There was a 'put in the tags' post requesting people put in the tags a villain with a "good reason" to be evil...and I just thought that seems very subjective and also how can I just choose one...so I am gonna just ramble a little about some of my favourite villains/antagonists and why I like them so much :D (link to the 'in the tags' post here)
Not every villain needs a tragic backstory or a 'sympathetic' motivation, and I think you'll find that very few of my favourites actually do. It's 2023. Let the villains be actually evil. Potential for spoilers ahead.
These are not listed in any particular order; just listing them as I think of them:
Ursula (from The Little Mermaid)
I love Ursula. She's just so unapologetically herself. The only time she changes herself to fit 'societal norms' is to trick the prince. And even then, she isn't doing it out of lust for him or to fill some sort of need to fit in; she's doing it as a means to an end, that 'end' being having Ariel to use as a hostage against Triton. This lady is cunning, she is confident, and she takes what she wants. I loved her as much in the cartoon as I do in the recent live action movie; both versions were good. (whether you like the makeup or not, I don't care, the live-action Ursula was hilarious). She gets the trident, the power over the seas, and what is the First Thing she does? Tries to smite Ariel because she hates her, and also Ariel is the reason her beloved eels perished. Ursula wants immediate revenge. Love that for her. She has her priorities.
The Sheriff of Nottingham (from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)
He's played by Alan Rickman. That's it. That's the reason. LOL. I mean, I love the way that Mr. Rickman brought the character to life, I loved the comedy, the dry and dark humour he brings to the role. I just really love it. And he looked very handsome as the Sheriff, I must say. Also, the Sheriff's death scene always kinda makes me giggle just because it is So Drawn Out. Like, my dude. Die already!!!! But nope, gotta stumble around the Entire Tower Room first.
Eddie Gluskin (from Outlast: Whistleblower)
Eddie is, by the time Waylon Park stumbles across him, completely deranged, completely twisted, completely unhinged. He is running around chasing other prisoners to take them as 'brides', and cutting off the parts of them he doesn't desire. He makes a wedding dress. He has a tailored suit that he *wears*. He sings songs that he likely learned in his childhood, about marriage and love. Now, if there's one thing I love, it's a villain with a THEME. Also, this man did all this within the span of hours. HOURS. That is some crazy productivity...like holy shit. I know people who do less over the course of an entire week; AND get paid for it. Eddie was like 'hold up I got this' and prepared a wedding while doing some..."art"... on the side.
Usagi (from Juuni Taisen: Zodiac War)
Similar to Eddie, Usagi is just. Wild. A beast. I mean, it makes sense. He's in a 12-man battle royale where the winner gains whatever wish they desire. We don't get much on backstory for Usagi but I honestly think that's just fine. You can tell from his appearance and several of his voice lines that he hasn't had many friends...but when he kills the corpses reanimate and are completely under his control. "Friends" that can never run away. It's kind of fascinating to me, that he has so many trust issues he can't fathom having any friends that he can't 100% control. Also, he is in the skimpiest bunny outfit, complete with a giant tail to store his swords in, and stiletto heels. Iconic shit.
Sukuna (from JJK)
What I like about Sukuna is he is so evil and ready to kill and destroy...aaaaand he's stuck in the body of a teen who can somewhat limit his abilities and keep him locked away for the most part. Gotta love that frustration. Also, even though Yuuji has Sukuna inside him, they undoubtedly talk a lot, and pretty much have to be civil to each other...Sukuna still does not give Any Fucks about Yuuji's happiness. The cruel reminder comes when Sukuna refuses to save Junpei (My Baby!!!!😭😭😭), and honestly despite the fact it made me cry, I absolutely respect the writing that has a villain stand by his convictions. Don't get me wrong, I am a SUCKER, for character development and the villain becoming part of the Found Family whether they like it or not (which is how I write Sukuna in The Bar AU), but I also love and adore when a writer will Go There and be like "Yeah, no, you're not changing this guy so easily. He's evil." (I am nowhere near caught up with the manga but so far in my current observations this remains to be very true).
Azula (from Avatar: The Last Airbender)
This girl is so iconic. I love her methods. I love the outward confidence and the crazy consequences she doles out that are really just hiding a scared young girl with a perfection complex. I love that we get a such a rounded character; that we as the audience see her fail at flirting, see her lose her temper over trivial things, see her enjoy a day AT THE BEACH?! UNIRONICALLY???? Azula is just such a great character. When she loses her battle at the end and goes batshit spitting fire while bound...My heart. It aches for her. Even though I think she needs a whole lotta counselling. Truly.
