- For the unrelated homonym meaning of "kamidere" for characters who can't be honest with their romantic feelings so they bite their love interest see: Kamidere (Bite).
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"Kamidere" (JP) is a term for a deity character who at first is arrogant, self-centered, and looks down on their love interest, but eventually develops a pure and sweet deredere love. At the start of their relationship, they will constantly shame their love interest and act like they aren't good enough to be with a perfect divine being like themselves. They will pretend not to love them and call their love interest names or give them "divine punishments" using their god powers whenever the love interest embarrasses them. However, eventually they will fall in love to the point where they put their ego aside and turn into a pure and sweet deredere person who is very cute and openly affectionate with their love interest. They will even start to use their powers to help their love interest.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Kamidere (かみデレ) is a combination of "kami" (かみ), meaning "deity; god; spiritual beings that are revered and worshipped", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck (overly affectionate, lovey-dovey, not hiding one's romantic feelings)".
While the term "kami" is often translated as simply "god", it also has many different nuances from the English word. Generally "god" refers to a singular supreme being in monotheism with absolute power, while the concept of "kami" is closer to the meaning of "deity", which refers to many supernatural beings with specialized roles in polytheism. "Kami" are seen as spiritual beings who are revered and worshipped in Shinto shrines and are often connected to specific elements of nature.
Origin
The archetype comes from the 2012 eroge visual novel Kamidere (JP). The story follows the character of Shinya, a 2nd year student at Nijiuki Gakuen, who one day awakened as one of the Seven Gods of Fortune. The other six goddesses were all beautiful girls who looked down on him, calling him a monkey and shaming him endlessly. However, after working together they slowly began to grow closer and started showing a more loving cute and affectionate side to him.[1][2]
Other Meanings
- Main article: Kamidere (Bite)
Although the term "kamidere" in this series refers to a deity character who starts out arrogant and self-centered, there are actually two entirely different dere types that share the name "kamidere". The term "kamidere" is also recognized to have the meaning of "kami" (bite) + "deredere", and refers to a character who cannot be honest so they bite their love interest.
While the "deity" meaning of the term was created first, it was only created three months before the "bite" meaning which is likely the reason for the double use of the name. However, their spellings in Japanese differ with the "deity" meaning using a mix of hiragana and katakana as "かみデレ" and the "bite" meaning using full katakana as "カミデレ".
History
Early Inspirations
The most notable example of a kamidere in media is the character of Haruhi Suzumiya from the 2003 light novel series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Although she was not aware of it, Haruhi was an extremely powerful goddess who had the ability to reshape reality to fit her desires. Haruhi had a strong dislike for all things boring and was only interested in the supernatural. One day she met a fellow student named Kyon, who suggests they form a club to research the occult. As the story progresses Haruhi slowly started letting her cold bossy persona down when she was around Kyon. Although Haruhi had a massive ego and would boss around everyone else in the school, because of her romantic feelings towards Kyon she would listen to him, even when his ideas went against hers.
Characteristics
Kamidere are divine beings who possess a wide range of powers and abilities. Some have the ability to conjure magic, which they may use to punish their love interest if they embarrass them. Those who have the ability to heal others, may use them for the benefit of their love interest in the event they ever got hurt.
Personality
Kamidere are divine beings who are arrogant and self-centered towards their love interest at first (kami), but eventually develop a pure and sweet deredere personality behavior towards them (dere).
Kami Period
Due to their status as a god, kamidere are very arrogant and self-centered. They believe they are the most perfect and beautiful being in the entire world and that their love interest is beneath.
Kamidere aren't afraid to speak their mind and will constantly brag to their love interest about how perfect they are or that their love interest is lucky to be speaking to the "most beautiful person in the world". They will look down on their love interest and shame them endlessly, telling them how far beneath them they are. They will make fun of their love interest, such as calling them a monkey or other demeaning names. They may even use their divine powers to "punish" their love interest whenever they embarrass them.
Kamidere are people who are unable to admit that they've fallen in love with someone "beneath them" due to their immense pride as a god. They will start to feel embarrassed about their feelings and may even take it out on their love interest.
Almost Dere Period
However, despite their ego and selfishness this behavior does not last and over time they will start to soften and will feel less compelled to make fun of their love interest. They will fall more in love with their love interest and gain a lot of respect and admiration for them.
As the kamidere gets closer and closer to their love interest, they will start to let down their cold stuck-up exterior. They will let go of their superiority complex and will genuinely care about what their love interest has to say (even if they pretend it was suddenly their idea all along). For some, this may extend to other people around them too as they grow less prideful, but for others they may only listen to their love interest.
Dere Period
Eventually their feelings of love will overshadow their pride and they will turn into a pure and completely loving deredere person. They will stop calling their love interest names and looking down on them, and will learn to let themselves depend on their love interest for emotional and physical support. They will start to be honest with their feelings and tell their love interest that they love and respect them. They will even began to prioritize their love interest's feelings and well-being over their own. They will start to use their powers for the benefit of their love interest, such as healing them if they get hurt.
Their behavior will become very pure and the kamidere will display a very sweet and sugary affectionate behavior. They will start acting very cute around their love interest and wanting to be affectionate and intimate with them. They will look up to their love interest and constantly tell them how much they love them.
Differences From Other Archetypes
Kamidere can be considered a divine version of himedere, where instead of being a noble with an ego they are a god with an even bigger ego.
Similar Archetypes
- Kamidere (Western): A term for a character who sees themself as a god and wants to be worshipped by their love interest. This is an unofficial Western variation for characters who are not actual gods, but act like one anyway.
- Megadere: A term for a female goddess character who is initially cold, hostile, violent, and feared by others as an angel of death or goddess of destruction, but is actually a very innocent girl and becomes purely deredere for their love interest.
- Tsundere: A term for characters who act distant, standoffish, and stuck-up towards their love interest in order to conceal their feelings of love for them.
List of Characters
Gallery
 Haruhi Suzumiya from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu  Aqua from Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Syukufuku wo!  Furina from Genshin Impact  Furina from Genshin Impact  Furina from Genshin Impact  Yato from Noragami |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kamidere Official Site. Candysoft (2012/12/07).
- ↑ Kamidere. Visual Novel Database (2012/12/07). “Shinya is a 2nd year student at Nijiuki Gakuen, who also takes care of the family shrine. One summer day, he awakened as one of the Seven Gods of Fortune (shichifukujin), Hotei. Lucky thing for him as the other six gods were all bishoujos at his school! However, they don’t seem to get along well with him, calling him a monkey and shaming him endlessly. The principal Youko, who was the goddess Amaterasu, instructed them to work together to restore the people’s faith.”