As sad as it may be, character death is a fact of fiction, and it can be crucial to a story. A lot of times, death is used to move the story forward or to serve as motivation for another character. Still, most fans lament watching their favorite characters die. Anime is certainly not exempt from featuring death, and some anime series have most—if not all—of their characters killed off.

Some creators are notorious for killing characters to the point where it became a running joke. Some like to use death as something symbolic and beautiful. Others wrote scenarios where everyone was already dead from the start. Others seem to just love to torture fictional people. Either way, death is a common theme in many anime titles, and many take it to the next level by killing off everyone.

Updated on January 25th, 2024 by Chelsea Steele: There are more anime where everyone dies by the end than fans realize. Such series unsurprisingly become notorious cult favorites among anime fans. Some love these anime for their mercilessness, while others can't stand seeing their favorite characters die. Either way, these dark, death-filled stories are some of the most memorable out there.

20 Danganronpa: The Animation Features A Death Game Where Students Must Murder Their Classmates

The Danganronpa franchise is well-known for its endless death toll and anime where everyone dies, and its inaugural anime was no different. Based on the first game in the series, Danganronpa: The Animation centered around a group of students who found themselves trapped inside a terrifying death game.

If any of the students wanted to make it out with their lives, they had to somehow pull off the perfect murder and get away with it. With such a premise, it's no surprise that many beloved characters met a sudden and untimely end. In fact, only 6 of the original 15 students made it out of the murder mystery Danganronpa unscathed.

19 Puella Magi Madoka Magica Centers Around A Tragic Group Of Girls Trapped In A Cycle Of Death

Despite its cute and bubbly exterior, viewers found out very quickly that Puella Magi Madoka Magica was not the fun magical girl anime it appeared to be. It followed Madoka Kaname and her friends as they formed contracts with a mysterious creature named Kyubey, who then granted them the power to become magical girls.

However, life as a magical girl wasn't as fun as they thought. In fact, it was a devastating curse. Now trapped within a cycle of death and destruction, each girl experienced pain and suffering due to the contract. Thanks to the many timelines throughout the anime, every main girl met her untimely demise more than once. Some even went through several consecutive deaths.

18 Neon Genesis Evangelion End With The Total Destruction Of Earth

Thanks to its cinematic finale The End of Evangelion, Neon Genesis Evangelion became one of the most notorious anime where everyone dies. In the movie, Gendo Ikari and SEELE successfully initiated the Third Impact, and turned humanity into puddles of LCL. Only Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu remained intact.

Although humanity was technically still alive within the primordial soup and could regain their physical forms if they willed it so, the world as Shinji knew it was pretty much dead. The Earth was irreparably ruined, and everyone Shinji and Asuka knew was as good as dead. It wasn't until the Rebuild movies that this dark fate was averted.

17 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Kills Off Almost Every Main Character, Including The Protagonist

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was one of the hottest new releases of 2022. Based on the popular Cyberpunk 2077 video game, the series took place in Night City, a futuristic metropolis with danger at every turn. The story began with protagonist David Martinez joining up with the infamous Edgerunners, a group of criminals willing to do anything to get paid.

However, David associating himself with such outlaws came with a lot of risks, essentially putting a permanent target on his back that kept him on the run for life. Due to this setup,Cyberpunk: Edgerunners being an anime where everyone dies wasn't surprising for most viewers. However, it shocked viewers with its finale, where nearly the entire main cast was killed.

16 Devilman Crybaby Ends With A Sole Survivor

Like the old-school series it's based on, Devilman Crybaby was an intense anime where everyone dies. The story followed Akira Fudo, whose life changed forever after he fused with the devil Amon, taking on his powers and a demonic new appearance. With his newfound abilities, Akira fought against demons and did whatever it took to protect humanity.

Devilman Crybaby shocked viewers with its violent fight scenes, heavy gore, and many deaths. Even the main cast wasn't safe from an untimely end, including the protagonist himself. By the end, just about everyone perished, leaving only Ryo Asuka—better known as Satan—who was forced to live alone with the consequences of his actions.

15 Angel Beats! Takes Place In The After Life, Meaning Everyone Is Already Dead

Angel Beats! was a beloved classic anime where everyone dies that combined the usual high school setting with elements of the supernatural. In this iconic series, protagonist Otonashi found himself in a bizarre school that acted as a sort of Purgatory for those who died. Here, he met a rag-tag group called the Afterlife Battlefront who refused to move on and have instead joined together to fight the forces of the afterlife.

