History TheUnfettered / AnimeAndManga

* Paul von Oberstein from ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes''.

* Askeladd and Canute in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' both fit this, though the former appears to be a tad too jaded.

* Though practically all Demons from ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' has zero to no qualms in taking the lives of others. [[BigBad Muzan Kibutsuji]] is by far the worst offender here. Cruel, underhanded and heartless, Muzan would kill anyone who'd pose a threat to his plans, be it Human or even a [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness fellow Demon]].

* The [[ChurchMilitant Black Order]] of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' is probably an entire organization of these people. Established with the sole purpose of averting the Apocalypse, no sacrifice is too great, no experiment too hideous, or no line too sacred to cross when it comes to defeating the Millennium Earl. Individuals within the organization do deviate from this goal, but the organization at large has a single-minded purpose.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** [[spoiler:Father]] is an exceptional case of this. He's probably the only one on this page to literally remove his fetters and [[EmbodimentOfVice give them physical bodies]].
** [[spoiler:And then there's Shou Tucker. Shou. [[PrecisionFStrike Fucking]]. Tucker]]. The man who was willing to [[spoiler:experiment on his wife, his daughter, and even himself in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] and turn them into mutated chimeras]] if it meant furthering his research.
** Scar. [[spoiler:He will stop at nothing to find a means to destroy the empire of blue-eyed devils who killed his people. And in a way, he actually succeeds]].
** Kimblee in the 2003 anime version is too misanthropic and sociopathic to know the meaning of 'restraint': By all good fortune he doesn't have a higher goal, but if he wants to do something he will do it without thought for the consequences. His backstory claims be [[MadBomber blew up his own commanding officer and squadmates simply because he wanted to]].
* The Lunatic Magician from ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' is going to [[spoiler: protect the royal family and the sunkern kingdom from invaders]] and anyone who gets in the way will get brutally murdered. She has no other priorities apart from this due to being murderously insane.
* [[TinMan The Contractors]] in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' prioritize their own survival to this level and have absolutely no shame and restraint in doing anything as long as it ensures their long-term survival, although as we eventually learn there are a few exceptions.

** Lelouch and Suzaku achieve this mentality at the end of the series. Lelouch in particular forces another character to back down by ''threatening suicide'', as he'd rather die than not achieve his goals. In general, while he might talk the talk, his [[MoralityChain ties to his]] [[MoralityPet friends]] (and ''especially'' sister) do act as fetters--for most of the series. It's only after [[spoiler:Lelouch loses most of them]] that he's really willing to do ''anything'' for his goals. [[spoiler:At which point he conquers half the world in about an hour]].

* Askeladd and Canute in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' both fit this, though the former appears to be a tad too jaded.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio admits feeling ashamed at striking at the childlike Nel in order to draw out Ichigo's full strength, but points out that "If your objective is to 'protect my friends' and my objective is to 'defeat you at full strength', then what I am going to aim for is not you, but that one little baby, nothing more."
** [[PerpetualSmiler Gin Ichimaru]] is also a candidate of this trope. His main objective for following Aizen was [[spoiler:to avenge what was done to [[MoralityPet Rangiku]] when they were kids. He was relentless in achieving this goal; he killed people and threw away Soul Society's trust, his captaincy, his friendship with Kira, and even his friendship with Rangiku in order to get close enough to Aizen to kill him]].
** On the heroes' side, we have [[SociopathicHero Mayuri Kurotsuchi]]. He shows no hesitation in committing atrocities [[ForScience to further his]] [[FantasticScience understanding of the soul]]. Unlike Gin, he never hid this personality trait, which is likely why he ended up being "resigned."
** One of [[GodEmperor Yhwach's]] defining character traits is his complete and utter ruthlessness and his almost unemotional determination to overcome any obstactle that gets in his way, both physical and moral. In the state of being very weak? Just conduct ThePurge and regain power and extend your lifespan, of "unnecessary" and "impure" Quincy, regardless of age. Team Killing from his soldiers? It doesn't matter. Power ups from the heroes? It doesn't matter. Barriers keeping you from walking further? It doesn't matter. Squad Zero itself meeting up with you head-on? Fuck off. All four of your Schutzstaffel Elites falling to one guy? Conduct ThePurge on your own soldiers so you can simultaneously revive and strengthen the elites. Destroying the world? A necessary sacrifice. No single thing can and will keep him from undoing the original sin by recreating a world without death, and there's not a single thing he will not do to further his goal of creating said perfect world.

