WARNING: Great care has been taken to ensure that the following content contains no series spoilers, however, consider yourself warned that some of the character descriptions do contain references to events that happen within the series. Sincerest apologies if I do wreck the following series’ for someone =(

Now, on with the list!

1. Sasuke Uchiha

In the anime and manga, Sasuke is a member of the Uchiha clan, a highly skilled clan of ninjas allied to the village of Konohagakure. His primary motivation throughout the series is to avenge the destruction of his entire clan by killing his brother, Itachi Uchiha, a task he pursues at all costs. While he was initially cold and singularly driven by his revenge, he becomes more empathetic through his relationships with other characters, notably Naruto Uzumaki, whom he comes to consider as a rival. Sasuke has additionally appeared in several of the featured movies in the series, as well as several other media relating to the series, including several video games and OVAs.

Several anime and manga publications have provided acclaim and criticism of Sasuke’s character. While many reviewers have noted his cold and detached attitude and abilities, he has been viewed as a stereotypical “rival” in the mold of several similar characters in other sh?nen manga. His personality has also been subject to criticism, with many finding it difficult to like or sympathize with Sasuke’s character; IGN jokingly labeled Sasuke as an “emo-kid.” Nevertheless, Sasuke has been highly popular with the Naruto reader base, placing high in several popularity polls. Merchandise based on Sasuke has also been released, including action figures and plush dolls.

2. L. Lawliet

L Lawliet commonly referred to by his alias “L” is a fictional character in the manga, anime and film series Death Note. L is considered the world’s greatest detective, whose identity remains unknown before the story takes place because he has never revealed himself to the public. L, who also uses the aliases Hideki Ryuga, Ryuzaki, Eraldo Coil, and Deneuve ,the latter two for which he has developed reputations as the second- and third-best detectives in the world, is quite secretive and only communicates with the world through his assistant Watari. He never shows his face to the world, instead representing himself with a capital L in Cloister Black font.

After meeting the Kira investigation team, he requests that the task force refer to him as Ryuzaki for discretion. The Kira investigation team never learns his true name. Ohba said that L is the smartest character in the manga because “the plot requires it.” Ohba also said that he personally views L as “slightly evil”; for instance, in chapter 109, Near discloses the fact that L claimed to pursue cases out of personal interest with no great sense of justice.

3. Itachi Uchiha

Itachi Uchiha is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the series, Itachi is the older brother of Sasuke Uchiha responsible for killing all the members of their clan. However, during Part II of the series, it is revealed that Itachi was ordered by the former leaders of Konohagakure to kill the Uchiha who were attempting to start a war. Despite his reservations, Itachi fulfilled his mission and defected from Konohagakure to become part of the criminal organization Akatsuki. Itachi has not been featured in the films and original video animations from Naruto, but he is a playable character in most video games of the series.

4. Ulquiorra Cifer

Ulquiorra Cifer is the Cuarta Espada, signified by the “4″ tattooed to his chest. His name stems from that of a furniture designer named Patricia Urquiola. He has a largely stoic appearance, rarely even changing his facial expression, and does not allow the actions of others to impede the tasks set to him by S?suke Aizen.

He will attack his comrades to get them to pay attention to him, and deems anyone he does not find of particular interest to be “trash” and therefore expendable. The remainder of Ulquiorra’s hollow mask forms a broken helmet with a curved horn and covers the left half of his head. His hollow hole has moved since his first appearance; when first introduced it is at the base of his neck, but in later appearances it has been moved onto his chest.

5. Legato Bluesummers

In the anime ‘Trigun’, Legato is placed as the leader of the Gung-Ho Guns, recruited by Knives to make Vash’s life a living hell. Knives gives Legato Vash’s left arm, which grants him the ability to manipulate victims with telepathy. He sees Knives as a god and, like Knives, sees humans, even himself, as garbage only good for consuming resources.

