Bertolt and Reiner’s Big Reveal (Attack on Titan)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals\
Obvious spoiler warning about crazy betrayals ahead. Don’t read any of these if you don’t want to be spoiled.
Titans have long been terrorizing humanity throughout history, often making them tasty morsels without an inch of remorse. At some point in history, humanity finally managed to “counter” the threat by creating extremely large walls around their home kingdom. These barriers would serve as a surefire way to keep the Titans away from their home while humanity finally lived in “peace” without fear of being food. It wasn’t until the year 845 when the Colossus and Armored Titans burst through the walls as if they were flimsy sheets of paper, ultimately endangering mankind yet again.
The shocking event spurred the anime’s protagonist, Eren, into action after a Titan mercilessly ate his mother. He steeled his resolve and joined the military to exact revenge against the Titans and join the fight for humanity. He meets some interesting personalities along the way, including Reiner and Bertolt, two men who shared his hate for the Titans. It wasn’t until one major battle when the two reveal that they were the same titans who broke the kingdom walls, serving as one of the most shocking anime betrayals for both Eren and the viewers.
Villetta Finishes Her Cause (Code Geass)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
Code Geass is a world filled with war, destruction, chaos, and anime betrayals. These things come in many forms as many characters are killed more emotionally than physically. Villeta Nu was an elite Knightmare Frame pilot who fought under the Black Knights. She fights with the hopes of earning a real title of nobility despite being labeled as a Knight herself. During a rather interesting turn of events, Lelouch uses his Geass on Villeta which eventually leads to her gaining memory loss.
During this time, she becomes a completely different person and even takes up the name “Chigusa.” Kaname Ohgi, the leader of a Japanese resistance cell, decides to care for her and the two slowly fall in love. The two wed, with Villetta telling Ohgi that she wouldn’t mind becoming an Eleven. Unfortunately, she ends up regaining her memories and is disgusted with the fact that she fell in love with her enemy. Finishing her cause, Villetta “speaks” to Ohgi privately and shoots him before escaping.
Anthy Stabs Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
The most painful thing about backstabbing is that it usually comes from a friend rather than an enemy. In Revolutionary Girl Utena, duelists from Ohtori Academy fight to gain the Rose Bride as their reward. The spirited and tomboyish Utena Tenjou takes part in these battles to defend the Rose Bride, Anthy Himemiya, from her abusive fiance. The two become good friends as Utena fights to free Anthy from her fated marriage and they grow even closer as more duelists plan to use the Rose Bride for their own gains.
As the Rose Bride, Anthy starts off as an extremely reserved and shy girl who slowly begins to open up throughout the story. However, she isn’t actually the sweet girl she seems to be as her darker side continues to surface, going so far as to even reveal an incestuous relationship with her brother Akio. Despite all the evidence stacked against her, Utena continues to fight for the Rose Bride and turns a blind eye to her past. Things finally escalate to a point during a duel between Akio and Utena wherein he tries to show her a vision of Anthy’s true colors in the form of a witch. Utena shuts the vision away and remains loyal to Anthy, but the Rose Bride goes on to stab her savior in the back. So much for her chivalry.
Moeka Kills Mayuri (Steins;Gate)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
Steins;Gate takes a while to pick up, especially during the first few episodes. Viewers are greeted with a maniac named Rintaro Okabe and his motley crew consisting of a sweet girl named Mayuri Shiina and hacker Itaru “Daru” Hashida. They start off with their plans for time traveling and tackling major conspiracies, but things begin to escalate when more of the cast finally trickles in.
One character, Moeka Kiryu, is a shy and absent-minded individual who often prefers to communicate with people via text messages. She decides to join in on Okabe’s plans to learn more about the phantom retro PC, the IBN 5100. Moeka’s constant obsession with the PC eventually lands her a spot in his crew as she becomes “Lab Member 005.” While she might have seemed like any other tech enthusiast, Moeka was actually trying to stop Okabe and his group from continuing their time machine project. In spite of her inconspicuous warnings, the group still completes their project and the team celebrates just before Moeka and a group of mercenaries bursts into their lab. Moeka then mercilessly shoots Mayuri, which pushes Okabe to start his emotionally taxing time-traveling adventure to save her.
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune’s Cunning Plan (Sailor Moon)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
Sailor Moon starts off as a rather lighthearted anime with love acting as a central plot point. Usagi Tsukino might seem like your average ditzy high school student, but she awakens as the leader of a group of female guardians known as the Sailor Scouts. They initially start off a small squad before expanding and adding new fighters to their family. In line with this, the Scouts are a tight-knit group who support each other in and out of the battlefield.
Shockingly enough, one of the most heartbreaking anime betrayals stems from two of the Sailor Scouts: Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus. These two were already notorious for doing their own thing during combat, but things took a more drastic turn when they “defected” from the Scouts and joined Sailor Galaxia in her quest for stealing Star Seeds to defeat Usagi. Sailor Moon had no idea that it was just an elaborate ploy for Neptune and Uranus to steal Galaxia’s Star Seeds, but their plans caused the deaths of several Senshi – including their own.
