While anime is often known for being weird and obscure, it’s also home to some of the most fascinating fan theories out there. There are no limits to what can happen in anime, and some of its wildest stories are ripe for all kinds of crazy speculation. If you’ve ever wondered why your favorite anime series is the way it is.
Over the years, fans of the medium have created their own theories that explain some of the oddity of certain shows. Some of these theories can be pretty out there. So, if you have ever found yourself wondering if there is a deeper meaning behind your favorite anime, you may want to take a look at these craziest anime theories.
Saitama Will Turn Into A Villain – One Punch Man
Saitama could be a hero right now, but that doesn’t mean he stays that way forever. In fact, Youtuber DuoReview thinks he’ll become evil at some point.
In addition to that, Saitama’s emotional state is not strong. Despite all of his heroic actions, he is still subjected to a barrage of insults. No matter how chill a person might be, that kind of thing cannot be ignored forever.
Saitama also isn’t as chill as he appears – you don’t lose all your hair because you’re relaxed, calm, and collected. What’s more, he doesn’t really care about property damage.
Remember when he didn’t talk to the Paradise Group until he thought he might get confused with one of them?
But emotions aren’t enough to make someone who has been managing them well from turning into a monster. Monster cells are. The manga claims many monsters who attack Z City are former humans who consumed monster cells.
Saitama eats the carcasses of fallen monsters to save on his grocery bill.
Saitama’s immense strength makes turning him into a monster unlikely, but it might happen over time. In fact, it may already be happening. Transformed monsters are indifferent and apathetic, tendencies that Saitama is displaying more and more as the series goes on.
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The Hunter Association Ordered The Phantom Troupe To Massacre The Kurta Clan – Hunter x Hunter
There are rumors that the Phantom Troupe took the life of the entire Kurta Clan to steal and sell Scarlet Eyes.
Phantom Troupe members are known to be legendary thieves without any apparent reason behind their actions. However, fans online commonly suggest that their origins and motives are kept secret for a reason. One fan has suggested that the Hunter Association is responsible for the demise of the Kurta Clan.
There is a very high probability that the Hunter Association’s ultimate goal is to gather sufficient Hunters to travel to the Dark Continent. This explains why many Hunters plan to go on DC expeditions.
Here is where the Kurta Clan comes in. Some believe they came from the Dark Continent. Their Scarlet Eyes are a key to opening the Dark Continent’s gate, so the Hunters Association needed them.
As a result, they secretly hired the Phantom Troupe to take their lives. There’s also a theory that Pariston Hill is to blame for the massacre.
Of course, these theories have holes. For one, how come they don’t have all the Scarlet Eyes?
Whatever the case, there is something more to Phantom Troupe and Hunter Association existences.
Johan Liebert Didn’t Survive At The End Of The Series – Monster
Monster had quite a controversial and intriguing ending. After Johan is shot by Wim Knaup’s alcoholic father, the series comes full circle when Tenma is given a choice to save Johan’s life or leave him to die.
Tenma ultimately decides to save his life by conducting surgery on him, signifying that Tenma stayed true to his ideals. The series ends with Tenma talking to an unconscious Johan in the hospital about his mother.
But the ending is exceptionally ambiguous as the scene implies Tenma might have hallucinated his conversation with Johan. The last frame also reveals Johan’s empty hospital bed.
While some fans believed that Johan escaped from the hospital and continued his life as a new person, others theorize that Johan was no longer living this whole time.
Tenma wasn’t able to save Johan. Therefore, the hospital sequence was a hallucination to move on with his life. Others argue that the ending is actually darker than it appears.
Johan’s possible results in Tenma living without any closure. This explains why Tenma was so visibly disturbed when Johan asks if his mother actually cared for him. Whether or not this is a possibility, it is clear that Monster’s ending is left open for interpretation.
Orochimaru Wants To Get His Hands On Sarada – Boruto
The defanged version of Orochimaru, happy to continue his experiments under Konoha’s watchful eye, is a hard one to swallow.
It’s hard to believe that this is the same person who destroyed thousands of children in pursuit of immortality, attempted to take over Konoha, and targeted a 12-year-old boy by bribing him to sign over his own body.
This is why fan theory is so logical. Orochimaru’s obviously not done trying to nab the Uchiha powers. Sasuke’s daughter, Sarada, is a perfect opportunity to accomplish that.
Sarada may not be as powerful as her father, but she’s just getting started. Could Orochimaru take advantage of the fact that Sarada is on the same team as Mitsuki to pull her in? That remains to be seen, but it’s certainly possible.
