12-year-old girl who not only fills in the moe charm after being "uncovered" (she had pulled a Sweet Polly Oliver first), but has in her first deck a card named "Maiden In Love", whose monster form is the one of a very moe girl who uses her charm to gain the favor of other monsters and have them fall in love with her... as long as they're males. The moment Judai summons a female monster (who looks like a Hot Amazon), she snaps the "guys" out of it.
- She also fits the mold when she returns in season 3, particularly once hospitalized.
- Nia Teppelin from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is very, very moe. Actually well used, as she counterweights Yoko's Stripperifficness and Simon's Hot Blood.
- It doesn't hurt that she seems to be completely fearless. See her interactions with Kittan and Adiane in her first two episodes.
- Disturbingly: Viral. Sure he's Estrogen Brigade Bait, and sympathetic, but that only really applies after the timeskip (particularly after the Lotus Eater Machine). Before that he was treated as moe by the Estrogen Brigade because of his Villain Decay of all things. Why fangirls, why?
- I chalk it up to the scene where he was beat up by Adiane. Not only was he bandaged in a similar style like Rei Ayanami, but he looked very young and vulnerable there.
- The Guren Gakuenhen manga parodies the concept when Kamina gets a little confused as to what "Moe" is supposed to convey.
- Probably a pun on "moeru" which could either refer to 萌える ("blooming," and the word that "moe" comes from) or 燃える ("burning").
- Prior to the timeskip, Simon is also pretty damn moe.
- The robe-clad Yoko is ridiculously adorable.
- Kittan of all people tends to be portrayed as moe in fan works (though that's usually only under certain circumstances).
- Played straight, but taken to goofy extremes, in Penguin Musume Heart, where Sakura goes into fangirl rage over one of her classmates who manages to hit just about every moe category short of having animal ears.
- Tessa in Full Metal Panic, highlighted in the OVA after The Second Raid. Of course, she also happens to be an extremely intelligent Captain of an extremely powerful submarine and Special Forces Badasses. Her orders are often phrased as suggestions.
- Sousuke when he was a kid. Too cute!
- Tamaki-chan from Bamboo Blade is so moe it hurts.
- Yuko, from XXXHolic, has a small monologue on moe in the book xxxHOLiC: Anotherholic:
"If someone has flaws or defects, but that is exactly what draws you to them, people call it moe. It's different from 'like,' where you're drawn to their good points, their strengths. 'Like' doesn't care for defects or flaws. Moe is the opposite of 'like' or 'dislike'....."
- Suzuhara Misaki from the manga version of Angelic Layer.
- Suzie Wong, from Digimon Tamers, manages to overcome the semi-religious programming of one of the Devas and turn her against her own faction with the power of sheer concentrated moe.
- Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga from Azumanga Daioh is incredibly moe and cute.
- Hazumu of Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ is a strong example, being prone to bouts of tears. Almost a male example, as we see flashbacks of his childhood, before he became a she. (Gender-swapped by aliens. No, seriously.)
- Kaiji often gets called moe or even a moeblob, as part of Memetic Mutation. Of course, he is both male and not really moe, but the sheer amount of woobieness makes him look moe in the eyes of fans.
- Infact due to the complete lack of female characters and that most of the male characters are more on the manly side. The show is about as un-moe as you can get.
- In R2 of Code Geass, C.C.descends into this after she loses her memories. She gets better, though.
- Also,Tianzi, and to some extent, Nunnally.
- Subverted by Nina Einstein, who looks and most often acts the part, but is a racist who not only endangers her friends wth her xenophobia-driven panic attacks, but also invents the series' premiere Weapon Of Mass Destruction to fulfill Princess Euphemia's Evil Eye induced dreams of genocide.
- To her credit, once she does personally witness what said weapon can do, she tries to at least partially fix the mess she caused, even earning a Crowning Moment Of Awesome when she creates the counter weapon.
- If you say Lelouch didn't look adorable when the rest of the student council forced him to wear cat ears, you are lying. On the other hand, he's a complete bastard, so it balances out.
- In the episode "The Privileged" (Missing Hearts) of Ghost In The Shell, a cute little girl in the hospital is actually named Moe, according to the script excerpt on the title card.
- Crona from Soul Eater. Cute, huggable, emotionally vulnerable and a massive woobie.
- Adorably ditzy Magical Girl Hay Lin, from WITCH, IS this trope. Aside from Rei, one struggles to find a character that fits it so perfectly. If she's not being suggestive and adorable, she's being even more adorable and frightened, she's a slender little thing with a nice chest when she transforms but Pettanko leanings when a normal person. All she needs is blue hair and some bandages and she could be Rei's (much more chipper) sister.
- Himeko in Kannazuki no Miko. Blonde, clumsy, helpless, and oh so rapeable.
- Really, any Kai Shaku work is pretty much guaranteed to be drowning in moe.
- Zettai Karen Children: Kaoru loves to see how much moe she can squeeze out of the other girls (she's the one who insisted on pleated skirts for their uniforms), especially when she sees that one of her school friends is not only moe, but dojikko as well. Two other characters love moe anime too, but these Otaku are looked upon as weirdos.
- Sakura's mom in Code Breaker is a true Moe Blob: she's the size of a small child and loooooves playing dress up since she's Sakura's adopted mom, who knows how old she is. There's also Sakura's classmate Nenene, who is also very tiny (yet two years older then Sakura), has glasses (and Boat Lights), and loves groping Sakura's breasts (she even names them).
- The flashback in the Black Lagoon episode "Little Soldier Girls" reveals the young Balalaika to have been like this. See for yourself◊.
- Fabiola Iglesias is very moe, even when she's being badass.
- Aruruw in Utawarerumono. Of course, once she gets to know you, she can actually be rather manipulative.
- Also that clumsy angel Kamyu.
- Nel from Bleach, on account of being the most adorable little kid, and she's every bit as adorable in her adult form.
