Man-eating Titans, sexually harassing grannies, sociopathic hive-minded aliens — there are plenty of monsters in anime that strike fear into both heroes and audiences alike, creatures no one would ever want to willingly cross paths with. But there are certain villains who rival the monstrosity of even the most ferocious beast. Villains who may not be as outwardly ostentatious but are definitely beyond sinister. Villains with more powerful and devious skills that transcend sheer physical force.
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But what exactly makes these villains so scary? How can they be more monstrous than monsters themselves? Some have subversive strength that rivals even the toughest or highest multitude of foes. Some take a more manipulative approach, toying with their enemies with psychological mind games, destroying their opponents from the inside out without ever laying a finger on them. Some, through sheer sadism, become beings of destruction just because they enjoy others’ despair. And these villains are the worst of the worst.
Light Yagami from Death Note
Light Yagami, a normal, smart high school student, one day happened upon an item called a Death Note. But this is no ordinary notebook. An item from the Shinigami (god of death) Realm, the Death Note is able to kill whoever’s name is written in it. And so Light takes it upon himself to rid the world of heinous criminals in hopes of making the world a better place. But playing God isn’t a mere game as Light becomes the very thing he set out to eradicate.
Eren Yaeger from Attack on Titan
Some villains don’t initially start out as clear-cut villains. Some actually start out as the hero, their morals and ethics slowly blurring over time, giving in to corruptible rhetoric. Such was the case for Eren Yaeger. He was simply a boy exposed to the grotesque horrors of the world and wanted to eliminate said horrors to make the world a better place for humanity itself. Little did he know that such a thing wasn’t as simple as humans versus monsters, especially when that line itself blurs. In his endeavor to save the last cornered shred of his people, Eren is willing to sacrifice more than he originally bargained for.
The Chairman from Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
Kazutaka Hyōdo, simply known as the Chairman, is a wealthy old man who loves the world of gambling. Mainly because he’s at the top of the gambling food chain, and risks don’t pose much danger to himself. So, he takes a sadistic pleasure in creating as much risk as possible for others to endure, often having dire, humiliating consequences. Whether it’s desperate strangers looking for a break to change their lives for the better or his own underlings, the Chairman has no mercy nor remorse in his cruel games of rigged chance.
Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion
Gendo Ikari is a very sly yet bold villain. Working as the director of the scientific facility, NERV, he strives to gain more than just defying the alien race known as Angels that threaten humanity’s very existence. Although he’s the center of attention for a secret organization, SEELE, powerful enough to influence world governments, Gendo intends to carry out his own objective disguised as the overarching organization’s goals. Even using his own son as a pawn, he’s not above sacrificing the innocent for his own means, his own selfish intentions risking existence itself.
Frieza from Dragon Ball Z
Frieza is an alien tyrant out to destroy any and all things in his path, whether it’s innocent civilians or entire planets. After all, he managed to exterminate nearly the entire Saiyan race by destroying their home planet of Vegeta. In a Massacre of the Innocents style, he only did so for his own selfish means to avoid an uprising threatening to overthrow him. But when Goku survives to fulfill the prophecy, Frieza stops at nothing to finish his goal of completely eradicating the Saiyans. He tortured and killed those in his way, even managing to destroy the entire earth at one point.
[RELATED: Dragon Ball Super Should End With the Black Frieza Arc]
Shou Tucker from Fullmetal Alchemist
In Fullmetal Alchemist, alchemy is a widely practiced metaphysical science, allowing those who understand it to be able to reconstruct matter and energy into other means. But this practice has one rule: the Principle of Equivalent Exchange. “In order to obtain or create something, something of equal value must be lost or destroyed.” But some alchemists like Shou Tucker try to push this natural rule, creating unspeakable abominations unto nature. The “Sewing-Life” bio-alchemist entertained the idea of creating chimera, synthesized creatures combining multiple living beings. But in his endeavor to create one capable of human speech, the man was even willing to experiment on his own daughter.
Yūjirō Hanma from Baki the Grappler
Yūjirō Hanma. A monster of a man both in stature and voracity who can stand up to any opponent, whether it be the strongest challengers in history or even entire armed government militaries. Arrogant, sadistic, and merciless, even to his own kin. Having ruthlessly killed the mother to his own son, he had only really had a child to begin with in order to fulfill his desire for a formidable opponent, believing such could only come from his own bloodline. Yūjirō is truly one of the most intimidating, remorseless villains with a vendetta only quelled by the one truly worthy to challenge him.
Bondrewd from Made in Abyss
Bondrewd “The Novel”, aka “The Sovereign of Dawn”, is a high-ranking White Whistle Delver in Made in Abyss. He’s a man who endeavors to discover the mysteries of the Abyss through his own perverse version of scientific methods. In his morally questionable endeavors, he’d managed to unravel a method used to create “blessed” Narehate, creatures who were once human but had managed to overcome the curse of the Abyss’s 6th layer.
In doing so, he stooped to methods like that of Shou Tucker. Not only was Bondrewd willing to experiment on his own adopted daughter in his relentless scientific pursuit, but he was also willing to experiment on myriads of children by manipulating their love for him as a father figure, all in the name of progress.
Johan Liebert from Monster
Some of the most terrifying villains are the ones who manipulate others from the shadows, their very existence a questionable whisper even in the wake of their devastation. Johan Liebert is that sort of monster. Even though his own life was saved from the brink of death by Doctor Kenzō Tenma, this act of kindness brought nothing but ambiguous remorse for the very doctor who saved him.
Johan seems to only want to create anguish and cruelty unto others, using his charisma and intelligence to manipulate his victims into stumbling into chaotic, morally enigmatic corruption. Having felt as though his own life had been an existence of suffering, his motive to cause such to others in blurred virtue is a reflection of his own wish to erase his own existence.
Griffith from Berserk
Some monsters hide themselves under beautiful masks, the corrupt spiritual carnage hidden beneath. Griffith, the “White Falcon” leader of the Band of the Falcon, is a mercenary army commander, who is both revered for his leadership in battles and ethereal beauty.
Having already been the bearer of the Crimson Beherit, the “Egg of the King”, a mystical item said to prophesy great power for its bearer at a great cost, Griffith had already been primed as a cataclysmic omen. In order to obtain his dream of acquiring his own kingdom, Griffith isn’t above not only stepping over the corpses of his own comrades to pave the way but desecrating everything they believed in along the way.
Who do you think is the worst villain of all time? Let us know in the comments who you think surpasses these monstrous villains’ atrocities!
