Sandbox / Magnificent Bastard Anime And Manga H To N

All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

H - J

• Happy Sugar Life: Satou Matsuzaka is a high schooler who—after becoming enamored with the young Shio Kobe—will go to any length to protect her "happy sugar life" with her. While presenting herself as friendly in public, Satou is in truth a skilled manipulator who blackmails others into doing her dirty work under the threat of ruining their livelihoods. When Shio's brother Asahi comes into the equation, Satou ropes a despondent Taiyo Mitsuboshi into her scheme to lure Asahi into another district by exploiting his psychological trauma. After reluctantly killing her best friend Shouko Hida, Satou adjusts her scheme yet again by deciding to pass off Shouko's corpse as her own and tasks her aunt with burning the upper level of the apartment to cover her tracks. Satou realizes the real meaning of love as she falls to her death and selflessly shields Shio with her body, dying in her place. Despite her extreme methods, Satou is the person who ultimately ensures Shio's well-being in the future.
• Hell Girl: Ai Emma is Hell Girl, the enigmatic girl behind Hell Correspondence. Formerly a village girl, when she and her family were sacrificed, Ai unleashed a curse which caught the attention of the Lord of Hell who took her parents' souls and threatened to keep them in Hell unless she serves him. Accepting the offer, Ai spends centuries granting people's vengeance to banish others to Hell in exchange for their own souls, until meeting Takuma who suffered a fate like hers. Not wanting to damn him, Ai pulled a gamble, resurrecting him and herself before having the mob after him kill her, knowing this would void her curse that gave the Lord control over her defying him. Saving her parents, Ai returns to execute one last plan: to save Yuzuki from taking her place, she makes a pact with the Lord to become Hell Girl for all of eternity so nobody else would, shouldering the burden of the damned all on her own forever.
• Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku: In the dark quest for the Elixir of Life on the mysterious island of Kotaku, some turn the brutal world into a board for truly ambitious schemes.
  • The 58th Gabimaru, the "Hollow", born Tsuki, is the best assassin ever produced by Iwagakure village. A genius killer since childhood, Gabimaru fell in love with his wife Yui and decided to stop killing to live quietly with her. Betrayed by his village chief for his defiance, captured and delivered to the shogunate for execution, Gabimaru was instead recruited to seek the coveted elixir on Kotaku by the Yamada Asaemon Sagiri. Alongside his comrades, Gabimaru uses his predictive abilities and tactical acumen to kill both the villainous Tensen deities of the island and belligerent criminals who joined the voyage, at one point tricking a giant enemy into lowering his head for a decapitation strike. Injecting himself with a Tensen flower and risking his humanity, Gabimaru comes up with a strategy to distract and kill the Tensen leader Rien alongside Sagiri, escaping Kotaku and Iwagakure to live happily with Yui.
  • Jikka, the laidback third rank of the Yamada Asaemon samurai, is potentially the most dangerous of them all. Jikka arrives on Kotaku and immediately plays the convicts against his fellow Yamada. Manipulating his clansman Shugen to confront the Aza bandit brothers, Jikka makes sure to leave everything to his advantage where he benefits no matter who dies just so he can become the Yamada clan head and take a life of luxury. Returning after Rien's defeat, Jikka cheerfully arranges happy endings for all surviving Yamada and convicts, while tricking the monstrous Shogun Tokugawa Nariyoshi to his end in a way that will not reflect poorly on Jikka himself and his complete triumph.
  • Rien, the "Shangdi Samantabhadra", is the cold master of the Tensen and ruler of the ancient civilization on Kotaku. Once the wife of the alchemist Xu Fu, Rien and her husband were assigned to discover the secrets of immortality on behalf of their Emperor Qin Shi Huang on Kotaku, carrying on even after the Emperor's death. Heartbroken when Xu Fu's body is arborified from his experiments, Rien creates the Tensen and convinces them to aid her in reviving her husband and tricks the villagers to believe she and the Tensen are Kotaku's deities. Using the villagers' Tan to expand hers and the Tensen's, Rien makes the Banko flower and spends a millennia adjusting her research to bloom it and use its Tan to revive Xu Fu, undeterred even by each failure. In the present, when her initial plot to use the heroes' Tao fails and the Tensen are defeated, Rien quickly adapts and prepares to bring Xu Fu's preserved corpse to Japan and revive him using the Tan of all living beings in the mainland. Confronted by the heroes, Rien manages to fatally wound Gabimaru and Sagiri before being distracted and mortally injured herself. Gracefully healing her opponents out of respect for Gabimaru's love for his own wife, Rien passes on to reunite with Xu Fu in the afterlife.
• Hoshin Engi:
  • Though spending much of his time observing the major events, Shinkohyo proves himself to be one of the strongest and most compelling rivals of Taikobo. Defeating Taikobo for mocking his fashion sense, Shinkohyo leaves his Worthy Opponent ecstatic at facing challenging combat. Trying to stop the crown prince of the Yin Empire from fleeing, Shinkohyo gives him and his brother a Motive Rant so enlightening that they betray Taikobo. Though seemingly villainous for much of the story, Shinkohyo is truthfully a neutral Trickster who switches sides based on which he finds more entertaining.
  • Chokomei is one of the strongest Kingo Island Sennin under Youkai Tsuten Kyoshu and the instigator behind a battle between the aforementioned and Kongrong Mountain to test his super paope, destroying the relationship between the two groups. Teaming up with Dakki, Chokomei puts a series of maneuvers in play to stop the Zhou Empire from revolting against Choka. Kidnapping Taikobo's companions to get him to fight, Chokomei takes advantage of the former fleeing from combat to turn his spirit beast into stone, forcing him to confront him. After seemingly defeating Taikobo, Chokomei attempts to change the story by making another manga to replace it and when Taikobo is resurrected, Chokomei turns himself into a plant and tries to drain the Earth of its nutrients. Even when finally defeated, Chokomei remains cordial, proving himself to be one of the most respectful and interesting opponents of the series.
