Why are "human" evils in anime more memorable than fantasy evils? Explored

Whenever evils in anime are talked about, "human" evils like Sho Tucker are usually considered more memorable than fantasy evils. The reasons why range from being more relatable to the audience to giving the hero something they can't punch their way out of, to holding up a mirror to society, among other reasons.

Fans are quick to point out the world destroyers, the time-stopping vampires, the godlike figures, and other fantastical foes that demand attention and capture the audience's attention. Examples of these are the Friezas, the Muzans, the All for Ones, and other such villains.

This leads most fans to question why these human evils are included when the fantastical evil exists. It is a good question, with more than one answer that requires explanation and dissection.

Disclaimer: The following article will contain spoilers for various anime and manga, old and ongoing. All opinions are exclusive to the author.

Why "human" evils in anime are included alongside the fantastical, explored and explained.

Relatability and Realism

Several examples of relatable evils in anime (Image via Studio Trigger, Okuruto Noboru, Fanworks, and Lerche)

Relatability is a word that gets tossed around in critical circles and fan circles as a double-edged sword, meaning its usage can vary by person. Some fans find it better when evils in anime are relatable or realistic, while others opt for the larger-than-life villain commonly found in fantasy stories.

Most evils in anime that are relatable tend to be lower-scale evils. Most people will never be threatened by an all-powerful evil villain bent on taking over the world. On the other hand, most people have experienced a bad boss, a teacher that they feel is out to get them, bullies, or bad parental relationships and toxic friendships.

Sibling Rivalries and More abusive parents as evils in anime (Image via Gainax/Trigger, Perriot)

Some examples of this particular kind of evil in anime include the various bullies in Viral Hit, ranging from prank content creators to school bullies. Anime has no shortage of family drama, from abusive parents like Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ragyo Kiryuin in Kill la Kill, to sibling conflicts throughout Naruto.

Bad bosses like Ton from Aggretsuko sometimes can be humanized, showing their circumstances and what led them to be so hard on people. Though bad bosses in anime often come in the form of Frieza from Dragon Ball Z, who outright kills his henchmen, others are just abusive principals like Gakuhō Asano from Assassination Classroom.

Systemic problems and human weapons

Evils in anime: Human weapons/Brainwashed soldiers (Image via MAPPA, Trigger, Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., Studio Arms)

As older media like Captain Planet have emphasized, solving systemic problems like bigotry or climate change isn't as simple as punching a villain in the face. The problems faced by society are not usually solved by stopping or killing a villain, they potentially take decades to fix and require collective action to solve.

Many evils in anime take the form of horrible governments and people who perpetuate the system. Sometimes there are villains and antagonists like Suzaku Kururugi from Code Geass, who, despite working for the evil Brittanian government, are trying to change it from within and assimilate the oppressed Japanese into the Britannian empire to avoid their annihilation.

Some evils in anime are cogs in the machine and tools to be used and cast aside, showing how the system doesn't care for those it deems expendable. Examples include the Warrior Trio of Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt, plus Gabi Braun from Attack on Titan who were all brainwashed by years of anti-Eldian propaganda. Even dedicated soldiers, like Viral from Gurren Lagann, or human weapons, like Lucy from Elfen Lied, are cast aside when their usefulness is at an end.

The threat of poverty and destitution is rife within certain anime like Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist. Shou Tucker is a memorable villain for the act of killing his wife, daughter, and dog to gain and keep his State Alchemist license. He has topped many lists regarding horrific human villains for the same.

Tucker should also be known as a casualty of economic injustice and systemic poverty, as Amestris is very rich but funnels its resources into the military. This creates people desperate enough to do horrific things to avoid destitution. Attack on Titan's Marley does the same thing with its Eldian population, ostracizing and killing them at leisure when they're not using them as expendable soldiers.

Sympathy for the devil

Sympathetic evils in anime: My Hero Academia edition (Image via Studio Bones)

Sympathetic villains have been more prevalent during the 2010s to today than they were in prior decades. These types of evils in anime are made sympathetic to humanize the character, and understand that anyone can turn villainous or be seen as villainous for any reason. This can often result in the audience wanting the villain to be redeemed, no matter what crime they commit, especially when contrasted to a worse villain.

A major example of sympathetic villains is most of the League of Villains from My Hero Academia. Most of the League of Villains, except All For One, have something that pushed them into villainy, such as discrimination, familial abuse, societal neglect, or an apathetic populace not giving them aid. Shigaraki, Dabi, Toga, and Twice are all perfect examples.

More sympathetic evils in anime: Extremists, Survivors, and double agents (Image via Bones, Marvel Animation, and Pierrot)

Sometimes discrimination goes hand-in-hand with survivors of genocide wanting revenge. Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist, a survivor of the Ishvalan War of Extermination, is one such example.

Although considered a threat and a villain who viewed all State Alchemists as equally guilty and complicit, Scar got a redemption arc that lasted the whole series. Sometimes a villain is a double agent like Itachi Uchiha from Naruto, whose actions are painted differently when discovered.

Sympathetic villains can be well-intentioned extremists. They may have a point on a purely rhetorical level, but can still be a villain owing to their methods of solving the problem. Magneto from X-Men and Stain from My Hero Academia are both examples of this, as their paths both led to plenty of bloodshed and chaos despite having good points about society.

Simple motives trump complex ones

Evils in anime: Simple motives (Image via Rooster Teeth, Science Saru)

Although some fans enjoy villains that have complex motives and sympathetic backstories, there are evils in anime that have simple human motivations. Envy, Pride, and the other seven deadly sins all have their role to play in making "human" evils memorable over their more fantasy counterparts.

