17 Anime Characters Who've Experienced Life-Altering Trauma

This is for a shonen anime.My Hero Academia.features few tragic backstories. Some characters still show signs of serious trauma. Shoto Todoroki, a student at a hero school, is one such character.

Shoto's birth came from his father Endeavor's attempt to mix his fire quirk with his wife's ice quirk. Endeavor only cared about Shoto's abilities. Endeavor beat Shoto starting at age five, claiming abuse made the boy stronger. Endeavor also beat his wife, who poured boiling water on Shoto's eye, causing a permanent scar.

Shoto grew to hate his father. He swore he would only use his mother's ice powers. By suppressing his fire powers, Shoto operates at half-strength. To reach his full potential, he must see his flame powers as more than just his father's inheritance.

Edward Elric of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has such a terrifying backstory.Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.is very emotionally stable. When Edward was a boy, his mother died from an unknown sickness. Grief-stricken, he studied alchemy, trying to raise his mother. Instead of reviving her, Edward created an undead monster. This gamble cost him two limbs and destroyed his brother Alphonse's body.

Edward and Alphonse worked hard to restore their bodies after the terrible event. They faced bigger problems along the way. Experiencing great trauma made Edward want to protect others from pain.

Ken Kaneki has experienced much.Tokyo Ghoul the hero faces a poor home life. A man-eating ghoul brutally attacks him. The ghoul's organs fuse with Kaneki's, creating a ghoul/human hybrid that must eat human flesh to live. Ken does not react strongly to this horror. Instead, he suppresses most emotions after an initial panic and convinces himself his situation is fine.

Ken's attitude shifts after a ghoul named Yakumo Oomori tortures him. Oomori uses strange methods, like cutting off and forcing regeneration of Kaneki's fingers, or putting a Chinese red centipede in his ear. This torture breaks Kaneki physically and mentally. His old defenses fail. Consequently, his personality hardens, and he learns to hurt others for personal gain.

Almost everyone inAttack on Titan. Eren Jaeger shows some trauma, but he speaks most about his problems. Confined in a small, crowded town to avoid giant, humanoid monsters called Titans, Eren grew tired of his life and wanted freedom. This desire grew much stronger when his town attacked, his home was destroyed, and his mother was eaten right before his eyes.

After escaping as a refugee, Eren joins the Survey Corps.Eren joins the Survey Corps to help destroy the Titans. Even with power, Eren still has nightmares and flashbacks from fighting monsters. His rage grows with every new battle.Eren Jaeger fights to destroy the Titans. After gaining power, Eren still suffers nightmares and flashbacks from skirmishes with monsters. His rage grows exponentially with every new battle.

Guts of BerserkBerserk Guts has arguably one of the worst childhoods in anime history. Any horrible event affecting him would wreck a normal person. Guts was found as a newborn beneath his mother's hanged body. A mercenary named Gambino adopted him and beat him regularly. Gambino later started advertising young Guts's services as a sex worker. Guts survived a terrifying event called the Eclipse, leaving him badly injured and marked by forces that attract danger.

Guts deals with his life of trauma by becoming a miserable, hard-hearted man seeking revenge. This causes Guts to act violently toward loved ones despite trying to stay calm. Guts bears deep scars from his past, but the world of Berserk features religious zealots burned at the stake, suggesting few qualified therapists exist.BerserkBerserk regularly features religious zealots burned at the stake, suggesting few qualified therapists exist.

Kousei Arima of Your Lie In AprilYour Lie In April Kousei Arima's mother starts the series with a major problem: he is a pianist who cannot hear his own music.

Before a terminal illness stopped her from playing, Kousei's mother was a famous pianist. She taught her son piano, but her strict methods made the lessons torturous.

Things get so tense that Kousei's mother hits him until he draws blood. Eventually, Kousei's mother dies, leaving him orphaned and unable to play the music that brought him joy.

Nearly every character in Naruto faces trauma. Given the constant warfare in the show's world, expecting otherwise is unrealistic. Obito Uchiha, among the damaged cast members, is one of the most frequently misunderstood villains.Naruto Considering the constant warfare in the show's world, expecting anything else is unrealistic. Obito Uchiha, among the damaged cast members, is one of the most frequently misunderstood villains.

Obito began as a lively young boy with huge ninja dreams. A terrible accident crushed half his body. His horrific undead relative, Madara, brought him to an underground bunker. There, Madara replaced the destroyed body with plant matter. While Obito healed, Madara tried to convince him the world was a hopeless Hellscape needing destruction.

