History VillainProtagonist / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[BigBad Tomura Shigaraki]] becomes the main protagonist for the [[VillainEpisode "Meta Liberation Army" arc]], which focuses on his and the League of Villains' [[EvilVersusEvil conflict]] with the eponymous organization, while also shedding light on his past, motives, and struggles to succeed [[GreaterScopeVillain All For One]] as the ruler of the criminal underworld.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[BigBad Tomura Shigaraki]] becomes the main protagonist for the [[VillainEpisode "Meta Liberation Army" arc]], which focuses on his and the League of Villains' [[EvilVersusEvil conflict]] with the eponymous organization, while also shedding light on his past, motives, and struggles to succeed [[GreaterScopeVillain All For One]] as the ruler of the criminal underworld. He also more generally gets increasing focus as the story progresses, eventually becoming a villainous {{Deuteragonist}}, with his journey towards becoming the greatest villain in the world forming a pointed contrast to [[TheHero Midoriya's]] journey to becoming the greatest hero and succeeding [[BigGood All Might]].

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku'', since he may be trying to save his race from Frieza, but he still comes from a genocidal race, making the conflict EvilVersusEvil.

* The eponymous ''Franchise/LupinIII'' [[CaperCrew and his gang]] are the longest-running, most successful, and ''still'' one of the most popular examples of the trope. Whether it's the television series, or the annual MadeForTV movies, the plot always centers on Lupin's pursuit of his next big score, with [[HeroAntagonist Inspector Zenigata]] always hot on his trail to slap the cuffs on 'em.
** In [[Anime/LupinIIIPart1 the first anime series]], Masaaki Osumi, the original director, made Lupin a cynical and morally ambiguous character that wouldn't hesitate to kill those who stand in his way, but tries to kill as little as possible to keep his family name reputation to the best. The first seven episodes reflect this as well, as the atmosphere is dark and mature with sometimes a melanchonic tone that hide a strong message. He murders a group of rival gang members by flooding their base with water, then throwing high tension cables into the water, causing them a slow, painful death. In the second episode, he smirks while his rival in love Pycal burns to death. These darker elements of Lupin's personality were largely excised after Creator/HayaoMiyazaki took over the series, however, with Lupin from then on mostly killing in self defense and rarely taking glee in it. Miyazaki also made sure to give Lupin and his pals PetTheDog moments (usually by having them save innocent victims from even WORSE criminals), a trope that the franchise has steadily relied on in the decades since.
** This is UpToEleven in [[Manga/{{Lupin III}} the original manga]]. Not only does Lupin murder people left and right (whereas in most animated adaptations, he most often kills in self defense), but he's also ''a rapist'', something that is used as almost a RunningGag of sorts. Needless to say, this specific character trait has been left out of every adaptation.

* Lucy from ''Manga/ElfenLied'' is a cold-blooded killer. She has killed armed men and innocent children, for reasons ranging from "trying to kill me" to "You killed my dog" to "I envy your happy, normal life, and I need a place to crash." She [[ColdBloodedTorture kicks people quite sadistically]] when they are down. She hears voices and tries to infest humans with her diclonius genes, which will lead to the extinction of mankind. No effort is spared to let the viewer feel sympathy for her plight, [[spoiler:not even after sacrificing herself in the end, where it was only to save the one guy she liked - without ever learning that being a sadistic mass-murderer is wrong.]]
* The main character of ''Manga/FirePunch'', Agni, straddles the line between this and antihero for much of the story. There are multiple arguable points where he crosses over the line into straight up villain, but the most definite moment would be when [[spoiler:he murders a repentant Doma and all the children Doma is taking care of in the frozen wasteland that is the setting.]] Even though he is hit with a massive HeelRealization moments afterward, his slipping sanity causes him to do other terrible things as well.
* [[spoiler:Haruko Haruhara is very much the face and BigBad]] of ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', acting as [[spoiler:one of the premier {{Manic Pixie Dream Girl}}s in all of media]]. Energetic, spontaneous and hammy as hell, but manipulative, selfish and ruthless, to the point where there's a distinct LackOfEmpathy. [[spoiler:Haruko]] cements it by [[spoiler:trying to feed Naota into the Terminal Core and endangering the Earth's existence out of her desire to absorb Amtosk's infinite power]]. By the end, however, [[spoiler:Haruko]] has mellowed out considerably, or at least acknowledged defeat this round. By ''[[Anime/FLCLProgressiveAndAlternative FLCL Progressive]]'' the more heroic (initially trying to kill Hidomi not-withstanding) Jinyu's taken the protagonist role while [[spoiler:Haruko]] [[RogueProtagonist becomes more of a proper]] BigBad.

