Anime Villains Who Are Kind Of Justified

The world of anime has shown that villains aren’t just pure evil who want to destroy the world for kicks and giggles. Most villains actually have plenty of layers to their character and show there’s more to them. Whether fans love them or hate them, they know something big is going to happen when the villains appear on-screen.

Despite the dark path they’ve taken, some of these villains are a little justified for doing so. Though they’ve done some pretty evil things, not many can blame these villains too much for doing what they do. Even if some of them are hard to sympathize with, their reasons for being evil are understandable.

10 Itachi Uchiha (Naruto Shippuden)

Poor Itachi was too young to carry the burdens he had before the series. On the surface, it seemed like Itachi slaughtered the Uchiha clan for no reason, but fans learned there was a good reason why he did it. After learning that the Uchiha clan was planning a coup, Itachi had to make a choice: let his clan go through with it and possibly (most likely) lose Sasuke, or slaughter the clan to prevent it and guarantee Sasuke’s safety. Itachi chose the latter and along with Obito, slaughtered the entire clan, minus his younger brother, in one night.

Itachi purposely made himself a villain in Sasuke’s eyes and encouraged him to get stronger to kill him one day. When the truth about why he slaughtered the clan was revealed, fans realized he was justified in this and did it to protect Sasuke.

9 Lucy (Elfen Lied)

Granted, it’s extremely hard to feel sympathy for Lucy because she targets anyone, innocent or otherwise, in her way. However, fans can understand why Lucy is like this. She was constantly bullied by the kids in the orphanage she lived in because of her Diclonius looks, and they killed the puppy she had been looking after. She was on the run because scientists wanted to know more about her Diclonius heritage and in the OVA, her friend Aiko dies trying to protect her from them.

Between the experiments and all the trauma she’s had, it’s really no wonder why Lucy is the way that she is. Her only experiences with humans are the ones that are out to harm her in some way. It wasn’t until she lived with Kouta and the others that she some kind of peace.

8 Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

Considering that he watched the massacre of his people, Scar is perfectly justified in wanting to put an end to State Alchemists. They were the ones who slaughtered hundreds, if not thousands, of Ishvalans and the main reasons why there’s only a few small and scattered groups of them left. Scar is fully aware that what he’s doing isn’t technically right, but it’s understandable why he wants the State to suffer consequences for their actions.

He’s not killing innocent people and only fights State Alchemists, but is also willing to defend himself from those that will try to stop him. When Winry confronted him with a gun, he was willing to let her have one shot to kill him, but said he would kill her if she failed.

7 Eren Yeager (Attack On Titan)

At this point, Eren is keeping his eyes on the goal he’s had since day one: kill all Titans. If it means sacrificing people, he’s willing to do it. He’s seen the point of view from his enemies and understands their reasons for attacking his home, but it doesn’t keep them safe from his wrath. As long as the Titans remain, his home and his friends are in danger and Eren is making sure to keep his promise to end them.

With all the memories he has and seeing so many things from them, Eren has a lot on his mind and can only focus on his goal. Eren isn’t a bad guy deep down, but with everything that has happened and what he’s learned, the means justifies the end.

6 Nine And Twelve (Terror In Resonance)

In their defense, Nine and Twelve were experimented on in order to become human weapons by the government. Considered terrorist, the two of them weren’t out to harm people and would plant bombs in areas where there weren’t many people. Their goal was to shed light on the government’s secret experimentation on them and others who grew up in the same orphanage as them.

Though threatening the population, the two of them don’t actually kill anyone. It’s understandable why they would want everyone to know what’s been done and also do it so the children who’ve died from the experiments will be remembered.

5 Soo-Won (Yona Of The Dawn)

The one who is responsible for putting Yona on her journey. Soo-Won’s father was murdered by Emperor II, Yona’s father, and the murder was covered up. Wanting his death not only for revenge, Soo-Won’ murdered Emperor II to also carry out his father’s will and make their country Kouka a superpower again. Since Emperor II was a pacifist, Kouka was on the decline and on the verge of destruction. Soo-Won took over the throne and actually has done good while being emperor.

Deep down, he does care for Yona and their friend Hak, but Soo-Won was willing to throw those relationships away for the good of Kouka. He is trying his best to not make any heavy sacrifices, but is willing to make them if he has to.

4 Kagura (Inuyasha)

At first, Kagura seems to be another minion following the orders of Naraku, but fans saw that there was more to her. Kagura truly wanted her freedom, but Naraku held her heart captive and used it to keep her in check. Even he knew if she ever got her heart back, she could be a threat to him and his plans. Any time she acted up, he would hurt her by hurting her heart. No one can really blame her for following orders.

She did it so she could stay alive and subtly helped Sesshomaru whenever she could, believing he could be the one to end Naraku. Inuyasha and the others saw later in the series she wasn’t a completely terrible person and asked her to join, but she refused. Sadly, she would get her heart back, but Naraku made sure to fatally wound her, so she wouldn’t live for long afterwards. However, Kagura wasn’t sad about dying and happy she was finally free from Naraku.

3 Sato (Ajin: Demi-Human)

Sato actually enjoys killing people, but he is using that enjoyment towards a good cause. In Ajin: Demi-Human, all Ajin who are captured by the government are subjected to extremely painful and inhumane experiments that usually end up with them dying, but they don’t stay dead for long since the Ajin come back to life and are immortal. Sato leads a Pro-Ajin movement that on the surface, claims to fight for Ajin rights, but in reality is Sato wanting to rule Japan with an immortal army.

Though this is a cover-up to quench his thirst for violence and bloodshed, Sato does make good points when it comes to the poor treatment of Ajin. Just because they can come back to life in seconds from any fatal injury doesn’t mean they should be treated as cattle to harvest organs from or used for other experiments. Sato might be going about this the wrong way, but his points can’t be argued with and he’s showing the world that Ajin can be the deadliest enemies when pushed too far.

2 Thief King Bakura (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

No one can really blame Thief King Bakura for going down the path he walked on. At a young age, he was the only survivor after his entire village was sacrificed to be used to create the Millennium Items. It’s understandable why he developed a strong hatred for the pharaoh at the time and believed he was the one ordered for his village’s destruction. He grew to hate him and anyone connected to him and the royal family.

Bakura waged war against them and succeeded in killing Mahad, the man whose spirit would become the Dark Magician and Pharaoh Atem’s trusted advisor. Teaming up with Zorc did him little good and Bakura has done a lot of damage, but fans know that he’s suffered a lot and his need for revenge is justified.

1 Kyubey (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

This one is a little controversial because Kyubey walks the fine line between heroism and villainy. All fans can agree that it is wrong for Kyubey to not tell the girls everything that comes with being a magical girl, but it is only doing it to keep the universe safe. To make sure everything is safe, Kyubey doesn’t care if a few little girls suffer and are traumatized in the process. It’s not out to make them suffer or doing anything out of a malice, but it doesn’t really help that Kyubey can’t feel emotions

It doesn’t care if the girls are in pain, and only cares if the girls are doing their jobs. At the end of the day, as long as the universe remains safe, Kyubey will continue to recruit girls even if it results in them suffering and dying.

More: Awesome Shonen Anime Villains That Do Not Have Tragic Backstories