Due to the nature of most anime, it makes sense for a lot of its cast members to get endings fitting for their storylines. This is especially the case when it comes to anime with heavy emphasis on action, drama, and romance, where a character’s actions can greatly affect their plot’s progression. In turn, anime fans may even be able to spot foreshadowing elements in an anime that may give away a character’s possible ending - or creators may surprise fans with endings entirely outside a viewer’s expectations.
In fact, some anime characters have endings in their respective shows that viewers may feel as cheap or undeserved. This is especially the case when it comes to villains with rather rushed or skewed redemption arcs, or characters whose actions are rather devalued compared to the gravity of their influence to the story’s plot. In that regard, just which anime characters got undeserved happy endings?
8 Kayaba Akihiko (Sword Art Online)
Anyone who’s watched the first season of Sword Art Online know that Heathcliff of the heroic Knights of the Blood is actually Kayaba Akihiko, a prodigous developer who designed the NerveGear and the Cardinal System, of which others would use to create new virtual worlds. In the Sword Art Online story, Kayaba Akihiko trapped more than 10,000 players of the eponymous VRMMO with no way to log out, forcing everyone to fend off for themselves to survive.
In their confrontation, Kayaba explained to Kirito that not only did he want to create a “castle in the sky,” he wanted to see humans finally unite for a common cause. Worst of all, he actually “forgot” one of the more important reasons as to why he’s done his actions in the first place. While his final moments had him entrust Kirito with his legacy of “the Seed” that will help others create new worlds, him dying knowing that he’s actually “united mankind for a common cause” - and therefore achieving his goal - was undeserved. No matter the philosophy, trapping people in a death game for the purposes of uniting them doesn’t net a happy ending.
7 Zeref Dragneel (Fairy Tail)
While fans were eager to see Natsu Dragneel finally find his father Igneel throughout the events of Fairy Tail, he and his friends inevitably cross paths with Emperor Spriggan, the dictator-king of the Alvarez Empire. It’s revealed that Spriggan is actually Zeref Dragneel, the older brother of Natsu who, after witnessing his family die some 400 years ago, decided to research magic between life and death to find ways of reviving Natsu. After being cursed with immortality and the all-killing Curse of Contradiction, Zeref not only resurrected Natsu but secretly gave him the power of ultimately killing him and ending his misery.
It doesn’t help that his lover, Mavis, was also a victim of the Curse of Contradiction, with the curse practically ensuring they cannot truly “love” each other lest risk destruction of all things. Although a victim of circumstance, Zeref’s rule as the tyrannical Spriggan caused the creation of dark guilds who did evil in his name, all for another goal of taking over time to relive a happier life. In the final battle between himself and Natsu, Zeref and Mavis were able to reconcile their true feelings and moved onto the afterlife - which, after Zeref’s centuries’ worth of oppressing an empire, may not have been something we deserved.
6 Hiro Shishigami (Inuyashiki)
Whereas middle-aged Ichiro Inuyashiki of Inuyashiki starts using his new cybernetic body to do good deeds in secret, the shut in Hiro Shishigami, who also received a cybernetic body after being killed in the same UFO crash that also killed Ichiro, finally indulged in senseless violence he often sees villains do in manga. It’s during Hiro’s streak of killings that Ichiro decided to intervene, forming a rivalry of sorts with the remorseless teen.
Near the end of the anime, a meteor headed for a cataclysmic collision on Earth had forced Ichiro to use all his might to try and destroy it before it reached the atmosphere. After realizing that his body’s self-destruct capability could be enough to destroy the meteor, Hiro decides to sacrifice himself and give Ichiro another shot of living a life with his family. While there’s more to this event after Hiro’s untimely demise, this attempt at a “redemptive death” shouldn’t spare Hiro of any recompense for the lives he’s taken senselessly.
5 Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist)
It was during the time when the land of Amestris was trying to subjugate the smaller region of Ishval that the Ishvalan warrior monk Scar would develop hatred for the foreigners who harmed his family. This hatred would go worse when Scar’s brother, a researcher that aims to reconcile western alchemy and eastern aklahestry to unite cultures, was killed during the conflict. With his brother having transplanted his arm into an injured Scar’s, the latter gains the results of his brother’s research: a tattooed arm capable of channeling the power of deconstruction.
