History Main / Seme

Since [[BoysLoveGenre Boys' Love]] is a SubGenre of {{Shoujo}} manga, expect to see the Seme and {{Uke}} written with tropes common to that genre. Such as a [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys hot bad boy]] with a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold heart of gold]] to the [[TheStoic ice king]] whose heart can only be [[DefrostingIceQueen tha]][[{{Kuudere}} wed]] by ThePowerOfLove to the KnightInShiningArmor who's always there to [[RescueRomance rescue]] or protect his beloved. See UsefulNotes/BoysLoveNotes for a list of standard seme and uke types. One of the attractions of Boys' Love works, however, is that since the uke is male, and thus a legitimate object of desire, it's easier for the female reader to place herself in the dominant role than it is in a heterosexual romance.

In yuri, or GirlsLove, an OneeSama or ButchLesbian who is openly attracted to someone can also take this role. Ironically, a female character who acts or looks openly masculine is actually ''[[AggressiveSubmissive less]]'' likely to be the seme, since this is usually equated with {{tomboy}}s and immaturity. The OneeSama is likely to be more aggressive and mature, leaning towards TheVamp or FemmeFatale in appearance and/or demeanor.

%%* Komari's entire {{Harem|Genre}} in the GirlsLove {{Manga}} ''Manga/GokujouDrops''.

Since [[BoysLoveGenre Boys' Love]] is a sub genre of {{Shoujo}} manga, expect to see the Seme and {{Uke}} written with tropes common to that genre. Such as a [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys hot bad boy]] with a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold heart of gold]] to the [[TheStoic ice king]] whose heart can only be [[DefrostingIceQueen tha]][[{{Kuudere}} wed]] by ThePowerOfLove to the KnightInShiningArmor who's always there to [[RescueRomance rescue]] or protect his beloved. See UsefulNotes/BoysLoveNotes for a list of standard seme and uke types. One of the attractions of Boys' Love works, however, is that since the uke is male, and thus a legitimate object of desire, it's easier for the female reader to place herself in the dominant role than it is in a heterosexual romance.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': TallDarkAndHandsome Hawkins Fuller is a traditionally masculine war hero who almost always tops while having sex with men. There are only two exceptions: he gives his PrettyBoy lover Timothy Laughlin fellatio in episode 4 (Tim's surprised because he knows Hawk's preference), and he bottoms for Tim during anal sex in episode 8.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': TallDarkAndHandsome Hawkins Fuller is a traditionally masculine war hero who almost always tops while having sex with men. There are only two exceptions: he gives his PrettyBoy lover Timothy Laughlin fellatio in episode 4 (Tim's surprised because he knows Hawk's preference), and in episode 8 when he bottoms for Tim during anal sex.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': Hawkins Fuller is a traditionally masculine war hero who almost always tops while having sex with men. There's one exception when he gives his lover Tim Laughlin fellatio. Tim's surprised because he knows Hawk's preference.

* ''Series/FellowTravelers'': Hawk is a traditionally masculine war hero who almost always tops while having sex with men. There's one exception when he gives his lover Tim fellatio. Tim's surprised as he knows Hawk's preference.

* {{Fanon}} for ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' will depict [[MsFanservice Excellen]] [[TheTease Browning]], if placed in a LesYay scenario, as the seme, thanks to her attitude of wanting to do AnythingThatMoves.

* Adamska in ''Fanfic/{{Stray}}'' is at least ten years younger than his partner (if you're counting physical age and years of life experience [[TimeTravel and not respective dates of birth]]), but makes the initial sexual advances in their relationship due to his relatively more outgoing personality [[spoiler: and RippleEffectProofMemory.]]

%%* In the US ''Series/QueerAsFolk'', Brian Kinney is the complete embodiment of this trope, particularly with regard to his relationship with ({{Uke}}) Justin.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': ''Harry/Marcone'' fics ([[FanPreferredCouple of which there are many]]) portray Seme!Marcone as the default. [[HurtingHero Harry]] is himself pretty tough, but this aspect of his character is often sidelined.)

* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** This is how Riku usually winds up in {{slash|Fic}}ed with Sora.
** Same deal for Axel with Roxas.
** And [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Terra with Ven]].
** And Vanitas [[ScrewYourself with Ven]]. [[spoiler: It depends on how much of a Seme Vanitas actually ''is'', given how he looks just like Sora...]]
* ''Manga/KOn'': Ritsu, whenever she's paired up with Mio.

* "[[http://songue.deviantart.com/art/Motivation-Eternal-Struggle-263397514 The Eternal Struggle]]"--an ongoing debate whether [[Manga/DeathNote Light or L]] would be the Seme.

* Eiri Yuki from ''Manga/{{Gravitation}}''.
* Komari's entire {{Harem|Genre}} in the GirlsLove {{Manga}} ''Manga/GokujouDrops''.

* Usami Akihiko from ''Manga/JunjouRomantica''.

* Though their relationship is [[HideYourLesbians very reserved]], Sachiko from ''Literatur/MariaWatchesOverUs'' plays this to Yumi (and might be a TropeCodifier in the YuriGenre). She's {{Ojou}}, is tall, and is stoic but is still affectionate to Yumi. In contrast, Yumi is the more emotional, younger looking and awkward girl who wears GirlishPigtails.
* Konoka from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' is this when paired with Setsuna. Konoka seems an {{Uke}} at first glance: she is a bubbly and naive {{Ojou}} and the resident WhiteMagicianGirl, while the more serious and reserved Setsuna is her personal bodyguard and one of the most prominent {{Action Girl}}s in the series. When it comes to their romantic interactions, however, Konoka is the extroverted and aggressive romantic partner and it's heavily implied she just likes to play innocent to deliberately provoke flustered reactions from Setsuna.

* Nezumi when paired with Sion on ''Literature/{{No6}}''.
* Kanou from ''Manga/OkaneGaNai''.

* In ''The Prime Ministers Secret Diplomacy'' Yoshinaga holds an important position as the Japanese embassador of Thailand and is older and more sophiscated than Shiraishi who is a few ranks lower in the diplomatic service. However, Yoshinaga turns out to be the {{uke}} of the relationship leaving younger and much more sexually inexperienced Shiraishi to take on the seme role.

* The oneshot ''Watashi To Osananajimi No...'' has the impish Mizuki be this to Rina's uke.

* Despite the fact that ''Manga/BananaFish'' takes pains to erase such categories in the relationship shared between main characters Ash and Eiji, Ash is usually the top when paired with Eiji in fanworks. And if not, Eiji is almost always not seme, but a "switch".
** But when Ash is paired with Blanca for instance, he is never anything ''but'' the uke to Blanca's permanent Seme. (And Blanca is ''always'' Seme when paired up with any other male character, especially Yut-Lung.)
* Touya Kinomoto of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' and ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' fame is the Seme to Yukito in most fanworks.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': ''Harry/Marcone'' fics ([[FanPreferredCouple of which there are many]]) portray Seme!Marcone as the default. [[HurtingHero Harry]] is himself pretty tough, but this aspect of his character is often sidelined.)

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** When it comes to Ash/Gary, Gary is almost always written in-line as a stereotypical seme. He's more cocky and "cool looking" than the cuter, {{keet}} Ash.
** When Goh came along with Ash they became a fan favorite ship. Plus, Ash being seme became popular. Even if they battle for dominance or Goh is dominant. He's a dominant bottom with Ash always topping. Ash likes to fluster the tsundere Goh with that. Ash usually lets his impulsivity and rare but powerful anger show. Usually, when protecting Goh. Ash is the more masculine being a trainer and more athletic. Along with the fact that Goh is androgynous and feminine in looks. In general, Ash acts like the skillful pokemon trainer who can protect you in battle Brawn to Goh's reasonable and resourceful Brain. Which in myths females are usually the smart ones with males being strong. Complete with Goh and Ash being the Sword and Shield, a knight refrence, which knights and warriors are known for having gay subtext in literature.
** Zoey is always this to Dawn. She has a prince motif while Dawn has a princess one, and Dawn is the more feminine and inexperienced Coordinator.

