10 anime villains with the most complex philosophies

When it comes to philosophy, most anime villains don't go beyond the typical diabolical laughter and/or pretending to be the ruler of the world. This is especially true of shonen anime, where the villain seeks to destroy the world or rule it.

However, much like how anime itself comes in many flavors, so do villains. There are many villains with complicated and complex views on life, the universe, law and order, and everything in between. This article will go into detail about villains that ultimately managed to break the mold.

Note: This article will contain spoilers for all the anime on the list. This article only reflects the opinions of the author and contains only one example per series.

Note 2: Just because a character's philosophy is complex doesn't mean it's designed to be agreed with. As always, fans are encouraged to draw their own interpretations and conclusions.

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10 complex anime villains with even more complex philosophies

1) Charles vi Britannia (Code Geass)

Charles Vi Britannia is the main villain in the mecha anime Code Geass. The Emperor of Britannia's outlook fits the ideals of a conqueror who sees his nation as superior. His philosophy is Social Darwinism — only the strongest are fit to rule via divine writ — which applies to his allies and enemies. Charles did nothing to stop his allies from killing each other.

This horrible attitude appears to stem from a childhood where royals betrayed each other for power. Upon discovering the collective unconscious, his solution was to destroy it entirely using the Ragnarok Connection to fuse all of humanity (living and dead) into one. His reason? It would ultimately lead to peace and a world without conflict, where humanity discarded its masks.

His son, Lelouch, used his powers to erase his treacherous father. Charles’ legacy was subsequently destroyed, as Lelouch worked to cripple and destroy Britannia.

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2) Ragyo Kiriyuin (Kill La Kill)

The abusive mother of both Satsuki and Ryuko in the Kill la Kill anime is authoritarian to her core. Ragyo is fatalistic in her argumentation. Ragyuo raves about humanity comprising pigs in human clothing and encourages Satsuki to bind everyone to Life Fiber clothing.

In reality, she was a servant of the Primordial Life Fiber, an alien being seeking to use humanity to spread Life Fibers across the stars. Her entire philosophy and goal hinged on REVOCS/COVERS covering the planet, which was accomplished since the Kiriyuin conglomerate owned and controlled most of the clothing made on Earth. She groomed Satsuki to take over and indulged in many other horrible deeds in pursuit of this goal.

Ragyo was defeated by Satsuki and Ryuko working together and took her own life rather than being killed or captured. A true anime villain to the end, even down to the dying smirk of hers.

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3) Zeke Yeager (Attack on Titan)

Eren Yeager's brother from Attack on Titan is probably the most philosophical of the villains in the anime. From his first appearance, where he tears the ODM gear off Mike Zacharias, to his later appearances in the final season, Zeke is usually philosophizing about something.

Zeke's whole philosophy is to free the world from its fear of the Titans and end Eldia's suffering. He's method is to use the Founding Titan's ability to sterilize all Subjects of Ymir. He also played Marley and Eldia like fiddles.

Zeke was, however, outplayed by Eren’s Rumbling plan to destroy the world. What's one genocide compared to another, after all? Fortunately, Zeke lets himself be killed to stop this horrific plan after Armin reminds him there's more to life than sheer survival and death.

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4) Shogo Makishima (Psycho-Pass)

The first villain from the sci-fi anime Psycho-Pass is an interesting case. Shogo Makishima is a sociopath who doesn't quite fit into society. Naturally, why not burn it all down if it has nothing to offer you?

Shogo Makishima's philosophy can be broken down easily. The Sybil System is stagnating society; burn it down! This would enable people to live by their own free will. He's correct that the system is indeed trying to stagnate humanity by boiling down human behavior to an algorithm.

His issue is that though other people have problems with the system, they don’t wreak havoc and murder.

Whether it's trying to poison Japan's food and water supplies, or killing Akane's best friend to prove a point, Shogo is a proper villain. He even quotes many dystopian literary authors, like George Orwell. Shogo was eventually brought down and laughed his way into the afterlife.

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5) James Ironwood (RWBY)

James Ironwood is a general in the army of Atlas in the anime RWBY. Despite seeming like a good man, Ironwood's philosophy can best be described as "Atlas First."

Everything Ironwood does, he says, is for Atlas' sake and for the greater good of humanity. In reality, he is instead the perfect pawn in Salem's wicked game.

Ironwood dismisses the poverty-stricken city of Mantle as "just a few city blocks," neglecting their safety within his borders. He even threatened to nuke Mantle if he didn't get his way. Ironwood embargoed trade following the Fall of Beacon, depriving allies of aid and throwing Mantle further into poverty. Ironwood repeatedly waxes poetic about loyalty, only to demand obedience and shoot those who defy him.

