15 Anime Best Friends Who Became Bitter Enemies

Over 800 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 15 Anime Best Friends Who Became Bitter Enemies
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Vote up the most devastating friendship breakups.

For some anime characters, the power of friendship can get them through just about anything. But that's not true for everyone. Unfortunately, some anime friendships fall apart. Whether it's because of betrayal, differing goals, interpersonal conflict, or massive tragedy, these stories of anime friends turned enemies are proof that friendship isn't always forever.

One notable example is Kakashi and Obito from Naruto - after being manipulated by Madara, Obito joined him in actively trying to destroy the world. Kakashi, of course, had to try and stop him. A lesser-known case involves Brandon and Harry from Gungrave. These two friends stick by each other from childhood to adulthood until Harry betrays Brandon in pursuit of power. 

Which friendship breakup do you think is the saddest?

Photo: Devilman Crybaby / Science SARU

  • 1
    552 VOTES

    Griffith & Guts - 'Berserk'

    Griffith & Guts - 'Berserk'
    Photo: Berserk / OLM

    Griffith and Guts were once members of the mercenary group, the Band of the Hawk. They had what Guts always thought was a powerful friendship - he cared about Griffith so much that he risked his life to rescue him after he'd been abducted. But Griffith threw their friendship in a garbage can and then set it on fire when he got an opportunity to become a member of the God Hand named Femto. 

    In order to be reborn with extraordinary powers, Griffith sacrifices nearly the entire Band of the Hawk. He also sexually assaults Casca - the woman Guts loves - and forces him to watch. It's kind of hard to maintain a friendship with someone who destroys your entire life in pursuit of personal power.

    552 votes
  • 2
    453 VOTES

    Gojo & Geto - 'Jujutsu Kaisen'

    Gojo & Geto - 'Jujutsu Kaisen'
    Photo: Jujutsu Kaisen 0 / MAPPA

    When Gojo and Geto were young trainee sorcerers, they were close friends who cared about each other deeply. That changed after Geto decided that his true path in life involved slaughtering everyone on earth who wasn't a sorcerer. When Geto offed his own non-sorcerer parents and then ended over 100 civilians in one stretch, he was expelled from Jujutsu High School and went on the run. 

    Geto eventually returns with multiple acolytes under his wing who believe in his cause. Gojo and his students have to fight Geto and his crew in order to protect humankind. Needless to say, Gojo and Geto's former friendship is now null and void - although Gojo still cares about the person Geto used to be.

    453 votes
  • 3
    540 VOTES

    Kakashi & Obito - 'Naruto'

    Kakashi & Obito - 'Naruto'
    Photo: Naruto: Shippuden / Studio Pierrot

    Obito and Kakashi's friendship had a rocky start - Kakashi was obsessed with following rules and had no tolerance for Obito's lackadaisical attitude. But still, the two of them were teammates who grew close through completing missions together.

    After a mission went horribly wrong and Obito ended up crushed beneath a giant boulder, Obito gave one of his sharingan to Kakashi as a parting gift before apparently passing away. But Obito survived his grievous injuries thanks to his ancestor Madara. Madara didn't just help Obito heal, he also brainwashed him into helping him with his Infinite Tsukuyomi plan. He did this by keeping him locked up underground and talking to him about the horrors of the world, and then orchestrating a situation where he forced Kakashi to end their teammate Rin's life and made sure Obito saw it happen. 

    By the time Obito and Kakashi meet again, Obito loathes Kakashi, and Kakashi is horrified to see the friend he thought had passed away become a villain.

    540 votes
  • 4
    266 VOTES

    Vicious & Spike - 'Cowboy Bebop'

    Vicious & Spike - 'Cowboy Bebop'
    Photo: Cowboy Bebop / Sunrise

    Spike and Vicious were once close friends and fellow members of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. Their friendship fell apart when Spike had an affair with Vicious' girlfriend Julia, and Vicious reacted by telling Julia she had to either end Spike's life herself or let both of them be killed. Sleeping with your friend's girlfriend is pretty bad, but reacting to infidelity with such extreme violence is significantly worse. Naturally, their friendship couldn't continue. 

    Julia and Spike had been planning to leave the Syndicate anyway, so Julia ended up going into hiding while Spike faked his own demise to become a bounty hunter. 

    266 votes
  • 5
    357 VOTES

    Aizawa, Present Mic, & Oboro - 'My Hero Academia'

    Aizawa, Present Mic, & Oboro - 'My Hero Academia'
    Photo: My Hero Academia / Bones

    This one hurts because it's not Oboro's fault that he ended up on the villain's team. Mic, Aizawa, and Oboro were close friends as U.A. students and heroes-in-training. When a freak accident left Oboro crushed under a pile of rubble, they assumed he'd passed away. The loss was a painful reminder of the dangers of heroics, and it's a big part of why Aizawa was so strict with his future students - he didn't want them to meet the same fate. 

    But things got a lot worse. Instead of simply passing away, Oboro's body was taken from the rubble and used to create Kurogiri - a Nomu whose job is to protect Tomura Shigaraki. Before anybody realizes the connection, the heroes fight Kurogiri numerous times. But eventually, the connection is discovered. Mic and Aizawa try to get through to the Oboro that still exists inside Kurogiri, but it only works a little bit.

    357 votes
  • 6
    288 VOTES

    Lelouch & Suzaku - 'Code Geass'

    Lelouch & Suzaku - 'Code Geass'
    Photo: Code Geass / Sunrise

    It's hard to stay friends when you have completely different political views. Lelouch is a child of the Britannian Empire, but he completely opposes his family's attempts to colonize Japan. In fact, he opposes it so much that he's willing to do terrorism about it.

    His best friend Suzaku isn't exactly in favor of Britannian occupation either - as a Japanese person, he'll be subjected to extreme mistreatment and racism. But Suzaku doesn't want a rebellion. He thinks that a rebellion will cause unnecessary suffering and casualties, and that the best way forward is to work within the system. He believes this so strongly that he ended his own father's life to stop him from fighting against the occupation. 

    Lelouch and Suzaku care a lot about each other, but with directly opposing goals, their friendship falls apart.

    288 votes