12/7/08 - 5 anime with the best villains

[Cetonis]

Gonna keep looking for seemingly obvious things that have not yet been done... this week we'll vote for 5 anime with the best villains.

This one does require a bit of outlining... firstly, by "villain" we would be referring to an actual antagonist, not a protagonist (main character) who acts in an immoral manner. So no Light/Lelouche/etc. Also, let's say that any of those villains that are antagonists for most of the series but eventually join the protagonist's side for one reason or another should be accepted. Although oftentimes it's simply cliche, it can also be a demonstration of character depth, so why not.

And since we technically have to vote for series and not individual characters, please make sure to denote the series for any votes made. (you don't have to name a character; especially handy if it's spoiler-like)

Happy Voting ^_^

**Voting Closed**

The top 5:

Monster
Black Lagoon
Cowboy Bebop
Berserk
Claymore

Thanks for voting!

[Pidjiken]

1. Trigun - Knives and Legato (imo These two are cream of the crop.)

Knives becomes a teenager after 1 year and decides to kill humanity. After 100 more years he still wants to kill humanity and toys with the species using his mad mindhax powers.
Legato can kill an entire city in the blink of an eye with his mindhaxness from Vash's arm. Forces a man who has pledged to never kill, to kill in order to save his friends.
These two cannot be beat imo, amazing storytelling.

[Kenikki]

I can undestand how both Knives and Legato got on your list, but how could Knives get higher up than Legato? Legato served as a much better villain than Knives imo. Knives was just the guy behind the scene.

[valondar]

^
Pft. Knives was the more compelling villain in Trigun. Legato was just his lackey, Knives was the amoral alternate of Vash.

Anyway, I'm sticking with obvious villains rather than antagonists or antiheroes for this one.

Monster - Johan Liebert. I could pretty much leave it at that, though the series has some excellent supporting villains as well.

My favourite moment involving this character is when he murders Braun just by destroying him psychologically.

[Sheila]

1) Wolf's Rain (Darcia)
2) Blood+ (Karl)
3) Rurouni Kenshin (Shinomori Aoshi)
4) Tokyo Mew Mew (Kisshu - same as in InuYasha...)
5) InuYasha (Kagura - well, that might be just my sympathy for her, but I think she's good as a villain)

[Kenikki]

@volandar's post:

First, while you say that Legato was just Knives lackey, I say that's why he was chosen by me, cause Knives basicly only used lackeys during the run of the show. he didn't come out until the very end. Legato, however, was there to do some "damage".

Second, about your choices

Can't mention about Monster since I haven't seen that one

Black Lagoon didn't really have a settled antagonist as far as I can mention it. It's like determining who's the antagonist during Friends.

As for Baccano, I'd say that Ladd is definitely the greatest character to use as a villain. He was remarkable. Really incredible, in basicly every way.

As for Claymore, she's the only one that I can even see that could be used as a villain to the slightest.

As for Gankutsuou: I haven't watched it. i saw the first ep but stalled it right afterwards because I felt that I just couldn't handle that kind of visuals at the time. I might watch after I watch Monster (which might take me a year or so to watch.)

[Pidjiken]

Originally Posted by Kenikki

I can undestand how both Knives and Legato got on your list, but how could Knives get higher up than Legato? Legato served as a much better villain than Knives imo. Knives was just the guy behind the scene.

Legato was just following orders. That's why. I edited the crap outta that post just now lol....

[Kenikki]

Originally Posted by Pidjiken

Legato was just following orders. That's why

Read my previous post to see my opinion.

[valondar]

Originally Posted by Kenikki

@volandar's post:

First, while you say that Legato was just Knives lackey, I say that's why he was chosen by me, cause Knives basicly only used lackeys during the run of the show. he didn't come out until the very end. Legato, however, was there to do some "damage".

Fair enough. But I thought the most interesting parts of Trigun were the arguments between Knives and Vash - Legato was just a tool to prove Knives's side of the argument, IMHO.

Can't mention about Monster since I haven't seen that one .

You've probably been told this before, but: Give it a try. It's very good.

Black Lagoon didn't really have a settled antagonist as far as I can mention it. It's like determining who's the antagonist during Friends.

True. I meant which among the antagonists could I pin down as one that's a villain. Take Roberta the Terminator Maid, for example - all she wants to do is retrieve the kidnapped son of her master. Yuki Washimine is also pretty sympathetic. Easier to peg as villains are the colorful variety of folk who attack the Black Lagoon when sheltering Hansel and Gretel - and the twins themselves, sob story aside, are also villains. Any of these characters individually are among the most entertaining villains I've seen in anime.

[Pidjiken]

Originally Posted by Kenikki

Read my previous post to see my opinion.

Legato was literally only doing Knives bidding. Everything he did was the will of Knives. He was just the tool of the mastermind. That's why I feel Knives > Legato, because without Knives Legato wouldn't have ever done anything, he wouldn't have even had his haxmuffin powers since he would never have received Vash's arm. He'd of been just a regular Joe-Shmo.