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10 Anime Characters With A Difficult Past

Whether a character is a hero or a villain, Anime always finds a way to have the viewer identify with them.

Numerous Anime characters have traumatic backstories, yet some of them had to mature quickly as a result. 

These folks struggled to create a life for themselves in spite of their experiences. Sadly, at such a young age, they were made to shoulder far more responsibility than they should have.

As a result, some people developed a pessimistic outlook on life while others retained their compassion.

Here are 10 Anime characters who were forced to grow up too soon.

CharactersAnime
Erza ScarletFairy Tail
RayThe Promised Neverland
Tanjiro KamadoDemon Slayer
Nanami MomozonoKamisama Kiss
Maki Zen’inJujutsu Kaisen
Ash LynxBanana Fish
Levi AckermanAttack on Titan
Killua ZoldyckHunter x Hunter
GutsBerserk
Shoto TodorokiMy Hero Academia
Characters who were forced to grow up too soon.

What is anime?

Anime is a Japanese animation medium that can be hand-drawn or computer-generated. Anime refers primarily to Japanese animation outside of Japan and in English.

Anime (derived from the English word animation) is any animated work done in Japan and in Japanese, regardless of style or origin.

In contrast to Western animation, anime production often focuses on setting detail and the use of “camera effects” such as panning, zooming, and angle shots. Character proportions and features can vary greatly, with huge, expressive eyes standing out as a notable distinguishing feature.

What do you mean by a tragic past?

Tragic history occurs when the protagonist or other characters face significant loss or a horrific occurrence in their past.

These anime characters serve as a continual reminder that not everyone is blessed with a life full of sunshine and rainbows. Some of them have been through tragedies and heartbreaks that can only be described as utter misery.

The catastrophe that these folks have gone through would have killed a normal person. Some of these people were fortunate to have found friends and comrades to assist them in their recovery. However, not all of them were fortunate enough to have their own happy ending.

Here is a list of ten anime characters who have terrible backstories.

Erza Scarlet

In the Anime or Manga series Fairy Tail, Erza Scarlet is the female deuteragonist. She’s a Guild Fairy Tail S-class mage.

She exhibits admirable devotion and allegiance to Makarov and the guild, like the majority of Fairy Tail members do.

Along with Jellal Fernandes, her childhood love interest and companion, she was a slave in the Tower of Heaven when she was a young girl.

She was born without parents and was sold into slavery in the Tower of Heaven as a young child. She suffered brutal assault and torture. 

When she was 11 years old, she was able to escape, although it required several failed efforts and even some rumors that were spread about her.

One of the all-time strongest female Anime characters is Erza Scarlet, both physically and psychologically.

She had a cruel upbringing and experienced things that no child should have through. Erza, however, emerged victoriously as a formidable fighter.

Plot: Fairy Tail

In search of his foster mom (a Dragon named Igneel), Natsu Dragneel encounters Lucy Heartfilia, a wandering mage, along with his best buddy Happy, a blue, talking, flying cat.

Soon after they first meet, Bora of Prominence, who is disguised as Salamander of Fairy Tail, kidnaps Lucy and plans to sell her as a slave.

She is saved by Natsu, who shows himself to be the true Salamander of Fairy Tail and to possess the abilities of a Dragon Slayer, a type of Lost Magic.

She accepts his offer to join the guild with little hesitation. They form a team and work together to complete various tasks assigned to the Fairy Tail Guild together with the armored mage Erza Scarlet, Ice-Make mage Gray Fullbuster, and Happy.

Ray

Along with Norman, Ray serves as one of The Promised Neverland’s deuteragonists. Ray is a superb example of a Grace Field House student, receiving all A’s on his daily exams.

In addition, he has a reputation for being a voracious reader with sharp skepticism and cunning.

Ray, Isabella’s biological child, was aware that his mother was giving the other kids to demons for sale. 

He planned his escape the entire time, but for a long time, he had to keep it hidden from the other orphanage children.

He appears to be the most collected of the main trio, but that’s probably because he had to keep the true horrors of the Grace Field House a secret until Emma and Norman discovered them on their own.

