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One of the most common tropes, specifically in shonen and seinen anime and manga, is to create some of the mentally strongest anime characters by putting them through hell during their adventures. Regardless of exactly how it plays out, these characters typically emerge from their respective traumas mentally stronger than they were heading in.
However, authors can also take the opposite effect, showing characters as not strong enough to handle these harrowing traumas they’re forced to experience. Here are the five mentally strongest anime characters and five more who weren’t strong enough for their trials.
Disclaimer: Some of the entries feature manga spoilers for their respective series. Readers' discretion is requested.
Guts and Yuji Itadori are among some of the mentally strongest anime characters
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1) Guts (Berserk)
Without a doubt, Guts is the first character to come to mind when pondering who the mentally strongest anime characters are. From the time of his birth from his already dead mother, his life has been a living hell, constantly plagued by the evil of other men. None, however, were more impactful than Griffith's betrayal and his sacrifice of the Band of the Hawk.
During this sacrificial process, Guts saw his friends killed and the woman he loved mentally broken beyond repair. Likewise, as a result of surviving, he is now hunted by the creatures that killed and ate his comrades. Despite all this and countless future horrors he goes through, he continues to struggle onward without fail.
2) Subaru Natsuki (Re:ZERO)
One of the best aspects of Re:ZERO is how naturally protagonist Subaru Natsuki’s powers lend themselves to character development, both for him and the supporting cast. Through the Return by Death ability, any future can be explored with the safety of a “reset” button always in arm’s reach. This constant experience with death, failure, and loss has turned Subaru into one of the mentally strongest anime characters around.
While Subaru still shows signs of mental exhaustion and trauma throughout these experiences, he remains a solid entry here, given the context of what he’s going through. When Subaru dies, he carries the physical and mental sensation of the process with him into his next life, as well as the memories and knowledge of his past failure. Despite the cracks he shows, he’s undoubtedly a worthy inclusion to this list.
3) Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)
While Subaru struggles forward, knowing what could happen, Eren spends the latter stages of his series pushing forward despite knowing what will happen. To elaborate, the Attack Titan’s powers gave him a glimpse into the future, making him fully aware that he’d alienate his friends, slaughter a large percentage of the world’s population, and eventually sacrifice himself.
Despite this knowledge, he remained steadfast in his plan, never once flinching or moving away from the path he was prophetically told to follow. For this, Eren is undoubtedly one of the mentally strongest anime characters the medium has seen thus far.
4) Thorfinn Thorsson (Vinland Saga)
As a young child, Thorfinn Thorsson made a choice that eventually cost him the life of his father, Thors Snorresson. From here, the child joined the band of soldiers who murdered his father, vowing to kill their leader for revenge. Thus, he grew up on the battlefield, becoming one of its most skilled and deadly fighters.
Without spoiling too much, another traumatic death came in Thorfinn’s life several years later, leaving him a somewhat broken and empty shell of a person in the immediate aftermath. However, his eventual mental recovery and what he did with his life after prove he’s one of the mentally strongest anime characters.
5) Yuji Itadori (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Like Thorfinn, Yuji Itadori is thrust into an unfamiliar battlefield out of necessity at a relatively young age. His most traumatizing time in this new world is undoubtedly the Shibuya Incident arc, in which he sees two of his mentors effectively killed and one of his classmates presumably also killed.
In the interest of avoiding spoilers for anime-only fans, future events won’t be discussed in detail, but rest assured that plenty of harrowing events await Yuji beyond Shibuya’s reach. Yet he's undoubtedly one of the mentally strongest anime characters around for still fighting through all of them and never wanting to give up.
Light Yagami, Nagato, and more couldn’t hack it
1) Pannacotta Fugo (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind)
While Fugo's fairly traumatic origin should be respected and acknowledged, a moment later in the series shows that he couldn’t hack it. This is the split of Bruno Bucciaratti’s group, with all its members except Fugo deciding to fight against Passione and the Boss to protect Trish Una.
While it’s certainly the logical choice, it shows that Fugo couldn’t handle the struggle such a choice would entail. One of the biggest reasons this can be held against him is that younger members, such as Narancia Ghirga, decide to protect Trish in the end, as it is the right thing to do. As a result, he’s far from one of the mentally strongest anime characters.
2) Nagato Uzumaki (Naruto)
Better known as “Pain” during his time in the series, Nagato Uzumaki (like many other Naruto characters) simply wasn’t able to stand up to the various traumas in his life. Admittedly, Nagato’s tale is somewhat more tragic than most, first losing his parents to a home invasion by enemy soldiers during a war.
The young boy then found a family in Jiraiya, Yahiko, and Konan but was eventually left by Jiraiya. He saw Yahiko die in front of his eyes and became Pain shortly thereafter. While these events are certainly harrowing, his inability to move past them (especially compared to others here who moved past arguably worse) eliminates him as one of the mentally strongest anime characters.
3) Light Yagami (Death Note)
While Light Yagami’s story is the quickest and tamest on this list in terms of traumas suffered, there’s one key moment that shows why he’s someone who couldn’t hack it.
At the end of the series, when faced with his inevitable death, Light is unable to accept the end of his life despite spending the countless lives he had taken up to that point. While a small scene, it shows he was a mentally weak character all along, unable to commit to the ideals he preached even at the end.
4) Obito Uchiha (Naruto)
Obito is a somewhat unique entry in this list, given that, in the end, he moves past his life’s experiences and returns to the side of good, though for a brief moment. However, before that, he’s unable to move past the injuries he suffered during the Third Shinobi World War, as well as witnessing what he interprets to be Kakashi Hatake killing Rin Nohara.
From this point on, he embraces evil, choosing to work with Madara Uchiha and form a group that would later be known as the Akatsuki. While he does eventually have a return to grace, it’s hard to call him one of the mentally strongest anime characters, given how readily he gave up and embraced evil. While Obito was still a relatively young child at the time, he nevertheless proved his lack of mental strength.
5) Megumi Fushiguro (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Last but certainly not least, Megumi’s ongoing story in the Jujutsu Kaisen manga is that he has literally lost the will to continue fighting against Sukuna. While this is understandable given his age and the fact that his own hands, though in Sukuna’s control, killed his sister Tsumiki, it nevertheless shows that he’s far from one of the mentally strongest anime characters.
This is especially true when considering that Yuji Itadori, who has been by Megumi’s side this whole time and experienced significant loss, is still fighting for Megumi’s sake. Thus, Megumi’s choice to give up even when he knows his friends are fighting and risking their lives for him shows just how mentally weak he is.
In conclusion
While plenty of anime characters show incredible mental fortitude, there are also those whose only purpose in suffering seems to be breaking beyond repair. Although not everyone can rise above their struggles, a select few who do so deserve specific recognition, as are those who are unable to move past their trauma.
Related links:
Berserk: Why did Griffith betray Guts? Explained
10 anime characters like Subaru Natsuki from Re:ZERO
Why did Obito turn evil in Naruto?
