Top 10 Anime Characters with the Worst Childhood

Animes tend to give characters bad childhoods; who got it the worst?
The Top Ten
1 Gaara (Naruto) Gaara is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. He is the jinchuuriki of the one-tailed shukaku and can control sand that is stored in his gourd.

Gaara had a painful childhood. The loss of his mother at birth, the hatred from his own father and village, no friends, just the pain of loneliness. He spent his life trying to make friends when they only rejected him and he became a killer who was feared by his own village - until he met Naruto. Naruto taught him the meaning of friendship and love (also it was because of his mother's lve that his sand forever protected him even when he wasn't a jinchuriki.

Mother who is dead because of him. Father who sees him as nothing but a weapon and tries to assasinate him more times than gaara can count. Kills his own uncle who was his only friend but tried to kill gaara on orders from his own father and made him tell gaara that he hated him and that his mother never loved him. Along with his entire village seeing him as a monster. enough said

2 Guts (Berserk)

From the bleak worldview Berserk gives us, Guts shouldn't even have been born. That goes against anything the Godhand, who supposedly governs the laws of causality would want, since he opposes their will. He was born from his mother's hanging corpse, raised by a mercenary band and only knew the way of the sword what with all the deaths surrounding him. In fact, death and destruction is basically all this poor guy knows.

He lost his foster mother (the only character of his childhood to lovingly care for him) to an illness. For a couple of coins he was unknowingly sold by his foster father, Gambino - the leader of the mercenaries, to a man named Donovan, to have his way with him when Guts was still just a kid.

Gambino only admitted this grim truth when he was going to kill Guts because he had hated him ever since they found him. Seeing him as a bad omen and the cause for all the strokes of bad luck the band had experienced as of recent. Guts was forced to kill Gambino in self-defense. The remaining mercenaries chase him down, puts a couple of bolts in him and leaves him for dead in the wilderness, where the boy is forced to fight the local wildlife in order to survive. From hereon continues the disastrous journey that is Guts' life. He becomes socially reclusive, he hates being touched (understandably), and suffers from feverish nightmares. And that is only the beginning of the painful treachery (and physical makeover) that is to come.

He has been trough the worst of what life has to offer as a kid, slowly eating him from the inside out. Yet he has never abandoned his own humanity and instead directs all his hatred and destructive mindset on slaying as many demons as he possibly can. In short, this guy's childhood was, and his current life IS a living nightmare. Cut Guts' some slack, Miura. Poor guy deserves some rest.

3 Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto) Naruto Uzumaki is a fictional character in the anime and manga franchise Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Dude, he grew up being hated for something he couldn't help. Growing up, he had no parents, no friends, no love, nothing. He grew being the dead last, and everyone hating him. Yet, despite being hated, he loved that damn village to the point that he wanted to work his way to the top to protect it. I mean, sure, he grew up with friends as he got older, but for the most part he had nothing. Skipping class with Choji, Shikamaru, and Kiba doesn't mean he had friends, especially when their own parents made them stop playing with Naruto. I get that Gaara has had a childhood exactly like this, but he always knew he was a jinchuuriki. Even though he was betrayed by his uncle, that doesn't mean he had to make that choice. But he had the choice to open up. He was the kazekage's son! Practically royalty. He also had family! In MY opinion, Naruto had it much worse.

4 Elric Brothers (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Believe my story...
2years ago I knew nothing about emotion. ,tragedy,
But when I saw the 2nd episode tears rolled down my eyes. I felt so sad about them.
Lost their mother, lost their bodies... The most painful childhood had these brothers.

This probably makes me sound like a horrible person (lol), but one of the reason their tragic backstory is so GOOD (in a bad way? I don't know) is because it wasn't 'fated to be' or anything. THEY put it upon themselves, and I love Hiromu Arakawa for that. Something original amongst all the 'sorry you're parents got killed because you're special' stuff out there.

5 Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler) Earl Ciel Phantomhive (Japanese: シエル・ファントムハイヴ, Shieru Fantomuhaivu) is the main protagonist of the manga and anime series "Black Butler". He is the current head of the Phantomhive house, the notorious Queen's Watchdog, the owner of the Funtom Corporation, and an Aristocrat of... read more

The saddest part is that Ciel is destined to continue his tragic path. Nothing can be gained by taking revenge: his beloved ones won't come alive, his memories wont be vashined and nothing can be erased. His sacrifice and all Ciel has to go through, is meaningless.
But it is the humans nature to want power in their most powerless situations, even if the power means lost. We see Ciels remaing childlike soul crushed bit by bit every time he kills someone. In order to survive that time, he bargained with the Devil and lost everything he has: his innocent soul ans his hope.

