10 most common traits for shonen anime primary antagonists

Many shonen anime antagonists share plenty of common personality traits. This is usually due to the writing of much of shonen anime being largely formulaic, with just enough differentiation to make all the antagonists unique.

Antagonists can go into final forms, scheming long-thought plans they've been working on behind the scenes, without even a shred of morality. They can think of themselves as gods, and be entirely untrustworthy. They will often backstab their partners or friends and manipulate as many as necessary for their own personal gain.

This article will dive into a lot of these common traits that most shonen anime antagonists share, from manipulators to emperors.

Note: This article will include spoilers for the various popular anime discussed. This article is only the author's opinion.

Final forms, and 9 other common things shonen anime antagonists have up their sleeves

1) Final Forms

Memes aside, a lot of antagonists in shonen anime have a final form of some sort. Examples include Bleach's Aizen's godlike form, Naruto's Madara's that he never got to use, or Frieza's final form. These final forms usually serve the purpose of providing a final challenge to the heroes when the villain is out of tricks.

Likewise, they may serve to say that the antagonist is done playing around with the protagonist. Regardless, consider the final form as the final boss phase where all bets are off. The biggest and strongest attacks usually come out there, sometimes capable of planetary destruction.

2) Devious and long-term plans

Oho, the heroes think they've won? Well, look out for the villain's most devious plan yet where they anticipated this. Most shonen anime antagonists don't usually think beyond their initial plans, but those that do tend to have backup plans for their backup plans.

Shonen anime antagonists tend to be plotting for years. Their plans often involve many steps or people they need to take out too. This can include their partners as well. Nobody is safe when villains are scheming, after all.

Aizen from Bleach is one such example.

3) Untrustworthy backstabbers

How many times has a shonen anime villain ultimately revealed that their plans don't include their partner? What does it say that the protagonists rely on friends, while the villains are mostly alone? Nothing good, that's what. Many a shonen anime villain like Aizen expect to be betrayed by one person or another.

The people doing the backstabbing can be a greater scope villain, like Zetsu backstabbing Madara for Kaguya. They can be the villains themselves, deciding their partner's usefulness is at an end. They could be partners like Gin Ichimaru, who always planned to betray Aizen.

4) God Complexes

An antagonist wanting to rule the world isn't a unique trope to shonen anime. Many antagonists throughout fiction have god complexes the size of a moon. It's not uncommon to see an antagonist spout off like they're a god, or like they're the solution to the world's problems.

It usually stems from having much more power than they can control. That, or they think they can handle the burden of godhood. Usually, they want to do this so they can have absolute power.

Father from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a crowing example of this, absorbing God and a lot of souls to become one himself.

5) Grudges against the main character/Society/The Entire world

Sometimes a villain with a god complex carries a grudge against the entire world. Pain/Nagato in the shonen anime Naruto carried a grudge against the world following the formation of the Akatsuki. The Hero Killer Stain from the superhero shonen anime My Hero Academia hated the Hero Society.

Some of these villains come down to being wronged or hurt by the world. Their solution is usually to hurt the world back, but harder. Some, like Doctor Gero from Dragon Ball Z, bear a grudge against iconic shonen anime protagonist Goku.

6) Greedy despots/Tyrants

Many shonen anime villains aspire to be kings or emperors, rulers of the world or universe. Well, some are and still want more. Emperor Pilaf, King Piccolo, and Frieza from Dragon Ball and Z are prime examples. Frieza in particular may be the emperor of the universe but still wants more with his attempt to get the Dragon Balls.

It's a villainous quality of greed that goes through many shonen anime villains. They're never content with what they own, they need it all. On top of that, they're also tyrannical and rule with iron fists. Anyone that steps out of line is mercilessly dealt with.

The World Government in One Piece is a perfect example, with mass slaughter and information control.

7) Godlike Power

This ties into many of the prior points. Often, the final antagonist will be excessively powerful. This is either owed to all their plans succeeding or them having access to that kind of power already. These types of shonen anime antagonists usually require the main characters to team up to fight them.

Examples of godlike power abound from Myotismon in Digimon to All for One in My Hero Academia. More godlike examples are the Otsutsuki clan members in Naruto, Boruto, and Beerus from Dragon Ball Super. The notion of going beyond god is Father's from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

8) Sadism

Many primary shonen antagonists have been completely vicious sadists. They're not satisfied with killing or harming, they prolong the pain and derive pleasure from it. Frieza demonstrated that in Dragon Ball Z where he shot Piccolo up and left him near death.

Frieza would also painfully beat down Vegeta to the point where he was gasping for air before killing him. Frieza would laugh maniacally at all of this, only to finally break down when the tables turned.

As it turns out, many shonen anime villains can't take the pain. Just look at Kid Buu from Dragon Ball Z’s Buu saga, a sadistic vicious monster that seems to only love causing pain and torment.

9) No or very little morality

Many a primary shonen antagonist will often have no moral constraints to contrast the hero. What if the hero doesn't kill or only kills when they need to? The typical main shonen antagonist will be a mass murderer or corrupter. These antagonists will stop at nothing to get what they desire.

That's usually the point of these kinds of antagonists, they’re there to show what happens when absolute power corrupts. The demon king Muzan killed Tanjiro's whole family in Demon Slayer except Nezuko who got corrupted, for example. Dio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is most definitely another.

10) Arrogance

This one is as basic of a trait as fans of these anime can get. Whether they're the most powerful people alive or have access to doomsday weapons, most shonen antagonists don't believe anyone can stop them.

Arrogance can be quietly spoken, but expect shonen antagonists to be loud about this. They have the power, so they cannot be stopped. Then the protagonist pulls something like Exodia from Yu-Gi-Oh or goes Super Saiyan or its equivalent. It can be remarkably cathartic to see an antagonist go down from that.