Shojo has a reputation for being cute and colorful, but it still has brought audiences plenty of ruthless, sadistic, and most importantly, powerful villains. Magical girl shows have especially become known for the powerful, magical villains, but all kinds of shojo series have impressive villains too.

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Some are destroyed at the end to ensure a happy ending; others are redeemed at the end to illustrate a message of love and forgiveness. And some are still lurking in the shadows, biding their time until they get the last laugh. Regardless, they all show how strong they can be with what time they have taking on the heroes.

10 Little Witch Academia: Croix Meridies Combines Powerful Magic & Technology

Croix Meridies

In Little Witch Academia, Croix Meridies is a mysterious new teacher who has a talent for Modern Magic, which combines magic with modern technology and electronics. In truth, she is a primary villain of the story, being behind a lot of the misfortunes faced by Akko and Chariot.

She's resentful over not being the one chosen to unlock the Grand Triskellion and her great plan is shattering its seal. Effectively, she feels cheated out of the chance of becoming the world's greatest witch.

9 Pretty Cure: Joker Is Still Out There, According To The Novel

Pretty Cure Joker

In Smile Precure!, Joker is a powerful sadist who enjoys torturing others without any moral ambiguity. Already a threat with various abilities, notably creating the Bad End Pretty Cures, evil versions of the heroines, he ultimately combines with Emperor Pierrot and is vanquished by the Pretty Cure.

However, supplementary material reveals Jester survived Pierrot's defeat, having obtained his Bad Energy and effectively becoming immortal, albeit with the loss of his original body.

8 Ojamajo Doremi: Majo Tourbillon Is Even A Threat While Sleeping

Majo Tourbillion Ojamajo Doremi

In Ojamajo Doremi, Majo Tourbillon was once the lovely Queen of the Witches, until she fell in love with a human, forcing her to watch her beloved husband and son age and die in front of her. The trauma trapped her in a death-like sleep.

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Despite this state, she's still quite powerful and is especially capable of placing curses on the characters, mostly with the goal of keeping humans and witches as apart as possible.

7 Pretear: Fenrir, The Princess Of Disaster, Leads Armies Of Demons

Takkao Pretear

In Pretear, Fenrir is the Princess of Disaster, who was once a Pretear herself, turning to the dark side when her feelings weren't returned by the one she loved. She had once been sealed away but was such a powerful threat she took the lives of three of the Leafe Knights. Having escaped, she controls an array of demons, including butterflies she uses as spies. She can even get to the heroine Himeno in her dreams.

Her exact nature varies from the manga and anime. In the former, she uses Himeno's stepmother as a host. In the anime, she's able to disguise herself as a normal woman. It's also implied there was another Princess of Disaster before her.

6 Magic Knight Rayearth: Princess Emeraude Is A Powerful Pillar, No Matter What Side You Think She's On

Dark Emeraude Magic Knight Rayearth

In Magic Knight Rayearth, Princess Emeraude, the ruler and Pillar of Cephrio, is a tragic, mysterious figure. Initially appearing to be the classic damsel-in-distress, whom the heroines have to rescue from the villainous Zagato.

In truth, she isn't a prisoner at all, but is in love with Zagato, and is orchestrating everything to cause her own death. When Zagato loses his life, she is driven to the dark side, becoming an entity of pure hate.

5 Wedding Peach: Queen Rain Devila Is The Queen Of The Devil World

Wedding Peach Raindevila

In Wedding Peach, Rain Devila rules the Devil World. She had once fallen in love with an angel, who fell in love with another, giving her the strong desire to destroy love itself and kill all those who love.

Wedding Peach is known for being more lighthearted than similar shows, usually exorcising the evil out of the villains rather than killing them outright. Rain Devila is no exception: she is either redeemed or purified and placed in a sleep-like stasis, depending on the version. That said, the war she started still left a few causalities on both sides in the anime, from Uragano to Freesia.

4 Princess Tutu: Drosselmeyer Has Taken Over A Town From Beyond The Grave

Drosslemeyer Princess Tutu

In Princess Tutu, Drosselmeyer used to be an author who had the power to warp reality through his stories. The angry townspeople chopped off his hands and killed him before he could finish his story, "The Prince and the Raven." However, this didn't stop him at all.

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Somehow, from beyond the grave, he is still orchestrating events so that his story can play out as he intended, even going so far as to transform a duck into a human girl, and further into the magical girl Princess Tutu, to accomplish this goal. To make matters worse, no one said anything about him wanting the story to have a happy ending.

3 Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Kyubey Is Not The Typical Shojo Mascot

Kyubey from Madoka Magica

Granted, there is some debate about what genre Puella Magi Madoka Magica falls into, with many fans thinking of it as a seinen series "disguised" as a shojo series, but others think a dark take on a Magical Girl series is enough to count. In a world where magical girls are condemned to become the lich-like witches they fight, the true villain is none other than the cute mascot character, Kyubey.

Kyubey is an Incubator, who grants girls wishes in exchange for their souls. A hive-like creature who is one of many, it does not have emotions, but seeks to exploit those of humans'. And it ultimately gets what it wants: a contract with Madoka.

2 Kill La Kill: Ragyo Kiryuin Is A CEO, School Board Director, & Is Enhanced By Life Fibers

Ragyo Kiryuin, Kill La Kill

In Kill La Kill, Ragyo Kiryuin is a powerful threat thanks to the Life Fibers in her body, making her so powerful that she can regenerate her own head after decapitation.

Serving as Revocs Corporation's CEO, as well as a chair on Honnōji Academy's board of directors, she is known for even exploiting her own family to further her goals. It's a big reason two of the main characters don't realize they're sisters.

1 Sailor Moon: Chaos Is All The Villains Rolled In One

Sailor Moon Chaos

In the final story arc of the series, Chaos, the source of all evil, is revealed to be Sailor Moon's ultimate enemy. Depending on the version, Chaos is either sealed inside Galaxia or she is its minion.

In the manga, many of the villains from the previous story arcs are incarnations of Chaos: the sun demon Metaria, the Death Phantom, the cosmic horror Pharaoh 90, and the witch Queen Nehelenia. This means Chaos is behind all the evil threats seen throughout the story. According to Sailor Cosmos, it also reappeared in her timeline as Sailor Chaos, who was such a threat she retreated to find Sailor Moon.

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