While the anime duo is a powerful dynamic, the anime trio is a powerhouse of its own.
When creating an iconic trio dynamic, usually what you get in anime is two male characters of differing ideals, temperaments, upbringings, or all of the above and one female character to mediate things with a 90 percent chance of falling for one of her male peers.
It is a predictable set up, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. If you are looking for iconic anime trios, check out this great collection.
Best Anime Trios
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura from Naruto
If you were perhaps really into trios, Naruto has a particular love affair with them. A decent bulk of the characters are split up into teams of three young ninjas plus a older mentor to oversee them.
So while Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are the most notable trio, being the main characters, they are certainly not the only one.
In this pairing, Naruto brings heart and boldness while Sasuke brings natural talent and calculation. Sakura brings, well, mediation between the two clashing personalities despite clear fangirling for one side.
Admittedly, Sakura’s role in the trio and the series often feels like an afterthought.
Mugen, Jin, and Fuu from Samurai Champloo
Nothing bonds three different characters like a journey!
Fuu was a waitress who happened to get caught up in a fight between Jin, a straight-laced ronin, and Mugen, a brash criminal. This fight ends up with them on the execution block until Fuu intervenes and hires them both as her bodyguards.
At first, this journey is strictly business, and not especially friendly business either. However, if you get caught up in enough shenanigans on the road and spend enough time with each other, a certain friendship will form.
While no character here will ever see perfectly eye-to-eye, the series does well to show you the respect built between them.
It also does something pretty unheard of with anime trios at the end, but that’s for you to discover.
Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara from Jujutsu Kaisen
You have to admit that Jujutsu Kaisen shares a number of similarities with Naruto when it comes to crafting its trio plus older mentor group.
However, while it is easy to regurgitate the same old tropes, Jujutsu Kaisen sets itself apart and above much of the larger and ever-growing genre of shounen action anime by trying something different with its trio.
Yuuji is the classic bright-eyed, idealistic shounen protagonist with something much darker on the inside. However, Megumi, while brooding and initially set up like a rival, simply ends up being his stoic friend with a healthy relationship.
Nobara is perhaps the most interesting of the three as her role in this trio isn’t just “the girl” who is likely to be someone’s love interest. She is “the girl” that more shounen trios deserve.
She is abrasive to her teammates, yet caring and and often the level-headed one as others waver. She is both a strong fighter and a pretty girl, the pride she takes in that often making her a huge trash talker too.
Eren, Armin, and Mikasa from Attack on Titan
You don’t see too many trios that all started off as childhood friends who just stayed together, but that’s what we have here.
You see Eren, idealistic shounen protagonist thirsting for adventure that he was, Mikasa, fiercely loyal and protective of Eren, and Armin, bookish, clever and endlessly curious about the world all growing up in the same town.
Right up until childhood’s end when the titans destroyed it.
Fueled by this loss, they end up joining the Survey Corps together and growing up together. Of course, Attack on Titan does really well to emphasize that people often grow different as they grow up.
Boy, does this trio grow in interesting new directions over the course of the series.
Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke from Demon Slayer
Sometimes you get trios where the characters really have very little in common with each other much like this rag-tag team. Tanjiro is empathetic and level-headed, Zenitsu is a compulsive coward, and Inosuke is an explosive battle maniac. The one thing they have in common is they are all in the Demon Slayer Corp.
Essentially, Tanjiro serves as a sort of glue here.
Zenitsu’s low self-esteem makes him cling to Tanjiro for either protection or encouragement. Inosuke, on the other hand, is motivated by wanting to fight people stronger than him, and Tanjiro is that. Tanjiro, with his endless font of patience and kindness, sees them as friends and allies to help him on his journey.
They make a weird dynamic, but certainly an entertaining one.
Aladdin, Alibaba, and Morgiana from Magi
Magi puts a very anime spin on a Middle Eastern inspired world filled with magic and political intrigue. In it, it features three very color-coded individuals who are brought together by pure happenstance, yet despite their flaws, they end up bringing out the best in each other.
