When you imagine an anime character with horns, you’d probably think of Albedo from Overlord, Zero Two from Darling in the Franxx, Tohru from Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid or even Rem from Re:Zero.
But let’s say you’re not much of a simp (oof!), you’d probably think of strong characters like Kaido from One Piece or Ulquiorra from Bleach.
And I wouldn’t blame you. They are otakus’ favorites after all! Plus, they all came from the most popular anime today.
However, there are some pretty interesting characters with horns that may rank a little lower on otakus’ lists or may not have even made the list at all! Maybe it’s because it’s just not their genre, or they skipped filler arcs, or even just forgot about them because of how long ago the anime was aired.
Well, whatever the case, it’s a good thing we have just the list for you. Get to know these interesting characters and check out their anime too!
1. Elias Ainsworth (The Ancient Magus’ Bride)
Even in a fantastical world steeped in magic and western folklore, Elias Ainsworth is an anomaly amongst mages like himself. He is the deuteragonist of the dark fantasy manga and anime series, “The Ancient Magus’ Bride.”
Set in faraway London, the story revolves around Chise Hatori as she’s whisked away by this very mage into the world of sorcery and myths as his bride and apprentice, a life so starkly different from the depressing and pitiful one she led.
Elias appears in the series as a tall human-fae hybrid with a skull face and giant horns. He is a powerful mage who can shapeshift and control shadows (as well as summon thorns, teleport, erase memories, and more!).
As a being who has lived for hundreds of years, there is much mystery surrounding him, especially since he himself doesn’t know his own origins. Is he a fae? Or a human who conducted a failed experiment on himself? At one time, he did admit that he may have eaten humans before and even though he looked more like a fae, their kind never welcomed him. To this day, nobody knows the answer to what he really is.
Despite his scary appearance and aloof nature, Elias actually holds great interest towards humans and emotions. Thanks to Chise acting as his teacher on such things, he’s able to recognize the feelings that well up in his chest whenever he’s around her.
If you want to know more about Elias and are curious about what happens next in his journey to figure out what it means to be human and what it means for him to be in Chise’s life as her husband, master, student, and guardian (phew, that’s a lot!), then you should check out the anime!
2. Aletta (Restaurant to Another World)
You think Kobayashi is the only cute maid with horns? Think again! Aletta is a young demon who works as a waitress at Western Restaurant Nekoya, a literal otherworldly restaurant.
Contrary to what her race entails, she’s actually a sweet and friendly person who works hard to earn her meal. In her world, she was shunned for having demon blood running in her veins to the point that she would starve because no one dared to hire her for any work.
Her life changed thanks to Master, the owner of Nekoya, one cold evening when her curiosity led her to enter a magical door that suddenly appeared before her. Taking pity on the poor girl, the Master gave her food, a warm bath, and even offered her a job. Ever since then, Aletta earned a good rapport with otherworldly diners which opened up new job opportunities for her in her own realm.
Although she’s not the protagonist of this food-themed series, she adds flavor to the story as an important guide who helps the perplexed first-time diners get acclimated to the mysterious magical restaurant and to its even more mysterious menu (though they’re pretty normal for us “Other World-ers”).
So, prepare your visual tastebuds (if you know what we mean) and feast yourselves on this chill anime for foodies! And while you’re at it, check out our girl Aletta being the lovable waitress she is!
3. Lambo (Katekyo Hitman Reborn)
For those who were only born recently or just became new otakus, then let us introduce you to a classic early 2000s anime, “Reborn!” a.k.a. “Katekyo Hitman Reborn.” Yes, it existed alongside Naruto, Bleach, and One piece with its manga selling millions of copies which at one point entered the top 10 best-selling manga.
This shounen anime follows Tsunayoshi Sawada as he unwittingly trains to become the tenth boss of a mafia family known as the Vongola Famiglia with the help of the baby hitman, Reborn. Yep, you read that right! It’s an action-packed comedy filled with weird shenanigans and a heartfelt tale of friendship that’s sure to leave you laughing, biting your nails in suspense, and in tears.
Among the many characters in the series is Lambo, another baby hitman from a rival mafia family, the Bovino Famiglia, tasked to take out Reborn. He first appears in the anime as a cute spoiled baby dressed in a cow onesie but his silliness and penchant for trouble leaves him constantly unsuccessful in his assassination attempts and even joins Tsunayoshi’s famiglia later on as a core member.
What’s interesting about Lambo is his ability to summon his 15-year-old self thanks to his Ten-Year Bazooka to fight his battles for him (a very kiddie thing to do!). Unlike his 5-year-old self, 15-year-old Lambo is a calm, cool ladies’ man who’s very dependable when the situation calls for it.
“Reborn!” is a long anime that spans 200+ episodes, so buckle up and set on a journey with Lambo and his friends on the fun and rocky road to becoming the greatest famiglia the world has ever seen!