* [[TheRival Paul]] from ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl'' is a [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior chillingly accurate portrayal]]. While he is not incapable of showing respect for his elders, such as Professor Rowan, he is a ruthless and cruel Trainer who [[TrainingFromHell trains his Pokémon harshly]], [[TheSocialDarwinist treats weak Pokémon and even other Trainers with utter contempt]] and has released no less than six Pokémon on screen for [[YouHaveFailedMe poor performance in battle]] and feels no remorse for his actions, seeing his actions as the only way to make an efficient team. He also [[TheStoic shows little to no emotions]] apart from his ever present scowl (and occasionally a [[PsychoticSmirk condescending smirk]], usually for Ash), is quick and firm in his choices, sees nothing morally wrong in his abuse of both people and Pokémon, [[CombatPragmatist and has no qualms about using borderline illegal moves in battle]] (repeatedly attacking his own partner's Pokemon during a Tag Battle), and is by far one of Ash's most powerful rivals, serving almost as a living antithesis to [[TheFettered his entire philosophy on Pokémon]]. Unlike his other rivals Gary and Trip, who were simply at odds with Ash, Paul is a full-blown antagonist.

* In ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'', Ukoku Sanzo [[spoiler:aka Nii Jiyeni]] is the Zen philosophical version of this trope: he's come out the other side of NietzscheWannabe and fully embraced his own interpretation of the concept of "hold nothing", which is one of the series' main themes. He's one of the series' most frightening villains as a result.
* Griffith from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' fits this to a tee, but nowhere more completely than [[spoiler:when the Eclipse goes down and he sacrifices his entire band of mercenaries, people who stood by him and believed in him and fought and bled for him, to the demon gods of the Godhand in order to join them as their fifth member because he'd plateaued while attempting to achieve his dream of having his own country.]]
** Guts himself qualified when he was WalkingTheEarth alone as the vengeance-driven Black Swordsman. When Rosine and her Apostle Spawn tried to put an innocent girl named Jill between him and themselves, he didn't even blink before cleaving the Spawn in half and ''almost'' taking her with them (he just missed her by a ''tiny'' inch). Since then, he's gained another group of TrueCompanions and has softened up considerably, thanks largely to him realizing that he'd forsaken the one person he should never have let go of for the sake of pursuing vengeance against Griffith for the above betrayal.
* Gendo Ikari from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' wants to [[spoiler: bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, both to [[AssimilationPlot merge all human souls into one]] so [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans they will be liberated of misunderstandings and suffering]] and to be [[TragicDream reunited with his wife]], whose soul is currently [[AndIMustScream trapped in a mecha]]]]. To achieve this, he's willing to use his own son and surrogate daughter (Both of which he actually cares about, even if it's all but apparent at first) as tools and guinea pigs, makes them fight monsters, does his fair share of large-scale scheming and manipulation, and goes even as far as ''offering his body'' to a pair of {{Yandere}} scientists whom he found annoying at best to keep them placated and thus useful for his plans. He's generally a very pragmatic person who's not above sacrificing the life of a 14-year old kid for the greater good (or what he sees as such), but will do the dirty work himself if he should be forced to (for example, pulling ropes amongst some random technicians when there's a blackout).
* Kiritsugu Emiya from ''LightNovel/FateZero''. For him, anything is permissible so long as the net lives saved is greater than those lost. He will cheat in the Holy Grail war and kill magus enemies in ways considered dishonorable and cowardly, using [[ManipulativeBastard deceit]] and sniping, and even betraying those he loves.
** Also heavily [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in that the series demonstrates the intense emotional and psychological consequences of trying to live this way if you aren't actually a sociopath: Kiritsugu is powerful, unstoppable, and ''miserable,'' because he knows his ability to coldly sacrifice others in pursuit of his goal makes him [[HeWhoFightsMonsters not that far removed from a monster himself.]] Guilt and grief don't do any more to stop him than honor or pride.
* [[DarkActionGirl Roberta]] from the ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' OVA ''Roberta's Blood Trail'' [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge will kill those who killed her master]] then [[MamaBear return to the young master]]. And she's not [[UnstoppableRage particular]] about what it does to her, anyone else, or the long-term consequences. [[AxCrazy Move or die]].
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': Johan Liebert kills anyone who gets in his way without any feeling about what he's doing. One character that he's about to execute tells another character, "He doesn't even blink when he kills people."
** Inspector Lunge is convinced that Tenma is responsible for the deaths and that Johan doesn't exist, so he devotes every waking second of his life to tracking down Tenma and capturing him. Lunge even accepts a divorce from his wife without any second thoughts and made it absolutely clear to her that his investigation always comes first. [[spoiler: Lunge finally encounters Johan himself near the end of the series and does a HeelFaceTurn, at least after his world comes crashing down around him]].
* Paul von Oberstein from ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes''.
-->'''Oberstein:''' The Galactic Empire... no, the Goldenbaum Dynasty must fall.
** And he will do ''anything'' to accomplish it.

