Top 20 Evil Anime Protagonists

“Angels of Death” (2018)

Sometimes the best way to survive a house of horrors filled with deadly criminals is to ally yourself with an even more dangerous criminal. Growing up, Zack endured the worst that humanity had to offer, suffering through all manner of abuse. This horrific upbringing eventually molded him into a ruthless killer who derives pleasure from plunging his victims into despair. After encountering a young girl named Rachel who no longer has the will to live, Zack strikes a Faustian bargain with her. In exchange for helping him to escape the facility he’s locked up in, Zack promises to take her life. While Zack does go above and beyond to keep Rachel safe, in the end, his only goal is to satisfy his murderous urges.

“Astro Fighter Sunred” (2008-10)

This ally of justice makes his villains look tame by comparison. As the polar opposite of the traditional superhero archetype, Sunred is infamous for his rudeness and violent behavior, which does not make things easy for his rogues gallery who are notorious for their politeness and easygoing personality. While Sunred and his enemies, led by General Vamp, often come to blows, the one most likely to be threatening and violent is Sunred as he constantly beats the stuffing out of Vamp and his goons. With a hair-trigger temper that goes off at the slightest provocation, it’s hard not to feel bad for the villains of Florsheim whenever Sunred unleashes his fury upon them.

“Elfen Lied” (2004)

This poor girl’s treatment at the hands of humans turned her into one of the most dangerous beings alive. After so many years of being bullied and tortured by humans, the Diclonius Lucy harbours a grudge so deep that she firmly believes co-existence between humanity and her species is impossible. That said, Lucy has experienced moments of genuine happiness with humans both as herself and her kind-hearted alter-ego Nyu. However, the moments in which she truly felt happy were those involving her love interest Kohta. Unfortunately for Lucy, her Diclonius instincts always seem to find a way to unleash her inner demon and inflict hell on those who wronged her.

“Terror in Resonance” (2014)

With their prodigious intellect, this infamous duo created the pseudo-terror group Sphinx and took extreme measures to expose the truth behind their dark past. As survivors of a secret government project designed to develop gifted children by artificially creating the Savant Syndrome, Nine and Twelve underwent treatment far south of normal. The fact that they were willing to burn it all down just to escape speaks for itself. Although Sphinx did not cause any fatalities during their quest to expose government corruption, their actions were far from harmless, resulting in many casualties and endangering innocent lives. The fact that they stole an atomic bomb also doesn’t do them any favours.

“Redo of Healer” (2021)

Considering what his tormentors put him through, it’s no wonder this healer went above and beyond to get his revenge. Originally an optimistic young man with hopes and dreams, Keyaru experienced unimaginable abuse at the hands of Princess Flare and her associates. Fortunately, Keyaru discovers his true potential along the way, allowing him to use his newfound healing abilities, along with a Philosopher's Stone, to turn back time. Armed with new skills and knowledge from the previous timeline, Keyaru sadistically unleashes his wrath onto his former abusers, paying them back a hundredfold what they inflicted on him and then some.

“Kaiji series” (2007-18)

Formerly the right-hand of the eccentrically evil socialite Kazutaka Hyōdō, Tonegawa helped organize and sponsor several of the high-stakes gambles that put so many people through intense physical and psychological torment. While more laidback in his spin-off series, Tonegawa’s darker nature is on full display in “Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor.” Constantly looking down on debtors, Tonegawa doesn’t even flinch as he watches them fall into despair due to the gambles he helped sponsor. With unparalleled observation skills, mastery of psychology, and even the occasional cheating, Tonegawa can dominate virtually every gamble he participates in. Tonegawa is certainly a real piece of work, so it’s not that surprising that karma would find a way to pay him back for his actions.

“Higurashi: When They Cry - SOTSU” (2021)

This girl was so desperate to be with the ideal version of her best friend, that she went full-on psycho to make it happen. During the events of Sotsu, Satoko takes on a far more villainous role as she sets her sights on making Rika suffer. While close as children, Satoko’s transition into adolescence also introduced some resentment toward her former close friend. Eventually, Satoko’s resentment spirals out of control, developing into an unhealthy obsession that drives her to torment Rika across multiple timelines. Desperate to be with a specific version of Rika, Satoko convinces herself to do whatever it takes to make that happen, even if it means hurting her in the worst possible ways.

“Jormungand” (2012)

Even though she rarely uses weapons, arms dealer Koko probably has more blood on her hands than the mercenaries who work for her. Rarely ever showing her true feelings, Koko is largely unpredictable when dealing with other criminals and rival arms dealers. Able to go from cheerful to ruthless in the blink of an eye, Koko is very intelligent and will use whatever means necessary, including deadly force, to achieve her goals. Especially if it means taking out those who make the unfortunate mistake of crossing her. While she does have some morals and standards, the lengths she takes to ensure world peace prove that she won’t hesitate to make the necessary sacrifices for her goal regardless of how many innocent lives it takes to reach it.

“Talentless Nana” (2020)

Underneath her cute and friendly facade, lies the soul of a ruthless assassin. Due to her upbringing, Nana firmly believes that people with special abilities called Talented are the ultimate enemies of mankind and must be destroyed at all costs. Motivated by the death of her parents, Nana carries out her duties without hesitation and infiltrates a school of Talented, taking them out one by one. Although lacking an ability herself, Nana’s resourcefulness, intelligence and manipulative nature more than makeup for this, as she easily gets close to her targets and earns their trust before terminating them with extreme prejudice.