* Ban when paired with Ginji on ''Manga/GetBackers''.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** This is how Riku usually winds up in {{slash|Fic}}ed with Sora.
** Same deal for Axel with Roxas.
** And [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Terra with Ven]].
** And Vanitas [[ScrewYourself with Ven]]. [[spoiler: It depends on how much of a Seme Vanitas actually ''is'', given how he looks just like Sora...]]
* ''Manga/KOn'': Ritsu, whenever she's paired up with Mio.
* ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'': The older trio of the brothers (Osomatsu, Karamatsu, Choromatsu) is more susceptible to be seme compared to the younger trio of the sextuplets (Ichimatsu, Jyushimatsu, Todomatsu).
* To go with how {{animesque}} the franchise is, it's not uncommon for ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fans to use this:
** Siblings Zuko and Azula from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' are usually seme in whatever ships they're in. The exception seems to be Zuko/Jet, where Jet is usually the seme.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' has Asami, who coincidentally is a dead-ringer for a yuri genre seme. Tall, alluring, and with long hair black, Asami is the seme to the shorter and tomboyish Korra.
* Chris Keller of ''Series/{{Oz}}'' when he's with [[{{Uke}} Tobias Beecher]].
* {{Fanon}} for ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' will depict [[MsFanservice Excellen]] [[TheTease Browning]], if placed in a LesYay scenario, as the seme, thanks to her attitude of wanting to do AnythingThatMoves.
* "[[http://songue.deviantart.com/art/Motivation-Eternal-Struggle-263397514 The Eternal Struggle]]"--an ongoing debate whether [[Manga/DeathNote Light or L]] would be the Seme.
* ''Manga/LuckyStar'': Expect a higher chance that Konata will be this if she's paired with Kagami. Part of this reasoning comes from the AnimalMotifs scene in the anime with Konata being a fox, and Kagami being a rabbit, and another part is because Konata is [[TheGadfly tease]] while Kagami is {{tsundere}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** Garnet or Mystery Girl will be this to Pearl's {{Uke}}.
** Amethyst will often become this whenever she's paired up with Peridot. She's more of a switch if paired with Pearl, however.
** Jasper will often become this whenever she's paired up with Peridot. She's more of a switch if paired with Lapis, however.
* ''Literature/SoundEuphonium'': Reina or Asuka are this to Kumiko's {{Uke}}.
* ''Fanfic/TangledUpInIndigo'': PlayedForLaughs. Some fans of the band theorize that Yui has [[{{Polyamory}} a harem]] nicknamed "Hirasawa's Haremites".

* This [[http://www.semeuke.com whole site]] exists to classify the reader as one of ten varied {{uke}} or seme types, complete with compatibility guides.
* ''WebVideo/MedukaMeguca'': Kyoko is the seme of all pairings involving her.
--> '''Kyoko:''' Go ahead, put me with a man. I'll whoop his ass.

* [[BigBad Gauron]] from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. No, seriously, Shoji Gatoh himself mercilessly teases at the idea of him and [[{{Uke}} Sousuke]]. Funnily {{lampshaded}} in an episode of ''Anime/LuckyStar'' (which he had a hand in), where a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/OhLord.jpg hardcore yaoi doujinshi]] of Gauron with a bound Sousuke is shown. Kagami is shown to [[LuminescentBlush turn bright red]] while reading it, even yelling out, "Whoah, Gauron is really giving it to Sousuke!" And in the novels themselves, Gauron makes it very clear that he wanted to fuck Sousuke up the ass. He is also [[OneHeadTaller noticeably taller]] than Sousuke, is a ''lot'' more aggressive, and has a much lower voice. Oh, and Sousuke's status as {{uke}} is mentioned by Kaname in one of the novel's side stories, where she giggles and says that he would be the "receiver". Not to mention how he would even top and ''completely'' dominate ''[[TheBigGuy Dunnigan]]'' for Christ's sake. Seriously, for him to be able to make a tough, macho man like that [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gauron_RapeFace.jpg whimper]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gauron_Raep2.jpg and]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gauron_Raep.jpg submit]] to him, there really should be no doubt that he would always be the one raping people and never the other way around.

