25 Best Anime Supervillains Of All Time
1. Light Yagami - Death Note
In no other series, anime or otherwise, have I personally disliked a character so much at the end of a show compared with my initial reaction more so than Light Yagami.
Death Note is purposefully structured so we witness Light—a genius-level high school student with a vision of how the world should be—absorbed by his god complex.
Gifted the power to kill just by writing someone’s name in his Death Note (and by picturing their face), Light starts off with good enough intentions. But killing criminals and felons turns into a much more self-centred plot to protect his own interests.
Acting under the malevolent pseudonym “Kira,” Light goes down that familiar villainous path of seeing himself as the saviour of all that’s good, and there’s something about the character being so human and at times worryingly relatable that raises questions in the viewer.
In ways his arrogance only makes Light more appealing. His smarts mean we want to see him escape, and yet his calculated steps and motives mean we also want to see him caught.
Light pales in comparison to other villains on our list physically, but that’s why he’s the greatest.
He’s just a human with a lot of power, and that’s the scariest thing of all.