Usually, it’s the villains who tend to be the most complex characters in ananimeseries. Despite their villainous nature, their backstories show that there’s actually much more to them than first meets the eye. Sometimes, viewers will evengrow sympathetic towards thembecause it is often tragic to see how they got where they are.
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However, there are some villains who make it hard for viewers to feel any sympathy for them due to how utterly evil they are. They’ve gone through almost as much pain as the protagonists, some may have even suffered through more, yet they chose to go down a dark path regardless. The damage they have done just makes it really tough to like them.
10Aigami/Diva (Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side Of Dimensions)
It was clear that the creators were trying to give viewers a sympathetic villain, but fell a little short. Not many fans really felt sorry for Aigami, but they did feel some sympathy for his sister, Sera. Aigami wanted revenge against Yami Bakura and targeted his rage towards Ryou Bakura.
Ryou did tell Aigami that it wasn’t him but instead the spirit in the Millennium Ring that was responsible, but Aigami didn’t seem to care that he wastargeting an innocent man.It was probably a little fitting that he ended up getting corrupted by the Millennium Ring and had to be saved by Yugi and Kaiba.
9Diva (Blood+)
Considering that she was experimented on and locked in a tower while her twin sister Saya got to have a great life, it’s no surprise that Diva is the way she is. She wasvery sadistic and enjoyed killing peoplefor the fun of it. If she grew bored of something, she would destroy it and move on with little regard.
Even if her Chevaliers die, Diva doesn’t show any emotion or concern. She even enjoys tormenting Saya and looks for ways to make her life miserable. It would’ve been easy for viewers to feel bad for Diva, but after what she did to Saya’s young Chavalier Riku, all sympathy went out the window.
8Nakago (Fushigi Yuugi)
Nakago definitely didn’t have an easy life thanks to his looks, and it’s understandable why he wants power. However, all the lying, scheming, and manipulation on his part has made it hard to feel sorry for him. He manipulated Yui into believing she had been assaulted and used this fear tomake her betray Miaka.He even took advantage of Suboshi’s grief following Amiboshi’s death and had him kill Tamahome’s family.
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Nakago cares little for most of the Seiryuu warriors despite being on the same side. In fact, there are very few people that he truly cares for, but he’s willing to sacrifice even them if it means getting more power and control.
7Altena (Noir)
Most of her past is shrouded in mystery, but what is known is that Altena lived in a war-torn country and was attacked by a soldier. This led Altena to believe that “If love can kill people, hatred can save them.” She raised Chloe and Kirika to be ruthless assassins and used her and the Soldats for her own gain. After Mireille’s parents refused to hand her over, Altena sent Kirika (who was a child at the time) to kill them.
Altena shows little emotion when she hears of Chloe’s death, which is a little surprising since they had a mother-daughter relationship. She even taunts Mireille about her parents’ deaths and maintains it wasnecessary for Mireille’s growth.Despite the short time she was around and her sad past being revealed, no one really felt any loss when she died.
6Madara Uchiha (Naruto)
The Uchiha clan isone big tragic familythatNarutofans are very familiar with. It’s easy to feel sorry for members like Itachi and Obito, but Madara is a different case. Granted, he grew up in a time when war was his surrounding world and fighting was a live-or-die situation. Even after he and Hashirama made peace and created Konoha, Madara sought to have control over other villages so that peace could be maintained.
Madara was the one who was responsible for setting Obito down on his dark path. Though having the Curse of Hatred didn’t help, that excuse can only go so far when looking at all the horrible deeds he’s done. Most fans couldn’t help but breathe a big sigh of relief when he finally passed on for good.
5Ryuhei Sawamura (Hajime No Ippo)
A boxer that is pretty sadistic when it comes to fighting, Ryuhei stabbed his abusive stepfather to protect his mother. Later on, after ominously commenting on the meat he was eating, his mother left him in the care of the state, telling him that she needed time to find a job. After realizing that she abandoned him and how rough his life was afterward, Ryuhei grew up to be a rather disturbed individual. His attitude was that of a cold and calculating killer and he would often go on cannibalistic rants. He even fantasized about what Ippo would taste like.
Even Ryuhei’s boxing style showed his sadistic personality, often hitting his opponents to cause pain. He would even commit fouls just for the fun of it and doesn’t go for a knockout because he wants to prolong their suffering. Though he’s mellowed out a bitafter his fight with Ippo,it’s hard not to picture him as the sadistic fighter he once was.
4Lucy (Elfen Lied)
Lucy is one of the most complex characters in the anime world. It would be easy to feel completely sorry for her if she wasn’t killing almost everyone in her wayin a gruesome fashion.She doesn’t care if they’re innocent or didn’t do anything to her, any unfortunate soul that happens to be her eyesight is fair game. She cut off Nana’s fingertips and one of her legs during a fight that Nana started. However, she upped the cruelty by ripping off the rest of her limbs even though Nana was defeated and helpless, begging her to stop.
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Lucy’s Nyu personality did show that there is some kindness and good somewhere deep within her, but she is overall a damaged soul who doesn’t mind destroying anyone and everyone around her. She makes it really difficult to feel bad for her when she does all these horrible deeds without showing the slightest bit of remorse.
3Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)
Fans either love him or love to hate him. Either way, Dio Brando is one of anime’s most iconic villains because of how unapologetically evil he is. After killing his father, he was adopted into the Joestar family and could’ve easily used this as an opportunity to begin a new life. Instead, Dio opted tomake Jonathan Joestar’s lifeas miserable as possible. From trying to steal Erina away from Jonathan to killing the family dog Danny, Dio was just pure evil.
To top it off, Dio eventually succeeded in killing Jonathan and took over his body. Aside from getting his power, Dio sired several children using Jonathan’s body, including Giorno Giovanna, the main protagonist ofJojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind. Dio might have a tragic start, but it doesn’t make fans see him as a sympathetic figure.
2Acnologia (Fairy Tail)
For the longest time, it seemed as though Acnologia was just a mindless beast that was out to destroy the world. His backstory showed that he is a Dragon Slayer whose hometown was destroyed, and his family was killed by the Dragon that protected it. While this did add more depth to his character, Acnologia was dead set on killing every Dragon in existence all because one Dragon killed his family and other important people to him.
Overall, there were very few redeemingqualities about Acnologia.Even his name is not his own, but that of the Dragon that killed his family whose name he took out of spite. Plus, he killed Natsu’s foster father Igneel and stomped on Irene Belserion’s dead body, defiling it in front of her distraught daughter, Erza Scarlet.
1Akito Sohma (Fruits Basket)
Akito might have ended the series by turning over a new leaf, but the damage she’s done to her family is seemingly irreparable. She was verbally and physically abusive toall of the Zodiac membersand caused a lot of psychological trauma to the younger ones. She pushed Rin out of a window which put her in a hospital and scarred Hiro because he saw it happen. She abused Yuki to the point that he froze every time she was around. Overall, she traumatized the younger Zodiac members and manipulated most of the older ones.
Even after her own tragic past was revealed, many viewers still couldn’t sympathize with her. Most of the other Zodiac members turned out to be really good people despite their own tragic pasts and the abuse that Akito put them through. The best thing Akito has done aside from setting them free is not apologizing for what she’s done. She’s fully aware of the damage that she’s inflicted upon them and knows that words just aren’t enough to make up for it.
