In many forms of media, pacifists become one of the strongest characters in the cast, and anime is no exception. The oldest martial arts styles, such as kung fu and karate, were born not as methods of attack or even, seriously, of self-defense. They are aimed at training a healthy body and a disciplined mind, and are largely spiritual in nature: many practitioners consider it a shameful thing to have to fight. But that doesn’t mean they can’t protect themselves or others if needed.
Pacifism is the practice of observing nonviolent solutions to problems, which can often be misinterpreted as weakness. This is especially noticeable in some of the best shounen anime, where strength in battle and combat readiness are everything to most heroes. However, the best and most powerful pacifists in anime will overcome them all: not only do they have the power to destroy the world, but they also have the wisdom and self-control to not throw it. recklessly, often averse to fighting and generally preferring more diplomatic ways to solve their problems.
10 Astrological Boy – Astro Boy
It was an unlucky bad guy who let Astro Boy’s cute face fool them. Far from being one of the scariest cyborgs in anime, he is modeled after his creator’s young son, Osamu Tezuka, and looks like an innocent child. No one would have guessed that just beneath his metal shell lay the weapons of a one-man army.
Astro is unique among the many cyborgs in his universe in that he doesn’t want to use his massive powers for violence, let alone hurt humans. He is steadfast in his belief that humans and robots can live together in peace, and everything he does is for that purpose. For this reason, while he will fight hard if he has to protect innocent people, he will always try to make new friends before, during and even after the battle.
9 Shizuo Heiwajima – Durarara!!
People usually don’t describe the guy who is popular around Ikebukuro because of his hot temper as a pacifist. But one of the best characters in Durarara!! actually even cared more about the destruction he caused than anyone else. As his last name, meaning “island of peace”, implies, he wants nothing more than to control his temper and respond peacefully to conflict.
Shizuo has had a lot of trouble with violence since he was a child: it turns out that super strength and anger issues don’t really get along. Horrified by the destruction he can inflict in seconds and terrified of himself, he struggles to gain enough self-control to maintain a normal life. He will make some exceptions for those who are particularly upset (usually Izaya Orihara), but in most situations Shizuo will be much happier if nothing breaks.
8 Gintoki Sakata – Gintama
Often, such strong pacifists are due to the fact that they have experienced severe trauma related to violence. The star of Gintama, one of the weirdest and longest running anime of all time, Gintoki is the absolute last guy anyone would expect to have been once the scariest character on the battlefield. But that’s exactly what Gintoki wanted them to think.
Gintoki was once a war orphan turned deadly samurai, known as the White Demon of the Joi War. He had slaughtered thousands of people and endured torture and lost several friends, becoming too traumatized by the senselessness of the violence he was facing to continue. Although he will still kill if necessary, there must be a lot of motivation for him to do so, and he finds happiness in living a quiet and unpopular life doing the work. errands with Yorozuya Gin.
7 Balsa Yonsa – Guardian of the Spirit
Based on the novel series by Nahoko Uehashi, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit is one of the best fantasy anime to watch. When a water demon was said to possess Shin Yogo’s Prince Chagum, the emperor ordered him to be executed. Chagum is forced to flee with only Balsa’s mercenary for company and protection.
Heroic Balsa is no stranger to violence: as a bodyguard, she will take down anyone who tries to harm her, and this happens frequently. However, she follows a strict moral code, the main principle being an oath never to kill, even to save someone. When she believes she has to break it, she falls into a depression.
6 Kenichi Shirahama – Kenichi: The Strongest Disciple
Chosen high school student Kenichi’s problems with bullies only get worse when he tries to join his school’s karate club. But starting training at Ryozanpaku Dojo started to change his life in one of the best martial arts anime. He becomes stronger than he ever imagined, but at the expense of attracting the attention of even stronger opponents.
Kenichi, like his masters, considers martial arts to be a martial art of self-defense and protection of the weak, to the point where their style is called the “life-saving fist”. Even if he can handle himself in a fight, he still tries to reason with his enemies before fighting. This puts him at odds with practitioners of the “killing fist” who see martial arts only as a weapon.
