Anime is filled with a wide variety of morally complex characters, and that’s why the art form is so great. Some protagonists are as good as it gets, trying their best to never do anything bad or evil in their lives. Other protagonists are a little different, creating their own morality that makes them and the series they’re in stand out from the rest.
Some of the best protagonists in anime might be closer to villains than heroes. These characters aren’t traditional in the slightest, and they’re the type of characters to make their own decisions instead of following the status quo, for better or for worse.
Prince Lloyd
Lloyd poses like Goku with aura in I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability
Prince Lloyd is one of the most darkly funny protagonists in anime. He’s the star of one of the best modern day isekai anime series around, and he fits the series that he’s in perfectly. For the most part, Prince Lloyd is a genuinely good character who doesn’t take kindly to evil.
Sometimes, however, Prince Lloyd can be a bit deranged. Prince Lloyd loves magic more than anything else, and he’s willing to experiment on it when it probably isn’t the right thing to do. When he and his friends found a villain’s lair, Lloyd was more interested in the research he was conducting over the obvious evil that was afoot.
Gon Freecss
Hunter x Hunter vol 1 manga cover
Gon Freecss is unquestionably one of the most unhinged characters in anime. At his core, Gon is a bubbly, genuine character who couldn’t lie if he wanted to. Underneath his kindness, however, is a maniac just waiting to strike. He has no problem telling another character that he was about to kill them, as if he was telling them something mundane.
One of the best moments in Hunter x Hunter comes when Netero is about to fight Mereum and finds Gon staring at the duo. Netero realizes Gon is looking for Neferpitou and points her location out. When the camera pans to Gon, he’s barely recognizable. Rage was dripping from his face like a broken faucet, and Pitou didn’t live long afterward.
Tanya von Degurechaff
Tanya seen playing a piano while sitting in a room engulfed in flames
Tanya von Degurechaff, like Gon Freecss, is about as unhinged as it gets. She’s hellbent on getting her revenge on Being X, and she doesn’t care how she does it. Even though she’s just a tiny girl, she has more venom in her than a snake, and she’s more than willing to show it to her enemies.
On the battlefield, there aren’t many who are more dangerously creative than Tanya. She’ll fly straight at several enemies at once without a care in the world. Once most of her opponents see her, however, it’s already too late.
Ainz Ooal Gown
Ainz Ooal Gown from Overlord
Ainz Ooal Gown is the star of one of the darkest anime series ever made. While most isekai series bring their protagonist to a new world and make him a hero, Overlord does the opposite. Ainz Ooal Gown is trapped in his favorite online video game and transforms into the titular Overlord, dominating any and all who oppose him.
Ainz might be one of the strongest characters in relation to other characters in his respective series. He’s so much stronger than the other characters in Overlord that it’s hard to understand, but he’s more than willing to show off through a series of brutally effective spells.
Eren Yeager
Eren from Attack on Titan happy
Attack on Titan is a landmark anime series, and Eren Yeager is a big reason why. The series played a massive role in popularizing anime in America, and it was effective because of how morally complex it was.
Eren Yeager starts the series as a bright-eyed young man who wants to defend his home from the Titans. By the end of the series, however, Eren is solely focused on destroying as much of the world’s population as possible as a means of protecting his friends once and for all.
Clevatess
Clevatess
Clevatess might actually be the villain of his series, and the fact that it’s hard to tell makes Clevatess so great. The series has some of the most unique animation in the art form, and it’s matched by an equally unique plot.
Clevatess starts the series as the villain, full stop. After wanting to learn more about humanity, he takes a backseat, letting other characters take over as the antagonist. He might eventually become something of an antihero, but for now, he’s certainly closer to a villain than a hero.
Light Yagami
Light Yagami holding the Death Note
Light Yagami might be more of a villain than a hero, even if he is the protagonist of Death Note. Like Eren Yeager, he changes significantly over the series, ending up as a person that his earlier self might have hated.
At first, Light uses the titular Death Note to get rid of heinous criminals. Towards the end of the series, however, he’s using it to get rid of anyone in his way. He becomes a serial killer towards the tail end of Death Note, killing criminals and unfortunate bystanders alike.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka
Classroom-Of-The-Elite-Year-2-Volume-1
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is one of the smartest characters in anime. He’s always several steps ahead of everyone around him, and it’s his Machiavellian nature that draws him closer to the role of a villain rather than the role of a hero.
Ayanokoji has no qualms using the people around him as tools. He’d rather use them as his pawns, as he doesn’t recognize anyone around him to be his equal. He’s a master manipulator, an expert at hiding in the shadows, and one of the few characters who can make being bad look so good.
- Release Date
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2017 – 2024-00-00
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Nao Tôyama
Ichinose Honami
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Ryōta Ōsaka
Hirata Yousuke
