Top 10 Anime Villains In 2021: In the postmodern era, it is the villains who attract us the most, not the heroes. As in Shakespeare’s tragedies, the protagonists are tragic heroes, today we have tragic villains.
Especially, in anime, we get some seriously complicated and shady villains. Anime is now one of the most popular entertainment media for the young generation which is mostly distinguished for its intensity and powerful stories. And those stories are made a lot darker by the presence of these apparently negative characters.
2021 gifted us a great many fabulous anime that appealed to us through their complex storylines, struggles of the heroes, and of course the psychological layers of the villains. For example, anime like ‘Demon Slyaer’, ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’, ‘My Hero Academy’ would not have been so intriguing if not for the villains.
While some characters despite having a tragic past, jump for a better purpose, some characters remain trapped in that tragic past. As Professor Dumbledore said to Harry in ‘Harry Potter’- “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”
Let’s have a look at the Top 10 Anime Villains In 2021
10. Mahito
Anime name- Jujutsu Kaisen
Along with being a fun character, Mahito’s most important character trait is manipulation. After killing Junpei’s mother, he convinced him through manipulation that the “humans” had killed her.
When Jujutsu Kaisen starts an investigation, Mahito is found in an underground tunnel by Nanami Kento. There he tells Nanami that the soul is the most inherent part of existence according to Mahito.
Mahito has a special ability to distort and reshape anyone’s soul, even his own too. This is how he manipulates people. When Itadori Yuuji could ultimately convince Junpei that Mahito was the real murderer, it was too late and Mahito already reshaped his soul, disfigured it from his body, and transformed it into a weak curse. This heartbreaking scene draws the audience to the anime even more.
9. Akito Shoma
Anime name- Fruits Basket
Akito has a very painful past as her mother was disheartened to find out that she gave birth to a girl child. She was insecure about her place in her husband’s heart and so raised her daughter as a man. She took grave measures to ensure this. Akito grew to be the head of the Sohma family who has zero empathy and is a misogynist.
Akito’s short temper and cruelty harmed many cursed Sohmas greatly like Kyo, Hatori, Rin, Kisa, etc. She is also possessed by the Zodiac God Spirit that brings everyone’s obedience to her. In the end, Akito and Shigure confess their true feelings, and the curse breaks. Akito begins living her own true life.
8. Tetta Kisaki
Anime-InternetAnime name- Tokyo Revengers
Another highly manipulative villain Tetta Kisaki first appeared to be an insignificant thug but gradually unveiled his obsession with becoming a powerful leader in the future of the Tokyo Manji Gang. For this, he has to manipulate Mikey to rise to power. He kills Mikey’s loved ones including his sister.
He also kills Hinata for rejecting him. Despite not having the typical fighting skill of a villain, Kisaki shows high intellect which he uses to manipulate people to acquire the top place.
7. En
Anime name- Dorohedoro
This villain displays a mixture of comical side with his cruel side. The cruel side is that the En family tortures Kaimen and Nikaido continuously and they are total maniacs. But the comic side is the fact that En is obsessed with mushrooms.
6. Echidna
Anime EvoAnime name- Re: Zero- Starting Life in Another World
Echidna is more of an anti-hero than a villain. Echidna, the witch of greed was previously destroyed by the witch of Envy 400 years ago. Only her spirit was kept in the world. She helped Subaru to talk about his return by death and her power was an important contributing factor for the whole plot.
5. Dabi
Anime name- My Hero Academia
Another complicated villain who draws an audience by being both mysterious and powerful. Dabi aka Toya Todoroki is the eldest son of Rei and Endeavor Todoroki. His special power is the quirk ‘Cremation’ which overwhelms everything in its blue fire. However, his own body is also not always compatible with his quirk.
When his father abandons him and stops his training, he gets obsessive to meet his father’s goals and affects himself severely to do so. Ultimately he fakes his death and renames himself as ‘Dabi’.
4. Daki
LooperAnime name- Demon Slayer Entertainment Arc
Daki holds horrendous power. She consumed loads of women showing the excuse that they eloped with their lovers. The Sash is her main power that can cut through anything and also store the people she engulfed previously.
Also, seven Hashiras were killed and eaten by her. She has the ability to regenerate within seconds and she is immune from Nichirin Swords too.
3. Overhaul
Anime name- My Hero Academia
According to Overhaul, quirks are a kind of plague for humanity that infects people with contagious syndromes. He is a mysophobic and antisocial who wants to remove all the quirks from the world and return the world to its previous state.
2. Muzan
LooperAnime name- Demon Slayer Entertainment Arc
Muzan is the strongest demon. He has turns accidentally into a demon while trying to cure his illness. From then, his goal is to be truly eternal. He can do it in two ways. One is to find the Blue Spider Lily by which his disease was cured and the other is to create a lot more demons to change the nature of demons by evolution. He can control all the demons and can fight the five Hashiras together.
1. Sukuna
AnimehunchAnime name- Jujutsu Kaisen
Sukuna, the “King of Curses” had actually been a cannibalistic human sorcerer a thousand years ago. After his death, he turned into a cursed spirit. His twenty indestructible fingers had been preserved in wax.
As the nature of cursed objects is, the fingers’ power continued to grow. And when Yuuji Itadori ate one of them in a desperate moment, Sukuna reincarnated in him. His powerful curses, intellect, reflex make him one of the great anime villains of all time.
