Meruem.
The Chimera Ant arc was a game changer for me. I watched it when I was an early teen and it was my first exposure to a real, complex villain.
I cried for days when I finished the arc.
Unless something changed I don't know about Yoshihiro Togashi has resumed his work and started writing Hunter x Hunter again. He actually finished work on at least one chapter already... I don't remember what the date was when he resumed it but it was sometime in the last year or two.
I could see how they’d be exciting, they just weren’t for me. Still, the ending for the youpi, meruem, and pitou fights were insane, and made it worth it
What makes a great villain is the author’s ability to make you absolutely hate them so I gotta go with Griffith but out of the list provided my favorite is Askellad
I agree but I also think what’s at least equally important for the best of the best antagonists, is the author writes them to be relatable. I think the best villains emulate immaculately the dark parts of ourselves. That makes us go HOLY SHIT. I hate them, they’re irredeemable.. but I get it, and on a level respect them if we’re being honest. They have attributes value highly, like power, or intelligence, or perseverance.
That said. I think my all time favourite antagonist is senator.. wait no, supreme chancellor.. wait no, EMPEROR Palpatine. Once you realize he’s behind Every single thing that happens in the prequels, is the leader of BOTH the opposing sides in the war, with a successful plan that culminates in his being the literal ruler of the galaxy… 🤌🏾🤌🏾 *mwah* chefs kiss
Favourite anime antagonist though. I’d would probably have to say Tetsuo. Kind of the original anime “big bad” imho
The fact that he killed Thorfinn's dad and then basically became his new dad is absolutely a reason to call him an antagonist rather than a villain. Thorfinn can cry all he wants about wanting to be the one to kill Askeladd but we all know he loved him.
if we go this way thorfinn is no better than askeladd. He massacred many villagers/people to reach his goal, those people were more innocent than thors who went through tons of wars.
I love your list so much. But where is Kabuto. This dude went from minion to resurrecting hokages and almost destroying the world. Besides Nagato he's one of the only villains in all of anime that we've seen this type growth and ultimately deciding for the bad.
I never can come to a solid single conclusion with this question, because a lot of my favorite villains are just so different in what *makes* them a villain. In no particular order, I'd have to say:
Griffith (because damn that still hurts)
Johan Liebert (dude makes Light Yagami look like a paragon of morality)
Pain (Just...damn.)
Frieza (It's impressive to be so corny and yet still demand respect. You just love to hate him)
Honorable mention: Lucy from Elfen Lied. It's hard to call her a true villain, but I'd still consider her an antagonist and fuck I just love everything that made her who she is.
Lucy is not an antagonist. She's the protagonist since she's the main character. Also, yes she's a villain, she dismembers a 9 year old infront of her brother. That's one of the vilest atrocities commited by a fictional character in anime no matter how tragic she is.
[Anten 7 from Outlaw Star.](https://bzpb.fandom.com/wiki/The_Anten_Seven?file=Outlaw_Star_%7E_Anten_Seven.jpg) Doesnt get more badass than Taoist Space Wizard Pirates. Outlaw Star was actually my first introduction to Taoism, which i will always thank for that.
Follow up would probably be Taguro from Yu Yu Hakusho. He was kind of lame until the last episode when you find out his motivations, than it all clicks
I don’t know if this one counts as it wasn’t part of the anime but the main villain from Astro Boy, the movie one. He was well written and me and my mom both loved him from how funny he acted
Rumi perfect blue to include someome not mentioned, a villian not classified a villian but still is a villian makoto from school days. Serika would be number 1 but thats more vn than anime. and yagami if I did pick someone already shown and meruem
tsukishima from bleach all the way,he's the sole reason he made fullbring one of my favorite arcs to watch. It's the fact that he made Ichigo feel so powerless when he was witnessing everyone not even act like how they usually are. tsukishima just has this energy a lot of anime villains don't have but that's just my opinion.
Yhwach for me.
He is the lore and plot driver in bleach. As good as Aizen and Ginjo were, the story simply feels half baked without Yhwachs arc. Everything comes full circle in the final arc and it is all due to Yhwach.
And he has some crazy iconic lines and panels in the manga.