• The Hunters Guild: Red Hood: Ludwig Geppetto, also known as Heck Horlock, was once a respected member of the Hunters Guild and the second Red Hood. Growing disillusioned with the Guild’s use of the True Book to manipulate the world and entertain the eldritch beings who created it, he swore to destroy the book and Mercy Kill the whole world. He tore two pages from the book and erased all records of his existence, before taking a new identity and joining the Red List. Ludwig combines his magic with the magic of the stolen pages to create the power to negate the book's effect, before working with Cinderella to create Velou as a vessel for that power. He becomes the mayor of Kasoka Village, raising and secretly training Velou to be ready and determined to become the hunter. Ludwig lures the hunter Grimm to the village with werewolf attacks, before faking his death and orchestrating village's destruction. Keeping the eye on Velou until he comes to Guild's headquarters, Ludwig reveals himself and takes the boy to the book’s room so his mere presence will unravel its influence. As the world is being erased, he keeps Velou's allies at bay before comforting Velou and being convinced to let the boy kill him so the world will continue to exist free from the book’s influence.
• Hyper Police's "Say Goodbye to a Cold Jail Cell": Chameleons A and B are a pair of escape artists who make a living busting criminals out of jail, boasting a 100% success rate. The two pose as framed fugitives to trick Natsuki into helping them get into a prison's inner power plant. In truth hoping to use Natsuki's anger-based powers to destroy the plant and release every prisoner from their cells, the Chameleons' plan almost succeeds until the arrival of Tomy and Batanen, with A even admitting their defeat gracefully.
• ID: Invaded: Tamotsu Fukuda, after surviving a drill into his head and inadvertently curing his own arithmomania, becomes "The Perforator" and drills holes into people's head in hope of curing them of similar conditions. When the police led by Koharu Hondomachi tracks down Fukuda, he pretends to be one of The Perforator's victims before killing the doctors transporting him and kidnapping Koharu. After being convinced by Koharu that his actions are doing more harm than good to his victims, Fukuda willingly surrenders himself to the police and helps them bring other serial killers to justice. Tricking Akihito Narihisago into entering his own ID Well on John Walker's behalf in hopes of killing Akihito and himself, Fukuda is convinced by Koharu to turn against John Walker, helping her and Akihito uncover Walker's true identity set up a trap for him before Fukuda sacrifices his life to save Koharu.
• Ingress: Christopher Brandt, an altruistic scientist who wants to use the MX for the benefit of humanity is the creator of the augmented reality glasses used by the Collaborators. Brandt uses the Dark MX in himself and to revive his bodyguard Jack. Searching for Sarah, a woman with notorious potential to control MX, Brandt blows himself up in front of her to activate her potential. Encouraging Sarah from the afterlife, Brandt ultimately reveals himself as the real mastermind of the story, taking control over the augmented reality glasses from the Collaborators and killing their leadership by using their own bodyguards. Intending to save humanity by fusing all their souls into a single one, Brandt revives himself using the same method that saved Jack. Almost convincing the protagonists, Brandt forces Sarah to sacrifice herself before trying to force her to participate in his plan in the afterlife. Trying to devour Sarah in a last attempt to fulfill his goal, Brandt is defeated only due to Makoto's, the Ingress users' and Jack's sacrifice. Realizing that his best friend has chosen his own path, Brandt calmly accepts his defeat before vanishing.
• In/Spectre: The protagonist Kotoko Iwanaga is revered as a Goddess of Wisdom by the youkai and keeper of order. Taking drastic measures to maintain order Kotoko uses her intelligence and people reading skills to weave lies to satisfy her clients' wishes, using force and even framing a dead woman to stop a rampaging phantom. She also shows no mercy to those who try to interfere with order, punishing those who tamper with it through her truths and lies, unconcerned of the consequences for those around. Intelligent and ruthless, Kotoko's sharp wit and charisma shows why many worship her as a deity of knowledge.
• Jackals: Lee Meilang, the head of Tennouren, is the most intelligent and devious gangster in all of Cicero City who takes over Tennouren solely to destroy the gangs in the city and come out ahead. Meilang manipulates their rival mob Gabriella into a war where she proceeds to play the hero Nichol Heyward and his allies into doing everything she wants. When Don Salieri is overthrown by his depraved underling Vampire Franco, Meilang simply works it into her plans and comes out ahead, selling out the other gangs and establishing a legitimate organization with the government after their defeat, completely untouchable to the end.
• Jormungand:
  • Koko Hekmatyar is a brilliant young Arms Dealer who runs her organization with ruthless efficiency. Constantly making advantageous illegal deals and dictating the course of conflicts, Koko adopts the young former child soldier Jonah as a way to keep herself shackled to her humanity, frequently taking on those who attempt to undermine or kill her while leading them to their own demises in breathtakingly impressive fashion. Koko is revealed to despise the arms trade despite her skill with it, and puts Operation Undershaft into play: a plan to use a satellite system to seal the skies from humanity, destroying all aircrafts in the sky at once to force world peace, believing herself to be the one to create a true peace for the world, even successfully pushing Jonah into agreeing with the plan at the end, declaring her personal soldiers will be the final soldiers left.
  • Lehm Brick, leader of Koko's defense detail, is an Old Soldier whose years of experience and command turned Koko's Squad into becoming one of the world's most elite militia in the world. A former US Major, Lehm joined Koko after growing desensitized toward both war and his nation's ideals, deciding to believe in Koko's plans. Cold and tactical, Lehm used his experience to turn his squad into an elite group maintaining a standard of a professional unit, leading charges and adapting his strategy on the fly whether through command or his own hands. Believing in Koko's plan for world peace, Lehm ultimately leads the group in accomplishing it, perfectly executions the military operations against their many foes against them while making sure they don't lose themselves in the bloodshed, even saving Jonah's from his child soldier mentality to give them a better life.
  • William "Wiley" Nelson is the group's demolition expert whose skills with explosives have made him one of the group's deadliest member. An engineering school graduate, Wiley sought a different path from his family and joined the US Army, learning quickly his gift in demolition, earning him a role in the military's sabotage operation, capable of salvaging the situation with even minimum explosives. Joining Lehm in Koko's squad, Wiley's demolition skill saved the group numerous times, quickly using his explosives to turn the table against, anyone foiling numerous attacks in creative ways. When fighting the rogue MI6 group Excalibur, Wiley was able to turn the situation around despite being outgun and outnumbered, with clever uses of his few bombs, using their limited range and field tactics to decimate them flawlessly. While seemingly quiet and unassuming, Wiley is seen as the most dangerous member of the group with his demolition expertise, on par with only Koko herself.