6 Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail) Erza Scarlet is an S-Class Mage from the infamous magic guild Fairy Tail. Erza starts off as a lone wolf and stays loyal to following the rules. As the story develops Erza changes into loving mage strong and independent. As her terrible past haunts her she ignores her Nakama's calls that they want help... read more

Erza Scarlet had a really sad childhood in my opinion. She went through slavery, when she was what age? 7? 6? 8? They built the Tower of Heaven all because they wanted to resurrect Zeref. It was so sad. And one of her closest friends got possessed and became evil. What sadness, to me it was tragic. I've never seen childhood depressing!

Would you like to never see society or never have a family? That is Ezra's childhood, she had to work for most of her childhood and was whipped, stabbed in the eye, slapped, and treated like dirt!

7 Robert Haydn (Law of Ueki)

Robert Haydn had such a sad childhood.
He was hated by everyone just because he was a celestial.
His friends betrayed him.
His carer lied about taking care of him just so he could get the money.
He was locked up, became mentally unstable and destroyed his town at the age of 5. No wonder Robert became bad...

8 Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z) Vegeta is an anime fictional character from the anime series, Dragon Ball Z, created by Akira Toriyama.

Child soldier force to work for FRIEZA. Let that sink and then tell me that isn't a horrible childhood.

While he was force to be a child soldier, Goku was being a dumb ass in the forest.

When he was just a little boy, Frieza didn't invite him to his birthday party.
The cake was delicious.

9 Nico Robin (One Piece) "Devil Child" Nico Robin is a fictional character of the One Piece manga franchise created by Eiichiro Oda.

Robin had quite a disastrous childhood. Even before she became one of the world's most hated fugitive, her life was already quite tragic. Her mother chose her profession over caring for her, leaving Robin in the care of an abusive aunt who treated her like nothing short of a slave.

The other people in her village treated her like a monster for her devil fruit powers. They called her names and threw rocks at her just because she was different. She was practically the dictionary definition of an outcast as even with the archaeologists who liked her, she was to remain outside.

After six years, her mother finally returned. Even when her mother abandoned Robin, she loved her and wanted nothing more than to just hold her hand and stay together, but even that was impossible because again her mother would rather die with her job than stay with Robin. They held hands once, hugged once before they were separated from each other permanently. And even at that point, her witch of a mother's last words were that of an archaeologist to another archaeologist rather than from a mother to her daughter.

She even made her first friend outside of the archaeologists. But that had to happen right before the government decided her island had to be destroyed. She watched him die right before her eyes along with everyone and everything she had ever known.

This all happened when she was eight. Now let's start with what happened after.

After the destruction of her island, little Robin got a humongous bounty that set every single marine and bounty hunter on her trail. Even normal people would have nothing to do with her because of her bounty.

For twenty long years - half of which when she was just a teenager - she was betrayed at every turn, used and abused for her powers, with only her godforsaken mother's request spurning her on.

10 Enma Ai (Hell Girl)

Before she became hell girl, she was just an innocent girl being looked down on by other villagers. It all started when she held a butterfly some people believed was dead but really it wasn't moving and when it flew off, people saw it as a curse. She was sacrificed to the gods, then betrayed by her cousin, who liked her still. She began to hate everyone as she died which lead to her ultimate sentence of ferrying people to hell.

She burried alive by her parents and loved ones at age 7. and then doomed forever to be the guardian of hell. worst one I guess

The Contenders
11 Kotomi Ichinose (Clannad)

He had a drunk and abusive father then when he finally find happiness with Nagisa she is ripped away from him.Then when his daughter becomes a ray of sunshine to him she is also ripped away from him. How sad is that?

Her parents died in a plane crash. That's all I have to say.

12 Lucy (Elfen Lied) Lucy (born as kaede), is a tragic, fictional Japanese Anti-Heroine, and Anti-Villianess, who is the main protagonist of her debut source, a manga officially known as Elfen Lied [alfen leed], written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto, which was best known for it's T.V. adaptation of the same name, Directed... read more

In all honesty, I believe Lucy from Elfen Lied had the worst childhood imaginable. Abandoned by her parents, treated horribly by everyone at the orphanage (not to mention that Tomoo), her only friend at the orphanage was murdered by the children (who she later killed), and couldn't find acceptance from anybody except Kouta.

Basically a story about racism - her past was ruined because she had horns; like what horns would be so cool. She was bullied, had her puppy murdered in front of her and was then locked away for testing for her power.

