This article is a guest piece contributed by Manson L from romanceofmen.com
Fictional characters are some of the more likeable and sometimes more relatable than the real life ones. But such a case is rare if the character in question is a villain. That’s because a villain has to be evil by nature, don’t they? Well, that’s the thing, not all villains deserve to be hated because they are evil.
Some of them have a valid reason to be evil while some are the victim of weird circumstances. In the world of Anime, there are quite a few villains with such backstories. If one knows and understands their situation, they are bound to pity the character.
These villains would have been the best friend of the protagonist only if they had a different lifestyle. Maybe when they were young, their dog was killed or maybe their whole family was killed in front of them. Or just maybe no one ever helped them. Here are the top five anime villains with unexpectedly touching backstories. Careful, you may even find yourself crying over the bad guy.
#5 Dio Brando
Anime: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Even if you are not that much of an anime fan, you might already know Dio. He’s the guy from the “It’s me, Dio!” meme. Now if you have seen JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, then you already know how awful Dio’s personality is. He kicked a dog the moment he saw it to show his authority. Moreover he was ruthless enough to burn it alive just to prove a point.
If you still think Dio is not evil enough, then let me narrate you one incident. He made a Mother eat her own child!! But is he evil by choice or circumstances? Many will say he chose to be evil but if one looks at his past, they will change their mind. That’s because, as a child Dio grew up in a lawless ally. He lost his mother at a young age and was beaten by his drunkard father almost all the time. Ke was the sole breadwinner in his family who also had to spend the hard earned money for his fathers booze. Only if Dio didn’t have this miserable childhood, he might have been the best friend that Joestar always wanted.
#4 Obito Uchiha
Anime: Naruto Shippuden
Obito/Tobi never wanted to be evil. He cherished his friends and always wanted to be of help. But Rin, whom he loved more than anything, never saw Obito the same way. Moreover he was always a few steps behind the one Rin loved, Kakashi.
Despite all this, Obito cherished his relationships and wanted to make a society that would keep everyone happy and satisfied. But all his hopes and dreams crashed when he saw Kakashi killing Rin instead of saving her. The already emotionally unstable Obito became devastated.
Seeing the perfect opportunity, Madara along with White Zetsu manipulated Obito. He became the biggest enemy of the Village that he swore to protect. He killed countless of his brethren . Finally when he realized his fault he regretted his life.
#3 Zeref Dragneel
Anime: Fairy Tail
To Fairy Tail fans, Zeref might be the biggest villain of all time. But this calm and innocent looking dude never wanted to be evil. All he ever wanted was to revive his younger brother, Natsu Dragneel.
It all started when A dragon killed all of Zeref’s family members including his brother. This led Zeref to pursue the path of Magic in search of revival magic. He adopted the Dark Arts to realize his dream. He was able to revive his brother but was soon cursed by Ankhseram.
This curse caused him to become the bearer of death. He was cursed such that no living thing could exist around him. No matter what the thing was, if it was not a Dragon, it would die. And this is what gave him the stigma of evil. He never wanted to kill anyone but he ended up killing them all.
#2 Rui
Born to an affluent family, Rui used to be happy. He had his parents’ utmost love. But there was one serious issue with his health. He was weak and frail to the point that the mere act of walking caused him to cough up blood. Despite all this his parents loved him and Rui cherished this fact.
Then one day Muzan appeared in front of him offering him salvation from this life filled with weakness. Rui thought he would finally be able to repay his parents’ love and became a demon. But this hope was for naught as when his parents found out about the fact, they tried to kill him.
This act infuriated Rui and forced him to walk down the path of evil. He killed his parents but soon came to regret it. That’s because his parents didn’t want Rui to suffer alone and also wanted to take their own life. He found out that his parents always blamed themselves for the miserable life that Rui had. Rui realized his mistake and became so twisted that he made a new family that was ruled by fear!
#1 Tomura Shigaraki
Anime: My Hero Academia
In the world filled with heroes, you are a lonely child who was never saved. You were always crying alone. Now you have the power and you use it to attain happiness. Still people grant you the title of a villain. Are you the one to blame or is it the world?
This is the case for Tomura Shigaraki. He was a five year old child who admired heroes and wanted to be one himself. But that was his mistake for his father loathed the hero filled society. This caused Shigaraki to hide his true feelings only for it to explode when his Quirk manifested. He disintegrated his entire family without even realizing it. He thought he was under attack!
But the thing that led him to the path of evil was not the loss of his family but the lack of emotional support. After losing everything, the 5 year old Shigaraki walked the streets alone. He cried and cried but no one batted an eye let alone help him. This was the moment when the seed of evil took place within his heart and gave birth to the greatest enemy of the great hero society.
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