Before I begin to write, I want to shed light on India and it’s culture.
India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world which is on its way to becoming a Superpower in future.
India as a civilization has history dating back more than 5000 years, but as a nation we are still young.
Only 70 years old since 1947.
Despite being around for so long we’ve yet to leave our mark on the world.
The Indian Cinema has made an impact on World Cinema and has contributed a lot to our image.
But there’s still much more to do.
With that said, there are a few Anime which feature Indian characters I’d like to mention:
1. Gadevi (Arslan Senki)
Gadevi from the Kingdom of Shindhura is part of Pakistan but is also a part of Ancient India.
He is a prince having rivalry from his brother – Rajendra for the throne of Sindhura.
This conflict is very similar to the kind of conflicts we’ve seen throughout history for the throne.
2. Rajendra (Arslan Senki)
Rajendra – half-brother to Gadevi and a temporary ally to Arslan, is cunning, cruel and will do anything for the throne.
Similar to Lelouch from Code Geass.
Rajendra later becomes King, and then kills off his brother: Gadevi for throne.
The same brother he promised not to kill to his father.
3. Mahendra (Arslan Senki)
Mahendra is the Prime Minister to the King, advisor to Gadevi, and step father to Jaswant.
He’s loyal to his kingdom but is also bound by his duties to Gadevi, despite knowing the actions taken by Gadevi were wrong.
4. Jaswant (Arslan Senki)
Jaswant – son of Mahendra, is loyal to his father and to the Kingdom of Shindhura.
He takes pride in working for his empire, with strong morals. Never hesitating to stand for justice, his ethics or values.
5. Silat (Berserk)
Silat- a character based on the traditional Rajput warriors of India.
He’s a powerful character who rivals even Guts (main character).
Silat’s arsenal of weapons is based on the Rajput arsenal, such as araa, chakram and talvar.
All of which belong to traditional Indian weapons of war.
Silat’s fighting style is also based on the Indian Martial arts: Kalaripayattu.
6. Ramdas (Little Princess Sarah)
Ramdas – a character who’s a servant to Mr.Carrisford in anime: Little Princess Sarah.
He’s a caring, kind person towards Sarah Crewe.
The main story of Little Princess Sarah is set in British India.
7. Jeryy (D-Gray Man)
Jerry’s an Indian character from D-Gray Man.
He’s also a chef in the anime and knows the fighting style of Muay-thai.
From the side of his father who runs a dojo, he is a supporting character in the Anime.
Jerry is actually his nick-name in D. Gray Man.
8. Urmina (D.Gray Man)
Urmina is a widow of Maharjaa in India, and is one of the love-interests of general cross.
9. Naraiin (D.Gray Man)
Narain is a close friend of Allen Walker during his time in India.
Naraiin eventually turns into an Akuma (demon), destroyed by Allen Walker.
10. Amitabh Kapoor (Darker than Black)
Amitabh Kapoor’s a contractor who’s ability is to posses the bodies of humans.
He doesn’t have his own identity, so he possesses the body of a Caucasian man who was his former associate.
11. Sharna Alamgir (Hayate the Combat Butler)
Sharna Alamgir is a transfer student from India, and is a friend of Fumi Hibino.
12. Meena (Dinosaur King)
Meena’s an Indian princess and is one of the official members of the D-team.
13. Aishwarya Rai (Digimon)
Aishwarya Rai’s one of the creators of artificial life forms, which later becomes Digimon.
She’s also one the significant characters throughout the Digimon anime.
14. Éclair (Fairy Tail)
Though Eclair’s not an Indian character by skin-tone, she bears Indian resemblance because of the Indian Sari and bangles she wears.
15. Janet (Black Lagoon)
Janet is an Indian money launderer in the dark anime series: Black Lagoon.
Closing Thoughts:
There are a few more Indian anime characters from Black Butler and Code Geass worth mentioning.
But even after mentioning so many Indian characters you’ll notice one thing:
Very few anime shows highlight anything about India or Indian culture. Despite India and Japan sharing the same continent.
This is due to modern cultural contact which is poor between these two nations.
When you see an anime there’s a fair chance it has American or British characters, or maybe European characters.
The influence of Western culture is significant in Japan after all.