Aladdin is a boy without many of his own memories and out in the world for the first time with his magnificent capacity for magic. He seems like the perfect target for Alibaba, a cart driver with big dreams, to take advantage of.
However, Alibaba isn’t as shifty as he is presented and throughout their travels, they actually form a deep bond.
Morgiana is a bit of an outlier at first. She was a slave who was freed by the pair. She is separated from them after that at first, but never forgets a certain sense of loyalty to them for what they did, eventually becoming a companion and friend.
Together, they form a bit of a trifecta in terms of combat prowess too. Alibaba is the brains, Aladdin is the magic, and Morgiana is the physical combat.
Mushashi, Kojiro, and Tsugumi from Orient
Orient, also by the same author as the aforementioned Magi, follows yet another strongly color-coded trio.
This time, things are set in a demon-overrun version of Feudal Japan where samurai are criminalized and people are enslaved by demons.
Two childhood friends try to break their village free only to be outdone by better samurai when they come in. These two friends, who will later have their moments of rivalry, take to the road where they eventually happen upon and recruit Tsumugi from a samurai clan that has a ton of problems.
In this trio, Musashi is the fiery shounen protagonist with a hidden quirk that even he didn’t know about. Kojiro is the rational and level-headed one. Tsumugi isn’t just “the girl,” she brings much needed knowledge of the larger outside world that the two others lack from growing up in an isolated village.
Hikigaya, Yukino, and Yui from my Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
Not every good anime trio needs to come from an action-packed shounen anime, they are just a good breeding ground for them.
In My Teen Romantic SNAFU, you have a trio of people in a school club using their various talents to help people. Hikigaya, a pessimist, uses pragmatic strategies to help people. Yukino can be cool in attitude, but her solutions to helping people is often at odds with the means that Hikigaya pursues.
Meanwhile, Yui is is the cheerful and easy to get along with girl that reminds the other two members that while the intellect is sound, they are dealing with people who have feelings outside of what might be the most intelligent solution.
Gutts, Griffith, and Casca from Berserk
Place these three in any other anime and you’d have a pretty standard love triangle, but this is Berserk. There is no love on the battlefield and no happy endings.
Gutts is a wandering mercenary who becomes part of the Band of the Hawk mercenary group after losing a duel to Griffith. While unhappy initially, he learns to appreciate the sense of camaraderie.
Caska is fiercely loyal to and in love with Griffith after he had saved her as a child. She is initially mistrustful of Gutts due to his reckless behavior, but warms to him eventually too.
As for Griffith, well, he sees everyone under his charge as tools to fuel his ambition. It is the other characters discovering this that starts to drive them away. And when ambition crumbles, it can topple a man.
Rei, Asuka, and Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion
You know how it can occasionally be in anime – only kids are capable of saving the world. Through contrived reasons, that is true in Evangelion and often the cause of the volatile emotions in the show.
Unlike a large chunk of trios on this list, Rei, Asuka, and Shinji are a trio of emotional damage. Shinji is depressed and insecure, Rei is emotionless and distant, and Asuka is eruptive and unstable.
Certainly, they are the trio you would want to entrust the fate of the world to, right?
Ash, Brock, and Misty from Pokemon
While Ash is still chugging along in the Pokemon world, things just aren’t the same without his two old companions.
Ash was the bright-eyed protagonist with big dreams and drive to reach them. Misty served as not just “the girl,” with her potential romance with Ash quickly abandoned. She instead was often a mentor for Ash, being more experienced in the world of Pokemon. Brock also served as a mentor, though often his skirt-chasing shenanigans were comic relief breaks.
Still, as Pokemon was aimed at a younger audience, despite how devastating some of the movies could be emotionally, this trio served as the best of friends that always supported each other.
Light, L, and Misa from Death Note
Sure, the villain trifecta of Light, Misa, and Ryuk might seem more obvious, but the dynamic between Light, L, and Misa is more interesting.
L being the genius detective trying to catch serial murderer and god complex aficionado Light and his ditzy and dedicated assistant/girlfriend Misa all while the three pretended to be friends.
