Top 10 Anime Mentors Who Shaped Their Heroes
Shonen runs on mentors, and the best ones tend to die. That is not a coincidence: a mentor’s job is to make the hero ready to stand without them. These ten did it best, ranked on their influence and how much the story changes when they are gone.
The rankings
- Jiraiya, Naruto. Flawed, funny and the reason Naruto learned to believe in people. His death at Pain’s hands is the series’ turning point.
- Kamina, Gurren Lagann. Dead by episode eight and present in every frame after. The definition of a mentor whose belief outlives him.
- Satoru Gojo, Jujutsu Kaisen. Teaches by example and by being impossible to live up to, which is the point.
- Isaac Netero, Hunter x Hunter. His fight with Meruem is a mentor’s final lesson delivered to an enemy.
- Kyojuro Rengoku, Demon Slayer. One movie, one death, and Tanjiro carries his flame forever.
- All Might, My Hero Academia. The mentor who has to watch his successor surpass him in real time.
- Kakashi, Naruto. The teacher who never got to teach the way he wanted, and grew up alongside his students.
- Izumi Curtis, Fullmetal Alchemist. A housewife who terrifies the strongest alchemists alive.
- Reigen Arataka, Mob Psycho 100. A fraud who gives the best advice in anime.
- Biscuit Krueger, Hunter x Hunter. Trained Gon and Killua with a smile and zero mercy.
The pattern
Notice how many of these mentors are frauds, failures or fallen heroes. The genre’s best teachers are the ones who know exactly what they got wrong.
My take: Reigen at number nine is the one I would argue up. He is a con artist who accidentally raised the most well adjusted protagonist in shonen. That is teaching.