* Though their relationship is [[HideYourLesbians very reserved]], Sachiko from ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'' plays this to Yumi (and might be a TropeCodifier in the YuriGenre). She's {{Ojou}}, is tall, and is stoic but is still affectionate to Yumi. In contrast, Yumi is the more emotional, younger looking and awkward girl who wears GirlishPigtails.

* Nezumi when paired with Sion on ''LightNovel/{{No6}}''.

* Shizuma, an OneeSama type character from ''LightNovel/StrawberryPanic'', is a yuri version of the Seme archetype.

* In ''LightNovel/AnotherNote'', Beyond Birthday boasts that he is "an aggressive top," who has never been submissive to ''anyone'' (or [[DrivesLikeCrazy even to a traffic signal]]).

A character role associated with the [[BoysLoveGenre Yaoi genre]], the Seme (or "Tachi" in Yuri works) makes up the "giving half" of the same-sex relationship and is often (though not always) more masculine than the {{Uke}}. In extreme cases this is signified by him being OneHeadTaller than the {{Uke}} though in more modern works this has become much rarer with the {{Uke}} and Seme being roughly the same height. If he wears glasses, they'll probably be thin-rimmed so it will make him look [[StoicSpectacles sophisticated, intelligent]] and/or [[ScaryShinyGlasses sinister]] (not to mention a lot more [[KichikuMegane brutal]]). The Seme is [[MoreExperiencedChasesTheInnocent often the aggressive pursuer in a relationship]], and in the cases where the {{Uke}} takes up that role, the Seme will still [[{{Pun}} come out on top]] when it comes to the lovemaking. [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence Sometimes]] [[GratuitousRape violently]]. Can be a FetishizedAbuser.

Since [[BoysLoveGenre Boys Love]] is a sub genre of {{Shoujo}} manga, expect to see the Seme and {{Uke}} written with tropes common to that genre. Such as [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys hot bad boy]] with a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold heart of gold]] to the [[TheStoic ice king]] whose heart can only be [[DefrostingIceQueen tha]][[{{Kuudere}} wed]] by ThePowerOfLove to the KnightInShiningArmor who's always there to [[RescueRomance rescue]] or protect his beloved. See UsefulNotes/BoysLoveNotes for a list of standard seme and uke types. One of the attractions of Boys Love works, however, is that since the uke is male, and thus a legitimate object of desire, it's easier for the female reader to place herself in the dominant role than it is in a heterosexual romance.

Note that this usage of the word originated in the BoysLoveGenre fandom; among "regular" Japanese people "seme" just means "attack". It is used commonly in some martial arts like kendo when referring to the attitude of an attacker. Even Japanese gay men won't necessarily know the BL meaning of the term.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': Lestat de Lioncourt is the more dominant and aggressive partner in his relationship with {{Uke}} Louis de Pointe du Lac, and is usually the top when they have sex. They're both {{Pretty Boy}}s and Lestat is only ''slightly'' taller (178 cm / 5'10" vs. 175 cm / 5'9"), but power is denoted in other ways. They're vampires, and Lestat is Louis's [[ILoveYouVampireSon "maker"]] (the vampire who turned him) and thus his [[LoverAndBeloved mentor]]. Since vampires get StrongerWithAge, Lestat is much more powerful. Lestrat is a white man in early 1900s New Orleans, while Louis is Creole, and so when (for example) they go on a fancy date to the opera and want to avoid conflict, Louis performs as his Lestat's valet.

* Iason of ''LightNovel/AiNoKusabi''.