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Everyone reacts to a loss differently. Some take it in stride and swear to do better next time, while others understandably fall into a depressive state. Some anime heroes, on the other hand, chose the third option and just gave up.
This doesn’t make them bad people and, instead, only makes them more complex and sympathetic. While some heroes eventually come back from this painful experience, this is sadly the start of a tragedy for others.
10 Pokémon: The Series — Ash Ketchum Couldn’t Believe His Disqualification
After a long journey, Ash finally qualified for the Indigo League and made it to the finals. Unfortunately for Ash, his dreams of becoming Pokémon Master took an unexpected setback when he lost the final match with Ritchie by default because Ash’s Charizard refused to fight. Ash seemed to take the loss well, but the painful truth eventually surfaced.
Following this loss, Ash spent days doing nothing in his room, depressed and thinking about what went wrong. Despite his friends’ best efforts, Ash wouldn’t budge and blamed himself for everything. After teaming up with Ritchie to defeat Team Rocket and having a deep heart-to-heart conversation, Ash got back on his feet to chase his dreams again.
9 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters — Yugi Muto Lost The Will To Game After Seeing Yami’s Dark Side
As the King of Games, Yami Yugi takes gaming way too seriously. Case in point, he was willing to defeat Seto Kaiba in children’s card games even if it meant killing him. Here, Seto threatened to throw himself off of the castle’s tower if Yami beat him. This wager excited Yami, but mortified everyone else, especially his host body, Yugi Muto.
Yugi stopped Yami from indirectly killing Seto, which resulted in deducted star chips and a demoralizing loss. Because of this, Yugi was now ineligible for the finals. Mai Valentine offered to give some extra stars to Yugi, but he refused because of his self-pity. It was only when Téa Gardner dueled Mai for said stars that Yugi’s confidence returned.
8 Dragon Ball Z — Vegeta Was Paralyzed By His Fear Of Broly
Of the Saiyans, Vegeta is easily the most hot-blooded and eager for a fight. In fact, he dedicated the first years of his resurrection to beating up Son Goku. That all changed in Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, where Broly struck so much terror in the proud Saiyan prince that he lost the will to fight.
When Broly demolished Goku, Trunks, and Gohan, Vegeta realized just how impossibly powerful the Legendary Super Saiyan was, and he lost his signature arrogance and courage on the spot. Vegeta eventually got back in the fight and helped Goku beat Broly, but it took Piccolo scolding him and literally dragging him by the hair before that point.
7 Attack On Titan — Armin Arlert Was Traumatized By Eren’s “Death”
During the Colossus Titan’s second attack, Eren, Armin and Mikasa were forced to face the horrors of war sooner than they hoped. Specifically, Armin saw his childhood friend Eren get devoured by a Titan after Eren took his place in said Titan’s jaws. Armin barely survived his first mission, but he was beyond traumatized.
Not helping was Armin seeing Hannah, also a member of the 104th Training Corps, desperately trying to resuscitate what remained of Franz’s upper body. Before he and everyone else discovered that Eren was a Titan Shifter who was still alive, Armin fell into a shellshocked state that Connie and Mikasa had to help him out of.
6 One Piece — Monkey D. Luffy Momentarily Stopped His Quest After Ace’s Death
Because of a string of amazing underdog victories, Luffy thought saving his brother Ace D. Portgas from execution would be easy, even without the Straw Hats. Unfortunately, Luffy was dead wrong. Not only did his failures at Impel Down and Marineford lead to Ace’s death, but it also weakened the pirates in their fight against the World Government.
Two weeks later, Luffy woke up from his coma and broke down upon remembering Ace’s demise. Just before he gave up on his dreams of becoming Pirate King, Jinbe reminded Luffy that he still had his friends. Luffy then temporarily halted his dream of becoming Pirate King to train like he never did before, leading to the two-year time skip.
5 Paranoia Agent — Keiichi Ikari Escaped Into His Nostalgia After Getting Fired
When Keiichi became a cop, all he wanted to do was catch bad guys and keep people safe, not chase demented psychopaths. His latest case was the straw that broke the camel’s proverbial back, as the hunt for the ominous Shonen Bat (or Lil’ Slugger) only led to failure, more victims, and him getting fired from his job as a detective.
Feeling lost, Keiichi aimlessly lived his next few weeks until he suddenly walked into a Showa Era neighborhood. The simple village was his nostalgia made real, and Keiichi lost himself in the ideal life that he always wanted. Keiichi literally tore down this escapist fantasy after an apparition of his dying wife reminded him of what was real.
4 Berserk — Griffith Surrendered His Fate To The God Hand
Before being reborn as the demonic Femto, Griffith was the ambitious and inspiring leader of the Band of the Hawk. More importantly, he was the man who Casca and Guts loved most. Griffith’s life and dreams came crashing down when, after Guts left the Hawks, he broke the king’s trust and was condemned to a life of torture.
Griffith was saved after a year, but the damage was done. Not only was his body beyond salvation, but so were his hopes of conquest. In despair, Griffith nearly took his own life until the Behelith he thought he lost offered him a nightmarish alternative: sacrifice his humanity and loved ones to the God Hand to be reborn a god.
3 Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion — Homura Akemi Lost Herself To Her Despair
As idyllic and peaceful as it was, there was something uncanny with the Mitakihara City that Homura and friends woke up to in Rebellion. Homura’s suspicions were proven correct, as she surmised it was a labyrinth formed by her Soul Gem after she was saddened by Madoka Kanemi’s choice to transcend human individuality.
When Kyubey revealed that the Incubators planned to restore the old system of magical girls by experimenting on a trapped Madoka, Homura let her despair take hold and became the witch, Homulilly. By this point, Homura was so past the point of no return that she rejected Madoka’s rescue and became evil incarnate to “save” everyone.
2 Steins;Gate 0 — The Anime Began With Rintaro Okabe Giving Up On Kurisu Makise
In Steins;Gate’s penultimate episode, Okabe accidentally stabbed Kurisu despite his attempts to save her and avert World War III. Even so, he time traveled one last time to fix things after receiving encouragement from his friends and future self. Meanwhile, Steins;Gate 0 explored an alternate timeline where Okabe gave up.
Steins;Gate 0 opened with Okabe choosing to move on from the conspiracy and Kurisu’s death. Severely traumatized by the events of the previous anime, Okabe is now a depressed shell of his former self who even abandoned his mad scientist gimmick. It took the better part of the anime for Okabe to return to who he once was.
1 Rebuild Of Evangelion — Shinji Ikari Became Catatonic After Causing Another Impact
For understandable reasons, including heartbreak and death, Shinji has given up more fights in his life than he could count, but his breakdown at Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo end was the harshest. After being duped again into triggering an apocalyptic Impact and seeing Kaworu Nagisa sacrifice himself for him, Shinji went catatonic.
When Asuka and Rei Q found Shinji, he was unresponsive and had to be dragged to safety. In Shinji’s mind, doing nothing was better than risking another deadly mistake. It took him the first half of Thrice Upon A Time to snap back to his senses and rein control of his future by confronting his father and source of suffering: Gendo Ikari.
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