Red hair, as depicted in anime, is actually red and is not associated with real-world redheads, whose hair is actually orange (we’ve already done this list for the world of anime). Actual red-haired characters are generally passionate, adventurous, aggressive, hot-headed, seductive, feisty, and enthusiastic.
This is why red is usually associated with hot-headed, slightly aggressive, and passionate male characters, although it’s not a rule. Female redheads share the same traits, but they tend to be more subtle in their expressions.
In this article, we are going to bring a list of the 20 best red-haired anime characters that we know of. We’ll be using different sources and rank them based on their popularity and the general level of awesomeness they represent. The list is going to be pretty diverse, including various characters from various franchises and genres.
Best Red-haired Anime Characters
20. Karin
Franchise: Naruto
Karin was the keeper of Orochimaru’s southern lair. Responsible for maintaining order and monitoring the prisoners, she also assisted Orochimaru in some of his experiments. After defeating Orochimaru, Sasuke comes to the South Lair with Suigetsu Hōzuki in order to integrate him into his team “Hebi” in order to take advantage of his abilities to feel the chakra.
At first reluctant to join Sasuke, because of her position as guard, her position will change radically when Suigetsu leaves to free the prisoners and she will be alone with Sasuke. Attracted by the latter, she will try to make him abandon Suigetsu so that they both go alone. When the latter returns, she will pretend to want to “go in the same direction” in order to follow them.
After recruiting Jūgo, she will go in search of information about Itachi in a fairly close region. Meanwhile, Sasuke fights Deidara. Finding Sasuke in a mess, the rest of the team will hide in an inn. Karin will then sense the Konoha ninjas in pursuit.
A native of Kusa, Karin participated in the chūnin exam and there met Sasuke who defended her against a bear in the “Forest of Death” while she was separated from her teammates. This fact, however, is only known during the second part of the manga.
According to a special episode of the anime, she met Orochimaru shortly after the chūnin exam, the latter having rescued her from two men assaulting her to sell her body on the black market.
19. Yoshino Fujieda
Franchise: Digimon
Yoshino “Yoshi” Fujieda is the oldest on the team. She is independent and sees herself as a big sister to her partners. Despite her advanced maturity, Yoshi finds it difficult to believe in herself during the first episodes.
It was as a result of a very intense inferiority complex that she suffered because of her older sisters when she was little. However, her partner Lalamon helps her overcome this complex.
18. Mito Jūjō
Franchise: Seraph of the End
Mito Jūjō is a minor character in the anime Seraph of the End. She is a member of Guren’s squad and also a colonel in the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. Mito’s cursed equipment allows her to fight vampires with her fists.
She participates in the Battle of Shinjuku and then takes part in a practice match against Shinoa’s force at the Ebina rest area. Mito also joins her squad and a hundred-man assault on vampire nobles in Nagoya.
17. Kurama
Franchise: YuYu Hakusho
Friend and companion of Yusuke, also a friend and former accomplice of Hiei. A student at Meiho High School, he lives alone with his human mother Shiori (his father having passed away long before the story begins) and is the human reincarnation of Youko, an old thief demon with the appearance of a fox.
The smartest of Yusuke’s group, Kurama is a calculating and experienced fighter. Gentle and sensitive in appearance, he is nevertheless renowned among demons as being cruel and without any pity for his enemies.
As he gets along with everyone and is not impulsive by nature, he sometimes acts as a mediator during arguments within the group, when he is just not having fun or being an accomplice in pranks.
16. Mila Babicheva
Franchise: Yuri!!! on ICE
Mila Babicheva is a female individual skater. Mila is a rather tall young lady with chin-length, wavy auburn hair that hangs down on her right side (an undercut starts a little above her ear, though the shaved areas are usually hidden by the outer layers of hair), with deep blue eyes, she often wears pink lip gloss, and she is very strong, being able to lift Yuri Plisetsky over her head despite her small figure.
She is usually seen in her workout outfit, which consists of a black long-sleeved shirt that shows her waist, black pants, and pink gloves.
Mila is a caring person who looks out for her teammates. However, she is a force to be reckoned with if provoked. Yuri mentions that Mila beat up her ex-boyfriend when she found out he was cheating on her.
It’s fun to be with Mila, who has quite a sense of humor and loves to tease Yuri Plisetsky, but she also pokes fun at Georgi Popovich by watching his short program.
Mila is a student of Yakov Feltsman with Yuri Plisetsky, Georgi Popovich, and Victor Nikiforov (Mila’s colleagues at the rink).