But with the growth, development and technology lately, India in future could have a huge impact on anime.
And even bring about great stories, plots and anime shows that contribute to the animation industry.
Which Indian anime character is your favorite?
useful post but needs improvement
Yeah we do have various skin colour but they choose to keep some brown and some fair skin tone. Right.
My fav so called Indian character is Akira Hayama from “Food Wars”!
He is from Sri Lanka
What do you mean by skin tone?? We Indians do have a tone like eclair…
Lol
Japan is also White supremacy supporter
For real? What tf then why do they even make dark-skinned characters? D:
that’s not true majority of us have dark skin.
being a very diverse country India has a diverse variety of skin color
yea, im brown indian, my cousin is white indian
i m white indian lol
I loved anime all my life. And what the hell anime and pathetic bloggers like you say. First of all come visit India and see yourself all different skin tones which you won’t find anywhere. There are so many white and fair complexion people living. Mostly people who are brown have main reason tanning. Guessing someone’s nation by their complexion even without knowing reality shows your heart which is colored all black.
You do realize this article was WRITTEN by a native Indian, right? There is no “guessing” involved.
Sounds more like you have insecurities you need to deal with that have NOTHING to do with this article.
Peace.
I’m sorry but Nimi is right, India is an extremely diverse continent, and there are multiple skin tones there. People have lighter complexions and people also have darker complexions. I am a “native Indian” as you say, and I doubt that any insecurities that they might have relate to the fact that the author made a mistake when posting that comment online.
I’m aware of that. No one’s debating it. But it was an Indian from India who wrote this. Both of you seem to feel offended as if someone else wrote this who’s not from India, and they were trying to paint your country in a negative light.
I think it’s just a miscommunication and a lack of context that’s ruffled some feathers.
I am sorry if my previous comment sounded angry or upset, I merely wanted to shed some light by saying that certain places in India, such as northern states have lighter skin tones. I knew that the author was an indian however I wanted to clarify for any foreigners. I hope you have a good day and stay safe during this quarantine 🙂
Appreciate that. Glad we’re on the same page. No malice.
Pagal, starting of India there is no good skin tone
Maybe the Japanese have not seen Indians. There are plenty of fair, pale skinned people who also very beautiful
ehh i don’t know why you said pale skinned “beautiful” people.
but majority of the indians are dark skinned. india doesn’t give recognition to the dark skinned people in any entertainment forms. i’m glad at least a foreign country gives dark skinned Indians a recognition lmao.♀️
But stereotyping the whole India is wrong. They don’t study well about it and just use the stereotype that they hear from the people around them and just go with it. It’s wrong and kinda racist as well
I dont think Indians would appreciate this as I am a Indian and I have mostly seen that mostly 95 percent of Indian dont know about anime cause they think doreamon,pokemon,drgonball are cartoons and I am a great anime lover and i still notice that anime is hated in India . After ban of TikTok I use mx TakaTak and i found some anime lovers they are Indian mostly 20 might be anime lovers in millions of people using mx taka tak
The thing is, people from every ethnicity vary in skin color but Indians ARE generally dark brown, I don’t know why you find that to be a problem.
They’re completely right with the skin tones they’ve used.
>Indians ARE generally dark brown
That couldn’t possible be true. Infact that statement is almost an insult. We are the most diverse nation on the planet. We have people who look white to people who look east asian. We have communities who can trace their ancestors all the way back to Ethiopia .
It’s sad you’re offended by this. It shows just how deep colonization and the west’s interference has plagued India.
Not that your statement holds no truth, but the fact you’re so apprehensive towards the fact that there are MANY Indians who are dark shows you’ve been sold on the “white is right” mentality. The same propaganda sold to you by your oppressors.
Your comment “people who look white” is proof. Why is that so important to say? Indians aren’t white and never were, and aren’t meant to be.
Hence why skin whitening is a thing in India, just like in countries where people have dark or brown skin.
Well he wasn’t completely wrong according to me that was an stereotype that every character which is mentioned as Indian are supposed to be Brown. There are people of all diversities in India. I mean nothing such as white is only right ; rather I am against the mentality that if someone is Indian we create a figure in mind that they supposed to be Brown and just that.