While Death Note enthralled us with the game of cat and mouse that L and Light engaged in, perhaps the most surprisingly thing about the dynamic is how good Misa is at subterfuge. She doesn’t exactly seem the type to keep a secret well, and yet she exceeds expectations.
Reg, Riko, and Nanachi from Made in Abyss
If you are going to run into increasingly messed up situations, you mind as well have a few friends at your side.
Riko is from the very surface, a girl who possesses endless curiosity about the Abyss and drive to explore it like her mother before her. Reg comes from an unknown level deeper in the Abyss with no memories, good combat abilities, and a general sense of caution about most things. Nanachi is the product of an experimentation that was done somewhere in the middle of the Abyss. She possesses knowledge that can only be gained from living in the deeper layers.
It is the various aspects mentioned above with these characters that make them each compliment each other perfectly. If there is one thing Made in Abyss makes clear, there is are certain qualities that a person must have if they hope to survive the deeper layers, and when one person lacks something, others can make up for it.
Denji, Aki, and Power in Chainsaw Man
Chainsaw Man is notable for a lot of things, and one of those things is breaking long-standing action tropes. The trope it breaks with its main trio is that romance within really isn’t an option.
Power, the Blood Devil inhabiting a body of a dead girl, is as gross as you’d expect something that has never been human to be and as self-centered as you would expect a devil to be. Denji is love smitten elsewhere with the “dommy-mommy” who brought him in. And Aki? Well, Aki is the straight-laced one that keeps everyone in line, going from wondering why he can’t just kill them to using them for their power to ultimately seeing the small charm of them.
They are all equally powerful, and they even form perhaps one of the most unique and fun to watch friendships in anime if only because they are all shitheads to each other.
Loid, Yor, and Anya from Spy x Family
Spy X Family made us see that you don’t really see a lot of anime about successful family units. While they aren’t a family in a traditional sense, they all play their part dutifully and almost naturally.
Loid is a secret agent using his family to infiltrate the inner circle of his target. Yor is an assassin using a marriage to maintain the guise of normalcy. And Anya? Well, she’s just a poor orphan girl… Who can read minds due to experimentation.
Despite them all having their own reasons to be in that family, being together even in a lie of a family still brings each of them noticeable happiness and even helps foster their personal growth.
Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru from Fruits Basket
The fussy cat and the crafty mouse – and the girl in between.
Fruits Basket creates this classic dynamic early and returns to it when it runs out of other Sohma family members to explore. Yuki brings Tohru into the house where she forms a fast friendship with him and eventually tames Kyo’s turbulent heart as well.
The pair serve as her stalwart allies against their more menacing family members and she, in return, uses her earnest hard-working shoujo protagonist nature to help them overcome their deep-seated issues.
Alucard, Seras, and Integra from Hellsing Ultimate
The relationship of these three characters in this gory vampire action anime is like your standard corporate structure.
Seras, bright-eyed, recently dead newbie answers to Alucard, immortal vampire and general connoisseur to viciously dismembering people. Alucard,as a legendary vampire and anti-hero answers to no one except Integra, leader of the entire Hellsing Organization.
Integra is the scheming brains and Alucard is the blood-soaked muscle. Seras is the globe-shaped tits. All important parts of any body and successful organizational structure.
Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki from My Hero Academia
Like Naruto and its love affair with trios, My Hero Academia takes a different approach. It sort of has Midoriya sample a few trios before he settles into one. The series has a lovely way of encouraging more than just a handful of characters in his class to shine, and part of how it does that is often teaming them up.
First, you see Midoriya build a pretty solid friendship with Uraraka and Iida, then you see Midoriya having a fun team up with Tsuyu and Mineta, and finally the series seems to settle on showing the “next-gen” big three of the school through the talents of Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todaroki. This is highlighted concretely when all three join Endeavor’s agency for their work study.
This trio compliment each other rather well in terms of personalities. You have Deku who is upbeat and diligent, Bakugo who is bold and aggressive, and Todaroki who is reserved yet caring. Essentially each covers for the weaknesses of the other.
Yato, Yukine, and Hiyori from Noragami
This trio ends up being more like a family in many instances rather than a group of friends who all roughly appear around the same age (despite that not actually being true).
