Anime fans are well aware that a series needs a force of evil for the hero to work against to make their journey complete. Villains are often the antithesis of the hero’s morals and beliefs; they force the audience to consider different points of view than the protagonist, and challenge what we know about the established plot and world our hero knows. That’s often why villains are considered counterparts to main characters, used as a reflection of what they could become or the path they could choose to walk should their alignment shift slightly. And anime doesn’t lack iconic villains: Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen, Griffith from Berserk, Johan Liebert from Monster, and Frieza from Dragon Ball Z.
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A well-written villain is crucial and necessary in most series, but sometimes anime delivers by giving us fully-fledged villain groups. Specifically, think of organized, structured groups that work together towards the same goal with a single-minded purpose. Many of these groups have contributed to their individual series, posing realistic, larger-than-life threats that kept us all on the edge of our seats while watching. So to honor them, this list will explore nine iconic villain groups from anime that we won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
9) Port Mafia
Bungo Stray Dogs was first released back in 2016, and while it’s not the most popular choice on this list, it definitely has a dedicated fan base. The series is set in Yokohama, Japan, where alternate forces battle for control of the city; most of these forces are composed of classic literary authors turned into super-powered anime characters, such as Osamu Dazai or Edagawa Ranpo. And while there’s plenty to be said about the unique concept that brought this anime to life, we’ll be looking at the villain group we’re first introduced to in the first season, the Port Mafia.
Port Mafia is a group that operates like any traditional yakuza or mafioso organization, with a high number of low-level grunts involved in all sorts of crime, ranging from petty smuggling to murder. But what makes them stand out are the Ability Users among their members, typically higher-ranking and stronger than others in the group. Chuuya Nakahara, Ryuunosuke Akutagawa, and Mori Ougai are some of the standout members with abilities like gravity manipulation and creating mass weapons of destruction from clothing. It’s arguable that some of the best episodes of Bungo Stray Dogs involve the team-ups between Port Mafia members and the Armed Detective Agency to fight invading forces that would destroy their city.
8) Team Rocket
Team Rocket is a controversial pick for the very reason that they’re so bad at being villains in the first place. Not technically as a whole — as an entity, the organization is meant to capture Pokémon for their own profit, and are definitely classified as criminals in every region the show travels to. Led by Giovanni, Team Rocket’s exploits go so far as to include smuggling, theft, and the illegal trading and capturing of Pokémon. But as we follow Ash, our most common experience with the infamous Team Rocket in the Pokémon franchise is the traditional team consisting of Jesse, James, and their Meowth.
Unlike every single pick on this list, Team Rocket, specifically the unit tasked with capturing Ash’s Pikachu, can’t really be considered a threat. Jesse and James are usually utilized in the show as comic relief, their shenanigans getting them into more trouble and pain than seems plausible. That being said, it’s impossible to claim they’re not one of the most well-known and recognizable villain groups in an anime series, up there with some of the other classic adventure shows of its time.
7) Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments is a villain group active in The Seven Deadly Sins, an anime that aired back in 2015. The series focuses on the journey of an outcast princess searching for the help of a legendary group of warriors to aid her in retaking her kingdom; these warriors are called the Seven Deadly Sins, former knights that served the kingdom before they were framed for treason and banished. Opposing them are the Ten Commandments, an evil group composed of powerful fighters that possess an offensive curse specific to their commandment.
All of the Ten Commandments are notable for being extremely strong and durable in a fight, having been hand-picked by the Demon King among the Demon Clan. Melodias’s own brother, Zeldris, was the former leader of the Ten Commandments, acting as the holder of Piety. The tricky part of fighting the commandments was their curse triggers, offset by things such as turning your back on a particular member or holding hatred in your heart. They were one of the largest threats throughout the series, and often gave the Sins a run for their money in terms of battle prowess.
6) Twelve Demon Moons
The Twelve Demon Moons is an example of a recent anime series that managed to pull off a threatening, memorable villain group with ease. Belonging to Demon Slayer, a dark fantasy show that first aired in 2019, revolves around a world plagued by demonic forces that kill and consume humankind. Demon Slayers are trained to fight back against the demons using special sword techniques, acting as the last defense against the horde of evil created by Muzan Kibutsuji. Muzan is essentially hailed as the Demon King and created all of demon kind from his own blood.
Among them, he chose twelve demons with incredible power and skill to act as the Demon Moons: these demons were split into six Upper Moons and six Lower Moons. Notable members include Akaza, who fought against Rengoku; Douma, who battles Shinobu; and Kokushibo, who holds the title of Upper Rank One. The Upper Moons are gifted with incredible strength, durability, and reflexes by consuming more of Muzan’s blood, increasing their blood demon art technique’s potency, as well.
