This post is all about the best Tomboy Anime Characters of All Time - let's go! Don't forget to check out these Top Fantasy Anime series picks to find your new favourite!
20. Android 18 from Dragon Ball - twin sister to Android 17, she is the eighteenth creation of Dr Gero. Although perhaps not really human, she is distinctly tomboyish, being a cool, confident and carefree character, especially in battle, with some boyish traits. She is outspoken and spunky, although her humour might not always be tactful and she lacks a certain sensitivity towards others at times. She is cool and laid back, which is represented in her casual, laid back and 'cool girl' outfits.
19. Yuuko from Nichijou - a brilliant pranker and joker, Yuuko is silly, cheeky and carefree, wearing short pale chestnut-brown hair, dark-umber eyes and the schools standard girls uniform. She is such a cute character and can be understood as being tomboy from her carefree attitude and outgoing, boyish traits. Ninchijou translates to 'Everyday Life' and she is the perfect fit as the main character for this series!
18. Hajime from New Game - Hajime presents as a traditional tomboy character, with a love of sports and athletic activities. She loves to ride her bike and is loud, friendly and outspoken. She is also a huge Otaku, with a huge collection of toys, models and figurines, a huge love for anime and an adoration for the detective series 'Dandy'. Hajime becomes the lead game designer in the second season, after pitching a mecha dodgeball game.
17. Kei from Akira - cutting a super powerful, strong, masculine figure, she is a member of the Resistance, the anti Government force. Her energy and passion are boundless but she is also incredibly smart, protective and loyal. Before being arrested she finds out that she has psychic powers, an important skill in Akira. However, she cannot use them herself, so has to channel them through others. With a little help from Kaneda, she is able to escape and return to her beloved resistance activities.
16. Misty from Pokemon - her gym leader title is 'tomboyish mermaid' but is she really a tomboy? Although there are threads on the internet protesting against it, if we adhere by the simplest definition of a tomboy that is a girl that acts and dresses pretty masculine - then Misty is one heck of a tomboy! She is such a powerful and headstrong member of the original Pokemon anime trio and such an epic character. In the anime she is an aspiring Water Pokemon Master and Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym and is decked out in her iconic outfit of sneakers and suspenders.
15. Eiko Aizawa from Squid Girl - Eiko is a tomboyish high school student who also runs the Lemon beach house in Kamakura Kamakura with her sister Chizuru. She loves sports and isn't afraid to speak openly, and is always decked out in sporty outfits. She is headstrong too, when Ika Musume, known as the squid girl, appears from the depths of the ocean to take over the world, Eiko is able to reign her in and forces Ika to become Lemon staff in order to pay off damages from her invasion.
14. Mikasa Ackerman from Attack On Titan - strong, hot headed and fearless, Misaka is one of the army’s best soldiers. Mikasa is also one of the last of her kind, one of the world’s last Asians, which has caused her trouble and suffering as a child. As a result, she is powerful, passionate and fearless, yet loving and loyal; she is not afraid to protect the boys when needed, even when fighting against literal zombie giants.
13. Kaori Makimura from City Hunter - she is a powerful character, co-founder of the City Hunter team as well as being a hitman-assassin-bodyguard, with her powerful body and strong frame. She is a tomboyish character to the extent that she often gets confused for being a man, which can lead to awkward situations. She has a large build which is perfect for her job and can handle herself expertly in fights with her large array of weapons. She has a love interest in Ryo Saeba, who she formed the City Hunter team with, but unfortunately it is unrequited as Ryo cannot love her back.
12. Haruko Haruhara from FLCL - a fierce, ferocious and often unpredictable character perhaps prone to violent tendancies, she is a member of the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood with a feverish intent to track down the notorious space pirate, Atomsk. Although she isn't technically human, her powerful personality traits are enough to make her infamous and land her on this list. As the plot goes, she becomes the Nandaba household's maid while working to find Atomsk, the most powerful space pirate in the galaxy.
11. Seishirou Tsugumi from Nisekoi - a traditional, stereotypical bad boy tomboy type Even at school, she dresses as a boy and introduces herself a boy. Adopted by Claude Ringheart, leader of the notorious Bee Hive Gang, Seishirou (typically a boy’s name) trained as a hitwoman and is fiercely loyal to the gang. Having mastered every weapon under the sun, those who cross her path better be prepared.
10. Sora from Digimon - the only girl in the school's soccer team, Sora is portrayed as the typical tomboy, she is cunning and selfless and partnered with digimon Biyomon. Throughout the series we witness incredible character development as she gradually learns to love herself and feel comfortable in her abilities. She has a troubled past that deeply impacts her emotions throughout the franchise. She was frequently told off for playing football as a kid, and grew up in a fractured family. We see her grow from a child (she is 11 in Digimon Adventure) to an adult (she is 22 in Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna) which makes it such a great coming of age anime and she is such a fun character to grow with.
9. Nagisa from Pretty Cure - the school’s star lacrosse player who receives multiple love letters from admirers. She is sporty, spunky and outspoken, a particular contrast to Honaka, who is carefully spoken, gentle, feminine and beautiful. Her Pretty Cure ego is Cure Black. She wears a flame coloured, sweeping fringe and is the main heroine of the series.
