12 Scariest Anime Characters Of All Time That Will Force You To Sleep With One Eye Open

Despite the vast fictional world of anime, many fans believe the horror genre is still underdeveloped and underexplored. However, they can’t deny that anime is home to some of the scariest, most horrific and grotesque-looking characters ever.

Over the years, anime ventures like Monster, Hunter x Hunter, Berserk and more have successfully produced the scariest villains that will give you nightmares for days. These characters are not necessarily scary appearance-wise. Rather, their motives, aura, style and personality will masterfully send shivers down your spine.

On that note, take a look at our list of the top 12 scariest anime characters of all time. The list, in no particular ranking, evaluates the appearance, fear-inducing factors, aura and motives of the villains that distinguish them from other scary characters in anime.

Here are our top 12 scariest anime characters of all time

1. Hisoka

Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Powers or abilities: Enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, extreme pain tolerance, ingeniousness and transmutation.
Created by: Yoshihiro Togashi

“Those eyes. That look. That spirit… I can’t wait… to break you.”

Hisoka Morow is known by many names, such as Hisoka, Hisoka the Magician, and Grim Reaper. But no matter what you call him, only his mention is enough to make your blood run cold.

The main antagonist of the manga/anime series Hunter x Hunter, Hisoka is an enigmatic magician who has a twisted tendency to spare only those who have the potential to be his opponent. He has shown mercy to Gon Freecss and Killua Zoldyck who become his friends or foes (depending on the situation).

One of Hisoka’s greatest powers is his mastery of deception and illusion. His excellent battle IQ combined with an unnatural thirst for combat makes him a formidable fighter. His enemies are dumbfounded in a battle against him as Hisoka’s tricks make them doubt their judgements.

Hisoka is also driven by sheer confidence that he is unbeatable and truly believes in himself. His exceptional combative ability combined with self-reliance make him one of the scariest anime characters of all time.

2. Shūkurō Tsukishima

Anime: Bleach (2004)
Power or abilities: Can sense spiritual beings, superhuman speed and master of swordsmanship.
Created by: Tite Kubo

“Soon that isolated feeling inside you will have never existed in the first place”

Imagine living with the constant fear of someone manipulating or distorting your thoughts and completely changing the reality as you know it. That is how it feels like to have Shūkurō Tsukishima around.

Shūkurō from the 2004 anime series Bleach is one of the scariest anime characters of all time due to his ability to invade the minds of his victims. He has mastered the art of unleashing psychological horror onto his victims. Bleach centres around a teenager named Ichigo Kurosaki who has the ability to see ghosts.

Shūkurō is the main antagonist of the series who possesses an ability called Book of the End — a reality-altering power. He can also rewrite a person’s past. With a calm and composed demeanour, he launches a psychological attack that no heroic willpower can overcome.

3. Tomura Shigaraki

Anime: My Hero Academia (2016)
Power or abilities: Disintegrate anyone and anything, super regeneration, air cannon, springlike limbs, radio waves and wings among other abilities from All For One.
Created by: Kohei Horikoshi

“I’ll carve a path through the world… even if it means destroying everything in my way”

Tomura is the leader of the League of Villains and is the most chilling yet complex villain in the series. My Hero Academia is set in a world where everyone has a Quirk — a unique superpower.

His Quirk allows him to decay anything he touches. Over the seasons, Shigaraki’s Quirk evolves and makes him more powerful. He develops the ability to not only control his Quirk as he wishes but also take out a large group of people without having to touch them all.

Moreover, he has a twisted backstory as his Quirk leads to the accidental death of his family. He also holds great resentment for society and breeds the thought of turning the entire world into dust. Shigaraki is a perfect vessel of hatred and destruction that grows powerful with each season.

4. Johan Liebert

Anime: Monster (2004)
Powers or abilities: None. He is just pure evil.
Created by: Naoki Urasawa

“Only one thing is equal for all, and that is death.”

Sometimes the most terrifying monsters on earth are the ones that live among us. They look completely normal. They breathe and talk like us. But their minds are a complete hellscape.

Johan Liebert from the 2004 anime series Monster looks like your run-of-the-mill guy who works a desk job. However, one peek into his mind will make your toes curl.

