The Gothic movement is a counter-culture movement that appeared between the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s in the United Kingdom, in the wake of the post-punk musical movement. He was partly inspired by German expressionist cinema, fantasy and the Gothic novel. The movement and its aesthetic spread in various forms in Europe and the United States, but also the world of anime. In this article, we are going to bring you a list of the 30 best goth (including all subtypes) characters – both boys and girls – in the history of anime.
1. Re-l Mayer
Franchise: Ergo Proxy
Re-l Mayer is the female protagonist of the anime Ergo Proxy. Nineteen-year-old inspector of the Intelligence Department of the dome city of Romdo and grandson of Regent Donov Mayer, Re-l runs into Ergo Proxy while carrying out her duties and is so upset that she begins to investigate in order to solve the many mysteries that surround the creature. Her identification number as a citizen is RE-L124C41+.
At first glance, Re-l appears as a detached, cold, insensitive, and almost unpleasant girl; like every citizen of Romdo, since childhood, she was taught a rigid emotional control system aimed at maintaining impassivity, but in reality, the meeting with the Proxy marked her more than she would like to show, so much so that the only occasions in which you see in tears are the memory of that event.
Not very sociable and extremely haughty, she Re-l behaves with others showing disinterest and superiority, a fact perhaps derived from her social position as the Regent’s nephew; although apart from that, she does not like to be labeled as “excellence”.
Her rank has led her, over the years, to be at times spoiled, so much so that, infected by her Cogito, Iggy himself defines her as “much more inept than she thinks”; it is in fact made to understand that she is not used to combing her hair alone, she does not know how to cook, she has made a career by relying heavily on the entourage and has a poor ability to adapt to situations; which makes her easily prone to nervousness.
Also due to her paramilitary training, Re-l is a perfectionist with obsessions of control and an obsession with order, even in alien residences; a characteristic that, under stress, makes her hysterical even for the slightest defect. Moreover, she seems to be a slave to the rigid routine of wake-up, exercise, and mealtimes that she imposes on herself and records in the same notebook in which she transcribes her observations about the cases she follows.
As evidenced by her frequent looking in the mirror, she possesses a hint of vanity, as well as a poor sense of modesty, so much so that on one occasion she shows herself naked to Vincent to extort from him the right to use the bathroom beyond the time limit established by the shifts on the Centzon Totochtin.
2. Mei Misaki
Franchise: Another
Mei Misaki is one of the protagonists of the series and a class 3-3 student in 1998. She was referred to by her fellow students to be the “ignored” of the class. Beautiful, calm and mysterious, Misaki has a doll’s eye that can see death after losing hers to illness. She had a twin sister whom she adored and saw her in secret, but the latter died.
3. Hei
Franchise: Darker Than Black
Hei is the code name of the protagonist of the story, an elite contractor and responds to the code BK201. Hei presents a split personality in the series. In front of the general public is Lee Shen Shun, a friendly Chinese exchange student who lives in the Umitsuki Apartments, and occasionally works a “different part-time job”.
Although that is the façade of him that allows him to blend in with the crowd, not raise suspicions and be able to carry out his missions, without being suspected. He has short black hair, and he has a big appetite in the first season. In the second, Hei is seen with longer hair, facial hair, and a generally scruffy appearance and seems to have substituted his appetite and fondness for cooking for alcohol.
Hei is known by other people to be a simple contractor. Authorities associate it with the star code BK201, which had been dormant. He is known in the Syndicate as “The Black Shinigami”. This last nickname he already had before being a contractor. In the Syndicate, he works as an assassin, being ruthless and very efficient, hence his nickname.
He operates in a common black mask and coat, but putting it on makes him bullet resistant. Hei possesses the ability to generate electrical discharges through a conductive medium (i.e. he cannot generate through air or concrete), in quantities large enough to kill an adult or short-circuit an electrical system.
The true potential of his supernatural abilities is later discovered, granting him the ability of molecular manipulation. Which can lead to the conclusion that the power of “Pai” inherited from “Hei” is not only about electrical energy, but that it is capable of manipulating one of the fundamental forces or interactions of the universe (which are: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear) in his case, the electromagnetic interaction involved in the physical and chemical transformations of atoms and molecules, which acts on from the level of particles, with those with an electrical charge.
4. Ulquiorra Cifer
Franchise: Bleach
Ulquiorra Cifer is the Cuatro Espada, his number is tattooed on his left pectoral muscle, where the heart is. It does not have a known fraction to date. He is the Espada symbolizing nothingness. Ichigo was shocked to learn that he was the Cuatro Espada, mistaking him for the Primera, seeing that Ulquiorra was his goal.
