History RootingForTheEmpire / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' has many fans rooting for the [[BadassCrew Jaegers]] over even [[DesignatedHero Night Raid]], [[ALighterShadeOfBlack partially because they are the most decent group in the Empire to root for]], but also for the fact they're made up of PunchClockVillains or [[EvenEvilHasStandards somewhat]] [[AntiVillain decent people]] with [[AlasPoorVillain pretty meaningful death scenes]]. It helps that they're lead by [[EnsembleDarkhorse Esdeath]] and have FanPreferredCouple Wave and Kurome.

** In ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Gundam SEED]]'' (and ''especially'' its [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny sequel]]), even trying to decide which faction counts as "the empire" for the purposes of this trope can spark {{Flame War}}s. Suffice to say that all sides have their fans, despite the copious amounts of bastardry and/or stupidity displayed by everyone. Fans of the Earth Alliance became such specifically in protest of the fact that the entire faction was portrayed as {{Card Carrying Villain}}s (in ''Destiny'' anyway; they're more morally grey in ''SEED'' proper), as part of the general "screw you" attitude many have adopted towards the show's director Mitsuo Fukuda and head writer Chiaki Morosawa ([[CreatorCouple who are husband and wife]]). Many viewers also ended up rooting for the Earth Alliance due to many of its characters coming off sympathetic and how ZAFT repeatedly [[CurbStompBattle slaughtered anybody]] without CharacterShields for the first half of the series.

* ''Manga/AkameGaKill'' has many fans rooting for the [[BadassCrew Jaegers]] over even [[DesignatedHero Night Raid]], [[ALighterShadeOfBlack partially because they are the most decent group in the Empire to root for]], but also for the fact they're made up of {{PunchClockVillain}}s or [[EvenEvilHasStandards somewhat]] [[AntiVillain decent people]] with [[AlasPoorVillain pretty meaningful death scenes]]. It helps that they're lead by [[EnsembleDarkhorse Esdeath]] and have FanPreferredCouple Wave and Kurome.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': People don't want the Titans to destroy humanity, but it's easy to want [[spoiler: Bertolt and Reiner to capture Eren]], because their success would finally allow us to see who they're working for. Similarly, [[spoiler: the false report that they attacked wall Rose again]] actually got some readers momentarily excited for their return.

** La Squadra di Esecuzione, the villainous team from part 5, has a lot of supporters due to how well-written its members are. But the one who takes the cake here is Pesci, who, along with his best friend and partner Prosciutto, undergoes a LOT of CharacterDevelopment despite being nothing more than a MonsterOfTheWeek in the story, going from {{Adorkable}} to increasingly vicious and determined to win. His sadness at his partner's death, which quickly turns into determination to avenge him, can make him appear sympathetic enough that you forget that he's trying to kill our heroes and kidnap an innocent girl.
** Funny Valentine, the BigBad of part 7, is motivated by extreme patriotism, his goal being to ensure the safety of his country by any means. It's not an uncommon opinion among fans that he's the true hero of ''Steel Ball Run'', and that Johnny is a borderline VillainProtagonist in comparison. The only thing that's keeping Valentine from becoming a full HeroAntagonist is the fact that [[spoiler:his plan, should it succeed, would only guarantee America's prosperity at the cost of turning the rest of the planet into a CrapsackWorld]], something which doesn't make him wholly unsympathetic since he believes that [[spoiler:if he doesn't use the Corpse Parts to achieve this, another country would do so, forcing him to be the one to act first]].

* Both the Phantom Troupe and the Chimera Ants in ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' have their fans who support them over the heroes. In the Yorknew City arc, the heroes fight the Phantom Troupe on behalf of the world's most powerful crime families and its hard to feel much sympathy for the mobsters they're stealing from. Meanwhile, the Chimera Ants slowly develop from remorseless predators to thoughtful beings capable of mercy and friendship. Even the hunters tasked with exterminating them begin waiver in their commitment to the mission.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' - A number of people supported the Holy Empire of Britannia, some because they began to dislike [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]], some because they believed that Britannia actually had sensible (if cut-throat) policies, and others for shallow EvilIsCool reasons. Then there's the British fans who root for their own country, barely veiled expy though it is. In addition, various viewers also liked Suzaku, the protagonist's main rival, sympathizing with his actions and points of view more than with Lelouch's.

