Who Comes to Mind When Talking About “Demon” Characters? A Close Battle With “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun” Asmodeus, “Fire Force” Shinra, and “Rin-ne” Masato Tied at 2nd Place!

June 6 is Horror Day.

The day was set based on 666, the number of the beast in the Book of Revelation, which is regarded as an ominous number.

There are many characters in anime and games that are inspired by demons feared by people. Some make a contract with humans to give them terrifying powers, some are summoned from another world into modern Japan, and some are just self-proclaimed demons.

We at Anime!Anime! conducted a survey asking, “Who Comes to Mind When Talking About ‘Demon’ Characters?” There were 223 votes during the survey period from May 25 to June 1.
The voters were mainly female with a gender ratio of 75% female to 25% male, and the age range was on the younger side with 50% under 20 and 30% in their 20s.

■Butlers, idols, monsters… Various demons made the list!
1st Place
Topping the list was Sebastian Michaelis from “Black Butler” with roughly 22% of the votes.

Sebastian is Ciel Phantomhive’s butler. The versatile and loyal demon made it to the top with comments such as, “Dignity, education, martial arts, cooking, appearance, etc. He is perfect in every way, yet he is soft-mannered and extremely humble. I wouldn’t mind having my soul taken by such a demon,” “His signature phrase, ‘I’m only a butler,” left a strong impression on me. He made a very devilish contract with Ciel that he would obey any order in exchange for devouring her soul at the end”, and “I can’t resist the charm of Ono Daisuke-san saying, ‘Yes, my lord’.”

2nd Place
The ranking was a close battle with Asmodeus Alice from “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”, Shinra Kusakabe from “Fire Force”, and Masato from “Rin-ne” tied at 2nd place.

Asmodeus Alice is an honor student demon who entered the Demon School with the best grades. “It’s cute how he gets attached to Iruma-kun,” is a comment that shows how his unexpected cuteness gained him popularity. Since “Iruma-kun” is set in the demon world, several characters made it in the top 20.

Shinra Kusakabe is a rookie member of Special Fire Force Company 8. He received votes such as, “I love how Shinra believes he’s a hero and keeps working hard, even though people around him call him a demon,” and “How he is a nice guy but is called a demon because of his awkward smile left a strong impression on me.”

Masato is a demon who holds a grudge against the protagonist Rikudou Rinne. He received votes such as, “The way he tried to take Rinne to hell or frame her is very devilish,” and “It’s funny to see how he makes trouble for her but gets beaten at the end!”

■Here are some comments for other characters!
For Kurosu Aroma from “PriPara”, “The self-proclaimed demonic idol. She looks great in her devilish, dark clothes, and her birthday is June 6, the day of the devil.”
For Tsushima Yoshiko from Love Live! Sunshine!!”, “Because she calls herself Yohane,” and “I want to be Yohane’s little demon!”

For Beelzebumon from “Digimon Tamers”, “The Demon Lord type Digimon who became a demon by selling his soul to the devil. His looks are amazing too!”
There were also votes for a cute demon, Teddy Demon from “Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle”, “How they go get themselves brushed by the princess is so cute,” and “I’d welcome such a cute demon.”

Not only true demons but also idols that call themselves demons and characters that have a devilish look were also popular in this survey. Many of the characters that made the list were born on June 6 like Asmodeus Alice from “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”.

■Top 20
[Who Comes to Mind When Talking About “Demon” Characters?]
1. Sebastian Michaelis “Black Butler”
2. Asmodeus Alice “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”
2. Shinra Kusakabe “Fire Force”
2. Masato “Rin-ne”
5. Devilman “Devilman”
6. Diablo “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime”
7. Asta “Black Clover”
7. Kurosu Aroma “PrePara”
7. Tsushima Yoshiko “Love Live! Sunshine!!”
7. Liebe “Black Clover”
11. Azazel Atsushi “You’re Being Summoned, Azazel”
11. Okumura Rin “Blue Exorcist”
11. Sullivan “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”
11. Naberius Kalego “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”
16. Okita Sougo “Gintama”
16. Jashin-chan “Dropkick on My Devil!”
16. Teddy Demon “Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle”
16. Baikinman “Anpanman”
16. Hiruma Youichi “Eyeshield 21”
16. Hoshina Utau “Shugo Chara!”
16. Pochita “Chainsaw Man”
16. Mephisto Pheles “Blue Exorcist”
16. Ryuk “Death Note”

(Survey Period: May 25 – June 1, 2021)

※This survey was held to investigate the readers’ “interests and attention towards current anime titles and characters”. The results should not be used to determine the supremacy of characters and titles. We hope this article will help you find new anime/characters and deepen your understanding of them.