Anime main villain deaths I have seen, ranked from least to most favorite.
This will exclude the following:
- Black Lagoon – Arcs are too short compared to others
- One Punch Man – Same as above
- Yosihkage Kira (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) – I never got that far
- Zeref (Fairy Tail) – I never got that far either
- Movies that don't fit into TV canon
And Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Z Kai, though I count them as separate animes, will be counted together since the death scenes are pretty much the same.
Contains spoilers as to the identity of the hidden main villain of the original Fullmetal Alchemist.
55: Pharaoh 90 – Sailor Moon
The main villain of Sailor Moon S, the third Sailor Moon season. Compared to the final battles of the last two seasons, this one felt underwhelming, despite Sailor Moon being empowered by the other Sailor Scouts. She enters Pharaoh 90 and, offscreen, destroys his core, causing him to explode into nothingness. It doesn't quite look as dramatic as it sounds, and the song playing in the background is a slow, waltz-like song that, unlike the songs of the battles with Beryl and Wiseman, don't sound befitting for an epic final battle, despite how big of a threat to the world he was.
It doesn't help that he barely has much of a presence either.
54: Dietlinde Eckhart – Fullmetal Alchemist
The main villain of the film that concludes the series, Conqueror of Shamballa. She gets mutated into a monster, and, being mistaken for an enemy of her own team, is shot in the head by Officer Hughes. That's pretty much all there is to it.
53: Dekim Barton – Gundam Wing
The main villain of the film that concludes the series, Endless Waltz. Like Eckhart, he gets shot in the head by one of his own men. That's pretty much it.
52: Great Leviathan – Yu-Gi-Oh
The overarching antagonist of the fourth season, Waking the Dragons, and the corrupting force behind Dartz. Despite this, he doesn’t have much personality and I don't think he ever speaks, and his death isn't all that spectacular, just shrinking down to nothingness as Yami destroys him.
51: Dr. Yung – Pokemon
The main villain of The Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon. After his defeat, he acts like his plan is still going forward and walks into his burning lab, before he is apparently crushed by falling rubble, and if not, likely burns to death later. His death is somewhat ambiguous as his body is never recovered.
50: Chuuei Toutaku – Ikki Tousen
The main villain of the first season. After being killed by Ryofu, his spirit endures and possesses Hakufu. However, he is eaten by her dragon, ending his possession of her and killing him for good.
This ranks this low because, not only is the sequence a little too fast, but it's tainted by "fanservice". But to be fair, this show is specifically intended for people into that, I only saw it on a challenge to ignore that stuff for the fighting and such, and it paid off with an entry that will be way higher on this list.
49: Dante – Fullmetal Alchemist
The hidden main villain of the anime, the one behind the Homunculi. After turning Gluttony into a mindless beast, Gluttony confronts her in the elevator. We don't see the fight, just the empty elevator afterwards, leaving the victor ambiguous until we see Gluttony in the film, having eaten Dante offscreen.
She gets this low because her death is offscreen and not confirmed until the film, but she ranks above Toutaku due to the irony of it, being killed by her own servant due to her turning him into a mindless beast.
48: Sounga – Inuyasha
The main villain of the third movie, Swords of an Honorable Ruler. I found him the most forgettable. He is a sentient Phantom Sword who is brother to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's Phantom Swords. In the end, they combine their power into Backlash Wave and Dragon Strike, respectively, disintegrating the metal body Sounga had constructed for himself, and while the sword remains intact, we see his spirit disintegrate and die as well. This one was fairly enjoyable but ranks lower than many others.
47: Arachne – Soul Eater
One of the three main villains of the series, she is impaled by Asura with his fist and disintegrates into dead spiders before Asura eats her soul. That's about it.
46: Apocalymon – Digimon Adventure
The overarching antagonist of the series, who only appears in two episodes. Once all his other methods of attack are destroyed, he selfdestructs in an attempt to ensure that the Digidestined and both worlds die with him.
The selfdestruct is only briefly shown, but there is a more extended sequence of his explosion being contained by the Digidestined's digivices in an epic scene, even though he is already dead by this point. Nevertheless, this sequence ranks him above many below him.
45: Princess Kaguya – Inuyasha
The main villain of the second film, The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass. After her body is destroyed, she survives in a disembodied form of smoke, mostly invincible. However, she is not immune to Miroku's Wind Tunnel, and he sucks Kaguya into oblivion.
44: Dartz – Yu-Gi-Oh
The main villain of Season 4, Waking the Dragons. After losing the longest duel (at SIX episodes) to Yami, he gives his own soul to the Leviathan and his body dies, disintegrating into dust. The disintegration is spectacular, putting him this high, but Dartz still has a presence after death, appearing in spirit form until the Leviathan's destruction purifies him and he goes on to the afterlife.
43: MetalSeadramon – Digimon Adventure
One of the four main villains of the fourth arc. He is seemingly unstoppable, having beaten the Digidestined in the past, and his chrome digizoid armor withstands WarGreymon's Dramon-destroying claw. However, after Whamon saves WarGreymon and is killed by MetalSeadramon, WarGreymon uses Great Tornado, countering MetalSeadramon's River of Power attack and drilling through him inside, sending his beam back through him as well, unexpectedly and suddenly taking out the first Dark Master at the beginning of an episode.
