Top 10 Anime Characters Who Returned Just To Die

#10: Grand Fisher

“Bleach” (2004-12)
While the idea of having Ichigo’s father reveal himself as a powerful Shinigami and avenge his wife by killing the monster that murdered her sounds all kinds of awesome on paper, the fact they brought back an already overshadowed villain who gets instantly slaughtered just further emphasised just how…sub-par this guy really was. Even after he went out of his way to convert himself into an Arrancar, it didn’t take Isshin more than one slice to take out the hulking Hollow.

#9: Hayato Kobayashi

“Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam” (1986-87)
And yet another member of the OG Gundam cast bites the space dust. While we shed no tears for his annoying bastard son Katz, Hayato was a swell guy, one who not only piloted the White Base but would return to the war several years on to aid his friend Amuro against the Titans. Which is why it kind of sucks that in the third entry in the Universal Century saga, he got taken out while trying to protect the new protagonist on the block. Maybe its karma for marrying Fraw?

#8: Oda Nobunaga

“Sengoku Basara: The Last Party” (2011)
The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven certainly made an impression with his bombastic debut in this outrageous action series, complete with a shotgun and his own personal thunderstorm. It took the combined might of two equally eccentric swordsmen with DBZ power levels in order take him out, so you can imagine there was a lot of hype going into this movie knowing that the legendary warlord was going to be making his undead return. Too bad he got offed again shortly after…

#7: Frieza

“Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn” (1995)
Wow, all we can say is that it’s a good job Super did this classic DB villain justice, because between this and his other one-shot death in GT, Frieza got monumentally shit on! Bad enough that such an iconic character was dispatched in such a throwaway manner while Goku was fending off Janemba, but for it to be Gohan? We don’t care if Frieza came back without training, getting taken out so easily by the drastically less powerful adult Gohan was just another reason he needed a comeback.

#6: Pokkle

“Hunter x Hunter” (2011-14)
Remember this poor bastard? He may have graduated from the Hunter Exam, but its fair to say he was one of if not the weakest of the bunch, bow and all! After he got his licence, we doubted we would ever see him again, but he did indeed make quite the return…right into the jaws of death courtesy of Pitou. We doubt he would be able to hold his own against some of the stronger Chimera Ants, so to be found by a Royal Guard, who then proceeds to literally prob his brain for information, is just terrible, terrible luck.

#5: Piximon

“Digimon Adventure” (1999-2000)
Starting off as nothing more than a puffball that helped train the Digidestined through the art of household chores, Pixiemon was a weird and wacky data packet that nonetheless became quite endearing. Not to mention he was shown to be able to wipe higher level Digimon with ease. Surely this will be a character that was in it for the long run when he returned and would assist Tai and the others through thick and thin. Nope. Turns out the Dark Masters shut that down real quick!

#4: Kaworu

“Rebuild of Evangelion” (2007-)
You bet we’re totally on the bandwagon that the Rebuild-verse is Anno’s crazy attempt at a sequel disguised as a reboot! And if that’s the case, the tragic truth is that Kaworu has lost his life twice over, and in some pretty gnarly ways. Once again descending from the heavens like an Angel, the legendary husbando partnered up with Shinji as a means of trying to undo the damage caused by Third Impact, only for things to naturally go sideways and result in Kaworu getting his head blown off via an explosive collar. Guess their ship is destined to never sail.

#3: Avdol

“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” (2013-14)
Seeing this Stand User take a bullet to the head was painful, since all throughout their journey to Egypt, Avdol had served as the wise mentor type who was always there to lend a hand, or in some cases a flaming talon, to Jotaro and the rest. So for him to return with nothing more that a deep scar to the head was surprising but very welcome! The gang was complete again! Nothing could stop them from taking down Dio! Except for Vanilla Ice and his flying void ball of death, who tore through poor Avdol mere minutes after they had infiltrated Dio’s stronghold.

#2: Konan

“Naruto Shippuden” (2007-17)
In life and death, this paper doll dedicated herself to the will of Pain, to the point where she was willing to kill her former employer in order to safeguard her beloved’s body from being desecrated. While her exploding paper certainly put Obito through his paces, the long serving member of the Akatsuki was killed off like all the rest, leaving her masked murder free to snatch the Rinnegan for himself. So, how’s that whole bridge to peace thing working out for you Konan?

#1: Sephiroth

“Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children” (2005)
Say what you will about this movie, the return of the One Winged Angel was still a high point. After all, this was one of the franchise’s most infamous villains, now fully animated, fully voiced, and ready to remind the world while after all this time he was something to be feared. Might have helped his case if he did something more than slice up a few buildings and bantered with Cloud before getting staked down by a big ol Omnislash.