diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-env/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-env/action.yml
index 9ffaaf051b..e3638f1860 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-env/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-env/action.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ inputs:
   python-version:
     description: The python version to install
     required: false
-    default: '3.9'
+    default: '3.10'
   use-cached-uv-lock:
     description: Whether to download the uv lock cache.
     required: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml
index e27210afdb..bb4783b033 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release-pr.yaml
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up environment
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-env
         with:
-          python-version: 3.9
+          python-version: 3.10
 
       - name: Install dependencies
         run: uv sync --no-default-groups --group changelog
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 825c2647ad..ea10ded597 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ jobs:
         id: setup
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-env
         with:
-          python-version: 3.9
+          python-version: 3.10
 
       - name: Build package
         run: |
diff --git a/.readthedocs.yml b/.readthedocs.yml
index 1e48672de0..f20bba070c 100644
--- a/.readthedocs.yml
+++ b/.readthedocs.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ formats:
 build:
   os: ubuntu-24.04
   tools:
-    python: "3.9"
+    python: "3.10"
   jobs:
     create_environment:
       - asdf plugin add uv
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2afc1836eb..322635995f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ Key Features
 Installing
 ----------
 
-**Python 3.9 or higher is required.**
+**Python 3.10 or higher is required.**
 
 To install the library without full voice support, you can just run the
 following command:
diff --git a/changelog/1394.breaking.rst b/changelog/1394.breaking.rst
index bab57b3203..c17d241041 100644
--- a/changelog/1394.breaking.rst
+++ b/changelog/1394.breaking.rst
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Python 3.8 support has been dropped.
+Drop support for Python 3.8 as it reached end of life in October 2024 and no longer receives security updates.
diff --git a/changelog/1427.breaking.rst b/changelog/1427.breaking.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..57dca36c31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/1427.breaking.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Drop support for Python 3.9 as it reached end of life in October 2025 and no longer receives security updates.
diff --git a/disnake/ext/commands/core.py b/disnake/ext/commands/core.py
index 880c2d4975..d97e05428c 100644
--- a/disnake/ext/commands/core.py
+++ b/disnake/ext/commands/core.py
@@ -398,8 +398,7 @@ def callback(self, function: CommandCallback[CogT, Any, P, T]) -> None:
                 str(e)
                 + ", please check all annotations are defined outside of TYPE_CHECKING blocks."
             )
-            # todo: add name kw only argument once we use py310+
-            raise NameError(msg) from None
+            raise NameError(msg, name=e.name) from None
 
         for param in params.values():
             if param.annotation is Greedy:
diff --git a/disnake/ext/commands/params.py b/disnake/ext/commands/params.py
index 51d9a31f64..33000e10b4 100644
--- a/disnake/ext/commands/params.py
+++ b/disnake/ext/commands/params.py
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@
 import inspect
 import itertools
 import math
-import sys
 import types
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from enum import Enum, EnumMeta
+from types import EllipsisType, UnionType
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
     Any,
@@ -87,16 +87,6 @@
     P = TypeVar("P")
 
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 10):
-    from types import EllipsisType, UnionType
-elif TYPE_CHECKING:
-    EllipsisType = type(Ellipsis)
-    UnionType = NoReturn
-
-else:
-    UnionType = object()
-    EllipsisType = type(Ellipsis)
-
 T = TypeVar("T", bound=Any)
 TypeT = TypeVar("TypeT", bound=Type[Any])
 BotT = TypeVar("BotT", bound="disnake.Client", covariant=True)
@@ -361,10 +351,8 @@ def __call__(self) -> NoReturn:
         raise NotImplementedError
 
     # support new union syntax for `Range[int, 1, 2] | None`
-    if sys.version_info >= (3, 10):
-
-        def __or__(self, other):
-            return Union[self, other]
+    def __or__(self, other):
+        return Union[self, other]
 
