I finally decided to read Monster a couple years back and man, I don’t think I’d ever been that invested in something that I managed to finish it in a day, cutting sleep and all Johan was absolutely incredible for an antagonist, urasawa was a master of character writing on all sides of the story I’ll never be able to read it for the first time again, it was one of those stories for me
The most brilliant part about Johan in my opinion is how impactful he is in spite of his relatively limited screen/page time. He really isn’t in the picture all that much, but his presence is ALWAYS felt. This to me is why he’s often described as “terrifying”. He’s built up as this monstrous amalgamation of evil, so when he does appear, you’re on the edge of your seat regardless of what’s actually going on, because you KNOW there’s so much happening beneath the surface. Anywhere Johan appears, carnage is soon to follow.
I recently finished Monster and in the zone at the moment. On YT I'm looking for more and more about Johann (I'm so awestruck). So I came across your videos about Johann and now watching this video... (What a convenient timing). It really amazes me the appreciation you have for Johann. Bonus fact- Before Monster, I finished Berserk. So, I'm high on 2 of the greatest antagonists as well as stories.
Johann and Griffith are a close tie for me. Both could exist perfectly in the other’s world as smart psychopaths/sociopaths, and both have very similar philosophies and character developments that they rival each other in “let’s see how much we can make our audience sympathize with the villain.”
I disagree griffith and johan have nothing in common, griffith is just a power hungry brat, johan doesn't give a f about power...he's way deeper than griffith wanting a kingdom.
@@afrosamourai400 johan is just a guy who wants to kill. Griffith's character is way deeper than that (not true, this comment is just to point out the absurdity in your comment)
@@apostle9209 johan doesn't want to kill he want to die..griffith is a kid who want a kingdom, even a psycho like makishima is way deeper than griffith stupid dream.
Not a manga but the dad from bastard is is one of my favourite antagonists ever, he scares the crao iutbif me ti this day lol. Also big w for mentioning roberta
I would argue Obitos motivation was pretty weak for a main villain. He basically did all of that becuase Rin died. There are like 10+ characters who had people way more important to them, who died & they did not decide to just up and destroy the world. It’s just a little weak and baseless for a main villain motivation
Askeladd stole Thorfinn's spotlight for a whole season yet it didn't damage Thorfinn's character but improved his character and gave us the most satisfying character development ever If your villain manage to stole the show but didn't damage the story, you know you just created peak
This was a pretty good list, shoutout to mentioning askeladd who doesnt get enough recognition but my biggest issue is frieza not even being top 10 let alone not on the list. Eventhough he doesnt have as much development and a backstory, but at the same time he has the perfect opposing and similarities balance between goku as an antagonist eg their opposites would be how how he was born incredibly strong and sees his strength alone is what makes him superior and how he views others like pets while goku had worked with others to gain his power and sees all as equal, only judging character above strength meanwhile their similarities are how their ideals never change regardless of circumstances and events ought goku was weak compared to frieza he was still above those around him but came to the opposite conclusion. Other things such as how goku at that point had an internal conflict about being born a saiyan warriors who is ment to be ruthless and evil but was raised an earthling who is more complex and compassionate and frieza forces goku to accept his nature and nurture which allows him to become a super saiyan using the best parts of his nature and nurture to overcome the force that is frieza. Even in his first mentioning and appearance frieza is almost this force of nature/wall that cant be overcome. Frieza does everything a villian should do and more, Id go so far as to say he is a near perfect villian and offers uniqueness as unlike most villians he doesnt need any trauma or life altering event that changes his views like so many characters on this list. Id say in general when comparing him to other villians he is top 10, maybe top 7 as more arguments can be mentioned but for his story and protagonist frieza is in the debate for the greatest of all time
This is lowkey not even a list of anime villains. There’s no antagonists that originate from anime, just manga. It should be called the best villains in manga. Grievances with the title of the list aside, this was a good video. I just wish that you had some anime original antagonists like Char Aznable from Gundam or Shogo Makishima from Psycho Pass.
My favorite antagonists: Funny Valentine, Kira, Kars, Diego Brando from Jojo Bondrewd from Made in Abyss Beatrice and Bernkastel from Umineko When They Cry Charles Augustus Milverton from Moriarty the Patriot En from Dorohedoro Reiko Tamura and Gotou from Parasyte the Maxim Euclase and Aechmea from Houseki no Kuni Satou from Ajin Demi Human Eto Yoshimura, Kichimura Washu, Donato Porpora from Tokyo Ghoul Gakuho Asano from Assassination Classroom Chiharu from Jagaaan Friend from 20th Century Boys Johan Liebert from Monster Fiamma of the Right, Magic God Othinus, Kihara Amata, Aleister Crowley, Laura Stuart from Toaru Majutsu no Index Artemisia, Kamui, Gilzea from Ragna Crimson
My top 10: 10) Yami Bakura 9) Alexander Anderson 8) Johan 7) Makima 6) Obito (before he was revealed to be Obito) 5) L 4) Tomura Shigaraki (when not possessed by AFO) 3) Kira (Jojos) 2) Griffith 1) Tetsuo (from Akira) Honorable mentions: Sasuke, Freiza, Suzaku (code geass), Gaara, Pain, Blackbeard, Vegeta, Hayase (To your eternity), and the Major (hellsing). *Actual #1:* BUGGY THE CLOWN, BITCHES! THE PIRATE GAWD!
