It is common for the main characters of an anime to accomplish their goals and defeat the main antagonist in the process. The success of any main character is considered to be an extremely important part of any anime. However, there are timeswhen the anime protagonists have failed.
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In a handful of anime series, there have been times when the “chosen ones” have failed to deliver, thus enabling the victory of the villain. The inability of the chosen ones to defeat the main villain often leads to a lot of criticism from the fans because almost no one wants the forces of good being toppled by the bad.
8Jonathan Joestar From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Jonathan Joestar is the main protagonist ofJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood.His rival, Dio Brando was introduced very early on in the series. The two of them were always at each other’s throats. When Dio became a vampire, it was clear that Jonathan couldn’t just rely on his fists.
Will Zeppeli believed that Jonathan had what it takes to defeat Dio and stop his power from increasing. Will sacrificed his life to save Jonathan, but Jonathan let him down. Jonathan did manage to decapitate Dio, but the latter was still alive. Eventually, Dio killed and stole Jonathan’s body, which allowed him to torment the future generations of the Joestar Family.
7Yagami Light From Death Note
Yagami Light was a genius, whose intelligence could only be matched by a handful of people. His life completely changed when he found the Death Note that Ryuk had dropped. After discovering the notebook’s power, Light decided to punish the wrongdoers.
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However, his actions soon caught the attention of the police, and L Lawliet was hired to stop him. Light managed to outsmart L, which led to the latter’s death. However, Light couldn’t achieve his dream asMello and Near defeated him towards the end of the series.
6Nagato Uzumaki From Naruto
He did not have the best of lives as his parents were murdered when he was still very young. Nagato found reprieve when he met Yahiko and Konan, who were also orphaned by the war. The three of them stuck together, and eventually, they met Jiraiya.
After staying with the orphans for some time, Jiraiya believed that Nagato was the “Child of Prophecy.” Jiraiya thought that Nagato’s Rinnegan would allow him to achieve greatness, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Nagato grew up to becomethe leader of Akatsuki, an organization that murdered people to gain more power. Nagato’s life came to an end when Naruto defeated him.
5Ash Ketchum From Pokemon
Ash is the main character of the popular anime series,Pokemon. The series follows Ash’s adventures as he moves through different regions that are filled with a variety ofPokemon.
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Ash’s goal is to win the championship, but almost every single time he has met with defeat. To make things worse, he released his Pokemon who help him to win gym badges. It is quite apparent that Ash is a big failure.
4Jolyne Cujoh From Stone Ocean
Daughter of Jotaro, Jolyne features as the mainprotagonist ofStoneOcean. After being framed wrongly, she ended up in Green Dolphin State Prison. Her father tried to help her in escaping from the prison, however, the plan backfired and Jotaro lost both his discs.
After the incident, Jolyne’s goal was to regain the two discs and defeat Enrico Pucci. She successfully managed to retrieve the discs however, she could not beat Enrico Pucci. She was killed by Pucci along with Jotaro, Ermes, and Anasui. Many fans consider Emporio defeating Pucci extremely anticlimactic.
3Yusuke From Yu Yu Hakusho
Yusuke’s biggest test inYu Yu Hakushowas Sensui. Sensui’s goal was to find someone who was stronger than him so that they could kill him. Sensui’s proclamation that he would bring about the destruction of the world caused panic, so Yusuke had to take action.
Yusuke managed to kill Sensui and while it may feel that the former was victorious, the villain actually ended up winning the war. So, in a sense, Yusuke failed as he couldn’t stop the main villain from achieving his goal.
2Portgas D. Ace From One Piece
Ace was the son of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, who had all the riches in the world including the One Piece. Ace grew up detesting Roger, and he considered Whitebeard to be his father.
Whitebeard had big plans for Ace, and he wanted to help Ace to become the next Pirate King. Sengoku knew about the threat that Ace posed to the world, so the former decided to execute him. Whitebeard and co. managed to free Ace, but he died protecting Luffy from Akainu. It was a big shame, Ace did not reach thesame heights as Roger and Whitebeard.
1Meliodas From Seven Deadly Sins
Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas was the powerful member of the crew. He was the elder son of the Demon King, who wanted Meliodas to succeed him as the next Demon King.
However, after Meliodas fell in love with Elizabeth, he gave up his duties. As the series continued, Meliodas failed to stop the Demon King from taking over Zeldris' body, and later Meliodas also failed to stop Merlin’s plan.