Monster is a suspense/thriller anime that took the 2000s by storm. Adapted from the Naoki Urasawa manga of the same name, the series centres around Dr. Tenma who saved a young boy.

However, this young boy grows up to become a mass murderer. Johan is the series’ leading villain. His conventional looks mask his deranged psychotic tendencies. He also mastered the scariest ability to coerce and manipulate anybody he wants with nothing but his words. Unlike other villains with superpowers, Johan is simply filled with evilness.

5. Griffith

Anime: Berserk (2016)
Power or abilities: Telekinesis, spatial manipulation, causality manipulation and perception, flight, teleportation, reality warping, gravity manipulation and invulnerability.
Created by: Kentaro Miura

“I feel no responsibility to comrades who’ve lost lives under my command. Because they chose to fight in each battle. Just as I chose this. But if there is something that I can do for them. Something I can do for the dead… then it is to win!”

If the list of Griffith’s powers did not scare you enough, then the fact that he possesses supernatural charisma will definitely haunt your thoughts.

Also known as Femto, Griffth is the main antagonist of the Berserk franchise and the leader of the mercenary army, Band of the Hawk. He is one of the most powerful and iconic villains in anime history. His entire existence embodies the themes of ambition, betrayal and the power of dreams.

Berserk is set in a medieval world filled with war, magic and creatures that will compel you to sleep with the lights on. The series follows the story of Gut, a mercenary, who gets untangled with Griffith and his group. The latter dreams of obtaining his own kingdom and even walking on the dead corpses of his comrades will not deter him from his path.

Griffith’s deceiving charisma and beauty drive him to make morally questionable decisions. His transformation scene, The Eclipse, will send shivers down your spine as it is infamously considered one of the most horrifying scenes in anime.

6. Orochimaru

Anime: Naruto (2002)
Power or abilities: Ninjutsu and Senjutsu
Created by: Masashi Kishimoto

“Why are humans such fragile creatures?”

Naruto is the ‘OG’ and most popular anime series in the world. It follows the story of an orphaned young boy called Naruto Uzumaki who dreams of becoming a Hokage.

Orochimaru is one of the most terrifying and powerful villains in the series with a high kill count. His quest for immortality turns him from a respected ninja to a notorious rogue. His insatiable desire for power leads him to conduct unnatural human experiments where he searches for a vessel to shift his soul.

Orochimaru is also one of the few to ever master all five nature transformations, making him almost undefeatable. He also mastered forbidden techniques that allowed him to perform many unnatural experiments including necromantic jitsu. His serpentine-like physical appearance is also quite unsettling to watch.

7. Yoshikage Kira

Anime: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable (2017)
Power or abilities: Killer Queen, Sheer Heart Attack and Bites the Dust.
Created by: Hirohiko Araki

“I’m trying to explain that I’m a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, like winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night.”

Kira is a serial killer who is obsessed with women’s hands. One of the most terrifying aspects of his personality trait is that he wants to live a serene and undisturbed life after committing the most heinous deeds.

Yoshikage Kira is the main antagonist of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable (2017). The series is set in the peaceful town of Morioh where supernatural events unfold. Kira appears to be a normal guy with an air of nonchalance. However, beneath his mundane facade, he hides a chilling compulsion to kill.

Unlike other villains, who are driven by power, Kira’s obsession to satiate his dark desires by indulging his horrifying fantasies makes him one of the scariest anime characters. Kira’s first power, Killer Queen, gives him the ability to turn anything into a bomb that can detonate on his will.

The second ability, Sheer Heart Attack, allows him to deploy a small bomb that hunts the target. The third power, Bites the Dust, allows Kira to plant a bomb into a normal person. If this person is interrogated about Kira, the bomb will explode instantly.

8. Ryuk

Anime: Death Note (2006)
Powers or abilities: Immortality, intangibility, Shinigami’s Eyes and flight
Created by: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

“Death plays no favourites.”

The 2006 Death Note is arguably one of the most popular anime series, especially for those who are not anime fans. It is widely considered the best anime to watch for beginners.

