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Contrasting Sequel Antagonist / Anime & Manga

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Contrasting Sequel Antagonists in anime and manga.

Examples:

  • BanG Dream!:
    • Shifune Tsuzuki is the owner of SPACE who is a notorious perfectionist due to her extremely high standards. She initially acts as Poppin'Party's No-Nonsense Nemesis due to the same reason and often acted as a stepping stone to their goals.
    • Chiyu Tamade, on the other hand, is the Bratty Half-Pint leader of RAISE A SUILEN, whom, in contrast to Tsuzuki, is a teenager and is a Teen Genius. She is deeply antagonistic towards Roselia and Poppin'Party and would do in her own power to eclipse both of their fame, often resorting to underhanded methods like cheating.
    • Sakiko Togawa from the Sequel Series It's MyGO!!!!! is a contrast to CHU2. Both are the leaders of their respective bands, with CHU2 being from Raise A Suilen and with Sakiko to Ave Mujica. However, the similarities end here. While both are rich girls, the difference is with CHU2 still living as one, whereas Sakiko became Riches to Rags because of her difficult upbringing with her dysfunctional family. Their personal hostilities significantly differ to one another. In contrast, CHU2's harsh personality obsession to be the greatest stemmed from her parent's high expectations, whereas in Sakiko's case it was due to her drunken father.
  • Bakugan Battle Brawlers does this with its 4 main antagonists:
  • Beastars:.
    • The Starter Villain of the Drama Club Arc, Bill, is by all accounts a pretty normal teenager, and his actions, while morally reprehensible, aren't seen as truly evil in society, especially considering that while he was a villain, he would only use rabbit blood (with consent from the rabbit themselves, in one case) and attack Legosi in retaliation; subsequently, Bill is treated as not a villain and more of a colleague of the main characters. On the other hand, the first Shishigumi Boss of the Meteor Festival Arc is truly evil— he actually kidnaps, kills, and eats herbivores, is in bed with the city mayor so he turns a blind eye to his business, plans to harm both Haru and Legosi, and is much older than Bill.
    • Whereas both Bill and the first Shishigumi Boss are relatively simple and straightforward characters, with the latter being particularly flat and unsympathetic, Tem's killer, Riz from the Murder Incident Solution Arc, is a villain who gets a lot of screentime dedicated to what led him to kill and is given more sympathy than expected with a Freudian Excuse. Much like the other villains, his philosophy on eating meat diverges from Legosi's, but he is the first to make Legosi consider that the physical necessity of carnivores to eat meat is not inherently an evil thing and that the way society treats carnivores is not justified, and where Bill and the Boss thought of the act of eating meat as simply a way to sate a physical urge, Riz has a Consuming Passion, and the act of eating meat to him is considered important and intimate.
    • Whereas Bill, the first Shishigumi Boss, and Riz were all carnivores, Melon is a hybrid of a carnivore and a herbivore. The three previous villains were able to at least feign politeness, and, in both Bill and Riz's cases, they were decent people at heart. Melon, however, is an Ax-Crazy sociopath that revels in creating chaos and pain to the society around him. Where the three of them mostly planned on a small scale and had only self-interest at the plots they were a part in, Melon wants to destroy carnivore/herbivore relationships to make money off of the frenzied carnivores. And unlike those before him, eating meat is something he does out of spite and to humiliate his carnivore underlings, rather than enjoyment or physical necessity since he can't taste or digest meat properly.
  • Black Clover has an elf, a devil and a human that contrast each other.
    • Patry is an elf that was a victim of the elf massacre at the hands of Clover royals, then shares a humans body with there being two souls in the same body, Patry believes humans are inherently evil, selfish creatures. It's later revealed that he was the Unwitting Pawn of a devil and has a change of heart, choosing to work with humans against their shared enemy.
    • Lucifero is a devil who’s one of the three rulers of the underworld, who’s host is a human that plans to create a world of malice by creating the Tree of Qliphoth but he sees other humans that oppose him as inferior and calls their magic attacks pointless however after realizing humans can harm him he starts to acknowledge them.
    • Lucius Zogratis is a human who is actually the original and split personality of Julius Novachrono, he was introduced as the Wizard King Julius, but is much later on revealed to be not only a villain but The Chessmaster of the entire plot. He’s also an Immortality Seeker and wants to use the Tree of Qliphoth to remake humanity with undying bodies. Lucius is also the devil host of the the third ruler of the underworld Astaroth.