*** [[TakeAThirdOption Then there was a good amount of viewers who sympathized with]] [[OmnicidalManiac Rau Le ]][[StrawNihilist Creuset]], exactly because his campaign of deliberately escalating the war until both sides wiped each other out aligned perfectly with the perceived blind hatred and stupidity both ZAFT and the Alliance showed, that Cosmic Era's mankind didn't really deserve or strived for anything but self-annihilation.

* In season 3 of ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', many fans started supporting the Crimson Denizens instead of the Flame Hazes once war broke out between the two. Considering that the final light novel reveals [[spoiler:Snake of the Festival Yuji and his Crimson Denizen followers not only win, but were absolutely right in believing that their dream of a paradise where Denizens and humans coexist could work and would not destroy the world, this is one of those occasions where Rooting For The Empire is supported by canon.]]

* ''Anime/ValkyriaChronicles'' really makes many of the Imperial characters more likable than the Gallian High Command (i.e. anyone above Varrot save for Cordelia). True, this was present in the game, but the AdaptationExpansion of Selvaria (already a likable AntiVillain), Jaeger (an even more likable AntiVillain), and Gregor (still as much of an asshole as ever, but compared to his Gallian counterpart Damon he's actually seen as far more competent and more genuinely deserving of respect by comparison), the Imperials look far better in terms of characterization than the Gallian Regulars, who, much like the game counterparts, treat the real heroes (Welkin Gunther and Squad 7) like crap. This is averted, however, with Maximilian, who is an even more obvious {{Jerkass}} than his game counterpart.
* ''Anime/{{Yatterman}}'' is better known for the [[TerribleTrio three main villains]] than it is for the main heroes. In many ways the villains were the more focused part of the show. Heck, they (or rather, their descendants) are the heroes of the [[Anime/YattermanNight 40th anniversary special]].

** Zeref's case is further helped by the company he keeps. Unlike the majority of antagonist factions in ''Fairy Tail'', or even the majority of [[TheEmpire Empires]] out there, Alvarez is by no means evil or oppressive, instead being depicted as a prosperous utopian nation with Zeref himself being benign Emperor to his people. Likewise, the Spriggan 12, while possessing the usual eccentricities and personality quirks of ''Fairy Tail'' characters, are for the most part not villainous in the least, mostly coming across as warriors [[MyCountryRightOrWrong fighting for their country and their Emperor]] while holding no outward malevolence to their enemies. Compared to the Dark Guilds Fairy Tail has fought in the past, Alvarez could be seen as a heroic faction in its own right (especially since their ultimate aim with Fairy Heart, Zeref's personal feelings notwithstanding, is to slay [[GreaterScopeVillain Acnologia]], whom was shown in a BadFuture to have devastated the planet when there was nothing to stop him).
*** This is subverted once the fighting actually begins, and we get a good look at the Spriggan 12...and almost to a one they're as dog-kickingly malicious, petty and cruel as any of the previous arcs' antagonists. On the part of the common soldiers, the Alvarez troops took it on themselves to begin ''crucifying'' their fallen opponents and cheering for more.

** Look no further than [[ANaziByAnyOtherName the Principality of Zeon]] from the original Universal Century timeline. The franchise ''does'' do its best to show that WarIsHell, [[GreyAndGrayMorality there IS no "right" and "wrong" side]], many of their grievances and (questionable) justifications ''are'' based on some in-verse context, and has introduced sympathetic Zeons like [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Bernard Wiseman]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam Aina Sahalin]]. However, later writers seem to have missed or outright ignored Creator/YoshiyukiTomino's very deliberate parallels between Zeon and Nazi Germany, including their leader [[InsultBackfire being PROUD to be compared to]] UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler by his own father. While Tomino did feature some sympathetic Zeons in his stories, the "Zeon as LaResistance" attitude didn't really hit its stride until the productions that didn't involve him, in particular ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Gundam 0083]]'', where the Zeon remnants '''do''' style themselves as LaResistance even as they try (once more) to drop a colony on Earth, and the soldier who was [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal inspired to defect after being hated and abused by her fellows]] is treated as the lowest of scum. In fact, as of stories like ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamMSIGLOO MS IGLOO]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Gundam Unicorn]]'', being a fan of the ''Federation'' is pretty well treated as Rooting for the Empire.

