EganTheVile1 (Level 20)

As far as iconic villains go, you can not surpass Megatron (except maybe if your the next guy on the list) He has that "I'll bitch slap my own men for looking at me funny" attitude that just makes him the ultimate villain leader. He is constantly a sinister character, and was the one who shattered the belief among American fans that the villain can never kill the hero in animation.

Another iconic animated villain. He has changed a lot since the original series. The anime series Sigma 6 by Gonzo portrayed him as a "Warrior King" while the mini-series Resolute portrayed him as the most cold blooded murderer to ever live. Any version of Cobra Commander is an excellent villain, regardless of whether he is campy or murderous.

King Zarkon, or, in GoLion, Emperor Daibazaal, is your uber villain, he runs the course of the Voltron/GoLion series as the major antagonist. He is a murderer, a rapist, a conqueror, a dictator, enjoys bloodsports.... This guy is pure scum.

Evil incarnate, a man who was so obsessed with a woman he could not have that he offered his body to be consumed by a host of demons, the bandit died, the demon was born. The antagonist of Inuyasha is impossible to leave out of this list.

At a glance, you may raise an eyebrow at the inclusion of this obscure Bleach hollow, but considering he is the killer of Ichigo's mother, and a major part of Ichigo's drive to fight Hollows, Grand Fisher is impossible to ignore as a major villain.

If I bring up Grand Fisher and dont bring up this guy in the same breathe, Bleach fans would have my head on a pike. While Fisher was Bleach's first true antagonist, Aizen was it's biggest one. He is the traitor Soul Reaper, he allies himself with hollows, he corrupts heroes into villains. This guy makes Bleach interesting.

Does he count as a villain? Godzilla is certainly one of the greatest antagonists created by Japanese pop-culture, but calling him a villain may be a stretch, at least in America. In post world war II Japan, he was the ultimate villain, a nuclear monster that savagely destroyed Japan, he was the living embodiment of the United State's nuclear bombing.

A serial killer by any other name is simply a serial killer, a serial killer by this name is a genocidal telekinetic/telepathic lunatic hell bent on exterminating the human race. This Trigun villain made the close of the series an incredibly dark one.

Tuxedo Mask has an odd distinction as a villain. In later seasons of the Sailor Moon series, he and Serena developed a bit of, what can be now described as, a Buffy Summers/Angel relationship, they were star crossed lovers, but one had an incredible darkside. The episodes with Tuxedo Mask as a villain were some of the best in the series.

The destroyer of the saiyans, the character that really sets the whole Dragon Ball franchise in motion, and the villain that drives Goku to become a Super Saiyan, the only question about Frieza being on this list is why he is not in the top 10. My call is why!

Cowboy Bebop was for the most part a series of self contained stories, with no real ongoing background story, with one exception, the Spike/Julia/Vicious plot. Vicious is the main villain of arguably the greatest anime series of all time, and when he finally goes down, he takes someone with him.

Both the protagonist and antagonist in Death Note, Light went from a jaded teen who only wanted peace and justice, to a megalomaniac sociopath who considered himself to be God. He is anime's greatest example of absolute power corrupting absolutely.

Inuyasha villains, and even heroes, are never short on racking up a body count, but these guys are the worst of the worst. When you have villains who simply like to kill, it may seem a bit 1-dimensional, but it works with these guys.

See what I wrote above but replace Inuyasha with Trigun.

If there were any villain in Transformers truly capable of being a better villain then Megatron it would be Starscream. His almost bizarre anti-villain aspect is such an awesome character point, he will help the Autobots for the sole reason of screwing over Megatron.