History TheHeartless / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/{{ChainsawMan}}'': Devils within the series are born from human fears and phobias, with strength relating to how feared the specific thing they embody is. Weaker Devils usually tend to embody things like fear of coffee, tomatoes, or sea cucumbers, while stronger Devils represent fears of things like bats, typhoons, or the concept of eternity. The absolute strongest Devils in the series are embodiments of primal fears such as falling, darkness, or death.

* ''ChildOfKamiariMonth'': Kanna and her friends are followed by a malevolent spirit manifested from the negative emotions engendered by the modern age. Feeding on Kanna's grief over her mother's passing, the spirit tries to trick her into giving it the food offerings so it can become an evil god.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': When ghosts [[UnfinishedBusiness linger in the world]] too long, they become consumed by their emotions and transform into Hollows. Their hearts are transformed into masks that hide their faces, leaving holes in their chests, and they become creatures of base emotion and [[HorrorHunger insatiable soul-hunger]], driven to hunt and kill any humans with spiritual power. Powerful Hollows that lose their masks regain a part of their lost hearts and become capable of higher reasoning, becoming Arrancar. Hollows usually hunt other Hollows rather than humans, mostly because they're now too powerful to be sustained by human spiritual power. Soul Reapers and Quincies have warred for a thousand years over what to do about Hollows, with Soul Reapers purifying them back into the cycle of reincarnation and Quincies [[DeaderThanDead permanently destroying them]].

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
** Nephrite eschews using typical EnergyAbsorption tactics, preferring to concentrate dark power into a single highly motivated (and increasingly obsessive) person to get the best energy. His predecessor Jadeite worked in a similar way by amplifying negative traits in people, except he worked with large groups of people--{{Education Mama}}s, obsessive dieters, etc.--instead of just one person at a time. Zoisite and Kunzite just possess people.
** There is also Phages in the final season, and the Lemures of the one before it. The former are humans without a 'Star Seed' whereas the latter are appearently people without their dreams (in the anime version).
** The BigBad of the entire series is a GodOfEvil born from the malice of all living beings called Chaos, and he ends up having his essence scattered into the hearts of everybody across the universe... to defeat him. Chaos also spawned the Big Bads of all the previous four seasons, being lesser {{Eldritch Abomination}}s compared to Chaos.
* [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Runaway Spirits]] from ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' are a variation of this. They do not originate as The Heartless, but become them after restoring spiritual power by hiding in their victim's bodies.
* The monsters [[spoiler: and the second season's BigBad]] in ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' were born out the despair of Cephiro's citizens.
%%** [[spoiler: Nova, Hikaru's own personal one.]]
* ''Manga/ElfenLied''. The Diclonius's DNA Voice could be the result of their constant abuse at the hands of humans.
%%* The Mazoku "Monster" Race from ''Literature/{{Slayers}}''.
%%* The Invaders of ''VideoGame/GateKeepers''.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': When ghosts [[UnfinishedBusiness linger in the world]] too long, they become consumed by their emotions and transform into Hollows. Their hearts are transformed into masks that hide their faces, leaving holes in their chests, and they become creatures of base emotion and insatiable soul-hunger, driven to hunt and kill any humans with spiritual power. Powerful Hollows that lose their masks regain a part of their lost hearts and become capable of higher reasoning. They usually hunt other Hollows rather than humans, mostly because they're now too powerful to be sustained by human spiritual power. Soul Reapers and Quincies have warred for a thousand years over what to do about Hollows, with Soul Reapers purifying them back into the cycle of reincarnation and Quincies forever destroying them.
%%* The Virus from ''Manga/VenusVersusVirus''.
* A repeated, enigmatic symbol -- particularly suggestive shadows -- in the movie version of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' hints that Anthy is missing her heart. However, in an inversion, it is because she is the victim/captive of a monster, not the monster itself. This (probably deliberately) echoes the line about "a doll without a heart" in the TV series.
* The Zonder, in the HumongousMecha series ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' are a variation on this; they don't feed on or arise from negative emotions in general so much as they feed on stress specifically. The forms they take on when they transform into {{Robeast}}s typically have something to do with the source of their hosts' stress, and destroying them leaves the victim feeling quite mellow.
* ''Anime/MyHime''. Yatagarasu, [[spoiler:Shiho's Child,]] is described as residing in the darkness of the human heart.
%%* The fear of Shonen Bat/Lil' Slugger in ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent''.