Ironwood went as far as to abandon the world to Salem's evil rather than fight. He then dared to blame Team RWBY and company for dooming Atlas.

Team RWBY and JNR proved far more capable of helping thousands to safety with little sleep, whereas Ironwood caused his own downfall. Alas, the number of fans who missed this was startling.

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6) Kyubey (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Don't trust that cute look. (Image Credits via Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Honbusha, Studio Shaft)

As much as most fans would rather see this thing dead, Kyubey is technically the greater villain in Magica Madoka. Kyubey’s goal and philosophy are to exploit the emotions of the human race to prevent the end of the universe. No sacrifice is too great, so long as the universe is saved.

Because he doesn't experience or understand emotions, he sees no wrong in what he's doing. The Incubators, Kyubey's race, exploit and use girls' energy, bodies, and souls to stop entropy by using them as livestock. It's seriously evil, but morality is inconsequential to them as long as their goal is met as quickly and efficiently as possible.

This inherent lack of understanding resulted in Kyubey being unable to fathom the actions of the magical girls he contracted. Likewise, Kyubey doesn't understand or care when the results of those actions are emotionally and physically devastating. It's a closed-loop system that Madoka eventually breaks in the anime.

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7) Hero Killer Stain (My Hero Academia)

Stain (Image Credits: Kōhei Horikoshi/Shueisha/Viz Media/My Hero Academia]

Villains come in all shapes and sizes in anime; some are authoritarians and others are the ultimate rebel. The Hero Killer: Stain, aka Chizome Akaguro, from My Hero Academia is the latter. His philosophy is that he cannot stand the rampant greed and commodification of hero work.

Put simply, Stain questions the value of monetarily motivated heroes and aimless villains. He's myopic with this philosophy, as the "Hero Killer" label isn't just for show. He's supposedly killed over 40 heroes in his quest, landing him in Tartarus for his troubles in the anime.

While he proved to be a spanner in All for One's plans, Stain also gave an odd pep talk to All Might in the manga. Essentially, All Might shouldn't give up on being a hero just because his powers have lessened. The pep talk works, it’s just considered odd coming from Stain.

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8) Char Aznable (Mobile Suit Gundam)

Char Aznable, real name Casval Rem Deikun, was blinded by revenge throughout the Mobile Suit Gundam anime franchise. Though his quest for revenge against the tyrannical Zabi family ended in Zeta Gundam, Char also had another underlying philosophy about him. He believed that for humanity to truly, evolve they must leave Earth.

This is because Char was raised in a colony, and saw the kinds of conditions that led to the Zeon rebellion. By the time of Zeta Gundam, Char gives an impassioned speech arguing for an end to the conflict. He wanted to save the Earth, with his speech preaching against pollution and humanity making a new home in space.

Sadly, it did little to change the conflict. By the time of the anime movie Char's Counterattack, Char became bitter and decided to cause a nuclear winter via asteroid drop. If the people of Earth didn't leave, he reasoned, there wouldn't be an Earth to live on. Fortunately, this madness was stopped but it cost many lives.

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9) Shishio Makoto (Rurouni Kenshin)

The arch-enemy of Kenshin Himura in the Rurouni Kenshin anime isn't someone to mess with. The Meiji government found that out the hard way when they tried to kill him, and he came back with horrific burns. Shishio's philosophy is effectively social Darwinism where the weak die and the strong eat them.

Shishio hated that the Meiji government had betrayed him and sought only power. While he supposedly planned to strengthen Japan's economy with petroleum once he took over, this was likely a ruse to obscure his true nature. He went as far as taking a warship to burn Tokyo to the ground.

Shishio served as a representation of the violent cruelties of Imperial Japan. He may have intended for Japan to be strong, but the killings and excess violence he indulged in eventually saw his doom. He was stopped when he was burned to death after his last duel with Kenshin.

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10) Griffith (Berserk)

Dreams are powerful things that can guide people to many places. Yet, a person should never push their dreams to their extreme lest tragedy ensues. Griffith from the Berserk anime is an example of what happens when dreams become obsessions.

Griffith is driven by his dream of obtaining his kingdom, with hardly any scruple about how he does it. This included things such as deceit, kidnapping, and self-abasement. Then, there was the Eclipse. After sacrificing his friends and nearly killing Guts and Casca, Griffith achieved his dream of having his kingdom.

However, as Guts prophesied, it wasn't enough. It never would have been for Griffith, as he tore open the Astral Plane to conquer it, too. It shows how greedy and arrogant he'd become, so much so that he thought nothing of anyone but himself in the end.

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