As the old saying goes, a hero is only as good as their villain. Often or not, the villains in a narrative serve the purpose of being an obstacle for the protagonists to overcome. Some of the best villains ever, however, usually have more layers to them beyond being an obstacle. Sometimes, villains could be way more engrossing than the protagonists of the story.

RELATED: 10 Anime Villains That Are Convinced They Are Heroes

A common practice with more contemporary anime is to have very bland, male characters as the leads. Having a bland character as the protagonist makes it easier for the audience to insert themselves into, but at the same time makes them boring and forgettable. It's then up to the villains in these animes to step it up and fill in the void that a good protagonist would have normally filled. This is how great villains like Dio from JoJo's Bizarre's Adventure and Sosuke Aizen from Bleach emerged; they proved so much more effective because they were a lot more interesting when compared to the protagonists they were against.

While several great antagonists are almost irredeemably evil, they will still make great anti-heroes. Death Note is a great example of a criminal being a fascinating protagonist. No matter how heinous Light Yagami's action got, fans were always invested in his story. That's how many of these villains' stories can work as the protagonists.

10 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s Yoshikage Kira As A Secret Serial Killer

yoshikage kira jojo

What made Yoshikage Kira so very interesting as an antagonist was how mundane and normal he seemed. Kira was the main antagonist of Diamond is Unbreakable, AKA JoJo's Bizarre Adventure part 4. Compared to the wacky, lovable cast of that part, Kira feels almost too pedestrian and boring.

Yet what makes him extraordinary is that he's been secretly a serial killer for years. Killing young women and taking their hands as keepsakes, Kira was able to avoid detection for all these years because he was cunning and had a supernatural power to help clean-up his crime. TV shows like Dexter prove that there is an appetite for stories starring murders, and Kira has the capabilities of being able to lead an entire anime with his dubious actions.

9 Fullmetal Alchemist’s Homunculus As A Group Of Artificial Beings

Homunculus

Homunculus is a group of artificial beings and they serve as the main antagonists for both Fullmetal Alchemist anime adaptations. Although most would agree that Brotherhood, the later adaptation, is the superior anime, the Homunculus was far more compelling and diverse in the original anime.

In the original anime, the Homunculus were given far more tragic backstories. While the Homunculus are great villains in both adaptations, it is the version in the initial anime that makes them viable to star in their own show.

8 One Piece’s Crocodile As The First Antagonist To Defeat Luffy Twice

A close-up of Crocodile from One Piece, who has a groaning expression

One Piece is one of the longest-lasting animes currently airing, having aired over 900 episodes. Throughout its long history as a manga and anime, the series has accumulated a vast amount of memorable villains.

Crocodile is arguable the first villain in the series to truly stand out. A pirate who wanted to take control of a whole nation, Crocodile used his intelligence and resources to stay one step ahead of the main characters. Crocodile was also the first antagonist in the franchise to beat lead character Luffy twice. Though the main cast of One Piece is beloved for good reason, Crocodile was the first time it showed that the franchise can make equally entertaining villains.

7 Bleach’s Sosuke Aizen As A Fan-Favorite With A Direct Impact On Major Story Events

Sōsuke Aizen Becoming Immortal In Bleach

There's a reason why the Bleach anime wasn't as popular when Sosuke Aizen stopped being a major character. Without the series' star villain, the series began feeling directionless. While Aizen wasn't present in the series from the very beginning, his actions are what directly influenced most of the major events of the first half of the manga.

RELATED: Bleach: 10 Most Important Things About The Thousand-Year Blood War

Aizen is still ranked highly among fans' favorite villains, which is a testament to how effective he was used in the story. When the series villain is more well-received than the main hero, then the series made the wrong choice with who should be the protagonist.

6 Pokémon’s Team Rocket As A Goofy & Dynamic Bunch

Pokemon Team Rocket Jessie James Meowth

Let's be honest, Ash is a boring protagonist. With over a thousand episodes, Ash has shown very little signs of having a personality. This is why a good majority of Pokémon fans want Ash's story to be done so that the anime can focus on other aspects of the Pokémon world.

