Anime is a medium packed with some of pop culture’s most compelling, well-written, and memorable antagonists. Unfortunately, not all anime villains live up to such standards. In fact, many of them had their potential wasted by a narrative that simply didn’t know how to utilize them properly. Others are poorly written and could have been much greater in their respective series.
Some of them were even built up as the ultimate big bad, only to disappoint the audience by being laughably weak and underwhelming compared to how they were introduced. Whatever the case may be, these anime villains are the epitome of wasted potential.
10 Kars (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)
Kars from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is one of the Pillar Men from Battle Tendency. Unlike other villains in the series, Kars is forgettable due to his bland personality, lack of character development, and laughable defeat. Hyped up as the ultimate lifeform, Joseph had to take extra steps to defeat him by launching him into orbit with a volcano.
Though his presence was terrifying in part two, Kars just doesn’t hold up with some of JJBA’s other villains. His arc wasn’t nearly as compelling as someone like DIO or even Ciocolatta.
9 Lady Nagant (My Hero Academia)
My Hero Academia’s Lady Nagant could have been a great villain. Unfortunately, she’s yet another example of how the series repeatedly fumbles its female cast via lack of screen time and poor character growth. Nagant was simply introduced too late into the series to properly prove why she’s a formidable foe.
Her backstory was compelling, and fans were especially excited to see a potential connection to Hawks, the number two pro-hero. Unfortunately, Nagant’s lack of presence in the story makes her forgettable compared to MHA’s other villains.
8 Kaguya Otsutsuki (Naruto)
Like many shonen anime, Naruto suffers from an extremely bloated cast of characters. As a result, potentially compelling villains are given scraps to work with as they try to prove themselves formidable opponents to the heroes.
In Kaguya Otsusuki’s case, she’s so one-dimensional that her arc was insufferable for many viewers. Being overpowered isn’t unheard of, but it’s a major character flaw for Kaguya because she’s not defined by much else in the series. Kaguya was set up as the ultimate final boss, but she fell flat.
7 Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist is defined by their sadism. They take immense joy in causing suffering for humans, but that doesn’t exactly make for a compelling villain. It’s even more disappointing that Envy isn’t just evil for evil’s sake and actually has a deep-rooted reason for wanting to hurt so many people.
They’re just jealous of humanity. It felt cheesy, cliché, and totally ruined an otherwise great villain. Plus, Envy’s defeat is a testament to their failures as a villain, as they brought about their own demise by falling right into the heroes’ hands.
6 Kid Buu (Dragon Ball)
Kid Buu didn’t offer anything revolutionary to Dragon Ball. He doesn’t have any real motivation or backstory that constitutes him being so destructive. He lacks personality, emotional depth, and is utterly boring compared to some of Dragon Ball’s other antagonists.
He was set up as the final villain in Dragon Ball Z, but didn’t live up to fans’ expectations because he was so lackluster. The most frustrating part is that Kid Buu could have been a genuinely compelling villain, but the narrative wouldn’t allow it.
5 Raven Tail (Fairy Tail)
The Raven Tail in Fairy Tail is one of anime’s most disappointing group of villains. They were supposed to be a rival to the Fairy Tail guild, but fell flat as most additions to Fairy Tail’s plot do. Their strongest members were easily defeated, so they weren’t anything to write home about.
They just felt one-dimensional and too proud of themselves to admit defeat. They offered nothing to the story. In fact, their presence could have been omitted from the series and nothing would have changed because they were so inconsequential to the overall plot.
4 Warhammer Titan (Attack On Titan)
Compared to the other Titan shifters in Attack On Titan, the Warhammer Titan was lackluster and its potential was completely wasted. It had one of the most unique appearances of any Titan in the series and had the ability to manifest weapons.
Instead of shaping it to be a compelling villain, the Warhammer Titan met a disappointing demise when Eren defeated it. It felt like there was no real purpose in introducing the Warhammer Titan other than to have Eren take it down during a fight to show off his strength.
3 Sosuke Aizen (Bleach)
Bleach’s Sosuke Aizen was set up as the most daunting villain Ichigo would ever face in the series. Though their fight was epic, Aizen’s reputation was fumbled during Thousand-Year Blood War because he was locked away in jail.
He could have continued on as a menace in the series, but it felt like the narrative just didn’t know what to do with such an immense wealth of power within a single character. Aizen’s arc was simply rushed to a conclusion, and it didn’t do the story any favors.
2 Elsa Granhiert (Re:Zero)
Elsa Granhiert from Re:Zero was introduced as a seductress and talented assassin. Her main goal is to kill Subaru since he can never truly die. Elsa served as the main villain for Re:Zero’s first season, but her role in the story fell flat by the second.
Calling her a villain at this point would be an overstatement because she doesn’t have much of a role in the story anymore to even constitute such a lofty title. Plus, her defeat at the end of the first season was pretty lackluster and didn’t give fans the excitement they were looking for.
1 Sesshomaru (Inuyasha)
Sessomaru from Inuyasha was introduced as a rival for the series’ titular protagonist. Unfortunately, he fell flat and gravely disappointed the audience. Though he no longer hates humanity to the extent he once did, Sesshomaru’s flip-flopping between heroism and villainy lacks nuance, ultimately acting as a disservice to his role in the story.
Though he’s not one-dimensional, his arc did feel a bit contrived and left fans wanting more from an otherwise compelling character. Sesshomaru’s defeat lacked significance because of the narrative’s blatant inconsistency and fumbling of his potential.