* Two examples from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', [[BigBad Millions Knives]] & [[TheDragon Legato Bluesummers]]. Knives has no reservations about doing anything in his considerable amount of power and influence to [[KillAllHumans wipe out humanity]], while Legato is [[MadLove slavishly devoted to Knives]] and will even [[DeathSeeker kill himself]] to help Knives accomplish his goals.
* Jomy in ''Manga/TowardTheTerra'' turns into one after [[spoiler: the destruction of Nazca]]. He leads the Mu to war, gives Tony the okay to [[spoiler:kill surrendering soldiers]] and is ready to abandon [[spoiler: a station full of Mu hostages]]. Many Mu feel disgusted by these actions. Fortunately, he gets better.
* [[spoiler:Yuji Sakai]] from ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' [[FaceHeelTurn becomes this]] after [[spoiler:merging with the [[BigBad Snake of the Festival]]]]. He will do anything to create a world where Crimson Denizens no longer have to consume humans to survive, and will sacrifice as many humans, Flame Hazes, and even Crimson Denizens as he feels he needs to. [[spoiler:And in the end, [[TheExtremistWasRight it pays off]]]].

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': This is the reason why Kid Buu is considered the most dangerous form of Majin Buu, despite not necessarily being the strongest form. Fat Buu was persuaded not to kill and destroy anymore [[ObliviouslyEvil since he didn't understand that what he was doing was wrong]], and Super Buu was (barely) reasoned with by appealing to his [[BloodKnight desire to fight strong opponents]]. Kid Buu, however, literally doesn't care about anything beyond destruction, and the first thing he does is destroy the Earth. Then the neighboring planets. Then he set his sights on the afterlife.
* The Major from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', his only goal is to wage war, he doesn't care who wins, loses or dies so long as the war is waged.
* Huey Laforet and Claire Stanfield from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''. The only moral question Huey considers dwelling upon is the question of "is this action ForScience?" Claire, on the other hand, is thoroughly convinced that [[AGodAmI he's the king of the world]] and thus just does whatever he damn well wants to at the moment.
** Ironically, Huey himself considers [[LoveFreak Elmer]] to be this. He might actually be right.
--->'''Elmer:''' I'd sell the souls of all humanity to the devil if I thought it'd get us a happy ending.

