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Onidere (JP) is a term for a character with oni-like 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. They will hide their love life and relationship from everyone else at first because they are embarrassed and fear it will make them look "weak", despite their monstrous and superhuman oni-like strength capable of defeating anybody in a fight or easily smashing concrete walls. However, they do still genuinely love and care about their love interest more than anyone else and would never intentionally seriously harm them since they only want to make it 'look' like they're being mean to their love interest. After spending enough time with their love interest they will come to realize the strength of their feelings and start to lose their edge. They will feel comfortable telling all their friends and family just how much they love their love interest, no longer thinking their love is a "weakness". They will start express their romantic feelings and more lovey-dovey cute side towards their love interest even in public.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Onidere (オニデレ) is a combination of "oni" (オニ), meaning "ogre", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck (overly affectionate, lovey-dovey, not hiding one's romantic feelings)".
In Japanese folklore, an oni is an evil supernatural creature who is said to live deep within the mountains or caves. They are portrayed as a type of Japanese ogre, who are of gigantic proportions and possess monstrous strength and a fearful appearance. Because of this, the word "oni", much like the English word "ogre", can be used as a metaphor to describe "a cruel or terrifying person".
The term is a reference to the street name "Oni Head" given to the character Saya Ikushima, who possesses oni-like traits.
Origin
OniDere by Crystal na Yousuke
The name for the archetype comes from the 2008 romantic comedy manga series OniDere (JP) by Crystal na Yousuke.[1][2] In this series, Saya Ikushima is in a secret love relationship with Tadashi Imamoto despite being known as one of the biggest delinquents of the school. She even possesses superhuman strength and two oni-like horns, which granted her the street name of "Oni Head" by others.
Due to her position and reputation, every time they are outside and someone sees them she pretends to treat her love interest with disgust or act like she was just bullying him. Despite loving him she becomes embarrassed by being seen being intimate with someone so she hides their relationship from everyone else to keep her gang under the impression that she is the strongest and biggest man-hater of them all. She even states that if their secret love is found out, she will kill him and then herself. Despite this fact, she would never actually do it and when her secret is found out she just forces that person to keep their secret too instead of harming anyone. She also only "pretends" to be cruel to him and never actually tries to seriously hurt him, only to make it look like she is (though he does still get hurt to some degree).
She is madly in love with Tadashi, so much so that even merely looking at him has been known to make her faint in happiness. Whenever Saya is alone with Tadashi she acts really affectionate and cute with him. She even sometimes wears a disguise so she can be intimate with him in public. She usually asks to be punished in return for harming him earlier when trying to keep up her image and apologizes so hard she causes richter 3 earthquakes by slamming her head into the ground. She loves him a lot despite how she treats him in front of others and only treats him badly due to a combination of her "oni" reputation and hiding her more loving side from other people. Saya has been described by her gang members as being "more manly than an oni", but Tadashi has stated that when it's just the two of them she's the cutest and girliest person he knows.
Saya Ikushima on her first date with Tadashi Imamoto from OniDere
After spending around a year dating in secret, Saya eventually realizes her feelings for Tadashi are too strong so she decides to make their relationship public on their one year anniversary. She tells her gang members and even her family about how much she loves Tadashi, which allows the two of them to finally go on their first real date together. After her family questions Tadashi's suitability for her because of his weakness they come up with a plan to test his resolve and the strength of his love for Saya. Her family creates an obstacle for Tadashi to overcome, including chasing him with a giant robot. Although he is weak, with the strength of his love and the help of Saya's friends he is able to make it to Saya and confess his true feelings. He tells her that one year isn't enough time and he wants to spend the next 100 years getting to know her, which makes Saya extremely happy. Saya even tells him that she recended her position as heir to her family's business so she could be together with Tadashi. After this moment, Saya and Tadashi have a tender moment alone together where he tells her he was worried after she passed out. This upsets Saya wondering if that's all he feels for her so she asks him please to make her receive his feelings because she wants to accept everything from him, before closing her eyes and waiting for a kiss. This vulnerable moment prompts Tadashi to affectionately kiss Saya and make her understand he truly loves her. After the kiss, Saya smittingly exclaims "I received them" before feinting from overwhelming happiness and comedically ascending to heaven.[3][4]
Characteristics
Strength
Allen Crawford getting into a fight from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu
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Onidere characters are humans who have traits that resemble an oni. They have been described as humans that are "more manly than an oni". Despite being human, however, they possess monstrous superhuman strength and are capable of feats of strength such as punching through buildings, causing small Earthquakes by headbutting the ground, or easily lifting up people and throwing them over buildings like a ball. They might even do cute things like casually carving their love interests name with a heart into a concrete wall using their fingernail.