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Vicious Was In Love With Spike – Cowboy Bebop
Suppose Vicious actually wanted Spike gotten rid of. In that case, he could have easily tracked him down and done the deed long before the series finale.
According to Reddit user u/HoverboardViking, there’s a reason why he avoided doing so – Vicious doesn’t want Spike no longer living at all. In fact, he’s in love with him.
Back when they were in the Red Dragon offense Syndicate together, the two were close friends. In fact, Spike was one of the only people who Vicious could be with and feel anything other than rage and contempt.
When Julia and Spike had an affair, this devastated him not just because his lover Julia betrayed him but because she did it with Spike. This incident leads to Vicious making a deal with Julia: if she ends Spike’s life, he’ll spare hers. She goes into hiding, and Spike has to fight for his life.
Why, after that, didn’t Vicious keep trying to take Spike out? And why didn’t he make any effort to find Julia? He could do so with barely any effort in the last episode, so it’s not like he was trying and failing.
It might have been because he still loved both of them and secretly wanted to be reunited with them and experience the happiness he once did before they betrayed him. Of course, a hardened man like him would never admit to soft feelings like that, but that doesn’t mean they can’t exist.
Giovanni Is Ash’s Real Father – Pokemon
This fan theory suggests that Team Rocket’s real purpose of stealing Ash’s Pikachu is not stealing Pikachu at all, but instead monitoring Ash’s progress and reporting to Giovanni.
Why does Giovanni care? Because Ash is actually his son.
This might sound farfetched, but there’s an interesting twist in this theory. Giovanni had a relationship with Delia before Ash was born. They broke up because she wouldn’t approve of his criminal lifestyle.
Giovanni supported Ash even if things didn’t work out with Delia. When Ash started his Pokemon journey, he sent Jessie and James to watch over him.
It wasn’t just that they were there to watch him – they were also supposed to do the opposite – create diffiies for him that he would have to resolve and set up situations enabling him to get face to face with Ash after he had defeated the lower level, Rocket employees.
Frieza Is Actually A Child – Dragon Ball Z
A fan theory claims that Frieza might actually be a young child. When he mocks his enemies, he sounds like an immature middle schooler. When he throws a fit, he sounds like a toddler. Is he a child or teen?
We don’t know much about Frieza’s growth patterns or longevity. His father, King Cold, is bigger than he is. However, this could be a case of natural variation.
We don’t know how long it takes for a child to grow into an adult or how far Frieza is along in that.
Frieza has a son named Kuriza, so he is not likely to be a literal child, but he could be a young adult.
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Sosuke Aizen Doesn’t Have A Bankai – Bleach
In Bleach, Bankai is Shinigami’s second and most powerful weapon, which is their Zanpakuto.
Reddit user u/nonamekill says Aizen could never achieve Bankai status, despite being the most powerful villain in the series.
He experimented with Arrancar, the wish stone, and other things to pursue a Bankai, but it seemed he had one. Why is that?
The Shikai in his Zanpakuto is the source of his hypnotic powers. As such, he’s fully capable of convincing others he has a Bankai even if he doesn’t.
Petrification Was A Healing Experiment Gone Wrong – Dr. Stone
I’m going to guess that whoever petrified mankind for thousands of years is one of the bad ones…right?
Ibara may have used the Petrification Device to reign over the Petrification Kingdom. However, it still isn’t clear who used it on the entire planet.
Reddit user u/gayblara explained that it may have been done mistakenly, in goodwill. Petrification has tremendous healing power. Those that were petrified emerge completely healed from previous injuries.
There’s a chance scientists were searching for a cure but ended up causing a global disaster.
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Blackbeard Ate Three Devil Fruits – One Piece
In the world of One Piece, it’s forbidden for one person to eat more than one Devil Fruit at a time. If they do, two devils will fight inside their bodies before they pass away.
Marshall D. Teach, better known as Blackbeard, is an exception to this rule.
The answer might lie with the Cerberus theory.
A theory suggests that Marshall consumed more than just the Dark Dark Fruit and the Quake Quake Fruit; he also consumed an unnamed Zoan-type fruit that transformed him into a Cerberus, sparing him the fate he otherwise would have experienced.
It is further supported by the imagery surrounding Teach. Three conjoined skulls are displayed on the Blackbeard Pirates’ flag, and he intentionally injured Shanks by making three scratch marks across his eye.
Titans Bodies Are Made Of Yeast – Attack On Titan
In the canon, the Titans have been revealed to have an interesting origin story. Still, not much is known about their anatomy or physiology.