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
diff --git a/disnake/ext/commands/slash_core.py b/disnake/ext/commands/slash_core.py
index 6b46102873..65a4432831 100644
--- a/disnake/ext/commands/slash_core.py
+++ b/disnake/ext/commands/slash_core.py
@@ -313,8 +313,7 @@ def __init__(
                     str(e)
                     + ", please check all annotations are defined outside of TYPE_CHECKING blocks."
                 )
-                # todo: add name kw only argument once we use py310+
-                raise NameError(msg) from None
+                raise NameError(msg, name=e.name) from None
 
         self.docstring = utils.parse_docstring(func)
         desc_loc = Localized._cast(description, False)
@@ -488,8 +487,7 @@ def __init__(
                     str(e)
                     + ", please check all annotations are defined outside of TYPE_CHECKING blocks."
                 )
-                # todo: add name kw only argument once we use py310+
-                raise NameError(msg) from None
+                raise NameError(msg, name=e.name) from None
 
         self.docstring = utils.parse_docstring(func)
         desc_loc = Localized._cast(description, False)
diff --git a/disnake/role.py b/disnake/role.py
index 15ad2ad61d..47272791df 100644
--- a/disnake/role.py
+++ b/disnake/role.py
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ async def _move(self, position: int, reason: Optional[str]) -> None:
             roles.append(self.id)
 
         payload: List[RolePositionUpdate] = [
-            {"id": z[0], "position": z[1]} for z in zip(roles, change_range)
+            {"id": z[0], "position": z[1]} for z in zip(roles, change_range, strict=False)
         ]
         await http.move_role_position(self.guild.id, payload, reason=reason)
 
diff --git a/disnake/utils.py b/disnake/utils.py
index 003f1f7ed0..5923ac0fa1 100644
--- a/disnake/utils.py
+++ b/disnake/utils.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 from bisect import bisect_left
 from inspect import getdoc as _getdoc, isawaitable as _isawaitable, signature as _signature
 from operator import attrgetter
+from types import UnionType
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
     Any,
@@ -43,7 +44,6 @@
     TypedDict,
     TypeVar,
     Union,
-    get_origin,
     overload,
 )
 from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlencode
@@ -1146,24 +1146,6 @@ def as_chunks(iterator: _Iter[T], max_size: int) -> _Iter[List[T]]:
     return _chunk(iterator, max_size)
 
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 10):
-    PY_310 = True
-    from types import UnionType
-else:
-    PY_310 = False
-    UnionType = object()
-
-
-def flatten_literal_params(parameters: Iterable[Any]) -> Tuple[Any, ...]:
-    params = []
-    for p in parameters:
-        if get_origin(p) is Literal:
-            params.extend(_unique(flatten_literal_params(p.__args__)))
-        else:
-            params.append(p)
-    return tuple(params)
-
-
 def normalise_optional_params(parameters: Iterable[Any]) -> Tuple[Any, ...]:
     none_cls = type(None)
     return (*tuple(p for p in parameters if p is not none_cls), none_cls)
@@ -1237,8 +1219,6 @@ def evaluate_annotation(
             except ValueError:
                 pass
         if origin is Literal:
-            if not PY_310:
-                args = flatten_literal_params(tp.__args__)
             implicit_str = False
             is_literal = True
 
diff --git a/docs/intro.rst b/docs/intro.rst
index 58cde9c70a..21dc64a61e 100644
--- a/docs/intro.rst
+++ b/docs/intro.rst
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ in creating applications that utilise the Discord API.
 Prerequisites
 -------------
 
-disnake works with Python 3.9 or higher. Support for earlier versions of Python
-is not provided. Python 2.7 or lower is not supported. Python 3.8 or lower is not supported.
+disnake works with Python 3.10 or higher. Support for earlier versions of Python
+is not provided. Python 2.7 or lower is not supported. Python 3.9 or lower is not supported.
 
 .. _installing:
 
diff --git a/noxfile.py b/noxfile.py
index 0a90616d2a..40b38bbd25 100755
--- a/noxfile.py
+++ b/noxfile.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env -S uv run --script
 # /// script
-# requires-python = ">=3.9"
+# requires-python = ">=3.10"
 # dependencies = [
 #     "nox==2025.10.16",
 # ]
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f42dcc121e..18bbad7254 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ readme = "README.md"
 authors = [
   { name = "Disnake Development" }
 ]
-requires-python = ">=3.9"
+requires-python = ">=3.10"
 keywords = ["disnake", "discord", "discord api"]
 license = "MIT"
 license-files = ["LICENSE"]
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ classifiers = [
     "Natural Language :: English",
     "Operating System :: OS Independent",
     # it is important that the python classifiers are sorted in the sequential order
-    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
@@ -49,7 +48,6 @@ speed = [
     # taken from aiohttp[speedups]
     "aiodns>=1.1",
     "Brotli",
-    'cchardet; python_version < "3.10"',
 ]
 voice = [
     "PyNaCl>=1.5.0,<1.6",
@@ -214,6 +212,9 @@ ignore = [
     "UP006",
     "UP035",
     "FURB188",
+    # py 3.10 bump
+    "UP007",
+    "UP045",
 ]
 
