As a medium, Anime is known for its extremely powerful heroes. It's jammed pack with people who can shoot lasers from their hands, cleave planets in half with their swords, or expertly play൩ Ancient Egyptian children's card games. But a story, and its hero, is only as good as its villain. That's why Anime has just as many, if not more, strong and powerful antagonists to match wits and fists with the heroes. The villains have it all. They get the flashiest moves. They get the coolest costumes. They usually end up more popular than the heroes too. We just love to hate them.
But not all villains in Anime are created equal. For every world-ending despot or ultimate lifeform, you get a goofy weakling that barely provides a fight. Call it the nature of the best. The hero's got to fight somebody every week, they can't all be winners in the power department. But the weaklings have their own charm and occasionally, their lack of power disguises a ꩲgreater capacity for evil. In their own way, the weak villains are just as memorable as the strong ones. If for the wrong reasons.
To that end, we've scoured the depths of An🤡ime to find the strongest and the weakest of the bad guys. To make a list of those terrible villains who took 15 episodes to defeat and those who were taken down in half of one. These are our picks for the 20 Strongest Anime Villains Ever ꦇ(And 10 That Are Ridiculously Weak).
30 Strongest: Frieza (D꧒ragon Ball Z)
Honestly, we could have given this spot to any Dragon Ball Z villain. They're all massively powerful. But we're going with Frieza because he's the most memorable of all ♚that classic series' rogues gallery. The purple menace's multiple forms, escalating in strength with each change, set a precedent for numerous series to follow.
Plus, Frieza just keeps coming back after every defeat.
Seriously, he's been vaporized, chopped into 🍸pieces, and then blasted into the afterlife. But he returns every time, stronger than before. If that weren't enough, Frieza blew up a planet by literal﷽ly lifting a finger. How's that for power?
29 Strongesᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚt: Char Aznable (Mobile 🤪Suit Gundam)
The ♌infamous Red Comet himself. Char is widely recognized as one of the best pilots in the Gundam franchise, maybe all of Anime. His red mobile suits and three times faster speed make him a terror on the battlef✤ield.
Even more impressive? He does it with nothing but skill.
Unlike many Gundam characters who are Newtypes, people with vague psychic powers that make them better pilots, Char is fully human. His outflies and outfights Newtypes through sheer talent. He's so talented that he can pilot multiple different mecha no problem. No wonder every G꧅undam series has a copycat of him.
28 Weakes🐼t: Emperor Pilaf (Dragon Ball)
For a series that would become known for strong, diabolical villains, Dragon Ball started off much different in that department. Emperor Pilaf was the first villain in the venerable franchise, and unlike later villains like Frieza or Cell, he was no match physically for Goku and company. Pilaf mostly just acted like a fool with delusions of grandeur, plotting to take over the world and harassing his followers Shu and Mai. After his wish🐈 on the Dragon Balls for world domination was foiled, he ceased to be any kind of threat. Pilaf and his gang were relegated to comic relief.
27 ꦜ Strongest: Dio Brando (Jojo's 𓆏Bizarre Adventure)
Dio was a first-class heel before he became a vampire. Somehow, becoming undead only made him worse. Doing so did give him plenty of ways to exact his centuries-long feud on the Joestar clan though. He's nearly invulnerable to all attacks, his dead icy skin freezes to the touch, and he can survive having his head chopped off. If Dio's vampire powers weren't enough, when he returned during the Stardust Crusaders arc he gained💦 the ability to stop time. He used them to throw a steamroller at the hero Jojo. And Dio does it all with manic glee.
26 ꦓ Strongest: All for One (My Hero Academi🌄a)
The Lex Luthor to All Might's Superman. Viewers of this popular series knew All for One was a big deal 𝓀before he even made an on-screen appea💜rance. He was the villain who dealt All Might the debilitating blow that limited the Symbol of Peace's powers.
But the reveal of All For One's own quirk made him more intense.
In a world where everyone has a superpower, All for One can take them away. Not only that, he can keep them for himself or give them to o🤡thers. It's unknown exactly how many quirks he's stolen, or how many heroes have fallen to him.
25 Wꦰeakest: Light Yagami (Death Note) 🌸
Now, don't misunderstand us here. Light is a great villain (and yes, he is a villain fanboys). He's cunning, manipulative, and megalomaniacal to a fault. But strong? That's not really how we would describe him. The death note is powerful and Light gets up to some twisted business with it, but take the notebook away and what's left? Just a regular high school kid with above-average intelligence and a god complex. That fits the series he's in though. Death Note is a psychological chess game, not a kung fu fighting show. Light's strength is his m꧒ind, not his body.
24 Strongest: Griffith (Berserk) 🅷
Of all the villains on this list, Griffith has to be the most tragic. He began as a noble hero. As the leader of the mercenary Band of th🌊e Falcon, Griffith used his impeccable swordsmanship and great charisma to bring peace to the land of Midland. The first peace it had known in 100 years. But the betrayal of his best friend Guts broke something in Griffith, and his nobility vanished. He sacrificed all his soldiers to demons to join their ranks, becoming the despot Femto. Now, he is invulnerable to mortal attacks, possess telekinetic powers, and can even warp space.
23 ꦆ Strongest: Meruem (Hunter X Hunter)
Imagine the most stubborn, hard to squish bug you've ever encountered. Meruem is worse. As the Chimera Ant king, he's basically the ultimate synthesis of all lifeforms. He was strong enough to knock someone's head off their shoulders with his tail the moment afte🌠r he was born and only grew stronger from there.
How does he get stronger? Consuming human flesh.
Meruem💯's speed, reflexes, and ability to learn all match his monstrous strength as well. If that weren't enough, he doesn't feel pain either. He once tore off his own arm without any reaction whatsoever. This is one tough bug.
22 Weakꦬest: Akihiko Kayaba (Sword Art Online)
Man, you've got to be weak if you have to cheat in a game you made. Kayaba was the game developer behind Sword Art Online, a VR MMO, and it was supposed to be his masterpiece. Turns out, it was actually a trap he held millions of innocent players hostage inside. That's bad enough, but Kayaba went into the game himself as a player, but messed with his code🍒 so he was basically invincible. No one's att𒉰acks could hurt him. Come on scrub, git gud. The worst part is he couldn't even remember why he did it
21 Strongest: Boros (One-Punch Man) ꦡ
It feels weird to describe any villain from One-Punch Man as strong. They do exist only to get blown away by Saitama. But give credit to Boros. He was the first villain to survive one punch from the one-punch man. A parody of Dragon Ball Z-style alien invaders, Bor♈os presented a unique foil to our bald protagonist. Both were way too dang powerful and searching for a thrilling opponent. He might not have been a match for Saitama, but Boros did make the bald hero put some effort in for the ✃first time in the series. That's something.