  • Dr. Minami "Miami" Amada is the best friend of Koko and her right-hand woman in Operation Undershaft. A genius in robotics, Miami was recruited by the military to create the most sophisticated systems to develop their weaponry, revolutionizing the industry. Hating what her creations were used for, Miami decided to join with Koko in her plan for world peace by masterminding Undershaft, a plan to single-handily destroy the air space and cripple the whole world's weapon capabilities. Coming up with the theory, Miami has Koko get what she needs, including robbing government bodies and kidnapping specific personal of her choosing, all the while using her genius to disable their opponents, including overwriting the US's top system. Winning over her hostage with her charm, she's able to complete Undershaft, and launch it to end war around the world, satisfied despite the sacrifices she made.
  • "Dance with Undershaft" arc: Hex is a radical CIA agent and one of Koko's fiercest and long-running enemies. Having a deep-rooted hatred for terrorism, Hex ruthlessly uses any means necessary to eradicate them, setting her sights on Koko, believing her a threat. Arranging an army to have her killed, Hex claimed the life of Echo but ended up traumatized by her casualties. Vowing revenge, Hex joined Bookman to watch Koko, all the while using her connections to hire assassins against her to gather data. With the data gathering complete, Hex decided to go behind her superior's back to launch her attack, winning over a squad of elite soldiers to her cause before ambushing her at the Czech Republic, fatally injuring Jonah, and nearly killing Koko herself, only stopped the betrayal of her own comrades. When Koko launches a bomb raid for revenge, Hex faces it with no regret, vowing to battle Koko again Hell before shooting herself to not give Koko the satisfaction of killing her.
• Jujutsu Kaisen: Toji Fushiguro, the "Sorcerer Killer," is a master assassin who will kill anyone for the right price. The only human being with no Cursed Energy, Toji compensates with raw physical prowess and cold tactical skill. After years of killing powerful Sorcerers, Toji takes a job to kill the young Riko Amanai. First tiring out her guards by putting up a bounty weeks in advance, Toji attacks when they seem at their weakest. After personally taking out her guards, including two of the most prodigal Sorcerers in Japan, Toji manages to kill Riko. When cornered by Satoru Gojo, Toji is undone by his newfound power, using his last words to tell Gojo of the son he abandoned. Revived in Shibuya, Toji is cursed to find and kill the strongest fighters he can. While doing this, Toji tracks down the Disaster Curse Dagon and viciously exorces it before then turning his attention to his own son Megumi. Upon realizing Megumi's identity, Toji musters the willpower to end his own life, telling his son how happy he is that he didn't end up in the clutches of the cruel Zen'in Clan.

K - N

• K: In Return of Kings the joint leaders of JUNGLE operate meticulously to create what they believe will be a better world for everyone:
  • Nagare Hisui, the Green King, believes the power of the Dresden Slate should be shared amongst all of mankind and challenged the powerful Gold King for control of it, coming to near victory until he was forced to retreat as his own power ran out. Plotting for the next 14 years with his mentor and adoptive father the Grey King, Nagare creates JUNGLE and manipulates the monstrous Colorless King to work as a distraction for their plans while waiting for the Gold King to die before moving into action directly. Through an online site, Nagare causes chaos as he empowers civilians, bringing JUNGLE to the public and eventually forcing the Silver King, Adolf K. Weismann/Yashiro Isana, to confront him. Stealing the Dresden Slate with a daring scheme, Nagare activates its power and begins strengthening all of humanity, only stopped when Yashiro destroys his own Sword of Damocles to neutralize the Slate. As he passes, Nagare fondly remembers his time with the core members of JUNGLE, before remarking he is "satisfied" with the outcome despite his loss, cementing himself as one of Yashiro's most noble and gracious adversaries.
  • Tenkei Iwafune is an easy-going, playful Team Dad to JUNGLE, serving as the surrogate father to Nagare Hisui while masking his true identity of the Grey King. Originally the beloved King Seitō Ōtori, his entire clan was lost in a Damocles Down, but he managed to find and successfully go into hiding with Nagare for 14 years while they developed JUNGLE together. In between scheming the theft of the Dresden Slate with Nagare and defeating the Blue King in single combat, Iwafune keeps JUNGLE's base tidy, throws dinner parties for his partners, and comes to care for all of JUNGLE as a surrogate family. Though defined by cynicism, Iwafune hopes to use the Dresden Slate to endow all of humanity with great power so people can better protect themselves, and has absolute loyalty to assisting Nagare in accomplishing this goal. Even when finally overwhelmed only through all of SCEPTER 4, Iwafune sets JUNGLE's base to self-destruct, orders friend and foe alike to evacuate, and finds Nagare's fallen body after his defeat at the hands of Adolf K. Weismann, cradling his adopted son in his arms as their base collapses around them and happily remarking that the time they had together was fun.
• Kaiketsu Zorro: Commander Raymond is a suave, fast-thinking villain who constantly comes up with schemes to undermine Don Diego de la Vega aka Zorro, even resorting to framing the latter's father to gain an advantage. In "The Peoples' Enemy" Raymond exemplifies his quick-thinking and smooth tongue when Zorro and his allies bust into a public assembly before Raymond with evidence of his dirty dealings with a crooked merchant named Diaz. However, rather than get publicly exposed, Raymond completely turns the situation around in his favor by ordering Diaz to be arrested, shooting Diaz when he resists, agreeing to hand the grain back to the people, and then thanking Zorro in public for helping the army take down Diaz, allowing him to ride away in the process and avoiding a potential riot as a result. Even at the end, when he is exposed, Raymond opts to face Zorro one final time in a Duel to the Death.
• Kakegurui: (2017 anime):
  • Yumeko Jabami, the compulsive, gambling-addicted lead of the series arrives at Hyakkakou Academy at the series' start, befriending the hapless Ryota Suzui after her first brilliant gambit defeats skilled gambler Mary Saotome. Allowing herself to be placed upon the lowest rung of the academy's hierarchy, Yumeko is gleeful to challenge whomever she wishes with a constant bevvy of luck and skill in her games. Yumeko has no compunction with resorting to blackmail, either, having secretly recorded idol singer Yumemi Yumemite saying how much she hates her fanclub to force her into another match, while simply relying on her instincts, friends and luck at other times to make sure she can take a match with the Student Council President herself. Yumeko simply revels in the chaos her gambling creates as it gives her the chance to rise to greater heights and thrills even as she takes the time to look out for her close friends.
