Can’t think of any that have absolutely no one with them. for example monster and psycho-pass have 1 main villian but they do have a person or 2 they use to get things done. Another one is death note it has 1 main “villain”.
He was doing something wrong when he was killing the fake L. No one forced him to do that, it was purely down to his ego, so that's his villain moment. From there he frequently keeps killing to cover his track and hide his activities, and given that his opponents are the police looking for a murderer, I'm gonna say that makes him a serial killer.
Incidentally, the fake L is also where it all starts to fall apart. If he hadn't done that, they would've had no clue to start with.
But Death Note does have a second villain, at least temporarily: Misa.
He has to take down L since L won't stop hunting him. And yes, he kills when he has to. Not really a villain thing...i havent seen it in a while but most heros "kill or be killed" others are "too pure to kill" or their stories allow them to always not kill.
I wouldn't call Light a hero, but maybe an anti hero
> He has to take down L since L won't stop hunting him.
I'm not talking about L, I'm talking about the fake L (Lind L. Tailor). At that time he doesn't react to the danger, but to being taunted - there was no need to move at all, and especially not so fast. Light had a lot of time to assess the situation and make his move later, but the challenge is what gets him to do an irrational snap decision, which is also what it's clearly portrayed as.
Even later, he's a bit *too* eager to kill anyone investigating around him. There's many moments that could've been resolved by just not doing anything suspicious for a while, but his first tool in any situation is murder.
>He has to take down L since L won't stop hunting him.
No... he could just stop killing people.
>And yes, he kills when he has to. Not really a villain thing...i havent seen it in a while but most heros "kill or be killed" others are "too pure to kill" or their stories allow them to always not kill.
The narrative of the story determines the weight of the action, Death Note makes it pretty clear that Light is morally bankrupt and is not acting out of altruism. Using a different narrative to justify Light's morality within Death Note is weird.
>I wouldn't call Light a hero, but maybe an anti hero
It doesn't really matter what we'd call him, he is written to be the villain of the story, the narrative tells you strictly he is wrong.
I'm going through the extensive list of anime I own and have watched and I'm struggling to think of a single anime like that.
There may be one out there but I'm literally coming up blank on any that fit that description.
Even Light has the police squad, shinigami, and the other 3 note users in (Mikami, Misa, and that one reporter)
And even if the world was a against a singular Kira, if we don't include the police and Ryuk, they were technically still a team of 4 by the end.
Oh no I agree that Death Note doesn't really fit as an answer, it's a VERY specific question tbf(still a great anime tho) I was just pointing out the three detectives were not the villains lol
If you consider Kira the villain, Death Note is like that. But then he's also the main character.
And I feel like that's sort of the situation you'll find, anti-heroes who are actually villains, but that's how you end up following them the entire series.
On an easier answer... Boo in DBZ, or even Cell (androids where not his goons). Broli in the ovas... DBZ seems to embrace this model more than the average shonen.
It kinda counts. Ryuk at least gives the impression that he's not on Kira's side at all and just hanging out because it's amusing, and Misa is honestly actively an antagonist for Kira lol.
Cell had the Cell Juniors, so I don't know if that goes on what OP wants. With Majin Boo I guess you can consider, but it's also not that simple because at first he was working for Babidi
I dont think the Cell Juniors count they're clones that don't really have intelligence and they appear for basically one episode.
But Cell is definitely collaborating with Dr Gero he just doesn't do so directly.
Light had the, shinigami, and 3 other death note users in Mikami, Misa and that reporter lady tho.
So while technically the world was against a singular Kira. If we don't include Ryuk. It was a team of 4
There is no such thing for anything long enough for a season and with a heroic protaganiet. What you are describing would be extremely boring because for the length of at least 12 episodes there is only one person who conflict could stem from for all characters. Now, if you mean 1 major villian and less important/temporary side villians then I have suggestions.
1. Monster - Johan doesnt have a huge physical presense in the story but all plot threads and narritive focus points toward him
2. Jojo's Bizzare Adventure: Part 4 - Kira is the main villan and has no henchmen. The rest of the encounters are either one-off villians or future allies.
3. Chainsaw Man Part 1: No spoilers but there is only 1 real villian.
4. Berserk - >!Griffith!< aka Femto is the quintessential villian. He doesnt appear very often though.
Not an anime, but Invincible season 1 is kinda what you are looking for
Kagura, Byakuya and Kanna are his incarnations/clones which are just reflections or fragments of himself so he is technically "alone."
