10 Worst Anime Parents, ranked based on how much they tormented their children

Worst Anime Parents come in all kinds— some abandon their children for wealth, while some leave them for a loving partner. But the worst anime parents are the ones who stay with their children and cause them to be subjected to all kinds of abuse.

While some names stand out as the worst anime parents in the media, some new additions to the list have appeared in recent times which give competition to some of the most famous worst anime parents.

In this article, ten of the worst anime parents will be compiled, from ruthless parents who used their own children's blood for experimentation to those who left their children before they were even born.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this article solely belong to the author.

Lakan, Endeavor, and 8 other worst anime parents ranked on the cruelty they let their children face due to their actions

10) Saki Arima - Your Lie in April

Saki Arima as seen in the anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Saki Arima is the mother of the series' male protagonist, Kousei Arima, and one of the worst anime parents. Her strictness in teaching the protagonist to become a well-known pianist made Kousei mentally paranoid.

After she died, Kousei started to imagine her shadow following him everywhere and this even made Kousei, a talented pianist, forget how to play piano. However, she never hated her son and just wanted him to progress in life, but her ways of teaching caused damage to him.

9) Kazekage Rasa - Naruto

Rasa as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

One of the strongest leaders of the Hidden Sand Village and the person whose ignorance made Gaara a killing machine, Rasa is one of the worst anime parents in anime due to his complicated relationship with his son.

It all started with Rasa trying to make Gaara a worthy Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, but as things went astray, he decided to betray his own blood and planned on killing him. He even caused Gaara's close friends to betray him, creating an atmosphere where he could hardly breathe, thus becoming one of the worst anime parents.

8) Lakan - The Apothecary Diaries

Lakan as seen in the anime (Image via TOHO animation studio & OLM)

Despite being one of the smartest characters in Apothecary Diaries, Lakan is also one of the worst anime parents due to negligence. At a very young age, Lakan developed the disease of not recognizing the faces of others and only recognizing them as shogi pieces.

However, one day he met the courtesan Fengxian and saw her face in all her beauty. He negligently left the country, leaving behind a pregnant wife. Fengxian eventually gave birth to Maomao and she was raised in the Red District.

After returning, Lakan heard the news of Fengxian and rushed towards her. Unfortunately, things had gone too far and Fengxian was suffering from a disease she obtained after working as a prostitute. Lakan was eventually able to marry her but Maomao never forgave him for being one of the worst anime parents.

7) Gendo Ikari - Neon Genesis Evangelion

Gendo Ikari as seen in the anime (Image via Gainax & Tatsunoko Production)

The Commander of NERV that fights against Angels, Gendo Ikari was one of the cruelest and worst anime parents who shut down his relationship with the main protagonist and his son, Shinji Ikari, just because he didn't know how to interact with him.

After shutting him down, Shinji left his side and returned after his father called him. Unfortunately, the reason for calling him was also selfish on Gendo's side, as he just wanted Shinji's help to pilot Unit-001 as no one else was able to pilot it. Instead of making amends, Gendo kept worsening his relationship with Shinji, which led to him becoming one of the worst anime parents.

6) Enji Todoroki (Endeavor) - My Hero Academia

Endeavor as seen in the anime (Image via Bones)

Endeavor is a Pro Hero and the man obsessed with the hero code which led to him becoming one of the worst anime parents. He pushed his dreams onto his children and ruined the lives of each one of them, the focus being on Shouto and Toya.

Toya was the first-born of Enji who had the same quirk as Enji but it was stronger. Seeing nothing special in him, he eventually started to ignore him. After the birth of Shouto, who had two quirks, Toya became obsessed with attention from his father and eventually got burned in a forest fire.

On the other hand, Shouto became the center of attention for Enji but in the wrong way. Endeavor kept pushing his ideals onto him, eventually making him lose his emotions, making Enji one of the worst parents in anime.

5) Akemi Hinazuki - Erased

Akemi as seen in the anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

The mother of Kayo Hinazuki who ruined her daughter's life through domestic abuse, Akemi is one of the worst anime parents. After Akemi gave birth to Kayo, her husband would often abuse her daughter.

Upon the advice of her mother and Kayo's grandmother, Akemi left her husband and brought up Kayo on her own. Unfortunately, this was not the end of Kayo's suffering as she now became a doll for her mother to take her stress out. Satoru Fujinuma, the main protagonist, leaped back in time to save Kayo from her mother's abuse after which Akemi was taken over by her grandmother.

4) Gambino - Berserk

Gambino as seen in the anime (Image via OLM)

Gambino is the adoptive father of Guts and one of the worst anime parents. He adopted Guts when he was an infant, protruding from his mother's corpse. After raising him, he taught him how to use a sword but kept torturing Guts as a way to vent his frustration.

He sold Guts to Donovan who violated the boy at a young age and mentally disturbed him. After Gust killed Donovan for his cruelty, the next turn was of his adoptive father. Taking a chance, Guts stabbed his sword right into Gambino's throat, killing the lowlife who sold his adoptive son for some spare change.

3) Kagemitsu Daigo - Dororo

Kagemitsu Daigo as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

One of the worst anime parents from a series penned by the great Osamu Tezuka, Kagemitsu Daigo is one of the cruelest characters who traded his newborn's organs for the welfare of his village.

After his newborn was born with nothing but a skeleton, he abandoned him and left him in the river. The newborn was eventually picked up by a craftsman who gave the unfortunate child prosthetic organs that helped him live and at least fight off enemies.

2) Shou Tucker - Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Shou Tucker as seen in the anime (Image via Bones)

One of the worst anime parents who used his daughter for an experiment and transformed her into a chimera for some scientific funds, Shou Tucker stands unparalleled as one of the worst anime parents to this day.

He was an aspiring scientist who was known for his research, but when stuck on research where he had to create a chimera (mixture of two species), he couldn't do much. After some thought, he decided to use his daughter, Nina, and his dog to make a chimera, which he was not ashamed of showing to the world.

1) Bondrewd - Made in Abyss

Bondrewd as seen in the anime (Image via Kinema Citrus)

The inhuman being whose cruelties knew no bounds, Bondrewd is one of the legendary White Whistles who was also the adoptive father of Prushka. Moreover, he was also behind most of the illegal acts that were happening in the abyss, with the spotlight being where he experimented on minors.

He would send them straight to the 6th layer of the Abyss, activating the Curse of the Abyss, which would rob the children of their humanity. Nanachi and Mitty were part of this experiment. The latter got the curse and was transformed into an ambiguous being, whereas the former received the blessing.

Sometime during his life, Bondrewd adopted Prushka who survived the Transportation Incident, just like Nanachi. Unfortunately, she also became a victim of Bondrewd as she was converted into a Cartridge, which gave Bondrewd the blessing of the Abyss (which was planned). All of this signifies Bondrewd's role as one of the worst parents, if not the worst.

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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay