Best Isekai Anime & Manga With Heroes Seeking Revenge

Key Takeaways

• Isekai heroes seek revenge in unique ways, from rising in power to destroying kingdoms, bringing fresh perspectives.
• Ungrateful kingdoms, bullying classmates, and corrupt goddesses all face payback from protagonists in these Isekai tales.
• From tragic origins to brutal revenge, these Isekai anime and manga explore themes of loss, power, and moral dilemmas.

Stories of revenge are not uncommon in modern anime, but what happens when you combine the Isekai Genre, with the good old fashioned “its payback time” trope? Then you get a whole new perspective in a genre that honestly, could use some freshen up. This list has some great Isekai Anime and Manga with heroes seeking revenge.

From a summoned young man who was falsely accused, expelled, and came back to show them the true meaning of heroism to a tale of despair, survival, and revenge of the most vicious isekai character ever made. Nothing will stop these heroes from bringing reckoning to those who played them for fools, not even death.

Updates by Lucas Simons, December 3rd, 2024: Unsurprisingly, Isekai anime and manga have returned once more to dominate the rankings during this season. Many anime series have come back for a new season, like Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, and the early return of As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World. In the meantime, tales of revenge like The Death Mage and Nito’s Lazy Foreign World Syndrome are quickly ascending the rankings of popularity, so, we’ve decided to give them a chance and added them to the list. There are not too many Isekai manga/anime with a main theme being revenge and keeping the “edginess” at an acceptable rate, so most of the series in this list don’t go beyond certain levels of gore and violence.

7 The Death Mage

An Unconventional Revenge Tale

• Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Isekai, Fantasy, Shounen, Tragedy
• Author: Densuke Li, Kojima Takehiro
• Nº Volumes: 14

The story of The Death Mage is a tragedy: transported to another world, and born as a half-vampire from a dark elf mother, Vandalieu’s life was marked by sorrow from early on. Since he can barely remember his past life as a Japanese student, he was grateful to be raised by a loving mother. But when a group of humans led by a so-called hero barged into his peaceful life and captured his mother for being the wife of a vampire, everything collapsed. He witnessed how the townsfolk led by the church executed her mother, and he swore revenge.

Soon, the world would tremble upon the mention of his name, as his power as a Death Magician is unparalleled. It’s a cool manga with a lot of drama, action, and adventure. A flip on the usual “vengeful hero saves the world” trope that is commonly used in this genre. Since Vandalieu had no choice but to play the role of the villain, he grew up hating mankind. As he roams the world amassing power and preparing to unleash his wrath upon all mortals, the balance between the thrill of revenge fulfilled, and the loss of self in sorrow after the moment passes is played masterfully by the author.

6 Nito’s Lazy Foreign World Syndrome

A Lazy Hero Mops The Floor With An Entire Kingdom

• Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Isekai
• Author: Fujimi Shoubou
• Nº Volumes: 6

This series starts like any other Isekai: with a bunch of school students being pulled unwillingly into a mess of a world, to fight a war for a lousy king in a corrupted Kingdom. Amidst all this mess, Hidako Masamune, a bullied student who committed suicide but was transported with all his bullies anyway, is marked as “useless” by the Kingdom, mocked by his fellow classmates, and thrown to die in a faraway region. Of course, he would swear revenge. What would they expect?

But then, he re-discovers the pleasure of living and obtains the power to do so by enjoying freedom and starting a new life with new friends, he somewhat forgets about his goal to turn a whole kingdom to ashes and dust and slay all his classmates. But, as the heinous crimes of the kingdom become more and more evident, he joins hands with a freedom-fighting group and decides to go back and break everything to pieces. A surprisingly good series, that has a rough start, but becomes better as the volumes progress.

5 Rising of The Shield Hero

Despised And Shunned By Everyone, He Proved Them Wrong

The second Iwatami Naofumi was selected as the Shield Hero, he knew something wrong was happening. While the other three heroes received praise and the help of the kingdom, no one was willing to accompany him on his quest. Unluckily for him, Melty Melromanc was the only one who offered herself to be a member of his party, but it was nothing but a trap. Melty stole all his stuff and falsely accused Nofumi of attempting to abuse her, so the Shield hero was kicked out of the palace with nothing but what he was wearing. So he swore to get back at that ungrateful king, the other heroes, and the conspiring princess.

Not too long after, he met Raphtalia, a slave girl who he saved from a difficult situation. Together, they formed a party, and it wasn’t too long until Filo joined their ranks. Together, they started to level up, proving that the Shield Hero was quite capable until they inevitably drew the attention of the Church of the Three heroes and the kingdom, who sent the other summoned Isekaid cheaters on a manhunt for Naofumi. Not only Naofumi moped the floor with them, but he also proved himself superior in strength and moral standards.