  • Mary Saotome was an untouchable gambler at Hyakkakou Academy until a series of losses forced her to confront the possibility of having her whole life mapped out for her. Allying with former rival Yumeko, she and Mary concoct a scheme during a debt swap game to lure their smug opponent into betting all his chips and destroying him financially while erasing Mary's debt. Content sitting on the sidelines for sometime afterwards, Mary steps back into the game when the Student Council President offers up her seat to whomever wins her gambling tournament. Mary shows her skills yet again, winning a match by analyzing the shuffling pattern of the deck, defeating the Vice President of the academy and even saving Yumeko from being poisoned. During the final game of the series, Mary comes up with a strategy to intimidate her opponents from betting against and even uncovers the secret mastermind.
  • Kirari Momobami is the Student Council President of Hyakkakou Academy and the ruthless founder of its oppressive housepet system, designed so she can always be in control while giving her a chance to dictate the lives of graduates. In Kirari's quest for power, she outplayed and defeated the previous President to take control, while deciding Yumeko is too intriguing to expel. Kirari makes sure to use her subordinates to challenge Yumeko so she might see her worth, eventually opting to play Yumeko herself in a game of chance. Never cheating to give herself an advantage, Kirari even handles rebellions with a trademark flair, undermining them by using her "shadow" and twin sister Ririka as a decoy, even testing the loyalty of her beloved secretary Sayaka Igarashi in a game against Yumeko which ends in Sayaka's loss and attempted suicide, only for Kirari to leap out the tower after her and reveal she had placed a mattress below them all for the thrill of being able to leap such a height together.
• KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World: Loki, the main antagonist of the series, desires to rule the world as its top god. An Archon who was a former human experimented on by the government, she served the Assembly, an artificial intelligence, for thousands of years. After ensuring that the Imperial City's population was regulated by enforcing the end-of-life system among other decrees, Loki tired of her servitude when she learned that humans once possessed free will. Upon learning of Yukito Urabe's intent to build a cult centered around the goddess Mitama, Loki disguises herself as a human male named Clem, infiltrating the cult, whilst simultaneously keeping her fellow Archon Atar preoccupied with slaying strange beasts when she was ordered to destroy the isolationist camp. Loki manipulates Yukito and Mitama into helping her destroy the Assembly and takes advantage of the city's decrepit state by implementing herself as its ruler. When the Archon Gaia threatens to flatten the Imperial City with Typhon, Loki secretly assists Mitama by giving her some of her followers as a means of narrowing the competition.
• Keyman: The Hand of Judgement:
  • Devonea Violet, more commonly known as "Dr. Necro," is an ancient witch currently seeking to right the wrongs of her past. Ages ago tampering with the black arts and making a pact with Butler that resulted in the changing of the natural order in the world, Necro fled from Butler's sight and began scheming to take down her former partner. Arriving in Lockville and immediately gaining allies on the police force with her helpful advice and charming attitude, Necro uses Inspector Alex Rex to carry out her plans against Butler, putting the entire police force in harm's way while noting that though it's not ideal, she'd sacrifice them all if necessary. Necro takes down a Beastmen trafficking ring, reunites with and redeems her son Franck by assisting him in reviving his lost daughter, and ultimately works with Franck to outplay Butler before sacrificing herself to ensure his schemes never threaten the world again.
  • Franck Violet is the son of Devonea, aka Dr. Necro, raised by his mother under brutal conditions to make him a better sorcerer, and serves as the first Arc Villain of the story, Desperate to retrieve his daughter Misery when Necro bodyjacks the girl's soulless body to protect herself from a vengeful Franck, Franck masterminds a brilliant conspiracy in Lockville, allying with various criminal elements to slide under police radar for years and manufacture "Keymen" superheroes to simultaneously use them in his plans to access the afterlife as well as lure Necro to him. Upon succeeding in capturing Necro, Franck ends up allying with her to finish his quest of reviving Misery, at which point Franck showcases his genuinely kind personality in raising Misery. When Butler kidnaps Misery and mortally sounds Franck, Franck teams with his mother one last time to use Alex Rex and his allies as pawns in thwarting Butler, before sacrificing himself alongside Necro to protect Lockville from similar threats, making Alex promise to look after Misery for him in the process.
• Killer Killer: The titular "Killer Killer", Takumi Hijihara is a suave assassin who uses his skill to protect the world from other killers. After surviving a massacre committed by Mukuro Ikusaba, Takumi joined Future Foundation's 6th branch, partnering with Misaki Asano to investigate and stop prolific killers. With his ability to enter the killer's mindset, Takumi is able to figure them out before grading and killing them with a similar method to the killers' own MO. When his old friend Shuuji Fujigawa returns and takes Misaki and places a detonator on her neck which will activate a massive bomb killing millions unless Misaki is killed, out of jealousy of their budding romance, Takumi outs himself as Killer Killer, willing to become a fugitive to protect Misaki and defeats Fujigawa, deactivating the detonator with his cutting skills before running away taking Misaki with him to be with her in hiding.
• Killing Bites: Reiichi Shidoh organizes the underground "Killing Bites" fights between the Half-Human Hybrid Therianthropes. Utterly unscrupulous, Shidoh uses shady tactics: tampering with the rules of the ring and manipulating the Zaibatu's conglomerates to allow for his experiments on Therianthropes. Betraying and arranging the murder of Mitsukado Zaibatsu's chairman, Yozan Mitsukado, Shidoh sets it up to look like an accident; then ordering his Therianthropes follower to murder her own investor to eliminate the witness to his crime. In spite of his unfettered nature, Shidoh truly believed his experiments on Therianthropes would fix the struggling Japanese economy and genuinely cares for Hitomi, even risking his own life to save her when he found her as a child.