The level difference with the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaggerjack, whom Ichigo has defeated with difficulty, is abysmal. Ulquiorra seems to have complete trust in Aizen, and conversely, Aizen has never contradicted Ulquiorra’s decisions. He can release his zanpakutō and has the ability to regenerate limbs that he has lost except for his brain and internal organs.
5. Sasuke Uchiha
Franchise: Naruto
Sasuke is able to understand and practice ninja techniques with ease. In addition, being a member of his clan, he is the possessor of a line of succession technique known as the Sharingan, which provides him with a wide variety of advantages in battle.
After the death of Itachi, Sasuke develops the Mangekyō Sharingan, an evolved form of the Sharingan with which he can perform techniques of a higher level, such as the Amaterasu, which consists of generating powerful black flames that consume everything in their path.
He also uses the Tsukuyomi, a powerful illusory jutsu, as well as the Susano’o, a large skeletal creature that progressively becomes a flaming warrior that protects its summoner and fights for him. Before he escapes from the village, his sensei, Kakashi Hatake, teaches him Chidori, a technique that consists of a series of chakra rays accumulating in the hand.
6. Misa Amane
Franchise: DEATH NOTE
Misa is a girl living in Kanto whose parents were killed by a burglar, himself killed by Kira. The day Misa was to die, she was stopped in an alley by a stranger telling her he loves her and that he wants to kill her before committing suicide, rather than to live without her.
Misa was saved by Jeras, a shinigami god who watched her constantly since he fell in love with her, thereby exceeding his rights to prevent Misa from dying by killing her attacker with his Death Note; a god of death does not have the right to kill to lengthen the life of a person who is dear to him.
7. Homura Akemi
Franchise: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Homura is a Puella Magi who appears in Madoka’s dream and is subsequently transferred to her college. She is a very beautiful and reserved girl, who has extraordinary intellectual and physical capacities, which makes her popular despite her strange and distant personality.
Having seen many Puella Magi die in battle, she tries to protect the other girls from these contracts, especially Madoka.
Because of this, she is Mami’s rival, who on the contrary wants Madoka to become a Puella Magi in her turn. She has the ability to control time during a fight and uses many weapons but mainly grenades. Its color is purple.
8. Rinko Ogasawara
Franchise: SHIROBAKO
Rinko Ogasawara is one of the supporting characters in the anime series SHIROBAKO. Rinko is currently working at Musashino Animation as a key animator and the character designer and general animation supervisor for Exodus!. Rinko always wears gothic clothes, also sometimes known as Gothic Lolita. She has cherry-red eyes and long, curly, almost white light blonde hair.
She has a gothic style, and is often seen with her black hair band on top of her head, she has a black dress and a white skirt under it. A little above her chest, she has a ribbon and some buttons. On the edge of her shirt, there are small black ribbons. She wears black stockings and ‘vintage’ red heels.
9. L
Franchise: DEATH NOTE
Light’s main opponent, L is considered the best sleuth in the world, although his identity is unknown. He’s investigating the Kira case. He calls himself Ryûzaki and Hideki Ryuga. His real name remains unknown in the first 12 volumes of the manga, but his real name, L Lawliet, is revealed in the 13th volume, How to read it. His eccentric demeanor is matched only by his intelligence.
10. Rin Okumura
Franchise: Blue Exorcist
The protagonist, fifteen years old in the story, is the son of Satan and was born to a human woman. He is also the heir to the powers of Satan. These were sealed at birth in the enchanted sword Kurikara, or Komaken, by Mephisto. It allowed him to live a normal life.
Rin became aware of his true identity after Kurikara could no longer contain the blue flames he inherited from his progenitor, and these events led to the death of his guardian, father, and exorcist Fujimoto Shiro at the very hands of Satan. , who at the same time attempted to send Rin into the demon realm.
11. Victorique de Blois
Franchise: Gosick
Because she has blood from Seyrun or the people of the gray wolves, the Marquis of Blois, her father, decided to isolate her in the depths of his mansion so that one day he could use the brilliant minds that the people born there have. When she reached a certain age, she was allowed to stay at Academia Santa Margarita, on the condition that she does not leave the campus unless her father or brother allowed it.
