16 Characters That Weren’t So Evil After All

Heroes are cool

Cowboy Bebop © Sunrise

But awesome villains are better

Akame ga Kill © White Fox

What if some villains are just misunderstood?

Bamboo Blade © AIC A.S.T.A

Spoilers follow below!

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions © Kyoto Animation

1. Char Aznable (Mobile Suit Gundam)

Char had good intentions behind his extremist views. He believe that the only way Humans and Newtypes would be able to live in peace was if everyone leave Earth so they can live on space colonies, effectively making everyone a Newtype.

His plan comes off as genocidal, but Char is tired of all the fighting and all the embargoes the Federation places on the colonies, whom are responsible for the advances and riches the Federation enjoys.

© Sunrise

2. Lucy (Elfen Lied)

All Lucy wanted was love and acceptance, but the world treated her with disdain. Her existence was mocked, the stray dog she cared for beaten to death, the boy she loved betrayed her! Well, that was more of a misunderstanding, but Lucy’s violent attitude is the product of living in a ugly and hate filled world.

© Arms

3. No Face (Spirited Away)

Shy, lonely, and desperate to make a friend. No, I’m talking about myself. No Face is able to absorb people’s personalities by eating them, which doesn’t lead to good results. Being exposed to greed and corruption, No Face did turn into a bit of yandere towards Chihiro, but the poor spirit only wanted a friend.

© Studio Ghibli

4. Seiichirou Kitano (Angel Densetsu)

Kitano is a kind and naive boy with the heart of angel, but has the misfortune of having a menacing face. While this causes his classmates to think he is a badass, Kintano is left wondering why everyone around him is so odd.

© Toei Animation

5. Mewtwo (Pokemon: The First Movie)

A product of cloning and mistreatment by Team Rocket’s Giovanni, Metwo viewed humans as the enemy of all Pokemon. Mewtwo created a clone army of Pokemon with the intention of overthrowing humanity and to right the wrongs that was committed against him in the past. However, Ash’s selflessness changes Mewtwo’s view of humans.

© OLM, Inc

6. Kagura (InuYasha)

Kagura only serves the evil Naraku because he possesses her heart. Naraku threatens to kill Kagura if she doesn’t follow his orders.

© Sunrise

7. Pegasus J. Crawford (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters)

If the death of your beautiful lover isn’t enough to drive you crazy, maybe a mystical ancient Egyptian object will do the trick. At first, his thirst for collecting souls is down right evil, but is doing it to resurrect Cecilia. Pegasus is a man of his word too, and releases the souls he has taken when he loses in a Shadow Game.

© Studio Gallop / Nihon Ad Systems

8. Shin (Fist of the North Star)

Shin was Kenshirou’s best friend, but is tricked into becoming a villain by Jagi. Shin is led to believe that if he kills Kenshirou, then he will be able to love Yuria.

© Toei Animation

9. Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass)

Lelouch wants to overthrow the oppressive Holy Britannian Empire, but he has to go throw some extreme lengths to achieve his goals. Some view Lelouch as no better than the Empire, as he is willing to sacrifice the lives of soldiers and civilians to achieve his goals. But Lelouch is taking calculated risks to help build a better a world, even if it means sacrificing lives.

© Sunrise

10. Gaara (Naruto)

As a child, Gaara was led to believe that no one in his village cared for him and was treated as a monster due to his imperfect seal. While Gaara lashed out against the world, deep down he was just a lonely boy that wanted to make some friends.

© Studio Pierrot

11. The Puppet Master (Ghost in the Shell)

A notorious hacker who cyber-hacks the brains of innocent people and plants false memories to make them take part in his plans. As Major Kusanagi goes further down the rabbit hole, The Puppet Master reveals that A.I.s should have the same rights humans, and that his methods was the only way to get people’s attention.

© Production I.G.

12. Satsuki Kiryuin (Kill la Kill)

On the surface, Satsuki is a cold-blooded villain with a fascist like control over Honnouji Academy. In truth, that is just a cover so she can build an army that is capable of standing up to her mother and to stop the Life Fibers.

© Trigger

13. Light Yagami (Death Note)

What would you do if you had the power to control the lives of everyone? Light Yagami had good intentions; he wanted to weed out all of the evil people from this world. However, his ideals slowly became twisted, and he let the power go to his head.

© Madhouse

14. Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

The poor guy just wants to be reunited with his dead wife and not cause his son suffering. Gendo believes the only way to achieve this is through instrumentality. Gendo did nothing wrong.

© Gainax

15. The Parasytes (Parasyte -the maxim-)

We don’t think much about the food chain or about survival of the fittest. But that all changed when the parasytes came. Able to blend in with humans, the parasytes also used humans as their food source. Pointing out the hypocrisy of humanity, the parasytes are only doing what any other life form would to to ensure their own survival.

Parasyte – the maxim – © Madhouse

16. Ghouls (Tokyo Ghoul)

Much like the parasytes, the ghouls are just trying to survive in the world. Due to their biology, ghouls can only consume water, coffee, humans, and other ghouls. Not all ghouls are mindless eaters, as some will only eat recently deceased humans or pay respect to those that they have hunted.

Tokyo Ghoul © Studio Pierrot

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