History Tsundere / Literature

* In "Literature/NoNeedForACore"? The mercurial-tempered [[GodOfTheMoon Goddess of the Moons]], Mericume, is a tsundere who refuses to admit her feelings for the [[DragonsAreDivine dragon god]] who is the father of her son. Who also sired a daughter with her [[SiblingYinYang Yin-Yang]] [[PolarOppositeTwins Twin]] Amirume, the [[GodOfLight Goddess of the Sun]]. Given that the two goddess are nine-tailed [[AsianFoxSpirit kitsune]], they may well have been the ones doing the seducing in this scenario. Just don't bring that up to Mericume.

* In "Literature/NoNeedForACore?" The mercurial-tempered [[GodOfTheMoon Goddess of the Moons]], Mericume, is a tsundere who refuses to admit her feelings for the [[DragonsAreDivine dragon god]] who is the father of her son. Who also sired a daughter with her [[SiblingYinYang Yin-Yang]] [[PolarOppositeTwins Twin]] Amirume, the [[GodOfLight Goddess of the Sun]]. Given that the two goddess are nine-tailed [[AsianFoxSpirit kitsune]], they may well have been the ones doing the seducing in this scenario. Just don't bring that up to Mericume.

* In "Literature/NoNeedForACore?" The mercurial-tempered [[GodOfTheMoon Goddess of the Moons]], Mericume, is a tsundere who refuses to admit her feelings for the [[DragonsAreDivine dragon god]] who is the father of her son. Who also sired a daughter with her [[SiblingYinYang Yin-Yang] [[PolarOppositeTwins Twin]] Amirume, the [[GodOfLight Goddess of the Sun]]. Given that the two goddess are nine-tailed [[AsianFoxSpirit kitsune]], they may well have been the ones doing the seducing in this scenario. Just don't bring that up to Mericume.

* ''Literature/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'': Mahiro Yasaka is an odd example. By nature, he's a very NiceGuy; it's just that his UnwantedHarem is ''constantly'' being loud, zany and disruptive, never giving him a moment's peace, which grates on his nerves quickly and leads to {{Slapstick}} violence (yes, even on the girls). However, in the rare moments where they tone it down a notch, it's blatantly obvious that he likes them, and sees Cuuko and Hasta as surrogate siblings. As for his main LoveInterest Nyarko, in addition to the above bullet point, he's outright said that she's too [[ManicPixieDreamGirl manic]] and he doesn't know if he can believe her statements of love; the times where she turns down her "volume" (such as having a pleasant date with him, or hand-knitting him a scarf for Christmas) are the ones where you can see that despite his protests he really does have feelings for her. He even ''admits'' (to himself) that he'd probably have returned her feelings a long time ago if she could just act normal more often.

** Egwene is usually a PluckyGirl but turns into a raging Harsh type in the second half of volume 12, especially when confronted with her LoveInterest.

* In ''Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}'', Hitagi Senjōgahara calls herself a Tsundere, although the male character thinks to himself that she's more like a "tundra" (ie a SugarAndIcePersonality), considering that she wouldn't know deredere if it slapped her upside the head, which makes her come across as more of an IceQueen. Additionally, it's pretty clear that she has a [[BrokenBird traumatic past]] driving her actions. Suggesting that she's more CuteAndPsycho who has designated herself a tsundere as a way to justify her rather irrational and violent behavior. She does seem to be getting better though. She also seems to alternate between demonstrating her affection towards Araragi in mean or discomforting ways, and being mean to him in ways that demonstrate her affection for him.

* Alia of ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'' slowly transforms into this after she mellows out. She definitely remains on the prickly side, though.

* Susana Cabeza de Vaca from ''Literature/MountDragon''. Replace ''baka'' with ''pendejo'' and ''hijo de puta'', make her dark-skinned, and you have a Mexican tsundere! Insanely proud of her royal heritage and her genius, she almost immediately shows dislike for the main character, [[BelligerentSexualTension who dislikes her right back]], and most of the sideplot are the two slowly growing closer and closer, grudgingly respecting each other and, of course, slowly growing attracted.

* Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere of ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero'', who routinely whips and insults her love interest, Saito Hiiraga, but would occasionally show moments of adorable sweetness, which increases more as she learns to get over her insecurities.

* Taiga Aisaka of ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' is a highly irritable girl, more so towards Ryuuji Takasu after a bad first impression. She also {{deconstruct|edTrope}}s this trope: [[SourOutsideSadInside her violent emotional mood swings and stature complex stem more from having a broken family than romantic issues]], making her a borderline BrokenBird.
* ''Literature/TrinityBlood'''s Astharoshe "Asta" Asran. Her relationship with Abel Nightroad, though not romantic (at least, [[{{Shipping}} not in canon]]), has strong elements of this. At first she violently threatens him (and does so again each time they meet), but comes to see him as one of her closest comrades. And that word [[TrueCompanions is extremely meaningful to Asta]].

* Ce'Nedra from David Eddings' ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'' is apparently generally regarded by Japanese readers as one of the clearest Western examples of the trope.

