The 12 Anime Characters Fans Still Hate Years Later

The 12 Anime Characters Fans Still Hate Years Later

Some anime characters are so cruel, infuriating, or downright awful that fans never forget them—even years after their shows end.

Whether through betrayal, abuse of power, or relentless selfishness, these figures left a lasting negative mark on viewers.

From manipulative royals to sadistic villains, anime has produced plenty of characters who earned their reputation the hard way.

Here are some of the most widely disliked characters in anime history.

1. Shou Tucker – Fullmetal Alchemist

Few moments in anime history have hit fans as hard as what Shou Tucker did to his daughter Nina and her dog Alexander.

As a State Alchemist desperate to keep his research license, he fused the two innocent beings into a chimera — a horrifying act driven entirely by selfish ambition.

The resulting creature, still speaking Nina’s words, is one of anime’s most heartbreaking images.

Tucker showed no real remorse, framing his cruelty as scientific necessity.

That cold justification is what makes him so unforgettable. He is not just a villain — he is a symbol of how ambition can destroy everything good.

2. Malty S. Melromarc (Myne) – The Rising of the Shield Hero

Malty S. Melromarc, also known as Myne, wasted absolutely no time making fans despise her.

Within the very first episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero, she falsely accuses the protagonist Naofumi of a serious crime, stripping him of his reputation and allies in one calculated move.

Her smile while watching him suffer says everything you need to know.

What makes her especially hateable is her complete lack of guilt.

Every scheme, every lie, every manipulation is carried out with cheerful confidence.

Even when consequences catch up to her, she finds a way to wriggle free.

Fans never forgave her for it.

3. Griffith – Berserk

Griffith was once the kind of leader people would follow into any battle — charismatic, brilliant, and seemingly devoted to his comrades.

That image shattered completely during the Eclipse, one of the darkest story arcs in all of anime.

He sacrificed his entire loyal army for personal power without flinching, turning admiration into pure, burning hatred.

What stings most is how long fans trusted him.

Berserk spends considerable time building Griffith up before tearing that image apart.

The betrayal feels deeply personal, which is exactly why fans, decades later, still bring up his name with visible frustration.

Griffith remains anime’s gold standard for devastating betrayal.

4. Rachel – Tower of God

Rachel is the kind of character who makes you clench your fists every time she appears on screen.

Bam, the main character, climbs an impossibly dangerous tower entirely because of his loyalty and love for her.

She repays that devotion by pushing him off a platform in one of the most gut-punching betrayals in recent anime memory.

Her reasoning is rooted in jealousy and a desperate need to be special — but she never owns it.

Rachel constantly plays the victim while quietly engineering situations to benefit herself.

Fans find her frustrating not just because she is cruel, but because she refuses to ever be honest about it.

5. Danzo Shimura – Naruto Shippuden

Danzo Shimura spent decades convincing himself — and anyone who would listen — that his underhanded methods were for the greater good of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Fans were not convinced.

Behind his stoic political exterior was a man willing to brainwash children, manipulate tragedies, and eliminate anyone who threatened his grip on power.

His role in Itachi Uchiha’s tragic story alone was enough to earn permanent hatred from the Naruto fanbase.

Learning the truth about his schemes recontextualized some of the saddest moments in the series.

Danzo is proof that the most dangerous villains are the ones who genuinely believe they are heroes.

6. Nobuyuki Sugou – Sword Art Online

Nobuyuki Sugou is the kind of antagonist who seems designed specifically to provoke maximum disgust.

A high-ranking corporate executive with access to a virtual reality system, he uses that power to trap players and conduct illegal experiments on their minds — all while keeping Asuna imprisoned for his own obsessive reasons.

He gloats constantly, hides behind legal and technological power, and shows zero empathy for the people he harms.

When he finally faces consequences, it feels deeply satisfying — but fans never quite forgot how uncomfortable his scenes were to watch.

Sugou is widely considered one of the most repulsive antagonists the SAO franchise ever produced.

7. Spandam – One Piece

Spandam is exactly the type of character you love to hate — not because he is powerful, but because he is so thoroughly undeserving of the authority he wields.

As a World Government official, he hides behind his position and his bodyguards while treating everyone around him with contempt.

His cruelty toward Nico Robin during the Enies Lobby arc is especially hard to forget.

What makes fans particularly annoyed is that Spandam faces very few real consequences for most of his actions.

He struts around like he earned his position when he clearly did not.

Every scene with him is an exercise in controlled frustration — and that is clearly intentional.

8. Seryu Ubiquitous – Akame ga Kill!

Seryu Ubiquitous believed with every fiber of her being that she was a hero — and that made her terrifying.

Armed with a grotesque living weapon and an unshakeable sense of righteous purpose, she hunted down anyone her corrupt government labeled a criminal with zero hesitation and maximum enthusiasm.

Her cheerful demeanor while committing brutal acts made viewers deeply uncomfortable.

The tragedy of Seryu is that she was molded into a weapon by the very system she worshipped.

But fans found it nearly impossible to feel sympathy for someone so willfully blind to the evil she served.

Her fanaticism made her one of Akame ga Kill’s most memorable and reviled figures.

9. Minoru Mineta – My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia is packed with lovable, inspiring characters — and then there is Mineta.

While his classmates train seriously to become heroes, Mineta consistently uses his screen time to peep on, harass, or make inappropriate comments about female characters.

It stopped being a funny quirk almost immediately and quickly became one of the most common complaints about the series.

Fans have debated for years whether his character adds anything meaningful to the story.

Many argue he does not.

His moments of genuine bravery are frequently overshadowed by his next round of creepy behavior.

For a show built around heroism and growth, Mineta often feels like a step in the wrong direction.

10. Makoto Itou – School Days

School Days starts out looking like a fairly typical high school romance anime — and then Makoto happens.

What begins as a shy, awkward teen pursuing a crush quickly transforms into a portrait of manipulation, dishonesty, and breathtaking selfishness.

Makoto strings along multiple girls simultaneously, showing little concern for the emotional damage he leaves behind.

His behavior escalates so dramatically that the series ends with one of the most shocking conclusions in anime history.

Fans did not feel sorry for him when it arrived.

Makoto Itou became a cautionary tale not just within his story, but across anime fandom — a name synonymous with terrible romantic choices and zero accountability.

11. Saint Charlos – One Piece

Saint Charlos is one of those characters who exists to make your blood boil — and One Piece’s creator Eiichiro Oda clearly designed him that way on purpose.

As a Celestial Dragon, he belongs to the world’s most privileged class and treats every non-noble human being as something less than dirt.

Watching him smugly abuse that status is genuinely infuriating.

What makes him work so well as a character is how satisfying his rare moments of comeuppance feel.

Fans have cheered loudly every time someone finally stands up to him.

Saint Charlos is a walking embodiment of corrupt power — and one of One Piece’s most effective hate-magnets.

12. Mahito – Jujutsu Kaisen

Mahito does not just want to win — he wants to enjoy every second of making humans suffer.

As a cursed spirit born from human hatred, he has the ability to reshape souls, and he uses that power in the most psychologically devastating ways imaginable.

His experiments on humans are not strategic; they are gleeful, which makes them far more disturbing.

He is responsible for some of the most emotionally gutting moments in Jujutsu Kaisen, targeting characters fans had grown to love.

Mahito laughs through it all.

That casual cruelty, combined with his genuine curiosity about human pain, earned him a permanent spot among anime’s most deeply hated antagonists.