- Orihime Inoue counts as moe as her big droopy eyes, spacy attitude, and eventual cutie-breaking sometimes overshadow her hotness. Her image song is just adorable.
- She's even more Moe now that the anime came back from the Zanpakuto filler arcs, with bigger eyes and rounder facial features.
- If you do not hate her with a passion, Momo Hinamori just reeks of Moe. Cute and willowy, even her name sounds Moe! Her Zanpakutou Spirit, Tobiume, being the Token Loli, also qualifies big time.
- Rukia fits into this trope rather nicely as well.
- Well, in Soul Society arc mainly. Shes not excessively moe outside it.
- Kotetsu Isane, the 4th Squad VC is very possibly the moest of them all in Bleach, and consistently presented as such.
- Hanatarou Yamada, seventh seat of the 4th squad, is about as moe as a male character can get. When he got a volume cover, it was of him tripping over his own feet.
- Cute characters such as Bridget (Guilty Gear), Mizuho (Otome Wa Boku Ni Koishiteru), and Jun Watarase (Happiness!) are often considered moe. The fact they are all guys is incidental.
- Most, if not all, of the various Gundam series all contain a moeblob (or several). Tiffa Adill of After War Gundam X takes the cake for eliciting "I-wanna-protect-her!" feelings from the audience, thereby being very moe without even trying that hard.
- Yin of Darker Than Black is lke Yuki above another Emotionless Girl character who seems to fall into this both because of mannerisms and woobie characteristics. Amber from the same series is probably a subversion. She looks and behaves most of the time like a very cute and cheerful young girl. However, this is due to the Merlin Sickness caused by her renumeration, and more importantly, her plan involves pretty much killing the entire population of Japan (although she has a somewhat justifiable reason).
- Izuru Hino from Change 123, with her Tareme eyes, cheerful smile, and gentle and peaceful nature. Here is her initial appearance. Later we discover that she is actually a Badass Adorable (see here for an example). And that those bunnies which she tended weren't exactly her pets.
- Allen Walker from D Grayman is a male personification of this, along with being a Cute Shotaro Boy. He tends to exude a feeling of innocent cuteness, especially with his wide eyes. A common term used to describe him is "adorable" and "extremely huggable." It also helps that he's the series' woobie.
- Conan of Case Closed. Of course, this is a case of Older Than They Look...
- Train Heartnet from Black Cat, during the time when he got shot with a Lucifer bullet and transformed back to being a kid. Just the whole transformation exudes "Moe Moe" vibes. It's complete with his original clothes falling off of him because they're suddenly too big for him, he blinks innocently several times, and says "eh?" in a very cute, high voice. Later, he's even shown to be forced to wear Eve's dress temporarily, since no one else had clothes that were his size. The epitome of Moe Moe for a young boy◊.
- Any work (and I mean any work) done by Koge Donbo. Her series are made of sheer Moe Moe. Di Gi Charat, Pita Ten, Kamichama Karin... yeah.
- Used with utmost hilarity and blatancy in Ultimate Girls, where the trope itself figures in the plot and is the source of the heroines' power needed to destroy the Monster Of The Day. It works so well with the cute and shy protagonist Silk, so much that she absolutely positively does not want the job!
- Ilya does this for me in Fate Stay Night.. at least when not in crazed psycho mode.
- Rihoko in Witchblade anime is so adorable in the scene where she hugs the table stand when a fat barmaid tries to kick her out.
- Pino in Ergo Proxy after being infected with the Cogito virus can be the cutest thing.
- Cute Shotaro Boy Shin in Pretear is the youngest member of the Leafe Knights. He had to run from a brigade of school girls.
- Chihiro/Sen in Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away.
- If you don't find the titular character from Serial Experiments Lain to be creepy she can be very very Moe.
- Taiga of Toradora won first place in the 2009 Saimoe contest. Think of it as the Otaku Moe Olympics. Despite wanting to see her die in a fire for the first few episodes, even I succumbed.
- Though this could be said of many characters in Fruits Basket, Kisa is the most straight example.
- Mio Akiyama from K-ON. There's a reason why she's the most popular character, although Azu-nyan and Yui aren't far behind.
- MOE MOE KYUN~!
- Utterly epic explosion of pink hearts for extra points!!
- Ui's Christmas flashback is a prime example of moe.
- Ichigo of the Nico Nico Douga ONA series On-tama! never fails to have certain characters become extremely infatuated with her because of this.
- Yui from To Love Ru. Really.
- Arguably, the titular character of Eureka Seven, as well as her Evil Counterpart Anemone.
- Most of the male cast in Ookiku Furikabutte. Despite being a sports manga, it's more or less the female-targeted equivalent of a moe show in that there are tons of quirky male characters and has a large female fanbase who...aren't there for the baseball.
- Young Gilbert in Pandora Hearts is moe (he's the little weenie clutching his head there), but the (cheerfully sadistic) people around him like to create situations that make him even more moe. This is taken to extremes◊ in the first DVD omake.
- Strike Witches: little girls with magical abilities that fly around in magic-powered boots to fight extradimensional evil. They grow animal ears and a tail when they use magic. And every single female in the show (possibly excepting the old woman in the kimono, and who can or wants to know?) wears a one-piece bathing suit all the time, sometimes covered by a shirt or jacket.
- Mytho from Princess Tutu is a male example. The Damsel In Distress of the series, with huge eyes framed with thick eyelashes, Mytho's lost his emotions and a good deal of his common sense—which means he's CONSTANTLY in danger. Fakir just can't seem to resist how helpless he is.
- Azmaria seems to fit the bill in Chrono Crusade—in fact, the anime stripped down enough of her importance that moe seemed to be the only reason she was in it. (Disturbingly, she's also one of the characters that's easiest to find hentai of.) For the girls, woobies Chrono and Joshua seem to fit the bill.
- Fitting the Dysfunction Junction of the series, Kiri Komori of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is very moe, and one of the friendliest, most well-adjusted characters of the series, despite being an extreme agoraphobic.