Mila is currently ranked third in the women’s international individual standings, ahead of Sara Crispino. It was revealed that Mila was dating a hockey player before the series began, but they broke up.
15. Chelsea
Franchise: Akame ga Kill!
Chelsea worked under a cruel viceroy who made a sport of hunting people. Under this oppression, she began to become nihilistic until she found the Gaea Foundation, which had been put into storage because no suitable owner could be found.
With the help of the Teigu, she assassinated the Viceroy, who was replaced by a kind and competent man. Realizing that she had brought about change with her Teigu, she eventually joined the Revolutionary Army.
At an unknown time, she came under the care of Babara Oreburg and was assigned to fight for the Revolutionary Army against the Imperial Assassins, along with Babara and her other student Taeko.
Her time with Babara and Taeko was brief, as both were killed early on by Gozuki and Akame respectively, while Chelsea herself was captured by Gai’s debt collector when she impersonated him to help Taeko.
After the deaths of Taeko and Babara, Chelsea (with other members of the Oarburgh clan) came to eliminate Elite Seven. Before the raid on Elite Seven, Chelsea went with Gilberda to spy on Merraid and a random girl.
Merraid found out and involved Gill and Chelsea in her orgy. Later, Cassandra joined them. Chelsea did not want to do it, but she was powerl
14. Sora
Franchise: No Game No Life
Sora is the eldest 18-year-old brother of Shiro. He has never had a girlfriend and is afraid of never having one, which makes him very kinky towards Stephanie, or many others. However, he is very protective of his sister Shiro and is determined to raise her properly.
He has absolute confidence in himself and he never doubts his abilities. His speed of mind, his sense of manipulation, and his twisted logic make him a formidable player by the whole world.
When he was young, Sora believed that humans were stupid and weak, but his meeting with the young Shiro, then 3 years old, made him rise again in his faith in humanity. He’s wearing a yellow T-shirt that says “I love humanity”. Separated from Shiro, he loses all self-confidence and all form of ego.
13. Zora
Franchise: Black Clover
Zora Ideale is a member of the Black Bull. He wears a leather mask that covers the underside of his face, but leaves his mouth uncovered, similar to a ninja. Zora is cynical and grumpy, and is highly disrespectful of others, whether they are nobles or his own teammates.
Aside from contempt for anyone, his main characteristics are his unpredictability and love for jokes. He uses ash-based magic and is an expert in creating magical traps. He primarily uses traps that reflect the magic of others and can set large-scale traps, which require time, energy, and magic in proportion to size.
His father Zara was part of the Purple Orca, and was the first plebeian to join the Magic Knights. After his father died on a mission, Zora discovered that he had been killed by his own companions, as they did not tolerate the idea of a commoner associating with the nobles.
Having grown up, he then begins to seek out and eliminate all the corrupted Magic Knights. During his wanderings, Zora meets Yami, who offers him a place on his team. Even though Zora keeps his robe with her, he doesn’t wear it and continues his mission.
After defeating and taking over from Deputy Commander of the Purple Orca, Xerx Lugner, he participates in the Royal Knights’ election exam alongside Asta and Mimosa.
12. Shanks
Franchise: One Piece
“Red-Haired” Shanks, commonly known only as “Red Hair”, is the leader of the Red Hair Pirates and one of the Four Emperors who rule over the New World.
Shanks is a former member of the legendary Roger Pirates, the only pirate band to successfully conquer the Grand Line. He began his pirate career in this crew as an apprentice alongside Buggy, before forming his own crew after Gol D. Roger’s death.
Shanks is the pirate who inspired Monkey D. Luffy to embark on his own pirate journey. His crewmate Lucky Roux found the Gomu Gomu no Mi, which was accidentally eaten by Luffy. He also owned the Straw Hat that has become Luffy’s trademark. He had given it to the boy as part of a promise that they would meet again one day.
11. Sasori
Franchise: Naruto
He left the village of Suna twenty years ago (probably because of his experiments on human bodies) to join Akatsuki, in which he teams up with Deidara (who replaced Orochimaru after the latter’s desertion).
He is the grandson of Chiyo, the grandmother of Suna. He looks like a young teenager but is actually much older. Like Kankurō, he is a puppeteer who uses puppets for combat, but Sasori has raised his art to an even unparalleled level, which makes him a much more formidable opponent (with his puppets, he would have ravaged an entire country).
