While so many different anime hairstyles seem to defy the laws of physics, there is no hairstyle more perplexing than the ahoge. Ahoge can be broken down into the two Japanese words words "aho" meaning idiot or fool and "ge" which means hair. The term "ahoge" refers to that strand of hair that you see sticking straight out of a character's head. You know the one!

Ahoge came from hairdressers who referred to cowlicks as "stupid hairs." The hair itself seems to stick out with no aid from hairsprays, gels, or other styling agents, but it also cannot be smoothed back down into place as some characters have been known to attempt. It is somewhat a lost cause, it seems. There are times when ahoge does not refer to a single strand of hair but a tuft of hair, such as in the case of the youngest Minami sister, Chiaki from Minami-ke.

Since the term ahoge was first used, ahoge has evolved from being used to describe a person's hairstyle to a person's personality or level of intelligence. Many characters will be immediately labeled as stupid or fools. It's essentially a visual cue signaling the audience that the character may be a bit dimwitted, but the world is not black and white, and neither are characters with ahoge.

Ahoge characters are not always stupid, however! Another trait displayed by characters possessing ahoge is carefreeness. Some characters just do not seem to have a care in the world so they tend to shirk their responsibilities and lay around as if there is nothing important to do. Don't some people have it easy?

An odd trait of some ahoge is its ability to move based on a character’s emotions. That may mean a twitch, moving around as if it is dancing, or even going completely straight when it is usually curved. You can see this at times for carefree ahoge characters, but haven't you seen at least one male character whose ahoge goes completely straight? Wonder what he's thinking...

If an ahoge character is not stupid nor is he or she carefree, they might just be mischievous. There are quite a few mischievous anime characters. They tend to be the ones who seek out trouble, pull pranks, trick their friends into doing something they want to do, etc. Some mischievous anime characters are just looking for a quick laugh or to cause trouble, but that is all in the fun of the character!

An interesting trait for mischievous ahoge characters is the ability for the ahoge to pop up out of nowhere as if the character had an idea, which they usually do. When a character suddenly comes up with an idea to cause trouble, a hair will pop out of place turning them into an ahoge character. Although this does happen enough, not all characters that sometimes display an ahoge are mischievous. Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke may rarely have an ahoge, but clearly, Sawako is not a troublemaker.

Ahoge is a very common anime trope, but it seems that not many people are aware it exists or know what it means. Many characters fall under a specific characterization when they have an ahoge, but sometimes, it's all in the character's style. At least it's not a consistent trope like other characterizations, but ahoge is not to be confused with antennae-style hair which features two strands of hair sticking out.

After reading this article, can you think of any ahoge anime characters you may have seen before? Do you have any ahoge favorites?