A character's backstory can make or break them as they enable the viewers to understand them on a deeper level. It's important in any medium, and anime is no exception. The vast number of anime out there means that there are thousands of characters with different backstories.
Each unique backstory allows the characters to stand out from the crowd. Across different series, many suffer from a troubled past, which plays a key role in shaping their personalities. Though they come from several different shows, the characters below all have histories that tug at viewers' heartstrings.
Updated on January 13th, 2023, by Suzail Ahmad: The ever-expanding world of anime has given fans many memorable characters. One thing that is common among all these characters is their outstanding backstories, which help the viewers to connect with them. In most cases, the backstories are filled with intense moments that evoke emotions in the viewers. Without a proper backstory, it becomes difficult to fully understand a character's behavior. While there is no shortage of sad backstories, not all of them are able to reduce the audience to tears. So, the list has been updated with some of the saddest anime backstories.
19 Amane Suou (The Fruit of Grisaia)
Amane Suou is a third-year student at Mihama Academy who is extremely caring. She also has a tendency to make dirty jokes, but it's purely for laughs. Anyone who takes a look at Amane would think that she must have a great life, but it couldn't be further from the truth.
Amane was involved in a serious crash when she was only 13 years old. There were only a few survivors, Amane being one of them. With help seeming out of the question, the survivors turned on each other. Her friend sacrifices themselves to save Amane, but things get worse for her after she is rescued. People start to speculate that she ate other people. This leads to constant bullying, which causes her immense grief. Amane is left with survivor's guilt, and her life becomes miserable.
18 Sakura Matou (Fate)
Sakura Matou had a terrible life without any respite. She was abandoned by her real family and given to a close friend of her father, who wanted to use her for his own gain. Sakura was put through a great degree of torture, which caused her to turn into an emotionless husk.
At one point, she was fed to special worms, which worsened her condition. However, the tragedies don't stop there. Sakura's foster brother, Shinji Matou, abused her physically many times. Needless to say, her life was extremely messed up, and all these events affected her personality.
17 Mitty (Made In Abyss)
Before being turned into Narehate, Mitty used to be a normal human girl who had a very positive attitude toward life. She would always try to remain optimistic, even when things weren't going well. This often annoyed people around her, but Mitty won them over with her cheerful nature.
Sadly, her entire life was ruined by Bondrewd, who took her down to the fifth layer along with other children. Brondrewd experimented on her, which caused her to be afflicted by the Curse. Mitty's body completely changed, and she lost her intelligence as well. Mitty begged her best friend to end her life many times, but none of the methods worked.
16 Rei Kiriyama (March Comes In Like A Lion)
Rei Kiriyama is the main protagonist of March Comes In Like A Lion. As the central figure in the story, Rei is constantly involved in all the episodes. He tried his best to blend in with the others, but Rei's traumatic past often led to problems. As a child, he was severely bullied, and he couldn't communicate with the other kids.
Rei suffered a huge setback when his parents and sister died in a gruesome accident. He was left all alone until his father's friend took him in. After a few years, Rei felt responsible for the negativity in his foster home, so he left to live by himself.
15 Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan)
Levi Ackerman is one of the most well-known characters in the anime community. He is the strongest human in Attack on Titan; however, this wasn't always the case. Before becoming a tough and strong soldier, Levi was a weakling.
Born to a mother who had to work in brothels to make ends meet, Levi struggled a lot in his early childhood. Her mother died due to illness when he was still very young. Almost on the verge of death, Levi was trained by his uncle for a short time, and eventually, his uncle left him all alone.
14 Eri (My Hero Academia)
Eri is blessed with an incredible quirk that allows her to rewind everything to its previous state. As it is a very powerful ability, there were many who want to get their hands on Eri. Eri unknowingly made her father disappear, which resulted in her mother disowning her.
The girl was then taken in by her grandfather, but he was put into a coma by Chisaki. Then Chisaki used his own quirk to torture Eri on a daily basis, which left her scarred for life.
13 Lelouch VI Britannia (Code Geass)
Arguably the smartest anime character, Lelouch is the protagonist of Code Geass. After getting the Geass in his eye, Lelouch was able to cause major damage to the Kingdom of Britannia. Lelouch had built up resentment against them for a very long time.
He had to witness his own mother being assassinated, and then his young sister became disabled. Furthermore, Lelouch was abandoned by his father.
12 Ray (The Promised Neverland)
Ray is among the main characters in The Promised Neverland. Unlike the rest of the kids at Grace Field House, Ray knew about everything that was happening to the kids once they hit a specific age.
Ray grew up knowing that he and his friends would be shipped off to the demons who would eat their brains. To pile further misery on him, the one responsible for shipping all the kids to the demons was Ray's own mother.
11 Hatori Chise (The Ancient Magus' Bride)
For some time, Chise's life was good. Her father and mother cared for her, but things quickly took a bad turn. Chise's father ran away, taking her brother with him. Her mother could not handle the spirits that Chise attracted on her own.
