Published Feb 6, 2026, 4:00 PM EST
Emedo Ashibeze is a tenured journalist and critic specializing in the entertainment industry. Before joining ScreenRant in 2025. he wrote for several major publications, including GameRant.
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Over the years, anime protagonists have grown to be defined by their dramatic personal growth. Yet some of the medium’s most iconic characters remain unchanged, carrying the same core personality, outlook, and emotional responses from their first appearance to their final moments.
These characters remain true to their persons despite their evolving stories. Whether they are adventurers, powerful loners, or relentlessly determined fighters, their consistency becomes a narrative anchor. They stay true to a single, unchanging core.
Hence, this list features 10 popular stories in which the protagonists are forced to be strong and persevere, yet they change little as characters. By examining their origins, defining traits, and the worlds they inhabit, it becomes apparent how limited their character development is.
9 Goku – Dragon Ball
The epic Dragon Ball series follows Son Goku from a carefree child to an adult hero. His journey begins lightheartedly; he trains in martial arts, collects dragon balls, and fights powerful enemies.
Despite consistently facing massive challenges, Goku has largely maintained the same personality. He starts the series as a simple-minded, innocent, and kind-hearted fighter who’s excited at a challenge, and remains as he is for the entirety of the series.
Truthfully, his world-altering experiences made him much more powerful, with new transformations and higher stakes. However, little happens in terms of internal growth. This near-total lack of inner change is what makes Goku a static protagonist.
Saitama – One Punch Man
One Punch Man centers on Saitama, the protagonist, who is so strong that he defeats his enemies with a single blow. To ease his boredom, he joins the Hero Association and faces monsters and aliens like Boros, as well as threats that can change the cosmos and alter events.
Rather than celebrating his strength, the series explores the emptiness it creates. Saitama faces enemies he doesn’t consider a challenge, so he gets bored quickly. As the setting moves from the ruined City Z to space, the difference between global danger and Saitama’s indifference becomes pronounced.
Ironically, before he became unbeatable, Saitama was an ordinary man searching for excitement and direction. Unfortunately, achieving invincibility stripped him of emotional highs, while exposure to struggling heroes brought little change to the protagonist’s journey.
8 Kirito – Sword Art Online
Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya is a withdrawn teenager whose solace and identity are defined by virtual reality. He understands how virtual reality works, but lives in solitude. Even before SAO, he operates alone, in a trapped death game where players’ survival depends on clearing its floors.
The story explores multiple virtual worlds, from Aincrad and Gun Gale Online to Alfheim, and the ethical consequences of artificial intelligence in the Underworld. Yet Kiritimati barely changes; his personality remains constant. He remains calm, composed, and competent, traits that appeared early on in the show.
Despite experiencing many traumas, from watching his allies die to blaming himself for failures, and shouldering leadership. His persona, however, remains unchanged. Although he learns to trust others and eventually forms bonds, he shows very little further psychological growth. His character’s identity remains anchored in his skill within virtual environments.
7 Ash Ketchum – Pokémon
In Pokémon, Ash Ketchum starts as an impulsive ten-year-old who travels around the world to become a Pokémon Master. As he travels, Ash confronts failure, rivalry, and responsibility. His losses in Kanto and Johto teach him humility, though it is not a lasting trait, while fighting opponents like Paul challenge his beliefs about strength and how Pokémon should be cared for.
With time, his persistence pays off, leading him to become an Alola Champion and eventually the World Monarch. In his journey through different regions, Ash repeatedly learns about trust, teamwork, and perseverance, often through defeat.
Despite his accomplishments, Ash’s inner character changes very little. He becomes more experienced as a trainer, but his optimism and enthusiasm remain intact. His development is measured in badges and victories rather than maturity.
6 Mash Burnedead – Mashle: Magic and Muscles
Mash lives in a world dominated by magic, where people are judged by their magical abilities. When he enrolls at Easton Magic Academy, he gains attention for his extraordinary physical strength. Born without magic, Mash aspires to become a divine visionary so he can live peacefully alongside his adoptive father.
Throughout the series, Mash faces challenges that tend to expose his defects. He competes in magical duels, navigates academy politics, and confronts elite students. He only overcomes them through sheer determination, ingenuity, and force.
Despite the growing threats, Mash maintains his core traits and doesn’t evolve. Stoic, confident, and reliant on his muscles, he learns to adapt his strategies, but his psyche experiences no discomfort strong enough to prompt a reassessment. The story presents him as single-minded and socially awkward, and he remains the same.
