Adrian Pilanga
The color green is associated with calm and easy feelings. That stays true for a lot of green-haired anime characters. They tend to be easy-going, carefree, and sometimes even airheaded people. Well, mostly… Broly exists. Though I guess you could make the argument that he’s a pretty chill dude when not raging.
But anyway, yeah, despite them sticking out like a sore thumb because of the unusual do palette, they’re pretty chill characters that add a sense of calm to the scenes they’re in.
Well, without further ado, here are 15 of the most iconic green-haired characters in anime:
15. Kosuke Ueki (Law of Ueki)
Whoo, this takes me back. For those of you that don’t know, Law of Ueki is super-power type anime (like My Hero Academia or Charlotte) from 2005. Power users from the show have the power to turn one specific thing into another specific thing. In Ueki’s case, he can turn trash into trees.
And just when you think it just can’t get any greener than that, his name “Ueki” literally translates to “plant trees”. He’s a real happy-go-lucky person who just likes to clean the place up, very hippie sounding I know. But when he does fight, he’s a pretty smart and strategic fighter and a mean green tree-creating machine.
14. Lenalee Lee (D. Gray-man)
Lenalee Lee is one of the main Exorcist characters from D. Gray-man. A real sweetheart among the corps, Lenalee cares strongly for her friends and other members of the Exorcists.
Don’t take that as a sign of weakness though, because she’s an amazing fighter who can kick Akuma’s behind any time of the day. Lenalee also has an incredibly strong will and clings to hope no matter how hard things get.
13. Broly (Dragon Ball Super)
Speaking of mean and green. Here’s the beast who skipped entire arcs worth of getting stronger in the blink of an eye.
And yeah sure, he’s technically not even naturally green-haired. It only appears through the Legendary Super Saiyan Transformation. But come on, I’m pretty sure the first image that pops up in an anime fan’s mind when you mention the word “Broly” is the green-haired, white-eyed, muscle-bound warrior than gives the Z fighters a run for their money.
12. Maho Hiyajo (Steins;Gate)
All the green-haired characters on the list so far have been fighters in their respective shows. But now we’re going from muscles to brains with one of Steins;Gate’s best minds: Maho Hiyajo.
Maho is the person behind the first sentient and fully-functional artificial intelligence: Amadeus. And it’s not just any normal A.I., this A.I. actually gets its personality and memories from a real human person. Therefore, someone’s character can be preserved by uploading their memories into Amadeus. It’s almost as impressive as…say… a time machine…
Apart from all that, Maho is super cute when she gets upset whenever someone teases her for her height. She often gets stopped from entering buildings and events because they thought she was a kid who wasn’t supposed to be there. Hey, all the height went into her brain, sue her.
11. Yusuke Makishima (Yowamushi Pedal)
Makishima is the creepy climber of Sohoku High School’s Bicycle Club. He struggles with interacting with people and so often gets called creepy. But honestly, that’s probably just about half of the reason why he’s considered weird.
Makishima’s style of riding a bike is incredibly… unusual, to say the least. When getting serious, he starts using his long legs to swing his bicycle left and right at outrageous angles. It feels like he’s just going to crash and break his neck every time the bike swings. It’s very effective though, so say what you will. Because of this, he got the nickname “Peak Spider”.
Despite all this, Makishima is actually just misunderstood and is a really nice guy once you get to know him.
10. Fuko Ibuki (Clannad)
If you’ve watched Clannad, I’m sorry for sending the memories flooding back, get your tissues and crying pillow, I won’t judge. Fuko Ibuki is an adorable airheaded student from Hikarizaka Private High School. She spaces out so much that the other characters can (and have) literally take her to a different place before she comes back to Earth with no idea where she is now.
She also has an obsession with starfish. So yeah, cuteness to the nth degree.
She’s also an airhead in more ways than one… she’s a ghost… kinda. I don’t wanna spoil too much so go and watch Clannad if you haven’t yet, it’s an amazing show.
9. Yuya Sakaki (Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V)
Like most Yu-Gi-Oh! characters, I have absolutely no idea how Yuya’s hair is even possible. But I’m seeing a lot of green so that’s all that matters. And I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but for me, Yuya is one of the best protagonists of all the Yu-Gi-Oh! series (probably top 1 or 2 for me).