42: Anubis – Yu-Gi-Oh
The main villain of the movie Pyramid of Light. He is defeated by Yugi and Yami's Blue Eyes Shining Dragon with Shining Nova Attack and is destroyed. The death is not swift; there is an extended sequence of him gruesomely melting. He gets higher than others below him for dying so gruesomely in a show that went ridiculous with censorship, and there is no censorship with his death in any way.
41: Pharaoh 90 – Sailor Moon Crystal
The main villain of the third season of Sailor Moon Crystal. Once mortally wounded by Sailor Saturn with the Silence Glaive, and Sailor Moon releasing light energy inside him, he begs to be returned to the Tau Star System so he can die there, and Sailor Saturn does so. We last see him on the other side of the gate before it is closed.
As his death – which can be assumed to be a spectacular explosion of light – occurs offscreen, this puts him in the lower half of this list, but as he had more of a presence and dialog than his original series counterpart, and the sequence is a lot more epic and spectacular in its own way, he ranks high above him.
40: Light Yagami – Death Note
His death is pretty simple – Ryuk writes his name in the Death Note and he dies of a heart attack. Standard death fare for Death Note, but he ranks this high due to the satisfaction factor, with him being an insane and delusional God wannabe who is also very intelligent and outwitted L leading to his death. So seeing his downfall, after we thought he was ahead of Near, was pretty satisfying.
39: Diaboromon – Digimon Adventure
The main villain of Digimon: The Movie, or at least the Adventure 01 segment of it. He gets stabbed in the face by Omnimon just before his nuclear missiles can blow up two cities. More realistic than the other deaths in the series and he doesn't disintegrate like they do, putting him lower than most of them, but still, being stabbed in the face is pretty hardcore. "Connection terminated."
38: Princess Snow Kaguya – Sailor Moon
The main villain of the movie, Hearts in Ice, which fits into canon. She is overpowered by ALL the Sailor Scouts (except Sailor Saturn) in a beam struggle, with them using the Silver Crystal's power, and is destroyed. Not quite as flashy as Cell but it was pretty exciting seeing this for the first time many years after that anime had given me this interest.
37: Queen Metalia – Sailor Moon Crystal
The main villain of the first season, a being of pure evil, and a far greater threat than Queen Beryl, who I'd say is secondary antagonist here. Sailor Moon blasts her weak point, causing her to implode then explode into a cloud of gold dust. Could have been more spectacular but was epic all the same, and at that time I wasn't sure whether Crystal would go down this path or conform to modern day anime style.
36: Menomaru – Inuyasha
The main villain of the first movie, Affections Touching Across Time, Menomaru wasn't very memorable to me as a villain but the way he disintegrates once hit by Inuyasha's Backlash Wave and Kagome's Sacred Arrow was pretty cool.
35: Ryura – Inuyasha
The main villain of the fourth movie, Fire on the Mystic Island. After their first deaths, Ryura and his three fellow War Gods are revived in a fused form, with Ryura dominant. He dies the same way as Menomaru – a combination of Inuyasha's Backlash Wave and Kagome's Sacred Arrow. Though the disintegration isn't as drawn-out, I rank him above Menomaru for being my favorite Inuyasha villain.
34: Lysandre – Pokemon
The main villain of XY & Z, in a string of uncharacteristically epic episodes by the awesome Atsuhiro Tomioka. In an apocalyptic villain setting with red clouds, he is climactically destroyed along with his giant rock by Zygarde Complete Forme with Core Enforcer, in a spectacular explosion of green light. He might not be shown disintegrating explicitly like DBZ, Sailor Moon, Digimon, or Inuyasha villains, putting him a bit lower, but it's still pretty awesome.
33: Medusa – Soul Eater
One of three main villains and the abusive and manipulative mother to Crona who also sorta hijacks Arachne's arc. She also possesses a little girl which is pretty dark. Her horrific actions are why she is placed this high, when Maka slashes her with Genie Hunter, not harming Rachel but driving Medusa out of her, in spirit form, as she then disintegrates into nothingness, not even leaving a soul behind.
32: Queen Beryl/The Negaforce – Sailor Moon
The main villains of the first season, with the Negaforce (known as Queen Metalia in the redub – I go by the version I saw, the original dub, which is a huge factor in another villain that will appear much higher) ranking above Beryl as Bigger Bad. Nevertheless, they share the same death scene, as they fuse into one, with Beryl dominant and the Negaforce powering her from within. During a climactic sequence where the spirits of the other Sailor Scouts give Princess Serena (Serenity in the redub, and another form of Sailor Moon) power, she disintegrates Beryl, and the Negaforce along with her, with a giant energy ball.
Not only is this a pretty awesome fight and the song befitting of it (unlike with Pharaoh 90), but also this was the first anime MVD I ever saw, and in the anime that gave me this interest.
31: Cyrus – Pokemon
The main villain of Diamond and Pearl, particularly Galactic Battles. Again, in some uncharacteristic epic episodes by Atsuhiro Tomioka, Cyrus attempts to destroy the world and create his own, but when his control over Dialga and Palkia is weakening, he jumps into his world, which shrinks to a ball of light that Dialga and Palkia then destroy, imploding into a vortex.
Cyrus ranks this high because, not only is the vortex implosion spectacular, but this level of epicness as well as this type of villain defeat is very rare in Pokemon. Hunter J also died awesomely in the previous episode, but sadly as she is not a MAIN villain she won't be on this list.