* Natsuo of ''Manga/{{Teppu}}'' definitely qualifies. The realistic high school setting of the manga means that she's probably not going to be murdering anyone, but she has demonstrated herself to be ruthless, selfish, arrogant and frequently sadistic. For example, she initiates a fight with her future rival just because she's bored, and her rival's cheerfulness and self-confidence pisses her off. Natsuo has gotten a little less arrogant over the course of the series so far, but otherwise she's still just as much of a bitch as she was at the start.

* Michio Yuki from ''{{Manga/MW}}''. He is the main focus on the manga as he spends his time committing murder, not to mention collecting ransom money on his victims. He also crossdress women in his plot. His goal is to find MW and use it to end the world in vengeance for his own mortality.

* While Kurosu in ''Manga/AnaSatsujin'' may not be a perfect example of this, he does count solely because of who his girlfriend is: Miyaichi, a not only unrepentant, but proud serial killer, who definitely does count. He counts because he finds this out ''before'' he decides to start dating her, and while not agreeing with her activities, doesn't do much to stop her and sticks with her after she starts roping him into helping her with her kills.

* Momonga/Ainz Ooal Gown from ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'', upon entering the New World, finds himself with basically limitless power, no rivals or higher authorities and a large group of even eviler minions about as strong as he is that assume he wants to take over the world and take achieving it as their mission. While Ainz himself is mostly uninterested in world domination, he doesn't shy away from cold-blooded murder, torture, slaughtering the innocent, blackmail, running crime organizations from behind the scenes and letting the truly reprehensible Demiurge do whatever he pleases. As time goes by, his morals slip more and more and his crimes are mostly kept at manageable levels by the fact that he's incompetent, bad at planning ahead and severely lacking in ambition. The anime downplays this as much as possible to make him look like an antihero, so when later story arcs came around that made it impossible to hide, some viewers were shocked that the story had been following the bad guy the whole time.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' uses this trope to full drama after the TimeSkip. [[spoiler: AntiVillain Reiner Braun serves as the protagonist throughout much of the initial arc, before series protagonist [[ByronicHero Eren Yeager]] makes his brutal re-entrance into the narrative. Labeled the "Enemy of Peace" by the rest of humanity, Eren slaughters military officials and civilians alike in the nation of Marley and forces his old friends to rescue him. After returning to Paradis, he turns against the government and is appointed as the leader of the "Yeagerist" faction devoted to installing him as the supreme leader of humanity. The group assists in poisoning important members of the military, uses a bomb to assassinate Commander Zackley, and even take Eren's former comrades prisoner on his orders. The [[HiddenAgendaVillain lack of insight into Eren's actual mindset or goals leaves considerable ambiguity,]] but his actions are definitely villainous.]] As the story progresses, [[spoiler:Eren is also revealed to be TheChessmaster and a GreaterScopeVillain, especially as the mastermind behind the Reiss Family massacre. He commanded Grisha to give the Founding Titan to him. Later, Eren establishes himself as the BigBad by ordering the Wall Titans to raze the world outside Paradis.]]

* Korosensei from ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' is an AffablyEvil artificial octopus who encourages the students of E-Class to kill him before he destroys the world, while he is teaching them some valuable lessons as their teacher. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed later on that he didn't actually reduced the moon to the way it is, and that he wanted his students to kill him before the same structure that made him finishes the job in destroying the world.]]

