23 Anime Characters With The Most Emotional Backstories (2024)

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 June 19, 2024, by Suzail Ahmad: Many manga creators will agree with the fact that the backstory of a character is highly significant. Over the years, fans have seen bad characters become good due to their backstories. The most famous anime series in the world have one thing in common: high-quality backstories.

The people who have worked on these titles made sure that their characters would stand out from the rest. They created characters that would appeal to the masses without compromising on any other aspect of the story. Often, the saddestanimebackstories are the ones that stand out the most.

23 Nagato Uzumaki

Nagato was among the few surviving members of the Uzumaki Clan. He lived happily with his parents, but his world was turned upside down when some ninjas killed them. Nagato was traumatized by their deaths, and he became so enraged that he avenged them by murdering the culprits.

Shortly afterward, Nagato left his house and roamed the battlefields. Eventually, he met Konan and Yahiko. After staying with them for a while, he was happy once again. However, fate had other plans for him. Yahiko killed himself right before Nagato's eyes for the sake of maintaining peace. Following his friend's death, Nagato shouldered the pressure of changing the world.

22 Escanor

Escanor was a member of the Seven Deadly Sins, a group of knights who protected Britannia from all kinds of harm. To most people, he was the epitome of pride, but those who were aware of his past knew that there was more to him.

Escanor was born as a prince of the Kingdom of Castellio. His older brother used to pick on him, which understandably made Escanor sad. But when his power awakened, he accidentally broke his brother's arm. Eventually, he was banished from his own kingdom. Wherever he went, people hated him, and they wouldn't hold back and let their opinions be known. It wasn't until Escanor joined the Seven Deadly Sins that he felt better.

21 Gyutaro and Daki

Gyutaro and Daki were the main antagonists of the Entertainment District arc. The two together formed Upper Rank Five. Gyutaro and Daki were not equal in terms of strength, and it was mainly the brother who did the heavy lifting.

Before being turned into demons, Gyutaro and Daki were humans who lived in extreme poverty. He was treated horribly by his mother, who wanted him dead at all costs. Following her death, Gyutaro was left to fend for himself and his sister. He would eat insects and mice, as he couldn't afford anything else. The other members of society frowned upon his ways, and they would abuse him at every chance they got. Like her brother, Daki also had to endure hardships at the hands of her mother and other people. At one point, she was burned alive by a samurai and left in a near-death condition.

20 Bartholomew Kuma

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Bartholomew Kuma used to be an officer in the Revolutionary Army, but he was forced to give up his role to protect Bonney. Not only did he sacrifice his ambitions, but he even gave up his consciousness for the sake of his daughter. Bartholomew Kuma agreed to be the subject of various experiments for the World Government just so Bonney would be healed.

If his adult life wasn't bad enough, in the past, Kuma was treated as a criminal. As a member of the Buccaneer race, Kuma was considered a threat to the authority of the World Government. Kuma and his parents were taken to Marijoa, where they were treated worse than animals. This led to the death of his parents. Once Kuma found another person worth living for, she was taken away from him. The next interaction between the two came during her death.

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

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

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

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

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

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 wanted 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

Arguably the smartest anime character, Lelouch is the protagonist of CodeGeass. 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

Ray is among the main characters in ThePromisedNeverland. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.