Anime heroes –like the stories they live out– come in many different shapes, forms, sizes, and styles. Some heroes clearly win out thanks to their strength and strategy in battle, or magical powers that they cultivate and train at. Others have a longer journey that involves learning and forming relationships.
For some characters, though, heroism comes about largely by accident and misunderstanding. If intentions were everything, then these heroes would never have come out on top –yet they did, often in spite of themselves. Here’s a look at those who were in the right place at the right time, or who managed to do the right thing even though they didn’t know it.
10 Usopp Knocks Out Sugar With His Scream Of Pain (One Piece)
Usopp and some of the other Straw Hat Pirates are out to get Sugar of Donquixotes’ Army in the Dressrosa Arc. At one point, Usopp is badly beaten, and Sugar grabs a fake grape filled with Tatababasco that was brought to try and knock her out.
Instead, she stuffs it inside Usopp’s mouth, but when he screams in pain, it startles her so much that it knocks her out. Her spells are broken, and all the toys she’s created with her magic revert to their natural forms.
9 Carr Benedict Is A Hero Even When He Tries Not To Be (Allison & Lillia)
Carr Benedict is a flirty officer of the Sou Beil Air Force in Allison And Lillia. At the request of Allison and Wil, he takes the sole credit for their world-changing discovery –even though he was only there because he’d been trying to shoot them.
He’s dubbed a hero but regrets the attention. In his next adventure as Major Carr, he acts recklessly, hoping to be demoted, but it only serves to further establish him as a hero in the public’s eye.
8 Kitano Becomes Guardian By Misunderstanding (Angel Densetsu)
The whole premise of Angel Densetsu is a series of misunderstandings caused by the unfortunate appearance of Seiichiro Kitano. He’s got the heart of an angel, but the face –literally– of a devil, and keeps getting drawn into confrontational situations because people are scared of him.
When he’s agitated or even trying to explain himself, he lets out a scream of KIEEE! that is usually misunderstood. He is dubbed the Guardian of his new school, and the other students become his followers, all because they are frightened of him.
7 Team Rocket Gets Mistaken For Heroes & Then Mistakenly Save The Village (Pokémon)
In this special episode of Pokémon Chronicles called “We’re No Angels,” a robot is let loose in the village, and the villagers struggle to subdue it. Team Rocket (Jessie, James, and Meowth) arrive on the scene, and the villagers hail the trio as the legendary superheroes they’d seen on TV.
Team Rocket, though, does not appreciate being taken for heroes. They proceed to battle the robot, unaware of the situation and thinking it will scare the villagers, but the people thank them and are even more convinced of their heroism.
6 Captain Tylor’s Entire Career Is Largely Accidental (The Irresponsible Captain Tylor)
The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, based on The Most Irresponsible Man in Space light novel, is built on the premise that Tylor’s child-like and naively irresponsible attitude is often the reason for his success, including getting out of many dangerous situations.
He’s carefree and thinks of nothing but himself. But, he literally stumbles into a hostage situation when he goes to join up with the United Planets Space Force, and saves the hostages by a sheer miracle of circumstances –leading to his promotion.
5 Mutto Accidentally Foils A Robbery (Space Brothers)
After seeing a UFO as a child, young Hibito eventually fulfills his dream of becoming an astronaut. Older brother Mutto takes longer to come to the idea, and struggles at first with the exams until he stumbles upon a robbery one day.
Mutto was hanging out with pet walkers at the time, and strictly speaking, it was actually Apo the pug who ended up foiling the Fire Extinguisher Thief. The local news declares Mutto a hero, though, and he passes the second round of exams.
4 Cure Lemonade’s Inattention Saves The Day (Yes! Pretty Cure 5: Great Miraculous Adventure in the Mirror Kingdom!)
In the Yes! Pretty Cure 5: Great Miraculous Adventure in the Mirror Kingdom! movie, the Cures go to the Mirror Kingdom to battle Shadow, who wants the crystals of the Mirror Kingdom, along with the Dream Collet so they can gain world domination.
The Dream Collet requires all 55 pinkies (fairy-like creatures, each with special powers) to work. When Shadow finally battles through to get the Dream Collet, though, it doesn’t work, because Cure Lemonade (Kasugano Urara) never handed in her last pinkie.
3 Zebra Accidentally Saves A Village By Annihilating 26 Species (Toriko)
Zebra or Zebura is a Gourmet Hunter in Toriko. He’s regarded as the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings, and also the most brutal and savage in satisfying his enormous appetite.
In contrast with the others, he has no regard for what he eats and has an arrogant and entitled attitude. He’s hardly the heroic type, in other words. Yet, in savagely eating his way through 26 species, and thereby reducing the demand on a limited ecosystem, he saved a small village in the desert by accident.
2 King’s Entire Reputation Is Created When People Accidentally Give Him Credit For Saitama’s Heroism (One-Punch Man)
In One-Punch Man, King is a professional hero, S-Class Rank 7. He’s known as the Strongest Man On Earth, and the Heroes’ Hero. But, it’s all been something of a misunderstanding. He’s just an average guy, but he had the accidental good luck to be near Saitama during some of his exploits, like when he defeated the Mysterious Beings.
With his reputation, he’s often confronted with fights, and, he often ends up unintentionally tricking his opponents into thinking he is intimidating.
1 My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Is Full Of Accidental Good Luck For Catarina
Catarina Claes is a rich heiress who realizes she’s living in a game that she loved in her past life in this romance anime. The problem is, she’s the villain, and she has to try to get in the way of the protagonists.
It has a grim fate in store for her, but luckily for her, she unintentionally ends up evading all the major doom flags and making positive relationships with her supposed enemies. In one scene, Sophia believes that Katarina intentionally saved her from bullies, when in fact Catarina was oblivious to the situation.
About The Author
