In the world of anime, there are characters of all types, from lively shonen protagonists to aloof tsunderes to characters who have some serious baggage and drama in their lives. However, not all characters wear their hearts on their sleeve. In fact, they work hard to conceal their inner troubles. No one could ever guess how much they're struggling.
RELATED: 10 Anime Characters With the Weirdest Weaknesses
Some anime characters' lives are a mess, or at least, these characters have some serious personal baggage or unresolved issues with themselves or other parties. Despite their hardships, these characters do their best to put on a falsely cheery or aloof exterior that belies the real problem. Some characters are simply in outright denial, in fact.
10 Dr. Tim Marcoh Won't Tell Anyone About His Role With Philosopher's Stones (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Dr. Tim Marcoh is an alchemist and researcher who has an enormous guilty conscience. During the gruesome Ishval Civil War, he reluctantly researched and created a number of Philosopher's Stones from live Ishvalans, and he tried to keep this fact secret from the general populace.
Dr. Marcoh is in agony inside, but he keeps it to himself. He traveled to an idyllic town and became a popular clinician there, going by "Dr. Mauro" as he healed one patient after another. Edward Elric and Alex Armstrong, though, know what he's really capable of.
9 Erina Nakiri Won't Let Anyone Know About Her Daddy Issues (Food Wars!)
Many characters in pop culture have daddy issues, such as a handful of MCU characters, and Erina Nakiri is no different. On the outside, she is the cool and aloof queen of cuisine at Totsuki, and everyone admires her or even fears her. But the reality is that she's the one who's afraid.
Erina's tyrannical father, Azami, is still haunting her, and her mother Mana isn't much better. Eventually, hero Soma Yukihira got mixed up in this family drama and taught the Nakiris that love really is the ultimate ingredient. Now Erina can be truly happy.
8 Shoto Todoroki Has Daddy Issues To Rival Erina's (My Hero Academia)
Erina isn't the only one with an overbearing father in their life. The talented Shoto Todoroki was born not out of love, but in a Quirk marriage. He is Endeavor's ultimate tool to surpass All Might, and Endeavor makes sure that Shoto doesn't have an ordinary childhood.
RELATED: 10 Anime Characters Who Would Hate Getting Isekai'd To Our World
Shoto is cool and talented on the outside, but on the inside, he is hurting a great deal, and he doesn't want to open up about it at first. Eventually, though, he does, and Izuku and the others are becoming his friend at last. Shoto can face this inner drama and overcome it at last.
7 Lin Beifong Has Family Drama, Too (The Legend Of Korra)
Lin Beifong is a metalbender, just like her legendary mother before her, but she also has some serious family drama hidden under that stern exterior. Few characters know of Lin's internal struggle, and that is no accident. To most people's eyes, Lin is simply the chief of Republic City's police, nothing more.
As Avatar Korra learned in Book Three: Change, Lin is tormented by her relationship with her half-sister Suyin and her mother Toph, and this family drama soon came to a head. Once it was resolved, Lin had that great weight lifted off her shoulders once and for all.
6 Iruma Suzuki Must Hide His Human Nature & Lack Of Powers (Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun!)
Rather than hiding personal drama, some anime characters are simply hiding a scary power, or a lack thereof. Poor Iruma Suzuki got sold by his parents to the demon Sullivan, and he is forced to attend the all-demon Babyls school. Demons eat humans like Iruma, and even the school song's lyrics reflect that terrifying fact.
RELATED: 10 Anime Characters With the Most Embarrassing Secrets
Iruma is slowly making friends, but attending Babyls is highly stressful, and he has had many close calls already. He needs a ring just to use magic and pass himself off as a demon, and he is constantly confused and overwhelmed by everything around him. His classmates, though, see a cool leader, especially Asmodeous Alice. They don't realize just how vulnerable Iruma really is.
5 Touka Kirishima Struggles To Balance Her Ghoul & Human Lives (Tokyo Ghoul)
Some ghouls fully embrace their nature, while others, such as Touka Kirishima, try to pass themselves off as human and live among humanity. Touka is having a hard time of it, though, since it's easy for her to slip up at school and give herself away. She walks a fine line.
Still, Touka values the "human" side of her life, and none of her classmates, not even her friend Yoriko, are aware of her true nature. Touka also has some personal issues revolving around her fallen father and her vicious little brother Ayato, and her high school classmates definitely don't know about any of that.
4 Takumi Usui Comes From A Complex, Multinational Family (Maid-Sama!)
On the outside, the blond Takumi Usui is the coolest guy at Seika High. He's got the good looks, good grades, athletic ability, and slick charisma to wow all the girls and earn the loyalty of all the boys. Misaki Ayuzawa thought that was the whole story, but she later learned otherwise.
RELATED: 10 Wholesome Anime Characters With the Brightest Smiles
Takumi's family is complicated, to say the least, and he is one-quarter British from the esteemed Walker family. He has some unresolved issues involving the Walkers, including his half-brother Gerald, and it'll take some slick negotiation skills to settle these matters. The perfect prince isn't so perfect after all.
3 Yuki Sohma Is Another Not-So-Perfect Prince (Fruits Basket)
Takumi Usui isn't the only pretty-boy prince who merely seems perfect on the outside. In many ways, Yuki Sohma understands what Takumi is going through, since he has serious family drama and some imposter syndrome issues that few, if any, of his classmates are aware of.
Yuki is mega-popular at school and enjoys his time with his classmates, and he works hard to hide his problems, including his ability to morph into a rat if any girls embrace him. Tohru Honda, however, is ready to help.
2 Taiga Aisaka Has A Messy & Lonely Home Life (Toradora!)
The tiny but fierce Taiga Aisaka is known as the "palm-top tiger," and she is well-respected and somewhat feared by all of her classmates. However, her home life is much more mundane and far less exciting and glamorous. In fact, she seems downright miserable.
Taiga lives all alone, and she is usually seen sprawled on her huge bed while her apartment is choked with trash and junk. She was going nowhere fast until her classmate Ryuji befriended her and helped fix things up.
1 Megumin Acts Like She's The Best Mage Of All Time (Konosuba)
The explosion witch Megumin really does have talent, but she has more issues than she will admit. This young lady stubbornly refuses to use any type of magic, and she insists that explosion magic is all she needs. Many of her temporary party members were impressed, but they were unaware of Megumin's many downsides.
Megumin needs a lot of logistical support, and her home life was rather modest and difficult at times, a fact she doesn't like to share. She claims to be the best and impresses other adventurers with her detonations, but the reality is that this kid has a long way to go in terms of magic, attitude, and more. At least she enjoys what she does.
NEXT: 10 Anime Characters Who Are Shameless Flirts
Next
10 Best Final Villains In Anime, Ranked
About The Author
Louis Kemner
(2648 Articles Published)
Louis Kemner has been a fan of Japanese animation since 1997, when he discovered Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z in elementary school. Now he's a bigger anime/manga fan than ever, and is ready to share what he knows with readers worldwide. He graduated high school in 2009 and received his Bachelor's in creative writing from UMKC in 2013, then put his skills to work in 2019 with CBR.com. He's always looking for a wonderful new anime to watch or manga series to read. You can reach him at lkemner2000@yahoo.com.
0 Comments