8. Amanda O'Neill from Little Witch Academy - a headstrong, fearless, sporty character who loves to impress with her physical tricks, which often land her in hot water with teachers. In Amanda O’Neil and the Holy Grail, she transforms into a boy to sneak into the all-boys magic-hating Appleton Academy in Handsome and elegant. No one thinks her out of place! She is also a fantastic sword fighter, managing to defeat many fencers without any need of her wand. She has flame coloured short locks and bright green eyes and is much more comfortable in combat than anywhere else.
7. Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena - a tomboy character who wants to become a prince and to take the hand of Rose Princess Anthy by combat! She is an epic swordfighter and manages to beat all other suitors, fulfilling her dream as prince - but there is more to contend with than she first anticipates!
6. Ukyo Kuonji from Ranma ½ - a character that often crossdresses throughout the anime, making it such a fun exploration of gender roles. Ukyo is introduced as a male student when she dressed up as a boy to join an all-boys academy, although she regularly skips school to learn from restaurants in order to become the world’s best Okonomiyaki chef. Later in the series she finds Ranma again, falls in love, and decides to become feminine to get his attention… but only temporarily, as she eventually returns to her tomboyish style.
5. Kobayashi from Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid - as a 9-5 office worker, she struggles to find her purpose. She finds herself not quite knowing where she belongs, her cool demeaner, pragmatism and suggestively masculine traits paint her as a tomboy, but she's not quite one of the bros either. One drunk night, she saves the life of a female dragon in distress, by pulling a sword out of her back. The dragon then shows up the next day and begs to be Kobayashi’s maid. As the series progresses, Kobayashi is thrust into adoptive motherhood, becomes guardian of earth and then a magician in the later manga chapters.
4. Winry Rockbell from Fullmetal Alchemist - childhood best friend, love interest and main competition of Edward Elric throughout the series, Winry has many roles but her main passion is her work as a teenage mechanic. She has many stereotypically masculine traits and interests, she helped to create Edward's mechanical arm and possesses the mechanical and medical knowledge to fix and mend it multiple times after the many military injuries Edward receives. She aspires after her Grandma Pinako, who is also a genius mechanic, but Winry's amazing skills means she finds herself amassing a large and loyal clientele when she and the brothers move to Rush Valley.
3. Bulma from Dragon Ball - Introduced in the first Dragon Ball episode, Bulma is the one that introduces Goku to the power of the Dragon Balls and takes him out of the mountains and into the city. She takes on a main pivotal role in that her genius mind, wit and tenacity are irreplacable, she is a brilliant scientist and is the second daughter of Capsule Corporation's founder Dr. Brief. She is the perfect accompaniment to Goku in the anime, their relationship akin to an 'older sister, younger brother' one, although they are not related. She is fierce, headstrong and a great leader in the anime, a role which was really only fulfilled by a male character in the years it came out. For her time, she is an epic tomboy character.
2. Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon - One of the most famous and epic LGBT characters of classical anime, Sailor Uranus is an openly lesbian power rocket, who in the past has stirred up enough controversy to fill out whole swathes of the internet, which can only mean she's a powerful and deeply fascinating character! Indeed, Sailor Uranus, or her secret identity, Haruki Tenoh, dresses as a male, has Sailor Neptune as a love interest, is a racecar driver and a swordsman. But at the same time she’s elegant, she’s protective, fearless and totally comfortable in her sailor/princess personas. An episode of Sailor Moon Crystal recently revealed that Sailor Uranus is actually a transgender character, or intersex, in that she was born with both male and female parts, but is able to switch between the two at will. What is really evident, however, is the power and passion she wields as a supernatural fighter who protects the Solar System from evil.
1. Ryuko from Kill La Kill - such a fascinating, strong and in depth character, her fury to find out the reason behind her father's death propels her to show up as an exchange student at Honnoji academy, meaning to gain access to the school's villainous council president Satuski Kiryuin, to gain her information. Though she is quickly turned upon and defeated by Satuski's henchmen, she manages to escape back to her childhood town, where the blood from her wounds awakens Senketsu, a sentient sailor uniform created by Ryuko’s late father. Initially uncomfortable Initially uncomfortable with their revealing magical girl transformation, she slowly begins to learn the power she holds, becoming one with her new identity and also her past, in order to defeat Satsuki and learn the truth about her father. She is strong, powerful and headstrong, but there is so much humanity to her character, which makes her so relatable throughout the series.
It's so interesting exploring concepts of gender and personality traits, alongside robot humans, alien duo types and completely out there, madly creative human hybrids. Just like in real life, there are so many shades of tomboy from the girl who dresses like a boy, to the feminine but powerful fighter, to transgender men, to those who change gender every other episode (I’m looking at you Ranma).
Regardless, the tomboy (and all related character archetypes) is a mainstay of anime characters - they represent the perfect blend of the whole gender spectrum. They can be sexy but reserved, powerful but feminine, shy but sporty, the androgynous everybody and the star of the show, but always totally endearing.
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