As Angel Beats! took place in Limbo, everyone was obviously already dead. However, as the story progressed, each main character eventually made peace with their death and eventually vanished, moving on to the other side. In that sense, viewers get to watch every beloved character die a second time—and this time, it was permanent.

14 Angels of Death Features Two Protagonists Who Must Kill To Survive

In Angels of Death, a young girl named Rachel tried to escape what turned out to be a morally grey (at best) social experiment. She almost became the victim of a serial killer, but instead, the two became an unlikely duo and tried to escape together. Once Rachel helped the killer, Zack, escape, their deal stated that he will kill her. But, she actually wants to die.

Death was on the mind of every major character in Angels of Death. The "angels" in the building were allowed to kill the "sacrifices," but Rachel and Zack flipped the script. They ended up killing just about every other character who stood in their way. It's left unknown by the end whether the protagonists survived or not.

13 Black Butler Features Many Characters Who Have Already Died

Ciel Phantomhive of Black Butler sold his soul to a demon and accepted his fate. From the start, the viewer knew that Ciel expected to die. What they may not know was that the average Black Butler character was either already dead, or died at some point. However, in this series, dying didn't necessarily mean the character was gone.

For example, all the characters who were reapers already died by suicide. There were also minor characters who were ghosts. Still, even living characters tend to be killed off. Such characters included an inspector, Ciel's aunt, the members of a traveling circus, a few characters exclusive to Season 2, countless background characters, and—depending on the version of the story—Ciel himself.

12 Attack On Titan Is An Onslaught Of Death & Destruction

In Attack on Titan, an overwhelming majority of the main cast was dead by the end. In fact, a list of those who survived would take much less time to discuss. Considering this story was about the giant man-eating Titans, the military, and war, it was not all that surprising that so many characters dropped dead.

Beginning with Eren Yeager's mother at the start of the series, death has been a staple of Attack on Titan. Minor or major characters were not safe. The bodycount only slowed down during the time skip, before picking up in the final arc. As the anime nears its finale, almost every named character and even most of humanity was killed in some terrible way.

11 Akame ga Kill! Is A Gruesome, Gore-Filled Story With Constant Death

Characters in Akame Ga Kill! were poisoned, tortured to death, and even frozen to death at an almost regular basis. In a word, this show was brutal, and it wasn't shy with its depictions of gruesome and disturbing deaths.

Here, Night Raid— a group of experienced assassins—attempted to rise up and overthrow a corrupt empire, but this proved to be a dangerous and deadly task. Tatsumi discovered this firsthand after becoming their newest member. Miraculously, the titular swordswoman, Akame, survived. The few other surviving members of Night Raid could be counted on one hand.

10 Future Diary Follows An Average Boy Caught In A High-Stakes Death Game

Since it involved everything from literal gods, time travel, alternate dimensions, stalking, and lots of murder, it would be an understatement to say that the stakes for the characters of Future Diary were high. Following the ever-popular death game trend, this iconic anime follows the main cast as they fight to survive in a battle to the death.

Protagonist Yukiteru was just an ordinary teen with imaginary friends and a phone diary. He soon found himself sucked into a deathmatch by one of his aforementioned friends, who wasn't so imaginary after all. The winner would become God of time and space. Alongside his stalker, Yuno, who was romantically obsessed with Yuki, he went on to murder friends and enemies alike in order to survive and maybe win the game.

9 Banana Fish Tells A Violent Story Of Muder, Mystery, & Gang Wars

Banana Fish was extremely realistic for an anime. Many real-world dark themes were dealt with, including gangs, violence, abuse, and death. Countless characters died. This included best friends and protagonists, young children, supporting characters, and more.

Ash Lynx was a gang leader who has been through a lot in life. At the start, viewers got a glimpse of the abuse Ash faced, and how his past was coming back to haunt him. Then the deaths started to pile up, starting with a child and continuing with others close to Ash, including his brother and his best friend. Ash himself was responsible for his fair share of deaths as well.

8 Death Note's Protagonist Kills Countless Victims Before Dying Himself

When all it takes to kill someone was writing their name in an ominous notebook, as was the case in Death Note, some evil characters may want to take advantage of this ability. This, predictably, led to a global massacre. Just about everyone—hero and villain alike—perished. Light Yagami found the Death Note and originally wanted to kill petty criminals.

However, that mindset soon became a slippery slope, and Light went on a killing spree that he claimed was a crusade for justice. If not by the Death Note, characters died in other ways. Some were murdered without the book, or taken down by the police, while some commit suicide. Eventually, Light got what he deserved.