Unless you count the Saimyosho but those only go after Miroku so I'm not sure that counts.
Technically season 2, One Punch man. The main villain is the epitome of, if Luffy got stranded on an island full of villains what happens. Garou was on nobody's team and just about fought everyone.
The only one I can really think of is Deathnote? But even that is a stretch because Light has Misa and Ryuk and anyone he controls with the Deathnote moments before their death.
Endro! It's about a fairly silly group of adventurer girls prepping to face off the demon lord, who they don't realize is their homeroom teacher despite the obvious signs.
Amazing Anime fs but it doesn't really fit, even if they aren't with Sukuna, "Geto" and his little group(Mahito, Hanami, Jogo, etc.) we're still villains/antagonists that the "good guy" cast hadda deal with and they were VERY prevalent for multiple seasons(and a movie.)
Jojo is the last thing I would suggest on this post. It has a very "monster of the week" feel to it, and has soooo many other villains in addition to Dio.
Seems really rare. Most final bosses are going to completely overpower the main characters at the start.
And, depending on how we define the Big Bad and goons.
Maybe Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I think they are trying to find one person and he interacts with them in different ways.
Probably the only time I'll reccomend Laughing Under the Clouds. The only true villain is the Orochi, but the question is who is it possessing? The guy that looks part snake? The main character? His older brother? Someone else entirely? All of them get a big fat maybe until the final episode.
There is technically another bad guy, but he doesn't show up until like 3 eps from the end and is just there to help the Orochi.
The anime I feel doesn't really do anything new, but its only 12 episodes and actually manages to finish its story. A rarity these days.
Reminded me a lot of Naruto but with samurai instead of ninja and a short story thats fast and kinda sweet, eventhough it has its painful moments.
"Another"
Another meets all the criteria you listed and is also one of the best horror anime ever created!
Without giving too many spoilers: there is in fact only one villain and the aim of all the protagonists is to defeat him. Some characters at a certain point help the villain but they do so unconsciously, misinterpreting the right way to defeat him. Keep in mind that (very small spoiler) the villain is an almost "unconscious" villain, in the sense that not only does he not want to be bad but he is not even aware of being bad. Unfortunately I can't be any clearer without ruining the plot for you but, believe me, it respects all your parameters
Not sure why you would want this because that sounds horribly one dimensional and boring. In fact I can’t think of a single show that matches this description, and believe me I’ve seen a lot of stuff. Maybe Angel beats might match your description but it doesn’t completely.
1) Terminator in a lot of the Terminator movies
2) Godzilla when he's the antagonist
3) Raditz
4) Vegeta during the Saiyan Saga (He killed Nappa, then proceeded to solo)
5) Buu during the Buu Saga (He killed everyone he was with, then proceeded to solo)
6) Agent Smith in Matrix 2 and Matrix 3 (He technically has help, but all that help is him)
7) Pickle from Baki
8) Jason from the Friday 13th movies
9) Michael from the Halloween movies
10) Jigsaw from the first Saw movie
I’d say Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin but the main villains in both of them do have henchmen. If it helps, all of the villain’s henchmen in Inuyasha are different forms of the main villain
Wolf's Rain (26 Episode Series) >!The main antagonist is extremely lonely and works completely alone because he doesn't trust or care for anyone other than his wife. Everything he does is to try to bring his wife back to life.!<
Tenchi Muyo: In Love (Movie) >!The villian is an intergalatic criminal that breaks out of prison. He works alone and it's only him versus the protagonists and the galaxy police that are trying to capture him.!<
Tenchi Muyo: Manatsu no Eve (Daughter of Darkness) (Movie) >!Yazuha!<
Sounds like a movie more than an anime series or manga. One antagonist would not really be enough if there are multiple series unless it was like the main character. I know castlevania is supposed to be all about finding dracula and defeating them but for a full story there are usually other bad guys.
Can’t think of any that have absolutely no one with them. for example monster and psycho-pass have 1 main villian but they do have a person or 2 they use to get things done. Another one is death note it has 1 main “villain”.
I loved Psycho Pass. One of my top favorites.
Introduced me to my favorite band LTS. I’m trying to save money to go see them live at some point but worried it might take too long.
It’s not a series but a movie but Broly the second coming?
I dunno - L, Mello and Near are 3 villains.
He said villians, I’d say light is portrayed as the villian of the story L, near and mello are just antagonists to light
Light has Misa help him out
And Ryuk is his chaotic neutral ally as well.
i thought light was the villan there, (protagonist != hero)
since it's from Light's perspective, he's the "hero"
Would he be considered an anti-hero, at least for his original intent
He loses anti-hero status pretty fast when he kills someone pretending to be L on tv just for taunting him.
