Sections
Kisama (貴様): what it means in anime
貴様
きさま · kisama · you (contemptuous) Not on JLPT lists
Kisama is a hostile "you". It is what a character spits at an enemy right before a fight, and in modern Japanese it is almost never used outside fiction and the military.
Where you hear it 7 of 42 series
Lines from the Japanese subtitles of episodes 1–3 of each show. A translation is shown only when it clearly matches the line; counts are subtitle lines containing the word.
-
Code Geass · 9 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 2
き… き… 貴様！B-B-Bastard!
-
Bleach · 36 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 1
貴様 先ほど町におった者だな
-
Attack on Titan · 26 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 2
貴様らを歓迎する気は 毛頭無い
-
Steins;Gate · 11 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 3
貴様 許さん 許さんぞお！
-
Psycho-Pass · 8 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 3
貴様のような潜在犯が―
-
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood · 7 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 3
貴様 それで国家錬金術師とはな
-
One-Punch Man · 7 lines in episodes 1–3 · this one from episode 2
いいか！ これで貴様の両目をつぶす
Usage and nuance
The two kanji literally mean "honourable" and "lord", and centuries ago it really was polite. The meaning flipped over time, and today 貴様 is close to "you bastard". Subtitles often translate the whole line with an insult to carry the tone.
It belongs to villains, soldiers and proud characters: Levi and the military in Attack on Titan, Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist, the Hound in Psycho-Pass. A character who says 貴様 is announcing contempt.
Never use it in real life. Compared with てめえ, which is street-level rudeness, 貴様 sounds older and colder, the kind of thing a commander says to a prisoner.
Hear 貴様 in Code Geass9 lines in episodes 1–3 · tappable subtitles · free, no account