As the power source of rockets and space vehicles, hypergolic propellants have been the focus of research on aviation and aerospace technology. As such propellants (whose main components are hydrazine compounds) are volatile and strongly carcinogenic with a low volumetric energy density, it is of great environmental and strategic significance to replace their hydrazines with energetic ionic liquids (rich in high-energy structures, such as N—N, C—N bonds). This paper summarizes the types and evolution of hypergolic ionic liquids, focusing on ignition performance and energy characteristics, including the design and synthesis of two major categories of hypergolic ionic liquids (cyanamides and borohydrides), as well as typical functionalized cations and metal accelerators. Although the high viscosity and high cost of ionic liquid fuels currently restrict their practical application, the strong designability of hypergolic ionic liquids make them a promising candidate for future propellant fuels.