The anime universedepicts a wide variety of antagonists. Villains come in every imaginable form, from the truly evil to the occasionally sympathetic. In stories with a wide cast of villains, viewers tend to side with the bad guys motivated by a cause greater than themselves or have a naïve notion of justice.
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Anime viewers are challenged to reevaluate their notions of good and evil by these antagonists and to recognize that there are a lot of nuances between black and white. Fans can identify with the flawed ideas they originally had because they can see them from a new angle. These ideas add much more complexity to many anime shows since they present viewers and characters in the show with new points of view.
8Lelouch - Code Geass
In the anime seriesCode Geass, Prince Lelouch VI Britannia (Lelouch) plays a dual role as both a protagonist and an antagonist. Before his eventual death, Lelouch had many incarnations, from average student to vigilante to Emperor of Britannia. Many Japanese saw Lelouch in his Zero guise as a villain since he was a vigilante who caused chaos. On the other hand, Lelouchbeing a strategistwas more than that.
Although he initially justified his vigilante deeds as an act of revenge, he ultimately decided that he wanted to demolish the dictatorship that his father had constructed, even if it meant becoming the ultimate villain himself and giving his life in the process. Although his strategies were ultimately successful,Leleouch’s use of his geass powersmeant that his subordinates, contemporaries, and sometimes even allies lost the ability to make their own decisions.
7Itachi - Naruto
Itachi, like Pain, is a former member of the Akatsuki in theNarutoanime series. For a while, he was viewed as a renegade criminal who had slain his entire clan for fun until he joined the infamous Akatsuki squad. Once Itachi’s history was made public, however, it became clear that he was more than just a villain.
There was no wrongdoingin Itachi’s eyesif it served a higher purpose. Instead of spreading joy, Itachi advocated for death. Itachi, like many other anime villains before him, had no reservations about killing innumerable people for the sake of “the greater good.” The intent may have been admirable, but the results have been disastrous.
6Light Yagami - Death Note
Without a doubt,Death Noteis one of the most well-known anime series of all time. Light Yagami, the protagonist and, ultimately, the antagonist, and L, the detective, make this possible. In the show, Light discovers a Death Note, a document that will kill whoever’s name is on it. Light uses the death note to make it his personal mission to eliminate all evil in the universe. Light uses the death note to act as judge, jury, and executioner, killing numerous people.
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Because of his efforts, the crime rate in Japan has dropped by a remarkable 70%. This has never happened before in Japan, but detective L doesn’t think it’s fair because he believes no single person should have the authority to define right and wrong. The judicial system and the law are responsible for deciding this, and Light supersedes both.
5Stain - My Hero Academia
Despite being a hero killer, Stain is a man of strong moral principles. He uses death to reconstruct a hero society ruled by profits and fame rather than saving people. Heroes in theMy Hero Academiaseries are cynical, easy to manipulate, and in it solely for the benefit.Stain believes thatmany heroes put on a show for the public’s sake in exchange for financial gain; therefore, he makes it his mission to eliminate them from society.
Putting such heroes in the spotlight will undoubtedly improve hero culture, but Stain takes it a step further by eliminating them entirely. Hero Killer Stain became his new nickname after this. A true hero, in Stain’s opinion, is only All Might; therefore, he got rid of everyone he thought wasn’t fully committed to safeguarding the people he cared about without seeking personal gain (after all, to lead is to serve).
4Shougo Makishima - Psycho Pass
People are detained and condemned for crimes they may commit in the future in a society ruled by a computer program calledthe Sibyl System. The lines between good and evil are blurred in this setting. As seen in the anime seriesPsycho-Pass, protagonist Shougo Makishima fights against the unfair and corrupt Sibyl System.
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Makishima’s actions are perplexing given his noble intentions because he caused unnecessary harm to many individuals. In addition, he intended to sever the country’s grain supply, which would have had an impact on the efficiency of the Sibyl System but would have resulted in the tragic deaths of many innocent people.
3Pain - Naruto
TheNarutoanime series features one of the most well-known villain groups in the world of anime: the Akatsuki.Pain, the Akatsuki leader, is a villain who sought to inflict agony on the world because he believed that genuine empathy was the key to world peace. The ability to empathize with and comprehend one another is essential to a healthy society, and Pain believed that in order for all people to achieve this goal, they first needed to experience suffering.
Several people were killed because of the beliefs and theories that justified inflicting harm on others. His ultimate goal may have been to achieve world peace, but the destruction he caused and the innocent lives he took were not the way to go about it.
2Madara - Naruto
As far as anime villains go, Madara Uchiha is among the very best. Being a one-man army, he had the power to control the tailed animals of theNarutoseries.It was Madara’s goalto use his tremendous power to put an end to hatred and war. But he got there in a roundabout way.
In Madara’s view, “the selfish intent of wanting to preserve peace initiates war, and hatred is born in order to protect love.” Hence, he thought that the concept of victors leads to the idea of the vanquished and that one must experience both hatred and grief before being able to love. His convictions were admirable, yet his actions resulted in needless deaths and property losses.
1Tomura Shigaraki - My Hero Academia
Tomura Shigaraki rose from being a clueless rookie villain to the series' principal antagonist in theMy Hero Academiamanga and anime. He considered hero society to be a fraud and was determined to bring it down at any cost. Throughout time, Tomura became involved with and eventually took command of the Paranormal Liberation Front. The group advocated for the unrestricted use of meta abilities (quirks).
Yet, total freedom of any type will inevitably result in anarchy and an unsafe society. However, Tomura does not care about the safety of citizens, rather, he wants to destroy the world to remake it how he wants.