P.S. The bullies deserved it 100%

13 Sanji (One Piece) Vinsmoke Sanji, most commonly known by his moniker "Black Leg" Sanji, is a fictional character in the One Piece franchise created by Eiichiro Oda. He is the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates, as well as the former sous chef of the Baratie. He is also the third son of the Vinsmoke Family, thus making him... read more

Bullied, beaten and mocked by his brothers, rejected and insulted by his father, only his mother cared for him but she died when he was a child. Then he got put in a cell with an iron mask because his father wanted to forget he existed. Finally escaped (after his dad said he wanted him to die and that he was ashamed of him) and then the ship sank and he was left to starve on a rock for WEEKS. Damn that sucks. Luckily he met Zeff who turned out to be a great father figure for him...

I thought starving on a rock for weeks was bad. But what happened before with his so-called family is ten times more horrible. What kind of father locks their child with an iron mask to forget his existence and he is ashamed of him for being an ordinary human being? What kind of brothers bully and beat their brother for cooking and laugh about different ways he could have died? That's just aweful!

14 Nina Tucker (Fullmetal Alchemist) Nina Tucker is a fictional character from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series and its adaptations created by Hiromu Arakawa.

Imagine being killed by your own father and being fused with your pet dog to become a chimera for his own selfish gain...Yep.

Her dad is the worst anime character ever. How could you do that to a little girl - or anyone - let alone your own daughter?

He should be lower on the list, I'm a fan of Gray, but it wasn't that bad especially conpared to the charectors lower on the list.

15 Crona (Soul Eater) Crona Gorgon (Japanese: クロナ, Kurona), often infamously referred to as the Demon Sword (魔剣, Maken), is a major antagonist of the Soul Eater manga and anime series. Crona is a Demon Sword Master who is the biological child of the witch, Medusa Gorgon... read more

Having your blood replaced with black blood... And he was always in pain, the poor child didn't even deserve this, and when he didn't do what she wanted, she looked him up. It was cruel, terrible, horrible! No wonder he doesn't know how to do many things without out! Who wouldn't fear things with the sort of childhood he had!?

All those things Medusa did to him completely traumatized him. He devolved this fear inside his mind that turned him to insanity. When Maka saw his soul it was all messed up inside...

Crona was abused all their life and was constantly in pain. Not to mention always being bullied by Ragnarok... Medusa didn't deserve to call herself a mother.

16 Kakashi Hatake Kakashi Hatake is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the story, Kakashi is the teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno.

Kakashi had one of the worst childhoods ever. He grew up without his mother, his dad committed sucide because he couldn't deal with the hate he was getting, and that only for a tiny mistake, witch honestly is not even a mistake. Then after losing his dad, like it wasn't enough, he lost his friend, his friend Obito basically died for him and then gave him his eye ( not actually died but Kakashi only found out he is still alive like 15 years after ). And well, that's not all, Rin, a good friend of Kakashi, the girl that loved him, had to jump in front of one of Kakashi 's attack (Chidori) and be killed by Kakashi himself, in order to protect the village. Kakashi blamed himself for Rin's death so much and he just couldn't move on, because he promised Obito he will protect her, and failed. Then, still there were people he loved left to die... so his sensei died too. He sacrificed himself for the village. And Kakashi just couldn't make any bonds anymore, because he couldn't handle the pain of another death. So he was alone, so alone. Yes he still had friends, but not the same. He basically became a "killer" in ANBU so even if he went trough all of that: he was still the greatest man I know. Kakashi deserves all the respect.

17 Mikasa Ackerman (Attack On Titan) Mikasa Ackerman is a fictional character in the manga and anime series Attack on Titan, also known as Shingeki no Kyojin in Japanese, created by Hajime Isayama. She accompanies the main protagonist Eren Jaeger. Her most notable feature is the red scarf that she wears. She is one of the most strongest... read more

Both her parents were murdered by human traffickers right in front of her when she was a little kid, then they kidnapped her. Sure, Eren Yeager came and rescued her, and his family took her in. But still, having both your parents killed in front of you, then being kidnapped? If that isn't a terrible childhood, I don't know what is.