* Aravis Tarkheena from Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy''. Her Tsundere-ness is lampshaded at the end of the book, when it's mentioned that she and Shasta/[[spoiler:Prince Cor]] got married because they were so used to their SlapSlapKiss that they wanted to be comfier while fighting and then making out.
* In Creator/SandyMitchell's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''[[Literature/DarkHeresy Scourge the Heretic]]'', Keira's normally not personable manner is considerably worse toward Mordecai Horst, being [[ObliviousToLove blind to it herself]]. It doesn't help that she was raised in a SexIsEvil cult. But when she accuses Danuld of wanting to sin with her, and he says it's obvious that he has no chance because of Mordecai, she reacts badly but later returns to question him about what he meant, and then, with obvious difficulty, attempts to temper her behavior toward Horst. (And she resolves to consult another woman in the Inquisitor's retinue about whether sex really is so evil.)
* Adora Belle Dearheart from Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/GoingPostal'', though she's more ''dere-dere'' towards the golems with which she works at the golem trust.
* Pregnant o'rants in the ''Literature/DragonKeeperChronicles'' are like this.
* Annabeth from ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' is a typical tsundere character.
** ''The Demigod Files'' basically make it canon. Annabeth's questions include, ''What is Percy Jackson's most annoying quality?'' Her response could have been taken right out of any Japanese anime, including the hilarious-to-a-troper line…
---> '''Annabeth:''' He doesn't see really obvious stuff, like the way people feel, even when you're giving him hints and being totally blatant. What? [[BlatantLies No I'm not talking about anyone or anything in particular.]]
** In ''The Demigod Files'', when Beckendorf tells Percy that Annabeth likes him, his response is: "Yeah, she likes me… for target practice." Beckendorf retorts that at Camp Halfblood if a girl keeps trying to kill you it means she's into you.
** She acts mostly ''tsun'' in the first book (The Lightning Thief) and has clear traits of both sides in ''The Battle of the Labyrinth'' (book four).
** Clarrise takes the "fight through life" portion of this to heart, (since she's the daughter of Ares) and we only see her kind side after she [[spoiler:saves Chris Rodriguez from the Labyrinth and attempts to nurse him back to sanity.]]
* ''Franchise/StarWars'''s Mara Jade. She's a Harsh MamaBear; [[AchillesHeel baiting]] her is hideously risky at best, and suicidal at worst.
* Heleth, from the ''Literature/ColSecTrilogy'', is a [[TheNapoleon compact, quick-tempered]] EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette who's always bickering with or getting needled by the resident {{Keet}} (when she's not bickering with someone ''else''). Every so often, you get the impression that she ''doesn't'' outright ''hate'' him.
* In ''Literature/TwilightDragon'', Keaira Aleshire fits this trope to a T, and she doesn't just act this way towards her crush.
* Karrin Murphy in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' keeps calling Harry names, even beats him to a pulp on a few occasions, but mellows at the moment's notice whenever he hurts himself badly or saves her life (again). Pointing that out to her, however, is likely to earn you another beating. This only holds true for the first two books or so. Afterwards, they still bicker, but they're a lot sweeter to each other.
* Diana from the ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series, whenever she's around Caine.
* [[ActionGirl Zhou Qi]] from Creator/JinYong's ''The Book and The Sword''. While she is somewhat abrasive to anyone, with the possible exception of her father, she reserves most of her wrath for [[TheStrategist Xu Tianhong]]: constantly berating and insulting him in front of others, [[spoiler: only to break down crying when she realizes that [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he's left out of respect for her chastity]]]].
* Dedicate Rosethorn from the ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' series is this with a hint of SugarAndIcePersonality. A particularly cute example can be found in Sandry's Book when after terrifying the [[TrueCompanions four children]] for the first half of the book, Briar hugs her and she blushes.
** Tris is certainly a fledgling Tsundere as well.
** As is Jory from ''Cold Fire''.
* Sophie from the French novel ''Literature/MalheursDeSophie'' seems to fit to this trope. She's always fighting with her cousin Paul, but also really loves him.
* Yvaine from Neil Gaiman's novel, ''Literature/{{Stardust}}''.
* Elinor Wylie's [[http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/11873-Elinor--Wylie-Nancy poem]] "Nancy," referenced on the quotes page, seems to be addressed to a Harsh type.
* ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'': Tenar in ''The Tombs of Atuan''. By the time we see her again two books later, in ''Tehanu'', she seems to have grown out of it.
* Bridget Jones from ''[[Literature/BridgetJones Bridget Jones's Diary]]'' is Harsh thanks to the way she expresses herself in her diary (being annoyed.) She, however, is lovestruck with [[RomanticFalseLead Daniel Cleaver]] even though she's being sarcastic to him at times.
* Marcia Overstrand in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap''. While normally being easily irritable and bossy, she can become very caring at times of trouble.
* Cecilia Tallis from ''Literature/{{Atonement}}'' towards Robbie. She isn't quite sure of her feelings towards him and convinces herself that she'll be happy when he leaves for medical school. Robbie himself is actually Sweet towards her, mostly playing the part of the nice guy. But then he writes her a very [[CountryMatters rude letter]] in a fit of passion that she accidentally reads. Ironically that helps them confirm their feelings for each other. Cecilia's younger sister Briony is a {{Yandere}} towards Robbie.

