Tragic and saddest backstories in anime are a common trope to be seen in almost every series. The themes of suffering, abuse, starvation, slavery, war, disease, and human experimentation work like a staple motivator to emotionally impact the viewers on a deeper level.

Most of the time, it’s either the rough childhoods or war-stricken past of a character changing personalities and their outlooks on life. In today’s article, we’ll take a look at some of the saddest backstories in anime that will make you cry. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

10. Ray – The Promised Neverland

Ray has one of the brightest minds in anime and even at the Grace Field House, he was deemed to be a special kid. However, he also had a fair share of traumatic experiences and life wasn’t so easy for him. In fact, he grew up knowing that he and his friends would be shipped off to the demons.

Over the years, Ray had to endure watching countless other children be sent off to their doom which lead to his emotional breakdown. The worst part of all? It was his own mother responsible for the horrible deeds leaving him with the most painful knowledge imaginable.

9. Ash Lynx – Banana Fish

The past of a person acts as a key in determining the present of a person and Ash Lynx’s bleak background gives him a place in the list of saddest backstories in anime. Being born from a hippie drug addict, he was abandoned shortly after his birth and soon his father left him as well.

Adding more to his misery, he was raped by his Little League coach at the age of seven, and a year later ends up killing him in retaliation. When Ash turned fourteen, he fall in love with a girl but before anything develops between them she meets his demise. Since the very beginning, Ash never found himself at peace.

8. Levi Ackerman – Attack On Titan

Humanity’s strongest soldier, Levi Ackerman wasn’t always a powerful asset of the Survey Corps in fact, his upsetting past gives a brief disclosure of his personality. Born to a mother who had to work in brothels to make ends meet, Levi went through a very rough childhood.

Things got much worse when his mother died due to illness leaving him on the verge of death. Following this incident, he became an underworld thug and made close friends as well but in the end, he had to see their death at the hands of the Titans. Levi’s journey from a weakling to the toughest soldier of mankind is very inspiring and emotional at the same time.

7. Sanemi Shinazugawa – Demon Slayer

Swordsmith Village arc kicked off with a very light-hearted comedy setting and things looked good until the audience got introduced to the tragic past of the Wind Hashira. Sanemi was the eldest of seven siblings with a very abusive father who was murdered out of a grudge, leaving their family in a rough spot.

On a dreadful night, his mother turns into a demon killing five of his siblings. To save his younger brother Genya, Sanemi ends up annihilating his mother with his own hands. The worst part? He gets accused by his brother of murdering their mother and since that day, Sanemi began to hunt demons with suicidal devotion.

6. Lucy – Elfen Lied

As a child, Lucy grew up in an orphanage where she was discriminated against by others, because of her horns. Being neglected by the caretakers and bullied by other children, she suffered from self-hatred. Her only friend was a puppy that she cared for in secret.

However, after witnessing her dog’s murder at the hands of the orphanage bullies, Lucy loses her cool slaughtering the tormentors without regret or guilt. Lucy is then eventually captured and imprisoned in a government facility, leading her to become a sadistic and psychopathic being.

5. Dabi – My Hero Academia

Dabi started off as a villain in the current scenario, but he wasn’t destined to be one from his birth! Formerly known as Toya Todoroki, Dabi was a victim of abuse from his father and pro-hero, Endeavor, who only saw him as a tool to surpass All Might one day.

After being constantly abused by his father, Toya would often break down and question his existence. This mental breakdown caused him to completely abandon his old self and become Dabi, a stoic and pyromaniacal villain obsessed with ruining his father’s reputation and paying him back for all the suffering he went through.

4. Itachi Uchiha – Naruto

Konoha’s true hero, Itachi never had it easy and his entire life was dedicated to the welfare of the village. After seeing the horrors of war as a child, he vowed to create a world without violence and to stand true to his decision Itachi was forced to execute his fellow clansmen.

Despite walking on a path filled with thorns, Itachi was labeled as a traitor. Carrying the burden, he also convinced his brother to resent him so that he could avenge their clan. From a young prodigy enlisted in the war to a supposed mass murderer and rebel, Itachi came a long way in his grey life.

3. Trafalgar Law – One Piece

Out of all the emotionally impactful backstories in “One Piece”, Trafalgar Law’s is worse! In childhood, his town got ravaged by a condition called Amber Lead Poisoning which marked the beginning of his constant suffering. His parents and sister were shot before his very eyes by an extermination crew.

An emotionally wrecked Law managed to sneak out of the country by hiding underneath the dead bodies. Having lost everything dear to him, Law found salvation under Corazon’s care but even that didn’t last long – until Doflamingo killed his father figure while he helplessly cried in despair.

2. Hyakkimaru – Dororo

A parent can be cruel sometimes but not as heartless as Hyakkimaru’s father who traded the several body parts of his newborn son to demons in exchange for the prosperity of his land. To make it worse, he was left to die in the wilderness of the realm.

In the end, Hyakkimaru gets rescued but living in a harsh world with an inhuman body wasn’t so easy for him. Deprived of a normal life, he grew up in pain and learned to fight with prosthetic limbs to kill the demons and claim his body.

1. Guts – Berserk

The past of Guts is far worse and more disturbing than the rest of the characters with the saddest backstories in anime. His soul never found peace since the day he came out of the corpse of his mother. At the age of three, he saw his adoptive mother die in front of his eyes. Everyone blamed him for her death, calling him a “cursed child”.

Years later, Guts was tortured physically and mentally by his foster father who sold him only for three silver coins, and on the same night got raped too. Enduring waves of suffering and frequent betrayals since his youth made Guts a cynical man holding a bleak outlook on life.

Which one of the following characters has the saddest backstories in anime? Feel free to comment down your thoughts and make sure to recommend some other characters like the ones listed above, also don’t forget to share this article with your fellow otaku friends.

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