Anime is a mature medium where characters can die, and sometimes these deaths can be of a pathetic nature. Unlike kids’ animation shows, we deal with mature stories that can get gory and morbid at times.
In the list below, we will be jotting down some of the most pathetic deaths so far throughout anime history.
Popular Anime Characters Who Had Ridiculous Deaths
Yamcha (Dragon Ball Z)
What better way to kick off this list than with the king of pathetic deaths of all time? Yamcha is one of the front-line members of the Z fighters from Dragon Ball Z. He originally appeared in Dragon Ball, meeting Goku as a desert bandit.
Yamcha showed up in the Saiyan Saga really strong, standing his ground fighting against one of the saibamen. But unfortunately, he was not ready for the enemy to actually blow himself up in order to take out the opponent. Thus creating the historical Yamcha lying dead in a ditch shot.
Light Yagami (Death Note)
Death Note is definitely one of the most important anime from the 2000s, bringing the medium to mainstream popularity and across the world. It stars one of the most brilliant characters in all of anime, Light Yagami.
He was destined to become one of the greatest humans once he got his hands on the Death Note, serving his own brand of justice. But eventually, he got twisted with power and corrupted himself. As punishment, he met his demise in the most pathetic way possible.
Kurozumi Orochi (One Piece)
If we have to point a finger at one of the most annoying characters from One Piece, then it has to be Kurozumi Orochi, of the Kurozumi clan. He has to be the most despicable human being in the series, who kept on surpassing the worst things a character can do.
But Eiichiro Oda, being the genius he is, knew how to deliver a fitting end to Orochi. His death was quick and pathetic, and that’s absolutely worth it. Orochi wanted to be at the top of Wano country and watch everyone suffer.
In the end, his death was so swift that it was barely given scream time or too much dramatic after effect, before the show moved on to other important things.
Shigekiyo Yangu (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)
We have been talking about actually bad and despicable characters in anime who deserved to die anyway. But let’s switch things up and talk about the pathetic deaths of some undeserving characters, whose demise made us sad.
The one that immediately comes to mind is of Shigekiyo Yangu from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4. A young character who quickly became everyone’s favorite and befriended the cast, but was killed too soon by the antagonist Yoshikage Kira.
He was the first person to figure out that Yoshikage Kira was the serial killer, but before he could convey the news. The serial killer had acquired his new victim, Shigekiyo had to die alone and away from his friends.
Junpei Yoshino (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the most popular shounen anime in recent times. It follows a cast of sorcerers who fight to contain curses from destroying the world, and there are a lot of deaths.
Junpei was one of the characters from the early arcs of the show. A high schooler who befriends our protagonist, Yuji Itadori. He eventually succumbs to his own apathy for humans and turns to curses.
But he is met with one of the most pathetic deaths in the anime. Having been manipulated by one of the curses after the loss of his mother.
Subaru Natsuki (Re: Zero)
The isekai genre is built upon the idea of death and reincarnation, so we often find a lot of anime’s pathetic deaths in this sub-genre. So what better show to point this out than the popular Re: Zero, which was adapted from the light novel written by Tappei Nagatsuki.
It follows the adventures of Subaru Natsuki, who is transported to an alternate fantasy universe and attains the power of ‘return by death’. This allows him to rewind time after death.
This is a brilliant plot mechanic, as this leads to countless situations throughout the series where Subaru is endlessly dying. Some of these deaths are absolutely meaningless and quite frankly absurd.
Kazuma Satou (Konosuba)
We cannot leave the list with just one isekai show, so we had to put Konosuba in here, which is equally hilarious and gets a high recommendation from our side. It is another anime adapted from a light novel written by Natsume Akatsuki.
Kazuma Satou may not have a powerful protagonist who is able to rewind time before death. He still managed to squeeze in a pathetic death that haunts his character in a comedic way.
Kazuma died when he thought it was a speeding truck, but it actually turned out to be a slow-moving tractor. Our main character was too shocked to recognize the incoming vehicle, eventually wetting himself to death.
Paptimus Scirocco (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)
This is going to be one of the oldest shows on this list, and to an extent, it will be largely unknown to a lot of modern anime fans. Mobile Suit Gundam is the go-to mecha franchise when someone brings up the subgenre.
Paptimus Scirocco is one of the characters who meets his demise in the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam show. His downfall is probably one of the most pathetic out of most characters, as he gets rammed by a mobile suit, leading to a hilarious expression during his death.
This moment has been immortalized in the fandom in memes and various other jokes that still get thrown around to date.
The Brain (One Punch Man)
Just like Jujutsu Kaisen, One Punch Man is one of the new generation shounen shows that has quite a lot of traction from modern anime fans. It follows the titular hero, who is way too powerful for his foes.
This leads to some insanely hilarious one-shot kills in the anime. The most famous one being the pathetic death of The Brain at the hands of The Brawn. These were sibling supervillains who miscalculated how detached from proper planning they were.
In the end, leading to The Brawn smacking the wrong shoulder and killing his own brother. What’s funny is that One Punch Man did not even have to throw a punch to deal with The Brain.
Mecha Frieza (Dragon Ball Z)
We started this list with Dragon Ball Z, so we are also going to end it with the same anime. For a show where people get revived using the Dragon Balls, it is kind of wild to see so many deaths.
We believe that there could not have been a character who could have surpassed Yamcha in terms of how pathetic their deaths were. But here we are, Frieza got destroyed by Goku on Namek, then he wanted revenge, so he came back to Earth with his family as mecha Frieza.
But he was dunked once again, and it was not even Goku this time. It was Vegeta’s son from the future, Trunks, who shredded him into pieces before pulverizing him. Sealing the deal as one of the most pathetic ways to go out as someone who was feared in all of the galaxy.