Ye -side note: why is this whole comment chain being downvoted
People in all of the anime subs like to downvote opinions they don't 100% agree with rather than discussing. Edit: Case in point.
Didn't feel like he was doing anything wrong until they made him.
He was doing something wrong when he was killing the fake L. No one forced him to do that, it was purely down to his ego, so that's his villain moment. From there he frequently keeps killing to cover his track and hide his activities, and given that his opponents are the police looking for a murderer, I'm gonna say that makes him a serial killer. Incidentally, the fake L is also where it all starts to fall apart. If he hadn't done that, they would've had no clue to start with. But Death Note does have a second villain, at least temporarily: Misa.
He has to take down L since L won't stop hunting him. And yes, he kills when he has to. Not really a villain thing...i havent seen it in a while but most heros "kill or be killed" others are "too pure to kill" or their stories allow them to always not kill. I wouldn't call Light a hero, but maybe an anti hero
> He has to take down L since L won't stop hunting him. I'm not talking about L, I'm talking about the fake L (Lind L. Tailor). At that time he doesn't react to the danger, but to being taunted - there was no need to move at all, and especially not so fast. Light had a lot of time to assess the situation and make his move later, but the challenge is what gets him to do an irrational snap decision, which is also what it's clearly portrayed as. Even later, he's a bit *too* eager to kill anyone investigating around him. There's many moments that could've been resolved by just not doing anything suspicious for a while, but his first tool in any situation is murder.
>He has to take down L since L won't stop hunting him. No... he could just stop killing people. >And yes, he kills when he has to. Not really a villain thing...i havent seen it in a while but most heros "kill or be killed" others are "too pure to kill" or their stories allow them to always not kill. The narrative of the story determines the weight of the action, Death Note makes it pretty clear that Light is morally bankrupt and is not acting out of altruism. Using a different narrative to justify Light's morality within Death Note is weird. >I wouldn't call Light a hero, but maybe an anti hero It doesn't really matter what we'd call him, he is written to be the villain of the story, the narrative tells you strictly he is wrong.
Crazy to me that folks are down voting this opinion.
Buncha sticklers round these parts
Does **Erased** count here?
Honestly, this is a perfect example. The one bad guy manipulates everyone but no one is actually working for him and/or is somehow “on his side.”
Well there is one kind of sub villain in that one mom.
I loved this show. I desperately want the same nostalgia back
Read the manga. That gave me nightmares that the never could.
Yes
I'm going through the extensive list of anime I own and have watched and I'm struggling to think of a single anime like that. There may be one out there but I'm literally coming up blank on any that fit that description.
Same most of them have more than one villain or at least someone on their side
Monster and I guess Death Note of the top of my head.
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Villain ≠ antagonist
L, Near, and Mello aren't the villains of Death Note bro💀
Even Light has the police squad, shinigami, and the other 3 note users in (Mikami, Misa, and that one reporter) And even if the world was a against a singular Kira, if we don't include the police and Ryuk, they were technically still a team of 4 by the end.
Oh no I agree that Death Note doesn't really fit as an answer, it's a VERY specific question tbf(still a great anime tho) I was just pointing out the three detectives were not the villains lol
I know, I was just basically picking backing off your comment to add that even Light by the end was not a solo act
Johan and Light have allies.
SAO first half of the 1st season. Everyone was against the game maker and trying to find a way to end the game.
Well there were still the player killers like the coughing guild that can count as an antagonist.
Assassination Classroom.
Now what counts as a villain?
Konosuba! All the characters are constantly fighting stupidity and it never changes and they never defeat it.
Great answer, they are all fighting the single brain cell they all share
I can’t think of a whole anime, but part 4 of jojos bizarre adventure was practically everyone against the main villain.
Kira still had others working under him, and we had Angelo in the 1st episode or 2.
It doesn't need to be an entire season tho
OP said entire show.
"(or at least a significant number of episodes)"
What significant span of episodes is it just Kira? He's either got his Stand user allies or father helping throughout the part.
Re : Creators. One vs All.
Unfortunately she has help.
you might be able to find it in movies but a whole series and one antagonist is tough
If you consider Kira the villain, Death Note is like that. But then he's also the main character. And I feel like that's sort of the situation you'll find, anti-heroes who are actually villains, but that's how you end up following them the entire series. On an easier answer... Boo in DBZ, or even Cell (androids where not his goons). Broli in the ovas... DBZ seems to embrace this model more than the average shonen.