- Komoe-sensei from To Aru Majutsu No Index, doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Bonus points that she looks like a 10-year-old girl.
- Chihiro Shindou, from ef: a tale of memories is both incredibly moe and very much woobie due to her condition. If one thinks that a girl with brain damage causing severe memory problems and missing one eye couldn't be moe, you'd be very wrong. Contrast this with her twin sister Kei, who is incredibly Tsundere (emphasis on tsun) and doesn't really fit the moe archetype.
- Kirika from Noir is very moe. She may be a cold-blooded killer, but you still want to hug her.
- Retasu from Tokyo Mew Mew possesses a few traits that could make her this.
- Lisa of The Sacred Blacksmith seems to have been put together to embody this trope, the ending theme of the anime only turns it up to eleven.
- Ai Kora has a few straight examples (all the girls in Maeda's harem have their moe moments), but also parodies this in chapter 15, when Maeda's friend and fellow parts-lover Shibusawa becomes obsessed with moe after a trip to a maid cafe.
- Aiko from I"s has shades of Moe. She's cute, adorable, a little helpless, sometimes goofy and more than once forgetful.
- Quite possibly all of the female characters in Kanon are arguably Moe. They all seem to have one quirk or another that just makes them adorable in their own way.
- Assuming you don't hate her guts, C-ko could be considered moe before the term even existed.
- Kyrie from World Destruction is another male example. He can qualify in both of the manga and game version, but the Moe trait is especially apparent in the anime version.
- Franken Fran is a very weird kind of moe.
- Sena of Eyeshield 21 is extremely moe, though whether it's intentional or not is up to interpretation. Nonetheless, in a series composed of manly men with nerves of steel, the main character's small, frail body, big dinner plate eyes, and timid yet strong willed personality make him extremely endearing to the audience.
- According to the coach of the Ojo White Knights (a stern man in his 60s), men in meido costumes is quite moe. Cue the younger cast demanding brain bleach.
- Melfina in Outlaw Star.
Fanfiction
Comics
Film
- The ultimate western example would be Audrey Hepburn's adorably innocent Princess Ann from Roman Holiday.
- Chekov, from the 2009 Star Trek movie. He's developed quite the female following.
- He's practically a live-action anime character with his enormous greenish-blue eyes; no wonder he's a Moe! That and his positively adorable accent (especially when the computer acts like a bitch to him).
- "I can do zat! I can do zat!"
- Little Nancy in Sin City the movie. She is a lot cuter when seen in full color light in the bonus DVD features than in the black and white of the movie.
- Raven in Cecil B Demented falls into this category in a weird way, but then, considering the actress...
- This is a big reason why Rachael Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) in The Dark Knight was so much less annoying than Rachael Dawes (Katie Holmes) in Batman Begins.
- Bonnie◊ of Toy Story 3.
Literature
- Interestingly, there's quite an argument to be made for this trope being Older Than They Think; many of these character traits are actually found in 19th-Century Western literature (which was consumed voraciously once Japan opened trade with the world). The comparison isn't always exact (generally speaking, Victorian-era authors had rather different ideas about how to use this character type), but this character type actually shows up quite a bit more often than you might think:
- The Most Triumphant Example for this would likely be Cosette. The Animated Adaptations that have aired in Japan over the years seem like they might've cranked the "moe" meter for her up to 11... but, uh, nope, that's pretty much exactly how she was described and acted in the book. Especially once she starts getting abused by the Thenadiers, even the most stoic among us pretty much want to scoop her up and give her a big hug and tell her it'll all be okay. Valjean then does this, and you can't help but cheer. This fades a little when she gets older, but Victor Hugo still makes her seem quite vulnerable. And, uh, describes her toilette in some detail. Yeah...
- Hell, on the subject of Les Mis, we can't forget to talk about Cosette's mother, Fantine. She gets knocked up and abandoned, debases herself in every way to help her daughter, and ends up dying of several diseases at once. Or how about Eponine in the second half, who ends up destitute, uneducated, and in love with Marius but with no way to really express it, complete with Verbal Tics? (Not to mention shot dead pointlessly?) Really, the only major female character who doesn't have some of these elements is Madame Thenadier.
- Also, you'll note something about the above: "Anime Adaptations". There have been four different adaptations of Les Mis produced in Japan, mostly from 1978-1979, and every single one featured a significant focus on Cosette (usually as a little girl, but sometimes going into the latter parts of the novel). The 1970s ones were widely watched, and a savvy reader can imagine how Cosette was portrayed in these shows (which is to say: close to her novel depiction). Even though it's easy to identify when the trope as shown here "coalesced", there is a very, very good argument to be made that the current Japanese moe wave and its idolization all traces back to Cosette Fauchelevent, in a kind of century-spanning Germans Love David Hasselhoff situation.
- Victor Hugo really had a thing for this kind of character; Esmerelda also has elements of this, despite being rather more assertive than the standard type. She's still an exotic Woobie who has a lot of vulnerable moments, however.
- Charles Dickens also dipped into this territory on occasion; Tiny Tim is another excellent example of this trope (and, in a rare case, applied to a male - even in the 19th century this was usually done to girls). In fact, part of the narrative purpose of Tiny Tim was to be moe in-universe to help Scrooge feel bad about the fact that he'd inevitably die unless Scrooge changed his ways.
- Of course, Charles Dickens being, well, Charles Dickens, he then immediately set about subverting the trope. The Old Curiosity Shop featured the character of Little Nell Trent, who was moe turned Up To Eleven. The craze surrounding this girl is legendary; Dickens essentially made entire countries feel protective about Nell. In the end, she dies in the most ridiculous, overwrought manner imaginable, and Dickens did this deliberately in order to parody the overly-objectified young females of the day in fiction. Yes, that's right, Dickens essentially deconstructed moe a hundred and fifty years prior to Cardcaptor Sakura airing. How old do you think the trope is now?
