10 Iconic Anime Characters with Animal Ears

"Kemonomimi" is a Japanese word that literally means animal ears. It's been quite a popular trope in Japanese media — including many anime and manga — and is usually (but not always) considered cute. In fact, it's so popular that many anime characters with this look have become quite iconic — let's take a look at some.

Holo (Spice and Wolf)

Of course, the most famous character with animal ears is none other than the Wise Wolf herself, Holo. She's the goddess of the harvest in Spice and Wolf (Ookami to Koushinryou), but most of the time we see her traveling with Lawrence.

The anime is just as iconic as she is, being great at many things. It's a slow-paced fantasy adventure with a focus on medieval economics, it's a great dialogue-driven series, and, most importantly, it's an amazing romance anime with realistic character development.

Tomoe (Kamisama Kiss)

In shoujo romance series, we can occasionally see male characters who are certain kinds of spirits. In fact, that's what Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss (Kamisama Hajimemashita) is — a fox familiar spirit.

The anime is more than just your usual romance, though: it's actually a pretty insightful take on Japanese mythology, and is a great watch even if you aren't its target audience.

Black Hanekawa (Monogatari series)

Confusing naming aside (her color scheme is mostly white), Black Hanekawa is the cat-like split personality/spirit inside the body of Tsubasa Hanekawa. It symbolizes her stress that she hides away from the world and releases by attacking humans — don't let her appearance fool you.

Originally appearing in Bakemonogatari, Black Hanekawa then made appearances in the series a couple more times, and her existence makes Tsubasa one of the most complex characters in the entire anime.

Inuyasha (InuYasha)

Inuyasha, from the classic shoujo series of the same name, is a hybrid between a human and dog yokai. He's also one of the two protagonists of the series, the other being Kagome, who was transferred to his world (a fantasy take on Japan). Their long journey and adventure is a great watch by itself, but what fans talk about more often are the romance elements.

Koneko (High School DxD)

It feels like High School DxD has all kinds of female characters in it. Of course, there's also a catgirl, Koneko — while she's not the most prominent character, we see her quite often. She's famous for cold demeanor and hatred of perverts, which occasionally backfires on the main character.

Fun fact: the seiyuus of Koneko (Ayana Taketatsu) and the protagonist, Issei (Yuuki Kaji), actually married each other in 2019. So, while DxD is obviously a harem series and will stay as such, fans often joke that Koneko is the actual winner.

Raphtalia (Shield Hero)

We've had cat ears, wolf ears, dog ears, but how about something unusual? Raphtalia from The Rising of the Shield Hero (Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari) is a tanuki-type demi-human.

Tanuki is a mythological Japanese raccoon, and she's actually one of the few examples of raccoon ears on an anime character. And, while The Rising of the Shield Hero might be controversial, Raphtalia is a fun character who's definitely among fan favorites in the show.

Senko (The Helpful Fox Senko-san)

What if one day, a little fox-girl appeared in your apartment and started doing your house duties? Oh, and she's actually an 800-year-old deity.

The Helpful Fox Senko-san (Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san) answers that question, and the anime is a very comfy slice-of-life featuring Senko (the fox-girl in question) and Kuroto, an office worker experiencing severe burnout. There's just a small hint of romance, too, but there's more of that in the manga.

Ame and Yuki (Wolf Children)

Okay, technically, these are two characters, but since they're siblings who are very important to the story, they should be treated as one for the sake of this list.

Wolf Children (Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki) is a touching movie about family values. In fact, the kids having animal features makes perfect sense, as their father was the last werewolf alive.

Ritsuka (Loveless)

Among BL anime, Loveless might be one of the weirder ones. It's not even just about romance — the main premise of the series is a series of battle royale-style battles between pairs.

The driving point of the anime is a mystery behind Ritsuka's brother's death and the organization that may or may not be behind it. Oh, and cat ears and tail symbolize virginity in the world of Loveless. We did say this anime was really weird.

Kuon (Utawarerumono)

Utawarerumono is a series of visual novels and anime based on them. It's one of the closest things we can get to epic fantasy in anime, though it definitely has its own flair, seeing as it came from Japan.

Kuon is the deuteragonist of the second and third anime seasons (and the games they're based on), as well as one of the most beloved characters in the entire franchise. Just don't ask what kind of animal ears exactly she has, because no one has an answer for that.