• Kill la Kill: Sōichirō Kiryuin is the brilliant father of Ryuko and husband of Ragyo, whose schemes to upend the latter's evil fall into place throughout the series. Originally an ally to Ragyo, Sōichirō betrayed his wife when she callously experimented on their daughters, Sōichirō convincing young Satsuki to rebel against her mother at an older age while he personally spirited infant Ryuko away to safety. Faking his death and expertly disguising himself as "Isshin Matoi", Sōichirō developed the Rending Scissors and the Kamui Senketsu, tricking Nui Harime into overlooking their potential when she assassinated him and leaving both for Ryuko to find and utilize. Long after his death, Sōichirō's intentions for Ryuko, Senketsu and the Scissors come to pass, as Nudist Beach—founded by Sōichirō himself—leads an insurrection against Ragyo alongside Ryuko and Satsuki, taking down Ragyo and the Life Fibers exactly as Sōichirō intended.
• Kindaichi Case Files: The "Gentleman Thief" is really a cunning woman and Master of Disguise with a penchant for stealing precious items and leaving notes to her next targets. Disguising herself as a young journalist, Diago Maki, the Thief targets Gamou Gouzou's residence to steal his painting, "My Beloved Daughter". Although almost outwitted by Kindaichi, the Thief disguises herself as an old woman and ties him to a basket of heavy rocks, leaving him stranded in the middle of a busy street. Later appearances show the Thief uses the same ploy to trick Kindaichi and get away with her stolen goods, saying she hopes to meet her challenging rival again.
• King of Wolves: Yoshitsune Minamoto was a famed general who faked his death and alongside his battle brother Benkei and fled Japan to eventually arrive in Mongolia. Becoming the titular "King of Wolves", Genghis Khan himself, with his desire to leave a legacy, the Khan conquers his way across all of Asia with daring and brilliant strategies. When he realizes the time traveling warrior Iba is Japanese as well and a master warrior, the Khan makes him one of his greatest generals while allowing him to carry his beloved Kyoko. When they have a son, Genghis Khan orders Benkei to murder Iba so he may claim the boy as an heir. Even when bested by Iba, the Khan opts to kill himself honorably and be reunited with his own wife and child, having arranged it so Iba is forced to take up the identity of Genghis Khan and steer history down its proper path.
• Kirby: Right Back at Ya!:
  • Customer Service is the smooth-talking salesman of Nightmare Enterprises. The main man King Dedede turns to whenever he needs a Monster to clobber that there Kirby, Customer routines making a dupe out of Dedede while making as much profit as he can out of his crooked deals. Customer Service also excels in collecting debt from the greedy King, whether it be using a "ghost" to scare him out of his cash, to rigging his super-successful Waddle Dee vending machines to pay off NME instead. Not only the company's most successful salesman but The Dragon to Nightmare himself, Customer Service tricks Dedede one last time in the finale into revealing the location of the heroes before dispatching the Heavy Lobster to dispose of them, bidding farewell to Dedede with the remark he's been fond of "double-dealing" with him to the end.
  • "Ninja Binge": Yamikage is a powerful warrior who once successfully betrayed the Star Warriors and one-upped Meta Knight himself. Summoned in the present by King Dedede, Yamikage showcases honor and skills alike as he tuckers out and takes down the young warrior Benikage while proving himself unable to be surprised even by a stealth Meta Knight. After putting Kirby through a harsh fight, Yamikage vanishes with a smoke bomb, escaping into the nearby forest and swearing to one day return for revenge on the hero.
  • "A Spice Odyssey": Monsieur Goan is a tiny but devilishly cunning Supreme Chef who wins all of Cappy Town to his side through his brilliant cooking. Actually a Monster from NME, Goan uses his rival Chef Kowalski's spicy recipes to his advantage, brewing up a soothing cold sorbet he's spiced with a chemical that makes anyone who eats it want to eat Kirby. Goan ends up rallying the entire town in the end in an attempt to devour Kirby himself.
  • "A Novel Approach": The Broom King disguises himself as Pappy Pottey author Rowlin to turn King Dedede's castle into a "magic school" and lure the entire populace of Dream Land to the school as students, using their obsession with Pappy Pottey to turn them into his puppets. After fooling the whole town with his Rowlin guise, the Broom King uses a harmless sport to enact a brainwashing curse that turns the whole town against Kirby, nearly destroying the pink hero. Even when exposed, the Broom King uses a variety of cleaning utensils to fight Kirby and nearly defeat him in physical combat.
• Kongoh Bancho: Takeshi Kongoh is the true Big Bad of the manga and the wicked elder brother of the hero Akira Kongoh, aiming to be a Dark Messiah to destroy and rebuild Japan. Driven by rage at the death of his mother, Takeshi helps organize the 23 District project to lure in powerful Bancho, all while manipulating his father, whom he eventually usurps. Rising up, Takeshi reveals his true plan: the Damocles Project. Using it to dispose of previous Bancho participants, Takeshi becomes the undisputed ruler of Japan, aiming to destroy it and create an ideal world to make humanity pay. With his strength matched by a ruthless, calculating mind, Takeshi ends the series with his ideals awakened by his son Rai, using his last moments to save Akira's life and bidding him farewell as he gives Akira cover to save the world.
• Legend of Lemnear: The manga version of Varohl was once a noble king who used an accursed power to save his kingdom, at the expense of being corrupted by the evil gods to serve their plan to eradicate humanity. Birthing his daughter, heroine Lemnear to stop him, Varohl orchestrates her training and sees she be armed with the one weapon that can stop him. Masterminding their eventual confrontation, as Varohl is felled by her blade, he thanks Lemnear for successfully saving mankind.
• Leviathan, by Eiji Otsuka: Rokuro "Rock" Oogami, from the Lycaoni arc, is the charismatic teenager leader of the Lycaoni Revolution. After losing his beloved lycaoni family to an angry mob in the human world and being transformed into a Leviathan, Rock, despite not being a lycaoni himself, unites the lycaonis into a unified organization under himself. Turning humans and troublesome lycaoni into animals, Rock uses them to wipe out any opposition to his revolution and tricks Inuhiko Inugami's sister into using a toxin disguised as a Love Potion to trigger Inuhiko's lycaoni side and begin his uprising. A young but adept manipulator, Rock sought the destruction, then recreation of a world where lycaoni don't exist with the goal of ensuring his sister a happy life.