** Specifically in ''Bluestar's Prophecy'', Bluestar was seen as Harsh towards her mate Oakheart. She would lose all her patience with him and was quite snappy, especially when she was in denial about her feelings for him since she couldn't be mates with a cat from another Clan. Despite this, Bluestar geniunely loved Oakheart and since their parting, he was the only cat she ever truly loved.
** Sandstorm is also a tsundere. She was distainful and looked down on Firestar due to his kittypet blood, but when he saves her life during a border fight, she realizes that she misunderstood Firestar and develops a strong bond and friendship with him. Sandstorm fell in love with Firestar at one point and they had a long-standing relationship. Though Sandstorm is regarded as a sharp-tonged, short-tempered, and independent she-cat and Firestar is not spared because of her feelings towards him, he still has healthy respect for her.
** Sandstorm's daughter, Squirrelflight, became a second generation tsundere, since her mother passed her personality to her. Squirrelflight is the most fitting to this trope since in some ways, she is even worse than Sandstorm. Squirrelflight is proud, independent, incredibly impulsive, very rude and a spitfire of a warrior, making her Harsh, though she arguably [[CharacterDevelopment had mellowed out with age]]. Squirrelflight's relationship with her mate Brambleclaw was that of any Main Character/Tsundere couple. She was greatly annoyed with his bossy attitude and hated him. Over the course of ''The New Prophecy'' series, Squirrelflight fell deeply in love with Brambleclaw and they got together. However, this didn't stop her from challenging him from time to time.
** Yellowfang, the prickly medicine cat of both [=ShadowClan=] and [=ThunderClan=]. She is often characterized as grumpy and obstinate, with a tongue described as "sharp as thorns." However, she holds a surprising amount of inner compassion in her heart despite her rough exterior; her softer side was usually brought out through her relationships with Cinderpelt (her apprentice), Raggedstar (former mate), Brokenstar (son) and Firestar (who she claimed was like a son to her while on the verge of death).
** A male example of tsundere is Crowfeather. He is usually constantly angry and foul-mouthed but had a hidden side of friendliness with his first love Feathertail and later Leafpool. Crowfeather also showed this with Tawnypelt, Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, and Stormfur to a lesser degree, who he grew friendship bonds with eventually. However, seeing Crowfeather's nice side is very rare.
** Fittingly, one of Crowfeather's sons took after his father as a male Tsundere. Jayfeather was very sarcastic, insensitive, and short-tempered, particularly as an apprentice, but mellowed out somewhat when older. He's not the most friendliest cat, but values loyalty and has compassion for others more than even his father. Jayfeather's softer side is more seen with his siblings and Half Moon, the cat he fell in love with.
* ''Literature/ShadesOfGrey'': Jane. She is so Tsun, the Dere throws you off the rails, but suddenly there it is.
* ''Literature/LightAndDarkTheAwakeningOfTheMageknight'': Instead of the 'ultra-violent mood swinging' of the modern tsundere, Sabrina is more like the classic tsundere. Her 'civilian mask' is friendly and sweet but she's actually aloof and focused on knight training. When she develops feelings for Danny she stubbornly refuses to acknowledge them yet still shows tantalizing displays of affection.
* ''Literature/SongAtDawn'': Oddly enough, Estela is not this to either Arnauld or Dragonetz but to Nici, her pet. She calls him 'useless', the name she gave him means 'big idiot' and yet she is the only one to pet him, and she feeds him under the table. In the end, he's described as 'a dog that thinks he belongs with her'. In other words, Harsh.
* Shakuntala of Literature/BelisariusSeries is a wilful, charismatic princess, that is nice enough, but clearly not one whom you wish to make angry.
* Vin from ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}''. Being abused by Reen for most of her life [[CruelToBeKind in order to help her survive]] did… not help her emotional stability. [[spoiler:Neither did having a [[SoulJar Hemalurgic spike]] that let Ruin talk to her.]] But she's Harsh around the crew, and especially Elend, once she starts to warm up. Toward the end of the trilogy, she's moving toward Sweet.
* Eugénie Danglars from ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' is a pretty extreme example, being cold, aloof, and unfriendly to her family, her friends, her acquaintances, and her fiancé(s) and even telling her father that she loves no one and nothing except her studies of music and art. Yet the second she's alone with her vocal coach/friend/lover Louise d'Armilly, she's warm, playful, and affectionate, even calling Louise things like "my sweet" and gently teasing her for being unable to close an over-packed suitcase.
* Midori, the teenage main character of Higuchi Ichiyō's ''Takekurabe'', is very much this towards Shinnyo (a timid and taciturn future monk). She calls him names and rants about how she doesn't want to have anything to do with him, but can't quite bring herself to admit that she has feelings for him (and she never does explicitly even at the end). It doesn't help that Shinnyo's attempts to be "nice" to her early in the story all end up being awkward and rather offensive.
* Skeeter Traps from ''Literature/ChroniclesOfMagic'' is Harsh and tends to be brash, violent, and rude most of the time; only to show her softer, more compassionate side when everyone least expects it. She also follows the tsundere way of totally denying her feelings for the boy she loves (even to herself), believing him to be an idiot. However, she is a ten year old girl trained by spies and outlaws, so maybe she should be cut some slack.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Tiza has become this by the time of ''Looming Shadow''. While generally a prickly sourpuss she's softer around her love interest, Nolien. She also calls him "Tenderfoot" as an InsultOfEndearment and punches his arm [[AngerBornOfWorry when he makes her worry]].
* Eve Dallas in the ''Literature/InDeath'' series is very much this, due to an ''astoundingly'' DarkAndTroubledPast. However, she gives and gets UndyingLoyalty with her division, and works hard to draw the very best out of relative newbies like Peabody and Trueheart. ''Dere'' moments are often caused by her husband Roarke (who was the only one to unlock an otherwise strongly repressed sexuality), and Dr. Mira's husband Dennis, who simply turns her into a big pile of ''deredere'' mush.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' gives us a rare male version: Sandor [[{{Jerkass}} Clegane]]. Cuddly he most certainly isn't: he's of the titanically, emotionally screwed-up and repressed variety of Tsun thanks to his [[AbusiveParents absolutely]] [[BigBrotherBully horrendous]] [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror childhood]]. As a result, he's no stranger to using [[BloodKnight frustration and rage to lash out and kill or maim others]] with under a StrawNihilist, TheStoic exterior -- when not going that far, he restricts himself to extreme BrutalHonesty as a means of both caring and making a point. But, that he could still find it in himself to [[MoralityPet care about two specific others]]? [[KnightInSourArmor Actually knocked him for six]]. Granted, he could [[TheCynic no more express]] ''how'' to care healthily than fly thanks to acute lack of practice [[spoiler: (neither Sansa nor Arya left unscathed by his worry over them--for all they both would have wound up in far worse shape without him)]]. However, it's still both his triumph and tragedy that he ''could'' care: despite his father's best efforts to turn him into a [[TheBrute dehumanised attack dog]] like his brother; the little boy who could care for his little sister is still somewhere in Sandor's built-up defences, despite everything. [[EvenEvilHasStandards This has probably always made his anger and disappointment with world that much hotter, in fact]]. [[TheAlcoholic Sadly, it also added fuel to his anger at himself]] and others for not living up to [[NobleDemon ideals he always denied could exist]].