5) Homunculus
Another awesome villain group that doesn’t always get enough credit for their influence is Homonculus from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. This series aired in 2009 and was a remake of the original series, Fullmetal Alchemist, with the remake credited for being more manga-accurate. It follows the journey of Edward and Alphonse Elric, brothers looking to become State Alchemists and reclaim the body parts destroyed in an alchemical accident. Though this is their original goal, the brothers become sucked into government corruption and conspiracy, and must face off against powerful enemies on their search for the mythic Philosopher’s Stone.
Some of these enemies include the Homonculus, artificial beings created by an evil figure, merely called Father; to create the Homonculus, Father split the sin from his own body and used it to create individual beings representing respective deadly sins. Each Homonculus contains a Philosopher’s Stone within their bodies, which gives them insane regeneration and strength, making them near-immortal and extremely difficult to defeat in battle. One of the most iconic showdowns in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has to be between Lust, one of the Homonculus, and Roy Mustang. Part of the draw was the representation of each member based on the sin they’re named after, and what it drives them to do.
4) League of Villains
The League of Villains didn’t bother messing around with their name, getting right to the point of what they stand for — an antagonistic force of villains with powerful Quirks that oppose hero society in some form. In My Hero Academia, released in 2016, society has evolved to contain Quirks, essentially superpowers that are bestowed on nearly every member of society. The emergence of Quirks also brought about the age of heroes, with heroes treated much like celebrities or official law enforcement rolled into one.
The focus on heroics leaves a lot of room for corruption and abuse of the system, with too many people born with destructive Quirks falling through the cracks. This is where the League of Villains comes in, composed of society’s outcasts and criminals, rejected due to their pasts. It helps they’ve got some of the most iconic character designs out of the entire show, too: Dabi’s stitched-together appearance and blue fire, Shigaraki’s iconic hands covering his body, even Twice’s villain suit that looks like it was taken from a comic book. The League posed a tangible threat, had increasingly good power-ups throughout the series, and also got one of the best arcs with the “Meta Liberation Army Arc”.
3) Phantom Troupe
Hunter x Hunter is an amazing example of how shonen anime can subvert tropes and still present an enticing, impactful story without seeming cheap. That extends to the anime’s villain lineup, formally known as the Phantom Troupe, a group of powerful individuals that were originally assembled by Chrollo Lucifer. The first official Troupe members all lived in Meteor City, a junkyard town whose residents had no official records of existing in any public database.
After the death of a childhood friend, the official Troupe is formed; what was originally a group of childhood friends coming together for survival and connection would turn into villains convicted in their search for vengeance on the world that turned a blind eye to their suffering. Members of the Phantom Troupe are often referenced as the “Spider” and have a spider mark tattoo somewhere on their bodies to symbolize their dedication to the unit. They’re composed of some of the deadliest fighters with high bounties on their heads. Among their ranks are Hisoka, Illumi, Faitan, and Phinks, who are all extremely skilled in utilizing different forms of Nen and directly oppose Gon and his friends.
2) Espada
The Espada are another infamous anime villain group that features their own ranking system for power scaling. Featured in Bleach, which first aired in 2004, the Espada were exceedingly strong Arrancar that served in Sousuke Aizen’s army. There were 10 of them in total, though occasionally members were switched out for others, such as Nelliel when she lost her adult form and took that of a child. With powers comparable to most high-level shinigami, the Espada were essentially the main opposition against the Gotei 13 throughout the series.
Each of the Espada members had a designation that symbolized their power compared to others, though this was designated by Aizen and could potentially fluctuate, as seen with Yammy, who rose to spot 0 after releasing his Zanpakutō. They are also assigned specific representations of death; for example, Coyote is the death of solitude, while Nnoitra is the death of despair. The Espada don’t just have extremely powerful spiritual aura and Resurrección forms, but also tend to be expert swordsman and hand-to-hand combatants, making their fight scenes some of the most memorable in the series.
1) Akatsuki
This list wouldn’t be complete without including anime’s arguably most recognizable villain group, the Akatsuki from Naruto. The uniform alone is instantly a symbol of bad things to come, with the red cloud so heavily tied to the franchise, even casual anime fans know what it represents. The Akatsuki were initially formed to bring world peace to all of the Shinobi Countries, with a strong emphasis on rejecting violence to unite the nations. However, the original founding members were upscaled by Obito Uchiha, who forged the Akatsuki into a criminal group through his own nefarious planning and desire for power.
As they’re known in the series, the Akatsuki are composed of rogue shinobi with powerful jutsu techniques. Their transformed goal throughout the series was to capture the Tailed Beasts, beings that store immense amounts of chakra that could be used to dominate the world. The Akatsuki operate in covert, secret movements and are depicted as being spread across the Great Shinobi Countries, with numerous bases that are utilized for their needs. Important members of the group included characters like Itachi, Orochimaru, Konan, and Sasori. They were undoubtedly one of the biggest threats in the Naruto franchise, and raised the stakes of the series in a way that felt genuine to the audience.
Who is your favorite anime villain group? Tell us more about which villains you think have the best motives in the comments below.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
