The hero is always supposed to save the day in stories. That's the case in anime more than any other medium. No matter the odds stacked against them, they always manage to find a way to save the day. That's how it's meant to be, and rarely does an anime force them to give up in the face of those odds.

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However, there are some cases where they have actually given up. Normally it's done with a side character rather than the main one, but it's been done before. Sometimes these characters never wanted to be a hero in the first place and didn't need much convincing to stop, and other times, it was the main driving force of a villain, much like the Joker's obsession with getting Batman to kill him.

10 Yamcha Died So Often That He Gave Up His Life As A Z Fighter (Dragon Ball)

Yamchs gets shocked during a baseball game in Dragon Ball Super

Yamcha may as well be the poster child for being a hero who gives up on his cause after numerous setbacks. It's hard to blame him since he became a massive joke both in and out of the universe once Dragon Ball Z rolled around. Not only was Yamcha getting handled by the primary villains of an arc, but he was also getting killed by underlings, most notably the Saibamen. By the time Android 20 impaled him, he knew it was time to give up on the life of a fighter.

9 Sousuke Gives Up On A Mission & Leaves Mao Behind (Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid)

full metal panic sousuke team with headphones

Sousuke has never been the most heroic of characters during Full Metal Panic. His work with Mithril has always been more of a job to him, and he'd gladly run off and retire somewhere rather than continuing to take on missions. In Full Metal Panic! Second Raid, that's exactly what he started to do. It's a short-lived moment of giving up as he does eventually come back to help save the day, but he always walks the line between dedication and throwing in the towel.

8 Xiao Long Despised His Powers & Wanted Nothing More Than To Get Rid Of Them (Psycho Busters)

psycho busters character panels in the manga

Some heroes who've given up never wanted to be heroes in the first place. If they don't have the drive and determination, they will never make it through the tough times. That's the case for Xiao Long of Psycho Busters.

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He never wanted the psychic abilities he gained since they helped break his family apart and directly influenced the death of his parents. With a little bit of a push, he tried to find a way to rid himself of them rather than use them for good.

7 Utena Goes Back To Being A Normal School Girl After She's Defeated At The Hands Of Touga (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

revolutionary girl utena manga

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a story all about understanding oneself, both for the heroes and the villains of the series. It centers around taking the hand of the Rose Bride, a student named Anthy Himemiya. For much of it, Utena is content in defending her love of Anthy from all other suitors until Togua arrives and defeats her thoroughly. It causes her to return to being a normal school girl rather than the prince she was aspiring to be.

6 Iris Gave Up On Being A Hero & Became A Villain Because She Felt Abandoned (Dirty Pair Flash)

iris in dirty pair flash

Iris in Dirty Pair Flash did more than give up on being a hero. She ended up becoming a villain who held a grudge against the company she used to work for. Iris was one of the best agents working for 3WA, earning the nickname Lovely Angels with her partner Molly. That all changed when she was convinced that 3WA had abandoned them to die. It caused her to hold a vendetta against them, being one of the most dangerous foes the team went up against in the entire anime.

5 Isshin Willingly Gave Up His Powers As A Shinigami So That He Could Be With Masaki (Bleach)

isshin kurosaki with a sword bleach

Isshin Kurosaki is one of the rare examples of a hero who gave up for positive reasons. Normally, it's trauma that forces a hero to question themselves, but in Isshin's case, it's love. He valued the love he had for Masaki and later his family, far more than he ever valued being a Shinigami.

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It's why he willingly pushes himself into retirement, leaving that life behind for good until decades later when he's forced back into duty to confront Aizen.

4 Irene Deserted The Organization After Priscillia Lopped Off Her Arm (Claymore)

irene claymore

While Claymore doesn't have a typical hero faction, The Organization is as close as it gets for much of the series. Irene was one of the most upstanding members of The Organization, highly rated for her abilities and respected for her ability to lead. That all changed when she led a small group to battle Theresa, thinking it would be enough. Most people within the group were killed, and Irene lost her arm to an enraged Priscillia in the conflict. It caused her to desert The Organization, fearing retribution for what happened.

3 Akira Gives Up On Protecting Humanity After They Kill His Friend Miki (Devilman Crybaby)

Akira transforms into a demon in Devilman Crybaby.

While Akira and other Devilmen still end up battling Ryo and his satanic army at the end of the series, it's no longer for the protection of humanity. Akira only did it for revenge and gave up on caring about humanity's fate because a scared mob of humans brutally murdered Akira's best friend Miki out of fear. They thought Miki was a demon who needed to be eliminated, exposing how unworthy humanity was of survival.

2 Jeri Sunk Into Such A Despair That She Believed She Was Meant To Be Alone Forever (Digimon Tamers)

Evil Jeri Digimon Tamers

For a show meant to be watched by little kids, it's surprising how many awful things happen to poor Jeri in Digimon Tamers. Not only did she watch one of her Digimon get consumed in front of her, but it was also revealed that her biological mother had died, and it'd severed Jeri's ability to see her stepmother as a real parent. As the series went on, she even ended up getting possessed by D-reaper due to how much despair she was feeling.

1 Vash The Stampede Is Forced To Give Up On His Vow Of Never Killing By Legato (Trigun)

Vash sadly draws his gun on Legato in Trigun

Giving up can mean many things. Sometimes it's giving up the life of being a hero, and other times, it's succumbing to negative emotions or rage. In Vash's case, it was going back on the vow he'd made. He'd made a promise that he'd never consciously kill someone, much like Batman had in comics. Legato and the Gung-Ho-Guns manage to force him into doing the deed. Vash is pushed into such a corner that he's convinced he has no other choice, killing Legato as a result.

NEXT: 10 Proud Anime Heroes Who Had To Learn Humility The Hard Way