* Holly from ''Literature/VarjakPaw'' is implied to have a DarkAndTroubledPast considering she's not even full-grown and is already a street-savvy cat. After one of her two friends, Lukas, Vanished she's grown colder and more adverse to friendship. She is mean to Varjak at first and [[FriendshipDenial doesn't want to admit they're becoming friends]], but eventually she softens up.
* ''Literature/TheLockedTomb: Literature/GideonTheNinth'': Harrow. Just look at how often she calls Gideon an idiot, while becoming a flustered mess when Gideon hugs her. Deconstructed in that her treatment of Gideon has created a lot of emotional baggage between them and is a huge roadblock to Gideon trusting her. [[spoiler:Reconstructed after they have a long, honest conversation; Harrow is still this trope, but now that their relationship is in a better place, their back-and-forth is less loaded and tense, and more affectionate.]]
* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' Daylen is a male Tsundere, but only towards [[BrokenBird Lyrah]]. (To everyone else, he's a [[MoodSwinger Mood Swinging]] JerkWithAHeartOfGold.) He's initially very uncomfortable around her, [[BerserkButton getting angry]] and shouting at her over minor things. After many apologies (from him) and her pushing his KindnessButton, he acts “like the perfect gentleman,” opens doors for her, goes into his playful moods, and thinks about her in distinctly affectionate terms.
* Galadriel 'El' Higgins from ''Literature/TheScholomance'' tends to be short-tempered, sarcastic, rude, and at least vaguely hostile towards the bulk of her WizardingSchool classmates when she speaks to them at all. She usually treats her [[FriendlessBackground first actual friend aside from her mum]] [[spoiler:and eventual love interest]] Orion Lake more or less like this, with additional screaming tirades castigating his shortfalls in self-care and self-worth. She is slightly softer with the circle of friends that wind up her core Alliance [[spoiler:along with the [[MentorInSourArmor freshmen she sort of adopts against her better judgment]] in ''The Last Graduate'']], but can be described as prickly at her best.
* From the works of ''Creator/MoXiangTongXiu'':
** ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'': Jiang Cheng cares deeply about his family members, but expresses it with [[DeadpanSnarker sharp barbs]] and [[AngerBornOfWorry anger]]. The only person that he's actually nice to is his older sister. [[spoiler: After he loses his home and entire family except for his infant nephew, he becomes bitter and doubles down on his Harsh personality traits.]] Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng's nephew, becomes a tsundere as well (no surprise, considering that Jiang Cheng had a hand in raising him).
** ''Literature/HeavenOfficialsBlessingTianGuanCiFu'': Hua Cheng is and has only ever been nice to one person: Xie Lian. He's snarky, rude, and irreverent to everybody else.
** Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong: Liu Qingge is a HotBlooded warrior and the [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Bai Zhan Peak Lord]]. He's also really, really bad with emotions. He develops a massive crush on Shen Qingqiu after the latter saves him from death by qi deviation, but can't for the life of him admit it. Instead, Liu Qingge brings Shen Qingqiu dead monster carcasses like a cat.
* ''Literature/HaremInTheLabyrinthOfAnotherWorld'': Sherry. While she does love Michio, and her fellow haremettes, she hides it very, very deeply. Her "dere" side only comes out when she's drunk, and that is in no way easy.
* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'':
** The title character starts as a {{Jerkass}}. Although she has had some character development, the degree to which she's moved from {{Jerkass}} to JerkWithAHeartOfGold, are [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation up for debate]]. Not yet seen in the anime, but by the fourth book, she's spouting some classic tsundere lines. Although maybe this is just a case of her GenreSavvy nature causing her to deliberately act this way.
*** Haruhi is probably the poster child for tactic 4 (bossy), although 2 and 3 come up sometimes. She's fairly non-violent by the standards of this trope however (mostly because the series doesn't use [[SlapStick comic violence]]). Most, she just drags people around.
*** Haruhi is also a [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstruction]]: What would happen if a Tsundere acted that way toward ''everyone'' they knew, rather than just love interests? It's slightly more [[ShipTease pronounced]] toward Kyon (she doesn't make excuses as much with the others), but not by much.
** [[DeadpanSnarker Kyon]] has some tsundere tendencies towards Haruhi. Tsundere tactics 1 and 3 come into play often, and on at least one occasion he has almost resorted to violence.
*** For both of them, the inverse (dere) side rarely comes out and for both, it's restricted to their actions. [[spoiler: Haruhi stayed by Kyon for 3 days while he was in a coma and helps him with his schoolwork. Kyon chose to undo the ''Disappearance'' verse and tried to save her in the ''Surprise'' finale]].
* ''Literature/TheAsteriskWar'': Julis Riessfeld is hot-headed, stubborn, and can be cold-hearted to those she is unfamiliar with. However, underneath that harsh, unfriendly facade, is a sweet girl who would do just about anything for a friend.
* In ''Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}'', Hitagi Senjōgahara calls herself a Tsundere, although the male character thinks to himself that she's more like a "tundra" (ie a SugarAndIcePersonality), considering that she wouldn't know deredere if it slapped her upside the head, which makes her come across as more of an IceQueen. Additionally, it's pretty clear that she has a [[BrokenBird traumatic past]] driving her actions. Suggesting that she's more CuteAndPsycho who has designated herself a tsundere as a way to justify her rather irrational and violent behavior. She does seem to be getting better though. She also seems to alternate between demonstrating her affection towards Araragi in mean or discomforting ways, and being mean to him in ways that demonstrate her affection for him.

