History Moe / AnimeAndManga

** Marusu (known as [[DubNameChange "Sphinx's Daughter"]] in the English Dub of the sequel film) is an adorable young lioness who helps out Unico and Cheri after Kuruku had turned almost everybody into puppets. While [[HairTriggerTemper she has a short-temper alongside]] being [[LittleMissSnarker snarky around Unico]]. She's very sweet when it comes to cheering up Unico with his fear over Cheri no longer being his friend.

** And of course, who could forget little [[TokenMiniMoe Chiyo?]] What with her being an [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Adorably Precocious]] CheerfulChild and all.

** And of course, who could forget little [[TokenMiniMoe Chiyo-chan?]] What with her being an [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Adorably Precocious]] CheerfulChild and all.

* Misa Amane from ''Manga/DeathNote'' is a pure moe blob. GirlishPigtails? Check. ElegantGothicLolita? Check. ZettaiRyouiki? Check. Girly pouty attitude? Check. Long light colored hair? Check. {{Yandere}}? Double check.
** Some also think of L as this, being the ManChild he is.

* ''Manga/LaidBackCamp'' is a more downplayed example; it gained a strong following well outside the usual {{Moe}}[=/=]SliceOfLife fandom due to its [[{{Iyashikei}} generally cozy atmosphere]] being accessible to just about anyone, not just those who like cute female characters. [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2020-12-30/laid-back-camp-producer-details-how-they-avoided-making-the-anime-too-moe/.167984 An interview]] with Shuichi Hotta, the producer of the anime adaptation, reveals that they deliberately tried to avoid making the anime ''too'' moe, which helped it reach a wider audience.

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'', the source of this trope's original page image, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] moe characters regularly. It's sometimes [[IndecisiveParody hard to tell whether it's a straight example or a parody of moe]]; it follows high school girls who don't look a day older than 12 and are often portrayed as adorable, but at the same time moe traits are frequently lampshaded and there are discussions about why moe wouldn't be as appealing in real life. Its popularity also helped launch a moe subgenre that's best described as "four female moe-blobs [[SeinfeldianConversation hang out]] and do [[SliceOfLife nothing in particular]]."

* Yugi Muto, the main protagonist of ''Manga/YuGiOh''; he's {{Adorkable}}, a PerkyGoth, a NiceGuy and a TinySchoolboy! What about that ''doesn't'' scream "Moe"?! ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' even jokes about Yugi being mistaken for a [[PandaingToTheAudience baby panda]] because of how cute he is.

* ''Manga/SweetnessAndLightning'' has Tsumugi, an absolutely adorable little girl who goes through so many BreakTheCutie moments that you just want to hug her. It's obvious why thanks WebVideo/{{Gigguk}}, she spawned the "I will protect this smile" meme.

* ''Manga/SweetnessAndLightning'' has Tsumugi, an absolutely adorable little girl who goes through so many BreakTheCutie moments that you just want to hug her. It's obvious why thanks WebVideo/{{Gigguk}}, se spawned te "I will protect this smile" meme.

* Manga/SweetnessAndLightning has Tsumugi, an absolutely adorable little girl who goes through so many BreakTheCutie moments that you just want to hug her. It's obvious why thanks WebVideo/{{Gigguk}}, se spawned te "I will protect this smile" meme.

* ''Manga/Magi:LabyrinthOfMagic''

* ''Manga/Magi:LabyrinthOfMarch''

%%* ''Manga/Magi:LabyrinthOfMarch''
%%** [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Aladdin]] is a male example. While he can be a DirtyKid at times, he's cheerful, naive and very cute, as well as a BadassAdorable [[ChildMage Mage]]
%%** Morgiana as well. Her FanNickname Moegiana is enough evidence.
%%** [[ShrinkingViolet Kougyoku's]] {{Tsundere}} behavior makes her very lovable.