She spends her days in the upper part of the library, which is also a greenhouse; there, Kazuya always finds her reading difficult books and/or in other languages. In addition to her sharp tongue, utter frankness, and eccentric attitude of hers; Victorique also possesses incredible detective skills. According to Grevil of Blois, Kazuya is the first person Victorique is willing to solve police cases for without expecting anything in return (or doing it just for candy).
12. Road Kamelot
Franchise: D.Gray-man
Road is the eldest of the Noah, although she looks like a child and also has ‘childish preferences’, e.g. doing homework, playing games, etc. She can create a space of her own (Noah’s dream) by evoking her victims’ worst memories and bringing them back to them. Although she looks like a little girl, she is the eldest child of Noah and also holds the position of “Player”. This means she can control and reprogram the Ark as she pleases.
Road develops a deep affection and interest for Allen. She sees him as her property and claims to love him herself, but you don’t know if it’s really love, because she doesn’t shy away from hurting everyone physically and mentally. And although she usually doesn’t care much about anything, she puts her family, the Noah, above everything else. She embodies the Noah of dreams.
13. Zero Kiryū
Franchise: Vampire Knight
Zero’s parents were vampire hunters who were killed by the pureblood vampire, Shizuka Hiou. His birthday is September 28. The director of the academy raised him together with Yuuki. There they are both class prefects and, in addition, it ends up being discovered that he was bitten by the pure blood vampire, Shizuka, for which he also became a vampire.
His problem is that he cannot assimilate the blood pills, so he ends up biting Yuki to get food and not end up being a level E monster. He has a deep hatred of vampires, especially Kaname because he ends up taking Yuuki away from him. In addition, he hates the purebloods who are the ones who caused this damage in his life and returned Yuuki to his original form, a pureblood vampire.
This part is referred to the anime, in the manga more things are discovered and it continues. In the anime Yuuki is still waiting for Zero even if he leaves, instead in the manga she leaves with Kaname and decides to hide from Zero to give her life meaning. In the manga ending, Zero dies after spending over 1000 years with Yuuki. They have a child together.
He has always been preferred by many, especially Yuuki, the director, and his master vampire hunter, which brings him many problems with his twin brother, Ichiru. Although, at the end of the second season they reconcile and Ichiru, on the verge of death, gives his life to Zero; making him someone very powerful and “complete”.
14. Kurumi Tokisaki
Franchise: Date A Live
Kurumi is the third spirit encountered by Shido. She is at first glance a very beautiful young girl, attractive and charming but she is in truth a sadistic, mad and twisted person, who is the “most evil” spirit according to Shido. Its code name as such is Nightmare.
She appears invincible since she can regenerate as much as she wishes by going back in time. She gets killed several times and kills a good number of people herself (she would have killed more than 10,000 people according to Mana). She has the power to multiply by invoking her “selves” from the past.
15. Lucy
Franchise: Elfen Lied
Kaede / Lucy / Nyu is a young diclonius of around 17 with dark pink hair and dark pink eyes who is tall and thin who was abandoned in an orphanage when she was born. During these first years of life, she did not exhibit the homicidal tendency characteristic of her species.
But, after being subjected to various traumas during her childhood, her murderous instinct was unleashed and she became sadistic and cruel. She was captured and then locked up in research facilities located near the coast of Kamakura.
Several years later, she managed to escape, but during her flight, she suffered a head injury and developed a split personality, Nyu. Nyu is childish, innocent, gentle, and harmless. At first, she doesn’t know what to say “Nyu”, but she gradually acquires the language and manages to say Kōta’s name.
16. Yū Otosaka
Franchise: Charlotte
Yū is the protagonist of the series. With a rough and narcissistic personality, he discovers that he has the power to possess another person’s body for five seconds but only once. He will later discover that his true power is one of the strongest and most powerful in existence: it consists in stealing that of other espers.
He then begins to use it to cheat, and thus brilliantly enters the best high school in his city. However, the deception ends soon after he enters high school, as his power is discovered by Nao Tomori, student council president of Hishinoumi High School.
After explaining to him that he was not the only one with supernatural powers, she offers him to be transferred to her own high school, created to protect them, and to make his powers useful by joining the student council, something that Yū had to accept. He then moves in the company of his little sister, Ayumi, the only member of his family he has left since the disappearance of their parents and their being placed under the guardianship of an almost unknown uncle who lives far from home.
17. Medusa Gorgon
Franchise: Soul Eater
Medusa is a witch who prefers to use snakes as weapons. Consistently scheming, she aims to free Asura to use him in her own schemes. To do this, she infiltrates both Shibusen and ruthlessly abuses her child Chrona as a spy after her own cover as a school doctor is blown.
