There are several ways that a villain can interact with the rest of the characters in a story. Typically, anime villains are proactive rather than reactive. When a villain is proactive, they do things to provoke the stories' heroes.
These provocations could be direct, such as initiating a head-on attack. They could also be indirect, sending out their subordinates day after day in an attempt to break the heroes' spirits. These proactive villains drive the story and create exciting plot points. These anime villains are always forceful, bold, and demanding in their plight to achieve whatever diabolical goals they have planned.
10 Meruem Reigns Over The Chimera Ants
Meruem from Hunter X Hunter was the main antagonist of the Chimera Ants arc. As the son of the Queen of the Chimera Ants, her intentions shine through in Meruem's ruthless personality. She intended to create the perfect offspring and Meruem certainly has a holier-than-thou mentality as a result.
Mereum is a cruel leader who believes that he is objectively superior to all other lifeforms. He even participates in cannibalism, consuming any subordinate who disobeys him. Meruem's goal was to successfully become king of the entire world, not just the Chimera Ants.
9 Lelouch Commits Atrocities In His Attempt At Retribution
Lelouch vi Britannia from Code Geass was horrified by the actions of Britannia and promised to get retribution for their atrocities. Lelouch ends up committing a laundry list of reprehensible acts in his conquest against Britannia, including treason, vigilantism, mass murder, and ultimate destruction.
Lelouch also formed his own army, which he used to destroy Britannia and Japan. Though he initially wanted to bring down Britannia to avenge his mother and create an ideal world, he ended up going mad with power.
8 Immortality Wasn't Enough For Muzan
Muzan Kibutsuji from Demon Slayer is the first of his kind — the very first demon to roam the earth. He can inject humans with venom that turns them into demons. He leads the Twelve Kizuki, a group of the strongest demons who are his direct subordinates. As a result of his birth, he cursed the Ubuyashiki family to an eternity of illness as karma for giving birth to the "original demon."
Muzan himself has an ailment and it's because of the physician who tried to cure him with special medicine that he was granted immortality. However, he killed the physician before administering the final dose of treatment — medicine from a blue spider lily. Ultimately, he created this army of demons to acquire this flower and become the superior lifeform.
7 Tetta Kisaki Is The Reason Why Takemichi Even Has To Time Travel In The First Place
Tetta Kisaki from Tokyo Revengers doesn't look like much at first. Initially, he's just a minor antagonist who gets in the way of Takemichi's goals. However, as the story progresses, it's clear that he's the overarching villain of the story. His methods of achieving his goals are subtle, but they drive the plot. Kisaki is charismatic but brutal. He rules Toman with an iron fist.
Kisaki's goal is to become the leader of the Tokyo Manji Gang. By extension, he wants to destroy everything Mikey cares about. Eventually, it's revealed that he is obsessed with Hinata, who Takemichi time travels to save. Kisaki felt rejected by Hinata, so he opted to kill her for rejecting him and falling for Takemichi. Kisaki is the entire reason why Takemichi has to time travel in the first place so he could save Hinata, but this twist was one that no one was expecting.
6 Makima Strung Denji Along So She Could Achieve Her Goals
Makima isn't a proactive villain in the way that most would expect. She presents her motives in a way that isn't flashy and straightforward, but she is a proactive villain because her behaviors accelerated the overall plot. In Chainsaw Man, Makima strings Denji along with the prospects of a relationship — but she hides the fact that she's the Control Devil from him the entire time.
Makima is only interested in Denji because the Chainsaw Devil, Pochita, took residence in his heart. She merely uses Denji as a tool to create mass destruction so Makima could make way for her brand-new, ideal world.
5 Mahito Wants To Exterminate Humanity
Mahito from Jujutsu Kaisen is often described as an immature Cursed Spirit. While this is certainly true, Mahito is nonetheless terrifying. In lockstep with the rest of his group, his goal is to exterminate all of humanity and repopulate the planet with Cursed Spirits.
Mahito is sadistic: he performs numerous experiments on humans using his Idle Transfiguration. When he met Junpei, he casually talked about crushing humans to see how small they could get and forcefully stretching them to see how large he could make them. Mahito also murdered Junpei after preying on his vulnerable mind. Mahito made Junpei feel like he had a place in the world, but then murdered him once he got bored. This led to Yuji Itadori feeling genuinely homicidal for the first time in his life because of how atrocious Mahito's actions were.
4 Acnologia Dreams Of Death & Destruction
Acnologia from Fairy Tail has very straightforward goals: destroying everything, murdering all the dragons as retribution for the death of his family, and killing every dragon slayer. Acnologia's existence is cataclysmic. Other dragons are willing to cooperate and coexist with humans, but Acnologia is the opposite. Acnologia only sees humans as pests that should be swatted away.
Acnologia is proactive in his goal of destroying everything he despises. He is ruthless towards anyone who tries to impede his path. Once, he even decimated a village because they offered food to dragons. Acnologia never tried to remain in the shadows, nor did he try to hide his intentions.
3 Light Yagami Was Steadfast In His Goal Of Becoming God Of The New World
Light Yagami from Death Note is a unique case. He's undeniably a villain who committed numerous atrocities, yet the entire narrative of Death Note is told from his perspective. Light Yagami picked up a Death Note one fateful day and became a crazed megalomaniac who deemed himself worthy of becoming god.
Light Yagami was steadfast in his goal of becoming the god of the new world. As soon as he started killing off criminals, he realized how much power he held with this notebook and a pen. Eventually, it wasn't just criminals he was killing. Light started killing off people just for getting in his way — even his own father.
2 Tomura Shigaraki Wants To Decimate Hero Society
My Hero Academia's Tomura Shigaraki has perhaps had one of the most interesting character developments in the series. At first, he lacked conviction and acted purely as a subordinate as All For One. However, Shigaraki realized his goal was to destroy everything that didn't serve him — including society itself.
After becoming the grand commander of the Paranormal Liberation Front, Shigaraki was presented with brand-new resources and methods of mass destruction. Shigaraki realizes that society has rejected those with quirks that aren't marketable for the general public and that is his conviction for wanting to decimate hero society as a whole.
1 Nearly Everything In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Is Dio's Fault
Dio Brando from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is the overarching antagonist of the series. Though he is only physically present during Phantom Blood and Stardust Crusaders, his impact and role extend throughout the story. In Phantom Blood, Dio was Jonathan's adoptive brother. He infiltrated the Joestar mansion and made Jonathan's life a living hell in his attempt to take over the family. Then, he found the stone mask and realized the potential for world domination because of immortality.
In Stardust Crusaders, Dio wields the all-powerful Stand, The World. During this part, he sends his subordinates out one by one to attack the Joestar gang before they reach his Egyptian mansion. Though Jotaro defeated him, his legacy carries on posthumously. Nearly everything in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure can be traced back to Dio. During Stone Ocean, it's revealed that his ultimate goal was to achieve heaven — which indirectly caused the universal reset.