Taiga Aisaka

Taiga Aisaka (逢坂 大河, Aisaka Taiga) is the main female protagonist of the Toradora! series. Due to her often snapping at others in brutal ways and her short stature, she is given the nickname "Palmtop Tiger".

Essentially, Taiga is meant to be a deconstruction of the tsundere, showing rapid mood swings, being emotionally unstable, and making poor decisions based solely on emotions. Her steady progress into becoming sweet and kind defies the "bipolar" stereotype of most tsundere characters, who often switch from moods and show no true character development.

Even though Taiga is a teenager, her very short height makes her look like a younger child. Ami frequently teases her about this. Taiga has long, curly light brown hair (inherited from her mother) that falls past her waist in waves, with large, dark amber eyes which are inherited from her father. She is "flat-chested" and is very ashamed about it, but often she makes up for this fact by her typically constant glare or menacing words. She was also describe as insanely beautiful, by others.

Taiga is usually seen wearing the school uniform, or long dresses, when outside. She wears long coats on top of dresses and is seen wearing a pair of stockings under long coats. She is a very well-dressed girl, coming from a rich family, and even her pajamas are elegant.

Taiga's personality at the start of the series earns her the nickname "Palmtop Tiger". She easily gets upset over small things, especially her underdeveloped stature for a girl of her age, and reacts aggressively to people, except her only friend at the time, Minori Kushieda, and her crush, Yusaku Kitamura. Taiga is also very klutzy, a trait that others notice and she herself admits. In fact, it is her klutziness that leads her to attack Ryuuji Takasu twice, the second time in his own home which is next door to Taiga's. Initially, Yusaku takes advantage of Taiga's crush on him, to calm her down whenever she starts acting aggressively.

Due to her background, Taiga first appears unable to handle domestic chores, and initially relies on Ryuuji to do them for her. She also starts going to Ryuuji's apartment herself to have meals cooked by Ryuuji for her, but after her behavior softens, and in an attempt to get Ryuuji closer to Minori, Taiga stops going and begins to clean up after herself. She remains unable to cook anything besides basic rice balls, thus relying on takeout food in Ryuuji's absence.

When in competition with fellow classmates, especially Ami Kawashima, Taiga will often resort to underhand tactics to win. Taiga is a fan of mixed martial arts, and her suggestion of a valetudo brawl to win over Ryuuji was overlooked in favor of Ami's suggestion of a swimming race. Nevertheless, Taiga is able to fight in the professional wrestling show that her class stages during the cultural festival. Although Taiga is able to fight with her own hands, she sometimes carries a wooden sword with her. The second time she uses it in the anime, to fight Sumire Kano, she is handed a two-week suspension from school, after which her behavior changes for the better. By the end of the series, Taiga acknowledges her own struggles and is committed to her own relationship with Ryuuji.