  • Kyosuke Munakata in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School is this to Nagito Komaeda from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. He has a number of base similarities to Nagito; being a major opposition to the main character, their foil, and having white hair. However, Munakata has a radically different personality and demeanor to Nagito, as well as a worldview that seems, initially, far more sane and logical. Nagito believes that you make hope stronger by increasing despair; Munakata believes that you make hope stronger by eliminating despair. Both hide their true fanaticism behind a veneer, but Nagito is overly friendly while Munakata plays The Stoic. Their lives are also very different as, while Nagito has virtually no friends and merely wants to be useful for others, Munakata is well-respected by his peers and regards his classmates as True Companions. Their eventual fates also contrast each other. While both are alive at the end of the anime, Nagito gets to live out his life among his classmates on Jabberwock Island in peaceful exile, while Munakata is the lone survivor of his peers and has to live with the knowledge that both his mentor and his lover turned against him.
  • Digimon:
    • C'mon Digimon: Shinichiro Josaki is a bully with a lot of free time and disposable income who kidnaps children in order to torment them with holographic technology before destroying their property. Lord Demon, the main antagonist of Digimon V-Tamer 01, is a powerful mutant who is staging a war of aggression across the continent of Folder. His ultimate goal is to punish all lifeforms weaker than himself, wherever they may be, by forcing them to live short, brutal lives. MetalPhantomon, the principle antagonist of Digimon D-Cyber, is a minor player trying to build a power base through the kidnapping and brainwashing of human tamers, giving them delusions he will grant them great power while using that they already have for his own ends. Digimon Next antagonist Barbamon is a digimon who stumbled into Yggdrasil, the computer that runs the digital world, while Yggdrasil had sent out an avatar to examine the human world, and thus went insane as his mind became a part of and corrupted its programing. Barbamon thus decides the universe should be destroyed. Bagramon, the antagonist of the Xros Wars manga, also wants to destroy the universe, but he wants to do it because he believes if the universe gave him a brother who was literally born evil then it doesn't deserve to exist.
    • Digimon Adventure:
      • Devimon is a stock devil-like villain who uses Black Gears to turn several Digimon evil, and his goal is to take control of File Island, and he heavily suffers from Orcus on His Throne.
      • Etemon is a Laughably Evil yet Not-So-Harmless Villain who is way more competent than Devimon and he has control over the entire Server Continent thanks to his Dark Network. None of his minions is brainwashed, but they are evil to begin with. Etemon is also a very active antagonist who does everything to pursuit the Chosen Children, and despite being much more powerful than their Digimon (until MetalGreymon's appearance), his bad luck prevents him from killing any of them.
      • Vamdemon is a Wicked Cultured vampire who invades the real world to kill a single child and goes so far to kidnap an entire district to do so. His goal is to merge the real world with the Digital World to rule over them. His army is more competent than they let on and after Vamdemon's defeat, he is immediately resurrected as a vampiric, devlish Kaiju who lost his sanity.
      • The Dark Masters are a quartet of Big Bads, albeit a Big Bad Ensemble than a Villain Team-Up. Each of them have their own different personalities and already existed long way back before the eight Chosen Children were... chosen. In fact, they are so old, they were fought by the original five Chosen Children many years ago. The four are comprised of a Cyborg sea dragon, a wooden puppet boy with a hammer, a mix-match android dragon, and a humanoid Monster Clown. MetalSeadramon and Mugendramon are both No-Nonsense Nemesises, but the former has Benevolent Boss qualities in contrast to Mugendramon and Pinocchimon, while Mugendramon is a cold-hearted machine with almost no emotions and commands his army with efficiency, and Pinocchimon is a really Bad Boss and has the personality of a Creepy Child who doesn't really understand the concept of friendship and has an Inferiority Superiority Complex. Piemon prefers to wait for his enemies to arrive at the top of Spiral Mountain and he doesn't even attempt to send anyone to attack the children who are in his territory underneath the top. He acts like a Faux Affably Evil Ax-Crazy serial killer, except that he doesn't kill any of the children and has fun hunting them and turning them into keychains.
      • Apocalymon, the final villain, is the embodiment of dead Digimon who failed to evolve and he also has the powers of the Digimon killed by the Chosen Children. He envies the Digimon who live in the Digital World and he wants to destroy it because of his suffering.
    • Digimon Adventure 02:
      • The Digimon Kaiser is an evil-turned Chosen Child molded by the influence of three separate villains. Despite being manipulated by one of them, most of his actions do fall under his own responsibility. He created Dark Towers, enslaved Digimon with Evil Rings and Evil Spirals and he created an artificial Digimon by gathering data of ten different Digimon. However, the Digimon Kaiser is under the impression that everything in the Digital World is a game and doesn't realize the heaviness of his actions until he's defeated. He's The Heavy and, even after his Heel–Face Turn, he's connected to every single antagonist in 02. Additionally, being human already sets him apart from the previous antagonists who were all Digimon.
