Usually in anime (especially in the shonen genre), villains are laughable caricatures. They’re usually portrayed stronger than the heroes, and are bad for the shallowest of reasons. Sometimes, they don’t even have reasons for evil. They exist simply as a foil to the hero and his struggles.
However, this isn’t true for all villains. Anime has come up with many villains who had strong reasons (or beliefs) for doing what they did, and here’s a look at 10 such villains.
10 Krul Tepes Wanted To Find Out What Happened To Her Brother (Seraph Of The End)
Not much is revealed about Krul in the anime, except for the fact that she’s an exceptionally powerful vampire. She saved Mikaela and let him be with Yuuichiro, but it was never explained why. The manga elaborates on this.
All that Krul has ever wanted was to find out what happened to her younger brother (before she herself was taken away by a vampire). In her mind, everything she did was to achieve this goal of hers, which also justified the deaths of many humans and vampires alike.
9 Shogo Makishima Wanted To Free People Of The Sibyl System (Psycho Pass)
His unsullied Psycho-Pass was proof of how Shogo believed he was doing humanity a genuine service by wanting people to be freed of an evil, all-governing Sibyl System.
Despite being disdainful of humans, he wanted to see them in their true form. He wanted people to think and behave honestly, so much so that he was ready to die for his beliefs.
8 Stain Wanted To Eliminate Fake Heroes (My Hero Academia)
Stain is an ideological fanatic. He believes the world is full of fake heroes that exist simply for fame and money. Thanks to his unique quirk, he makes it his mission to rid the world of heroes who do not deserve to be called heroes.
He only acknowledged All-Might as a true hero, but later in the series, he let Todoroki and Deku live because he saw potential in them.
7 Yaha-kui zaShunina Needed To Feed Off Of Information (KADO: The Right Answer)
Yaha-kui zaShunina gifted humans information that was light years ahead of their existing knowledge. All he wanted in exchange was the information that people gathered while learning about alien technology (since he fed on that information).
However, he lost his cool when a representative of the humans disagreed with the final step in his plan, causing him to fly in a fit of rage (and eventually killing him).
6 Slaine Troyard Killed For The Sake Of The Princess (Aldnoah.Zero)
When Slaine saw princess Asseylum shot by Saazbaum, he did not hesitate to shoot him in anger. He then threatened him into compliance, eventually killed him, and took over his title of Count.
Slaine did all of this partly out of grief and partly as loyalty to the princess. However, he later on agreed to marry Lemrina Vers Envers and establish a new empire, where there would be no discrimination between the terrans and the residents of Mars.
5 Ao Wanted The Validation Of His Brother (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs Of The East)
With only half a soul, Ao wasn’t exactly human. He was free from the constraints of morality and did as he pleased. All he wanted, however, was the validation of his younger brother Shino.
He believed Shino belonged rightfully to him (as opposed to being with Sousuke) and he did whatever he could to have him back. This included manipulating a prostitute into giving him one of his eyes (which Shino complimented) so that Shino would look at him with the same kindness that he looked at the prostitute.
4 Rui Wanted People To Rely On Each Other (Gatchaman Crowds)
Like Stain, Rui believed the world was better off without superheroes. However, he wanted people to rely on each other instead, and to answer to no single authority in the country.
Despite his idealistic beliefs, he pushed on the idea of complete anarchy. For this purpose, he even developed an app where like-minded people could meet each other and formed self-help groups that were ready to assist whenever the situation arose.
3 James Moriarty Believed Everyone Was Equal (Moriarty The Patriot)
Moriarty’s beliefs are inspired by the ideas of vigilantism and communism. He believed that everybody in society was equal. He said that instead of going to courts, commoners should give the nobility a piece of their own medicine.
Essentially, he encouraged the idea of people taking matters into their own hands and kill or torture those who were deemed worthy of such treatment.
2 Kray Foresight Wanted To Save The Best Of Humanity (Promare)
When he realized humanity was in danger because the earth’s core would explode in a few months’ time, Kray rushed into action. He created a technologically advanced ship that could jump in hyperspace and find a new inhabitable planet for humans.
He was willing to take the best 10,000 of humanity with him and was completely okay with the billions of others dying a horrific death. In his mind, he was saving humanity itself.
1 Satan Ryo Asuka Believed In Survival Of The Fittest (Devilman: Crybaby)
Satan believed in survival of the fittest, and he was shown to be devoid of emotion. He viewed humans as weak and disgusting, with demons being better since they had higher chances of surviving due to their simple life requirements.
He unleashed terror with the aim of having humanity completely eliminated by demons. It should be noted that despite being "emotionless," Satan showed love for Akira by making him stronger than his prior human self.