Plot: The Promised Neverland

Emma is a cheerful and upbeat 11-year-old orphan who lives in the self-contained Grace Field House orphanage with 37 other kids.

They live carefree lives with lots of food, cozy beds, clean clothes, games, and Isabella’s love as their “Mom.

Emma consistently scores well on the needed tests, along with her two closest friends, Norman and Ray, and their education is acknowledged as an essential component of their development.

The orphans are granted complete freedom within the confines of the residence, with the exception of crossing the boundary wall or gate separating the home from the outside world.

Tanjiro Kamado

Tanjiro Kamado is the most important character in Demon Slayer.

Tanjiro
He went to the nearby village to sell charcoal, assuming the position of household provider.

He joined the Demon Slayer Corps in order to hunt down and kill demons as well as find a cure to turn his sister, Nezuko Kamado, back into a human.

He later vowed to annihilate Muzan Kibutsuji, the King of Demons, in order to save others from the same fate as himself.

Many followers frequently overlook the fact that Tanjiro was only 13 when Muzan slaughtered the Kamados.

He then put himself through two years of grueling training in order to join the Demon Slayer Corps. In the end, he seeks to heal his sister and avenge the murder of his family. 

Being put through such harsh training would be a really difficult undertaking, especially given his age.

Tanjiro doesn’t even act like a young boy, as some people have pointed out. One of the characters remarked that his hands were too worn to be those of a youngster.

Plot: Demon Slayer

Tanjiro Kamado lives in the highlands with his family. He’s a kind-hearted and knowledgeable man.

After his father passed away, he took over the role of family provider by traveling to the surrounding hamlet to sell charcoal.

One day he comes home to his family and found out that a monster attacked his family, this changes everything.

The only survivors of the catastrophe were Tanjiro and his sister Nezuko, who, although being changed into a demon, surprised everyone by still displaying human feeling and thought.

Tanjiro is chosen by Giyu Tomioka, a demon slayer, and sent to his retired master Sakonji Urokodaki for training to also be a demon slayer, starting his mission to aid his sister in becoming human once more and avenge the murder of his family.

Nanami Momozono

The Kamisama Kiss series’ primary protagonist is Nanami Momozono. She is one of the descendants of Yukiji and Hiiragi and the human land goddess of Mikage Shrine.

She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kumimi Momozono. She is Tomoe’s wife.

Before ascending to the position of Land God at the Mikage shrine, Nanami had a somewhat turbulent upbringing.

Because of her father’s reckless gambling addiction, the family had financial difficulties even before her mother passed away. 

As far as saying that all the women in the family have had bad luck with men, Nanami’s mother taught her that depending on men is bad.

After her mother passed away, Nanami was compelled to control her father until she was forcibly evicted from her home due to his reckless spending.

Nanami
Nanami Momozono troubled past didn’t let her become a bad person.

Plot: Kamisama Kiss

Like all high school girls, Nanami Momozono aspires to have an ordinary school life. Instead, she has to deal with the fact that her gambling-addicted father has racked up a lot of debts in her name.

She becomes homeless after the debt collectors evict her from her apartment since she is unable to pay her rent.

This terrible sequence of events doesn’t change the fact that she has a good heart.

Maki Zen’in

In Jujutsu Kaisen and its precursor, Jujutsu Kaisen, Maki Zen’in plays a significant supporting role.

She is a second-year student at Tokyo Jujutsu High right now. Maki was born into the Zen’in Family as the younger twin sister of Mai Zen’in and the daughter of Ogi Zen’in.

Maki was frequently mistreated by the Zen’in clan since she cannot see curses without her glasses.

Maki Zenin
Maki’s glasses enhance her abilities.

She finally had enough and decided to disprove them. As an act of defiance, she distanced herself from the family and enrolled at Jujutsu High. 

Maki also never paid attention to what the rest of her family thought of her. She was frequently made fun of and undervalued by them, and they even called her the “Zen’in Clan’s disappointment.”

But since leaving the clan, she has developed into a powerful sorceress and an even more deadly combatant.

Plot: Jujutsu Kaisen

Track and field is a specialty of Yuji Itadori’s. But he is content as can be in the Occult Research Club and has no interest in going in circles.