Sure, skill-wise, maybe he’s not as good as Yugi or Yusei, but what I like about him is that he’s not afraid to show his vulnerable side. The other protagonists tend to just exude which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just that they tend to feel like the same person sometimes. confidence Well, Yuma has his weaknesses too but he’s mostly too stubborn to show it.
Yuya on the other hand has a lot of insecurities about his skills and abilities as a duelist and as a person and we see it a lot on the show. I really appreciate the writers giving him a more open personality.
8. Roronoa Zoro (One Piece)
This Straw Hat powerhouse is a shoo-in to be on this list. Zoro is such an iconic character with his strict and deadly personality and mind-boggling fighting style with multiple swords in his hands and mouth. Okay, his iconicity is probably mostly due to the swords.
Despite being a pirate, Zoro is a really honorable and nice character too so it just seems like this Straw Hat has it all.
7. Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)
This kid’s motivation for his entire journey is finding his dad. That alone should make him the most relatable character on the list sad face crying face heart 100.
Kidding aside, Gon is a pretty likable character. He’s simple, determined, and gets along with others easily. Which may just sound like every Shonen anime protagonist ever, but if it works, don’t fix it right?
Plus, he doesn’t like math, if you don’t find that relatable, you’re probably smarter than me so I’m not gonna insult you.
6. Bulma (Dragon Ball)
Bulma is rich, smart, rich, beautiful, rich, and she has a lot of money so you can easily see why people like her. Right? Riiiight?
Before I burned to crisp, Bulma really is a widely beloved character not just by the fans, but in the show itself. She’s Goku’s oldest, and possibly closest, friend, which is saying a lot because that man has zero normal social skills.
She’s also been invaluable to Earth’s protectors with her genius, whether it’s by providing useful capsules for them or even inventing the Dragon Ball Radar and reverse engineering alien technology. The Z fighters would be absolutely lost without Bulma.
5. Tatsumaki (One Punch Man)
The number 2 hero in the One Punch Man universe (I guess number 3 if you include the caped baldy himself), Tatsumaki has some absurd psychic powers that help her obliterate any threat without her even breaking a sweat.
Tatsumaki’s hero name is Tornado of Terror and considers herself second only to Blast (the Hero Association’s Rank 1 hero). Her cockiness might be annoying, but she’s got the powers to back it up so you can say whatever you want.
4. Tsuyu Asui (My Hero Academia)
I really love Asui and I’m so happy she’s one of the more important characters in the show. She’s smart, cute, and funny. Plus, she has one of the most unique superpowers, and I’m not just talking about in the show, her powers are just unique in general.
Having the characteristics and abilities of a frog may not seem all that great at first but she’s honestly proven herself in battle. She uses her abilities really creatively and there’s still so much potential with what she can do with them. Besides, I’m sure some people thought having the powers of a spider was pretty lame too back in the 60s.
3. Shintaro Midorima (Kuroko’s Basketball)
One of those labeled as the Generation of Miracles in basketball, Midorima is one of the best 3-pointers out there.
I really like him because unlike the other players in the show that rely purely on their skills and/or teamwork, Midorima actually relies a lot on luck. He’s very superstitious and often carries items he believes will bring him luck in the game. And boy, he must have some luck stat hacks because he lands every uninterrupted shot he fires.
2. Yotsugi Ononoki (Monogatari series)
Yay. Peace peace. I know I said green-haired characters tend to be chill and all, but Ononoki just takes it to a whole ‘nother level. Though, admittedly it’s probably because she’s an old corpse that got brought back to life. Hope you had your barf bags ready.
She speaks in a monotone voice and really gives you the dead-inside vibes (and not in the edgy teenager way). She isn’t completely soulless though and she even tries to find a personality that would suit her in the show… while still speaking in monotone. A really oddball and fascinating character.
1. C.C. (Code Geass)
Yes, the immortal, Geass-giving “witch”. I literally only now noticed that my top 2 on this list are both characters that are essentially dead inside. Huh. Go figure. C.C is a truly and marvelously well-written character in the world of Code Geass.
Her motivation? Well, she wants to die, like, on the outside this time. Everything she’s been doing in the show has been so mysterious and you never know which side she’s truly on. So, when we finally see what makes her tick, everything just clicks into place and it just gives you the shivers.
You may also be interested in reading about white and black haired characters. Well, no worries here are some articles about them:
15 White-Haired Anime Characters
15 Black-Haired Girl Anime Characters