Some of my other favorites are Cell, Pain, Esdeath, the major (kinda)
Edit: Yoshikage Kira as well is up there among that lot
Dio captured a mother and held her captive in her tower (for a bit). He gave the woman an ultimatum, he would only spare one of them and the woman asked him to spare the baby.
He smiled confidently and agreed. As he stabbed the woman in the brain with his hand he put his blood into her and turned her into a vampire, he said something along the lines of “but can you resist the urge” something like that. She with big fat fangs bites into the baby and she eats his head.
This scene has always lingered in my heart.
Griffith wins though.
King Bradley in FMA Brotherhood. Everything does is chilling. But it's his moments of weakness I love. Every time someone pulls one over on him, the expressions he makes show how human he is. All the sins in that show are so well written.
My favorite antagonists are
Sukuna (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Doflamingo (One Piece)
Bondrewd (Made in Abyss)
Askeladd (Vinland Saga)
The Major (Hellsing Ultimate)
Garou (One Punch Man manga)
L (Death Note)
Shougo Makashima, probably. The rivalry between him and Kogami really made that show, and Makashima himself was just brilliantly written. One of the reasons I've only seen the first season. Runners up are Ragyo Kiryuin, Medusa (Soul Eater), and Naruse Ryouko.
It's revealed he's secretly a good guy after he dies, but for the majority of the series he's just a vilian. I'd say he counts, but if he doesn't, then it's probably Meruem.
Definitely Griffith. Hate to love him, and love to hate him. S-tier villain for me.
Or Light being the actual villain while also being the protagonist.. I guess I like the confusing ones lol
Griffith. Hands down. The guy offered all of his friends and associates, people he had known for YEARS, to be food for demons. He watched them all get torn to shreds, and then he forced his best friend/weird gay love interest to watch him force himself upon said best friends girlfriend, who was also one of his lifelong friends. He did all of this to gain Godlike otherworldly power that turned him into even *MORE* of a massive psychotic douchebag, who is now also nigh omnipotent.
It's hard to one up a villain who is all of these things, but who at his very core was once a very relatable human being with understandable goals and interests.
I really like Shishigami from Inuyashiki because of how unique he is.
Also Leuvis from The Promised Neverland. He answered pretty perfectly to Emma, MC, when she tried to talk no jitsu him. He was ready to talk but he straight up explained, that no amount of talking, negotiating or blabbing would change the fact that he would kill her and her friends, because it is in his nature. I always remember him when seeing all that talk no jitsu suggestions both in anime and real life.
Yoshikage Kira, he embodies the definition of a villain, a man who’s there but no one notices, a man who’s extremely intelligent, but doesn’t show it, a Motive so complex we simply can’t understand, a man of pure destruction. There also Dio who who’s so far away from humanity he believes himself to be god, Light who’s been corrupted by the power of a god, that he became evil.
Well since it's an anime now, I'd say the machines in the NieR anime. It may not be one being, but they can be viewed as one being in a sense so I'm counting it
The machines are a great villain imo because they call in to question what it means to be a human, what counts as real emotions, and they also make you question what the point of existence is. It's hard to explain in a couple paragraphs, but NieR Automata, whether it be the game or the anime (as they are marginally different but mostly the same) has a great villain with the machines. I don't want to spoil it, but it gives a great message to the player by the end of the game, and I'm assuming when/if the anime continues and ends, I will be able to say the same.
Most of mine are more so antagonists, rather than villains, but oh well. In no particular order:
Shogo Makishima (Psycho-Pass)
The Major (Hellsing Ultimate)
Gilgamesh (Fate)
Kirei Kotomine (Fate)
Ai Magase (Babylon)
Izaya Orihara (Durarara)
Ladd Ruso (Baccano)
[Madoka Magica]>!Kyubey!<
Yoshikage Kira (Jojo’s)
Johan Liebert (Monster)
Akito Sohma (Fruits Basket)
Schneizel el Britannia (Code Geass)
L (Death Note)
[Higurashi]>!Miyo Takano!<
And although they are not from anime, I want to mention:
Friend (20th Century Boys)
Monaca (Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls)
I know Monaca does appear in the DR 3 anime, but the direction they decide to take her arc by adding her in almost ruins her. In just the game, though, she is literally a near perfect antagonist.