18. Rory Mercury
Franchise: GATE
She is a demi-goddess that she stopped aging when she was very young, when she became an apostle of Emroy. Her body will remain like this until her 1000th birthday, when she will ascend and become a goddess. That also means that she cannot die and can recover from any injury. She has superhuman strength which allows her to swing her extremely heavy halberd with ease.
She is also very fast and agile with centuries of combat experience, usually her formal apostle clothing strongly resembling that of a gothic lolita.
19. Crona
Franchise: Soul Eater
Crona is a very naive and submissive person, constantly annoyed by Ragnarok, who likes to play rather heavy pranks on him. Crona does not like to fight (she is often unable to overcome any obstacles that come her way), but Medusa usually puts a spell into Crona’s mind that increases her aggressiveness. Crona’s blood has been completely replaced with ‘black blood’, which protects him from physical damage and provides some degree of healing. Ragnarok, originally a normal weapon, was fused within black blood prior to transfusion, causing its symbiotic nature.
When Crona is under the spell, she becomes dangerously unstable, displaying signs of insanity such as maniacal laughter or incoherent comments. Still, Crona is a very emotional and sensitive person. Maka is the first friend Crona makes, who saves him from her sense of despair and isolation when Medusa tried to revive the Kishin. At a certain point Crona takes trial courses at Shibusen to learn the proper way to be a meister.
20. Lust
Appears in: Fullmetal Alchemist
Embodying the sin of lust, this homunculus is 250 years old and appears early in the story as one of the main ones, giving orders to Envy and almost always moving with Gluttony. It was she who initially formed plans such as the use of Envy to trigger Lior’s rebellion, the taking of Tim Marcoh hostage or the hunt for Barry the Butcher.
At first glance lascivious, she is good at playing roles as well, as when she takes the identity of Solaris to seduce Havoc. However, her plans often have flaws and she tends to underestimate her opponents too much.
21. Atsumu Matsuyuki
Franchise: Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
He is one of the group’s childhood friends; Since he was little he showed a serene attitude towards things, but in reality, he greatly appreciated the group, especially Menma. Currently, Tsuruko is the only one in the group who lives with him and they go to the same school that Jinta could not enter. It is seen that despite her cold or arrogant attitude at times, she is still very affected by Menma’s death and continues to treasure her a lot. In childhood, he confessed his love to Menma by handing her a hairpin.
22. Lelouch Lamperouge
Franchise: Code Geass
Lelouch is the son of the 98th British Emperor Charles zi Britannia and Empress Marianne. After the death of his mother, he was sold to Japan along with his sister Nunnally. It was there that he first met Suzaku, who over time became his best friend. When Japan was finally occupied by Britain and renamed Area 11, he vowed to overthrow his father and create a peaceful world for Nunnally. He officially died with his sister in the invasion of Britain, but he is protected by the Ashford family, who have already supported his mother, Marianne.
23. Nana Osaki
Franchise: Nana
Singer and lyricist for Blast. She was Ren’s girlfriend until he joined Trapnest. She is still very marked by this separation but is still in love with him. She meets Nana Komatsu on the train that takes them to Tokyo and by the force of chance, they find themselves living together in apartment No 707.
Abandoned by her mother during her childhood, Nana lives only for her dream of living. of his music and does not wish to lead a quiet and tidy little life. Endowed with a strong character which can sometimes prove to be excessive, she is afraid of losing people around her and is therefore particularly possessive of them.
24. Shaltear Bloodfallen
Franchise: Overlord
The Guardian of the First, Second, and Third floors of Nazarick, she has the form of a beautiful vampire girl. She is also in love with Ainz. She and Albedo constantly clash over her attention to the level of gathering supporters to support them in their quest to be the first wife. Shalltear is one of the most powerful guardians (specially optimized for fighting the undead), as an overall battle force she is adept at both physical and magical combat.
Due to an incident where she was subjected to mind control by a member of Black Scripture, she ends up unintentionally rebelling against Nazarick having Ainz kill her in a fight where she shows her enormous skill and experience in battle and later revives her.
25. Zeref
Franchise: Fairy Tail
An ancient dark sorcerer of great power. His name instills so much fear that the Council did not hesitate to try to destroy the tower just to prevent his resurrection. According to Ultear, he never actually died, he’s just sleeping (possibly due to a seal). He created several extremely dangerous dark objects, including a flute whose ability is to kill anyone who listens to its music.