* [[LightIsNotGood Light Yagami]] in ''Manga/DeathNote''. He kills people using the eponymous notebook for his KnightTemplar dreams of a better world, and [[AGodAmI believes himself to be a god]]. Light ''consistently'' sees himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, and is either ignorant or apathetic to the fact that he's crossing {{Moral Event Horizon}}s left and right. During his MotiveRant at the end of the series, he still legitimately believes that he's doing the right thing. Light is a purer example of this trope than most, as he is explicitly the BigBad of his series (something backed up by WordOfGod), rather than a NominalHero fighting a greater menace. The series ends with his defeat right as he's on the verge of [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]], although this hasn't stopped [[MisaimedFandom many fans thinking he was in the right.]]

** In [[Anime/LupinIIIGreenJacket the first anime series]], Masaaki Osumi, the original director, made Lupin a cynical and morally ambiguous character that wouldn't hesitate to kill those who stand in his way, but tries to kill as little as possible to keep his family name reputation to the best. The first seven episodes reflect this as well, as the atmosphere is dark and mature with sometimes a melanchonic tone that hide a strong message. He murders a group of rival gang members by flooding their base with water, then throwing high tension cables into the water, causing them a slow, painful death. In the second episode, he smirks while his rival in love Pycal burns to death. These darker elements of Lupin's personality were largely excised after Creator/HayaoMiyazaki took over the series, however, with Lupin from then on mostly killing in self defense and rarely taking glee in it. Miyazaki also made sure to give Lupin and his pals PetTheDog moments (usually by having them save innocent victims from even WORSE criminals), a trope that the franchise has steadily relied on in the decades since.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' uses this trope to full drama after the TimeSkip. [[spoiler: AntiVillain Reiner Braun serves as the protagonist throughout much of the initial arc, before series protagonist Eren Yeager makes his brutal re-entrance into the narrative. Labeled the "Enemy of Peace" by the rest of humanity, Eren slaughters military officials and civilians alike in the nation of Marley and forces his old friends to rescue him. After returning to Paradis, he turns against the government and is appointed as the leader of the "Yeagerist" faction devoted to installing him as the supreme leader of humanity. The group assists in poisoning important members of the military, uses a bomb to assassinate Commander Zackley, and even take Eren's former comrades prisoner on his orders. The [[HiddenAgendaVillain lack of insight into Eren's actual mindset or goals leaves considerable ambiguity,]] but his actions are definitely villainous.]] As the story progresses, [[spoiler:Eren is also revealed to be TheChessmaster and a GreaterScopeVillain, especially as the mastermind behind the Reiss Family massacre. He commanded Grisha to give the Founding Titan to him. Later, Eren establishes himself as the BigBad by ordering the Wall Titans to raze the world outside Paradis.]]

** Though a fairly brutal WellIntentionedExtremist (to the point of being a SerialKiller), Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure of ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica'' get by far the most focus and development of any character, are involved in a conflict where GreyAndGreyMorality is the order of the day, and eventually [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins win]]]]. This is particularly the case in ''Sadness Prayer''--while the original manga had something of a ThirdLineSomeWaiting plot and initially cloaks them in mystery, ''Sadness Prayer'' takes place entirely from their point of view. They're considered the villains due largely to being {{Canon Foreigner}}s who opposes [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica the original characters]]. Spinoff ''Extra Story'' [[PetTheDog drops the "Villain" part]], with the duo being entirely heroic in that story due to a different timeline.

** Though a fairly brutal WellIntentionedExtremist, [[spoiler: Oriko Mikuni]] of ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica'' gets by far the most focus and development of any character, is involved in a conflict where GreyAndGreyMorality is the order of the day, and eventually [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins wins]]]]. She's considered the villain due largely to being a CanonForeigner who opposes [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica the original characters]]. Spinoff ''Extra Story'' [[PetTheDog drops the "Villain" part]].

* In ''LigntNovel/LivingAsIPleaseAsALoliDemonKing'', the protagonist Milla, Demon Lord of Insanity, has noble goals and motives but has no issue with any and all forms of atrocity in order to realize them.

* ''Anime/MichikoToHatchin'' is about a woman who breaks out of jail and kidnaps the daughter of her old lover so she can lead them to him. Michiko and Hana develop a strong familial bond over the story but she still took her from her ([[AbusiveParents abusive]]) foster parents and is on the run.

* ''Manga/TalentlessNana'' is all about the eponymous Nana Hiiragi, a [[spoiler:sociopathic serial killer who's made it her life's mission to murder all superpowered "Talented" individuals. Eventually subverted when she starts on her path to a HeelFaceTurn once she discovers the truth about her past.]]