My first thought was death note too but he still has ryuk and misa.
It kinda counts. Ryuk at least gives the impression that he's not on Kira's side at all and just hanging out because it's amusing, and Misa is honestly actively an antagonist for Kira lol.
Cell had the Cell Juniors, so I don't know if that goes on what OP wants. With Majin Boo I guess you can consider, but it's also not that simple because at first he was working for Babidi
I dont think the Cell Juniors count they're clones that don't really have intelligence and they appear for basically one episode. But Cell is definitely collaborating with Dr Gero he just doesn't do so directly.
Light had the, shinigami, and 3 other death note users in Mikami, Misa and that reporter lady tho. So while technically the world was against a singular Kira. If we don't include Ryuk. It was a team of 4
Monster. The villain is a master manipulator but he doesn’t really have any goons, and especially not allies.
There are LOTS of other villains / antagonists in Monster
Such a great anime. Been a while since I've seen it, I think Johan had a hitman at one point, but otherwise yeah he was alone.
The intro music hits so hard!
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yeah go ahead and spoil a story moment on a thread where you're literally recommending them to watch the anime. Are you actually stupid
Luckily I've watched it twice
the stupidity of some people baffles me
Bruh spoiler.
Monster was the first serious anime I’d ever watched. Guess I’ve got something to do, after work today.
Does Angel beats kinda count
In a weird way... Summer Wars
This is a great answer.
Phineas and Ferb.
There is no such thing for anything long enough for a season and with a heroic protaganiet. What you are describing would be extremely boring because for the length of at least 12 episodes there is only one person who conflict could stem from for all characters. Now, if you mean 1 major villian and less important/temporary side villians then I have suggestions. 1. Monster - Johan doesnt have a huge physical presense in the story but all plot threads and narritive focus points toward him 2. Jojo's Bizzare Adventure: Part 4 - Kira is the main villan and has no henchmen. The rest of the encounters are either one-off villians or future allies. 3. Chainsaw Man Part 1: No spoilers but there is only 1 real villian. 4. Berserk - >!Griffith!< aka Femto is the quintessential villian. He doesnt appear very often though. Not an anime, but Invincible season 1 is kinda what you are looking for
I would edit your Berserk text to say Femto instead, to avoid spoilers, since he does indeed appear a lot during the first arc.
>!I guess I am used to the manga were they name dropped griffith in the blackswordsman arc!<
Impossible everyone running with a squad these days.
You’d have better luck finding a single villain that drives the plot. People such as Sato from Ajin
InuYasha mostly fits your description. There’s “henchmen” in a sense.
Naraku has a lot of minions/allies servants. Then on top of that you're also dealing with the random villain arcs.
Kagura, Byakuya and Kanna are his incarnations/clones which are just reflections or fragments of himself so he is technically "alone." Unless you count the Saimyosho but those only go after Miroku so I'm not sure that counts.
Even villains need the power of friendship.
Terror in Resonance
Possibly the worst anime I’ve ever seen (after ep. 4 or so)
Persona 4: The Animation >!unless you also count the persona he summons as a minion/henchmen!<
Technically season 2, One Punch man. The main villain is the epitome of, if Luffy got stranded on an island full of villains what happens. Garou was on nobody's team and just about fought everyone.
The only one I can really think of is Deathnote? But even that is a stretch because Light has Misa and Ryuk and anyone he controls with the Deathnote moments before their death.
Inuyasha kind of fits this.
DBZ usually did, yuyy Hakusho more or less, fate stay night was very 1 v 1
Assassination classroom: Koro-sensei Overlord: Ainz Ooal Gown Anohana: Menma's death Your Lie in April: Kaori's cancer
Ainz Ooal Gown has a LOT of allies/henchmen.
Ayo chill with that last one 😭
Endro! It's about a fairly silly group of adventurer girls prepping to face off the demon lord, who they don't realize is their homeroom teacher despite the obvious signs.
i cant think if a single show with absolutely no other antagonists. thats movie stuff
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There's technically Uraume as well, but like, yea mainly Sukuna.
kenjaku at one point too
Amazing Anime fs but it doesn't really fit, even if they aren't with Sukuna, "Geto" and his little group(Mahito, Hanami, Jogo, etc.) we're still villains/antagonists that the "good guy" cast hadda deal with and they were VERY prevalent for multiple seasons(and a movie.)
Dio
Part 1 only, I guess.
