This article was originally published on 19 December 2024.

Deaths in anime are typically treated as momentous shifts in a narrative, where allies and villains alike draw their final breath and those around them must come to grips with this loss.

Sometimes, it’s warranted, and they got what they had coming to them. But often, their demise was a tragic display of heroism, where they were brought down before their time. Only the good die young, as they say, and today, we’re honouring the memory of some of the very best. Please pay your respects to these departed champions.

It goes without saying, this article will be absolutely gushing with spoilers. Honestly, if you didn’t see that coming, that’s really on you.

Thors

Vinland Saga

Considering his death was the one I used as the feature image for this article, you knew the Troll of Jom was going to appear eventually. So let’s not bury the lede, nor bury our dead (for we are vikings!)

This towering behemoth witnessed so much death and destruction around him, he finally resolved to leave it all behind in search of peace. And he found it for a time, too, living out his days as a humble farmer up until his past caught up with him. He was sent on a futile mission under false pretences, with the true intention being his own grisly murder.

And even then, when the enemy had him surrounded, big old Thors mowed down the pirates with non-lethal force. He bested their leader, Askeladd, in an honourable duel, only to be slain anyway. His last thoughts were of sparing his men, at least outwardly. I’m sure his actual last thoughts were more like, “ouch, this fucking hurts.”

Himeno

Chainsaw Man

Before you come knocking on my door, I will admit that Himeno had some truly deviant tendencies and pushes the boundaries of what could be considered “good”. But she was still a hero at the end of the day, so I will not accept any slander of my trashy, shit-faced queen.

As Aki Hayakawa’s senpai, Himeno proved a valuable mentor for the younger members of Public Safety’s Division 4 squad. She was unflappable whilst on the job, employing her contract with the Ghost Devil to great, spooky effect. Beyond that, however, she was the definition of a hot mess with a serious drinking problem, accompanied by an even more serious vomiting problem.

When Aki’s life was in jeopardy during Katana Man’s surprise attack, Himeno wasted no time in finalising her deal with the Ghost Devil. Watching her body disappear limb by limb in a gambit that ultimately failed was a tragic moment, showing how even beloved characters in Chainsaw Man were not safe from sudden, shocking deaths. That’s… something you’ll have to get used to as the story progresses.

Michiru Inukai

Talentless Nana

Oh, poor little Inukai, the sweet, innocent bean so doglike in her unconditional love, it’s even in her name (in case you didn’t spot the inu reference).

The hapless students in Talentless Nana are destined to die at the titular protagonist’s hand sooner or later, and some of their demises are harder to stomach than others. Whereas Habu was a bully and Yuka had a dark secret — because yes, of course I have written about both of them previously — you had to wonder how Nana could kill Inukai without completely losing the audience’s sympathy.

True to her nature, Inukai would end up sacrificing herself to revive Nana, using all of her healing power and exhausting her own life force in the process. It was a tidy way to write off the character in such a way that it impacted Nana profoundly, having now lost her first true friend. Seriously, if it had happened any other way, there is no way Nana-shan would have ever earned our forgiveness.

Junpei Yoshino

Jujutsu Kaisen

I’ve spoken before about the devastating moment in which Junpei Yoshino lost his life in Jujutsu Kaisen, but it’s a tale that’s worth repeating as much as necessary. It was just that powerful.

It may seem a weird choice to have him on this list, as he possessed antagonistic tendencies that blinded him from the danger posed by curses. But really, he was just a regular kid who was pushed over the edge by a lifetime of bullying and the brutal assassination of his mother.

Then, there was the masterful bait-and-switch employed by both mangaka Gege Akutami and the MAPPA team responsible for the anime adaptation. We thought Junpei was going to become a main character. Surely he was, everything including the opening credits had framed it that way.

Nope. Mahito transforms him into a hideous curse with unkempt hair, and he slumps to the floor as he dies in Itadori’s arms. The world is cruel, and Mahito is crueler. It made it that much more satisfying when the jujutsu sorcerers finally exacted their revenge at the conclusion of the Shibuya Incident.

Nina Tucker

Fullmetal Alchemist

In that same article in which I recalled the sad events of Junpei’s demise, I spoke at length about the sinister fate that befell Nina Tucker. It’s actually something I’ve spoken of multiple times here at EZIYODA, perhaps in an effort to horrify readers as much as humanly possible.

Depending on what Fullmetal Alchemist continuity you’re partaking of, Nina is either four or five years old. She seems as safe from tragedy as any other character you’d meet, because it’s not often a story takes aim at toddlers. And that’s why it works so damned well. Shou Tucker throws all humanity out the window, fusing Nina with the family dog, and she runs off into the night while the Elric brothers try desperately to chase her down.

She runs afoul of Scar, a man who is very disapproving of the fine art of alchemy, and he delivers a mercy kill that puts Nina out of her misery. Short of some miraculous power that would have undone the cruel transformation, this was likely the best case scenario for such an abomination.

No Nina, I don’t wanna play. I wanna cry. A lot.

Star and Stripe

My Hero Academia

Throughout the extensive history of My Hero Academia, its titular heroes have shown a distinctive ability to overcome deadly odds. There are so many times I have witnessed the beatdown of a tertiary character and thought to myself, “well shit, he’s probably dead now,” only for them to pull through with only a few minor contusions and a lesson learnt.

By the time we’ve reached season 7, however, things are starting to get pretty dicey for the hero community. Tomura Shigaraki has loaded up on Quirks, putting Japan in crisis mode and spurning a crime wave across the entire globe. Most governments refuse to assist, but America’s #1 hero, Star and Stripe, responds to the call with pride.

What makes her battle against Shigaraki so gripping is the fact that we know that she can’t win outright from a narrative standpoint, and yet her efforts will have to pay dividends in some manner. After a valiant effort that nearly puts the villain down, she succumbs to his dreaded decay, crumbling to pieces while her quirk, New Order, is stolen from her.

We soon discover that in her final moments, she laid a trap within her quirk that subsequently caused it to begin cannibalising Shigaraki’s other quirks. This critically brings him down a few notches from the godlike power he had been wielding, laying the seeds for his eventual defeat. Star and Stripe had done her bit, and even though we didn’t get to know her all that well, MHA did a wonderful job of establishing why she was so important, and why we should care about this yankee crusader.

Kana Kimishima

Parasyte -the maxim-

When Shinichi Izumi’s right hand is infected by an alien presence, his whole world changes in a flash. Although he had been a lifelong nebbish, the parasite’s influence improves his physical acumen, capturing the attention of people who would have never taken notice before.

Amongst them is Kana Kimishima, who first crosses paths with Shinichi while watching her boyfriend beat the shit out of him. Not a great first impression, but she’s definitely intrigued by this weird guy who refuses to back down. The more she encounters Shinichi, the more she begins to fall for him, to the point where she can even sense his presence. It sounds romantic, but this form of telepathy is actually picking up on the parasite in his hand — and tragically, it can’t differentiate between Shinichi and other, far more dangerous infected hosts.

This leads to her demise when she mistakes a deadly parasite for her beloved, being felled moments before Shinichi can arrive to rescue her. Ultimately, she was just an eccentric stalker kid with a crush, and yet I can’t help but wish that she had been able to wrest Shinichi’s attention away from his actual love interest, Satomi Murano.

Kana had an edge to her, a bit of sass and bite. Murano is a basic bitch, and I would gladly trade her life for Kana’s in a heartbeat. Apparently Shinichi/Satomi shipping is known as Shinatomi, so henceforth I declare the Shinichi/Kana pairing to be… Shana, I guess? Which is not nearly as catchy, I will admit.