Anime characters are the center of the anime experience. They are the colorful, electric creatures that take the viewers' hands and bring them on the incredible journeys everyone knows and loves, and there are plenty of stories between them to tell. However, if there was ever an archetype to constantly surprise the fans, it would be the villain, especially when they undergo a redemption arc.
Anime has gotten really good at creating some really despicable villains, and that's why it's such an intriguing tight rope act to see them change for the better as the story goes on. However, not every redemption is earned, and some come off more patronizing than actually compelling. This list will be looking at a few anime villains who definitely deserved their redemption arc and a few who did not.
10 Did Not: Endeavor (My Hero Academia)
In My Hero Academia, Endeavor is the fiery ex-rival to All Might and the father to Shouto Todoroki. While he's plenty accomplished within his own right, he's always obsessed with usurping All Might's legacy, whether that be with his own hero agency or, unfortunately, his own children.
Through years of obsession and abuse, he'd come to create Shouto. In the process of trying to shape the boy into the perfect hero, he'd alienate his other children and psychologically torture his own wife. This wouldn't do any favors with Shouto, as his own mother would throw boiling water on him, creating his terrible scar. The story as of late has tried to reshape Endeavor's legacy when he became the #1 hero, but it has been a consistent, uphill battle with the fans to try and work past that dark history.
9 Did: Crona (Soul Eater)
Almost in direct parallel to Endeavor, Medusa Gorgon experimented on her own child, Crona, to try and create a powerful Kishin. Crona is in fact a sword meister in the Soul Eater world, but his mother fused him with the legendary weapon, Ragnarok. The two were let loose on the world to wreak havoc and collect as many souls as possible.
However, after meeting and being defeated by Maka Albarn and her friends, they were taken in by the Death Weapon Meister Academy and were shown a family that they never had, i.e. a family that wasn't constantly trying to experiment on them or get them to try and kill everything. Crona's change from tortured killer to accepted friend was a heartwarming one and is one of the sweetest character arcs in Soul Eater's macabre world.
8 Did Not: Hiro Shishigami (Inuyashiki)
Inuyashiki focuses on the diametrically different paths of two individuals accidentally bestowed with hyper-advanced cybernetic bodies. One is a dying, elderly man who uses his new powers to cure diseases and save people. The other is Hiro Shishigami, the person that people needed saving from.
With an uncanny mastery of his new powers and a smile on his face, Hiro would break into people's homes and murder entire families, constantly trying to find a human experience to replicate those in his favorite manga. When actual consequences would catch up to him, he would respond with even greater massacres upon society. While he would sacrifice himself for the greater good at the end, that didn't really make up for the horrific scenes that occupied 90% of the story.
7 Did: Franky (One Piece)
Franky was one of the biggest swerves in One Piece's Water Seven and Ennies Lobby Arcs. When he was introduced, he was this local gangster that jumped Usopp in the middle of the street to steal the Straw Hats' money. The Straw Hats found Usopp's body beaten, tear-filled, and strewn along the street like garbage.
This would incur their invasion upon Franky's base and a big fight between him and Luffy. No one suspected that Franky would have the tearjerking backstory that he did, help the Straw Hats during Ennies Lobby, or would even gift them with the incredible Thousand Sunny that fans know and love today.
6 Did Not: Yuno Gasai (Future Diary)
Towards the end of Future Diary, Yuno Gasai saw what a huge monster that she had become and sacrificed herself to both end an endless cycle of violence and destruction upon the world as well as help make Yukiteru the winner of the game. This makes up for literally nothing. Yuno Gasai is the iconic yandere character and still managed to surprise people with how terrible she was.
She psychologically tortured Yukiteru into a toxic relationship, massacred a lot of people, and constantly conspired to kill even more. But that's apparently cool now because there's now an alternate dimension where everything is fine.
5 Did: Meruem (Hunter x Hunter)
Hunter x Hunter never ceases to surprise its fans. When it sets up a classic, overwhelming wall of a malevolent villain, it somehow makes them the most human and heartfelt person on the screen. Meruem is the pre-destined king of the Chimera Ants and is the ultimate culmination of all the DNA that his mother consumed.
He was a ruthless killer that went after the highest throne nearest to him and immediately made plans to enslave the human race. However, after a fateful meeting with a champion gungi player, Meruem would not only find himself attached to another living being but would also learn the limitations of his own existence. It's a wild turn that brought incredible depth to an already well-made story arc.
4 Did Not: Laxus Dreyar (Fairy Tail)
When Laxus first returned to Fairy Tail and learned of the Phantom Lords' invasion, he had a totally rational response to the situation: Hold the entire city hostage, as he launched a civil war. This would have Laxus turn several characters into stone, injure many with his thunder powers, and even laugh off the potential death of his grandfather, as he contemplated becoming the new guild master.
He would rightfully be banished, yet it was still a teary goodbye for the Fairy Tail gang, as if 5 minutes ago never happened. Even then, they took him back as if he was just on a sabbatical and would even fight alongside Fairy Tail, because of family, friendship, and other things that aren't fully explained.
3 Did: Shouya Ishida (A Silent Voice)
A Silent Voice was a gripping story about depression, differences, and the toxic culture of bullying that saw a transformative journey for its characters. The biggest journey being for Shouya Ishida, the main offender of the beginning of the movie and a stark reminder of a lot of people's snotty, childhood days.
After contemplating suicide, Shouya would try and make amends with the deaf girl that he bullied out of school when they were kids. This relationship, however, would soon save his life, as he'd not only find a new reason for living but would learn from the ground up what being a decent person is really like.
2 Did Not: Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)
What did Sasuke do to be taken back into the village? He abandoned the Hidden Leaf at a young age, assisted a terrorist and a well-known, human experimenter, and attempted a one-man war against everybody when he took his brother's backstory to an entirely different direction than what anybody was expecting.
Considering that his alliances and attitude constantly change on a dime, one would think that the Hidden Leaf would've made it a little harder to bring him back to the village instead of just giving him a leadership position. Drunk drivers need to see AA, but Sasuke got a Naruto speech about friendship.
1 Did: Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
Vegeta is one of the most iconic villains to ever go to the light side ever. Whether it be in anime or all of media, Vegeta's turn from snobby, alien royalty to fighting for his earthbound family is one of the most beloved redemption arcs.
He never really had to learn the error of his ways but instead reconstructed his edgy energy to do some good and fight against even snobbier, more evil villains. This would in turn create a healthy rivalry with Goku and garner the affection of the rest of the Z Fighters as the tsundere of the group.