Swords, magical abilities, vibrant colors and unique hairstyles- the world of anime is full of such cool elements. A mask is one such accessory that adds mystique to the persona of an anime character. Masked anime characters are often mysterious and some of the coolest people in the whole series.
Over the years, there have been many anime characters, both male and female who wear a mask. These masks can be of different types. Some anime characters wear a mask just over their eyes while others choose one that covers their whole face.
While the primary purpose of a mask is to hide the wearer’s identity, some masks in anime particularly adventure and fantasy anime also give the wearer extra powers and capabilities.
Check out our list of the top iconic masked anime characters to learn more about men anime characters with masks and women anime characters with masks.
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Contents
6 Best Female Anime Characters with Mask
Touka Kirishima
Series: Tokyo Ghoul
Number of Episodes: 48
Created By: Sui Ishida
Voice Artist: Sora Amamiya(Japanese); Brina Palencia(English)
Touka Kirishima is an eighteen-year-old ghoul and a part-time waitress at Anteiku. She is also a student at Kiyomi High School and is adept at blending in with human society. Touka is generally a calm person but can be sometimes rash and aggressive, the behavior rooted in her days as a fugitive.
The young ghoul is a powerful fighter who ends up becoming Ken’s training partner as well as his guide to the ghoul world. In combat, she wears a mask resembling the head of a white rabbit with pink hair which has earned her the nickname Rabbit.
Touka has had a harsh life and despite her abrasiveness, she is a kind and self-aware person who herself admits that killing people for revenge is wrong.
Ririka Momobami
Series: Kakegurui
Number of Episodes: 12
Created By: Homura Kawamoto, Toru Naomura
Voice Artist: Miyuki Sawashiro(Japanese); Olivia Swasey(English)
Ririka Momobami is otherwise a shy and socially awkward girl but completely transforms into something else when she puts on her mask. With her gray theatrical mask, she turns into a skilled gambler but mostly acts as the observer.
Ririka’s family had “erased” her existence and forced her to do nothing except follow her twin sister Kirari in silence. Therefore, she started believing that she was merely an extension of her sister.
While Ririka clearly lacks self-confidence without her mask, she at times displays manipulative tendencies and is actually quite intelligent and insightful.
Ririka serves as the vice-president of Hyakkaou Private Academy’s student council where her sister Kirari is the president.
Kosetsu Minobe
Series: Shinobi no Ittoki
Number of Episodes: 12
Created By: Minato Takano
Voice Artist: Haruka Shiraishi(Japanese); Emily Fajardo(English)
We would have to say that Shinobi no Ittoki’s Kosetsu Minobe is one badass woman. An Iga Ninja pretending to have various other jobs, she is a childhood friend of Ittoki and has been watching over him since he was a child.
Kosetsu is an orphan who was taken in by Ittoki’s mother after her husband died. As such, she feels an obligation to protect her son and helps Ittoki whenever he’s in trouble.
Kosetsu is depicted as having long silver hair with red hair on her left side. She is always wearing a black mask but no one knows the reason for it.
Shizue Izawa
Series: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Number of Episodes: 48
Created By: Fuse, Mitz Vah
Voice Artist: Yumiri Hanamori(Japanese); Dawn M. Bennett(English)
Shizue is a girl who was thrown into the fantasy world during the Bombing of Tokyo. Her summoning was, however, considered a failure and she was abandoned after the fire spirit Ifrit was bound to her body. In this way, she gained the title of “Conqueror of Flames.”
Shizue would be an old woman in the real woman but she has not aged in the fantasy world thanks to Ifrit’s possession. She was an A+ adventurer and a kind and good teacher to her Otherworlder students. A caring person, she would go to great lengths to protect the people close to her.
Shizue hated the fantasy world as she was forcibly summoned to it but couldn’t completely dislike it either due to the bonds she made while living there. She acted as a mother figure to her students and was always worried about their well-being.
Mujika
Series: The Promised Neverland
Number of Episodes: 23
Created By: Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu
Voice Artist: Atsumi Tanezaki(Japanese); Lizzie Freeman(English)
In The Promised Neverland, an agreement was signed between humans and demons to end the long war. Now, there were two separate worlds- the human world where there were no demons and the demon world where human breeding farms were started to feed the demons.
Mujika is a demon who was born with the ability to retain human characteristics without having to consume them. She has purple hair that she wears braided and a mask that has two holes positioned vertically on it.
The mask is common among the demons of her species as it helps to protect their central eyes which is the demons’ only true vital organ.