30: Father – Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
After Greed sacrifices himself to turn Father's body into fragile carbon in one of many emotional scenes in the series, Ed impales him with his fist, destroying his Philosopher's Stone. Hands reach out from the hole inside him as he implodes into nothingness. There is more to his death scene AFTER the death itself – his soul goes to his Gate of Truth and is dragged through to eternal imprisonment as his damnation, ironically giving him the knowledge he wanted but forever stripping him of the freedom he wanted.
Though his death can have sad overtones to it as, aside from Greed's sacrifice, Father's words both before and after his death can almost generate sympathy for him, he gets this high because he is directly responsible for all the tragedies caused by the Homunculi in the series, as Wrath led the military which carried out the Ishvalan Massacre (after Envy killed an Ishvalan child) to collect souls for the Philosopher's Stones. He also murdered an entire country and took all their souls, and intended to do so again to absorb God and become all-powerful. By extension, Hughes's death traces back to him as well and it's the definitive sad moment in the series. After all these atrocities, he finally gets his Laser-Guided Karma.
29: Embryo – Cross Ange
He is the main villain of the series, practically God of his world and his utopian society is flawed because he deliberately established prejudice against non-magic people Norma, and tricked both them and dragons into fighting each other thinking the other side is evil. He is also seemingly invincible, but his real body is not, and, in an epic battle, is chopped in two by Tusk, Frieza style. He survives with his soul inside his mech, Hysterica, but then Ange slashes him with Vilkiss's beam sword, spectacularly blowing him up.
28: Cherubimon – Digimon Frontier
The main villain of the longer first arc, and is very sinister and threatening. After an intense battle, EmperorGreymon stabs him in the forehead, and a spectacular flash of data is shown shining from his forehead.
While this is a climactic conclusion to this arc, this death can kinda have sad overtones to it as well as his spirit is purified afterwards, and lingers for a few seconds, shedding tears, before he fades away to join Seraphimon and Ophanimon in the afterlife. At the same time, this is a peaceful death for him, as he goes out with a smile and reunites with his former comrades who have forgiven him, and he briefly returns in spirit form to speak through his physically reincarnated self, Lopmon, during the battle with Lucemon.
27: Emperor Nogo – Glitter Force
A giant, sinister, evil clown who eventually transforms into a black hole and sucks in a whole chunk of the earth. He defeats the Glitter Force, but they use their final transformation and, Candy fighting alongside them, overpower him, causing a giant apparition of light which swallows up the darkness and destroys him with a hug and a smile. "I've been defeated by a smile? The horror!" There's something entertaining about all that, plus dark forms and evil clowns are high on my list of villain types.
26: Etemon – Digimon Adventure
The main villain of the second arc, returning in the fourth as MetalEtemon. After Zudomon dents his chrome digizoid form with his hammer, also chrome digizoid, he is impaled by SaberLeomon (whom he had mortaly wounded earlier) with his claw, and while that isn't explicitly shown, the way he disintegrates looks really cool, putting him this high.
25: Piedmon – Digimon Adventure
The fourth and darkest of the Dark Masters, main antagonists of the fourth arc. Another evil clown, but playing the evil clown archetype more straight, acting almost comical but very sinister and also sadistic as he tells LadyDevimon to make the Digidestined's deaths relatively painful. At the end, the newly digivolved MagnaAngemon conjures the Gate of Destiny, which sucks in his army of Vilemon. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon then blast him into the Gate of Destiny, which closes and spectacularly disintegrates into gold sparkles.
This is all awesome, but what puts him a bit lower than others is that it can give some the impression that he didn't actually die, but was sealed in another dimension. Nonetheless, I am inclined to think he disintegrated along with the Gate of Destiny, as this is the point where his part of Spiral Mountain is destroyed.
24: Gozaburo Kaiba – Yu-Gi-Oh
The Bigger Bad of the first half of Season 3, Enter the Shadow Realm, above his son Noah, who, being reformed, won't be counted here – but then again, they do share the same death scene. Noah causes a satellite attack to destroy the fortress the virtual world is stationed in, and everyone in it. When the fortress explodes, Gozaburo disintegrates along with the virtual world. Bizarrely, he survives for a brief moment in the real world as a beast of flame, part of the explosion, and tries to eat the blimp Seto Kaiba and the protagonists are inside, but they escape, and Gozaburo disappears for good.
He gets this high not only for the epicness and bizarreness of the scene, but again, this wasn't censored (aside from Noah's death), and the Big Five died along with him. Plus, it's implied he made Kaiba the jerk he is.
23: Lucemon – Digimon Frontier
The main villain of the second arc and overarching antagonist, pretty much the devil. He is destroyed once but outright revives in a pure evil form, a larval form which stabs Susanoomon with his tail, but the spirits of the ten Legendary Warriors – now separate entities from their hosts – jump out and slash him one by one. Lucemon then spectacularly disintegrates and explodes in a flash of light.
