From new generation shows like Demon Slayer to retro productions such as Berserk, anime protagonists often get tragic backstories. Their history of trauma or hardship emphasizes their heroic spirit, gives them motivation, and juxtaposes them with the villains. Some anime protagonists have backstories more tragic than others.
Many anime heroes share the orphan or demon-touched backstory. Naruto Uzumaki and Gaara from Naruto fall into this category. Child abuse is another frequently used plot device in main character backstories, as seen with Hunter X Hunter's Killua Zoldyck or Banana Fish's Ash Lynx. Characters like these are the most tragic heroes of all.
10 Killua Zoldyck Had To Kill To Please His Family In Hunter X Hunter
Killua Zoldyck was part of a family of assassins, and they denied him the normal childhood most enjoyed. Instead, Killua learned to be a cold and calculating killer. His family manipulated and used fear to control him.
At age eleven, Killua finally escaped his family, hurting them in the process. He took the Hunter Exam and made friends with Gon Freecss. Killua lived on his terms, but his abuse still affected his decisions along the way. One of Killua's greatest weaknesses was his past. He had killed too many people; this was tragic as he wasn't even a teenager.
9 Gintama's Gintoki Sakata Had To Scavenge Off Corpses
Gintama's Gintoki Sakata was an urchin left to scavenge dead bodies to find his meals each day. The villagers called him the "Corpse Eating Demon" because of his unsavory survival methods. Eventually, Yoshida Shouyou took him on as a student, teaching him swordsmanship and martial arts. Under Shouyou's tutelage, Gintoki trained to be one of Gintama's strongest characters.
His new situation didn't last long, though. When the Joui War broke out, Gintoki watched his friends and mentor die. While Gintoki went on to start the Yorozuya and forge a newfound family, his backstory was no less tragic and painful.
8 Naruto Uzumaki Lost His Parents And Became Host To A Demon
Naruto Uzumaki's parents died during the Nine-Tailed Fox spirit's attack on the Hidden Leaf village. They also sealed within Naruto the very demon that killed them. As a result, the Hidden Leaf ostracized Naruto, treating him like a failure and a pariah.
Though Naruto overcame his circumstance, it didn't change the village's shunning of the innocent child. Plus, he had to harbor the monster that killed his family. Naruto lost all hope a few times, but he was a tragic figure who somehow rarely lost his optimism.
7 Hyakkimaru's Father Sold His Body Parts To Demons And Left Him To Die In Dororo
Dororo's Hyakkimaru was the first son of Lord Daigo, who offered Hyakkimaru's body parts to demons in exchange for his land's prosperity. Lord Daigo made that deal because of the war and famine plaguing his people. Unfortunately, he made this an innocent child's problem and then abandoned that child to die.
Luckily, a prosthetics maker named Jukai found Hyakkimaru, raised him, and made him wooden limbs and coverings for his skinless body. Hyakkimaru spent the rest of his days hunting down demons to regain his stolen body parts.
6 Berserk's Guts Experienced Tragedy After Tragedy
Guts had a tragic backstory, and it didn't get better as Berserk went on. He was born to an already dead mother, who the village hung. A mercenary group found Guts and adopted him. The woman who took care of him died of illness while he watched. He later suffered sexual abuse and killed his assailant and the father figure who sold him, two of the worst things that happened to Guts.
In adulthood, Guts fell in love with Casca. Unfortunately, Casca was a tragic figure, as well. Femto sexually assaulted her, and from that moment, she changed. Thanks to his trauma, he further destroyed that relationship.
5 Nanachi And Mitty Lost Everything To Bondrewd's Experiments In Made In Abyss
In Made In Abyss, Nanachi and Mitty were children taken to the depths of the Abyss as part of Bondrewd's experiments. As a result, Mitty transformed into a near-immortal blob, and Nanachi gained animal-like features.
Mitty was the more tragic of the two, as she lost self-awareness and was forever in pain. On the other hand, Nanachi had to watch Mitty's suffering and eventually find a way to help her reach final peace through death. They were innocent children when Bondrewd did this to them, making their situation all the more tragic.
4 Demon Slayer's Muzan Turned Nezuko Into A Demon After Killing Her Family
Nezuko and Tanjiro Kamado both suffered the loss of their family, as Muzan killed their mother and younger siblings, but Nezuko got the worst end of the deal. She transformed into a demon and spent most of her days sleeping to heal and avoid eating human flesh.
She constantly toed the line between demonhood and humanity, but Nezuko was Tanjiro's best ally. She often showed signs of distress over what she did as a demon, even if it was to help her brother find the cure.
3 Ray Was Born Into The Farm System And Antagonized By His Mother In The Promised Neverland
The Promised Neverland followed farms that raised children to be demon food. Ray was one of the many tragic characters stuck on one of these farms. While he and his siblings were in the same boat, Ray dealt with the unfortunate reality that the Mama who acted as their warden was his biological mother.
Ray had to come to terms with his mother's perpetuation of the farms and shoulder the burden of saving his family. One of The Promised Neverland's many plot twists included Ray's surprising double-agent act. He was the first to learn of the house's purpose, so he had to deal with this alone longer than his siblings.
2 Naruto: Shippūden's Itachi Had To Kill His Entire Family And Live In Exile
In Naruto: Shippūden, Itachi Uchiha was a villainous figure, but he was a hero in disguise. He killed the Uchiha clan to stop a terrible rebellion and lived in exile as the village's scapegoat. In the end, he helped turn his brother Sasuke back onto the path of good.
Itachi lived and died as a villain, but he was only following the Hidden Leaf's orders. He cared for the village so much that he threw away his life to save it. Itachi's circumstances made him one of the most tragic figures in the franchise but solidified him as one of Naruto's top fan-favorite characters.
1 Ash Lynx Suffered Abuse After Abuse In Banana Fish
Ash Lynx was one of the most tragic characters in all of anime. He suffered physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse. He was also woefully neglected by his parents.
When Ash finally found someone who loved and accepted him, his life circumstance put that person at serious risk. Ash had to balance his search for truth, desire for revenge, and need to protect his loved ones. It ended up costing him his life just when it looked like things would finally work out for him. Banana Fish is among the saddest anime, and Ash's fate is a huge reason why.