In her fury, she tried to kill Chise, but she could not go through with it, and so she killed herself instead. Chise spent the rest of her life moving from one relative's house to another. Eventually, she decided to sell herself.
10 Edward and Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
The famous brothers from Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward and Alphonse were involved in a terrifying experiment that left both of them handicapped. The brothers had set out to revive their mother, but the experiment to revive their mother backfired horribly.
The brothers were left in a mess. Edward lost his left arm and leg; meanwhile, Alphonse Elric lost his entire body and had to be bound to steel armor. The physical trauma left deep emotional scars.
9 Kurapika (Hunter x Hunter)
One of the main protagonists from Hunter x Hunter, Kurapika joined Gon and co. during the Hunter exams. Since his introduction, his goal has been clear. He wanted to avenge his clan members who were massacred by the Phantom Troupe.
Kurapika was the only survivor of the tragedy. Each day since he has had to live knowing that murderers of his brethren walked free without any remorse. It's no wonder he seeks revenge.
8 Trafalgar Law (One Piece)
Trafalgar Law is the captain of the Heart Pirates and among the main characters of One Piece. Law made his first appearance at Sabaody Archipelago, where he fought against the Marines. With a devil fruit so strong that he can counter almost every ability, Trafalgar Law is considered a fearsome opponent.
However, Law's backstory is quite emotional. His parents and his younger sister were killed during the tragedy of Flevance, and he managed to sneak out of the country by hiding under dead bodies. Law found salvation when he met Corazon, but it didn't last long — only until Doflamingo killed Corazon.
7 Kakashi Hatake (Naruto)
Kakashi is one of the most well-known characters within the anime community. He was labeled a prodigy by his teachers, and he lived up to the expectations as he became a strong ninja with amazing techniques.
Unfortunately, Kakashi had a traumatic childhood. His mother passed away when he was still very young, and then his father committed suicide after being ostracized by the villagers. However, he didn't let the sadness overwhelm him; instead, he used it to guide others down a better path.
6 Sakata Gintoki (Gintama)
Sakata Gintoki is one of the funniest characters in the anime world, but his life wasn't always filled with love and fun. Gintoki was a war scavenger who roamed from one battlefield to another.
Gintoki's life only changed when he met Shoyo, who took a liking to him and asked Gintoki to become his student. However, Gintoki was forced to kill his master with his own hands by the Naraku. Through this deed, Gintoki became enemies with Takasugi.
5 Nico Robin (One Piece)
Labeled as the Demon Child by the World Government, Nico Robin had to struggle in order to survive the harsh world around her. She was the lone survivor of the Ohara tragedy.
Robin was deceived by her relatives, who wanted to turn her in for the rewards. She spent her entire childhood running away from one household to another. In the end, she became an adult who couldn't trust anyone — that is, until she met Luffy and company.
4 Seras Victoria (Hellsing)
One of the main characters from Hellsing, Seras Victoria was once just an ordinary human who served in the police force. On one of her missions, Seras was taken hostage, but Alucard managed to save her. After suffering a serious wound, though, Alucard turned her into a vampire.
Seras had a troubled childhood. Her father, a police officer, got into trouble during an undercover mission. When the wrong people found out about it, they killed both of Seras' parents. Not only did she see them die, but while Seras hid in the closet, the criminals violated the corpse of her mother.
3 Gaara (Naruto)
When Gaara made his first appearance in Naruto, not a single person would have believed that Gaara had such a sad past behind him. Gaara's mother died while giving birth to him, and his father turned him into the jinchuuriki of Shukaku.
Gaara was only cared for by his uncle, Yashamaru, who was later sent to kill the young boy on Rasa's orders. Throughout his life, several people tried to assassinate Gaara, which turned him into an adolescent with no regard for the lives of others.
2 Hyakkimaru (Dororo)
The life of Dororo's main character is filled with one sad moment after another. Hyakkimaru's father sacrificed his son's limbs in order to gain the favor of the demons. In exchange for losing his limbs, Hyakkimaru gained demonic powers.
Hyakkimaru's tumultuous past caused him such grief that he wasn't even able to talk. He only lived for one purpose: to gain revenge against his father for what he did to him.
1 Guts (Berserk)
There is very little competition when it comes to anime's most emotional backstory. Guts, the main character from Kentaro Miura's Berserk, has a past filled with sorrow. He was born from the corpse of his mother and was taken in by Shisu. As he grew up, Guts saw Shisu fall to the plague.
Guts' luck only got worse as Gambino sold him to another mercenary, who assaulted him. When Gambino became handicapped, he began to abuse Guts both physically and mentally. Gambino also attempted to kill Guts, but the latter managed to turn the tables and kill Gambino. The manga provides the fans with a much better picture of what Guts went through in his early life and the tragedies that he faced.