* Hanma Yujiro from ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'' will go to any lengths to have a good fight. His worst action by far is the sheer [[ButtMonkey hell]] he has put his son through just to have someone even ''potentially'' equal to him. He even states to his son Baki that if he fails to live up to his expectations, he will repeat the whole process with '''''his''''' son.
* [[spoiler:[[OmnicidalManiac Rau Le Creuset]]]] from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED''. He'll do anything, even die in the process, to complete his goal of annihilating the human race that he HateSink so much as revenge for what they did to him.
* Heero Yuy from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' starts off like this in the very beginning of the series, not caring if or how he dies, so long as he can complete his mission but it fades as he begins to give a crap about human life.
* Mikasa from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. [[KnightTemplarBigBrother Her]] goal is simple: protect Eren at all costs, from any threat, be they Titan... or human.
** This is also the motivation of the Survey Corps Commander Erwin Smith. His aim is to defeat the Titans. No sacrifice is too big if it furthers that goal. [[CharacterDevelopment Later on]] in the manga, [[TheChessmaster Armin]] starts coming over to that line of thinking too.
** It appears that now, [[spoiler:Eren himself]] is becoming this. [[spoiler:Almost 10 years after the beginning of the series, he still wants to wipe out the Titans, even though he himself is a Titan, and he knows that the other Titans are/were humans, too. He's even willing to be seen as a threat to humanity to do it.]] [[spoiler: Turns out he is completely the unfettered as he personally massacres civilians including children while fighting the Warhammer Titan, launches a coup of the Government he and rest of his friends installed behind the scenes, cuts all ties with Mikasa and Armin after [[KickTheDog telling Armin he's an idiot]] and [[KickTheMoralityPet telling Mikasa she was a slave all along and he had always hated her]], using his brother to order his father into murdering the Reiss Family minus Rod, everything of which is a lead up to his true goal of '''annihilating''' life outside his home.]]
** The Beast Titan, [[spoiler:Zeke Yeager]], also counts. [[spoiler:He's willing to betray everyone important to him multiple times (including his own parents, although his feelings towards them are complicated to say the least), fake his own death, kill innocent civilians (''and'' turn them into titans), all to achieve his goal of making Eldians unable to reproduce. In Zeke's mind, he's doing Eldians a favour by killing them.]]
** A minor example is [[spoiler:Kruger, the man who [[ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin gave Grisha Yeager]] the powers of the Attack Titan. He was more than willing to send innocent Eldians to their deaths, along with torturing them, in order to achieve his goal. Grisha asks him if he feels any remorse for what he did, and his reply is [[IDidWhatIHadToDo "I believe I did it all to save Eldia"]].]]
* Lucy, Kurama, Bando, and Director Kakuzawa from ''Manga/ElfenLied''. Lucy has no reservations about doing anything in her considerable amount of power to kill all the humans and replace them with her species. Kurama's goal is to save the human race, even if it involves terminating innocent children and women alike. Bando's goal is to kill Lucy no matter what the cost is. Director Kakuzawa's goal is to wipe out the human race, replace it with the Diclonius, and be worshiped by them as their new "[[AGodAmI God]]."
* Yuno Gasai and Minene Uryu from ''Manga/FutureDiary''. Yuno's goal is to do ''[[MurderIsTheBestSolution any]][[MurderTheHypotenuse thing]]'' for Yukiteru, even going as far as to [[spoiler: keep the [[GroundhogDayLoop universe in an eternal time loop, forever replaying the Diary game]]]]. Minene's goal is even simpler: to destroy religion.
* Aoshi in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', for a time. The goal: bring honor to fallen comrades (by defeating Kenshin, naturally). The sacrifices: [[spoiler:working for the omnicidal BigBad, attempted murder of his OldMaster, tossing out all morals, and (would have included) his own life]]. [[DefeatMeansFriendship He got better]].
* Yuriko Mifune of ''Manga/KotouraSan'' [[LampshadeHanging admits this about herself]]. She's most certainly goal-devoted and takes an unapprehensive approach; however, and thankfully, she's never truly ruthless nor immoral--just a PluckyGirl who challenges the UntrustingCommunity's FantasticRacism against those with PsychicPowers.
* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'':
** [[MonsterOfTheWeek Nagare Kano]], a sicko pervert who [[StalkerWithACrush stalks]] Kurumu and is perfectly willing to stoop to such lengths as blackmail and theft to get his way.
** Fairy Tale leader Gyokuro Shuzen is a pristine example. She is determined to acquire power and dominance for herself and will do whatever it takes to do so, up to and including throwing her ''[[AbusiveParents own daughters]]'' to the wolves.
* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Amshel]] [[MadScientist Goldsmith]] of ''Anime/BloodPlus''. Everything he does is so he can find out everything he possibly can about the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent chiropteran race]], and he'll do whatever it takes to do so, be it performing twisted genetic experiments on helpless children or starting a biological apocalypse by turning the people of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity into chiropterans.
* [[SinisterMinister Olba Mayer]] of ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'' is willing to go to some pretty heinous lengths to kill Maou and Emi, up to and including making an entire underground mall filled will innocent civilians collapse simply to take them out. Needless to say, after seeing Olba for the scumbag he is firsthand, Emi [[BrokenPedestal no longer trusts the Church of Ente Isla]].
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Dio Brando, Kars, Kira Yoshikage, and every other every primary antagonist. Meanwhile [[spoiler: Johnny Joestar]] is an usually civil (if sulky) heroic example, a major part of his character development being his finding out how far he's willing to go to get what he wants.

