Villains, or antagonists, are incorporated in stories as an opposition to the hero, or protagonist. Their motives are evil or devious, but they help to push the story along. There are many reasons why people become villains—some are good and others are bad. Whatever the reason, villains cause havoc and chaos wherever they go.

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Some villains are quite popular and are widely known, like Sosuke Aizen from Bleach, Shougo Makishima from Psycho-Pass, or Madara Uchiha from Naruto. However, there are some villains who are underrated but also just as powerful and devious as the more popular or well-known villains in anime.

10 Legato Bluesummers Taunts & Manipulates His Victims (Trigun)

Anime Legato bluesummers trigun

Legato Bluesummers is one of the main antagonists in Trigun. His main goal is to ensure that Vash the Stampede, the main protagonist, spends a lifetime enduring pain. With the help of Vash’s twin brother, who happens to be the main antagonist, Legato's role makes for an incredibly interesting story.

Legato has the ability to manipulate people’s minds and can make them do anything he wants against their will. He acquired his arm from Vash and often taunts the protagonist by licking the obtained hands. He’s creepy, sadistic, and knows how to manipulate people to get what he and Knives want.

9 Kyubey Created A Vicious Cycle To Harvest Souls (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Kyubey glowing red eyes Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Kyubey is one of the most unsuspecting villains in anime. He’s cute and adorable and appears to help the Magic Girls—but that’s not the case at all. Kyubey grants girls one wish if they become a Magic Girl to stop Witches.

What he doesn’t tell them, however, is that if they fall into darkness, they become Witches. When that happens, Kyubey will find new girls to become Magic Girls, and the cycle repeats. He’s detached, devious, and doesn’t care about anything but harvesting souls to save the universe.

8 Mad Pierrot Is A Twisted Assassin Who Survived Experiments To Make Him Superhuman (Cowboy Bebop)

Mad Pierrot

Mad Pierrot is an escaped science experiment in Cowboy Bebop. He was a regular man before the experiments performed on him drove him mad. He eventually becomes an assassin who will kill anyone he deems necessary. In addition, the experiments that he endured caused him to have a child-like state of mind, which explains his childish behavior.

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He has superhuman abilities and uses each one to commit horrible crimes. His goal is to kill the high-ranking officials who authorized the experiments that were performed on him, but he has no problems with killing anyone who sees him.

7 Kabuto Yakushi Was The Mastermind Behind The Psychological Torture During The Fourth Shinobi War (Naruto)

Kabuto Shows Hints Of His Evil

Kabuto was a villain who became a spy while creating and working on his own devious plans. He was superb at gathering intelligence and highly valued by Orochimaru for his medical skills and knowledge.

When it came to making a name for himself, he branched out and performed many experiments on himself to grow stronger. This resulted in his physical transformations. He was also the mastermind behind the Reincarnation jutsu during the Fourth Shinobi War that caused mass destruction and psychological torment.

6 Char Aznable Put On A Charming & Charismatic Facade (Mobile Suit Gundam)

Anime Mobile Suit Gundam Char Aznable Worried

Char Aznable is one of the main antagonists in Mobile Suit Gundam. What makes this villain so unique and underrated is that viewers don’t expect him to be so evil. He’s charismatic, charming, brilliant, and a natural-born leader.

It’s because he’s so charming and charismatic that he’s able to get people to do what he wants. Underneath that lovely façade, though, is a man who would do anything for revenge and someone who holds grudges until the end of time. He was willing to kill an entire family for killing his dad.

5 Misogi Kumagawa Was An Underdog Who Sought Revenge & Loved To Kill (Medaka Box)

Misogi Kumagawa smiling in Medaka Box.

Misogi Kumagawa was the leader of the Student Council who opposed Medaka Kurokami. He was also one of the antagonists in this anime and what would be called an underdog villain. He was so weak that he was defeated by everyone. However, it was because of this that he grew stronger.

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As he lost a lot, he grew to hate people who were strong and sought to defeat them. But that’s not all. He wanted to kill every human on Earth. He was twisted, dark, and enjoyed killing people. He even did it with a smile.

4 Johan Liebert Has The Face Of An Angel But Is Sadistic & Cruel To His Core (Monster)

Johan Liebert from Monster

Johan Liebert has the face of an angel and the soul of the devil. He is quite literally the monster in this appropriately named anime series. He’s a sadistic serial killer who wants to be the sole survivor on Earth and cause the collapse of the human race.

He’s intelligent, charismatic, knowledgeable, and an expert at manipulating people to get what he wants. He enjoys not only killing others but also shattering their innocence and willpower until there is nothing left.

3 Me-Mania Stalks & Preys On A Woman He Is Obsessed With (Perfect Blue)

Anime perfect blue stalker close up Cropped

Me-Mania, or Mamoru Uchida, is a creepy antagonist everyone is afraid of. He’s obsessive and crude, often referred to as a freak or a weirdo by the other characters in Perfect Blue. When he met Mima, the main protagonist, he became obsessive and possessive.

He stalked her and sent her agent a small bomb in the mail. Me-Mania had no problem with physically, verbally, or sexually abusing people, proving that he was beyond twisted.

2 King Hamdo Went To Extreme Measures To Build His Army (Now & Then, Here & There)

King Hamdo Yells At His Subjects

King Hamdo, or the Mad King, is a disgusting and despicable main antagonist in Now & Then, Here & There. The Mad King is childish and twisted, spreading fear and cruelty across the lands, even though he says he only wants peace.

He invades villages, takes their men for soldiers in his army, and encourages the sexual abuse of women. King Hamdo has no problem with abusing people or animals as long as he gets his way.

1 Akio Ohtori Likes Dominance & Control Over Everyone (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

Akio Ohtori Revolutionary Girl Utena

Akio Ohtori was the chairman of Ohtori Academy and the main antagonist of Revolutionary Girl Utena. What made this villain so different was that he was a God Prince but gave it up for human pleasure. What made this worse, though, was that his intended punishment went to his sister.

This former prince loved control and dominance. It was something that he had to have over everyone and everything. He enjoyed seducing and abusing his family and would do just about anything to keep his power over people.

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