Top 10 Anime Villains in Disguise (Ft. Robbie Daymond, Voice of Goro Akechi)
For this list, we'll be looking at the antagonists in anime who fooled all of us with their goodie two-shoes act before revealing themselves as bad to the bone. Keep in mind we won't be including folks like Light Yagami from Death Note, who made his villainy perfectly clear to audiences from the get-go. Be on the look out for spoilers, surprises and copious amounts backstabs down the line!
You think you know a guy…! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 10 Anime Villains in Disguise.
For this list, we’ll be looking at the antagonists in anime who fooled all of us with their goodie two-shoes act before revealing themselves as bad to the bone. Keep in mind we won’t be including folks like Light Yagami from Death Note, who made his villainy perfectly clear to audiences from the get-go. Be on the look out for spoilers, surprises and copious amounts backstabs down the line!
(Robbie Introduction)
#10: Frost
“Dragon Ball Super” (2015-)
Guess it really doesn’t matter what dimension you’re in - Frieza’s kind will always be murderous weasels. This unfortunately extended to his Universe 6 counterpart Frost, who while presenting himself as a pretty chill dude, turned out to be just as much of a narcissistic fiend at the original. Not that his deceptions did him much good, since he found himself pounded into space dust on frequent occasions by both Vegeta and even Frieza himself. Guess honesty really is the best course of action, even for alien tyrants.
#9: Eskara
“Ultimate Muscle” (2002; 2004-06)
Okay, so he never made it a secret that he wasn’t the nicest guy on the block, but it still doesn’t dispute the fact that this lethal wrestler was in actuality an undercover DMP member. Posing as the bad boy of the Muscle League, Eskara eventually revealed his true identity during the tournament finale against Kid Muscle. Granted, the fact he took enormous pleasure from coating the rings in concrete as to further damage his opponents should have been a dead giveaway that this guy was loco. Too bad he didn’t get to cash in on that evil loyalty card since Kid ended up shredding him like a kebab during their fight.
#8: Alexis Leskinen
“Steins Gate 0” (2018)
Why is it always the handsome European educators who turn out to be the ones with an unusual penchant for torture? While appearing as your average academic, in truth, Leskinen is a member of a less than benevolent organisation hellbent on gaining the knowledge left behind by Kurisu, even if it means starting World War 3. Think of him as a far more educated version of Biff from Back to the Future, one willing to help create a robot version of Kurisu, mess up multiple timelines and resort to murder when he doesn’t get his way. And this is why I dropped theoretical physics back in college.
#7: Heathcliff
“Sword Art Online” (2012)
While his appearance is that of a laxed knight, the avatar behind the imprisonment of thousands of gamers inside the virtual world of SAO wasn’t just a random player, a virus or even a vexed voice actor because someone insinuated Prompto wasn’t best boy! *ahem* Turns out that the unbeatable guild leader was none other than the creator of the whole game, which is kind of obvious in hindsight, though I can’t imagine it didn’t help with his gaming career. The only way he could have been more of a douche about the whole thing would have been if he charged players while the game was still in early access…
#6: King Bradley
“Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood” (2009-10)
Sure, the fact that this guy holds the title of Fuhrer doesn’t exactly paint a pleasant image, but for the most part the commander of Central seemed to live up to his reputation as a wise and compassionate leader. At least until we saw him butcher a man to pieces. In truth, Bradley was none other than the Homunculus known as Wrath; a killing machine with no other feelings in his heart save for varying levels of pissed off. He’s a loathsome being, but don’t say it to his face, he did take down a tank with minimal effort after all.
#5: Goro Akechi
“Persona 5: The Animation” (2018)
What happened to you man? You used to be beautiful. You used to be our pancake boy. Now look at you; a murderer who plagued the country with mental shutdowns all because of a plethora of daddy issues. Yes, the junior detective of everybody’s dreams and temporary member of the Phantom Thieves turned out to be nothing but a traitor, one who was happy to shoot Ren point blank with a murder face that you will be seeing in your nightmares. Got to feel sorry for the voice actor who got saddled with - wait a minute!
#4: Kaede Kayano
“Assassination Classroom” (2015-16)
Revenge can make people do crazy things, even pose as a student in a class filled with delinquents and failures, all for the chance to murder the tentacle monster that accidentally had a hand in causing your sister’s death because she fell in love with him. We’ve all been there, right? Fuelled by her vendetta, Kayano came pretty close to ending Korosensei after she got her hands on her own superpowered tentacle. Thankfully, she was able to let go of her hate after Nagisa reminded her of their friendship and comradery…by kissing the caboose off of her.
#3: Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner
“Attack on Titan” (2013; 2017-)
This trio of Titan Shifters have caused more damage between them than most of the other carnivorous giants combined. After managing to shatter the Walls of humanity’s last stronghold, Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner managed to infiltrate the Survey Corp and Military Police, sabotaging and slaughtering from within, all in the name of their mission. Their reveal as the Female, Colossal and Armored Titans made for the show’s most shocking moments, leading the way for some truly epic clashes with Eren. Worse of all? They killed Marco. Poor, sweet, innocent Marco. You monsters!
#2: Sosuke Aizen
“Bleach” (2004-12)
It takes someone with a serious amount of swag to pose as the ultimate nice guy, fake his own death, make a surprise comeback, stab his grief-stricken subordinate, wipe out all of his former comrades, THEN declare that he’s always been on the dark side with plans to become God. Soul Society really needs to improve their vetting process. With his knack for hiding his true intentions only matched by his level of overpowered-ness and masterful mullet, Aizen’s betrayal was so well played that it pretty much defined his villain status for the remainder of the series. Seriously though, how does he get his hair to look that silky?
#1: Kabuto Yakushi
“Naruto” series (2002-17)
This guy has so many aliases and loyalties that half the time we don’t even think he knows whose side he was playing! While originally appearing as just another ninja looking to work his way up the ladder, it soon became apparent that he had much darker machinations on the brain than just making buddy buddy with Naruto. As Orochimaru’s assistant, Sasori’s spy and even briefly holding the spot of primary antagonist, you could always count on Kabuto to shed his skin and betray his current employer at the drop of a hat.
