This post looks at characters of the past and where the old trends stand now, we start with female characters, males will get their own eventually.
1. Valkyrie Girls
Also known as the Valkyrie Bitch, these harlots are no nonsense action types, the best example being Black Lagoon's Revy.
They enjoyed a boom during the cyberpunk era of the late 80s and are still in demand today thanks to Chainsaw Man.
2. Wrestling Girls
Prominent in the 80s, wrestling girls influences can be found in shows like Dirty Pair, it's existence today is split between tag team partnerships between two females, also known as the Lovely Angels trope or literal wrestling sports anime with a twist like Keijo.
3. Tsundere Girls
Popularised by Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura and continuing long into the 00s the tsundere hot and cold personality was a core part of romance anime, they are a dying breed these days replaced by socially awkward girls and girls who just tease the male characters.
4. Magician Girls
This is a fascinating one that comes with a unique story of a particular Japanese Idol who managed to break the American market that I'll be tempted to talk about, in it's day, the magician girl commanded admiration but is now an embarrassing fetish.
5. Delinquent Girls
Credited with being the very first lead action girl in the medium, the Delinquent Girls starting from the mid 70s were an inspiration to all who followed after, it's also credited for making the Sailor Fuku uniform an anime staple, not Sailor Moon. Very rare to see nowadays but kept alive prominently by Vtuber Kson.
6. Idol Girls
The age of City Pop and the popular anime idol of Macross Lynn Minmay, gave rise to the idol singer along with magical idols Creamy Mami. These days it's based on collectable card games for girls but is still very much popular.
7. Mysterious Girls
Popularised by the now late Leiji Matsumoto, the mysterious girl has an aura of intense beauty and mystery about them, on a journey of self discovery with very little to go on, you can't help but follow them, hard these days for these types of characters to stay relevant when the internet knows everything.
8. Fantasy Girls
Prominent lead females in fantasy anime everything from the Magic Knights of Rayearth to Lina Inverse, they dominated much of the 80s and 90s. These days they are harem bait for isekai protagonists.
9. Space Girls
Also known as bridge bunnies, these girls are seen as supporting roles on a larger more prominent battle ship, sometimes piloting mechs. Sci-Fi isn't much of a thing anymore but Gundam finally gave a female character top billing.
10. Drama Girls
The mature girls who engage in sometimes forbidden romances, all the rage in 80s shojo, largely forgotten these days as it just doesn't sell well.
11. Thief Girls
Since Fujiko Mine and the girls of Cat's Eye gave thief girls a place, they've always managed to keep a real sex appeal, ironically Lupin and Cat's Eye will crossover later this year keeping the honour among thieves alive.
12. Classic Girls
And finally we have classic girls or European girls. Take a popular piece of literature from Europe and turn it into an anime. Not a big deal anymore and Magus Bride only barely qualifies for the same genre.
If you want me to expand on any of these posts, drop a comment.