* Princess Punie Tanaka of ''Anime/DaiMahouTouge'' is definitely not as good as her "princess of Magical Land" persona makes her appear to be. Her incantation says it all: "Lyrical Tokarev, kill them all!"

* The main protagonists in the WWII [[BlackComedy comedy]] ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' are [[ThoseWackyNazis Germany]], [[UsefulNotes/FascistItaly Italy]], and [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Japan]].

** In the first anime series, Masaaki Osumi, the original director, made Lupin a cynical and morally ambiguous character that wouldn't hesitate to kill those who stand in his way, but tries to kill as little as possible to keep his family name reputation to the best. The first seven episodes reflect this as well, as the atmosphere is dark and mature with sometimes a melanchonic tone that hide a strong message.
** In the first series, he murders a group of rival gang members by flooding their base with water, then threw high tension cables in the water, causing them a slow, painful death. In the second episode, he smirks while his rival in love Pycal burns to death.

* Momonga/Ainz Ooal Gown from ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'', upon entering the New World, finds himself with basically limitless power, no rivals or higher authorities and a large group of even eviler minions about as strong as he is that assume he wants to take over the world and take achieving it as their mission. While Ainz himself is mostly uninterested in world domination, he doesn't shy away from cold blooded murder, torture, slaughtering the innocent, blackmail, running crime organizations from behind the scenes and letting the truly reprehensible Demiurge do whatever he pleases. As time goes by, his morals slip more and more and his crimes are mostly kept at manageable levels by the fact that he's incompetent, bad at planning ahead and severely lacking in ambition. The anime downplays this as much as possible to make him look like an antihero, so when later story arcs came around that made it impossible to hide some viewers were shocked that the story had been following the bad guy the whole time.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' uses this trope to full drama after the TimeSkip. [[spoiler: AntiVillain Reiner Braun serves as the protagonist throughout much of the initial arc, before series protagonist Eren Yeager makes his brutal re-entrance into the narrative. Labeled the "Enemy of Peace" by the rest of humanity, Eren slaughters military officials and civilians alike in the nation of Marley and forces his old friends to rescue him. After returning to Paradis, he turns against the government and is appointed as the leader of the "Yeagerist" faction devoted to installing him as the supreme leader of humanity. The group assists in poisoning important members of the military, uses a bomb to assassinate Commander Zackley, and even take Eren's former comrades prisoner on his orders. The [[HiddenAgendaVillain lack of insight into Eren's actual mindset or goals leaves considerable ambiguity]], but his actions are definitely villainous]]. As the story progresses, [[spoiler:Eren is also revealed to be TheChessmaster and a GreaterScopeVillain, especially as the mastermind behind the Reiss Family massacre. He commanded Grisha to give the Founding Titan to him. Later, Eren establishes himself as the BigBad by ordering the Wall Titans to raze the world outside Paradis.]]
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': Keroro half the time, though he's [[HarmlessVillain not a very effective one]].

* The title character of ''Anime/TheLaughingSalesman'' is Moguro Fukuzo, a shady and [[AmbiguouslyHuman possibly supernatural]] salesman who is [[SlasherSmile constantly grinning]] and in every episode approaches people with the offer to help them achieve their heart's desire. His customers almost always end up killed or screwed over by him in the end.

* [[KnightTemplar Light Yagami]] in ''Manga/DeathNote''. He kills people using the eponymous notebook for his dreams of a better world, and [[AGodAmI believes himself to be a god]]. Light ''consistently'' sees himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, and is either ignorant or apathetic to the fact that he's crossing {{Moral Event Horizon}}s left and right. During his MotiveRant at the end of the series, he still legitimately believes that he's doing the right thing. Light is a purer example of this trope than most, as he is explicitly the BigBad of his series (something backed up by WordOfGod), rather than a NominalHero fighting a greater menace. The series ends with his defeat right as he's on the verge of [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]], although this hasn't stopped [[MisaimedFandom many fans thinking he was in the right.]]

