Greatest Anime Villains of All Time

If there’s one thing that can elevate a good anime into a great one, it’s having a solid villain. There’s something to love about an anime that has an excellent villain, and we’re going to look at some of the greatest anime villains of all time.

The 13 Greatest Anime Villains

When it comes to anime villains, the memorable they are, the better they are. The more you want to see them be beaten, the better. But there are times when a villain is so well done they eclipse the heroes of their respective shows. These are the anime villains that have defined the genre.

13. Bondrewd (Made In Abyss)

Bondrewd may be a fairly new addition to the grand canon of anime villains, but he’s undeniably one of its most monstrous. Bondrewd is a White Whistle, one of the best explorers in the world of Made In Abyss, and he uses his talents to research the Abyss and the curse that plagues all of the cave raiders who enter it. Of course, when you combine science and sociopathy you get some truly heinous experiments, most of which were conducted on orphans he adopted that stripped them of their humanity. He’s a more fearsome monster than those that actually live in the Abyss and is probably one of the worst fathers in all of anime, a title that is surprisingly hard to attain.

12. The Count of Monte Cristo (Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo)

For anyone who’s familiar with the Alexandre Dumas novel, putting The Count on an anime list may seem bizarre, but the interpretation in this sci-fi drama is deliciously good. While we eventually learn of the Count’s tragic backstory, that doesn’t excuse the lengths he goes to enact his revenge on all who wronged him, leading to chaos and several gristly murders. Add in some demon possession, giant robot fights, and a wonderful performance by Jamieson Price, and you have a villain you can’t help but root for.

11. Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood/Stardust Crusaders)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is no stranger to having dramatic villains, but even if you love Kira and Diavolo, you have to admit that Dio is built different. You know a villain is heinous when one of the first things they do is kick a dog, and that’s somehow one of the least evil things he’s done. Dio has become iconic in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure for his ruthlessness and how much he enjoys violence. Whether it’s how he torments the Joestar family for generations or how he kills countless people thanks to his Stand, The World, Dio is a evil villain who claims the title as the best Jojo villain.

10. Donquixote Doflamingo (One Piece)

For a series known for its villains, there’s something about Doflamingo that’s next-level. Maybe it’s the gleeful sadism that he frequently indulges in. Maybe it’s how he usurped a country and treated its populace like playthings while they fawned over and adored him. Maybe it’s the way he casually killed his own brother and wants nothing more than to watch the world, and the Celestial Dragons who rule it, burn to the ground. Regardless of what it is, there’s just something completely evil about Doflamingo that makes him worse than any villain in the series before and since.

9. Esdeath (Akame ga Kill!)

It’s not every day we see a female anime villain, but leave it to Esdeath to serve as a commanding and memorable one. Esdeath is all about dominance, and oftentimes she completely emasculates her victims to show her strength. She shows little remorse for anyone who stands in the way of the Empire and uses her ice abilities to effortlessly defeat anyone who stands in her way, She does have a sweet side as she falls head over heels in love with the protagonist, making her somewhat more three-dimensional, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’ll brutally slaughter anyone who stands in her way and values her loyalty to the empire more than her pursuit of love.

8. Frieza (Dragon Ball Z)

When it comes to interplanetary conquerors, there’s no one quite like Frieza. Ruling an empire that spans galaxies, this fearsome monarch has become synonymous with tyranny and evil. Whether it be obliterating planets or casually murdering all who oppose him, Frieza has become iconic within the anime community for just how evil he is. Despite how Dragon Ball has tried to sand down his edges by either having him team up with Goku or having him constantly return in multi-colored variants, it stands as a testament to his legacy that Frieza is the de facto Dragon Ball villain.

