An anime — or indeed any story — is only as good as its villain. Therefore, mangakas, animators, and story writers usually do their best to create a worthy villain for the protagonist to bring down. There areseveral strong villains in anime, some that many will even argue are overpowered. Yet within the anime world, it does seem that the word ‘overpowered’ (OP for short) gets thrown around a little too liberally.
For the purposes of this discussion, an overpowered villain is one that brings about a sense of existential dread to the protagonist and audience and leaves them asking: how are the heroes supposed to win against this? An overpowered character often seems impossible to defeat, and these villains fit the bill.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
One of the biggest indicators that a villain is overpowered is the regard, or lack of it, they show to their opponent. They don’t need to have fear or respect for anyone. Father, the villain fromFullmetal Alchemist, is one such villain. One of Father’s most popular quotes describes how he considers humans insects that he doesn’t need to spend his time dealing with. It is still chilling today.
His powers were immense, and even though he was eventually defeated, it was with great difficulty and not through direct conflict. A compelling character, Father is one of the scariest villains in all anime.
Hunter x Hunter
The last and most powerful offspring of theChimera Ant Queen, Meruem started life as a cruel and nasty leader. He would later become one of the most relatable characters in the story and the most tragic antagonist.
Meruem’s strength was raw. His fighting abilities did not rely on secret skills, magic, or art, but rather untamed power. He was so strong that no one could touch him, and his eventual defeat came from years and years of human evolution. His death is still one of the most painful in the series, and the philosophical underpinnings are immense.
Beerus was one of the main antagonists of theDragon Ballseries, and later became an ally. He is the God of Destruction of World 7.His powers are incredible, and while he is usually quite lazy and unwilling to do anything, once he decides to fight, he is nigh unstoppable.
Beerus has defeated Goku on a number of occasions, and has left literal gods quaking in their boots because of him. Beerus has abilities that can level universes, and his signature line ‘Before creation comes destruction’ is a classic. The heroes are relieved he isn’t an enemy anymore.
A Walking Contradiction
Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-
Based on Tappei Nagatsuki’s popular novel series, Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World follows Subaru Natsuki, a directionless and self-conscious teenager who is summoned to a fantasy world and quickly becomes involved with a half-elf princess named Emilia. Blending action, horror, and comedy, Re:Zero is a challenging isekai anime that touches upon themes of perseverance, depression, and self-esteem.
Regulus is the witch’s sin of greed from theRe:Zeroworld. He has a slightly unassuming look, save for his shock of white hair. He calls himself the most content person in the world and a lot of his external actions don’t point towards greed.
However, he is indeed greedy, and he has the power to get what he wants. One of his signature abilities is ‘Stillness of an Object’s Time,’ which enables him to stop the time of anything, including his own heart when necessary. Due to this ability, he can use a simple pebble or sand to kill people.
Overlord
Ainz Ooal Gown started life in theOverlordanime as a protagonist stuck in another world. There, he was blessed with immense powers and tasked with taking care of a race of people that the world found abhorrent.
As the show has gone on,Ainz has sunk deeperand deeper into his game character. This is terrifying for the world of YGGDRASIL, as he is a being of incredible power. Ainz has taken down whole armies, and his underlings have ended the lives of powerful hero parties. He is on course to take over the world, and the viewer might just find themselves rooting for him.
One thing is made clear during the events ofJujutsu Kaisen: the golden age of curses was a terrifying time. There is one character who was the king of curses, and the most powerful opponent at such a time when heroes and villains were at their strongest. This shows how fearsome Ryomen Sukuna is.
Sukuna’s abilitiesare endless. Even with just 5% of his power, he is able to defeat some of the strongest individuals in theJujutsu Kaisenworld. Manga readers might have some insight as to how the heroes might win the day against Sukuna, but as far as the anime world goes, he is unstoppable.
Madara Uchiha is the leader of the Uchiha clan, and easily one of the most powerful Shinobi in history. His abilities are legendary and one of the most enduring scenes featured him fighting against the Shinobi alliance and winning while hardly breaking a sweat.
Madara is known as the only one who ever pushed Hashirama Senju to his absolute limits. Even when he was defeated, it was not in direct confrontation. Anyone who mentions theNarutoseries will always remember, with dread, the power of Madara Uchiha.
There are few things more terrifying than a genius villain, and that is exactly what Sosuke Aizen is. The former captain of Squad 5 in Soul Society, Aizen went rogue, staging his own apparent death before throwing Soul Society into disarray.
Aizen’s strengthwas adequately showcased by the memorable scene where Ichigo, fresh from defeating Byakuya, prepared to attack Aizen only for the villain to stop the attack with one finger. Aizen is so terrifying that he had to be sealed away, as there was no way to kill him. Even in that state, he was able to deal some damage to the King of the Quincies.
Re:Creators
Altair is the main antagonist of the animeRe:Creators. Created by Setsuna Shimazaki before she ended her own existence, Altair is a fictional character who realized what she was and was able to gain immense power from that knowledge.
Altair can alter reality, take away plot points, create worlds, and survive just about anything. She is so strong that even when her very concept was attacked, she still survived. She was ultimately unstoppable, and the protagonists had to find a way to appease her to make it out alive.
Gurren Lagann
The Anti Spiral is the main antagonist inGurren Lagann,and is a hard enemy to pin down. This is because the concept of the Anti Spiral is on cosmic levels, with powers so vast that they are mind-numbing.
The Anti Spiral can throw galaxies as projectiles. This being is all-knowing, and can even be argued as all-powerful. The Anti Spiral is finally defeated, but there is no one who watchedGurren Lagannwho would argue that hisdefeat is hard to justifyas a being of such immense strength. There are several strong characters in anime, but it is difficult to think of any to rival the Anti Spiral.
