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Sometimes an anime character comes along and becomes incredibly iconic for their good deeds. Whether it's saving people, hunting demons, or being in charge of an organization - many good anime characters have done something to brighten the hearts of fans worldwide.
Others, on the other hand, see goodness as a ruse. These characters pretend to be the good guys, but they are wolves in sheep's clothing. Sometimes it's amnesia, and other times deliberate dissatisfaction.
Regardless, this article will highlight ten iconic anime characters who may have pretended to be good but were actually deceiving everyone or otherwise hiding evil intent.
Disclaimer: This article will contain spoilers for various reveals in anime from their manga. It is likewise subject to the author's opinion
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10 iconic anime characters that deceived the audience
1) Griffith (Berserk)
Griffith is infamous for being an anime character who's synonymous with horrific betrayal. Berserk fans knew of Griffith's goals of gaining and ruling his own kingdom and how ambitious he was, but the sheer scale of the betrayal at the Eclipse was more than some could stomach. During the Eclipse, Griffith messily sacrificed most of the Band of the Hawk to become part of the eldritch God Hand.
As if sacrificing most of his comrades to be messily eaten by demons wasn't enough, Griffith went the extra mile by torturing Guts and Casca. This s*xual torture led to Casca being in a coma and practically catatonic. It took a long time to get her back to some semblance of normalcy. Guts became a shadow of himself, traveling alone and consumed by vengeance and grief and missing an eye.
When the newly christened Femto returned, Griffith displayed absolutely no remorse for his actions. He even taunted Guts by saying that the warning signs were all there and that he was a fool to not see them.
Griifith serves as an example of how unchecked ambition and obsessions can poison people.
2) Light Yagami (Death Note)
An interesting twist on the protagonist/antagonist dynamic is the infamous villain protagonist and iconic anime character Light Yagami from Death Note. Light started as an ordinary high school kid, and then randomly stumbled upon the titular Death Note. It's not until the kid commits his first couple of murders that he starts becoming consumed by the power of it.
Light was always consumed by God's complex and twisted sense of justice. The Death Note just gave him the means to execute his dreams in reality. Whether that involved becoming untouchable or not is up for debate, the point being that he always had those kinds of thoughts.
Ultimately, Light succeeded for a time. Well over five years after his triumph over L, he found himself finally dying after being cornered, shot at, and written in the Death Note itself. Whether his death was cathartic or sad is ultimately up to the viewer, as the would-be god found himself struck down.
3) Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)
It was a tough call between Eren or the Warrior Trio of Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt. Eren made the cut because of his actions in the Paths, where it is revealed that the events of the series were his fault. Despite Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt having the edge in deception, Eren wins out for deceiving his friends after the timeskip and going ahead to attack Marley and the Rumbling.
The controversy surrounding the ending of the manga aside, Eren forced Grisha Yeager to kill and consume the royal family. Eren was evidently instrumental in a lot of different events via the usage of the Paths, like his mom's death. It seemed to hurt him, but he went through with it anyway. Likewise, his rage issues in part one were a bit of a red flag.
He may have apparently been strung along like a puppet, but that's not an excuse for all the extreme things he did. This being revealed only at the end of the manga also created quite the online storm. Rage, it seems, can make even the most empathetic man into a monster.
4) The Hero Public Safety Commission (My Hero Academia)
It was hard to put any of the good characters in the My Hero Academia anime on this list. None of them had anything truly malicious, aside from Endeavor being abusive towards his family. So this entry will go toward the Hero Public Safety Commission. They may be in charge of assisting and reigning in heroes, but they are not the best people.
In fact, as an organization, they're responsible for a few awful things that happen in the anime. One of which involves Hawks being treated inhumanely as a double agent, and Lady Nagant's downward spiral into villainy. All this was revealed later on as the villains rose.
The organization disbanded, much like Naruto's Root, following the events of the Paranormal Liberation War. The deaths of many people involved as well as the structure being demolished, likewise the secrets coming to light, shattered public faith in the Hero Society.
5) James Ironwood (RWBY)
The last head of Atlas Academy and general of the Atlas military in RWBY may have seemed nice at first before his true colors were revealed. As early as Volume 2, this particular anime character was throwing his weight around by bringing an army to the anime equivalent of the Olympics. He also threw some of his allies under the bus to gain control of security for the event.
His true colors were shown during the Atlas arc of Volume 7 and 8, wherein he mistreated the poor city of Mantle by offering very little protection from the Grimm. He then abandoned Mantle's people to a freezing cold death, trying to raise the city of Atlas out of the reach of the Grimm Queen Salem and abandon Remnant itself.
