Anime is filled with fights, battles, and wars, each with different villains and stakes. While it is not uncommon that a character is saved at the last minute by luck, another character, or even plot armor, some characters do not get away unscathed.
Some lose limbs, some lose their senses, while others lose their powers entirely. Often, anime characters can cheat the stakes by finding some loophole or magic item that heals them, but this is not always the case. Some are not so lucky, and though these characters may get away with their lives, they are forever changed by their battles.
10 Gildarts Finds That Fighting Acnologia Costs An Arm And A Leg (Fairy Tail)
Losing limbs is a pattern in anime that both creates stakes and poses a new obstacle for the characters to overcome. Sometimes, it even means the loss of powers and abilities. For Gildarts Clive, the loss of two limbs does not seem to slow him down. In Episode 76, Gildarts reveals that, during his time sojourning, he crossed paths with a black dragon and subsequently lost his arm, leg, and organ. Throughout the series, Gildarts uses various prosthetics including ones made of wood and armor-like metalwork.
9 Shanks Loses An Arm To Save Luffy (One Piece)
While losing an arm is often meant to show the audience just how high the stakes of the world are, when Shanks loses his arm, it is to show Luffy just how dangerous the seas can be.
In Episode 4, "Luffy's Past! The Red-Haired Shanks Appears!" Luffy is kidnapped by a bandit named Higuma and thrown into the water, which poses a problem for Luffy, who has eaten the Devil Fruit and thus cannot swim. Shanks saves Luffy from a sea monster by allowing his own arm to be taken.
8 All Might Is Rendered Powerless After His Last Fight With All For One (My Hero Academia)
To save Bakugo from the villain, All for One, Midoriya and his friends from UA High School launch a rescue mission. However, the band of heroes is no match for All for One, and All Might rushes to save them. In the episode, "One for All," All Might's battle with his greatest enemy results in an injury that leaves All Might weakened. Though he has not completely lost all of his powers yet, All Might is forced to take a more passive role in the hero community.
7 Erwin Smith Loses An Arm To A Titan (Attack On Titan)
In the episode, "Charge," from Season 2 of Attack on Titan, Erwin Smith and his comrades are stuck in a dire situation, and, to get to Eren, he orders them to charge. Immediately after relaying this command, his arm is bitten off by a titan and he is carried off by the shoulder. However, he still manages to continue ordering the Scouts. Eventually, Erwin is freed, but his arm is not so lucky. In the following episode titled "Scream," Erwin is seen recovering, as the series allows him to live... for now, that is.
6 Both Naruto And Sasuke Lose An Arm In Their Final Duel (Naruto)
In the battle at Final Valley in Naruto: Shippuden, the two friends and rivals get to hash out a years-old wound that began at that very venue in the original Naruto series.
In the original Naruto's "The End of Tears" episode, Sasuke and Naruto clash, Sasuke wielding Chidori and Naruto using Rasengan. However, in the aftermath, Sasuke beats Naruto and lets him live. In Shippuden's "The Final Battle," the two clash once again in much the same way. This time, they each lose an arm in the ensuing explosion.
5 Kars Takes Off Joeseph Joestar's Hand (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)
Joesph Joestar thinks he has Kars beat when he is launched into a volcano, but he was underestimating Kars' power now that he had become "Ulitmate Kars." While Joseph tries to escape, Kars appears and cuts off Joseph's hand with a blade made from Kars' own body. Later in the series, as we see in Stardust Crusaders, Joseph gets a high-tech prosthetic that mitigates any obstacles this might have posed. Plus, the advent of Stands makes the usage of the hand-to-hand Hamon ability obsolete.
4 Zuko Is Forever Scarred By His Father During The Agni Kai (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
A young Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation dishonors himself and insults his father, Fire Lord Ozai, when he speaks out during a war council meeting. The result is that Zuko is forced to fight his own father in an Agni Kai, a firebending duel.
However, he is unable to go through with the fight and instead asks for his father's forgiveness. This enrages and insults his father even more. So, his father burns him, permanently scarring his eye, and banishes him. The scar then becomes Zuko's trademark feature.
3 Midoriya's Arms Are Covered With Scars (My Hero Academia)
While the originally quirkless Izuku Midoriya can be counted lucky to have received the One for All quirk from his childhood hero, All Might, it does not come without a price. One for All offers the hero incredible feats of power. However, this comes at the cost of the user's body. As Midoriya struggles to master the new ability, he goes overboard on multiple occasions, resulting in scars up and down his arms. Though Recovery Girl heals most of his injuries, there are some injuries that are sadly unmendable.
2 Fujiki And Irako Are Permanently Maimed (Shigurui)
There is no shortage of lost limbs and lives in the gruesome tale that is Shigurui: Death Frenzy. Even the main characters, Gennosuke Fujiki and Seigen Irako, are not safe from the carnage. During different fights, Fujiki loses an arm and Irako loses his sight. This all culminates in a final duel to the death between the two, wherein the one-armed Fujiki kills Irako. Though the two lose much throughout the series, their respective injuries teach them new and incredible techniques which they draw upon for their final confrontation.
1 Might Guy Is Never The Same After Opening The 8 Gates (Naruto: Shippuden)
In Episode 419, titled "Papa's Youth," Might Guy faces off with the incredibly powerful Madara Uchiha. He is forced to use the forbidden jutsu, the Eight Gates, opening the final gate and using the Eternal Elephant technique. Unfortunately, the eighth gate is called the gate of death for a reason, as anyone who opens it is destined to die from the recoil. However, Might Guy, being the paragon of youth that he is, somehow survives this venture and comes out alive, albeit without the use of one of his legs.