      • BelialVamdemon is the mastermind behind the events in 02 (well, most of them), who inhabitates the body of a broken man whose childhood dream is to enter the Digital World. After being reborn, BelialVamdemon is shown to be much more brutal than his previous form as Vamdemon, but this time he keeps his intelligence in his new form and he still pursues his original goal of merging both worlds together to rule over them.
    • Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna: Menoa serves as this to Oikawa from Digimon Adventure 02. Both are human antagonists suffering from the grief of losing a loved one and target and kidnap children en masse for their own noble goals, Oikawa to travel into the Digital World, and Menoa to make sure nobody suffers from the same tragedy as she did. However, there are a couple of contrasting points between the two:
    • Menoa is a conventionally attractive young woman whose exterior appearance hides a rather unsettling demeanor. On the other hand, Oikawa is a seemingly Obviously Evil and decrepit man who has a soft side to him (although he didn't look that awful in the past).
    • Their plans revolve around abducting and brainwashing human children through Digital manipulation, Oikawa through the Dark Seeds and Menoa through outright abducting children to Neverland. Oikawa only kidnaps 20 or so children he chose and plants them with Dark Seeds that enhance their academic and physical capabilities, but condition them into viewing others as Pitiful Worms, which he releases and harvests to allow him to open a gate into the Digital World, which he couldn't go to when he was a child. In the other hand, Menoa converts every Chosen Children she could grab her hands on in data and put them into Neverland, where they will be essentially brainwashed into protecting it to preserve their happiness with their Digimon, easily claiming hundreds in the process.
    • While Oikawa is found to be a mere Unwitting Pawn of Vamdemon, Menoa is in full control of Eosmon's actions, at least until she's absorbed by Eosmon in their Fusion Dance where she ends up trapped within her own memories while Eosmon carries out her desires.
    • Despite all the horrific actions he did, Oikawa dies a Heroic Sacrifice to undo all of BelialVamdemon's destruction and is reborn as a force of good overseeing the Digital World. Menoa in the other hand, is arrested and taken to psychological therapy.
    • Digimon Tamers:
      • Zhuqiaomon is a Well-Intentioned Extremist who is racist against humans, but all of his actions are motivated to create a powerful army to fight the true enemy that is threatening the Digital World. He actually succeeds in that regard, and after Qinglongmon reminds him to focus on his original goal, Zhuqiaomon put his plans of invading the real world on-hold and eventually supports the Tamers who also fight the true enemy.
      • The true enemy is D-Reaper, a program with no will (at first) who deletes everything they think has to be deleted... including the real world. It's an Eldritch Abomination and it sends Agents who are actually part of D-Reaper, making the entire army a single entity.
    • Digimon Frontier:
      • Cherubimon is a Fallen Angel corrupted by another fallen angel, Lucemon. He original governed the Digital World along with the two other Great Angels Ophanimon and Seraphimon, but Cherubimon felt that the two were racist against Beast-tribe Digimon and let the darkness consume him. Him gathering DigiCodes from the Digital World is actually part of Lucemon's manipulation, as he needs DigiCodes to revive himself.
      • Lucemon is a fallen angel who once ended the war between the Human-tribe Digimon and the Beast-tribe Digimon, but he had a Messiah complex and became a tyrant who believes that he has to rule over everyone and everything. He does love the Digital World and that's why he wants to destroy it and kill everyone, so he can recreate the world and resurrect everyone and rule over them. After evolving into Lucemon: Falldown Mode, he wants to do the same with the human world. Lucemon thinks it's all about him and that everything belongs to him because he's so great.
    • Digimon Data Squad:
      • Mercurymon (not Mercuremon) bears hatred towards humans for killing hundreds of innocent Digimon, but he still has some respect for the good humans and doesn't blame everything on humanity as a whole. Unlike SaberLeomon, Mercurymon doesn't go so far to send an army to invade the real world. He also acts as a father figure for the human child Ikuto.
      • Kurata is a racist man who hates Digimon because of his cowardice and does everything in his power to kill them (and he's responsible of killing innocent Digimon mentioned above, as well as Mercurymon). He also has a big ego and abuses the power granted from the Japanese goverment to attack both Digimon and humanity by controlling and eventually fusing with Belphemon, a being feared even by other Digimon, to prove his suppossed superiority.
      • Yggdrasil is the god of the Digital World, and wants to destroy humanity because of the actions of Kurata... by also sacrificing the life of Digimon. Its logic is flawed due to malfunctioning.
