Anime is exceptional for employing tomboy characters that drive the story. These characters prove that masculinity is not gender related. Tomboys can play football, and at the same time wear cute dresses and skirts, they are brave warriors and girls who dress like boys. Here is the list of my top 30 anime tomboys that stand out the most.
Top 30 Anime Tomboy Characters
30. Kaori Makimura from City Hunter
Karori is not exactly the token tomboy, she can handle explosives, set up traps, and knows how to handle a hand grenade. Karoi can hold her own, when her boyfriend is caught chasing skirts she acts with a heavy hammer on his head. She never hesitates to stand up for herself.
Under her tough tomboy layers, Karoi is very sensitive and gets offended when Ryomakes fun of her calling her a tomboy. She despises girly things and her tomboy personality is the reason why there are plenty of embarrassing situations where she is mistaken for a man.
29. Yuu Kashima from Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun
The “Prince” of the school is a tomboy at heart and a super popular character among the girls. There’s no arguing that she loves attention, that’s why Yuu studies acting, and she is pretty good at it. However, Yuu doesn’t like to work too hard.
It is interesting to see her off-tomboy when she plays the prince in the club’s drama club in a very cliched fairytale version. Yuu is a symbol of tomboyism.
28. Yuzuki SEO from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Yuzuki is a tomboy, she gets embarrassed when she has to deal with romantic feelings, which might be a shock to anyone who knows her.
Yuzuki has a beautiful singing voice, however, she has no filters. She is a self-absorbed tomboy with a habit of insults. It’s pretty to a point that Yuzuki needs to be contained so her singing club will be able to interact with other schools during competitions. Also known as the “Oblivious Death God of the Basketball Court” the basketball team fears her.
27. Chizuru Yoshida from Kimi ni Todoke
Chizuru is a tall girl who dresses like a tomboy, her hobbies include beating the boys in school, and she can beat most men in arm wrestling. She set the school record for beating 99 of them.
She is not an academic ace, to say the least, Chizuru has a bouncy tomboy attitude especially when it comes to sports. Her tomboy character is just a mask that she hides behind when boys think of her as their “sister”, and she knows how hurtful it can feel, especially when she has a long years crush on her childhood friend Ryu.
26. Mikoto Misaka from Toaru Majutsu no Index
Mikoto is a powerful tomboy character, she has one of the most badass abilities of any character in anime, she can smack and clap. However, she uses her power to do good.
Mikoto faces a problem head-on and is not afraid to step into danger. She has confidence, and when everyone expects her to act like a “proper” girl, Mikoto prefers to be the tomboy she is. She wears shorts under her skirt, she would prefer to get rid of the skirt altogether.
25. Momoe Sawaki from Wonder Egg Priority
Momoe has an inner complex about her tomboy identity. When other girls tend to view her as a boy rather than just a girl, she breaks out crying. But she doesn’t correct them, maybe it’s because Momoe has a kind character, and she doesn’t want to overshine others.
Despite her insecurities, she is very selfless and brave. Her tomboy charm is a girl magnet, so she plays the part well. She attends an all-girl school and deliberately tells everyone she is a male, and they all end up falling in love with her.
24. Tomo Aizawa from Tomo-chan Is a Girl!
Everyone thinks Tomo should play the boy’s part because her body may be a girl, but she’s a total tomboy. Tomo is comfortable being a tomboy, but she is also a girl in love with Jun who doesn’t seem to be very into her.
Tomo is a powerful girl, and the only guy who can’t beat her is Jun. She has been Jun’s neighbor since childhood, but Jun didn’t realize that she was a girl until they were about 13 years old. He just sees her as his friend. This makes Tomo’s confidence drop and she has to figure out a way to get his attention. Her best solution? She thinks she needs to act less tomboyish and more girly.
23. Shima Nishina from Watashi ga Motete Dousunda
Nishina is a rich girl, she lives in a mention with rooms dedicated to her otaku hobbies. She is a tomboy classic with an obsession with comics and figurine collections.
