Many anime heroes refuse to kill or resort to violence, making them admirable characters when they are faced with difficult situations. However, not every hero stays away from being violent and some even embrace it depending on the situation.

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Sometimes taking the violent route is a necessity of the world that the hero lives in. Other times, it is unnecessary but is something the hero wants to participate in. Regardless of the reasons behind their actions, violent anime heroes are no less interesting than the ones who abstain, the reasons for their actions often being a compelling part of their character.

10 Bakugou Is Violent In His Personality And Actions (My Hero Academia)

bakugo ready for a fight

Bakugou is in training to be a hero, which has not diminished his violent tendencies at all. On top of an explosive personality, Bakugou is not beyond inflicting pain on allies and villains alike when the situation calls for it.

He does not usually take his violence to bloody extremes but they are certainly enough for him to be physically restrained. Throughout My Hero Academia, he has gradually transformed and mellowed somewhat, though his explosive extremes remain under the surface.

9 Edward Elric Is A Soldier (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Edward Elric holds his cyborg arm and smirks

Having joined the military at twelve years old, Edward Elric is no stranger to violence. He is not afraid to engage enemies in battle and nearly kills Shou Tucker after he turned his daughter into a chimera, only stopping his violent onslaught when Alphonse steps in as a voice of reason.

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He is unafraid to hurt those who truly deserve it, as shown in his fight with Pride. When it comes down to outright killing, he tends to hesitate, preferring to take a different route if possible.

8 Sasuke Wanted To Kill His Brother (Naruto)

Sasuke Looks Down On His Enemies In Naruto Shippuden

Of the three main protagonists of Naruto, Sasuke is the most aggressive and prone to violence. For much of his youth, he had a vendetta against his brother, Itachi, for the murder of their entire clan.

His quest for vengeance grows worse when he realizes the truth of Itachi’s situation and turns on his former allies, practically becoming consumed by hatred as he killed everyone who stood in his way. He eventually finds redemption and proves himself as a hero once more but his moments of darkness are unforgettable.

7 Giorno Giovanna Kills His Enemies Without Remorse (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind)

Giorno from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Wanting to enter into the world of the mob, Giorno quickly shows that he is not averse to being violent in a world that demands it from him. One of the first decisive moments in Golden Wind is to enact bloody revenge on Polpo for killing an innocent man, and the violence only increases from there.

Many situations he faces are kill or be killed but he is not beyond being excessive, as shown with his merciless beatdown of Ciocolatta. However, everyone on the receiving end of Giorno’s wrath was more than deserving of it.

6 Tanjiro Kamado Kills Demons Despite His Kindness (Demon Slayer)

Tanjiro's eyes bleeding as he battles Daki.

In his quest to help his sister, Demon Slayer’s Tanjiro Kamado takes the violent job of demon slaying without hesitation. No matter how bloody the battle gets, he does not give up until he has managed to slay the demon he is after.

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However, unlike many of the other characters in Demon Slayer, he does not take joy in the gore he often finds himself a part of. He is as compassionate towards the demons that he has to kill as he can be, no matter how hard the battle was and the amount of blood that was spilled.

5 Gojo Satoru Uses His Power To Brutally Kill Curses (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Satoru Gojo arrives to battle

One of the most powerful sorcerers in Jujutsu Kaisen, Gojo Satoru uses his strength to his advantage, often resulting in violence. Hunting curses is shown to be a hard job and though Gojo is usually lighthearted in the way he goes about things, he has shown a sadistic side.

Fully aware and capable of using his powers, he mercilessly exorcizes curses without hesitation. He does his best to protect civilians but is not beyond sacrificing innocent lives if he thinks it cannot be avoided.

4 Revy Enjoys Killing Her Enemies (Black Lagoon)

Revy enjoys killing people in Black Lagoon.

Black Lagoon’s Revy is not afraid to use brute force to get her way. She is extremely hot-tempered and hostile, wielding a pair of guns that she is not afraid to use. Throughout Black Lagoon, she is responsible for many deaths and implicated in even more that were not shown.

She seems to take joy from killing and tries to shoot Rock from point-blank range, though she later comes to view him as something of a friend. Though she has many bad traits, her prowess and abilities are deserving of respect.

3 Eren Yeager Would Destroy The World To Help His Friends (Attack On Titan)

Eren holds the Founder Ymir

In Attack On Titan, protagonist Eren Yeager won’t hesitate to resort to violence, though he typically has good intentions. He has no problem killing people if he thinks it will help others, including killing traffickers who were trying to take Mikasa, though he was unfamiliar with her at the time.

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His willingness for death and violence only increases, especially towards the end of Attack On Titan when he wants to destroy the world for the sake of his people. He is willing to take drastic measures, though his actions come from a place of love.

2 Light Yagami Killed People To Make The World A Better Place (Death Note)

Light Listens To The Police Radio In Death Note

Light Yagami's status as a hero can be debatable with the extreme actions he takes in Death Note, though he originally starts with good intentions. Dissatisfied with the corrupt state of the world and given the eponymous Death Note by Ryuk, he initially tries to rid the world of criminals by killing them with the book.

He descends into having to kill others, including the police, to avoid detection. This corrupts his once-good intentions as he digs himself deeper with each death he perpetrates.

1 Guts Lived A Violent Life (Berserk)

Guts fights Bazuso in Berserk's anime

A core part of Guts’ character is being a fearsome warrior, known by titles such as the Heartless Swordsman. He spent much of his youth fighting and killing to survive, being forced to kill the man he thought of as a father, and his violent feats only grow as he gets older.

He slays a hundred troops singlehandedly and after he loses his friends in the Band of the Falcon, he embarks on a bloody crusade to kill the monsters responsible. Despite his bloodthirstiness, he struggles against the internal darkness that would bring him to commit truly depraved acts.

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