In Japanese anime, protagonists and their heroic allies tend to be optimistic, compassionate, and brave people who set a great example for anime fans of all ages. These anime heroes are genuinely good people who want what’s best for the world, but sometimes, they’ll carry around a secret dark side that not everyone’s privy to.
70x1v39″ title=”tough”>Tough antiheroes like Guts from Berserk and Thorfinn from Vinland Saga make their dark side obvious. Still, other anime heroes are more subtle about it, often hiding their angry, destructive, or bitter side until they’re ready to show their true colors. Such anime heroes might secretly hate someone, for example, or they have villainous intentions or aren’t as happy and innocent as everyone thinks they are.
10 Aquamarine Hoshino (Oshi No Ko)
Oshi no Ko is a dark drama anime where many of the main characters have a hidden dark side, which ties into the anime’s theme of entertainers lying to their audience about their happiness. Ai lied to the world about loving her fans, and now her son, Aquamarine Hoshino, is lying about being an ordinary teenage boy.
Aqua is the reborn Dr. Gorou, and he is fiercely determined to avenge Ai Hoshino’s death at all costs. He won’t let anyone else see this side of him, not even Ruby, because he doesn’t want anyone getting in the way. However, his quest for vengeance might consume him, and no one can help him avoid this fate.
9 Denji (Chainsaw Man)
Everyone in Chainsaw Man has their dark side, and some of them, like the horned fiend Power, will gladly show it. Meanwhile, protagonist Denji only shows his dark side in desperate battles against devils while he’s in Chainsaw Man mode.
In everyday life, Denji is a likable punk who embodies several shonen values, but in Chainsaw Man mode, anything goes. If pushed, he will cruelly torture his devil enemies to death, and he once defeated a tough devil by inflicting so much pain that the devil chose to die.
8 Iruma Suzuki (Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun!)
Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-Kun! is a charming isekai anime where the deredere protagonist, Iruma Suzuki, just wants to blend in and make friends at the Babyls school for demons. Even if he’s human, Iruma shares a notable trait with his demon classmates: having an evil cycle.
Iruma’s dark side is relatively tame, but he still alarmed his foster grandfather Sullivan with his punkish attitude. Evil Iruma has a distinct hairstyle and menacing eyes, and he’s brashly confident, too. His classmates could hardly believe it, but in the end, evil Iruma did them all a favor since he’s still Iruma Suzuki deep down.
7 Yor Forger (Spy X Family)
All three members of the Forger found family are hiding something, with Loid being a Westalis spy and Anya being a telepath. The family’s mom, Yor, is secretly the deadly assassin known as the Thorn Princess, but she won’t dare let her husband or foster daughter find out.
Yor spends much of Spy x Family as a kind dandere foster mom, but she also makes no apologies for her deadly, blood-soaked career as Ostania’s best assassin. She’s the one who will kill multiple people, then worry not about the deaths but the bloodstains on her outfit.
6 Nobara Kugisaki (Jujutsu Kaisen)
In Jujutsu Kaisen’s dark fantasy shonen world, negative emotions are a tool, not a hindrance. Sorcerer students like Megumi, Maki, and certainly Nobara Kugisaki channel their negative feelings to fuel their sorcery, and sometimes, Nobara takes it a step further to slay curses.
Nobara is always a tough and cool fighter, but when she and Yuji fought the cursed womb brothers, Nobara showed her true dark side. She used her most vicious curse techniques and was ready to die so she could kill Eso and the others, which even the curses found chilling.
5 Rock (Black Lagoon)
In Black Lagoon, many characters wear their dark side on their sleeves, such as the pistol-toting Revy and the cunning Balalaika. Meanwhile, the timid protagonist known as Rock tries to serve as everyone’s conscience, objecting to Revy’s and Dutch’s more extreme and violent methods time and again.
Gradually, Rock decided to embrace Roanapur’s brutal nature and showed his own dark side, which almost alienated him from everyone. He showed remarkable cunning when dealing with Roberta and Chang, and he even felt empowered by it.
4 Misaki Ayuzawa (Maid-Sama!)
Most characters in Maid-Sama! are used to Misaki Ayuzawa being a stern, responsible tsundere at school and at the maid cafe where she works, but few have seen her true dark side. Misaki usually likes to be supportive and constructive, but she won’t extend that favor to her father.
Misaki blames her father for the Ayuzawa family’s financial desperation, and when her father returns, Misaki rejects him with cold, unforgiving anger. Even Misaki’s little sister, Suzuna, didn’t expect that, but over time, Misaki was convinced to reconsider things.
3 Negi Springfield (Mahou Sensei Negima!)
Mahou Sensei Negima! is a somewhat short anime series that only briefly explores the much deeper lore of the Negima! manga series, which clocks in at 38 volumes. Fans of both the manga and anime know that while Negi Springfield is a kind, friendly and optimistic wizard, he’s got a secret dark side.
Negi rarely shows that dark side, and he doesn’t really identify with it, but if he’s desperate, darkness will become his ally. He even trained with dark magic to get stronger during the story’s isekai arc, and he flew into a brutal, angry frenzy more than once to defeat powerful foes like Fate Averruncus and defend his students.
2 Ken Kaneki (Tokyo Ghoul)
Over time in Tokyo Ghoul‘s story, more and more characters realize that Ken Kaneki has a dark side, but Ken still prefers to present himself as a kind and helpful person. Ken didn’t even have a dark side a first, but after he became a one-eyed ghoul, he learned to embrace the darkness rather than fight it.
Ken’s dark side manifested after Yamori tortured him, and he gleefully killed and ate Yamori to get stronger. In later fights, Ken went wild with his kakuja, and he even took a bite out of his human friend, Hideyoshi, to power up during a fight, which no one expected him to do.
1 Rimuru Tempest (That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime)
In That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, protagonist Rimuru Tempest strives to create a monster kingdom where goblins, orcs, dire wolves, and more can live in peace. Rimuru is all about defense and tolerance, not war, but his enemies might sometimes push him over the edge.
Rimuru’s true dark side emerged when his enemies wiped out half his city. To fix this, Rimuru coldly killed thousands of enemy troops, down to the last man, so he could harvest their souls and revive his friends. It was a dark moment, but once it was over, Rimuru went back to his benevolent, altruistic self.