I know it's hard to pin down any 1 character from Monogatari as an "antagonist" since there is no real main villain but Kaiki and Ougi will always be 2 of my favorites
I think thats one of the cool things about his character, he doesn't ACTUALLY want to live a quiet life. His stand ability is to blow people up (stand abilities reflecting the soul), and by the end of the arc, he's literally shouting his name through the streets of Morioh. He's such a maniac and a hypocrite, that it makes his character and actions feel super believable - and in a way - almost down to earth; He's the perfect neighborhood murderer to antagonize the slice-of-life-esque setting
I’m so glad you put Pain in this list. Many people ignore Pain in favor of Madara and Obito but he as an antagonist with his views, ideology, philosophy, character aesthetics always stood out to me, especially his duality with Naruto. Btw you should check out Golden Kamuy. It has an amazing antagonist also called Lt Tsurumi.
Pain is a cool character (if feeling a little shoe-horned in), but the arc itself becomes kind of ass at the end, and this is where I started losing interest in Naruto as a whole. I'm fine with the whole "talk no jutsu" thing, even if it feels kind of cheesy, but the fact that basically everyone just comes back to life at the end destroys all stakes the series had. It makes the whole arc, even the series in general redundant if nothing truly matters. Having a complex ideology destroyed by a "yeah, but" argument and then having a game-changing event cancelled out is weak writing.
Ulquiorra is a wonderful antagonists and the one I think best embodies Kubo's approach to Bleach in terms of both it's writing and the way it's illustrated. Aizen is great as well and very worthy of being as Iconic as he is. One of my personal favorite antagonists in anime and manga is the Major from Hellsing. I really love how well he contrasts all three of the main characters and the message his character conveys: That being that a mere human with a unwavering conviction, can be the greatest Monster there is.
The fact that Ulquiorra is here, and above Aizen too made my day. I really love how much you enjoyed his character, and how he was used in the Hueco Mundo Arc. Ulquiorra is also my 3rd, only behind Griffith and Johan.
Agreed, Ulqiuorra is easily one of the best characters in shonen also has one of the best character arcs. He's my second favorite character in bleach behind Gin.
I dont think i will ever like an antagonist more than i like Johan's character. Also can we talk about how Urasawa can write 2 absolutely perfect antagonists and not miss with them once? Hes so Goated.
@@afrosamourai400 Book Moriarty (By Conan Doyle) shits on him. Johan is very well-written antagonist, by all means, but not the best. Arguably (Personally, I prefer Friend) the best in manga/anime, but in fiction hell nah. There’s classical characters literature that puts him to shame, an example was stated above.
@@lilityler1340 ya u prefer friend becuz he has done something but what johan was trying to do he could have done that easily but he doesn't care so he changed his goal just for character development and that's what makes him way higher than friend
Aizen has proven himself again & again to be a strategist & master manipulator, everything he said is true, he really did plan & pushed Ichigo's story, fights , etc. 👍
My favorite of all time is Takasugi Shinsuke. His feelings are so strong and understandable. His pure hatred for what the world did to him and how he was unable to shoulder the pain that Gintoki was forced to face. He could not forgive Gintoki for what he did and that’s why he wanted to be the one to do it. He wanted to never forgive himself than never forgive Gintoki. And the fact Gintoki did it filled him with hatred that he never wanted. The ending to Gintama is by far the best to any series ever. I stand by that claim until One Piece ends.
Great list overall. Here are some of my faves who aren't in the list in no particular order. I just think they should be mentioned. Zeke (Attack on Titan) Reiner (Attack on Titan) Chrollo(Hunter x Hunter) Younger Toguro (Yu Yu Hakusho) Shogo Makishima(Psycho Pass) Father (FullMetal Alchemist) Sensui (Yu Yu Hakusho) Eto Yoshimura (Tokyo Ghoul(:re)) Seiko (Blood on the Tracks) Tsukishima (Bleach)
You know, looking at this list, I really REALLY hope that you'll get back to finishing Pandora Hearts some time soon, because it's one I could see actually managing its way into your favorites, for literally every aspect of manga, protagonist, antagonist etc. Especially given your top picks, because the villain in PH gives off a very similar feeling, at least for me.
