(#1) Itachi Uchiha
- Naruto Shippūden, Naruto, Ninja World
Pretty much every villain from Naruto has a tragic backstory that explains their behavior, but Itachi's is one of the most resonant.
As a child, Itachi's life was defined by constant warfare. What's more, he was working as a chuunin by the age of ten, which meant that he was participating in dangerous battles on a regular basis. Though his skills were precocious, his emotions were much the same as any other kid - he was traumatized by the violence and would do pretty much anything to prevent it.
That's why he was so vulnerable to Danzo's manipulation. Danzo approached the then thirteen-year-old boy and gave him a choice: eliminate his family and save himself and his brother, or die alongside them in a Root invasion. Itachi realized that he could have probably warned his family and prepared to fight back, but he also realized that that would probably start a war like the one that ravaged his childhood - thus taking more lives in the process. So he took Danzo's deal.
(#2) Zeref
Zeref is one of the most evil villains in the world of Fairy Tail, but it's hard to fully blame him for his actions. Why? Because his past is absolutely heartbreaking, that's why.
As a young child, Zeref's parents and brother Natsu were taken out by a dragon. For most people, that would be sufficient as a tragic backstory, but things get worse from there. Because he sought to bring his younger brother back to life, Ankhseram laid the Curse of Contradiction on him. This curse causes the afflicted to randomly destroy other people with little control over the violence. Zeref is horrified by this and wishes for his own demise, but he decides to continue trying to bring Natsu back. Though he succeeds at this, he isn't able to restore their former relationship thanks to the whole curse thing.
The worst thing about the curse is that the only way to control it is by not caring whether or not other people survive. This made his descent into villainy more or less inescapable.
(#3) Vegeta
- Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound, Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku, Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks, Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler, Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, Plan to Destroy the Saiya-jin, Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, Dragon Ball
Vegeta doesn't actually stay a villain - he has a redemption arc and ends up joining the good guys - but he spends a long enough time engaged in evil-doing that he definitely qualifies.
As a child, Vegeta was forced to work for Frieza under threat of his father's demise. But enduring backbreaking labor under extreme duress wasn't the worst thing that would happen to the Saiyan prince. Eventually, his father - and the rest of his species - was wiped out when Frieza decided to destroy his planet.
Vegeta knew that he wouldn't be able to defeat Frieza yet. Part of his motivation for his villainous behavior was to obtain the Dragon Balls and become strong enough to challenge him.
(#4) Crona
- Soul Eater
Crona never actually wanted to hurt anyone, but they weren't given much of a choice. Their mother, Medusa Gorgon, replaced her blood with "black blood" a substance that made them significantly more powerful, but also negatively impacted their mental state. As a young child, they were forced to destroy small animals in order to prepare for violence against humans. Their own will was irrelevant, and their only value to their mother was their ability to help her pursue her dangerous goals.
Because Maka and her friends were able to recognize Crona's victimization, they helped Crona achieve some level of personal freedom. Crona ultimately became one of their allies - but it wasn't an easy process.
(#5) Lucy - 'Elfen Lied'
To say that Lucy has been through a lot is putting it mildly. She's a Diclonius, which is an evolutionary offshoot of humanity that's characterized by powerful psychokinetic abilities. As a child, she was subjected to horrifically painful experiments at the Diclonius Research Institute. When she escapes, she has to take a whole lot of lives to do so.
What's more, she also spent time in an orphanage trying to live like a normal human being. Because of her horns, she experienced severe discrimination and bullying. She was unable to tolerate it anymore when a group of kids held her down and destroyed a dog she loved in front of her. She ended up committing a massacre and awakening her Diclonius voice, which urged her to eliminate humans for her own safety. However, Lucy wouldn't always be able to differentiate between people who were an actual threat to her and people who were totally innocent or even helpful, which is how she became a villain.
(#6) Tomura Shigaraki - 'My Hero Academia'
As the leader of the League of Villains, Tomura Shigaraki delights in destroying everything around him, and seems to be 100% evil. But how did he get to be that way? Hang tight, because this next part has spoilers from the manga.
As a child, Tomura had a difficult life. His father was cold-hearted and physically abusive due to his own personal issues. That's enough trauma for any pre-school aged kid, but things get much worse when his quirk activates. His quirk, Decay, causes anything he touches to crumble into dust. With no idea how to control it, he ends up destroying his entire family - including his father.
Alone and vulnerable, he's quickly found by All For One, who raises him as his successor and helps breed in him the desire to destroy.
(#7) Juuzou Suzuya - 'Tokyo Ghoul'
Juuzou Suzuya was once an ordinary child, but after being abducted by Big Madam, that changed. Big Madam trained him to be a ruthless killer who had little to no understanding of morality. Big Madam did more than just warp Juuzou's sense of right and wrong, however.
Big Madam wanted Juuzou to "remain beautiful" and worried that when he grew up and became a man, his appearance would change for the worse. To prevent this, she smashed his genitals with a hammer, effectively castrating him. That didn't exactly help with the whole "mental stability" thing.
