Random Anime Heroes Who Had Legitimate Reasons To Turn Evil (13 items)

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  (#13) Hachiman Hikigaya Of 'My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU' Is A Total Misanthrope

  My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU doesn't exactly have a villain - it's a slice-of-life school anime that's more focused on the relationships between its characters than on massive conflicts that can be divided into good and evil. However, realistic shows can still have villainous characters. Hachiman Hikigaya lives with deep, almost impenetrable self-loathing that carries over into his interactions with others. He believes that humans have a social hierarchy that makes them selfish, vapid, and cruel. To avoid being hurt by this system he perceives, he shuts down his emotions and pushes others away with sarcasm.

  In real life, people who think that the world is out to get them sometimes lash out and take their revenge out on the world. Hikigaya doesn't do this, mainly because he's forced to participate in a club which is dedicated to helping others. He ends up taking the opposite route, going so far out of his way to help others that he hurts himself as a result. But without the club and the people who try to help him see that his negative worldview is false, he could have easily ended up becoming violent. 
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  (#9) Satsuki Kiryuin

  • Kill la Kill

  For most of Kill la Kill, Satsuki Kiryuin presents herself as a loyal acolyte of her mother Ragyo. She rules over Honnōji Academy with an iron fist and acts as though she plans to help her mother use the academy to take over the world. However, towards the end of the series, she reveals that she's actually totally against this plan, then betrays her mother, and starts working with Ryuko Matoi to defeat her. 

  But Satsuki could have remained faithful to her mother and helped to carry out her plan. She could have been like her third sister, Nui, and acted in perfect accordance with her mother's horrific goals. She had the strength to rebel against her mother, which took a great deal of character - but she could have given into cowardice and remained an accomplice and servant.
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  (#6) Migi Could Have Influenced Shinichi Izumi More In 'Parasyte'

  Shinichi Izumi wants to protect humanity from the sinister threat of mind-controlling parasites who take over people's bodies and feed on human flesh. Migi, the parasite coexisting in his body, is generally willing to help him because it benefits his own survival, but he doesn't care about defending humanity per se. When Migi has to merge with Izumi's heart in order to repair damage, some of his cells detach and begin to circulate throughout his body. This not only dramatically improves his physical capabilities, but also changes him emotionally - as do his increasingly traumatic encounters with parasites.

  These changes aren't likely to lead him to side with the parasites, but he could have stopped caring about protecting humans if Migi's cells - and the darker and sadder parts of his own mind - were too much to overcome. 
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  (#5) Kurama

  • Yu Yu Hakusho

  Kurama is a demon who possessed an unborn human child. At first, he feels no particular attachment to humanity and is preparing to start preying on them as soon as his newborn body grows strong enough to do so. However, he ultimately develops a bond with his human mother and starts to think of himself as at least partially human. The bond began when his mother injured herself in an effort to protect him.

  If this had never happened or his mother actually harmed him in some way, he likely would have despised humanity.
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  (#12) Yugi Mutou

  • Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters, Yu-Gi-Oh!: Bonds Beyond Time, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, Yu-Gi-Oh!

  In the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, Yami Yugi killed countless people. Whenever somebody started bullying Yugi - which was often - his darker self would rear its head and challenge them to a torturous game. In one occasion he drove the perpetrator insane with the sound of their own heartbeat, and another time he set someone on fire. While none of this stuff made it into the anime, it's still part of Yami Yugi's history. What if Yugi had appreciated his shadows' attempts to protect him, and had started actively participating in Yami Yugi's vengeful games? 

  Also, when Yami Yugi remembers his former identity as an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, it could have easily amplified his power-hungry nature and made him feel even more entitled to harm others - a feeling that could have easily been transferred to Yugi himself.
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  (#7) Edward Elric

  • FullMetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, Chibi Party, Alchemists Vs Homunculi, Fullmetal Alchemist

  Anyone who is capable of using forbidden techniques to try and raise the dead is also capable of villainy. Edward Elric's goal is to reclaim his arm and leg to reunite with his brother with his physical body. That said, he could have easily decided to continue trying to bring his mother back to life, seeing as the grief and trauma of his first attempt might have clouded his judgment. Plenty of anime villains are motivated by the desire to cheat death, and Ed could have been one of them.

  What's more, the organization that ultimately gives him structure is the military. While in Ed's case this provides him with a set of moral guidelines that prevent him from using alchemy in damaging ways, it also forces him into potentially traumatic combat situations more than once. Also, his contact with people who don't acknowledge their complicity in the Ishvalan genocide would have rubbed off on him. He could have used this experience to justify his increasingly dangerous experiments regardless of who got hurt in the process. 

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