There are a lot of great anime villains who are evil for seemingly the sake of being evil. Dio from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a vampiric entity who is hungry for power, All For One from My Hero Academia just wants to see the world crumble, and Frieza from Dragon Ball Z wants to conquer the galaxy.
The Most Important Anime Of All Time
Not many anime are as influential and important to the medium's success as these iconic series.
All of these anime villains are great, but they stay evil throughout their respective series. Other villains in anime series do have face turns, meaning they become heroes if only for brief minutes. These anime series blur the line between friend and foe to give their villains more of a dynamic backstory on why they are fighting.
There will be spoilers.
Attack On Titan
Blurring The Lines Of War
Attack On Titan
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2013 - 2023-00-00
Attack on Titan begins with a straightforward struggle between good and evil. Humanity’s remnants hide behind walls, terrified of colossal human-like Titans. Eventually, the anti-Titan fighters discover some people can transform into Titans and have been secretly living among them.
As the series progresses, the distinction between friend and foe fades. The world ultimately unites to oppose a single entity bent on destroying the population. Despite past atrocities—betrayal, murder, deception—they join forces to prevent catastrophe. It’s a dark anime, leaving viewers unsure how to feel by the end.
Bleach
Becoming Hollow
Bleach
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 2004 - 2012-00-00
- Seasons
- 2
- Creator
- Tite Kubo
- Number of Episodes
- 366
Bleach starts with a high school student, Ichigo, meeting a grim reaper, also called a Shinigami, named Rukia, one night. Rukia is injured during a fight with an undead monster, a Hollow, and she bequeaths Ichigo with her Shinigami powers, thus making him a grim reaper as well. At the end of the first season, Rukia gets taken away by fellow Shinigami who are going to execute her within their version of Heaven called the Soul Society.
Anime That Got Better After Season One
Some anime just need a little bit of time before they find their footing. These awesome series got way better after season 1.
Ichigo and his friends vow to rescue her, infiltrating the Soul Society and taking on countless Shinigami who all want to kill them. After this long-running arc, Ichigo and the other Shinigami learn to respect and ally with each other. There are other “villain” turns within Bleach, but this early arc is a great example.
Dragon Ball Z
Planet Destroyers One Day, Daddies The Next
Dragon Ball Z
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 1989 - 1996
- Seasons
- 9
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Akira Toriyama
- Number of Episodes
- 291
Dragon Ball Z is one of the most classic examples that some fans still can’t believe had face turns in it. The first arc of Dragon Ball Z has the best example, the Saiyan arc, wherein three Saiyans invade Earth. In this chaos, they kill countless humans, from random farmers to some of Goku’s allies like Yamcha and Tien.
Vegeta is the head villain of this arc, and despite all of the crimes he has committed, he’s eventually accepted as an Earth citizen following the Namek saga and even gets married to Bulma. It’s truly bizarre, and that’s just one example. Androids within the Android saga and Buu within the Majin Buu saga also become friendly with Goku and crew. Buu turns people into candy and then eats them, which sounds like grounds to never accept someone as a friend.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Building The Team
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- October 6, 2012
- Directors
- Naokatsu Tsuda
- Seasons
- 6
- Studio
- David Production
- Number of Episodes
- 190
Most arcs within JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure typically start with the hero trying to get his squad together. These teammates often begin as rivals who commit some vicious acts of terrorism, sometimes so heinous that it’s baffling to see them in the next episode being friendly with the hero. For example, the fourth arc in the manga is Diamond is Unbreakable, which is the third anime season.
The protagonist is a high schooler named Josuke who confronts a fellow teen, Okuyasu, within the first few episodes. Okuyasu, and his brother Keicho, try to erase Josuke from existence, but all is forgiven after the battle as if nothing ever happened. There’s never really a discussion over consequences when villains become allies, unlike anime that take a long time to rectify crimes like Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z. That’s sort of the goofy charm of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure though.
Mobile Suit Gundam
Charred Battlefields
Mobile Suit Gundam
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- 1979 - 1980
- Network
- Nagoya TV
- Directors
- Yoshiyuki Tomino, Ryoji Fujiwara, Shinya Sadamitsu
- Studio
- Sunrise
- Number of Episodes
- 43
Decades before Attack on Titan, the original Mobile Suit Gundam showcased both sides of the war effort. There was a clear hero within the anime, a young pilot named Amuro, but the opposing Principality of Zeon did have a leg to stand on, or at least had charismatic characters that were easy to root for. Chief among them was Amuro’s adult rival, Char, who later became a hero within the sequel series, Zeta Gundam, albeit disguised as a new character, Quattro.
The Best Anime Streaming Services, Ranked
There are tons of great anime streaming services out there, but which give you your money's worth?
Within the original timeline, heroes became corrupted and villains switched allegiances, which made the space opera that was the Gundam series more engrossing. The lesson that the anime wanted to hammer down is that everyone who participates in a war is not without sin. This does not, however, make soldiers following orders intrinsically evil, and it’s a good lesson to learn.
One Piece
Can’t Resist Luffy’s Energy
One Piece
Display card tags widget Display card community and brand rating widget Display card main info widget- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
One Piece is currently one of the longest-running Shonen anime of all time, so it naturally has a lot of examples. In this world of pirates, they are thought to be evil, much like they were in real life. While there are a lot of bad pirates in One Piece, Luffy’s band of Straw Hat Pirates breaks the norm as they want nothing more than to have adventures and aren’t afraid to help people out.
Because of their bad reputation overall, all pirates are sought after by the Marines, who are technically the heroes, although to Luffy, they are the villains who are trying to stop a good time. It’s another fine line the anime draws, but beyond the Marines, Luffy will fight pure evil or misguided pirate gangs. Some great villains who turn into allies pop up during the overall Alabasta arc, which contains many arcs within, including Vivi, Nico Robin, and Bentham.
8 Best Mecha Anime With Adult Protagonists, Ranked
Move over, teens. These mecha anime turn the focus to more mature adult characters as their protagonists.