IMPORTANT: THIS TIME THERE WILL BE NO FIGHTS. YOU WILL SIMPLY VOTE FOR YOUR TOP 4 CHOICES HERE. PLEASE TRY TO USE UP ALL 4 VOTES. THANKS.
THE BRACKET
Griffith – Berserk
VS
Pain (Nagato) – Naruto
VS
Askeladd – Vinland Saga
VS
Meruem – Hunter x Hunter
VS
Sōsuke Aizen – Bleach
VS
Johan Liebert – Monster
VS
King Bradley – Fullmetal Alchemist
VS
Chrollo Lucilfer – Hunter x Hunter
THE BRACKET
Griffith – Berserk
Griffith’s villainy is defined more by betrayal than conquest. He starts as the ultimate aspirational hero—a charismatic leader whose dream of his own kingdom is matched only by his courtly elegance. His rise through Guts’ Band of the Hawk inspires devotion, romance, and legends. That makes his eventual betrayal, aimed at achieving godhood at any cost, gut-wrenchingly potent.
The Eclipse event, where Griffith sacrifices his comrades to ascend into Femto, cements his darkness. His choice sacrifices personal relationships and humanity in pursuit of transcendence. That single, horrifying moment fractures the golden promise he once represented, and forever intoxicates the audience with his cold ambition.
Yet Griffith doesn’t vanish into evil archetype. Even after the eclipse, he remains painfully human—flawed, charming, caught between destiny and horror. Guts’ war with him—love turned vengeance—captures the heartbreak of dreams realized but at grotesque cost. Griffith doesn’t just win or lose—he tears the very world around him apart.
The Eclipse event, where Griffith sacrifices his comrades to ascend into Femto, cements his darkness. His choice sacrifices personal relationships and humanity in pursuit of transcendence. That single, horrifying moment fractures the golden promise he once represented, and forever intoxicates the audience with his cold ambition.
Yet Griffith doesn’t vanish into evil archetype. Even after the eclipse, he remains painfully human—flawed, charming, caught between destiny and horror. Guts’ war with him—love turned vengeance—captures the heartbreak of dreams realized but at grotesque cost. Griffith doesn’t just win or lose—he tears the very world around him apart.
VS
Pain (Nagato) – Naruto
Pain is a villain born from tragedy. Once an idealistic child dreaming of peace, Nagato becomes the leader of the Akatsuki, using overwhelming force and fear to bring about what he sees as true stability. His doctrine—peace through shared pain—is both haunting and, to an extent, understandable.
What makes Pain compelling is his philosophical weight. He doesn’t revel in destruction; he believes it’s necessary. His devastation of Konoha is not just a show of power, but a twisted lesson. When he says “those who do not understand pain can never understand peace,” he means it—and he forces the world to listen.
Pain is not a madman or a brute. He’s a broken idealist whose fall mirrors Naruto’s potential future. That contrast—between hero and what-hero-could-have-been—makes Pain one of Naruto’s most unforgettable and thought-provoking villains.
What makes Pain compelling is his philosophical weight. He doesn’t revel in destruction; he believes it’s necessary. His devastation of Konoha is not just a show of power, but a twisted lesson. When he says “those who do not understand pain can never understand peace,” he means it—and he forces the world to listen.
Pain is not a madman or a brute. He’s a broken idealist whose fall mirrors Naruto’s potential future. That contrast—between hero and what-hero-could-have-been—makes Pain one of Naruto’s most unforgettable and thought-provoking villains.
VS
Askeladd – Vinland Saga
Askeladd is blood, brains, and buried regret. A Viking commander weaving allegiance and betrayal like weapons. Protector and assassin, father and killer, his identity is conflict incarnate. He trains Thorfinn not to lead—but to kill him. He rescues Canute not to follow—but to elevate. In every choice, his legacy mutates.
His greatest act isn’t war—it’s engineering. He orchestrates his death so Canute can rule, shaping a kinder world beyond vengeance. His plot is not destruction, but renaissance. His death is the seed of an ideal he never lives to see.
In Askeladd we see villainy that transcends itself—carrying history’s blood forward, seeking redemption through ruin. His final gambit is not defeat, but transcendence—village wiped, mission done, future born.
His greatest act isn’t war—it’s engineering. He orchestrates his death so Canute can rule, shaping a kinder world beyond vengeance. His plot is not destruction, but renaissance. His death is the seed of an ideal he never lives to see.
In Askeladd we see villainy that transcends itself—carrying history’s blood forward, seeking redemption through ruin. His final gambit is not defeat, but transcendence—village wiped, mission done, future born.
VS
Meruem – Hunter x Hunter
Meruem begins as a monster—born to rule, born to kill. As the Chimera Ant King, he sees humans as cattle, inferior beings to be crushed under his heel. But what makes his arc so unforgettable is the way he changes. Through Komugi, a blind girl who plays a simple game, Meruem discovers something foreign to him: empathy.
His transformation from tyrant to tragic antihero is one of Hunter x Hunter's greatest triumphs. Meruem’s journey forces us to question what makes a being “human.” As he gains wisdom, humility, and love, he becomes painfully aware of the cruelty he inflicted, making his final moments gut-wrenchingly human.
Meruem is not just a villain—he is a mirror held up to mankind. His arc is a masterpiece in storytelling, showing how even a creature born for destruction can learn to live, love, and mourn.
His transformation from tyrant to tragic antihero is one of Hunter x Hunter's greatest triumphs. Meruem’s journey forces us to question what makes a being “human.” As he gains wisdom, humility, and love, he becomes painfully aware of the cruelty he inflicted, making his final moments gut-wrenchingly human.