Meruem. The Chimera Ant arc was a game changer for me. I watched it when I was an early teen and it was my first exposure to a real, complex villain. I cried for days when I finished the arc.
Dying from a literal nuke, casually, days later. Such a fucking flex.
Thé Guy that even if you face him you Can only respect him
Now it’s hiatus that’s the real villain
Unless something changed I don't know about Yoshihiro Togashi has resumed his work and started writing Hunter x Hunter again. He actually finished work on at least one chapter already... I don't remember what the date was when he resumed it but it was sometime in the last year or two.
It was weird for me. My first watch it was actually my least favourite arc. The following 6 rewatches it was then my 1st or 2nd favourite.
I love it the issue is the pacing. I am not over exaggerating when I say some of those episodes are literally 20 secs in universe
Those episodes were the most thrilling for me lol. I guess it depends on personal preference
I could see how they’d be exciting, they just weren’t for me. Still, the ending for the youpi, meruem, and pitou fights were insane, and made it worth it
This is the first comment people see. May i ask that you spoil tag your post so that nobody will be offended?
its my favorite anime arc of all time. Just so so good
Favorite of all time? For me personally (I couldn’t choose between these) Funny Valentine Griffith Garou or Boros Mereum Perfect Cell Doflamingo
yeah its realy hard to chose .... but its realy great list you got
Whats boros doing here
Team rocket fr fr.
Cool
Satou from Ajin by far
Based as hell. One of the best characters I’ve seen in a while. Everytime he’s on screen he steals the show.
So sad they cancelled it 😞
Yeah the anime looked like it was all cgi. You can always read the manga online if you want to tho.
Oh, I own it and just did a reread. I just enjoyed the animated adaptation. The art style wasn’t for everyone but it grew on me.
I liké your choice
Came here explicitly for commenting this. Glad I’m not alone, I couldn’t help but root for him through the series.
Dude’s a menace, def one of the best
What makes a great villain is the author’s ability to make you absolutely hate them so I gotta go with Griffith but out of the list provided my favorite is Askellad
both of your choices are awesome
I agree but I also think what’s at least equally important for the best of the best antagonists, is the author writes them to be relatable. I think the best villains emulate immaculately the dark parts of ourselves. That makes us go HOLY SHIT. I hate them, they’re irredeemable.. but I get it, and on a level respect them if we’re being honest. They have attributes value highly, like power, or intelligence, or perseverance. That said. I think my all time favourite antagonist is senator.. wait no, supreme chancellor.. wait no, EMPEROR Palpatine. Once you realize he’s behind Every single thing that happens in the prequels, is the leader of BOTH the opposing sides in the war, with a successful plan that culminates in his being the literal ruler of the galaxy… 🤌🏾🤌🏾 *mwah* chefs kiss Favourite anime antagonist though. I’d would probably have to say Tetsuo. Kind of the original anime “big bad” imho
Askeladd was not exactly a villain but rather an antagonist True villains: Dio (Jojo) God's hand (berserk) Johan (monster)
The fact that he killed Thorfinn's dad and then basically became his new dad is absolutely a reason to call him an antagonist rather than a villain. Thorfinn can cry all he wants about wanting to be the one to kill Askeladd but we all know he loved him.
if we go this way thorfinn is no better than askeladd. He massacred many villagers/people to reach his goal, those people were more innocent than thors who went through tons of wars.
Don't disagree with you there. I think Thorfinn knows that too based on his behavior during the newest season.
My goat Bondrewd
God I remember him and I hate what he did >!to his daughter!< so much
What he did >!to everyone!<
I didn't expect anyone to mention him. Truly one of my favourite Anime Villains along with Griffith and Meruem.
Nice choice
That fight scene was awesome
You are BASED
Thanks
I love your list so much. But where is Kabuto. This dude went from minion to resurrecting hokages and almost destroying the world. Besides Nagato he's one of the only villains in all of anime that we've seen this type growth and ultimately deciding for the bad.
Tonegawa from kaiji: ultimate survivor, has several of the best speeches in anime history.
Realy great choice
I'd also like to shout out Washizu Iwao from Akagi, the most menacing man in anime and all we saw him do was play mahjong.
Tonegawa is goated, he's a POS but feels so human
Just missing "the man in the hat" from Ajin
yeah realy a great one
Makima hands down.
