Top 10 Anime Characters with the Worst Childhood
Forget therapy. These kids needed a full support squad, a lifetime supply of hugs, and probably at least three reincarnations to recover. You think you had it rough because someone took your lunch money in fifth grade? Try being abandoned by your parents, raised by assassins, experimented on in a lab, or forced to watch your family get murdered in front of you. And that's just the starter pack.This list is all about the anime characters who had it the worst growing up. We're talking childhoods that were basically survival horror games. And no, we're not just handing out pity points. These characters had trauma so deep it shaped everything about them. It affected the way they fight, how they trust people, and what keeps them moving forward. Some turned their pain into strength. Others went full-on dark side. A few just tried to stay afloat in a world that seemed set on breaking them.
Gaara was isolated from his village and targeted for assassination from a young age due to being a jinchūriki. He was raised without love or support, leading to deep psychological trauma. 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. It was also because of his mother's love 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 assassinate 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.
Guts was born from the corpse of his mother and raised in a mercenary camp where he suffered physical and sexual abuse. His childhood was defined by violence, betrayal, and constant survival against overwhelming odds. 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 with all the deaths surrounding him. In fact, death and destruction are 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 recently, Guts was forced to kill Gambino in self-defense. The remaining mercenaries chased him down, put a couple of bolts in him and left him for dead in the wilderness, where the boy was 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 through 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.
Naruto Uzumaki grew up orphaned and shunned by his village because of the Nine-Tails sealed within him. He was denied affection and acceptance during his formative years. 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 up being the dead last, and everyone hated him. Yet, despite being hated, he loved that 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 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 no choice. 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.
Edward and Alphonse Elric lost their mother at a young age and suffered a failed human transmutation that left Edward without limbs and Alphonse without a body. They spent their youth seeking ways to restore their bodies while burdened by guilt and loss. Believe my story... Two years ago, I knew nothing about emotion or tragedy. But when I saw the second episode, tears rolled down my eyes. I felt so sad about them. They lost their mother and their bodies. The most painful childhood had these brothers.
This probably makes me sound like a horrible person, but one of the reasons 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 brought it upon themselves, and I love Hiromu Arakawa for that. It's something original among all the 'sorry your parents got killed because you're special' stuff out there.
Ciel Phantomhive witnessed the murder of his parents and was later kidnapped and subjected to inhumane rituals. His trauma began with losing his family and escalated through torture and exploitation. There are differences between the manga and the anime. I'll explain his past as it's shown in the manga.
(Spoilers) When he was ten, his parents were killed by unknown persons. Then, he was kidnapped and sold to a satanic cult, where he was used as a sex slave and repeatedly gang-raped for 30 days. He was also tortured. After that, his twin brother was killed in front of him and offered as a sacrifice.
Accidentally, he summoned a demon and sold his soul to take revenge on the people who killed his parents. He feels guilt because he believes he was the one who was supposed to die that day, not his brother, and he suffers from PTSD. Later, his aunt was killed in front of his eyes. In every arc, something terrible happens to him.
He has a tragic past and a dark future, and it seems he will ultimately become a demon's meal. I feel so sorry for him.
Erza Scarlet was enslaved as a child and forced to work on the Tower of Heaven project. She endured abuse and loss before eventually leading a revolt to escape captivity. Erza Scarlet had a really sad childhood, in my opinion. She went through slavery at the age of 7, or was it 6? Maybe 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 so depressing!
Would you like to never see society or never have a family? That is Erza's childhood. She had to work for most of her childhood and was whipped, stabbed in the eye, slapped, and treated like dirt!
Vegeta grew up under the domination of Frieza, who destroyed his home planet and used him as a tool for conquest. He was raised in an environment of violence, fear, and exploitation. Vegeta was forced to work for Frieza as a child soldier. Let that sink in and then tell me that isn't a horrible childhood.
While Vegeta was forced to be a child soldier, Goku was being a dumb ass in the forest.
Vegeta's entire home planet and most of his race were just destroyed by Freeza. He was forced to work for that same guy for most of his life. That does sound sad. It amazes me how Vegeta just doesn't give a damn. He's that badass to just shrug it off.
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 to get the money. He was locked up, became mentally unstable, and destroyed his town at the age of 5. No wonder Robert turned out bad.
Nico Robin's mother left her at an early age, and she was declared a criminal with a bounty on her head at age 8. After her homeland was destroyed by the World Government, she spent her childhood on the run and constantly betrayed. Robin had quite a disastrous childhood. Even before she became one of the world's most hated fugitives, 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, and 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 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 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 spurring her on.