    • Digimon Fusion:
  • Dragon Ball does this between sagas:
    • Great Demon King Piccolo was the series’ first Big Bad, while being another villain who wanted to rule the world and was backed by mooks, he was far more dangerous than any of the arc villains. He was the first villain with supernatural origins (though they would be softly retconned in Dragon Ball Z to be part of a larger science fantasy backstory), being a manifestation of Kami's evil thoughts that he expelled in order to become Kami, and caused widespread devastation to an extent never before depicted in the manga. Great Demon King Piccolo was also far savvier than previous villains, hunting down martial artists in case one of them could seal him with the Mafuba, and checking Goku's heartbeat after defeating him to ensure that he was dead. He was the first villain whose only did what he did For the Evulz, the first major villain to defeat Goku in battle (as well as the first to come close to killing him), the only one to successfully use the Dragon Balls for his own agenda, and was the only villain in the entire series to outright win.
    • Piccolo the reincarnation a.k.a. Majunior was a bit less extreme than his father. Similarly to the Crane Hermit, he only wanted revenge on Goku for killing his father. However, he was the first villain to serve as a sequel to a previous one, the only villain fought during an official tournament (compared to Cell, whose tournament was more amateur and improvised than the World Tournament), and was one of the only two villains who Goku spared (the second being Vegeta). Carrying on into Z, Piccolo was also the first villain to successfully kill Goku, even if it was only an unintended consequence.
    • Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta were a force from the stars who represented Goku's buried past, contrasting the more grounded enemies, where his powers were an anomaly.
    • Frieza led an entire army of which the Saiyans were only a small part. Frieza himself was a terror of space for decades and exterminated most of the Saiyans.
    • The Androids were a threat so new, the heroes had to wait for them to exist in contrast to Frieza and his long reign. The protagonists had an advantage over the entire planet trade organization, going back to the Saiyans, thanks to their ability to sense Ki; meanwhile, the Androids up to Cell didn't have any Ki to sense, giving the protagonists a taste of how unnerving even weaker enemies can be when they can find you much better than you can find them. Cell himself had to gain his power, whereas Frieza was born with his. Also, whereas Frieza feared the depths of power the Saiyans had, Cell actively sought it out, spending his final confrontation with the protagonists testing their full power.
    • Buu was largely purposeless and did things on a whim, contrasting Frieza and Cell, who had plans and schemes they worked to fulfill. He also broke the trend of Z villains being purely sci-fi in nature by being a demon who was magically created/summoned by Bibidi (though Bibidi himself was an alien), harking back to the origins of the Piccolo dynasty. Whereas Cell was patient enough to stand still for over a week before starting the Cell Games, Buu couldn't wait an hour to face the opponent Goku promised him. And while Frieza and Cell were Faux Affably Evil and Wicked Cultured, Buu was an ill-mannered Psychopathic Manchild.
    • Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! to Beerus of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods were more direct examples. Both movies centered around the protagonists attending a party that was crashed by figures from Vegeta's past who were in search of a specific saiyan. What made the films different was that Abo and Kado were individually as strong as Frieza at a time when nine of the attendees were several times more powerful than that, to the point they played a game to determine just who would have the honor of showing them the door. Beerus, the sequel antagonist, was not only stronger than Frieza but stronger than every antagonist to appear in Dragon Ball up to that point, making efforts to placate him the focus of the plot.
      • Beerus of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods deserves special mention. While most of the previous antagonists were all sadistic monsters who destroyed things on a whim, Beerus is more of an Affably Evil type of guy who destroys planets simply because it's his job (he serves as the counterpart to the Supreme Kais, whose job is to create new worlds). That said, he does have a Hair-Trigger Temper meaning that he can destroy even important planets for petty reasons and is also a Lazy Bum who often naps for ages, often letting Eldritch Abominations like Kid Buu run around causing havoc while napping. And that's not even getting into giving the aforementioned Frieza the go-ahead to destroy the saiyans simply because he didn't like them. He's also the only antagonist to actually defeat Goku in the climax battle with no one suitable to left to fight him once Goku loses, unlike where Gohan beat Cell.
    • Dragon Ball Super gives the franchise Goku Black, who serves as the first antagonist in all of Dragon Ball whose origins are shrouded in complete mystery. He is a mass murderer with Goku's face who suddenly began massacring all life left in Future Trunks's timeline claiming it's for the sake of creating a paradise, and has access to items that are restricted to use by the Supreme Kais. When he shows up, no one around is able to give any sort of exposition about him, not even the gods, and unlike with Cell, the efforts to get information out of him are ineffective. Because of this, a large part of the plot after his introduction is dedicated to trying to figure out who/what he is and where he came from. His motives also make him the first villain in Dragon Ball to be a Knight Templar.