Legato forces Vash to kill him by using his powers to threaten Milly and Meryl. Legato thus becomes the first person that Vash ever consciously and willfully kills, fulfilling his promise to “I will make Vash the Stampede feel eternal pain and suffering”.

6. Light Yagami

Light Yagami is the protagonist and anti-hero of Death Note. At the start of the series, he discovers the Death Note and uses it to kill criminals, becoming known to the people of Japan as Kira (based on the Japanese pronunciation of the English word “killer”). He is characterized as an extremely intelligent, but bored young man, who is frustrated by the lack of justice in the world. He is confident of his own intelligence and how smart he is in relation to others. Being a genius, Light feels that only he is fit to judge humanity and steer it on a proper moral course, viewing himself as the “god” of the new world he is creating.

7. Vicious

Vicious is a fictional character from the anime series ‘Cowboy Bepop’. As well as living up to his namesake, “Vicious” is ruthless, bloodthirsty, cunning and ambitious. Considered by some to be Spike’s darker half, he is willing to do anything in order to secure a position of power. He is a member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate in Tharsis, and is often referred to or depicted as a venomous snake (as opposed to Spike who is referred to as a swimming bird and the Syndicate Elders who see themselves as a dragon). His weapon of choice is not a firearm, but a katana which he wields skillfully, even against gun-wielders.

8. Yuki Sohma

Yuki Sohma is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya, and is one of the three protagonists of the story. He is depicted as a popular high school student despite severe self-doubts, and is president of the student council. He is sometimes called “Prince Yuki” by his fans. When Yuki is hugged by the opposite gender or if his body is under a great deal of stress, he transforms into the rat of the Chinese zodiac.

Yuki is depicted as an attractive, reserved, and accomplished young man with many admirers, but who finds being friendly difficult. As a young man possessed by the rat, the animal that according to legend was first to arrive at the initial zodiac banquet, Yuki is talented at anything he tries (except cooking). However, when Yuki was young, Akito Sohma kept him isolated from the rest of the family and convinced him no one liked or needed him; because of this emotional abuse, Yuki has low self-esteem and feels alone.

9. Freya

Freya, or ‘Dark Chii’, is a fictional character from the anime and manga series ‘Chobits’. Freya was the first Chobit, who was created before Chii by Ichiro Mihara. Freya was created to be Hibiya’s daughter, because she was unable to bear children of her own. She lived happily with the Mihara couple for a time until Hibiya noticed that her attitude was becoming increasingly melancholy. Hibiya asked her husband to build a little sister for Freya in an attempt to make her happy again; from this request, Chii was created.

Some time after, Freya suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground. It was only then that Hibiya finally realized the source of Freya’s sadness; she had fallen in love with her own father, Mihara. Freya knew that her father still loved his wife, and did not want to disturb their happiness, so she pained her heart with efforts to suppress her feelings. Over time, her pain became so great that she began to malfunction under the strain of her emotional burden. Freya was no longer able to move, and was bedridden from that point on.

In the anime, Freya never found the courage to tell her father how she truly felt; in the manga, she resigns herself to the fact that because of the damage to her body, all hope is lost regardless of the outcome. After reaching this decision, she chose to tell him of her true feelings. Eventually Freya’s pain became so unbearable that she chose to self-terminate, rather than continue to exist.

10. Zero Kiryu

Zero Kiryu is a fictional character from ‘Vampire Knight’, a shojo manga and anime series written by Matsuri Hino. Zero, who is a year older than Yuki Cross, comes from a vampire hunter family. His parents were killed by the pureblood vampire Shizuka Hio after they were ordered to assassinate her lover, a former human that had not yet fallen to level E. Zero was taken in by the headmaster of Cross Academy and became a Prefect (Guardian), alongside Yuki Cross. He has a great hatred for vampires because of what happened to his parents, but it is later revealed that he himself is a vampire as a result of Shizuka’s attack.

Disagree with our top ten? Think there is another anime boy or girl that deserves to be on the list? By all means, comment and let us know!