The witches (from Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters)
I like the witches because they are just. Evil. (yes I know there's a 'good witch' in the story, but I'm not talking about her right now). I like that they fully commit to the evil. They feast on children. They kill without remorse. They cast disgusting and foul curses that cause some really gross gory scenes. I just like that return to a character who is just Evil and will never be good or be persuaded under any circumstances to act good. I thought, in an era of "pretty" witches who all seem to be "morally grey" at worst, it was fun and refreshing to have a witch just go "Nah, I want to eat a child" again.
Those are some of the ones I can think of right now. I just wanted to ramble a little about them. :D
What are your opinions about Musubimonogatari and what they did to Hanekawa's character? Personally, i hated it, It feels like they robbed her of her future and happiness for nothing
i'll go into spoilers under the readmore, but in short: i absolutely love it. it's the best part of Musubi and possibly the best part of Off Season
see the thing is, i don't really get how this is robbing her of her happiness, because this is what she wants to be doing. and it's something that you can trace back to her characterization in the first couple seasons
as for her future, i don't think she was robbed of anything, because this was the future she chose. and after a life of being forced into academic excellence due to the expectations placed on her, i think forging her own path in life is the best future she could have, even if that future is isolated and lonely (but that's why she should bring Sodachi with her)
part of the appeal of this is that it so heavily aligns with my politics, and it feels like a continuation, or even an expansion on Sharyu in Juuni Taisen, but with a good end. there is a tragic aspect to it, of course. this girl is giving herself up for the greater good of the world. but i think that's a very Tsubasa Hanekawa thing to do, especially if it's not being done in a suicidal way or a way which amounts to intentional self-harm like her actions earlier in the series
i'm not sure what else Tsubasa could have done that would have felt satisfying and proper as an ending to her story. if she went on and had a peaceful life, it would feel inadequate. she can't go to college and get a normal job like Koyomi, Hitagi, or Sodachi. it's more like she's being elevated to a concept, more like her foil, Ougi
bittersweetness and all, i utterly love Mitome Wolf as an end to Tsubasa Hanekawa's character, and it's the reason why Musubi stands out so much in my mind. the other futures that these characters have are good, but it's not just enough, because it also has to be fitting, and this is certainly fitting for her
Warning: Violence, potential spoilers, flashing lights, some sexual imagery
Title: The Baddest Girls
Editor: Cloud 9 AMV 雲
Song: The Baddest
Artist: K/DA
Anime: Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Juuni Taisen, Fate/Grand Order, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Honkai Impact 3rd, Canaan, Noragami, Kakegurui, To aru Majutsu no Index, Kyoukai no Kanata, Blood-C, Mirai Nikki, Black Lagoon, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, God of Highschool, Aoharu x Kikanjuu, Kill la Kill, Gangsta
Virgo
Warrior Name: Iron May(アイアン・メイ)
Real Name: Andy Almull(アンディ・アルマル)
Wish: I want a master
Title: Serve and kill
A girl in Maid dress. Called Mahou Shoujo. Born in an emerging country where gender equality is compatible, he was raised as a woman to avoid recruitment. Illegally sent to the battlefield(?), kept avoiding battles by taking in emotions and enemy prospects. Became a war criminal after escaping from the enemy and displaying obscene exhibition. Inherited a electrostatically charged steel broom that can fly into the sky.
Libra
Warrior Name: Baron Suu(バロン・スー)
Real Name: Aaron Smith(アーロン・スミス)
Wish: I want sin(?)
Title: Take a long way to kill/Take the space and kill(kill slowly?)
The presiding judge of the Tatsumi Brothers. Judge of a former war trial. As a result of repeated repetition and even assassination for reconciliation in order to forgive the crimes of all war criminals, he had the pride as "judges" and "forgiveness", and became war criminal with court contempts.
Scorpio
Warrior Name: Skull Pyon (スカル ピョン )
Real Name: Unknow
Wish: I want a name
Title: Kill at random
A black costume fitted to the body made of emanel. Hides their face behind a mask. A legendary assassin, suspected of not even being real. Any information besides the Warrior Name is unknow.
Sagittarius
Warrior Name: Uncle Sagittarius(ウンスリ・サジタリ)
Real Name: Usuki Sashitari (臼杵 指足(うすき さしたり))
Wish: I want an address(home?)
Title: Aim and kill
Kyudo family. Former militar industrial employee of Kozerun. Rigid to wrongdoing, disclosed confidential data, but at the same time opened the design information of military weapons. He is a war criminal with a sacrifice of confidential leakage that sacrificed 10 million people.