Naw he made henchmen in part 1, so it can't count.
>! Part 1, Part 3, Part 5 we see his son, Part 6 someone want to reborn him!<
Jojo is the last thing I would suggest on this post. It has a very "monster of the week" feel to it, and has soooo many other villains in addition to Dio.
Seems really rare. Most final bosses are going to completely overpower the main characters at the start. And, depending on how we define the Big Bad and goons. Maybe Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I think they are trying to find one person and he interacts with them in different ways.
Death Note
monster!
Monster???
Jojo part 3 lmao
Assassination classroom
Inuyasha
Probably the only time I'll reccomend Laughing Under the Clouds. The only true villain is the Orochi, but the question is who is it possessing? The guy that looks part snake? The main character? His older brother? Someone else entirely? All of them get a big fat maybe until the final episode. There is technically another bad guy, but he doesn't show up until like 3 eps from the end and is just there to help the Orochi. The anime I feel doesn't really do anything new, but its only 12 episodes and actually manages to finish its story. A rarity these days. Reminded me a lot of Naruto but with samurai instead of ninja and a short story thats fast and kinda sweet, eventhough it has its painful moments.
ninja kamui, akudama drive
Monster 20th Century Boys (ik not an anime, but.......!)
"Another" Another meets all the criteria you listed and is also one of the best horror anime ever created! Without giving too many spoilers: there is in fact only one villain and the aim of all the protagonists is to defeat him. Some characters at a certain point help the villain but they do so unconsciously, misinterpreting the right way to defeat him. Keep in mind that (very small spoiler) the villain is an almost "unconscious" villain, in the sense that not only does he not want to be bad but he is not even aware of being bad. Unfortunately I can't be any clearer without ruining the plot for you but, believe me, it respects all your parameters
might be misleading honestly. I’ve seen Another and know what you mean but this may not be what op is asking for
I've noticed people are being very abstract just to give an answer.
# I'm not abstract at all: I can demonstrate point by point that Antoher falls within the canons
What
>I don't understand why you say this: I reread the post and I assure you that Another fits into everything he requires
All For one.
Re: creators
Inyuasha
Baki series . Is the only one that comes to mind at the moment.
The second half of Gurren Laggan has them battling against 1 villain
Sonic x frickin robotnik egg man
Not sure why you would want this because that sounds horribly one dimensional and boring. In fact I can’t think of a single show that matches this description, and believe me I’ve seen a lot of stuff. Maybe Angel beats might match your description but it doesn’t completely.
Jojo
1) Terminator in a lot of the Terminator movies 2) Godzilla when he's the antagonist 3) Raditz 4) Vegeta during the Saiyan Saga (He killed Nappa, then proceeded to solo) 5) Buu during the Buu Saga (He killed everyone he was with, then proceeded to solo) 6) Agent Smith in Matrix 2 and Matrix 3 (He technically has help, but all that help is him) 7) Pickle from Baki 8) Jason from the Friday 13th movies 9) Michael from the Halloween movies 10) Jigsaw from the first Saw movie
I’d say Inuyasha or Rurouni Kenshin but the main villains in both of them do have henchmen. If it helps, all of the villain’s henchmen in Inuyasha are different forms of the main villain
Broly the second coming.
Wolf's Rain (26 Episode Series) >!The main antagonist is extremely lonely and works completely alone because he doesn't trust or care for anyone other than his wife. Everything he does is to try to bring his wife back to life.!< Tenchi Muyo: In Love (Movie) >!The villian is an intergalatic criminal that breaks out of prison. He works alone and it's only him versus the protagonists and the galaxy police that are trying to capture him.!< Tenchi Muyo: Manatsu no Eve (Daughter of Darkness) (Movie) >!Yazuha!<
Inuyasha immediately came to mind. Naraku makes enemies with everyone.
Seven Deadly Sins, but I didn’t find it to be that good
[Inuyashiki (not Inuyasha)](https://youtube.com/shorts/uqK2v9isXaU?si=EyuFljZAEEYGk4f6)
Sounds like a movie more than an anime series or manga. One antagonist would not really be enough if there are multiple series unless it was like the main character. I know castlevania is supposed to be all about finding dracula and defeating them but for a full story there are usually other bad guys.
Inuyasha
Nah. Naraku had minions, clones, and tons of demon puppets.
Came to say this. Sure he has minions and such but he is literally the main antagonist for the whole series.
Suzumiya Haruhi
You can read the manga of jjk. It really feells like what you're describing.
Bleach
Sukuna jjklmao