 [tool.ruff.lint.per-file-ignores]
diff --git a/tests/ext/commands/test_params.py b/tests/ext/commands/test_params.py
index 0f811a7204..ea6457c2a3 100644
--- a/tests/ext/commands/test_params.py
+++ b/tests/ext/commands/test_params.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 
 import math
-import sys
 from typing import Any, Optional, Union
 from unittest import mock
 
@@ -194,12 +193,7 @@ def test_string(self) -> None:
         [
             "Optional[commands.Range[int, 1, 2]]",
             # 3.10 union syntax
-            pytest.param(
-                "commands.Range[int, 1, 2] | None",
-                marks=pytest.mark.skipif(
-                    sys.version_info < (3, 10), reason="syntax requires py3.10"
-                ),
-            ),
+            "commands.Range[int, 1, 2] | None",
         ],
     )
     def test_optional(self, annotation_str) -> None:
diff --git a/tests/test_colour.py b/tests/test_colour.py
index 365edff619..7d485da761 100644
--- a/tests/test_colour.py
+++ b/tests/test_colour.py
@@ -53,7 +53,9 @@ def test_from_rgb(value: int, parts: Tuple[int, int, int]) -> None:
 def test_from_hsv(value: int, parts: Tuple[float, float, float]) -> None:
     expected = Colour(value)
     col = Colour.from_hsv(*parts)
-    assert all(math.isclose(a, b, abs_tol=1) for a, b in zip(expected.to_rgb(), col.to_rgb()))
+    assert all(
+        math.isclose(a, b, abs_tol=1) for a, b in zip(expected.to_rgb(), col.to_rgb(), strict=True)
+    )
 
 
 def test_alias() -> None:
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index fcc1ed60e8..5e7147f9d3 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
     # non-3.12 tests shouldn't be using this
     from typing import TypeAliasType
 
+NoneType = type(None)
+
 
 def test_missing() -> None:
     assert utils.MISSING != utils.MISSING
@@ -749,23 +751,6 @@ def test_as_chunks_size(max_size: int) -> None:
         utils.as_chunks(iter([]), max_size)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize(
-    ("params", "expected"),
-    [
-        ([], ()),
-        ([disnake.CommandInter, int, Optional[str]], (disnake.CommandInter, int, Optional[str])),
-        # check flattening + deduplication (both of these are done automatically in 3.9.1+)
-        ([float, Literal[1, 2, Literal[3, 4]], Literal["a", "bc"]], (float, 1, 2, 3, 4, "a", "bc")),  # noqa: RUF041
-        ([Literal[1, 1, 2, 3, 3]], (1, 2, 3)),
-    ],
-)
-def test_flatten_literal_params(params, expected) -> None:
-    assert utils.flatten_literal_params(params) == expected
-
-
-NoneType = type(None)
-
-
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ("params", "expected"),
     [([NoneType], (NoneType,)), ([NoneType, int, NoneType, float], (int, float, NoneType))],
@@ -792,12 +777,7 @@ def test_normalise_optional_params(params, expected) -> None:
         ("bool", bool, True),
         ("Tuple[dict, List[Literal[42, 99]]]", Tuple[dict, List[Literal[42, 99]]], True),
         # 3.10 union syntax
-        pytest.param(
-            "int | float",
-            Union[int, float],
-            True,
-            marks=pytest.mark.skipif(sys.version_info < (3, 10), reason="syntax requires py3.10"),
-        ),
+        ("int | float", Union[int, float], True),
     ],
 )
 def test_resolve_annotation(tp, expected, expected_cache) -> None:
diff --git a/tests/ui/test_action_row.py b/tests/ui/test_action_row.py
index 38884d7ac0..ee9ec1827a 100644
--- a/tests/ui/test_action_row.py
+++ b/tests/ui/test_action_row.py
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ def test_rows_from_message(self) -> None:
 
         assert len(result) == len(rows)
         # compare component types and IDs
-        for actual, expected in zip(result, rows):
+        for actual, expected in zip(result, rows, strict=True):
             assert [(type(c), c.custom_id) for c in actual] == [
                 (type(c), c.custom_id) for c in expected
             ]
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ def test_walk_components(self) -> None:
 
         expected = [(row, component) for row in rows for component in row.children]
         for (act_row, act_cmp), (exp_row, exp_cmp) in zip(
-            ActionRow.walk_components(rows), expected
+            ActionRow.walk_components(rows), expected, strict=True
         ):
             # test mutation (rows)
             # (remove row below the one containing select1)