A couple of examples of these evils in anime can be found in RWBY, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, among others. For RWBY, there's the following:

Weiss' abusive father Jacques Schnee is the embodiment of greed, so much so that he worked with a criminal to steal an election in Volume 7.
Blake's abusive ex, Adam Taurus, is the epitome of wrath and spite, to the point where he stalked Blake halfway across a continent, killed his remaining supporters, and attacked schools and civilians throughout volumes 3 through 6.
General Ironwood personifies pride and fear, leaving an entire city to die and then blocking Team RWBY's attempts to save people by shooting down evacuation ships and actively trying to kill their team in volumes 7 and 8.

In Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the League of Evil Exs were all formed by Gideon Graves to attempt to win back Ramona Flowers' heart by beating Scott. All of the Evil Exs, Gideon excluded, have understandable gripes and grudges against Ramona. They all stem from her breaking up with them on bad terms, likewise with Even Older Scott at the end of the series.

For all the hyperbolic ways Jojo's Bizarre Adventure villains act, their motives are very simple. Dio wanted to get rich and later, get permanent time-stopping powers, the Pillar Men wanted immortality, Kira wanted to continue his killing spree, Diavolo wanted to continue being the top mafia boss, and Pucci wanted to erase the Joestars from history. All are simple villain motives.

Masks and humble appearances often fool audiences

Evils in Anime: Manipulators (Image via Mappa, SHAFT, A-1 Pictures, Production I.G)

Sometimes a villain isn't a dark lord. Sometimes the innkeeper is a dark witch, sometimes the nobleman is a vampire, and fiction is littered with so many examples they could fill multiple books. These types often lull the audience into a false sense of security, particularly in the horror genre.

Some prolific examples include Palpatine/Darth Sidious in Star Wars, Hama in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Norman Bates in Psycho, James Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes, and other examples found in video game series like Ace Attorney or Persona. While not always seen in anime, this type of evil is often the purview of serial killers such as Johan Liebert in Monster or Shogo Makishima in Psycho-Pass.

Evils in Anime: Hidden Evils/More Manipulators (Image via Bones, Madhouse, Pierrot)

A modern example of this type of villain would be Makima from Chainsaw Man, the eccentric head of the Public Safety Devil Hunter organization. She's The Control Devil, manipulating and pushing everyone for her amusement like Denji, Power, and Aki. When she's finally revealed, she actively gaslights Denji into thinking all the bad events in his life were his fault.

Other evils in anime that mask their true intent and hide behind their public image or a facade throughout anime are Sōsuke Aizen from Bleach, the aforementioned Shou Tucker and Furher Bradley from Fullmetal Alchemist, shapeshifters like Orochimaru and manipulators like Danzo Shimura in Naruto, and Kyubey from Magica Madoka.

"Joke" villains

The evils in anime that everyone assumes are jokes can sometimes surprise audiences. These types of villains function in two ways: they defuse tension and give audiences a break from world-ending threats, and they prove that first impressions aren't everything.

Sometimes a villain can start as a viable threat but become a source of amusement over time. Other times the joke character can be a major threat. An example of evils in anime that amuse include the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and their talking Meowth in the Pokémon anime.

The iconic trio started as legitimate threats in the Kanto arc of the anime but through repeated and goofy losses, their sympathetic backstories being revealed— Giovanni firing them, and their competition being far more evil than they were— the trio became a humorous staple of the series.

Humorous and not-so-humorous evils in anime (Image via Bones, David Production, Pierrot)

Other examples of humorous villains are My Hero Academia's La Brava and Gentle Criminal. Although they were villains, their crimes were petty thievery and done mainly for fame. When contrasted to serious killers like Stain, crime bosses like Overhaul, and main villain All for One, the thieving duo was a much-needed break from the norm by being silly and eccentric.

They also came to the heroes' aid in My Hero Academia's Final War arc, showing that humorous villains can play major roles. Oingo and Boingo in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders were a threat, but always fell victim to their own traps.

On the flip side, a humorous villain that ends up being a major threat later on is Tobi from Naruto. Tobi started as an eccentric jokester but was later revealed to be Obito Uchicha. Pesci of La Squadra Esecuzioni in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind seemed like a dope when compared to Prosciutto, but was deemed a real threat by almost killing Bucchirati.

A major non-anime example is The Spot in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, going from petty thief to multiversal threat. Buddy/Syndrome in The Incredibles started as an annoying superhero fanboy, who grew up to kill superheroes.

Final thoughts

More human evils in Anime: Former friends, traitors, serial killers, and terrorists. (Image via Studio 4°C. Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc, David Production, Wit Studio/Cloverworks)

All of this leads back to the original question: why are "human" evils in anime included or more memorable than fantastical ones? The answer is multifaceted but boils down to the idea that it's easier to sympathize with, relate to, and find much scarier.

A villain shooting beams out of their fingers and laughing manically is a threat, but a seemingly normal person that has bodies in their backyard is truly scary. While many evils in anime tend to be the former, they are much scarier when the latter comes into play.

The more human the evil, the more horrifying it tends to be and the more uncomfortable it is for the audience to look in the mirror. Giant monsters, planet destroyers, and galactic empires are far more easily digestible than the next-door neighbor having killed multiple people or worse.

This means that many evils in anime do resonate with audiences on some level as well. While many may not be on the villains' side, many say certain villains like The League of Villains in My Hero Academia show the cracks in the system of the Hero Society.

The point is that all evils in anime have their purpose in the story. From corrupt bosses or henchmen to kindly people hiding a body or two, evils in anime are always going to come in many shapes and sizes. Fans shouldn't discount the more baser "human" evils, because it's a good look into the mirror of how human beings can be evil towards one another.