      • His origins as the Fallen Angel Zamasu are likewise new to Dragon Ball, and some fans have pointed out that he wouldn't be out of place as the villain of a JRPG. But perhaps one of the largest differences Goku Black and Zamasu have to past villains is that they technically get exactly what they wanted, and it takes the Top God destroying the entire universe in Future Trunks's timeline to stop him, ending the saga with the biggest case of Pyrrhic Victory in the franchise thus far.
    • The next major saga, Universe Survival, has nearly every character Team Universe 7 goes up against as a Hero Antagonist, since every single member of the tournament is fighting so their entire universe doesn't get erased. In fact, the big threat of the arc and the final opponents in U7's way by its end are the three strongest members of the Pride Troopers, Universe 11's bona-fide Sentai style superhero team.
    • Dragon Ball Super: Broly continues this trend. The Super version of Broly differentiates himself in many ways from the previous movie villain, Frieza up until a point they are pretty much polar opposites.
      • They are both pre-existing characters who became movie villains; however, Frieza is already a canon character while Broly became a Canon Immigrant.
      • Frieza was not taken seriously by Goku and Vegeta, which was the reason why he succeeded in destroying the Earth if it wasn't for Whis turning back time to undo this; while Broly was taken seriously by them, which was the reason why they managed to prevent Broly from destroying the Earth by not taking any chances and deciding to fuse into Gogeta.
      • Frieza is considered pure evil, while Broly is considered to be pure innocence.
      • They are both considered prodigies in fighting, but Frieza had to train to match up to Goku and Vegeta's level, while Broly used his Adaptive Ability. Also, their fights with them went completely different: Frieza got seriously outclassed by Goku and was unable to defeat him because his Golden form's stamina problems caused him to constantly get weaker, and only won with dirty tricks; while Broly started off being weaker than Goku and Vegeta, but through his Adaptive Ability eventually overwhelmed them with his constantly growing power and by awakening his Super Saiyan transformation, and technically won since they both had to run away from the battle and had to fuse together in order to defeat him. On top of that, some sources even state that his stamina appears to be limitless.
      • Frieza had personal reasons for fighting against Goku, while Broly had no personal reasons at all and only fought against him and his allies because of his father's wishes.
      • Their relationship with their fathers are also different. Frieza doesn't care about his dad, King Cold, as shown when Frieza paid no mind that Cold wasn't resurrected with the Dragon Balls like him, despite the fact he saved his life after Frieza's battle on Namek; while Broly cares about his father, Paragus, as shown when Broly transforms into a Super Saiyan because of his death, despite the fact their relationship is pretty much abusive since he put a Shock Collar on him which hurt him a lot.
      • Finally, Frieza was killed at the end of his movie, while Broly managed to survive throughout his movie albeit with help.
    • Super would later introduce Moro, the Evil Sorcerer that fought against the Lord of Lords millions of years ago.
      • He is one to Frieza. Both characters are immensely powerful beings who are feared throughout Universe 7 and both characters sought to use the Namekian Dragon Balls for their sinister purposes. But while Frieza relied on his army to do most of the leg work, Moro was efficient enough to search for the Dragon Balls by himself. Also, while Frieza ultimately failed to obtain a wish on the Dragon Balls, Moro managed to wish for the restoration of his full magic power as well as wishing to free all prisoners of the Galactic Patrol, earning genuine loyalty as opposed to Frieza, who gains minions by subjugation and ruling by fear.
      • Also to Babidi. Both characters are powerful wizards with a personal grudge against the Kais, but that's where the similarities end. Moro is an imposing humanoid goat while Babidi is a diminutive insectoid figure. Babidi relied entirely on his magic to be an actual threat, while Moro is a skilled fighter even without his magic. Babidi also relied on more powerful beings to aid him, while Moro is an effective threat on his own.
    • The Heeter Elec, compared to the previous Dragon Ball villains who are all fighters and warriors who want to become stronger to rule the universe, as well as some of them leading their own armies. Elec is not much of a fighter and relies on intelligence and knowledge to gain power. While some past main villains have armies or groups who are just allies or pawns to them, Elec's group, The Heeters, are a family of criminals who are named after fuel sources.
  • Fist of the North Star:
    • Raoh was arguably both the Big Bad and Greater-Scope Villain of the series, both directly influencing the actions of numerous villains and providing the framing advice for the Shura arc. He also had the deepest personal connection to Kenshiro than any arc villain’s, and was the only one who wasn't defeated in the same arc where he was introduced. Because of how long he lasted in the series, he also took his plans to a greater extent than any other villain, and is the only one to have come close to winning.
    • Kaioh is far less realistic than Raoh, relying on Ki Manipulation and his demonic aura than traditional punching and kicking. He and Hyo also serve as a connection to Kenshiro and Raoh's buried pasts, as well as that of Hokuto Shinken itself.
