Aggressive Animation: 10 Violent Cartoons (That Actually Work)

Violence and animation nearly go hand in hand, and these days the two are about as common as any TV show or movie genre there is. Superhero cartoons and action animations nearly require it, and everyone from little kids to teens to adults alike, enjoy a little combat in their toons.

Comedic animation can dole out to viewers a solid laugh, and more serious or action-oriented animations can use violence to pull off shocking and over-the-top fighting sequences. Let’s take a look at ten of the top shows to use violence in the most effective or memorable way.

10 Metalocalypse

This beloved Adult Swim animation has gained a cult following and avid fanbase, clamoring for more content since the show’s disappointing cancellation in 2015. Brilliantly and crudely parodying the metal genre and culture surrounding it, Metalocalypse used a somewhat familiar style of humor with an entirely new and creative premise, and just like violence is often featured as a primary subject of the metal genre, it, of course, has to be represented here, playing off of, and making fun of,  the very tropes that give the metal genre the very aesthetic it has.

9 Family Guy

When you talk about TV shows that use violence as a centerpiece for their comedy, most would immediately think of the now-classic Family Guy as a prime example.

Taking the classic sitcom-parodying formula from The Simpsons and amping up the shock value and number of cultural references, Family Guy by its very nature needed to be chock full of violent cutaways and visual gags. The show certainly capitalized on this theme too, becoming a mega-hit even after an initial cancellation and maintaining relevancy today.

8 Aqua Teen Hunger Force

If there was ever a show to truly represent the Adult Swim network, from the style, humor, crudeness, the very nature of the channel itself, Aqua Teen would be a dead ringer for the top spot. The epitome of dry, nonsensical and retro scripted late-night “stoner” comedy, Aqua Teen was one of Adult Swims longest running and most popular shows for years, leading the way and inspiring more shows in terms of both animation and writing.

7 Rick And Morty

As you’ve probably already guessed by now, this list features a lot of entries from the Adult Swim channel, and with good reason, as Adult Swim is one of the leading sources for adult animation, and therefore a large chunk of comedic violence. One of the most modern and successful examples of this genre, is the current hit show, Rick and Morty. A madly clever and nihilistic show about a brilliant granddad and grandson, Rick and Morty subjects the viewer with lightning-fast dialogue and violence ranging from clever, to downright stupid, in a good way.

6 The Powerpuff Girls

Moving on to a show geared towards children, and a very prolific one at that, The Powerpuff Girls made waves for many reasons, using a set of cool and simple characters, familiar animation, and unexpected violence to bring boys and girls alike together, creating what is possibly one of the most mixed demographics in all of kid’s shows. Powerpuff Girls was not only incredibly successful, but it managed to sell violence to boys and girls, and even show blood in a children’s show, something that was and still is very uncommon.

5 Beavis And Butt-Head

Now to an animated comedy that isn’t from Adult Swim and its seemingly endless list of adult shows, but instead MTV, perhaps the first network to actually push adult animation at all back in the 90s, and some creative animation at that. Beavis and Butt-Head was one of the first big adult animations, and while the show didn’t rely on violence at all, it was peppered in just right, not overwhelming the show but complimenting it’s stupid and dimwitted humor and parodying of teenage culture. Like maybe getting a pencil stuck in your eye.

4 The Simpsons

What is the most prolific adult animated show to have ever been created? There is really only one answer, and without it, we may not even have half this list: The Simpsons. Currently running and crushing records left and right for its astounding length, Simpsons was far ahead of it’s time with lude and clever humor, cultural references, and a sitcom parodying format that would be copied for years to come.

And what can always help a good adult animation? Why some well-placed violence of course. Whether it’s an angry Homer strangling his son, or another bloody excerpt of  Itchy and Scratchy, The Simpsons had more than a few iconic violent gags.

3 Dragon Ball Z

When it comes to iconic violence, Dragon Ball Z is a given, the show’s name itself is practically a synonym for “fight”. Now while this list could easily be filled with anime, given their commonly violent nature, it’s fair to say many, or maybe even most violent anime would have never achieved the levels of fame they did if it weren’t for the incredibly massive hit that Dragon Ball Z was. Over the top mountain smashing, gravity-defying, bloody god-like battles were the main game in DBZ, and it served to be just as ahead of it’s time as any show could be, becoming a literal timeless classic.

2 South Park

“Omg, you killed Kenny! You bastards!”; This is a line you have probably heard a dozen times, and maybe even a sequence you’ve seen played out in the many extravagant ways, as one of the show’s main protagonists, Kenny, is brutally killed, only to be brought back in the next episode, with no explanation needed. Classic jokes like this became a staple of the early and still going adult hit, and insane sequences like the forest critters orgy or imagination and pushed violence to new cable limits while maintaining a harshly sarcastic and clever tone.

1 Superjail!

What if you made an eye-popping, gruesomely complex, equally interesting, visual explosion and barrage of in-depth violence, all wrapped into a horrific montage of chaos? Well, then you’d get Adult Swim’s trippy and hellish show, Superjail!.  Being one of the most violent shows on TV is a feat, but being one of the most violent shows on Adult Swim, is a whole other feat in itself. Being able to maintain a constant flow, and hold the audience’s interest in every episode, however, is the feat that makes this show a truly visual experience.

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