- Tess, the eponymous protagonist of Tess Of The Durbervilles is another example. Put through so much pain that you just want to give her a hug, not to mention being chaste and pure (at first, anyway). Like a lot of examples from this time period, though, the end result ends up a bit tragic.
- O Henry loved characters like this. Easily half his female characters match the trope almost exactly.
- The first Dresden Files comic, Welcome to the Jungle features Willamena "Will" Rodgers. Meganekko glasses: check. Twin braids: check. Deer in the headlights look: check. Wants to be under the hero's protection: check.
- In the Harry Potter books and movies, Luna "Loony" Lovegood is considered by some to be moe, even causing Anonymous to have the unusual reaction of "I want to date her and meet her parents" rather than "I want to have violent, squicky sex with her, then kill her"
- Twilight's Renee Dwyer, mother of Bella. She's described as helpless and childlike by her own daughter and if she hadn't met her baseball player boyfriend she'd be broke, starving, and wandering around Florida.
- For that matter, Bella herself. No self-esteem, clumsy, likes being stalked , has no other purpose in life than to serve her husband and kid? American Moe to the max.
- Some commentators have described Twilight as the Western, heterosexual equivalent of yaoi manga in its relationship dynamics, and it's fairly common to give the Uke moe qualities.
- Bertie Wooster frequently gets this treatment in fanfiction. He is entertainingly ditzy, goodhearted, and frequently in (temporary) distress due to the wacky Comedic Sociopathy-fueled schemes of his friends, and many female fans find him rather huggable.
- Unseen Academicals's Mister Nutt isn't classically cute, but he is a good example of the "adorably awkward" type of male moe character: shy, socially awkward in a polite, erudite sort of way, a real sweetheart but seriously lacking in self-esteem and generally in dire need of a hug. All this is rather incongruous, considering what he turns out to be. When Pratchett uses Our Orcs Are Different, he doesn't fool around. Also, despite the fact Nutt is gray-skinned and unattractive, Glenda sees something in him.
- Walter Plinge from Maskerade as well. He's just so earnest in his gawky misfit-ness. Totally subverted by the end. You can call Ghost!Walter a lot of things, but Moe isn't one of them.
Live Action TV
- In a rare Live Action Lampshade Hanging in Ultraman Mebius, one of the GUYS' crew, Teppei Kuze, is the son of a rich family who has a maid named "Moe", complete with a short skirt and glasses.
- Kaylee Frye from Firefly. Whedon likes his anime.
- Goes double for River. On top of being very Moe, she's also 125% woobie.
- And as long as we're talking about Summer Glau, Cameron. The girl plays the Moe to maximum effect.
- Summer as Bennett. So Moe that she threatens to create an adorable Moe singularity.
- If we're talking about Joss Whedon shows, Willow, when she's not, y'know, evil. This is especially noticeable in the first few seasons.
- For that matter, Tara. One of several reasons it was such a sucker-punch when she was killed.
- Also Fred, especially with her ability too put more words in 3 seconds than any other person in the whole planet.
- If Joss Whedon ever wants to conquer the world, all he needs to do is put Summer Glau, Amy Acker, and Allyson Hannigan in something together. The resultant Moe vortex will suck the planet in. Oddly enough, no one will complain.
- In Dollhouse, Sierra's fan girl persona. Sierra's default state seems to be woobie.
- Whedon also inverts his Moe girls. Willow and Sierra are cute and fun in day-to-day life, but when they're besieged by the Big Bad, asskicking ensues. River eventually is cured of her torture-induced insanity, single-handedly slaughters a room of Reavers, and replaces Wash as pilot. Fred's more a Hot Scientist than a fighter, but remember her Roaring Rampage Of Revenge against the professor who trapped her in Pylea. Kaylee's the only complete. Moe of the group. Don't mistake cuteness for weakness, people.
- Glitch from Tin Man has moe qualities for many fans, due to the combination of his adorably quirky personality and traumatic backstory.
- Marlena Moreau from the Star Trek TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror." So cute. So seemingly cold and calculating, yet so abused and fragile under the skin.
- Also Gem from the episode "The Empath." She never speaks a word, and all you see her do is take peoples' pain away like E.T.
- Also, also, Jame Finney, the teenage daughter of one of Kirk's friends and a very emotional Shrinking Violet Pettanko with blue eyes big enough to drown in and a pleated miniskirt that screams "schoolgirl." When she apologizes to Kirk so sheepishly, you just want to give her a big hug.
- (Kelly) Erin Hannon on The Office
- In Densha Otoko, the titular character's otaku friends mention the word "Moe" in front of Hermes, and Hermes, who is a normal human being and does not know what the word means, asks them, "Moe?" The friends think this is so Moe that they record her saying it.
- Small Wonder, a show about a Robot Girl living with her inventor and his family and making their lives a mess while being innocently cute. A rare American example of the theme.
- Lexie Grey (aka: "Little Grey") from Greys Anatomy. Yeah, the one with the juice box... Not a virgin, but about as pure as a character can get on that show...
- To an extent Doctor Who's Jo Grant and Polly cover this territory at times.y
- Also, more recently, Amy Pond.
- Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds. Conspicuously the youngest member of the BAU, Reid's adorableness is frequently signposted by Matthew Gray Gubler's voice jumping an octave and random characters flipping his hair. The writers once devoted the first two minutes of an episode about another team member's grave childhood trauma to Reid performing "physics magic" with utter joy.
- Cat Valentine on Victorious.
- Zack Addy from Bones should count too. He was the young, innocent and socially awkward member of the squints (forensic geeks) and was like the little puppy of the team. Everyone loved him, sometimes more than the two main characters. Strangely this still applies even after the whole Gormogon thing; probably because much of the fandom considers the Gormogon apprentice thing to be serious Character Derailment, and treats the entire arc as Dis Continuity.