* The ending of the ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' anime strongly implies that [[CardCarryingVillain Aion]] was born from humans' negative emotions and as such, can resurrect himself at will [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil as long as people suffer or hate.]] [[CardCarryingVillain EVIL!]]

* At a metaphorical level, Knives in the ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' manga fulfills the definition too, as he might be viewed as an embodiment of the worst 'sins' of humankind. It is significant that in ''Trigun Maximum'', he starts of as [[spoiler: a loving and philanthropic kid and grows extremely fast into a crazed sociopath as a result of trauma or, more symbolically, of absorbing humans' violence and hatred]]. As such, he fits the ShadowArchetype not only for Vash but also for humans.

* At a metaphorical level, the homunculi from ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' may be seen as embodying the 'darkness' or despair in the heart of [[spoiler:the alchemists who created them and whose memories of a lost loved one they often carry]]. Or even of [[spoiler:the original person]] or humankind itself. Their ThemeNaming following the SevenDeadlySins helps this interpretation.
** In the manga, they are manifestations of [[spoiler: Father, the original Homunculus's]] cruelty and sins - what he is and whether he could be The Heartless himself is up for debate, though.

* The BigBad of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' [[spoiler:started out as a [[AIIsACrapshoot computerized]] cleanup system that takes its programming [[GoneHorriblyRight a bit too seriously]]]], but once it [[spoiler:[[MindRape gets inside the head]] of [[BreakTheCutie Juri]], the [[{{Mooks}} agents]] it starts conjuring begin to take the shape of her worst memories. This is how it finally figures out how to "delete" organic matter]].
* In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', Dagomon's realm is formed by people's dark desires.
* Shikabane in ''Manga/CorpsePrincess'' are formed when someone dies with regrets or an attachment to this world, which turns them into a monster.
* In the original ''Anime/YuGiOh'' Duelist Kingdom arc, Ghost Kaiba was the embodiment of Kaiba's negative emotions, given life from Yami's Penalty Game. (Only in the dub; in the original, he was an Eliminator who was either a shapeshifter or a ''very'' convincing illusionist.)
* The Dark Signers from ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' are a third this, a third TheCorruption and a third TheVirus.
* In the ''Manga/ShamanKing'' manga, Oni, which are dangerous spirits conjured by a shaman's ridiculously strong negative emotions. Namely loneliness.

* The [[MonsterOfTheWeek witches]] of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' are embodiments of despair. [[spoiler:Specifically, the despair of the MagicalGirl they used to be and became unwillingly by being consumed by it. So they are only a part of their character, NOT the whole person.]] In the ending [[spoiler:Madoka {{Ret Gone}}d witches from existence and the despair of mankind instead manifested in different, separate creatures referred to as ''majuu''/[[{{Woolseyism}} wraiths]].]]
* The daemonia from ''Anime/DayBreakIllusion'' are a deconstruction of how this trope is usually handled in MagicalGirl anime... killing them kills the person they're born from as well.

