It’s the passion, the energy, and the obsession they have that makes us all want them. They could be called the Beautiful People, the insane, the crazed and the lost hopes, but hey, we love them anyways. From the start in 1976, Japanese Animation villains have given us a dark feeling inside that has never gone away. They have assumed the role of “the bad guy” so well that instead of fearing they will come through our bedroom window, we pray that they do. The evil persona they have developed is cool; so cool, it’s hot. Japanese Anime has become the playground to cheer for the bad guys when they are winning and mourn for them when they go down. Let the good guys have their noble causes and ideals, and we’ll worship the bad guys with cool clothes, money and power. From their acts of Stalinism (The whole “death to millions” thing) to giving the heroes ulcers and headaches throughout an entire series, Anime villains have given us the hardcore, four-square, concrete truth of why evil is so captivating. They have stood behind and fully supported the famous Anime quote of: “Do what thou will, and look cool doing it.” Evil’s first effect upon our normal everyday nine to five lives is the drive. Anime villains always have reasons for what they wish to accomplish, and never do anything irrational. Evildoers in Anime are so attractive, that should we become established in their dimension, we know we want to be on their side. For years, from the first domineering and epic villain of Char Aznable from the Gundam series, to the most recently established villains of Paranoia Agent and Last Exile, villains of Anime have acted out what we have all secretly wanted to do. They all have visions of how the world should be, no matter how flawed or potentially self-destructive it could be. Their enthusiasm to achieve goals is charismatic, even hypnotic. No matter how crazed or out of control a villain may get, we never see a ranting lunatic or a homicidal maniac – we see a badass with a mission. The role of an Anime villain carries out man’s most withheld emotion – the will to rebel. Rules are made to be broken, as we all know. We are willing to abide by the rules most of the time, but who hasn’t wanted to just do things their way once or twice a day. It looks like a ton of fun to pull a 180 and go the other direction. With no restrictions, ethics or moral, Anime villains are free to do as they please. There is no need to conform to society’s rules when they’re going to end up destroying it anyways. It’s the villain’s divine right as a rebel to disrupt the perfect life of the protagonist, breach the boundaries of their own sanity, and upset the balance of the universe. With the title of Anime villain comes the gift of power. Through out it’s history, the best anime creeps have been kings, queens, geniuses and generals, all which bear the fruits of followers, ideas, money, and brains. Probably Anime’s best example and displayer of power is found in Gendo Ikari of Neon Genesis Evangelion. His ability to conquer both the Angels and the growing defiance of his son, while on the side trying to become God, is a display of his power of leadership, ignorance and desire to achieve his ultimate goal. Characters like Ikari are the most commonly sought after characters to host a long running series of unfortunate events for the heroes. It doesn’t matter what degree of power is owned, whether it’s over millions of mindless minions or the protagonist’s mysterious girlfriend, nothing is more appealing than the snap of the fingers to make something happen. We all find bad guys fascinating, but why would anyone want to become a villain in the first place? It’s been common knowledge for centuries that good is right and evil is wrong, yet new and better villains are made everyday. What is this ultimate attraction that makes evil so desired? The answer is, quite simple, they get better perks. They get to plot world domination, pillage towns, summon armies from the underworld., own multi-billion dollar conglomerates, and bitch out the bagboy at the local grocery store for putting their eggs in the bottom of the sack. If forced to choose between the two sides of Anime, evil is the most common circle to join, mostly because being the good guy is just not as fun. Evil offers more rewards than being good does, material in some cases, but more nonetheless. Evil tempts the world, due to the bad guys always being cooler, sexier, better dressed, and better equipped. Even the Nazis, with their smooth uniforms, regalia, and weapons were much slicker than the Allied Powers. This makes evil more attractive, thus more popular. Evil has to be better, because without evil, there would be no good, and we would all live in a static and unchanging, neutral world. How exciting. Evil always has the upper hand in Anime, and always receive the chance to move first. They’re proactive so that the heroes don’t have to go looking for bad guys. If they weren’t, the heroes would all be moping around their high school, whining about their mean teachers or their sad dating situations. Evil has more motivation to succeed than good does. They are always the first to chase after their visions, goals, and dreams, and that kind of ambition deserves respects, no matter how crazy it is. Not often, with our busy schedules, can we set aside enough time to work on something we truly wish to accomplish. With Anime villains, it is always their first object to work towards their goals, and see to it that no one gets in their way. As much as they get bashed for being psychopaths, they should really get more attention for being so determined to succeed. Give credit to the beautiful dreamers for giving it their damndest to turn their unique visions to glorious reality. The Renaissance writer, Machiavelli, stated in his book, The Prince, “It is better to be feared than loved”. Anime villains have yet to really be feared by any Anime fan to this day. They were originally created with the intent for us to really hate and loathe them, but since their leather clothing, big weapons, castles on the hill, spaceships and visions of a new world, we have been unable to really find any reason to hate them. From the cruel yet sexy sideways glares to their maniacal laughing heard from afar, they’ve had us drooling all over their wall scrolls, trading cards and screenshots for decades. We have lived through Anime, doing all that we can before we suffer some tragic death in the last episode of a series, and always have a good time doing it. Be evil, blow the challengers away, and for one brief, glorious moment, we are able to live the dream of ownership of everything. Nothing has ever been as good as being really bad.