She is very educated and smart, Mrs. popular with a massive fan club, mainly girls. When the girls meet her for the first time, they see her as a threat, but when they realize she is a tomboy, they are relieved. She often finds herself doing the boy’s role, anything that requires muscles, Nishina is there.
22. Touka Kirishima from Tokyo Ghoul
Touka is a tomboy-ish leading character with a temper, and affection for rabbits. She is a ghoul fascinated by humans and wants to live like a normal girl among them as much as possible.
She attends their schools and makes human friends. However, she can be very brutal and has no problem killing if it is necessary. When she deals with customers at the cafe, she will quickly get into an insult rage, a typical tomboy girl behavior in anime.
21. Kei from Akira
Kei is a rebellious tomboy that is completely dedicated to the cause. She is a buff character with all the tomboy features, the short hair, the cynical attitude, brave enough to take on the government, but really hates cockroaches.
She is the type of tomboyish character that is not gendered conventional. I think that is why I love Kei so much. She is intelligent, brave, and active – and not sexualized at all. If there’s a guy making unwanted moves, Kei would retaliate.
20. Haruko Haruhara from FLCL
Haruko is a spontaneous tomboy from outer space who made it her personal mission, she has traveled to Earth several times to hunt down a powerful space pirate king. She is an extraterrestrial investigator for the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood.
Haruko is quite witty, changing her personality and interests immediately to fit her missions. She is also one of the series’ primary antagonists and is responsible for most of the events in FLCL. Her guitar is able to shoot bullets, act as a rocket launcher, and fly, and is used several times to open an N.O. channel in Naota’s forehead.
19. Hiyori Sarugaki from Bleach
Prone to rage attacks, grouchy and tomboy, Hiyori fights, and insults. Her anger management problem traces back to her time as a lieutenant in the 12th Division under Captains Kirio Hikifune and Kisuke Urahara.
She wants to tear people apart with her sword, she wants to fight, and she hates containing herself. After all, that was who she is, a total badass tomboy! Hiyori is bossy to everyone, and whenever someone mocks her and gets her into her short-tempered attack, she will pull her sandal and slap them in the face.
18. Noa Izumi from Patlabor
Noa is an eager tomboy police officer from division 2 that never loses her cool. She is obsessed with giant robots, and she spent most of her childhood watching Mecha Anime.
It was her life’s dream to join and own her own robot. She got a chance to fulfill it when she joined the force and became a Patlabor pilot. Too bad, but Noa is a half-competent pilot with a tendency toward massive property damage. Like most anime tomboys, Noa has a soft spot for arcade games, and she displayed her fighting skills on a broken mech when she tore a leg off four-legged labor, beating it into submission.
17. Kino from Kino’s Journey
Kino is a reserved tomboy who finds solace in the prospect of journeying through the lands. She is always composed and maintains a stoic-like attitude.
In each land she visits, she finds something interesting, something worth learning about, and just like that, she increases her knowledge. However, she often lets things be instead of stepping in and helping to resolve the situation. Her core philosophy basically comes down to, “The World is not beautiful… therefore, it is.”
Still though, when she genuinely wants to help, she can be very kind.
16. Yuuko from Nichijou
Here we have a tomboy character who can’t get enough of making fun of other people. Yuuko often crosses the line and faces severe repercussions.
Just kidding! This is a comedy anime, after all. Or is it?
Yuuko is a clumsy tomboy and has a simple approach to life, but since she always has to keep coming up with sometimes tasteless and sometimes creative jokes, it’s tough being her. However, even if life can sometimes be unfair to her, she is always a big ball of energy and never stops the grind of coming up with new jokes!
Other than that, she is the type of tomboy who lazes around when it comes to studying, but she can catch you off-guard by greeting you in a foreign language. For the sake of jokes, of course…
15. Seishirou Tsugumi from Nisekoi
Seishirou is a hitwoman that first appeared as a male transfer student. Her assassin code name is “Black Tiger,” and she is Chitoge’s childhood friend. Seishirou tries to keep a decade-long promise of becoming Chitoge’s protector.