Mujika lived in the forest outside the Grace Field House where children were farmed for demon consumption. When she and Sonju learn about the escapees from the Field House, they decide to save Emma and the other kids from demon pursuers and help them learn basic survival skills.
Yayoi Kusakabe
Series: High-Rise Invasion
Number of Episodes: 12
Created By: Tsuina Miura, Takahiro Oba
Voice Artist: Yoko Hikasa(Japanese); Cristina Vee(English)
Yayoi Kusakabe from High-Rise Invasion is a female mask controlled by Mamoru Aikawa. She is a smiling mask that has long pink hair and works as Mamoru’s right hand. Yayoi is completely subservient to him and her strong bond with him enables her to go long periods of not wearing her mask.
She is a complete sadist who enjoys making fun of her fellow masks and wields a whip that she can use to sever human skulls.
8 Best Male Anime Characters with Mask
Satoru Gojo
Series: Jujutsu Kaisen
Number of Episodes: 42(as of November 2023)
Created By: Gege Akutami
Voice Artist: Yuichi Nakamura, Mariya Ise(Japanese); Kaiji Tang(English)
Okay fine, Jujutsu Kaisen’s Satoru Gojo wears a blindfold which technically is not a mask. But he is such a cool and famous character that he had to be included here because hey, atleast some part of his face is covered.
Satoru initially comes across as immature and flamboyant and it is only after a while that you realize that his carefree persona comes from the sheer amount of power he holds.
He is one of the strongest sorcerers in the Jujutsu Kaisen universe who practically forced the Curses to create a barrier that prevents him from helping those inside. At the same time, Satoru is a likeable person and a great mentor to his students including Yuji Itadori.
His battle sequences, especially when he takes off his mask, will have your eyes glued to the screen lest you miss something.
Kakashi Hatake
Series: Naruto
Number of Episodes: 220
Created By: Masashi Kishimoto
Voice Artist: Kazuhiko Inoue, Mutsumi Tamura(Japanese); Dave Wittenberg, Kyle Hebert(English)
What is behind Kakashi’s mask? This mystery has plagued the Naruto fandom for ages. And it is understandable because the mysterious character is one of the most loved mentors in the anime world.
In Naruto, he tutors Team 7 i.e.the team comprising Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Thus, you know he has to be a badass himself to deal with the volatile and troublesome Team 7.
Kakashi is a Copycat Ninja who is initially introduced as a carefree character who frequently loses track of time. He wears a mask that covers his nose and neck and a forehead protector to protect his Sharingan eyes when they are not in use.
While his students initially dismissed him, Kakashi soon revealed himself as a tough opponent while testing them.
It is the duality between his serious avatar in combat and his otherwise laid-back attitude while dealing with his students that makes him an interesting character. Kakashi’s one-liners, sarcasm and jutsu imitation skills are iconic not just in Naruto but in the whole anime industry.
Ichigo Kurosaki
Series: Bleach
Number of Episodes: 366
Created By: Tite Kubo
Voice Artist: Masakazu Morita, Yuki Matsuoka(Japanese); Johnny Yong Bosch, Mona Marshall(English)
Ichigo Kurosaki is the protagonist of Bleach who receives Soul Reaper powers after meeting another Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki. Thus, he starts fighting evil spirits called Hollows as Rukia’s stand-in to protect people from them.
With Hollofication, he can manifest a mask that resembles his inner monster and makes him more powerful and bloodthirsty.
Ichigo initially comes across as a stereotypical anti-hero but Kubo develops him into a more complex character with his sad past. He has a bad temper and tends to pick fights but also has a strong sense of responsibility and a heart of gold.
While Ichigo attempts to maintain a cool and detached image, he is in reality a compassionate and empathetic person who tries to soothe others when they become upset.
He has a complex sense of honor in fights as he seeks revenge for the cruel actions of his opponents but also wants to win the fight in a legitimate manner.
Ken Kaneki
Series: Tokyo Ghoul
Number of Episodes: 48
Created By: Sui Ishida
Voice Artist: Natsuki Hanae(Japanese); Austin Tindle(English)
In Tokyo Ghoul, Ghouls need to wear masks to protect themselves from the CCG. It is, therefore, given that this anime series will have plenty of memorable masked characters.
The protagonist of the story, Ken Kaneki is particularly famous for his eyepatch mask. It is a fabric or leather mask that covers his whole face except the Ghoul eye. The mask also has a zipper at the mouth that would help him keep his identity secret if he ever eats a human.
Ken was not a ghoul at first but began displaying ghoul-like tendencies after an organ transplant operation. Thus, he is neither fully human nor a full ghoul and struggles to fight his ghoul side while trying his best to live like a normal human being.