  • The three villain pairs of Future Card Buddyfight all have differing dynamics:
    • Kyoya Gaen and Azi Dahaka are a Big Bad Duumvirate. Both have individual but aligned goals, and they treat each other as friendly equals.
    • Yamigedo is a God of Evil with Ikazuchi as his priest. Ikazuchi has no goals of his own, and only lives to serve Yamigedo.
    • Wisdom is a Visionary Villain who believes that monsters should obey humans without question. Geargod doesn't seem to have a personality of its own, and Wisdom treats it more as a weapon than a living being.
  • Berg-Katz, the main villain of Gatchaman Crowds, sees the worst in humanity, and wants to cause never-ending violence and chaos. Gelsadra and the Kuu-sama, main villains of Gatchaman Crowds Insight, see the best in humanity, and want to cause world peace and harmony... whether you want them to or not.
  • High School Fleet:
    • The 2015 manga and the 2016 anime has the RAtT Virus/Totalitarian Disease who serves as a Hate Plague superorganism, created from a group of rogue scientists in Nishinoshima New Islands, who would become the biggest threat across the Pacific Ocean for the Harekaze/Yokosuka 467 crew, as soon as it starts controlling all of the ship crew under its whim.
    • The 2020 movie sets up the Pirate Leader as the primary contrast to its Predecessor Villain, as he is a human. He is a Ruthless Modern Pirate and the leader of his own pirate crew in the Pacific. His goal also sets apart from the previous villain's own goal, as he has a vicious goal of wreaking havoc across the entire Pacific Ocean and the cities of maritime Japan with a decommissioned seafort. And unlike the Virus, who goes into his mass-brainwashing plot, the Pirate only cares for chaos and destruction.
  • Higurashi: When They Cry: Gou sets Satoko as the second looper, and her motivations and goals contrast heavily to two antagonists from the original series:
    • To Miyo Takano; most of what Takano was able to accomplish was largely due in part to the backing she received from Nomura and the Tokyo organization. At the end of the day, she was a mere human who aspired for godhood to make her grandfather's work recognized. With Satoko, however, what sets her apart from her predecessor is the fact that she literally has the power to rewind time with her own death powers due to a godlike being taking an interest in her, as if Rika already didn't have any less of a chance of escaping this loop. Also, Takano's goal by murdering Rika had zero personal connection to her relation with Rika and she didn't even know that Rika's soul would go to a new fragment after that. On the other hand, Satoko is putting Rika through all the torture and death because of her obsession with having her best friend all to herself forever and only gains the will of murdering Rika when she knows for sure that time will restart anyway.
    • Also Shion Sonozaki. While getting revenge for Satoshi's disappearance was part of her motivation, Shion was ultimately aiming to kill the Three Families out of paranoia that they would kill her as well as lashing out at the ghastly abuse she faced from her own family. She also mainly committed the murders because of her reaching L5 of the Hinamizawa Syndrome at the time. But ultimately, Shion realizes that all her victims were innocent and expresses a hint of remorse before her death.
  • Not only are the heroes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure contrasting with each other, but the villains do so as well.
    • Dio Brando is a Narcissist megalomaniac casanova with various Kick the Dog moments, notably literally kicking a dog as his Establishing Character Moment and later incinerating it alive, and is never seen without a smirk. He is also favorable to humans that are nice to him, though he will callously dispose of them once they serve no use.
    • Kars is a stoic super vampire with a single-minded goal of achieving perfection as the Ultimate Life Form, but notably cares more about wildlife than humans, and has no need for sex. He also cared more about his colleagues than Dio did. Also, while Dio often sought to bring misery to other people, particularly Jonathan, the Pillar Men see humans as so unimportant to them, they usually only hurt humans when they needed to feed or by accident (aside from the main characters who legitimately threatened them).
    • DIO contrasts with both Kars and his younger self. While Kars pursued his goal at all costs and Dio, in his youth, recklessly pursued his obsession with Jonathan, DIO learned from his mistakes and decided to bide his time. His goal is mainly to kill anyone who might try to stop him in the future, and uses assassins instead of jumping right into the fight himself. Even when the heroes finally do reach him, and even with his extremely useful new power, he keeps his anger in check and refuses to drop his guard until he is absolutely sure that his enemies are dead.
    • Kira, on the other hand, has significantly humbler ambitions than his predecessors, preferring to live a life without distractions and fixing his socks, and he's just a human serial killer, rather than a supernatural creature (even if his Stand helps to make up for that). He also has a hand fetish.
