HighWire: Top 10 Anime Antagonists

You know what they say: "a story is only as good as the villain", and you know what, I find that to usually be true for anime. I mean when more than half the time the protagonist is some morally headstrong shithead high-school kid who is so dense he can't even notice when he has a harem of beautiful girls swarming around him, giving me a villain to beat his stupid head in is frankly something I appreciate.
But more than half the time, the villain is even worse, usually some psychotically obsessed prick with glasses, who of course is prone to rape, because you know, unless they do something despicable every few seconds without a shred of characterization to justify any of it, some moron in the audience might forget who they are supposed to be cheering for.
But not today. Today we focus on only the best. Today, we focus on the villains who are so freaking cool and awesome that no matter they're doing, you are secretly cheering for them because of how brilliantly devilish they all are. So, only for today, it's time to forget the boring heroes and celebrate the characters we really watch these shows for.
So, hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, I hope you're having a wonderful day, and welcome to a new countdown. Today, the Top 10 Anime Antagonists. But before I begin, I'd like to preface with saying Johan Liebert will not be on this list(put down the pitchforks and let me explain), because shockingly, I haven't found the time to gobble down all 70+ episodes of Monster yet, and that will probably hold true for awhile. Alternatively, if your favorite antagonist isn't here, let me know, because if I have seen the anime they belong to, I'll explain why they didn't make the list, and if I haven't seen the anime they belong to, I'll be sure to put in on my PTW post-haste. Oh, and of course, spoiler alert, so be warned. Now then, let's get this ball rolling.

10. Makishima Shougo - Psycho-Pass

Yes, Makashima took a place on my list, that does not mean I think he's the best villain of the last decade as some others seem to, so just give me a chance to explain why he's here and what that means. The level-headed antagonist of the first season of Psycho-Pass, Makashima left such an impression on me for two main reasons. First yes, that absolutely fantastic scene in episode 11 of the show where he kills Akane's friend kind of made me love him regardless(screw you all, that scene was perfectly insidious), but the second and more substantial reason is his motivation. Makashima really doesn't feel like a typical villain as far as his actions go, so much so that when he is actually confronted by the corrupted government of Psycho-Pass's universe, he straight up gives them the finger and ditches them, because he has his own agenda that is much more complicated than simply wanting power. That said, much like the show, Makashima really isn't as complicated as he pretends to be. True, he may quote from "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", but that's not what makes him interesting for me. What makes an antagonist interesting his either their relationship to the protagonist or the narrative's themes. And at the very least, Makashima is more interesting than what we get almost all of the time.

9. Kongou - Arpeggio of Blue Steel

Kongou maybe wouldn't have made it onto this list if she belonged to a different anime, because as the villain of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, she stands out so much more than she would have in a better anime. What I mean is that, while Kongou is the personification of navel battleship belonging to the Fog, desperate to hunt down and eliminate the heroes of Arpeggio(which is pretty awesome on its own. I mean, this gal isn't on a ship, this gal IS the ship. *sigh* Only in anime.), she also has the distinction of being the only truly great character in the entire show.
What I find interesting is how Kongou's character arc ties directly to her threat as a villain. Kongou starts off pretty typical as far as antagonists go, but what's awesome is that as her obsession with the destroying the protagonists grows, it also increasingly contradicts the "forming feelings" thing that she criticizes the Fog ships that have joined the protagonists for. And as this confusion builds up(including a quite dramatic reveal that her only true friend wasn't even real(watch the show if you want context)), we get to see one of the more interesting psychological unraveling out there, which builds and builds to an extremely satisfying conclusion. Her character is just so well done, and especially in a show as intrinsically flawed as Arpeggio, I felt that deserved some recognition.

8. Homura Akemi - Madoka Magica

See, Homura represents what I meant earlier about an antagonist's interesting relationship with the narrative. Homura may be one of the only characters I've seen that has transferred roles from the supporting cast, to the main protagonist, to the full-blown villain, but none of that is as interesting as the development that got her there. You see Aldnoah.zero, here's where you went wrong with Slaine Troyard, this is how you depict a strongly moral character get slowly corrupted by the circumstances that surround her until that all frustration and pain bubbles up into straight out retaliation against the world that brought you despair. Homura's journey from her well meaning intentions to save her friend to basically sacrificing the rest of the world to fulfill her own selfish desires is some of the best the Madoka Magica franchise has to offer, even if the transition gets a little choppy once you get to Rebellion. And also, now that Homura is basically the Devil with God's power(and if that doesn't make her a bad-guy, I don't know what does), who is basically controlling Madoka's free-will, who the hell is the protagonist of the franchise now? Sayaka? It's got to be Sayaka, right?

