Not all villains are remembered by how bad they were, but rather how good they seemed, even when they were bad. Anime has a special manner of drawing that moral line and making the antagonist in the story whose suffering, ideals or desperation touch the heart of the viewer such that he silently begins to hope they win. Not because their actions are right, but because their arguments are disturbingly human.
These are the characters that pushed the audience into the realm of moral conflict. Those whose aims betrayed the faulty mechanism or empty heroism or cold ugliness which the story itself had not been able to disregard. Be it love, ideology, survival, or despair, every villain on this list left the fans wondering who they were actually supposed to cheer for. This list considers eight anime that did not merely give us memorable villains but made us empathize with them, even when it was painful to do so.
Saddest Anime Character Deaths, Ranked
Here's a look at some heartbreaking deaths in anime, coupled with reasons why fans will never forget them.
Hunter x Hunter
Meruem
Meruem starts as a monster in the most literal sense of the term. Having been born as the Chimera Ant King, he views humans as cattle, useless mechanisms used to keep him in power. At the very beginning, he has nothing to be sympathetic to, he is cruel, arrogant, and overpowering. But something comes up the road when the story develops. Meruem begins to evolve not in the form of grand confrontations, but in the form of quiet moments of reflection and closeness, in particular with Komugi.
Still, it is not redemption by heroism but evolution by understanding that made fans root for Meruem. He wonders about his own purpose and his value, and the meaning of the ruling. When his arc ends, Meruem is not at war anymore over who is to dominate, but rather what to assert himself on. His end was sad, as it shows us a creature that might have become something greater, not exactly a hero, but no longer a monster either.
Psycho-Pass
Shogo Makishima
Makishima is not a villain motivated by taking over the world or gaining power; he is a villain motivated by ideology. Makishima is a frightening outsider in a society ruled by the Sibyl System where morality is quantified, and mental status is monitored at all times. The system to him is not a protection, he sees it as a cage, as it denies humanity, their free will and individuality. His crimes are not accidental, but assertions.
Fans sided with Makishima since his inquiries were not comfortable and they were legitimate. Is a world that is free of war something to live in when it is created on the basis of control and compulsion? There is no denying that Makishima was brutal in his ways, but his philosophy revealed the fissures of a perfect society. Although he crossed unforgivable lines, it could not escape the attention of many viewers that he was the only one who had the courage to stand up to a broken world.
Death Note's Unsatisfying Conclusion Shows Us Just How Important Nailing Your Ending Is
Death Note's ending falls victim to the earlier parts of the show being too good, leaving viewers soured by the change in quality.
Death Note
Light Yagami
Light Yagami is the perfect example of good intentions but bad execution. Although Light isn't exactly a villain, his way of achieving his goals, no matter what sacrifices he has to make, is what makes him a bad guy in almost everyone's book. His wish to clean up the world of crime rings close at the beginning; a world free of murderers and inequality sounds almost ideal. Having the Death Note in his possession, Light transforms into a judge, a jury and an executioner as he believes that absolute power will bring absolute peace.
Fans did not support Light because of his morality but because of his belief. As he became more and more brutal and self-indulgent in his conduct, his wit, his determination and his unwillingness to give way and especially to flee made him more and more fascinating to observe. The audience realized he was the bad guy and yet wanted him to succeed, at least to see how far his god complex actually could go before it came crashing down on itself.
Chainsaw Man
Reze
The introduction of Reze is a kind of blessing to Denji. There is warmth, love, and hope of having a normal life. Her false identity is uncovered in the most brutal way possible, as she turns out to be the Bomb Devil, killing innocent people and destroying whole streets in her quest to get Denji. And, even when she causes destruction, the fans never really go against her as they still sympathize with her due to her tragic backstory of being an orphan forced to grow up in harsh situations.
Reze symbolizes what Denji might have enjoyed: freedom, love, and non-exploitation. She is impossible to despise because of her tragic duality: that of an assassin and a kid who had never felt any true emotion up until now. It says a lot that even after everything, the viewers were still hoping she and Denji would reunite. Reze has not been forgiven of her offenses, but she was empathized with, and the empathy ensured that fans wanted her to be spared.
My Hero Academia
Stain
It is so frightening that the stain is not due to the power of his character, but to the degree to which he reveals the hypocrisy of the hero's society. He does not despise heroes; he despises imitated heroes. People who seek fame, fortune, and prestige without upholding the same ideals that they purport to believe in. His way out is drastic, bloody, and unforgivabl,e and the issue he points to is real.
Stain had fans who believed in his ideology that shook the premise of the series itself. Even professional heroes were compelled to deal with their motivations after meeting him. Stain did not only fight characters, but he challenged the system. And his words would linger long after his defeat. At heart, Stain wanted nothing but heroes to be the way they were actually meant to be, he even motivated All Might when he was almost giving up on being a hero.
The Most Iconic Revenge Anime
These highly entertaining stories capture human emotion in a unique way and show viewers just how obsessive one can get while blindly seeking revenge.
Devil May Cry
White Rabbit
White Rabbit is a villain with painful motives and is not ambitious. The actions he undertakes are inhumane, calculating, and destructive, but these are based on the world that rejected him. When villains need power or domination, White Rabbit pursues his deeds, driven by loss and grief, and the urgent desire to have his misery count. His telling Lady that he was a product of her creation really cemented how fans loved him more than anyone else on the show.
His reasons were not abstract but much more personal and grounded compared to most villains. Each confrontation was emotion-filled, and it was difficult to say that he was another antagonist. In a series where demons take up most of the spotlight, White Rabbit was agonizingly human, and fans really desired peace for him, peace even though redemption was unattainable.
Attack on TItan
Eren Yeager
Eren's story throughout the series can be described as one of the most tragic tales of recent history, from a kid yearning for freedom to becoming the very thing he hated the most. Although Eren isn't a villain by any means, it's the circumstances of his world that made him do what he had to do. Season 4 sees the transformation of Eren Yeager into the worst nightmare of the world. He is the biggest hero to many but also the biggest villain to most of the characters in the story. He is a destruction machine that is about to destroy the world. But still, notwithstanding all the horror of his actions, he had thousands of fans who supported him.
Eren did not make this decision out of any ill will; it was out of desperation. He only wanted to follow the path that would save his friends and his country, despite the fact that he turned out to be the greatest monster in history. Viewers sympathized with Eren as they knew the unachievable burden of his responsibility. The betrayal was not his fall, but a sacrifice, and this made his journey ruinously compelling.
Naruto: Shippuden
Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha is not only a powerful person, but also a tragic one. The endlessly warring, betraying, and lost, Madara truly felt that the world was a hopeless case. The concept of peace in the form of the Infinite Tsukuyomi was not an idea of cruelty, but the idea of eternal freedom. He desired the world to be free of suffering, even at the expense of depriving humanity of free will.
People were fans of Madara since he was the representation of that which occurs when hope is lost gradually. He was memorable for his charisma, power, and relatable ideals, not to mention one of the best quotes in anime. Madara might have been the best ninja and protector for not only Konoh,a but the whole ninja world had circumstances been different. Rather, he turned into its ultimate threat, and there is the irony that breaks hearts, which is why the fans liked him more than almost anyone in the show.
Naruto
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2002 - 2007-00-00
- Showrunner
- Masashi Kishimoto
Cast
-
Junko Takeuchi -
Noriaki Sugiyama
