- For the unrelated homonym meaning of "megadere" for characters who have a strong adoration for their love interest and will not be afraid to give them large displays of affection and tell them how much they love them see: Megadere (Western).
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"Megadere" (JP) is 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. They are someone who is said to have never smiled before and are said to be furthest thing from love. They are feared by others because of their immense power, easily angered nature, and destructive capabilities. However, when they fall in love their personality completely changes. For the person they love they act just like a normal cute girl in love. They blush, get shy around them, smile, spoon feed them desserts, make them presents, and act very lovey-dovey, sweet, and affectionate. They will also use their powers to protect their love interest or to show them beautiful scenery. While they have a violent nature, they would never dare lay so much as a finger on their love interest or ever do anything to upset them, because for them their love interest is their world.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Megadere (メガデレ) is a combination of "megami" (女神), meaning "goddess (female deity)", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck (overly affectionate, lovey-dovey, not hiding one's romantic feelings)".
Origin
Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o! by Hiroki Iwata
The term megadere originates from the 2003 light novel series Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o! (JP) by Hiroki Iwata to describe the character Ayako Takasu. The term Megadere itself also served as a nickname for the anime adaptation in 2006.[2] The limited edition DVD release of the series was also subtitled "Megadere Emo~tion" (JP).[3][4]
It was described as "an innocent love story between the goddess of destruction, who is the furthest thing from love, and a very kind boy" and "A super pure love comedy that starts with a goddess' confession!" The archetype has also been referred to as a type of "chou-tsundere" (超ツンデレ), meaning "extreme tsundere" and is said to be beyond tsundere in terms of having a gap between the cold side and the deredere side.[5][1]
Ayako Takasu was feared by her other classmates because of her immense power and ice cold personality, being known by nicknames such as the "Goddess of Destruction" (JP), the "Beatritch Witch" (JP), and "Beatrice the Angel of Death" (JP). She was said to never smile and was always serious until one day a new student named Mamoru Yoshimura transferred into the school. After Mamoro gets lost in the scene and calls her "beautiful" Ayako immediately become curious about him and started questioning him. However, after he picked a cherry blossom off her shoulder and smiled she immediately fell in love with him at first sight and shyly asked him to fall in love with her.
Ayako is mostly serious and had an ice cold personality, but whenever she is around her boyfriend Mamoru she tends to smile and show emotion. Whenever she was with Mamoru she couldn't help but blush and start smiling. She would become noticeably shy around him. She was also rather shy about talking about her feelings out loud, and wrote Mamaro a note to circle answers on like "can I call you by your first name" and "will you go out with me." She also would feel insecure about whether or not Mamoru liked her. She would do all kinds of things to show her affection towards him, such as making him presents, hugging him, cutely feeding him food, or telling him she loved him. She also often used her powers to make Mamoru fall in love with her, such as splitting a hole into the sky to show him the beautiful starry sky during the day time or causing all of the cherry blossom trees to suddenly bloom the moment she fell in love with him.
Despite her cute and lovey-dovey behavior towards Mamoru, she continued to act very harshly towards everyone else, especially when they tried messing up her dates with Mamoru. Ayako can be easily enraged, such as when Mamoru was about to give her a reply as to whether or not he would be her lover but her driver showed up and ruined the moment, she got so upset that she picked up his car and threw it over the gate causing it to explode. She also gets angry when the Student Committee probes into Ayako's relationship with Mamoru or ruins their dates. Despite that, however, she protects them and continues to use her powers for the safety of everyone.[6]
Misuse
In the Western community the term "megadere" has come to have an entirely different meaning from the one used in Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!. It has come to be used for a character who has a strong adoration for their love interest and will not be afraid to give them large displays of affection and tell them how much they love them, in a sort of fangirl fashion, in contrast to the more timid and shy deredere side of Ayako Takasu. This Western version of "megadere" likely originated from the false perception that the Japanese version of megadere was a combination of the word English word "mega", meaning "very large", as opposed to the correct etymology of the Japanese word "megami", meaning "goddess". This likely led people to start using it for characters that had "very large" (mega) displays of love towards their love interest, completely leaving out the harsher aspects and character development of the Japanese megadere. So in this sense, ironically, the Japanese megadere could be described as an "extreme tsundere" while the Western megadere is the complete opposite and could be described as an "extreme deredere".[7]
Characteristics
Ayako Takasu causing a thunderstorm after being made fun of for her relationship from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!
