Energy crisis and environmental pollutions are the problems which the whole world is now facing for the sustainable development. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), which have been regarded as keystone for the future energy economy, have received considerable attention for their high energy conversion efficiency and low impact to environment as a mean of generating electricity. Proton conducting solid oxide fuel cells (H-SOFCs) have attracted much attention for their unique characters, such as great efficiency in fuel utilization, high electromotive force, high ionic transferring numbers and low activation energies for proton conduction. However, compared with oxygen-ion conducting SOFCs (O-SOFCs), the materials and theories on H-SOFC are just inchoate, especially for cathodes of H-SOFC. In H-SOFC, hydrogen is oxidized at the anode to form protons, which migrate through the electrolyte to the cathode, and undergo a half-cell reaction with oxygen to produce water, which makes the cathode reactions more complex compared with those of O-SOFC. Such distinguished characteristic of cathode reactions calls for intensive consideration on reaction mechanism and might lead to some special demands on the cathode materials. This review is focused on the hisrory of cathode materials for H-SOFC. The electrochemical performances and reaction models of different conduction mechanism cathode materials are summarized, providing some useful means and ways for the development and application of cathode materials for H-SOFC.