- Mei/Pteraranger from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. A pure-hearted, sweet, kind Warrior Princess who also possesses a high-pitched voice that would belong to a Moe character in anime, even though it might get on your nerves sometimes. Interesting that her Mighty Morphin Power Rangers counterpart is a hot Ms Fanservice instead.
- Speaking of Power Rangers, Doctor K of Power Rangers RPM fame.
- Abby Sciuto is a moe Perky Goth who frequently wears Zettai Ryouiki and pigtails. She doesn't have the moe personality though; being more of a Badass Adorable when threatened.
music
Tabletop Games
- Sara Smith of Bliss Stage fame.
- The Warhammer 40000 fan-character Cultist-chan turned into this once she got de-aged. Yes, a cultist of Chaos.
- Eberron's female religious leaders are adorable.
- The GURPS advantage Pitiable basically facilitates moe.
Something about you makes people pity you and want to take care of you. You get + 3 on all reaction rolls from those who consider you to be in a position of helplessness, weakness, or need (which never includes those with the Callous disadvantage). Taken in conjunction with above-average looks, Pitiable means you are "cute" instead of "sexy"; in combination with below-average looks, it means you are "appealingly homely," like a basset hound.
- The Collectible Card Game Weiss Schwarz uses moe as its primary selling point, allowing moe stalwarts such as the Lucky Star and Clannad casts to wage bloody moe battle against each other.
Video Games
- Cream the Rabbit from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
- Chihiro and Fuuka from Persona 3 qualify. Both are relatively plain compared to other female characters, tend towards shyness, and Chihiro herself is 14 and afraid of men.
- Ayane from Persona 4 is even more so, as, in addition to being shy and unthreatening, she's mistaken for the main character's younger sister at the festival, has a perpetual blush, and just tries...so hard...to get better at the trombone, even though it's big for her, to catch up with the rest of the band.
- And then there's Nanako. Just try not to fall in love with her. (Er...not that way.)
- P4 also contains a fairly hilarious subversion using a character from P3, to boot: Chihiro, of all people, shows up during the school trip to Iwatodai, as the class president of Gekkoukan High. She isn't "moe" anymore (her fear of men, ah, having been conquered). Instead? She's now only about a half-step under Tina Fey in terms of straight-out hotness.
- On the topic of Persona, P2's Jun Kurosu. Jesus Christ, just, Jun Kurosu. Even his first demon contact is called "Moe Face". Then there's the one involving Ginko putting Jun in drag and him looking so cute that the female demons adore him and the male demons are scared of him. Hell his official profile talent (amongst fortune telling and flower language) is CROSS DRESSING. Oh Atlus.
- From Blaz Blue, we have Noel Vermillion, an adorably ditzy Lieutenant for the world government who, whenever you see her, you'll just want to give her a big ol' hug! Provided you're not a member of her Hatedom.
- Ilyana from the ninth and tenth Fire Emblem games is not only incredibly cute, but has an absolutely insatiable hunger. Several of the characters have reported her using her cute face and vulnerable appearance to swipe unsuspecting men's food.
- FE 7 has Shrinking Violet Florina and Plucky Girl Nino, FE 4 has Rana, Yuria and Tinny; FE 8 has Myrrh, Neimi and Amelia and the third game has Chiki, Maria and Yumina. Thany from FE 6 is a subversion; she has a moe face, but timid and vulnerable are not in this girl's vocabulary. Fa and Sophia, on the other hand...
- How dare you mention Fire Emblem 6 without mentioning Lilina?
- FE 1 has Caeda win over Roger the Knight with Moeness. Neat trick for a lance-packing Pegasus knight.
- Fiolina "Fio" Germi from Metal Slug is a textbook example, safe for the whole "mass murder" thing. Doubles as Action Girl and Meganekko.
- The game's titular battle tank is also very moe.
- Ibis Douglas from Super Robot Wars. She's not as moeblob obvious like Kusuha, but she actually became the champion of moe characters in the SaiMoe RPG 2006 contest. Maybe it had something to do with her Pettanko status; or her Captain Crash tendencies; or her love for cheesecake...
- In No More Heroes, Travis comments on a poster in his home - "Moe~".
- And in No More Heroes 2, Shinobu says "moe!" on receiving items and will taunt enemies with "you've got no moe!" She also asks "what does moe mean, anyway?" while saving.
- There's also Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly, the offensively moe Cliche Storm anime that Travis watches in both games. It needs to be seen to be believed.
- Didn't think Metal Gear Solid could be moe? Think again.
- And then there's Sunny in the actual series...
- Horribly enough, the reason the moe-figures work is because the male characters have surprisingly moe personalities. Snake alone is a aloof/warm-type Tsundere Ill Girl who makes nonsense vocalisations, is devoted to his best friend, and gets a lot of Panty Shots. Otacon is so moe it hurts.
- And the kicker is Raiden, designed as the beautiful bishounen, is * not* moe. It's his personality, and specifically the examination of his selfishness and abusiveness at the end of MGS2 - it's impossible to go "aww" after that. But the legendary mercenary and his "best friend"? Awww!
- Oh that's a Your Mileage May Vary and a half right there, it really is. Many, many still go aww with the woobie factor and Rose incident.
- Emma from Metal Gear Solid 2 also qualifies.
- Mei Ling is also quite cute, and her Tsundere moments (like her Easter Egg appearance over the codec in MGS 2) make her even more so.
- Paz from Peace Walker.
- In the Touhou fandom, many jokes have been made about Yuyuko Saigyouji's power of absolute mastery of death and moe.
- The recent fighting game where Suwako makes her appearance has taken the fanbase by storm with her moe, especially her animations.
- For example. Yes, she is flapping her arms as she tries to fly. Adorable, isn't it?
- A-hem. Yuuka Kazami is the original youkai moe~. You wouldn't be forgetting about her, would you?
- The meme of Yuka being called "youkai moe" is actually from Word Of God, but it also should be mentioned that Yuka is a flower youkai, and the literal meaning of moe is budding or sprouting (ie as a flower). Therefore, Yuka is less of an example and more of a victim of an Incredibly Lame Pun most English speakers won't get.
