The most violent Yandere characters in anime

Key things

• Yandere characters will go to extreme lengths – including violence – to ensure that their love interest is theirs alone.
• Their love knows no bounds as shown by their obsessive and possessive nature towards their beloved.
• Some yandere characters have tragic pasts that fuel their obsessive behavior, leading to violent and dangerous results.

The “Yandere” is probably one of the most famous character archetypes in anime and manga. Yandere characters are obsessed with their love interests to an unhealthy degree. They may be sweet and cuddly on the surface, but behind their cute appearance lies a dangerously obsessive and sometimes violent streak.

For the yandere, devotion knows no bounds, and they will go to any lengths—even outright murder—to make sure no one stands in their way of their “love.” In the darkest cases, they may even resort to killing their loved one if their feelings are unrequited or if they face rejection.

10 Kaede Fuyou (Shuffle!)

I can't stand the thought of Rin ignoring her and being violent as a result

Kaede Fuya's obsession with her childhood friend and protagonist Rin stems from a complicated past. She initially blamed her mother's death on Rin, and after learning the truth, she suffered tremendous guilt. Since then, she has been caring for him to atone for her past mistreatment.

He grows fearful of being ignored or abandoned by Rin, which leads to him being approached by other girls, especially Asa, and acting out in violent ways. Interestingly, Kaede's yandere persona is absent from the original visual novel.

9 Misa Amane (Death Note)

He has no reservations about killing people named Light Yagami with the Death Note

Misa Amane's adorable image as a famous pop star in public hides how confused she is. She falls in love with the mass murder protagonist Light Yagami before she even meets him because he killed the murderer of her parents. She is absolutely willing to do anything to win Light's affections, even threatening to kill any girl she sees with him.

Although he almost never engages in direct violence, he uses his Death Note to kill criminals on Light's behalf. Unfortunately for her, Light shows little if any interest in her feelings, manipulating her and using her for his own gain.

8 Kotonoha Katsura (School Days)

A shy, shy girl who is extremely desperate to be loved by the main character

School days and his 'yandere love triangle' are infamous in the anime community. While Sekai Saionji is also crazy, it is Kotonoha Katsura who proves to be the more violent one. The story begins as a shy, insecure high school girl who falls in love with the protagonist, Makoto, and ends up falling down a slippery slope and becoming dangerously possessive.

Kotonoha exemplifies the classic yandere archetype, a sweet and lovestruck girl who eventually descends into violence fueled by her romantic obsession. This culminates in the anime's notorious ending where he kills his romantic rival Sekai and keeps Makoto's severed head on a ship.

7 Esdeath (Akame Ga Kill!)

A sadistic torturer who wants complete control over the protagonist

Esdeath is one of the scariest examples of a yandere who instantly fell in love with Tatsumi and decided she had to be hers at all costs. However, unlike other yandere characters, Esdeath is stoic and in control of her emotions, even while torturing people.

She refuses to accept that Tatsumi does not reciprocate her feelings and continues to pursue him even after discovering that he is a member of Night Raid. As the series goes on, she becomes more desperate, even having Tatsumi executed rather than let him be with someone else.

6 Karasu (Yu Yu Hakusho)

Dangerously obsessed with Kurama, to the point of wanting to kill him

Karasu's attraction to Kurama is almost inseparable from his desire to kill him, he wants to be in complete control of his destiny. His obsession isn't so much about romantic affection as a desire to control and ultimately destroy Kurama, which he disturbingly perceives as an intimate act.

What's especially scary is how calm and soft-spoken he is when he expresses his “love” and intentions for Kurama. Karasu is also a full-blown sadist and likes to play mind games with his victims, including Kurama.

5 Himiko Toga (My Hero Academia)

The desire to literally consume and become the people he “loves”

Himiko Toga's Quirk involves ingesting people's blood to transform into them, so it's no wonder she'd turn out to be quite upset. In particular, her view of love is rather violent and she believes that hurting someone and drawing blood is a form of intimacy.

She develops strange fixations on Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraku, leading her to obsessively pursue them in order to “become” them. Due to his tragic childhood, he has a somewhat warped view of love and affection and sees nothing wrong with his obsession with drawing the blood of his targets.

4 Satou Matsuzaka (Happy Sugar Life)

She kidnaps the person she supposedly loves and will do anything to keep them attached

Satou Matsuzaka is a particularly twisted example of a yandere, given that her possession is focused on an eight-year-old girl named Shio Kobe. Satou kidnaps a young girl in the name of 'love' and is willing to do anything, even murder, to keep her dependent and isolated.

Satou is desperate for the love and affection she believes only Shio can provide. Her vision of a 'happy sugar life' with Shio makes her prone to extreme actions when that dream is threatened.

3 Shion Sonozaki (Higurashi When They Cry)

The family's mistreatment led her to develop an unhealthy attachment to satoshi and commit several murders in his name

Shion Sonozaki's transformation into a yandere is especially tragic given the years of neglect and mistreatment her family experienced. She falls head over heels in love with Satoshi because he was the first to show her kindness. So, when Satoshi goes missing, she takes it upon herself to avenge him.

She tortures and murders anyone she thinks was involved in Satoshi's apparent death, including her own children and family members. Most tragically, she regrets her actions too late, after she has already claimed several innocent lives.

2 Yuno Gasai (Future Diary)

Her obsessive love for Yukiter leads her to commit extreme and violent acts

Yuno Gasai is probably the most famous yandere in all of anime and manga, precisely because of how intense and brutal her obsession is. Yuno vows to “protect” her love interest Yukiteru Amano during the survival game Deus Ex Machina, which for her means killing anyone who tries to get close to him.

Yuna's obsession with Yukiteru is all-encompassing, even claiming that she doesn't respect anyone but him. She also ticks all the boxes of the typical yandere – a girl who is sweet, girly and loving on the outside, but dangerously possessive and obsessive when it comes to the love interest.

1 Lucy/Kaede (Elfen Lied)

Violent tendencies stem from a mixture of tragic trauma and obsessive romance

Lucy is quite a complex example of a yandere, given her multiple personalities. Her violent tendencies don't just stem from an obsessive romance, but rather a mixture of a traumatic childhood and her nature as a Diclonius. Her original personality as a child, Kaede, most exemplifies the yandere archetype.

Lucy as Kaede falls in love with young Kouto because he is the first to treat her kindly. When Kouta discovers that he attended the festival with his cousin Yuka, she becomes jealous and uses her vectors to brutally kill Kouta's sister and father. The only thing that stopped her from killing Yuka as well was Kouta's screams for her to stop.