The Best Anime Villains Of All Time

Key Takeaways

• Anime need well-written villains as much as protagonists.
• Few anime villains stand the test of time and are truly remarkable.
• The best anime villains like Shigaraki Tomura or Esdeath have unique qualities and make a lasting impact.

With a significant increase in the number of anime produced over the years, it has become even more important to go through the details before starting a new anime. One of the cornerstones of a good anime is a well-written villain, who is not just powerful but has a certain philosophy.

The roles of villains in a series have been overlooked, but they’re just as important as the protagonists. There are tons of anime, but not all of them have eye-catching villains. However, there are a handful of villains that have withstood the test of time and are hailed as the very best to date.

Updated November 24, 2024, by Suzail Ahmad: Anime villains have always been important to the story. Without a solid villain to challenge them, the hero will never reach their full potential. Aside from pushing the protagonists to their physical limits, the villains also make them mentally stronger.

With the emergence of so many new anime, fans get the opportunity to see new villains in action. However, only a few of them manage to leave an impression on the audience. As a result, they are the only ones who can truly be called the best anime villains.

32 Shigaraki Tomura

Psychopath Who Murdered Countless People

Shigaraki Tomura is the primary villain of My Hero Academia. He was a murderous lunatic who had no qualms about sending people to the hereafter. Shigaraki wanted to upend all the hero associations and bring chaos to the whole world. Initially, he had very little patience, but he got better with time.

Shigaraki’s physical abilities were rather incredible. He had enhanced strength and speed, both of which made it difficult to subdue them. His original Quirk, Decay, enabled him to disintegrate anything that he touched with his hand. Shigaraki also inherited All For One, which allowed him to steal the Quirks of other people.

31 Kira Yoshikage

A Genius Who Nearly Got Away With Everything

Kira Yoshikage is the main antagonist of Diamond is Unbreakable. A true deviant, Kira used to spend a lot of time stalking his prey to make sure that his plan would not be foiled. He would then use Killer Queen to murder them. Kira’s immaculate planning ensured that he was never caught, and it would have remained like that if Rohan hadn’t met Reimi.

He is one of the few anime villains who have a very good overall balance. Not only did he have a powerful Stand, but he also had the intellect to match it. While Kira was not beyond killing random people, he tried to avoid doing so as it would have made it easier to catch him.

30 Bondrewd

Sacrificed Everything For Knowledge

Bondrewd is highly revered by the people who want to explore the Abyss. However, his success is built on the corpses of many innocent people. He only cares about being successful, even if it means morally questionable methods. He has sacrificed people in exchange for knowledge, as he believes nothing is more valuable. Bondrewd lured in children and conducted experiments on them.

What separates Bondrewd from other anime villains is that he remembers the names and ambitions of everyone he has experimented on. Furthermore, he seemed to have a lot of affection towards his victims, a rarity even among villains. Overall, Bondrewd is a rather nuanced character who divides opinion.

29 Itachi Uchiha

Slaughtered His Entire Clan

Itachi Uchiha is a great example of what could have been. He was an extremely talented ninja who had the potential to surpass all the greatest ninjas. Sadly, he had an incurable illness, which prevented him from doing so.

For the majority of the story, fans were under the impression that Itachi was evil, and he was on track to becoming one of the greatest anime villains until Kishimoto decided to redeem him. While he may not be considered a villain anymore, Itachi’s performance as one right until his death cannot be overlooked. He was intelligent, had outrageous abilities, and had some of the coolest moments in anime history.

28 Sukuna

Killed Countless People Without Remorse

In the early stages of the manga, it was established that Sukuna was a dangerous person. However, it took a while for fans to see his true power. He possessed insanely powerful abilities, which helped him to beat the likes of Mahoraga, Jogo, Gojo, etc.

Sukuna is apathetic and he has no morality whatsoever. He has killed people without any reason, just to please himself. While he has yet to be taken down, Sukuna has already made a case for being one of the best anime villains of all time.

27 Blackbeard

Meticulously Planned His Rise To Poser

Blackbeard is one of the strongest characters in One Piece. He has access to two different Devil Fruits, both of which are extremely powerful. One of them allows him to nullify the powers of other Devil Fruits, giving him a significant advantage in all the fights.

