Citations:waifu

Noun: "(fandom slang) a fictional character from non-live-action visual media (typically an anime, manga, or video game) that one is attracted to and/or considers a significant other"

 * 2012, Dani Cavallaro, Kyoto Animation: A Critical Study and Filmography, McFarland & Company (2012), ISBN 9780786470686, page 126:
 * Bradley Meek's portrayal of Lucky☆Star's protagonist is particularly worthy of notice in assessing the anime's take on the art-play dyad: “Konata Izumi is a high school otaku hardcore enough to know trivia about seventies giant robot and tokusatsu shows,” the critic proposes, “but not hardcore enough to own a bodypillow of her waifu [a 2D significant other].
 * 2013, "Rok the Reaper", "Otaku Culture: Husbando & Waifu", Genki Life Magazine, Winter 2013, page 48:
 * She is my waifu because she is my absolute favorite gaming character of all time and is the most fun I have ever had playing in a fighting game.
 * 2017, Chengyan Zeng, "Living in Virtual Reality: Anime and Manga Fandom", in Exploring the Rise of Fandom in Contemporary Consumer Culture (ed. Chenglu Wang), page 249:
 * Different from others, the waifu and the husbando are dedicated to only one character.
 * 2018, Pilan Scruggs, "Obsessive Anime Fan Claims Waifu as Dependent, Goes Unnoticed by IRS", The MQ (satirical newspaper of the University of California San Diego), 14 March 2018, page 5:
 * "We should get along, and I would love to help others out so that they can claim their waifus and husbandos on their returns for this period."
 * 2019, Dale Beren, It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump Into Office, unnumbered page:
 * For example, the otaku had popularized body pillows, a human-size pillow imprinted with the image of one's waifu (“wife”) or husbando (“husband”), the anime girl or boy to which the otaku imagines he or she is married.
 * 2021, Courtney N. Plante, Stephen Reysen, & Thomas R. Brooks, CAPE: A Multidimensional Model of Fan Interest, page 191:
 * For example, about 30% of anime fans report having waifu or husbando—that is, they consider (sometimes jokingly, sometimes not) an anime character to be their wife or husband
 * 2021, Stephen Reysen, Courtney N. Plante, Daniel Chadborn, Sharon E. Roberts, & Kathleen C. Gerbasi, Transported to Another World: The Psychology of Anime Fans, unnumbered page:
 * Those with waifus or husbandos are also more likely to feel a greater sense of belongingness to the anime fandom, a fandom which they're also more likely to consider to be unique compared to other fandoms.
 * For example, about 30% of anime fans report having waifu or husbando—that is, they consider (sometimes jokingly, sometimes not) an anime character to be their wife or husband
 * 2021, Stephen Reysen, Courtney N. Plante, Daniel Chadborn, Sharon E. Roberts, & Kathleen C. Gerbasi, Transported to Another World: The Psychology of Anime Fans, unnumbered page:
 * Those with waifus or husbandos are also more likely to feel a greater sense of belongingness to the anime fandom, a fandom which they're also more likely to consider to be unique compared to other fandoms.