It was never tested if it worked itself or if it also killed whoever touched it, since it was never used at any time and ended up sealed. He also created Deliora, the Demon of Disaster. The Lullaby and Deliora are spoken of as the demons of the Book of Zeref, so it is believed that one of his specialties may have been to create creatures or trap them and seal them in a book; in the middle of the series, it is revealed that he was never sealed.
26. Izuru Kira
Franchise: Bleach
Izuru Kira is the 3rd Division lieutenant. He was first under the orders of Ichimaru Gin, then, after the latter’s betrayal, under the orders of Amagaī Shūsuke (in the anime). Izuru Kira will find himself without a captain again after Amagaī’s suicide. Izuru was born into a family of lesser nobility, his parents died when he was young.
Orphaned when he entered the shinigami academy, the young Izuru made a place for himself among the best students of his class. While at the academy, Kira befriends Hinamori Momo and Abarai Renji who were in the same class as him. They trained and often spent time together. During a real-world outing to practice Soul Burial, he found himself in a group with Renji and Hinamori, under the tutelage of Hisagi Shuhei. Attacked by Hudge Hollows, and despite orders to flee, he heroically stayed with Renji and Hinamori alongside Shuhei in an attempt to defend him from the attackers.
They were saved at the last minute by Captain Aizen and his then vice-captain, Ichimaru Gin. From then on, fascinated by the strength of this charismatic captain, the three of them decided to become powerful shinigami, able to become vice-captain. After graduating, Izuru, along with Momo and Renji, was integrated into the 5th Division. Kira stayed there until Ichimaru Gin became the Captain of the 3rd Division.
He thus decided to be under his orders and was named vice-captain, after a passage in the 4th division, of which he kept some aptitudes for the care.
27. Gaara
Franchise: Naruto
Gaara was once kind and he initially tried to be friendly with others, despite their fear and hatred towards him, but Yashamaru’s actions and words changed him. Realizing that no one loved him, Gaara used his sand to carve the kanji “Love” into his forehead, as a symbol of a “self-loving demon” and to live up to his name.
He was convinced that Karura had destined him to live like this, firmly believing what Yashamaru had told him. Gaara became emotionally withdrawn, silent and consumed by a bitter hatred towards everyone except himself and “Mother”: Shukaku’s voice in his head. He found pleasure in annihilating the many assassins sent to kill him and, by extension, all who threatened his existence, and eventually made this his reason for living.
This worsened during Shukaku’s occasional requests for blood to quench his thirst, with Gaara then becoming ruthless, such as when he killed Baiu and Midare ignoring their pleas.
Gaara’s insomnia, imposed by the fear that the demon inside him would eat away at him if he were to fall asleep, only reinforced his instability and his desire to kill. His hatred extended to his brother and sister, not considering them as such. According to his own words, he was ready to kill them if they angered him.
28. Celestia Ludenberg
Franchise: Danganronpa
Known as Celeste for short. A student in Gothic Lolita costume who is a famous gambler and known as the Queen of Liars. She claims to live by the ethic that one must adapt to if one wants to survive. She is typically calm and collected, but will occasionally have uncharacteristic outbursts if something greatly annoys her. Her title is Ultimate Gambler. Her execution is named “The Burning of the Versailles Witch”.
29. Kōsei Arima
Franchise: Your Lie in April
Kōsei is a child prodigy with the piano, usually known as the “Human Metronome” due to his mother’s overly strict teaching method. He was able to play the piano with extreme precision and discipline and thus won various competitions throughout Japan at a young age. He loses the ability to play the piano after his mother, who was also his piano teacher, died due to illness.
Two years later, he resumes his career as a pianist after being influenced by Kaori Miyazono, to become her accompanist during competitions. Influenced by the girl’s emotional style, Kōsei gains self-confidence and falls in love with her, however, he never confesses his feelings for her.
30. Hannah Annafellow
Franchise: Black Butler
Hannah is the maid of the Trancy household and also a demon who even houses the demon sword Laevateinn. She is very loyal to Alois Trancy, but is physically and mentally abused by him. But she seems to be tacitly accepting this, which was nothing unusual at the time. However, towards the end of the anime, one learns that she had a contract with Alois Trancy’s “brother” Luka a long time ago, since he wished for Alois that his dream of the mass deaths of the villagers surrounding them would come true.
Hannah explains that she loves Luka and therefore loves Alois, which may be one of the reasons she endured Alois’ abuse towards her without using her powers. She eventually enters into another contract with Alois after he realizes that Hannah and Luka, whose soul resides within her, are the only ones he can expect love from.
