Jhale Moreno’s Redefining Yandere Article
I feel that the modern definition of Yandere is absolutely flawed. Whereas the other major moe archetypes (tsundere, dandere, kuudere, deredere) are very easy to stick to an exact trait, the fact that being Yandere is all about being “crazy” requires that various definitions be made.
Tsundere, dandere, kuudere and deredere can all be associated with mental illness, but Yandere, while being defined by mental illness, would not be defined by simply having mental illness. Yandere personalities are perhaps the ones we are most conscious about in America. Everyone has an idea of what a Yandere would be like without reference to anime, but most of their internal examples violate the common definitions and depictions and the standard definition makes people shut up about it.
Not all Yandere are Yuno and even the perception of Yuno herself is arguably completely wrong.
Our perception of Yuno mostly lies with the plot of Mirai Nikki. In Mirai Nikki, Yuno and her love Yukki have their lives in danger 24/7. People think that Yuno would always be faithful to Yukki after she got her happy ending. However, it is very possible that Yuno would eventually dump Yukki under normal circumstances. It is possible that, since they essentially went through a war with each other, they feel like they could no longer bond with anyone else and the relationship remains pure and completely faithful.
Yuno is based off of Hera, the goddess of marriage in Greek mythology. The common perception of Yandere itself is based solely on attributes that Hera had. But Hera is easy to perceive as a non-Yandere. She is simply acting like the traditional wife who blames others more than their husband, but she adds to it the fact that she is a goddess designed to punish those who act unfaithful with death, destruction or desolation.
The real essence of Yandere is not faithfulness, but taking control of a person’s life in aspects that extend beyond a power that can be attained with money or within what is considered to be a healthy or legal life/relationship. Yandere is essentially the archetype of an extreme rebel who acts out what they feel rather than staying within a suppressive culture. (It is worth noting here that the other main moe archetypes are solely based on suppression of the person’s self and how they adapt to accomplish it.)
While this much information is enough to redefine Yandere by itself, it does not explain what a Yandere looks like, which is something that a lot of people have trouble with identifying (especially now that the traditional view is explained to be wrong here).
To further redefine, I decided upon 4 types of Yandere. (There could be more types that I do not know about or that have never been explored in literature.)
Type A - Unstable/Alpha Yandere - Yuno Gasai is the primary example. This is a person who will use violence and otherwise ruin their own reputation for the sake of getting their lover. They are obsessed about receiving love alone and they act upon the infatuation phase of love. They will take what is theirs regardless of whether or not they might like the person in the end. They seem very faithful at first, but they have the Yandere trait of burning their passion out like a candle unless there is always new distraction or enemy. This is more commonly a male Yandere than a female. It is a personality that somewhat resembles a serial killer’s need for excitement, but the distinction should be made that they kidnap with only the intention to keep their lover away from friends and family or anything that was established without them and they are extremely unlikely to kill their lover. Yangire (essentially serial killers) have the most potential to become like this if their personality is fixed.
Type B - Faithful Yandere - Kotonoha Katsura - The type of person who feels obligated to make their “firsts” in a relationship very important, most likely reaching the extent of their initial “crush” being treated as the only possibility of love. Even though they become disillusioned, they are willing to put up with anything and they care about the good side of a person so much that they always brush off bad traits even while understanding that they exist. Polyamory is ideal for them because they would rather know that their husband or wife would always be at least partially theirs rather than exclusively theirs. They are unlikely to let go of a first love without spending many years in residual infatuation. A very important aspect of this type is that it is extremely common in Harem genre anime/manga, but never explored because they are usually only treated as the mandatory choice that dismantles the harem. When these types are pushed too far, the relationship must be absolutely faithful or the recipient of their love will be killed by them. (This is opposite of the idea that Yandere always kill other people than their lover.)
Type C - Idol Yandere - Koharu Mutsuki - A Yandere type that completely destroy the most pervasive perceptions of what a Yandere is like. They will probably never consider murdering anyone unless their target is unattainable for extrremely long periods of time. They are madly in love with a person, but their heart can not adjust appropriately to that desire. They do socially unacceptable things and threaten their own health to keep the memorabilia of a lover and support their lover whenever possible. They deeply desire closeness, but they take the relationship at a normal pace due to their paranoia and other inadequacies they feel or are taught to feel. Long-distance relationships would probably be ideal for them. These types are completely okay with friends and family and they could probably be convinced into polyamory very easily as well. They have a lot of possessiveness and obsessiveness, but it is only about maintaining the purity of what they believe the person to be through material possessions. They must be dealt with gradually or else the relationship will be a disaster or break off due to stress on either side. The most apparent Yandere trait that they have is refusing to notice changes and continuing to act the same way that they did when everything was going well and being accepted.
Type D - Hybrid - Most/Some Yandere + Yuno Gasai - Most Yandere primarily fit into one of the Types while having aspects of another or all three. However, there are Yandere characters out there who fit almost equally between different Types. In real life, Yandere status is most likely to be put into phases and they will be purely within those phases at the majority of times. (I have been through all of these phases.)
And in the end, Yuno is more like a perfect hybrid between all three Types. But then, this should be a warning that Yuno is best mentioned to be the most difficult Yandere to handle before being promoted as Queen of Yandere. Because Yuno is usually treated as the poster girl or the only true example of a Yandere, people are often very scared of Yandere people/characters and see this form of moe as something only meant to stay in fiction (particularly horror).
Therefore, this list and its expanded concept of Yandere should be shared everywhere to help people not see us as freaks or people lost in a fantasy world. Additionally, there are many cases where people are claimed to be fake Yandere due to not living up to the standards of Yuno and these people can be bullied within the communities surrounding Yandere. Without purified understanding, we can not have a more inclusive world that promotes peace.
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