There are a lot of truly messed up characters in the world of anime.
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Over the years, Japanese creators have whipped up some truly horrifying villains. These guys – and girls – have varying motives which range from sheer boredom to over-the-top god complexes. However, they are all connected by one simple fact: they are all totally terrifying.
Here at ComicBook.com, we have flinched through dozens of anime series to bring you a list of 10 absolutely appalling baddies from the world of anime. Just, be warned; Your very worst nightmare might be found in the coming slides.
The Major – Hellsing
There are countless reasons to dislike The Major. For one, he’s a Nazi. Second, he was such a loyal Nazi that Hitler himself asked the scientist to research vampirism as a form of biological warfare during the height of World War II. And, most of all, The Major survived the war’s end and decided to wreak havoc on England more than 50 years later by killing three million citizens in a bloody invasion. Seriously, he’s a bad dude.
If you are not familiar with Hellsing, then you should know that the anime follows Van Hellsing as he combats hoards of undead, supernatural beasts. In the show, the hero has to showdown with The Major when the Nazi unleashes his army of vampires upon London to get revenge for the SS’ downfall. The guy is obsessed with warfare and bloodshed, and Hellsing frequently shows how horrifying The Major’s guerilla tactics truly are.
Knives Millions – Trigun
When it comes to Trigun, there is no bigger baddie than Knives Millions. The psychopathic villain wants nothing more than to see the human race wiped from the Earth, and he does an admirable job trying to fufill his dream.
If you are not familiar with Trigun, then you should know the anime follows two boys: Vash and Knives. The two boys are sentient members of a race called Plants, a species of humanoid beings who naturally create energy and are imbued with superhuman powers. Mankind has forced Plants into subservient positions and often drain them of their powers to provide energy around the world. After the boys escape detainment, Knives decides mankind should suffer for what they’ve done to his kind – and he’s not afraid to wipe cities off the map in order to do so.
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Titans – Attack on Titans
In Attack on Titan, there are plenty of villains that fans will encounter, but none are as violent or unpredictable as the Titans themselves. These giant, humanoid monsters have brought humanity to its knees in the anime, and they did so with apparent ease. You know, because they eat people – that’s why.
If you haven’t seen the critically acclaimed anime, then you should know the Titans are a group of mysterious beings who quickly brought mankind to the brink of destruction. The monsters are unpredicatble, ravenous, and have absolutely no moral guidance; Their only prerogative is to eat people as if they were some sort of snack. While the Titans stand as a sort-of false antagonist in Attack on Titan, fans can’t deny that these behemoths and the terror they bring know no bounds.
Kyubey – Madoka Magica
Do not be fooled by this cat’s cute facade. This sociopathic monster is nothing more than a cold and calculating overseer in a very indifferent universe – and, man, he’s just a really evil character.
If you haven’t watched Puella Magi Modoka Magica, then your heart probably isn’t in shambles. The anime is a deconstructive look into the ‘magical girl’ subgenre of anime, and it rips tropes apart is in a heartwrenching fashion. In the series, various unassuming girls are turned into powerful magical beings by this creature who is called Kyubey. The cat offers them a contract: he will give them magic if they agree to slay horrifying monsters known as Witches. However, fans soon discover that Kyubey’s contract has several hidden clauses, namely that the being truly intends to transforms those who sign his contract into witches by darkening their souls.
Father – Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist makes no excuses for its central antagonist; Father is one evil being, and he has the blood of millions drenching his apathetic, arrogant hands.
The being originated as a mysterious, otherwordly creature called a homunculus who was believed to bring infinite wisdom. However, Father came to resent humanity for its social nature and co-dependency, so the being decided he would become a sort of psedo-god to rule over them. To do so, Father manipulated others into creating a forbidden alchemy ritual that wiped out an entire country to create a powerful weapon known as the Philosopher’s Stone. And, from that point on, Father continued to murder millions in his pursuit of unprompted domination as he believed he could outdo God himself.
Frieza – Dragon Ball Z
There are a lot of villains in the Dragon Ball universe, but none are as inherently despotic as Frieza. The award for the most ruthless and unprovoked baddie in the franchise can only go to this imperial monster.
At his very core, Frieza feeds of chaos and calamity – and death is the most delicious delicacy he can taste. The guy doesn’t think twice about annihilating entire planets, and he takes joy in taunting his victims with merciless beatings before ultimately killing them. The villain prides himself in his vindictive humor, and it was Frieza who eventually pushed Son Goku to enter the Super Saiyan state for the first time after the former slaughtered the Z-Fighter Krillian before Goku’s eyes…and then laughed about it.
Lucy – Elfen Lied
You might think a cute girl with pink hair in an anime series would be a guaranteed heroine, but you’d be wrong. The assumption was burned to the ground when Elfen Lied introduced fans to a young woman named Lucy whose rosy locks were more often dyed red by all the blood she shed.
Within the show, Lucy is known as a newly mutated subspecies of mankind, Diclonius. The group is immediately outcasted by society and subjected to all sorts of torture. Lucy is brought to a research laboratory as a child, but eventually escapes their clutches by cutting down all the facility’s guards. After she runs away, Lucy meets with an old friend from her childhood, but her split personalities make her more dangerous than ever. She kills hundreds of innocent families for little to no reason – and she has a particular fondness for dismemberment to boot.
Shou Tucker – Fullmetal Alchemist
Shou Tucker looks like a pleasant guy, right? His scruffy facial hair and thinly rimmed glasses make the man look all kinds of calm, and his fatherly persona only adds to his charm. When fans meet Shou Fullmetal Alchemist, they breathe a sigh relief because Edward and Alphonse Elric have finally found a place to rest their heads. Shou even has an adorable daughter and lively dog to keep the heroes company; What could go wrong?
Well, everything.
Shou might not have killed hundreds of character, but he traumatized every single viewer of Fullmetal Alchemist when he butchered his young daughter and dog by turning them into a bastardized chimera. The man did so simply to retain grant money he was earning for his research on the species, and Shou felt no remorse about what he did to poor Nina.
Light Yagami – Death Note
When you first meet Light Yagami in Death Note, the high school student is a relatively normal boy. He’s nothing more than an average kid taking classes, meeting up with friends, and going about his daily life until he stumbles upon the Shinigami’s Death Note. The journal allows its owner to kill anyone they choose by simply writing their name on its pages, and poor Light thought he could handle the responsibility.
To be fair, he did at first. Light was preoccupied with killing only hardened, corrupt criminals – but his bloodthirst grew as his power increased. Before he knew it, Light has spiraled into a pit of despair that left a body count around the thousands in its wake.
Johan Liebert – Monster
There is no scarier man in anime than Johan Liebert.
Out of the hundreds – even thousands – of anime antagonists out there, nobody is as cruel or downright deadly as Johan is. The cold-blooded character is the main villain of the anime Monster, and many viewers have failed to finish the series simply because they could not stomach Johan’s psychotic behaviors.
Johan has no superpowers or supernatural strength to speak of; Rather, it is known as the Devil itself or the awakening of the Anti-Christ. The murderous baddie turns normal men in to serial killers who hesitate to even utter his name. Seriously, this guy was so bad that a Neo-Nazi cult tried to instate Johan as the second-coming of Adolf Hitler before the guy brutually slaughtered them.
