Summary
Teachers in anime often play an incredibly important part in the lives of the protagonists and the supporting characters. The role of the teachers is usually to raise the next generation and make sure that they find their feet in their lives. While quite a lot of the time these teachers stay by their side until the very end and get to witness the end of their journeys, sometimes, the author chooses to kill them off instead and use that as a means to further the growth of the students.
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This is a very common trope,especially in shonen anime, and, over the years, fans have seen many such teachers meet their tragic end. Of course, out of the many anime teacher deaths, only a handful stand at the top as the best-executed ones that served a great purpose in the story.
8Hiruzen Sarutobi
Hiruzen Sarutobi, also known as the Professor,was the Third Hokage of KonohainNaruto. He was believed to be an exceptionally wise character, and was a teacher to all. He served Konoha as an exemplary Hokage and, throughout his life, preached peace and did whatever he could do to maintain it. Of course, Hiruzen made several mistakes in his life as a teacher and one of them ended up costing him his life.
His very own beloved student, Orochimaru, came for the village and wanted to destroy it, killing hundreds and thousands of innocents. Hiruzen ended up taking him on himself and gave his life to protect the village and passed on the torch to the next generation.
7Genkai
Genkai is an incredibly important character when it comes to driving the plot ofYu Yu Hakushoforward. Being incredibly powerful despite having an old body, Genkai trains Yusuke and transforms him into the powerful character that all fans know him to be. Genkai also passes on her abilities to Yusuke eventually, however, she finds herself getting killed by Toguro, a character she shared a very deep history with.
Genkai’s death serves as a great means to drive the plot forward, however, the fact that she ends up returning might not be fun to every fan.
6Kyojuro Rengoku
Fans know Kyojuro Rengoku to beone of the most important charactersinDemon Slayer. He became especially popular after Mugen Train, but it wasn’t long until he faced his end while protecting Tanjiro. In a deadly fight against Akaza, Kyojuro Rengoku ended up losing his life, however, he made sure that there were no casualties.
In protecting everyone, he received wounds that were fatal and his flame ended up dying out. Before he passed on, however, he made sure to give some wisdom to Tanjiro and ensure that he transforms into what he was always meant to be and steps up.
5Whitebeard
Whitebeard is one ofOne Piece’smost influential characters and he served as the captain of the Whitebeard Piratesas one of the Four Emperors of the sea.Whitebeard raised several powerful pirates over the years, all of which he treated as his children.
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Although not a traditional teacher, Whitebeard offered protection to all of them as a parent and ended up raising them to a point where they could stand on their own feet. Sadly, Whitebeard met his end in the Paramount War, which he fought for his son and lost his life in the process.
4Garp
Garp is yet another influentialOne Piececharacter who recently ended up in a very precarious situation. To rescue his protege, Koby, from the Pirate Island,Garp invaded the territory of one of the Four Emperors of the Seaand fought against his own student.
While he succeeded in saving the life of his student, he ended up staying behind to cover for them. In the process, he received some lethal wounds and was stabbed right through the chest before being permanently frozen by his own student.
3Jiraiya
The death of Jiraiya is one that everyNarutofan holds very close to their hearts and possibly even one that non-Naruto fans are well familiar with due to its immense scale. Jiraiya was Naruto’s mentor and he raised him to be a fabulous Shinobi. In the end, he faced death at the hands of his own student, Nagato.
Jiraiya’s death served as a reason for Naruto to get stronger and ascend to the next level. Through him, Naruto found his goal in life and also became the splendid Shinobi that he is today. EveryNarutofan holds him incredibly close to their heart and will continue to do so for ages to come.
2Kite
Kite is one ofHunter x Hunter’smost important teachers. He was especially close to the protagonist of the series, Gon Freecss, and on top of being his friend, he also taught him a lot while they were exploring NGL together. In the Chimera Ant arc, Kite faces off against Neferpitou and loses his life. Gon, being unaware of his death, tries his best to rescue him, however, eventually realizes that it is too late.
This forces Gon to undergo a very dangerous transformation using which he kills Neferpitou, however, he loses a lot in the process. While Kite is reborn later on as a Chimera Ant, his death as a human still holds tremendous significance.
1Koro Sensei
Koro Sensei is, quite possibly, the greatest teacher that anime has ever seen. Although his students are dead set on killing him inAssassination Classroom, they end up forming a very special bond with him.
Koro Sensei realizes their strengths and weaknesses and helps them become the best version of themselves, which is something that all of them appreciate to the fullest. In the end, however, they have to part ways with him as he dies a very emotional death where his own students end up finishing the job for him.
