Really terrible characters aren’t limited to horror anime or scary anime. Some of the most notable examples are listed here.
All the qualities that make anime characters endearing—fun, nobility, power, cuteness, lovability—are abundant in anime series. But, some people truly are terrifying.
It’s not uncommon for an anime character to be genuinely scary. Some people have terrifying histories, expressions, or skills, and we’d rather not interact with them.
And every once in a while, there’s an anime character who’s just plain spooky, uncomfortable, or scary.
This article will discuss the characteristics that make certain anime characters so scary. Both heroes and villains are represented here, much to your surprise.
18. Seido Takizawa From Tokyo Ghoul
Yes, this agent from the first season of Tokyo Ghoul, who looks nice, turned into a Ghoul and is now a scary monster.
In fact, he became one of the hybrid one-eyed Ghouls that were part of the Aogiri Tree’s experiment.
All of the Ghouls in this anime show are badass, but this agent-turned-Ghoul is so crazy and scary that he beat Tatara, one of the characters who act as a leader.
17. Baby Hyakkimaru From Dororo
This poor little baby is the result of his father’s last-ditch effort to keep his power and wealth and keep his land from starving.
He was given to the devils as a sacrifice, and each of them took a body part.
He was stillborn, though, and had to live as if cursed from the moment he was born.
You can see that Baby Hyakkimaru has no eyes, skin, or nose.
The rest of him is wrapped up in cloth. If he hadn’t been adopted, he would be like a walking corpse, if he even made it.
16. Empty Head Girl From Parasyte: The Maxim
Who wouldn’t be scared if they saw a girl running by who was missing half of her head and didn’t have any eyes?
In Parasyte: The Maxim, this character is actually Reiko Tamura after she split her parasyte body.
She couldn’t think straight and even made a joke about having an empty head.
When the head gets messed up like this, the body seems to lose its desire to eat people.
15. Kaoru Hanayama From Baki
In the Baki anime series, Kaoru Hanayama is one of the characters who look like a monster.
At first glance, he looks like a big, kind man.
When it comes time to fight?
He is just as violent as any other character in the show.
His fight with Spec is a great example of how terrible he is.
Even though he was shot in the knee and pumped full of bullets that went off, he stands up and shows Spec how different they are.
But even though he gave his opponent a loss, Kaoru Hanayama had half of his face blown off.
14. Reaper Death Seal From Naruto
In the Naruto series, the Reaper Death Seal is one of the best ways to seal something.
It uses the power of a shinigami, which means “death god,” to absorb the soul of a target into one’s own body and then kill oneself to seal both souls for good.
The summoned shinigami is scary, and there’s no going back once it’s been called.
It won’t go anywhere without the soul of the sealer.
13. Majito From Jujutsu Kaisen
We can say that Majito is everything that is bad.
Even though he has a face that looks innocent, it only hides the bad things he wants, which come out in the way he talks to other people.
His soft voice and flowery language were so convincing that Junpei believed everything he said and became his pawn.
12. Chairman Isaac Netero From Hunter X Hunter
In Hunter X Hunter, he is not a bad guy.
Even though he is the best hunter in the Hunter Association, he is not scary in the usual sense.
We put him on this list, but why?
The battle he had with the Chimera Ant King.
Isaac Netero turns on a bomb that will go off when his heart stops, even though he has lost an arm, a leg, and most of his strength.
He does this with a ghostly smile.
In the world of Hunter X Hunter, his cleverness makes him one of the most badass, but also one of the scariest, characters.
After all, when that bomb went off, it destroyed a huge area.
11. Afuro From Afro Samurai
Afuro (or Afro) is the main character in Afro Samurai.
He is one of the scariest anime characters because of how strong he is, how much he hates people, and how much he wants revenge.
Even though other characters in the same series are scary in their own ways, Afro is scary because he lives for revenge and is filled with anger.
10. Smiling Titan From Attack on Titan
The Smiling Titan is the first Titan with a name that we meet in Attack on Titan, and Eren has a special relationship with it because it ate his mother.
The Smiling Titan is one of the creepiest, scariest, and most nightmare-like of the Titans in this anime series.
Its huge size, dead eyes, and huge, savage grin are enough to keep you up at night for the rest of your life.
9. Enmu From Demon Slayer
Enmu is one of the most dangerous demons in Demon Slayer because he can control and change people’s dreams.
Aside from this, he also has a scary talking hand that can make you fall asleep and kill you from the inside.
8. Nanika From Hunter X Hunter
In Hunter X Hunter, Nanika can make someone’s wish come true if they meet three of his requirements. These demands can be as simple as letting someone ride on your back or as serious as giving up an organ.
Nanika’s pale white face and dark eyes make him look like a creepy doll as if that wasn’t scary enough. If you met Nanika, would you be brave enough to ask for something?
Oh, yeah. If you don’t do what he wants, you’ll have a terrible end.
7. Bunny Beast From Blood C
Would a bunny ever make you feel scared?
Real bunnies are cute and cuddly animals, but Blood C’s Bunny Beasts are not.
When the Bunny Beasts attack, you can be sure that a macabre scene will happen.
Like when they put people in arms that look like sacks and beat them until they are mush.
Or like when they use their fingers to skewer people and cook them on a grill.
6. Tenko Shimura From My Hero Academia
The main bad guy in the My Hero Academia series is Tenko Shimura, whose real name is Tomura Shigaraki.
He can turn anyone or anything into ashes with his Quirk, “Decay.”
He is on this list because he wants to destroy everything that All for One has built.
He is a bad guy because of his sad past, and his scary personality matches his scary appearance, both with and without his hands.
5. Juuzou Suzuya From Tokyo Ghoul
Even though he fights without a Quinque, Juuzou is one of the best CCG agents.
The scene where he fights his former classmates, who are now hybrid one-eyed Ghouls, shows how cruel he is and how much he enjoys making Ghouls run away from danger.
He is a really scary killer, with a sinister smile and deadly moves and ways of killing.
Even though in later arcs he loses a lot of his bloodlust and becomes calmer, he’s still a badass agent until the end of the series.
4. No Face From Spirited Away
Many people like No-Face from Spirited Away.
Even though he seems like a nice spirit, he’s pretty creepy when you think about his personality.
No-Face seems shy, but he is so crazy about Chihiro that he will do anything to get her attention.
He just wants to be friends, but he takes things in the wrong direction, which is actually pretty scary.
Everyone knows a person like this.
3. Illumi Zoldyck From Hunter X Hunter
Illumi is one of the most scary characters in Hunter X Hunter.
She was born into a family of killers and works as an assassin.
Behind his pretty face is a bad person who doesn’t think twice about killing people.
His true evil side came out when Hisoka made fun of him for killing Killua.
When Illumi hears it, his face turns dark and his aura oozes with a desire to kill. Yes, it is very scary.
2. Hisoka Morow From Hunter X Hunter
In the Hunter X Hunter show, Hisoka Morow’s bloodlust is so strong during the Hunter Exam that it stops Gon in his tracks and scares him.
Fortunately, Hisoka was able to calm down.
He is, along with the Illumi from the same series, one of the scary characters in that series.
1. Peter Ratri From The Promised Neverland
Most scary anime characters aren’t monsters or demons, but people like Peter Ratri from The Promised Neverland who act in ways that aren’t human.
As the head of the family and its illegal business, he raises children for demons and sells them to them.