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As a goddess, megadere characters are extremely beautiful, however, they also possess magical powers of capable of immense destruction. A personality breakdown can even lead to satellites being destroyed and they can easily take down an entire army by themself. They can even cause thunderstorms or tsunamis to appear when they are angered which often results in buildings being destroyed. This level of destructive power combined with their cold and hostile personality leads others to view them as a "goddess of destruction", having nicknames like "the angel of death" or being called a "witch" by those around them.
They also possess other non-destructive abilities, such as being able to affect the environment by making cherry blossom trees bloom or changing the sky to show stars during the day.
Personality
Megadere characters are goddesses who are initially cold, hostile, violent, and feared by others as an angel of death or goddess of destruction (megami), but are actually a very innocent girl and becomes lovey-dovey and affectionate for their love interest (deredere).
Megami Side
Ayako Takasu becoming angered from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!
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Megadere characters are very serious and are so ice cold that they are said to never smile. They are ruthless, harsh, cold, combative, easily angered, and violent. They will also have no problem beating up people who make them angry, ripping out tables from the ground to throw at people, or causing a thunderstorm to appear from their anger. Because of this they are feared by others as a "goddess of destruction" or an "angel of death".
However, despite this scary exterior they will never seriously harm anyone because they are still an innocent girl on the inside. Although they don't show it and tend to keep to themselves, they want to keep everybody around them safe and they will use their powers to accomplish this.
They will also not take kindly to anyone who tries ruining their chances with their love interest, such as interrupting their dates, and will not hesitate to yell at or threaten them. They may also throw people's cars causing them to explode if they ruin a heartfelt moment with their love interest. They are very protective of their love interest and will physically deal with anyone who tries messing with their love interest.
Because they want their love interest to see them as a cute girl they become embarrassed if their love interest sees them in their state of anger, and they will viciously punish the person who made their love interest see it. They will also politely walk their love interest out of the room while holding in their anger when they want to punish people for mocking their relationship.
Deredere Side
Ayako Takasu smiling at Mamoru Yoshimura from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!
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Despite their ice cold exterior deep down they're just an innocent girl who wants to find love and when they find the person who melts their icy heart they fall hard. In a stark contrast to their normal behavior, when they are with their love interest they suddenly became cute and lovey-dovey. They may even start to become shy around their love interest. They are generally not great at verbalizing their feelings since they're not used to doing so with others so they may write a note to ask their love interest out.
Ayako Takasu splitting the sky for Mamoru Yoshimura from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!
Towards their love interest they are entirely lovey-dovey and affectionate. While they may have a normally violent behavior, they would never dare to so much as lay a finger on their love interest. To them their love interest is their everything and they love them more than anything else in the world. They are affectionate, caring, loving, and will make a beautiful smile. When they are with their love interest they just feel like a normal cute girl in love. They will do all kinds of cute things to win the affection of their love interest, such as giving them gifts, spoon feeding them ice cream, making them hand sewn sweaters, and going on dates with them.
When they are feeling lovestruck they can even affect the environment, such as making all of the cherry blossom trees suddenly bloom when they fall in love. They will also use their powers to show their love interest their feelings, such as clearing a hole in the sky to show their love interest the beautiful starry sky even during the day. Their love interest is said to have the blessing of the goddess.
Differences From Other Archetypes
Megadere is most similar to kamidere since both types involve cold deities with special abilities who develop a sweet and pure romantic love. Aside from megadere being female only while kamidere can refer to either gender, the biggest difference is where the cold treatment is directed. While both act cold, a kamidere character acts cold towards their love interest while a megadere character acts cold to everyone except their love interest. So in that sense, megadere acts like an inverted kamidere whose "kami" side is directed at only people who aren't their love interest and whose "dere" side is the only way they treat their love interest.
