All Dating Sim Types Explained

If you want to be a dating sim aficionado you need to know your dating sim types. How do you distinguish a tsundere from a kuudere? Can you tell your yandere from your deredere? And if all that made you feel like a bakadere, we’re here to help. Here are five of the most common dating sim archetypes and some characters that represent them.

Tsundere

• Examples:
  • Yuzuki 7’scarlet
  • Kouta Sweet Fuse: At Your Side
  • Natsuki Doki Doki Literature Club
  • Kokoro Yumeutsutsu

Tsundere is one of the most common and popular dating sim types, and the one most people have heard of. Tsundere are not just cold to the protagonist but often outright mean to them, often putting them down or otherwise telling them they are useless or in the way. Often the protagonist will crack through the tsundere’s exterior with unending kindness, flipping their opinion of them from hatred to love. The tsundere can be at the heart of the “I can fix them” trope, though this can also refer to members of the next category.

Yandere

• Examples:
  • Levi Psychedelia of the Ashen Hawk
  • Toma Amnesia: Memories
  • Serika Chaos;Child
  • Chidori Persona 3

When people say that they’d kill for their partner, yandere mean it literally. Yandere go far beyond the simple harsh truths of the tsundere, and into frankly evil if not murderous territory. They are often obsessed with the protagonist, which can lead to the point of stalking, but can sometimes just be overly affectionate. Yandere are denoted by their willingness to do everything for their love interests, even if their love interests don’t want them to. 

Bakadere

• Examples:
  • Mineo Collar x Malice
  • Nayuta Variable Barricade
  • Tama Muv-Luv
  • Asuka Nurse Love Addiction

Bakadere are sweet, loyal, dependable, and usually not too bright. Boy bakadere tend to be compared to puppies, and are often athletic himbos, while girls are usually ditsy with a child-like innocence. Unlike our first two dating sim types, bakadere are usually nice to everyone, but are extra kind to the protagonist, and will move mountains in order to protect them.

Kuudere

• Examples:
  • Van Helsing Code: Realize
  • Saito Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds
  • Sayuri Nurse Love Syndrome
  • Yukiko Persona 4

Kuudere are also cold, but not usually mean like a tsundere. Instead, they are serious, usually intelligent people, who have too much going on in their personal or professional lives to worry about love. They have a soft and kind side that people rarely get the chance to see. Kuudere are often cracked by the protagonist’s ongoing attention, and slowly open up to them, which is what makes these romances so special.

Deredere

• Examples:
  • Senri Norn 9
  • Higa Bad Apple Wars
  • Luka Steins;Gate
  • Damsel Slay the Princess

If you think that all of this is too complicated then the deredere is for you. This is someone who just loves the protagonist, and their affection often makes up a large part of their personality. They always try to please and protect their love interests, and are often trying to help out in any way they can. Deredere are the dating sim type who want to feel calm and secure in their relationships.

What are your favorite dating sim archetypes? Let us know in the comments below!