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Content Warning! Content Warnings: Mentions of extreme violence, murder, and strong language. Depictions of blood. |
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Spoilers Ahead! |
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Happiness exists only because it's being supported by the misery of others. |
"Yangire" (JP) is a term for when a mentally unstable character snaps instantly without showing mercy for the victim of their angry outburst. They seem innocent and harmless at first glance, but will show their true mentally unstable and sickly nature when they are angered or irritated. They are in despair about the world and they show an abnormal obsession with an individual and will try to kill them. If it was just yandere, they would still be cute and endearing because they have a deredere side, but when they become yangire it's a different story.
Etymology
Meaning of the Term
Yangire (ヤンギレ) comes from the words "yanderu" (病んでる), meaning "to be mentally ill", and "gire" (ギレ), meaning "to get angry or snap".
Origin
Nanoha Takamachi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
The term "yangire" originated in 2007 and was created by Japanese fans for the character Nanoha Takamachi from the magical girl anime series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (JP). The term was coined because of the sickly look in her eyes when she becomes enraged in episode 8. Her eyes are a dark black as she stares coldly at Tiana.[1] However, interestingly this scene was changed in the DVD release of the series and Nanoha no longer looks sickly or crazy when she becomes angry during this scene, much to the disappointment of Japanese fans.[2]
The Japanese usage of this term was somewhat popular in 2007 given the popularity of Nanoha, but from 2008 onwards appears to have completely fallen out of favor. And considering Nanoha herself would not actually fall under this type following the corrections to the animation, this is likely the reason for it's fall in popularity.
Usage
However, usage of the term "yangire" seems to have thrived in the Western internet community as a way to preserve the original and true definition of yandere by creating a new archetype for characters who possess "yandere traits" (shy and cute persons who just snap one day) but lack the love-related trigger and deredere side. While mentions of a "yangire" could be seen as far back as 2007, it seems to have been firmly established with an agreed upon definition following the creation of the "Yandere and Yangire Appreciation Club" on MyAnimeList in early 2009.[3]
Usage of this new form of yangire later spread to the Japanese side of the internet around the same time, but was not very common until February 2013 when a page was created for it on the Pixiv Encyclopedia wiki.[4] While the term "yangire" is very popular in the West, it is still relatively uncommon in Japanese. It can occasionally be seen on Japanese social media, but the term has never been used in any official Japanese media. The term "ヤンギレ" only has ~400 search results from Japanese websites on Google while the English term "yangire" has over 130,000 search results.
History
Early Inspirations
Kurumi Tokisaki from Date A Live
The archetype is largely inspired by two characters. The first of which is Kurumi Tokisaki from the light novel series Date A Live. She is a girl with astonishing beauty who appears to be elegant and has very polite manners. She possesses a dislike of humanity that borders on mistrust. She is also a skilled actress as she is capable of putting on the facade of an innocent, curious young girl when she needs to. However, under that mask lies a madwoman, prone to fits of insane laughter and possessing no regard for human life, viewing them as a food source to restore her own time, and thus, a disposable commodity. There is a twisted sense of justice behind her methods, however, as the people that she brutally murders are would-be sexual assaulters and animal abusers. She possesses some degree of innocence that her psychotic behavior has not entirely ruined; she has a soft spot for small animals and other creatures. She once slaughtered four humans not because she wanted to, but because they were trying to kill a kitten. This drastic difference between her cute elegant behavior and her psychotic episodes has made her the face of yangire.
The second is Rena Ryuugu from Higurashi When They Cry who is the character most commonly mistaken for being yandere. Rena initially appears sweet and friendly but can become quite scary when threatened or angry, something that was called "demonic" by the other characters. She reveals her capability for extreme cruelty when she holds the entire school hostage. Rena orders Keiichi to tie up all the students, including Satoko, Rika, and Mion. She viciously bludgeons Mion with her hatchet claiming that Mion "betrayed" her. She fully intends to kill all of the children and herself if her demands are not met. However, she does show remorse when Keiichi succeeds in calming her down with their fight on the roof. Rena also possesses a signature "Kawaii Mode" or "Cute Mode," that shows when she is embarrassed or finds something cute. This extreme difference between her "cute mode" and her "demonic mode" is one of the reasons she became one of the most popular yangire characters.
Official Media
The first known use of yangire in official media comes from the 2020 Western horror survival game Saiko no Sutoka. In this game, the protagonist tries to escape from a yandere girl named Saiko-chan. While Saiko-chan is madly in love with the protagonist and would never do anything to harm him, she has a split personality who blames the protagonist for taking the attention of her other self. This causes Saiko-chan to switch back-and-forth between her "yandere state" and her "yangire state". In her yangire state, Saiko-chan is very hostile and shows an obsessive stalker behavior towards the protagonist. She will hide and attempt to ambush and kill the protagonist. [5]
The only other known use in official media is the 2024 Western RPG mobile game Monster Never Cry for the character Hibana, who was added to the game to commemorate the Japanese release of the game. She was described as someone who looks harmless but is actually a haraguro character. She often speaks scathing words with a big smile on her face and has a tendency to be a bit yangire.[6]
Characteristics
Unlike a yandere who is added to a story to explore the impact of having too much love, a yangire is created to use love solely as a tool in a narrative to give a motivation to the wrongdoings of characters and justify the causes of their dangerous mindset. The behavior of a yangire will result in the great trauma, injury and death of innocent characters, often including so-called "love interests" and even themselves in some cases.
