No matter how much you love anime, you have to admit that sometimes it’s not the most original. In fact, it can feel like you’re watching the same character in different anime. This is especially true when it comes to tragic origin stories. Sometimes, anime characters with similar backgrounds have generic things in common, like dead parents and child abuse. Other times, it gets so bizarrely specific you have to wonder if it’s intentional.
While watching anime characters with the same story can get old, it can also be oddly enjoyable. Let’s say you really love Kotomi Ichinose from CLANNAD. If you do, then imagining her as a Sailor Scout is a fun mental exercise, one that’s made a heck of a lot easier by the fact that Kotomi and Sailor Jupiter have uncannily similar back stories. Besides, if you didn’t like repetition at least a little bit, you probably wouldn’t be watching anime in the first place. With that in mind, let’s examine these pairs of anime characters who are basically sad clones of each other.
1. Ciel Phantomhive From Black Butler And Misa Amane From Death Note
Misa Amane, Light’s bubbly murder-girlfriend from Death Note, actually has a lot in common with Ciel Phantomhive, the adolescent aristocrat from Black Butler. Both of their parents were brutally murdered, leaving them orphaned. Both of them meet and strike up deals with supernatural beings dedicated to serving them, with Misa meeting the Rem the Shinigami, and Ciel meeting Sebastian Michaelis the demon.
Both of these supernatural beings would kill for their masters. Really, the only difference is that Rem does it out of love for Misa, while Sebastian does it with the eventual goal of harvesting Ciel’s soul.
2. Makoto Kino From Sailor Moon And Kotomi Ichinose From CLANNAD
Makoto Kino, also known as Sailor Jupiter or Lita, has an unexpectedly tragic back story for someone so upbeat. Her parents died in a plane crash, which led to a persistent fear of planes. Kotomi Ichinose, one of the main characters from the heartwrenching CLANNAD, lost her parents in the exact same way. Like Makoto, she’s terrified of planes and other motor vehicles. Also, both girls lead independent lives, and find it difficult to rely on others.
3. Sasuke Uchiha From Naruto And Eren Jaeger From Attack On Titan
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oth Eren from Attack on Titan and Sasuke from Naruto are traumatized, furious teenagers who are hellbent on revenge after the deaths of their families. Sasuke’s older brother Itachi slaughtered their entire clan, while in Eren’s case, his mother was gobbled up by a man-eating Titan. At face value, these seem like pretty different causes of death, but they actually have a lot in common.
Viewers spend most of the time having no idea why Itachi killed his family, or what’s causing the Titans to run rampant. Eventually, we find out in both cases the reasons aren’t personal so much as they are vast government conspiracies. Until then, the focus is squarely on Sasuke and Eren’s lust for vengeance against whoever (or whatever) they think took their families away from them.
4. Miles Edgeworth From Ace Attorney And Ed Phoenix From Yu-Gi-Oh GX
Okay, so Ed Phoenix from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is actually just Batman, but Batman isn’t an anime character, so instead let’s talk about how he’s really Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney. Both characters lost their fathers to murder. Both found replacements for their father in the form of professional mentors. Both discovered that their beloved mentor was, in fact, the person who killed their father. Oh, and both of them hang out with psychic people and have eerily similar haircuts. Definitely a lot of parallels.
5. Akira Midousuji From Yowamushi Pedal And Rin Matsuoka From Free!
Because Yowamushi Pedal’s Midousuji is one of the creepiest characters ever to come out of a sports anime, you wouldn’t think he had much in common with a pretty boy like Rin Matsuoka from Free!. Actually, though, Rin’s kind of creepy too. Those shark teeth are every bit as abnormal as Midousuji’s inhumanly blunt choppers.
But they have much more in common besides weird teeth, of course. Midousuji and Rin both lost their parents at a young age. While their parents died in different ways (Rin’s in an accident and Midousuji’s to an unidentified illness), the way they reacted is basically the same. Both characters became bitter, aggressive, angry jerks who replace the grieving process with sports. Lucky for Rin, he has friends who are supportive and helpful. Meanwhile, Midousuji has Komari, whose hobbies include obsessively washing his hands and dropping hints that he’s a cannibal. Hey, nobody ever said everything was going to be exactly the same.
6. Touka Kirishima From Tokyo Ghoul And Kagura From Gintama
Tokyo Ghoul’s Touka Kirishima and Gintama’s Kagura might not seem like especially similar characters. Touka is serious and responsible, especially when restraining her hunger for human flesh, while Kagura accidentally killed over 25 animals because she didn’t know her own strength. While their exterior personalities might not have much in common, their back stories are actually astoundingly similar.
Touka is a Ghoul, which means she has to eat human flesh in order to survive. She joins Anteiku, a Ghoul-led group that scavenges dead bodies, to minimize her killing. Kagura comes from a clan that expects constant bloodshed, including murdering your own parents, something Kagura tried to prevent instead of participate in. Not only did both women reject their violent backgrounds, but both of them have brothers who are so disgusted by their so-called “weakness” they actually try to murder them because of it.
7. Lelouch Lamperouge From Code Geass And Satsuki Kiryuin From Kill La Kill
Lelouch of Code Geass and Satsuki of Kill la Kill are both the children of absurdly evil tyrants who want to destroy all of humanity. Both Lelouch and Satsuki are favored by their monstrous parents at some point, and immediately discarded and attacked as soon as they’re no longer useful.
Both of them, also, end up having to kill their own parents for the good of humanity. The difference is that we see Lelouch’s descent into corruption afterward, and in Satsuki’s case the series pretty much ends when she defeats her mother with the help of her sister Ryuko.
8. Lucy From Elfen Lied And Johan Liebert From Monster
What does the adorable, wide-eyed, pink-haired Lucy from Elfen Lied have in common with the monster from Monster? Quite a lot, actually. Both Johan and Lucy were orphans who faced abuse and mistreatment, including being tortured by some seriously unethical scientists. The traumatic nature of these events warped both Lucy and Johan into terrifying murderers.
9. Yagyuu Kyuubei From Gintama And Akito Sohma From Fruits Basket
Akito Sohma of Fruits Basket is the head of an elite, traditional family. So is Yagyuu Kyuubei of Gintama. Akito Sohma’s father died when she was a young child. Yagyuu Kyuubei’s mother died when Kyuubei was small. Both were born female, but were raised as boys, because traditionally only men could serve as the family head. While Akito immediately begins identifying as a woman as soon as the secret gets out, Kyuubei takes a more androgynous path, preferring to live only as “Yagyuu Kyuubei.”