Out of all the characters in a story, the villain is the most interesting, but the best part of the villain is that there are so many ways to write them. Some can be described as pure evil while others have a twisted mix of morals. Some villains might not even appear to be villains upon first introductions.
Even in cartoons, the diversity of the villain can be seen across a multitude of series, some cleverly written to appear like a hero before the big reveal of their heinous intentions. Each of these characters has their own reasons for being the way they are, and in each case, the twisted reveal has a varying degree of shock for the audience. Some were obviously up to something nefarious, while others brilliantly pulled the rug under everyone's feet.
10 Teen Titans: Blackfire Is Not The Caring Sister That She Claims To Be
Early on in Teen Titans, each character was gradually being introduced, their personality and their backstory. In Episode 2, the main characters are introduced to Starfire's sister, Blackfire, who at first appears to be a friendly and impressive addition to the group, she even gives Starfire a beautiful necklace as a gift. However, the unfortunate truth of why she suddenly appeared on Earth is revealed later in the episode.
From the beginning of this episode, Starfire is being targeted by unknown aliens. They reveal that they are after a criminal Tamaranian and Starfire happened to fit the racial description. The truth is that Blackfire was the criminal all along, she gave the necklace to Starfire as a way to ensure that the aliens would take her instead, and she faked being friendly to have the Titans on her side. In spite of what everything Blackfire did to her, Starfire still says in the end that she was happy she could see her sister.
9 Invincible: Omni-Man Was Always Meant To Be Planet Earth's Oppressor, Not The Hero
Although he acts as a caring hero at Invincible's very beginning, Omni-man hides many secrets in his past. With superpowers from his alien lineage, he fights for mankind's good, or at least that's what he has everyone believe.
In a twist of events, Omni-man kills Earth's greatest heroes, swiftly becoming the main antagonist. He planned to tell Mark about the truth behind his arrival on Earth, and because they are both from the planet Viltrum, it's their duty to take over planets, including Earth.
8 Total Drama Island: Chris McLean Had Too Much Fun Being The Host
When Cris starts off as the host of the reality competition known as Total Drama Island, he is humble with a bit of dark humor on the side. As the cartoon progresses, Chris begins to change from a charming host to a sadistic villain.
There was a time when he genuinely cared for the contestants, but by Season 3, Chris begins to show that he might just enjoy watching them suffer. From that point on, he becomes more of a menace, forcing the contestants to take part in deadly challenges that they don't want to do.
7 SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton Pretends To Be Friendly To SpongeBob
There are two occasions where Plankton pretends to be a good guy only for SpongeBob and his friends to realize that he will always be evil. Early on in SpongeBob SquarePants, Plankton sparks a friendship with SpongeBob. They sing the F.U.N song together and it appears to be a beautiful bromance, but by the end of the episode, Mr. Krabs intervenes and reveals that Plankton was only after the Krabby Patty formula as per usual.
Surprisingly enough, another episode features a friendship between Plankton and Mr. Krabs. They seem to have reconciled with each other, but, again, Plankton is only after the formula. Mr. Krabs was always prepared for the betrayal and had a plan set in place for when Plankton would reveal the truth.
6 Gravity Falls: Gideon Acted As The Innocent Host
Although he's an enemy to Grunkle Stan from Gravity Falls' very beginning, Gideon seemed like a decent guy at first. As a child psychic, Gideon performed for the townspeople and they adored him for how sweet and charismatic he appeared to be. They believed his powers to be true and his intents to be wholesome, but after he really gained supernatural powers, Gideon revealed his true nature.
After confessing to Mabel, he refused to take no for an answer, pushing her to date him. Though he did finally accept her rejection in the end, that wouldn't be the last of his terrible actions. At the end of Season 1, Gideon conjures the demon Bill Cipher to enter Stan's mind and steal the deed to the Mystery Shack to further his own business plans. It puts the main characters in a lot of danger, which Gideon doesn't seem to care much about. He remains a villain for the remainder of the series.
5 Korra: Unalaq Believed He Was Doing Good For The World
Throughout the series, Korra met with a variety of heinous characters, some of whom were obvious about their dark intentions, and others who were a lot more stealthy. Her own Uncle Unalaq is one of the secret villains. At first, he appeared as a nice person who cared about Korra, but that changed when he revealed his twisted beliefs.
It's no doubt that holding a young girl hostage and nearly killing her is bad, but the reason behind all of Unalaq's decisions was all in the name of proper balance for the world. In a twisted way of thinking, Unalaq believed the first Avatar was wrong to separate the spirits from the mortal world, so he joined forces with Vaatu, the spirit of darkness and chaos, to make for a new world order.
4 Over The Garden Wall: Beatrice Knew She Was Up To No Good
In the mini-series Over The Garden Wall, the brothers Greg and Wirt are lost in an unknown forest filled with supernatural dangers that they are unprepared for. Along the way, they meet the character Beatrice, a talking Blue Jay that promises to help them home. Beatrice convinces them to go see Adelaide, a good witch, or so Beatrice claims.
When they grow closer over the course of the series, Beatrice tells the boys that she and her family used to be human, but were transformed into Blue Jays by an evil witch. It's slowly revealed that she is hiding something, and when she runs ahead of the boys to speak to Adelaide by herself, the truth is revealed. Adelaide is the evil witch that cursed Beatrice and her family, and Beatrice promised to bring her child servants, which would have been Greg and Wirt, in exchange for lifting the curse.
3 The Amazing World Of Gumball: Alan Isn't The Saint That Everyone Thinks He Is
For most of the series, The Amazing World Of Gumball, Alan was the kind soul who would never hurt anyone or anything, the fact that he's merely a floating balloon helped build up his unassuming image. He was always doing good, even going as far as to sacrifice his own needs for others.
Everyone around him loved his friendly personality as well as his ability to always look on the bright side, what they didn't realize was that his upbeat attitude would quickly take a dark turn. In the episode "The Vision," Alan reveals he is manipulative and egotistical and has been plotting for a new dystopian world order all along. He takes his optimism and forces it on everyone else in this episode. Anyone who feels any negative emotions will have to be sent to the "happy camp," which is not happy in the slightest.
2 Castlevania: The Judge Was Almost As Bad As The Cultists
In Castlevania's Season 3, the two main characters, Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, find themselves in a rural small town that is led by a man known as the Judge. Although the Judge runs a tight ship in his town, the clergymen have brought a deadly danger that he and the two heroes only discover when it's too late.
Trevor had his suspicions of the Judge since he's learned to be skeptical of everyone he meets, but after gaining his trust, they work side by side to stop the oncoming threat. Unfortunately, the plan falls apart in the worst way. The Judge dies but not before he requests them to burn his home. Curious as to why he wants the house burned down, Trevor and Sypha investigate only to learn that he was hiding the fact that he was a serial child murderer and kept the shoes of his young victims. Sometimes, you don't learn the truth of a villain until it's too late.
1 Samurai Jack: Aku Tricks Jack With A Clever Disguise
Through the series Samurai Jack, Jack meets with a variety of characters. Some are good, some bad, and others are morally ambiguous. One of these characters is Ikra, another warrior who happened to be on the same path as Jack. Ikra was a skilled swordswoman who told Jack that she was after the same gem that Jack was after. For Jack, this gem would return him to his time period where he could easily defeat Aku.
After a long journey, Ikra and Jack built a strong bond, fighting side by side and protecting one another from danger. When they came across the gem, a being stood against them to challenge the purity of their heart. While Jack stood back to prove his goodness, Ikra attacked the beast and destroyed the gem. She transformed into Aku himself, who had plotted to destroy the gem all along, preventing Jack from returning home.