22: Yami Marik – Yu-Gi-Oh
The main villain of the second half of Season 3, Enter the Shadow Realm, and final antagonist of Season 2, a dark side of Marik created when he was young. He is a complete psychopath and might even be more evil than Bakura. In addition to his sadistic shadow games with Mai and Joey, he puts Yami in a cruel situation during their duel in which the loser's OTHER half will be destroyed and/or damned to the Shadow Realm, with the original Marik being the victim. However, their places are switched, and the reformed Marik surrenders the duel, destroying Yami Marik once and for all (though he is also said to "vanish into the Shadow Realm").
21: Kurata – Digimon Data Squad
The main antagonist of the second arc, and overarching antagonist, the only one of the three who is irredeemably evil, as his actions directly caused the other two to be a threat. His mass murder of Digimon (making sure they don't get reborn as Digieggs) makes Data Squad the darkest of the series. After Belphemon is destroyed, Kurata corrupts a digital gate with an explosion, which has the unintended effect of setting both worlds to collide (setting in motion the final conflict), and sucking him into the gate. The cowardly mad scientist pleads for the Data Squad to help him before he is destroyed in a flash of light.
Though Data Squad is one of my least favorite Digimon series, and the same thing that caused his death also causing the final conflicts, Kurata gets this high due to how evil he is and being a rare instance of a human dying in Digimon, and the scene was kinda awesome too despite what came of it.
20: Devimon – Digimon Adventure
The main villain of the first arc. Though his evil is not as fleshed out as some of the others, he is established as pure evil all the same and he forces good Digimon to do his bidding by controlling them with Black Gears. Symbolically, it is Angemon, an angel, who defeats this devil, shooting a Hand of Fate beam through his chest. As he taunts Angemon about other enemies stronger than him, Devimon spectacularly disintegrates into purple particles. It is worth noting that, as he was dying, he was able to give somewhat calm final words and laugh, which is unique compared to the final moments of all those that followed.
19: Lord Bagra – Digimon Fusion
The main villain of the series, over the course of two seasons. Real name: Bagramon. He eventually kills his treacherous brother, secondary antagonist AxeKnightmon, and becomes the powerful MegaDarknessBagramon. After an epic final battle, Shoutmon DigiFuses with all his Digimon allies to become Shoutmon X7 Superior Mode and, after a duel with Bagra, stabs him with his sword. Bagra disintegrates into yellow particles.
He gets this high for being the longest-running antagonist in Digimon history, the sole main antagonist of Fusion, and combining a stab death with a technicolor disintegration, as well as being a 2010's anime that was not shy about doing this.
18: Asura – Soul Eater
The third and greatest antagonist of the series. Once he actually fights near the end, he defeats Death and the rest of the party, except Maka, who fights him in the final episode. He nearly has the upper hand, his madness being immune to her evil-destroying Genie Hunter, but she eventually shows bravery in his presence in an awesome sequence, causing him to be the one who is afraid. This final phase of the fight ends with Maka punching him in the face. Rays of blue light shine from him and he spectacularly explodes in a flash of light.
17: MaloMyotismon – Digimon Adventure 02
I emphasize 02 coz I consider it a separate universe from Adventure 01 where very similar but slightly different events took place (it wasn't quite as fun as 01 and has some inconsistencies, so the best way to explain them is an alternate universe/timeline theory). That said, his "pure" Adventure 01 self will be listed separately.
Revealed to be the main antagonist of Adventure 02 all along, Myotismon becomes MaloMyotismon, who uses fear as a weapon, and when the kids he used to return to power talk negative, he becomes stronger. Just when it seems that he has won, Davis says he wants to open… a noodle cart! This causes the kids to regain their lost dreams, destroying most of MaloMyotismon's body, and when they get their Digivices, their light destroys the last of his body, leaving his spirit form, which is then destroyed in a rainbow shockwave by Imperialdramon with Giga Crusher.
The sudden shift and the rainbowfied part put him this high, as well as how entertaining it is that he was essentially brought down by a noodle cart. Who saw that coming?
16: Dio Brando – JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
I'm gonna be honest – this is pretty low on my list of animes. No offense to hardcore fans of it but it just wasn't as fun as some of the others, especially Stardust Crusaders. But there was one reason I persevered to the end of Stardust Crusaders, and that was to see Dio destroyed. So the reason he is listed this high is for the satisfaction factor.
The reason why it's so satisfying to see him taken down for good is because he did so many horrible things in Phantom Blood. Even BEFORE becoming a vampire he burned Jonathan's dog Danny alive in the furnace, and also threatened to kill Jonathan in a very gruesome way that kinda weirded me out. Not to mention the added "shadowy" aspect of him in Stardust Crusaders where he spends most of the season in the shadows.
To the death scene itself: Jotaro's Star Platinum destroys Dio's Stand, The World, with a punch to a part of his leg where Dio was weakened earlier. Dio says "What the hell? It's impossible! I am the immortal Dio! I AM DIO!" Before his head explodes, finally destroying this evil vampire once and for all, since you know once a vampire's head is gone, he's dead.
15: Zorc/Bakura – Yu-Gi-Oh
Bakura is the longest-running Yu-Gi-Oh villain and is very dark, evil, and sinister, working in the shadows throughout Seasons 1 and 2. In Season 5 it's revealed he is a part of Zorc, evil incarnate and practically the devil, and merges with him. In the end he is spectacularly destroyed by the Creator of Light, with cracks/rays of light and an explosion of light, finally putting to an end both Yu-Gi-Oh's longest-running villain and its devil, without any censorship at that.