[[folder: Sweet (Dere)]]
* Princess Eilonwy from Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' says "Taran, I'm not speaking to you" about five times a novel, and as the last line of at least the first three.
* Mel from ''Literature/CrownDuel'' is Sweet to such an extent that [[spoiler: Shevraeth]] has to resort to wooing her through anonymous letters.
* In the ''Literature/NightWorld'' book ''Daughters of Darkness'', Mary-Lynnette is dere dere, but when Ash is around her automatic reaction [[spoiler: at first]] is to kick him in the shins. Doesn't help that he's sexist and [[FantasticRacism speciesist]].
* ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'': Celty Sturlusen is a relatively minor example that is perfectly willing to admit her attraction to [[SingleTargetSexuality Shinra]] [[BackalleyDoctor Kishitani]]. However, sometimes she can't help but find his more annoying habits ([[TooMuchInformation like making ill-timed comments about their sex-life]]) extremely irritating and lets him know this. [[DopeSlap Physically]]. Fortunately, Shinra's [[TooKinkyToTorture something of a kinky little bugger]], so he's all for it.
* Hermione Granger from ''Literature/HarryPotter''. She's a good friend who is sensible and restrained a lot of the time, but DO NOT tick her off. She will show no mercy. Just ask Rita Skeeter, Draco Malfoy, Dolores Umbridge, Marietta Edgecombe or Ronald Weasley.
** Definitely this with Ron Weasley. While the Golden Trio all have their insecurities, Ron's and Hermione's insecurities end up influencing one another, especially with how they feel with one another. Hermione often becomes annoyed or upset with Ron, yet becomes jealous when another girl shows interest in him. The sixth book definitely plays this up.
** While not fully known (due to being post-mortem characters), this seems to be how Lily Evans was with her future husband, James Potter. Initially, she did not like him very much, thinking of him as a showoff while also not liking him because of the fights he had with her friend [[spoiler: Severus Snape.]] Yet, there were some hints of this. Harry sees a memory of back when they were at Hogwarts; with James winning a Quidditch game and being tossed in the air, all while Lily looks at the spectacle rolling her eyes yet smiling as well. It would also explain how she went from disliking him in fifth year to dating in seventh year.
* ''Literature/{{Kampfer}}'': Mishima Akane is Sweet in her default/original form. She transforms to an AxCrazy [[TheGunSlinger gun nut]] Harsh type.
* ''Literature/NoGameNoLife'': Stephanie Dola is an odd [[JustifiedTrope justified]] example. She lost a game with Sora where the winner can make the loser listen to any request. Sora told her to fall in love with him, as such her emotions were manipulated to make her fall in love with him ([[PlayedForLaughs hilariously portrayed]] with her [[BishieSparkle Steph-O-Scope]]). She fights against her twisted emotions at first, [[LoveEpiphany but eventually something genuine starts up]].
* Luke Skywalker becomes a Sweet Tsundere in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' novels.
* Leafpool from the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series became a Sweet tsundere over time. She was originally, while an apprentice, a very meek and soft-spoken individual with a calm and controlled profile, much different from both her mother Sandstorm and sister Squirrelflight. As she got older, Leafpool became more bossy and ill-tempered, becoming a full-blown Sweet Tsundere in The Power of Three. Leafpool still is usually very gentle and kind despite a slight temper. She is both a romantic and non-romantic example. Leafpool was annoyed by her former mate Crowfeather's prickly attitude, but realized that she actually loved him when he confessed his love after saving her. The non-romantic example of this is her relationship with Jayfeather. Leafpool loves her son dearly and is protective of him, though they often got into arguments since her son had inherited Crowfeather's personality. This was especially seen when Jayfeather was her apprentice, her patience always being a short fuse with him particularly.
** Silverstream is shown to be incredibly kind and affectionate, but she is also rebellious and spunky.
* Aglaya from Dostoyevsky's ''Literature/TheIdiot''. Not only does the girl spend half the novel telling her love interest how stupid he is, the whole thing actually ends with a big girl fight-out over the guy. This is proto-anime writing at its best!
** ''Demons'''s Marya Ignatyevna is also an example of tsundere. She spends most of the chapter ''A Woman Traveller'' verbally abusing Ivan Shatov but by the end becomes extremely clingy.
** Also, in ''Literature/TheBrothersKaramazov'' Lise acts rather tsundere to Alyosha, teasing him in order to get his attention and then blushing. Father Zosima calls her out on it.
** Many more of Dostoevsky's characters fit the SourOutsideSadInside archetype. [[AuthorAppeal There may be a reason for his frequent use of these tropes]].
* Rangi the firebender is this in ''Literature/TheRiseOfKyoshi''. While she is often seen as prickly and angry to outsiders, she is almost always sweet to Kyoshi.
* Mai Sakurajima in ''Literature/RascalDoesNotDreamOfBunnyGirlSenpai'' is definitely a NiceGirl, being very caring, calm and a ''very'' kindhearted person who would do anything for her loved ones. She's not naturally harsh by any means; however, despite teasing him at times as well, in her own eyes Sakuta goes a bit too far at times, making her emotionally sensitive and slightly snappy side come out.
* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Pete Reston is an unusual example, being a {{Sex Shift|er}}ing "reversi" with an AmbiguousGenderIdentity: he uses male pronouns but has experienced some dysphoric episodes, suggesting a true gender identity closer to demiboy. His confusion about his own sexuality after his reversi trait manifests causes him to develop low-key BelligerentSexualTension with his cis-male roommate Oliver: the normally calm and collected Pete has a tendency to lash out physically when he gets embarrassed at Oliver's efforts to comfort him (which are born out of purely platonic affection).
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* Ogden Nash's ''[[http://plagiarist.com/poetry/1710/ Always Marry an April Girl]]'' Might as well be called ''Ode to a Tsundere.''
* Averted and lampshaded in ''Literature/AnotherNote'', the prequel novel to ''Manga/DeathNote'', as Naomi Misora warns herself against becoming a tsundere.