* Eishi Tsukasa in ''Manga/FoodWars'' is always striving to improve his cooking. If he needs to help his subordinates grow so he has sous-chefs who can keep up with him, he'll be the kindliest and most patient mentor in the world. If he needs to compete with a challenger who is angling for his seat on [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil The Council of Ten Masters]], he'll crush the hapless bugger so thoroughly he'll never pick up a kitchen knife again.
* As stated in the theme song, [[VillainProtagonist Afro]] of ''Anime/AfroSamurai'' only lives for revenge. Most of the drama in the series stems from [[CycleOfRevenge the consequences]] of his willingness to give up or destroy anything else in pursuit of it.
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' has [[TheDreaded Pisces Aphrodite]], who just doesn't care in the slightest about what happens to his enemies. He demonstrates by casually [[MindRape mind-raping]] an opponent that knew something he wanted to know, poisoning anyone who tries to cross his temple without permission, and reacting to the threat of being hit by a sure-kill attack by [[spoiler:unleashing ''his own'' sure-kill attack out of ''curiosity over who'll die first'']].
* The Rett Team in ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' are the descendants of Moonrace scouts whom Dianna sent to Earth to prepare for resettlement. Despite their NewAgeRetroHippie look, they will do ''anything'' so long as they think it will advance Dianna's goals. Their lack of any battlefield norms or protocols earns them the disgust of Dianna's regular forces, who will respect typical battlefield codes. The Rett team, meanwhile, has no qualms conducting a nighttime assault on a militia hospital. After nuclear weapons are rediscovered (and several detonate), their leader Cancer wants to find the remaining two and ''set them off'' somewhere on Earth so that there's no possibility they'll harm Dianna. They only come under control once they actually find Dianna herself and she's able to give them direct orders--which happen to be to advance her new goals of finding a peaceful settlement. Had she ordered them to continue attacking the Earthers indiscriminately, they would have cheerfully done that, too.
* Aino Minako [[CharacterDevelopment evolves into this]] over the course of ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'', going from trying to stop a youma peacefully because he was her first crush only to shoot him with the Crescent Beam by reflex when he attacked her in the first chapter to willingly kill [[spoiler:her ''one true love'']] after she [[DontMakeMeDestroyYou asked him to not make her kill him]] ''once'' and he tried to attack her in the finale. By the time she appears in ''Manga/SailorMoon'', there's very little she won't do for the mission.
* [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad The League of Villains]] from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' are very much [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what you'd expect]]. To contrast [[TheFettered The Fettered]] Hero Society in both methods and beliefs. Some of the league members do [[NobleDemon have standards]] (such as Kurogiri), but overall a ''free'' society for them should only be ruled by those powerful enough. Heroes in their eyes, restrict and abuse their Quirks believing they [[SamaritanSyndrome can naively save everyone]]. With how [[BitchInSheepsClothing some Heroes act]], this disbelief is mostly justified.

** On the heroes' side we have [[SociopathicHero Mayuri Kurotsuchi]]. He shows no hesitation in committing atrocities [[ForScience to further his]] [[FantasticScience understanding of the soul]]. Unlike Gin he never hid this personality trait, which is likely why he ended up being "resigned."

** Kabuto as well was mutually [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] as his Lord. For the majority of his story, Kabuto did every heinous, underhanded thing merely to achieve some [[IAmWho form of identity]]. Eventually, he found meaning in just being himself and not another clone of his twisted master. A lesson he had to learn, [[MiseryBuildsCharacter the hard way]].

-->'''Elmer:''' I'd sell the souls of all humanity to the devil if I thought it'd get us a happy ending.

* [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad The League of Villains]] from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' are very much [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what you'd expect]]. The contrast [[TheFettered The Fettered]] Hero Society in both methods and beliefs. Some of the league members do [[NobleDemon have standards]] (such as Kurogiri), but overall a ''free'' society for them should only be ruled by those powerful enough. Heroes in their eyes, restrict and abuse their Quirks believing they [[SamaritanSyndrome can naively save everyone]]. With how [[BitchInSheepsClothing some Heroes act]], this disbelief is mostly justified.

* [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad The League of Villains]] from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' are very much [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what you'd expect]]. The contrast [[TheFettered The Fettered]] Hero Society in both methods and beliefs. Some of the league members do have standards (such as Kurogiri), but overall a ''free'' society for them should only be ruled by those powerful enough. Heroes in their eyes, restrict and abuse their Quirks believing they can naively save everyone. With how some Heroes act, this disbelief is mostly justified.

** Speaking of Gaara, the Hidden Sand (Suna) was also quite merciless, especially in the past. [[ArchnemesisDad Rasa]] would even sacrifice his own youngest son, just to test Shukaku. Luckily after gaining allies, the village settled such cruel ways.