Watched both parents die bloody deaths, as she was almost sold to human traffickers. On top of all that, her adoptive mother was eaten by a Titan. Eren is the only family she has left. Her childhood was DARK

18 Gray Fullbuster (Fairy Tail) Gray Fullbuster a fairytail wizard is a kind sensitive person which can be mainly found in underwear or fighting a guildmate / friend brother Natsu Dragneel (which I am supersede dint make this list) anyway Gray has a habit of stripping which he found while training with his now unfortunately dead master... read more

Gray had a mother and a father, and the three of them lived in a village together. Everything was good. That is... Until the demon Deliora from the Book of Zeref came and destroyed the village, taking Gray's mother and father. Gray had just been knocked unconscious. Then, a female ice-make wizard named your and her male student named Lyon found Gray and pulled him from the rubble. your took him in as her second student and also taught Gray ice-make magic. One day, Gray goes to challenge Deliora to avenge his parents. your and Lyon object, but Gray says he has to do it. your says that if he leaves, he is no longer her student. He goes on. Gray was too weak for Deliora, and had been knocked out again. Once again... your and Lyon went to save him. Gray wakes up and finds out that your had lost a leg to Deliora and says she can not beat him. Lyon is in shock, because he thought that your was the strongest wizard. He tries to vanquish the demon using Iced Shell, but your stops him by freezing him in an ice rose. your then uses the same method- Iced Shell- on Deliora. (Iced Shell turns the user of the spell into Ice and seals away the target in that ice for eternity. ) She succeeded. Before she turned into Ice, she told Gray to tell Lyon she had died. After the spell, Gray sat in tears. The ice your had froze Lyon with melted and he began looking for your. Gray said she had died, and Lyon blamed it on him. The two students parted ways and Gray joined Fairy Tail.

Oww... My heart...

19 Rin (Inuyasha)

Rumiko Takahashi could've at least told us about how many brothers does Rin have on her own so far back then before in the first place but no instead she just had to displease us. She could've told us if Rin's brothers are older or younger, what are the official, real names of Rin's brothers and Rin's parents back then before in the first place as well but no instead she just had to leave it unknown. That fool Rumiko Takahashi just had to displease us.

I cried over this girl. When she was first introduced, she was alone and straving but yet she hunt for scraps of food to give to Sesshomaru. And then the wolves showed up...god. She's so precious!

20 Future Trunks (Dragon Ball)

Trunks was raised in destruction. He's never know a moment of peace until he had to travel back in time to destroy the Androids in the past to save his future. That's one of the saddest thing I've seen in anime.

Not gonna lie. I teared up when he thought of what his future would be like if Black never showed up, like him, Bulma, and Mai together.

21 Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia)

Guy was abused by dad at age 4 and watched as his mom slowly descended into mental insanity, and then got boiling hot water thrown at his face.

Shoto's past is horrible but I love him. His mother is now in hospital because people thought she have a mental illness and what will you feel if your left eye is poured with boiling hot water when your five years old and gets abused by your father and just uses you for his own good.

Why isn't it on the top 10? Serioulsy his mother BURNT his face and his father abused him and he's still doing it! I don"t understand..

22 Yuri Nakamura (Angel Beats) Yuri Nakamura (仲村 ゆり Nakamura Yuri) is the deuteragonist of the anime series, Angel Beats! and the female protagonist of the manga series, Heaven's Door. She is the founder and leader of the Afterlife-based school organization Afterlife Battlefront. She leads the campaign of the many students... read more
23 Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto) Sasuke Uchiha is a fictional character from the manga and anime franchise Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Sasuke was already suffering BEFORE the massacre. He felt neglected by his father who always praised Itachi, always telling him to be like him. To be told by your own father to not be yourself is harsh. Everyone praised Itachi and sometimes gets compared with him, he was always in his shadow. Even if he tried his best and was on top of his class. NOT ONLY THAT but he truly loved Itachi and never got to play with him once he became anbu, always receiving a poke on the head, hearing the same things every time. Own brother lying to him. That's not really pleasant, well at least he had some comfort from his mom. Then right after he figured out that his father did love him and talked about him, he just had to get murdered right after. His clan was murdered, right in front of his eyes- by his own brother, who was the closest person to him (I think). His idol, own brother, tortured him with his eyes. He had to switch to loving him, to hating him, leading to revenge. Well even after the downfall, he acted like an arrogant, prideful brat- that annoyed me. (Sorry for my grammar)

24 Nami (One Piece) Nami is a fictional character in the One Piece franchise created by Eiichiro Oda. She is based on Ann and Silk, two characters from Oda's previous manga Romance Dawn.

She was enslaved as a child in order to save her village and has been treated like crap by her en-slavers. She should definitely be higher on this list.

25 Thomas H. Norstein (Digimon)

How is he not in the top 10? He saw his own mother get hit by a truck and die right infront of his eyes.

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