Her character is portrayed as a tomboy, frequently confused with a boy due to her androgynous looks. She has no problem being a “trap” tomboy, quite the opposite. Nisekoi is an anime that exemplifies how masculinity and femininity are defined through the character’s usage of gendered expressions. The audience is able to identify Seishiro Tsugumi as a tomboy character, because her profession is based on violence, and displays dominant male characteristics.
Tsugumi is shown to use more masculine expressions when she is acting aggressively or is in full-on battle mode. The tomboyism association cannot be more clear as her use of assertive language.
14. Misty from Pokemon
Redheaded tomboys are the rarest treasure among all girls! Misty was my gateway to tomboyism, her personality, and actions are far more interesting than how she dresses. She is an energetic tomboy with a competitive nature, which goes toe to toe with any male protagonist. Still, Misty is a sucker for shopping and fashion.
Pokemon balances Misty’s tomboy personality with other behaviors and hobbies, suggesting that girls don’t have to choose between being tomboys or “girly girls.” Misty has multiple variations of the same character with different Pokemon. In the game version, Misty is a gym leader known as the “Tomboyish Mermaid.”
13. Kallen Kozuki (Stadtfeld) from Code Geass
Kallen is a determined mecha pilot and martial artist, she’s the best pilot of the member. She keeps her folding knife to defend herself with her at all times, even when bathing.
Kallen is rather a sensitive tomboy, especially when it comes to her heritage. Her past shaped the reason she fights, she has the guts to pull through any situation. Though she is of noble blood, she is a full-time resistance fighter. Her aggressive yet straightforward attitude definitely paints her as a role model tomboy.
12. Bulma from Dragon Ball
Quite interestingly, Bulma is the kind of attractive anime mom who can be tomboyish and girly simultaneously. In the earlier days of Dragon Ball, she was a tomboy character through and through but was also quite adamant in pursuing romantic relationships like the young maiden she was.
Though her attitude has matured, she still uses her beauty as a weapon to excuse her selfish behavior even after becoming a mother, but it is not like her beauty has dwindled. When it comes to her preferences, there is one thing that hasn’t changed, and that is Bulma’s everlasting love for bubble baths.
11. Sora Takenouchi from Digimon
In Digimon Adventure Sora has a deep personality, she is an assertive and caring tomboy and could be considered the team’s mom, showing leadership qualities. She grew up liking things that were considered only for boys and was in constant conflict with an overprotecting mother who didn’t like her full-on display of tomboy girl characteristics.
But Sora grows and matures she buries the hatchet with her mom. She recognized what it means to care for someone, just as her mother cared for her.
10. Hajime Shinoda from New Game
“Tomboy Alert” was my first impression when I saw Hajime in her hoodie riding her bicycle to work. She is athletic, and constantly waves sword-like items that she keeps around her. She doesn’t take herself seriously, and can often be quite a loud character.
Hajime is a massive Otaku designer who can’t get enough of her personal collection of superheroes. She is always brimming with toys, plastic models, and figures. This does lead to an empty wallet though, but hey, at least she’s having fun!
9. Ukyo Kuonji from Ranma ½
Ukyo blends tomboy characteristics. Her own father betrayed her trust, and she proceeded to develop as a masculine tomboy character to train as a martial artist and get revenge.
Ukyo loves to challenge anyone who underestimates her abilities, she takes particular pleasure in witnessing her opponent’s astonishment when she finishes kicking their ass to the ground. When she appeared on her first day at school she was dressed like a boy, she looked forward to the challenge. She usually wears the boys’ uniform, except when it’s gym time!
Ukyo seems straightforward at first, but once you get to know her; she has quite a handful of personalities. Especially when it comes to romance, her tomboy traits can often be somewhat complicated!
8. Winry Rockbell from Full Metal Alchemist
Not a lot of girls (Or boys) would be excited by bolts and nuts, but Winry does. She is a tech nerd tomboy who gets excited about technology and innovations. Winry is a total gearhead and knows how to create prosthetic body parts, she combines mechanic and medic knowledge which makes her a one-of-a-kind expert.
