Top 10 Times Anime Villains Saved The Day (ft. Todd Haberkorn)

“Berserk” (1997-98)

He’s the Apostle that wanders from battlefield to battlefield, slaughtering all who challenge him, constantly seeking a worthy foe. Given his size and the fact he can transform into a winged bull demon at the drop of the hat, that seemed rather unlikely. At least until he met Guts, who after landing a single wound on him, earned Zodd’s admiration as a warrior. Obviously wanting him to survive until they could have a rematch, it only makes sense Zodd would save him from getting his head taken off during the battle with the Purple Rhino Knights by lending him his own sword. Dude has a hell of a throwing arm.

“Bleach” (2004-12)

He may be a member of the Espada and swear fealty to Aizen, but above all else this panther lives only to satisfy his own urges, whether it be revenge or power. So determined to be the one to kill Ichigo, Grimmjow was willing to save Orihime from her attackers and free her from jail. Sure, it was all so that she could bring the strawberry back from the dead and up to full strength, but for a bloodthirsty kitty cat who sees violence as the only answer, that was a pretty swell thing for him to do. At least his heart was in the right place…sort of.

“Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters!” (2000-04)

Many of you might be wondering when Mr Murder Face over here managed to save the day, since most of the time he was too busy being the product of our deepest nightmares. If you cast your mind back to the time Yugi and crew got trapped in cyberspace, it was actually Marik who managed to unlock the blimp from Noah’s shackles. Not because he was doing any of them a solid mind you, he just got bored of waiting on the blimp and decided to go on a robot killing spree, and in doing so somehow managed to inadvertently allow the gang to escape the oncoming explosion later down the line. Way to go Marik, please don’t hurt me.

“Tiger & Bunny” (2011)

Probably not Kotetsu’s first choice of ally to come to his aid, but then again he was on the run so it’s not like he could complain. Framed for a crime he didn’t commit and hunted by the rest of the commercialized superhero squad, the only one to spring to his rescue was resident cuckoo and voice of Thanatos. He may prefer to kill killers and set fire to sinners, but without the blazing intervention of this particular crazy, Wild Tiger would have taken the fall. Goes to show that if he wasn’t so obsessed with turning people to ash, Lunatic would have made for quite the caped crusader.

“Hunter x Hunter” (2011-14)

The jester who gets freakishly obsessed with little boys growing into potentially strong opponents. Yeah, definitely not the kind of guy you want hanging around your kids, especially with all those immensely powerful Nen abilities at his disposal. That being said, when you’re trapped inside a video game and engaged in a life or death battle of dodgeball, it pays to have a wild card like Hisoka at your back, metaphorically of course. Kudos to him for helping Gon and Killua win the day…doesn’t make him any less creepy though.

“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” (2009-10)

There’s something almost impressive about how even in death this guy remained true to his murdering scumbag persona. High on the thrill that came from massacring numerous innocents in the Ishvalan War of Extermination, the Crimson Alchemist was more than eager to join up with the Homunculus and resume his killing ways. As it happened, the depths of his depravity went beyond even that of Pride, who he became disgusted with after he tried to jump ship and gain a new body, and as a result chose to save Ed Elric. Say what you will about Kimblee, but he stood by his principals to the bitter end, even in the midst of a screaming soul storm.

“Bungo Stray Dogs” (2016-)

He’s the Port Mafia’s attack dog with major anger issues, a senpai complex and seems to have his fashion settings set to edge. It’s almost like he was predestined to become everyone’s favorite bad boy. Sure he’s more than a little immature and way too eager to unleash Rashomon on anyone who pisses him off, but there’s most certainly the seed of a decent person in there, hence why he was able to put aside his violent rivalry with Atsushi in order to fight against the uber-wealthy Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. Nothing screams redemption arc quite like punching the hell out of the world’s strongest capitalist.

“Naruto: Shippuden” (2002-17)

This snake is the last person we expected to try and turn his life around, and to be honest we still have our doubts that he’s completely abandoned his dark ways. Of course, we can’t fault him for reviving the dead Hokage with the reanimation jutsu as they arguably became one of the biggest assets during the Fourth Great Ninja war. If not for this, chances are Madara and his forces may have crushed the home team. Sure, it doesn’t make up for all the times he tortured helpless victims just to see what kind of jutsu he could create, but at least he’s got one positive story he can spin for his kid.

“My Hero Academia” (2016-)

The way this guy clings to his ideals is almost scary. Most criminals would be elated if a random monster appeared and flew away with one of the students responsible for kicking their ass minutes prior. As we all know, the Hero Killer ain’t just a butcher, he’s also got a saviour complex the size of All Might’s neckline. As such, despite being heavily wounded, Stain saves Midoriya’s life before giving a speech on the subject of heroes with such force and gravitas it leaves everyone breathless. Is it any wonder this guy went viral and ended up ushering in a new age of next-gen supervillains?

“One Piece” (1999-)

The one-handed sand user isn’t exactly someone who forgives and forgets. He nearly got an entire kingdom to kill itself and has no issue leaving the most minor of annoyances as dried up husks in his wake, so we imagine when Luffy bloodied him up so badly he ended up losing everything on the spot, his attitude towards him wasn’t going to be all that charitable. And yet, Crocodile turned out to be something of a guardian angel after he saved the Straw Hat Captain and Jinbe from Admiral Akainu during the battle of Marineford. I guess prison changes a former warlord for the better?