Anime characters come in all shapes and sizes, with a variety of personality types that fans all love. Among the most popular archetypes is the prankster. Mischievous, slick, and always up to no good, the pranksters of anime are constantly goofing around and tricking their peers in the most hilarious ways.
These comical characters are often fan favorites, bringing fun and humor to their series with their antics. Some pranksters mean well with their jokes, like Naruto Uzumaki or Clannad’s Tomoya Okazaki. Meanwhile, others are a bit more sinister, such as Shigure Sohma from Fruits Basket. But no matter their motives, these devilish tricksters are adored by fans and considered some of the funniest characters in anime.
10 Ritsu Tainaka (K-On!)
Ritsu Tainaka is one of the five main heroines of the hit series K-On!, as well as the self-proclaimed president of the Light Music Club. She's full of energy and has one of the most upbeat personalities in the group, which she puts into her drumming when she plays with the girls.
Fun-loving and carefree, she's a natural comedian and uses her various jokes and puns to lift her bandmates' spirits. Ritsu can be found cracking jokes throughout the series, and her sarcastic humor combined with her hyperactive personality makes for a hilarious combination.
9 Fuka & Fumika Narutaki (Negima! Magister Negi Magi)
Fuka and Fumika Narutaki are twin pranksters in the Negima! series and can often be found pulling one over on their classmates. Though the two are sisters, they're complete opposites from each other. While Fuka is mischievous and playful, Fumika is much more levelheaded and merely goes along with her sister's schemes.
Between the two, it's clear that Fuka is the leader and often the direct cause of the sisters' pranks. However, they both display a childish innocence compared to the rest of the cast. Fuka and Fumika are rather minor characters, but they brighten up the series with their antics and cheerful personalities.
8 Shigure Sohma (Fruits Basket)
Shigure Sohma is one of the main characters in Fruits Basket, and in many cases, he's the antagonist. Cunning and sly, Shigure is known to manipulate those around him for his own gain. He especially uses Tohru, playing with her emotions and using her kindness against her.
Shigure is often a very menacing figure in the series, but despite that, he's also one of the funniest. Shigure likes to pull his fair share of pranks, to the annoyance of the Sohmas. Many of his jokes are at the expense of others, especially his editor Mitsuru, who's subjected to his teasing on a regular basis.
7 Team Rocket (Pokémon)
Team Rocket is a dastardly group of villains — made up of Jessie, James, and Meowth — who constantly follow after Ash and his friends in most of the Pokémon series. This iconic trio is always up to no good and coming up with schemes to nab trainers' Pokémon.
Though they're a group of notorious tricksters, they're not exactly good at their jobs. In just about every episode, Team Rocket's plans are foiled by the young heroes, and they blast off into the horizon. They may be bad at the mischief they make, but that's exactly what makes them so hilarious. Their constant failures and dramatic defeats are some of the most comical moments in the anime series.
6 Tomoya Okazaki (Clannad)
Tomoya Okazaki is the main protagonist of Clannad and a young delinquent full of resentment for his past and the city he lives in. Though he's sarcastic and cynical, Tomoya is goodhearted and kind deep down, and this side of him begins to show through as he grows closer to those around him.
Tomoya is a natural prankster and loves to play harmless jokes on his friends. He especially likes to pick on his best friend, Youhei Sunohara, and his tricks on him are some of the funniest moments in the series. Overall, Tomoya is a rather serious and quiet character, but this playful side to him brightens up his character and adds some amazing humor to the story.
5 Konata Izumi (Lucky Star)
Konata Izumi is the adorable protagonist of the iconic 2000s series Lucky Star. Mischievous, sarcastic, and quirky, Konata is a born prankster and loves teasing her friends almost as much as she loves anime. She especially enjoys pulling pranks on Kagami, the resident tsundere of their group.
Though Lucky Star has been lost to obscurity over the years, Konata remains a well-known figure of the decade. Fans love her eccentric personality and her hilarious antics, and she's easily the favorite among the main cast of girls. Even after all these years, Konata is one of the cutest and funniest anime pranksters out there.
4 Hikaru & Kaoru Hitachiin (Ouran High School Host Club)
Ouran High School Host Club plays home to many hilarious characters, but few can compare to Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, better known as the Hitachiin Twins. Hikaru and Kaoru are the devilish twin brothers of the titular host club, and they're always getting into some sort of trouble together.
This dynamic duo can be seen pulling every prank imaginable throughout the series and causing all sorts of havoc for Haruhi, Tamaki, and the gang. But even when they get caught, they use their sweet-talking and manipulative tactics to weasel their way out of any sort of punishment. Though the Hitachiin Twins are easily some of the most mischievous anime pranksters, their hysterical antics make them some of the funniest.
3 Osana Najimi (Komi Can't Communicate)
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Energetic and carefree, Najimi is one of the most popular students at Itan Private High School in the hit series Komi Can't Communicate. Due to their charismatic nature and outgoing personality, Najimi is friends with just about everyone and always seems to have something planned. They're a close friend of Tadano and Komi, often helping the latter come out of her shell.
On top of their astonishing popularity, Najimi is also a known trickster, pulling pranks on their many friends throughout the series. They especially love to prank Komi, getting her to do all sorts of strange things in the name of overcoming her social anxiety. Najimi's playful antics are some of the funniest in the series, making them a fan-favorite character.
2 Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)
Naruto Uzumaki is probably one of the most well-known pranksters in anime history and one of the most beloved. The titular Naruto hero may be one of the gods of shonen today, but at the start, he was just a goofy 12-year-old kid. During his younger years, Naruto did anything and everything to get attention, quickly becoming the class clown in the academy.
Though most around him write him off as an idiot or a loser, Naruto's hijinks as a kid are undeniably endearing. He's one of the funniest characters in the first half of the series, and though he steadily matures over time, fans still can't help but love the hyperactive knucklehead he used to be.
1 Takagi (Teasing Master Takagi-San)
Teasing Master Takagi-san's titular heroine may be just a young middle schooler, but she's easily one of the funniest pranksters in anime history. Despite her unassuming and innocent appearance, Takagi is a mischievous and highly intelligent girl who always manages to get the better of her best friend, Nishikata.
Every day, Takagi does whatever she can to tease Nishikata and get under his skin. While he does his best to retaliate, Takagi somehow manages to always outdo him, with adorably hilarious results. While she's a master prankster, Nishikata is her only target. That's because deep down, she's head-over-heels for him, and her teasing is the only way she knows how to get her feelings across.