Obito did not accept Madara's talk despite his injuries. Then, Obito reentered the world. He saw a friend murder another. Grief drove the formerly happy kid to become a main villain. Obito helped Madara destroy the world. Madara set up the fight to show Obito the world was hopeless.

A Silent Voice This anime movie appears often lately. The story centers on Shouko Nishimiya, a deaf girl, and Shouya Ishida, a classmate who bullied her and now tries to fix things.

Shouya bullied Shouko, the victim. Both characters suffered trauma. Mocking Shouko's disability hurt her self-esteem. Shouya felt sick about his actions and desperately wanted to fix it. Both characters became emotionally shaken, trying to commit suicide.suicide, and they found relief by exploring their shared bond.

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Subaru is not a typical Isekai anime. When Subaru moves to a new world, he sees it is not normal. Each time Subaru dies, he resets to the start. A "Return by Death" curse stops him from telling anyone. He is stuck in a loop of brutal deaths, repeating everything. Dying repeatedly drives anyone insane.

First, Gintoki Sakata ofGintama Gintoki is a lazy failure who earns money doing shady odd jobs. That statement is not entirely false.but the character has more than meets the eye.

Gintoki starts as an orphan looting corpses for food. A school takes him in, teaching samurai skills. He fights in the Jouei War to rescue his teacher. Combat kills nearly everyone in his unit; Gintoki survives.

After the war, Gintoki leads a normal life. He rarely talks about combat. To hide his trauma, he acts bitter, sarcastic, and cares little for his life. In truth, he is haunted by his failure to save his comrades.

Death Note Sayu Yagami begins as a normal, happy teenager. Everything changes when her brother starts acting like a vigilante mass murderer. Then, her brother's crimes lead to her kidnapping.

Viewers do not see what happens to Sayu while Mello and his crew hold her captive. Sayu returns mute and unable to walk. Her mother pushes Sayu in a wheelchair through a park, and Sayu stares blankly with a haunted look.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The first episode opens with a shocking, tragic event for the main characters. After Tanjiro returns from the village, he finds his entire family brutally murdered by a demon. Only his sister, Nezuko, survives. She turns into a flesh-eating demon. Nezuko had to witness her family's death, and her life is now forever changed by becoming a demon.

Sword Art Online IIsShino Asada (AKA Sinon) used the virtual reality game Gun Gale Online for immersion therapy. As a little girl, Shino got involved in a bank robbery. She shot the robber in self-defense. Since that forced killing, Shino has had nightmares, flashbacks, and other symptoms ofPTSD.

Playing a video game that lets her use a gun safely helps Shino master the event that traumatized her. However, Shino's actions are not prescribed. She actually puts herself in danger when the game merges with reality.

Nao Tomori's life goal is to stop others from facing the horrors her older brother Kazuki experienced. Like many characters inCharlotte, Kazuki had a special ability: he could cause air vibrations around him. This made him a target for dishonest scientists.

Experiments left Kazuki a shell of his former self. After testing stopped, Kazuki could barely move in a hospital bed, except for occasional violent outbursts. Seeing her brother shrink, Nao decides to help others keep their powers secret from those who might exploit them.

Himura Kenshin was once Himura Battōsai, the famous assassin. By the timeRurouni Kenshinthe warrior left his violent past behind. Kenshin vows never to kill again. He desperately wants peace.

He believes anyone he wronged as an assassin deserves revenge. Kenshin has almost no self-esteem and feels he has no right to happiness.

Nothing about Lucy's life in Elfen Lied Lucy is unhappy and unpleasant. Lucy is a Diclonius, so she has horns on her head. This made bullies target and discriminate against her all her childhood. Lucy had no parents. She lived in an orphanage where other kids and staff shunned her. The point of no return hit when Lucy watched the orphanage bullies kill her dog. She snapped. Lucy instantly killed them with her telekinesis. Now, Lucy holds a deep hatred for humans and starts killing many people coldly.

The government captured Lucy. They experimented on her at a Diclonius Research Institute. This explains why Lucy became so evil and sadistic.

Hayato Shinkai experienced trauma after quitting biking following an accidental rabbit kill.Yowamushi PedalSome might see Hayato Shinkai's incident as small. It deeply affects him. During a fierce race, Hayato focused only on winning. He accidentally ran over and killed a rabbit, orphaned its baby. Hayato felt immense guilt. He immediately adopted the baby rabbit.

Even after the baby rabbit found safety, Hayato could not pass other bikers in races. That reckless move caused the accident. Every time Hayato tries to lead, he panics and has flashbacks.