* ''Anime/AstroBoy'': The titular Astro is a very kindhearted, selfless and adorable young RobotKid,

* Another Osamu Tezuka creation is Unico the Baby Unicorn from the [[Manga/{{Unico}} manga series of the same name]]. He's an [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter extremely adorable unicorn]] who just wants to make friends. Unico is very friendly but also very curious and doesn't like being lonely. His timid and shy nature is more empahtized in animated media (notably ''Anime/UnicoBlackCloudAndWhiteFeather'', ''Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico'', and ''Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic'')
** Another character from the same series is [[CuteKitten Chao/Katy/Chloe the Cat]], a cute kitten that wishes to become a human after getting abandoned by her owner. Her character design shares a similar dose of cuteness due to her cat form depicted with beady eyes, a pretty bow, and her black fur resembling hair.
** Marusu (known as [[DubNameChange "Sphinx's Daughter"]] in the English Dub of the sequel film) is an adorable young lioness who helps out Unico and Cheri after Kuruku had turned almost everybody into puppets. While [[HairTriggerTemper she has a short-temper alongside]] being [[LittleMissSnarker snarky around Unico]]. She's very sweet when it comes to cheering up Unico with his fear over Cheri no longer being his friend.

* ''Manga/{{Unico}}'': The titular character himself is an adorable baby unicorn who is always happy to become friends with anybody.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' manages to have some of these, and also manages to portray them with nuance in order to avoid ruining the otherwise grimdark setting that's [[RatedMForManly exactly]] [[RapeAsDrama the]] [[CrapsackWorld opposite]] [[TheDungAges of]] [[NightmareFuel moe]].

* Manga/{{Unico}}: The titular character himself is an adorable baby unicorn who is always happy to become friends with anybody.

* Manga/SweetnessAndLightning has Tsumugi, an absolutely adorable little girl who goes through so many BreakTheCutie moments that you just want to hug her.

-->'''Everyone, thinking:''' ''(with LoveBubbles and dazed smiles)'' It's like she casually slapped me with the huge difference in how we were born...but her bounciness is so cute that I don't care!

* Komoe-sensei from ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', [[MeaningfulName doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out]]. Bonus points that she [[OlderThanTheyLook looks like a]] ''[[OlderThanTheyLook 10-year-old]]'' [[OlderThanTheyLook girl]].
** All of the Misakas[[note]]Mikoto herself and her sisters[[/note]] in general.[[note]][[ShockAndAwe Mikoto]] even won the 2011 International Saimoe Tournament![[/note]]
** Index herself is quite moe. :3-face, [[BigEater eats a lot]], and speaks in such a way that tugs at your heart.
** Kazari Uiharu from the ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' side is probably her series' moe character. Bit clumsy and frequently gets played upon by her friend Ruiko, she has a fair amount of charm that can enamor the audience to her.

* Jacuzzi from ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' fits this trope perfectly. He cries a lot, is super cute, and is completely nice to everyone. ''The Slash: Cloudy to Rainy'' lampshades this.
-->His appeal didn't spring from any sort of trustiness, but instead from the feeling that if left to his own devices he'd probably end up walking off a cliff somehow.

* The final, iron-clad ur-example for what is identified as the modern trope is Sakura Kinomoto from ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura''. 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 [[BadassAdorable city-crushing omni-powers]]. What makes ''CCS'' and Sakura so notable is that the show's run marks the point when the ''industry'' noticed what kind of PeripheryDemographic 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. In fact, Sakura won the inaugural Saimoe Tournament back in 2002.

* The Red Dragon named "Rose" from ''Literature/DragonCrisis'' is so incredibly moe. One simply cannot help but want to give her a huge hug every time she says something.
* Mikado Ryuugamine from ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' has several [[FanNickname fan nicknames]], one of which is Moekado. [[spoiler:Others include Mootkado and Bosskado, but that doesn't stop him from being [[BadassAdorable adorable]].]]

* Tessa in ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', highlighted in the OVA after ''The Second Raid''. 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!

* Erio Touwa from ''Literature/GroundControlToPsychoelectricGirl''. She's obscenely cute and acts half her age.

* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'':
** Mikuru Asahina is recruited for the S.O.S. Brigade specifically because Haruhi, besides [[ConversationalTroping liking this trope very much]], 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 [[{{Meido}} maid outfit]] and [[{{Meganekko}} glasses]], and [[BlackComedyRape constantly molests her]] to get [[TheWoobie sympathy points]]. Some fans have coined the [[FanNickname term]] "Moe-blob" for her (and characters like her), because to a casual watcher, [[NeutralFemale all she actually does]] in the series is stand around and be moe, and oh yeah, ''serve tea''. [[spoiler: She's actually manipulating the plot via TimeTravel. [[AllThereInTheManual It's in the books]].]] However, Mikuru could arguably be a deconstruction, since she is so obviously traumatized by being forced into the Moe-blob role that you feel like a [[YouBastard total bastard]] to get turned on by it. Either that or [[spoiler: she's just faking the whole thing to cynically [[ManipulativeBastard manipulate everyone]] on orders from her future self]]
** Arguably, by virtue of her being a ReiAyanamiExpy, [[TheStoic Yuki Nagato]], which is turned way up with her role in ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'', where she [[spoiler:has a IJustWantToBeNormal moment]], thus making her at least as moe as Mikuru, if not even more. (and [[spoiler:TheWoobie as well]])
*** The armies of Yuki Nagato {{fanboy}}s demand her {{moe}}ness. The {{doujinshi}} provide.
*** And in [[http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/236291/animal_ears-bunny_ears-comic-hard_translated-highr this one]]. "[[spoiler:If a rabbit is lonely, it will die]]".
%%*** And [[http://oi56.tinypic.com/2n6yvly.jpg this]] image will make you go {{Squee}}!!
** Another example would be [[GenderFlip Kyonko]]? [[http://www.zerochan.net/393721 Look]] [[http://www.zerochan.net/95040 for]] [[http://www.zerochan.net/309143 yourselves]]
%%** Also Kyon's sister and Tsuruya. Nyoron?

* Eucliwood Hellscythe from ''Literature/IsThisAZombie'' hits several moe points, especially her BlessedWithSuck powers that essentially forces her to be TheVoiceless.

* Lisa of ''Literature/TheSacredBlacksmith'' seems to have been put together to embody this trope, the ending theme of the anime only turns it up to eleven.

* Taiga of ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' won first place in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime_Saimoe_Tournament 2009 Saimoe]] contest. Think of it as the Otaku Moe Olympics.

* ''Literature/OutbreakCompany'': In an AsideComment, Shinichi considers Miusel to be a Moe. Additionally, the series generally plays with this trope as well.

* ''Literature/MagiciansAcademy'': Teachers give ''lectures'' about moe, such as why LittleBitBeastly is popular (superimposing traits such as playful or loyal) and the appeal behind a meganeko (a sense of vulnerability because she would be BlindWithoutEm).

* ''Literature/{{MM}}''

* ''Literature/{{Oreimo}}''

* Erio Touwa from ''LightNovel/GroundControlToPsychoelectricGirl''. She's obscenely cute and acts half her age.

* ''LightNovel/MagiciansAcademy'': Teachers give ''lectures'' about moe, such as why LittleBitBeastly is popular (superimposing traits such as playful or loyal) and the appeal behind a meganeko (a sense of vulnerability because she would be BlindWithoutEm).

* ''LightNovel/{{MM}}''

* ''LightNovel/{{Oreimo}}''

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'':
** ''Manga/PhantomBlood'': Robert E. O. Speedwagon, while physically far, ''far'' different from the average Moe, is still considered one due to his devotion and support of [[TheHero Jonathan Joestar]], to the point he's often named Moewagon by the fandom.
** ''Manga/GoldenWind'': Narancia Ghirga, the smallest (but surprisingly, not the youngest) member of Passione who still acts like a kid despite being 17, doing things like chasing frogs with Mista and being bad at math. Although he's far from helpless and has a powerful Stand [[spoiler:and ends up killing no less than four people by the end of Part 5, with even the BigBad nearly succumbing to his Stand]], he's just so wide-eyed and innocent and loves his friends so much that he would die for them. And his past is ''so very, very'' tragic.