14: Treize Khushrenada – Gundam Wing
This death might also have some more sad overtones to it but in kind of a beautiful way. Treize is the manipulative main villain of the series who sets some of the main wars in motion due to being a Blood Knight, but he does have a sense of honor and deeply respects Wufei. They fight using their mechs, Wufei's Gundam and Treize's Tallgeese. Wufei asks Treize the bone-shattering question "How many people have died for you?!" Treize unexpectedly gives an exact figure, and then allows Wufei to stab his Tallgeese with his Gundam's trident. Trieze gives some heartfelt final words to Wufei before his Tallgeese explodes. Wufei, who previously expressed his hate for Treize, is now distraught, saying "DAMMIT! I didn't think I'd win…"
13: Kid Buu – Dragon Ball Z/Kai
I was considering ranking him lower than Zorc or Dio but considering how he is a very destructive and long-running antagonist of the series, who is not only nearly impossible to destroy, but also kills most of the allies to the Z Fighters, wipes out Earth's population, and blows up the earth, I had to list him this high. He starts as Evil Buu, Majin Buu's evil half, then eats Majin Buu and becomes Super Buu, who is the upfront villain for most of his arc, having a presence and speaking role during the fights with him, until losing Majin Buu's influence and becoming the mindless killing machine Kid Buu, who, by extension, is the original ORIGINAL Majin Buu before absorbing Dai Kaioh and sorta manifesting his less evil, more childish and "innocent" side on the surface… it's kinda confusing, I know.
Anyway, during the final fight with Kid Buu, Vegeta comes up with a plan for Goku to use a Spirit Bomb. There are SO MANY things that can go wrong with the plan, but ultimately it all works out – in large part due to Hercule/Mr. Satan, who is usually a cowardly fraud who takes the credit for stuff the Z Fighters did but legitimately helps save the universe this time, much to Piccolo's amusement – and Goku sends the Spirit Bomb back at Kid Buu, spectacularly disintegrating him.
In the original series, there's a little extra bit at the end where Goku, referencing something Vegeta said 248 episodes ago and hasn't really been mentioned since, says: "We make a pretty good team after all, don't we?"
12: Cell – Dragon Ball Z/Kai
Ranking just above Buu is my favorite main villain of the series, Cell, who is pretty brutal about the way he kills his victims when he absorbs them. Like Buu, it takes a long time after his first appearance to defeat him, and at times he seems too powerful to take down.
Eventually there is an epic, episode-long beam struggle between him and Gohan using Kamehamehas. Though the other Z Fighters attempt to help, Cell knocks them down and is about to overpower Gohan, when Vegeta hits him with a Big Bang Attack, allowing Gohan to overpower Cell and spectacularly disintegrate him completely, finally ending his threats and restoring peace to the earth for the first time since Frieza's arrival.
11: Puppetmon – Digimon Adventure
The second of the four main villains of the fourth arc. He might not be as long-running as Dio, Bakura, Buu, or Cell, his arc being relatively short. But there's just something about the scene itself. Puppetmon is slightly annoying, more goofier than outwardly sinister and menacing, his personality being a cross between a bratty child and a murderous psychopath who kills his own minions for petty reasons and sadistically plays around with the Digidestined while trying to kill them.
Just when the Digidestined suddenly and finally turn the tables on him in an awesome sequence made cooler by the song "Change Into Power", he brings his mansion to life which gives him back the advantage. Until MetalGarurumon comes along and easily defeats him with Metal Wolf Claw, blasting him with an energy wave. There's a certain satisfaction that sends chills up my spine (in a good way) when we see him laying there with that theme song playing, Puppetmon finally taken down, before he says his final words and disintegrates. It's not quite as spectacular as Etemon but the scene itself ranks him this high.
10: Machinedramon – Digimon Adventure
The third of the four main villains of the fourth arc. Though he only lasts two episodes against the Digidestined, his menacing voice and personality are refreshing coming right after Puppetmon. He is just as sadistic as Puppetmon and Piedmon, as he says he will try to make Kari's death as painful as he can.
After a fight, Agumon Warp Digivolves to WarGreymon. There is an extended sequence of WarGreymon running at Machinedramon. We see a brief shot of his Dramon-destroying claw shimmering, and then he reaches Machinedramon. We see a slashing motion… and WarGreymon de-digivolves to Koromon with a scratch on his face. It seems Machinedramon has won, with no one left to stand against him, and he plans to finish them once and for all.
But the atmosphere suddenly changes when Koromon reminds him that as WarGreymon, he sliced him like an onion! Machinedramon falls to pieces and disintegrates/explodes into particles, which itself also looks pretty cool.
9: D-Reaper – Digimon Tamers
The third and greatest antagonist of the series. It seeks to eliminate both humans and Digimon, and is a threat to both worlds, and former antagonists Yamaki and Zhuqiaomon are allied with the Tamers against it. Though the fight with it doesn't seem to get anywhere over the course of several episodes, eventually they find a way, in large part due to the unexpected and sudden appearance of the Sovereigns pulling its second in command, Cable Reaper, away, and MegaGargomon spins around to open the void of Juggernaut, sucking in all the chaos around D-Reaper's form. D-Reaper extends its tentacles to attack, but at the last second is pulled back. Previously speaking in a monotonous and somewhat sinister voice, D-Reaper cries out in terror for the first time as it is sucked into the void and is no more.
