Smugdere

Oh? Is someone embarrassed?
—Yuu Akeuchi, from Hoshikuzu Telepath

"Smugdere" is a term for a character who likes to tease their love interest by making a smug face at them, but is also sometimes deredere to them. They take excessive pride in themselves or their actions in a sarcastically braggadocios kind of way and are characterized by flashing their trademark smirk/mischievous grin at their love interest to get a reaction out of them. They just like to push their love interest's buttons while showing how composed they are and are more sarcastic and joking than actually feeling superior or entitled.

Etymology

Meaning of the Term

Smugdere comes from the English word "smug", meaning "to have or show excessive pride in oneself or one's achievements", and "deredere" (デレデレ), a mimetic word for "being lovestruck".

Origin

Smugdere was created on the internet in the Western community to describe the character Shinoa Hiiragi from Seraph of the End.^[1]

Personality

Smug Period

Smugdere are characters who take excessive pride in themselves or their actions. They are known for making their trademark smirk at their love interest to get a reaction out of them.

Smugdere are very braggadocios in a sarcastically prideful kind of way. When a smugdere does something they feel is praiseworthy, they will look at their love interest and make a smug face that says "I am better than you!". This could be something as simple as outperforming them in a contest or just in general outsmarting them and wanting to rub it in. A smugdere also might smirk after coming up with a genius plan that they're proud of.

A smugdere just likes to push their love interest's buttons while showing how composed they are. They are more sarcastic and joking than feeling superior or entitled.

Deredere Period

While smugdere characters like to joke around, they do still have a more serious loving side. When a smugdere shows their "dere" side they may even start to take excessive pride in their love interest's actions as well. When their love interest does something they are proud of they will make a smug face that says "My love interest is better than you!".

Differences From Other Archetypes

Smugdere could be thought of as a less harsh version of kamidere. While both take exceptional pride in themselves, a kamidere will also look down on others as lesser beings and demand to be worshipped or given special treatment. They will also be entitled all the time, whereas a smugdere just takes excessive pride in themselves for a brief moment. A smugdere just likes to push other people's buttons and does not actually feel entitled.

It could also be thought of as a variation of a teasedere, but the difference is that instead of being flirtatious teasing it's teasing for the sake of pushing their buttons and getting an angry reaction out of them. Also unlike the other teasing dere types, smugdere often don't verbally tease their love interest and instead let their smug face do all of the talking for them.

Similar Japanese Archetypes

Kamidere: A term for characters who want to be treated as a god by their love interest.
Teasedere: A term for characters who are playfully flirtatious and enjoy teasing their love interest.

List of Characters

See Smugdere/Japanese Characters to see characters from Japanese media.
See Smugdere/Non-Japanese Characters to see characters from non-Japanese media.

Gallery

References

↑ Thoughts on Smugdere. Reddit (2015/10/12). “It is smugdere, which stands for someone who acts smug, but has a loving side. A smugdere just likes to push people's buttons and while showing how composed they are. They are more just sarcastic and joking around than really feeling superior or entitled. I have only seen the term smugdere used to describe one character and that is Shinoa from Owari no Seraph.”

v • eDere Types
Japanese	Standard	Bakadere ♥ Biridere ♥ Bokodere ♥ Butsudere ♥ Dandere ♥ Darudere ♥ Deredere ♥ Dorodere ♥ Erodere ♥ Gandere ♥ Goudere ♥ Gundere ♥ Hajidere ♥ Himedere ♥ Hinedere ♥ Kamidere ♥ Kichidere ♥ Kiridere ♥ Kuudere ♥ M Dere ♥ Nyandere ♥ Onidere ♥ Rindere ♥ Roshidere ♥ S Dere ♥ Shindere ♥ Shundere ♥ Tsundere ♥ Tsuyodere ♥ Undere ♥ Usodere ♥ Utsudere ♥ Uzadere ♥ Wandere ♥ Yandere (Yanderu) ♥ Yandere (Yankii) ♥ Yoidere ♥ Zondere ♥
Japanese	Variations	Deretsun ♥ Tsun-Aho ♥ Tsun-Ama ♥ Tsunbaka ♥ Tsundora ♥ Tsunneko ♥ Tsun-Pure ♥ Tsunpuri ♥ Tsunshun ♥ Tsuntere ♥
Western	Standard	Bocchandere ♥ Byoukidere ♥ Kanedere ♥ Kekkondere ♥ Nemuidere ♥ Oujidere ♥ Oujodere ♥ Smugdere ♥ Teasedere ♥ Thugdere ♥
Western	Variations	Ahodere (Western) ♥ Kamidere (Western) ♥ Kidere ♥ Mayadere (Western) ♥ Megadere (Western) ♥
Other	Dere Types ♥ Unofficial Dere Types ♥

[1] Thoughts on Smugdere. Reddit (2015/10/12). “It is smugdere, which stands for someone who acts smug, but has a loving side. A smugdere just likes to push people's buttons and while showing how composed they are. They are more just sarcastic and joking around than really feeling superior or entitled. I have only seen the term smugdere used to describe one character and that is Shinoa from Owari no Seraph.”

[1]

Dere Types Wiki