Anime isn’t exactly known for its nuanced characters, seeing how most fans use the medium as a form of escapism, and that is exactly what it delivers. Right from stunning fights that defy the laws of physics, to decisions made by characters that are driven by everything except logic – anime has it all.
In fact, the lack of logic in decision-making is exacerbated in heroes who become evil, who have little to no logical explanation or reasoning behind their actions. Obviously, the “reason” is almost always plot convenience, and while sometimes anime do explain the reason behind good guys turning bad, most are often too laughable to ever be taken seriously.
10 Slaine: Decided To Dismantle The Monarchy, But Only Because His Beloved Princess Died (Aldnoah.Zero)
If done correctly, the death of a beloved character can always be used as a strong trigger for a hero turning bad. In Slaine’s case, however, the death of Princess Asseylum resulted in him making completely irrational decisions, like blackmailing his superior officers, dismantling the Martian royalty, and killing the only Martian who ever showed him kindness.
It would have been understandable if he was shown to be mentally unstable after the Princess’ death, but the only excuse given for his actions (which oscillated between logical and borderline insane) was grief.
9 Edamura: Joined An International Ring Of Child Trafficking Because His Friends Died In Front Of Him (Great Pretender)
When their loved ones die, most people go into shock or grief and usually isolate themselves until they feel better. In Edamura’s case, he decided to willingly participate in selling children to rich old men, simply because the organization’s leader showed him kindness.
This was even more ironic, seeing how it had never occurred to him that his friends’ deaths could be a façade – seeing how they had already “died” twice in front of his eyes, before.
8 Lelouch: An Excellent Anti-Hero Who Became A Victim To Questionable Characterization (Code Geass)
Lelouch started off with a bang, becoming Zero the savior, whose only goal was to free his people from the humiliating rule of the Britannian empire by using his newfound Geass power. However, somewhere down the line, he became corrupted with power, conveniently forgot all his ideals, and soon started killing indiscriminately for simply being Britannian.
While some fans state this was a natural progression for his character, others still argue that for a boy like Lelouch, this descent into extremism was nothing but poor handling of his character by the anime staff.
7 Eren: Believes Killing Innocent People Is The Only Path To Everlasting Peace (Attack On Titan)
This is a controversial entry, seeing how fans on both sides of the fandom have had fierce arguments regarding Eren and his true intentions. Even so, at the crux of his desire is peace, and in order to achieve this peace for all of his Eldian sisters and brothers, Eren wants to annihilate the Marleyan race.
He genuinely believes the ends justify the means, which is also an argument used by dictators and fascist governments the world over, in order to completely obliterate people of specific cultures, religions, and ethnicities.
6 Yaha-kui zaShunina: Helped Humanity Advance But He Also Didn’t Care For Their End (KADO: The Right Answer)
zaShunina’s motivations truly did not make any sense. He came to earth, blessed humanity with technological advancements far beyond their reach, and even made an emotional connection with Shindou, who helped him teach the importance of life and death.
However, all of that character progression went down the drain when in the final episodes, zaShunina revealed he wanted a part of humanity to go back with him, irrespective of the hundreds of thousands of lives that process may take.
5 Rachel: She Did Not Have To Betray Baam To Pursue Her Dream (Tower Of God)
All Rachel had to do was have an honest conversation with Baam regarding her dream and priorities. Baam was so in love with her that he would have instantly agreed to let go of her, and let her pursue her dream atop the Tower.
Yet, instead of being an adult about the situation, Rachel chose to ghost Baam, betray his trust in her and eventually, go so far as to try to kill him in order to achieve her dream.
4 Light: A Logical Boy Who Developed A God Complex Simply Because The Script Demanded It (Death Note)
Simply put, people like Light are too intelligent and too removed from emotions to give in to something as silly as a God Complex, especially when this tendency was never displayed when he was a regular boy.
While his descent into madness made for an entertaining plot twist, it was actually contrary to his excessively logical personality, where he always weighed the pros and cons of everything before pursuing any activity.
3 Lin: Became An Assassin Because Apparently, He Did Not Have Any Other Job Options Available (Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens)
When Lin managed to escape and had the option of starting over a new life, of all the options he could choose from, he chose to become a contractual assassin, due to reasons the anime never bothered to disclose.
This never made sense to fans, especially seeing how this job was in sharp contrast to his kind and caring nature. Obviously, the only reason he became an assassin was so that the entire anime could serve as his redemption arc, which did work out in the end, but at the expense of making his tragic backstory appear more ridiculous, and less tragic.
2 Yukine: A Simple Conversation Would Have Stopped Him From Going Dark (Noragami)
Yukine became corrupted due to his desire to lead a life as a normal school child. If he’d chosen to share his conflicted feelings with Hiyori, she would have tutored him (which she did anyway, eventually), and that would have been the end of his negative feelings.
Instead, the usually expressive and talkative Yukine conveniently chose to keep quiet about his feelings, resulting in Yato getting blighted and almost dying due to his selfishness.
1 The Spinx: They Could Have Simply Executed Their Plan Via Social Media (Terror In Resonance)
The reason The Spinx bombed all of Japan was that they wanted to bring the authorities’ attention to the illegal experiments on children that occurred in their orphanage.
However, in the age of the internet and social media, all they had to do was release incriminating evidence online (which they also did), or a testimony of their personal experiences, to trigger an investigation into the experimentations. There was absolutely no need for them to harm civilians and public properties, and thus become domestic terrorists in their pursuit for the truth to be exposed.
About The Author
