History Tsundere / Literature

* Aravis Tharkeena 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.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime:

* {{Creator/Catullus}}' poem 85 ("Odi et amo") neatly distills the essence of this trope into two lines.

* {{Xanth}} features a few examples.

** Teenager Lily Evans seems to be interpreted this way by the fans, especially in [[JerkJock James Potter's]] presence.

All the heavy reading in the world won't get past your puny brain, idiot! Now sit down and STUDY!

Leaving to {{Tsundere}} already? Hmph! Go and fail for not studying enough. [---Thank you for studying with me, a-at least.---]

* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' is [[InsufferableGenius a real pain in the arse]]--except with [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Watson.]] When he's wounded, cue him being worried for his friend.
** [[NotSoStoic "Are you hurt, Watson? For God's sake, say that you're not hurt!"]]
** Oh, and, whatever you do DON'T trip off those [[BigBrotherInstinct protective instincts]] like Evans.
** "By the Lord, it is well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have gotten out of this room alive."

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' gives us a rare male version: [[{{Badass}} Sandor]] [[{{Jerkass}} Clegane]]. He's of the titanically, emotionally screwed-up and repressed variety 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. But, that he could still find it in himself to [[MoralityPet care about two specific others]]? [[KnightInSourArmor 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 others is still somewhere in there. [[EvenEvilHasStandards And, had always made his anger and disappointment with world that much hotter, in fact]]. [[TheAlcoholic Sadly, also the anger at himself]] for not living up to [[NobleDemon ideals he always denied he could have]].

Leaving to {{Tsundere}} already? Hmph! Go and fail for not studying enough. [[spoiler:Thank you for studying with me, a-at least.]]

* In Creator/SandyMitchell's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''[[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.)

* Tenar from the ''Literature/EarthseaTrilogy'', at least 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 Dairy]]'' 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.

* Holly Jones from the Creator/RobertAHeinlein [[http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743498747/0743498747___2.htm short story]] ''TheMenaceFromEarth''. Generally bossy demeanor, repressed attraction to love interest which is constantly denied, with her softening at the end.
* Ce'Nedra from David Eddings' ''{{Belgariad}}'' is apparently generally regarded by Japanese readers as one of the clearest Western examples of the trope.

* Heleth, from the ''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.

* Cecilia Tallis from ''{{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.

* Princess Eilonwy from LloydAlexander's ''[[PrydainChronicles The Chronicles of Prydain]]'' says "Taran, I'm not speaking to you" about five times a novel, and as the last line of at least the first three.
* The title character of ''AnneOfGreenGables'' is an extremely sweet, warm, and expressive girl always searching for kindred spirits, but say something insulting about her red hair and she will reveal a temper to match. This is her BerserkButton. She reveals her tsuntsun side to people other than her love interest GilbertBlythe, but her rage towards him (for making fun of her red hair) is significant, and indicative of BelligerentSexualTension.

* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' is [[InsufferableGenius a real pain in the arse]]-except with [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Watson.]] When he's wounded, cue him being worried for his friend.

** ''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...

** 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.

* Literature/LightAndDarkTheAwakeningOfTheMageknight: Instead of the 'ulra-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.

* 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.

* The title character of AnneOfGreenGables is an extremely sweet, warm, and expressive girl always searching for kindred spirits, but say something insulting about her red hair and she will reveal a temper to match. This is her BerserkButton. She reveals her tsuntsun side to people other than her love interest GilbertBlythe, but her rage towards him (for making fun of her red hair) is significant, and indicative of BelligerentSexualTension.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' gives us a rare male version: [[{{Badass}} Sandor]] [[{{Jerkass}} Clegane]]. He's of the titanically, emotionally screwed-up and repressed variety 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. But, that he could still find it in himself to [[MoralityPet care about two specific others]]? [[KnightInSourArmor 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 others is still somewhere in there. [[EvenEvilHasStandards And, had always made his anger and disappointment with world that much hotter, in fact]]. [[TheAlcoholic Sadly, also the anger at himself]] for not living up to [[NobleDemon ideals he always denied he could have]].

** In ''The Demigod Files'', when Beckendorf tells Percy that Annabeth likes him, his response is: "Yeah, she likes me... for target practice."

* 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 on those grounds.

* In SandyMitchell's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''[[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.)

* Annabeth from ''PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' is a typical tsundere character.

* In the 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]].

** [[BigBrotherInstinct "By the Lord, it is well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have gotten out of this room alive."]]

* [[ActionGirl Zhou Qi]] from 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]]]].

** Oh, and, whatever you do DON'T trip off those [[BigBrotherInstinct protective instincts]] like [[WhatAnIdiot Evans.]]

*** As is Jory from ''Cold Fire''.

* Duff Obama in the WebSerialNovel parody ''Literature/HowToSurviveAZombieApocalypse'' has traces of this. While her tsun mode is not as harsh to qualify for once, she finds it surprisingly difficult to show more tender emotions, thus masking them as anger or irritation.
--> Collin: You may be strange and all... but you're a good person.
--> Duff: *hyperventilating*