Dere Type

"Dere Type" is a term for a concept that describes how different types of characters behave towards their love interest and how they react differently before/after falling in love and becoming lovestruck (deredere).
== Etymology ==
=== Meaning of the Term ===
These dere types are the result of a compound word of some variable adjective "__" and the word "deredere" (デレデレ).
=== Origin ===
The concept of dere types originates from tsundere. The term "tsundere" was coined on August 29, 2002 for a character who's behavior differed drastically when it came to how they treated their love interest. They sometimes acted "tsuntsun" towards them and they sometimes acted "deredere" towards them. These two words were then conjoined to create a term that described someone who's behavior was both "tsun" and "dere"; they are tsun-dere.
The rise in popularity of tsundere, resulted in a fad on Japanese social media where people would create many new combinations of what is known as "◯◯デレ", or "dere types" in the Western community.
=== Naming Convention ===
These compounds always follow the format of "__dere", or "◯◯デレ" in Japanese. This takes the first two kana of the first adjective and conjoins it with the first two kana of "deredere" to create a compound.
For example, a character who starts "kuuru" (クール) and then later becomes "deredere" (デレデレ), would be "kuu" (クー) + "dere" (デレ), or "kuudere" (クーデレ).
== History ==
=== Early Inspirations ===
Although tsundere is the archetype that started the fad of creating many new "dere types" and is widely considered to be the original dere type, it is actually 'not' the first time a compound was created with deredere to create an original meaning. This honor actually belongs to undere, which originates from the 1905 novel Memories of Soseki written by Kyoko Natsume, 97 years prior.
== Characteristics ==
=== Initial Behavior ===
When it comes to a character behaving deredere, it is a very common practice to add some sort of differing personality trait that conceals this more romantic and loving side of them. This involves creating a state "__" that is at first apparently unfavorable or unromantic to a love interest, but then becomes deredere due to the passage of time or the occurrence of some situation.
=== Dere-kake ===
The point at which a character is in the transition period from going from their "__" state to their deredere state is known as "dere-kake" (デレかけ), which means "almost dere" or "becoming dere". This comes from an abbreviation of the phrase "deredere ni nari kake"(デレデレになりかけ) and is a combination of the word "deredere" (lovestruck) and the suffix "kake", meaning "to be partway" or "to begin but not complete". This refers to the point at which a character is showing brief glimpses of their deredere side but has not fully become it yet.
For example, when a tsundere character gets lost in the moment and starts acting lovestruck (deredere), but then quickly catches themselves and insults their love interest to act like it never happened (tsuntsun). They are not fully deredere yet, but they are starting to become it.
=== Dere-ki ===
The point at which a character finally becomes deredere is known as "dere-ki" (デレ期), meaning "dere period". It is also common to see other related phrases such as "tsun-ki" (ツン期), or "tsun period", to describe the starting state of a character.
== Categories of Dere Types ==
Dere types can be broken down into three main categories:
=== Gap Moe ===
These kinds of dere types rely heavily on the concept of "gap moe", or the idea that moe (feelings of strong affection) can come as a result of a gap between two seemingly opposite personalities.
They are the result of a compound word of some variable adjective that hides their loving side "__" and the word "deredere" creating a gap in their personality. In these cases, the value of deredere is raised by the fact that the process of releasing the initial "__" state happens over time and opening the heart, and the fact that deredere is glimpsed for a moment in the usual "__" period. It is a case where if you are in love with the other person, you will inevitably become deredere.
For example:
* Dandere: A character who starts off being silent and shy (danmari), but becomes deredere around their love interest.
* Kuudere: A character who starts off acting cold and unemotional (kuuru), but then becomes deredere around their love interest.
* Tsundere: A character that starts off acting cold, distant, and stuck-up (tsuntsun) towards their love interest, but eventually becomes deredere to them. This is the original dere type and also the most well-known.
In each of these examples, the character starts with a personality that is seemingly unfriendly or unromantic and then grows over time to become loving and affectionate. This differs from a standard deredere character whose feelings of love and affection are always on full display and is never hidden.
=== Fluctuating Gap ===
Other times, however, dere types are created as exceptions to the original formula. Rather than the gap in their personality disappearing over time to create an effect of moe, the variable "__" instead becomes the focus of their personality and impacts their deredere state.
For example:
* Onidere: A character who will be ruthless and mean to their love interest in public (oni), but deredere to them in private (dere). Rather than losing their ruthless (oni) side after becoming deredere they will continuously switch back-and-forth between the two behaviors. 
* Yandere: A character whose deredere is so strong that it causes them to become mentally unstable (yanderu). Instead of starting off mentally unstable (yanderu) and then later becoming deredere, as is the case with the gap moe types, they are so deredere at the start that it causes them to become mentally unstable (yanderu). With this type, the character continuously fluctuates between acting mentally unstable (yanderu) and deredere rather than having straightforward progress from one state to becoming deredere over time.
=== Gapless ===
There are also several variations that are purely deredere the entire time, just like the standard type, and don't rely on a gap in personality. In these cases, the variable "__" simply describes 'how' they are being deredere with both adjectives applying simultaneously to describe the character. These types of characters openly show off their affection and love, but in different ways.
For example:
* Nyandere: A character who expresses their deredere by getting intimate with their interest in the same way a cat (nyan) does. They are very affectionate and openly loving the entire time, in the same way a standard deredere is, but they show this loving side in a cat-like (nyan) way by rubbing against their love interest or making them pet their head.
* Yoidere: A character who expresses their deredere when they are drunk (yoi). They become very open and affectionate which causes them to show their deredere in a playfully drunk (yoi) way. Rather than having a drunk side (yoi) and then later becoming deredere, they are deredere because they are drunk (yoi) with both sides occuring at the same time.
== List of Dere Types ==
== Gallery ==
Micchon Shikimori from Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie.png|Miyako Shikimori from Miss Shikimori Is Not Just Cute(Deredere)|link=Deredere
Taiga Aisaka Eating.gif|Taiga Aisaka from Toradora!(Tsundere)|link=Tsundere
Nano Eiai from The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You.jpg|Nano Eiai from Kimi no Koto ga Daidaidaidaidaisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo(Kuudere)|link=Kuudere
Eucliwood Hellscythe from Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? .jpg|Eucliwood Hellscythe from Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?(Dandere)|link=Dandere
Yandere-stalk-yuno.jpg|Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki(Yandere)|link=Yandere
== References ==