A villain's conviction can be a fascinating thing to study and unpack. Anyone can be bad or do bad things, that part is easy, but the villains who are willing to die to see their cause through are something else entirely. However, not all villains can have such strong commitment. Some fear the threat of death versus a blow to their pride, choosing to surrender and live to fight another day.
Anime is full of varied and unique villains, both bold and less so. What is surprising about the latter is that some of those villains can even be on the stronger side of the respective series.
10 Kamoshida's Shadow Surrendered To The Phantom Thieves Pretty Quickly (Persona 5: The Animation)
Persona 5's Suguru Kamoshida is a lustful, arrogant, and cruel man who derives enjoyment from abusing his students in various ways. As the first target of the Phantom Thieves, Kamoshida's Shadow puts up a fight as the gang tries to steal his heart in the palace of his own creation. They succeed, though Kamoshida's Shadow was quick to give up before that.
Face to face with an enraged Ann, Kamoshida's Shadow immediately starts begging to be forgiven out of fear that she'll actually kill him. After being spared, Shadow Kamoshida gives up his treasure willingly and vows that his other self will atone in the real world.
9 Clementine's Sadism And Arrogance Were No Match For Ainz Ooal Gown (Overlord)
Psychopathic, sadistic, and overconfident were some of the words that best described Clementine from Overlord. Clementine's favorite pastime was to torture others, especially adventurers whose medals she stole and draped herself in. However, her luck ran out after clashing with Ainz Ooal Gown.
Not even able to scratch the undead mage, Clementine is forced to suffer a cruel, slow death as she desperately struggled to get free. Despite all her boasting, Clementine's true nature at this moment was revealed to be cowardly. She picked on the weak because it was easy. If she knew how strong Ainz really was, she would've run away in a heartbeat.
8 Most Of The Lower Moons Were Killed For Their Weakness And Cowardice (Demon Slayer)
The Twelve Kizuki from Demon Slayer was Muzan Kibutsuji's elite guard, an organization of the strongest demons in the world. Despite such strength and pedigree, not all of Muzan's underlings were worth keeping around and he had no qualms with cleaning house if he had to. Such was the fate of most of the lower moons.
Deeming them all as too weak, each of the lower moons knew they had no chance in a fight against their master. Each tried their hardest to escape with their lives. Begging, running, even groveling before Muzan. All the lower moons were wiped out without mercy.
7 Steely Dan Begged For Mercy As Soon As His Plan Failed (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
Dio sent a lot of Stand Users after Jotaro and friends during part three of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Some of them would fight head-on, but Steely Dan took a different approach by using his Stand, Lovers, to hold Joseph hostage and abuse Jotaro for his own amusement. Unfortunately for him, the Joestar gang pulled through and payback was fast approaching.
Steely Dan surrenders to Jotaro twice only to try and fail to backstab him both times, reducing him to a cowardly mess. Despite his pleas to pay him back, Jotaro wasn't interested in his money and ends up giving him one brutal beatdown with Star Platinum.
6 Eruka Frog Is A Runner, Not A Fighter (Soul Eater)
There's something to be said about biting off more than one can chew, something the witch Eruka Frog from Soul Eater learned quickly. Eruka originally plotted to kill Medusa, but after watching the eldest Mizune sister get ripped apart, she went on to work for her out of fear of death.
Eruka talks a big game. When she realizes that she's outmatched, she runs for the hills and only sticks around when that ends up failing. It's pretty clear if the choices are between fight or flight, Eruka will pick flight every time.
5 Shinji Matou, A Pathetic Excuse For A Master (Fate Series)
There have been many different individuals who've participated in Fate's Holy Grail War. While some fight out of conviction for their cause, others like Shinji Matou do it for more selfish reasons. Due to his inability to actually use magic, Shinji is the weakest participant and ends up borrowing other people's servants, such as Rider and Gilgamesh, to stay in the fight.
No matter what timeline it is, Shinji's undoing is a result of his pride. On top of being abusive and overconfident, he's also a coward. He gives up and runs whenever the first sign of trouble shows itself, which often results in his demise.
4 Mr. 3 Is An Opportunistic Coward Too Afraid To Fight (One Piece)
Sometimes brains can beat brawn, something that Galdino (aka Mr. 3) from One Piece would believe he's capable of. Due to his intelligence, Mr. 3 obtained a decently high rank within Baroque Works, despite the fact that some of his colleagues were stronger than him. Unfortunately for him, anytime Mr. 3 had to get his hands dirty himself, he flinched.
While he may be quick to try to turn people into wax statues, Mr. 3 is too afraid to fight for himself. If the opportunity arises, he'll jump ship to keep himself safe. He even joins Buggy later on. While he's less of a coward in this instance, he's still quick to suggest options that ensure self-preservation.
3 Sugou Acts Tough, But Instantly Crumbles When He's Lost The Advantage (Sword Art Online)
Sugou Nobuyuki is one of Sword Art Online's more infamous villains. He has a disgusting sense of greed, self-aggrandizing, and entitlement that he lorded through his position with RECT Inc. and his invincible avatar, Oberon. As Oberon, Sugou had admin privileges in ALfheim Online and could cheat the system in order to thrash Kirito around and abuse Asuna. However, he was only hiding behind them.
Completely shattered by Kirito beating him in ALO, Sugou tried an underhanded approach by trying to kill him in the real world. He was, once again, overpowered. In both fights, Sugou loses his advantage and is reduced to someone who's afraid to die.
2 Myne Will Say And Do Anything To Save Her Own Skin (The Rising Of The Shield Hero)
As early as the very first episode of The Rising Of The Shield Hero, Myne established herself as a self-centered liar and schemer. After betraying Naofumi, Myne took any and all opportunities to make his life miserable. She even tried to seize the throne from her sister, willing to say and do anything to get her way.
Luckily, her bad deeds had consequences and she was put on trial and sentenced to death. Despite having all her lies exposed, Myne still tried to talk her way out of this. She begged anyone in the hopes that they'd save her. She even swallowed her own pride and begged Naofumi to step in after all she did.
1 Frieza Isn't Above Begging For His Life (Dragon Ball)
Dragon Ball's Frieza was once a villain that was unchallenged and feared by all, with an empire that spanned galaxies. It came crashing down when his worst fear finally showed itself to him on Namek, the Super Saiyan. Despite his best efforts, Frieza was utterly beaten by the newly empowered Super Saiyan Goku, and on the verge of death after being sliced by his own attack.
Frieza actually begged Goku. He showed that, for all his pride, Frieza isn't above pleading for mercy from his enemies in order to survive. Even though Goku did save him, Frieza tries to use this opportunity to kill his savior only to be killed in the process.