Anime is a glorious form of entertainment that’s able to tell a degree of stories that are often impossible anywhere else. It’s been thrilling to see how anime has evolved and become more mainstream over the course of the past few decades. There are plenty of factors that are important in a quality anime series, but a strong and memorable villain is often crucial.
There is a wide range of antagonists that anime caters towards, with some of them being especially psychotic and twisted individuals. The Joker from DC Comics is often considered to be quite the insane foe, but there are some anime villains that would absolutely get his attention.
10 Piedmon Is An Insane & Wicked Member Of Digimon’s Dark Masters
Digimon is typically viewed as a fairly sanitized and family-friendly anime series, which makes some of the more sadistic Digimon really come as a surprise. The original Digimon Adventure features a cabal of especially evil Mega-level Digimon known as the Dark Masters.
Piedmon leads the group and his design harkens back to the old harlequin clown and the The Joker would definitely approve. All of the Dark Masters are malevolent, but Piedmon is especially wicked and takes immense glee in the pain of the Digi-Destined. It's hard to not think of the Joker when Piedmon's comically wicked appearance shows ups.
9 My Hero Academia’s Himiko Toga Has Lost Her Mind & Couldn’t Be Happier
My Hero Academia has done an excellent job with how it establishes characters for both the heroes and villains that feel powerful and unique. There are some especially vile villains who are beyond redemption, but Himiko Toga is an extreme example.
Himiko is gleefully deranged and her Transform Quirk allows her to turn into others by the consumption of blood. Himiko’s actions are so erratic that even Shigaraki doesn’t know what to do with her. Himiko Toga is someone that The Joker would just adore and she even has serious Harley vibes.
8 Yoshikage Kira Is A Deluded Serial Killer In JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series has grown in truly creative ways and it’s managed to avoid repetition and becoming stale like so many other shonen series. Every chapter of JoJo has some formidable villains, but Diamond is Unbreakable showcases Yoshikage Kira, a psychotic serial killer.
Kira attempts to keep a low profile, terrorizes a pleasant community, and even has a weird obsession with severed hands. Kira is evil and unhinged, which is The Joker’s combination, and it feels like the two could even teach each other a lot.
7 Lives Are Just Empty Fodder For The Clown-Like Hisoka In Hunter X Hunter
Hunter x Hunter is a challenging shonen series that doesn't always get its due, but it does some exceptional work with its characters and it helps make villains like Hisoka feel truly frightening. Hisoka values a worthy opponent more than anything else, which leads to an anarchic way of living that's taken countless lives and kept a keen eye on Gon and Killua.
Hisoka is gleefully murderous, but he also dresses up like an exaggerated jester. There's a lot of crossover in Hisoka's attitude and style with The Joker's own twisted sensibilities.
6 Trigun’s Legato Bluesummers Understands How To Break The Human Mind
Trigun is a fascinating action anime series that makes its skilled protagonist someone who increasingly wants to be a pacifist. The Gung-Ho-Guns are an evil group of assassins that test Vash the Stampede and it’s Legato Bluesummers who is their leader.
Legato possesses powerful telekinetic abilities where he can force innocent individuals to turn on themselves or each other. Additionally, he puts together an elaborate plan for the express purpose of forcing Vash to do something that he doesn’t want to do, which is not unlike the many ways in which The Joker tries to break Batman.
5 Danganronpa’s Junko Enoshima Pulls Off The Ultimate, Murderous Con
Danganronpa is a surprise hit that grew out of a niche video game and has turned into an engrossing and thorough franchise. Danganronpa is a delirious mix of slice of life school antics with aggressive murder games and a chilling mystery.
Danganronpa does an excellent job with its mystery and who's to blame and the reveal that Junko Enoshima is in the pocket of Monokuma and much more evil than she let on is the type of commitment to the bit that the Joker values and appreciates.
4 Death Note’s Teru Mikami Is Turned Into A Destructive Loose Cannon
Death Note is a memorable anime for many different reasons, but the way in which it plays with perspective and warps the audience's idea of who the real hero and villain are is truly inspired. Light Yagami grows so detached and insane that he'd likely entertain the Joker, but the transformation that Teru Mikami experiences is even more drastic.
Mikami becomes a loose cannon that wants to wipe out everyone, regardless of the size of their transgressions. Mikami's salt the Earth attitude and the joy that he derives from it feels very on point with The Joker and his motives.
3 Kyubey Produces The Worst Ultimatum In Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an anime that many may write off at first glance, but it's actually a brilliant dissection of magical girl anime and it goes to some genuinely exciting and challenging places. The anime is full of dichotomies between the beautiful and the evil, which is perhaps best personified through Kyubey.
Kyubey thrives on the souls of young girls and he's completely unflinching with how he acquires them or how these girls are manipulated. Kyubey is deceptively dangerous and it's the same level of lurking fear that's present with the Joker and how he ensnares his prey.
2 Griffith Is Driven To Madness In Berserk & Nothing Is Safe
Berserk is an extremely brutal and violent series where demons get slayed with gigantic blades and blood rains over everything. The protagonist in Berserk, Guts, is the stoic type, but he becomes indebted to another warrior, Griffith. Berserk is able to free himself from Griffith, but it culminates in a grand schism where Griffith becomes obsessed with more power.
Griffith changes into a completely different person and it’s the type of turn that The Joker praises. He’s also someone who’s burned his bridges to start anew and gain more.
1 Majin Buu Is The Right Level Of Strange For The Joker
The Dragon Ball franchise has introduced a number of noteworthy villains over the years, but Dragon Ball Z concludes with the evil reign of Majin Buu. Buu is an ancient and deranged entity that’s purely interested in chaotic energy. Buu does an excellent job of absorbing earth’s strongest heroes and eliminating most of the population.
Additionally, Buu’s unusual appearance and comedic tricks like turning people into chocolate are right up The Joker’s alley. The Joker would absolutely appreciate Buu’s chaos and actually find the guy to be funny, which is high praise coming from him.