5 Futaro Uesugi - The Quintessential Quintuplets
Futaro Uesugi starts as a pragmatic student who socially withdraws from his peers and takes his responsibilities and financial burdens seriously. After becoming a tutor to the Nakano quintuplets, he faced resistance, teasing, and chaos. This tests his patience daily.
Futaro finds a way to navigate financial pressure, family obligations, and the challenges of guiding the quintuplets. However, he gradually bonds with the quintuplets and turns tutoring sessions into opportunities for mutual understanding and self-discovery.
Through his experiences, Futaro becomes more emotionally aware, learns to be more empathetic and compassionate, and communicates in ways beyond blunt honesty. His main traits remain the same. He is still disciplined, responsible, and direct. His development is meaningful but measurable.
4 Soma Yukihira – Food Wars!
Soma Yukihira joins the elite Tōtsuki Culinary Academy after his father closes their family diner. Thrown into high-stakes shokugeki battles, school-wide rebellions, and global events like BLUE, Soma’s journey centers on proving his worth.
As he faces elite chefs, survives trials, and participates in brutal battles, he sharpens his approach to cooking. The school coup led by Central forces prompted him to rebel, motivating him to cook not just to win.
While he gains advanced techniques, broader culinary knowledge, and experience working with and against top-tier talent, Soma begins as a confident, adaptable cook and remains that way throughout the arc. Although he’s been thrown into difficult situations, he does that with the same cocky grin on his face, remaining unwavering.
3 Anos Voldigoad – The Misfit of Demon King Academy
The Misfit of Demon King Academy follows Anos Voldigoad, the reincarnated Demon King. He enrolls in an academy that fails to recognize his identity. At the academy, Anos confronts rigid class rankings, manipulated records, and discrimination against hybrid bloodlines.
From the first episode to the latest arc, Anos’s personality has remained static: overwhelming, confident, and calm. He effortlessly overpowers elite students, dismantles false histories, exposes impostors claiming the throne, protects the innocent, and upends centuries-old institutions.
Each conflict forces him to assert truth, whether by overpowering elite students, protecting marginalized allies, or dismantling institutions founded on lies. However, there is no significant change in his personality from the beginning to the end of his arc.
2 Yuu Otosaka – Charlotte
Charlotte focuses on Yuu Otosaka, a selfish and manipulative teenager, who uses his ability to cheat in exams and gain social favour. His perspective begins to change when he is exposed and forced into a student council that monitors and protects other ability users.
Yuu experiences loss, betrayal, and the consequences of his misuse of powers. The death of a loved one and the revelation of how abilities are exploited pushed him into situations where he became responsible for his actions. His journey emphasizes that once power is unchecked, sacrifices will be demanded.
Yet across Charlotte, Yuu’s fundamental traits are the same. He’s still cunning, guarded, and calculative. The shift in the series is more about plot development rather than a character change. Thus, Yuu simply remains the same sharp, detached opportunist.
1 Tanjiro Kamado – Demon Slayer
Tanjiro’s journey begins with tragedy. After his family is slaughtered and his sister Nezuko is turned into a demon, he joins the Demon Slayer Corps with a two-goal: protect her and defeat Muzan. Tanjiro is thrown into brutal battles and loss, which forces him to grow and move from a tender-hearted boy into a swordsman.
As he travels across Taishō-era Japan, Tanjiro faces demons whose cruelty stems from suffering. These encounters test his resolve. Yet instead of hardening him, they reinforce his empathy, acknowledging the humanity of his enemies even as he kills them.
Tanjiro’s inner character remains unchanged. His compassion, moral clarity, and sense of responsibility stay constant throughout the plot. The result is a story focused on resilience and skill rather than a psychological evolution.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Release Date 2019 - 2024-00-00
Network Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, BS11, Tochigi TV, Kansai TV, Tokai Television Broadcasting, Fukui TV, Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting, Iwate Menkoi Television, Sendai Television, SAGA TV, TNC, OHK, Ishikawa TV, Kochi Sun Sun Broadcasting, TV Shizuoka, UMK TV Miyazaki, Television Shin Hiroshima System, NST, NBS, Sakuranbo TV, TSK, Ehime Broadcasting, KTS, NIB, Fukushima TV, TOS, AKT, Toyama Television, TV Kumamoto, Okinawa Television Broadcasting
Directors Hideki Hosokawa, Shinya Shimomura, Akihiko Uda, Takuro Takahashi, Shuji Miyahara, Masaru Takeuchi, Toshiyuki Shirai, Takuya Nonaka, Yuki Ito, Ken Takahashi, Takahiro Majima, Yusuke Shibata
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Natsuki Hanae
Tanjiro Kamado (voice)
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Akari Kito
Nezuko Kamado (voice)
English (US) ·