@@alexamderhamiltom5238 Pandora Hearts released its final chapter in 2015, so 8 years ago, it's finished. It's MochiJun's next work Vanitas no Carte that isn't complete yet and still ongoing (well, currently on hiatus)
Glad to see Doflamingo on this list! He isn't an underrated villain in the One Piece community but he is massively underrated when we talk about greatest villains in all anime/manga. Really glad to see that you gave him the respect that he deserves 👌
I know this is a VERY unconvential list, and since I can't think of 20, I'll just go with however many I can. This will include LN and VN too, but only 1 per series, so have a go at my list 14 Griffith - Berserk 13 Squealer - Shinsekai Yori 12 Gilgamesh - Fate 11 Izaya Orihara - Durarara 10 Watase Sanetoshi - Mawaru Penguindrum 9 Askeladd - Vinland Saga 8 Meruem - Hunter x Hunter 7 Shougo Makishima - Psycho Pass 6 Johan Liebert - Monster 5 Morgana - The House in Fata Morgana (honestly thinking of putting her higher because my god did her story break me) 4 Beatrice "the Golden Witch" - Umineko 3 Utsuro - Gintama 2 Nadeko Sengoku - Monogatari Series 1 [REDACTED] from Pandora Hearts
@@wi0.24se I don't know, Monogatari is always a really hard choice to pick characters for anything because all of them are so f*cking good. Ougi is definitely great too, but I just like Nadeko the most for the fact that she did not only manage to fool the other characters but also the audience and even herself in the snake arc. And for me personally, epecially after having read her story in the Nademonogatari LN after watching the anime, there is this strange kind of relatibility to her that just makes her one of my absolute favorite characters ever, so I can't just not put her on here ^^
I just finished Monster a couple of weeks back and man when I tell you how Johan liebert became one of my favorite villains, as I was watching monster seeing how manipulative he was as to have a kid contemplate suicide I was shook tbh
I really respect this top 20. Every antagonist chose had really good explanations for why they where given there position in the total ranking as well as the fact that its just a great vid. Everyone's opinion is gonna be different, but your list is very top tier
I'm guessing you haven't read Golden Kamuy if Tsurumi isn't there. You should definitely give it a shot, its an amazing manga. Askleladd is an amazing character but I don't think he's really an antagonist, he's really the main protagonist of the Prologue arc.
@Leonhard Euler I think she's decent character and antagonist. Especially her foil is freedom, since she's the control devil, she despises anyone who has a free will and she controls everyone she's in contact with imo, prime example is denji, power, aki etc etc etc
I think he is the 3rd best villain in all of JoJo. The 1st is Funny Valentine, he is objectively the best villain and on the same league of Johan and Griffith in terms of writting and charisma. 2nd is Kira because he is an enjoyable, interesting and unique character who carried the 2nd half of the show. Pucci is easily the strongest JoJo villain thanks to his later stand Made in Heaven and his backstory is the best in all of JoJo which contains some philosophical stuff but his problem is that he has a large plot armor and he has not a charisma which Valentine has. But I think he is still one of the best villains.
I know I'm late but man... I love Monster. Honestly what truly got me to realize how good Johan was as a villain was the manipulation of Milos (The orphan that tried to help Grimmer who btw Grimmer best character don't @) and making the audience truly realize just how skilled he is in just... talking. He single handedly managed to crush the innocence of a child whose hope still held out for the mother he never truly had. That whole part in the manga as well as that episode in the anime (ep 49) was so horrific to watch. A little boy truly experiencing humanities WORST aspects, and at the end of it all... contemplating s*icide. Johan is truly and unequivocally one of if not the best antagonist I've had the pleasure of reading... ever.
One villain I believe belongs on a list like this is Shogo Makashima from Psycho Pass. The actions he takes throughout season 1 are absolutely heinous, but he stands out as not only being an antagonist who makes a lot of good points, but is arguably a necessary evil for correcting the course society has taken.
I think Shougo Makishima from the first season of psycho pass was very interesting to me. He is one of those villains your disgusted by because of his heinous crimes. He displays some fascinating ideological differences with the main characters while also having really solid arguments against the overbearing secret government systems at play in society.
So happy to see bondrewd on the list. It seems like people always forget him. For other great villains, I recommend younger toguro and Shinobu Sensui from yu yu hakusho. Also, Makishima from psycho pass.