*** After he helped Cell to become perfect by attacking his own son, [[KickTheSonOfABitch fans wanted Vegeta to pay for his arrogance]].

* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' puts the Machines from ''Series/TheMatrix'' into a much, much more sympathetic light. It's shown that the Machines had their origins as a slave race created by humanity to do all their work while the humans enjoyed the good life. When machines began to assert their own right to life (defending themselves when their owners tried to destroy them), they were the subject of a brutal crackdown campaign. The machines then founded their own nation and made numerous attempts at peaceful coexistence with their human neighbours [[HumansAreBastards (all of which were ignored or deliberately sabotaged by said humans)]]. It's only when humanity declared war and launched an attack to blacken the skies that the Machines finally took off the kid gloves (and even then, the production of a digital playground for the humans to run around in could be seen as something of a mercy gesture from the Machines, given that they only needed the humans to be alive to serve as their batteries). The viewer could be forgiven for thinking they've been rooting for the wrong side in the rest of the films.

** ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': There are fans who sincerely believe that the Saiyan genocide at the hands of [[GalacticConqueror Frieza]] was probably the best thing he has ever done. This is due to the fact that most Saiyan were rude, violent, savage and sadistic beings.

*** Gundam says there's no right and wrong? The authoritarians always lose and generally the bad guys lose in fiction. Moral nihilists are clutching at straws if they think that the Federation's arrogance is as bad as Zeon's outright murderous fascism. I could go through every Gundam series to show what utter nonsense this "no right and wrong in Gundam" idea is. People are just reading their own views into Gundam.

* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' had an interesting example of this in the Champa Arc. The consequences the Universe 6 team winning were simply the moving of Universe 7's Earth to Universe 6. A portion of the fanbase wanted to see the Universe 6 team win out of hopes for storylines in a new universe.
** During the Universe Survival Saga, plenty of fans hoped another universe (most commonly Universe 10) would win the Tournament of Power; some wanted to break the monotony of Goku always winning, while others [[RonTheDeathEater still blamed Goku for "killing" whole universes]] and hoped that when the other universes were inevitably brought back at the end of the arc, Goku would be left out of the wish and remain erased.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' had five years' worth of dealing with the Soul Society as the antagonists during a conspiracy arc, so it exposed a lot of the crimes, inequality (deceased humans' souls are regulated to live in slums) and bureaucracy evident in the Soul Society. While the Arrancar [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority aren't exactly a nice bunch]], several fans were quite annoyed at the archaic, aristocratic depiction of the supposed afterlife, and it was not uncommon to see fans view disappointment at whenever an Espada lost a fight with a captain. It's easy to feel ''some'' sympathy for the Hollows (and, by extension, the Arrancars) who are hunted by the Shinigami, as they need to feed on souls in order to survive, so although they need to be killed because of the threat they pose to humans they themselves see their actions merely as self-preservation, and all of them are just corrupted souls who have forgotten what they originally were, who aren't so much killed as absolved as their sins and allowed to move on to the afterlife naturally. And the author apparently ''listened'' to those rooting for the Arrancar, with the Soul Society undergoing a culture change that makes them closer to ALighterShadeOfGrey, while the Arrancar are going through such a species-wide BreakTheHaughty moment that [[EnemyMine they're actually more open to HELPING their former enemies than before]].

*** This is subverted once the fighting actually begins, and we get a good look at the leadership of the empire...and they're as dog-kickingly malicious, petty and cruel as any of the previous arcs' antagonists. On the part of the common soldiers, the Alvarez troops took it on themselves to begin ''crucifying'' their fallen opponents and cheering for more.

** This is subverted once the fighting actually begins, and we get a good look at the leadership of the empire...and they're as dog-kickingly malicious, petty and cruel as any of the previous arcs' antagonists. On the part of the common soldiers, the Alvarez troops took it on themselves to begin ''crucifying'' their fallen opponents and cheering for more.

