10 Most Shocking Anime Betrayals

The best betrayals, are those that occur when you least expect. By that, we don’t mean those shocking reveals that come out of the blue, but ‌those that occur when the audience is least expecting them. Some betrayals are so heinous that they earn themselves a spot on this list of the 10 most shocking anime betrayals.

These are the moments where an otherwise good character does something so terrible that it completely derails the audience’s trust in them.

As the world would say, these betrayals are unforgivable. After all, they make up the heart and soul of any great story. Here are the moments that are worth the wait, that makes the entire story worthwhile.

Most Shocking Anime Betrayals

10.
Annie’s Titan Reveal

• Anime: Attack On Titan

At number ten, we have Annie Leonhart and her groundbreaking and saddening reveal as the female titan. As most viewers already know, Attack on Titan took the anime world by storm with its first season and stunned everyone with Annie’s titan reveal.

Now, when I saw the female titan’s hair, I asked myself if it was Annie, but I didn’t want it to be true since Eren and his crew were not ready for this or any other surprise attack. But since we’re talking about Attack on Titan, people are always going to die. Regardless of how important they are often in cruel ways and at the hands of the flesh-eating human freaks.

The female titan was extra tarrying, mainly because she murdered a handful of people in the forest and the field as if they were a bunch of flies.

At one point, she was spinning a human being around like a yo-yo, so yes this was revolting to watch, and let’s just say I’m still not over the fact that Petra died at the hands of Annie.

9.
Anthy Stabs Uthena

• Anime: Revolutionary Girl Utena

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a much-admired series with many symbolisms and surrealisms, which are the stamps of Kunihiko Ikuhara’s project. It is unafraid to analyze and explore nations of gender roles, gender identity, and the fairy tale tropes shaping what children think about women and men.

Utena is of course a woman but she does not aspire to be a stereotypical princess who will wait for her prince charming to show up and save her from a tower of misery. No, she wants to be a mensch to Anthy Himemiya. Anthy on the other hand has her problems.

Her brother pesters her and all the other candidates want to win to use Anthy for their egotistical reasons. Also, Anthy isn’t just the princess; she is also a witch. These traits eventually compel her to betray and stab Utena, the female princess who just wants Anthy to be happy. Thankfully their relationship does take a positive turn in the end.

8.
Nagato Killing Jiraya

• Anime: Naruto: Shippuden

During the second shinobi war, Jiraya spent a few of his days teaching ninjutsu to three orphans from the hidden rain village. One of these orphans was Nagato, who possessed the legendary Rinnegan.

Despite Jiraya’s efforts to teach the orphans to utilize their skills for good, the brutality of the third shinobi war and the loss of one of his buddies shattered Nagato’s faith in humanity. Nagato suddenly takes a darker path, believing that only pain and suffering can bring peace.

He even took a headship in the Akatsuki and eventually fought Jiraya when he crept into the hidden rain village. Truth be told it was a terrible reunion in which Nagato ended up murdering his very own teacher.

7.
Archer Betrays Himself

• Anime: Fate Series

The story of Fate Stay Night is based on Shirou Emiya. An honest and hard-working teenager who, against his better judgment, enters a death tournament called the fifth holy grail war.

In the tournament, he competes against historical heroes and wizards for the chance to have their wishes granted. Archer’s betrayal of his previous self has to be one of the most impressive betrayal scenarios in anime history.

No one could have predicted that Rin’s helper in Unlimited Blade Works would be another Shirou, an older version from a different dimension. Archer is a counter guardian. He is thereafter making a contract to go back into a different timeline and murder himself before creating the entire Fate Stay Night timeline. While he didn’t get the chance to kill his younger self, it was a memorable and shocking moment in the story.

6.
Kyubey

• Anime: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

At a glance, Kyubey seemed to be the last thing that would ever betray anyone but think again. This cat-liked character may appear as the perfect stuffed animal for little girls because of its adorable facade and charming looks. Because of being the best example of a little girl’s dream, it remains the reason it approaches them as a messenger of magic.

With the guarantee of granting one of their biggest wishes, the little girls must agree to fight the witches destroying the world in exchange. Kyubey’s offer now appears to be too good to be true. Become a savior in exchange for everything you want.

