Top 20 Kuudere Boys in Anime

Unlike the ladies with the kuudere personality type in anime, kuudere boys are a little bit more of a special snowflake. Kuuderes with their coldness often come off as cute or even mysterious when it comes to girls, but many believe a kuudere boy is boring. They’re not boring, but even if you thought so, they’d probably be oblivious to it.

20 – Ledo from Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

When you spend your life inside of a mech and fighting for your life at every opportunity, it only makes sense that you were reared to have few emotions. However, while very kuudere at first, as Ledo grows throughout the series, he uncovered emotions hidden deep within him and goes from kuudere to well-adjusted normal person by the end.

19 – Naoki Irie from Mischievous Kiss

Although Naoki is the textbook definition for what a male kuudere is, he is ranked so low because, well, he is also kind of a dick. He plays games with a girl that tirelessly chases after his affections, and while this is often attributed to the denial of his own feelings, sometimes, he just does it because it is amusing.

18 – Brandon Heat from Gungrave

When Brandon Heat comes back as Grave, his cold, quiet demeanor is attributed to him being revived from the dead and a strong desire for vengeance. However, through flashbacks, it is shown that Brandon Heat, while having slightly more emotions, was always the strong, silent kuudere type.

17 – Karasuma Ooji from School Rumble

Ah, those dead eyes accented by that silly bowl hair cut. If you want emotionless, you can’t get any more emotionless. Or oblivious. But his personality is pretty much one of the lynchpins of School Rumble’s plot.

16 – Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha

Whether it be demons, humans, or his own half-brother, Sesshoumaru is shown to care very little. However, throughout the series, you get to be familiar with the emotions that he kept stuffed deep inside. It is shown that while he didn’t particularly care for his half-brother, he did once want to depend in him in the demon wars, but that was ruined after he found out Inuyasha was sealed to a tree. The most emotions we see from him, though, are those that come for caring for the orphan girl, Rin.

15 – Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler

If your parents were killed and you got a bit raped by a group of men, you’d probably be as apathetic as Ciel too. While there are emotions in there, he keeps them pretty close to the vest, likely because he might be taunted with them by his own demon butler.

14 – Hei from Darker Than Black

Most Contractors in Darker Than Black are pretty kuudere, for the most part because they traded away their humanity. While Hei is typically as stoic as they come, if not provoking with his attitude at times, it is because of the trauma of the Heaven’s War, but he still cares inside.

13 – Hakuya Mitsumine from Engaged to the Unidentified

When it comes to romance series, a kuudere male is typically a pretty good choice for a love interest. They are cool, they are mysterious, and they are so alluring. However, typically they are a little fuller of emotion than Hakuya. Throughout the series, he rarely talks and often fades into the background because of the stronger personalities, but it is his actions that show how he feels inside as well as the exposition given by his sister.

12 – Takumi Usui from Class President is a Maid!

Usui is dangerously close to dipping into tsundere territory, but while hostile, he is also pretty cool and collected like a kuudere, something that probably makes him so attractive to many.

11 – Nicolas from Gangsta

This one…  Almost doesn’t seem fair. Because Nicholas is deaf and is self-conscious about his voice, he is strong and silent. However, even though he doesn’t talk, he is always quick to help people in need.

10 – Levi from Attack on Titan

With the reputation as humanity’s strongest soldier, it is only natural that Levi has such a cold and unapproachable personality. However, he has a deep respect for structure, cherishes human life, and has the rather crowd pleasing fault of being a clean freak. Regardless of his kuudere attitude, he always cares deeply about those under his charge.

9 – Byakuya Kuchiki from Bleach

Byakuya has one emotion, and that is none. He is only seen to have smiled a handful of times throughout the series and otherwise maintains an excellent poker face. While cold in attitude and actions, he often works behind the scenes to show his kindness.

8 – Mori from Ouran High School Host Club

You may remember Mori from our dandere anime boys, and that is because he walks the fine line between the two. Some episodes he stays more dandere, other episodes he is the strong silent kuudere type that shows he cares through being quietly forceful.

7 – Near from Death Note

Unlike his mentor L, Near has less of a propensity for the occasional burst of emotion through blunt honesty. That is why he was often lauded as better than L himself. He is cold, calculating, and highly intelligent which makes for the perfect observer and detective.

6 – Legato Bluesummers from Trigun

Whether it is destroying towns or murdering his own gang, Legato maintains that same stoic face and apathetic attitude. He cares very little for life which makes him a natural ally for Knives.

5 – Byaku from Kekkaishi

Although thought to be Ayakashi, which would have explained his attitude, this follower of the princess is as kuudere as they come. He cares for his master, but absolutely nothing else.

4 – Ulquiorra Cifer from Bleach

Who could possibly be more kuudere than Byakuya? Well, it’d be this utterly emo bastard. He is analytical in attitude and melancholic in appearance, something that makes for very little emotion to be shown. Even when he does show a perceived soft side, typically it is because he believes that the person will end up destroying themselves.

3 – Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z

Yeah, that’s right. Piccolo. Although his attitude early on in Dragon Ball Z towards Gohan is more tsundere, as things for the Z Fighter goes on, he becomes more honest with his feelings. With this, he abandons a lot of tsundere attitude behind (leaving it up to Vegeta) and becomes more of the cool and collected member of the group.

2 – Aoshi Shinomori from Rurouni Kenshin

Aoshi is an enigma through most of Rorouni Kenshin. He shows no emotion, even when he wins his battles, and doesn’t seem to care much about anything. However, it was shown that he cared much for his comrades of the Oniwabanshu, becoming their leader after many failed to adapt to the Meiji Era after the revolution. He swears revenge for some of those comrades, but eventually becomes a fair weather ally of Kenshin after repeated defeats.

1 – Itachi from Naruto

Why Itachi? Why is he the top kuudrere? Well, everything he did was for his brother and it was revealed that while seemingly emotionless, he cared a lot about many things. However, on this list, Itachi is also a representative of many. There are so many kuudere characters in Naruto, I could fill a top 20 list with just them. As the ultimate kuudere in the series, he also represents many fighters in the series.

Did we forget to include your favorite kuudere boy from anime? Tell us all about that special snowflake in the comments section below.