In many anime, it isn't always as simple as labeling characters as heroes and villains. These stamps don't always do characters justice by trying to simplify a character's complexity. To many, anti-villains and antiheroes can be difficult terms to distinguish and pick out, but they represent a character's complicated personality, backstory, or conflicting ambitions.
While anti-villains are the bad guys who show heroic or admirable qualities, antiheroes are the exact opposite, often being characters who don't show these traits. They may still fight against evil, do whatever they want to either side, or they could even simply be the main focus of the show. Antiheroes come in all shapes and sizes, but some have more complexity and intrigue than others.
10 The Complexity Of Askeladd Calls His True Status Into Question
Vinland Saga
Despite the initially poor DVD sales, Vinland Saga stunned the anime world upon its release in 2019, even if the manga readers already knew how good the story was. While Vinland Saga's first season had a compelling story full of brutal fights and schemes, a character named Askeladd stole the show.
Askeladd is a rare case of a character who can be viewed as a protagonist, antagonist, anti-villain, and antihero, depending on the perspective being explored. As far as antiheroes go, Askeladd did bad and morally gray things as most Vikings did, but with the overall aim of keeping his beloved Wales safe from Viking invasion. Thorfinn viewed him as a villain, but Askeladd played for the bigger picture.
9 Satsuki Played The Role Of The Villain In Preparation To Fight The Main Evil
Kill la Kill
Kill la Kill's Satsuki Kiryuin is another example of a character who fans see as both an anti-villain and an antihero. Satsuki started as the anime's villain, with her provoking Ryuko and appearing as the antagonistic president of Honnoji Academy's Student Council. She even claimed responsibility for the death of Ryuko's father. This was a lie.
In fact, Satsuki was only playing the part of villain for the first half, later revealing that it was all done to raise an army in preparation for fighting her mother, Ragyo. People view her as anti-villain, but as she was not truly the villain of the piece, her approach is clearly that of an antihero.
8 Vengeance Led Sasuke Down A Dark Path
Naruto
Another character who almost creates a separate category for themselves is Sasuke from Naruto. Sasuke was taken on a dark path through a thirst for vengeance against his brother Itachi, who was believed to have wiped out their entire Uchiha clan.
However, after Itachi died, Sasuke struggled with the revelation that Itachi had actually made a grave sacrifice. He was not the monster Sasuke believed him to be. Sasuke appeared lost, becoming colder and more antagonistic over time. Sasuke toed the line of villain and antihero, with the latter being a better way of summing up many of his misguided actions.
7 Lelouch Had To Paint Himself A Villain To Atone For His Sins & Achieve World Peace
Code Geass
Code Geass' Lelouch vi Brittania, or Lamperouge, is one of the best examples of a complicated anime antihero. Lelouch was a Britannian prince who would ultimately come to fight against his family after being betrayed and exiled. When granted the power of the Geass, Lelouch had an ultimate power to command others to bend to his will, a morally-gray power if ever there was one.
At the end of the day, Lelouch wanted to create a better world for those he loved, and this took him to some dark places to achieve it. He left death and destruction in his wake, from Euphemia to the residents of the Geass Order. In the end, he devised the Zero Requiem, a plan to paint himself as the outright villain. He even died as a means to achieve a peaceful world for everybody else.
6 Revy's Affinity For Violence Was Molded By A Rough Childhood
Black Lagoon
As Black Lagoon followed a band of pirate mercenaries, it's safe to assume that they bordered on the villain and antihero line simply by their occupation alone — yet Revy pushed that line further. Revy was the gunfighter for The Lagoon Company, and quickly became a fan favorite with her fighting skills and her rude personality.
From foul language and showing glee in killing, Revy would have been viewed as a villain from some perspectives if not for her protagonist role in Black Lagoon. Revy was molded by a traumatic past with an abusive father who she ended up killing.
5 Caiman Does Whatever It Takes To Uncover The Truth
Dorohedoro
Most of the characters in Dorohedoro are likable, which immediately complicates how the audience is supposed to view them. While En's crew can all be seen as anti-villains, Nikaido and Caiman may be seen as antiheroes. In Caiman's case, he is the main protagonist — a lazy and selfish human with a lizard head whose hatred of Sorcerers drives him to figure out who cursed him.
Caiman is kind to those he likes, even if he doesn't necessarily show it. Yet it's his rudeness and affinity for mindless violence that can blur the lines of his morality. Caiman shows Sorcerers very little mercy, regardless of their innocence, and is not above slaughtering them all if it helps him catch the one who cursed him.
4 Endeavor Will Forever Be Marked By His Past Behavior
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is all about its heroes versus villains, but sometimes the lines are blurred. There are two main cases of antiheroes through personality traits that are gradually softened over time: Bakugo and Endeavor. While Bakugo's rude and aggressive personality is straightforward, Enji Todoroki, or Endeavor, has a more complex depth to him.
Everything Endeavor did was with the view of surpassing his rival All Might and nothing more. He would still perform his heroic duties, but rarely with a selflessness befitting a hero. Enji's family resented him, and he later faced an uphill battle redeeming himself. Since becoming the Number One hero, Endeavor has begun to change his ways, but he'll always be scarred by his past transgressions.
3 Eren's Anger & Hatred Have Blurred The Lines Of His True Status
Attack On Titan
Eren Yeager blurs the lines of good and evil in Attack on Titan. He started as the hot-headed protagonist, hellbent on destroying the Titans for killing his mother and tearing his life apart. This anger quickly turned to defiance and arrogance, and many found Eren unlikable the more he grew.
Attack on Titan's major four-year time skip revealed a much colder and more dangerous Eren. His anger towards Titans had grown into a rage that wanted to cleanse most of the world. Eren's actions became villainous in appearance, as he had to go a morally gray route to ensure the end to all the chaos.
2 Light Yagami's God Complex & Initial Quest For Justice Quickly Descended Into Absurdity
Death Note
Released back in 2006, Death Note is still one of the most popular anime to this day. It quickly hooks its viewers with its unique perspectives on characters and whether they should be perceived as good or evil. Light Yagami was the protagonist, but his god complex and the direction he took saw him toe the line between antihero and outright villain.
When Light first got the Death Note, he used it to kill bad guys. Eventually, his definition of "bad guys" became muddied, and he got carried away. Light descended into villainy, but as the main character, he still believed he was delivering rightful justice — even though any semblance of his old personality and good qualities had long since faded away.
1 Kiritsugu Would Do Anything To Fulfill His Promise Of A Peaceful World
Fate/Zero
Fate/Zero is a dark and gritty anime, with Kiritsugu Emiya arguably being the best depiction of its intense themes. Kiritsugu started with a naive optimism for a peaceful world, but was sent down a dark path to achieve it when he killed his father for causing an outbreak in their village. Kiritsugu was molded by his past trauma and the promise of becoming a hero, made to his deceased friend Shirley.
He was forced to make impossible decisions and sacrifice lives for the greater good, no matter what others thought of him as a result. Kiritsugu sought the Holy Grail as a means to save humanity, but he tunneled on his ideals to the point of delusion. He would clash with Saber on multiple occasions due to their contrasting natures. Saber was heroic and honorable, while Kiritsugu was cold and burdened by what he had to do.