While villains are always going to be the obstacle standing in the way of the protagonist, they aren’t always wrong. There are plenty of series that’ve made their name on having sympathetic and understandable villains who weren’t wrong in their way of thinking. As far as shonen goes, Naruto was the king at doing it.
It extends to shojo series as well, many painting their villains as misunderstood or well-intentioned extremists who had the right idea but lacked the execution.
10 Homura Is Right To Force Kyubey To Feel All The Pain He’d Given Others
For as controversial as the Rebellion follow up to Puella Magi Madoka Magica was, it’s hard to argue with Homura’s desire to punish Kyubey. For as great as the original anime was, the fact he got off without any real repercussions didn’t feel right, and Homura had every right to force him into feeling all the despair he’d given other magical girls. The way she went about getting there, particularly throwing away everything Madoka had done, makes it harder to agree with her, though.
9 Admiral Graham Only Wanted to Stop The Book Of Darkness
In the follow up to Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, the story continues to follow Fate and Nanoha as they battle the Wolkenritter. The Wolkenritter are in possession of the Book of Darkness and are seeking to fill its pages, but unbeknownst to anyone else, Admiral Graham is only doing it so that the Book Of Darkness can never be used again. He’s willing to sacrifice the Wolkenritter and a young girl named Hayate in the process, a classic ends-justify-the-means situation.
8 Angel Was Never The Bad Guy Others Thought She Was
Angel in Angel Beats! was initially played up as the villain of the series since she was essentially the overlord of the limbo of the world all the characters lived in.
That couldn’t be further from the truth as Angel was never their adversary, only an antagonist due to lack of communication between the two sides. In reality, her goal was to help other spirits move on from the limbo, allowing them to let go of their regrets.
7 Finn Fish Only Wanted To Be Reunited With Access
At the start of Phantom Thief Jeanne, Finn Fish is seen as an ally, one who’s helping Maron find demons and expelling them from the human world. The reality is that she was manipulating Maron from the start, using them to collect fragments of power that came in the form of chess pieces for her master Maou. While Maou is irredeemable, Finn Fish only helped him because she hoped to see her true love, Access, again and was willing to do anything to do so.
6 The Aliens In Tokyo Mew Mew Are Only Trying To Save Their Planet
For an anime that’s about magical catgirls, Tokyo Mew Mew does a surprisingly good job at making its villains sympathetic and tells a genuinely good story. The aliens only arrived on earth to take back the planet their ancestors lived on, seeing themselves as the morally just in their conflict with the Mew Mews. In the end, both sides are just trying to save their loved ones, something both of them realize by the end as the aliens depart back to their home planet.
5 Furumori Wanted To Share All Of The Lost Precious With The World Rather Than Hoarding Them
In Dragon Crisis! Furumori wanted to share the Lost Precious with the world after one of his colleagues died after his superiors refused to give him access to one of the Lost Precious in their possession. Sharing historical artifacts or, in this case, magical ones is an admirable gesture.
It’s hard to fault him for many of his actions, especially as the anime never explicitly shows him or Ai actually killing anyone. It’s only his treatment of Ai that places him as a villain.
4 Tarta & Tatra Only Invade Cephiro Because Their Kingdom Is Overpopulated
There are times in war where there isn’t a side that’s right or wrong. Rather, it boils down to two opposing sides only doing what they can for the betterment of their people. That’s what happens when Princesses Tarta and Tetra lead Chizeta into Cephiro. They didn’t invade with evil goals in mind, and it was actually quite the contrary. They needed the space due to the overpopulation of their own kingdom. Tatra even outright says they have no desire to oppress anyone.
3 Noein Is Hoping To End All Grief & Sadness In The Dimensions
Oftentimes, villains have a genuinely good-spirited goal, as is the case with Noein in the anime with the same name. While sadness and grief are needed for people to truly appreciate happiness, it’s understandable why a man who could never be with the love of his life would feel differently. It’s hard to argue against him until one realizes his means of achieving his goal is by erasing all existence and starting over again like a phoenix.
2 Mamuu Kept Children Trapped In The Dream World So Her Son Could Remain Happy
They say a mother would do anything for their child, and those are words that Mamuu follows without question. She would do anything to make her child happy, even trapping children inside the dream world so he’s happy forever. From her perspective, it’s all she could do to continue to see a smile on Yumeta’s face, and it makes her defeat somewhat heartbreaking. It’s a tragic goal that, while well-intentioned, was something that could never come to pass.
1 Kyubey Is Staving Off The Heat Death Of The Universe
As hard as it is to fathom given how heartless Kyubey is, their actions are for the best of the universe. The entire process of turning humans into magical girls and forcing them to suffer helps stave off the heat death of the universe. How he and his fellow Incubators get there is reprehensible, and it’s hard to fully side with them because of that, but it does save lives in the grand scheme of things. It’s part of what makes Puella Magi Madoka Magica such an incredible series.