Most people want to see good triumph over evil in fiction. The hero rescues the kidnapped prince. The spy deactivates the bomb before it destroys the city. The superheroes drive the alien invaders out of Earth once and for all. The battle might be hard-fought, and there may be casualties, but in the end, good stands victorious.

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In these anime, though, that's not how it goes. Sometimes the reason the villain is monologing is because his evil plan is already in motion, and the heroes have already lost. Other times, good may win, but at such tremendous cost that may as well have lost. If not for such stories, the end of every series would feel fated. Only the genuine threat of loss keeps the tension alive.

Updated on February 15, 2024, by Oluwatokiloba Folami: In the battle of good versus evil, good always wins. That is the ideal situation, but there are some cases where it is the opposite and evil wins. For example, in some cases, like the Attack On Titan, Eren starts as the protagonist, wanting to destroy the Titans and ultimately stop them from eating more humans. However, things take a drastic turn when Eren becomes a Titan and eventually becomes the villain of the show. The only way to achieve his goal is to eradicate humanity. There are countless anime where the protagonist turns into a villain and achieves their evil goals or the antagonist from the start has things go their way, and they are successful in implementing their wicked ideas. Either way, things work in favor of these villains.

20 Tokyo Esp

Hokusai Azuma, The Professor

• Japanese Title: Tokyo Esp
• Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Supernatural
• Studio: Xebec

The Professor in Tokyo Esp may have died, but it is safe to assume he died happy, knowing he realized his objectives before his death. Hokusai Azuma, The Professor, is the villain and leader of the terror group that antagonizes the world of Tokyo Esp. The professor was not originally a villain, but the murder of his wife pushed him to a dark and vengeful place.

As he tries to lure out his wife’s killers, he becomes a terrorist seeking to turn ordinary people into espers (humans with extraordinary powers). His plan works, as he is able to turn people into espers with the help of the glowing fish. In the end, he gets stabbed and dies, but at least he got what he wanted. The only downside is that he was not alive for long enough to enjoy the manifestation of his plans.

19 Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebellion

Lelouch Lamperouge

Some fans may argue that Lelouch was not technically a villain because he had good intentions. However, his methods of realizing his goals paint him as a bad guy. Lelouch is almost like Eren in Attack On Titan, as they both wanted to make the world a better place for their loved ones. Lelouch adopts a secret identity as Zero and becomes the leader of a rebel group to fight for the liberation of Japan and the downfall of Britannia.

Lelouch is ruthless, cold, and very calculative. He has no problem sacrificing innocent human lives and manipulating people to achieve his goal. He was successfully able to make the whole world unite by making everyone hate him. Lelouch did everything he could to make the world a better place, and once that was done, he sacrificed his life.

18 Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Kyebey

Kyebey is a cute and furry cat with red eyes in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, but he is more than that. He is an incubator, meaning he is emotionless and has no regard for or understanding of humans and their emotions. This manipulative little animal lures young girls to sign their souls to him in exchange for becoming magical girls. Kyebey also has the power to turn them into witches, as he turns Homura into a witch in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part III: The Rebellion Story.

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Kyebey is interested in getting Madoka’s soul, but he has been able to successfully manipulate other young girls into signing their souls away. Since Kyebey is an incubator who has no emotions, killing him is quite useless, as another incubator will take his place and carry on their manipulative duties.

17 Attack On Titan

Eren Yeager

Eren Yeager, the protagonist of the Attack on Titan anime series, also doubles as its overarching antagonist. At first, Eren was only a boy who wanted to secure freedom for himself and his people. However, after discovering that the whole world was his enemy and seeing him as a devil, Eren decided to cleanse the world of all humans apart from the Eldians.

Using the rumbling, Eren achieved a considerable amount of his goal by wiping out 80% of the world's population. Moreover, although the Scout Regiment stopped him from wiping away all of humanity, that was only because he allowed them the freedom to do so. Even after Mikasa, Armin, and other members of the Scout Regiment managed to stop Eren, at best, they only avoided the worst-case scenario and in no way won the battle.

16 Demon Slayer – The Movie: Mugen Train

Akaza

Demons and demon slayers are known to constantly engage in battles across the history of the series. However, with the introduction of Tanjiro, the protagonist of the series, many thought that the demon slayers would begin to have an edge over the demons. Unfortunately, once again, a demon slayer fell to an upper-rank demon in a battle that would serve as one of the most unforgettable aspects of the Demon Slayer series. As Rengoku, the former flame Hasira, and Akaza, an upper-rank demon, fought, fans were left astounded by the beauty and brutality of their techniques.

