1990s Anime Bad Guys, From Least To Most Evil
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15. The Puppet Master, Ghost in the Shell
Yes, we're time-traveling back to the 1990s, and in honor of timeless fun, we're focusing on the anime villains. We've selected 15 of the genre's most memorable evildoers, and ranked them in ascending order by their commitment to the dark side. As the saying goes, prepare for trouble.
The Puppet Master is the clear antagonist in the original Ghost in the Shell film, but can you truly consider an advanced artificial intelligence program to be evil, especially when it's only acting out of self-preservation? We'll let you, the reader, be the final judge. But for now, we're ranking this rogue code as the least evil of the bunch.
(Image credit: Anchor Bay Entertainment)
14. Lady Eboshi, Princess Mononoke
Sure, Lady Eboshi mounts an aggressive campaign to kill the Forest Spirit out of a lust for mining riches. But she's not a clear-cut villain here: Everything she does is motivated by compassion for the people of Iron Town.
(Image credit: Walt Disney Home Entertainment)
13. Team Rocket, Pokemon
They're bad, and they're notable. But, one, they dress like Saturday Night Live's cheerleaders (another 1990s throwback for you). Two, they speak in rhyme. Three, they're Pokémon characters. They're ineffectual, G-rated evil.
(Image credit: Viz Media)
12. Gendo Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Gendo's a bad dad who only shows interest in his son (and our hero), Shinji, when it suits him. In Neon Genesis Evangelion, it suits him to enlist Shinji in Gendo's special-forces team, NERV, which kills "angels" that are no angels. So, really, Gendo's performing a public service. But he's still diabolical.
(Image credit: Section 23 Films)
11. Vegeta, Dragon Ball Z
Once a ruthless killer in service of Frieza (more about that guy later), the egotistical Vegeta seems more interested in besting Goku and becoming the most powerful Saiyan in existence. But as the story develops, Vegeta slowly transitions from villain to hero, ultimately joining up with the Z Fighters.
(Image credit: FUNimation Entertainment)
10. The Dark Masters, Digimon: Digital Monsters
This bad-monster collective, featuring Machinedramon, MetalSeadramon, Piedmon and Puppetmon, kills dear, little, selfless Piximon. As individuals, however, they are dismissed and defeated with relative ease.
(Image credit: Jetix Concept Animation)
9. M. Bison, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
In his first ever anime appearance (1994), criminal syndicate mastermind M. Bison uses his "pyscho power" to capture and brainwash Ken Masters as part of his world domination plot.
Bison is an evil guy, sure. But he'd later be outdone by characters such as Akuma and Evil Ryu who better embraced the Satsui no Hado.
(Image credit: Animaze/20th Century Fox)
8. Hisoku, Hunter x Hunter
The sickest ones always dress like clowns, don't they? Consider this white-faced, blood-thirsty fellow. There's literally a YouTube highlight reel of his kills. It runs more than seven minutes.
(Image credit: Nippon Animation Co.)
7. Queen Beryl, Sailor Moon
She trashes Tokyo and rules the Dark Kingdom with killer smarts, killer instincts and the ability to toss giant balls of icy energy. If it hadn't been for those darn kids, and their own giant ball of energy, she may have gotten away with it, too.
(Image credit: Pioneer Entertainment)
6. Treize Khushrenada, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
Not content with being the tyrannical leader of OZ and ruler of Earth, the war-hungry Trieze Khushrenada had designs on ruling the whole of the universe.
In his final battle, Treize recalls the exact number of people who died for him--a chilling 99,822. He expressed regret over their deaths, though in his cold-yet-honorable manner, noted that they did not die in vain.
5. Genma Himuro, Ninja Scroll
In the 1993 samurai-ninja film, this demon is so bad even decapitation can't keep him down. His bare-knuckled beatdown of our hero, Jubei, inspired a brutal, 10-minute-long loop-slash-tribute on YouTube.
(Image credit: Sentai Filmworks)
4. Wiseman, Sailor Moon R
Once exiled to the barren planet Nemesis, the dark and powerful Wiseman manipulates the denizens of Crystal Tokyo to rebel against Neo Queen Serenity. With the city destroyed, he then sends his Black Moon Clan to the past to capture the Silver Crystal.
For evil bonus points: He kills Sapphire, and then tries destroying the universe itself.
(Image credit: Pioneer Entertainment)
3. Vicious, Cowboy Bebop
When the cool, cold, cruel mobster says things like, "And you will shed tears of scarlet," he's being literal, not lyrical. He's about to slice and dice you with his sword. He is, in a word, vicious.
(Image credit: FUNimation Entertainment)
2. Millions Knives, Trigun
In this otherworldly anime franchise about spiky-haired sentient plants, Millions is something quite familiar: He's the evil twin. While his outlaw brother, Vash the Stampede, looks for the best in his fellow humanoids, Millions despises them and actively seeks their total and utter destruction.
(Image credit: FUNimation Entertainment)
1. Frieza, Dragon Ball Z
In the world of Dragon Ball Z, Frieza is the ultimate baddie, no matter which super-powerful form he takes. This planet conqueror is utterly sadistic, with a resume that includes murder, planetary enslavement and destruction, and genocide against the Saiyan race.
(Image credit: FUNimation Entertainment)