Types of Otaku

In Japanese, the term otaku オタク, wotaku ヲタク, and the abbreviations wota ヲタ and ota オタ, refer not only to anime enthusiasts but also pretty much every sort of enthusiast, hobbyist, nerd, or pretty much any weirdo with some sort of odd interest, knowledge and passion about anything.

Thus, here's a list of types of otaku in Japanese and their respective meanings in English:

Entertainment Otaku

Media

anime otaku アニメオタク
anime wotaku アニメヲタク
anime-ota アニメオタ
anime-wota アニメヲタ
aniota アニオタ
aniwota アニヲタ
"Anime otaku." Likes anime.
(note: you can replace otaku with wotaku, ota, or wota in basically all words below, but I'm not going to write all of them like I did here because it's too repetitive.)

Manga: Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken 旦那が何を言っているかわからない件

iwayuru
otaku (aniota) toiu
burui de anime wo
minai to shinu
seibutsu rashii
いわゆるオタク（アニオタ）という部類でアニメを見ないと死ぬ生物らしい
The so-called otaku (anime otaku) type, an organism that dies if it doesn't watch anime, [or so I heard].

manga otaku 漫画オタク
"Manga otaku." Likes manga.

komikku otaku コミックオタク
"Comics otaku." Same thing as manga otaku.

anime kyara otaku アニメキャラオタク
"Anime character otaku." Likes anime characters.

moe otaku 萌えオタク
"A moe otaku." An otaku hat likes moe 萌え.

geemu otaku ゲームオタク
"Game otaku." A gamer. Who plays games. As in, computer games. Video-games. Console games. Handheld games. There's literally an anime about this called Gamers.

dorama otaku ドラマオタク
"Drama otaku." Who enjoys dramas.
(this is the kind that likes TV series, not the kind that is an attention whore)

Merch

figyua otaku フィギュアオタク
"Figure otaku." A figurine otaku. Collects ~~dolls~~ *cough* action figures.

meka otaku メカオタク
"Mecha otaku." Likes mechas. Probably has a bunch of robot toys.

People

kosupure otaku コスプレオタク
"Cosplay otaku." Likes to dress up as the characters.

seiyuu otaku 声優オタク
"Voice-actor otaku." Fan of the actors voicing the characters. Has a couple of favorites. Watches anime because of the voice actors. Posts on episode threads about how much they like someone's voice. Unlike most otaku, these actually know the voice actors' names.

aidoru otaku アイドルオタク
"Idol otaku." Likes idols (mostly singers worshiped by fanatical cults of otaku).

eekeebii otaku AKBオタク
"AKB otaku." Likes AKB48, a certain idol group.

Not Actually Otaku

fujoshi 腐女子
"Rotten girl" A girl with BL / yaoi fantasies. Not necessarily an otaku, but often is.

Regional

nihon otaku 日本オタク
"Japan otaku." An otaku who is... NOT ACTUALLY JAPANESE. This is how you say "weeaboo" in Japanese. Seriously. Weeb. An otaku for Japan stuff. Kimono-donning, katana-wielding, sushi-eating, yakisoba-slurping, anime-watching, desu-speaking gaijin.
(also called nihon-kabure 日本かぶれ)

oubei otaku 欧米オタク
"Europe and America otaku." Europe and America is usually synonymous with the "west," so "west otaku." In other words, it means westaboo in Japanese.
(also called oubei-kabure 欧米かぶれ)

disunii otaku ディズニーオタク
"Disney otaku." Likes Mickey Mouse and other Disney stuff.

Virtually Everything Else

Appearance

kimo-ota キモオタ
kimo-wota キモヲタ
"Disgusting otaku." The usual kimoi キモイ, kimochiwarui 気持ち悪い otaku stereotype. Typically the hikikomori neet dakimakura-owner basement-dweller drooling over their figurine collection watching anime 24/7 communicating only to ~~4chan~~ 2chan trolls subsisting on ramen noodles and peeing inside pet bottles type of otaku. Or something like that.

kakureotaku 隠れオタク
"Hidden otaku." An otaku that looks like a normie. That doesn't look like an otaku. That hides their otaku-ness in public. Normie in the streets, otaku in the sheets.

onna otaku 女オタク
"Female otaku." Literally any otaku who is also a woman.

megane otaku メガネオタク
"Glasses otaku." The nerdiest stereotype that transcends the barrier of the language.

Knowledge

tetsudou otaku 鉄道オタク
tetsu-ota 鉄オタ
tetsu wota 鉄ヲタ
"Railway otaku." Likes railways and probably trains too.

densha otaku 電車オタク
"Electric train otaku." Likes trains.

kuruma otaku 車オタク
"Car otaku." Likes cars.

juu otaku 銃オタク
"Gun otaku." Likes guns.

rekishi otaku 歴史オタク
"History otaku." Likes history.

sangokushi otaku 三国志オタク
"Three Kingdoms otaku." Likes... the Three Kingdoms. A piece of Chinese history. A time when China was divided into three states, ruled by three ~~kings~~ emperors, there weren't actually any kings. And there generals and stuff.

pasokon otaku パサコンオタク
compyuuta otaku コンピュータオタク
"PC otaku." "Computer otaku." Likes computers. Probably works in IT. Probably has to fix their family and friends computers for free.

Activities

yakyuu otaku 野球オタク
"Baseball otaku." Likes baseball.
(knows about baseball, baseball fan, doesn't necessarily plays it, though probably does)

kamera otaku カメラオタク
"Camera otaku." Likes taking photos (with an actual camera, not with their phone).

ongaku otaku 音楽オタク
"Music otaku." Likes music.

baiku otaku バイクオタク
"Bike otaku." Likes biking. Seriously.

tozan otaku 登山オタク
"Mountain-climbing otaku." TAKE A GUESS.

Lifestyle

kankyou otaku 環境オタク
"Environment otaku." Likes the environment (nature). Knows facts and figures about pollution. Recycles. Etc.

kenkou otaku 健康オタク
"Health otaku." Likes... health? Probably has a healthy diet. Doesn't smoke. Exercises.

kintore otaku 筋トレオタク
"Muscle-training otaku." Likes... muscle-training. Probably lives in the gym. Talks about gains.