For decades, anime has had a reputation for overusing specific tropes and formulas. However, aside from sometimes expanding representation and playing around with these tropes and formulas to make them new, one profound way certain anime series have become acclaimed is to do away with flat heroes and villains.
While fans have fallen in love with the most inspirational heroes such as Naruto Uzumaki and love to hate villains like the Titans from Attack on Titan, the addition of an anti-hero can make all the difference between a bland anime and an exceptional one. These anti-heroes blur the rules of morality and add a critical depth to series that remain in the hearts and minds of fans for years to come.
To be fair, some of the most stereotypical characters have the biggest fanbases, mainly due to their nuance within the story, but the characters that break the mold of morality have built a much stronger reputation. These anti-heroes keep both the heroes and villains on their toes and can shake up the plot at any given time. They add another layer of drama, engagement and complexity to what could otherwise be a bland story.
Few people in real life are perfectly heroic or completely villainous, so these characters illustrate that humane complexity in various ways and tend to be the more relatable characters. A few of the most well-known and iconic anti-heroes are Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan), Light Yagami (Death Note) and Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto). Each of these characters had profound effects on their respective series and the industry as a whole, thereby pulling anime out of its bad reputation.
Eren Yaeger’s Character Is a Reflection on War
In the beginning of Attack on Titan, Eren’s role begins as a hero with many typical anime protagonist traits, these being his naive idealism, outspoken nature and ability to inspire others. His initially bombastic personality disappears as he learns that his world isn’t as simple as he initially thought. Eren changes from a self-righteous hero hoping to save the day into a jaded soldier hellbent on mission success regardless of the unethical measures taken.
As the anime progresses, Eren falls deeper and deeper into the darker side of the anti-hero role, adding to the tragedy of his character and to the tone of the unfolding series. His development from a hero to an anti-hero, and eventually a villain, highlights the series’ dark themes of tragedy and the horrors of war.
Given how typically this anime began, fans were not expecting such harsh seinen themes to gradually infect the series. As horrific as Eren’s fall from grace is, his role as an anti-hero proves that anime can be more than about a hero’s starry-eyed goals. Like Eren Yeager, there are plenty of anime anti-heroes who become villains. One of the most infamous examples is Light Yagami from the iconic series Death Note. In contrast to Eren, Light takes very little time to fall into the pit of the anti-hero.
Light Yagami Blurs the Laws of Morality
With his mild manners and cordial personality on the surface, no one is able to pick up on Light’s generally apathetic nature in Death Note. While he does care about his family, he reveals his true obsession with justice after acquiring a Death Note. Light can kill off anyone by simply writing their name in the Death Note, and although his campaign begins out of a fit of boredom — the first hint of his anti-heroic qualities — his goal is turned toward true justice.
In the grand scheme of things, Light is a hero of society, but his scheming and manipulation are what make him more villainous. It’s hard to find many likable qualities in such a vile sociopath, especially given how much Light enjoys killing off his targets. When the 2006 anime first aired, it was a rarity to see such a controversial protagonist, his anti-heroic traits making him a captivating enigma across anime as a whole. The story and Light’s efforts toward justice raise questions of morality and challenge the perspective of the audience. If Light was a cookie cut-out villain with little depth to his character, or perhaps if the protagonist was instead the heroic detective L, the series would hit the audience very differently and potentially have been less impactful.
Although both Eren and Light wound up becoming villains in the end, not all anti-heroes have such grim endings to their stories. Sasuke Uchiha from the franchise Naruto has taken on many different character roles, primarily as an anti-hero, but his story has a profoundly happy ending.
Sasuke Uchiha Is a Symbol of Change
As the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke’s main objective is to take vengeance on the man who killed his family, his own brother Itachi. However, even after he accomplishes his goal, his hatred is manipulated to turn him to villainy. From the very beginning, there’s a darkness inside Sasuke, and as the series continues in Naruto Shippuden, his cruelty and hatred lead to him becoming a major antagonist.
Naruto began with a hopeful coming-of-age tone, but because of Sasuke’s change in character, not only does the tone of the series change but it also changes the main hero’s ally to his enemy, challenging the protagonist Naruto Uzumaki. As inspirational as it is to see Naruto, the underdog hero, overcome all his challenges, his inability to save Sasuke challenges him to follow through with the series’ theme of “never giving up.” The fact that Sasuke doesn’t become a full-blown villain adds to Naruto’s hopes that Sasuke can change, and at the same time, it also maintains Sasuke’s multilayered character. The fact that Sasuke is manipulated into becoming an anti-hero is also reflective of how the heroes’ biggest enemies aren’t the strongest villains but rather the most manipulative ones. In this way, Sasuke becomes a symbol of change for the entire series.
By the end of the series, Naruto truly saves the world by saving Sasuke, following through with “never giving up.” Because the audience grows to care about Sasuke as a hero, his salvation is a significantly profound way to end the series. Despite the fact that the two major themes of “never giving up” and “the power of friendship/love” are so overdone in anime, they are seen as profound in Naruto, especially in regard to Sasuke’s evolving character arc.
Despite the common trend of anti-heroes who land on a more villainous alignment, there are plenty of anti-heroes who are more heroic like Reigen Arataka (Mob Psycho 100), Endeavor (My Hero Academia) and Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop). Just like with the more villainous anti-heroes, each of these heroic anti-heroes has just as much of a spectrum in morality and character alignment, greatly impacting their respective shows.
This is not to say that purely heroic or villainous characters are debilitating to the genre. However, for the industry to truly flourish and escape from its bad reputation, a wider spectrum of characters will create a wider variety of storytelling opportunities. This means new ideas and tones can be brought into the industry or at least challenged, and the addition of the anti-hero can easily provide that. Indeed, some of the best anime have attained their acclaim largely in part due to the presence and significance of the anti-hero.