When it comes to action cartoons, not even the heroes are as innocent as they appear. It may seem fun to children to fight bravely as the hero of the story, but the sad reality is that these characters are able to fight another day because they were capable of killing on the battlefield.
The enemy might be targeting the hero or perhaps it's the hero that has to stand in the way of the villain's evil plot, either way, it's win or lose, with their very lives on the line. On the rare occasion, it's the hero themself who's the cause of the death, or deaths, but regardless, the end result is the same. As innocent as most of these series tried to be, there's no ignoring the bloody actions that each of these characters has made.
10 She-Ra: Adora Is Powerful Enough To Fight A Small Army
On her own, Adora is an able fighter on the battlefield, but when she unlocks her power as the legendary warrior She-Ra, she is capable of so much more. Before she really began to master her abilities, Adora was able to fight against a small Horde militia group to protect a town.
She was even strong enough to destroy one of their tanks, which certainly could have killed anyone nearby. Although the series remains PG in rating, with all the intense battle and She-Ra's strength, there's a high chance that, due to collateral damage, Adora has blood on her hands.
9 Samurai Jack: Jack Has A Litte More Than Robot Oil Dripping From His Katana
Although Cartoon Network wanted to keep the Samurai Jack series PG, it was unavoidable that Jack would have some blood on his hands. For the most part, he fights against robots, though to be fair, some of those bots were very human deep down and their deaths cause Jack great pain.
Not every enemy could be a robot, and there are a number of Bounty Hunters that hunt Jack down. These foes wouldn't go down easily, so Jack had to put out all the stops and end them before his life was ended. These hunters appear in the episode "The Princess And The Bounty Hunters" and are never seen again because Jack has their blood on his hands.
8 Adventure Time: Finn Learns That Being A Hero Comes With A Lot Of Murder
As an avid adventurer, Finn has fought in a lot of battles and therefore has killed a number of enemies. Throughout the series Adventure Time, he's had to fight against vampires, demons, zombies, and all sorts of monsters. Regardless of why the fights are happening, Finn either has to kill or be killed.
Most of the time, Finn is just trying to be a valiant knight, defending the Candy Kingdom from any threat. There's no indication that killing off these enemies causes him great pain, so most likely, Finn has accepted every part of his hero work, including getting his hands covered in blood.
7 Voltron Legendary Defender: Keith Is The Deadliest Paladin Aboard Voltron
As defenders of the universe, Voltron's paladins must do whatever it takes to protect and maintain peace, including taking their enemies' lives. Out of all the paladins, Keith has the most blood on his hands. As the red lion's pilot, he killed the enemy a couple of times on his own, and his sword is also commonly used to win battles.
On top of fighting within Voltron and his own lion mecha, Keith is also a fighter on foot. After joining the rebel group the Blade of Marmora, Keith was sent into dangerous missions, which surely came with casualties on both sides. Being that he survived his missions, it stands to reason that Keith could have more kills from the experience.
6 Adventure Time: Marceline Might Not Drink Blood, But She's Still Spilled A Lot Of It
Marceline the Vampire Queen has had her fair share of bloody battles throughout the wild events that happen in the series Adventure Time. She has killed the Dimple Plant Monster in Season 1, 13 demons while possessed in Season 4, and 9 of the strongest vampires in the world.
With the powers that she possesses, she could easily be a bounty hunter or perhaps work as the bodyguard for her beloved Princess Bubblegum, but her main focus is melting minds with her sick guitar beats.
5 Steven Universe: Garnet Took Many Gem Lives In The War For Planet Earth
When the two gems Ruby and Saphire fused to form Garnet, they were lost. It wasn't until the fused gem met the rebel leader Rose Quartz that she found direction in her new form and life. Their rebel organization was called the Crystal Gems, and although most of the history is only shown in short flashbacks throughout Steven Universe, fans know that it was an intense battlefield.
As a Crystal Gems member, Garnet put her life on the line to fight against the gem empire that sought to take over Earth and spread their oppressive rule. It's said that many gems perished in the war, and since Garnet was on the front lines and survived, it stands to reason that she's the source of those many gems destroyed.
4 Steven Universe: Pearl Was Involved In The War From The Very Beginning
Before the war between gems began in Steven Universe's history, Pearl was the rebel leader's bodyguard and therefore always by her side. As Rose Quartz's protector, Pearl was always ready to take a life, and potentially sacrifice her own. When the war eventually began, Pearl's kill count rose exponentially.
Even after the war, Pearl and the remaining Crystal Gems members had to take care of some enemies who came back to attack them, like the mini centipeetles in the first season.
3 Happy Tree Friends: Lumpy Was The Supreme Murderer In This Twisted Series
The early 2000s cartoon Happy Tree Friends welcomed viewers to the deadly adventures of several bloodthirsty woodland creatures. Every episode featured these adorable-looking characters turning on each other in the most gruesome ways, which always ended in one, or more, of them dying a brutal death.
Out of all these violent animals, the wildest one with the highest kill count happens to be Lumpy the moose. According to fandom, Lumpy has more than 300 kills counted, which is the most in the series. That's a lot of blood for one goofy moose.
2 Castlevania: Trevor Belmont Has Known How To Kill Since He Was Little
As a member of the Belmont family, Trevor was taught at a young age how to kill demons, a great talent for the many Belmont generations. The family was well-known for their skills in hunting demons, vampires, and other supernatural beings, but in the animated series Castlevania, it's revealed that their talents were taken in the wrong light.
In this series, the Belmont family was hunted down due to the belief that they were conspiring with the same heinous creatures they were in fact trying to destroy. That left young Trevor without a family to call his own, and all he has left of them is the skills to destroy demonic beings. It works out for him after Dracula starts an apocalyptic war on human beings, but that doesn't mean that Trevor is to any degree relieved. He's tired of all the killing he has to do on a daily basis.
1 Rick & Morty: Rick's Wild Adventures Always Get Someone Killed
The series Rick & Morty follows the drunk, but ingenious scientist Rick Sanchez as he drags his family members Morty, Summer, Beth, and Jerry into one sci-fi fiasco after another. This series is not afraid to be overwhelmingly gory, with at least one or two deaths happening in each episode.
Though Rick doesn't always pull the trigger, his ideas or actions are almost always the reason why someone dies, making him just as at fault. From illegal activities to deadly inventions, and one time creating a theme park inside a live human, Rick is always doing something that will lead to a character's death.