This involved calling for Team RWBY's arrest when they protested and authorizing lethal force against them for simply objecting to his plans. His other heinous acts included trying to hack Penny Polendina and killing anyone who protested like his own council. In the end, Ironwood's paranoia and mistrust of anyone not toeing his line led to his death along with the utter annihilation of his beloved kingdom of Atlas.
6) Makima (Chainsaw Man)
The head of Division 4 of the Public Safety Devil Hunters Bureau and the primary object of Denji's affections in the anime Chainsaw Man, Makima was seen as someone who may be slightly off but had the public's best interest in mind. The fact that she gives Denji food, shelter, and a chance to serve society rather than being hunted like a dog seemed generous enough at first.
Over the course of the anime, however, it was clear something was amiss with Makima. Her powers were off the charts when she showed them, and she seemed to be wrapping Denji around her finger tighter and tighter as it went on. There's also a seeming omnipresence about this particular anime character. It was like she was everywhere at once.
It was revealed that Makima was the Control Devil all along. Obsessed with Denji purely to get at Pochita, she manipulated everything and everyone around him to ensure they'd both be hers forever. Of course, it goes without saying Denji does not take this well and their battle leaves Makima literally in pieces.
7) Souske Aizen (Bleach)
As iconic of an anime villain as Aizen is, he certainly didn't come off that way when the series started. When audiences were introduced to him via the Soul Society Arc, it was clear he had something up his sleeve but most were engrossed in Ichigo rescuing Rukia.
So, naturally, Aizen's betrayal of Soul Society and his reveal that his grander manipulations reached as far back as centuries was just as shocking to the heroes as it was to the audience. Of course, nobody knew back then because Aizen had silenced any who got close to the truth.
As Gin Ichimaru discovered the hard way, anime characters like him don't trust each other easily. Despite Aizen's admission of difficulty, Gin was ultimately defeated as he attempted to betray Aizen. This turncoat Shinigami was finally stopped by Ichigo. Manipulation only goes so far, after all.
8) Lucy (Elfen Lied)
A case of amnesia gone horribly wrong, Lucy from the action-horror anime Elfen Lied was quite the storm of emotions and killing before she lost her memory. Lucy starts as a remorseless killer, slaying anyone that came in her path, owing to her treatment at the hands of human peers.
Despite her transition from a killing machine to an anti-hero, Lucy's powers continued to grow and ultimately spelled the doom of the world if fully unleashed. She does, however, stop herself from indiscriminately killing, thanks to Kouta's empathy toward her.
She may have been a killing machine, but she also has multiple personalities. Lucy is the killing part, Nyuu is the kind part. She does have genuine feelings and likes, and it turns out bullying and experimenting on and generally making a human weapon feel awful isn't a good thing to do. She ultimately asks for a mercy kill from Kouta, unwilling to completely embrace the monster within.
9) Tetsuo Shima (Akira)
A decent guy that turns aggressive isn't that big a twist for an anime character, but poetic justice doesn't usually strike as hard as Tetsuo Shima from Akira. Long story short, this good friend of Kaneda's was already traumatized and messed up from how the world treated him.
After awakening to psychic powers, the rest was history. His inferiority complex and worldly hate manifested in mass death and destruction. The worst part was how much it hurt him, and how he turned into a violent raging monster as a result of mutations from using his power.
It just goes to show that power like that isn't exactly something to toy around with and that the old Spider-Man quote of "with great power, comes great responsibility" applies to everyone.
It's also worth noting how awful Tetsuo was treated, with no real help. Even Lucy didn't quite lose herself to madness as quickly as Tetsuo did, after all.
10) Ryo Asuka (Devilman Crybaby)
The literal devil turning out to be a good guy isn't exactly new in anime. However, it is when the devil uses his friend and ally to his own ends. Makima wasn't the first Devil to pull the wool over the audience's eyes, as Ryo Asuka of Devilman Crybaby demonstrated.
Ryo Asuka started the series off as the best friend of the protagonist, Akira Fudo. The two were childhood friends and fought demons together. So revealing that Ryo was literally Satan was a huge shock, considering he's the final antagonist and drives the world into Hell.
To be fair, many fans did start connecting the dots post-reveal. He was always ruthless towards anyone that wasn't Akira after all. But there's some solace in the fact that he's ultimately forced into a loop over and over by God to lose his lover again and again. Whether that punishment is cruel, kind or a fusion of the two is up to interpretation.