4. Gedoumaru (Gintama)
No anime has ever taken the entire genre list and shoved it into one story and made it so uniquely entertaining other than “Gintama.” The anime follows Gintoki Sakata and his team as they do odd jobs in an alternative Edo period where aliens had taken over their land.
Among its huge diverse and quirky characters is Gedoumaru, a shikigami (servant spirits) from the Ketsuno clan of onmyoji (practitioners of divination). First appearing in episode 195, Gedoumaru was entrusted to Gintoki and his team as a summon to help them deal with the other onmyoji who were after Ana Ketsuno’s life (a famous weather girl that Gintoki has a crush on).
We discover her cold and even mean personality in a hilarious skit when Gintoki tries to summon her to fight against four giant shikigamis. Unfortunately for him, Gedoumaru was preoccupied in her dimension with some “family troubles.” She goes on to appear in other major arcs as a trusty helper for the odd jobs crew.
We won’t spoil any more of her great character introduction in the series because it was full of funny surprises that would certainly leave an impressive mark enough to make you want to see her more in the rest of the series.
5.Louis (Beastars)
They say the anime “Beastars” is like a darker version of Disney’s “Zootopia” and they’re not exactly wrong because unlike the latter, the former discusses the moral and social dilemmas of a society that’s forcibly made peace among predators and prey.
A figure who represents that peace is called a Beastar and Louis, the deuteragonist of the story, is the top candidate for it. Louis is a red deer, who despite being a “prey”, is the top dog of the school, the head of the drama club, and the heir to his adoptive father’s conglomerate.
He first comes off as a haughty self-righteous brat but as the series went along, we discover his tragic past and his well-kept deep-seated fear that every prey in their society never evolved out of— the need to look strong and invulnerable to stand against the predators. This trait often makes him desperate to cover up the cracks in his strong facade from all the pressure he’s been getting to the point that he’d lash out at anyone who’d care for him or see him in a sorry state.
Aside from the main character, Legoshi, Louis had one of the greatest character developments in the series that you should look forward to.
Although a fair warning to young audiences and science enthusiasts, if you were like me who was taking a science elective when I watched this, then you better prepare yourself for some steamy interspecies love-making because I was not! Nevertheless, the anime was a great watch overall.
6. Hatori Sohma (Fruits Basket)
You think it might be weird that we’re including a romance anime in this list and a guy who doesn’t seem to have horns in the first place, but trust us when we say Hatori Sohma from “Fruits Basket” belongs in this list!
“Fruits Basket” follows Tohru Honda, a bright hardworking orphan girl, as she discovers the secret of the Sohma family that they are possessed by the animal spirits of the Chinese Zodiac and are cursed to turn into animals whenever they’re hugged by the opposite sex. What ensues is a chaotic whirlwind of toxic family drama, complicated young love, heartbreak, and even second chances at love.
One of those zodiac-possessed Sohmas is Hatori, who happens to be the family’s doctor. If you don’t know this anime yet, then you’d better prepare boxes of tissues because everyone has a tragic backstory and Hatori’s first love was nothing short of heart-wrenching. His story marked the first glimpse into the dark twisted relationships of his family.
When he was younger, he fell in love with his assistant Kana Sohma (yes, that technically would make them cousins, distant or not. But hear us out anyway!) and planned to marry her. However, the family head, Akito, learned of this and attacked Hatori out of rage from the thought of his “betrayal” which almost cost him his eye.
The guilt from causing his grave injury crushed Kana to the point of crippling depression. Not wanting to see her in this state, Hatori made the difficult decision to erase her memories of their relationship and let her go. What’s more tragic is that years later, he finds out that Kana is set to marry another man all the while his own heart hasn’t moved on from her.
But wait a minute, how is he an anime character with horns? Well, he is one of the zodiacs and some of the zodiacs have horns. Can you guess which one? And what do you think he looks like in his animal form?
There are lots of questions to answer so if we were you, we’d sit and watch that anime right now!
Conclusion
What is it about anime characters with horns that we like anyway?
Well, horns are supposed to symbolize power, strength, and aggressiveness but really, it’s up to the creators and the audiences to make meanings out of that.
Whether we think it’s just a cool feature or a nice touch of literary symbolism, we all appreciate a good character design with a good character description and an amazing story to match it.
And who says you can only see characters with horns in isekai and action anime? Sometimes, they’re not necessarily dragons and demons, but whenever they are, it doesn’t mean that they have to follow that evil all-powerful stereotype.
There’s a variety of genres out there with weird enough but entertaining plots and quirky characters that would get you hooked right away. And sometimes, the interesting characters are not the protagonists but that’s okay because they make you root for them anyway.
And with that, this has been a list of some interesting anime characters with horns for you to check out in case you’ve missed them!
Tell us what you think in the comments.