General & Others At Their Peak Who Was The Best Villain in Naruto?

[pg13]

Naruto Has arguably the Deepest Bag of Villains in any Anime/Manga series. But who was truly the best at their peak?

 

[Steven]

 

[soheilhazrat]

Pain. Not even close tbh

Although not in the list but Itachi is also a solid choice imo

 

[EmperorKinyagi]

Kind of blatantly/obviously Pain imo

 

[thisnewtechnique]

Orochimaru.
He was the definition of tension and creepness. And was trying to shit on the black zetsu - Obito - Madara - Kaguya Tsukuyomi plan

 

[pg13]

Orochimaru.
He was the definitivo of tension and creepness. And was trying to shit in the black zetsu - Obito - Madara - Kaguya Tsukuyomi plan

Orochimaru was the GOAT villain ngl. The only thing you can really criticize is how he got taken out but was never really taken out …..

 

[Chiji_]

Orochimaru is so underrated I remember in those days the grip he had over the whole narrative and the actions he made put a lot of things in place, his impact was insane probably more so than any villain in the roster. Pain is always the popular pick as well as Madara but I’ll never forget what Orochimaru meant for the story.

 

[Bad English]

Orochimaru was the most evil one, Madara the most flexible, Pain was mysterious. Peak Madara is probably better overall, he was the ultimate villain of Naruto before "kaguya" happened

 

[RayanOO]

Oro was demonic

 

[grey matter]

Pain >> Orochimaru > Madara >>> everyone else

Pain is just GOATed. Naruto would've been top tier if Kishimoto somehow managed to wrap up the series with Pain as the endgame boss.

 

[symbiote]

Either Orochimaru or Gaara for me.

 

[BoaHancocksHusband]

Naruto Has arguably the Deepest Bag of Villains in any Anime/Manga series. But who was truly the best at their peak?

Orochimaru

 

[pg13]

Either Orochimaru or Gaara for me.

Gaara Part 1 WAS A FANTASTIC VILLAIN…. And he had a good backstory as well. I think because he got redemption people forget how good his villain era was.

 

[Devilbat]

Gaara Part 1 WAS A FANTASTIC VILLAIN…. And he had a good backstory as well. I think because he got redemption people forget how good his villain era was.

I agree. And unlike some others, he was still a good character even after his redemption.
I loved Akatsuki as a group and Pain was a great villainous leader. For some reason, I never liked Orochimaru and Kabuto, although I admit they had a decent story around them. Hated Sasuke as a hero and as a villain, I just really was against all the hype he got within manga and irl.

So I voted for Gaara, but Pain comes a very close second.

 

[BoaHancocksHusband]

Orochimaru was the GOAT villain ngl. The only thing you can really criticize is how he got taken out but was never really taken out …..

Orochimaru was the GOAT villain

Post automatically merged: Jan 5, 2026

I agree. And unlike some others, he was still a good character even after his redemption.
I loved Akatsuki as a group and Pain was a great villainous leader. For some reason, I never liked Orochimaru and Kabuto, although I admit they had a decent story around them. Hated Sasuke as a hero and as a villain, I just really was against all the hype he got within manga and irl.

So I voted for Gaara, but Pain comes a very close second.

Shikamaru was the goat.

 

[Devilbat]

Orochimaru was the GOAT villain

Post automatically merged: Jan 5, 2026

Shikamaru was the goat.

Yes!!!! Shikamaru is my fav character from Konoha kids and probably from the whole manga.

Orochimaru is a very good villain, I agree. I still don't like him and maybe it's Kishi doing his job too well. :)

 

[soupongo]

Where's the Kaguya option?

 

[pg13]

Where's the Kaguya option?

Kaguyaaaaaaaaaaaaa?????? Is she a contender for best Villain?

 

[MonsterKaido]

Pain by far followed by tobi and akatsuki as a whole. Madara had epic intro but was meh after that.

I don't count gaara or itachi as villains. I never liked orochimaru.

 

[ヴィハーン]

Orochimaru and it's not even close. Maybe Hidan too. They are complete psychopaths.

Many on the list are good people turned to dark side. Orochimaru was a bitch and evil at core.

He choose the evil side. And Hidan did it just for the sake of some fun and euphoria he gets from killing people.