* ''Anime/LadyJewelpet'' has the Beasts, born of the world's negative emotions and residing inside the Door to Chaos.
* ''Manga/QQSweeper'' has bugs and stains in people's minds that are made of negative emotions and energy, and if they linger too long they'll devour it completely.
* Unicron's portrayal in ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' claims that he feeds on hatred, violence, et cetera. He's a PlanetEater, but the energy from hatred and violence is what gives him the strength to metaphorically get out of bed in the morning. The planet eating is mostly because ''[[OmnicidalManiac all life offends him]]'' and he wants it gone. This is part of his upgrade from GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere in G1 (eventually revealed to have been whipped up by some MadScientist on a whim) to GodOfEvil in the modern TF franchises. He'll exist AsLongAsThereIsEvil (well, so long as there's hate), and his goal is the complete eradication of all universes in TheMultiverse, resulting in a Void so empty that even ''space itself as we think of it'' no longer exists. He's done this to entire universes before.
* ''Anime/PrettyCure'':
** The Desertrians from ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' are created by fusing a [[OurSoulsAreDifferent wilting Flower Heart]], signifying a person under heavy distress and grief, and a random object.
** The Jikochuus from ''Anime/DokiDokiPrecure'' are created with the selfish and petty thoughts of a person's heart without the need of possessing anything, making them a more straight example.
** The Saiarks from ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' are a rare inversion: they are created with the ''positive'' thoughts of a person that will eventually turn terrible if the monster is not defeated.
** The Zetsuborgs from ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'' are another inversion: they are created by stealing the dream of the victim to power up the monster. The dream will be gone forever if the monster is not purified.
* The Cursed Spirits from ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' are born from humanity's fears and negative emotions. The Disaster Curses, in particular, are special grade cursed spirits born from humanity's collective fear of volcanoes and mountains ([[PlayingWithFire Jogo]]), the land and the forests ([[GreenThumb Hanami]]), water and the sea ([[MakingASplash Dagon]]), and [[HumansAreBastards their fellow humans]] ([[SoulPower Mahito]]). Because they were born from negative emotions, [[BeneathTheMask which they see as pure as opposed to positive emotions which they consider to be a human pretense]], the Disaster Curses believe that cursed spirits are the true humans, and as such they should be the ones to inherit the earth.

* The Cursed Spirits from ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' are born from humanity's fears and negative emotions.

* While technically made non-canon, in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', [[spoiler: The [[GodIsEvil Idea of Evil]] is a perfect example of what happens when [[MadeOfEvil all of humanity's negativity coalesces into a singular being]]. When people ask why bad things happen like death, war, famine, and plague, [[AbstractApotheosis The Idea of Evil answers it with its own existence]]. [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve It is a huge monster created out of humanity's need for a reason for all their suffering]]. As long as the setting of ''Berserk'' is a CrapsackWorld, The Idea of Evil will continue. Strangely enough, it does not seek to destroy humanity, and tells the Godhand to "do as thou wilt", so it's not actively malevolent as much as it is [[InherentInTheSystem inherently malignant]]. As long as humanity both exists and believes that all pain has a reason, it will live on.]].

** The Jikuchuus from ''Anime/DokiDokiPrettyCure'' are created with the selfish and petty thoughts of a person's heart without the need of possessing anything, making them a more straight example.
** The Saiaks from ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' are a rare inversion: they are created with the ''positive'' thoughts of a person that will eventually turn terrible if the monster is not defeated.

* At a metaphorical level, the homunculi from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' may be seen as embodying the 'darkness' or despair in the heart of [[spoiler:the alchemists who created them and whose memories of a lost loved one they often carry]]. Or even of [[spoiler:the original person]] or humankind itself. Their ThemeNaming following the SevenDeadlySins helps this interpretation.

%%* The Mazoku "Monster" Race from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. When ghosts [[UnfinishedBusiness linger in the world]] too long, they become consumed by their emotions and transform into Hollows. Their hearts are transformed into masks that hide their faces, leaving holes in their chests, and they become creatures of base emotion and insatiable soul-hunger, driven to hunt and kill any humans with spiritual power. Powerful Hollows that lose their masks regain a part of their lost hearts and become capable of higher reasoning. They usually hunt other Hollows rather than humans, mostly because they're now too powerful to be sustained by human spiritual power. Soul Reapers and Quincies have warred for a thousand years over what to do about Hollows, with Soul Reapers purifying them back into the cycle of reincarnation and Quincies forever destroying them.

* Magatsuhi from ''Manga/InuYasha'' is a spirit born from the wicked and corrupted feelings of the Shikon Jewel.

* At a metaphorical level, the homunculi from the first ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime may be seen as embodying the 'darkness' or despair in the heart of [[spoiler: the alchemists who created them and whose memories of a lost loved one they often carry]]. Or even of [[spoiler:the original person]] or humankind itself. Their ThemeNaming following the SevenDeadlySins helps this interpretation.

* The Cursed Spirits from ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' are born from humanity's fears and negative emotions.