At some point or another, everyone needs guidance. The wizened voice of experience who can help them reach the next level, or make fewer mistakes than the prior generation. Nowhere is this exemplified more than in anime, where nearly every major action series from My Hero back to Dragon Ball involves the protagonist seeking out a mentor who can help them become better than what they were, and hopefully good enough to beat the major arc villain.
But even though this mission tends to be a success, that doesn’t mean the person that lead them there was actually good at it. Many anime mentors are lucky their charges even managed to survive, let alone succeed.
10 ALL MIGHT
People are going to be bothered by this entry on the list. After all, All Might gave Deku his powers and was the person who inspired him to become a hero in the first place, right? Cool, but what’s he done since then? Though he’s taken an interest in Deku, it’s been in the form of the expectations he has on him to live up to his name and become the Symbol of Peace. He hasn’t taught Deku any techniques, largely because All Might never had to face the challenges that Deku has. This is why Full Cowl is something Deku learned courtesy of Gran Torino, rather than the person who's supposed to be his mentor.
9 PICCOLO
Yeah, Piccolo was a father figure to Gohan—some might say even more of a father figure than Goku himself, given how often Son Goku was gone. But the first thing Piccolo did was tell Gohan to survive on his own for six months while he went. Though Piccolo kept a watchful eye, at any moment this could’ve gone wrong. Gohan got chased by a giant dinosaur looking creature how many times before he finally learned to fight back? At least afterward they spent six months together teaching Gohan the basics, but honestly, Gohan did more to change Piccolo’s heart than Piccolo helped Gohan become the best he could be.
8 URAHARA
Let’s talk about how garbage this man Kisuke Urahara is as a mentor. Admittedly, in terms of sheer effectiveness, he might be one of the greatest of all time. He helped Ichigo to reach levels as a Shinigami that would have taken decades or centuries in a matter of days.
But his methods left a lot to be desired, particularly since he knew just how needed Ichigo would be. He’s guilty of quite a bit, but perhaps his “best” moment was chucking Ichigo down a hole, binding his arms and forcing him to climb out within a certain period of time, lest he turn into a Hollow. Y’know, the things Shinigami are supposed to fight? Genius.
7 KING KAI
Goku spends several weeks running along Snake Way to reach King Kai, a trainer who was essentially in charge of the North Galaxy in Universe 7. No one knew what to expect, but who could’ve guessed someone that wasn’t even strong enough to beat the people he was training Goku to fight? He grants Goku two of his best and most used techniques besides the Kamehameha in the Kaioken and the Sprit Bomb, but then goes on to train the other heroes of Earth... and teaches them absolutely nothing. What was the point of them even being there? They adapt to his planet’s gravity, get wished back, and haven’t caught up to Goku at all.
6 BISCUIT
The Double-Star Hunter who trained Wing and would eventually train both Killua and Gon, Biscuit is one of the worst trainers on this list. Her first method of “training” Killua and Gon involved chucking them both in a giant hole in the ground and making them fight not just a known murderer, but a known cannibal in Binolt. She forced them to figure out a way to remain alive for two weeks and defeat him, claiming she’d “punish” them if they failed. Nevermind that if they failed they probably would’ve just been killed. Whatever happened to teaching someone actual fighting skills?
5 FRIEZA
With Planet Vegeta destroyed, Frieza essentially served as Prince Vegeta’s mentor for the years as he grew up. He kept Vegeta paid, fed, and clothed in the latest in fashionable armor from his childhood until he tried to conquer the wrong planet in an attempt to collect the Dragon Balls. This was an antagonistic relationship all the way though, as Vegeta is forced to keep his head low and work for a person who saw his entire race as lesser beings. The one true evil part of Dragon Ball Z is that Vegeta never got to give Frieza the payback he deserved.
4 OROCHIMARU
Do we even have to talk about this? How many people has Orochimaru brought in only for them to turn out much worse than they were when they started off? He tried to bring Sasuke into the fold solely to take his body and use it as his own. Meanwhile, people like Kabuto wound up going full-on evil and getting his body taken. The only people who have it worse than people who are “mentored” by Orochimaru are the various children he spent years creating. Guess it took a lot of trial and error to get to one he thought was worth attending PTA meetings for in Mitsuki.
3 ALI-AL SAACHEZ
Ali Al-Saachez comes from Gundam 00. He plays a role as a primary antagonist for the majority of the series, but long, long before that he was something of a mentor for Setsuna F. Seiei, the protagonist of the series.
Saachez is the worst sort of person. Dude started out by making money running essentially “professional terrorist” services. He employed children, and convinced them to kill their own parents in the name of God. Eventually, he graduates to being a mobile suit pilot, causing far more trouble than he was worth there as well.
2 MERCENARY TAO
There are a ton of mentors from Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z on this list. Let’s face it: sometimes people who teach you how to fight are terrible at everything else. Take Mercenary Tao for instance. Dude was a part of the Crane School alongside his brother Crane Hermit, and they were responsible for teaching Tien and Chiaotzu everything they know—which was a lot, considering the litany of techniques Tien mastered. But eventually, his nature as an assassin clashed too much with Tien, who would go on to join the Turtle School. The two of them came to blows during the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, which resulted in Tao being shut down by a single punch.
1 SAITAMA
Does anyone really see Saitama as a mentor? He’s got the power—literally all of it, since he’s able to destroy any person coming at him in a single punch. But Genos asked him to teach him how to become more powerful, and has basically been taken for a ride the entire time. Saitama’s weird training regimen couldn’t even teach a person in the real world how to be a professional fighter, let alone grant Genos (or anyone) the power to throw even one Serious Punch of his. Saitama is a guy who’s meant to save people, but he isn’t really great at showing others to save themselves.