According to Tumblr user kamiltheawesome, Titans are actually composed predominantly of yeast. That’s crazy… but it makes sense.
In Wall Sina and Connie’s village, unusual strains of yeast have been found on outskirts with high Titan populations. Still, you don’t find stuff like this out of the blue in fiction.
The yeast produces a tremendous amount of gas and heat, which causes the material in its surroundings to expand — similar to an individual’s transformation into a Titan.
The protein in human blood is capable of bonding with yeast. The sun makes yeast super-active, which is why Titans aren’t active at night.
It’s more complex than just that, so you should read it yourself.
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Pegasus Had A Good Reason For Creating The Toon Monsters – Yu-Gi-Oh!
Toon Monsters is Pegasus’ signature card. Although they’re appropriately campy, there could be a practical reason behind why he designed them.
Pegasus is also responsible for the Egyptian god cards Slifer, Ra, and Obelisk. He realized that they’re really powerful when he made them, so he made sure they wouldn’t get into the wrong hands.
Toon Monsters can always avoid attacks from other monsters because they can hide in the Toon World. This is the position of Reddit user u/lunch77, who believes that the Toon Monsters was an attempt to combat them.
As a result, there is almost no way for anything other than Toons to defeat them – even the God cards.
Muzan Wants To Get Rid Of The Hinokami Dance -fallen angel Slayer
As Markydan 123 pointed out in a YouTube comment about another similar fan theory, he suggested Muzan Kibutsuji’s reasons for personally targeting the Kamado family.
The Kamados are just a family of harmless peasants, so why should Muzan worry about them?
Perhaps the Hinokami dance, which is used to both pray and fight, is what’s needed to defeat Muzan and the rest of the Twelvefallen angel Moons.
Muzan might have known about its destructive potential and sought to destroy the family before its ever being used against him.
Despite not knowing that Tanjiro existed, he also didn’t bother trying to eliminate Nezuko once discovering that she was a fallen angel.
Pride’s Shadows Are Linked To His Sin – Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Throughout Fullmetal Alchemist, each of the homunculi is symbolized by one of the seven deadly sins. Not only does this come across in their behavior and personalities, but also in their powers and aesthetic.
Sometimes the connection between Gluttony and excess eating is obvious – clearly, his sin is excessive eating. Other times, however, the connection is unclear, such as the reason why pride uses shadows.
According to a deleted Reddit user, the shadows have symbolic value. An arrogant, self-indulgent person is bound to conceal his arrogance by shielding it from sunlight.
Besides, shadows cannot exist without Light – they are a result of contrast. Light is often used as a revealer of harsh, harsh truths, including false pride.
In contrast to pride, a proud person does not usually talk exclusively about how great they are. Still, they believe they are better than others.
This metaphor may or may not have been intended by the creators, but it would certainly hold up in a psychology class.
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Light Yagami Is Reincarnated As A Shinigami – Note
The Shinigami in Note: Relight wears a blood-stained coat that looks like the one Light was wearing when he passed away. Some fans believe the Shinigami is a reincarnation of Light Yagami.
Furthermore, his voice and face appear to match Light’s, at least to the extent that a skeleton can do that. But what proves him more convincing is his intimate knowledge of Ryuk –
In addition to knowing how much Ryuk loves apples, he throws one to him with the same movements Light used when he was alive.
It may seem as if this cannot happen because the original series implies that nothing happens after a person passes away.
Since Relight does have continuity issues, you can say that this theory only applies to Relight and not the original.
There’s also the possibility that Ryuk didn’t tell the truth about the afterlife.
Dabi Might Be Toya – My Hero Academia **Confirmed**
Among the siblings of Shoto are his older brother and sister, who both inherited their mother’s ice powers. His eldest brother, Toya, is equally mysterious. I believe Toya may be another League of Villains member.
It is important to note that Cremation is a powerful fire-based ability, comparable to Endeavor’s ability. However, Dabi’s body cannot withstand his own flames, which is why he is covered in burn scars.
Stain and Dabi both oppose professional heroes for similar reasons. This is a sensible reaction by someone they consider abusive – like Endeavor.
Endeavor has repeatedly faced off against Dabi in battle but has never actually seen Dabi’s face. Could this be foreshadowing?
Many might think this theory has been dismissed since Toya is said to havelost life. However, he could very well still be alive, unbeknownst to the Todorokis.
They look incredibly similar as well, from the hairstyle to the facial features of Dabi and Toya.