Meruem is not just a villain—he is a mirror held up to mankind. His arc is a masterpiece in storytelling, showing how even a creature born for destruction can learn to live, love, and mourn.
VS
Sōsuke Aizen – Bleach
Sōsuke Aizen is the architect of revolution in the Bleach universe. Under the guise of a polite, supportive captain, he masterminds the overthrow of the Soul King with a weapon of total illusion. His zanpakutō bends perception itself, allowing him to manipulate entire groups of people without revealing his true intentions.
Aizen’s genius lies in emotional deception. He forms genuine bonds with many of his allies before revealing his ambition in a stunning betrayal that reshapes the entire realm. His motives go beyond arrogance; his vision is to reforge the universe into a realm of his own design.
Far from being a harbinger of chaos, Aizen represents evolution through control. He challenges stagnation and order, but also becomes trapped in his isolation. After achieving godlike power, he remains imprisoned, held in check only by those who can match his will.
Aizen’s genius lies in emotional deception. He forms genuine bonds with many of his allies before revealing his ambition in a stunning betrayal that reshapes the entire realm. His motives go beyond arrogance; his vision is to reforge the universe into a realm of his own design.
Far from being a harbinger of chaos, Aizen represents evolution through control. He challenges stagnation and order, but also becomes trapped in his isolation. After achieving godlike power, he remains imprisoned, held in check only by those who can match his will.
VS
Johan Liebert – Monster
Johan Liebert is terror in its purest human form—deceptively calm, eerily polite, and entirely empty. He’s not a villain driven by trauma or ideology, but by a cold, philosophical detachment from morality. Johan doesn’t commit evil to gain power or revenge—he wants to prove that life is meaningless, and that anyone, no matter how kind or stable, can be pushed to destroy.
Johan doesn’t use brute force—he uses persuasion, observation, and quiet nudges. He turns ordinary people into murderers just by talking to them, by understanding their insecurities better than they do themselves. The horror lies in how little he needs to do—he opens a door and watches people walk through it. Every death he causes is a reflection of the darkness that was already there.
What makes Johan unforgettable is his silence. He rarely needs to explain himself. Instead, he becomes a mirror—forcing those around him to confront the fragility of identity, morality, and sanity. In a story full of complex people, Johan stands at the center as a void, showing that the most terrifying monster is the one who proves we never needed a reason to fall.
Johan doesn’t use brute force—he uses persuasion, observation, and quiet nudges. He turns ordinary people into murderers just by talking to them, by understanding their insecurities better than they do themselves. The horror lies in how little he needs to do—he opens a door and watches people walk through it. Every death he causes is a reflection of the darkness that was already there.
What makes Johan unforgettable is his silence. He rarely needs to explain himself. Instead, he becomes a mirror—forcing those around him to confront the fragility of identity, morality, and sanity. In a story full of complex people, Johan stands at the center as a void, showing that the most terrifying monster is the one who proves we never needed a reason to fall.
VS
King Bradley – Fullmetal Alchemist
King Bradley, also known as Wrath, is a villain who embodies control, discipline, and sheer lethal precision. As both a national leader and a homunculus, he walks the line between civility and slaughter, presenting a calm face while being capable of unimaginable violence. His role as Führer allows him to orchestrate entire wars while remaining completely in command of every battlefield he personally enters.
Unlike the other homunculi, Bradley ages, bleeds, and fights with the mind of a soldier rather than a monster. He believes in strength and purpose—disregarding weakness, mercy, or ideology. His respect for opponents like Greed or Buccaneer doesn’t stem from empathy but from a deep appreciation of resolve and strength under pressure.
Bradley is not fueled by passion or chaos. He is terrifying because of how measured he is. His presence is a reminder that evil doesn’t always arrive loudly—it can walk quietly in uniform, speak eloquently, and strike with cold finality.
Unlike the other homunculi, Bradley ages, bleeds, and fights with the mind of a soldier rather than a monster. He believes in strength and purpose—disregarding weakness, mercy, or ideology. His respect for opponents like Greed or Buccaneer doesn’t stem from empathy but from a deep appreciation of resolve and strength under pressure.
Bradley is not fueled by passion or chaos. He is terrifying because of how measured he is. His presence is a reminder that evil doesn’t always arrive loudly—it can walk quietly in uniform, speak eloquently, and strike with cold finality.
VS
Chrollo Lucilfer – Hunter x Hunter
Chrollo Lucilfer is the calm and collected leader of the Phantom Troupe, a group of thieves known for their ruthlessness and bloody reputation. What makes Chrollo so captivating is his unsettling calmness and his almost philosophical approach to life and death. Unlike many villains driven by emotion, Chrollo remains stoic and unemotional, making his decisions with a level of detached reason.
His greatest strength lies in his intelligence and strategic mind, making him a formidable foe even without brute force. His Stand, Skill Hunter, allows him to steal other Nen abilities, which only increases his versatility and danger. Chrollo is an enigma—a man who values freedom above all and will go to any lengths to achieve it.
Chrollo’s blend of intelligence, charm, and ruthlessness makes him a villain who is both calculated and unpredictable. His calm demeanor masks a terrifying potential for violence, and it’s this duality that makes him one of Hunter x Hunter's most intriguing and dangerous figures.
His greatest strength lies in his intelligence and strategic mind, making him a formidable foe even without brute force. His Stand, Skill Hunter, allows him to steal other Nen abilities, which only increases his versatility and danger. Chrollo is an enigma—a man who values freedom above all and will go to any lengths to achieve it.
Chrollo’s blend of intelligence, charm, and ruthlessness makes him a villain who is both calculated and unpredictable. His calm demeanor masks a terrifying potential for violence, and it’s this duality that makes him one of Hunter x Hunter's most intriguing and dangerous figures.