The visuals in the background make this really cool too, as well as the intensity and epicness of the final phase of the battle, and seeing the seemingly-unstoppable D-Reaper finally defeated, not to mention being followed by a Big Damn Heroes moment with Kazu and Kenta. Although, if one were to go by the Japanese version instead of the dub, I think the D-Reaper survived there. (In the dub, Janyu confirms its demise)
8: Wiseman – Sailor Moon
The true main antagonist of Sailor Moon R, manipulating Prince Diamond for his own evil plans to destroy all life on Earth, and more cruelly manipulating Rini into becoming his servant. When Sapphire and Diamond reform, Wiseman kills them both (though he had been planning to do so anyway), adding a level of sadness to this arc and giving more reason to want to see Wiseman taken down.
Going by original dub, he speaks with a sinister voice as well, further highlighting how malevolent he is, and reveals his true identity as the Doom Phantom! Sailor Moon becomes Princess Serena and faces Wiseman. As they fight, we get my favorite "end of battle" theme of the series (whose redub equivalent wasn't QUITE as good), to conclude the conflict following the deaths of the cruel Rubeus, the selfish Emerald, and the reformed Sapphire and Diamond, the season being full of both satisfying and sad moments and finally coming down to a showdown between Serena and Wiseman.
Just when it seems Wiseman will overpower Serena, Rini finds her Silver Crystal and transforms into her princess form. Once again the other Sailor Scouts give them their power. Wiseman says "Hahahaha, try all you like! The whole bunch of you can't touch the power of the Doom Phantom!" For some reason that's fun to listen to. Then Serena and Rini unleash an exploding energy wave that vaporizes Wiseman's physical form. "What?! This can't be happening! No one is as strong as the Doom Phan…" Before the Dark Crystal, presumably containing his true form, is spectacularly disintegrated, freeing the future from his darkness.
7: Wiseman – Sailor Moon Crystal
The main villain of Season 2, also known as Death Phantom. He manipulated Demande (who is much less sympathetic here) into being his pawn, thus enabling the (temporary) deaths of almost everyone on Earth, and, like in the original, manipulated Chibiusa into being his servant. He was going to destroy the world, and has a pretty menacing presence as the giant planet Nemesis, with a red aura and skull face around it, and made entirely out of the evil and dangerous Malefic Black Crystal.
Though the final battle with him lacks a song like his original series counterpart, it was equally satisfying all the same. As a huge threat to the earth and generally being difficult to take down, Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon confront his true form in space. Unlike the other three villains at this point in their respective battles, Wiseman shows no fear and taunts Sailor Chibi Moon, calling her pathetic and saying she doesn't even know what power is. Even now he is completely confident that he is going to win. But together Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon blast him with a double Moon Princess Halation, finally destroying him in a spectacular explosion of blue light.
Afterwards, there is a fairly slow sequence of the explosion fading away, but you can just feel the impact of how Wiseman and the Malefic Black Crystal are gone for good, and peace and life are returning to the future, presumably forever.
6: Dragon Sousou – Ikki Tousen
I saw this anime on a challenge to ignore all the suggestive content for the fights and story, even though the anime is specifically designed for people who like the suggestive stuff and thus technically I'm not its target audience. But for all I had to sit through and try to ignore, I was rewarded at the end of Season 2, Dragon Destiny, when Hakufu and Gentoku destroy Dragon Sousou with the combined power of their dragons, spectacularly disintegrating him in rainbowfied glory!
He might not feel like he had as much of an impact as many much lower on this list, but a rainbowfied death scene is guaranteed to get a very high spot here!
5: Moo – Monster Rancher
The main villain of the first two seasons, evil incarnate and the source of all evil, menacing, sinister, and unstoppable except for the Phoenix. Though Season 3 shifts the antagonist role to General Durahan, Moo is resurrected in the final episode and takes control of Durahan. Inside him the final fight with Moo's soul takes place. With Mocchi, Suezo, Golem, Tiger, Hare, Genki, Holly, Holly's father (who had previously been Moo's vessel in the first two seasons), and the reformed Durahan, Poison, Mum Mew, Gobi, and Weed now combined into the Phoenix, they charge into him, and he is destroyed in a similar pink explosion to the Blight Ganons.
Or… not QUITE destroyed. After the gang separates, we see the last remnants of Moo, a small blob of darkness, go flying into the air, which then explodes in a spectacular shower of rainbow particles, restoring peace to the world and purifying all the Baddies. The rainbowfied combined with being the ultimate, long-running, and menacing main villain certainly gets him this high.
4: Naraku – Inuyasha
The main villain of the series. This one may not be rainbowfied but he is one of the longest-running, if not THE longest-running, on this list, and the anime equivalent to Aku from Samurai Jack.
He first appears in Episode 18, and from here he is established to ruin most of the characters' lives. He turned Inuyasha and Kikyo against each other and killed Kikyo (though she is revived, but eventually dies a second time due to Naraku). He afflicted Miroku with Wind Tunnel, which is destined to kill him as long as Naraku lives, and slaughtered Sango's village, also forcing her brother Kohaku to do his bidding. From here all throughout Episode 167, the heroes NEVER get any closer to defeating him. The closest to an exception, Naraku disappears and goes into hiding for a long time until the end of the Band of Seven arc.
