Best Anime Antagonists: One of the most important things in any anime series is the villain or the antagonist of the series. The main character almost always needs someone to oppose them in their journey to make it more meaningful. Moreover, a villain just makes the story so much more interesting and fun for the viewers. So let’s take a deep dive into some of the best antagonists anime has to offer of all time.
Light Yagami
We cannot start off the list without mentioning one of the smartest anime characters ever, Light Yagami. Although the story is technically from Light’s perspective, there is little doubt in the viewers that he is the main villain of the series. On top of that, not only is Light a genius, he also has the power of the death note, and he is not afraid to use it to get what he wants.
King Bradley
Everyone who has seen the Fullmetal Alchemist or Brotherhood can agree that although the seven homunculi were interesting and unique, King Bradley was the one who was the most surprising. With a beautiful display of sword skills and a solid character arc, Bradley was one of the biggest problems to the anime leads. His true identity as Wrath was one of the series’ most dramatic reveals. But even till the end, he showed a great deal of warrior nobility.
Best Anime Antagonists: Mahito
Jujutsu Kaisen will definitely agree with why Mahito is on the list. Not only is Mahito the most frustrating villain of the anime series, but he is also one of the most hated characters of all time. As a villain, he killed some of the fan-favorite characters. The way in which he killed Junpei the moment he felt the boy became useless is one example of his pure evil. Usually, in anime series, even villains have some loyalty to their allies. But Mahito’s cold rationality was just shocking.
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Zeke Yeager AKA Beast Titan
Zeke Yeager, also Beast Titan, was the main antagonist of the Attack on Titan anime series. At the start, he seemed to be a cheerful, quiet man, but he was actually an intelligent and cunning one with secret aims in life. However, it is no doubt that he would land on this list because of the cruel things he has done so far. He is responsible for killing the Survey Corps ruthlessly and for feeding a human to Titans. And in all of these events, he is emotionless. This quality of his is quite scary to the fans.
Muzan Kibutsuji
The Demon Slayer anime established Muzan as the main antagonist quite early in the series. Muzan is the original demon. He is somewhat of a leader to the demons and has established a hierarchy by giving away his blood. Although his power to create more demons is a problem, his cruelty to humans makes him a villain. He has no second thoughts about killing an entire helpless family just to prevent a chance of his death.
Best Anime Antagonists: Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha from Naruto cannot be left out of this list. He is the most powerful Uchiha there ever was. Not only was he the strongest antagonist of the whole show, but he was also the most powerful shinobi on screen. Not only did he have raw power with an immense chakra, but he also had dangerous abilities. However, he began using his abilities for evil purposes. Moreover, he even managed to cheat death a few times.
Hisoka Morow
Hisoka Morow is one of the most uncomfortable villains be watch on screen. And the Hunter x Hunter fans will agree to this. Though he is always colorfully dressed like The Joker from a deck of cards, he is actually very nasty. Although technically he is a morally grey character, the anime series has him do several questionable things. He keeps wanting death matches against people and, in many cases, has killed people just to make their close friends angry enough for a fight to the death. He is also manipulative and tries to cause chaos and enjoys it.
Lelouch
Like Death Note, Lelouch is technically the villain of the Code Geass series. Or he becomes one by the end of the story. Not only is he an extremely smart high school student with great manipulative abilities, but he also has the Geass. This gives him the power of Absolute Obedience over any human being. Although his morals are all right at the beginning of the story, he eventually becomes twisted.
Patolli
Patolli from Black Clover is another evil-doer on the list. He is the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. The first hint that he is evil is that he hates humans. He is also cold and ruthless as a character, hating even his followers. His only aim is vengeance, and he sees nothing but that as he confronts the main character.
Best Anime Antagonists: Zeref
It took the main leads a lot of time to finally defeat Zeref in the Fairy Tail Anime series. He is one of the few fleshed-out characters with a solid backstory. In fact, there is just enough backstory that the viewers are able to see why Zeref became the way he did. Moreover, his raw power and abilities caused a lot of trouble to the heroes before they could finally defeat him.
Vicious
Cowboy Bebop is always a treat to watch. The main antagonist of the anime series is, Vicious. He is the leader of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. In fact, he was actually good friends with the main character of the series, Spike. When he caught his girlfriend having an affair with his friend, instead of breaking up and blocking as normal people do, he tried to force his girlfriend to choose to kill her lover, or he would kill her. This began the hatred between the two. He has also committed various crimes and mostly betrayed his allies to get away with it.
Naraku
The main villain of Inuyasha, Naraku, was a fearsome opponent indeed. Not only did he have extremely powerful abilities, from shapeshifting to controlling deadly insects to creating a whole domain inside his body, he was also power-hungry. His quest to remove his humanity using the Jewel made him the root cause of almost every character’s misery in the series. This includes his own allies.
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All For One
All For One is the main antagonist of the My Hero Academia anime series. He is also extremely powerful. In fact, right when he was introduced, he was able to defeat a number of Pro Heroes in one go. He is an almost immortal character; however, what makes him so dangerous is his ability to steal other people’s quirks. His aim is to steal the One For All and conquer the world.
Frieza
We cannot have a list and not mention one of DragonBall’s best villains ever, Frieza. He is one of the main antagonists of the series, and even his design is fearsome. He truly served his purpose as a villain by forcing Goku and his friends to power up to extreme levels. And it appears that the chances of Frieza joining the hero like Vegeta are not very likely. Moreover, he seems to grow in power every time viewers see him on screen.
Griffith
Griffith from the Berserk Anime series looks like an angel but is absolutely not. At the beginning of the series, he was the main character’s friend. However, as time passed, he became jealous of the lead, and soon, he lost his moral sense. He became the charismatic leader of the Midland Regular Army, and when he reached Femto, he became numb in his conscience and caused utter chaos in the world without discrimination.
This ends the list of the Top 15 Best Anime Antagonists. We can see how these villains have been extremely important in making the main characters grow stronger and develop more. Does reading about their twisted natures and lack of morals make you want to support the hero more? Let us know in the comments if we have missed your favorite villain! Until then, keep an eye on this space for more articles like these.