Looks can be very deceiving, and this principle applies best to anime and its characters, where fans often assume something about an anime or anime character, but turn out to be completely wrong. Sometimes this is done in order to purposefully make fans believe something that isn’t there, and sometimes this gap between the truth and reality is used to flesh out a character or an anime that takes fans completely by surprise.
While negative or mean characters almost always look their part, there are certain characters that appear to be mean and scary but in reality, are complete sweethearts.
10 Akihito: He Never Lets His Youmu Half Get The Better Of Him (Beyond The Boundary)
The reason the Nase siblings befriend Akihito is to keep an eye on him, as well as to protect the people around him from his blood-thirsty youmu side. Despite being bogged down by the fact that he can never die, Akihito never lets that get in his way of ordinary school life.
In fact, it was thanks to his persistence that the loner Mirai not only managed to make friends but also earned enough money to finally put food on her table.
9 Bishamon: The Scariest Goddess Is Also The Most Magnanimous Goddess (Noragami)
Veena is introduced in the first season as a cold and calculating goddess who wanted Yato dead, no matter the cost.
After this misunderstanding is cleared, fans see how Bishamon's mansion was home to the maximum number of shinki any God had, purely out of concern for their existence, despite the massive physical and emotional toll it took on her body.
8 Shadow: His Punk Appearance Is Only When He Skates (Sk8 The Infinity)
On the playing field, Shadow is rude and intimidating, partly due to his massive body and his punk-like appearance.
In the real world, he’s shown to be an exceptionally kind and considerate floral shop employee who harbors a secret crush on his boss. He also goes out of his way to help Langa and his friends, even when he wasn’t asked to do so.
7 The Blue Dragon: Was Shunned By His People For His Abilities (Yona Of The Dawn)
Due to the dragon blood he possessed, Shin-Ah’s mother committed suicide out of shame and the villagers shunned him for his abnormal appearance and dragon powers.
Even so, Shin-Ah never lost his humanity, growing into a young boy full of empathy who showed kindness to strangers like Yona. Thanks to this, Yona took him away with her and he finally managed to leave behind his painful past with his villagers.
6 Three: He Was Persecuted By Everybody Just For His Intimidating Looks (Hamatora)
Three had everything working against him: his appearance, his past as a mercenary, and his powers as a Minimum Holder.
He was publicly shamed by people for funding an orphanage (which he did out of the goodness of his heart) because people automatically assumed he was up to no good with those orphans. It was only when the children stood up for him, that everybody finally backed down.
5 Cheng Hua: This Demon Is Actually More Of A Human Than Most Humans Around Him (Heaven’s Official Blessing)
Even though Cheng Hua is a Devastation Class demon so powerful that even the Heavenly Officials avoid him, he’s actually misunderstood.
He’s shown to be a kind and well-mannered person when he assumes a human form to be near his love, Lian Xie, doing whatever it took to make his life as comfortable as possible. He also never showed any malice towards those who weren’t his beloved Lian Xie.
4 Nezuko: This Fierce Demon Girl Will Gladly Sacrifice Her Life To Protect Her Loved Ones (Demon Slayer)
Tanjiro was the first person to show faith in Nezuko’s humanity, thanks to which she was saved.
She went on to prove Tanjiro’s decision to be the correct one as she would constantly put her life on the line in order to save her brother, his friends, Tamayo, and even innocent humans who were being hunted down by demons.
3 Rider: He Showed Kindness To His Master Even When He Wasn’t Obliged To (Fate/Zero)
Even though Rider was initially snobbish and arrogant, he warmed up to his master and showed kindness to him many times.
One time he made fun of the bully who was mocking his master, while the other time he covered the young boy’s eyes so that he would not have to witness a literal massacre right before his eyes, in order to save him from unnecessary emotional trauma.
2 Karma: This Delinquent Is Actually A Softie On The Inside (Assassination Classroom)
Karma was introduced and often shown as a crude delinquent who loved hurting people. The truth was that this was only one side of Karma’s personality.
Those that he held dear to him, like his friends and Korosensei, saw a different side of him where he would often save the lives of his classmates (sometimes, literally) during their attempts to kill their teacher.
1 Takeo: This Sweet Boy Is Avoided By Everybody Because Of His Bulky Appearance (Ore Monogatari!!)
Takeo is among one of the sweetest romance leads to ever exist. He is helpful, honest, and kind, he bears no grudges, goes out of his way to stop injustice from happening, and sometimes trusts people too easily.
Unfortunately, his scary appearance often resulted in people, especially potential love interests, steering clear of him because they always assumed the worst about him.