Isekai Anime With The Most Selfish Protagonists

Isekai anime has a special place in the hearts of anime fans far and wide, with very dynamic fantasy worlds and beautiful character development. Most Isekai anime protagonists often try to change certain negative aspects of their previous lives or be a hero who lay down their lives selflessly for others.

However, some whose selfish traits define their character in their respective series exist. These individuals prefer to do what pleases them, whether for their interests or with a narrow view in mind, rather than help the world. Usually driven by personal survival, revenge, greed, or straightforward stubbornness, they take actions with very few in mind if at all, regardless of the effect on the general populace.

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Self-Serving Heroics

This anime centers around three teenagers blessed with extraordinary abilities who, tired of their regular boring lives, get summoned to another world known as Little Garden to participate in high-stakes games. However, they have to be in a community, and the community of the person who summoned them had lost everything to a demon lord.

Now the trio set out to reclaim their new home’s possessions and dignity and enjoy what it has to offer. Even though they eventually work together as a group, each of them prefers to handle challenges on their own. Because they have a lot of belief in their abilities, they prefer to attain personal glory rather than work as a team, which can jeopardize Little Garden.

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A Selfish Schemer Who Plays Reluctant Hero

After grinding and completing a game he was blackmailed into playing, he falls down his stairs and gets knocked out, reincarnating in the worst place possible, the very game he was blackmailed to play. Not only that, he also reincarnates as the mob character Leon Fou Bartfort. Now he has to use his knowledge of the game he hates to survive in this world.

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His hate for this world fuels his selfish traits, using his knowledge, experience, and technological advantages to outmaneuver and manipulate others without a care in the world. His actions are heavily driven by self-interest, often disregarding the chaos his manipulation of characters and events causes.

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Extreme Indifference To The World Around Him

Yogiri Takatou and his classmates get transported to a fantasy world, by a sage named Sion, where they are expected to become heroes. However, not all of them received abilities, and Takatou was one of them. Abandoned, Takatou comes face to face with danger and awakens his innate, overpowered ability to kill anything with his mind. Now he seeks to return home, eliminating any obstacle that stands in his way.

For such a grand ambition, Takatou is extremely indifferent to the world around him. He avoids fights any way he can, only ensuring the survival of himself and his immediate circle with no consideration for anyone else, after all, he was once abandoned.

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Betrayal Leads To A Hardened And Self-Centered Protagonist

After being transported to another world with his classmates, Hajime Nagumo ends up with abilities that lack any real offensive power. Not only that, he also gets betrayed by his classmate, who pushes him to his doom. Even though he survived the fall, he is immediately faced with dangerous monsters and misfortunes. Now he fights for his survival and is desperate to return home.

Hajime is often unwilling to help others even after gaining immense power unless it aligns with his goals or is to his benefit, prioritizing his mission to return to Earth above all else. He is also willing to sacrifice anyone and anything that stands in the way of his dream.

6 Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious

Overwhelming Focus On His Own Preparations

Seiya Ryuuguuin is summoned to another world to come and save them from destruction. Even though he already has overpowered abilities, he still trains himself for a very long time before he starts his missions. He often engages enemies who are way weaker than him and still equips himself with potions just to be extra cautious. However, this cautiousness might be what saves this new world from doom.

While the long-term goal is good, Seiya’s actions can be seen as selfish in the short term. He often leaves fights he believes he can not win, going to train to increase his strength and ignoring the immediate crisis until he believes he is ready.

5 Knights And Magic

Prioritizing Obsession Over The Needs Of Others

A Japanese otaku obsessed with mechs falls victim to a car accident and is reincarnated in a world where his obsession is used to protect the peace of the land. The mechs, called the Silhouette Knights, are like huge humanoid weapons used to fight demonic beasts.

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A genius programmer in his former life, the Japanese otaku, now with the identity of a member of the royal family, Ernesti Echevalier, aims to pilot one of these Silhouette Knights and even create his own. Unfortunately, now a Silhouette Knight, Ernesti puts his ambitions over everything else with little to no consideration for others.

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Selfish In A Comedic Manner

After dying tragically, shut-in NEET Kazuma Satou is reincarnated in a fantasy world, the dream life of most shut-ins. He is allowed to pick any item of his choice and chooses the goddess as his tag-along, a choice he later comes to regret.

Kazuma’s selfishness is essentially the comedic basis of this anime. He is always willing to cut corners to make money, doing questionable things for a quick buck without looking at the bigger picture. He also exploits his companions for his own survival and barely even fulfills his duty to defeat the demon king, often taking the less stressful route out of complicated situations. However, it is the kind of selfishness that cannot be hated.

3 Failure Frame

A Focus On Revenge Against Those Who Rejected Him

Along with his classmates, Touka Mimori is summoned to become a hero. However, he gets stuck with an ability that is deemed useless and is abandoned and sent to his death by the goddess Vinicius. Fortunately for him, he found out when cornered that his abilities said to be useless were actually sure-fire attacks, and now he wants payback.

Even if the circumstances are understandable, Touka selfishly seeks revenge against the goddess Vinicius and his classmates who abandoned him, manipulating others for his own sake and not caring about collateral damage. Even those that he protects, he protects them because they are useful to him and can aid in fulfilling his objectives.

2 Saga Of Tanya The Evil

A Reluctant Hero That Prioritizes Self-Preservation

A man who does not believe in the concept of a supreme being gets killed by a former co-worker and ends up reincarnated in the body of a small girl called Tanya Degurechaff by god, or Being X, as he likes to refer to him. Because of her lack of belief, Being X puts her in a world plagued with war, where she will be forced to have faith in the being that she rejects.

While most of her actions end up benefitting her country somehow, all Tanya desires is a world of peace, and she is willing to put anything and everything on the line, selfishly using and manipulating her companions to achieve her dream.

1 Mushoku Tensei

Past Regrets Over Present Relationships

Life was not going well for this Japanese NEET, and it ended up even worse as the infamous truck-kun sent him to his death, and he reincarnated in a world of magic and swords. Now going by Rudeus Greyrat, he decides to become successful in this new life and live with no regrets.

Particularly early on, many of Rudeus’ behaviors and actions are of him, acting in his interest and putting his needs before others, especially in his pursuit of redemption. His actions and thought process can also be seen as self-serving, focusing more on personal regrets than his effect on others.

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