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Uncover 7 saddest anime backstories that reveal how tragedy shapes characters, exploring deep emotional journeys that make fans shed tears.
Anime’s unique way of framing a character’s past experiences deeply moves fans. Typically, audiences develop an emotional connection with anime backstories as they go beyond mere character-building. The stories mentioned below are heartbreaking and carry significant emotional weight.
Anime backstories laced with tragedy impact the characters’ growth and decision-making throughout their respective series. From childhood traumas to the devastating loss of family members or loved ones, they remind us that even in the fictional world, human suffering is never-ending.
In this article, we will dive into the seven saddest anime backstories involving sacrifice, loss, and unimaginable hardships.
7 Saddest Anime Backstories
1. Guts (Berserk) – Born Under a Dark Star
Very few anime backstories are as gut-wrenching as Guts’ origin story in Berserk. His life began in the shadow of death. He was discovered as an infant by a group of mercenaries beneath his mother’s hanged corpse. Young Guts never knew parental love, as he was raised by his adoptive father, Gambino, in a mercenary band.
Guts was forced to become a child soldier, fighting and killing on the battlefield even before he could fully understand the concept of death. The closest thing he had to a father was Gambino, but even he betrayed Guts’ trust when he sold him to another soldier. That marked the peak of his childhood horrors.
When Guts finally finds happiness and bonds with the Band of the Hawk, fate once again proves its cruel nature. His closest friend, Griffith, betrays him, and Guts is forced to witness the brutal massacre of his comrades during the Eclipse. At the same time, the assault on Casca, the woman he loves, shatters him completely.
These tragic events did not just shape Guts’ character—they forged him in fire and blood.
2. Edward and Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) – The Price of Love
The Elric brothers start out having a happy childhood, but things take a tragic turn. After Edward and Alphonse lose their mother, they make a desperate choice to bring her back, which changes their lives forever.
The brothers attempt the ultimate sin in alchemy—human transmutation. Their attempt to bring her back fails horribly. In the process, Edward loses his leg and his arm, while Alphonse loses his entire body. However, Ed manages to save his brother by binding Al’s soul to a suit of armor. Both of them pay a horrible price.
The pure intention behind their action makes their backstory particularly heartbreaking. They were just children who wanted their mother back. Instead of reviving her, they created a monster that died in front of them and lost more in the process. This event forced them to grow up too quickly and led them on a difficult journey to restore their bodies.
3. Koro Sensei (Assassination Classroom) – From Darkness to Light
The yellow octopus teacher, Koro Sensei, had a past marked by pain and betrayal. Before becoming a lovable teacher, he was the world’s greatest assassin, “The Reaper,” living a life of isolation and death.
When he was captured, scientists used him as a lab rat for cruel experiments, injecting him with tentacle cells that turned him into a superhuman creature. Amid all the hardship, a kind teacher named Aguri became his light-bearer. However, tragedy struck when Aguri died while trying to save him during his lab escape. Her last moments inspired him to become a teacher, and he promised to teach her students, knowing he would live less than a year due to the experiments.
Even with his limited time, he found purpose in teaching and caring for others, despite the students trying to kill him.
4. Akame (Akame ga Kill) – Betrayal From the Beginning
Akame faced betrayal early in her life. Her own parents sold her and her younger sister Kurome to the Empire, showing how little value was placed on her life from the beginning.
After being sold, the Empire forced her into brutal assassination training, where she had to kill or be killed. Even though she learned to trust no one, she tried to form a bond with her friend Martha, which ended in betrayal when Martha attempted to kill her the moment she let her guard down.
Due to the harsh training, Akame became cold and distant, unable to live like a normal girl. For her, every day was about survival, and every relationship could end in death.
With all the pain, she still has a loving heart deep inside and cares deeply for her comrades. She fights to protect others to prevent more children from suffering her fate.
5. Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado (Demon Slayer) – Shattered Family’s Bond
The Kamado siblings’ backstory is one of the saddest, showcasing how quickly happiness can give way to tragedy. The Kamado family lived a peaceful life in the mountains, poor but content with their simple existence. However, one day, when Tanjiro returns home from selling charcoal, he finds his entire family massacred by a demon. He loses his father, siblings, and mother. Only his sister, Nezuko, survives, but she has been turned into a demon herself. Their peaceful world is shattered beyond repair.
Tanjiro desperately fights to save the only family he has left. Carrying Nezuko on his back through a snowstorm, he runs for hours to find help. Despite her transformation, his determination to protect her shows the strength of their family bond. Together, they embark on a dual journey—a quest for revenge and a mission to restore Nezuko’s humanity.
6. Ash Lynx (Banana Fish) – Lost Innocence in a Cruel World
Perhaps Ash Lynx’s story is one of the most disturbing backstories ever told in anime. His innocence was stolen at the age of seven when he was kidnapped and sold into a world of abuse and exploitation.
From a very young age, Ash was forced to become strong to protect himself and survive in the dark underworld. He learned to shoot, fight, and outsmart his enemies while still a child. His father abandoned him, choosing to ignore his son’s suffering rather than confront the harsh reality.
The trauma of his childhood never left him, even as he rose to become a gang leader in New York City. Those who hurt him in the past still pursued him, and new enemies sought to control him for his power and intelligence. His life became an endless cycle of violence and survival.
7. Violet Evergarden (Violet Evergarden) – A Child Known Only as a Weapon
Violet Evergarden’s backstory portrays the cruelties of war. Her origin was unknown; she was found as a young girl and trained to be nothing more than a living weapon. She never knew love or even basic human emotion—just like a doll.
The military used her as a tool for war, depriving her of any sense of feeling. To Violet, life was all about following orders. Her only connection to humanity came through Major Gilbert Bougainvillea, who treated her with kindness for the first time in her life.
During a battle, Violet lost both her arms and, more devastatingly, Gilbert. His last words to her were “I love you,” but she could not comprehend their meaning. This moment of loss haunted her throughout the series as she struggled to understand what those words truly meant.
Her journey to learn and connect with human emotions from absolute zero makes her past even more sad.
Conclusion
These seven saddest anime backstories show how traumatic experiences shape characters. From Guts’ tragic childhood to Violet’s journey of understanding human emotions, these backstories highlight the human capacity to overcome suffering.
Beyond this list, there are countless other heart-wrenching anime backstories—such as Spike Spiegel’s past in Cowboy Bebop, Lelouch vi Britannia’s tragedy in Code Geass, or Trafalgar Law’s emotional journey in One Piece. These stories remind fans that even in fictional worlds, growth often emerges from the most painful experiences.
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