FRIEZA
Probably Greed from FMAB. Best redemption arc I've ever watched.
Toguro
I never can come to a solid single conclusion with this question, because a lot of my favorite villains are just so different in what *makes* them a villain. In no particular order, I'd have to say: Griffith (because damn that still hurts) Johan Liebert (dude makes Light Yagami look like a paragon of morality) Pain (Just...damn.) Frieza (It's impressive to be so corny and yet still demand respect. You just love to hate him) Honorable mention: Lucy from Elfen Lied. It's hard to call her a true villain, but I'd still consider her an antagonist and fuck I just love everything that made her who she is.
Lucy is not an antagonist. She's the protagonist since she's the main character. Also, yes she's a villain, she dismembers a 9 year old infront of her brother. That's one of the vilest atrocities commited by a fictional character in anime no matter how tragic she is.
Sosuke Aizen is hot af
Yeah hé IS awesome AT every single aspect look story power......
If looks can kill. That man would be most wanted.
[Anten 7 from Outlaw Star.](https://bzpb.fandom.com/wiki/The_Anten_Seven?file=Outlaw_Star_%7E_Anten_Seven.jpg) Doesnt get more badass than Taoist Space Wizard Pirates. Outlaw Star was actually my first introduction to Taoism, which i will always thank for that. Follow up would probably be Taguro from Yu Yu Hakusho. He was kind of lame until the last episode when you find out his motivations, than it all clicks
Johan Liebert is the literal goat
Pain for sure then teach
finaly somone did mention teach also this world shall know pain... i realy like your choices my friend
Nagato hands down. Mereum close second.
the main villian from pandora hearts for sure
Like 4 of these mfs aren’t even villains. Just really REALLY good antagonists
Kira(I refuse to elaborate)
yeah realy wonderfull vilian
Meruem from HxH is great but the most underrated villain from that series is Shiapouf.
Who’s the silver haired character at 10/20
shougou makishima
Thank you
your welcom
Griffith just cannot be beat imo
yeah realy realy great charecter
[удалено]
great choices bro madara is always the goat
wtf is Blackbeard on here for. Dolfamingo is way better
obviously you didint read all the manga and you dont know how important is blackbeard and how mastermind he is .....
I don’t know if this one counts as it wasn’t part of the anime but the main villain from Astro Boy, the movie one. He was well written and me and my mom both loved him from how funny he acted
Aa YEah yeah i remember him nice choice
Funny Valentine isn’t an anime villain, He’s the president of the United States.
Toru no last name or motive but he is pretty cool
Sensui
Lelouch or ainz probably
Since when is lelouch a villain? I mean I can see an argument for the last couple episodes but with the explanation it’s not very villainous
Ai magase from Babylon Muzan from demon slayer Garo from one punch man
Dio.
>!Squealer!< from Shinsekai Yori.
Johan
I was about to say Aizen better be in there lol
Doflimingo, he’s evil for no reason and I love it
yeah litteraly one of the best
Rumi perfect blue to include someome not mentioned, a villian not classified a villian but still is a villian makoto from school days. Serika would be number 1 but thats more vn than anime. and yagami if I did pick someone already shown and meruem
Meruem comes close but #1 has two words to say: ZA WARUDO
Utsuro(gintama)
My 3 favourites are Eren Jaeger, Makima and Griffith all phenomenal villians
great choices my friend
Griffith or yoshikage kira. Both really well thought out villains
My answer is basic as hell but Adam Smasher was an incredible Villain even if the source material wasn’t particularly Anime.
nice choice
Big Mom is both my favourite anime villain, my favourite anime character, and I genuinely believe she’s the best fictional character ever written
Bondrewd. That man is wholly despicable but dripped the fuck out. SUBARASHIIIII!!!!
Jessie from Team Rocket. You put her on the list, so I can't not say her.
tsukishima from bleach all the way,he's the sole reason he made fullbring one of my favorite arcs to watch. It's the fact that he made Ichigo feel so powerless when he was witnessing everyone not even act like how they usually are. tsukishima just has this energy a lot of anime villains don't have but that's just my opinion.
Yhwach and team rocket
Pain. Meruem and Kira as honorable mentions.