Team Rocket has always been the real bread and butter of the anime series. They are the source of many of the show's best gags, and they are a lovable group of losers that viewers can't help but root for at times. They are way more dynamic than Ash, and they should spin-off to their own anime.

5 Mobile Suit Gundam’s Principality of Zeon To Show Both Sides Of The Conflict

Char and Zeon

Principality of Zeon may seem like a weird choice to include as potential anime villains to lead their own anime, especially since the Zeons are essentially analogs of Nazi Germany. However, one of the main themes of the Gundam mega-franchise is that there are evil found on both sides of a conflict. Though the original Mobile Suit Gundam show is told from the perspective of the Earth Federation, the show never shies away from the Federation's less glamourous actions.

Both sides carelessly lose a lot of human lives, with the protagonists being forced to pick up the pieces. While the audience is told that the Zeons are evil, in reality, all they wanted to do was secede from the Federation. While the Zabi family, who were the leaders of Zeon, were corrupt, it doesn't mean the whole army was equally irredeemable.

4 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s DIO As A Fun & Meme-able Character

Dio saying, "It was me, Dio!" JoJos

The man of a thousand memes, it's Dio, the main antagonist of the first and third parts of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. One of the least sympathetic villains ever, Dio Brando's initial goal of stealing the Joestar's family fortune eventually evolved into him wanting to take over the world.

RELATED: 10 Anime Villains Who Had A Point

To achieve this, he turns himself into a vampire, gains the supernatural power of a Stand, and use steamrollers to smash his adversaries. He doesn't have many layers to him, yet it doesn't really matter. He is such a fun villain that he would make an amazing anti-hero for a potential spin-off.

3 Hunter x Hunter's Phantom Troupe As Cold-Blooded Assassins With Soft Sides

The Phantom Troupe from Hunter x Hunter.

Hunter x Hunter has a few good villains, which include the psychotic Hisoka and the king of the chimera ants Meruem. Nonetheless, neither of those villains are as likable as the Phantom Troupe, which is strange given the fact that the Troupe is full of cold-blooded assassins.

Despite that, there is a tenderness with how each member of the troupe interacts with each other. They laugh together, they make fun with each other, and they show genuine affection for one and another. For all intents and purposes, the audience should hate them. Yet somehow they're too likable. With so much of their past still a mystery, they have the potential to lead a spin-off.

2 One Piece’s Blackbeard As A Pirate Who Rose To Power From Nothing

One Piece Blackbeard Gravity Attack

Named after one of the most famous real-world pirates, Blackbeard has been a luring presence within the One Piece world for a long time. Though he sometimes acts like a buffoon, he's everything but. He's been slowly rising the ranks, initially starting as a no-name pirate with no bounty. Now he's one of the Four Emperors of the New World, with a growing pirate army of devil fruit users.

Blackbeard has been building up to be potentially the final antagonist of the series, with a confrontation between the Straw Hats and his crew seemingly inevitable. Blackbeard has a larger-than-life personality, and there something tantalizing about the idea of him being the focus of a possible spin-off title.

1 Dragon Ball’s Broly As A Complex Saiyan Who Struggles With His Emotions

Broly

The original Broly from the Dragon Ball Z movies had a striking design and some great fights, but he was also one-note and had a childish origin story. The Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie rebooted the character, and made him one of the most interesting new characters in the franchise.

Now recontextualized as a Saiyan with uncontrollable anger, the film made Broly sympathetic by making it clear he has no control over his emotions. He has respect towards his father, despite his father being abusive, and he has feelings of loneliness. With the Dragon Ball franchise continuing to grow, it is time for the series to move away from the traditional heroes and begin telling stories centering on the side characters. The new Broly is capable of starring in his own stories separate from Goku and Vegeta.

NEXT: 10 Anime Characters That Are Actually Terrible Liars