Top 10 Anime Characters Who Suffered the Most (Ft. Todd Haberkorn)

“Bungo Stray Dogs” (2016-)
Honestly, given the crappy hand this kid was dealt so early on in his life, it’s kind of shocking that he didn’t grow up to become a mirror match of Akutagawa. Given that his ability transformed him into a rather ferocious white tiger, the orphanage where Atsushi grew up naturally had to take steps to prevent others from coming to harm…but maybe having the headmaster degrade and torture him to the point where he was left forever scarred wasn’t the right way to go about it. The fact the headmaster was doing it out of a barbaric sense of affection just makes things all the more painful!

“Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn” (2016)
The Gundam franchise has not been kind to its female characters, and sadly this Psy Soldier is no exception. Yet another clone of Puru, Marida wasn’t as lucky as her Double Zeta sisters, and was instead exposed to the darkest parts of human depravity. She may have survived the horrors of the Neo-Zeon War, but then found herself in the unspeakable position of selling her body as a child. As you can imagine, so much misery was more than enough to tip her over the edge and join the Neo-Zeon remnants.

“Tokyo Ghoul” series (2014-18)
He just wanted a girlfriend who shared his love of books! Was that too much to ask for?! Alas, ever since Rize took a bite out of him, Kaneki’s fallen from one tragedy to the next. Forget all the cliché stuff like his mother dying from overwork, he’s had to deal with being turned into a half-Ghoul, a growing appetite for human flesh, tortured to the point his hair changed colour, several psychotic breakdowns, watching his bestie get killed right before his eyes, then having his memory forcibly removed to the point where he was brainwashed into becoming a totally different person! At least he still had Touka.

“Fate/Zero” (2011-12)
No matter how noble the intention, the Holy Grail War always finds a way to destroy everything innocent about a person until they are nothing more than a husk. No one knows this better than the Master of Berserker. Throwing himself into the conflict in order to save his niece Sakura, Kariya went through literal hell. His body was turned into a nest for mana worms, casually broken down by his monster of a father, even tricked into crippling the woman he loved. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he died unable to stop Sakura from being violated by the worms and becoming a future tool for the Fifth Holy Grail War.

“Dororo” (2019)
An unwilling sacrifice in order to save a doomed land, this warrior’s pain began the moment he was born. Pinned as a scapegoat by his arrogant father, Hyakkimaru came into this world without any limbs, or even skin – Each was given to demons in exchange for prosperity. Refusing to lay down and die for the sake of a false peace, the blind, deaf and muted swordsman resolved to reclaim what was his no matter the cost, only to discover that there’s so much more to lose outside of your senses. Friends, lovers and sanity included.

“Puella Magi Madoka Magica” (2011)
Time travel can be a bitch, especially when trying to save someone you love. After making a contract in order to have another chance at saving Madoka’s life, Homura found herself granted the power to head back through time in order to make her wish a reality…only to find each attempt ending in calamity. Even after an incalculable amount of jumps to the past, the gunslinging magical girl was forced to watch her best friend fall victim to Kyubey’s trappings over and over and over again. That’s enough to drive anyone to the brink…

“Evangelion” series (1995-)
On second thought, maybe he shouldn’t get in the robot. After all, every time he does he ends up losing someone he loves or gets a little more of his psyche shattered. We’ve already established he’s emotional stunted due to his insidious father, but Shinji’s problems go well beyond that. He’s got one love interest who loves to punch him as much as kiss him, another who is top tier but also a dead mother clone, then you’ve got Kaworu’s unpleasant fate, plus that one time he caused the apocalypse in End of Evangelion. After all that, we’re surprised Shinji hasn’t thrown himself into the ocean. Congratulations!

“Re;Zero – Starting Life in Another World –“ (2016-)
The undisputed prince of dying, the amount of crap that Subaru went through in such a short space of time is nothing short of staggering. Oh sure, his innate ability to return to the past after death ensures he’ll always have another chance to tackle his newfound fantasy world in a different way…but after getting gutted, beaten to a pulp, torn apart, frozen, decapitated and seeing the rest happen to the people he loves, life starts to lose a lot of its lustre. Maybe that’s the reason why he didn’t choose Rem. It was just post-death stress. Yeah, let’s go with that.

“Steins;Gate” series (2010-18)
We repeat, time travel is a bitch. This mad scientist may not have been the one to physically go through the hardships, but seeing those closest to you die in numerous ways across an infinite number of timelines can’t be good for your mental wellbeing. Who knows how many times he tried to save Mayuri from death, only to have her perish no matter how my time jumps he made? Plus he’s got to live with the fact in one timeline he accidentally stabbed his beloved Kurisu when trying to protect her from her murderous father. And that’s notwithstanding all the craziness flung his way in 0, forced into a timeline where the woman he loves is gone for good and then having to time jump 3000 times... That’s gotta suck too.

Before we reveal our number one pick, here are some honourable mentions.
Kaiji
“Kaiji” series (2007-11)

Ash Lynx
“Banana Fish” (2018)

Taizou Hasegawa
“Gintama” (2006-)

“Berserk” (1997-98)
Even if you exclude the uber dark content that was cut from the original adaptation, it’s reasonable to say that Guts’ life has been absolute nightmare! Let’s count down the anguish, shall we? Born from the corpse of his mother. Thrown onto the battlefield when he was just a child. Killed his abusive foster father in self-defence. Finally found camaraderie and love with the Band of the Hawk…only to have his bestie betray everyone, watch his friends be slaughtered by demons…Oh, and now he’s constantly being tracked down by Apostles. No one tops Guts.