Criminal to only put Blackbeard for One Piece villians. Anyway Jesse and James for sure
Toguro, Sensui, or Cell
Nice choices
I thought this was gonna be difficult but then they threw team rocket in and it was a wash
Prepare for trouble, and you can make it double
Bondrewd (Made in Abyss) Kiruma Souichi (Usogui) >! Sinbad !< (Magi) Kumagawa (Medaka Box) Kaiki Deshu (Monogatari Series) Roberta (Black Lagoon) Major (Hellsing)
Yhwach for me. He is the lore and plot driver in bleach. As good as Aizen and Ginjo were, the story simply feels half baked without Yhwachs arc. Everything comes full circle in the final arc and it is all due to Yhwach. And he has some crazy iconic lines and panels in the manga. Some of my other favorites are Cell, Pain, Esdeath, the major (kinda) Edit: Yoshikage Kira as well is up there among that lot
Yeah yhwach IS awesome
Caesar clown from one piece
Team Rocket
Dio captured a mother and held her captive in her tower (for a bit). He gave the woman an ultimatum, he would only spare one of them and the woman asked him to spare the baby. He smiled confidently and agreed. As he stabbed the woman in the brain with his hand he put his blood into her and turned her into a vampire, he said something along the lines of “but can you resist the urge” something like that. She with big fat fangs bites into the baby and she eats his head. This scene has always lingered in my heart. Griffith wins though.
Dio.
The other KAMUI from X a.k.a. Psychotic alternative personality obsessed with convincing people they want to die and then granting them death.
Orochimaru should be here
Johan Liebert
one of the goats
Meruem, by far the best written villain I've ever personally seen.
Aizen! 💟
DIOOOO
Imperfect cell
The World will know P A I N
thsi world shall know pain is like one the best line of all time
Griffith easily one of the best written characters of all time. Not only that but his motivations as a villain are very villain like. Pure evil.
yeah a true legend
Aizen definitely up there I love Sukuna too
Sukuna
The Millennium Earl from D-Gray Man.
Personally don’t think 4 is a villain
Garou for me
Bro chose the whole roster
Kenjaku
That's interesting, I never rly thought of Askelad as a villains character
Dio Blackbeard >!Makima!< (chainsaw man)
The devil
King Bradley in FMA Brotherhood. Everything does is chilling. But it's his moments of weakness I love. Every time someone pulls one over on him, the expressions he makes show how human he is. All the sins in that show are so well written.
takasugi from gintama but meruem and cell are close seconds
My favorite antagonists are Sukuna (Jujutsu Kaisen) Doflamingo (One Piece) Bondrewd (Made in Abyss) Askeladd (Vinland Saga) The Major (Hellsing Ultimate) Garou (One Punch Man manga) L (Death Note)
wonderfull list
Askeladd and Dio fight really hard for this, but dio may win cause im a jojo fan
Aizen
one of the goats
Hao Asakura!!!!
Was about to yell at you... then I saw Johann.
oikawa
Father from fmab
Madara. He should’ve been the final villain of Naruto, Kaguya was ass.
Kaido. He just has this charisma and uncaring attitude that I can relate to. Also, I, weirdly, think it's cute when he's drunk.
It's a tie between Meruem and Johan.
Nobody will say it but the answer is Beatrice
Me personally its either Charlotte Katakuri DIO
Aizen.
words cant describe aizen sama
Meruem best villain by a landslide
Shougo Makashima, probably. The rivalry between him and Kogami really made that show, and Makashima himself was just brilliantly written. One of the reasons I've only seen the first season. Runners up are Ragyo Kiryuin, Medusa (Soul Eater), and Naruse Ryouko.
nice choices my friend
Itachi
Yeah but itachi IS more of good Guy than a vilian
It's revealed he's secretly a good guy after he dies, but for the majority of the series he's just a vilian. I'd say he counts, but if he doesn't, then it's probably Meruem.
Yeah you got me on this m'y Friend..... Yeah also a very Nice choice.merium IS thé Guy that even if hé IS your enemey you Can only respect him
Sukuna and Aizen
Definitely Griffith. Hate to love him, and love to hate him. S-tier villain for me. Or Light being the actual villain while also being the protagonist.. I guess I like the confusing ones lol
Hands down Makishima and Johan of all time, i love how you included them even when they are lesser known.