Although Rengoku used all the skills in his arsenal, he was unable to kill Akaza. Even after sacrificing vital parts of his body to hold Akaza down so the sun would kill him, he still failed to kill the demon and lost his life, ending the canon anime movie on a sour note.

15 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Arasaka And Militech

A young David Martinez is involved in an accident and loses his mother. Now an orphan and in poverty, David mixes up with cyberpunks and becomes one of them. With his new cybernetic implant, the Sandevistan, David proves to be a useful asset to his gang of cyberpunks. However, one thing leads to another, and several members of David’s crew die off.

Now, years later, David is the leader of the crew and has pulled off heist after heist. Unfortunately, Arasaka, a megacorporation, has its eyes set on David. Meanwhile, Arasaka’s rival, Militech, pays very close attention to Arasaka’s movements. Caught between the scheming of these two mega corporations, David loses his life, unable to defy their will as he is caught in the crossfire. Moreover, most of his crew members are killed off as they are unable to defy the power of money and influence.

14 Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

Treize Khushrenada

Though best known for its epic mech fights, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is, like the rest of the Gundam franchise, about far more than laser swords clashing and missile barrages slamming down on bases. It's a complex political drama, and the intrigue and machinations of its power brokers have always led to some of the series' best drama.

Treize is a controversial character, in part because his ultimate goal is to push humanity towards peace, but the only way he sees to achieve that goal is to first plunge the earth into even greater war, a plan he carries out successfully. From his departure from the Foundation to the formation of the Treize Faction to his eventual death in battle, Treize got what he wanted.

13 Fate/Zero

Kiritsugu Emiya

The Fourth Holy Grail War could've ended in so many ways, but its actual ending is bleak and uncompromising. As the battle royale for the wish-granting chalice comes to a close, Kiritsugu Emiya at last gets his chance to claim the magical artifact.

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In the end, however, the Holy Grain is a hollow prize. It was corrupted long ago, a realization that causes Kiritsugu to reject the Grail. Thus, his many losses were for nothing, while villains like Kotomine and Gilgamesh get what they want and emerge from the unfolding calamity unscathed. There are darker, grimmer anime out there, but there's something especially heartbreaking about seeing a series like Fate/Zero end this way.

12 Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor

Kazutaka "Chairman" Hyoudou

Intense, stylistic, and sometimes bloody, Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor has all the markings of the greatest shonen anime, but it's not about fighting martial arts tournaments or ninjas. It's about gambling. Kaiji is a down-and-out gambler who is coerced by a loan shark into participating in a secret gambling event.

Kaiji could've kept his winnings but instead gambles all of them plus four fingers for the chance to win an even greater pot and defeat the sadistic chairman. His luck fails him, costing him not only his ¥20 million winnings but also his fingers. The chairman's knowledge and cunning win the day, leaving Kaiji to skulk away with nothing and plot his revenge.

11 Persona 4: The Golden Animation

Adachi

Expanding upon the story told in Persona 4: The Animation, Persona 4: The Golden Animation centers around Yu Narukami, a boy who discovers a twisted TV World, gains the power of Persona, and tries to untangle the mystery of Marie and the Velvet Room.

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The OVA "Thank You, Mr. Accomplice" acts as an alternate ending to the series. In it, Yu forgoes enlisting the help of his friends and instead confronts Adachi alone. Adachi coerces Yu into helping him, a move which in a single stroke, sabotages Yu and Marie's relationship, leaves the mystery unsolved, and allows the ominous fog to hang upon the town forever. Is this twist necessary? Arguably not, which is why it was fated to become an alternate ending instead of the canonical good one. Nevertheless, Adachi has his day.

10 Wolf's Rain

Darcia

Don't werewolves deserve happiness too? The characters in Wolf's Rain are searching for a sanctuary where they can finally settle down and have peace, which is one of the purest goals a lycanthrope could have. Yet, they don't actually get the sanctuary they're searching for because Darcia ruined it.

Like Sword Art Online and similar anime, some interpretation is necessary here. Rain begins to fall, and hope for a new path forward is born, but for the moment, there is no question that the home the heroes fought for is gone. It's melancholy, and the feeling sticks around.

9 Higurashi: When They Cry

Multiple endings complicate things, as is the case with Higurashi: When They Cry. To be fair, some of these endings are happy ones. Higurashi: When They Cry is a suspense anime about a series of murders linked to a village festival in a small town, and the endings are quite bad. It might look like it could've been a slice-of-life anime, but it doesn't play out like one.

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It's not enough that the villain gets away with no consequences. It's not even enough that the heroes die. In some endings, the heroes are dissected or even sterilized. It is a world of horror that most anime don't touch, and more than compensates for the endings where things go well.