The second Devil Fruit helps him create tremors that can flatten a town in next to no time. While his powers are outstanding, Blackbeard’s greatest quality is his intelligence. He is a cunning person who plans his every move carefully. This increases his chances of success drastically. Blackbeard has yet to get fully involved in the story, but when he does, fans can expect him to jump up the list.

26 ​​​​​​Goku Black

Had A Strong Desire To Be God

Goku Black serves as the main villain of the Future Trunks Saga in Dragon Ball Super. He is a rather interesting villain and one of the better things about the series. Goku Black was an intelligent individual with megalomania. He did not take kindly to mortals, mainly because he was jealous of them to a certain extent.

When it comes to strength, Goku Black is not to be trifled with. He could crush most of his opponents with ease, and things only got worse when he fused with Zamasu. Due to his overwhelming power, Zeno had to step in and get rid of Goku Black once and for all.

25 Funny Valentine

Wanted To Help His Country

Funny Valentine is the primary villain of Steel Ball Run. He was the President of the United States, and he wanted to make the country a superpower. To achieve this goal, Funny Valentine was willing to go to any length, even if it meant killing innocent people.

He wanted the saint’s corpse at all costs, which is why he kept sending his henchmen to kill Gyro Zeppeli and Johnny Joestar. Funny Valentine was successful in getting rid of Gyro, but Johnny proved to be too much for him. When he realized that it wasn’t going to be possible for him to defeat Johnny, Valentine used his Stand to go to alternate dimensions to find an ally to help him. He used his intelligence to keep Johnny busy while it happened. His overall involvement in the story, along with his insanely powerful Stand makes Funny Valentine a candidate for the best anime villain.

24 Boros

Had The Desire To Fight Someone As Strong As Him

Boros is the main antagonist of the first season of One Punch Man. He was an alien who had accumulated an immense amount of power, and he went from one place to another to find suitable challengers. During his quest, Boros destroyed multiple planets, resulting in the deaths of millions of people.

Ultimately, he landed on Earth, where he fought Saitama. The fight was absolutely incredible, and the bald hero had to struggle quite a bit. Boros had a cool character design, which made him stand out from the other villains in the series. Aside from that, Boros was also suffering from the same problem as Saitama, but he went about it in the wrong way. Saitama acknowledged his strength, and there was definitely a great deal of respect between the two.

23 Mahito

Ruthlessly Killed Humans

Mahito is among the main antagonists of Jujutsu Kaisen. He is an evil individual through and through. Mahito does not care about the consequences of his actions, and he has used his powers to cause harm to the people around him. If it weren’t for the sorcerers, he would have caused chaos throughout the world.

Mahito may not be the smartest villain, but he is still an impressive fighter. He was able to fight against Nanami without any problems, which is a major testament to his skills. He has a variety of techniques in his arsenal, making him a deadly foe. Mahito brings pure evil to the table, which separates him from the rest of the villains in the anime industry.

​​​​​​

22 Kiryu Setsuna

Had The Desire To Fight Ohma

Kiryu Setsuna dedicated his entire life to looking for an opportunity to slay Tokita Ohma. Ever since he laid his eyes on the hero, all he wanted to do was end Ohma’s life with his own hands. Kiryu Setsuna was extremely possessive toward Ohma, and oddly, he went to great lengths to ensure that no harm came to him.

He was a talented fighter in his own right, and he would have achieved great things if not for his obsession with Ohma. Kiryu Setsuna’s character perfectly highlighted the struggle of an individual who lost all sense of morality in his pursuit of Ohma.

21 Takasugi

Wanted Chaos At All Costs

Takasugi used to be a friend of Gintoki’s but after the Amanto invasion, he took a drastically different path from his comrade. He became the leader of an extremist Joui faction with the sole purpose of destroying the world. He was motivated to do so after losing his teacher.

Takasugi was ruthless, and his approach led to many deaths. Despite his malevolent nature, Takasugi was respected by his underlings. His charisma played a key role in his success as the leader of one of the most powerful factions in the series. When it comes to swordsmanship, he is one of the best in Gintama. He is capable of taking entire platoons of soldiers with just his blade.