- Make way for Kogasa, the new Youkai Moe~. How can you say no to a face like this?
- Nakoruru and Rimururu of the Samurai Shodown series are very much siblings made of pure concentrated moe. Nakoruru moreso, as she somehow got herself recognition as one of Japan's most moe characters.
- Polka from Eternal Sonata.
- Tsubaki, the storehouse keeper from Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja.
- Eileen from Virtua Fighter.
- Aerie from Baldur's Gate II. Like her or not, she has all the markings of one.
- Imoen is also VERY moe in the second game, when she reaches serious woobie status.
- No matter how much Zelos disputed in the Gummi-Skits, Colette Brunel from Tales Of Symphonia is moe.
- The Atelier Series has Pamela, a very cute Ghost Girl. No male or Mon could resist her charms.
- Ah, but Pamela has no flaws. (Other than being, you know, dead. And surprisingly horrible in some appearances.) Vayne on the other hand, is extremely moe.
- The girls of Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors are either a combination of this, Fan Service, and/or The Woobie. Genki Girl Xiao Qiao in particular is so moe that Oda Nobunaga, of all people, pats her on the head in the Sengoku ending of Warriors Orochi. (Its All There In The Manual: Apparently she reminds him of his little sister Oichi, who was characterized similarly in the first Samurai Warriors game.)
- Carefree, cute, innocent Elena from Dew Prism aka Threads Of Fate.
- Cute angel Flonne from Disgaea.
- Starky the little alien in Chrono Cross.
- Space Invaders Extreme 2 Stage 5-D has, in the background, a cute girl dressed in an alien-like costume.
- Liara T'Soni of Mass Effect. Tali'Zorah nar Raaya is equally cute, but much snarkier and less of an innocent.
- Though if you romance Tali as a male Shepard in Mass Effect 2, she gets so adorably flustered you can practically FEEL a Luminescent Blush coming through her faceplate.
- In Mass Effect 2, a conversation between a Quarian girl and a Turian implies that Quarians in general instill this sort of reaction in humans ("It's always the same with humans: 'She gets sick easily! She's so vulnerable! I wonder what she looks like under that helmet...'")
- Princess Zelda from Spirit Tracks. Somehow manages to become cuter in the form of an ungodly metal golem of ghost armor four times her size.
- Moemon is a Game Mod of Pokemon which replaces all of the Pokemon sprites with moe gijinka.
- There are varying versions of the moe sprites for different hacks. Some are meant to be female-specific, while others could easily be traps if not for the gender symbol. A couple are male-specific, sorta, but not many.
- Alma Wade, at least in child form. Proof that, properly utilized, Moe can be scary as hell.
- YMMV, but Alik Kovalenko, the resident (pre)Teen Genius from Infinite Space can qualify.
- Ruca Milda from Tales Of Innocence, another male example.
- Socially awkward? Check. Rough on the outside, squishy on the inside? Check. All in sharp contrast to his gruff appearance, Shinjiro Aragaki, of all people, fits this trope.
- Origin of all that is good, and mother to us all, Amaterasu. AKA Ammy. AKA Fluffball. AKA Snowy, Fido, pooch, and Snowball. We all know she's a full blown deity reincarnated as a wolf, but dammit if she ain't the cutest thing in the world when she's wagging her tail.
- Okamiden sees your puny example and laughs derisively at it. Then you look at this◊ and say "D'AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
- Miyu from Trinity Universe. She's a talented Starving Artist who is supporting her family. She is shy and uncertain. She wears A-Rank Zettai Ryouiki. And she's a Cat Girl, complete with ears and tail.
- ValkyriaChronicles resident Moe Isara Gunther is also the squads tank opperator, making her and her Bishonen brother the most powerful unit in the entire game.
Visual Novel
- Shiki from Tsukihime tends to have a love of moe traits among the girls in the games. The doujins take this to whole new levels, creating his infamous line "So moe...I'm gonna die~!"
- The female cast of the game are all quite moe; some just more than others.
- Akiha, Arcueid, Hisui, Satsuki, and Len; arguably the most moe characters out of the lot.
- Your Mileage May Vary with all of the above.
- The girls of Katawa Shoujo, who are all Disabled Hotties, but especially Shrinking Violet Hanako. Parodied in a series of yonkoma where Hisao's heart arrhythmia acts up on witnessing the girls being cute; they're literally so moe, it hurts.
- In fact, the new moe rallying cry appears to be HNNNNNNNG!, imitating the character's heart attacks due to excessive moeness.
- Reiterating that Hanako out-moe's the others, that series of Yonkoma has most of the girls doing something to make Hisao's condition act up. Hanako's was just 3 Beat Panel of her staring at him.
- Emi is also a step up from the other girls in terms of moe (and not pop
ularity, unfortunately), as Hisao is already passed out from the beginning of the strip just from having a conversation with her. Of course, Emi herself is both completely flustered and moe at the same time in the proceeding panels.
- Ema Skye in the extra case (
sucks to be you, Wii verison owners) of Phoenix Wright and her cameo in Ace Attorney Investigations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRaxpxtDvWE
- A quick answer: the whole moe game genre. Not that they are bad for it.
Web Comics
Web Original
- Sierra Manning in Survival Of The Fittest, a cute emotional girl whose cuteness is only amplified by her lisp.
- lonelygirl15. That is to say, Bree Avery.
- Codex of The Guild falls into more pathetic cute, but she still counts.
- MRirian became the second most subscribed person in Japan: for doing nothing but staring into a camera, looking incredibly moe. Really, almost all of her videos only staring consist of that.
- Jade Sinclair, codename Generator, of the Whateley Universe. Cute, Genki Girl, looks about ten years old even if she's a high school freshman, still fixated on Hello Kitty, ...
