POLL: Whose Your Favourite Anime Villain?

Just like any other superhero film (Batman vs. Joker, Iron Man vs. Ultra), anime has a range of villains who are actually a little more crazy and mind boggling than some in Hollywood. Everyone usually praises the heroes but sometimes the antagonists need some celebrating… Here are some of my top villains, which are yours?

NAKARU – Inuyasha (2001) 

© Viz Media

The main antagonist in the manga series, Inuyasha (2001, written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi), Nakaru is pretty much impossible to kill. After being viciously burned by his gangs boss, and being rejected by the woman of his dreams, Kikyo (priestess who started caring for him), Nakaru is born through a deal with local demons. His distinguishable power is the art of manipulations, able to get anyone on his side and do what he wants, making him one of the most evil and malicious villains in anime.

VEGETA – Dragon Ball Z (1996 – 2003) 

© Madmen Entertainment

A sort of half villain, Vegeta is the most famous of antagonist of all anime. At first Vegeta was a cold hearted, savage killer with an aim to defeat and overthrow arch-rival Goku. However, whilst still continuing his quest he evolves into an anti-hero and later into a protagonist who fights alongside the Z fighters.

JOHAN LIEBERT – MONSTER (2004)

© Shogakukun

John Liebert is considered the top villain in anime amongst fans and the type you would expect to see in a Hollywood blockbuster. Johan is the main villain in Japanese manga series Monster (2004, written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa) who is a huge sociopath and throughout much of his life lived under a bunch of different aliases. Inheriting his mother’s brains and reasoning skills, Johan is also a great manipulator with no conscious and takes joy in others pain. It is still not known as to why he is so twisted, some may say it’s because of the orphanage he grew up in with his sister, which performed experiments on children and treated them like rubbish, but the orphanage claims he was already dysfunctional when he walked through their doors.

LUCY – ELFREN LIED (2004) (my personal favourite) 

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Lucy is the most prominent character in this anime manga series, Elfren Lied (2004, written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto). There is only one word to describe her: INSANE!. The cruelty which surrounded her was eventually what broke her and made her become a callous, brutal character. After being bullied and realising she had these destructive powers, she would go round killing all the boys who bullied her, and went around house to house in the countryside killing families. She ends up becoming even more crazy when she started infecting fathers with ‘devil sperm’ so these parents would give birth to girls who are just like her who would then kill their families.

LIGHT – Death Note (2006) 

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Japanese manga series Death Note (2006, written by Tsugami Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata) follows the story of high school student Light Yagami. Light had it all going for him, smart student, training in his fathers footsteps to become a policeman, until he receives a death note where we see him embark on a transformation becoming a judge, jury, and executioner for the whole world.