Random Aloof Big Brothers In Anime Who Are Super Distant (15 items)

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  (#1) Sesshoumaru - 'Inuyasha'

  There are two reasons why Sesshoumaru hates his younger half-brother Inuyasha. The first is for fantasy racism reasons - he can't stand that Inuyasha isn't a purebred demon like himself, and is in fact half-human. He's also super jealous that Inuyasha received the Tessaiga from their father - a sword that he considers to be far superior to his own Tensaiga. While their relationship does improve somewhat over the course of the series, most of it is spent with Sesshoumaru looking down on Inuyasha and provoking him into fights.
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  (#2) Byakuya Kuchiki

  • Bleach, Bleach: Fade to Black, Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, Bleach: Memories of Nobody

  Byakuya Kuchiki has two conflicting goals: uphold the law at all costs, and protect his younger sister-in-law at all costs. The first one is a promise he made to his late parents, while the second is a promise he made to Hisana, his late wife. When Hisana's sister Rukia breaks the law, Byakuya has to figure out his priorities. 

  For a long time, he's cold and standoffish to Rukia, and at one point he even agrees that she should receive the ultimate penalty for breaking the law. But with Ichigo's help, he changes his ways, and becomes protective towards Rukia instead. 
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  (#3) Itachi Uchiha

  • Naruto Shippūden, Naruto, Ninja World

  At the beginning of Naruto, Itachi seems about as distant as it's humanly possible to be. That's because he eliminates his entire clan and then skips town to join the Akatsuki, leaving his little brother with a singular goal - to get revenge. 

  It's later revealed that Danzo Shimura forced Itachi to take out his whole family by giving him a choice - do the deed himself and escape with his own life and Sasuke's intact or be eliminated by Root along with the rest of the family. Because he was so traumatized by going through a war as a child, inviting further warfare by giving his family the chance to fight back wasn't an option.

  Rather than tell Sasuke the truth, he encouraged his little brother to despise him, in the hopes that he'd one day come after him and destroy him. It's a miserable story from start to finish, and the two don't bridge their distance until it's far too late. 
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  (#4) Hiei

  • Yu Yu Hakusho

  Hiei is actually Yukina's twin brother, not her older brother, but he approaches the relationship the way an older brother typically would. While he loves her dearly, he also refuses to have anything to do with her, even going so far as to threaten the life of anyone who might tell her that she's related to him. (The two were separated at birth, and Hiei is the only one who knows of their connection at the start of the series.)

  Hiei is willing to risk his life several times over in order to protect her, including getting the Jagan Eye surgically implanted into his forehead - but he isn't willing or able to have a simple conversation with her.
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  (#5) Zeref

  Zeref Dragneel is Natsu's older brother but it doesn't mean they have a warm relationship. In fact, Zeref is actually the enemy that Natsu must takedown - he's considered the strongest, most evil mage of all time.

  But Zeref's dedication to the dark arts began because of Natsu. After their parents and Natsu were brutally destroyed by Dragons, Zeref wanted to use his considerable talent to try and bring them back. His attempts proved disastrous and led to his developing the "Curse of Contradictions" which will wreck everyone the user encounters unless he forgets the value of human life. As a result, he's developed a cold and severe personality and is unable to relate to Natsu in any way that could be called brotherly. 
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  (#6) Ayame Sohma

  • Fruits Basket

  In the early stages of his relationship with his younger brother Yuki, Ayame Sohma was about as aloof as you can get. Yuki was ten years younger than him, which is enough to throw a wrench into a lot of sibling relationships. As a teenager, Ayame had other things on his mind besides caring for his little brother.

  Besides, the amount of care that Yuki needed was more than Ayame could handle. Not only was Yuki a sickly child, he was also favored by the violent and controlling family head. What's more, their mother pretty much didn't care about either of them. In order to keep himself safe in a hostile environment, Ayame focused on himself rather than his brother.

  As an adult, Ayame is trying to repair his relationship with the now-teenaged Yuki, but because of their estranged past, and because of their clashing personalities, it isn't exactly going well.
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  (#7) Lelouch Lamperouge

  • Code Geass

  At the start of Code Geass, Lelouch Lamperouge is actually a doting older brother who prioritizes his sister Nunnally above everything. While his actual feelings don't change, his behavior does. Once he formulates his ultimate plan for world peace, he starts acting like a complete jerk to everyone who cares about him, including his sister - largely by ignoring her since he has trouble with direct cruelty when it comes to the people he loves. It's only when Lelouch is about to pass away that Nunnally finds out the meaning behind his bizarre and distant behavior.