Yato and Hiyori often end up acting like parents to Yukine, who is actually a weapon in human form and acts often very childishly.
While Yato needs Yukine for battle, in this trio Hiyori also helps keep him more grounded and remembering what is important to him.
Emma, Norman, and Ray from The Promised Neverland
These three are considered the most intelligent kids in their orphanage, and that’s lucky for them too. It is their cognitive skills that have allowed them to be raised for so long instead of meeting the grisly fate of the less talented minds raised there.
However, the trio is more than just their big, juicy brains. Emma has grown into a strong leader that is both protective of her kids and beloved by them. Norman is sickly, but easily the most strategic, wielding his intellect with masterful plans. Ray is more the cunning and mysterious one. He talks little, but always has a way to outsmart his foes.
Gintoki, Shinpachi, and Kagura from Gintama
Deeming themselves the Odd Jobs Crew, this trio is made up of pretty flawed personalities that fuel the strong weird comedy that in Gintama.
Gintoki is your your standard lounging shithead, hidden badass whose distinctly childish personality is hiding some serious combat skills and a dark past. Kagura is the most outwardly violent one, despite not actually wanting to solve her problems with violence and often proceeding to do just that. Finally, Shinpachi is the straight man that every comedy series needs to bounce more ridiculous situations off of.
Tenka, Soramaru, and Chuutarou from Laughing Under the Clouds
You would think there would be more anime stories about three brothers. It’s kind of a easy dynamic. However, you don’t see it used often. Laughing Under the Clouds follows three mysterious brothers who are charged with being ferrymen for criminals to an island prison.
This duo features your standard dynamic for brothers. You have the strong and carefree-seeming older brother Tenka , the middle child Soramaru with “middle child” inferiority complex alongside other plot-related issues. And finally the cheerful and upbeat youngest brother Chuutarou who is still very much just a boy.
While they love each other as family, they also keep secrets like family, and that tends to drive much of the plot in the series.
Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji from One Piece
While the Straw Hat crew is much larger than just these three, they are what you might call “show stealers” who kind of outshine a lot of other people. That is mostly due to their martial skill, but their likable personalities help too.
As the captain of the Straw Hats, Luffy is also the glue that holds this trio together. It is the respect that Luffy built with Zoro that made this bounty-hunter for pirates turn to piracy. As for Sanji, Luffy certainly loves this chef because he has a voracious appetite, but Sanji also respects Luffy for his fearlessness even though his recklessness often vexes him in the same breath.
These three are certainly brothers-in-arms as One Piece goes on, but let’s be real, like the rest of the Straw Hats, Zoro and Sanji serve as the strict parents that often need to temper Luffy’s more impulsive boldness.
Hanako, Olivia, and Kasumi from Asobi Asobase
Iconic anime trio? No, probably not. I won’t fight you on that.
Worth checking out to form your own opinions? Oh, most definitely.
Asobi Asobase is a special affair and that is all due to its main trio. These three girls are not exactly what you would call the popular girls at school, but they form their own club in an effort to make their own fun.
Hanako is a loudmouth airhead who comes up with the dumbest ideas. Olivia is a foreign transfer student who pretends to be cultured and worldly, but doesn’t even know English like others believe. Finally, Kasumi is often the deadpan one who, despite being a loner, gets roped into the pair’s often asinine games.
Despite the wholesome look, get ready to watch three school girls act like the biggest degenerates.
Mai, Yuuko, and Mio from Nichijou
Like in Asobi Asobase, abstract and silly comedy often goes best with a trio of diverse personalities to suit every situation. Nichijou takes big advantage of that.
These three girls are childhood friends who are now in high school. Yuuko is a friendly jokester who often can’t land a joke to save her life, but makes up for it with comical clumsiness. Mio is smart and cheerful, but with a self-shamed habit of drawing yaoi in her study books. Finally, Mai is the quiet and bookish one. However, underneath that deadpan, she enjoys using her genius for pranking others.
Due to the complexity of personalities in this trio, you never really know what will happen next in Nichijou.
Do you know more iconic anime trios that we forgot? Let fans know in the comments section below.