    • Diavolo is an apathetic man with no love for anyone but himself, and not even his own split personality's death brings any emotional response. He is obsessed with killing his own daughter, and has an even more extreme paranoia of being discovered by others than Kira.
    • Enrico Pucci was DIO's closest friend, with a degree of loyalty that carries some questionable undertones for a priest, in addition to having a manipulative streak. What sets him apart is that he's an affable, well-intentioned Knight Templar who is oblivious to his own villainy.
    • Funny Valentine is quite similar to Pucci, being well-intentioned (at least on the surface) and quite self-righteous. However, whereas Pucci pursued his goals thanks to his Cynicism Catalyst pushing him over the edge, Valentine pursues his out of an optimistic love for his country and the desire to honor the memory of his father, going so far as to commit morally-wrong acts to attain eternal happiness and prosperity for his country.
    • Tooru has to put on an elaborate facade in the form of his Stand acting as the head doctor of a hospital while he works as a minor employee in order to reach his objective. His Stand, Wonder of U, causes anyone attempting to pursue him to be struck with negative karma in the form of dangerously bad luck. Wonder of U is also the only Stand of a Big Bad without any direct means of attack outside of its ability, and, technically speaking, Tooru is the only main villain in the series to never be directly fought. Also, while Funny Valentine's stand evolution "D4C: Love Train" makes it so only good things happen to its user, Tooru's stand makes bad things happen to his enemies.
  • Little Witch Academia (2017) has Diana Cavendish and Croix Meridies. Diana is a cold student who prefers to abide by tradition as much as possible and is more a Jerkass than a downright villain, while Croix is an affable teacher who forgoes tradition in favor of Magitek and is the Big Bad of the TV series. Furthermore, while Diana is shown to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who is selfless and caring deep down, Croix is a selfish Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who manipulates others for her own ends with almost no regard for others. There is also a contrast between Diana's relationship with Akko and Croix's relationship with Chariot. Diana starts as an antagonistic "rival" to Akko who is initially envious towards Akko for being chosen as the Shiny Rod's holder. However, she was able to get over her envy and come to respect and befriend Akko by the end, eventually going on to save the world with her. By contrast, Croix was originally best friends with Chariot when they were classmates, but Croix was unable to get over her envy towards Chariot's role as the Shiny Rod's wielder, leading her to manipulate her and to break off their friendship, causing the two to turn into enemies (though they do become friends again by the end after Croix realizes the error of her ways) and for Croix to nearly destroy the world with her Noir Rod.
  • Lyrical Nanoha:
    • Precia Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Hayate Yagami from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's have similar backstories (loss of loved ones and terminal illness) but they went the complete opposite directions to deal with their pain. Precia cursed the entire world for taking her daughter away from her, spent twenty years trying to bring her back to life via cloning, and used the clone as nothing more than a tool because she wasn't a perfect copy. Hayate, on the other hand, never complained about the hand she'd been dealt and her reaction to gaining four loyal servants was to treat them as her family. Precia ordered Fate to collect the Jewel Seeds regardless of who was hurt while Hayate told the Wolkenritter not to collect Linker Cores specifically because people would get hurt (in fact, she was entirely unaware of what was going on until episode 9). Finally, Precia was the Big Bad while Hayate only qualifies as an antagonist in the loosest sense due to her family's actions and would later go on to be the Big Good.
    • And then there's Jail Scaglietti from StrikerS, who is both similar to and the opposite of both of them. Like Precia (revealed to be his old accomplice), he is a Mad Scientist with expertise in human cloning, and like Hayate, he treats his female minions with familial affection. However, unlike both of them, who were both terminally ill female Persons of Mass Destruction and either in their mid-fifties or under ten, he's a healthy adult male Non-Action Big Bad, and lacks a sympathetic motive. Finally, he usually wears a white lab coat while the other two were associated with dark colors.
  • Lady Debonair, the villainess of the second season of the anime version of Magic Knight Rayearth, contrasts with the first season's villain Zagato. Where Zagato was a sympathetic Anti-Villain who just wanted Princess Emeraude to no longer be burdened by the Pillar System, even if it meant destroying Cephiro in the process, Debonair was just pure evil who had the destruction of Cephiro as her ultimate goal.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam, The Federation was at war with the fascist rebels of the Principality of Zeon. In Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, the Federation has become just as brutal as the people they were fighting, anti-Federation rebels are the heroes, and the remnants of Zeon are courted by both sides as potential allies.
