It takes a lot to write a truly amazing anime main character, and the bar is set rather high when fans are introduced to the likes of Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan. While straightforward MCs like Tanjiro, Luffy, and Yusuke are always great fun, they don't grip audiences with the same depth that Eren does. Eren rises above the rest with his moral complexity and powerful emotional arc, being at once a victim, hero, antihero, and force of nature.
Only a few anime MCs can be even more breathtaking and complex than Eren is, and they form a small, respected pantheon of incredible protagonists. Some of them are an even better version of Eren himself, provoking thought and mixed emotions as they launch their personal arcs. Such MCs are often twisted antiheroes or rough-edged warriors with a hidden soft side, or fallen heroes who challenge anime fans to wonder what a hero even is -- or question where the boundary between hero and villain may be drawn.
7 Anime MCs Better Than Boruto Uzumaki
Boruto Uzumaki pales in comparison to these anime protagonists.
Lelouch Lamperouge Played Every Side in the War For Area 11's Freedom
Lelouch Was a Hero to Some and a Villain to Others
In some anime series, it's refreshing or even essential for the MC to have a clear-cut moral code and position in the clash of good vs evil. Demon Slayer only works because protagonist Tanjiro Kamado is a firmly compassionate person who sees the good in others and fights for their sake. His stubborn kindness is an effective counter to the twisted demons he faces. Other MCs are quite different, and with stellar results, including Eren Yeager and his sci-fi counterpart, Code Geass's very own Lelouch Lamperouge.
Lelouch wouldn't be half as memorable or popular if he were a Luke Skywalker type, fighting as a noble hero to save the downtrodden masses from an oppressive empire in a sci-fi setting. Instead, Lelouch is morally complex and often difficult to read, with him joining and working against every side in the war to further his own aims. In the end, Lelouch truly wanted Area 11's freedom as the former nation of Japan, but his simple goal didn't call for simple means or a simple persona. As Lelouch the student, Zero the rebel hero, and son of the emperor, Lelouch was anything but straightforward as a geass-slinging commander with a genius plan in mind.
Edward Elric Blends Alchemy With Science and Painful Humility
Edward's Entire Arc is Defined By a Mistake
On some levels, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's Edward Elric feels like a familiar kind of anime MC. He's a brave teen with well-defined powers, a thirst for adventure, and even some training sequences and a love interest. However, Edward is no Goku clone, since that is not what Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood calls for. Edward and Eren are rather different as MCs, but they share complex personal storytelling and iconic moments that say much about their flawed humanity.
7 Anime MCs Better Than Goku
Goku is one of the great anime protagonists, but these MCs might outshine him.
In Edward's case, he is an MC on par with Eren because his arc involves some dire mistakes and hard-won lessons. Often, bad things happen to anime MCs, but in Ed's case, something dreadful happened because of him. He and his brother tried and failed to revive their mother, which was not only a landmark moment in shonen anime but also a fine lesson about humanity's humility in the face of God. Ed was taught a rough lesson about respecting the natural order as an alchemist, and he paid that lesson forward to anyone else who needed to learn it, too. Humanity is frail and humble in many ways, but it also has indomitable spirit and hope, which Envy can only envy, hence his name.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Thorfinn Karlsefni Had to Reach His Personal Hell to Find the Light
Thorfinn Now Knows the True Purpose of Life
It's already promising how the seinen anime Vinland Saga uses Thorfinn the MC to deconstruct the idea of glorious combat. Thorfinn's selfish, bitter arc as a teen made it clear that violence and vengeance were ugly and destructive for everyone involved, and that's just the start. Thorfinn was already among anime's top MCs as someone who was finally enlightened about war, but then he reached legendary status once he went to war with himself.
Among other things, this historical anime series uses Thorfinn to prove that finding one self is a slow and challenging process. Most importantly, Vinland Saga shows how it's OK to feel lost so long as someone like Thorfinn is honest and brave when facing their inner demons or self-inflicted doubts. This kind of introspection may not come easily to some, but it can change a life so someone like Thorfinn can change all the lives around them, too.
Rimuru Tempest is OP Like Eren But Far More Inspiring
Rimuru Aimed to Build a World, Not Destroy One
Every now and then, the anime sphere needs a bold and controversial MC like Eren Yeager to challenge the notions of hero, villain, good, and evil. That keeps things feeling fresh and insightful, but the industry also takes care to not overdo it. That's why fans of isekai anime are magnetized to the likes of Rimuru Tempest in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Like Eren, Rimuru is a visionary leader who wishes to change the world with his many diverse powers and allies. But the similarities end there, and not just because Rimuru lives in isekai land.
6 Anime MCs Better Than Tanjiro Kamado
Tanjiro is a great character, but these anime MCs are just better.
The key is how Rimuru is a beacon of hope, unity, and tolerance for all monsters, which sets an inspiring example for the real world. Eren might call Rimuru naïve, but Tensura's slimy hero still believes, and that may prompt viewers to believe, too. Under Rimuru's mighty leadership, the pan-monster nation will thrive and set a new course for the world, one where peace and cooperation always trump divisions or aggression. Rimuru dares to be perfectly optimistic in a world that wants him to give in to despair or selfish pursuits, a perfect foil for Eren while also being oddly similar in some underlying ways.
Guts Almost Slipped Into Darkness as the Struggler
The Power of Love and Friendship Brought Guts Back From the Brink
Morally complex MCs like Eren Yeager and even Lelouch Lamperouge are willing to give in to their dark sides and betray or harm others for the sake of their mission, believing the ends justify the means. In the seinen anime world of Berserk, Guts the struggler was tempted to think that way too, but the kernel of good in him led him in another direction. That's part of what manga/anime fans love about Guts: his strength of will when resisting his most demonic temptations. He did slip into the dark side in the Conviction Arc, but even then, the power of love was guiding him.
Guts fascinates anime fans in almost every way a fictional MC can, among them his sheer resilience. Guts has endured more physical and emotional trauma than any person should ever have to, and while it shaped him, it never truly broke him, even when he thought it did. Guts' perseverance is his real defining trait, not his edginess, and that's how he tapped into the power of love and friendship despite carrying so many burdens.
Light Yagami Challenges Anime Fans to Ponder Justice and Duty to Society
Light Lost His Way But Did Believe in Humanity at First
Light Yagami, and by extension all of Death Note, still amaze anime fans with mind-bending questions about what justice and humanity really are. All of it adds up to make Light Yagami one of the medium's finest MCs, one who is even more legendary than the Titan Shifter Eren Yeager himself. It may help Light's case how Eren wanted to change a fictional world while Light aimed to change the real one by supernatural means. Thus, anime fans may grapple with questions about what they would do with the Death Note if they had it.
Light embodies Death Note's ethical fuzziness, since it's still not 100% clear if the Death Note planted the idea of evil in Light's mind or merely dredged up the evil that already existed in him. Light did seem to believe in a better society free of violent crime and fear, but then he created a world of terror under Kira, and that makes audiences ponder whether Light saw his new world as the goal or merely the means for domination.