(#8) Shiro
- Deadman Wonderland
When Sorae Igarashi adopted Shiro, it wasn't with the intention of providing a child with a loving home. Instead, it was to use her as experimental fodder because Sorae didn't want to use her biological child, Ganta. The experiments were intended to improve the human immune system, but they were excruciatingly painful for Shiro - in many cases they literally made her arms fall off and her body come apart at the seams.
To deal with the unbearable pain, Shiro developed an alternate personality called the Wretched Egg. The Wretched Egg was incredibly violent, taking multiiple lives in the goriest ways possible.
(#9) Isabella - 'The Promised Neverland'
As the "mama" of Grace Field House, Isabella pretends to prepare orphan children to be adopted by new families - but in reality, she's selling them to demons as meat.
While this is viscerally terrifying, it's hard to fully blame Isabella once you learn her full story. Isabella was once in her kids' exact same position, but she was given an out. She could avoid being turned into meat herself if she trained to become a mama and perpetuate the system. With no idea how else she could possibly survive, Isabella took the deal.
When Emma is offered the same deal, she turns it down in favor of pursuing her escape. While this is commedable, it's understandable that not everyone would be that brave.
(#10) Marik Ishtar
- Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Being held captive in an underground cavern for years on end isn't exactly great for child development, which might explain why Marik Ishtar ends up turning to villainy. Marik belongs to a family that has been entrusted to guard the Pharoah's tomb and two of the Millenium Items. In order to make sure he takes on that duty, his father refuses to allow him to leave their underground home. What's more, he's forced to endure having intricate and painful carvings inflicted on his back. To escape the pain, he creates a second personality, Yami Marik.
One year later, he and his sister take a trip above ground, and his brother is punished for letting them escape. The punishment is torture. Unable to tolerate his brother suffering at their father's hands, Marik's other personaltiy takes over and destroys his father. He also takes the Millenium Rod for himself. His violent alter ego is sealed away, and his siblings attempt to hide what happened from him, blaming Shadi instead. Because Marik thought the Pharoah ordered Shadi to do it, he ended up starting the Rare Hunters and going after the Pharoah's soul - which is currently residing in Yugi.
(#11) Tsubaki Kasugano
- Future Diary
Tsubaki Kasugano was born to the founders of the Omekata cult. Though her parents intended to use the cult to help those in need, they eventually tried to dismantle it, as they'd come to believe that decieving others was wrong, and didn't want to keep pretending that their daughter was clairvoyant when she wasn't.
Unfortunately, Funatsu - Omekata's second-in-command - wasn't ready to give up the power that the cult brought him, so he strapped a bomb to the underside of the Kasuganos car, leaving Tsubaki an orphan. Funatsu revamped the cult to make it about purification, claiming that anyone who had sex with Tsubaki would be pure. Thus began two years of endless assaults. Her mind began to deteriorate from the trauma, and she eventually decided that everything outside of her room was evil and had to be destroyed.
(#12) The Warriors - 'Attack On Titan'
Few viewers of Attack on Titan actually want to see Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie achieve their goal of destroying humanity within the walls, but it's hard not to feel sympathy because of the circumstances that put them there in the first place.
The three of them were Eldians living in Marley. Eldians were blamed for pretty much every form of hardship that's ever happened in the history of the world, and this is used as a justification to force them into internment camps. However, a small group of children are selected as Warriors. Those warriors are expected to obey the Marley military without question, and are indoctrinated into believing that such obedience is right. In exchange, they got Marley citizenship, which meant basic human rights.
So, Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie initially waged war because they believed it was the right thing to do. However, as they got to know the other members of the Survey Corps, they started to feel extremely conflicted - especially Reiner, who was ultimately unable to keep up the facade of being their ally.
(#13) Nine & Twelve - 'Terror In Resonance'
While the exact motives for Nine and Twelve's acts of terrorism is never directly revealed, it's heavily implied that their motivation was to bring light to their experiences with the Athena Project.
The Athena Project was ostensibly supposed to educate gifted children, but the reality was nothing of the kind. The true aim of the project was to test a dangerous drug on children. The drug was supposed to be able to induce Savant Syndrome, a condition in which brain function is elevated in a single area. Those with Savant Syndrome would be used as government tools. The drug proved to be wildly damaging to many of those drafted into the study, permanently destroying their bodies and minds.
Nine and Twelve were part of the project, and they escaped by setting fire to the institution.
(#14) Akito Sohma
- Fruits Basket
Heads up - this section is spoiler-heavy if you haven't read the Fruits Basket manga.
Akito Sohma, the head of the Sohma clan, is a source of constant terror for the rest of the family. But it's hard to fully hold it against her. Why? Because Akito was taught to behave that way by her deeply unstable mother Ren.
First of all, notice the pronoun 'she.' Akito was born female, but was raised as a boy. Why? Because her mother couldn't stand the idea of her husband Akira loving any woman - even their daughter - as much as he loved her. Akira did love his daughter, but he passed away from undefined ill health - which Akito inherited. Sick, grieving, and alone with a mother who hated her, Akito had a miserable childhood.
