Some anime villains retain a semblance of decency by having sympathetic motivations, usually in the territory of wanting to protect human beings as a whole. However, other anime villains care only about themselves and their self-centered objectives.
These cruel anime villains experiment freely on humans for amusement and knowledge and care nothing about the pain and agony they inflict. Their exact motivations can vary, with some using science as a justification while others just see humans as a lesser species. Regardless, these anime villains view people as objects and will indiscriminately kill humans if it suits them without blinking an eye.
10 Orochimaru Cares Solely About His Immortality & Discards His Followers (Naruto)
Orochimaru from Naruto is a demonstrative case of a brilliant yet amoral villain. He continuously experiments with forbidden jutsu on humans as guinea pigs to increase his own knowledge and immortality. He fixates on certain people, particularly powerful ones with a bloodline limit, as shown by his obsessions with Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha.
Worse, Orochimaru judges people mostly by how they can benefit him and is quick to dismiss or dispose of them when they no longer serve a purpose. During the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, Orochimaru's loyal subordinate, Kimmimaro, dies mid-battle, but Orochimaru brushes past it since he only cares that Sasuke, his new prospective physical container, will be arriving soon.
9 Light Yagami's Ego Undermines Any Claims For The Greater Good (Death Note)
Light Yagami from Death Note claims to want to better the world through his actions. Through his alter ego, Kira, and by using the titular Death Note, Light strategically arranges the deaths of criminals whom he deems a stain on society. This is already questionable since Light groups all criminals under the same umbrella.
Light's decisions as he protects his secret identity from the Task Force cast his supposedly noble intentions into doubt. Light gradually becomes less well-intentioned and more megalomaniacal as he starts bringing death upon anyone who threatens his plans or even disagrees with them. This change paints a picture of someone who wants to be a god and will kill to suit his own ego.
8 Yubaba Dismisses The Fate Of Chihiro's Parents (Spirited Away)
Yubaba from Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away makes her distaste for humans obvious. She claims that Chihiro's parents deserved to be pigs for eating spirit food even though they didn't know the cost.
Before Chihiro signs the contract, Yubaba almost magically harms or transforms Chihiro for her own entertainment, and tries to intimidate her by calling her "a stinking, useless weakling." The image of the numerous pigs in the bathhouse stable also raises questions about their potential origins. At the end of Spirited Away, Yubaba nearly orders the slaughter of Chihiro's parents out of spite.
7 Hidan Only Sees Humans In Terms Of Sacrifices & Converts To Jashin (Naruto Shippuden)
Hidan from Naruto Shippuden is one of the Akatsuki's most violent, bloodthirsty members and one of their least nuanced. He killed people for his religion even before he was recruited for the organization and joining up didn't affect his behavior at all.
When Hidan is out on missions for the Akatsuki, he still mainly sees people in terms of the Cult of Jashin. He either offers conversion to people or plans to bloodily sacrifice them since Jashin is a god that thrives on violence and death. To increase the chilling factor of Hidan's character, he was even angry that his original hometown, Yugakure, had become more peaceful and massacred his fellow ninja before defecting.
6 Dr. Hogback Violates Corpses & The Living Alike (One Piece)
At first, Dr. Hogback from One Piece is built up as creepy and sinister before Chopper recognizes him as his idol in the medical field. However, the reindeer finds his pedestal broken when Dr. Hogback is revealed to be in league with Gecko Moria.
While Hogback saves dead bodies for use, Moria removes shadows from people who land on Thriller Bark and implants them in the aforementioned corpses to create zombies. Poor Chopper is scandalized at his role model's actions and horrified at Hogback's disrespect toward the dead.
5 Sosuke Aizen Thinks That People Are Just Pawns (Bleach)
Sosuke Aizen from Bleach first appears as a member of the Soul Society and leads the Fifth Division of Soul Reapers. He is initially well-regarded, but he eventually shows his true colors as a power-hungry manipulator. Aizen nearly causes Rukia's death by arranging for her execution date to be moved up.
Aizen also willingly injures and sacrifices his loyal subordinates for his purposes and sees them in terms of how they benefit him. Even in the past, Aizen sacrificed countless Shinigami and people with Shinigami potential for his Hogyoku and saw nothing wrong with it.
4 Shou Tucker Maims His Family To Benefit Himself (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Shou “The Sewing-Life Alchemist” Tucker from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is introduced as someone who could help Ed and Al, and is struggling with bad luck in his life. However, Tucker actually prioritizes his State Alchemist license and its paycheck over everything else, even his family. His wife leaving is a lie since Tucker used her for his first chimera two years prior.
As if he couldn’t sink any lower, Tucker then uses his daughter and her dog to create another talking chimera purely to prop up his career. Until his death, Tucker complains about how nobody understands him, and he shows no recognition or guilt over his actions.
3 Bondrewd Uses Children To Experiment With The Abyss' Curse (Made In Abyss)
Bondrewd from Made in Abyss already gives off an ominous tone with his mannerisms and physical appearance, but Nanachi's backstory shows his amorality. Oddly, Bondrewd genuinely cares for the orphan children and remembers all of them, but this doesn't stop him from harming them for research.
The results of Bondrewd's experimentation left an entire host of abandoned, altered children at the Sixth Layer. Mitty was put in perpetual agony, both through her physical transformation and Bondrewd's continued experiments on her, while Nanachi was forever affected physically and mentally. Not even Bondrewd's adopted daughter, Prushka, is off-limits to his scientific endeavors.
2 Dr. Akihiro Kanou Ignores Doctoral Ethics In His Pursuit Of Creating Ghouls (Tokyo Ghoul)
Dr. Akihiro Kanou from Tokyo Ghoul presents the ideal image of a kind doctor who cares about his patients' lives. However, Kanou deems all of humanity as weak and inferior. He strives to turn them all into ghouls to compensate for their perceived shortcomings.
While Kanou seems to value humans' abilities, Kanou views their humanity as disposable and a "birdcage" that limits them. This leads Kanou to take unethical action that ignores and violates patient consent, such as secretly turning Kaneki into an Artificial One-Eyed Ghoul by transplanting Rize's Kakuhou without Kaneki's knowledge.
1 Acnologia's Revenge Mission Evolved Into Destroying Everything, Even Humans (Fairy Tail)
Acnologia from Fairy Tail looks down on humans as a whole, despite of being one himself. This started when he decided to take revenge on dragons after being betrayed by one and losing everything.
Acnologia managed to drive dragons to near extinction. But his obsession with his objective as a Dragon Slayer led to the magic subsuming his identity and mind, and he soon realized he enjoyed causing destruction. This resulted in him distancing himself from humans and not caring if they are victims of his rampage. Ironically, despite his dismissal of humans, Acnologia will still assume his original human form when moving around.