Six years later came The Final Act, which, as its name implies, finally concludes the series. Despite being in 2010's now, Kagome destroys Naraku in the only possible way anyone can: Purifying the corrupted Shikon Jewel inside him by shooting it with a Sacred Arrow. Naraku briefly appears for some final words before, with the rare "outline" effect, he finally disintegrates in a flash of light.
Although, this isn't QUITE the last we see of him – his soul is sealed inside the Shikon Jewel, though he is pronounced dead, but can be revived if the wrong wish is made. Kagome instead wishes for the Shikon Jewel to disappear forever, and it is destroyed. Naraku's soul is consumed by the light before going to the afterlife and being at peace. Thus, after 175-176 episodes, Naraku is finally gone for good.
3: Queen Nehelenia – Sailor Moon Crystal
The main villain of the movie Sailor Moon Eternal, an evil queen who spreads her darkness wherever she goes and cast a curse leading to the Moon Kingdom's fall to Queen Metalia. She isn't as long-running as Naraku, her death isn't rainbowfied, and she's not quite as detestable as someone like Dio. But there are multiple factors putting her this high.
Just when it seems Nehelenia has won, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask get the Silver Crystal back from her with the power of their love, triggering an awesome sequence complete with a song where ALL the Sailor Guardians come together, get new forms, and give their power to Sailor Moon, alongside Tuxedo Mask with the power of the Golden Crystal. This sequence is long but worthy of being the final battle if it doesn't get a Stars season.
Finally, Sailor Moon does her new finishing move, Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss. Nehelenia briefly appears outside her mirror with a dark aura around her, ages into a form similar to her servant Zirconia (implying Zirconia to be an extension of her), where she tells Tuxedo Mask to give her his power; even in shock at her defeat and knowing her doom is near, she quite laughably shows off her arrogance and narcissism as she not only considers the possibility that Tuxedo Mask would choose her, an evil queen who put a black rose in his chest, over the woman he loved, but also says she is the true queen of the entire solar system, before vanishing back into the mirror, which cracks and then turns to sand.
Not only are the entire scene, the visuals, and the song awesome, but this also gains extra points because, as you may have noticed due to her absence on the list, the original series' Nehelenia didn't die, in the show that gave me this interest in the first place, so you can imagine how it feels to actually get a climactic death scene with Nehelenia in another version. Not to mention how long I waited for this.
2: Myotismon – Digimon Adventure
This one has a special place in my heart, and will last in the "pure" Adventure 01 timeline despite his return in Adventure 02.
While most villains in Adventure don't last very long, Myotismon is the exception. The main villain of the third arc, he starts out shadowed, where he doesn't even speak or is named, and his servant DemiDevimon is clearly afraid of him, calling him "O terrible one!" Making him both menacing and mysterious, especially after his predecessor, Etemon. In his second episode, he is still shadowed, but DemiDevimon says his name for the first time, and he also speaks for the first time, and while his voice is more straightforward than Machinedramon, he still sounds pretty sinister and compelling.
After a few more episodes of being shadowed, Myotismon finally steps out of the shadows, but despite fighting the Digidestined, doesn't take any damage and he lets his minions do the dirty work from here, telling them to find the eighth Digidestined child, and "When you do find him then he must die!" Not only is he more malevolent than Devimon somehow, but we see him commit more horrific acts like how he abused Gatomon and twisted her into his servant, sucking people's blood (being a vampire), and recapturing Gatomon while nearly killing Wizardmon, threatening to kill many kids if Gatomon tries to hide her partner, the eighth Digidestined, from him.
After 16 episodes, Myotismon, in an attempt to kill Kari and Gatomon, kills Wizardmon instead when he sacrifices himself to save them, marking the first confirmed death of a good Digimon (aside from Angemon, who is immediately revived). Gatomon then digivolves to Angewomon and destroys Myotismon with Celestial Arrow. This scene is awesome, but he is not done yet – his spirit endures and he is resurrected as the giant devil, VenomMyotismon, at 666, making him more devil-like than Devimon himself. He eats DemiDevimon for no reason before trying to eat some humans.
After an intense fight lasting two more episodes, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, reaching these forms for the first time, seemingly defeat VenomMyotismon, but he reveals a monster inside his abdomen which soon gets them at his mercy, before he declares his intent to eat them all. After everything, even the first-time Mega Digivolutions, it seems he has won, with Mimi thinking "It can't end like this!"
But then the Digidestined's crests hold him in place, with Kari's crest wrapping around his throat after how he's been trying to kill her all arc. The Mood Whiplash occurs; The song "Champions of the Digital World" plays, and you know the end of this long fight has finally come. After kicking the giant ball generating the fog barrier into the weak point monster, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon blast the monster with Terra Force and Metal Wolf Claw. Finally, at long last, Myotismon is defeated; he writhes in agony before he finally disintegrates from the feet up. Whether silently or out loud, viewers are certainly cheering along with the Digidestined once he is gone.
...Sure, he's not nearly as long-running as Naraku or DBZ villains, but still. And speaking of DBZ, due to his absence from every entry up to this one, you can probably guess who the top spot is.