  • Psycho-Pass has both Shogo Makishima and Kirito Kamui. Both Makishima and Kamui are against the Sybil System, but their ways and the problems they pose for the system are quite different. Where Makishima and his methods was centered around a theme of individualistic anarchy, Kamui's running theme was the idea of collectivized crime. This is also neatly reflected in their character designs; where Makishima has highly distinctive looks, Kamui is a very generic looking person, even with his scars and Mismatched Eyes. Finally, unlike Makishima, who employs people so long as they keep on entertaining him, Kamui appears to be genuinely concerned for their well-being.
  • Rurouni Kenshin. Nobuhiro Watsuki has stated that whereas Shishio Makoto embodied aspects that he felt were positive in a way, Yukishiro Enishi in contrast was created to reflect aspects that he felt were destructive.
  • In Sailor Moon, the Dark Kingdom arc has Jadeite and Nephrite. Jadeite's method of gathering human energy is via effectively running mass scams on the populace usually with selling cursed items. As the former's successor, Nephrite explicitly points Jadeite's method out, stating that his own MO is to just target a single human with high energy ratings and manipulate them until they reach their peak.
  • Sword Art Online:
    • Aside from being a GMPC, Sugou Nobuyuki and Akihiko Kayaba are as different as night and day. While Kayaba was simply deluded, Sugou is unambiguously, unconditionally evil and revels in his villainy. While Kayaba actively participated in the game under the guise of Heathcliff, Sugou was an Orcus on His Throne who didn't take action until Kirito was literally at his door. Kayaba posed as a humble player and a noble commander to his guild, while Sugou declared himself to be God and treated everyone else like dirt while believing he was entitled to have Asuna. Kayaba was Strong and Skilled, and still a match for Kirito even after forfeiting his admin privileges, while Sugou is Unskilled, but Strong, has nothing going for him aside from his Game Master powers, and is curb-stomped by Kirito when he loses them. While Kayaba was a Graceful Loser who decided to Face Death with Dignity, Sugou is a Dirty Coward who goes out whining, cursing, and crying both times Kirito beats him, first in game and then in real life.
    • In contrast with the previous two, Death Gun is not a GMPC and used a code name different to his character name. His goals are also very different, whereas Kayaba was a Visionary Villain who wanted to make a Virtual World real, and Sugou wanted to rule a Virtual World as its God and have Asuna for himself, Death Gun's goal is merely to kill in cold blood. Thematically he averts the Light Is Not Good motif seen with Heathcliff and Oberon, instead embodying Dark Is Evil to contrast Kirito's Dark Is Not Evil. Finally, Death Gun is the first Big Bad who is roughly on even ground with Kirito in fighting ability, by virtue that he's not a Game Master with broken admin privileges, as his power comes from skill with a sword.
    • Quinella in contrast to the previous ones, is the first female Big Bad and isn't a human from the real world, a sharp contrast with her predecessors. She's also the first villain who isn't an obvious Evil Counterpart to Kirito, instead paralleling Alice. She's also the first who had her fall to villainy and ascension to power told in great detail, rather than being presented as just another bad guy straight from the get-go.
    • Gabriel Miller contrasts to Quinella. Both are the main villains of the Alicization arc and both are physical gods. But while Quinella was a tyrannical ruler of Underworld, Gabriel seeks to invade Underworld and become it’s new ruler. And while Quinella is one of Kirito’s archenemies and isn’t an obvious Evil Counterpart, Gabriel is Just another Evil Counterpart to Kirito and isn’t one of Kirito’s most personal foes.
  • From Texhnolyze, Yoshii and Kano can be interpreted as one to the other. Both are fairly monstrous people with ideals separate from, and incomprehensible to the people of Lux, and both bring the people of Lux to their breaking point during their respective arcs. But where Yoshii causes chaos to bring out the passions and the wills of the people of Lux, or so he claims, Kano uses the chaos to wipe out the remnants of Lux and replace them with his "perfect" Shapes, essentially bringing about a World of Silence.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! GX:
    • Kagemaru, the main villain of Season 1, wants to achieve godhood by obtaining the Sacred Beasts to restore his health and youth.
    • Satorius, the Big Bad of Season 2, is the leader of a cult that worships the Light of Ruin as a deity, has the power to see into the future and is an Omnicidal Maniac planning to remake the world in his own image.
    • Yubel, from Season 3, is a Duel Monster spirit who was once human and in love with Jaden's preincarnation, and was transformed into a Duel Monster whose card was given to Jaden as a kid. They were corrupted by the Light of Ruin and plan to turn him into the Supreme King out of a twisted view of love.
    • Darkness, the Final Boss of GX, is a being born from the idea that Dark Is Evil, rather than Light Is Not Good as presented by the Light of Ruin. In contrast to Yubel and all other duel spirits appearing throughout the show, who are the incarnations of monster cards, Darkness is a field spell, reflecting his role as a Sentient Cosmic Force acting as a force of nature.

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