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Anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori have recently become a topic online because of the events of the second season of the Jujutsu Kaisen series. Without going into too much detail, Yuji, the main character of the series, has had to watch several of his friends and comrades die right before his eyes. This is why the fandom is discussing how much he has suffered.
Of course, there are other anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori. It can also be difficult to analyze or gauge because their pain, loss, and tragedy cannot be quantified. This is just a fun exercise based on some reactions online regarding the latest season of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for all the characters mentioned on this list.
10 anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori
1. Guts (Berserk)
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There is no denying that Guts is one of those anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori. From the moment he was born, his entire life in the Berserk manga has been pure suffering.
He was born from his mother's corpse and sold by his father figure. He was sexually abused and manipulated by a psychopath (Griffith). He was also a sacrifice for the Godhand, and this was all the tragedy that ensued. Guts' entire life is about suffering, with only a few good moments here and there.
This is by design, of course, and that is why Skull Knight calls him a "fellow struggler." Guts' journey is all about overcoming the odds and continuing to fight despite all the hardships life has thrown at him. This is why he has become an inspiration to a lot of people all over the world.
2. Nagato Uzumaki/Pain (Naruto)
The saddest part about Nagato's character, even beyond the similarities with Yuji. When it comes to losing friends and leaving aside all the special powers, typical of shonen anime and manga is that his trauma can happen in real life.
He was a child from a small country whose entire existence was ravaged by war. He lost his parents, home, and he lived on the streets because the people of the Hidden Leaf Village attacked.
He started to befriend Yahiko and Konan and was building himself up through Jiraiya's teachings. He was forming a dream of a better world with the pacifist Akatsuki. But the likes of Hanzo, Obito, and Danzo decided to ruin his life. Nagato's life was destroyed by war and other men's desire for power, making him one of the anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori.
3. Denji (Chainsaw Man)
When it comes to anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori, it can be argued that Chainsaw Man's Denji had a very similar fate in his series to the Jujutsu Kaisen protagonist. However, the main difference is that Denji never had much to begin with.
Denji was mistreated and abused by his father. He was forced to do awful jobs to pay his abusive father's debt, and he never had an education or friends. He was manipulated by Makima simply because he had Chainsaw Man's heart. Then, the bonds he developed with Power and Aki were taken away from him simply because Makima had no use for them anymore.
The fact that the most recent chapters of the manga show his mascots being burnt alive shows he is one of those anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori.
4. Jonathan Joestar (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)
There is an argument to be made that Jonathan went through very similar stuff to Yuji but on a grander scale. Most of the pain they went through was caused by the same person (Mahito and Dio Brando, respectively), but the truth is that Jonathan got the worst deal out of the two of them.
Dio entered Jonathan's life when they were kids, and the former burned the latter's dog to death. Dio also ruined his relationship with his father, kissed his girlfriend (Erina), and went on to poison Jonathan's father to kill him and take his fortune. Furthermore, Dio turns into a vampire and tries to kill Jonathan several times. He eventually stole his body and used it for over a century.
Jonathan is definitely up there when it comes to anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori.
5. Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan)
The interesting thing about Attack on Titan's Levi Ackerman is that he arguably went through a similar situation to Yuji's in Jujutsu Kaisen. But, he had to shoulder even more responsibility. In many ways, Levi in his universe combines what Satoru Gojo and Yuji had to go through in that series.
Levi, much like Gojo, was named the strongest. He had to be on the front lines, trying to solve most situations when fighting the Titans, which put a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Furthermore, much like Yuji, he spent years watching his comrades die over and over again while he was still trying to achieve their dream of freedom.
6. Bartholomew Kuma (One Piece)
Bartholomew Kuma is one of the recent inclusions to the list of anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori, and for a good reason. One Piece backstories have always been sad and tragic, but Kuma's is one of the saddest in the series. Starting with the fact that he was a slave of the World Government in his youth simply for being part of the Buccaneer race.
Kuma also allowed the Government to turn him into a cyborg known as "Pacifista" so they could cure his daughter, Bonney, of a disease called Sapphire Scales. Add to this the death of his parents when they were slaves, the eventual loss of his romantic interest, Ginny, and even his own free will in the process. Kuma has had an incredibly difficult life.
7. Killua Zoldyck (Hunter X Hunter)
Yuji has gone through a lot of pain in his life, but it all stemmed from his choice of wanting to become a Jujutsu sorcerer and help others. On the other hand, Hunter X Hunter's Killua Zoldyck had to go through a lot of hardship on his own, and that was simply because his family chose to torture him.
Killua is part of the Zoldyck family, a group of famous assassins, and he was trained, tortured, and manipulated from a young age to become one of them. This gave Killua a lot of trauma, which is one of the main driving points of his character arc. On the other hand, his brother Illumi sometimes manipulated Killua's thoughts.
This is an obvious choice among anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori.
8. Kaneki Ken (Tokyo Ghoul)
Anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori can't get any more obvious than Tokyo Ghoul's Kaneki Ken. As mentioned by many anime fans over the years, it is a shame that Studio Pierrot's adaptation didn't do justice to the source material because it didn't show Kaneki's virtues as a protagonist. Above all, the awful things he had to go through.
Kaneki is forced to become a Ghoul and has to deal with the constant desire of wanting to eat human flesh. He has to lose a degree of his humanity in the process. He lost a lot of his loved ones during the series and even went through torture, dealing with some events that can't even be mentioned here. He is a very tragic character, and with all due respect to him, Yuji's suffering cannot be compared to his.
9. Hyakkimaru (Dororo)
Dororo's Hyakkimaru might be an underrated choice for anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori. This is mainly because the series is not that known or doesn't have a huge following. However, there is no denying that this ronin went through hell in his story.
From the very beginning of his birth, Hyakkimaru had no limbs or functioning organs because his father had sacrificed them to demons to make their people prosper. He is also left abandoned as a baby and has to survive on his own. This leads him to track down every demon and try to get his body parts back, building a journey with a lot of pain and tragedy as well.
10. Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass)
This might be a weird choice regarding anime characters who have suffered more than Yuji Itadori, but Lelouch had it rough, especially as a child. His mother was killed, his sister was left in a wheelchair, and his extended family constantly undermined him because he wasn't of royal blood.
Furthermore, he had to live most of his life as a commoner and tried to take revenge on the Britannia empire. He was at the very bottom of society and still achieved his goal.
Final thoughts
A fair argument can be made that several anime characters have suffered more than Yuji Itadori. This is not meant to undermine Yuji's suffering but rather to make fun exercise of what some characters have gone through in their respective series.