20 Suzuki Toichiro

Planned To Rule The World

Suzuki is one of the main antagonists in Mob Psycho 100. He was the founder of Claw, an organization filled with powerful espers who worked toward Suzuki’s goal of world dominance. Suzuki was a cunning individual, and he knew how to make the best of every situation.

When it came to psychic powers, Suzuki was on a different level from most individuals. He used his body to accumulate psychic energy for decades, only releasing it once he initiated his plan to take over the world. Suzuki’s power was so overwhelming that even Mob couldn’t stop him. Fortunately for Mob, Suzuki couldn’t handle his own power, which led to his demise.

19 Esdeath

Ruthless And Sadistic

Esdeath is a popular anime villain who hails from the Akame ga Kill franchise. Contrary to how most female characters are portrayed in anime, Esdeath was handled in a much better way. She was a well-written character with a good backstory.

She was extremely manipulative and could easily sway weak-willed individuals with her articulate speeches. Esdeath was also a sadistic individual who would go to great lengths to put her opponent through a world of pain. She was ridiculously good at fighting, and it earned her the reputation of being the best soldier in the entire world.

18 Isabella

Sent Innocent Children To Their Deaths

Isabella is quite different from some of the other great anime villains in that she does not have any supernatural abilities, yet she instills fear in the hearts of viewers. She was an ordinary human being trying to survive in a world full of demons. Isabella worked as the Mama for Grace Field House Plant 3 to ensure that the demons wouldn’t kill her.

She used her guile to keep the kids in check and ensure that they would never find out about their gruesome fate. Isabella’s intelligence also enabled her to foil the children’s escape plans time and time again. Emma, Norman, and Ray had to work hard in order to outfox Isabella.

17 All For One

Armed With Dangerous Abilities

All for One is one of the better antagonists in My Hero Academia. He has single-handedly caused many problems for the heroes in Japan. All for One used to be the strongest villain in the country, and he used to compete with All Might. But once he found his powers dwindling, All for One decided to make others do his bidding.

He created the League of Villains and took Tomura Shigaraki under his wing. All for One molded Shigaraki into the person that he wanted him to be. All for One is among the few villains who have both intelligence and strength, making him a truly threatening individual.

16 Eren Yeager

Nearly Destroyed 80% Of The World’s Population

At the beginning of the series, Eren Yeager was nothing more than an innocent boy who wanted to protect the people dear to him. As the story progressed though, Eren’s way of thinking drastically changed, and he became a malevolent individual.

After gaining the power of the Founding Titan, Eren decided to launch a full-out attack on the rest of the world. Eren’s actions led to large-scale destruction in which more than half the human population was wiped out. The series extensively covers Eren’s transformation, making him one of the best anime villains of all time.

15 Frieza

Erased An Entire Planet

To say that Frieza is evil would be a bit of an understatement. He is the main villain of the Dragon Ball series, and Goku’s biggest nemesis. He’s made appearances in the other parts as well.

Frieza’s army was known for its ruthlessness, and the stories about their brutality are known throughout the universe. He is extremely manipulative, and he tends to mock his opponents with his dark sense of humor. Unlike many villains though, Frieza is an eloquent speaker, which helps him to hide his sadistic nature.

14 The Major

Craved Bloodshed

The Major served under Hitler in the SS, which says a lot about him as a person. He was assigned by Hitler to create artificial vampires that could be used in World War II. The Major thrived on chaos and war, and so he did everything in his power to send the world into darkness.

Over the years, The Major’s plans changed and instead of just creating an army of vampires, he decided to start a war that would engulf the entire world. Also, he was fixated on Alucard, and wanted to eliminate the vampire by any means necessary.

13 Muzan Kibutsuji

Responsible For Countless Deaths

Muzan is the main antagonist of Demon Slayer, and, together with his demons, has been responsible for countless deaths. Muzan is a very strong character, who can beat the most powerful Hashira without any problems. His blood also allows him to turn humans into demons, who then go on to do his bidding.

Muzan is a heartless individual, who has no regard whatsoever for the lives of humans or even his subordinates. He sees them as disposable trash, and, on several occasions, Muzan has even murdered his own underlings to make a point.