Hence, it is not surprising that Ryuk has made our list of scariest anime characters of all time. Apart from his terrifying appearance, Ryuk also has the uncanny ability to make you feel unsettled. For those who are less familiar with other scary anime characters, Ryuk’s voice is enough to send a shiver down their spine.

Death Note follows the story of a young boy, Light Yagami, who stumbles upon a book. He soon realises that the book holds a dark, magical ability to kill the person by simply writing their name. Ryuk is the death god who inadvertently gave the book to Yagami simply because he was bored in the Shinigami Realm.

9. Sachiko Shinozaki

Anime: Corpse Party: Tortured Souls (2013)
Power or abilities: Intangibility, swordsmanship and manipulation
Created by: Makoto Kedōin

“You’re so cute. I just want to mess you right up…”

Do not be deceived by her short stature and childlike innocence. Sachiko Shinozaki will give you the creeps that will have you checking the bottom of the bed for monsters every night.

Apart from her excellently-drawn ghostly appearance, Shinozaki also has a twisted back story. She is the epitome of malevolence who simply wants to harm her peers. Corpse Party is a horror anime based on a popular survival video game. It follows the story of a bunch of students being transported to an alternate dimension.

Shinozaki dies a tragic and brutal death. To seek vengeance, she traps the students in the school and manipulates the environment to give them the most vile and gruesome deaths one by one. Her sadistic nature is a complete contrast to her innocent face.

10. Kyubey

Anime series: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)
Power or abilities: Telepathic communication, invisibility, wish-granting, replication and advanced magical technology.
Created by: Gen Urobuchi and Ume Aoki

“Presently there are six billion, eight hundred million of you, and you’re increasing in number by a hundred every four minutes! What’s the huge fuss over the death of each and every single creature?”

Beware, cat lovers! Do not be deceived by this cute creature; she looks pet-worthy but is completely devoid of all and any emotion.

Kyubey is a messenger of Magic who offers young girls a chance to grant their wishes. The only catch is that the girls would turn into magical girls and get cursed with the destiny of fighting witches. Underneath his cuteness, Kyubey hides his indifference to human suffering.

The cosmic horror is amplified by Kyubey’s genuine belief in exploiting human desire and hope for the greater good of the universe. Kyubey also has the ability to create new timelines but it only brings more suffering. The anime series offers psychological horror in witnessing Kyubey’s sinister brilliance unfold on young girls.

11. Ladd Russo

Anime: Baccano! (2007)
Power or abilities: Trained hitman.
Created by: Ryôgo Narita

“I love guns! … Machine guns? That’s even better! This could be fun! Sounds like death, and danger.”

Ladd Russo is a sadistic hitman from the Russo Family. He is the main antagonist of the anime series Baccano! Russo is one of the scariest anime characters for many reasons. Watching him beam with childlike glee while killing people is definitely on top of that list.

Unlike villains with motives and justifications for their wrongdoings, Russo’s brand of horror is being an unapologetic murderer who finds thrill in splashing someone’s blood and organs around. Russo is purely driven by bloodlust and a psychotic obsession with murdering anyone who believes they are safe from death.

Baccano! is set in a world of immortals, gangsters and normal people during the Prohibition era in the United States. The series focuses on the quest for immortality. However, it has a twist. The immortals can kill one another and ‘devour’ their victim’s knowledge and lifespan.

12. Orsted

Anime: Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarnation (2021)
Power or abilities: Magic and swordsmanship

“Possessing the Fighting God Armor and the King Dragon Sword. I assume that you’ll have no excuses when you lose with both?”

Orsted is probably the most worthy villain to make our list of scariest anime characters of all time because he is literally cursed to be terrifying to others. Also known as The Human Demon, Orsted is the epitome of vengeance, manipulation and a complex villain.

Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarnation follows Rudeus Greyat, who gets a second chance at life after he is reincarnated into a fantasy world. Orsted is the main antagonist of the series who was once a revered hero. He turns into a cold, calculating villain who is unstoppable in every sense.

Apart from his chilling powers that can defeat even the most powerful beings in the world, Orsted is driven by deep-seated anger and complex motives. The depth of his psychological torment is unfathomable and bone-chilling.

(Header and feature image courtesy: IMDb/ Hunter x Hunter and Naruto: Shippuden)