Personality
Rena Ryuugu's extreme mood swings from Higurashi When They Cry
Yangire is a very similar term to yandere. They have an unnamed fictional mental illness, which causes them to have intense, violent mood swings: violent being very literal in this context. It is a very troublesome personality, being mentally ill and also angry.[7]
Yangire characters have usually gone through some amount of trauma in the past that caused their violent tendencies to surface. Because of their trauma, they have no faith left in the world, so they feel no remorse for killing and don't care about getting killed themselves. A yangire is devoid of compassion for their victims.
The most common type of yangire are those characters that don't even realize or control their actions, they just snap under certain circumstances. When it comes to this depiction of yangire, their violent side appears when something or someone makes them angry, afraid, or stressed out, making them feel like they have to do bad things in order to feel better, or making their murderous personality appear to solve their problem for them, whether they want them to or not.
The other type of yangire characters know exactly what they're doing and why it's so wrong, they just don't care. They are often considered a mastermind or evil genius, since they typically manipulate others to get what they want. They kill and torture people on their own will.
To put it simply, "The world is shit, I wish everyone would die" or, conversely, "You're the only one who can satisfy me, so I'm going to kill you!". They are in despair about the world, and they show an abnormal obsession with individuals and try to kill them, so there's no doubt that they have a very dangerous personality. If it was just yandere, they would still be cute because they have a deredere side, but when it comes to yangire, it's a different story.[4]
It is also possible for a character to start out as yandere, but later turn yangire if their sickness becomes too strong and something happens that makes them snap. While a yandere would never harm their love interest because their love and devotion is far too strong, if they are rejected or their love interest chooses someone else it is possible they become extremely angry and show a darker kind of obsessive behavior towards their love interest. Rather than having an obsessive devotion of love, love is now dead to them and they have an obsession of hatred and anger and now want to kill them.[5]
Sub-Types of Yangire
End of the World
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Without you, the world held no meaning or joy... So I used the forbidden prophecy of the Tribe of Ancients to end all worlds. I wanted to destroy everything that had taken you away from me... |
"End of the World-Type Yangire" (JP) are the type who are completely through with the world and want to completely end it as a result of suffering from loss. Love is now dead to them and something that only brings them great emotional harm. The name of this type refers to a catastrophic event that leads to the destruction of human civilization and possibly all life on Earth and could also be translated as "apocalypse-type".[4]
After someone they care about dies or disappears, so does their sense of meaning in the world. They are emotionally broken for life and will completely snap. Nothing else matters to them. They might try to destroy the world that took that person from them or even destroy "love" itself so it can't cause more harm to other people. Their new objective in life will be to bring justice and pursue and end any person or organization related to this calamity to prevent more in the future and for revenge. They feel that the death of their loved one has been caused by someone or something else. Whether this is true or not, they will try to avenge their death. Seeing other people displaying love will also make them feel great discomfort and sorrow. They will avoid it as much as possible. They don't believe in love anymore, but they also decide that no one else around them should or is allowed to experience love whatsoever. They will sabotage relationships or event directly kill anyone displaying any form of love. The only person who could possibly stop them is gone now, and so their slaughter continues.
They will not care about other people and even innocents that fall or get killed in the process. No matter if this mission ends as a success or a failure, having nothing else to live for, some will then kill themselves. If they don't end their own life, they will live the rest of it in misery.
Stalker
"Stalker-Type Yangire" (JP) are the type who will stalk their enemies and wait in hiding to ambush them.[5]
Differences From Other Archetypes
Yandere (sick dere) is a pathological obsessive love, while yangire (sick anger) is a pathological obsessive anger. When a character becomes yangire they behave far more chaotic and cruel than a typical yandere character. Unlike a yandere character, they are generally not motivated by their love for another but rather pure anger or irritation. A yandere character acts only with the the feelings of their love interest in mind, while when they become yangire they are free-spirited and commit atrocities at their own discretion. Characters who become yangire can still have a love interest but unlike a purely yandere character their love interest is not the cause for their mentally sick outburst (yan). A yandere character has a love interest and may kill in the name of love, but when they become yangire they don't need a love interest to trigger their mentally unstable side. Also when they are yandere there is still some cuteness because of their deredere side, but that is not the case when they become yangire.[8][9]
Similar Japanese Archetypes
- Yandere: A term for a character whose love, admiration, and devotion is so strong that it is expressed as an excessive obsession and possessiveness.