• Lone Wolf and Cub: Both the protagonist and antagonist are viciously efficient operators:
  • Ogami Itto is a stoic, charismatic warrior unjustly framed by the Yagyu clan. On the run with his three year old son Daigoro, Itto constantly showcases his strategic genius in his assassinations. In one instance, he allows himself to be captured by the enemy to get close to a target, revealing that the warning they received was written by him. In another, he uses Daigoro drowning as bait to trick a target's bodyguard into trying to save him so Itto can kill him. Itto singlehandedly brings down the powerful Yagyu clan on his own, showing why he is a man who walks the road of demons, the Path of Meifumado.
  • Yagyu Retsudo is a charismatic old man with the soul of a samurai that contrasts with the hard ruthlessness of an assassin. After the Yagyu lose the post of Shogun executioner to Itto, Retsudo uses a seemingly innocuous sparring match to trick Itto into knocking his staff into a man who could pose a threat to him, leading to the man's death. Later framing Itto for treason, Retsudo is revealed to be manipulating the entire Shogunate from the shadows and even when exposed for this, manages to connive his way back to power, having his rival, the poisoner Abe no Kaii, eliminated by setting a fire on a date that will force Kaii to commit seppuku. Retsudo then uses a legion of ninja to face Itto, having them focus on breaking Itto's infamous sword, so he has the advantage for their final battle. A ruthless genius, Retsudo continuously shows why he is Itto's greatest enemy.
• Lycoris Recoil: Majima is a terrorist who desires to destroy D.A's false peace. Majima partners with Robota to investigate the location of D.A's headquarters, eliminating Lycoris in the process. Frustrated by their slow progress, he's directed by Robota towards Chisato, whom he ambushes, impairing her Super-Reflexes by spitting blood in her eyes. Learning that Chisato hindered an attack he made on the Tokyo Radio Tower years prior, he grows obsessed with fighting her again. Evading a D.A Strike Team and luring them to the new Enkuboku Tower, he announces that he's distributed guns to the populace before broadcasting the Strike Force fighting his men, encouraging citizens to defend themselves. Luring Chisato to the Tokyo Radio Tower, he shuts the blinds to gain the advantage with his Super-Hearing. Seemingly defeated, he escapes and confronts Chisato for a one-on-one. Mid-fight, Majima calls for a break when Chisato's heart malfunctions, during which he divulges his dislike of false peace and his view of himself as someone who fights for the weak, even claiming he'd side with the D.A if terrorists had the upper hand. Surviving his defeat, he's last seen calming an armed citizen before going back into hiding, satisfied with having sown seeds of doubt into the populace.
• Made in Abyss: Bondrewd the Novel, Sovereign of Dawn and one of the legendary White Whistles, is also one of the most brilliant and ruthless among them. To research the Abyss and its Curse, Bondrewd experiments on orphan children while sacrificing his own humanity to create his White Whistle and creating complicated ways to navigate throughout the Abyss through his technology with no physically adverse effects to himself. Even in spite of his objectively monstrous actions, Bondrewd still sincerely loves and cares for the children under his care and takes pains to remember their identities even as he sacrifices them for his experiments, taking one of them as his own daughter and raising her to become genuinely well-adjusted and innocent. Though undoubtedly an amoral Humanoid Abomination dedicated above all else to scientific triumph regardless of the cost, Bondrewd still demonstrates he understands love and family in his own warped terms and operates with perpetual affability and style, comfortable to abandon even his own ambitions to see those with brighter aspiration succeed where he couldn't.
• Magi: Labyrinth of Magic: Sinbad, King of Sindria and leader of the Seven Seas Alliance is a heroic, charismatic ruler who wages war against the evil organization Al-Thamen. Unknown to most, Sinbad is halfway fallen into depravity and all his seeming benevolence is a front with alternative motives, cultivating allies and pawns alike to use against Al-Thamen, even using mind controlled sleeper agents in other nations to spy through and seize control of them at advantageous moments. Later taking over the world, Sinbad seeks to rewrite reality itself to make a perfect world, even plotting to return everything to raw energy and recreate it the right way. At the end, upon realizing his crimes, Sinbad opts to stand with Alibaba and Aladdin to save the world from the depraved King David, showing himself, whether the hero or villain, to be the best at what he sets his mind out to.
• Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro: The genius demon Neuro Nōgami arrives from the underworld, makes a hapless schoolgirl named Yako Katsuragi his proxy and uses her to help solve his mysteries so he can feed upon them. Neuro constantly outwits his quarry, deducing complex murders and making Yako a famous detective to raise his own profile, while brilliantly foiling other plots and gambles from villains. Neuro later encounters the atrociously evil Sicks who intends on exterminating humanity and decides to defend his food source, despising killing, as every human is capable of creating a mystery of their own for him. Neuro helps to organize the defeat of Sicks and his group with his trademark brilliance and audacious flourishes.
• Manhole, by Tetsuya Tsutsui: Hiroshi Kurokawa is a doctor whose life was ruined by his granddaughter's traumatizing rape. To avenge himself upon the rapist, Kurokawa visits an African tribe to discover the secret behind the peaceful One-Eyed people. Discovering the filarias, worms that infect human brains and force them to control their emotions and lose an eye or die in agony. Testing them on the rapist that ruined his life and upon a violent unemployed man that beat his elderly parents, Hiroshi plans to use the filaria by inserting samples of them inside domestic animals and waiting until summer to let the mosquitoes share it with the rest of Japan, with the intention of creating a world without violence. Stopped thanks to lucky accidents and the recklessness of heroine Nao Inoue, Kurosawa manages to control even his own death. Driven only by his goal, Hiroshi is infected by the same worm that he wanted to spread and is a true believer in his own cause.
• Medaka Box's "Kumagawa Incident" Arc: Kumagawa Misogi, the Arc Villain, is Dissonant Serenity incarnate and the dark-tongued leader of the Minuses. On a quest to bring the elites down to his level, Kumagawa introduces himself thrashing the members of the Flask Plan with an impenetrable smile on his face, revealing himself to be the one person Medaka Kurokami could not save and the one who manipulated Secretary Akune into indulging his former violent impulses. Unusually good at reading people, Kumagawa worms his way into the student body and creates Class -13 in an attempt to usurp the current Student Council. All throughout the subsequent battles, Kumagawa constructs scenarios that end up neutral at worst or outright benefiting him no matter the outcome. Charmingly enigmatic and ever-equipped at bouncing back, Kumagawa leaves little wonder why the fandom enjoyed his character.