* {{Creator/Catullus}}' poem 85 ("Odi et amo"), which provides the page quote, neatly distills the essence of this trope into two lines.
* Shairn in [[Creator/{{LeighBrackett}} Leigh Brackett's]] ''The Starmen of Llyrdis''. At the end, she straight-up tells Trehairne that she hates him for what he's done, but then she tells him that she loves him, and asks whether he'll have her on those grounds. He realizes that they will never have a peaceful life together, but he says yes.
* Fand in the ''Literature/TalesOfTheFox'' series.
* Swedish poet ''Edith Södergran'' seems to have acknowledged herself to be like this in a good number of poems. The poem ''Vierge Moderne'' from 1918 is an open offender in this respect.
* ''Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong'': Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu is an [[DeadpanSnarker scathingly snarky]] UnreliableNarrator that wouldn't notice [[ObliviousToLove romantic feelings]] (his own AND that of others) if it bit him. This means that he seems to [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage blow hot and cold]] unpredictably and with abandon to an outside observer, especially to his admirers.
* ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'': Lan Wangji is mostly a {{kuudere}}, but he exhibited tsundere-like traits towards Wei Wuxian pre-timeskip. He enforced the rules more harshly than necessary during his time in Cloud Recesses, coldly rebuffing all his attempts to befriend him, which all turned out to be because he'd fallen in LoveAtFirstSight with him and had no idea how to properly deal with it due to a buttload of issues. Unfortunately, this backfired horribly, since it lead everyone around him including Wei Wuxian to believe he hated him, which made it near impossible to help him when the rest of the cultivation world turned on him after he became the Yiling Patriarch. By the time Wei Wuxian returns in the present day, he's completely abandoned the tsundere traits and has gone full kuudere, but he still has difficulty verbally communicating his feelings, so it still takes the whole book for the misunderstandings to fully clear up.

