For years, there has been a certain fascination around anime villains. In many cases, the viewers of a series prefer the antagonist over the protagonist. Over the years, this fascination has continued to increase, which is largely due to the redemption arcs of these villains.
Usually, these redemption arcs are extremely good and they are among the best arcs in a series. However, not every villain deserved redemption. Many characters were just redeemed in very weird and not-so-subtle ways. In this post, we will go through some characters who got their redemption undeservedly.
9 Obito Uchiha
Obito Uchiha was a member of the famed Uchiha Clan. He was traumatized at an early age, which turned him into Madara's pawn. Obito was responsible for the deaths of Kushina, Minato, and hundreds of civilians from the Hidden Leaf. He also joined hands with Itachi to slaughter the entire Uchiha Clan.
Obito was also responsible for starting the Fourth Great Ninja War, which was the largest and most gruesome war in the entire ninja history. Towards the end of his life, Obito did a few good things, but they were nowhere near enough to redeem him as a person.
8 Itachi Uchiha
Often hailed as a "hero," Itachi Uchiha is the farthest thing from a proper role model. Itachi Uchiha was responsible for murdering the entire Uchiha clan, which included his parents. Out of all the possibilities, Itachi considered slaughtering a whole clan the best one.
He has also been labeled as the "best brother," by many viewers because it is easy to forget that Sasuke was just a kid when Itachi used his Genjutsu on him. Young Sasuke had to witness the atrocities that Itachi had committed and was left scarred for life. For comparison, the same Genjutsu left Kakashi hospitalized for several days.
7 Meruem
The King of the Chimera Ants, Meruem was born as a cold-blooded killer with absolutely no regard for the lives of other people. Not only did he kill humans, but Meruem also killed the Chimera Ants. Meruem oversaw the plan for annihilating an entire nation and felt no remorse.
His character changed after meeting Komugi, who was a blind girl. Meruem learned about new things while playing Gungi with Komugi, and he became softer. However, it wasn't nearly enough to atone for all the atrocities Meruem and his subordinates had committed.
6 Scar
Scar was one of the last survivors of the Ishval Massacre. After swearing to avenge his brethren, Scar set out to destroy all the State Alchemists. His right hand was able to destroy anything it touched. Many viewers might have understood the sentiment behind Scar's killing spree, however, in his fury he also killed Winry's parents. Winry's parents were doctors, who were just helping people, but Scar killed them as well.
5 Isabella
Isabella was easily among the most hated characters in ThePromisedNeverland. She reared children in order to feed them to the demons. Isabella fulfilled her role as a sick and sordid villain, however, the author of ThePromisedNeverland decided to redeem her as a character.
Isabella was responsible for sending many innocent children to their deaths, and she felt no remorse for her actions. Towards the end of the series, she was forgiven by every child, including Emma.
4 Hiro Shishigami
​​​​​Blessed with incredible cybernetic power, Hiro Shishigami is among the most twisted individuals in anime history. He appeared to be a kind person, but in reality, he was a psychopath, who would murder people for very twisted reasons.
Hiro Shishigami was somehow redeemed by the author of InuYashiki. Over the course of the series, he was presented as a character who had some humanity left in him, which made a lot of viewers sympathize with him.
3 Zeke
Originally Zeke started as a villain, who came to Paradis Island to kill hundreds of innocent people. Zeke could transform into the Beast Titan, which granted him incredible strength. Zeke's motives were hidden from the viewers for a long time.
After some time, Zeke revealed his plan of getting rid of the vicious cycle of killing. His plan was to emasculate the entire population and thus bringing the cruel cycle to an end. But, it is quite obvious that Zeke's sins were far too great for any person to be redeemed.
2 Hendrickson
He was one of the main characters from the first season of SevenDeadlySins. He was responsible for causing a lot of destruction to the Kingdom of Britannia. Hendrickson wreaked havoc throughout the entire kingdom and was responsible for many deaths.
It took a great deal of effort from Meliodas to bring his progress to a halt. With a not-so-convincing reason, Hendrickson was able to buy his way out of punishment.
1 Vegeta
Vegeta is one of the most powerful anime characters, and he has helped the Z Fighters a lot. He started out as the enemy of Son Goku and the entire earth. Vegeta was sent to destroy the world and he was ready to fulfill his duties.
Vegeta served under Frieza and as his underling, Vegeta exterminated many worlds. Vegeta betrayed his teammates on several occasions just to fight Son Goku. On more than one occasion, Vegeta compromised the safety of millions of lives just to fulfill his urges.