“Excel Saga” (1999-2000)

Bubbly, enthusiastic, and willing to do whatever it takes to please her commanding officer, even if it means causing no end of death and destruction. Yes, Excel is primarily a comedic figure, but even as she’s parodying all manner of genres, her antics always end up with everyone in the immediate vicinity meeting a sticky end. Doesn’t stop us from loving her any less, even when she does make frequent assassinations attempts or whatever else her darling Il Palazzo demands of her.

“Future Diary” (2011-12)

She’s the yandere face of the entire franchise, hacking and slashing her way through anybody who gets in the way of her happiness. While we will never know why she would be obsessed with someone as beta as Yuki, this pink-haired killing machine is willing to do whatever it takes to guarantee their love. This includes slaughtering her way through the survival game and decapitating anyone who makes bedroom eyes at her wannabe hubby. Not even Yuki is safe from her rage, though to her credit, he does kind of ask for it…

“M.D Geist” (1986)

They don’t call this guy the most dangerous soldier for nothing. As an experimental warrior kept in suspended animation after the rest of his kind go berserk, Geist finds himself enrolled into a new conflict when he crashes on Jerra, immediately having to battle his way up the food chain. Now, this might paint him as a grizzled lone hero of sorts, but he kind of loses that title by the end when he unleashes an army of machines deadset on consuming all like on the planet. Naughty, naughty.

“School Days” (2007)

While he might look like your run of the mill, bland as bread rom-com lead, Makoto is an evil unto himself. How so? Well unlike all those other characters that suddenly find themselves at the center of a high school romance, this callous and uncaring douche decides that just one girl isn’t enough. Cheating on one after the next, Makoto’s despicable attitude towards women not only mentally breaks his first girlfriend, but also leads to his best friend stabbing him to death in revenge for how he cheated on her as well. Nice boat tho.

“Hellsing Ultimate” (2006-12)

While this vampire gets some serious brownie points for gunning down Nazis, he’s still quite the monster. In service to the Hellsing Organisation, the former count loves nothing more than being let loose and tearing apart whatever enemy he gets his hands on. As long as he gets the go ahead from Sir Integra, there’s nobody he wouldn’t reduce to bloody chunks, even average humans. Unless you’re an ally or enemy that has earned his respect, then you’re basically spare blood.

“Himouto! Umaru-chan” (2015; 2017)

Don’t try to tell us that this little hellspawn isn’t a villain. Acting like the perfect student, only to turn into a demon in an orange hoodie when no one is around, her obsession with junk food and video games only matched by the ferocity of her tantrums when she doesn’t get her way. She ticks so many boxes when it comes to your classic anime villain that it’s almost scary. While you’re bound to tear out your own hair after the umpteenth outburst, she’ll still try to win you back with that innocent façade a second later. Damn you, Umaru!

“Fate/Zero” (2011-12)

If you want something as grotesque as the Fourth Holy Grail War to go your way, then you’re going to have to play dirty. While we can certainly understand the motivations behind why Kiritsugu played the game the way he did, it’s easy to see why Saber was so pissed at him for how he did so. Setting his wife as bait, trying to cheat the rules, assassinating the other Masters and Servants with underhanded means, this so-called Champion of Justice cut way too many corners while trying to save the world. Shame that the price turned out to be a tad too high in the end.

“Saga of Tanya the Evil” (2017)

The title kind of gives it a way. After finding himself being sent to a parallel world in the body of a young girl, Tanya is given a new lease on life, one that involves killing a lot of enemy soldiers with magic and the most terrifying murder face you will have ever see. Needless to say, she’s not happy about her reincarnation, despite how much she obviously enjoys the killing part, and so sets her sights on taking out the one person who put her in this position to begin with; God.

“Overlord” (2015-2018)

Sorry to all of you who thought that deep down Bone Daddy was still traversing the anti-hero route. However, if his most recent antics are anything to go by, there’s no doubt he’s truly embraced his role as that of a villain. In order to bring the Great Tomb of Nazarick to glory, Ainz has not only committed unspeakable atrocities but also great deceptions over those who would view him as a selfless ally. Killing 70,000 soldiers, leading a group of adventurers to their doom, tricking an entire kingdom’s populace into submission – the Sorcerer King has got it made!

“Attack on Titan” (2013; 2017-)

Discovering the truth of the world beyond the walls should have been a dream come true for Eren. Unfortunately, it turned out to be his worst nightmare. After discovering the Attack Titan’s power of foresight and learning about the world’s impending and unavoidable fate, Eren is forced to orchestrate events behind the scenes. He does so by influencing his father with select memories of the future and forcing him to wipe out the Reiss family in order to acquire the Founding Titan’s power. Although secretly desiring a peaceful resolution, Eren is unable to stop the inevitable as he unleashes the power of the Rumbling and marches toward a future far worse than anyone could have imagined.

“Death Note” (2006-07)

We won’t deny watching this genius student think his way out of impossible situations was what made the anime such a gem, but let’s be honest here… Light is a villain through and through. Using the Death Note in order to become the God of the New World, the man known as Kira dropped countless bodies in the name of his personal crusade, including plenty of innocents. Consumed by hubris and pride of divine proportions, Light talks a big game about justice, but his desires are that of a bright lad whose messiah complex got way out of control…

Which anime protagonists did you think were too bad to be good? Let us know in the comments!