The fact, however, is that the messenger of magic is keeping a sinister secret regarding his deal with the contractors. When the girls failed at fulfilling the contract, they become the very witches they are hunting down as magical girls.

As a result of this consequence, the chain of events becomes more tragic and ruthless.

5.
Rachel Jealousy

• Anime: Tower God

In the fifth position, we have Rachel’s unforgiving betrayal. Rachel and Bam have always been each other’s best friends. As a matter of fact. Bam adores Rachel so much that he chases after her and climbs the tower of god.

A risky challenge that requires his participant to pass a series of tough obstacles to reach the top. As you can see, Bam is ready to risk his life for her just so he can see her again. Before reaching the next step of the tower, Rachel throws Bam off the ledge, causing him to die.

Why does she do this? she was her best friend, right? Well, the explanation for this is that she was jealous of him and how special he was.

4.
Sailor Uranus And Sailor Neptunesa

• Anime: Sailor Moon

We have the betrayal from the Sailor Scouts. Sailor Moon is somewhat a lighthearted anime with love as a central theme. Usagi Tsukino may appear to be an ordinary girl, but she awakens as the head of the Sailor Scouts, a troop of female guardians.

They start as a small squad but end up adding more queens to their family. The scouts are the kind of people who are there for each other. One of the most surprising anime betrayals comes from two of the Sailor Scouts, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.

These two were already known for doing their hocus pocus during battles. Still, things took a more devious turn when they deserted the Sailor Scout and joined forces with Sailor Galaxia with a mission to defeat Usagi. One of the many reasons this was a terrible betrayal was because it caused many of Sailor guardian’s death.

3.
Itachi Uchiha’s Clan Extermination

• Anime: Naruto

At number three, we have Itachi killing his clan including his parents. Itachi was responsible for almost annihilating his very own clan and leaving only his little brother Sasuke behind. That’s a heartbreaking and unforeseen cause of betrayal.

If this series was anything like Berserk or Attack on Titan, we could have witnessed an intense or visceral visual retelling of how it all happened but even without the terrifying details, anyone could see how Itachi’s actions changed Sasuke’s entire life.

However, the end discovery is that it is not as serious a betrayal as was previously imagined. He still finds it difficult to defend what Itachi did, but don’t worry, he’s not a completely bad person for doing it.

2.
Reiner And Bertholdt Revealing their Titans

• Anime: Attack On Titan

On the second position, we have Reiner and Bertholdt when they reveal their titans. Since the beginning of time, titans have been petrifying humanity, often gulping them down like a bunch of cherries without feeling an inch of remorse.

Humanity finally managed to control the threat by building massive walls around their hometown at some point in history. These walls would serve as a sure-fire way to keep titans away from their hometown and bothering everyone’s peace.

It wasn’t until the year 845 that the armored and colossus titan tore through the walls as if they were weak sheets of paper and ultimately endangering humanity again. After a titan mercilessly ate his mother, the startling event inspired the anime’s protagonists Armin and Eren to join the military.

After that day, he swore to take the titans down and join the military to take revenge against the titans. As he continues his journey, he meets a couple of exciting personalities, Bertholdt and Reiner. Eren shared his hatred for the titans with these two men.

It wasn’t until a great battle that the two revealed they were the same titans who smashed the kingdom’s walls and devoured every human they could find. Hence, serving as one of the most brutal and unexpected anime betrayals for both the viewers and of course, Eren.

1.
Aizen’s betrayal of Soul Society

• Anime: Bleach

At number one, we have Aizen from Soul Society. Aizen is the central villain but let’s try to recall his appearance at the beginning. He looks like a guy who taught metaphysics or philosophy in college. He was seemingly strategic, gentle-mannered, and highly respectable.

In reality, he was devious, and also more than willing to kill anyone if it meant achieving his ominous goals. With his Arrancar army and superior intelligence, he was a massive threat.

If he got his wish and dethroned the soul king, the movement of souls in and out of soul society would become uneven and the worlds would collide.

Bonus Mentions

Griffith betrayal of his Friends

• Anime: Berserk

CP9 betrayal Reveal

• Anime: One Piece

Walter betrayal

• Anime: Hellsing Ultimate

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Do you agree with our list of the 10 most shocking anime betrayals? Tell us your favorite anime betrayal in the comment below.