  Meanwhile, Lelouch has his own aloof older brother, Prince Schneizel. This family just can't win. 
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  (#8) Illumi Zoldyck - 'Hunter X Hunter'

  Illumi Zoldyck presents an interesting inversion of the aloof older brother trope. While he appears to be largely expressionless and uncaring when it comes to his little brother Killua, he actually cares way, way too much. Rather than allow Killua to make his own choices, Illumi inserts a needle into his brain that can control his behavior - specifically, it forces him to run away from fights he might lose.

  Why does he go so far to insure Killua's survival? Because Killua is supposed to inherit the Zoldyck family. So, while Illumi might be excessively controlling of Killua, it's not exactly out of brotherly love, and in fact his heart is still pretty closed off from him.
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  (#9) Light Yagami

  • Death Note, Death Note: Re-light: L's Successors, Death Note, Death Note: The Last Name

  Light Yagami has always been a little distant from his sister Sayu. While he's always been happy to help her with homework, the fact that he's a 'genius' and she's just 'ordinary' put them on completely different life paths. He's kind enough to help her out with homework, but the two have never been close.

  Light's aloofness is dramatically increased when he gets ahold of the Death Note and begins his quest to become the god of the new world. Not only does he no longer have time for Sayu, he seriously considers letting her be eliminated by kidnappers to save his own skin.
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  (#10) Pride

  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

  Though the fact that Pride looks like a little kid while many of the other homunculi look like adults might throw some viewers off, Pride is, in fact, the first homunculi created by Father, which makes him the eldest brother of the group. Despite his status, he has no protective or loving feelings toward his siblings. Instead, he's perfectly willing to not just insult them, but actually devour them when it benefits him to do so.

  Pride isn't completely devoid of any emotional attachments - there is a small part of him that loves his human mother - but his homunculi siblings don't benefit from his softer side. 
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  (#11) Rin Matsuoka

  • Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club

  Besides swimming and shirtlessness, one of the main themes of the first season of Free! is Rin Matsuoka's estrangement from his friends - and also his little sister Gou. Due to a combination of having trouble processing their father's passing and enduring racist bullying during a study abroad experience in Australia, Rin becomes standoffish and aloof to the point where he's barely able to speak to his sister or his friends without either getting into an argument or storming off.

  Things change over the course of the series, as Rin comes to terms with his emotional issues and repairs his relationship with both his sister and his friends, but he starts off firmly rooted in this trope. 
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  (#12) Ryo Marufuji - 'Yu-Gi-Oh! GX'

  Sho and Ryo Marufuji - also known as Syrus and Zane - have never enjoyed a close relationship. Ryo was the superior duelist in a world where card game prowess was just about about the most important skill a person could have, and besides that he was generally more competent and self-possessed, preferring to ignore his anxious and chaotic younger brother.

  For a long time, Sho's ultimate goal is to show his brother that he's good enough to face him in a duel. That goal changes dramatically after Ryo gets himself into huge trouble when his pro dueling career fails almost immediately and he ends up joining an illegal underground ring and getting possessed by a particularly dangerous card. By the end of the series, Ryo has nearly passed away from heart failure and is relying on Sho to care for him.
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  (#13) Leonard Testarossa - 'Fullmetal Panic!: The Second Raid'

  Leonard Testarossa is a high-ranking member of a terrorist organization called Amalgam, which puts him at odds with the anti-terrorist organization Mithril, and also his younger twin sister Teletha. Once protective of his sister, his time with Amalgam changed him.

  Leonard doesn't exactly believe in Amalgam's goals - rather, he's using them to achieve his true ambition of resetting time and creating a world without suffering. If that means opposing his sister and being cruel to her comrades, so be it.
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  (#14) Yaichiro Shimogamo - 'The Eccentric Family'

  Yaichiro Shimogamo is a distant and aloof older brother not because he doesn't love his three younger brothers, but because he thinks that he has to be. As the eldest son in a family whose father recently passed away, he considers it his job to hold the family together and keep their reputation spotless. This often means picking fights with his younger brothers when they step out of line - which they do, constantly.

  Part of Yaichiro's emotional journey throughout the series is learning to relax a little bit and just enjoy his family's company, rather than thinking he has to set himself apart from them because he's the oldest.
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  (#15) Raoh

  • Fist of the North Star, Fist of the North Star

  Raoh has a large number of younger siblings, both by blood and by adoption. However, he's far more dedicated to developing his power than he is to forming close relationships with them. Instead, he actively opposes them on more than one occasion. For example, when Ryuken chose to give the Hokuto Shinken fighting style to Raoh's adoptive brother Kenshiro instead of him, he refuses to give up his power, and takes Ryuken's life to insure that he doesn't have to.

  Later, he would try to get Kenshiro's fiance Yuria to marry him instead, before changing his mind and faking her murder in order to trick Kenshiro into fighting him. A close brotherly relationship this is not. 

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