Some say that the worst of deeds starts with the best of intentions. A lot of shonen anime protagonists tend to fight for what they consider to be a better tomorrow for themselves, the people they love, or even for the rest of their world, and thankfully, for the most part, their efforts end up making a difference for the better. However, not all of them do.
There are quite a few shonen protagonists whose actions end up making things a whole lot worse, whether it's by accident or completely on purpose. Sometimes it's one mistake that has ripple effects, other times the protagonist doubles as the villain, whatever the case, they're all proof that actions always have consequences.
10 Science That Started With Good Intentions (Dr. Stone)
The intelligent Senku is Dr. Stone's resident scientist who ends up bringing scientific achievements to the new stone world upon reemerging over three thousand years after humanity's petrification. He even cracks the code for freeing other humans from their stone form, but this ends up having unforeseen consequences.
In a split-second decision, Senku revives the mighty Tsukasa who saves both him and Taiju from lions but ends up creating their greatest enemy in the process. This decision goes on to later haunt Senku further as Tsukasa uses his de-petrification formula to revive people to serve in his empire and wage war on Senku and anyone else that stands in his way.
9 All This Could've Been Avoided If You Told the Truth (Rent-a-Girlfriend)
After being harshly dumped by his first girlfriend, a down on his luck Kazuya ends up using a rental girlfriend app to heal his broken heart with the lovely Chizuru. Unfortunately, Kazuya ends up taking things too far and this entangles them both in a messy web of lies that has their respective family members think they're really dating.
If that wasn't enough, Kazuya continues to lie to his friends partly to stroke his own ego, but also further complicating things for Chizuru and himself in the process. He may not have originally intended for things to get this bad, but the results make Kazuya seem pathetic at best and a scumbag at worst.
8 The Pure Chaotic Randomness of Bo-bobo! (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo)
The world of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo functions on its own weird internal logic that mostly pokes fun at shonen anime tropes and archetypes, with the titular Bo-bobo himself in the role of the main hero. That being said, Bo-bobo mostly wins all his battles with the power of pure chaotic randomness which often becomes a double-edged sword.
These methods include accidentally powering up the bad guys, throwing unwilling allies or random innocent bystanders into the fight, and (most notably) using his friends as human shields to block attacks. He may be considered an unorthodox hero, but it's hard to tell if Bo-bobo is actually saving the world or not.
7 Indecisiveness & Cowardice, a Winning Combination? (Future Diary)
Even inaction has its own equivalent reaction, something that would describe Yukiteru Amano of Future Diary very well. Most when thrust into a big life or death game would try their best to survive, but Yuki ends up being one of two things at any given moment, either he's a huge coward that would rather hide under the covers or he's frustratingly indecisive.
Fortunately for Yuki, he manages to enlist the help of his obsessive admirer Yuno to do all the heavy lifting for him. However, because of how he strung her along, Yuno ends up killing droves (including innocents) in his name and later kidnaps him. Yuki's overreliance on Yuno and inability to actually do anything ends up making things worse for literally everyone.
6 Eren Yeager, From Repeat Hostage to Violent Revolutionary (Attack on Titan)
At first, Eren's ability to turn into a Titan gave humanity hope it never knew it had against the giant man-eaters, but as it turns out hope can become despair in Attack on Titan pretty fast. In the beginning, Eren would be repeatedly defeated or captured and be in need of rescue, which would cause the injury and even deaths of some of his allies.
As time passed and he got better, Eren transcended from repeat hostage to a violent and near-apathetic revolutionary who didn't care who got hurt or killed either directly or indirectly, whether they were friends, foes, or innocent bystanders. He may have his reasons, but Eren definitely became the kind of monster he vowed to destroy.
5 Excel, the Worst Minion of All Time (Excel Saga)
Every villain needs a trusty righthand man/woman that can do the dirtiest of dirty work for their boss. Unfortunately, Excel is not that minion. Completely devoted to the villain Il Palazzo, Excel is sent out to prepare the planet for conquest. However, Excel is completely incompetent even at the best of times
Excel's hyperactive nature combined with her witlessness and bad luck make her fail at even the simplest of tasks. Making matters worse is that her partner, Hyatt, is unable to keep her in check. Excel's constant failures would be good news to humanity, but because of how destructive her screwups are, nobody ends up being safe.
4 The Killer Among Us (Talentless Nana)
At first glance, Nana Hiiragi seems like a nice and friendly girl, but that's just a cover because in truth she's a cold-blooded killer. Sent to assassinate young super-powered individuals called the "Talented," Talentless Nana spends the bulk of its time seeing the title character find nasty ways to kill her fellow classmates one by one.
Believing her actions to be for the greater good, Nana uses any means at her disposal to complete her mission, whether she has to kill the Talented students directly or manipulate others into doing it for her. Causing all the suffering of her targets, Nana may have no powers but her intelligence is the deadliest weapon in her arsenal.
3 Proof That Power Corrupts Absolutely (Death Note)
The course of Light Yagami's life takes on a sudden and dramatic turn when he discovers the Death Note, a notebook that can kill whoever's name is written in it. Deciding to use its powers to rid the world of evil, Light uses the Death Note to kill criminals, but it wouldn't take long before Light's intentions became a twisted god complex.
Soon Light's actions get the attention of the authorities of whom he ends up killing to continue his work. Light also ends up manipulating others who die for him out of devotion and his mass killing even starts a cult that worships him. He may have tried to purge the world of bad people, but he became one of the worst of them.
2 In the Name of Preserving a "Happy Sugar Life" (Happy Sugar Life)
Sato Matsuzaka's appearance makes her come off as a kind and innocent soul, the truth is she's anything but. Sato's mind is completely warped with an incredibly twisted idea of what she considers "love." At the very start of Happy Sugar Life Sato has apparently crushed the hearts of her many boyfriends, but things spiral after she kidnaps a little girl named Shio, enamored by her pureness.
Deciding that keeping Shio all to herself was her definition of a happy life, Sato would deal out suffering onto anyone she perceived as a threat to it. This included blackmail, mentally breaking, or murdering whoever got in her way. Even her eventual death would go on to haunt anyone who crossed paths with her.
1 The Many, Many Examples from Goku (Dragon Ball)
In terms of iconic shonen anime heroes, Goku is one of the first that springs to mind. However, nobody's perfect and Goku has made a lot of mistakes over the years.
Examples include his insistence on having a fair fight which has gotten himself and his friends into trouble, his lack of common sense which caused a lot of unintentional destruction, indirectly creating some of his most powerful enemies that end up killing tons of innocent people, and his want for the Tournament of Power almost dooms several universes. Goku's saved the universe more times than once, but he also ends up being part of the problem at times.
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