Of all the anime tropes to go around, Truck-Kun is one of the most notorious. It’s simply a big truck that comes out of nowhere and plows into whoever’s in the way for the plot to happen. Whenever an isekai anime needs its character to end up in another world, or a show needs a sudden, dramatic accident, Truck-Kun is there to provide its service. It is to anime what falling from high places is to Disney villains.
Most people probably think Truck-Kun is a recent thing. That it’s only been around since the isekai boom. But it’s a much older trope than that, as this list of victims will show. Here are some anime characters that were on Truck-Kun’s hit-list.
8 Rudeus Greyrat, Mushoku Tensei
Before Rudeus Greyrat was a magician-in-training in fantasy land, he was an anonymous, jobless, and hopeless dork in the real world. Following the death of his parents, he’s evicted from his home and thrown out on the streets. With no prospects left, he decides life isn’t worth living.
Then a speeding truck comes around the corner and heads towards a group of teenagers. He decides to do at least one worthwhile thing in his life and pulls a teen out of the way, taking the brunt of Truck-Kun himself. After that, he finds himself as a baby in a new world with all his old memories. Rudeus gains his new name, new skills, and a will not to end up like his previous life.
7 Kazuma Satō, KonoSuba
Most victims of Truck-Kun tend to be attacked by it directly. Kazuma Satō is unique in that he’s one of the few to be killed by the idea of Truck-Kun. After having his heart broken in middle school, Satō became a shut-in, only going out to get new video games. It was on one such shopping trip that he daringly saved a classmate from a speeding truck and ended up in the afterlife.
Except that’s not quite what happened. What he thought was a truck was actually a tractor moving at a snail’s pace. It wouldn’t have hit his classmate, and it didn’t hit him. He died from the stress his misconception caused. If only he looked twice. Then he wouldn’t have ended up in his fantasy MMORPG world with a party of magic anime girls. Can’t say things didn’t work out for him though.
6 Sakura Minamoto, Zombie Land Saga
With a name like that, the show would either have to be about people fighting zombies, or about the zombies themselves. MAPPA went with the latter, as it follows seven women from across history being brought back from the dead to save Saga Prefecture from ruin both economically and literally. Which they’d do by forming an idol group. Because that’s the obvious thing to do.
They’re a diverse range of girls too: 90s biker Saki, 19th Century courtesan Yugiri, and more. But it’s main girl Sakura whose fate was sealed by Truck-Kun. Following a lifetime of bad luck, she was finally about to hit it big by becoming an idol in 2008. Then, on the day she was going to hand in her application, she was hit by a truck. At least she got to achieve in death what she wasn’t able to in life.
5 Jibanyan, Yo-Kai Watch
Not even shows for young kids are safe from high-speed HGVs. Though it’s probably expected here considering Yo-Kai Watch is based on Japanese ghouls, ghosts, and other spooks. Still, Jibanyan’s cute, happy design is a world away from the harsh horrors of Watership Down or The Animals of Farthing Wood.
But before he became a Yo-Kai, Jibanyan was a little cat called Rudy, who was owned by a girl called Amy. However, Rudy fell victim to a truck at an intersection. As he lay dying, he thought he heard Amy express disappointment in how easily he fell to the truck. So now, as Jibanyan, he tries to make it up to her by avenging his fate against any truck at any intersection.
4 Gintoki And Hijikata, Gintama
Gintama does have character motivations, world building, and plot stuff like that. But the show is just as notable for its gags about manga, anime, and their production in general. Gintama has joked about the necessity for filler episodes, how Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure creator Hirohiko Araki doesn’t age, and messed around with their own intro.
So, why not bring up Truck-Kun? In Episode 287, He’s the Sweet Tooth and I’m the Mayo Guy, lead character Gintoki bumps into his rival Hijikata in the middle of the road. Clearly, they were tempting fate as a truck comes by and hits both of them. For an additional bingo point, the impact causes the two to swap bodies Freaky Friday-style. So, Gintoki’s soul ends up in Hijikata’s body and vice-versa for the next two episodes.
3 Takuo Shibuimaru, Death Note
More often than not, Truck-Kun is its own force. It doesn’t follow anyone’s commands; it just inexplicably turns up to get the plot going. Death Note changed that up when Light Yagami learned just how powerful his new notebook really was. The book claims it can kill whoever the owner likes, so long as they know their victim’s name and face.
When Light sees some bikers harassing a woman, he decides to test those claims by scribbling the leader’s name in the book and listing the cause of death as a traffic accident. 40 seconds later, and Truck-Kun comes to do his master’s bidding. Takuo is killed, and Light goes on to become the notorious ‘Kira’.
2 Minky Momo, Magical Princess Minky Momo
Minky Momo is perhaps the most infamous victim of Truck-Kun, as her fate ended up creating an urban legend. As an early magical girl show, Magical Princess Minky Momo was as sugary sweet as anyone would expect. However, when the show’s toy sponsor pulled out from the program, writer Takeshi Shudo decided to bluntly voice his disapproval with episode 46.
In retaliation for the toy company killing the show, the episode had Minky Momo herself getting killed by a toy truck. That would’ve been grim enough, but Japan was then struck by 4 earthquakes on the day it was broadcast. Then by another earthquake on its repeat viewing, and then by the Great Hanshin Earthquake on its repeat in 1995. It’s likely a coincidence, given how common quakes are in Japan. Yet the ‘Curse of Minky Momo’ has lived on ever since.
1 Tobio Tenma, Astro Boy
Osamu Tezuka didn’t invent anime, but his influence can be found in nearly every show going today. His most famous creation is perhaps Astro Boy, where a robot boy helps defend the world against one threat or another. Though he wouldn’t have jetted anywhere if Truck-Kun didn’t appear. If this isn’t the first instance of the trope, it’s certainly one of the earliest.
Astro Boy’s basis was Tobio, the son of scientist Dr Tenma. He was driving his father’s car when he was struck by a speeding truck. Grief-stricken, Dr Tenma tried to recreate him as a robot, then abandoned the result as a circus when it didn’t reach his standards. Dr Ochanomizu took the robot in and became a kindlier father figure. So, 60+ decades worth of robot anime, films, and video games were all due to Truck-Kun.