Onidere will rarely be seen losing a fight due to their immense power, with one main exception... they might faint from happiness if their love interest calls them cute.
Moe Factor
Saya Ikushima when alone with Tadashi Imamoto from OniDere
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The main appeal of onidere comes from the gap between their destructive and cruel "oni" side and their cute and lovey-dovey "dere" side. Despite their physically strong exterior, they are surprisingly weak and vulnerable on the inside. They are easily hurt by words, they are insecure about being loved back, and they couldn't live with themself if anything bad ever happened in their relationship. So much so that may even suddenly go into a coma if their love interest breaks up with them, even if they knew it was just a pretend break-up before it happened.
This surprising emotional fragility, hidden by their imposing and strong exterior, makes the moments when they do become vulnerable all the more cute and adorable.
Personality
Onidere are characters who act cruel and will pretend to hate and treat their love interest badly around other people to maintain a reputation of being feared (oni), but will be extremely cute and affectionate to them when others are not looking (deredere).[1]
Oni Period
Saya Ikushima choking another delinquent from OniDere
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Onidere possess several oni-like traits, such as being fierce, powerful, relentless, and unforgiving. They are characters who are widely feared by others due to their reputation for being cruel and unbeatable since they are often yankii delinquents.[1]
Due to their reputation, onidere will hide or deny their feelings of love as they think they have a reputation to uphold and that someone in their position should not love. They feel embarrassed by being seen in public with their love interest and think it makes them look weak and will pretend to hate romance, despite secretly being completely head over heels for their love interest.[1]
When they are in public they will act like they're being cruel and rude to their love interest to pretend like they don't know them, let alone secretly have feelings for them. They will be acting affectionate with their love interest one moment and then the second someone walks by they will pretend like they were just about to throw their love interest for target practice to explain why they were just hugging this random person that they definitely aren't in love with.[1]
Allen Crawford after someone hurt Charlotte Evans from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu
At the same time, they will never let another person lay a hand on their love interest. If someone tries to threaten their love interest, the onidere might pretend like they are going to "take care of them in private", when in reality they just wanted to get their love interest out of harm's way while also maintaining their deception. However, if someone physically lays a land on their love interest they might get so angry they punch that person through multiple brick walls.[1]
If their secret ever gets found out they will usually threaten the person who saw to keep it a secret also. They may even threaten to kill them, but they're all talk and won't actually follow through with their threats since it's not who they actually are.[1]
Almost Dere Period
The difference in demeanor when Saya Ikushima threatens a random person (top) versus her lover (bottom) from OniDere
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As a way to hide their deredere feelings they will attempt to direct their typically cruel behavior towards their love interest, but it just ends up looking kind of cute because they're too in love to actually ever hurt them.
Onidere have two distinct "oni" personalities:[1]
- Their "Real" Oni Side: This is the side that they show when they aren't around their love interest, or when someone puts their love interest in harms way. They will not hold back and will be ruthless, often cursing them out.
- Their "Pretend" Oni Side: This is the side they show when they are "being cruel" to their love interest in public as a guise to hide their true feelings. They will hold back as much as they can and only try to make it look like to others that they're being their normal cruel self.
Although they act "the same" in both instances, the difference is very apparent which might confuse onlookers who are used to their normal threatening behavior. Because they are madly in love with them, they can't unleash their true "oni" self on their love interest.
