This list mainly focuses on the main branch, with several references to international and Holostars being listed separately from the main branch.
First of all, there seems to be differences in the degree of name recognition between Japanese and English-speaking audiences, so I'll list the both separately as well.
These four probably are who English-speaking audience think of when it comes to hololive. While Fubuki and Miko have been long-time staples, Coco started raising in popularity after her AsaCoco Live News show reporting the mass demonetization incident surrounding hololive on early 2020, further enhanced by her smooth talk style, fondness for memes, and (most of all) her fluency in English. Meanwhile, Korone had a moderate popularity thanks to the clips by Holo FAV clip , but it suddenly raised after this short animation based on her Banjo-Kazooie playthrough went memetic, causing her various other clips to go viral even further.
While not as recognized as the Elite Four, these six hold a popularity equivalent to them. With Coco's graduation on July 2021, one of these "reserves" may replace Coco's spot as part of the Elite Four with my bet being either Suisei, Subaru or Pekora.
Tier 3: Have a chance of potential surge in popularity[]
While these seven are popular among the Kaigai-nikis, they are not much as well-known as either the Elite Four or the Reserves. Notably, both Marine and Minato Aqua aren't as known as they are in Japan, while Aki, Kanata, Towa, Nene and Polka hold decent popularities outside of Japan.
