Though Shinji Ikari is the main character of Neon Genesis Evangelion, he has possibly one of the hardest lives, especially when it comes to his family. His mother died when he was young after issues with an experiment, and his father had always been cold and distant toward him, only using him to try to revive his dead wife Yui.

Shinji’s father Gendo finally calls upon him, when Sihnji is fourteen, to ask to him pilot Unit-01, within which his mother’s soul resides. Shinji does so only to gain the approval of his father and to make up for the past he blames himself for. Yet it is clear that Gendo does not care much for Shinji at all, since he seems fixated on seeing his wife again. This is a family surrounded by the strange experiments of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and it has not been good for them.

Lelouch and Nunnally are only two of many children in the Britannian Imperial Family, born from the several different consorts that their father Charles has. Lelouch is, in fact, the Eleventh Prince in line, though he has obviously been surpassed by many of his younger brothers once his father exiles him. With so many members of the family that we don’t even meet them all, the Imperial Family is much bigger than we even fully know—all with a claim to the throne!

Lelouch and Nunnally's mother Marianne was only one of many deaths in the family, though we don’t want to spoil too much for you. In many ways, the Imperial Family reflects many of our history’s past royal families with their internal quarrels. Of course, that doesn’t mean we would want to be a part of this family, and certainly not with someone like Lelouch around to hunt everyone down!

It’s never a good thing when you discover your mother is the villain! Ragyo Kiryuuin’s daughters have both been emotionally scarred thanks to her domineering personality, and it certainly shapes how they grew up. Ragyo has become obsessed with the Life Fibers that give her such superhuman strength, even trying to experiment on her children.

Ragyo murdered her husband Soichiro after he began to develop tactics against her, which became the catalyst for beginning Ryuuko’s journey. Her mother intended to toss Ryuuko aside after she failed in the Life Fiber experiments, but she lived. The family spends most of its time in conflict with one another, and the resultant deaths end up being at the hands of one another as well.

Shingeki no Kyojin is full of surprises, including the reveal that the true ruling family is the Reiss Family, including Christa (aka Historia)! The Reiss family holds the power of the Founding Titan, which can wipe the memories of humanity if a member of the family possesses it. The Reiss family has lived all this time passing the power down from one person to another, by turning one person into a Titan and having the other person in the family eat them.

Historia is the first in her family to stand against this norm they have followed for centuries, allowing Eren to keep their power and killing her own father when he becomes a Titan himself. Regardless, we wouldn’t want to be a part of the never-ending secrets and carnage, especially with how Historia was shunned growing up.

Our worst family on the list is pretty self-explanatory! Shou Tucker is a State Alchemist researching chimeras, though his biggest breakthroughs have come when the government put pressure on him to make progress or lose his credentials and perks.

The first time Shou was successful, he used his wife to make a chimera until she starved herself and died. When he meets the Elric brothers, he has another “breakthrough,” using his young daughter Nina and their dog Alexander to create a second chimera. Needless to say, we wouldn’t want to be a part of the Tucker family to see if this trend continues…