The anime world is incredibly vast; in fact, there are hundreds of series to choose from. No matter the genre, each anime tells a unique story, and each series varies in terms of writing quality, but like all works of fiction, the characters matter the most. The audience relates to characters, and a series that does not have relatable characters is in most cases doomed to fail.
There are many anime characters with outlandish appearances, but there are many more who look like ordinary people. Facial features aside, hair color is a very distinguishing feature, and a large number of characters possess some type of brown hair, just like many people in real life. Not all of these brown-haired characters are memorable, but there are a few that truly stand out.
Updated on August 01, 2025 by Nadia Grace Mullings:Anime is full of unique characters and many are designed with bright hair of pretty much any color, from bright red to yellow and blue. Even though many anime characters stand out due to their unnatural hair colors, this by no means means that these brown haired characters aren’t worthy of notice. Thesemale anime characters with brown hairspan a range of different genres and even eras. With a variety of personalities and backstories, they are all notable for various reasons, whether it’s their immense kindness, brute strength or even their status as unsung heroes.
Charlotteis a series following a group of kids with special powers who risk being hunted down for their abilities, so they must keep them hidden. Yuu is the protagonist, and at first he uses his power for his own selfish needs. He can take control of others’ bodies for five seconds at a time, and he uses this ability to copy others in exams, and thus he’s top of the school through cheating. He even enacts a plan involving putting the girl he likes in danger so he can be the one to save her so she’ll go out with him.
However, after meeting Tomori and her student council, he begins to understand the situation, and then helps them track down other superhumans and thus protect them from exploitation, as what tragically happened to Tomori’s brother. This journey begins to change him as a person.
Asahi is an important member of Karasuno’s volleyball team, and protagonist Hinata looks up to him, but wonders why he withdrew from the game he once loved. It turns out that Asahi suffered from low confidence, and withdrew from volleyball a while ago after a humiliating defeat which greatly affected him.
However, as Hinata begins to encourage him, Asahi is inspired by the young first year’s unyielding enthusiasm for the game despite the setbacks he’s faced and the teasing others have given him due to his short height. Thus, Asahi decides to return to the sport he once loved and, together with the rest of the team, go on to play many intense volleyball matches in the series.
Yuuya is the protagonist of this isekai series. He suffers greatly at the hands of others, despite being so gentle natured and wanting to help others. All his life he has been bullied for his appearance and after losing his grandpa, his own family reject him completely.
Yuuya’s story begins when he tries to save a girl from thugs and goes home beaten up, however, in his distress, he stumbles upon a secret doorway in his house, leading to another world. Yuuya’s life begins to change as he learns new skills, makes new friends and explores the mysterious other world his grandpa’s house is connected to.
Katsuma is a young boy Deku and Katsuki meet on their work study to Nabu Island in the events of the movieHeroes Rising. He’s kind and soft spoken yet lives in the shadow of his older sister Mahoro who initially hates heroes. Whilst Mahoro grew fond of Katsuki, Katsuma looked up to Deku, yet interestingly Katsuma bears traits of both the two heroes: the kindness, admiration of heroes and desire to help others like Deku, and the desire to fight and crush villains like Katsuki.
Katsuma becomes the target of the villain Nine, who wants his Cell Activation Quirk. However as it turns out, the two heroes owe their lives to this young boy. When Deku and Katsuki are gravely injured in their first bout with Nine, Katsuma heals them with his power. This unsung hero is the reason Deku and Katsuki can fight Nine again and put an end to his evil plans with the joint usage of One For All. At the end of the movie, Deku encourages Katsuma, who intitially believed his Quirk to be useless, that he can indeed become a hero.
Ryuuichi is the protagonist ofSchool Babysittersand is one of the most selfless and kind anime characters. Ryuuichi never thinks of himself but always puts his little brother Kotaro first, and at his school he helps out as a babysitter for the teacher’s children, who absolutely adore him.
His kind and gentle demeanor makes him popular with the kids and able to bond with the others at the babysitting club. His concern for others' wellbeing above his own makes Ryuuichi a character to admire.
Taiju is one of the most important characters inDr. Stone, and with his best friend Senku, they begin to rebuild humanity after the petrification. After humanity is turned to stone, Taiju is the second human to awaken from petrification. Known for his brute strength, Taiju is the perfect counterpart to Senku’s brilliant intelligence, and together they start to rebuild human civilization from the ground up.
Taiju relies on Senku a lot, but is an extremely kind and enthusiastic character who wants to do all he can to help Senku and his other friends, and protect them from the murderous Tsukasa. He and Senku are an iconic duo and one of the strongest teams of best friends seen in anime.
Case Closed’smanga is still going after nearly 30 years, and Shin’ichi Kudo has been the main character since the beginning. One night, he took his childhood friend to a theme park and ended up solving a murder. Later that night he was given some untraceable poison. It did not kill him, but it did shrink his body to the point that he looks like a six-year-old.
Shin’ichi does not get scared, even when his life is in danger, and since he was a boy, he was known for being a distant yet cool guy. Prior to the poisoning, he adored the spotlight, but he has gained a great deal of humility since.
Seto Kaiba was technically the first villain to appear inYu-Gi-Oh!,but he went on to become an anti-hero and one of the original series' best duelists. He is often portrayed as an arrogant and at times selfish character, as evidenced by his need to obtain the fourthBlue-Eyes White Dragonand the Egyptian God Cards.
He may be Yugi’s rival, but he will help him if they have a common enemy. He loves his little brother and will go out of his way to save him if he is ever in danger. He even confessed his love for him in a very touching scene. Kaiba also has a soft spot for orphans, mainly because he and his brother were orphaned at a young age.
There are quite a fewwell-written characters inNaruto, and Yamato is without a doubt a hidden gem. When he was an infant, he was abducted by Orochimaru, who turned him into a test subject. He injected Yamato with the 1st Hokage’s cells, which is the reason why he can use Wood Release.
He was later found and recruited by Danzo, who treated him like an emotionless killing machine. It was not until Yamato met a young Kakashi that he knew what actual friendship was like. He may act like a stoic and serious individual, but he is actually quite playful.
As a member of the Armed Detective Agency, Osamu Dazai helps to solve cases that are too difficult or violent for the police to handle, and these cases tend to involve supernatural beings. Prior to being a detective, Osamu was an executive of the Port Mafia, an underworld organization.
He is a mysterious individual who always keeps his true motives hidden, and he wields a power thatallows him to nullify other abilitiesby simply touching the user. Osamu is a complex and at times conflicted individual, and his comedic actions hide the darkness within him.
