Anime villains are thieves, you know. They steal every scene they’re in. Larger than life, especially the female villains, and downright troublesome. That’s why we love these fine femme fatales. These ladies can be real female dogs for the heroes, but they look really good while causing mayhem. So let’s pay proper tribute before they direct their ire at us, and not by sitting on us.
1. Daki (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Daki was one of the primary antagonists in the Entertainment District Arc alongside her brother Gyutaro. She operates within the Upper Rank Six of Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji’s Twelve Kizuki. Daki hunted her human prey while posing as an Oiran in a series of brothels in the Entertainment District of Tokyo.
Koyoharu Gotouge wrote and illustrated the series between February 15th, 2016 and May 18th, 2020. Shueisha published all 23 volumes in Weekly Shonen Jump.
2. Jessie / Musashi (Pokémon)
Jessie, known as Musashi in the original Japanese version, is a dutiful member of Team Rocket. She was partnered with James or Kojiro, and Meowth. Jessie and her team have spent a considerable amount of time trying to steal Pokémon from their owners. They seek Ash’s / Satoshi’s Pikachu above all others.
Jessie appears in the vast majority of the Pokémon anime series, where she is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara. Her highlight appearance is in the manga series The Electric Tale of Pikachu, where she, like every other female character, has a sizeable bust in the Japanese version.
3. Android 18 / Lazuli (Dragon Ball Z)
We can’t talk about anime villains and not discuss Android 18. She’s a very powerful robot girl, but her original incarnation was an anime villain without remorse. 18 and her brother Android 17 slaughtered innocents just for pure fun in Trunks’ devastated future timeline.
Akira Toriyama wrote and drew the initial run of his seminal series from December 3rd, 1984, to June 5th, 1995. Shueisha published all 42 volumes in Weekly Shonen Jump.
4. Lust (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Lust is one of Father’s seven homunculi, inhuman beings that represent his sins. Contrary to her name, Lust merely uses the desires of others to accomplish Father’s goals. Where Greed is greedy, Sloth is lazy, and Envy is jealous, Lust doesn’t hop from bed to bed to get stuff done. She is ruthlessly efficient, and holds a commanding position among the homunculi. An infamous figure in the fandom, she was the one who paralyzed Jean Havoc from the waist down.
Hiromu Arakawa wrote and illustrated the original manga series from July 12th, 2001 to June 11th, 2010. Square Enix published all 27 volumes in Monthly Shōnen Gangan.
5. Himiko Toga (My Hero Academia)
Himiko Toga is an anime villain who works with far worse villains. She was a member of the League of Villains before they reformed into a more dangerous group dedicated to upending society at large. Himiko has a twisted personality, as she shows her affection in some fairly violent ways. Despite that, she has shown genuine love for Izuku and Ochaco. Her Quirk, Transform, requires that she ingest the blood of her targets. The more she drinks, the longer she can maintain their form. These transformations simply cover up the fact that she is a girl “with the cutest smile in the world.”
Kohei Horikoshi began writing and drawing his heroic series on July 7th, 2014. Shueisha has so far published 38 volumes in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.
6. Esdeath (Akame Ga Kill!)
Esdeath is a quintessential anime villain. Ruthless, powerful, and a bit of a psycho with a sadistic side. However, her pure charisma wins over her followers. As does her pure combat prowess, which sees Esdeath and her unit efficiently tear through whole forces, all for the Empire. She is not above humiliating her broken opponents though. Despite all that, she truly loves Tatsumi in her own twisted way.
Takahiro and Tetsuya Tashiro created the original manga series between March 20th, 2010 and December 22nd, 2016. Square Enix published all sixteen volumes in Monthly Gangan Joker.