1: Frieza – Dragon Ball Z/Kai
The first true main antagonist of DBZ, and considered the most evil villain not just in DBZ, but in all of anime. He's threatening enough when he's established early into his appearance to be much stronger than Vegeta – and the heroes have had a lot of trouble dealing with Vegeta, who at this point is stronger than when they fought him on Earth, but still, compared to Frieza, his power is like nothing at all. But then we get into how evil Frieza actually is.
He takes over and destroys planets simply because he wants to. He thinks of himself as above pretty much everyone else except maybe his father King Cold. He forced the Saiyans to fight for him and made Vegeta what he is, then went back on his word and killed all the Saiyans anyway except for Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, and Goku. He displays his ruthlessness while invading Namek villages, having his minions kill Nameks both before and after getting the Dragonballs, which, by the way, he wants to use to wish for immortality, as if he wasn't already more powerful than anyone in the world of the living at this moment (except Majin Buu, who was sealed away), and the idea of an immortal Frieza is utterly terrifying. And, speaking of his power, he can destroy planets with a single finger, forming a giant Supernova energy ball with it! And he takes great pleasure in this as well.
So, crimes against the galaxy aside, he showcases his sadism in the actual fights as well. After transforming into an even stronger form with a fighting power of one million (despite having not taken any damage yet), he runs Krillin through with his horn and drinks his blood in a sequence so graphic, three uncut episodes had to be condensed into two for the edited version, thus shortening the original dub by another episode in addition to the previous 14. After Gohan becomes the first character to actually damage him, Frieza steps on his head and tortures him in a sequence also cut from the aforementioned episodes, before Krillin, after being healed by Dende, cuts off his tail.
On reaching his final form, Frieza kills Dende, a Namekian child, to keep him from healing the others again. He brutally beats up Vegeta before killing him just to shut him up about Goku being a Super Saiyan. He also gets brutal when he fights Goku, like when he nearly drowns him. After surviving Goku's Spirit Bomb, he sadistically kills Krillin for no reason.
Even once he's outmatched by Super Saiyan Goku, not only does Frieza set Planet Namek to explode to ensure that Goku die no matter how the fight turns out, but when Goku spares Frieza's life not once but twice, the second time after Frieza was near death and reduced to begging for his life (despite not showing the same mercy when countless others begged for their lives at his feet, to the point that Goku almost didn't listen to him), Frieza continues to try to kill him both times.
Now I'll get into the length factor. While he may be a shorter-running villain than Naraku, he is still the longest-running DBZ villain. Even going by the shorter, deceased original dub, let's review. He is first mentioned in Episode 29 as the one who destroyed the Invisible Spaceship People's planet. He first appears in Episode 32. The actual fight with him begins in Episode 63. And finally, Goku's fight with him begins in Episode 72 (or 71 if you encounter their brief fight before he kills Vegeta). In Episode 90, Goku finally defeats Frieza, blasting him with an energy wave before Namek explodes an episode later. So, Goku's fight with Frieza lasts 19 episodes, and from Frieza's first appearance to his defeat, 59 episodes. (In Kai, this is shortened to a 35-episode arc, and Goku vs. Frieza shortened to 11 episodes).
HOWEVER!!! Despite all this, Frieza survives! In addition to all he survived during the fights, from Gohan's first attack to Goku's Spirit Bomb, now he survived Goku's final Super Saiyan attack on Namek, AND Namek's explosion. Not unscathed, mind you; he is so severely damaged that King Cold has him made into a cyborg, and he returns to Earth to get revenge on Goku by first killing all his friends and then blowing it up.
So, here we go! Another long arc of fighting that frosty Frieza, and probably several more casualties on the heroes' side before Goku finally arrives, and he'll probably have a hard time beating Frieza. As Frieza arrives on Earth, all the Z Fighters present are terrified and then there's Puar's frightened mews.
But wait! Before this all can begin, almost immediately after Frieza arrives on Earth, a mysterious swordsman, whom we later find out is called Trunks, makes his grand entrance. After easily dispatching Frieza's minions, he reveals himself to be a Super Saiyan! After foiling two of Frieza's attempts to kill him, it looks like Frieza will finally be defeated. But, of course we know what Frieza does when he knows he can't win – he blows up the planet! Frieza forms a Supernova attack and throws it at the earth. But as Frieza is walking away, the Supernova rises back up out of the ground – Trunks is holding it up with one hand! Frieza's horrified reaction is priceless – when his trump card doesn't work, he knows he's screwed!
Despite this, Frieza blows up the Supernova attack, seemingly killing Trunks – only for Trunks to surprise Frieza with an energy ball. Frieza dodges, but then, finally, Trunks chops Frieza vertically in two. The edited version censors the more graphic parts, but in all versions we see the camera from Frieza's point of view as the screen splits in two, at which point you realize Frieza has finally met his fate at long last! And if you see the uncut, a fittingly brutal fate it is. Trunks then chops Frieza to pieces, and destroys him with an energy wave. Frieza is now nothing but dust raining on the area, leaving no doubt that he truly is dead this time. After EVERYTHING above, from how powerful, long-running, and utterly evil he is, a Super Saiyan finally takes him down without breaking a sweat, and King Cold follows soon after.
As Kai goes at least, Super would try to take this away from me by permanently reviving him, but I don't go by Super as canon, and at best it would be a separate universe where similar but slightly different events (particularly regarding Frieza's hell) transpired. Manga canon of course it's official and the best manga readers can do is FanonDiscontinuity this.