8 Yu Yu Hakusho

Sensui

Many villains have clear-cut victories. If the villain wants to burn down an enchanted forest, and they do, they win. In Yu Yu Hakusho, though, it isn't so simple. The demons that Sensui invites to Earth through the Demon Portal don't kill everyone — an obvious win for the good guys — but it turns out that what Sensui really wanted was to find someone strong enough to finally kill him.

Since Yusuke did exactly that, Sensui won. Even though the villain's "victory" meant his death and a safer world for the heroes, he still technically achieved his goal. Even Yusuke admits that Sensui got what he wanted in the end. This show might look like an anime for kids, but it doesn't end like one.

7 Hellsing Ultimate

The Major

When mass-murdering vampires aren't even the most sinister villain in a horror anime, things are going to go badly. The Major, the supreme commander of Millenium, is a fascist who wants a war with mass casualties, and that's exactly what he gets. His side loses the war, but he succeeds in causing a huge number of innocent deaths. His catchphrase, after all, is "I love war."

Because that's what happens in Hellsing Ultimate, it's hard to spin the heroes' eventual success into a loss for the Major. Much of his work might be undone later, but that doesn't do much for those who died on the way.

6 Berserk

Griffith

Berserk is so bleak and violent that it's emotionally exhausting just to talk about, never mind watch. Its singular focus is the depiction of hopeless characters in a hopeless world; thus, it should come as no surprise that it ends badly.

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Griffith wants to rule the world and rule the world he does. At what price? The death of almost everyone around him. The 1997 anime adaptation ends with Griffith becoming the fifth member of the Godhand, sacrificing all of his friends and his humanity in exchange for power. Berserk is a textbook example of an anime in which a bad person does bad things to achieve a bad end, and the good people are simply powerless to stop them.

5 Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Rustal Elion

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans maintains the Mobile Suit tradition of a complicated political plot that serves as the backdrop for its awesome mecha action. What matters is that by the end of season two, series antagonist Rustal Elion has become head of Gjallarhorn, securing himself new fame and power. The heroes are strong but die anyway. If that isn't enough, Rustal eliminates Tekkadan and obliterates McGillis's fleet.

Gjallarhorn might be re-established as a democracy, but with Rustal holding the sway that he does, it's a victory for the villain nonetheless. It isn't the most absolute villainous victory in anime history, but it's a crushing one.

4 Trigun

Vash The Stampede

Trigun's Vash the Stampede is the deadliest gunslinger in the West, which is exactly the opposite of what he wants to be. After a lifetime of killing, Vash just wants to live in peace. Unfortunately, Knives and Legato have made it their mission to force Vash back onto the path of violence.

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Despite Vash doing everything in his power to keep from returning to his old ways, the choice is made for him in the end. Vash will do anything to protect the people he loves, and Legato makes it clear that if Vash does not shoot him, Milly and Meryl will pay, leaving the gunslinger no choice. Legato dies triumphant.

3 Devilman Crybaby

Satan

Teaming up with the devil is a part start, but that's exactly what the protagonist of Devilman Crybaby does to try to save the world from a demonic invasion. Does that work out? No — the villains are too strong. The hero dies, humanity is destroyed, Satan takes power, and God finally eradicates the earth to clean up the mess.

With a name like Devilman Crybaby, the series was inauspicious from the beginning, but few would've guessed that its ending would be such an utter loss for the side of good. On the plus side, the series at least handles this catastrophe beautifully so that it's worth watching as everything swirls down the drain together.

2 Speed Grapher

Suitengu

In Speed Grapher, series villain Suitengu wins in the most complete manner imaginable. He wants the Roppongi Club dead, Saiga to suffer, and the economy to collapse. To achieve this, he gathers all of the Yen in Japan into a building containing himself and the Roppongi Club, then detonates a bomb, destroying all of the money and killing everyone.

In the final showdown, Saiga survives but is permanently blinded. No clever antihero saves the world, and it isn't consequential that Suitengu dies: by detonating the bomb, Suitengu makes every villainous dream he ever had come true. The economy is destroyed, and the heroes lose.

1 Neon Genesis Evangelion

SEELE

Mecha fans are used to their heroes winning. A few skyscrapers might be knocked down in the process, some mecha might explode, and a trusted friend might have to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the protagonist succeeds, but in the end, it's all worth it because the good guys win.

Neon Genesis Evangelion, though, spits in the face of that tradition when the puppeteers of Seele trigger the Human Instrumentality Project. The few heroes who remain alive are trapped in a dead world, with nothing they can do to restore it, which is perhaps even worse than if everyone had just died together.

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