I’m offended by this because the author made a blanket statement. Hell I’m a brown skinned Indian myself. I’m pretty sure any citizen of an ethnically diverse country would feel offended by this.
U>Your comment “people who look white” is proof
Because they literally look white. Or are you discriminating them based on their skin colour?
P>Why is that so important to say? Indians aren’t white and never were, and aren’t meant to be.
I said they looked white. You’ve got some issues man. Denying the citizenship of ethnic groups based on their colours? That’s some really racist shit
P>Hence why skin whitening is a thing in India, just like in countries where people have dark or brown skin.
And skin whitening is not a thing in other asian and african African countries? Infact skin whitening is one the most searched thing on google in countries like Somalia,Thailand and Myanmar. Now instead of denying my countrymen their nationality based on their skin colour,why dont you do something productive?
Fair enough. I see your point. And look at the last part of my comment, you’re essentially repeating what I already implied.
We’re on the same page. But don’t play the “racist” BS here or misunderstand my intent, it doesn’t help your argument or make it any more valid.
I just feel strongly about what I said so you seen it as malice.
Why do you even reply to them? Some people will find malice in anything and everything… I am a brown skinned Indian I agree with your every statement and you said nothing wrong or racist… Thank you for this article, appreciate it.
And artists potrait Indians as brown or Africans as black because most of them are brown and black respectively… Hence watching a character who is of same skin colour as most of the Indians or Africans help them connect with them… To be honest… If they show me a white guy with Indian name… That would be hard to feel connected to.
You’re right. I wasted my time but it is what it is.
Your points are spot on by the way.
Its not about being offended, its about facts. And the fact that people are saying that there are many people who are dark skinned here know that lighter skin tones exists as well. It’s not wrong portraying indians with dark skin tone but people should portray indians with lighter skin tones as well. Because of portraying only one skin color, people all around the world, in their own countries as well who don’t know much about India thinks that only ONE skin shade exists in India when almost all the skin tones exists, as it is a diverse country.
Its actually kinda racist that the anime creators don’t study well about the number of skin shades existing in India and just using only one type of skin shade when portraying an indian character.
Why they always assume that all the characters from India is always going to be dark skinned? They could show variety there that not only one skin shade exists here in India. That’s stereotyping and ignorance as well. So I would blame those anime creators who does this.
And in case you didn’t know, not all the population in east asian country have super light skin tones as they portray… there are different types of skin shades exist there as well but they don’t portray them in most animes but stereopying a WHOLE country in only one skin tone is very racist of them. All shades exists in every state… majority minority differ. It’s not like they even mention that from which part of the country that character is coming from atleast. Either they should actually study more about India or don’t portray people of India at all.
I agree with your assessment. And I’m aware India has different shades and skin tones, as opposed to just one. No different to how I’ve been irritated by anime designs depicting black characters with the same stereotypical skin tone, as opposed to the diverse skin tones that exist with African and Caribbean culture.
It’s even more annoying when uncultured Americans or Brits say “she’s not black, she’s tanned” in cases where that’s false.
And even though limited compared to India itself, I’ve grown up in the UK with all sorts of cultures. Indians being one of them, and not all have the same shade.
So In the end I get where you’re coming from. But that’s all the more reason for this article to exist (as you know, almost no anime site shares this).
imagine being that insecure LMAO
1.Where is karna from fate/apocrypha. I think he could replace any character in this list
2.rakshata Chawla from code geass even she is osm
why didnt they added hayama from food wars
Kougaiji from Saiyuki is my favorite Indian character. I just love that he’s distinctly Indian without being portrayed as a stereotype like which tends to happen in a lot of anime. Although his younger sister Lirin is adorable as well. And of course an obligatory callout to Anthy from Utena.
Many Indians don’t know abt anime
Let me just say. Brown skin is beautiful too.
Absolutely is.
aomine daiki (kuroko no basket) seems like he is of south asian descent. he has the dark but not too dark skin tone and the hair style and texture to be considered desi
I only watch dinosaur king
try to add more character but nice to see Indian presence in anime . 14 is my favorite among them .
My Favorite Character is Karna based on Indian epic Mahabharat character from Fate Apocrypha. You need to see that anime
Thanks for sharing Shubham.
Hey u forgot karna from fate apocrypha the leading character in that anime