7. Neena Hagen (Agent Aika)
When it comes to alluring anime villains, few come close to Neena. She’s a villain, and she likes to walk around in her underwear and bra. The lab coat does nothing to hide those assets. Neena is as intelligent and sadistic as she is attractive. She puts her considerable talents to use for her brother, Rudolf Hagen. He intends to use Lagu to wipe out humanity and repopulate it himself with his Delmo subordinates. We discussed the plot and “Plot” of Agent Aika before, and it is a must-watch.
Studio Fantasia released the first entry in the series from April 25th, 1997 to April 25th, 1999. This run consisted of seven episodes and one special.
8. Cornelia li Britannia (Code Geass)
Cornelia takes command of Area 11 following Clovis la Britannia’s death. She makes it her duty to capture Zero after he is branded as Britannia’s enemy. Like any good anime villain waifu, she’s as beautiful as she is dangerous. She took up such a high-profile position and task right after establishing Area 18 herself.
Sunrise began producing numerous anime series based on Lelouch’s conquest from October 6th, 2006, through February 9th, 2019. The series will continue sometime in the future with Code Geass: Z of the Recapture.
9. Vermouth (Detective Conan)
Vermouth is a member of the infamous Black Organization. A master of disguise and espionage, she is a highly-ranked member of the organization, and not above ending lives. As part of her alluring nature, she apparently does not age. Though she is a loyal member of the organization, she is not above antagonizing other members, such as Gin, or using members for her own means, such as Calvados. Vermouth also maintains a relative friendship with Yukiko Kudo, Shinichi’s mother. She has also defended Shinichi himself multiple times.
Gosho Aoyama began working on the original manga series on January 5th, 1994. Shogakukan has thus far published 104 novels in Weekly Shonen Sunday.
10. Yura (InuYasha)
Yura is the first demon that poses a real challenge to Inuyasha and Kagome. The reason for her enduring popularity, besides just being his first real foe, should be obvious. She’s a hot demon woman who wears little, and nearly ended the series early. Yura of the Reverse Hair, as the name implies, used hair as a versatile weapon, in conjunction with a comb, and a sword that avoided her hair. Though she was close to ending the series early and taking Kagome’s Shikon no Tama, Kagome was able to win the battle. Yura was her first, and they’ll always have that.
Rumiko Takahashi wrote and illustrated the original manga series between November 13th, 1996 and June 18th, 2008. Shogakukan published all 56 volumes in the pages of Weekly Shonen Sunday.
11. Black Maria (One Piece)
Black Maria is a proud member of the Beast Pirates who work for Kaido in Onigashima. She’s approximately 8.2 meters (26.9 ft) tall, making her slightly taller than Kaido. While seemingly laid back and more disposed to acting like a flirtatious courtesan, Black Maria is quite powerful, and sadistic. She takes pleasure in torturing her opponents, and even makes liberal use of her Ancient Zoan form which changes the lower half of her body into that of a large spider.
Eiichiro Oda began writing and drawing this series on July 22nd, 1997. Shueisha has published 106 volumes thus far.
12. Sailor Galaxia (Sailor Moon)
Sailor Galaxia is one of the final antagonists of the series, and the most powerful Sailor Senshi in the universe. She founded the Shadow Galactica empire, with the goal of collecting all of the Sailor Crystals. Wiseman played to Sailor Galaxia’s immense ego and pride, and convinced her to collect the Sailor Crystals to control the Galaxy Cauldron. Of course, she played into Chaos’ hands and became even more of a threat to all of creation.
Naoko Takeuchi wrote and illustrated Sailor Moon from December 28th, 1991 to February 3rd, 1997. Kodansha published all eighteen volumes in the pages of Nakayoshi.
For those interested, the J-List shop has a truly alluring anime villain-like character you might want to see. The Nyuuka Riria 1/5 Figure from Boku ni wa Akumana Shishou ga imasu is available for pre-order right now. Yes, the heart-shaped covers are removable.
What do you think of our anime villains list? Did you find new favorites to check out? Do you have a villain or two you’d like to see on a list like this? Let us know in the comments below.
