E-Girls: 10 Pop Culture Characters Who Definitely Inspired The Trend

What is an E-Girl? Where does the phrase come from? Is it an insult?

It can be. An E-Girl or E-Boy (since this phenomenon isn’t gender-exclusive) is essentially a member of a recent internet subculture. It’s maybe a new idea to a lot of people, especially people who aren’t particularly internet savvy, but internet subcultures aren’t new at all. This one mainly gained prominence during the death of Vine (R.I.P.) and the birth of TikTok. This look comes from a mixture of Tumblr culture, video game culture, and film. But who are these looks inspired by?

10 Sabrina Spellman

Sabrina Spellman, whether we’re talking about her incarnation in the 90s or her recent appearances in The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, has been in the public consciousness for a long time. And why shouldn’t she be? The idea of a teenage witch is something that tons of people are into, which has been helped by American Horror Story: Coven.

There’s less insistence that witchcraft is evil and scary in society, and more accepting views are being embraced. There’s a rise in Wicca and other forms of New-Age spirituality, and that’s definitely at play in the E-Girl scene.

9 Ramona Flowers

Edgar Wright directed a great film called Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World in 2010. It did well in the box office, was hip to underground hipster music, and had an incredible video game influenced visual style. While the awkward but loveable Michael Cera had people across the country swooning,

Ramona Flowers had the same effect. She had colored hair, didn’t really care what anyone thought of what she was doing, and had a whole bag of hang-ups Scott had to deal with. While some people accuse this character of being a trope often referred to as a “manic pixie dream girl,” Scott’s fatal flaw was that he thought that she was one. She wasn’t an incomplete, ideal, perfect woman, and treating her as if she got him into trouble.

8 Raven

Raven from Teen Titans is a mix of a few other archetypal images on this list. She’s witchy, brooding, dark, and completely her own person. Although some may accuse the E-Girl scene of being all about conformity, Raven being an influence provides a good amount of backlash against that. She marches to the beat of her own drum, has purple hair, and doesn’t need a man to complete her.

7 Princess Peach

Princess Peach from the Super Mario Brothers franchise may seem like an odd choice at first, but E-Girl culture and gaming culture go hand-in-hand. Who’s the number one video game woman you think of? Most likely Princess Peach. With her sugary-sweet, cutesy aesthetics and her presence in the modern zeitgeist of popular culture for over 30 years now, it’s no surprise that tons of E-Girls take cues from her large victorian dresses, bright blue eyes, and general spunky attitude.

The only real issue here happens when we consider that she’s almost always pictured as a damsel in distress, but play against her in Super Smash Bros and you’ll see otherwise.

6 D.Va

Definitely a part of the gamer piece of E-Girl subculture, D.VA from Overwatch is a huge influence. She wears a futuristic suit, pilots a giant mech, and gets stuff done. While Overwatch isn’t incredibly heavy on lore for her, it’s definitely heavy on style. Her merch, her cosplays, they’re everywhere.

D.VA herself is a reference to the popular anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, which recently got a Netflix dub. This probably lent a lot to the show’s popularity, but the team at Blizzard that made Overwatch was aware of just how much of a cult following the show had.

5 Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn is from the Batman franchise originally, but that doesn’t mean she’s not everywhere lately. Cosplays, Halloween costumes, and movies have featured her heavily. She was a huge part of the film Suicide Squad and in the upcoming DC film Birds Of Prey. While she might have started out in kind of rocky territory as a female character, suffering from Joker-induced Stockholm syndrome, she’s recently become a much more grounded character, gotten out of the Joker’s clutches, and is enjoying a wholesome and successful relationship with Poison Ivy.

4 Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon is the most quintessential anime girl in existence. She was a surprising smash-hit in the 90s, and she’s had some serious staying power, with the recent release of Sailor Moon: Crystal. She’s also an extremely popular presence in the cosplay community. What’s not to love about a character who basically single-handedly kickstarted the Magical Girl subgenre of anime?

With her cutesy looks and general get-stuff-done attitude, she’s a force to be reckoned with. The creator of the anime, Naoko Takeuchi, is also married to Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of Yu Yu Hakusho. This is definitely an anime power-couple is such a thing exists.

3 Disney Princesses

This isn’t a single character so much as a group of them, but, with a set of characters so diverse in both personality and look, can you blame the E-Girls for latching onto this one? You have mainly Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Jasmine from Aladdin, Merida from Brave, Tianna from The Princess And The Frog… There are so many to choose from, and that’s probably why people cosplay these characters constantly. They each have their own personalities, struggles, and are well-done female characters. Not to mention the success of Frozen which has a sequel in the works!

2 Sakura

While Sakura may be forgotten about occasionally, she’s still a really important part of the anime community. A lot of people found a surrogate in her since she had a crush on the adorably broody Sasuke and she’s also probably the most recognizable anime character with pink hair, an essential wig color to have if you’re going to get into the E-Girl cosplay scene.

1 Lain

While Lain of Serial Experiments Lain wasn’t the most popular character, or even from the most popular anime, her bear pajamas are iconic and they’ve been cosplayed in a ton. Not to mention that she is actually a literal E-Girl. Whoops, spoilers!

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