RELATED: Classroom of the Elite: What to Expect From Season 3 (According to the Light Novel)No anime is complete without a proper villain fueling conflict and creating obstacles for the heroes to overcome. The ones fans got to witness this year, in particular, were rather special.

10 Faraday – Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

Faraday played a significant role in the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime and ended up being a character that not many expected to enjoy as much limelight as he did. A former Militech employee, Faraday used to help out Maine and his group, however, in the quest for more power than he was offered by those of the Arasaka, he ended up going against Maine’s understudy, David Martinez.

Fans got to see a very calculating villain in Faraday as he seemed to possess a mind too good to best. At the core of his character was a certain level of ruthlessness, which instantly raises him to be one of the most ferocious anime villains of 2022.

9 Kakeru Ryuen – Classroom Of The Elite

Anime villains often fall on the side of the morally grey characters, with many of them having their own motivations for doing what they do, which, while doesn’t absolve them of their wrongdoings, certainly does make them a bit more human. Some, however, are simply the lowest of the low, with no remorse for anything and Kakeru Ryuen from Classroom of the Elite is certainly one of them.

He’s quite easily one of the most coercive and manipulative villains of this year, ruling over his class with an absolute iron fist. Kakeru is also great at convincing others to do violence for him, which just makes him all the more despicable.

8 Kyo Ethnina – The Rising Of The Shield Hero Season 2

Also known as the Book Hero, Kyo Ethnina is one character that fans hated unanimously this year, making him quite easily stand among the most hated anime characters of the year. While his epithet paints a picture of a messiah, he couldn’t be further from one.

Kyo is a man who enjoys violence to the fullest and doesn’t have any regard for human life, other than his own. To him, everyone in the world is just a pawn for him to use and even those he holds a connection to don’t matter to him at all.

7 Shigaraki Tomura – My Hero Academia

Shigaraki Tomura is one of the main antagonists of My Hero Academia, alongside All For One. This year’s My Hero Academia saw Shigaraki take the next step on the path to becoming the perfect villain.

Having his body worked upon, Shigaraki awoke as a monstrously powerful being capable of wiping out hero society all on his own. His powers were shown to the fullest in this year’s My Hero Academia and that is something that fans have certainly enjoyed.

6 King Bosse – Ousama Ranking

King Bosse wasn’t exactly a villain in Ousama Ranking, however, his actions certainly weren’t good by any means. He’s one of the characters who fall under the category of the morally grey ones and he certainly showed fans why he was to be feared.

RELATED: Chainsaw Man: What Makes Denji Stand OutBosse made a promise to a young Miranjo a long time ago and for her sake, he returned to life possessing the body of his very own son, Daida. He then went on to fight his other son, who had been stripped of power just so he could become the strongest man in the world, Bojji. Eventually, Bojji ended up defeating him and freeing his brother.

5 Gun Devil – Chainsaw Man

The Gun Devil is the very first major antagonist in the Chainsaw Man series and with the series receiving a fantastic anime adaptation earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before its characters started becoming popular among the fans. The Gun Devil, in particular, carries an ominous aura about him. With its powers, this Devil was able to wipe out 1.2 million people in merely 5 minutes, which is astounding, to say the least.

Few anime villains are armed as well as the Gun Devil and even fewer are as threatening. Undoubtedly, the Gun Devil makes way as one of the best anime villains in 2022.

4 Pucci – JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6

The effects of DIO will never truly leave JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and in Stone Ocean, fans are introduced to a very devoted follower of his, Pucci. Pucci serves the role of the primary antagonist in this part of the story and he certainly does an incredible job. He possesses a stand named Whitesnake, which later evolves to grow even stronger and possesses the ability to manipulate mind and soul with it, which is a ferocious ability to have for someone as villainous as him.

His goal was to thwart the progress and dreams of humanity and make them accept their fate with the power of his stand. Although once good, Pucci embodied DIO’s will the best and played a terrific role as the charismatic and calm antagonist in Stone Ocean.

3 Majima – Lycoris Recoil

Another one of the anime of villains who are evil through and through, Majima proved himself to be a fantastic villain as the leader of a terrorist organization responsible for the Kita-Oshiage subway station bombing. As a villain, his goals were always shown to be straightforward and he simply wanted to put an end to the peace that the Direct Attack maintained.

Majima possessed a truly vile personality which doesn’t let viewers feel bad for him at all. To accomplish his goal of seeing the world in utter chaos, he does everything possible, including attempting to hunt those who try to maintain peace.

2 Yhwach – Bleach

Yhwach is one of the most iconic characters in Bleach and with the return of the anime this year with the Thousand Year Blood War, it was only a matter of time before characters such as himself started to amaze fans. Yhwach is an extremely powerful Quincy and he possesses powers that fans can’t help but enjoy being seen in action. His abilities such as The Almighty make him nigh invincible and he possesses several other powers that truly make him stand out.

At several points in the story, Yhwach has put on a show and that alone is enough to make him stand among the very best antagonists of this year.

1 Kaido – One Piece

Kaido is one of the greatest antagonists in One Piece, if not the greatest so far. As the Wano Country arc heats up in the anime, fans got to see a lot of the “Strongest Creature in the World,” and the King of Beasts, Kaido. The anime explored everything from his mentality to hai monstrous strength this year, giving fans a great glimpse of what the strongest pirate alive in the story was capable of.

For Luffy, Kaido became the greatest adversary and, even now, he continues to make his mark in the anime as its most fearsome villain so far.

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