The Bounty Hunter is a complex character, living in a morally grey world where criminal activities like killing or kidnapping are just part of the daily work schedule. Some are inherently good, compassionate rogues with hearts of gold, but others are set up as the main antagonists, willing to stop at nothing to kill or capture their bounty.
Anime is famous for its complicated stories and character arcs, and there are quite a few series and movies that follow the exploits of a whole gang of bounty hunters as opposed to just one or two. Many of them have become iconic figures in the anime lexicon, and here's where you can find them.
6 D, Vampire Hunter D
There are two movies that feature this character, and both of them are cult classics that mix fantasy, horror, and science fiction. Vampire Hunter D was the adaptation of the novel series that Hideyuki Kikuchi started writing in 1983, and the character appeared on the big screen again in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.
In the first movie, the character known only by the initial D is hired by Doris to protect her from a local vampire lord known as the Noble, who has bitten her and now claims her as his bride. In Bloodlust there's another team of bounty hunters that are competing with D to rescue a kidnapped noblewoman from a similar fate.
5 June, Avatar: The Last Airbender
June makes a couple of brief but memorable appearances throughout the series. In Book One: Water she's working for Zuko to help him find the Avatar. They meet when her shirshu Nyla finds a stowaway on his boat, and Zuko isn't only impressed but inspired. He still had Katara's necklace so they could use the scent to track her and also the Avatar.
The second time June appears, it's on the side of our heroes, and at first they want her to find Aang. It's June that informs them that the Avatar is "gone" and that Nyla won't be able to find him. This was when Aang was on a trip with the Lion Turtle and was beyond their reach. Instead, the gang uses an old sandal to help them find Uncle Iroh and the Order of the White Lotus.
4 Gon Freecss, Hunter X Hunter
Gon is the protagonist of this series and a skilled bounty hunter in his own right, and part of the overall story of the show is the search for his father Ging, who was in the same profession. Ging didn't spend a lot of time at home, and part of Gon's motivation to become a hunter is to discover what kept dad away so often. The story here is about learning about and becoming a bounty hunter as much as being one.
The series begins with Gon uncovering his family's past and the quest to obtain a Hunter's Licence, which is an adventure on its own. This requires a perilous seafaring journey and the exam isn't an academic one but a brutal test of survival.
3 Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop
Probably the most iconic bounty hunter in anime history, Spike Spiegel isn't just a badass himself. He also leads a team of people that have taken a similar path in life, and although their motives vary, all of them are bounty hunters.
Each member of the group has their own history, but Spike has one of the most dramatic and shocking, and it comes back to haunt him. Spike's talents as a bounty hunter came from his time as a member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate, and initially, he thinks that he's out after faking his death. The work he does chasing and catching lawbreakers across the galaxy isn't enough to clean the slate, and Vicious catches up to him eventually.
2 Rebecca Lee (Revy), Black Lagoon
Aside from Revy, she's also known as "Two Hands" because she's either wielding two handguns or some kind of oversize weapon that requires both hands to operate. She's a stubborn nihilist, which is similar to having a Chaotic Neutral alignment from a D&D point of view, which partly explains her motivation for taking on the profession of a bounty hunter.
There are several interesting characters in Back Lagoon, all of them representing some kind of criminal element, but Revy stands out because of her rude, outspoken demeanor along with being the most aggressive of the group and the leader of The Lagoon Company.
1 Jigo, Princess Mononoke
An unconventional bounty hunter, but one nonetheless, and one of the most ruthless and skilled on the list. That's because Jigo isn't just a bounty hunter. He's also a spy, an assassin, and a tracker. His bounty in this movie is an ambitious one; the Emperor himself has sent the self-identified Monk to kill a god and capture its head. A tall order, and one that Jigo doesn't seem to find strange in the least.
Jigo is one of the antagonists in this story, but he appears as an ally to Ashitaka at first, helping him in a market when the young man only had gold to use as payment. The next time he appears, he's in Irontown, refining the details of his hunt with the ambitious Lady Eboshi, and it becomes clear what his profession really is.