7. Griffith (Berserk)

Griffith is a tragic figure in Berserk. While he starts out with the purest of intentions, once he’s subjected to torture and realizes that Guts has surpassed him, he gives in to his desires and unleashes pure evil on the world. Ushering in the Eclipse, Griffith sells his soul for power and begins reshaping the world in his image. It just cost him everyone he valued and cared for. Then again, he willingly sacrificed all of his allies to attain the power of the God Hand and enact vengeance on Guts and Casca for their supposed betrayal, so did he ever really care for them? Griffith will do anything and everything to gain power, including selling the world out to a group of millennia-old demons.

6. Legato Bluesummers (Trigun)

It’s rare to see a villain completely and utterly win in an anime, but leave it to Legato Bluesummers to break Vash the Stampede without having to fire a shot. Legato is a cold and dispassionate sadist who tries to test Vash at every opportunity. Vash has never killed a person, but Legato is insistent on creating situations where Vash has to kill or people die due to Vash’s dedication to pacifism. His quiet disposition is unsettling, but his goal of breaking Vash spiritually is interesting goal for a villain. And hot damn does he accomplish his goal in the most devastating way possible.

5. Light Yagami (Death Note)

Crafting a story centered around an antagonist isn’t as easy as you may think it is, but leave it to Tsugumi Ohba to create one of the most compelling antagonists in anime with Light Yagami. While Light doesn’t necessarily start as an outright villain at the beginning of the series, the lengths that he goes to retain the power of the Death Note and keep his identity as the serial killer Kira are extraordinary. The way he casually murders both strangers and friends to achieve his perfect world is unsettling, but watching the mental mind games he plays along with his adversaries makes him such a compelling and entertaining villain who we simultaneously want to see succeed and be brought to justice.

4. Shinobu Sensui (Yu Yu Hakusho)

Seeing a hero turn into a villain is a classic trope, but there are none who do it as perfectly as Shinobu Sensui. Before his turn to evil, Sensui was the Spirit World’s Spirit Detective, hunting evil demons with ruthless efficiency. And then he discovered how truly evil humans were. It broke his mind and turned Sensui into a villain with the sole goal of creating a portal between the human world and the demon world, effectively ending humanity, seeing them as worse than the actual monsters he hunted for most of his life. He’s one of the few villains who’s actually able to win and is only taken down through what is arguably described as a plot contrivance. Not only that, but his fractured psyche makes him an even more fascinating villain who could probably justify seven of the thirteen places on this list. If you know, you know.

3. Shou Tucker (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Look, there are anime villains, and then there’s Shou Tucker. While Shou Tucker is nowhere near close to being one of the strongest or even most narratively significant villains in Fullmetal Alchemist, Shou Tucker is positively despicable. I find it hard to think of a character who appeared so little in a series yet is universally hated amongst all corners of the anime community. Like, everyone knows this bastard, which is something not every villain on this list can claim. Shou Tucker may seem like a mild-mannered alchemist, but once you learn how he achieved his fame and success, you’ll want to beat him to death much like Edward tries to do.

2. Sosuke Aizen (Bleach)

Nowadays, everyone knows that Aizen is evil, but if you’re watching Bleach for the first time, he seems like anything but. He’s the polite and admired captain of 5th Company and his murder kicks off arguably the best arc in all of Bleach. But once he’s revealed as being the cold-hearted mastermind of his own faked assassination, all in an attempt to steal the Hogyoku, his villainy comes into full bloom. Leading the Arrancars and brandishing strength that even the leader of the Quincies, Yhwach, is cautious of, Aizen is truly one of the most fearsome enemies in all of Bleach.

1. The Major (Hellsing Ultimate)

There’s liking war, and then there’s loving war. The Major LOVES war. The Major is the head of Millennium, an army of Nazi vampires dead set on taking over the world. While you wouldn’t assume much from this doughy little dictator, his speech on how much he loves war single-handedly catapults him into super-villainy. Even outside of that speech, the way he manipulates the conflict and ultimately brings the Hellsing organization to its knees, all without him personally lifting a finger, is terrifying. That’s villainy.