Anime & Roleplay Glossary
The words anime and roleplay fans actually use — from waifu and husbando to moe, oshi, senpai and isekai — each with a clear definition and where it came from. For the character-personality archetypes, see the dere types guide.
How fans claim and rank the characters they love.
A waifu is a fictional female character a fan adopts as their favorite, often with playful romantic devotion — “my waifu.”
Read the full guide →A husbando is a fictional male character a fan adopts as their favorite — the male counterpart to a waifu.
Read the full guide →“Best girl” is a fan's pick for the single best female character in a series — the debate that fuels every fandom.
On this page ↓An oshi is the one character, idol or creator a fan most passionately supports and promotes.
On this page ↓The words for why a character hits — cuteness, charm, that gap.
Moe is the warm, protective affection an endearing character stirs in a fan — and the cute traits that trigger it.
Read the full guide →Gap moe is the endearment that hits when a character shows a surprising, contradictory side — a scary one being gentle.
On this page ↓Kawaii means “cute” — the aesthetic of adorable, endearing charm that runs through anime and Japanese pop culture.
On this page ↓“Ara ara” is a soft, teasing interjection (roughly “oh my~”) associated with warm, playfully mature female characters.
On this page ↓Terms you'll meet building characters and running scenes.
Isekai (“another world”) is the genre where an ordinary person is transported into a fantasy or game world.
On this page ↓Slice of life is the low-stakes genre about everyday moments — school, work, friendship — over plot spectacle.
On this page ↓An OC is an original character a fan creates themselves rather than one taken from an existing series.
On this page ↓A self-insert is a character written to stand in for you — your avatar inside the story or roleplay.
On this page ↓How characters address and relate to each other.
Every term here describes a real character you can talk to. Browse the anime character roster or build your own.
14 terms and counting.