Even though he merely joined the group for fun, things take a serious turn when a genuine spirit arrives at the school! 

Yuji promises his grandfather, who is dying, that he will do good things so that, unlike his grandfather, he will pass away surrounded by loved ones.

But when Yuji meets Megumi Fushiguro, a Jujutsu sorceress attempting to recover a cursed relic, his life takes a sharp turn.

Things go wrong when Yuji’s friends open the cursed relic they discovered because the spirits it generated begin to terrorize the school.

One of the spirits nearly defeats Fushiguro and Yuji before Yuji drinks the cursed item and gets its strength.

Yuji is thus cursed by the item and drawn into Fushiguro’s captivating world of Jujutsu sorcerers and evil spirits.

Ash Lynx

The main character of Banana Fish is Ash Lynx. A dying man gives Ash a sample of an unidentified medicine, and Dino Golzine hunts him down for what he might be in possession of.

Shorter Wong, a buddy, and Japanese journalist Eiji Okumura assist him in figuring out what the mystery drug really is.

Throughout his life, he was subjected to physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse. His mother left him, and his father neglected him as well. 

He was involved in an investigation after finding kid bones in the man’s cellar after being mistreated by one of his coaches.

Ash’s brother reared him, but after he passed away from an experimental medicine, Ash was left all by himself.

He started living with a gang leader who regularly trafficked him after fleeing his homeland.

Ash Lynx leads the street-kids gang in New York.

Plot: Banana Fish 

The American mid-1980s setting of Banana Fish is predominantly New York City.

Ash Lynx, a seventeen-year-old street gang leader, looks after his older brother Griffin, a Vietnam War veteran who has been vegetative since a combat incident in which he shot his own squadron and shouted the words “banana fish“.

This led to his being placed in a vegetative state. One evening, Ash observes two of his gang members murder a guy who, before passing away, commands Ash to “hunt banana fish.”

The two gang members claim that Dino Golzine, the leader of the Corsican mafia in New York, gave the orders to them.

Dino Golzine used to use Ash as an enforcer and a child sex slave; Ash was raised by him to become the future heir to his criminal empire.

Levi Ackerman

Levi Ackermann, often known as Captain Levi, is the squad captain of the Special Operations Squada unit of the Scout Regiment, and is widely regarded as the strongest soldier in the history of the human race.

Everyone finds the world of Attack on Titan to be very terrifying, but coming from a low-income family that was let down by the system makes it even worse.

These cultural problems ultimately result in the passing of Levi’s mother. The final source of emotional support Levi had as a child was gone with the death of his mother.

Levi was left without nobody to turn to after she left, and he eventually became starved before his uncle could save him.

Unfortunately, he simply did so to further a personal agenda.

Plot: Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan takes place in a world where people live in cities that are protected from Titans, massive humanoids that devour people seemingly for no apparent reason, by enormous walls.

The story centers on Eren Jaeger and his childhood friends Mikasa Ackermann and Armin Arlelt, whose lives are forever changed when a Colossal Titan appears, destroying their hometown and taking Eren’s mother’s life.

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin pledge to seek vengeance and retake the Earth from the Titans when they enlist in the Scout Regiment, an elite group of soldiers that engages in Titan combat outside the Walls.

Killua Zoldyck

The heir to the Zoldyck Family and the third child of Silva and Kikyo Zoldyck, Killua Zoldyck runs away from home and becomes a rookie hunter.

He is Alluka Zoldyck’s traveling companion and Gon Freecss’ closest friend.

As was undoubtedly the case for Killua Zoldyck from Hunter x Hunter, most shonen Anime heroes didn’t have a typical upbringing.

He was raised by an assassin family and put into dangerous situations at a young age. He frequently suffered torture at the hands of other family members in an effort to test how quickly he could avoid an attack. 

On top of that, he had a rather twisted moral upbringing and didn’t completely appreciate the value of human life.

He was forced to viciously assault his family in order to get away from the Zoldycks.

Plot: Hunter x Hunter

The main character of the book is Gon Freecss, a young child who has spent his whole life being informed that both of his parents are deceased.

