Monster was the suspense/thriller anime that took the community by storm during the mid-2000s. Adapted from the Naoki Urasawa mang of the same name, the story focused on a conflicted Dr. Tenma reuniting with a young boy he once saved years ago, only he has since become a conspiring, mass murderer. Tenma hunts the streets of Europe, looking for the boy and a means of finding peace or solace in his actions, all while evading police, who believe Tenma is the serial killer.

In a world where some of the best thrillers in anime are quick-paced, supernatural or horror pieces, like Death Note or Another, it's refreshing to find a series so content with the slow yet ever too intimate horrors of the human mind. And what better way to explore that existential horror than with the series' leading villain, Johan Liebert? A genetic product and ill-nurtured heir of the fascist regime, he leads through the series a campaign of destruction in an effort to leave no one alive who's ever met him. Across the series, a number of Johan Liebert quotes stand out, displaying a truly horrifying look inside a monstrous mind distorted by evil.

12 "How Weak The Mind When It Wants To Forget."

How weak the mind when it wants to forget. Maybe you didn't forget. Maybe you're just lying. Is it a lie you tell to everyone around you or perhaps a lie you tell to yourself?

As much of a nihilist as Johan is, there is a part of him, namely his childhood years, that vied for a sense of authenticity or, at least, escape from a world that was constantly trying to experiment with or constrain he and his sister, Anna. Such a struggle to identify between what is real and fake manifests in his adult years as a struggle to identify what is the genuine moral self, whether that's a true product of the self or a byproduct of society's preconceptions. This is especially troubling during times of great stress, when the mind will try to rewrite memories and even one's entire memories for an easier world view.

11 "There’s Nothing Special About Being Born."

There’s nothing special about being born. Not a thing. Most of the universe is just death, nothing more. In this universe of ours, the birth of a new life on some corner of our planet is nothing but a tiny, insignificant flash. Death is a normal thing. So why live?

Johan takes a very far step back here, as he observes the significance of human life from the furthest distance possible. As impersonal and distant as a privileged ruler is over an impoverished society, Johan is someone who outright looks away from the more intimate, personal, and emotional values of life. Looking as far back in the scope as he is, what is the value of any life within the seemingly endless expanse of the universe, an endless darkness filled with much larger things than a human being.

10 "I Saw Hell Right There In His Eyes."

I saw hell right there in his eyes. Hell, in the eyes of a living human being.

Whenever Johan does get the chance to look in the eyes of society, his victims, the generally disenfranchised, unfortunate, and misfortuned, he can only see and experience fear and misery. Johan's entire thoughts on the human form are of weakness and vulnerability thrust into an indifferent and ever painful world. That is to say, in the eyes of the humanity that he perceives, the idea and living of Hell is something manifested from a cruel reality, i.e. existence itself.

9 "Only One Thing Is Equal For All, And That Is Death."

For you, all lives are created equal. That's why I came back to life. But you've finally come to realize it now, haven't you? Only one thing is equal for all, and that is death.

Dr. Tenma's character as a whole is truly a man of his profession, trying to save lives and do no harm. However, when the very life that he saves directly seeks to wreak harm, the question arises of whether that life truly deserved to exist. Johan, in this instance, is shoving that very crisis right in Tenma's face, as he posits what true equality for humanity is, given that his being represents the potential of life also becoming the potential end of life. If Johan truly needs to die, then equality is not of that potential but of the inevitability of death.

8 "Almost Everything In This World Is Meant To Die."

Being born really isn't that uncommon... Almost everything in this world is meant to die. In this world, a life born is nothing more than an insignificant speck, and shouldn't even be counted as an existence. Death is natural.

Building from the same token as before, Johan is reflecting on how special the creation of life is. As much of a miracle as people would like it to be, the fact that it happens as frequently as it does, resulting in the populations that it does, really waters down the sanctity of life, especially in comparison to how those great numbers still compare with a wider, more significant existence.

7 "The Big Secret To Breaking The Rules Is To Make It Look As Though You're Following Them."

The big secret to breaking the rules is to make it look as though you're following them.

How else does one prove that there is a broken society than by slipping through the cracks himself? One of the best parts of Johan's character was the fact that he didn't have those immediately identifiable characteristics of villainy found in Disney films or children's books. In reality, the true villains of life are those walking side by side everyone in a crowd, no more suspecting than the Average Joe. It is when a villain embraces that being that they are at the greatest liberty to break the rules as they please.

6 "Do You Think Your Sin Will Disappear If You Lie?"

Do you think your sin will disappear if you lie?

Johan is at his most sadistic and painful when confronting the wrongs and inner demons of others. The world of Monster is one of ethical and moral ambiguity, where no person is free of pain or sin. However, there is this social, systemic tendency among society to dress its mistakes and misfortunes as they were something else.

This ties back to Johan's own struggle with identity and reality when displaced in a world trying to reshape people for cruel ends. Having been born and trying to escape from the lie, Johan subsequently becomes an expert in lies.

5 "Tell Me, What Do You Think Is The Ultimate Fear?"

Tell me, what do you think is the ultimate fear? I really thought that I'd already reached the darkest of the dark, but then, ahead of me, I beheld a darkness even greater still.

The world is full of seemingly endless pain and darkness. Johan is the byproduct of various systemic abuse, whether that's by experimentation, the emotional abuse of family, or even that of a hidden Nazi conspiracy. In a world where everything really can get worse, Johan becomes the deep-sea explorer traversing the furthest depths. With someone as distant of a view of human life, Johan is trying to assess here the value of human values and what some fears could mean to greater ones.

4 "Hatred Is Created When People Gather."

Hatred is created when people gather. I just poured a little oil on it.

For reference, Johan is talking about how he started a child uprising in his old orphanage/fascist experimentation camp, Kinderheim 511. Hatred can only be born as a result of the existence of other people and the tension and prejudice that they bring. From there, all it takes is a little motivation, a push to get those same people to act on their inner repulsion. Even with children, this antithetical social norm is incredibly volatile, showing no one is free of that prejudice and that no one is safe from the hatred.

3 "But You Know, The Hard Part Comes After You Conquer The World."

But you know, the hard part comes after you conquer the world.

The people who created the Monster Johan became wanted more than anything for him to become the next Adolf Hitler. The problem with that was Johan had no interest in conquering the world or catering to their agenda. They all believed it would be so easy, but the hardest part would be handling the world once they'd conquered it, and Johan understood that very well.

2 "I Woke Up From The Dream."

I woke up from the dream. There were so many visions I had of the end, but now I'm picturing a different ending altogether; a clearer vision of the true ending.

Johan's ultimate goal was to erase himself from existence. In order to do that, he needed to kill everyone who'd ever met him, and then kill himself. His vision of a true ending would at long last bring his lifelong suffering to a close, and there would be no one left alive who'd witnessed any of it. It took a long time for his true goal to emerge, and the unfortunate number of people he killed along the way were little more than roadblocks on his journey to nonexistence.

1 "The End? What Is The End?"

The end? What is the end...I've seen the end many times. What is the end?

Johan's entire being throughout Monster, whether that's making children fight one another or trapping a bunch of people in a library fire, is that of an explorer or a philosopher trying to shred the mystery of life down to its bare essentials. He wants to identify the base form and purpose of being. For Johan, a destructive and warped childhood lead him to venture down a path of torture and death, trying to identify what is the worst that humanity can take until it kills itself or, at least, him. For someone who has faced "the end" several times, what that ultimate evil or destruction can be is truly a mystery to him.