Top 10 Revenges in Anime

The last of the Kurta clan, the Hunter known as Kurapika seeks to track down and kill every member of the Phantom Troupe, the gang responsible for his clan's destruction. This eventually brings Kurapika to the attention of Uvogin, a physically-capable member of the Troupe who lacks remorse for his various misdeeds... if he even remembers them. The subseqent duel swiftly goes inKurapika's favour thanks to his use of a special chain, and soon after Uvogin is left at the mercy of a killing blow.

Hatred is frustrating, especially when the other person has no idea you despise them. In “Gun X Sword”, this is the predicament faced by Van, a wandering combatant whose wife was killed by a villain known as The Claw. Seemingly a straight-forward case of vengeance-seeking, things become more complicated when Van confronts The Claw for the last time – and The Claw treats him as an old friend. The sheer frustration and anguish that Van feels is clear as crystal, which makes the subsequent victorious battle and takedown of The Claw all the more satisfying.

For some characters, the drive for vengeance overcomes all – including self-preservation. Case in point: Captain Alexander Row of the battleship Silvana seeks to find and kill Delphine, the woman he blames for his fiancee's demise. During the events of “Last Exile”, Row falls into Delphine's captivity and is hung up as a prisoner... which puts him in an ideal position to snap Delphine's neck. Sadly, this occurs as Delphine's ship is being destroyed, meaning Row's success is short-lived.

Where the father falls, the son rises... and he is not merciful. Towards the end of the Cell Games Saga, the responsibility of destroying the monstrous alien Perfect Cell falls to Son Gohan. Driven by more than just duty, Gohan witnessed his father Goku's sacrifice and the death or injury of many of his allies and friends. Thus, it builds to a fittingly brutal climax where Gohan and Cell battle one another with Kamehameha waves. It's quite cathartic to see Gohan push back and utterly vaporize Cell, achieving peace after so much turmoil.

Over the course of the anime “K”, Red King Mikoto seeks out the mysterious Colorless King, who murdered his friend Tatara Totsuka, with the intent of killing him. Trouble is, the Colorless King – being a fox spirit – has transfered his essence to the body of a student known as the Silver King, Adolf K. Weismann. In an unexpected act of sacrifice, however, Shiro permits Mikoto to kill him in order to end the tyranny of the Colorless King. This scene is so unique because few revenge quests manage to end on as respectful of terms as this.

Revenge is a slippery slope, that's for sure. In the twelfth and final episode of “School Days”, high school student Sekai is left in a state of despair after her lover Makoto has abandoned her for fellow student Kotonoha. After he fake pregenancy ruse backfires, Sekai quite literally loses her mind. In an extreme bout of homicidal action, she brutally stabs Makoto to death, metaphorically ripping apart the show’s love-triangle cliché in the process. Unfortunately, this inturn seals Sekai's fate of being killed by Kotonoha.

What a strange turn of events. Based on a manga that ran from 2000 to 2004, “Black Cat” follows bounty hunter Train Heartnet in his mission to track down his ex-partner Creed, who murdered Train's dear friend Saya. The anime plays out as a string of close encounters and endless pursuit, as Train is driven to take Creed into custody. When the two confront one another in their climactic battle, Train has the chance for a killing blow – but opts instead to destroy Creed's Imagine Blade. A unique twist on revenge, Train's act of mercy sets up Creed to change his ways by series' end.