But when Gon learns that his father Ging Freecss is still alive and has grown into a knowledgeable Hunter through Kite.

One of his father’s disciples, he departs from his home on Whale Island to take the Hunter Exam in order to become a Hunter like his father.

During the exam, Gon meets and befriends three of the other candidates: Killua Zoldyck, another 12-year-old, Leorio, a prospective doctor who wants the financial benefits that Hunters receive in order to pay for medical school.

Gon and Killua
Killua and Gon’s Meeting in Hunter x Hunter

Kurapika, the last survivor of the Kurta Clan, wants to become a Hunter in order to exact revenge on his clan and reclaim the scarlet-glowing eyes that the Phantom Troupe stole from their corpses.

Among many other examinees, Gon frequently encounters Hisoka, a deadly and enigmatic Transmuter who expresses interest in him.

Guts

One of the saddest Anime heroes of all time is Guts. Trauma, tragedy, and violence are a continual loop in his existence.

He was adopted by mercenaries and brought up as a young soldier after being discovered beneath his mother’s hanging corpse.

His guardian regularly mistreated him, and he was ultimately sold to another soldier. 

He eventually found allies in the Band of the Hawk, but when Griffith decided to offer everyone to the demons, he felt betrayed.

Guts has been destined to face daily attacks from demons until he dies ever since that incident.

Plot: Berserk

A hanged woman gives birth to Guts, who is found by mercenary boss Gambino, who then teaches him how to use a sword and takes him on as a member of his crew.

After a bloody battle, Gambino is left permanently disabled, leaving Guts to support the family financially.

In a drunken frenzy one night, Gambino confronts Guts, but Guts kills him in self-defense and is then pursued out of the camp by other mercenaries.

Over time, Guts works as a mercenary and gradually establishes his reputation. Guts is attacked by Corcus, a captain of the Band of the Hawk after he has vanquished a feared mercenary captain named Bazzuso during a siege of a fortress.

Guts, who easily defeated Corcus, was about to defeat Casca, a female captain, when Griffith, the mysterious, white-haired leader of the Band of the Hawk, interrupted him.

Griffith states that if Guts loses the duel, he will join the Band of the Hawk because he saw Guts’ swordplay during the castle assault. Guts accept the bet but is defeated in the fight.

Shoto Todoroki

Without a doubt, Endeavor isn’t the best Anime father available. His drive to exceed All Might as the greatest hero led to collateral damage to his children and wife.

Rei has an ice quirk, so he married her in a loveless quirk marriage so they could have the “ideal” child.

He was seeking a more potent quirk overall or the ideal harmony of fire and ice.

Shoto was separated from the rest of his family after his birth, and Endeavor regularly mistreated him while he was being trained.

As a result of her anger with Endeavor and the fact that Shoto’s right side resembled her husband too much, Rei eventually lost control and threw boiling water in his face.

Shoto forgives his mother, but after what Endeavor put his family through, he probably won’t ever forgive him.

Plot: My Hero Academia

Izuku Midoriya, a young guy who is harassed by his violent childhood buddy Katsuki Bakugo for lacking a Quirk, has a desire of becoming a Hero.

Both young people look up to All Might, one of history’s greatest heroes.

To keep morale high, All Might has been hiding from the public. Aware of Izuku’s resolve in the face of peril, All Might also disclose the nature of his quirk, “One For All,” and transfers it to him so he can succeed.

Izuku begins his journey to becoming a hero after enrolling in U.A. High School with Bakugo.

At the same time, a villain known as All For One and his apprentice Tomura Shigaraki is plotting to overthrow the current order of things and all of the heroes.

Check out this video to know more:

Top 10 Anime Characters with a Tragic Past

Conclusion

  • Almost every person has something tragic in their life. You can find Anime characters who experience virtually every conceivable human problem, including homelessness, abuse, starvation, enslavement, war, disease, and human experimentation.
  • An individual character will frequently have to deal with several catastrophes at once. Sometimes it really does affect people, altering their personalities and outlooks on life, but other times it’s difficult to tell what the effect was.
  • Anime characters like Ash, Erza, Killua, Tanjiro, and many others have faced difficulties in the past but these hardships have made them more stronger.

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