* [[TheRival Paul]] from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' is a [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior chillingly accurate portrayal]]. While he is not incapable of showing respect for his elders, such as Professor Rowan, he is a ruthless and cruel Trainer who [[TrainingFromHell trains his Pokémon harshly]], [[TheSocialDarwinist treats weak Pokémon and even other Trainers with utter contempt]] and has released no less than six Pokémon on screen for [[YouHaveFailedMe poor performance in battle]] and feels no remorse for his actions, seeing his actions as the only way to make an efficient team. He also [[TheStoic shows little to no emotions]] apart from his ever present scowl (and occasionally a [[PsychoticSmirk condescending smirk]], usually for Ash), is quick and firm in his choices, sees nothing morally wrong in his abuse of both people and Pokémon, [[CombatPragmatist and has no qualms about using borderline illegal moves in battle]] (Elekid using Brick Break on Cranidos' leg, Torterra biting Gliscor's tail, and pretty much every move by [[BearsAreBadNews Ursaring]]), and is by far one of Ash's most powerful rivals, serving almost as a living antithesis to [[TheFettered his entire philosophy on Pokémon]].

* ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'':

** This a trope is part of [[TheRival Sasuke's]] CharacterDevelopment. His FaceHeelTurn was largely driven by his conclusion that [[PowerOfFriendship the strength of his bonds with his comrades]] was so great, that by breaking them he would become even stronger which will allows him to achieve his goal: kill Itachi. But even after that he continued to have standards not to kill innocent people and was against Orochimaru's methods, even describing them as stupid and selfish. However after his battle with Itachi, he slowly goes more and more insane, and this trope results, though his dedication to Team Taka prevents him from truly becoming this. It is only after he kills Danzo and abandons them that he really becomes TheUnfettered.
** Sasuke's brother, Itachi, should be counted as well. He will do anything to protect Sasuke and the Konoha even if it means to murder his own parents and cause the potential genocide of his entire clan. However this Subverted later, in regards to Sasuke, as he considered Sasuke's free will an acceptable sacrifice, after realizing that his brother may have fallen too far to save.
** Also most Akatsuki members fall under this. Such as Pain, Hidan and Kakuzu. All of them don't care who gets in their way as long as it completes their objectives (for Hidan [[ReligionOfEvil its slaughter for his god Jashin]], for Kakuzu it's profit and for Pain [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans it's achieving peace]]).
** One word: Tobi. [[spoiler:Or, to be more exact, Obito. ''Nothing will stop him from achieving his goals and the world be damned''. Murdering his entire family, his mentor, attacking his village, his closest friend and plunge the entire world in a war with them against an army of white Zetsus and Edo Tensei Zombies mean nothing. It is revealed that he plans to use Infinite Tsukuyomi with the power of the Ten-Tails to rewrite reality to include everyone important to him being alive and to pretend that these events never occurred, justifies this in his mind. He still keeps going even when the Ten Tails is ripped from him and he is on the verge of death ([[HeelFaceTurn although and with a changed goal]]). And '''even his death''' was сould not stop him from continuing to follow his goal.]]
** [[spoiler:Madara Uchiha also fall under this. He chose to abandon his clan and his friendship with Hashirama to pursue the AssimilationPlot and he later handed down to Obito for to achieve his goal.]]

* Gendo Ikari from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' wants to [[spoiler: bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, both to [[AssimilationPlot merge all human souls into one]] so [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans they will be liberated of misunderstandings and suffering]] and to be [[TragicDream reunited with his wife]], whose soul is currently [[AndIMustScream trapped in a mecha]]]]. To achieve this, he's willing to use his own son and surrogate daughter (Both of which he actually cares about, even if it's all but apparent at first) as tools and guinea pigs, makes them fight monsters, does his fair share of large-scale scheming and manipulation, and goes even as far as ''offering his body'' to a pair of {{Yandere}} scientists whom he found annoying at best to keep them placated and thus useful for his plans. He's generally a very pragmatic person who's not above sacrificing the life of a 14-year old kid for the greater good (or what he sees as such), but will do the dirty work himself if he should be forced to. (For example, pulling ropes amongst some random technicians when there's a blackout.)

* Ryo Narushima from {{Manga/Shamo}} doesn't just live this trope, he practically ''is'' this trope. There is absolutely nothing he is not willing to do to win a fight and survive. This includes: various acts of sometimes completely unprovoked assault, maiming opponents, calling up a rival on the phone while raping his girlfriend, murdering his own parents with a knife, taking dangerous illegal steroids, and even biting off a man's penis.

* Mikasa from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. [[KnightTemplarBigBrother Her]] goal is simple: protect Eren at all costs, from any threat. Be they Titan... or human.