* [[LightIsNotGood Light Yagami]] in ''Manga/DeathNote''. He kills people using the eponymous notebook for his KnightTemplar dreams of a better world, and [[AGodAmI believes himself to be a god]]. Light ''consistently'' sees himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, and is either ignorant or apathetic to the fact that he's crossing {{Moral Event Horizon}}s left and right. During his MotiveRant at the end of the series, he still legitimately believes that he's doing the right thing. Light is a purer example of this trope than most, as he is explicitly the BigBad of his series (something backed up by WordOfGod), rather than a NominalHero fighting a greater menace. The series ends with his defeat right as he's on the verge of [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]], although this hasn't stopped [[MisaimedFandom many fans thinking he was in the right.]]

* Sasuke Uchiha of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' was this for a majority of the series after the first TimeSkip. Despite [[FaceHeelTurn abandoning and turning against]] his fellow protagonist [[TheHero Naruto]], half the story would still dedicate entire arcs solely about him and his endeavors. After the reveal of the Fourth Shinobi World War and onto the Ten Tails Revival Arc, Obito qualifies for this position since most of his fate after him being crushed by the boulder was shown concluding Kakashi Gaiden and even his interaction with Naruto puts Naruto at a HeroAntagonist role before his defeat. Especially with Kakashi's arc, he too fills in the role of the BigBad to Kakashi as a central figure at this time putting Naruto and Sasuke at a supporting role until the end of the arc where Naruto and Sasuke resume their roles and Obito shifting to a supporting character.

* Sasuke Uchiha of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' was this for a majority of the series after the first TimeSkip. Despite [[FaceHeelTurn abandoning and turning against]] his fellow protagonist [[TheHero Naruto]], half the story would still dedicate entire arcs solely about him and his endeavors.

* Light Yagami in ''Manga/DeathNote''. He kills people using the eponymous notebook for his KnightTemplar dreams of a better world, and [[AGodAmI believes himself to be a god]]. Light ''consistently'' sees himself as a WellIntentionedExtremist, and is either ignorant or apathetic to the fact that he's crossing {{Moral Event Horizon}}s left and right. During his MotiveRant at the end of the series, he still legitimately believes that he's doing the right thing. Light is a purer example of this trope than most, as he is explicitly the BigBad of his series (something backed up by WordOfGod), rather than a NominalHero fighting a greater menace. The series ends with his defeat right as he's on the verge of [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]], although this hasn't stopped [[MisaimedFandom many fans thinking he was in the right.]]

* Tanya Degurechaff from ''LightNovel/SagaOfTanyaTheEvil''. She's a [[EnfantTerrible black-hearted, vicious, utterly ruthless loli]] ChildSoldier [[EvilSorcerer sorceress]] in an [[AlternateUniverse alt-universe]] UsefulNotes/WorldWarI where warfare is supplemented by magic.

** In the first anime series, Masaaki Osumi, the original director, made Lupin a cynical and morally ambiguous character that wouldn't hesitate to kill those who stand in his way, but tries to kill as less as possible to keep his family name reputation to the best. The first seven episodes reflect this as well, as the atmosphere is dark and mature with sometimes a melanchonic tone that hide a strong message.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' uses this trope to full drama after the TimeSkip. [[spoiler: AntiVillain Reiner Braun serves as the protagonist throughout much of the initial arc, before series protagonist Eren Yeager makes his brutal re-entrance into the narrative. Labeled the "Enemy of Peace" by the rest of humanity, Eren slaughters military officials and civilians alike in the nation of Marley and forces his old friends to rescue him. After returning to Paradis, he turns against the government and is appointed as the leader of the "Yeagerist" faction devoted to installing him as the supreme leader of humanity. The group assists in poisoning important members of the military, uses a bomb to assassinate Commander Zackley, and even take Eren's former comrades prisoner on his orders. The [[HiddenAgendaVillain lack of insight into Eren's actual mindset or goals leaves considerable ambiguity]], but his actions are definitely villainous]]. As the story progresses, Eren is also revealed to be TheChessmaster and a GreaterScopeVillain, [[spoiler:especially as the mastermind behind the Reiss Family massacre. He commanded Grisha to give the Founding Titan to him. Later, Eren establishes himself as the BigBad by ordering the Wall Titans to raze the world outside Paradis.]]