7 Gungrave Is Full Of Violence & Death At The Hands Of The Main Characters

Gungrave was more of a gangland anime where everyone dies than a typical video game adaptation. Brandon Heat's and Harry McDowell's lives in the underworld began with many of their closest friends dying, and things only got worse from there. By the time Gungrave ended, almost every named character was dead.

Worse, Brandon and Harry were responsible for killing almost everyone in the anime. Harry ordered the deaths of his closest allies to maintain his power in Millennion, and Brandon (now resurrected "Beyond the Grave") killed the friends who betrayed him. Gungrave ended with Mika Asagi (the daughter of Brandon's former boss) was left.

6 Death Parade Centers Around Death Games That Determine One's Fate In The Afterlife

In Death Parade, everyone was already dead, as it was a story about the afterlife. In a bar in the afterlife called Quindecim, the recently deceased must compete in Death Games. During the Games, their true nature—along with many secrets—were revealed, some of which were particularly heartbreaking.

The Games passed judgment on these people's souls, which can either be reincarnated or banished to the void. Decim of the Quindecim bar was the one who made this call. The trials the contestants endured ranged from a brutal game of darts, to playing Twister to the death. For the souls which end up banished, it was as if they died twice.

5 Another Follows The Tragic Story Of A Cursed Class

Another started off with a suicide 26 years before the main story. Because of this suicide, Yomiyama North Middle School's Class 3-3 was cursed and marked for death. New kid Kouichi Sakakibara wanted to find out more about this curse, and about the mysterious girl Mei Misaki, but his classmates refused to tell him anything. The more he tried to find out, the more of his classmates died.

Since 1972, the students of Class 3-3 have been dying in horrific ways. In the past, kids got sick, wound up fatal accidents, took their own lives, or passed away due to "unknown" causes. In Kouichi's class, students had heart attacks and strokes, or they were murdered in different ways. The teacher of the class even committed suicide.

4 Code Geass Features Many Casualities Of War

Tyranny, rebellions, and terrorism are perfect catalysts for casualties. Incidentally, all of these appeared in Code Geass. When an exiled prince went down the rabbit hole of revenge against his own nation and went mad with power, things got bloody. Lelouch vi Britannia started out with good intentions but when he's given the power to control minds, things changed.

The situation in Code Geass became an all-out rebellion against the nation of Britannia, with Lelouch as the leader. He became progressively more merciless and careless with others' lives, developing what can only be described as a god complex. Nameless characters and protagonists alike perished. Many thousands die by the anime's end.

3 Berserk Tells A Harrowing Story Of Death & Despair

Berserk's reputation as being one of the goriest and saddest anime where everyone dies is well-deserved. After endearing audiences to Guts, Casca, and the Band of the Hawk, Berserk has Griffith kill everyone in the unforgettable nightmare of The Eclipse. Beloved characters die horribly, and those who survived wish they didn't.

Berserk opens with a large, fleshed-out cast, only for almost all of them to die by the end. The anime differs greatly from the manga by having Guts be the only confirmed survivor. Berserk fans got to relive this pain with the Golden Age Arc movies. The only saving grace was that Casca's fate was finally shown, and the story continued.

2 Saikano Ends With The Extinction Of Humanity

In the 2000s, Saikano was considered to be one of the saddest anime where everyone dies. Watching Chise painfully transform into a living superweapon while her lover Shuji futilely tries to help was already heart-wrenching, but then Saikano ended by literally ending the world. What's more, humanity's extinction was a mercy kill.

The world was already on a slow decline, and Chise chose to end everyone's suffering (especially hers) when she achieved her final form. Shuji was the only survivor, but it's difficult to tell if his final scene was real or a dying dream. And even if he did survive, Shuji was stuck on a dead planet and doomed to die alone.

1 Space Runaway Ideon Features A War That Literally Destroys The Universe

When it comes to anime where everyone dies, no anime was as total in humanity's finality than Space Runaway Ideon. The war between the Terrans and Buff Clan was so devastating that it ended with not only their mutually assured destruction, but that of reality itself. In the movie finale Be Invoked, the war only ended when the universe perished.

Space Runaway Ideon only ended this way because the Ide (basically god) made real the Terrans' wish to stop the slaughter and fix everything. The Ide interpreted this as forcing the universe to basically reset. In a twisted and morbid way, the Terrans got the peace they've always dreamed of, and a second chance at life.