Top 10 Times Anime Pacifists Were Forced To Kill
For this list, we'll be looking at the moments in anime where characters who abhor murder were pushed beyond the brink and ended up dealing out death themselves!
#10: Kirito
“Sword Art Online” (2012)
Look, he let Oberon live, that has to count for something! While slicing monsters apart comes with the territory of being trapped in a virtual reality video game, killing off other players is an entirely different matter. Given how powerful he is, Kirito could easily slay any who crossed his path, but due to his status as an all around nice guy, he’s not really down with it…unless you happen to be a member of Laughing Coffin. The red guild is known far and wide for infiltrating and murdering other players, and unfortunately made the mistake of messing with Asuna. You don’t nearly assassinate a lead’s girl and expect to live to tell the tale.
#9: Akira Fudo
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“Devilman Crybaby” (2018)
Life isn’t easy when you’re a demonic hybrid. Fuelled by his newfound rage and debaucheries, Akira was more than happy to slaughter his way through the hellish hordes plaguing his city, at least until he started to spare them in order to save his own soul. Then Ryo happened. After he plunged humanity into chaos, Akira pretty much snapped and ended up declaring a war on hell itself, leading to quite the high body count on the way to slay Satan himself. Just look a what he did to Koda.
#8: Yang Wen-li
“Legend of the Galactic Heroes” (1988-97)
If he had it his way, Yang would probably just be happy spending his days watching clouds go by, playing chess, and never lifting a finger towards another person in violence. Unfortunately for him, he just so happens to be the greatest strategic mind the Free Planets Alliance has at its disposal, and as such is responsible for securing their victory in order to spare as many lives as possible from the wrath of the Galactic Empire. Tragically, his brilliant mind and drive for peace have led to the death of tens of millions on both sides.
#7: Masaru Kato
“Gantz” (2004)
It’s hard to be the paragon of the group when you’ve been killed, brought back from the dead and forced to hunt down killer aliens, so it’s no wonder that Kato has had…lapses over the course of his servitude to the intergalactic black ball. He’s certainly showed his violent side when he confronted societies worse, and with his life on the line, he’s not above blasting the heads off transforming freaks from outer space. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of his pacifism bear hug!
#6: Andromeda Shun
“Saint Seiya” (1986-89)
While most of the characters in this show are the furthest thing from peaceful, this particular Bronze Saint is as merciful and loving as they come. To an extent. Sure, he tends to stop after every other attack to politely ask his opponent to stop so he won't be forced to hurt them, but he also has one hell of a bone to pick with Pisces Aphrodite, considering he killed his master. Even after giving the Gold Saint numerous opportunities to repent, his nemesis just pushed the cosmic envelop too far.
#5: Euphemia li Britannia
“Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion” (2006-08)
For all intents and purposes, this princess’s vision of a united Britannian Empire was pure and true. She tried so hard for peace that she even managed to win the hearts of the Japanese population, earning herself the chance to close the division between both peoples…and then she whipped out a gun and started slaughtering any Elevens who crossed her sights. As horrific as this is, it isn’t her fault, since Lelouch was foolish enough to make a throwaway comment to her about murdering the masses while his Geass was still intact.
#4: Kira Yamato
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“Mobile Suit Gundam SEED” (2002-03)
You can’t earn yourself the nickname of the Jesus of the Gundam franchise without having a conscious. Don’t get us wrong, Kira has reigned down hellfire across SEED and Destiny, but only as a last resort, going as far as to purposefully using his beam saber to disable Mobile Suits instead of skewering them. This doesn’t apply to the likes of Raww La Kleuze however, since in order to end the bitter battle between ZAFT and the home team, he had to unleash the full force of the Freedom Gundam. No prisoners.
#3: Odasaku
“Bungo Stray Dogs” (2016-19)
It takes a lot to make a good man with a resolute aversion to killing go on the warpath, but blowing up the orphan children in his care? That will do it alright. After losing the one good thing in his life, Odasaku signs his own death warrant in order to get his revenge, killing his way through Gide and his soldiers of fortune with headshots aplenty, all leading to a bullet storm of a final fight. His choice to throw himself to the dogs out of a need for vengeance may have ended him, but at the very least he was able to save Dazai’s soul in the process.
#2: Gohan
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“Dragon Ball Z” (1989-96)
One of the series’ most powerful scenes, Gohan’s transformation into a Super Saiyan 2 wasn’t only visually striking but a shining moment for the young warrior’s character arc. After so many years of holding onto his pacifistic beliefs, Cell’s abject cruelty and Android 16’s dying words finally pushed him over the edge, accepting that fighting and killing such a monster for the sake of peace was not a sin. And boy does he accept this new mentality in a heartbeat, evident from when he massacred the Cell Jrs in record time, before ultimately putting an end to the Perfect Android.
#1: Vash the Stampede
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“Trigun” (1998)
From the triumphant to the tragic, there have been very few villains who have managed to mentally shatter the likes of their heroic counterpart, but then again few can measure up to Legato Bluesummers, whose sadistic genius was so great that he managed to claim victory over Vash by making him abandon his principles and shoot him in the head, the aftermath of which pretty much broke the spirit of the Sixty Billion Double Dollar Man. Legato’s corpse may be food for the buzzards, but his legacy as the man who got Vash to pull the trigger lives on.