7. Miyo Takano - Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai

I'll never forget the moment I first learned that Miyo Takano was the true villain of Higurashi no naku koro ni. There I was, a young, naive anime fan, eyes still wide and innocent, not yet mystified by the scores of moe and terrible LN adaption crap, sitting in my-then favorite chair. Higurashi Kai up until that point had been a boring but still competent series, but in the span of only a few minutes, everything turned on its head as Takano brandished a beret and a bad-ass new outfit, as nearly everything the franchise had been hiding in the dark for a whole season-and-a-half finally became crystal clear. Needless to say, I pretty much leapt clean out of my chair in a outpouring of geeky delight, but Takano still had a few more things to do, namely taking a gun and calmly and awesomely killing the entire main cast of Higurashi in glorious villainy(though don't worry, they'd be back due to Higurashi's non-traditional story-telling). This isn't to say Takano isn't still a good character with a decent backstory, but it really is this one reveal that knocks it out of the park on so many story-telling and dramatic levels that I'd be damned if Takano didn't make it somewhere on this list. She's determined, she's complex, and fully ready to dispose of anyone in her way. And I love her for it.

6. Survival Instinct - Shiki

I wasn't really sure what to call the antagonist of Shiki, it's why that name up there is so weirdly unspecific. Now, anybody who actually hasn't seen this show might assume that, you know, the vampires that are turning the village in which Shiki's story resides in into an army of living dead would be the bad guys, but that's why the series is interesting. Things seem simple until the anime asks one simple question: "what would you do stay alive?". Or more specifically, if you were a group of vampires like the Shiki, would you feed on the living if it meant you could "live" on? The situation only gets more complex as the questionable morality of the villagers protecting themselves from the Shiki comes into view, the villagers justifying their rather horrid actions as simple self-preservation. "So," asks the anime, peering over your shoulder and whispering in your ear, "if both the villagers and the Shiki are simply doing what they need to do to survive, are either of them to blame?" But I couldn't leave it there, after all, "no antagonist" sounds a lot worse on paper than it perhaps does in practice. Well, then, only thing is left to blame for the rather tragic story that Shiki plays out. If survival instinct means that you will commit horrid crimes and kill others in order to stay alive, perhaps the real evil is that instinct in the first place.

5. Ougi Oshino - Monogatari Franchise

If you had asked me who the main antagonist of the Monogatari franchise was about a year ago, I would have probably given you an extremely condescending look for asking such a question. I mean, do you think Monogatari as a whole is something that needs an antagonist? But now, half-way through the currently airing Owarimonogatari, it's sort of hard to imagine anything else that could possibly take Ougi's place.
Introduced first in Monogatari Second Season, Ougi is a veritable devil dressed as a doll, as it sits away from the spotlight, whispering in our main character Koyomi Araragi's ear, never directly taking initiative in the events of the show, but despite that, you can't help but feel Ougi is still responsible for basically every single bad thing that has happened in the franchise. And that is what's so great about this character. She... he... it, never actually admits part in the events of the show. Ougi instead sits in the corner, saying ominous things, almost-but-not-quite admitting its role as the sadistic puppet-master that has Araragi dancing in the palm of its hand. It's this ambiguity of the character that makes every scene involving Ougi tense and memorable; granted, it also means I'm only 99.9% certain Ougi is pure evil, but I think I have enough evidence to put it in this list without losing any sleep over it. However Ougi is still a work in progress, and only time will tell just how bad-ass a villain Ougi turns out to be in later additions to the Monogatari franchise. For now, I just won't take my eyes off of Ougi. Because I don't trust it one bit.