• Metal Fight Beyblade:
  • Kyoya Tategami is the leader of the Face Hunters and Gingka's fiercest rival. Picking on weaker bladers to steal their Beypoints, he takes an interest in Gingka after witnessing him defeat the entire group and challenges him to a one-on-one fight, stealing Kenta's bey and threatening to have it destroyed to ensure he comes. Upon losing, he realises he must get stronger, and is encountered by Doji, who forces him to partake in a harsh training program to awaken the "fangs of the heart", growing stronger and harsher. Disbanding the Face Hunters, he curb-stomps Benkei and Kenta, attempting to destroy their beys afterwards. He challenges Gingka again and shows off the crafty new tricks he's picked up, almost defeating him as a result. After losing, Gingka's words reach him, and he realises that Leone doesn't want him to be full of hatred, so he undergoes a change of heart. Always looking for a good fight and showcasing his skill at exploiting the terrain, the surprisingly crafty Kyoya proves to be one of Gingka's greatest allies and worthiest opponents.
  • Tsubasa Otori is a spy working for the WBBA. Appearing before Gingka, he teaches him an important lesson to improve his skills as a blader before letting him win once he'd put it into practice. Later, he joins the Dark Nebula, proving his skills to Doji and outwitting Yu multiple times with his bey's unique tricks as he battles him to a tie. Helping the Dark Nebula and remaining largely unsuspected, he sneaks through the building in hopes of discovering L-Drago's secrets, and succeeds, only to be caught by Yu and Doji. He is then attacked by the Dark Nebula's bladers and then Ryuga, defeating the former and putting up a good fight against the latter until he has to be saved by Phoenix, who encourages him to become Gingka's friend for real and help him take down the Dark Nebula. With a suave, respectful demeanour, Tsubasa remains a close ally of Gingka's, using his wits and overcoming the Dark Power to help bring Team Gan Gan Galaxy victory.
  • Phoenix, real name Ryo Hagane, is a mysterious masked blader and secretly the long-lost father of Gingka. Having lost to Ryuga and passing the Pegasus bey onto Gingka several years prior to the story, Ryo faked his death, laying low until the time was right. Making his debut taking Gingka's Beypointer from Tetsuya, he challenges Gingka to earn it back, crushing it and making him lose all his points once Gingka loses, in hopes that this would strengthen Gingka's strength and resolve to defeat Ryuga at Battle Bladers and remind him what Beyblading is truly about. Later appearing to rematch Gingka, Ryo is defeated, and gives Gingka his points back so he can enter the tournament. Later appearing to save Yu and Hyoma from Doji, Phoenix's mask is shattered after winning, revealing his identity as Gingka's father and the leader of the WBBA, and gives Gingka the determination he needs to win the final battle.
• Michiko & Hatchin:
  • Satoshi Batista was once a loudmouthed wannabe gangster kid who raised himself up by killing the leaders of the Monstro Preto gang to take control over them himself. A ruthless leader, Satoshi devises a scheme to have rival criminal Michiko Malandro arrested while he executes a former Monstro boss along with his family to avenge a childhood humiliation from the man. Betrayed by his second-in-command, Satoshi outguns him and his henchmen, dispatching them all on his own. An honorable man despite being a brutal criminal, in the end, Satoshi even allows himself be to fatally wounded by taking a shot fired at a little girl.
  • "The Daredevil Explosive Runner": Jair is an elderly, amicable hitman who has performed assassinations successfully for decades, and decides to pull off one final job as his swan song. Hired by Satoshi to take out Michiko, Jair gives Michiko a gun and offers to compete with her in a "contest" out of respect for her spunk. Jair keeps pace with Michiko in a car chase and regularly gets the drop on the badass woman with tactics and skill, and ultimately saves Michiko from a rival assassin so as to prolong their "contest" for another day, showing the utmost admiration to her while always staying one step ahead.
• Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigation Volume 2's "The Turnabout Museum": The Handsome Gentlemen Thieves are a quintet of Pretty Boys who use their politeness and acts of kindness to disguise their numerous art thefts. Having stolen dozens of artworks and statues over the past six months, one of the Gentlemen disguises himself as elderly art scholar Amadeus Seal to try and steal the priceless "Officers" painting, even managing to fool Miles Edgeworth himself. Finding out the painting’s a fake, the Gentleman leaves a note for Edgeworth hoping to meet him again soon, feeling his encounter with him made the whole thing worth it.
• Mononoke: The Medicine Peddler is a mysterious humanoid entity that slays the eponymous “Mononoke”, spirits created from negative human emotions. Armed with a medicine cabinet containing talismans and scales, he keeps Mononoke at bay as he determines their “shape, reason and truth” through investigation, psychological analysis and interrogation before unsheathing his sword and slaying them. Strictly committed to killing them despite their capacity for emotions, he nevertheless will show compassion for many of them. Not above manipulating humans caught in the web of the Mononoke, The Medicine Peddler makes a young woman he believed to have killed her in-laws relive her trauma to reveal she had become a Mononoke as a result of constant abuse, inflicts gruesome “deaths'' on long-dead spirits in an incense parlor game by exploiting their mental weaknesses to make them realize they were trapped in a "Groundhog Day" Loop by a Mononoke, and pressures passengers on a train, including a young boy, into revealing their linked connection in a Mononoke’s origin to escape from its Pocket Dimension despite knowing this would cause them to suffer a Fate Worse than Death. Resourceful and charismatic, the Medicine Seller is the greatest fear of the Mononoke, and forces accountability for the people who created them through their cruelty.
• My Hero Academia:
  • Shigaraki, better known as All For One, is an incredibly powerful villain and the Arch-Enemy of the heroic All Might. Secretly ruling the country from the shadows for generations, All For One was seemingly killed by his enemy, but survived and rebuilt a group of villains in secret. Wanting to hurt All Might, All For One tracked down All Might's mentor's long-lost grandson, and raised him as the villain Tomura Shigaraki, knowing this revelation would be the one thing to crush All Might's heroic spirit. Even in his final battle with All Might, All For One is pleased even if he loses, knowing his loss will inspire Tomura to become the greatest villain in history to oppose All Might's own successor.
