Main characters usually get the spotlight. They power up, give the big speeches, and win the last battles. But every now and then, someone on the sidelines ends up carrying more than just support, they carry the emotional core of the story. Theseside charactersmay not have the most screen time, but what they go through often sticks with us longer than the lead’s final punch.
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Some of them lose everything and still keep moving. Some offer wisdom no one else can. Others quietly suffer while everyone else chases the plot. What makes them unforgettable isn’t just what happens to them, but how much they feel real.These are the characters who break your heart, pull you in, and remind you that emotion doesn’t need a spotlight. It just needs honesty.
10Maes Hughes –Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
The Kindest Man Who Made Everyone Else Cry
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Edward and Alphonse Elric go through a lot, but no moment in the series hits as hard as Maes Hughes’ death. He’s warm, funny, endlessly kind, and devoted to his family. He isn’t part of the main quest, but he cares deeply about everyone involved. And that’s exactly why his death cuts so deep.
Watching Hughes collapse while trying to contact Mustang is painful enough. But the real emotional gut punch comes at his funeral, when his daughter asks why they’re burying her dad and tells everyone to stop because he has work to do. It’s quiet. It’s raw. And it overshadows anything the Elrics feel in that moment.Hughes may have been a side character, but the grief he left behind reshaped the entire show.
9Haku –Naruto
The Weapon Who Chose Love Over Survival
Haku only appears in the first major arc ofNaruto, but he leaves a lasting mark. As Zabuza’s loyal companion, Haku fights with precision and grace. But underneath that skill is a boy who just wanted to protect someone who gave his life meaning.
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When he dies, it’s not the lead characters who hold the weight. It’s Zabuza. The moment he realizes how much Haku loved him, and how little he showed in return, breaks something open. He drops his guard, walks through enemy fire, and collapses beside the only person who ever saw him as more than a tool. In those final minutes,Haku givesNarutoone of its most emotional moments. And he does it without ever being the hero.
8Tetta Kisaki –Tokyo Revengers
The Villain Built from Rejection and Regret
Tokyo Revengers
Takemichi may be the time-traveling lead ofTokyo Revengers, but it’sKisakiwho carries the tragic engine of the story. His actions ripple across timelines, leading to murder, loss, and chaos. But what makes Kisaki more than just a villain is how deeply rooted his motives are in rejection and longing.
He’s broken. Desperate. In love with someone who never saw him that way, and unable to accept a world where he feels small. That emptiness drives everything. And when his past finally comes out, it reframes the entire series. Kisaki is the reminder that pain doesn’t always scream.Sometimes it whispers from the corner, reshaping everything without you even noticing.
7Yuki Sohma –Fruits Basket
The Zodiac Prince Who Carried the Family’s Curse Without Screaming
Fruits Basket
Tohru is the heart of Fruits Basket, but Yuki is the ache buried inside it. On the surface, he’s calm and composed. But as his story unfolds, we see the emotional neglect and isolation he grew up with. He wasn’t just cursed by the Zodiac. He was abandoned, dismissed, and used.
His healing isn’t loud. It’s slow, awkward, and painful. He builds relationships piece by piece. Every time he chooses kindness over fear, it means something. His arc ends in a soft conversation where he calls someone “mother” for the first time in years.
6Serizawa –Mob Psycho 100
The Hermit Who Didn’t Know If He Deserved a Place in the World
Mob Psycho 100
Mob is the face of emotional growth inMob Psycho 100, but Serizawa gives the show its quietest heartbreak. He spent years locked in a hotel room, afraid of his own powers, convinced he had no place in the world. When he finally steps outside, everything overwhelms him.
He’s powerful, but fragile. Kind, but cautious. Watching him stumble through social cues and second-guess his every move is painful in a way that feels deeply human.He isn’t a villain. He’s just scared. And that fear makes his slow path toward connection more meaningful than any fight.
5Kojiro Sasaki –Record of Ragnarok
The Perennial Loser Who Fought Like a Legend
Record of Ragnarok
Kojiro is treated like a joke at first. An aging swordsman with no real victories to his name. But the moment his fight begins, everything changes. He’s relentless. Patient. Focused. And behind that calm exterior is a man who lost so many times that he learned from every one of them.
Kojiro’s story isn’t about winning. It’s about rising again and again, refusing to accept that defeat defines him. When he finally triumphs, it feels earned in a way few anime victories do.Because it’s not just a win for the gods or for humanity, it’s a win for everyone who’s ever been told they weren’t good enough.
4Yuri –Angel Beats!
The Fighter Who Couldn’t Save Her Siblings but Fought Anyway
Angel Beats!
Yuri leads the resistance inAngel Beats!,but she’s never the center of attention. Still, her past carries a weight no one else in the show quite matches. Her siblings were murdered during a home invasion while she was forced to watch, helpless.
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That trauma fuels her fight against God. It colors every decision she makes, every wall she builds, every emotion she suppresses. When she finally lets go, it isn’t because someone defeats her. It’s because she chooses peace for herself.Her pain lingers, even after she disappears. That’s what makes her unforgettable.
3Natsuki Subaru –Re:Zero
The “Hero” Who Was Always on the Brink
Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-
Yes, Subaru is technically the lead. But the way the story treats him, especially in the first season, turns him into something else. He’s often isolated from the core cast, left to carry impossible burdens without anyone truly understanding what he’s going through.
The resets hurt. They strip away his confidence and tear apart his soul. Watching him scream, beg, and fall apart again and again doesn’t feel like watching a hero rise. It feels like watching a person drown with no lifeline.When he finally opens up, when someone listens, it lands like a miracle.Because his emotional weight doesn’t come from what he gains. It comes from what he loses along the way.
2Kamina –Gurren Lagann
The Voice That Echoed Louder After Death
Gurren Lagann
Simon may be the one who drills through the heavens, but Kamina is the one who gives him the strength to try. Kamina believes when no one else does. He shouts when everyone else whispers. He’s wild, reckless, and full of heart. And then he dies.
The hole he leaves is massive. Simon crumbles without him. The tone of theshowshifts completely. For episodes, everything feels heavier.Kamina’s absence is its own presence. It shapes the second half of the series in ways no villain ever could.
1Nanami Kento –Jujutsu Kaisen
The Adult Who Bore the Weight So the Kids Didn’t Have To
Jujutsu Kaisen
Nanami entersJujutsu Kaisenas the quiet adult in a sea of chaos. He’s calm, focused, and endlessly tired. But underneath that suit and tie is someone who tried to walk away from the curse world and couldn’t ignore the pain he left behind.
He’s the one who teaches Yuji what it means to take a life seriously. He’s the one who sees the weight of their work and chooses to keep carrying it. And when he dies, broken and bloodied, his last thoughts are of something peaceful. A beach. A simple escape. Nanami never asked to be a hero. He became one anyway.And in doing so, he carried the weight of an entire generation of sorcerers on his back, even when they didn’t realize it.