5 Vash The Stampede – Trigun và Trigun Stampede
As an alien Plant, Vash doesn’t just live up to his nickname. Armed with quick reflexes that blur, pinpoint accuracy with a shotgun, and the apocalyptic powerful Angel Arm hidden inside his body, Vash is one of the most powerful characters in any anime. . He is famous throughout the planet Gunsmoke for the July Incident, in which his powers completely leveled a large city off the map.
But most people who actually met Vash couldn’t believe he had such a terrifying reputation. As gentle and sweet as his adoptive mother Rem, Vash lived his life according to the principles of nonviolence she had taught him. He does his best to spread love and peace across the planet, not only refusing to kill, but fighting to make sure no one gets killed if he can stop it. His refusal to kill and use violence in all situations has made Vash the most pacifist icon in shounen history.
4 Yasutora “Chad” Sado – Bleach
With the name meaning “peaceful tiger,” it makes perfect sense for Chad to be a pacifist of this diversity. While his character arc isn’t one of Bleach’s strongest, he’s still a strong and steadfast moral hero. As a child, he went from being a bully to being a disciplined fighter who would only fight for the sake of others and uphold this principle until adulthood.
Chad is a gentle and kind-hearted person, and while he will do anything to help others, he will never lift a finger even to protect himself from the bad guys. bully. When he steps up to fight, however, he delivers a powerful punch: it’s not his fault that the story tends to set him up for defeat in order to show off the strength of his antagonist. latest appearance. His Brazo Derecha de Gigante and Brazo Izquierda del Diablo allow him to both strike super powerful attacks while forming solid shields.
3 Toki – Fist Of The North Star
As one of Hokuto Shinken’s four students and Raoh’s biological brother, Toki is sometimes drawn into one of the best sibling rivalries in anime. Unlike Raoh, Toki graciously accepts their master’s choice of Kenshiro as the family heir. Instead of traveling the world as a warrior like his brothers, Toki establishes himself as a healer.
This is especially remarkable considering what the other students of Hokuto Shinken do: even the noble Kenshiro goes around making people explode in the name of peace. He’s the only one who has completely turned martial arts into a healing art using his knowledge of the body’s pressure points it requires. He won’t kill unless forced, and even then alters Hokuto Shinken’s critical hit to fill his enemies with joy instead of pain when they die.
2 Uchiha Itachi-Naruto
The pacifism doesn’t take any shinobi too far: although Naruto never actually had to kill his enemies, he was still available if the last Saying No jutsu didn’t work. There’s a lot that no one knows about Itachi Uchiha, and one important thing is that everything he does stems from his hatred of war. As a child prodigy who was forced into the battlefield during the Third Shinobi War at the age of 4, Itachi was traumatized and spent his life trying to never let that happen again.
Living in a world full of war even with relative peace, avoiding killing is not an option. Itachi’s betrayal of the Uchiha is one of Naruto’s saddest stories, as he was forced to choose between letting thousands die in a civil war or slaughtering his clan, and he chose the one. later to protect Konoha. He continues to try to balance violence and cruelty with harm reduction even as an Akatsuki member, preferring to trap people in his powerful Tsukuyomi genjutsu rather than killing them instantly. That said, he makes an exception for Sasuke, killing Orochimaru and Kabuto instantly for threatening his brother.
1 Son Gohan – Seven Dragon Balls
Gohan is nominally Goku’s successor, but he has an extremely different temperament than his famous father. While both are powerful Saiyan warriors, Goku enjoys fighting more than anything else, but Gohan prefers to pursue a normal life outside of battle, focusing on his job as a warrior. a researcher. The contrast between his great strength and his own desires caused a lot of inner conflict for Gohan.
Gohan is extremely intelligent and kind, always helping and protecting others. While he is a Saiyan warrior with a lot of raw strength to resist, he loathes hurting others and the extremely dangerous battles his family is regularly forced into. . He will never turn his back on a crisis or those who need him, but he fights more out of duty than love with it. Although Gohan is at one point the strongest fighter in the Dragon Balls, which is a recurring theme in the series where he neglects to train, Gohan actually has a great reason to be. “weaker”: he simply doesn’t like fighting.
In a genre dominated by stories of combat, conflict, and the dominant theme of characters becoming stronger to prevail and survive, it’s truly refreshing to watch characters follow suit. this strong pacifist who proves that anime is not afraid to change themselves. recipe.
