Anime Series Where the Villain Was Once the Hero

Some of anime‘s most compelling villains were not always the people standing against the heroes. Long before becoming monsters, revolutionaries or threats capable of destroying everything around them, they fought for causes that audiences could easily have supported. A few were even genuine heroes who once protected the same people they later endangered. That history can make an antagonist considerably harder to dismiss as simply evil.

Their original ideals may still be recognizable underneath everything they have become, even if years of loss, disappointment or obsession have twisted those beliefs beyond recognition. Some anime make that transformation central to understanding their antagonists. Knowing who these characters were before everything went wrong does not excuse what they eventually do, but it makes their falls much more tragic.

Suguru Geto Went From Jujutsu Sorcerer to Curse User

Suguru Geto did not begin his life in Jujutsu Kaisen believing regular humans deserved to die. He once protected them. As a student at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Geto fought curses alongside Satoru Gojo. The two were extraordinarily talented young sorcerers, and Geto possessed a clear understanding of what he believed their strength was supposed to accomplish. Sorcerers protected non-sorcerers. That was the responsibility of the strong. His Cursed Spirit Manipulation technique made him particularly valuable.

Geto could absorb defeated curses and subsequently command them, building an increasingly versatile collection of supernatural creatures. The process was deeply unpleasant, but he continued doing it because he believed his work mattered. Unfortunately, that conviction gradually collapses. Geto becomes increasingly disturbed by the endless cycle in which sorcerers risk and sacrifice their lives dealing with curses created largely by the negative emotions of non-sorcerers. Eventually, his frustration breeds contempt. Geto consequently becomes a curse user, and turns against the society he once defended.

Lady Nagant Learned the Ugly Truth Behind Hero Society

Lady Nagant once represented exactly the kind of person hero society was supposed to celebrate. She was a Pro Hero with an exceptionally useful Quirk, Rifle, which allows her to transform her arm into a firearm and create specialized bullets from her hair. Her extraordinary accuracy made her one of the most dangerous long-range fighters in My Hero Academia. The Hero Public Safety Commission recognized that potential. Unfortunately, Nagant was secretly ordered to eliminate individuals the Commission considered threats to society.

The public could continue believing heroes maintained peace through noble acts because people like Nagant handled the uglier work where nobody could see it. Eventually, she could no longer tolerate the contradiction. Nagant had entered the profession admiring heroes. Years of sanctioned killing left her disgusted by the supposedly peaceful society she was helping preserve. Her eventual rebellion turned the celebrated Pro Hero into a criminal. Nagant became disillusioned after learning what being a hero sometimes required behind closed doors.

Obito Uchiha Once Dreamed of Becoming Hokage

As a young shinobi, Obito was energetic, emotional and desperate to prove himself. His willingness to protect his teammates demonstrated the kind of ninja he wanted to become. During a mission that goes disastrously wrong, Obito chooses his friends over the rules. It is an explicitly heroic decision, but his experiences afterward destroy much of that optimism. When Obito emerges as a major antagonist in Naruto: Shippuden, the boy who wanted to become Hokage has been replaced by someone convinced that the existing world produces nothing except suffering.

The contrast with Naruto is what makes his fall so effective. Both characters dream of becoming Hokage. They both experience loneliness, and desperately value their bonds with other people. Obito ultimately responds to suffering by rejecting reality itself, while Naruto repeatedly chooses to keep forming connections despite everything he loses. That makes their conflict in Naruto: Shippuden about much more than strength. Obito represents a possible answer to the question of what Naruto could have become if his pain had convinced him that hope was pointless.

Code Geass Lets Lelouch Deliberately Become the Villain

Lelouch vi Britannia spends most of Code Geass fighting an empire. By the end, he controls it. Lelouch begins his rebellion after gaining the power of Geass, which allows him to issue commands that people are compelled to obey. Taking the identity Zero, he becomes the masked leader of a resistance movement against the Holy Britannian Empire. His methods are morally questionable almost immediately. His larger cause, however, places him in the role of an antihero fighting an oppressive imperial system.

Eventually, he becomes Emperor Lelouch. Instead of ruling as a benevolent monarch, Lelouch deliberately cultivates an image of absolute tyranny. He uses Geass to force obedience, and makes himself hated across the world. Lelouch recognizes that the world’s hatred has become divided among nations and competing factions. He decides to concentrate that hatred onto a single person: himself. Lelouch spends the series trying to destroy a tyrannical world, and ultimately decides that his final contribution will be giving that world one last tyrant to hate.

Eren Yeager Goes From Humanity’s Hope to Its Greatest Threat

After witnessing the destruction of his home, Eren dedicates himself to exterminating Titans. For much of Attack on Titan, he is unquestionably one of its heroes. However, the world eventually becomes much larger than Eren imagined, and learning the truth behind the Titans and the civilizations beyond Paradis fundamentally changes his understanding of the conflict. The enemies threatening his people are no longer mindless monsters that can simply be eliminated with enough courage and ODM gear. Eren changes with that knowledge.

He becomes increasingly secretive and begins taking actions that force his former allies to react to decisions they never agreed to make. Eventually, the people who once fought to keep Eren alive have to consider how they can stop him. That reversal is devastating because the fundamental part of Eren’s personality never completely disappears. He still despises being trapped, and still wants freedom. What changes is what he becomes willing to do in pursuit of those things.