Top 10 Anime Twist Villains That No One Saw Coming!

Twist villains can definitely add a surprise factor and a lot of drama to the story if they are done right. It makes the story much more interesting as it is something no one really saw coming.

However, just making a random character the villain and pretending like it makes sense doesn’t just cut it. Anime twists should also be cohesive and not be completely random.

Here’s a list of anime twist villains whose reveal was incredibly shocking but also was done right!

Adding twist villains can grab a lot of attention from the viewers and change the direction of the story if done right. However, most of these twists are too random, some of them like Aizen’s reveal are very well done!

10. William Vangeance -Black Clover

While William Vangeance was not exactly a villain, his actions brought a lot of calamities to the country. The captain of Golden Dawn seemed to be the most sorted person amongst all the characters in Black Clover but turns out it wasn’t true after all.

He wasn’t necessarily evil, but he allowed Patolli to take control of his body and conduct his business. This was a betrayal no one saw coming!

9. Nana Hiiragi – Talentless Nana

Talentless Nana tells the story of the near future where “Enemies of Humanity” begin to appear. Children with supernatural abilities are trained in isolated schools to counteract these enemies.

One day, a new student called Nana arrives at the school. She is friendly, cheerful and seems to care for Nanao. The first episode makes us believe that Nanao is the protagonist who is talentless, and this may be his story.

However, in a weird twist of events, it is Nana who is talentless, and she is an assassin hired by the government to kill the kids with supernatural abilities as it deems that they are the true enemies of humanity.

Nana goes about befriending the students and killing them without mercy. This was truly an epic twist that no one saw coming.

Nana kills Nanao | Talentless Nana Eps 1

8. Griffith – Berserk

Griffith’s betrayal is one of the most surprising twists in the entire anime history. While we all knew that he was ambitious in his goals, no one expected him to sacrifice the Band of the Hawk to become part of God Hand.

He went to betray Casca and Guts and it completely changed their life. While Casca was seriously traumatized, Guts was unable to trust anyone after. Griffith also did not feel the slightest remorse for sacrificing his friends. And all this because Griffith’s pride was hurt when Guts’ defeated him.

7. Straizo – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Straizo helped Jonathan throughout Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood series. After Erina gave a baby girl to him and after Jonathan’s death, he raised her as his own. He later began to be intrigued by vampires and that was the start of his downfall.

In Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency, Straizo decides to become a vampire and that starts his villain era. He naturally becomes an enemy of Joseph Joestar by targeting his family.

He had his reason to do whatever he has done but that still doesn’t change his deeds. He just wanted to keep his youth and power and wanted to be in his prime rather than die of old age and weakness.

6. Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt- Attack on Titan

While Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt weren’t exactly “villains”, the reveal really did shock many. The trio was so well integrated with the Survey Corps that it was astonishing when we found out that they were warrior candidates sent by Marley.

Their attack led to the death of many innocent civilians including Eren’s mother. They were technically brainwashed into thinking that Eldians are monsters and were made to hate their heritage. However, this does not take away from the fact that they caused immense destruction all while acting their part!

[ENG SUB][HD] Reiner and Bertholdt's betrayal and reveal | Attack on Titan season 2

5. Gaku Yasahiro- Erased

Erased is a mystery anime that kept us on the edge of our seats until the very last episode. Satoru ended up in a tedious cycle of trying to rescue Hinazuki. He didn’t suspect Gaku even until the very end when he was trapped in his car, and he was about to be the next victim.

The reveal of the final serial killer came as a shock to both Satoru and us. Gaku only became a teacher as it was more convenient for him to trap the students and kill them. He targeted especially vulnerable students like Hinazuki!

4. Obito Uchiha – Naruto

Tobi was introduced to us as this goofy and clumsy Akatsuki member. However, as funny he was, there was a little something that felt off about him. We couldn’t pinpoint what the fault was, but we couldn’t also guess that he will turn out to be a major villain during the Fourth Shinobi War.

Fans were completely at a loss for words when his past was revealed. Sure, he had his redemption, along with the fact that he was majorly manipulated by Madara, but that doesn’t rule out the destruction that he has caused to the shinobi world.

3. Kyubey- Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Most people jumped into Puella Magi Madoka Magica thinking it’s going to be another cute fluffy magic girl anime and hell was everybody wrong. It was one of the most traumatizing anime to date.

What started as a magical adventure with a cute magic pet mentor turned into something very dark in a very short period. Kyubey who looked cute and fluffy offering magic mentorship turned out to be the biggest villain.

Kyubey and his companions were trying to harvest the emotions of magic girls to counteract the spread of entropy, and thus stave off the heat death of the universe.

While they weren’t doing it for fun, it still was pretty savage of them to use literal kids and make witches out of them!

2. Ryo Asuka -Devilman Crybaby

Devilman Crybaby is one of the most bizarre anime of all time. It was exciting and had multiple elements of human nature. Ryo Asuka was the childhood friend of Akira and served as a deuteragonist throughout the story.

In a shocking turn of events, towards the end of the story, we get to know that Ryo is the fallen angel who was reborn as a human with the help of his guardian “Psycho Jenny”.

This twist was very shocking to many viewers while others say that they kind of saw it coming. Either way, the reveal was quite astonishing!

DEVILMAN CRYBABY - RYO'S BETRAYAL TO HUMANS -

1. Sosuke Aizen – Bleach

Aizen was one of the most shocking twist villains in the Bleach series. He was originally the captain of Soul Society’s 5th division and was beloved by all. Everybody believed him to be the soft-spoken, caring captain.

It came as a shock to viewers when he was assassinated and hanged dead in the Soul Society barracks. But then, he appeared alive during Rukia’s execution with slicked-back hair and a totally different vibe.

He was evil, sinister, manipulative, and was on a different power scale than anybody in Soul Society. Shortly after, he became a super-popular villain owing to his cleverness and charm.

So, there you have it, these were our top 10 twist villains who shocked and surprised us. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have a nominee for this list? Let us know in the comments below.