He is a great “artist” in the field of puppeteers. Kankuro’s own puppets bear his mark, a red scorpion. Besides being the most gifted of puppeteers, Sasori is also an expert in poison. His first puppets were in the image of both his parents in the hope of once again feeling the love of his parents, killed by the White Fang of Konoha, but it was a failure.
Chiyo will use these puppets later, after learning of his reappearance alongside Akatsuki, to deliver the killing blow. Its nickname comes from its usual puppet in combat, Hiruko, which has a large poisoned tail in the manner of the scorpion (its personal puppet also has the same kind of weapon).
10. Battler Ushiromiya
Franchise: Umineko no Naku Koro ni
The main protagonist of the story, he is the son of Rudolf and his first wife Asumu. When she died when Battler was only 12, Rudolf married Kyrie soon after, infuriating his son.
Unable to come to terms with his father betraying his own wife, Battler decided to leave the family and join the family on the maternal side but was forced to return to the Ushiromiya following the successive deaths of his maternal grandparents. Back after 6 years, this is his first visit to Rokkenjima.
A little perverse around the edges, he is nevertheless very down to earth, treating with lightness all that is related to the occult.
This is how he presents himself at the end of Episode I as the designated opponent of the Golden Witch Beatrice, who challenges him: he will have to unravel all the mysteries surrounding Rokkenjima that are presented to him so that for her part, she will have to convince him that these are the work of her magic.
9. Shō Hinakawa
Franchise: Psycho-Pass
Sho Hinakawa is an enforcer in Division 01 of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Public Safety Bureau.
Hinakawa is a man in his 20s, of average height, and powerfully built. He has gray eyes and messy red hair that covers his left eye. He normally wears a black suit, white shirt, and black tie, except for the bright purple lining on his rolled-up sleeves. When in the field, he wears a tan hooded jacket that closes with frog closures.
He seems shy and rarely speaks, but is a genius when it comes to holograms, as evidenced by the fact that he is the only one who recognizes that Kirito Kamui is using a hologram disguise. He’s also very adept at distinguishing between different drugs.
At some point in his life, Hinakawa suffers from severe depression, which drives him into drug addiction.
8. Rias Gremory
Franchise: High School DxD
She is the high school Madonna, Issei’s mistress and lover, and a woman people admire without restraint. Her true identity is that of Princess Crimson-Haired Ruin, heiress of one of the most powerful dynasties of demons, the Gremory.
Officially, she is admitted to high school as part of a Japan-Scandinavia student exchange, but she is actually the president of the occult research club, serving as a den for demons under her orders. Her rank as a chess piece is “King”, she is the one who directs the pieces under her orders, of which Issei is a part.
She is an almost invincible heroine, who quickly understands the incredible power slumbering in Issei and consequently takes a great interest in him. His brother is actually one of the Demon Kings, Lord Sirzerch.
Both possess the power of destruction, a fantastic ability to pulverize any target. She resurrects Issei as her servant after finding him dead, slain by a fallen angel, and possessing a rare Sacred Relic.
7. Eijiro Kirishima
Franchise: My Hero Academia
A student of class 1-A. A lively, noisy, and impetuous boy, with his own concept of virility and a sort of moral code that leads him to respect determined and courageous people.
His Hardening Quirk allows him to sharpen and harden his skin by varying its hardness, giving him an advantage on both the offensive and the defensive level; with training, he has learned to greatly increase the hardness he can achieve but the more he chooses to use, the shorter the time he can maintain the transformation; when he uses his maximum hardness, his aspect of him becomes wrinkled and monstrous, becoming virtually immune to any physical attack.
He can stay in this state for about a minute and doing so requires a lot of physical effort. In his internship, Eijiro goes under the guidance of the Pro Hero Fat Gum together with Suneater, participating with them in the assault on the Shie Hassaikai.
6. Satori Tendō
Franchise: Haikyū!!
Tendō is cheerful and loud if a little sardonic. He enjoys teasing both his teammates and his opponents, usually teasing the latter. However, when he gets into the game, he becomes a different, intimidating person who enjoys looking at defeat in people’s faces when they are rebuffed.
He’s also extremely confident in his blocking skills, which he refers to as ” guess blocking”, as his guesses are almost always correct thanks to his keen intuition. Still, as the game progresses, he learns that sometimes his guesses are not right and Hinata can see through them as well.