** It appears that now, [[spoiler:Eren himself]] is becoming this. [[spoiler:Almost 10 years after the beginning of the series, he still wants to wipe out the Titans. Even though he himself is a Titan, and he knows that the other Titans are/were humans, too. He's even willing to be seen as a threat to humanity to do it.]] [[spoiler: Turns out he is completely the unfettered as he personally massacres civilians including children while fighting the Warhammer Titan, launches a coup of the Government he and rest of his friends installed behind the scenes, cuts all ties with Mikasa and Armin after [[KickTheDog telling Armin he's an idiot]] and [[KickTheMoralityPet telling Mikasa she was a slave all along and he had always hated her]], using his brother to order his father into murdering the Reiss Family minus Rod, everything of which is a lead up to his true goal of '''annihilating''' life outside his home.]]

** One of [[GodEmperor Yhwach's]] defining character traits is his complete and utter ruthlessness and his almost unemotional determination to overcome any obstactle that gets in his way, both physical and moral. In the state of being very weak? Just conduct The Purge and regain power and extend your lifespan, of "unnecessary" and "impure" Quincy, regardless of age. Team Killing from his soldiers? It doesn't matter. Power ups from the heroes? It doesn't matter. Barriers keeping you from walking further? It doesn't matter. Squad Zero itself meeting up with you head-on? Fuck off. All four of your Schutzstaffel Elites falling to one guy? Conduct The Purge on your own soldiers so you can simultaneously revive and strengthen the elites. Destroying the world? A necessary sacrifice. No single thing can and will keep him from undoing the original sin by recreating a world without death, and there's not a single thing he will not do to further his goal of creating said perfect world.

** Gin Ichimaru is also a candidate of this trope. His main objective for following Aizen was [[spoiler:to avenge what was done to [[MoralityPet Rangiku]] when they were kids. He was relentless in achieving this goal; he killed people and threw away Soul Society's trust, his captaincy, his friendship with Kira, and even his friendship with Rangiku in order to get close enough to Aizen to kill him]].

** A minor example is [[spoiler:Kruger, the man who [[ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin gave Grisha Yeager]] the powers of the Attack Titan. He was more than willing to send innocent Eldians to their deaths, along with torturing them, in order to achieve his goal. Grisha asks him if he feels any remorse for what he did, and his reply is [[IDidWhatIHadToDo "I believe I did it all to save Eldia"]].

* [[spoiler:Father]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is an exceptional case of this. He's probably the only one on this page to literally remove his fetters and [[EmbodimentOfVice give them physical bodies]].
** [[spoiler: And then there's Shou Tucker. Shou. [[PrecisionFStrike Fucking]]. Tucker]]. The man who was willing to [[spoiler: experiment on his wife, his daughter, and even himself in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] and turn them into mutated chimeras]] if it meant furthering his research.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', though it's tempting to say Light qualifies, he kills people he would normally consider good (threatening his goal), because they hurt his pride (example: [[spoiler: Lind L Tailor]]). Both L and Light sacrifice many things that seem important to them in pursuit of their goals, such as Light's family and L's privacy and safety, but neither are particularly expressive about what exactly they aim for or value [[IncrediblyLamePun In Light of this]], the series' best candidate for this trope is Misa. [[spoiler:She is willing to kill innocents in order to find her idol, Kira, and give half her life to make herself more useful to him. When she achieves this, she changes her goal to winning Light's affection. It is the threat of his displeasure rather than execution that prevents her from following him continually, she kills for him, she refuses to name him under mild torture, she is willing to help him catch Kira (when she doesn't know he is Kira) and she is pleased when he tricks her long-time companion, Rem, into dying to protect her, freeing him of suspicion]].

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio admits feeling ashamed at striking at the childlike Nel in order to draw out Ichigo's full strength, but points out that "If your objective is to 'protect my friends' and my objective is to 'defeat you at full strength', then what I am going to aim for is not you, but that one little baby, nothing more."

** This a trope is part of Sasuke's CharacterDevelopment. His FaceHeelTurn was largely driven by his conclusion that [[PowerOfFriendship the strength of his bonds with his comrades]] was so great, that by breaking them he would become even stronger which will allows him to achieve his goal: kill Itachi. But even after that he continued to have standards not to kill innocent people and was against Orochimaru's methods, even describing them as stupid and selfish. However after his battle with Itachi, he slowly goes more and more insane, and this trope results, though his dedication to Team Taka prevents him from truly becoming this. It is only after he kills Danzo and abandons them that he really becomes TheUnfettered.