Onidere is similar to megadere in that they both have superhuman levels of destruction and are very harsh normally and only show a more loving side to their love interest, but the biggest difference is that an onidere character will treat their love interest terribly in public to maintain a feared image while a megadere character never would. A megadere character does not care if people see them fawning over their love interest in public because they have no interest in keeping a reputation. The only thing they care about is being with the one they love.
It is very similar to kuudere in that they both are cold and thought to never smile before meeting their love interest, but the main difference is that a kuudere character is more on the uncaring distant side and not the harsh fearful side. It is also not uncommon for a megadere character to display emotions such as anger, while a kuudere character will always maintain a cool head.
It could be seen as a sort of inverted tsundere (or perhaps more accurately a tsungire type) who is very harsh and pushes everyone away 'except' for their love interest. While a tsundere character is kind to most people but acts cold towards the person they have feelings in an effort to hide them, a megadere character acts hostile towards to everyone but acts overly affectionate towards their love interest.
They will act just like any normal deredere character would when it comes to dealing with their love interest, but unlike a normal deredere character who genuinely gets along well with everyone, a megadere character is very cold towards everyone who isn't their love interest.
Similar Archetypes
- Kuudere: A term for a character who appears cold, expressionless, and unapproachable at first glance, but becomes cute, lovey-dovey, and deredere around their love interest.
- Kamidere: 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. In contrast to a "goddess" dere, this archetype is a "god" dere.
- Onidere: A term for a character with monstrous strength who puts on an act and pretends to hate and be cruel to their love interest around other people to maintain a reputation of being feared, but will be extremely cute, lovey-dovey, and deredere to them when others are not looking.
- Tsundere: A term for a character who has loving deredere feelings for their love interest but is unable to be honest with them so they end up acting distant, standoffish, and stuck-up to conceal them. This type is similar to an inverted tsundere.
- Tsundora: A term for a tsundere character who acts so cold and dry when being being dishonest with their feelings that they make it seem like they are serious, showing a complete and absolute rejection of their own feelings.
- Tsungire: A term for a character who is quick to get angry and push others away when they try to be affectionate with them.
List of Characters
Gallery
 Ayako Takasu from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!  Ayako Takasu from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!  Ayako Takasu from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!  Ayako Takasu from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!  Ayako Takasu from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o!  Ayako Takasu from Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku o! |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Character and Hobby Event 2006 - "Megadere beyond Tsundere!". AV Watch (2006/08/21). Archived on 2025/03/31. “Generally, a girl character who has a strong-willed (tsuntsun) personality but becomes lovey-dovey (deredere) in front of the person she likes is described as "tsundere," but the theme of this work is "Megadere beyond tsundere!" The gap level of the witch who can even shoot down satellites and becomes deredere with Mamoru-kun is definitely on the "Megadere" level. The original work depicts a pure love that is so embarrassing that it makes the reader feel embarrassed, but expectations are high to see how much "Megadere" will be displayed in the anime version. Kimura, who plays Mamoru, described the series as "an extremely pure romantic comedy." He said, "It's a series of thrilling stories, and I'm acting while thinking that it would be great if I could experience such a pure love." Takahashi, who has often played tsundere characters in the past, laughed when she got the role, saying, "I thought, 'Another tsundere,' and a super tsundere at that. The romance between the two is really cute, they're a real lovey-dovey couple."”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Goddess' Blessings for Mamoru-kun!. Megadere Official Website (2006/08/21). Archived on 2008/06/03.
- ↑ Blessings of the Goddess to Mamoru kun! Beatrice 1: Megadere Emo~tion. Amazon (2007/02/23). Archived on 2025/05/04. “Do you like super tsundere older sisters?! A witch's love is a miracle, a boy's smile is magic, an unbeatable school romantic comedy! ◆Story "You, go out with me." That was the fateful encounter between Mamoru and Ayako. Ayako Takasu. A second-year student one year older than Mamoru, she is the head of the student council's security department. She is the granddaughter of a powerful politician and is beautiful. She is a genius Beatrice user who can even shoot down satellites. She is also known as "Witch Beatritch" and "Beatrice's Angel of Death." In fact, she is a very innocent girl. She does not give in to the teasing from the student council members surrounding the two. She is not discouraged by the attacks of a mysterious organization that is after Ayako's abilities. She defeats the love rivals that appear one after another. Please support the two as they walk the path to becoming an official couple!”