- According to Uncyclopedia, musicians such as David Ellefson, Varg Vikernes (Troubled But Cute), and Rick Allen (Bandage Babe) are considered moe by Heavy Metal fangirls.
Western Animation
- Starfire from Teen Titans. Murakami likes his anime. Glorious, friends!
- Jack Spicer of Xiaolin Showdown certainly qualifies as a rare western male example. Only enhanced in fanon.
- Ty Lee from Avatar the Last Airbender. Peppy and childish with large eyes and even larger breasts!
- Well...one would hope her breasts would be larger than her eyes...
- Toph is also very Moe in appearance
- Don't try to deny it, Harley Quinn from The Batman is moe. Again, another one from Ms. Walch.
- Come on...if you were Leela, you know you'd date Fry in a second. None of that pussyfooting around. It's all his heart, and the fact that he is so very, very, very lonely, being the oldest human in the world by a very long shot. Plus, he's nice to people who don't give a rat's ass about him, for no good reason at all. What's there not to like? Intelligence? Overrated!
- Infact, he's most adorable in his good-hearted loopiness.
- There are a few people older than him, however, such as That Guy from the 80's, and even a frozen caveman in a support group for people who, like Fry, have been cryogenically frozen.
- Or how about Leela herself. How can you not hear orphanage stories and not want to give her a hug? One eye or two? Who cares?
- Shego from Kim Possible turns Moe when she gets hit by an attitude ray, which changes her personality to the opposite of current one. That lady on the Dark Action Girl page? That's her..Seriously◊.
- Toki of Metalocalypse is the closest thing to Moe you can get in that series. He's so childlike, endearing, and you just can't help but want to hug him because he's probably the most sentimental of the group. And then there's his little song "Underwater Friends." However, he's also a good example of Beware The Nice Ones...
- Bubbles of The Powerpuff Girls.
- June of Ka Blam!. I mean, look at her! Those wide eyes, that cute voice, those chipmunk cheeks, SO CUTE!! (Personality wise, though..)
- Loopy definitly fits this.
- Oh God, Megan's cute little sister Molly from My Little Pony is the epithome of moe.
- Klot from School For Vampires. Don't look at him - let alone talk to him - for long, or you'll find yourself offering him your blood voluntarily.
- Rudy, Penny, and Snap from Chalk Zone.
- Jasmine from The Boondocks.
- Shadowcat from X Men Evolution.
- Heloise on Jimmy Two-Shoes. She is quite twisted, but even her Evil Laugh sounds cute.
- A number of characters from Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends. Escpecially Mac.
Real Life
- Maximilien Francois Marie Isidore de Robespierre. No, seriously. One of the first Knight Templar Woobies on record.
- If Robespierre counts as moe, Wilfred Owen certainly qualifies. A real-life Iron Woobie with an adorable tendency towards occasional Idiosyncratic Capitalization and a cute hero-worship crush on fellow war poet Siegfried Sassoon. He was also tiny.
- If you think about it, US Senator Mary Landrieu◊, Democrat of Louisiana. Say what you will about her policies, but oh, she's such a cutie.
- Another real life example - Regina Spektor. She's tiny, quirky, blue-eyed, and adorable. And one time she came to a concert inexplicably dressed as Zorro.
- Zoe Bell; described in the script for Death Proof as "cute as a bug's ear Kiwi stuntwoman".
- Edward Current's youtube character, who is dorky, innocent, and a little bit immature.
- Madeline Zima; tends to sound very shy when she talks, which adds significantly to her Moe-appeal.
- Kittens.
- Summer Glau.
- Felicia Day, though she also falls under Nerds Are Sexy.
- Zooey Deschanel.
- Natalie Portman.
- Kate Micucci
- Ellen Page.
- Miranda Cosgrove.
- Audrey Hepburn
- Chris Colfer is so awkwardly endearing and adorable, wanting to hug him is the only natural response. This is only intensified after finding out all the crap that has happened to him.
- Aryana Engineer. 'Nuff◊ said.◊
- Sir Nigel Hawthorne. Just read this.
- Elizabeth Warren◊ is◊ EconoMoe.
- Alyson Hannigan.
- Kristen Schaal
- Spencer Reid's actor, Matthew Gray Gubler, is one of the few men in the world to be classified as a real-life moe.
- Karen Gillan Karen Gillan KAREN GILLAN!!!
Entire series called moe
Notable Producers of Moe Series
- The animation company M.O.E. is named after and produces many such shows; some have more fanservice than others.
- Kyoto Animation also has a knack for this.
- CLAMP, on occasion.
Anime & Manga
- Most of the female cast from Kanon. Even the fully-grown Akiko is just as cute as the teenage girls.
- Ayu is especially notable for this. Looks much younger than other characters in the series, and she constantly finds herself in tight situations (eliciting her catchphrase "Uguu").
- Half the entire cast of Mon Colle Knights. Especially Beginner. Even Mondo and Luke (both male) fit this trope.
- Saki.
- Ichigo Mashimaro embodies this with all the subtlety of a thrown brick. It has four "younger sisters", all cutesy, strangely dressed, inexplicably endearing oddballs, although this is slightly subverted, as according to elder sister Nobue, Chika's only distinguishing trait is a lack of a distinguishing trait.
- The author's deadpan delivery does keep the moe aspect within manageable bounds though, although the series certainly has its amounts of Squee — Miu and Nobue's intimate moment after Miu's open display of jealousy comes to mind.
- Kamichu is an excellent example of the two different kinds of moe. Most of the show is based purely on the "protective feeling" school of moe, as the show is not "sexed up" in any way, and bears nary a hint of Fan Service. And then from left field comes the obligatory Beach Episode Lovers of the Sun. Gainaxing, Fanservice, and stretched-tight swimsuits suddenly leave the target audience at a loss. (Mumbles to self, "...was as disturbing as that Hello Kitty bondage doll ...")
- YMMV, the Fanservice in the Kamichu beach scene is fairly modest in the anime.
