Anime often has a lot of twists. Some will affect the characters, and others affect the overall plotline. Some of these twists ultimately reveal a lot of new depth for specific characters. Fans often either love or hate these twists, depending on how they're executed in the anime.
However, some anime have some surprising twist villains. Fans are usually shocked and horrified by the twist villains that various anime reveal through their runs.
Warning! Spoilers ahead!
10 Mai Valentine Joined Forces With The Villains And Betrayed Her Friends (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
During the Waking The Dragons arc in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, fellow duelist Mai Valentine joined the main party early on. Fans assumed that she was an ally because she, like the others, wanted to stop Dartz and his organization, Doma, from constantly taking other people's souls with the Seal of Oricalchos.
However, it was quickly revealed a few episodes later that she already joined Doma beforehand and took Maximillion Pegasus' soul with the Seal of Oricalchos. Fans were horrified by the betrayal. Fortunately, Mai did come around after realizing that she'd been manipulated by Dartz the entire time.
9 Liliruca Arde Initially Abandoned Bell To Die (Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon!?)
Liliruca Arde from Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon!?, also known as Lili, initially acts as a supporter for Bell by offering to carry his goods for him while they explore the dungeon together.
However, it's quickly revealed that Lili is trying to take advantage of him. At one point, she even abandons him to die in a more dangerous area of the dungeons. Fans were shocked by this outcome, considering how nice Bell was to her despite everyone else, including Hestia, warning him about Lili beforehand. After Lili's own life was threatened by the Soma Familia and Bell rescued her, Lili apologized and eventually ended up joining Bell's Familia instead.
8 Albert Maverick Killed Barnaby's Parents And Worked With Ouroboros (Tiger & Bunny)
One of the plotlines in Tiger & Bunny involved Barnaby, a.k.a. Bunny, trying to apprehend the person who murdered his parents when he was a child. However, it's revealed in the latter half of the series that Maverick, the president and CEO of Apollon Media and sponsor for Kotetsu and Barnaby on Hero TV, sided with Ouroboros and gave them advanced technology to stage flashier crime-fighting scenarios.
Barnaby's parents, who worked on the technology for the show at the time, tried to report this to the police, and Maverick murdered them. Since Barnaby witnessed the murder, Maverick altered his memory and placed the blame on another criminal. Unfortunately for Maverick, Barnaby did eventually remember who actually killed his parents. This culminated in Maverick trying to destroy all the other heroes to save his own skin.
7 Kai Suwabara Sided With St. Pierre Briefly To Try To Beat Azuma One More Time (Yakitate!! Japan)
In Yakitate!! Japan, Kai Suwabara joined sides with rival company St. Pierre to try to beat Azuma Kazuma and his team in a baking battle after previously losing to him in the Newcomers Tournament arc. His intentions were not inherently villainous, unlike the other twist villains on this list.
However, fans were upset that Suwabara would go up against Azuma and the rest of Pantasia all for the sake of his and Azuma's rivalry. Unfortunately for Suwabara, it was too clear during their last battle that Azuma would win despite Suwabara coming up with a strong bread to present. He ended up technically forfeiting the match by stealing Azuma's bread and running away partway through.
6 Trip And Virus Were Actually Working With Morphine (DRAMAtical Murder)
Trip and Virus from DRAMAtical Murder were initially presented as friends of the protagonist, Aoba Seragaki. Fans first assumed that they had to be good guys, even if not central to the anime's main plotline.
It was later revealed that the two were working with the mysterious Morphine organization. In fact, their bad ending in the OVA reveals that they are deeply obsessed with Aoba to the point of keeping him as their personal slave, instead of handing him over to Toue. Fans were horrified to find out that the two not-twins were so obsessed with Aoba to such an unhealthy degree.
5 Marcus Tried To Kill Arceus (Pokémon)
In the Pokémon movie Arceus And The Jewel Of Life, it was initially believed that Damos tried to betray Arceus in the past. However, it's later revealed that Marcus was the true villain, as he used his Pokémon to brainwash Damos to try to betray Arceus in the first place.
When Ash and his friends foil that initial plan, Marcus takes things into his own hands to defeat and destroy Arceus by trying to drown the Legendary Pokémon in melted silver. Fans who watched the film were horrified by the twist and were glad to see Ash and his friends save Arceus in the nick of time, defeating Marcus in the process.
4 Junko Was Revealed As The True Mastermind (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)
Those unfamiliar with the Danganronpa games before watching the anime adaptation of Trigger Happy Havoc were shocked by Junko being the true villain in the end. It's revealed late in the anime that Junko switched identities with her sister and then killed her off to keep her identity hidden.
Additionally, Junko was Monokuma and the person imprisoning them all along. After the students successfully find out that Junko was the true villain, she not only admits defeat but subjects herself to the executions of all the previous students that died in the series.
3 Marshall D. Teach Was Actually The Deadly Blackbeard All Along (One Piece)
In One Piece, Marshall was initially presented as a mentor figure to Luffy, teaching him the ways of becoming a great pirate. Fans did not realize until later on that Marshall was actually the deadly and dreaded Blackbeard.
This reveal shocked many fans watching the series the first time through. Some fans were upset about the broken mentor and student bond between Marshall and Luffy, immediately rewatching the series in order to find any foreshadowing clues leading to this reveal.
2 Heathcliff Was The Villain All Along (Sword Art Online)
Fans unfamiliar with the light novels or manga of Sword Art Online before watching the anime were shocked to find out that Heathcliff was none other than Akihiko Kayaba, the man who created the game that everyone was initially trapped in.
Kirito figures out Heathcliff was actually Akihiko after making several observations about his speed and his health compared to other fighters after a huge boss fight. Fans were horrified by this reveal, as, up until that point, Heathcliff was nothing but a decent authority figure who just led a fairly strong guild and even gave Kirito and Asuna time off from the guild after dealing with Kuradeel.
1 Olba Tried To Get Rid Of Emilia And Maou (The Devil Is A Part-Timer!)
Olba was initially presented as one of Emilia's closest allies in The Devil Is A Part-Timer!. However, it was later revealed that he was working with Lucifer behind the scenes to permanently get rid of Emilia and Maou, betraying Emilia in the process. He often appears as a minor villain after this reveal in both the anime and the light novels, and fans love to hate Olba for his betrayal of Emilia.