** [[spoiler:Kyubey]] is certainly a [[ManipulativeBastard conniving, manipulative]] rat who earns his LoveToHate status, but despite his deplorable methods there are people who support his goals. [[WellIntentionedExtremist After all]], [[spoiler:he's only trying to save the universe.]]

** The ending of ''[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion Rebellion]]'' is deliberately ambiguous as to whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but even those who acknowledge that it could be bad find it hard not to side with [[spoiler:Akuma Homura, since she won Madoka, brought everyone back to life, and gained full control of Incubator infrastructure]]. Especially since the cast was already living in a CrapsackWorld where, even with [[spoiler: Madoka incarnated as a goddess of hope, the incubators could potentially have been captured and enslaved her to recreate the cycle of magical girls turning into witches. Akuma Homura may have stolen Madoka's powers and altered everyone's memories, but she also created a better world and gave '''the entire incubator race''' a taste of their own medicine. It's especially cathartic for those viewers who absolutely loathed Kyubey]].

* In ''Manga/DGray-man'' a lot of fans root for the noah family over the Black Order. This is helped by the fact that most Noah are affably evil. This is only increased when, by the events of D.Gray-Man Hallow,[[spoiler: ''very nasty'' stuff is revealed about the already gray Black Order that make some readers completely loose any sympathy for them and outright wanting the [[KillAllHumans humanity wiping]] Noah to win. Even further, the hero is revealed to be a noah himself and is imprisoned, branded for treased and forced to go AWOL by the Black Order]]

** Zeref's case is further helped by the company he keeps. Unlike the majority of antagonist factions in ''Fairy Tail'', or even the majority of [[TheEmpire Empires]] out there, Alvarez is by no means evil or oppressive, instead being depicted as a prosperous utopian nation with Zeref himself being benign Emperor to his people. Likewise, the Spriggan 12, while possessing the usual eccentricities and personality quirks of ''Fairy Tail'' characters, are not villainous in the least, mostly coming across as warriors [[MyCountryRightOrWrong fighting for their country and their Emperor]] while holding no outward malevolence to their enemies. Compared to the Dark Guilds Fairy Tail has fought in the past, Alvarez could be seen as a heroic faction in its own right (especially since their ultimate aim with Fairy Heart, Zeref's personal feelings notwithstanding, is to slay [[GreaterScopeVillain Acnologia]], whom was shown in a BadFuture to have devastated the planet when there was nothing to stop him).

** While the Gjallarhorn of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' is a supposedly corrupt military organization, several officers in the organizations, such as Crank Zent, Gaelio Bauduin, Carta Issue and Julieta Juris are incorrupt, honorable and valorous soldiers who [[BornInTheWrongCentury behaved like Pre-Calamity War knights]], their lives are inadvertently ruined by a group of [[CombatPragmatist Combat Pragmatic]] [[ChildSoldier Child Soldiers]]. It helps that it also displays a lot of SympatheticPOV onto them rather than having Tekkadan as entirely heroic. A bit of MisaimedFandom can be claimed here for the organization as a whole, as aside from those four characters, all we've seen are either {{Mook}} Soldiers who blindly follow orders without thinking of the morality of their actions, corrupt officers that just don't care for what they are doing and just care about their positions, or the people in charge who want to preserve the status quo regardless of how right or wrong it is. And out from the four characters, Julieta is the only one who not only stayed alive in the end but also became critical of the people who she served and realized that not everything is black or white. By the time the ending rolls in, [[spoiler:Rustal Elion crushed Tekkadan from existence, reformed Gjallarhorn into a democratic organization and gave Mars their independence which also includes helping Kudelia abolishing the Human Debris system. Many viewers considered this the best scenario not only because it's realistic but it's unlikely for Tekkadan for win against the largest fleet in the entire system. Many also considered Rustal as a better leader than [=McGillis=] since despite using illegal weapons and black propaganda, he never attacks any civilian and never bothers to go after Kudelia regardless of her affiliation with Tekkadan which is also implied in the epilogue that he's aware of the Tekkadan survivors working for Kudelia but has no intention on going after them]].