- The anime is mild compared to the manga that came after, which is at times quite fanservice-heavy. This often focuses on Matsuri, who is also depicted as much more well-endowed than in her anime-incarnation. The other girls get their fair share as well though, especially Yurie.
- Moon Phase, on the other hand, will provide your daily required dosage of Loli Cat Girl Cute Monster Girl Vampire-chickage.
- Magical Girl Warrior shows aimed at an older male audience, such as Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
- Nanoha herself became even cuter by having a cute partner, one major reason for the strong Nano/Fate fandom despite its occasional vagueness. When Nanoha is older, the addition of Vivio lets her show off her big sister/motherly traits.
- Vivio exists primarily to tug at the heartstrings.
- The Japanese Transformers toy and manga series, "Kiss-Player", attempts to combine moe-type female characters with transforming robots. Reaction has been suitably mixed, with a large contingent declaring it the Worst. Thing. Ever. (It should be noted, though, that at least part of this reaction can be traced to the storyline, which involves evil robots with disturbingly phallic tongues who eat people.)
- Chobits.
- Azumanga Daioh
- Di Gi Charat
- Gunslinger Girl
- Uta Kata is a psychological analysis of human nature wrapped in a powerful, tear-jerking story of a tragic friendship. Oh, and there are various cute underage girls to look at along the way.
- A Little Snow Fairy Sugar
- Potemayo is about a boy and the titular, unspeakably cute, over-possessive, literal moe-blob he found in his fridge.
- Kamichama Karin. Seriously, even the bishonen are moe.
- Bottle Fairy.
- Chis Sweet Home.
- Chocotto Sister.
- Hidamari Sketch. You will fear for your nutbladder.
- And of course, who can ignore Moetan?
- Mentioned in Shikabane Hime - after Ouri falls ill, Keisei ills his room with posters and collectibles from the series Moe Warrior Zenbunose Puchi-tto. Ouri is rather less than pleased.
- Yotsuba&! by the same author as Azumanga Daioh.
- Axis Powers Hetalia is stuffed to capacity with moe goodness, appropriately, as its huge cast of characters consists of moe anthropormorphisms of countries. You've got your standard-issue "Hetare" (Hetalia is a contraction of "Hetare Italy," referring to North Italy, but many other characters also qualify), Tsundere (Germany, South Italy, and most notably, England), Yandere / Yangire (Russia, (arguably) Latvia, and Belarus), Cute Shotaro Boys (Sealand and Latvia), The Cutie (Taiwan), and various others. Listing all the Meganekko would take up half the page. England and Italy have been called tsundere and moe, respectively, in canon.
- Also, Canada, WHY SO MOE? Even when some Canadians don't like this.
- There's only six meganekko, though: Austria, America, Canada, Sweden and Estonia. (Plus Thailand who has only appeared on sketches.)
- Seven, since we have now the first female Meganekko of the series: Monaco.
- Eight, counting recently-released nation Cameroon.
- Lithuania comes damn close to being the most moe, if simply through having hellish luck. First, he's lackey to Poland, who has a good heart but is very selfish, then he winds up with Russia, and, just to top it all off, his crush, Belarus, breaks all his fingers in less than five minutes. Face it, this guy's entire life is made up of Yank The Dogs Chain moments.
- This post on Himaruya's blog adds Chinese Girl Taiwan pretty firmly to the Moe chain. Apparently confirmed in the drama track of China's CD, where she's given a quite child-like and girlish voice.
- So...would that make Mochimerica a literal moe blob?
- Binchou-tan is the Moe Anthropomorphism of various Japanese charcoals and, for some reason, aloe. Heartbreaking poverty and loneliness, mind-blowing cuteness, and incredible Scenery Porn ensue. On a cuteness scale of 1 to 5, it's a solid 11.
- K-On!. The series description can be summed up thusly: Four moe-blobs form a rock band.
- Lucky Star lampshades moe characters regularly. The series as a whole is more of a parody of moe series, but can still be classified as moe due to it following high school girls who don't look a day older than 12 and are often portrayed as adorable (with the exception of the Tsundere Kagami... until she goes into deredere mode.)
- Petite Princess Yucie has all these cute princess candidates, but the moe gets turned up to eleven the moment Beth's fairy assistant Belbel appears on screen.
- Kokoro Library, even though it's fairly light on the fanservice overall.
- GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class
- Pani Poni Dash
- Macademi Wasshoi
- Hanamaru Kindergarten
- Hamtaro
- Card Captor Sakura
- Project A Ko, many female characters (none of them including B-Ko) are subject to Moe.
Video Games
Visual Novels
Web Comics
Western Animation
- Chalk Zone
- Powerpuff Girls
- The 1980's cartoon Hello Kitty's Furrytale Theater. No. It's not an anime. Tara Strong, the mistress of cute characters, started as Kitty on this show when she was 13.
- The Life with Loopy shorts on Ka Blam!
- And the Henry and June shorts at some points.
- Care Bears
- Rugrats, but moreso in the later episodes.
- The Buzz On Maggie
- To some extent, The Fairly Oddparents.
- Kim Possible
- Wakfu has been described on this very Wiki as Gurren Lagann, "but with Moe Moe rather than Hot Blood." The main character is Yugo, a Cute Shotaro Boy with Cute Little Fangs, huge brown eyes, and a Nice Hat with cat ears. One of his companions is Amalia, a Rebellious Princess with a Flower In Her Hair who Does Not Like Shoes and harbours a deep attachment to her female bodyguard. Speaking of said bodyguard, even Evangelyne has◊ her moments.◊ It's important to note, though, that while these characters look huggable and helpless, they're anything but.
- Sabrina The Animated Series
- Lilo And Stitch! From the Puni Plush art to the high octane Sweet Dreams Fuel, it drips of Moe at every corner. Especially Lilo.
- Madeline shows shades of this, oddly enough for a late 80's/early 90's show. A lot is done to ensure the tiny, cute heroines are as tiny and cute as possible.
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