But how does that translate to physically and emotionally abusing her family? Because Akito inherited the 'god position' of the Sohma curse, her father told her that the other cursed members would love her unconditionally. Her father was the only person who treated her well. Meanwhile, her mother, who treated her horribly, told her that everyone hated her and would abandon her. That led to Akito lashing out at the rest of her family in order to keep them from leaving.
(#15) Hänsel & Gretel - 'Black Lagoon'
Hänsel and Gretel are twin Romanian orphans who were abanoned by parents who could not afford their care. Rather than being taken in by a new family, they were taken in by the mob and forced to participate in snuff films. In these films, they had to either take the lives of other kids, or endure abuse themselves. As a result, they became used to violence, and developed the idea that the lifespans of those they destroy will be added onto their own.
The two also lack coherent identities - Hänsel and Gretel are not their real names, and they routinely swap identities with one another.
(#16) Alois Trancy
Alois Trancy has a reputation for being a sadistic brat, but that doesn't make his past any less devastating. His actual name is Jim Macken. As Jim, he was living on the street with his younger brother Luka. Life wasn't easy - they had to steal to survive - but at least they had each other. After a terrifying event leaves Luka dead, Jim finds refuge in the Trancy household, along with a group of other boys. But what seems like a stroke of luck turns out to be nightmare when Lord Trancy decides to use Jim and the other boys for nefarious purposes.
In order to curry favor with his abuser, Jim, now called Alois, becomes his favorite - but in the meantime, he forms a contract with Claude to get revenge on Sebastian, who he believes is responsible for Luka's demise. He's in opposition with the protagonists, but it's not exactly hard to see where he's coming from here.
(#17) Mao - 'Code Geass'
Mao never would have become a villain if not for C.C. - but he also probably wouldn't have survived his childhood, either. When she found him, he was a helpless six-year-old orphan with no resources whatsoever. She raised him, but she also gave him the Geass power so that he could end her life.
His power proved to be uncontrollable. He was unable to stop reading people's minds, and the sensory overload eventually drove him completely insane. Because C.C. was the only person who he could talk to without being bombarded by their thoughts - and because she'd been raising him as her son - he became a lot clingier than she was comfortable with.
Not wanting to mother this troubled child who couldn't even end her immortality like she asked him to, C.C. left him to his own devices.
While none of this excuses his abusive behavior toward Shirley and Nunally, it's hard to see how he could have turned out differently.
(#18) Dilandau Albatau
- The Vision of Escaflowne, Escaflowne
When Dilandau Albatou is first introduced as the leader of the Dragon Slayers, he's a violent narcissist with a pathological fear of being alone and a burning desire to destroy Van. But his instability and cruelty stem from an excruciating childhood.
Once upon a time, Dilandau was actually a girl named Celena Schezar. She was kidnapped and experimented on, a process that created her male identity. Because she didn't actually process what happened to her, she becomes increasingly mentally unstable as the series wears on. Despite this, the other members of the Dragon Slayers are extremely loyal to her. Eventually, she does resume her original idenity and reconnect with her brother Allan, but getting there is no easy task.
(#19) Nakago - 'Fushigi Yugi'
Nakago is a member of the Seiryuu warriors, as well as their unofficial leader. He spends most of the series manipulating the Seiryuu priestess into betraying her best friend. He's power-hungry and cruel, but why is he like that? The answer lies in his truly unbearable childhood.
As a member of the Hin tribe, he was constantly subjected to discrimination. One day, that took the form of a group of Kutou guards assaulting his mother. At that moment, his Seiryuu warrior powers activated, and he blasted the guards off of her. Because he was recognized for his status, he ended up living with the Emperor of Kutou. There, the emperor treated him the same way the guards had treated his mother. Though he had no choice but to accept his abuse then, he now craves power to make sure he'll never be victimized again.
(#20) Yut-Lung Lee - 'Banana Fish'
Yut-Lung Lee is the youngest member of the Lee family - the biggest crime family in China. He briefly allies himself with Dino Golzine in order to figure out the chemical composition of a drug called Banana Fish, and he repeatedly acts aggressively toward both Ash and Eiji.
Why does he want to help a slimebag like Golzine, and why does he hate Ash and Eiji so much? It's because of his horrifically painful childhood. Yut-Lung is the son of a high-ranking member of the Lee family, as well as his teenage mistress. When his father passed away, his older half-brothers assaulted and then killed his mother, leaving him an orphan. Enraged at his brothers, he grew up hoping to get revenge - and the Banana Fish drug was an avenue by which to achieve that. As for Ash and Eiji, he's intensely jealous of the fact that they're actively experiencing love and human connection, and he has none of that in his own life.
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About This Tool
Disney animation is good at many things, such as the fantastic world, the top film and Television Works, as well as some popular wide-ranging theme song. But perhaps the studio’s greatest achievement has been the production of many evil animated characters over the past 60 years. It is often said that a good story depends on the strength of the villain in the story, and in Disney, which has made many fairy tale films, many evil villains have become classics.
In addition to Disney, many cartoons also appear in the role of villains. The random tool generated 20 entries documenting how 20 anime characters had been transformed into evil characters. You can see Itachi Uchiha, Zeref, vegetable a, Crona, Lucy-‘Elfen Lied’ and so on.
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