The eighteen-year-old university freshman is quiet and reserved and loves to read. A rather naive person, Ken easily trusts strangers which often puts him in life-threatening situations. Despite this, he can be very calculative and manipulative when fighting.
Orochimaru
Series: Naruto
Number of Episodes: 220
Created By: Masashi Kishimoto
Voice Artist: Kujira, Yuriko Yamaguchi, Mayumi Yamaguchi, Sachiko Kojima, Masahiko Tanaka(Japanese); Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Steve Blum, Crispin Freeman(English)
Orochimaru is one of the main antagonists in Naruto and a particularly creepy one to boot. He has a snake-like appearance, is openly malevolent and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He becomes all the more creepy when he wears the devil-faced Shinigami mask after the unsealing of the Reaper Death Seal.
Orochimaru is a former ninja and a legendary Sannin from the village of Konohagakure whose ambition is to learn all the world’s secrets. To accomplish this task, he seeks immortality and partly succeeds in this by transferring between different host bodies. He targets Sasuke Uchiha throughout the series for this same reason.
Orochimaru is one of the most complex characters in Naruto who grew to disdain human fragility and its effects on the living due to certain things he experienced while growing up.
He is also insanely charismatic which helps him attract a number of followers but he is not above sending those followers on potential suicide missions for his personal benefit. His biggest weakness is his arrogance which leads him to recklessly attack powerful opponents such as Itachi Uchiha.
Lelouch Lamperouge
Series: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Number of Episodes:
Created By: Ichiro Okouchi, Goro Taniguchi, Clamp
Voice Artist: Jun Fukuyama, Sayaka Ohara(Japanese); Johnny Yong Bosch, Michelle Ruff(English)
Lelouch Lamperouge is the protagonist of the series and the former prince of the superpower Britannia. He, along with his sister, were banished to Japan by their father where they were used as political tools.
A student at Ashford Academy, he gains the power of Geass from a witch called C.C. who sacrifices herself to save him from the people trying to recapture her. Lelouch then uses this power and his genius-level intellect to start a resistance movement to destroy the Britannian Empire.
He takes up the identity of a masked Vigilante called Zero, gaining popularity among the masses for his rebellion towards Britannia.
Zero’s mask is like a helmet and covers his whole face so that no one knows who’s under the disguise. The face part is like a crystal ball and the Geass mark is stretched over it. The edges of the upper part of the head are, additionally, spiked for a more badass look.
Inosuke Hashibara
Series: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Number of Episodes: 55(as of December 2023)
Created By: Koyoharu Gotouge
Voice Artist: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka(Japanese); Bryce Papenbrook(English)
Inosuke was raised by wild boars after his mother was murdered by a demon. Therefore, it is no surprise that his fighting style too incorporates animalistic behavior. He uses a self-taught technique called Beast Breathing that combines his keen senses and his ferocious combat style, just like wild beasts.
Inosuke is brash, violent and slightly dim but he proves his mettle in battle from time to time. He also has a heightened sense of touch and can easily locate enemies by just feeling the vibrations in the air.
His appearance is also rather unusual with an extremely muscular and rugged body and an oddly effeminate face that he usually hides under a boar’s head mask.
It is later revealed that the mask is made from his adoptive boar mother’s head. For Inosuke, it was just an accessory at first but later also serves a practical purpose during some important arcs in the series.
Kagetane Hiruko
Series: Black Bullet
Number of Episodes: 13
Created By: Shiden Kanzaki, Saki Ukai
Voice Artist: Rikiya Koyama(Japanese); Jay Hickman(English)
Black Bullet’s Kagetane Hiruko is a tall, pale and lean man with slicked-back gray hair. He used to be a promoter in Civil Security but had his license revoked because of his penchant for killing.
Kagetane’s face is always covered with a white mask with a sinister smile. The smirk runs from the mask’s cheekbones to slightly above the jawline before arching back up to the opposite cheekbone.
Kagetane is a wicked man and one of the major antagonists of the series. He does not hesitate to kill people who come in the way of his goals and freely admits to the same without any remorse.
This masked man has great confidence in his strength and can be frequently seen laughing even in battle.
Who is the Masked Uzumaki?
Menma Uzumaki is the masked person from the Uzumaki clan. He appears as the main villain in Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie and is the son of Kushina and Minato Uzumaki in an alternate version of Konohagakure. Thus, he is the “Naruto” of that world.
Menma has black hair that he wears in a long and shabby-looking style. He wears a white kitsune mask and a dark blue-grey robe while appearing as the mysterious Masked Man.