Capricorn
Warrior Name: Go to Heaven(ゴー・トゥ・ヘヴン)
Real Name: Gotou Valkyrie(Welcome Valkyrie)(?)(梧桐 ヴァルキリー(ごとう ヴァルキリー)
Wish: I want health
Title: Kill morbidly
Disciple of the Warrior of Warrior(Dog, probably). When a fetus, was a victim of antipersonnel landmines with a civilian mother. Was treated with medical practice that was illegal and lacked ethics. Can’t walk in the ground due to fear carved in the unconscious, so moves in a wheelchair. Hates war and humanity due to suffering from human trafficking and kidnapping in various countries and uses powerful landmines made by himself(?) to remove thunder(?)
Aquarius
Warrior Name: Muppet Bottle(マペット・ボトル)
Real Name: Thomas B. Tholls(トーマス・B・トールズ)
Wish: I want water
Title: Kill the wet
Longed to be a warrior. Was born in a non-combatant area(?), so extinguished his own arson himself. His home was destroyed and submerged to conceal his failure to extinguish the fire. After the war ended the crime was revealed by the victorious side’s verification.
Power: Control liquids freely. Can even control human blood, but need to touch the victim.
Pisces
Warrior Name: Doctor Finish(ドクター・フィニッシュ)
Real Name: Nocturne Fuji(ノクターン 不二(ノクターン ふじ))
Wish: I want guinea pigs
Title: Keep alive and kill
A female doctor. Disciple of the Warrior of Warrior(?). Edit: Warrior of the Dog
So... people have mentioned that the novel states that Inounoshishi had a lot of boyfriends, but it just hit me that the fact that her wish would be ‘I wish for love’ probably means she was seeking love but didn’t actually have mutual love with any of them and that’s pretty sad
Honestly, finding out about Dotsuko’s backstory with his adopted daughter makes his death so much sadder. He really didnt want to trust Niwatori for obvious reasons, but her innocent act probably reminded him of his daughter. The way he interacted with Niwatori, despite saying “Oh I can just deal with her later,” his actions gave me the impression that he didnt like the idea of leaving her alone in the war. I’m guessing he was thinking he’d want someone to do the same for his daughter if she was in his position. Not only did he underestimate her trickery, but he let his guard down because of his love for his child and that’s really depressing to think about
The following informations comes from the Japanese Wikipedia
I’ll make it clear that I don’t know how to read in japanese, so I’m using google translate. Thanks to @rantaroamami for telling me there is one.
Aries
Warrior Name: Friend Sheep(フレンド・シープ)
Real name: Meland Sherry(Mērando sherī)
Wish: I want clothes
Title(Killing method I suppose?): Count and kill
Volunteer to battlefield. Wore clother knitted with prisoners hair and internal organs(?)
Power: Hypnotism. Can make opponents sleep for 100 seconds. Can also wear corpses like clothes and use self hypnosis. The self hypnosis can be lifted by saying her name.
Killed Rat before the start of the war and infiltrated the enemies forces using self hypnosis to be a replica of the real Rat.
Taurus
Warrior Name: Look Me(ルック・ミー)
Real Name: Luke Michel(Rūku missheru)
Wish: I want a baby
Title: Swear to kill
Repeated kidnapping of children due to thinking they are her baby. The babies grow up gracefully and return to their real parents when not babies anymore. A big woman in a bride costume.
Power: Imagination Recognition. Creates a warrior by combining the subject’s and her own genes. The created warrior melts in about five minutes
Gemini
Warrior Name: Double Mind(ダブル・マインド)
Real Names: Sister - W2222; Brother - M2222
Wish: I want choice
Title: Kill without any choice
Bivalva twins(?), a failure experiment to produce an outstanding warrior. Share a large part of the spirit.
Cancer
Warrior Name: Sir Kansa(サー・カンサー)
Real Name: Caesar Caesar(シーザー・カエサル)
Wish: I want honor
Title: Kill gentlemanly
“Staff” of the war. A pacifist who has brokered interstate battles for the purpose of complete reconciliation. After continuing activities to eliminate any corruption after the end of the war, he was charged with false injuries(?) and became a war criminal. The winner of the 8th Juuni Taisen.
Leo
Warrior Name: Dandy Lion(ダンディ・ライオン)
Real Name: Same
Wish: I want a star
Title: To kill everything(”Subete korosu”)
A huge giant. Boss of the criminals. Former Air Force parachute troops Soldier of a huge state. Regarded as a war criminal due to execution methods of overthrowing a government.
Long as it is, I’ll continue on the next post, going through Virgo to Pisces.