With some anime franchises releasing new chapters after decades of stories, not every character is going to stand still in time. Unfortunately, there are often times wherein some of your favorite heroes skip a beat and aren’t able to retain the mystique that made them such powerhouses to begin with. In compiling a list of “anime heroes who have only gotten worse over time,” we narrowed the choices down to seven of the worst offenders and are more than happy to break down what happened to make these figures lose their luster.
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Goku
Let’s get one of the obvious choices out of the way. Goku went from an air-headed toddler who likes brawling to a full-fledged warrior who seemed like he was more than willing to do anything to get into a fight. Along with abandoning his family for years at a time to increase his power level, Goku nearly brought trillions of lives to an end simply to get his next fight. Effectively, Goku’s influence on the all-powerful being known as Xeno helped to create the Tournament of Power, a competition that saw entire universes wiped off the map. While Android 17’s victory assured that all universes destroyed returned from the grave, it goes to show just how bad Son’s state of mind has been in Dragon Ball Super and who can suffer as a result.
Naruto Uzumaki
While the torch has been passed from father to son in both Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, this fact has made it so that Naruto Uzumaki has suffered as a result. Now that Naruto has achieved his dream of becoming the seventh Hokage of Konoha, he has taken a backseat to his son, which is both good and bad. As it stands in the recent sequel series, Naruto has been locked away in another dimension by Kawaki for years, making him effectively a non-player in the shonen franchise. Following the death, and resurrection, of the Nine Tails, hopefully Naruto will one day return to shine in the spotlight once again.
Light Yagami
Light Yagami started off the Death Note series “strong,” in that he was totally goal-focused and had a back and forth dance with L that showed his brain power and skill. Unfortunately, as the series progressed, Light got sloppy and eventually met his end thanks to biting off far more than he can chew. At his height, Light was able to effectively change society and create a new era wherein “Kira” was able to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. At his lowest, however, everything unraveled and he became far less of the brilliant mind that had put together his intricate plan involving the Death Note.
Guts
Specifically, Berserk’s protagonist is having quite a difficult time maintaining his previous glory in recent chapters of the bleak manga. With the tragic passing of series creator Kentaro Miura, the manga has continued to release new chapters but has focused on a Black Swordsman who can’t quite keep things together. Thanks to Casca being kidnapped by Griffith, Guts has spiralled into emotional turmoil as he can barely even put words together as the Kushan Empire has decided to exile him thanks to his brand. Most likely, Guts will eventually pull himself out of this tail spin but for now, the swordsman is far from the destructive force of nature that we once knew him as.
Jotaro Kujo
Jotaro Kujo started as an anime protagonist who wanted nothing more than to defeat Dio Brando to both end the vampiric threat in Stardust Crusaders and save his mother’s life. As JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure advanced, Jotaro went from being a world-saving hero to a deadbeat father, leaving his daughter Jolyne to suffer being framed for a crime she didn’t commit. While Kujo would help his daughter get a Stand of her own, he was the reason why she was put into this situation in the first place and we have to wonder if Jolyne’s story would have turned out different had he been in his offspring’s life.
Eren Jaeger
The star of Attack on Titan found himself transforming from an underdog hoping to protect his friends into a genocidal force of nature, using the power of the Founding Titan to murder a large majority of the world’s population. While anime fans got a better idea of what Eren was doing when he unleashed the Rumbling and his thought process, it doesn’t change the fact that he clearly went from a troubled hero to, at best, a murderous anti-hero if not outright villain. Effectively, Eren became the main villain of Hajime Isayama’s dark epic and while this turn was certainly an interesting one, it didn’t exactly have the youngest Jaeger become a shining light in the anime realm.
Denji
The Chainsaw Man was always air-headed but Denji has taken that status to new heights in the latest arcs of the manga. Author Tatsuki Fujimoto not only has shown Denji still trying to achieve his goals of getting a girlfriend and leading a quiet life but he has also fumbled the ball quite a few times thanks to losing himself to his desire to be known worldwide. Most recently, a sin Denji committed in his devil hunting has come back to haunt him and in all honesty, he completely deserves it. While this descent is some time away from taking place in the anime adaptation, it is quite the downfall for the bloody shonen character.