* Eishi Tsukasa in ''Manga/ShokugekiNoSoma'' is always striving to improve his cooking. If he needs to help his subordinates grow so he has sous-chefs who can keep up with him, he'll be the kindliest and most patient mentor in the world. If he needs to compete with a challenger who is angling for his seat on [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil The Council of Ten Masters]], he'll crush the hapless bugger so thoroughly he'll never pick up a kitchen knife again.

** It appears that now, [[spoiler:Eren himself]] is becoming this. [[spoiler:Almost 10 years after the beginning of the series, he still wants to wipe out the Titans. Even though he himself is a Titan, and he knows that the other Titans are/were humans, too. He's even willing to be seen as a threat to humanity to do it.]]

* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' has Pisces Aphrodite, [[TheDreaded that terrifies everyone who knows about him]] because he just doesn't care in the slightest of what happens to his enemies. He demonstrates by casually [[MindRape mind-raping]] an opponent that knew something he wanted to know, poisoning anyone who tries to cross his temple without permission, and reacting to the threat of being hit by a sure-kill attack by [[spoiler:unleashing ''his own'' sure-kill attack out of ''curiosity on who'll die first'']].

* The Rett Team in ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' are the descendants of Moonrace scouts whom Dianna sent to Earth to prepare for resettlement. Despite their NewAgeRetroHippies look, they will do ''anything'' so long as they think it will advance Dianna's goals. Their lack of any battlefield norms or protocols earns them the disgust of Dianna's regular forces, who will respect typical battlefield codes. The Rett team, meanwhile, has no qualms conducting a nighttime assault on a militia hospital. After nuclear weapons are rediscovered (and several detonate), their leader Cancer wants to find the remaining two and ''set them off'' somewhere on Earth so that there's no possibility they'll harm Dianna. They only come under control once they actually find Dianna herself and she's able to give them direct orders--which happen to be to advance her new goals of finding a peaceful settlement. Had she ordered them to continue attacking the Earthers indiscriminately, they would have cheerfully done that, too.

* Manga/{{Akagi}} will do whatever it takes to win, whether cheating a blind opponent, throwing a friend into a high-stakes game just to see how the opponent reacts or handicapping himself by throwing away a significant fraction of his blood. Even his allies describe him as a monster and a demon.

** Also Beyond Birthday in ''Manga/DeathNote'': ''LightNovel/AnotherNote'' has only one goal: "get L's attention" and he will do ''anything'' to further that goal.

* Kiritsugu Emiya from ''LightNovel/FateZero''. For him, anything is permissible so long as the net lives saved is greater than those lost.
* [[DarkActionGirl Roberta]] from the ''Manga/BlackLagoon OVA: Roberta's Blood Trail'' [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge will kill those who killed her master]] then [[MamaBear return to the young master]]. And she's not [[UnstoppableRage particular]] about what it does to her, anyone else, or the long-term consequences. [[AxCrazy Move or die]].

** Not to mention Inspector Lunge, who follows this trope to a T. He is convinced Tenma is responsible for the deaths and that Johan doesn't exist to where he devotes every waking second of his life to tracking down Tenma and capturing him. Lunge even accepts a divorce from his wife without any second thoughts and made it absolutely clear to her that his investigation always comes first. [[spoiler: Lunge finally encounters Johan himself near the end of the series and does a HeelFaceTurn, at least after his world comes crashing down around him]].

* Manga/{{Nausicaa|OfTheValleyOfTheWind}}, when you think about it, spends most of the manga without hesitation making decisions which tear at her heart in pursuit of her goal: To get as few living creatures as possible killed.

* [[spoiler:Yuji Sakai]] from ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' becomes this after [[spoiler: merging with the Snake of the Festival]]. He will do anything to create a world where Crimson Denizens no longer have to consume humans to survive.

* [[spoiler:[[OmnicidalManiac Rau Le Creuset]]]] from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED''. He'll do anything, even die in the process, to complete his goal of annihilating the human race.

** Gyokuro Shuzen is a pristine example. She is determined to acquire power and dominance for herself and will do whatever it takes to do so, up to and including [[AbusiveParents throwing her]] ''[[AbusiveParents own daughters]]'' [[AbusiveParents to the wolves]].

** [[spoiler: Shou. Effing. Tucker]]. He was willing to [[spoiler: experiment on his wife, his daughter, and even himself in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] and turn them into mutated chimeras]] if it meant furthering his research.