Sometimes, anime characters are shielded from defeat by plot armor or just plain luck. However, this is not the case for all anime characters. While many shonen protagonists and heroes manage well enough under fortuitous circumstances, others are constantly at odds with luck.
Many of these characters keep finding themselves in frustrating or enraging situations that they just cannot seem to win. Whether they are unlucky in a literal sense or just cannot seem to catch a break, these characters have gone down in history as some of the most unlucky in shonen anime.
10 Spike Spiegel Can Barely Meet His Living Expenses In Cowboy Bebop
Not only did Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel have an entire organized crime organization chasing him, but he also had bills to pay. Paying those bills proved difficult when his bounties were constantly getting away or causing too much damage to make a profit. He couldn't even grab a cup of noodles without something going wrong.
Notably, a lot of Spike's problems were his own fault. He had been part of the criminal organization chasing him and enraged its leader. He also was responsible for a lot of the damage he ended up having to pay for when he went for his bounties.
9 Yamcha Consistently Struggles In The Dragon Ball Franchise
Yamcha started out in the Dragon Ball franchise as an antagonist, but he quickly became part of Goku's team. However, once he did that, he failed to make any sort of impact and was defeated by the team's foes left and right. He rarely caught a break or stood a chance. He was not even lucky in the realm of love.
Unfortunately, Yamcha was also loud-mouthed and a bit of a braggart, which made his failures stand out all the more.
8 Yuji Itadori Was In The Wrong Place At The Wrong Time In Jujutsu Kaisen
Yuji Itadori is kind and well-liked in Jujutsu Kaisen, but a lot of terrible things happen to him all at once. Not only was his school was attacked by Cursed Spirits, but he also ate Sukuna's finger and became his vessel during the fray. His grandfather passed away shortly after and the entire Jujutsu Sorcerer Community fears him for being Sukuna's vessel.
There were multiple assassination attempts on his life, including one manipulative death-sentence mission in which Sukuna, the powerful Cursed Spirit who lives inside him, took his life. Furthermore, Sukuna's presence within him is a constant danger when all Yuji wants to do was save others.
7 Naruto's Rock Lee Was Unable To Use Ninjutsu
Rock Lee was born into Naruto's world without any ninjutsu or genjutsu skill, but he still dreamed of becoming a successful and well-respected shinobi. No one respected him, however, and he spent most of his youth struggling and being bullied. Eventually, he met Might Guy, who helped Rock Lee perfect his taijutsu.
Although Rock Lee had a memorable introduction, he failed to pack a punch after that. He never gave up, but he also struggled to make an impact on the world. He frequently lost fights and constantly had to be saved.
6 Demon Slayer's Tanjiro Lost Most Of His Family The Day He Decided To Help Out Around Town
Demon Slayer's Tanjiro Kamado is a kind-hearted and mild-mannered young man who loves his family more than anything. He lost his father when he was younger, but he didn't let the grief stop him from being helpful to both his family and the community. However, on an ill-fated day, he decided to stay longer in the village and help out some of its citizens. He even chose to spend some time in the home of someone who warned him of demons.
When he got home, he realized that his family had been slaughtered. The only survivor was his little sister, Nezuko, who had been turned into a demon.
5 Jean Pierre Polnareff Had To Watch Death After Death In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Jean Pierre Polnareff swore his life to track down his sister's killer in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. She had been brutally murdered by an unknown assailant who turned out to be the Stand user that possessed The Hanged Man, J. Geil. Polnareff was almost beaten by his sworn enemy, and if it had not been for the rest of the Joestar Team, he would have been.
Later, he was forced to watch as three of the Joestar Team members who had not only helped him get his revenge but had also saved his life on many occasions die at the hands of Dio and his minion, Vanilla Ice. He truly had a series of tragic events occur in his life.
4 In Dororo, Hyakkimaru's Parents Auctioned Off His Body Parts To Demons
When Dororo's Hyakkimaru was born, his father, Lord Daigo, sold Hyakkimaru's body parts to a series of demons and then left him to die. Miraculously, the skinless, limbless Hyakkimaru survived. After being taken in by a prosthetics maker, he swore revenge and spent the rest of his time trying to get his body back by killing demons.
On top of his misfortune at birth, he also had to watch people he cared about get hurt, captured, and killed on multiple occasions. Furthermore, the entire story takes place during one of the most infamously wartorn times in Japanese history. There was never a moment of rest for Hyakkimaru.
3 Tsunade Is Another Naruto Character Famous For Her Ill-Fortune
Naruto's Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, was notorious for being one of the most unlucky shinobi to ever walk the earth. A lot of this is apparent in her comical inability to win at her gambling addiction. On many occasions, she even uses her terrible bets as an indicator of how events in her life will go.
She is more than just unlucky in games of chance. She is also extremely unlucky in life and love. She lost not only her younger brother, Nowaki, but also the love of her life, Dan.
2 XXXHolic's Himawari Is A Bad Luck Charm
XXXholic's protagonist, Kimihiro Watanuki, was desperately in love with his spiral-haired classmate, Himawari Kunogi. However, Himawari had a secret. She was seemingly cursed with misfortune, and those that got close to her often received the brunt of that curse.
People who are in close proximity to Himawari usually suffer terrible accidents or even die, but Watanuki was also cursed by fate. He could see spirits and was tied to the witch, Yuko, and her supernatural pursuits. Accordingly, the two made great friends.
1 Noragami's Kofuku Is Literally The Deity Of Misfortune
Kofuku is the bubbly, pink-haired goddess of misfortune that is obsessed with Noragami's protagonist, Yato. Although she's the goddess of ill-fate and poverty, she is kind and a close friend of Yato, Hiyori, and Yukine. On top of the misfortune she brings to others, she also has plenty of misfortune of her own.
She was not given a true name nor a shinki, and her relationships with Daigo and Daikoku were riddled with hurt and chaos. While Yato did help her out in this regard, she had to go through a lot of pain and loneliness.
