10 Worst Anime Villains Fans Pretend to Like

An enigmatic villain plays a substantial role in the rise and fall of an anime. Their presence is an integral part of the story, and it is their involvement that highlights the hero’s role more prominently. This is also why many negative characters enjoy a massive fan following, as they can seem incredibly profound or can be aesthetically pleasing to look at.

However, there are times when fans give these characters too much credit, turning them into either a genius or a misunderstood tragic soul. The fans even go to great lengths to validate their actions, even when they know the hype surrounding the characters does not hold up.

Chainsaw Man’s Makima’s Greatest Control Is Her Own Fanbase

Makima rose to fame as one of the few female villains to achieve massive popularity, standing alongside iconic shonen antagonists like Aizen. She has a dynamic personality, where she might come off as a caring individual, but it is actually a facade to manipulate others into doing her bidding. Her most prominent victim is Denji, whom she treats as nothing more than a dog, who will crawl to her at every beck and call.

Makima’s apparent ending also came too soon, creating a gap in the later arcs where the story clearly lacked a powerful, menacing presence like hers. But the issue with Makima lies more with the fandom than with the character herself. Her entire being gets reduced to a sadistic, well-endowed woman who exists solely to be admired for her domineering nature or fetishized.

In JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Dio Is Fun to Watch, And That’s About It

Dio Brando is the ultimate entertaining villain who has now been immortalized thanks to countless memes on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Fans might love him as a villain, but his villainy did not make much sense. There were hardly any reason for his inclination toward bad activities, and his hatred for the Joestar family was built on poor excuses. Dio became a generational hater of a family that literally raised and treated him better than his father.

His motivation to become a villain points to the simple want or desire for ultimate power, which does not provide much complexity as a character. Ultimately, his popularity boils down to his iconic poses and dialogues, like “Oh? You’re approaching me?”. Hence, he might be incredibly fun to watch, but he is not really a very well-written antagonist.

Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter Is a Predatory Clown that Fans Curiously Support

Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter is one of the very first memorable characters to be introduced, who establishes right away that he is different from others in the Hunter Exam. His thirst for a good fight and warped sense of morality become evident as he mercilessly kills people just for the thrill of it. He definitely emerges as a prominent villain for a few arcs, but he is not above changing lanes for his own benefit.

As the story progresses, Hisoka evolves into a supporting character with a questionable personality whose interests sometimes align with the good guys. Thus, a character that could have been developed as the ultimate villain takes somewhat of a backseat later. But the element that really ruins his image is the fact that he behaves in a very suspicious way towards the underage protagonists.

Sukuna’s Heian Era Arsenal Can’t Always Defend Him in Jujutsu Kiasen

Jujutsu Kaisen is more famous for its good-looking men than its storyline or well-written cast. Though that does not mean it has no great characters, the appeal definitely helps boost its popularity, something the King of Curses knows all too well. Sukuna is often celebrated as a purely evil personality who is a villain because of his lack of morals and ideology that prioritizes power over human connection.

But that comes off as pretty shallow compared to the depth and complexity given to other Jujutsu Kaisen villains like Geto. There is also the fact that Sukuna often survives situations where his defeat is inevitable, thanks to his plot armor, undermining his credibility as a true threat. His victory over Gojo was less his triumph and more like a product of the author’s favoritism.

Zeke’s Worldview Was Too Rigid and Nihilistic in Attack on Titan

Every character from Attack on Titan deserves therapy because of the sheer trauma they go through, but that alone cannot justify their actions, and Zeke is an example of that. He had a rough childhood, for he was emotionally abused by his father, who only instilled his ideologies in Zeke, rather than actually loving him like a son. This, coupled with the burden of being born as an Eldian, made Zeke come up with the euthanasia plan for the entire Eldian race, which actually makes little sense.

His solution is one-sided, and it does not ultimately prevent Eldians from being mistreated in any way. Thus, Zeke, who seemed like a genius mastermind in the beginning, ultimately becomes a gullible tool for his own brother to manipulate. He was just depressed, not profound, as many would argue for him to be.

Dabi Was Too Broken to See He’s Burning the Wrong People in My Hero Academia

Dabi’s life as Toya is one of the saddest parts of My Hero Academia, and it does explain why fans pity him. Endeavor put his own hopes in Toya, and when he realized that his son was not cut out for his aspirations, he just told Toya to stop trying. This obviously crushed the child, which then resulted in all the horrible consequences that ultimately led to Dabi, the villain’s birth.

But this backstory, despite being very sad, does not excuse the countless evil things that Dabi does later. He could have returned to his family, but he instead planned to take revenge on his father. Dabi’s anger toward Endeavor is understandable, but his hatred for Shoto, who was also abused, makes him delusional, as he just lashed out at a fellow victim.

Esdeath’s Atrocities From Akame ga Kill! Gets a Pass Because of Her Pretty Privilege

Esdeath from Akame ga Kill! is often hailed as one of the best villains ever, but it raises the question of how much of that praise comes from genuine admiration and how much from her appearance. She is not a multifaceted villain who has a lofty goal behind her butchering people. It has been established by her actions how much she always enjoyed torturing innocent lives, making her plain sadistic without any deeper motivation.

Her sudden and intense obsession with Tatsumi was unrealistic, especially for someone like her who lacked basic empathy. Esdeath’s love for Tatsumi was also not the pure kind, and as a yandere, she only ever thought of having him with or without his consent. Thus, when fans swear they can fix her, rather than engaging with her as a character, they are just attracted to her design.

Griffith From Berserk Is a Fantastic Villain, Just Not a Great Human Being

Griffith from Berserk is arguably one of the best-written villains in anime history, and as a villain, he is truly the worst. His character growth from a beloved hero to a vindictive villain is fascinating because of how natural his downfall is. He symbolizes that side of humanity that is so drunk on ambition that it can choose any path, and Griffith does just that by betraying his comrades.

However, admiring his writing as a negative character is one thing, but arguing that whatever he did with Casca is justifiable is another. Yet too many fans blur this line, moving from analyzing a well-crafted villain to actually supporting his atrocities. They miss the point that it is his irredeemability that makes Griffith a true antagonist, and fans don’t need to defend him to validate his impact.

Kaguya Fans Are Coping Over Madara’s Defeat in Naruto

Many villains in Naruto deserved to be the ultimate bad guy that the heroes defeat, and it should not have been Kaguya. She is undoubtedly a strong entity who gave everyone a tough time who dared to go against her. But her introduction to the plot was just sloppy, where she arrived suddenly and messed up the buildup of Madara. It was almost as if she became a villain because a final showdown would be needed before Naruto and Sasuke square off.

She is not a compelling antagonist because her motivations are weak and fail to provide a solid foundation for her actions. On top of that, she arrives without any foreshadowing and goes through no character development. Any defense from fans does not change the fact that she was one of the worst villains of Naruto.

Muzan From Demon Slayer Is Literally One of the Least Impactful Villains in Shonen

The first time Muzan was introduced, people swore he was based on Michael Jackson, adding to his popularity as a meme from then on. But apart from having that moniker, he does not come off as a very well-written and enigmatic villain who even deserves the fear of the demon slayers. Plus, Muzan is vain to a fault and carries a massive ego that also contributes to his eventual downfall.

At first, he seemed cold and calculating, but his quick temper soon revealed his flawed strategies and poor decisions. He disposed of multiple Lower Rank demons from The Twelve Kizuki because Rui failed in his mission. This was an absolutely absurd decision, as they could have caused grave damage, considering Rui almost killed Tanjiro and only got defeated because the Hashiras entered the picture.