Updated November 16, 2018 15.6k votes 3.8k voters 61.7k views
Voting Rules
Vote up the families so dysfunctional they make Thanksgiving with your bigoted in-laws seem pleasant.
A lot of families in anime are seriously messed up. Like the kind of messed up that goes way past your typical arguments or family distance. From psychotic households with backward family values to families with members that have obsessions with bringing loved ones back from the dead, this list is a collection of dysfunctional anime families that would be terrible to be a part of. Be sure to let others know which family is truly the worst by voting up the most awful families and voting down the ones that aren't so bad.
The families of these anime characters go beyond plot devices and character development; they really shape the entire stories of these shows, mostly leaving major characters with some sort of complex or fearsome path to vengeance. So, next time you think your family is bad, just take a look at what these anime characters have to live with.
The Zoldyck family from Hunter x Hunter is the most skilled family of assassins in the world. They have been taught to repress all their emotions and become hardened, skilled killers... traits that are definitely not found in your typical family.
The siblings torture and manipulate each other for control, and family members have been known to kill each other, hold each other captive, and everything in between.
Yuno Gasai was adopted at a young age and has a truly scary family history. Her home life was happy until money troubles started to brew. Her father stayed later and later at work and her mother began to severely abuse her, locking her in a cage and grooming her to become the "perfect citizen."
Yuno eventually got her revenge by doing to her parents exactly what they did to her: she locked them in a cage and eventually starved them to death.
The Kiryuins are the secret dysfunctional family of Kill la Kill. Ryuko's vengeful journey to find the killer of her father fuels her rivalry with Satsuki Kiryuin, who ends up being her very own sister. On top of this, their mother, Ragyo Kiryuin, turns out to be the true antagonist of the entire series.
Charles zi Britannia, the head of the Britannian Imperial Family, encourages class conflict in the world and even among his own family, especially his children. This probably comes from the fact that his family was busy murdering each other and trying to claim the throne while he was growing up and not doing... you know, normal family things.
Although Lelouch's climb to the top of the throne isn't as bloody as his father's, his Geass brings his siblings' lives down in their own ways.
The Ikari family used to be a so happy. After Yui and Gendo met, they had their son, Shinji. But then Yui died. After that, Gendo feverishly tried to salvage her soul from EVA-01 while simultaneously neglecting his son and being extremely overprotective, even assigning him a variety of parental substitutes.
This leads to Shinji resenting his father and the resentment continues to grow throughout the entire series.
Kōsei Arima, the main character of Your Lie in April, has a very complicated and tragic family story. Kōsei's father is constantly absent and his mother is terribly ill. Prior to her illness, she was a very talented musician. Since she is no longer able to play and Kōsei shares his mother's extraordinary musical talent, she becomes obsessive about his musical career.
She convinces him that if he plays well enough, she will get better. Unfortunately, she dies, and the emotional conflict that brews in him is what the entire series revolves around.
