most cruel anime villains with us ? There are terrifying creatures that strike fear into the hearts of both the protagonists and the viewers. Monsters no one would want to encounter. But there are also human villains just as evil—and sometimes even worse. Villains who may not be as flashy, but are definitely more than sinister. Villains with more powerful and devious abilities that transcend mere physical strength. So, check out the 10 anime villains scarier than any monster.
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Thus, some adopt a more manipulative approach, playing mind games with their enemies, destroying them from the inside out without ever laying a finger on them. Some, out of pure sadism, become beings of destruction simply because they delight in the despair of others. And these villains are the worst of the worst.
Worst Anime Villains – Top 10
10. Light Yagami
In short, Light Yagami was a normal, intelligent high school student who one day came across an item called the Death Note . But this is no ordinary notebook. It's an item from the god of death, capable of killing anyone whose name is written within. And so, Light takes it upon himself to rid the world of heinous criminals in the hopes of making it a better place. But playing God is no mere game, as Light becomes the very thing he set out to eradicate.
09. Eren Yaeger
Some villains don't start out as clear-cut villains. Some, in fact, begin as heroes, their morals and ethics slowly blurring over time, giving way to corruptible rhetoric. Such was the case with Eren Yaeger. In this way, he was simply a boy exposed to the grotesque horrors of the world, intent on eliminating them to make the world a better place for humanity itself. Little did he know that it wasn't as simple as humans versus monsters, especially when the line becomes blurred. In his quest to save the last remnants of his people, Eren is willing to sacrifice more than he initially expected.
08. Kazutaka Hyodo
On the other hand, Kazutaka Hyodo, known simply as the President, is a wealthy old man who loves gambling. He's at the top of the gambling food chain, and the risks don't pose much of a threat to him. Therefore, he takes sadistic pleasure in creating as much risk as possible for others to endure, often with dire and humiliating consequences. Whether it's strangers desperate for an opportunity to change their lives for the better or his own subordinates, the President shows no mercy or remorse in his cruel games of rigged chance.
07. Gendo Ikari
Gendo Ikari is a cunning yet daring villain. Working as the director of the NERV science facility, he strives for more than just challenging the alien race known as Angels, which threatens humanity's very existence. Thus, Gendo intends to achieve his own goal disguised as the goals of the ruling organization. Even using his own son as a pawn, he doesn't hesitate to sacrifice innocents for his own ends, with his own selfish intentions putting his own existence at risk.
06. Freeza
At first, Frieza is an alien tyrant determined to destroy anything and everything in his path, be it innocent civilians or entire planets. After all, he managed to exterminate nearly the entire Saiyan race by destroying his home planet, Vegeta. In true Massacre of the Innocents fashion, he did this solely for his own selfish reasons, to prevent an uprising that threatened to overthrow him. But when Goku survives to fulfill the prophecy, Frieza stops at nothing to achieve his goal of completely eradicating the Saiyans. He tortured and killed everyone in his path, even destroying the entire Earth at one point.
The Worst Anime Villains – Top 5
05. Shou Tucker
In Fullmetal Alchemist, alchemy is a widely practiced metaphysical science, allowing those who understand it to reconstruct matter and energy into other media. But this practice has a rule: the Principle of Equivalent Exchange. Thus, some alchemists like Shou Tucker attempt to force this natural rule, creating unspeakable abominations in nature. The bioalchemist "Sewing-Life" toyed with the idea of creating chimeras, creatures synthesized by combining several living beings. But in his effort to create one capable of human speech, the man was even willing to experiment on his own daughter.
04. Yujiro Hanma
A monstrous man, both in stature and voracity, capable of facing any opponent, be it the strongest challengers in history or even the government's armed forces. Arrogant, sadistic, and ruthless, even toward his own relatives. Having ruthlessly killed the mother of his own child, he only fathered a son to satisfy his desire for a formidable opponent, believing such a one could only come from his own bloodline. In short, Yujiro is truly one of the most intimidating and ruthless villains, with a vengeance that is only quelled by those truly worthy of challenging him.
The Worst Anime Villains – Top 3
03. Bondrewd
Bondrewd "The Romance," also known as "The Sovereign of Dawn," is a high-ranking White Whistle Explorer in Made in Abyss . He strives to uncover the mysteries of the Abyss through his own perverse version of scientific methods. In his morally questionable efforts, he managed to uncover a method used to create "blessed" Narehate—creatures who were once human but managed to overcome the curse of the 6th layer of the Abyss. However, in doing so, he stooped to methods similar to those of Shou Tucker. Bondrewd was not only willing to experiment on his own adopted daughter in his tireless scientific pursuit, but also to experiment on children, manipulating their love for him as a father figure, all in the name of progress.
02. Johan Liebert
Some of the most terrifying villains are those who manipulate others from the shadows, their very existence a questionable whisper even after the devastation they've caused. Johan Liebert is such a monster. Though his own life was saved from the brink of death by Doctor Tenma, this act of kindness brought nothing but ambiguous remorse to the very doctor who saved him.
01. Griffith
Finally, some monsters hide behind beautiful masks, concealing the corrupt spiritual carnage. Griffith, leader of the Band of the Hawk, is a mercenary commander revered for his leadership in battle and his unquestionable beauty. Already wielding the Crimson Beherit, Griffith had been groomed as a cataclysmic omen. To realize his dream of conquering his own kingdom, Griffith doesn't hesitate to not only step on the corpses of his own comrades to pave the way, but also to desecrate everything they believed in along the way.
So, what do you guys think of these anime villains? Are they the worst? For more news on anime, manga, and the otaku universe, keep following AnimeNew!