4. Everyone - Gatchaman Crowds insight

Here's one you probably haven't seen before unless you've read your fair share of Agatha Christie, but that's partly why I love Gatchaman Crowds insight so much; its daring to do things media hasn't really tried before. The whole series is so damn intelligent and colorful that it probably shouldn't be a surprise that GC insight has come up with one of the most unique antagonists ever, that is to say, you, me, and absolutely everyone else that contributes to "the atmosphere". I really don't have time to go over the lessons of this anime properly, it's more easily understood in action anyway, but needless to say, in an anime so focused on evolution and the overall worth of the human race, villainizing the very concept of single-mindedness, of following the crowd, of not thinking for yourself, seems like the next natural step for this franchise. It's an amazing depiction of how incredibly shallow and single-minded mob mentality really is, and when individuals don't think, well individually, things inevitably fall apart in a society acting on raw instinct, fed by the propaganda of popular opinion. And it's so damn great I'm not even going to talk about it any more in this section, just go watch the show. You won't regret it.

3. Squealer - Shinsekai yori

Now, you're going to have to stay with me for a minute here. I watched Shinsekai yori for the first time a very long time, and to say most of its societal commentary went over my head would be a grave understatement. Okay, you can yell if you want, but personally I was having a hard enough time just understanding what was going on in the context of the narrative by the end of the show, and whatever solid metaphorical truths it happened to be dropping at the time were the least of my concerns. Hell, I'm not entirely sure that I'm even correct in saying that the Monster Rat usurper Squealer was even truly the main antagonist of the show, maybe it was the white haired thing, or the futuristic society itself, but hell, this is what I got out of the show so let's just roll with it.
Squealer is the type of antagonist who pretty much guaranteed that this list needed to be titled "antagonists" instead of "villains", because Squealer isn't so much a "villain" as much as he just happens to disagree with our main character Saki on a very important issue. I mean sure, he tried to massacre the entire human race, but even something as seemingly cartoonish as that gets really complicated really fast as Shinsekai yori continues to break fantasy and story-telling conventions in its merry 25 episode run. That's what makes Squealer such a great antagonist. He's not frightening because of his influence or body-power. Hell, as a "villain" he's probably one of the least intimidating ones I've ever seen. And it's not his plan to eliminate the entire human race either. What's frightening is the lingering thought, tucked deep in the back of your mind... that he might be right. And then you start questioning who the bad-guy is all over again.

2. The Laughing Man - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

I've included quite a number of unique villains on this countdown, but perhaps none of them are as interesting and complex as the cyber-terrorist villain of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Unlike what something such as Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace tried failed to do with its interpretation of the villain Twenty Faces, The Laughing Man truly is the sinister embodiment of extremist ideology when pushed to an almost mystical perception by the uncontrollable hands of social media and the sub-cultures it perpetuates, as well as those only using it for their own advantages. It leaves this simple logo of a smiling man wearing a cap as one of the most sinister villains the anime industry has to offer. Even if the scope of The Laughing Man isn't quite as high-scale as some other antagonists on this list, some who are trying to wipe out entire civilizations and the such, its impact is incredibly potent.
It just goes to show how far one simple idea can go when it's in the hands of sci-fi zenith such as Gits: SAC, which uses its top-of-the-line setting and concepts to draw a morbid picture of the kind of threats humanity faces as the world marches deliberately towards a world of trans-humanism through psychical modification and the emergence of artificial intelligence. I mean, just saying that last sentence made me feel cool, but when great writers get their hands on these ideas, it spawns undoubtedly one of the most iconic villains anime has come up with, who earns its spot at number 2.

1. Ladd Russo - Baccano!

Thank you. Fuck you. The top spot has arrived. You know, originally The Laughing Man was going to take this No. 1 thanks to its complicated motivations and conceptional terrorism plot that intertwined with the inner working of Stand Alone Complex. But before I could finish typing that up, Ladd Russo promptly kicked down the door dressed in a white tuxedo declaring that the "villain had arrived". And when any character does that, it's sort of hard to argue with him.
Ladd Russo is the gloriously insane psychopath that terrorizes the inner-continental train The Flying Pussyfoot(if you want to stop reading for a moment and snicker, now's the time) during Baccano's second story-line, and to say he very nearly steals the show from a number of equally bad-ass characters in Baccano doesn't quite say it right. Ladd owns every scene he is in(besides from maybe those involving Claire Stanfield), and the number of iconic scenes he has provided makes him such a goddamn memorable character that any other spot than number 1 would just not feel right. Why? Because Ladd is an absolute, complete, villain of pure chaos, and it's impossible not to love him for it.

Goodbye for now guys.

Navigate Elsewhere