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 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 led to her ultimate sentence of ferrying people to hell.
Enma Ai was buried alive by her parents and loved ones at age 7. She was then doomed forever to be the guardian of hell. This is the worst one, I guess.
The Newcomers
Hinata Hyuga was deemed a failure by her clan and stripped of her status as heir to the Hyuga main family. She was subjected to emotional neglect and lacked support from those around her. Hinata's tragic childhood is quite underrated. It is true that many anime characters had a much worse childhood than Hinata, but her suffering was still significant.
As the heiress of the Hyuga family, she had to endure harsh training that went against her will. Due to her extremely kind and gentle nature, she disliked fighting and didn't want to hurt anyone. This led her father, Hiashi, to be unhappy with her performance. She even told her cousin, Neji, that she would like to swap places with him. Later, when her younger sister, Hanabi, showed an interest in fighting, Hinata was forced to fight her sister, who was five years younger, to decide who was a better fit to be the heiress. In their battle, even though Hinata initially had the upper hand, she couldn't bring herself to hit her sister. This resulted in Hanabi's victory.
Seeing this, Hiashi started training only Hanabi and nearly disowned Hinata. He stopped training and caring about her, ultimately sending her on missions as a genin. Typically, heirs or heiresses of prestigious clans are not sent on missions due to the risks involved, as their lives are considered too important to lose. However, in Hinata's case, Hiashi showed no concern for her safety. Her sensei, Kurenai, even approached Hiashi to discuss the dangers of sending Hinata on missions, but he dismissed her concerns and asked Kurenai to take Hinata away. Hinata, who was listening behind the door, heard all of this. Despite such treatment, Hinata bore her struggles without showing any hatred toward anyone. Her wonderful personality shone through, as she continued to work hard to gain acceptance from her father, Neji, and Naruto, who was her idol.
Moreover, the Cloud Shinobi attempted to kidnap Hinata several times due to her Byakugan.
Yes, it is true that many other characters had worse childhoods and endured immense suffering, but Hinata also faced her own emotional pain, which many are unaware of. We should... more
Goten was born after Goku's death and never met his father until later in life. Despite a relatively peaceful environment, he grew up without a parental figure during early childhood.
Kotomi Ichinose's parents died in a plane crash while she was still a child. She isolated herself from others and carried deep emotional scars from their sudden loss. He had a drunk and abusive father. Then, when he finally found happiness with Nagisa, she was ripped away from him. Later, when his daughter became a ray of sunshine to him, she too was ripped away from him. How sad is that?
Kotomi Ichinose's parents died in a plane crash. That's all I have to say.
Lucy was experimented on and imprisoned due to her Diclonius identity from a young age. She was also rejected and bullied for being different, causing severe emotional trauma. In all honesty, I believe Lucy from Elfen Lied had the worst childhood imaginable. Abandoned by her parents, she was 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. She couldn't find acceptance from anybody except Kouta.
Basically, it's a story about racism - her past was ruined because she had horns. I think 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%.
Sanji was starved and nearly died while stranded on a rock with Zeff, who sacrificed his own leg to keep him alive. Before that, he was abused and rejected by his biological family for being considered weak. 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, he 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 because 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 awful!
Nina Tucker was fused with her pet dog Alexander by her father in a failed chimera experiment. She was betrayed and permanently altered by the person she trusted most. Imagine being killed by your own father and being fused with your pet dog to become a chimera for his own selfish gain… Yep.
Nina Tucker's dad is the worst anime character ever. How could you do that to a little girl - or anyone - let alone your own daughter?
Nina Tucker was fused with her dog by her dad, so her dad could keep their job.
Kakashi Hatake lost his mother early and watched his father fall into disgrace and commit suicide. He later endured the deaths of both teammates, Obito and Rin, during missions. Kakashi had one of the worst childhoods ever. He grew up without his mother, and his dad committed suicide because he couldn't deal with the hate he was receiving, and that only for a tiny mistake, which honestly was 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 was 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 attacks (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 would protect her, and failed. Then, there were still 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, very alone. Yes, he still had friends, but not the same. He basically became a "killer" in ANBU so even if he went through all of that, he was still the greatest man I know. Kakashi deserves all the respect.
Crona was forced by their mother Medusa to kill others to strengthen their weapon partner Ragnarok. They were emotionally manipulated and isolated from any form of affection or normal social interaction. Having your blood replaced with black blood... And he was always in pain. The poor child didn't even deserve this. When he didn't do what she wanted, she locked him up. It was cruel, terrible, horrible! No wonder he doesn't know how to do many things without fearing them! Who wouldn't fear things with the sort of childhood he had?
