Shonen anime is all about the battle — whether it involves blades, guns, or magical powers is inconsequential. However, it’s often the case that fight sequences are heavily focused on the hero, in terms of their motivations, growth, or even as an exhibition of their powers and techniques.
At the same time, it can be argued that it’s unfair when battles fail to highlight the personality and abilities possessed by Shonen villains. Besides, it’s quite clear that these narratives would only go around in circles without a proper antagonist fixing them in place. Only when the hero is allowed to falter against their opponent does the story seem interesting. On the other hand, there are several times when the villains have proved why they need to be the center of attention.
10 Meruem Shows Netero What It Means To Be A Chimera Ant (Hunter X Hunter)
Meruem scoffs at Netero’s challenge, believing him to be an overconfident human like everyone else in Hunter x Hunter. However, his contempt quickly morphs into deference for the old man, and for the 100-Type Guanyin Boddhisattva that keeps the Ant King on his toes for almost the full extent of their battle.
Still, it is Meruem who wins, showcasing his strategic genius, and, most importantly, the experiential knowledge gained from his Gungi matches with Komugi. To take out the most powerful Hunter in the world using nothing but time and effort is no small feat.
9 Aizen Cuts The Gotei 13 Down With A Smile (Bleach)
Aizen, once again, torments Hitsugaya by having him stab his beloved Momo, which has the desired effect — the young captain rushes towards his enemy full-tilt, paying no heed to his colleagues begging him to stop.
In an instant, Hitsugaya is cut down, immediately followed by everyone else, from Kyoraku Shunsui to Shinji Hirako to Suì-Fēng. Gin smugly states that Aizen is not terrifying because of Kyoka Suigetsu’s Perfect Hypnosis, but because his reiatsu surpasses nearly everyone else’s in Bleach.
8 Tomura Shigaraki Almost Vaporizes An Entire City (My Hero Academia)
In My Hero Academia, the heroes interrupt Tomura’s “incubation” process for the transference of the All for One Quirk, forcing him to emerge half-complete. Even in this state, however, his Decay Quirk is augmented to such a massive degree that it manages to utterly annihilate several buildings in the area around him, not to mention a number of bystanders.
It makes no difference to the villain when Endeavor challenges him to battle, as he is easily able to deflect the Flame Hero. It is only when Deku arrives that Tomura’s puppet-master, All for One, is exposed.
7 The Smiling Titan Is Torn To Pieces By Pure Titans (Attack On Titan)
While escaping from the Armored Titan, Mikasa and Eren come face to face with their worst nightmare — the Smiling Titan, the one who killed and ate Carla Yeager, marches towards them, the same grin pasted across its face. Hannes takes it on by himself but is gruesomely murdered, which pushes Eren beyond the point of tolerance.
He unconsciously activates the Founder upon making physical contact with his nemesis, which then draws a large number of Pure Titans towards them. These new combatants go directly for the Smiling Titan, tearing its body to pieces. Although the villain in this case loses, anyone watching Attack on Titan would be focused on its death throes and nothing else.
6 The Combined Efforts Of Team Urameshi Fail Before Shinobu Sensui (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Sensui kills Yusuke in the third arc of Yu Yu Hakusho, leaving his corpse behind in the cave when he travels to the Makai. This results in his friends manifesting their ultimate powers, which, in any normal battle, would have overwhelmed their opponent in the blink of an eye.
Sensui’s Sacred Energy, on the other hand, is capable of protecting him and dealing intense damage to Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara simultaneously. In fact, even after Yusuke’s reincarnation and Mazoku awakening, he is unable to defeat Sensui (that is until Raizen puppeteers his body.)
5 Slan Overwhelms Guts Without Any Effort (Berserk)
In Berserk‘s Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc, Guts and his new team travel to the Troll Cave, where he dispatches several of them before getting exhausted. At this point, Slan, one of the God Hand, emerges from the pool of Troll blood (her hair being composed of the creatures’ intestines.)
She proceeds to torture Guts, albeit psychologically more than anything else, half-tempting him to follow Griffith’s path. Even though the hero manages to dispel Slan with the Dragon Slayer, she doesn’t seem to feel any pain from being stabbed but instead reacts with a ghastly form of ecstasy.
4 Father’s God Power Threatens To Destroy The World (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
After Father absorbs “God”, which is what he calls the consciousness that waits at the Gate, his abilities are magnified beyond belief. In fact, he generates a hand-held sun to showcase his newfound power.
The culminating battle in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is evidence that Father is no ordinary villain. It takes the combined effort of nearly everyone, from Mustang and Riza to Alphonse and Greed, not to mention an entire battalion of soldiers, to bring him down to a defeatable level.
3 Satsuki Kiryuin And Ryuko Matoi Take On Their Mother (Kill la Kill)
The main antagonist of Kill la Kill, Ragyo Kiryuin, announces that she plans to sheathe the world in Life Fiber, thereby killing everyone on the planet. Her two daughters, Satsuki and Ryuko — once enemies, now best friends (?) — decide to finish their mother off.
As it happens, Junketsu and Bakuzan fail to create a single scratch, much like Senketsu and the Scissor-blade. Ragyo fends them off in a magnificent flurry of swordsmanship, before she seemingly chops Ryuko in half. At the end of the series, the villain’s Shinra-kotetsu proves nigh-invincible, but of course, the hero must win.
2 Garou Singlehandedly Defeats 8 Heroes (One-Punch Man)
Garou’s pride takes a hit when he faces eight heroes in One-Punch Man, all of them belonging to either A- and B-class. Interestingly, he lags behind at the beginning of the fight, but soon regains his bearings.
Garou takes them all out, one by one, smartly using their own techniques against each other. Nobody expected the battle to turn out the way it does, least of all Death Gatling, who is forced to capitulate (by virtue of being knocked unconscious.)
1 Kaworu Nagisa Teaches Shinji An Important Lesson (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
At the conclusion of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Kaworu develops an unfathomable relationship with Shinji — but it makes no difference if the feelings they have for each other are fraternal or romantic. As Kaworu takes his place as the 17th Angel, Tabris, and descends the tunnel leading to Terminal Dogma, Shinji has no choice but to stop him.
It is clear that Unit-01 has the upper hand, especially when it grips Kaworu in its fist, but the latter exhibits neither fear nor shame, as one might when a world-changing mission fails. Instead, he calmly asks Shinji to end his life, proving that he has been in control of the situation from the very beginning.
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