* Tenar in ''Literature/TheTombsOfAtuan''. By the time we see her again two books later, in ''Literature/{{Tehanu}}'', she seems to have grown out of it.

* ''LightNovel/{{Jinsei}}'' has Rino, who is a prime example for Tsundere.

* ''LightNovel/{{Oreshura}}'': Fuyuumi Ai is generally a bossy jerk, but putting her in Eita's presence is like giving her a massive overdose of LovePotion. When she finds out he's in the same summer class as her, she screams "I'm the winner!" at the top of her lungs, then [[DiggingYourselfDeeper immediately tries to deny that her out-of-character overenthusiastic response meant anything]]. She claims to have a boyfriend, but the falseness of this is given away by, among other things, the fact that she stays in Tsun mode when talking about him.

* ''LightNovel/LibraryWar'': Dojo is a textbook example of a Harsh Tsundere, utilizing mostly tactics 2 and 3. He's gruff and businesslike towards everyone, but he takes it to an extreme when he's around Kasahara. At the beginning of the series she complains that he works her hardest during training. He protects her because he secretly does care, but then he brushes it off as just part of his job and often shouts at her. Their flirting begins as awkward shouting matches and snide comments, but towards the end of the series Dojo makes some sweet gestures that he then ruins [[spoiler:like trying to comfort Kasahara by patting her on the head, and then getting angry because he can't reach and demanding to know why she is wearing high heels. Total mood killer]].

* [[TheTrickster Kanade]] in ''LightNovel/MayoChiki'' pulls a tsundere ''act'' towards the computer club, possibly as a preemptive reward for her somewhat unreasonable request. It's effective.

* ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'': Mahiro Yasaka is an odd example. By nature he's a very NiceGuy, it's just that his UnwantedHarem is ''constantly'' being loud, zany and disruptive, never giving him a moment's peace, which grates on his nerves quickly and leads to {{Slapstick}} violence (yes, even on the girls). However, in the rare moments where they tone it down a notch, it's blatantly obvious that he likes them, and sees Cuuko and Hasta as surrogate siblings. As for his main LoveInterest Nyarko, in addition to the above bullet point, he's outright said that she's too [[ManicPixieDreamGirl manic]] and he doesn't know if he can believe her statements of love; the times where she turns down her "volume" (such as having a pleasant date with him, or hand-knitting him a scarf for Christmas) are the ones where you can see that despite his protests he really does have feelings for her. He even ''admits'' (to himself) that he'd probably have returned her feelings a long time ago if she could just act normal more often.

* Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere of ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'', who routinely whips and insults her love interest, Saito Hiiraga, but would occasionally show moments of adorable sweetness, which increases more as she learns to get over her insecurities.

* ''LightNovel/IsThisAZombie'': Practically all the [[HaremGenre main girls]], but the most stand-out are Seraphim and Sarasvati. Not only are they both [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot vampire-ninjas]], but they both have long, black hair, often wear maid outfits, and are in a love-hate relationship with [[FemaleGaze Ayumu's butt]]. Sarasvati has even gone so far as to open an entire cosplay cafe staffed by vampire-ninjas ([[OneGenderRace all of which are beautiful women]]), along with the occasional magical garment girl or Necromancer, with the main theme being verbal and occasional physical abuse toward the patrons, [[CasualKink which they all pay for, happily]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'': Mishima Akane is Sweet in her default/original form. She transforms to an AxCrazy [[TheGunSlinger gun nut]] Harsh type.

* ''LightNovel/MyMentalChoicesAre'': Furano usually acts cold towards Kanade, but this is due to her shyness, and she really wants to tell him how much she likes him.

* Shana of ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'', who is frequently abrasive towards her love interest, Yuuji Sakai, but eventually defrosts to him as she learns to be more social. Interestingly, Shana actually bears more resemblance to the classic {{Tsundere}} (that is, someone with a harsh personality who [[DefrostingIceQueen softens and shows a loving side over time]]) than her [[ShanaClone even more aggressive and violent expies]]. Ironically enough for the Goddess of {{Tsundere}}, as the series progresses, she's not even really a {{Tsundere}} anymore.

