Many anime contain side characters that might be helpful allies to the protagonist for an episode or two. Sometimes, they're the villain of the week for that particular episode. However, there are also side characters that mainly serve as cannon fodder or joke opponents that are meant to be plot devices.

RELATED: 10 Anime Side Characters Who Should Have Been The Protagonist Instead

From Satoru Sawatari's weak abilities to the extremely late introduction of Bodoro, these side characters were doomed to fail at their goals or even get killed off during their respective series. If they were lucky, they might have even been saved by the protagonist, but most of the time, they were usually killed off for good or their fates were left unknown.

7 Satoru Sawatari's Ability Doomed Him From The Start (Battle Game In 5 Seconds)

Satoru Sawatari Battle Game in 5 Seconds

Satoru was introduced in the third episode of Battle Game In 5 Seconds as one of the members of Akira's assigned team with the ability to turn any buttons into ropes. Considering that the rest of the characters so far were introduced with more useful abilities compared to his, it was a sure sign that Satoru would be one of many characters to die in the series.

During his one-on-one match with Rin Kashii, Satoru proposed that, instead of battling each other to death, they should flip a coin to see who wins. The moment Satoru took his eyes off his opponent, however, Rin immediately killed him with an ability unknown to the main cast.

6 Katsuo Umino Passed The Qualifications Of The Newcomers Tournament Because He Ate Trash (Yakitate!! Japan)

Katsuo Umino Yakitate!! Japan

Katsuo was introduced in the food anime Yakitate!! Japan's Pantasia Newcomers Tournament when he tried protesting his failure to make the qualification rounds. The only reason he managed to go beyond it was when Kuroyanagi made Katsuo eat trash to prove himself. Katsuo did so, much to the entire cast's disgust and awe.

However, considering that he was a minor character, it was obvious he would end up getting eliminated in the tournament later on. He ended up losing during the quarterfinals to Kawachi, where it was revealed that Katsuo married a part-timer shortly after starting employment and is the same age as Ken Matsushiro.

5 Bodoro Was Doomed The Moment He Was Introduced (Hunter X Hunter)

Bodoro Hunter X Hunter

Bodoro was introduced in Hunter X Hunter's Examination arc as one of the final examinees who was an adept fighter. However, he hadn't been introduced at all during the examination arc until this time, so fans deduced that Bodoro would likely suffer a horrible death or defeat during the final round.

RELATED: Hunter X Hunter: 10 Times Gon Impressed Others During The Hunter Exam

Unfortunately for Bodoro, he was killed by Killua during his match against Leorio, which automatically failed Killua and he couldn't pass the Hunter Exam as the only way examinees were supposed to earn their badge was to make their opponent surrender.

4 Mizuki Was A Side Character Compared To The Rest Of The Cast (DRAMAtical Murder)

Mizuki from DRAMAtical Murder

Mizuki from DRAMAtical Murder is a character that didn't die but suffered a horrible fate. He was initially introduced as a close friend of Koujaku. However, he suffered from brainwashing and lost his entire Rib team, Dry Juice, to Morphine's hands.

Aoba attempted to use his Scrap abilities on him to save him, but they failed due to Aoba's lack of experience. This led to Mizuki being comatose for the rest of the series, though it is briefly mentioned in the finale that he did recover from this ordeal.

3 Maverick Killed Samantha After Barnaby Found Out The Truth About His Parents (Tiger & Bunny)

Samantha Tiger & Bunny

Samantha was a minor character in Tiger & Bunny and was Barnaby's childhood caretaker. It was revealed late in the anime that she had been with Barnaby the entire day during the day Barnaby's parents were murdered, and not sick in bed with a cold as she thought. The reason she mistakenly assumed the latter was because Maverick modified her and Barnaby's memories so that they wouldn't know that Maverick himself killed Barnaby's parents.

After the truth was revealed, however, Maverick re-modified Barnaby's memories and had Samantha killed to cover his tracks. He also framed Kotetsu for Samantha's murder to further throw Barnaby off his tracks. Though Barnaby eventually found out the truth again, Samantha's death could not be reversed.

2 Arkana Was Doomed Once He Was Up Against Yugi (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Yugi vs Arkana in the Battle City arc of Yu-Gi-Oh!

Arkana, also known as Pandora in the Yu-Gi-Ohmanga and Japanese versions, was doomed the moment he tried challenging Yugi to a battle. It was even worse for him, considering that Yugi was already established as the clear expert in using cards like the Dark Magician prior to Arkana's introduction.

RELATED: 10 Times Yu-Gi-Oh! Was Darker Than It Needed To Be

When Arkana tried using his own Dark Magician, viewers already knew from the start that he would likely lose the duel. Additionally, after Arkana was defeated, he was possessed by Marik briefly before he collapsed. Viewers didn't know what happened with him afterward, as he never showed up again in the series.

1 Naru Osaka Was Attacked By A Youma In The First Episode (Sailor Moon)

Nephrite and Naru in the '90s Sailor Moon anime.

In Sailor MoonNaru was introduced as one of Usagi's school friends. In the very first episode, Naru was attacked by a youma disguised as her own mother. Thankfully, Usagi saved her and defeated the youma, but Naru kept getting attacked by various creatures from Queen Beryl's Dark Kingdom afterward.

Even though she was never killed off, Naru went through a lot of frightening incidents. One of those attacks was even saddening more than scary; Nephrite died defending Naru from youma, much to her grief.

NEXT: Sailor Moon: The Villains of the Dark Kingdom, Ranked