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Most anime have two central characters that do most of the heavy lifting: a protagonist, and the main villain Without the latter, there wouldn’t be much of a motivation for the hero now, would there? Thus, the best anime villains of all time would not only provide their respective protagonists with some long-term goals, but they also unite the fandom in a collective rage, despair, or perhaps even admiration for all you edge lords out there.
We’ll be ranking these anime villains accordingly– in an ascending manner to see who among them has committed the most diabolical crimes, effectively making them the best villains.
Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)
Turns out there’s such a thing as toxic ambition. Dio notably shed off his own humanity to become a vampire in his ever-constant quest to attain more power. This desire to get what he wants at all costs makes him a loose cannon who’s too dangerous as an enemy and even more dangerous as an ally.
He’s a character who goes to show how even something as productive as ambition can become too harmful in the wrong hands. Of course, what probably pushed him over to villainy was his terrible upbringing and his alcoholic father whom he killed the first chance he got. In any case, Dio being a villain is effortless. He only has to speak sometimes to reinforce that.
Madara Uchiha (Naruto Shippuden)
Madara Uchiha cranks up the delusion to 11 with his desire to do good through dubious and harmful methods. Typical Uchiha. Ultimately, Madara wanted to become a god in order to create absolute peace and keep his loved ones from dying. Too bad turning into a god requires becoming powerful and stepping over others. It was something he planned for Konoha.
However, his vengefulness and disillusionment transformed him into the ultimate villain in Naruto (Kaguya notwithstanding)– one whom even the protagonist cannot impart some sense into with the formidable talk-no–jutsu.
Sosuke Aizen (Bleach)
While other anime villains just waltz through with brute force, Aizen from Bleach had to play the long game of manipulation, but it also made him even more fiendish. Two-faced wouldn’t even begin to describe his methods, as Aizen exuded a friendly exterior. Underneath, however, Aizen cares little for any close to him and views them as a means to an end.
Knowing that many could match him, Aizen resorted to either earning the respect of his followers or their fear for his status and power. Aizen is that villain who prefers to play chess and has even managed to take out some of the biggest threats to his ascension without trying too hard.
Light Yagami (Death Note)
Due to his absurd body count for a young villain, Light Yagami is quite the contender for mass murderer. Armed with nothing but the Death Note and high school edginess, Light set out to “eliminate crime” by killing every criminal and posing as some kind of secretive god figure.
As far as realism goes, Light’s descent into madness while drunk with a newfound power was more or less the most relatable out of all anime villains. What makes him dangerous like most deluded villains, is how he’s utterly convinced that he’s in the right.
Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)
Some villains are borne out of necessity or desperation though that doesn’t excuse their actions one bit. Take for example Eren (a.k.a. Ereh) who was mostly a main protagonist in Attack on Titan. Come the latter seasons of the anime, he embraced genocide. Apparently, it was the only way he could rid the world of its most debilitating anomaly, the titular Titans.
The ending revealed that the whole genocide act was partly for show though everyone who was trampled to death by the slowest giants ever might disagree. But hey, wiping out 80 percent of the world’s population is a small price to pay to stop war for a few decades.
Johan Liebert (Monster)
Unlike Eren who was playing along with a foretold causality and was forced to become a villain, Joan Liebert from Monster is undeniably more malicious. Even as a child, he was already causing massacres that would have raised hairs. Johan infamously orchestrated the death of 50 orphan children just because.
Liebert also murdered his foster parents and anyone who attempted to be his caretaker. As expected, he became a fully-fledged psychopath by the time he matured. Often, as an adult, his typical habit consists of calculated murder sprees. He even goes as far as hiring serial killers if the targets are too far away. The only thing stopping him from catapulting his way to the top of this best anime villains list is that he’s only human and has no superpowers.
Muzan Kibutsuji (Demon Slayer)
Muzan from Demon Slayer might be a good example of how a psychopath with superpowers might behave. He’s supposedly more than 1,000 years old and has likely lost any semblance of humanity left in him, apart from how he’s motivated by fear.
As far as being a villain goes, Muzan is your usual megalomaniac. He’s practically the creator of all demons and lords over them, even harming them as punishment. Hence, he has in one way or another caused the countless human deaths attributed to demons.
Ryomen Sukuna (Jujutsu Kaisen)
A few villains in anime have the skill to back up their godly arrogance, but Ryomen Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen keeps proving time and again that he’s better than everyone. This has given him the unofficial license to do whatever he wants. It’s usually just slicing people up, particularly those who vex him.
He can also commit mass murder with the flick of his wrist. What makes him more terrifying compared to some of the best anime villains is how that crime is usually just collateral damage for him. Because to him, anything that can’t last a few seconds against his attacks is nothing more than bacteria.
Frieza (Dragon Ball Z)
If we’re basing the notoriety of our anime villains on kill count alone, then Frieza takes the Kakarot cake. He has murdered trillions either by conquest, genocide, or even enslavement. Such is the nature of this alien who wanted nothing else but to legitimize his claim as the “Emperor of the Universe.”
From time to time, he even destroys planets out of his whims, especially if their inhabitants appear like they could be threats to Frieza’s dominance. Perhaps even the reason why he remains one of the most iconic Dragon Ball villains is that he’s Goku’s moral opposite. Frieza is someone who can prove just how dangerous the latter is if he isn’t too fixated on food and being an absentee father to Gohan.
Griffith (Berserk)
Mass murder, world domination, and megalomania seem less weighty than other, more personal villainous acts. Griffith from Berserk, however, adds a more complex layer to villainy that sets him apart from most other PG-rated anime villains.
True, he was also a power-hungry warlord, but underneath is an insecure utilitarian who eventually sacrificed his comrades in a split-second decision and plunged the world into a dark fantasy land just so he could appear to be a hero. In the process, he also betrayed his best friend and even did something unmentionable to his best friend’s lover– right in front of him. The worst part is how he succeeded and now everyone sees him as a heroic figure despite possibly murdering millions.
