History ALighterShadeOfBlack / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/DeathNote'': [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even Rem]] [[LampshadeHanging agrees]], while Light Yagami may be a bastard he isn't as bad as Kyosuke Higuchi. Not that that excuses any of Light's own depravity. This ends up getting subverted when Light eventually becomes far worse than Higuchi ever was.

* ''Anime/GodzillaThePlanetEater'' has Godzilla, who is outright malevolent to humanity and seeks to wipe them out, going against Ghidorah, the titular PlanetEater who devours worlds at the behest of the cultist alien race, the Exif. As such, Godzilla ends up as the lesser of the two evils and ultimately saves the planet from Ghidorah, [[spoiler:though he does kill the main protagonist Haruo in the finale]].
* Most of the villains in ''Manga/BlackButler'' are worse than [[VillainProtagonist Ciel.]]

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'''s [[TheBaroness Kycilia Zabi]] is a fascist dictator who holds that WeHaveReserves and once left a group of her own men buried alive in a collapsing mine. That said, she's not quite as awful as her older brother, [[TheEvilPrince Gihren]], a [[TheSociopath psychopath]] who aims to reduce the population of Earth to less than a billion and who murders [[spoiler:[[{{Patricide}} their father]]]] with a WaveMotionGun. This makes it possible, if just, to root for her as the two of them manouvere for position in the Zeon hierarchy.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' spoiler: [[spoiler:[[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by [[BigBad Haman Khan]] as she tries to [[EnemyMine convince Judau to ally with her]] against [[TheStarscream Glemmy Toto]]. Haman explains that she's just a conqueror who doesn't believe in the Zabi name she's using as a flag, but Glemmy does, and Glemmy will drown the Earth Sphere in blood because of it. Judau doesn't buy it; as far as he can tell, Haman and Glemmy are exactly the same, and he's not going to pick one above the other.]]
* In the ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' manga and OVA, Asran's pro-monarchy forces are ''not'' the good guys. The Asran monarchy lives in luxury while Asran struggles with poverty and a poor educational system. Saki is willing to use nuclear weapons in the country's civil war. Many of the mercenaries at Area 88 are amoral or outright [[SociopathicSoldier sociopathic]]. However, members of Asran's monarchy have sympathetic moments, as do many of the mercenaries. To boot, the anti-government forces are depicted as much worse, committing atrocities against civilians and allying with Farina's mafia.
** In the manga, this shifts to {{black and gray morality}} when the pro- and anti-government forces [[EnemyMine both turn on Project 4]], a ruthless arms syndicate.

* ''Anime/BlackLagoon'': The protagonists are pirates and smugglers who are quite willing to do all manner of immoral acts if the pay is right. They're still ''much'' better than most of their opponents, who include neo-Nazis, bloodthirsty cartels, and the other inhabitants of [[WretchedHive Roanapor]].
* ''Manga/AkameGaKill'': The Jaegars can be very ruthless, but they are not barbarians. They don't indiscriminately kill the Empire's citizens unless they suspect them of working with LaResistance. Every member has their own share of PetTheDog moments. This is very stark contrast to Wild Hunt, who are willing to kill the Empire's citizens for any reason ([[ForTheEvulz even for fun]]). In fact, considering the state of [[CorruptPolitician the Empire's government]], the Jaegars come across as the [[NobleTopEnforcer the best possible hope of protection for the Empire's citizens]].

* The villains of ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' are typically {{Card Carrying Villain}}s with no qualms about causing harm and destruction wherever they go, and few redeeming qualities. The main outliers are the {{Arc Villain}}s of the [[BreatherEpisode Culture Festival Arc]], Gentle Criminal and his sidekick La Brava. Gentle makes it clear that he has no desire to cause harm and simply desires one thing: to make his mark on history. He originally wanted to be a hero to accomplish this goal, but when that dream crashed and burned, [[ThenLetMeBeEvil he resorted to villainy]], his brand of which being very petty in comparison to others like the League of Villains or the Shie Hassaikai: holding up stores and committing B&E's. His sidekick, La Brava, was ostracized for her awkward and stalkerish behavior and would've been DrivenToSuicide had she not discovered Gentle's videotaped exploits online, leading her to seek him out and become his partner in crime. While some of the other villains in the series have camaraderie and friendship with each other, Gentle and La Brava are dedicated to each other on a whole different level, such that when Midoriya defeats them and they are taken into custody, Gentle goes the extra mile to protect La Brava by claiming he forced her into villainy so that she could receive leniency.

* ''LightNovel/TheGeniusPrincesGuideToRaisingANationOutOfDebtHeyHowAboutTreason'': The Earthworld Empire has its share of corrupt nobles and a glass ceiling for women, which is a continent-wide issue, but it's presented more positively than other countries due to being relatively better about racial equality.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': [[GoldfishPoopGang Team Rocket]] are a bunch of unscrupulous thieves that have spent the entire series trying (and failing) to steal Ash's Pikachu and[=/=]or the wide variety of other trainers' Pokémon or random wild ones they encounter. The trio always revel in their villainy -- but they're actually much nicer than other villains they face off against. Team Aqua, Team Magma, Team Galactic, Team Plasma, etc.; they're all a bunch of unsympathetic criminal scumbags who will not hesitate to cross every line possible -- including and up to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt -- to achieve their goals, whereas Team Rocket consist of {{Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain}}s who are as incompetent as they come, get their asses handed to them almost every time they encounter Ash and co., and spend every waking moment barely managing to scrape by. Not only that, but they have [[EvenEvilHasStandards some standards]] compared to the aforementioned teams.

* In the ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' manga and OVA, Asran's pro-monarchy forces are ''not'' the good guys. The Asran monarchy lives in luxury while Asran struggles with poverty and a poor educational system. Saki is willing to use nuclear weapons in the country's civil war. Many of the mercenaries at Area 88 are amoral or outright [[SociopathicSoldier sociopathic]]. However, members of Asran's monarchy have sympathetic moments, as do many of the mercenaries. To boot, the anti-government forces are depicted as much worse, committing [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene atrocities against civilians]] and allying with Farina's mafia.