Kyubey’s Little Secret (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
At first glance, Kyubey seems to be the last thing that would betray anyone – especially little girls. The cat-like creature looks like it would make the perfect stuffed animal because of its charming looks and adorable facade. Kyubey is the perfect example of a little girl’s dream come true, and it’s exactly the main reason why it approaches them as a “messenger of magic” with the promise of granting them their biggest wish. In exchange, they must enlist as magical girls and must fight the witches terrorizing their world.
Kyubey’s offer seems a little too good to be true – become a hero and get whatever you want in return. But the truth is that the “messenger of magic” is actually harboring a dark secret about his agreement with the contractors. When those under the contract fall into despair, they become the very witches they hunted as magical girls. In turn, this chain of events become a ruthless and tragic cycle of killing and trickery.
Grell Takes the Lead (Black Butler)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
Grell was originally introduced as nothing but Angelina Dalles’ butler, who was a Phantomhive aristocrat. While they might not have seemed like much, the two were actually behind the various Jack the Ripper attacks. Moreover, Angelina actually had a completely different persona as Madam Red, while Grella was actually a Grim Reaper and collector of souls. The two shared a rather interesting and symbiotic relationship because of their roles.
Unfortunately for them, Ciel and Sebastian discovered their little games and decided to put a stop to their violence. Both parties clashed with each other, with Madam Red eventually gaining the upper hand. She couldn’t bring herself to kill Ciel, however, because of the motherly love she felt for him. Grell then decided to take matters into her own hands and kill Madam Red instead as she saw little use for her. That said, Grell’s actions easily landed her a spot as one of the most popular anime betrayals.
Itachi Commits Genocide (Naruto)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
Naruto has become one of the most iconic animated shows, so it’s only understandable that it would have one of the most powerful anime betrayals. The Uchiha Clan was one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure, and also one of the strongest because of their Sharingan. Clan members also displayed natural battle skill and took part in wars against different factions. At some point in history, they planned to have a coup d’état to overthrow the Third Hokage and his administration because they doubted his leadership.
Several clan members voted against the idea, seeing the coup as just another reason to start a new world war. Konohagakure elder Danzo Shimura acted with his own interest to protect Konoha and spoke to Itachi Uchiha regarding the uprising. Danzo offered him two options: let the Uchiha proceed with their coup that would lead to their death, or kill the clan himself while sparring his brother, Sasuke. Itachi decided to choose the latter idea and enlisted help from Tobi, wiping the entire clan out in one night. Itachi took all responsibility for his actions and urged Sasuke to seek revenge against him, pushing his brother to grow stronger. Sasuke eventually decided to gain more power by betraying his friends and siding with Orochimaru.
Aizen’s True Colors (Bleach)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
While Sosuke Aizen might be known as the notorious villain in Bleach, he actually started out as a mild-mannered gentleman. He was the captain of the 5th Division in the Gotei 13 and took on the appearance of an honest, hardworking man. Sosuke was also polite to his peers and was extremely stoic under pressure, often preparing a plan for any given situation. It was these exact attributes that made him a perfect villain who would betray his group, the Soul Society.
To everyone’s surprise, Sosuke suddenly defects and abandons his post. He even goes as far as to change his appearance by removing his glasses and changing his hairstyle. That said, he also destroys all perceptions of loyalty to the Soul Society and even wages war against them with his own army of Arrancar. Sosuke constantly displays his immense power throughout the series as he nearly cut Ichigo’s body in half without much effort. In the end, he ended up facing defeat and was imprisoned for his crimes and betrayal.
Griffith Sacrifices His Saviors (Berserk)
Actually, These Are the Real Top 10 Anime Betrayals
With so much brutality going on in Berserk, it isn’t hard to see why it has one of the most impactful anime betrayals. The story centers around the “Black Swordsman,” a man named Guts who was once part of a mercenary group called the Band of Hawk. Their leader, Griffith, was a fearless man who ended the Hundred-Year War and brought peace to the war-torn land of Midland. Plenty of people looked up to the leader as their savior and even earned the nickname as the “Falcon of Light” because of his amazing deeds. His reputation took a sharp turn for the worse when he decided to copulate with Princess Charlotte as his impulsive actions led to a year-long imprisonment filled with crippling torture.
The Band of Hawk slowly begin to suffer without their leader, but they managed to find the resolve to break him out of prison. The torture had already taken its toll by the time they arrived, as Griffith was already a shell of his former self. If it wasn’t bad enough, their leader decides to sacrifice the Band of Hawk to become the God Hand, Femto. Griffith even went as far to force himself on Guts’ girlfriend, Casca, right in front of him. His molestation eventually led to Casca losing her sanity and giving birth to their demon child.