  • "Gentle Criminal", real name Danjuro Tobita, wanted nothing more than to be a famous Pro Hero. When he failed in his goal and was abandoned to poverty, he decided to become a villain instead. Gentle Criminal successfully commits thefts and evades the law for six years with the help of his partner La Brava, who he cherishes and supports, never killing anyone in the process. Unable to gain the fame he desires, Gentle devises a brilliant scheme to break into U.A. High for fame. Facing down against the teenage Hero Deku, Gentle gives him a hard battle, creatively combining his otherwise weak power of Elasticity with a keen analytical mind. Upon his apparent defeat, Gentle uses La Brava's powers to restore and enhance himself, giving Deku an even more intense battle. Even upon truly losing, Gentle manifests the last of La Brava's Quirk using sheer willpower and creates a last moment scheme to ensure La Brava avoids punishment, which Deku goes along with out of genuine respect and sympathy toward him, and ultimately goes down a path of redemption, becoming a Hero like he always wanted.
  • Atsuhiro Sako, better known as Mr. Compress, is one of the most composed members of the League of Villains. During the attack on the Training Camp, he successfully kidnaps Katsuki Bakugo and even tries to kidnap Fumikage Tokoyami for the sake of converting them to the League. Compress is skilled in using his quirk to seal any object or person into a marble and carries multiple with him for almost any situation. During the Paranormal Liberation War, he breaks out of Best Jeanist's bind by putting his clothes in a marble and even maims himself to free his arm. Using this opportunity, he saves his beloved friends from capture, allowing them to remain at large to ensure that they see his vision of a better society come to fruition. Willing to risk his life for his allies, Mr. Compress stands as one of the narrative's bravest villains.
  • Rikiya Yotsubashi, codenamed "Re-Destro," is the leader of a terrorist organization known as the Meta Liberation Army. The descendant of the famous revolutionary Destro, Re-Destro seeks to achieve his goals of a world where Quirk use is treated as a human right. Running a worldwide empire, Re-Destro takes on the League of Villains. Kidnapping their broker Giran, Re-Destro effortlessly tracks down the League, recovers information on them, and challenges them to all-out war in the Liberation Army's home city. When they arrive, Re-Destro unleashes specifically tailored threats upon them, expressing genuine care for his personal lieutenants when they take on League members. Re-Destro engages their leader, Tomura Shigaraki, in single combat. When Shigaraki wins after gaining newfound resolve, Re-Destro realizes Shigaraki would be a superior leader, and abdicates leadership of the Meta Liberation Army to Shigaraki, helping him form the Paranormal Liberation Front and loyally fighting for his cause in the ensuing conflict.
  • Miss Curious is the head of the Meta Liberation Army's propaganda branch. Having recruited countless members through her propaganda, Miss Curious jumps at the chance to interview League of Villains member Himiko Toga. Confronting her about her traumatic past and trying to martyr her by making her soldiers' blood explode and taking advantage of Toga's own powers, Miss Curious uses her tactics to overwhelm the young League member, all while keeping pace with her in the fight. When Toga gains the power to levitate Miss Curious, Miss Curious fondly comments on the amazing headline before being smashed against the pavement, proving a true journalist to her very last breath.
  • My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising: Nine is a cold and calculating terrorist who attempts to cure his disease using a Cell Activation Quirk in order to create a strong world, targeting the island of Nabu to get the quirk off of Katsuma Shimano. A perceptive and capable leader, he cuts off access to the mainland as he has his men go and create chaos while he finds the kids. Showing himself to be capable of thinking on the spot, Nine misdirects and uses his multiple quirks to his advantage to block and get away when the situation calls for it. During the final battle, despite Class 1A's strengths, Nine easily storms through most of them with ease, and is only defeated once Deku shares One For All with Bakugo. Nine shows even in the face of death at the hands of Tomura Shigaraki to not give up in persisting his goals and still attempts to go back and fight.
• Myriad Colors Phantom World (2016 anime): Enigma is an artificial phantom created using human and phantom DNA. Escaping from her abusive creators, Enigma starts to hunt the students of the Hosea high school in order to steal their special abilities by draining their energy. Seemingly defeated by the protagonists, Enigma takes the body and identity of protagonist Haruhiko Ichijou's mother and goes to live with him, successfully faking a motherly personality that bonds with him. After Haruhiko's friends manage to realize her identity, Enigma is able to beat them and steal Haruhiko's summoning powers, intending to use them to control all phantoms to take revenge on humanity. When she is later defeated by Team E, Enigma is impressed by the human potential and admits that she enjoyed her time with Haruhiko, to which he agrees before she dies.
• The Mysterious Cities of Gold: Juan Carlos Mendoza is the eventual guardian of young hero Esteban, having saved him as a baby from the seas. Realizing Esteban's connection to the Cities of Gold, Mendoza makes himself a mentor figure to the boy and his companions, manipulating them to lead him to the gold and make himself rich. Growing to care for the kids, Mendoza also constantly outwits the forces of the Conquistadors and even the Olmecs, at one point flooding a village to save it from the evil Malinche's poisoning. Seemingly betraying the heroes to join the Conquistadors at the end, Mendoza in fact goes behind their backs to deliver Spanish weapons to the Inca and give them a fighting chance.
• Noir: Mistress Altena is a high priestess within Les Soldats who seeks to cleanse both the organization and the world of corruption. Driven by her childhood trauma of having her village destroyed by soldiers, one of whom raped her, Altena raises Chloe as her surrogate daughter with genuine love and sends her to watch over the titular Noir duo, Mirielle Bouquet and Kirika Yuumura, while sending waves of assassins after them to train Kirika and make her stronger. Using Chloe to manipulate the Noir duo, Altena deceives them into eliminating all her rivals, eventually unveiling her true plan to have Chloe kill Mirielle so that Chloe and Kirika can become the True Noir. When Chloe is defeated and killed instead, Altena makes one final stand against Mirielle and Kirika, and when defeated, dies on her own terms, throwing herself into a lava pit. Ruthless yet affable, Altena never loses her chillingly stoic demeanor, even in death.