All those things Medusa did to him completely traumatized him. He developed a 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.
Mikasa Ackerman saw her parents murdered during a home invasion and was almost killed herself. She was then rescued by Eren and forced to fight for survival from an early age. 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.
Mikasa watched both her 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.
Gray Fullbuster lost his entire hometown and family to a demon attack. He was then trained under harsh conditions to become strong enough for revenge. Gray had a mother and a father, and the three of them lived in a village together. Everything was good until the demon Deliora from the Book of Zeref came and destroyed the village, taking Gray's parents. Gray had just been knocked unconscious.
Then, a female ice-make wizard named Ur and her male student named Lyon found Gray and pulled him from the rubble. Ur 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. Ur and Lyon object, but Gray says he has to do it. Ur 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, Ur and Lyon went to save him. Gray wakes up and finds out that Ur had lost a leg to Deliora and says she cannot beat him. Lyon is in shock because he thought Ur was the strongest wizard. He tries to vanquish the demon using Iced Shell, but Ur stops him by freezing him in an ice rose. Ur 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 Ur had frozen Lyon with melted, and he began looking for Ur. Gray said she had died, and Lyon blamed it on him. The two students parted ways and Gray joined Fairy Tail.
Oh, my heart...
Rumiko Takahashi could've at least told us how many brothers Rin has 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 the official, real names of Rin's brothers and Rin's parents are, 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 starving, yet she hunted for scraps of food to give to Sesshomaru. And then the wolves showed up... God, she's so precious!
Future Trunks grew up in a dystopian world ravaged by androids, where most of Earth's population was wiped out. He was raised in constant fear and had to train under harsh conditions to survive and fight. Trunks was raised in destruction. He never knew 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 things I've seen in anime.
I won't lie. I teared up when Future Trunks thought of what his future would be like if Black never showed up. He imagined a life with him, Bulma, and Mai together.
Shoto Todoroki was abused by his father at age 4. He watched as his mother slowly descended into mental insanity, and then had boiling hot water thrown at his face.
Shoto's past is horrible, but I love him. His mother is now in the hospital because people thought she had a mental illness. What would you feel if your left eye was poured with boiling hot water when you were five years old, and you were abused by your father who just used you for his own good?
Why isn't Shoto Todoroki on the top 10? Seriously, his mother burnt his face and his father abused him. He's still doing it! I don't understand.
Sasuke Uchiha witnessed the massacre of his entire clan by his older brother. He was left alone and consumed by a desire for revenge from a young age. 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 Sasuke often found himself compared to him, always in his shadow. Even if he tried his best and was 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. His 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 from 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)
Yuri Nakamura lost her younger siblings after intruders broke into their home, an event she blamed herself for. The trauma of their deaths and her feelings of guilt led to a deep sense of despair.
Nami was adopted by a woman who was later killed by the Arlong Pirates, who forced Nami to draw maps for them under threat. She endured years of coercion and emotional manipulation while trying to buy back her village's freedom. She was enslaved as a child in order to save her village and has been treated like crap by her enslavers. She should definitely be higher on this list.
Ken Kaneki was orphaned and raised by a single mother who died from overwork. After becoming a half-ghoul, he endured extreme physical and psychological torment. His father died when he was very young, so he didn't have any memories of him. His mom worked most of the time and also abused him, but his aunt was always struggling with money issues. This eventually led to Kaneki's mom dying from overworking.
Losing both parents was already bad enough, but it got worse. He was then adopted by his aunt, who neglected him and constantly compared his good grades to her son's. He didn't have any friends in school except for Hide. One day, all he wanted was a date with a girl, but that unfortunately led to a near-death experience. He was turned into a ghoul, hunted by the CCG, and forced to struggle with resisting human flesh while coming to terms with his ghoul side.
Then, he was kidnapped and brutally tortured. His fingers and toes were repeatedly chopped off and regenerated due to his strong healing abilities. He also had a centipede forced into his ear. The extreme trauma eventually caused his hair to turn white, marking the moment he fully accepted his ghoul nature. He went insane, lost control, became excessively brutal, and even cannibalized other ghouls.
Eventually, he encountered Arima, who single-handedly defeated him and left him with amnesia. Kaneki was then given a new identity as Haise Sasaki. However, as he regained memories of his past, he had no choice but to return to being Kaneki Ken, ultimately becoming The Black Reaper.
I feel sorry for him having to go through so much. At least he still has Hide.