Well since everyone else is givin' their lists, guess I might as well do the same. -Takuto Maruki (from a game, but I'm sure there's a manga adaptation out there somewhere) -Mujin/Mubong Park (God of Highschool) -Frieza (canon and abridged version) -Cell (Both again, but abridged just a bit more) -Makima (Bow! Wow!) -Altair (Re:Creators) -Bondrewd (Made in) -Rachel (Tower of God) -Tomura Shigaraki (MHA. Yes, I'm serious) -Sinbad (Magi) -Majin Buu (all 3, but moreso Kid Buu cuz to me he just kinda feels like a weirdly perfect representation of everything Dragon Ball is) -Lusamine (Pokemon. Game version, but she's in the anime, ha) -Izaya Orihara (Durarararararararararararararararara) -Monokuma (Danganronpa. it has an anime) -Junko Enoshima (Also Danganronpa) -Yuuki Terumi (BlazBlue also has an anime) Honorable Mentions- Roberta the Terminator, Shogo Makishima, Abridged Kayaba Akihiko, Goku Black
There will never be an antagonist that has made me as hyped to read the next chapter as much as Sato. Both him and Nagai share one of my manga fav character dynamics I've ever read
Words cannot convey the happiness I feel whenever someone talks about D.Gray-Man. When I started reading it I desperatly wanted someone to talk about it with so I tried getting my younger brothers into it. Sadly they were at the age where whatever your big sister likes is uncool by default, so that didn't happen. Well a few years later one of them came to me and was like "Hey Jasmin theres this really cool Manga you should read its called D.Gray-Man." THE FREAKING AUDACITY! But I was so happy anyone actually read it that I didn't mind it that much. Even today none of my friends have actually read it, only me and one of my brothers. Oh and on a side note, I know there is very little chance someone is actually going to read this but I highly recommend Pandora Hearts, thats another one of my favorites. It has a really slow start but the payoff to the mysteries is absolutly worth it. Just please don't watch the anime, pretty please? The anime is not all that good.
Same but the zecond part of ur comment is opposite for me. My older brotherkept yapping about it so i automatically disliked it butas timepassed and those songs came i changed my mind and asked him to show me that show. He was very happy that i asked him that and we completed it in 10 days
-Bleach and Naruto villains... Laughable. -Shishio should be higher, at least top 10. -Knives from Trigun should be there. -Shogo from Psycho Pass should be there. - I would not even call Meruem a good "antagonist" he becomes good, and so forth. The arc is about showing how humans can act more like beasts than the beasts themselves. The ants have nothing going for them aside from being strong. Chrollo should be instead of Meruem. -WHERE is Kirei from Fate? -Black Lagoon technically doesn't have proper "antagonists" because everyone is on the same page. That's what makes it so good. -Funny Valentine is good but really overrated.
My Top 10 anime/manga antagonists 1. King Bradley (Full Metal Alchemist) 2. The Laughing Man (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) 3. Funny Valentine (JJBA: Steel Ball Run) 4. Kirei Kotomine (Fate) 5. Char Aznable (Mobile Suit Gundam) 6. Makima (Chainsaw Man) 7. Johan Liebert (Monster) 8. Bondrewd (Made in Abyss) 9. Lordgenome (Gurren Lagann) 10. Millions Knives (Trigun) Honorable Mentions: Zabuza (Naruto) Lil' Slugger (Paranoia Agent) Diego from Another World (JJBA: Steel Ball Run)
Morgana > Johan > Griffith > Friend > Aizen I never thought anybody would replace Johan for me but oh boy, The House in Fata Morgana. Give it a chance. It's a bloody legendary story
@@Blueberry173. Same case here. You should read reincarnation as well if you haven't, not as good as base game or RFI but it adds more and has the ture conclusion to the story
@@hasinabegum4069 oh yeah, i did read it, personally i felt like, requiem->fragment->happily ever after Is still the best ending order as its too emotionally heavy this way and overall i just found this order perfect, reincarnation is nice, but i still think that this order is unmatched. So i would say asento dele and reincarnation should be read as side stories later or smth.
My favorite antagonist of all time is the leader and his various aliases/personalities from Usogui. I just love the way Sako Toshio shrouded the character in mystery, and as the story progressed more and more of his characterstics and relationships with others was revealed. I especially love the fact that there really was no ill will between Baku and The Leader, however they both realized they had to make sacrifices in order to gain/maintain the position they desired, Usogui is an excellent manga thats criminally underrated and i highly recommend it to anybody who reads this comment.
Great list the only choice I disagree with is Makima Crucify me if you want but just couldn’t get the hype behind her as a villain. She was an absolute force of nature with claws in everything and everyone, but to me was just a really tall obstacle. Still great list
Not even gonna bother ranking my favorite manga villains, so I'll just mention them in no particular order: Griffith Johan Liebert Askeladd Meruem Aizen Pain Frieza Blackbeard Shinobu Sensui Makoto Shishio Makima Fuhrer King Bradley Riboku Younger Toguro
No offence but villains from gag anime like one piece or Gintama can never be great… both manga cannot do tone well and it affects how good the villains are. It’s an issue that people think that picking a villain from their favourite manga series is how to pick good villains.
@@SamTheGumMan117 how, both antagonists aren’t anything- they aren’t deep, they don’t have more then a single layer of characterisation. Both mangas, especially Gintama, are just gag anime.