Being the greater person, he forgave their lives, but he didn’t let go of his grudge against the kingdom and its citizens. When the Queen came back and learned about the mistreatment that the Shield Hero suffered, she put her own husband and daughter on trial, and when they were found guilty of conspiring against the kingdom and the Shield Hero, she asked Naofumi what should be the sentence. Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty, but even so, Iwatami humiliated them without the need of physical violence, proving himself nobler than the conspirators.

4 Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells

Left For Dead By A Corrupt Goddess, He Swore To Kill Them All

When the Goddess Vysis summoned heroes from another world, Touka was baffled to find himself among the “chosen ones.” But as quickly as Vysis checked his stats, she did a 180º and decided it was better to discard him in some random ruins for him to die. Of course, Touka survived, and he was pissed. Barely managing to survive thanks to a magical bag and his luck, he found the remains of another summoned being who was discarded by the Goddess after completing his task and learned about the horrific past deeds of the deity.

Upon learning about the Forbidden Arts in the Forgotten Sage’s journal, Touka swore to get his sweet revenge someday, but for that, he had to escape. Learning about curses, he soon became notoriously proficient in causing the altered statuses Paralysis, Poisoning, Blindness, and Rage. Using those as weapons, he manages to get out just in time to save Seras Ashrain, a fugitive elven noble and joins hands with her to get back at the society that rejected them.

3 Garbage Hero: A Revenge Story Of A Hero Who Got Summoned To Another World

The Story Of A Discarded Summoned Hero Taking Revenge From The World

• Genres: Fantasy, Isekai, Sword And Sorcery, Revenge, Drama, Action
• Authors: Kinashi Haruka – Nanja Monja
• Nº Volumes: 3

Tsukuru a law-abiding citizen and exemplar schoolboy gets thrown into a new world alongside his class, and in the middle of the strangest of situations: They get to be auctioned as summoned heroes to the various nations of that world to defeat several demon lords. But turns out nobody wanted Tsukuru, since his skill “Chef” is undesirable. Discarded through a portal, he almost landed in death’s jaws, but managing to survive, he swore to become stronger and get his revenge someday.

After managing to get some broken items and a legendary sword and title, he gathers up power and money and ultimately ends up buying the freedom of a magician slave named Kana. Soon, they discover that together a great synergy between their skills. Thus begins a tale of hard working, monster slaying, and cooking, where the hero Tsukuru will rise to power using his unique talent and high intelligence, and get payback alongside the fallen noble lady who became his right hand.

2 The Hero Who Seeks Revenge Shall Exterminate With Darkness

They Summoned Him To Be The Hero, Then Killed The People He Loved The Most, Death Is Too Good For Them

• Genres: Grimdark, Isekai, Revenge, Drama, Horror
• Author: Ononata Manimani
• Nº Volumes: 12

The Hero Raul accomplished his mission and slayed the Demon Lord, but upon his return, he finds out that the Princess, alongside the power-hungry aristocrats and their sycophants have murdered the family he formed in that world and his beloved friends. Raul’s mind completely breaks, and he turns into a homicidal psycho who wishes nothing but to destroy each and every one of them in the most painful of ways.

The problem is: how to stop the most powerful being in the world, who has turned to the dark side and is on a rampage killing every noble in the kingdom? This is the story of a foolish Princess and her inner circle of acolytes, who committed the most sinful acts of betrayal for ambition, and the brutal and gory tale of the hero’s revenge upon them.

1 Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest

They Threw Him Into The Abyss And Pretended It Was Nothing, Now They’ll Suffer His Wrath

When the Heroes from another world got summoned to a strange land and forced to become pieces in a great game of chess, they never knew they’d meet death so soon. But it turns out that when they throw you totally unprepared into one of the most dangerous labyrinths in the world, things cannot go all too well either. For Hajime Nagumo, and kind and aloof student, this meant the beginning of a new life and the end of his love for mankind. When things went south, his classmates used him as bait and threw him into the darkness, leaving him to die.

The scoundrel didn’t know then, but they had sealed their fate since Nagumo not only survived but suffered a metamorphosis that led him to become the strongest in the world. He also found a sealed vampire princess in the depths of the dungeon, and together, they conquered it and earned its hidden powers. Roaming free once more, and using his synergist class to completely annihilate whatever stays in his path for too long, Nagumo will hunt down those who used him as a trash bag, and pay back ten thousandfold. Arifureta has some quirky characters for sure, but it’s an overall good series, though its main character is a little bit complicated and edgy.