This newfound power allowed Scar to practically destroy anything he’s touched, as long as he understood it. At the hands of someone like Scar who grew to hate alchemy, he would use this arm to specifically kill State Alchemists, who he blamed for the destruction of Ishval. Scar would eventually be instrumental in saving the world in the latter part of the series, even becoming an ambassador of sorts between Ishval and Amestris at the end of the series. However, Scar getting away with the killings scot-free due to his contributions seemed rather unfair considering his killings, regardless of the motivation.
4 Orochimaru (Naruto)
In a world where ninjas exist and studying the nature of ninjutsu techniques is the equivalent of science, it’s no surprise that Naruto has its own version of scientists willing to explore the limits of scientific curiosity for their own ends. This comes in the form of Orochimaru, who served not only as the series’s first major antagonist, but also one of its overarching villains throughout the series. One of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru is known for his pursuit of immortality and Forbidden Jutsu, conducting experiments to suit his needs and even mentored troubled deuteragonist Sasuke for his own gain.
However, Orochimaru isn’t evil in the conventional sense. It seems he chose his path if not for the sole purpose of achieving immortality. When Sasuke decided to exert his quest for vengeance into a bid for the seat of Hokage, Orochimaru, out of sheer curiosity, decided to help in the war effort of the Fourth Great Ninja War against penultimate villain Madara Uchiha. By the time Boruto happened, Orochimaru is seen conducting experiments under the watch of Hokage Naruto, having seemingly gained the freedom to move for as long as he didn’t threaten the village. While Orochimaru may indeed become an asset in the future, his ledger remains dripping red with the blood of the people he’s killed prior.
3 Lelouch Vi Britannia (Code Geass)
Fans immediately know there won’t be a happy conclusion when Lelouch Vi Britannia of Code Geass acquired the Geass, the Power of Kings, and decided to stop at nothing to bring down the Holy Britannian Empire to give his sister “a world with no war.” Through his hypnotic Geass’s Power of Absolute Obedience, Lelouch uses this alongside his alter ego named Zero to wage a war against the world-spanning empire, creating the rebellious Order of the Black Knights and resorting to lying, cheating, and killing in the process.
As such, when the finale of the series saw now-Emperor Lelouch plotting his own assassination so “the world’s hatred” will he centered on him and leaves upon his death, this seems quite a reasonable way to end his dark legacy. Unfortunately, the sequel movie Lelouch of the Resurrection revealed Lelouch as not only alive but also donning the mantle of Zero one last time to stop a worldwide threat. Moreover, the film’s ending sees an immortal Lelouch deciding to spend the rest of his days with C.C, the girl who originally gave him his Geass. Despite Lelouch’s charm as a protagonist, having him alive ruins the overarching point of his point of no return.
2 Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Contrary to the feisty InuYasha of InuYasha, his elder brother Sesshoumaru is nothing but proud of his yokai heritage. Constantly treating his younger brother with disdain due to his half-breed nature, Sesshoumaru has a strict code of conduct he applies to everyone: death to the weak. He mercilessly kills anyone he thinks are enemies, and only deems worthy of living those he consider strong. Sesshoumaru rarely has friends, and took until around the end of the series to start realizing he had “feelings all along.”
Surprisingly enough, this cold-hearted fellow of a character actually got a whole family in the sequel series Yashahime, with his twin daughters Setsuna and Towa being close friends with Moroha, the daughter of InuYasha and Kagome. Aside from Setsuna’s penchant for killing being ignored in the sequel, it’s also questionable that that he was around 200 years old in the series when he met Rin, his future wife, at around nine (9) years old.
1 Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z)
After Raditz gave Son Goku the surprising revelation that he is actually one of the last few remaining Saiyans in the universe, the next threat to Earth immediately came in the form of Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans. Although Vegeta would inevitably become one of Earth’s staunchest defenders, he didn’t exactly begin as the nicest of heroes.
While he’s definitely tamer now, one couldn’t deny the sheer arrogance the Prince displays on most occasions. This was worse during his first introduction, mercilessly using everyone to try to get his hands on the Dragon Balls and more than wiling to kill with no visible remorse. Although some villains indeed turn out to be more merciless than Vegeta did, one would think that Vegeta still deserved more punishment for his actions even prior to the series, especially since his stint under Frieza’s rule had Vegeta kill and pillage freely.