- ↑ Goddess' Blessings for Mamoru-kun!. Kadokawa (2003/09/10). Archived on 2025/05/04. “A super pure love comedy that starts with a goddess' confession! Hello, my name is Mamoru Yoshimura and I'm attending Tokyo Beatrice University High School from today. I've always admired Beatrice, the new generation of energy, and my heart is full of expectations. On my first day at school, I saw an incredibly beautiful woman under the falling cherry blossoms... I couldn't help but stare at the fantastic sight. The beautiful woman's name was Ayako Takasu. She suddenly said - "You, M-me... You should go out with me!" Her sudden confession caused chaos around me. Because she is beautiful, a genius at controlling Beatrice, a rich ojou-sama, a personality breakdown leads to satellites being shot down, is called a witch, and yet is very innocent. And so, this super pure love comedy begins!!”
- ↑ Megadere Anime "Goddess' Blessings for Mamoru-kun!". AV Watch (2007/02/23). Archived on 2025/05/04. “Megadere beyond tsundere? "Goddess' Blessings for Mamoru-kun!" is a TV anime based on the light novel published by Dengeki Bunko. The setting is a world where Beatrice, a magical power that responds to people's will and makes anything possible, exists. There is the only school in Japan that teaches about Beatrice, Tokyo Beatrice University High School. Takasu Ayako, who serves as the head of security in the student council, is the granddaughter of a powerful politician and is beautiful. She is a genius Beatrice user and has the combat ability to shoot down a satellite in space or destroy an entire division if she wants to. She is feared as a "witch" but falls in love at first sight with a cute transfer student, Mamoru Yoshimura, who is younger than her. Thus begins the innocent love story between the goddess of destruction, who is the furthest thing from love, and a very kind boy.”
- ↑ Goddess' Blessings for Mamoru-kun!. Wikipedia JP (2006/10/17). Archived on 2025/05/04. “The heroine of this work. A second-year student in the tactical department at Tobi University. Head of the student council security department, and a third-year student in the tactical department from volume 7. One of the top three Beatrice users in the world. She has an extraordinary ability to control Beatrice, and is nicknamed "Witch Beatrice" and "Beatrice's Angel of Death". Due to her strong ability, she is accompanied by various destructions caused by emotions such as anger and shame, and has a certain destructive side. Ayako's destructive activities on campus are actually mostly caused by excessive and malicious meddling and provocation by the student council members. Originally a fierce cool beauty, she was smitten by Mamoru's smile, and after that she became infatuated with him. She loves Mamoru more than anyone else, and after they became lovers, they became an acceleratingly passionate couple. She is extremely sweet and weak towards Mamoru and would never use violence against him, but she is a super tsundere girl who will mercilessly deal a powerful blow to others, and on the anime's official website, she is referred to as "megadere." In the spinoff, the author notes that she is usually S but only M towards Mamoru. Although she is short-tempered and violent, she also has a feminine side, being good at knitting and cooking. She is quite an innocent young lady.”
- ↑ Megadere Characters Go Above & Beyond For Love. CBR (2024/01/29). Archived on 2025/05/04. “It's not 100% certain where the term "megadere" came from, though it's believed that it came from the Japanese word for "glasses" or simply the English term "mega." Megadere is one of the most straightforward dere types of them all, simply being an amped-up version of a deredere. Megadere characters simply do more of what a typical deredere would do, showing incredible enthusiasm for their possible or existing romance with the object of their affection. They always go the extra mile to please their lover, and they will admire their lover as a seemingly perfect being. This is the archetype that truly puts a lover on a pedestal and devotes their entire life to getting closer to them.”