There are very few elements of storytelling more satisfying than a well-executed plot twist. A good plot twist will excite the audience’s imagination, have a profound impact on the plot, and force viewers to reexamine everything they thought they knew about the story. However, a bad or pointless plot twist can ruin the entire narrative.
Anime has its fair share of pointless plot twists. These poor attempts at producing shock value lacked real substance or didn’t truly affect the outcome of the story. Whether they were originally designed to have a major impact or not, these twists are among the most pointless efforts in anime.
10 Jorge (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Despite being the assistant to one of the most important figures in the afterlife, Jorge the ogre is a bit of a loser. He’s far weaker than Yu Yu Hakusho‘s most powerful characters. He lives with his mother and acts as a comedic source of exposition for most of YYK. However, in the show’s finale, he is revealed to be the narrator, with the entire series existing as his chronicles of Yusuke’s adventures.
At this stage of YYK, this twist has virtually zero effect on the plot. While it attempts to reframe the structure of the entire series, it doesn’t really affect the audience’s perception of the story at all. It really just exists to give the comic relief character a little bit of relevance.
9 Commander Red (Dragon Ball)
The Red Ribbon Army is the most constant villain in Dragon Ball, with its members acting as antagonists across all four anime series. Its founder, Commander Red, uses the army to collect the Dragon Balls, presumably to conquer the world, but a last-second twist reveals that his real intention was to increase his own height.
Commander Red would not be the last villain with this goal, and its revelation does lead to his death. However, the character had not really been that fleshed out and had zero interaction with Goku or any of the protagonists. Whether the final opponent of the arc is him or Staff Officer Black, it doesn’t have any tangible impact on the story or the audience.
8 Lisanna (Fairy Tail)
Lisanna, Natsu’s childhood romantic interest who had died tragically young, turns out to have just simply been transported to a different dimension. This leads to a very tear-jerking reunion with Natsu and her siblings, but sadly not much else afterward.
Lisanna plays a very minimal role in the rest of Fairy Tail, and she is probably the least significant of the Strauss siblings. Even a hinted love triangle between Natsu, Lucy, and Lisanna never amounts to anything, nor does it cause any tension. Lisanna’s character arc is a big missed opportunity; it truly could’ve been a great twist.
7 Paradius (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
Paradius, an organization that is rumored to own part of every company in the world, launched a hostile takeover of both Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions. To no one’s surprise, Paradius and Dartz’s Atlantean organization, Doma, proved to be one and the same. It was so badly telegraphed that it removed the “twist” part of this plot device.
Furthermore, Dartz taking control of these companies didn’t really have that much effect on Yu-Gi-Oh!‘s plot. By this point in the arc, monsters were running rampant, so it didn’t really matter whether Kaiba owned the building infested with these monsters or not.
6 Sonju (The Promised Neverland)
Sonju is one of the first two demons to help Emma and the other escapees of the Grace Field House. However, he doesn’t do this out of a moral stance against eating children but rather out of the belief that demons should hunt their prey instead of raising them on farms. By helping the kids, he hopes they’ll grow up, reproduce, and give him a supply of wild humans he can hunt for food.
While this would theoretically set Sonju up to become a dangerous villain later in the season, it has no payoff as the kids are able to escape to the human world without facing any conflict from their demonic benefactor. The twist regarding Sonju’s intentions amounts to nothing.
5 Gyro (Hunter X Hunter)
Gyro, the King of the NGL, is a fairly mysterious figure who is given a rather detailed backstory for a character who sees zero screen time before his death. This seemingly gets a payoff when his followers learn he was resurrected as a Chimera Ant. It’s been speculated that he could become one of Hunter x Hunter’s strongest characters; however, even with his resurrection, Gyro is never seen on screen, making the twist that he’s still alive to be fairly negligible.
Gyro’s absence may simply be a result of a long hiatus in Hunter X Hunter’s manga, which recently came to an end. It seems the character will have no role in the current arc, leading to fans doubting they will ever see Gyro make an actual appearance.
4 Ace (One Piece)
The reveal that Ace isn’t actually Luffy’s biological brother but the son of the legendary King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, is one of the most surprising plot twists in One Piece. Sadly, it doesn’t really have much impact on the plot, as the revelation only comes after he is slated for execution.
As one of the world’s most dangerous pirates, Ace’s parentage wouldn’t change the World Government’s desire to execute him, nor would it change White Beard’s desire to rescue him. The War between the two sides would continue regardless of who Ace’s dad was. Perhaps if Ace had not died, then the impact of his origin could’ve been explored more, but it was ultimately a moot point.
3 Naruto & Sasuke (Naruto)
Naruto and Sasuke comprise one of the greatest rivalries in anime. However, the reveal that they are the reincarnations of the Sage of Six Paths’ sons, Ashura and Indra, doesn’t really add anything to the rivalry. The two have been directly or indirectly competing with each other for several hundred episodes across two series when the twist is revealed.
By this point, Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship was fairly fleshed out, and the reincarnation twist only cheapened it by turning it into a destined conflict rather than the natural one that grew over a decade in real time. Naruto and Sasuke have plenty of reasons to fight; one more doesn’t change anything.
2 Commandant Shadis (Attack On Titan)
Attack On Titan is filled with many dramatic twists with massive implications for the plot. However, not all of them can have a great impact, such as the reveal that Commandant Shadis was friends with Eren’s parents, Carla and Grisha Yeager.
The twist does serve some purpose, as it’s a source for exposition about Grisha’s life inside the walls. However, it doesn’t change anything about the story or offer any useful information about Titans or the nature of the world the characters struggle to understand.
1 Alucard (Castlevania)
Alucard’s descent into darkness after being betrayed by the twins Sumi and Taka was a massive surprise for a character who had given everything he had to protect humanity. Impaling the two and leaving their corpses as a warning to anyone who would dare cross him foreshadowed the son potentially following in his father, Dracula’s, footsteps.
It doesn’t take much for Alucard to go back to trusting humans, essentially helping the first group in trouble that he runs into. Alucard’s darkness is barely explored at all after these brutal executions, leaving very little sign they had any impact on him as a character.
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