Although she is a tough mechanic tomboy, she sympathizes with other people, constantly worrying about them. Winry doesn’t go out of her way to be tomboyish, she is just tough and cool.
7. Ryuko Matoi from Kill La Kill
Ryuko Matoi is just about the epitome of tombing badassery that you can expect. While the plot may require her to blatantly reveal her skin just so she can power up, her strong-willed personality overshadows her feelings of embarrassment.
She is fearless, straightforward, stubborn, and ferocious. Her willpower never let her yield to any kind of authority or opponent, no matter how much the odds are stacked against her. Her spirit is practically unbreakable! But even this tomboy has a cute side to her which she occasionally lets out!
6. Rally Vincent from Gunsmith Cats
You don’t have to try really hard to see Rally’s tomboyishness. Her knowledge of guns and rifles is unmatched. She is a bounty hunter who shines during a hunt mission, she loves to get to that moment when she spins her CZ 75 9mm pistol to scare the bad guy. If her victims are smart, they better surrender, because Rally is a sniper, she can hit anyone from any distance.
Even her love of cars and her car of choice, the blue Ford Shelby Mustang Cobra GT-500, displays her masculine side. Overall, Rally’s fondness for cars and guns and her appearance make her a rare tomboy character in anime.
5. Revy From Black Lagoon
Revy is not your typical tomboy character. She has an absolute mess of a personality and a wide range of complicated emotions, but more than that, she practically personifies the term, “Badass Tomboy”
And I mean it is not just a positive, but also in a negative way.
As a cold-hearted mercenary, killing comes to her as naturally as breathing. She’d even kill innocent civilians if they are in the way. This apathetic nature is because of her nihilist beliefs. She has a very dark perspective when it comes to morality, and can often be quite sadistic. Though that doesn’t mean she’s always just doom and gloom. No. She is also capable of light communication and sarcastic humor. That’s right folks, Revy is a handful!
4. Masumi Sera from Detective Conan
Masumi is a tomboy with commendable charisma. She can single-handedly beat up big-time gangsters. In her early days, Masumi used to wear boys’ Uniforms which often led to misunderstandings concerning her gender. Especially because she has short hair to go along with her tomboyish uniform. This does change though when she transfers schools and eventually starts wearing the girls’ uniforms, however.
One day, the genes will play their hand and she’ll be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with her mother when it comes to her chest size.
3. Amanda O’Neill from Little Witch Academia
Amanda is one of the best broom rider witches who charm people in extraordinary ways, but definitely not in a girly way. She is a fiery tomboy who seeks fun in everything she does, a rebel with a cause, and a criminal record.
She’s an incredibly rebellious tomboy, not afraid of any kind of authority in her school. She gets along well with the most problematic witches in her class. She is a good friend, always very protective, and will jump at the first chance to help those she cares about, no questions asked. Amanda is an Irish/American anime character, the first girl to jump into any fight.
2. Casca from Berserk
Casca is the only girl I’ve seen in anime that somehow manages to avoid the super tomboy binary. She fully and beautifully embraces the feminine and “tomboy” aspects of womanhood.
Casca is the number three ranking member of the Band of the Falcon, a mercenary group of warriors. She is surrounded by nothing but males all the time and constantly has to prove that she is capable enough. She has no choice but to pass as a girl who can fight for her survival. Casca used her stubborn character to move up the ranks. When Casca took the reigns of leader in Griffith’s absence, she proved to be a worthy swordswoman and got the respect of her men.
1. Haruka Tenoh, Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon
When Haruka takes some time off from her day job fighting evil, she enjoys driving the 2000GT racecar to the edge. She is a track racer, and generally the most tomboyish and androgynous-looking of the Sailor Guardians.
Haruka is the kind of tomboy who gets physical, she loves a good fight just as much as using her guardian magic powers. She can handle a space sword very well. She gradually lost her sense of idealism and became very pragmatic, and brutal. She has the ability to kill innocent people and she will do whatever it takes to defend the solar system.