* In ''Literature/DateALive'', [[ShanaClone Kotori Itsuka]] is Harsh as the Commander (Black Ribbons) [[SplitPersonality and]] Sweet as Shido's cute little sister (White Ribbons). She has more of an extreme role segregation rather than a true SplitPersonality , so it's interesting that her way of dealing with Shido changes also.

-->'''Lisara''': ''([[LuminescentBlush blushing]], with her hand on her breast)'' "He prefers ''my'' breasts to [[GagBoobs Ilia's...."]]

* ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'': Mahiro Yasaka is an odd example. By nature he's a very NiceGuy, it's just that his UnwantedHarem is ''constantly'' being loud, zany and disruptive, never giving him a moment's peace, which grates on his nerves quickly and leads to {{Slapstick}} violence (yes, [[SlapstickKnowsNoGender even on the girls]]). However, in the rare moments where they tone it down a notch, it's blatantly obvious that he likes them, and sees Cuuko and Hasta as surrogate siblings. As for his main LoveInterest Nyarko, in addition to the above bullet point, he's outright said that she's too [[ManicPixieDreamGirl manic]] and he doesn't know if he can believe her statements of love; the times where she turns down her "volume" (such as having a pleasant date with him, or hand-knitting him a scarf for Christmas) are the ones where you can see that despite his protests he really does have feelings for her. He even ''admits'' (to himself) that he'd probably have returned her feelings a long time ago if she could just act normal more often.

** Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong: Liu Qingge is a HotBlooded warrior and the [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Bai Zhan Peak Lord]]. He's also really, really bad with emotions. He develops a massive crush on Shen Qingqiu after the latter saves him from death by qi deviation, but can't for the life of him admit it. Instead, Liu Qingge brings Shen Qingqiu dead monster carcasses like a cat.

* ''LightNovel/BookGirl'': Kotobuki Nanase is a typical Harsh tsundere. She is harsh towards her classmate Konoha Inoue but eventually shows her dere side (in the third OVA and book).
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* ''LightNovel/ChromeShelledRegios'' has Felli in a rare combination with TheStoic: capable of kicking dents into a refrigerator, but genuinely cares for "Fon-Fon," when he's not a target. Doesn't care much for [[BattleHarem the competition]].

* ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma'' has Ayano. She does not realize what she wants, she calls Kazuma a jerk, but tries to hold his hand at an amusement park, blushes all the time, and flies into a towering rage if Kazuma makes a move on her or if she sees him with another woman.

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Celty Sturlusen is a relatively minor example that is perfectly willing to admit her attraction to [[SingleTargetSexuality Shinra]] [[BackalleyDoctor Kishitani]]. However, sometimes she can't help but find his more annoying habits ([[TooMuchInformation like making ill-timed comments about their sex-life]]) extremely irritating and lets him know this. [[DopeSlap Physically]]. Fortunately, Shinra's [[TooKinkyToTorture something of a kinky little bugger]], so he's all for it.

* ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'': Stephanie Dola is an odd [[JustifiedTrope justified]] example. She lost a game with Sora where the winner can make the loser listen to any request. Sora told her to fall in love with him, as such her emotions were manipulated to make her fall in love with him ([[PlayedForLaughs hilariously portrayed]] with her [[BishieSparkle Steph-O-Scope]]). She fights against her twisted emotions at first, [[LoveEpiphany but eventually something genuine starts up]].

* Averted and Lampshaded in LightNovel/AnotherNote, the prequel novel to Manga/DeathNote, as Naomi Misora warns herself against becoming a tsundere.

* ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': Ginger treats Catarina with outward disdain and annoyance, but still tries to help her when she needs it (while claiming [[IWasJustPassingThrough she just wanted Catarina to stop moaning about her studies]]).

* Mai Sakurajima in ''Literature/RascalDoesNotDreamOfBunnyGirlSenpai''. Very caring, flirty and teasing towards Sakuta, normally calm and really kind, but also emotionally sensitive and can be prone to mood-swings.

* ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'': Lieselotte has a kind heart, but it is well hidden behind a very harsh front. Siegwald was led to believe she disliked him and that is why he drifts away from her in the ''[[FictionalVideoGame Magikoi]]'' canon. Then Endo and Kobayashi come into the scene and explain Lieselotte's behavior to him, and Siegwald starts to understand and find it endearing, as does Fiene and everybody else.

* ''Literature/OnlyTheRingFingerKnows'': Yuichi Kazuki is kind, polite, and friendly to everyone he meets... except to Wataru Fujii, the guy he likes, because he doesn't know how to deal with his feelings for another male. His uncharacteristically cold and snarky (The Cold Shoulder tactic) behavior towards Wataru provokes the latter into employing his ''own'' type of Tsundere tactic ([[ArmorPiercingSlap The Violent Approach]]) upon him out of frustration. Yuichi grows out of this somewhat in the sequel novels following their RelationshipUpgrade, but still has occasional bouts of Tsundere-ness (and it's actually implied that his kind demeanor to everyone else was actually [[StepfordSmiler a mask he put on to please them]] and that his teasing behavior toward Wataru is reflective of his true personality, which makes him an odd mix of ''both'' Tsundere types).

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'':