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Anime characters, may it be popular protagonists, anti-heroes, or even the main villain of a particular series, are often misunderstood by both the audience as well as the characters in the show.
Most of the timem this misunderstanding and the resulting ill-treatment of the character leads to their development and eventual exoneration in the series. However, there are times when they are just branded as plain evil and are eventually forced to partake in horrible acts to realize their ideologies.
Hence, today’s list will go over some of the most misunderstood characters in anime history. Both protagonists and antagonists who were not only alienated by the other characters in the show, but were also misunderstood by the audience early on in the narrative.
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10 anime characters who were misunderstood and alienated by those around them
It’s important to note here that the list is not a ranking of the characters and represents the author’s subjective views on the matter. The list is not universal in any way, and is chosen by the author specifically based on their experiences with the anime series and the character listed out below.
1) Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto/Naruto: Shippuden)
Now the seventh Hogake of the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto was shunned by the villagers and his classmates when he was just a child, and he did not exactly have a lot of fans growing up. Even the audience was not exactly sold on him being the pivotal protagonist of the titular series, as his rival Sasuke was always the one in the spotlight.
The sealing of the Nine-Tailed fox inside him branded him as a Jinchuriki, and he was shunned, avoided, and alienated throughout the majority of his childhood.
He had a rough time growing up, but Naruto eventually proved his worth to the villagers as the story progressed and evolved to be one of the most powerful Shinobi during the culminating War arc.
The Pain Saga was also a critical jucture for him, as the audience as well as the villagers finally got a glimpse of his capabilities, and he became the Hero of the Hidden Leaf.
2) Koro-Sensei (Assassination Classroom)
From the very start of Assassination Classroom, Koro-Sensei was treated as an alien who threatened to destroy the earth. He was once an assassin known as The Reaper, who, after meeting Aguti Yukimura, had a change in heart and learnt what compassion was.
During his tenure as a teacher, Koro-Sensei would often show signs of his previous self. But on the whole, he was always compassionate and showed great concerns towards the mental and physical well-being of his students.
He was portrayed as an upbeat individual who made seemingly mundane requests, claiming that he would be the cause of the planet’s destruction in a year.
His final moments, which marked the end of the anime, were a heart-touching one where he had to say farewell to his students while they were assassinating him in order to save the planet. It was a very powerful and emotional scene in the anime, and left a lasting impression on audiences till date.
3) Noelle (Black Clover)
Noelle has gone through one of the biggest character transformations in Black Clover. She was initially represented as a spoiled noble who never really gave the time of day to those around, especially if they were from a more common and humble origin.
Only after joining the Black Bulls and getting to know Asta better, did she come to realize the value of her role as a Magic Knight, which is to look after the people of Clover Kingdom.
Noelle was treated like the runt of the Silva family, the black sheep who was often looked down upon by her siblings. It was theorized that she had no talent or penchant for magic, but audiences soon came to realize that with hard work and determination, Noelle was able to overcome impossible odds.
She is currently one of the most powerful and capable members of the Black Bulls and has played a pivotal role multiple times to save the kingdom from various threats.
4) Yusuke Urameshi (YuYu Hakusho)
Yusuke’s transformation from street punk to a literal demon god was indeed something to behold in YuYu Hakusho's narrative. He was quite a misunderstood fellow from the very begining of the anime, as he was first introduced as a delinquent, steet thug, who was selfish and notorious for stirring up trouble wherever he went.
Even the underworld thought poorly of him, but that was until he became an incredibly reliable protagonist through sheer hard work and determination.
His had a stern moral compass, and even after all his shenanigans and misdeeds, Yusuke lived up to the role of the protagonist.
Deep down, he was good, as even the underworld was never able to predict that he would die trying to save a child.
Yusuke might be rough around the edges, but most of his initial personality comes from bad parenting, and being constantly reprimanded and shunned for all his mistakes and shortcomings.
5) Big Mom (One Piece)
While big Mom might come off as a terrible villain in first glance, a deeper look into her motives and her background shows just how misunderstood her character is, by both fans and characters.
While Kaido and Blackbeard might be the two faces of evil when it comes to the Yonkos in One Piece, Big Mom atleast in comparison, has a bit of a moral compass in her, albeit one that is broken and a little twisted.