List of Characters
See Other:Yangire/Japanese Characters to see characters from Japanese media.
See Other:Yangire/Non-Japanese Characters to see characters from non-Japanese media.
Gallery
See Other:Yangire/Gallery to enter the full gallery.
 Kurumi Tokisaki from Date A Live  Tanya Degurechaff from Youjo Senki  Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica  Misaki Sakimiya from Dead Mount Death Play  Minatsuki Takami from Deadman Wonderland  Rena Ryuugu from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni |
References
- ↑ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 8 "A Wish, Together". Two Dimensions (2007/05/23). “Nanoha becomes yangire. "Why can't you follow my orders and do what you were trained to do?" asks an enraged Nanoha. Her eyes are dark black as she stares coldly at Tiana, who is desperate and going crazy. Nanoha then restrains Subaru and engages in brutal play, sniping at Tiana right in front of her. The psychological damage to Subaru seeing his precious friend being hurt in front of him is immeasurable.”
- ↑ Nanoha StrikerS DVD Volume 3 Art Correction Pictures Uploaded!. Dance of Eternity (2007/09/26). “And the one everyone has been waiting for, the yangire demon lord Nanoha, descends! Huh!? I'm in despair!! No matter how you look at it, I'm in despair because it's been changed for the worse!!! That sickly look in her eyes shows her anguish for her subordinates who don't listen to her, but Nanoha isn't such a kind-looking demon king!!”
- ↑ Yandere and Yangire Appreciation Club. MyAnimeList (2009/02/09). “Term of Yangire: In order to keep the original definition intact, another term has arisen to describe girls who exhibit yandere traits but do not fit the true definition of what a yanderekko entails. This term, known as yangire (ヤンギレ), refers to characters who snap suddenly out of jealousy, irritation or something similar. Yangire is a combination of the two words yanderu (病んでる), meaning to be sick, and kire or gire (切れ), meaning to cut, slice, or "to snap". This behavior is different from that of a yandere character in regard to the motivation that sparked the change in the character. The yanderekko is motivated through her love for the male protagonist, while a yangire character is motivated through other characters and will not be connected with emotions of love or attraction.”
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 What is Yangire?. Pixiv Encyclopedia (2013/02/21). “The way a mentally sick person loses their temper, one of their personalities. A very nasty personality, being mentally sick and pissed off. To put it simply, they say things like "The world is shit, I wish everyone would die." or, conversely, "You are the only one who fulfills me, so I will kill you myself!" They are in despair about the world, and they show an abnormal obsession with an individual, trying to kill them, so there's no doubt that they have a very dangerous personality. If it was just yandere, they would still be cute and endearing because they have a deredere side, but when they become yangire, it's a different story. It seems to be an irresistible reward for extreme masochists.”
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Saiko no Sutoka. Steam (2020/09/06). “Yandere State: In this state, Saiko-chan is not directly hostile towards The Player.
Yangire State: In this state, Saiko-chan is very hostile, she will try any way to kill The Player such as she will hide and attempt to ambush The Player before returning back to Yandere State once she has done enough damage.” - ↑ The demon king who was reincarnated as the weakest monster returns! A demon king training RPG starting from scratch, "The Demon King of Another World". Famitsu (2024/10/22). “Hibana is a special character that was created to commemorate the release of the Japanese version. She is an elite member of the Demon King's assassination squad. She is a gap moe type who looks harmless but is actually a dark character. She often speaks scathing words with a big smile on her face. She has a tendency to be a bit yangire.”
- ↑ Yangire/Yandere Anime Characters. HubPages (2024/04/14). “I wanted to write about the yangire and its very closely related counterpart, the yandere. So what are these archetypes? Without digging too deeply into this in the introduction, a yangire is a seemingly normal and even adorable character who is likely to snap into a psychotic state without warning, usually when triggered by something specific. A yandere is very similar, except that a yandere's mental instability is driven by romantic love, and their violent actions are often motivated by a desire for the object of their affection.”
- ↑ Yandere Origin and History. Dictionary. “A concept closely related to yandere is yangire. This comes from yanderu, the same root in the first part of yandere, and kireru, meaning “to snap.” A yangire, then, is someone who was suddenly “snaps” into violent behavior. While a yandere acts violently because of love, a yangire acts violently because of some triggering event that brings up their past. Yangire don’t usually act out of romantic affection, and their personality “pre-snap” doesn’t have to be innocent and romantic, unlike yandere.”
- ↑ Trait: Yangire. Visual Novel Database (2011/03/31). “Yangire is used to describe a character who is mentally ill and snaps instantly without showing affection for the victim of their outbursts. Just like yandere characters, yangire characters start very loving and gentle, and suddenly turn out violent, but the difference is that yangire characters' actions are not related to romantic feelings.”