The best villains are the ones with the most terrifying powers and sinister plans. Evil-doers with that type of strength in their character are the ones that cause the life-changing devastation within a series. Villains like Thanos and Darkseid are known for things like this and leave a mark in a story that fans will remember.
But what’s even more impressive than a villain that causes mass destruction is one that can bring about worldwide salvation. Shocking, right? Whether it's on purpose or by accident, even some of the most heinous antagonists can save humanity. And anime has villains like this in spades. These are anime villains who at some point in their lives saved society, humanity or even the whole world.
10 Stain - My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia has grown bigger and bigger in its popularity. So those that know the anime will definitely know Stain. With this hero killer on the scene, crime rate deceased and heroes became more vigilant and responsible. Even so, that did not stop Midoriya and his classmates from having to take the anti-hero down.
Stain was a murderer, yes, but there is no denying the fact that in his last moments of consciousness, he stepped up to save Midoriya, the boy who would become the world’s greatest hero, from being kidnapped. Since it is unknown what would have happened if Midoriya’s kidnapping was successful, in a way Stain did save the future of the superhero society.
9 Light Yagami - Death Note
Keep in mind that not all villains are the antagonists of the story, take Light Yagami for example. In Death Note, Light is a young genius that stumbled upon incredible power. Light decided to use that power to rid the world of crime and evil. This doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that his plan is to pass judgment on bad guys of all crimes whether they're in jail or not.
During this crusade, Light did a lot of horrible things himself like manipulating women, killing off FBI agents and sentencing genius detective, L, to his death. Even with Light’s wrongdoings, he did manage to lower the crime rate, save innocents and gain support from citizens around the world.
8 Orochimaru - Naruto: Shippuden
Orochimaru has been a thorn in the side of the Leaf Village for a very long time. His list of heinous acts goes from killing the Third Hokage to sacrificing followers that trusted and supported him. Due to the evil sannin’s curiosity and greed, Orochimaru also committed a great taboo: creating the reanimation Jutsu.
Everything Orochimaru did was against what it means to be a ninja. However, who would have thought that Orochimaru’s experiment would have ended up helping to save the ninja world. Without Orochimaru creating the reanimation technique, characters like Itachi, Minato and Hashirama would have never been brought back to life to assist and help make Naruto and Sasuke stronger.
7 Kyubey - Puella Magi Madoka Magica
It’s a hard concept to wrap one’s head around but sometimes the reason a person does something incredibly cruel is because it is the logical thing to do. This is how Kyubey thinks anyway. Kyubey offers adolescent females the chance to become “magical girls” by granting them a wish. The dark twist, however, is that all magical girls will eventually become witches.
So what’s the point? Kyubey revealed that he is known as an Incubator and finds girls willing to become magical girls and defeat witches because witches release a powerful energy that can be used to prevent the destruction of the universe. Kyubey’s actions may seem deceptive but the emotionless Incubator is saving the entire universe one sacrifice at a time.
6 Obito Uchiha - Naruto: Shippuden
After coming so close to death, Obito healed from his injuries only to witness his best friend, Kakashi, kill his first love, Rin. From there, Obito was convinced that the world was only filled with suffering and despair. However, to finally put an end to this pain, Obito had a goal that he wanted to achieve by any means necessary.
To do this, Obito went down a road of evil from forming the Akatsuki to starting the Fourth Great Ninja War. However, after meeting Naruto, Obito had a change of heart. To atonement for his sins, Obito passed on what power he had left to Kakashi and sacrificed his life in order to save the world.
5 Maou Sadao - The Devil is a Part-Timer!
In a world known as Ente Isla, there was a demon lord known as Satan Jacob who terrorized the lands. However, Satan was on the brink of defeat when the hero warrior, Emilia, and the human army marched towards his territory. Forced to retreat, Satan was transported to Tokyo, Japan and lived as a human named Maou Sadao.
During Satan’s days as demon lord of Ente Isla, he attacked and slaughtered many humans. However, as Maou in a new world, he found a new purpose and worked to protect the people of Tokyo. When the fallen angel, Sariel, attacks his city, Maou stepped in to stop the carnage. Maou still has a goal to conquer the new world he is in but does so at a slower, less harmful pace starting with being a part-time employee.
4 Accelerator - A Certain Scientific Accelerator
Accelerator first appeared as a major antagonist in A Certain Magical Index. However, after getting defeated by Kamijou Touma, Accelerator took center stage in A Certain Scientific Accelerator. His defeat brought about a change in Accelerator that lessened his aggressive behavior. However, he still had his arrogant and sadistic personality which causes him to defeat his enemies in ways most amusing to him.
Even with his cruelty, Accelerator now lives to protect the Misaka clones that he once sought to kill. By doing so, Accelerator gets wrapped up in a mission to save the city from an insane necromancer named Isaac.
3 Sasuke Uchiha - Naruto: Shippuden
Believe it or not, the Naruto series is filled with villains that would eventually do something good in the end. Sasuke Uchiha, friend of Naruto, didn't start out bad, but after being promised stronger power by Orochimaru, the Uchiha decided to go down a darker path.
On this path, Sasuke attacked at the Five Kage Summit, joined the Akatsuki and killed the temporary Hokage, Danzo. Sasuke's final mission, after finding out the truth about his brother, was to destroy the Leaf Village. Even though the rogue ninja's anger is justified, he still planned to kill hundreds of innocent people. However, with the rise of Kaguya, Sasuke's mission was put off and he was forced to team up with Naruto to defeat the Mother of Chakra and save the ninja world.
2 Yuya Mirokuji - Re:Creators
Okay, this one is a little meta. Yuya Mirokuji is a gang boss in a fictional manga called Lockout Ward Underground - Dark Night. In his world, he is an antagonist accused of killing his friend's sister. He is an aggressive hothead that likes to fight. However, when he is transported to the real world along with other iconic fictional characters like Selesia and Meteora, he fights the battle against Altair who seeks to destroy the real world.
All of the fictional characters, along with the normal humans they meet, are ultimately able to stop her and return all the creations to their respective worlds.
1 Beerus - Dragon Ball Z
Peace never lasts forever and the world of Dragon Ball seems to have it super rough. The one and only Frieza made a dramatic return to Earth for revenge. However, Frieza's revenge ends in defeat, but just before Vegeta delivers the final blow, the evil lord used the last of his strength to destroy the Earth.
Now how exactly does the God of Destruction, Beerus, save the world? By simply asking his teacher and attendant, Whis, to rewind time giving the Z fighters a second chance. So in a way the powerful god of Universe 7 that once threatened to destroy the Earth himself ending up saving it. Not out of the goodness of his heart by the way, but because no Earth means no more human sweets and desserts.