Dere Period
Saya Ikushima kissing Tadashi Imamoto from OniDere
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However, behind the scenes when no one is looking they will show their loving and intimate deredere side to their love interest. In a stark contrast to their cruel persona in public, they will act very cutely when no one else can see them. They may even act very shy when they are alone and embarrassingly ask to hold their love interest's hand, or for them to hug them or call them cute pet names like "honey" or "darling", or to kiss.[1]
Because they have a strong desire to be intimate with their love interest in public but they don't want anyone to know about it, they may even wear a disguise when going on dates.[1]
They also feel bad about having to treat them so poorly in public to maintain their reputation and try to make up for it by being extra affectionate when they're alone. They may even harm themselves in return as atonement, such as slamming their head through a concrete wall to apologize.[1]
Allen Crawford wearing dog ears on his date with Charlotte Evans from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu
Onidere do genuinely care for their love interest, but they feel that maintaining their feared reputation is even more important. They do not want to be seen as "weak" for letting someone get intimate with them (even though they're powerful enough to easily stop anyone who dares to mock them). With enough time, however, they will eventually start to lose their edge and realize that being with the person they love is more important than their reputation and will start to act more cute and lovey-dovey toward them in public.[1]
Differences From Other Archetypes
Onidere is most similar to yandere (yankii) since both archetypes originate from a sukeban delinquent leader who hides their relationship from the rest of their gang. They were also both initially published in 2008, with the Yandere Kanojo manga drawing comparisons to the OniDere manga from it's publishers. Both types also generally hide their relationship from others to maintain their reputation as a yankii. The biggest difference between the two, however, is that onidere is far more extreme. While both are capable street fighters, an onidere character has supernatural strength comparable to that of a Japanese ogre, capable of throwing people over buildings, smashing through concrete walls with their heads, or carving hearts into concrete with their fingernails, while a yandere character is just a normal human. An onidere character will also be more cruel towards people who lay a finger on their character love interest and will be far more feared than a yandere character. They will also both act cutesy and lovey-dovey when they are alone with 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.
This type also has a lot in common with gou-dere due to both types being powerful, violent, and brutal characters who are cute and lovey-dovey with their love interest. The main difference is simply the way they show their deredere side and how they behave when acting powerful. A gou-dere character will openly and publicly show their affection, while an onidere will try to hide their cute side out of fear of looking weak. Additionally, gou-dere are far more unrestrained and don't think about social consequences when boldly giving their love interest what they desire, while onidere characters generally only act aggressively when provoked or getting into a fight.
This type has some similarities to maou—magical evil monarchs—since both types rule through fear and are powerful enough to defeat nearly anyone in a fight. The main difference is that onidere characters rule a much smaller area (such as a school) while maou rule entire kingdoms or even worlds. There is also of course no requirement for maou to ever have anything even resembling a deredere side.
Similar Archetypes
- Gou-dere: A term for a character who acts as an overpowering force to give their love interest everything they want even if it means inconveniencing others, but is cute, lovey-dovey, and deredere to their love interest.
- Maou: A term for a character who is a demon king.
- 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.
- Monster Musume: A term for beautiful female characters who share traits with a monster, which is often an oni.
- Sukeban: A term for a female character who is part of a female-only juvenile delinquent girl gang.
- Tsun-aho A term for a character who tries so hard to look uninterested in their love interest that they just end up making themselves look like a complete fool. Some onidere may try to make up outlandish excuses to try to cover up why they were just being affectionate with someone to maintain their reputation.
- Yandere (Yankii): A term for a yankii character who falls in love and becomes deredere.
- Yankii: A term for a character who is a juvenile delinquent.
List of Characters
Gallery
 Allen Crawford from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu  Allen Crawford with Charlotte Evans from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu  Allen Crawford with Charlotte Evans from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu  Allen Crawford with Charlotte Evans from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu  Allen Crawford with Charlotte Evans from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu  Allen Crawford with Charlotte Evans from Konyaku Haki sareta Reijou wo Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto wo Oshiekomu |
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Onidere Vol. 1. Shogakukan (2008/04/02). Archived on 2025/09/26. “Tadashi, a middle school student dating the ultimate delinquent girl, Saya, literally risks his life every day under the promise that "if anyone finds out they're lovers, they'll be killed immediately!" This new-sensational romantic comedy about this odd couple is finally available in book form!!”
- ↑ Onidere. Wikipedia JP (2023/08/16). Archived on 2025/09/26.
- ↑ What is Onidere?. Pixiv Encyclopedia (2023/06/06). Archived on 2025/09/26. “Saya Ikushima: The heroine of this work. She is in the same class as Tadashi (Class 2A) and is the strongest delinquent girl in the prefecture, leading the Onizuka gang. Her nickname is "Onizuka Saya" and she instantly destroys anyone who opposes her with her oni-like strength. She has something like a horn on her head. On the surface, she bullies Tadashi every day... but in reality, the two are secretly dating. When alone with Tadashi, Saya shows her deredere side.”
- ↑ What is Onidere. Nico Nico Pedia (2008/20/10). Archived on 2025/09/26.