Are there any times when you think that you prefer to like the villain when watching an anime? What about if the MC themselves are the very villains in their own story? I think that is quite a complex yet intriguing plot whenever I am watching anime and such is our topic in this post.
In my own Filipino language, we had this phrase called “BIDANG KONTRABIDA” which is quite hard for me to translate into English but like saying the antagonist is the protagonist themselves. In anime, there are a lot of stories where we often fell in love with the villain and are quite ignored or disgusted by the MC since most of the time, they’re quite the crybaby and annoying. However, there are those anime where the MC is the villain, and that is what makes the story interesting as sometimes, the sense of right or wrong is blurry in the narrative.
In such cases, we have listed here our top recommended anime where the MCs are villains and some of them are here to bring fanservice and fulfill our deepest desires while some will simply leave us all in awe as they dare to raise questions on moral standards of humanity and what motivates them to do such evil.
Top 10 Anime Where the MC is the Villain
Overlord
There’s a blurry line here of whether Ainz Ooal Gown, the titular Overlord in this series is good or evil. He normally just follows the whims of his subordinates who happen to be monsters so I generally believed that he is still human deep inside. But doing nothing is also equivalent to the tolerance of evil and that is what makes him the villain in his own isekai story. In the end, we still love him anyway.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
So this is quite a light-hearted anime where the MC is a villain, literally since this is an isekai story where our girl was transmigrated to a fantasy world, to be specific inside the otome game she used to play. Unfortunately, she possessed the body of the villain, and knowing how terrible her demise will be, she has to do anything to avoid all the red flags for her to be tagged as the villain, and this is her journey of becoming the protagonist of her own story as the fated villain in that game.
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Probably the best anime in this list and it is one of my top 5 favorite anime of all time, Code Geass is more than just a story of having an MC being a villain, in fact, he is a hero who breaks the chain of hatred in a world filled with so much greed for power. Our main character in this anime is Lelouch who was a prince in exile who wish to plot revenge against his father and his own country, therefore, with the use of a special power he acquired, he machinated a rebellion, an uprising that sacrificed so many lives to achieve his dream.
Saga of Tanya the Devil
Another isekai anime is next on our list and this is the story of a salaryman who got transmigrated to a fantasy world where magic exists, there he possessed the body of Tanya. He became a military officer and was eventually known as the devil, he won’t care about who he must sacrifice as long as he can achieve his goal.
Death Note
A very familiar name is here and that is Death Note. What happened if a man posed himself as God? This is a story of how a young genius imposed his justice on the world when he stumbled upon a mysterious book that can control the death of people. This is one of the anime in this list where the MC literally has become the villain and unfortunately, we just can’t hate him, aren’t we?
Lupin III
Not a killer but a thief, that’s the next MC in our list as Lupin III is the notorious master thief and we had been just inspired and entertained by his adventures through the years.
Terror in Resonance
Terrorism is definitely evil but what if it is the only that could bring your cause to the surface? I believed many terrorists in real life might have the same mentality out there but there’s quite a catch in this anime and despite all the atrocities they made, both Nine and Twelve are characters we just can’t come to hate.
A Certain Scientific Accelerator
Imagine being one of the villains of the main series but you became popular and well-loved, eventually, you had your own series? It happened a lot of times, and such is the case too with Accelerator, the most powerful esper in A Certain Magical Index but he was able to have a redemption arc and this is what we got here A Certain Scientific Accelerator.
91 Days
Another revenge story where the MC has lost sight of his goal and eventually involved everyone even with a slight connection to the murder of his parents. A story with mafia and gangsters, 91 Days is drama-filled anime where the MC has become the villain in the very eyes of the viewers.
So I’m a Spider, So What?
Light-hearted at times but also packed some real drama, this isekai anime is a story where the MC was reincarnated as a spider, and eventually, she became the Demon Lord in that new fantasy world. What’s even more fascinating is that she became the enemy of her former classmates. But there’s a catch in the story and that’s something I’ll let you discover when you start watching it.
Last Updated on November 23, 2022 by Yu Alexius
