In recent years, the incidence rate of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has gradually increased, and many pre-clinical effective treatment methods are not effective in practical application. Therefore, accurate diagnosis and effective treatment are the current difficulties. The causes, pathological changes, and pathogenic mechanisms of TBI are very complex. Using animal models to simulate the process of disease occurrence and development represents an effective method for studying TBI, and the selection of appropriate pathological animal models is crucial. There have been numerous animal models used in the past to simulate the occurrence and progression of human TBI, and different TBI animal models have their own characteristics, with rodent models being the most widely used. This article focuses on several conventional murine animal models of traumatic brain injury, and reviews the establishment, optimization, and application of these models in recent years, in order to provide reference for the mechanism and new treatment strategies of TBI.