The sole reason Big Mom wants to get her hands on the One Piece treasure is so that she can create a world without discrimination. Much of her twisted personality comes from the fact that she was abandoned by her parents when she was still a child because of her odd personality.
She dreamt of a world where there would be no discrimination, and one of the reasons behind her making such a big family in Whole Cake Island is to achieve her ideology by any means necessary.
6) Yagami Light (Death Note)
Light is one of those protagonists whose turning evil was justified to an extent. While the series began with Light having lofty goals and the desire to use the Death Note for justice, he never really did come across as a completely good guy.
He was an anti-hero from the start, and he eventually started taking great pleasure every time he jotted a name down.
It was only after meeting L that he went down the path of evil and even began killing innocent people so as to just protect his identity of Kira.
He developed a God complex as the narrative progressed, and what began as cleansing the world of all evil soon turned into mass genocide, as Light was more than happy to remove all obstacles from his path. To realize his goals he would manipulate and betray everyone around him, who held him in high regard.
7) Tsukasa Shishio (Dr. Stone)
While Dr. Stone is not a terribly complicated anime to understand, there are, however, a few character personalities and motives that are not exactly clear from the start. One such misunderstood character in the anime is Tsukasa Shishio who was the primary antagonist to Senku and his desire to bring back science to the now primitive world.
Tsukasa wanted to create a world where the pure-hearted could live, hence he started obliterating the petrified statues of adults, in order to cleanse the new world of the old which let the world rot and get corrupt.
His own past life, coupled with the corruption that he had to deal with growing up has put a strong sense of justice in Tsukasa. This is why he wanted to create a primitive, but utopian society in the new world devoid of the corruption of adults and science.
He desperately wants a world where the pure-hearted youth like his sister can grow up carefree.
8) Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)
At its very core, Attack on Titan is an anime centered around the clash of multiple ideologies, constantly headbutting each other till it ultimately resulted in Eren starting a worldwide genocide by activating the Rumbling.
Much like Yagami Light, Eren too was a product of his circumstances, and while his actions to start a genocide are not justified, one can seldom blame him for going down the path of evil. This is especially because of his personality, and all the situations and betrayals he had to go through.
Eren went from wanting to kill all the Titans and protecting humanity, to becoming the face of genocide and a threat to all outside of Paradis Island. He went from one ideological frame of mind to another, and he was forever misunderstood, even by Mikasa. No one is able to explain why he would at all choose genocide as the solution to the cycle of hate that was revolving in the world.
Eren Yeager ultimately ended up playing the role of the common enemy the world, in an attempt to unify humanity against him, under the same banner.
9) Hero Killer Stain/Chizome Akaguro (My Hero Academia)
There was always more to Hero Killer Stain’s charater and story than what initially met the eye. Even the most avid fans of My Hero Academia were surprised when the anime revealed that the antagonist was once a hero-in-training just like Midoria and the rest of his classmates.
Much like in Attack on Titan, there are a lot of clashes of ideologies in My Hero Academia as well. Stain is a product of the dystopic underbelly of the hero society, and he represented how heroes too are getting corrupt, and more of them were turning villain by the day.
Stain wanted to be a pro-hero like AllMight. However, he was disillusioned with all the corruption that pro-heroes took part in, and swore to dedicate his life to maiming them.
He eventually spiraled down the path of evil, and almost became psychotic to a point where he was arbitrarily attacking heroes on the street even if they were innocent of any crime.
10) Lelouch vi Britannia/Lamperouge (Code Geass)
Lelouch is a very complicated character, and it was always quite difficult to grasp his motives in Code Geass. While he did start off with all the right intentions, his moral compass soon twisted, giving way to more ruthless, cunning, and maniacal personality who would stop at nothing to obtain what he set out to do.
Much like Eren, he ultimately decided to play the common enemy of the people, going as far as to stage his own execution in public.
Lelouch and his intentions were often very misunderstood. While the world saw him as a great villain, he stuck by his true nature and even held on to his compassionate side.
He was always thinking about his sister Nunnally, and never for once did he stop being faithful to Suzaku, and to his ideals of uniting the kingdom and ending discrimination.