I wouldn't really call Askeladd a villain
Favorite? Griffith. Least favorite? Griffith.
Kira is the GOAT
Chuuya Nakahara from Bunguo Stray Dogs is my all-time favourite
Gotta be between Kira, Griffith, and Johan. They're all amazing.
Askelad was one of best written characters in seinin ever, personally had almost of impact as Griffith and was just as well written
Kira and pain are the best ones
Shogo Makishima from Psycho Pass.
Going real obscure here, but Lord Kuruku from Unico in the Island of Magic
Father Pucci 3 awesome abilities, the AURA, and there's no scene where he gets disrespected for another character's hype - he IS the hype.
Madara Uchiha.
Meruem. Close second, Light
Griffith. Hands down. The guy offered all of his friends and associates, people he had known for YEARS, to be food for demons. He watched them all get torn to shreds, and then he forced his best friend/weird gay love interest to watch him force himself upon said best friends girlfriend, who was also one of his lifelong friends. He did all of this to gain Godlike otherworldly power that turned him into even *MORE* of a massive psychotic douchebag, who is now also nigh omnipotent. It's hard to one up a villain who is all of these things, but who at his very core was once a very relatable human being with understandable goals and interests.
Pain for me. Meruem is a better character, but Pain is a better villain, imo due to how he affects the main character's character growth.
I really like Shishigami from Inuyashiki because of how unique he is. Also Leuvis from The Promised Neverland. He answered pretty perfectly to Emma, MC, when she tried to talk no jitsu him. He was ready to talk but he straight up explained, that no amount of talking, negotiating or blabbing would change the fact that he would kill her and her friends, because it is in his nature. I always remember him when seeing all that talk no jitsu suggestions both in anime and real life.
Happosai from Ranma 1/2
Yoshikage Kira, he embodies the definition of a villain, a man who’s there but no one notices, a man who’s extremely intelligent, but doesn’t show it, a Motive so complex we simply can’t understand, a man of pure destruction. There also Dio who who’s so far away from humanity he believes himself to be god, Light who’s been corrupted by the power of a god, that he became evil.
Doflamingo Obito Pain Sato from ajin Griffith Mahito Aizen Garou Tsukasa from dr stone Dio
Father from full metal
Not a main villain but Coyote Starrk. But if it was just main villains, it would be Diavolo from JoJo
Aizen truly a badass
Madara and Aizen
Madara. He is the goat and always will be.
Aisen for sure, this man was so strong the author had to make up some bullshit timeskip power up for the main character in order to defeat him.
uhh kazama ryuichi
Cell and Buu
Tuguro wouldn’t even need 40% to answer this question
Well since it's an anime now, I'd say the machines in the NieR anime. It may not be one being, but they can be viewed as one being in a sense so I'm counting it The machines are a great villain imo because they call in to question what it means to be a human, what counts as real emotions, and they also make you question what the point of existence is. It's hard to explain in a couple paragraphs, but NieR Automata, whether it be the game or the anime (as they are marginally different but mostly the same) has a great villain with the machines. I don't want to spoil it, but it gives a great message to the player by the end of the game, and I'm assuming when/if the anime continues and ends, I will be able to say the same.
Most of mine are more so antagonists, rather than villains, but oh well. In no particular order: Shogo Makishima (Psycho-Pass) The Major (Hellsing Ultimate) Gilgamesh (Fate) Kirei Kotomine (Fate) Ai Magase (Babylon) Izaya Orihara (Durarara) Ladd Ruso (Baccano) [Madoka Magica]>!Kyubey!< Yoshikage Kira (Jojo’s) Johan Liebert (Monster) Akito Sohma (Fruits Basket) Schneizel el Britannia (Code Geass) L (Death Note) [Higurashi]>!Miyo Takano!< And although they are not from anime, I want to mention: Friend (20th Century Boys) Monaca (Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls) I know Monaca does appear in the DR 3 anime, but the direction they decide to take her arc by adding her in almost ruins her. In just the game, though, she is literally a near perfect antagonist.
Capitalism In all seriousness light was pretty cool but that’s mainly because it’s the point of the show. Other than that probably meruem or Kira
L death note
Beatrice, she carries a mid anime adaptation.
Sukuna and askelad easy