Tendō is also often seen as rather creepy or strange by others. As a kid, he was teased for it and sometimes not welcomed to teams at practice. When he became a middle blocker, it seemed to boost his confidence, and now he does not seem to mind being perceived that way.
5. Daisuke Motomiya
Franchise: Digimon
Daisuke (Davis) Motomiya is the main protagonist of the second season. He accidentally discovers the Digital World, walking through the Digital World door with T.K. and Kari.
After awakening his partner Veemon with the symbol of Courage, he proves himself with the latter and receives from Tai the role of leader of the new group of chosen ones. Naturally stubborn and boastful, he is head over heels in love with Kari (who doesn’t return these emotions, really) and over time weaves a very strong bond with his partner Digimon.
He is very good at football just like his idol Tai. He has the Courage, Friendship, and Miracle symbols. Twenty-five years later, Davis becomes a noodle seller and raises a son who inherited the same glasses like his father and a DemiVeemon.
4. Shōto Todoroki
Franchise: My Hero Academia
A classmate of the protagonists and one of the four recommended students. His Quirk, called Half-Cold Half-Hot, allows him to generate fire from the left side of his body and ice from the right side.
To make the most of his powers he must alternate the two sides: if he uses only the cold side he risks incurring frostbite, vice versa the exclusive use of the hot side could cause him burns. He can create real mountains of ice out of thin air and produce extremely hot flames, and if he chooses to use both sides he becomes very dangerous; with training, he learns to use both sides of him at the same time.
Despite his abilities, he cannot give complex shapes to the ice he produces. He is considered the strongest student in the class, strength shown during the Sports Festival (despite the fact that he finished second, losing to Bakugo). He is the son of Endeavor, considered the best hero after All Might.
3. Gaara
Franchise: Naruto
He is a ninja from the village of Suna; he appears for the first time just before the start of the chūnin exam, accompanied by his brother Kankurô and his sister Temari. Gaara is a shinobi from Suna: Hidden Sand Village. And is the son of the chief of Suna, the Fourth Kazekage.
He was born as a host to a tailed demon as part of his father’s intention to have a weapon to restore their village. However, a combination of ostracism from the villagers of Suna, his early inability to control the Tailed Beast, and the idea that his late mother called him his village curse made Gaara a ruthless killer who believes his own objective is to kill his enemies.
It is only after his meeting with Naruto that Gaara changes perspective, since he eventually becomes Suna’s Fifth Kazekage, in the second part of the manga.
2. Renji Abarai
Franchise: Bleach
Renji Abarai is a friend of Rukia with whom he grew up in Rukongai, where he was born. They became estranged from each other due to the adoption of Rukia by the noble Kuchiki family.
Shortly before Rukia left for the human world (and thus the start of Bleach), he was promoted to lieutenant of the Gotei 13’s 6th Division.
Although he doesn’t show it at first, he is very attached to Rukia. His dearest dream is to surpass Captain Kuchiki. He previously passed through Divisions 11 (under Zaraki Kenpachi) and 5. He is very good friends with Captain Zaraki’s gang, as well as Momo Hinamori and Kira Izuru, lieutenants of the 5th and 3rd Divisions.
He has a lot of acquaintances and friends, including Ichigo. Renji and Ichigo are unable to stay together without arguing over anything or everything, Ichigo’s friends think the two are cousins, as he introduced Renji to them that way in the anime.
He will bite his fingers, his friends think they look a lot alike. However, in the midst of battle, they get along very well and can even act as a team, especially when fighting Aizen. On the other hand, Renji likes to tease Ichigo and vice versa.
At one point in the Hueco Mundo, Ishida tells him that he is like Ichigo after a reckless action that nearly killed them, Renji seems to take it as a compliment.
1. Erza Scarlet
Franchise: Fairy Tail
Erza Scarlett is one of the main characters in the manga. She is considered to be the strongest woman in the Fairy Tail guild. As a young girl, she was abducted from her village Rosemary along with other children her age to work as a slave in the construction of the Tower of Heaven.
This is where she meets Jellal, Miliana, Shaw, Simon, and Wolly as well as Rob with whom she befriends. Expelled from the tower by Jellal who is controlled by an evil entity, she decides to join Fairy Tail, Rob’s guild. From the moment she arrived at the guild, she was withdrawn and wary of people.
It is Gray who will help her to open up to others, constantly wanting to provoke her. After Natsu’s arrival at the guild, she helps him learn more to read because Ignir, Natsu’s father, had not been able to complete his apprenticeship.
