With the new English dub of Vinland Saga releasing soon and season 2 coming in 2023, anime fans everywhere may want to go back and experience the greatest revenge stories in the medium before picking back up with Thorfinn's tragic life.
Whether the character seeks revenge against a single person or won't be satisfied until they can visit their wrath on the whole of the society that wronged them, they will lie in wait for as long as they have to until they can unleash a world of destruction on their target.
Ryuko Vs. Her Father's Killer (Kill La Kill)
Ryuko Matoi didn't come to Honnouji Academy intending to save the world from alien Life Fibers. She came with one half of the Scissor Blade found at her father's murder scene, hunting for the wielder of the other half, which will reveal them as her father's killer. At first, she believes that Satsuki Kiryuuin is the culprit she's looking for, but soon realizes it isn't that simple.
Ryuko's quest to solve her father's murder directly ties into her discovering the secrets of the overarching story. Not only does she find out that her long-lost mother Ragyo Kiryuuin ordered her father's murder, she teams up with Satsuki, her older sister who was also lying in wait to avenge their father and Ryuko, who she believed killed by Ragyo as well, to exact some tag-team vengeance and save the world.
Lelouch Vs. Britannia (Code Geass)
When the young prince Lelouch's mother was killed and his sister blinded and paralyzed, he blames his father for not protecting them and suspects his half-siblings of organizing the attack. Being banished and presumed dead works out in his favor: it lets him take on the alter ego of Zero and crush the Holy Empire of Britannia.
Lelouch seeks vengeance on a personal level, but as part of one of anime's most dysfunctional royal families, his rebellion affects the entire world. He outwits and fights through his half-siblings and their armies in order to reach his father the Emperor. To defeat him, Lelouch goes so far as to rewrite reality with his Geass.
Takemichi Hanagaki Vs. Tetta Kisaki (Tokyo Revengers)
Takemichi isn't normally the vengeful type, but it's in the title of his show, so he's got no choice. When his childhood girlfriend Hinata is murdered by the Tokyo Manji Gang and he is nearly killed himself by an unknown assailant, he is transported back into the body of his twelve-year-old self and given the chance to change the future.
The titular revenge goes three ways. First is Takemichi's quest to save himself and Hinata by taking out their killer before he can take control of the gang. The second is all the other gang warfare happening around him. Finally, there's the killer himself, Kisaki, who holds some unspecified grudge against Takemichi.
Tenzen Yakushiji vs. The Iga And Kouga Clans (Basilisk)
When you're an immortal over two hundred years old, you have the time to plot a truly devastating revenge. Tenzen wastes not a second of that time. As a child, Tenzen's Iga mother was killed by his Kouga father, who took him to raise among his own clan.
As an adult, Tenzen detests both clans, constantly manipulating them into continuing their bloody feud and crushing chances for peace. He views the competition for control of the Tokugawa shogunate as his ultimate opportunity to annihilate the two clans, leaving himself as the sole survivor and victor.
Chouji Suitengu Vs. The Upper Class (Speed Grapher)
As newly orphaned children, Suitengu and his younger sister were trafficked away from each other by their parents' debt collectors. As a hardened soldier, he later finds his sister hoping to save her, only to find her irreparably traumatized. Heartbroken, Suitengu kills her to end her suffering.
He spends his entire adult life gaining power among the corrupt Japanese upper class, who believe he is doing it for his own gain. They're only half right: Suitengu hates them all, and is patiently waiting until he can trigger his plan to burn them all to the ground, taking out Japan's economy and government along with them.
Edmond Dantes Vs. His Betrayers (Gankutsuou)
This anime based on classic literature successfully adapts one of the most famous revenge stories of all time: Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. Updating the setting to a moon colony thousands of years in the future and having the titular Count get his massive wealth and influence from a deal with a demon instead of a hidden treasure do nothing to dilute the impact of his story.
As a young, naïve sailor, Edmond Dantes was betrayed by three men he thought he could trust, and wrongfully imprisoned and tortured for years. When he escapes, he devotes his life to utterly destroying his three betrayers at any cost. The show is seen from the perspective of Albert de Morcerf, the son of one of Edmond's targets, making the fruition of his plans look especially merciless.
Angelo Lagusa Vs. The Vanetti Family (91 Days)
As a child, Angelo Lagusa's family is murdered by the Vanettis, a powerful mafia family. Angelo barely escapes. As a jaded teenager he takes the name Avilio Bruno and infiltrates the Vanetti family, slowly but surely climbing higher in the ranks until he is in position to bring the entire family down in flames.
91 Days is not only one of the best anime about the mafia but a master class in suspense. In the titular span of time, Angelo becomes closer to the Vanetti heir, Nero, who, while smart and savvy, gives his trust over to the absolute wrong man. The tension builds up painfully as the audience waits to see exactly when and how Angelo will finally engineer the family's destruction.
Ren Hakuryuu Vs. Ren Gyokuen (Magi: The Labyrinth Of Magic)
As a child, Prince Hakuryuu was happy and adored his father and older brothers. His life is ruined when all three are killed in a palace fire, with his oldest brother narrowly saving his life and telling him the identity of the perpetrator: their own mother, the Empress Gyokuen.
Too powerless to oppose her or their surviving family, Hakuryuu grows up nursing his grudge and trying desperately to grow stronger. What finally makes him powerful enough to challenge his mother is teaming up with the Magi Judal, who has his own grudge against Gyokuen and has always been trying to get Hakuryuu, his favorite of the Kou royal family, on his side.
Sasuke Uchiha Vs. Everyone (Naruto)
When most anime fans think "revenge story," they think of Sasuke, who masters a variety of powers for the sake of avenging the Uchiha clan, who were murdered by Sasuke's brother Itachi when he was young. Sasuke is willing to defect from the Leaf Village and serve his enemies to gain the power to kill Itachi, but when he finally does, he is faced with a horrifying realization.
Itachi did not massacre their family on a whim, like he said: he was ordered to by the village elders to avoid the civil war their clan's planned coup would have caused, but couldn't bear to kill Sasuke. Sasuke has lived for revenge for so long that he can't deal with his grief in any other way, so he resolves to destroy the Leaf Village and everyone in it to punish them for his and his brother's suffering.
Kurapika Kurta Vs. The Phantom Troupe (Hunter X Hunter)
The Phantom Troupe will steal anything they're paid to steal, and kill anyone in their way. So when a client orders them to steal the rare Scarlet Eyes of the Kurta clan, they slaughter them all. Kurapika, the sole survivor, dedicates his life to avenging his people and recovering their stolen eyes.
What makes Kurapika's the most tragic and compelling revenge story is how diametrically opposed to it his personality is. At his core, Kurapika is still the kind and gentle young man he was before the massacre. Committing murder disgusts rather than excites him. Still, he pushes himself past his limits to do it anyway, terrified that one day his rage will subside and take away the fuel he needs to do what he believes must be done for his people.