Anime villains are some of the most despicable characters in fiction, and so many of them are motivated by purely selfish ideals.Countless anime evildoers become caught up in their thirst for power, fame, and wealth,and will do anything to achieve their goals, even if it hurts others.
A smaller, more rare group of anime villains actually began with reasonable intentions though,setting out to solve a societal problem or right some perceived wrong. Although these characters undeniably went about their plans in all the wrong ways, causing extreme tragedy and harm, their original motivations were actually pretty respectable and, in some cases, even noble.
Death Note
Light Yagami fromDeath Noteisone of anime’s most controversial villains, because he began as an average, well-meaning high schooler. When the Death Note journal first fell into Light’s possession by chance, and he realized he could kill anyone just by writing down their name, he promised himself he would use his new power to help society by only killing criminals who hurt others. Although Light followed these rules at first,his plans quickly devolved into selfish chaos as he began murdering anyone who came close to discovering his true identity.
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His focus shifted from a desire to help people to a greedy dream of becoming “god of the new world,” and Light was suddenly more fixated on his own accomplishments rather than making the world around him safer. While Light worked as “Kira,” the crime rate in Japan did drop dramatically, buthis later actions undid all of that progress quickly.The sheer power Light came into contact with corrupted him, and proved why it would be so unethical for any one person to serve as an arbiter of who lives and who dies.
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academiais packed with morally gray villainswho actuallymake some pretty persuasive arguments about why Hero Society needs to change.The Hero Killer: Stain might have been wrong in the drastic actions he took, but his beliefs themselves were not necessarily wrong. Stain was disgusted by heroes who primarily chased fame and wealth, rather than working as a hero because of a genuine passion for saving others. He detested how self-serving the hero profession had become, and as retaliation, set out to kill as many Pro Heroes as possible.
Obviously, Stain’s plan to murder heroes he deemed selfish was incredibly unethical, buthe was correct that good heroes really should be motivated by protecting and saving the innocent,not external rewards like acclaim or money. Sadly, Stain took it way too far, killing 17 Pro Heroes and seriously injuring 24, including Tenya’s brother, Tensei. Although his wish for Hero Society to become less selfish made sense, his killing spree was not the right way to impart that view, turning him into a villain worse than the heroes he looked down upon.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen’sGojo Satoru and Geto Suguruattended Jujutsu High together to train to become sorcerers, but their experiences shaped each of them differently, forming Gojo into a hero and Geto into a villain. Both Gojo and Geto were disgusted by the damage cursed spirits were causing in society, but Geto grew exhausted constantly exorcising them and wanted to take a different approach:killing all non-sorcerers to eliminate the source of cursed spirits.
Geto went on to abandon Jujutsu High, kill a village of people who he witnessed mistreating two young girls, and start a cult, suddenly making himself an enemy of Jujutsu Society. Ironically, Geto had the same end goal as Gojo and otherJujutsu Kaisenheroes:getting rid of cursed spirits to create a safer world.However, Geto’s acts of violence and belief that the best way to save humanity was to kill everyone who is not a sorcerer are what separate him from the series' more noble characters and sent him down a misguided, cruel way of thinking.
One-Punch Man
Vaccine Man was a short-livedOne Punch Manvillain who Saitama took down rather quickly. He was bent on destroying humanity, but his reasoning for wiping out humankind was actually pretty sound.Vaccine Man was deeply concerned about the environment and humanity’s negative impact.Environmental concerns are completely valid, as humans do cause a lot of irreversible damage to the natural ecosystem.
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Vaccine Man was right to want to protect natural resourcesand ensure the world around him was not further harmed, but his idea to kill all humans was not the right solution. Saitama made quick work of Vaccine Man, ensuring his evil scheme would not come to fruition, but the environmental consciousness in Vaccine Man’s speeches is worth paying attention to, even though his plans for achieving ecological balance were immoral.
Attack on Titan
Reiner Braun is an incredibly complex character with a phenomenal redemption arc, but in the early seasons ofAttack on Titan,he was a questionable villain. Reiner, Bertholdt Hoover, and Annie Leonhart, three Marleyans,joined the Survey Corpsundercover, hoping to steal Eren Yeager’s Founding Titan for Marley. Reiner struggled tremendously with the fact that he was technically betraying the comrades who had become his friends, buthe still went through with the heist, betraying the Survey Corps.
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In Reiner’s eyes, he was doing what was right, because he had been taught his whole life that the Eldians are enemies. Spending time with Eldian soldiers in the Survey Corps and forming genuine friendships made it more difficult for Reiner to turn his back on them, but he still did in the end, because he was doing what he was trained to do as a Marleyan Warrior. Eventually,Reiner did redeem himself by working alongside the Eldians again to stop Erenand save the world, proving that, despite his villainous role in early seasons, he had a good heart deep down and only ever wished to protect his home.
3Tomura Shigaraki
From My Hero Academia
When people referenceanime villains with tragic backstories,My Hero Academia’sTomura Shigaraki is a prime example. During his childhood, Shigaraki’s Quirk, Decay, accidentally activated and was so uncontrollably destructive that it disintegrated his entire family in front of him, and he tried in vain to bring them back. To make matters worse,no Pro Heroes ever appeared to comfort or help Tomura,leaving him with a bitter grudge against Hero Society as a whole.
Tomura spent his life fighting against Pro Heroes,attempting to bring them the same pain he felt all those years ago when no one came to his rescue.Shigaraki was also manipulated by All For One, who fed into his beliefs that Pro Heroes are selfish and intentionally left him to suffer during his childhood tragedy. Although the agony Shigaraki caused others cannot be excused, it is no surprise that he hates heroes so much because they failed him at his lowest.
Lelouch Lamperouge’s actions inCode Geasswere actually inspired by a pretty sweet main goal:providing for his sister, Nunnally.
Lelouch was fiercely determined to take down the Holy Britannian Empire by any means possible, because he saw that as the only way to give his sister a joyful life. He was also reeling from the death of his mother, who was killed by V.V., thus he held the Holy Britannian Empire responsible and wanted retaliation for everything they took from him.
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Lelouch and Light differ significantly as one is a self-sacrificing leader motivated by bonds, while the other is a detached tyrant blinded by power.
Although it is understandable thatLelouch wanted justice for his mother’s untimely deathand hoped to ensure his sister Nunnally’s life would be carefree and happy, the lengths he went to in order to achieve this goal are what firmly cemented his status as a villain inCode Geass.Lelouch went on killing rampages against anyone he deemed an enemy, including even his own father. Looking out for one’s family is respectable, but Lelouch went way too far and definitely hurt more than he helped.
1Eren Yeager
From Attack on Titan
Eren Yeager isAttack on Titan’smost controversial character, and although he is the main character,many fans cannot reach a consensus on whether he is the hero or the villain of the story.When Eren’s home, Paradis Island, was attacked by man-eating Titans who killed his mother in front of him, he understandably promised himself that he would defeat the Titans no matter what, to create a safe, peaceful world for future generations.
By the end ofAttack on Titan,Eren accomplished what he set out to do, but he killed millions of innocent human beings in the process. Eren’s own friends had to behead him to stop his murderous rampage, because he wasso committed to carrying out the Rumblingthat no one could convince him to stop once he had set his cruel plan in motion.Eren’s desire for freedom andpassion for protecting his loved ones are commendable, but his choice to indiscriminately murder millions of people was not,making him more of a villain than a hero in the end.
