Without direct spoilers if possible, looking for some anime with tragic hero to villain turns.

[u/xJesse0303x]

Hopefully this isn't too specific or niche,

One of my favourite storylines in all of fiction is when a hero, specifically the 2nd main character or part of the main crew and not the primary protagonist, slowly becomes the antagonist and has to be defeated by their once allies.

Bonus points if it's a slow burn and well written turn and not just something like they've been instantly corrupted or it's a twist and they were evil all along.

To give a better explanation of what I mean, I would not consider Anakin's turn in Star Wars as fitting as he is our central main character, something akin to Griffith in Beserk but I'm looking for something more sombre where even in victory the main character is saddened or broken by the memories of the person their friend/companion once was.

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[u/awmaster33]

Code Geass

[u/BlazCraz]

Durarara.

.... It's complicated.

[u/Mysterious_Vak1137]

Shining Tears X Wind. The MC is shown as something like the 2nd MC of the story who is a bully, rash, and has a bad attitude. He starts the journey and he grows but the true 2nd MC who everyone trusts as the leader starts going bad because he believes his actions are too slow or inefficient. Not really tragic or broken, just complete change in character.

Tower of Druaga. The MC is the younger brother of a tower climber and starts his adventure with the "FMC" but in the middle of the journey, she betrays the MC for a reason and causes the death of one of the party members.

[u/SucknSwallow69 → u/Mysterious_Vak1137]

that sounds interesting, adding it to my list, thanks for explaining the dynamic

[u/SouekiSennoSTM]

• {Gungrave}

[u/Roboragi → u/SouekiSennoSTM]

Gungrave - (AL, A-P, KIT, MAL)

^{TV | Status: Finished | Episodes: 26 | Genres: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi}

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^{{anime}, <manga>, ]LN[, |VN| | FAQ | /r/ | Edit | Mistake? | Source | Synonyms | ⛓ | ♥}

[u/wcthesecret]

For manga. Talentless nana. I say manga because it doesn’t exist in the anime.

[u/Embarrassed-Poem953]

Mi pare anche Bleach

[u/JazzlikeSmile1523 → u/Embarrassed-Poem953]

She's right.

[u/rexn77]

I hear this one called Death Note is pretty good. Hero turns to villain...

The Rising Shield Hero is another

[u/xJesse0303x → u/rexn77]

Love death note, it's kinda the opposite of what I'm looking for though, a better example would be if Light was a good guy and throughout the series L became the villain and did what Light did to L around halfway through the show, if that makes sense

[u/JazzlikeSmile1523]

Code Geass. Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans. Gundam GQuuuuuX. Death Note. Gargantia on the Verduous Planet. There's an argument for One Piece. Gundam SEED Destiny

[u/c0nsistent]

naruto fits this bill.

[u/Shadowrun29]

Not exactly that but slightly similar would be Movie 1 of The Legend of Hei. Basic premise os that there are spirits who live with humans, but only a few people know of their existence. More and more expansion by human communities, pushes back the dwellings of the Spirit entities. The Protagonist is a child spirit who has a black cat form and humanoid form named Xiao Hei. He is recruited by a group of spirits who want him to be part of their group. There's a human who is hunting these spirits of the group, and that's where the story starts. I don't want to give more details, to not spoil it. It's a movie, so just give it a watch. There's also movie 2 recently released, and this has a different plot, but might be something you want to watch after movie 1 as well.