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
Light Yagami – Death Note
VS
Makima - Chainsaw Man
VS
Macht – Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
VS
Uchiha Itachi – Naruto
VS
Griffith – Berserk
VS
Askeladd – Vinland Saga
VS
Meruem – Hunter x Hunter
VS
Johan Liebert – Monster
THE BRACKET
Light Yagami – Death Note
Light Yagami is perhaps one of the most iconic and chilling villains in anime history, not because of his brutality, but because of how easily he slips into it. He begins the story as a high-achieving student with a rigid sense of justice. Upon gaining the Death Note, he convinces himself that he can create a utopia by killing criminals, thus purging the world of evil. But what makes Light dangerous is how quickly that ideal becomes twisted into a justification for power, ego, and tyranny.
As the body count rises, Light loses touch with his original goal. He begins killing anyone who threatens his plans, including innocents, allies, and even those who once believed in him. His transformation into Kira isn't just a descent into villainy—it's a corruption of idealism. He genuinely believes he is the chosen one, the god of the new world, even as he commits increasingly horrific acts.
What elevates Light as a villain is how grounded and believable his transformation feels. He's not driven by madness or supernatural influence; he’s consumed by pride and ambition, masked as justice. His fall serves as a haunting reflection of how power, especially when unchecked, can corrupt even the most intelligent and well-intentioned individuals.
As the body count rises, Light loses touch with his original goal. He begins killing anyone who threatens his plans, including innocents, allies, and even those who once believed in him. His transformation into Kira isn't just a descent into villainy—it's a corruption of idealism. He genuinely believes he is the chosen one, the god of the new world, even as he commits increasingly horrific acts.
What elevates Light as a villain is how grounded and believable his transformation feels. He's not driven by madness or supernatural influence; he’s consumed by pride and ambition, masked as justice. His fall serves as a haunting reflection of how power, especially when unchecked, can corrupt even the most intelligent and well-intentioned individuals.
VS
Makima - Chainsaw Man
Makima’s brilliance lies in her icy, controlled demeanor masked by casual politeness. She radiates authority—her every action calculated to maintain dominance. Whether issuing calm instructions or delivering ruthless directives to Denji and the Public Safety Devil Hunters, her composed exterior conceals a threat far more chilling than any brute force villain.
But it’s her manipulation and psychological insight that elevate her to truly great villainy. Makima brilliantly exploits people's desires—Denji’s need for affection, the Junior Devil Hunters’ inferiority, the elite's ambition—twisting all toward her own ends. Her mastery over pain, sacrifice, and promise of power makes her a puppetmaster who never needs to raise her voice to bend others to her will.
Her reveal as the Control Devil and the weight of her monstrous ambition pushes the series' themes to their darkest extremes. She challenges moral boundaries, forcing protagonists to question the very meaning of loyalty, freedom, and humanity. And when she finally falls, it’s not just a defeat—it’s a release from a suffocating nightmare, leaving readers stunned by how deeply her cruelty and charisma shaped the entire story.
But it’s her manipulation and psychological insight that elevate her to truly great villainy. Makima brilliantly exploits people's desires—Denji’s need for affection, the Junior Devil Hunters’ inferiority, the elite's ambition—twisting all toward her own ends. Her mastery over pain, sacrifice, and promise of power makes her a puppetmaster who never needs to raise her voice to bend others to her will.
Her reveal as the Control Devil and the weight of her monstrous ambition pushes the series' themes to their darkest extremes. She challenges moral boundaries, forcing protagonists to question the very meaning of loyalty, freedom, and humanity. And when she finally falls, it’s not just a defeat—it’s a release from a suffocating nightmare, leaving readers stunned by how deeply her cruelty and charisma shaped the entire story.
VS
Macht – Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Macht is a demon unlike the rest in Frieren—not because he’s the strongest, but because he understands humans too well. While other demons rely on cruelty and violence, Macht experiments with emotion, playing with grief, empathy, and hope like instruments. His immortality isn’t just a trait—it’s the reason he can manipulate on a generational scale.
His methodical cruelty is detached, but never random. Macht devastates villages and heroes not out of sadism, but out of curiosity and control. He’s a philosopher of despair, testing whether humans can ever truly resist temptation, or if even the noblest souls are just one push away from giving in.
What makes Macht chilling is his patience. He doesn't rage or scream—he waits, plans, and learns. In a world where most villains are forces to be slain, Macht becomes a reminder that true evil isn’t always loud or chaotic—it’s quiet, elegant, and profoundly familiar.
His methodical cruelty is detached, but never random. Macht devastates villages and heroes not out of sadism, but out of curiosity and control. He’s a philosopher of despair, testing whether humans can ever truly resist temptation, or if even the noblest souls are just one push away from giving in.
What makes Macht chilling is his patience. He doesn't rage or scream—he waits, plans, and learns. In a world where most villains are forces to be slain, Macht becomes a reminder that true evil isn’t always loud or chaotic—it’s quiet, elegant, and profoundly familiar.
VS
Uchiha Itachi – Naruto
Itachi Uchiha is sacrifice sealed with silenced screams. Responsible for genocide, he wears guilt as his shroud. His eyes, once blazing with pride, dim with sorrow. He walks as a symbol of unforgivable atrocity, yet every act is measured, weighed against a greater peace.
He manipulates Sasuke’s pain to deflect war. He endures betrayal, hatred, and torture to shield Konoha. Even his death is choreographed—to keep brother safe, enemy fooled, war contained. His actions aren’t redemption—they’re absolution offered through annihilation.
Itachi’s story compels us to ask: how heavy must love be to bury genocide? He remains a question every hero asks in future: what is too much to bear for peace?
He manipulates Sasuke’s pain to deflect war. He endures betrayal, hatred, and torture to shield Konoha. Even his death is choreographed—to keep brother safe, enemy fooled, war contained. His actions aren’t redemption—they’re absolution offered through annihilation.
Itachi’s story compels us to ask: how heavy must love be to bury genocide? He remains a question every hero asks in future: what is too much to bear for peace?
VS
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
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
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.
