While some anime characters dream of becoming the strongest, others would give anything they have to relinquish the powers that set them apart. In these cases, the character’s power becomes a source of despair, pain, fear, or simply comes at too high a cost. While most may see having any type of power as a blessing, some anime characters prove the exact opposite.
Over time, these characters have grown to hate their power, even though they often make them one of the strongest beings in their respective universe. While their hatred typically stems from different reasons, all of these anime characters would do anything to live a normal life, unburdened by the curse of their own abilities.
Homura Akemi
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Homura Akemi is a major character in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a dark fantasy series that explores the true cost behind becoming a magical girl. By the end of the main series, it’s revealed that Homura was a shy hospital patient who wished to become strong enough to protect Madoka Kaname, giving her the power to stop time and turn back the clock to alter events.
However, timeline after timeline, Homura’s power becomes a source of immense suffering and pain rather than the key to protecting those she loves. Every failed attempt forces her to rewatch Madoka’s death, and every reversal leaves her as the only person left who remembers everything. Due to her power, she becomes trapped in a seemingly never-ending cycle of failure and isolation.
Subaru Natsuki
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Re:Zero follows Subaru Natsuki as he suddenly finds himself transported into an entirely different world. Soon after his arrival, Subaru comes to learn that he has a unique ability called Return by Death, allowing him to go back to a set point in time whenever he dies to redo the events leading up to it.
While this power grants Subaru endless redoes and practically guarantees his victory, it also subjects him to repeated physical agony and psychological trauma. For Subaru, every failure means having to suffer another death, often while watching those he cares about suffer or die before he does. Paired with the fact that he can’t talk about his ability to others, Subaru’s power forces him to experience a constant cycle of suffering and desperation.
Zeno is the Yellow Dragon in Yona of the Dawn and the final Dragon Warrior to join the heroine’s party. While Zeno outwardly appears to be a cheerful young man, in reality, he is over 2,000 years old. His power is immortality, regeneration, impenetrable scales, enhanced strength, and the ability to control even severed body parts.
Unlike the other Dragon Warriors, Zeno’s powers are never passed down due to his agelessness, and that has become a curse itself. Unable to age and die, Zeno has lived centuries, facing agonizing loneliness and loss throughout his long life. As for his regeneration, he must endure horrific injuries before he can heal and generate impenetrable dragon scales, making his powers a double-edged sword.
Zeref Dragneel
Zeref Dragneel is the central antagonist of Fairy Tail and the older brother of the series hero, Natsu Dragneel. He was once a gifted young mage, but became immortal after studying forbidden magic in an attempt to resurrect his dead brother. As a punishment, he was afflicted with the Curse of Contradiction, which grants him immense magical power while making him a harbinger of death.
What makes Zeref’s curse especially cruel is that his destructive aura intensifies whenever he values human life and weakens when he ignores it. His affections alone can kill those around him, making attachments nearly impossible and forcing him to live for centuries, completely isolated and burdened by guilt. Zeref eventually becomes desperate to escape his immortality, driving him to search for a way to finally die.
C.C. is a major character in Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. She’s first introduced as a mysterious woman who grants the titular character the power of Geass, allowing him to take on the Britannian Empire. C.C. possesses the Code, making her ageless and immortal. By using her power to grant others the power of Geass, she hopes that one of them could take her Code, allowing her to finally die.
Having lived for centuries, she’s endured repeated loss, with countless experiences leaving her both physically and emotionally isolated. Even her original Geass, which forced others to love her, prevented genuine human connections. Her wish to die is proof of how deeply she resents her long existence.
Yukio Okumura
Yukio Okumura is the younger twin brother of Rin and was trained to become an exorcist from a young age in Blue Exorcist. Despite being born as the son of Satan, Yukio initially seems to lack demonic abilities, unlike his brother. However, in time, Yukio’s latent demonic power comes to the surface and completely upends his life and identity.
Yukio has always hated demons and feared inheriting Satan’s blue flames. More than that, he feared losing control and falling into a rampage, harming the people he had sworn to protect. When Yukio discovers that his powers are manifesting and there’s little he can do to prevent it, he spirals into an immense personal crisis.
Naofumi Iwatani
Naofumi Iwatani is one of four heroes who were summoned from modern-day Japan to a fantastical world to serve as one of the four legendary heroes in The Rising of the Shield Hero. As the Shield Hero, Naofumi is initially looked down upon, but he soon finds a way to make use of his shield, earning extraordinary defensive abilities and powerful curse-based forms.
However, when he was first summoned and made to be the Shield Hero, he faced immense isolation, humiliation, and bore the brunt of the kingdom’s prejudice and hostility. When he unlocks his curse series, he finds that he loses his self-control and could harm those closest to him while he’s lost in his Shield’s wrath, giving him yet another obstacle to overcome.
Ken Kaneki
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Tokyo Ghoul centers around Ken Kaneki, an ordinary college student whose life completely changes following a near-fatal attack and accident involving the ghoul Rize Kamishiro. In order to save his life, doctors implant Rize’s organs into Kaneki, transforming him into an artificial one-eyed ghoul.
While this grants him several unique abilities, it comes at the cost of his humanity and forces him to consume flesh to survive. He struggles with his new reality, and after major physical traumas, he came to associate his ghoul powers with torture and violence, as well as fear of being a monster himself.
Saiki Kusuo
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Saiki Kusuo is the main and titular character of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. He is born with abilities ranging from telepathy and telekinesis to teleportation, time manipulation, and even the power to alter reality itself. His psychic power and potential are so great that he relies on special limiters to keep it under control.
Even though he’s the strongest being in his universe, he wants nothing more than to live an uneventful, ordinary life. To Saiki, the fact that he has such power is a massive inconvenience, as he’s constantly exposed to the thoughts of those around him and responsible for quietly preventing disasters and protecting his friends, all while ensuring that he doesn’t lose control of his power.
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Saitama is the protagonist of One-Punch Man and a man who becomes so powerful that he can defeat any opponent who comes his way in a single blow. He’s gifted with extraordinary strength, speed, and durability, making him practically invincible and the greatest hero in the world. However, rather than viewing his power as a gift, Saitama views it as a source of disappointment and boredom.
After Saitama reaches the pinnacle of power, he finds that it’s rather empty at the top. With no opponent capable of providing a genuine challenge, battles have lost their vigor and life has grown increasingly monotonous. Beyond that, his immense power has left him isolated from other heroes, as he can’t share the thrill of struggle or find fulfillment in victory, making his rise to the top a joyless experience.
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