Anti-heroes have become some of the most compelling characters in the modern anime landscape. They’re messy, morally complex, and often far more relatable than your average traditional hero. These characters blur the line between right and wrong while stealing every scene they’re in. This list ranks 10 such modern anime anti-heroes who have left fans conflicted, captivated, and craving more. These aren’t your classic good guys or bad guys, and that’s exactly why we love them.
Table of Contents
10. Kiyotaka Ayanokoji (Classroom of the Elite)
If you’re looking for emotionless mastermind energy, Ayanokoji has it in spades. Cold, calculated, and manipulative, he treats high school like a chessboard and his classmates as pawns. But that’s what makes him so fun to watch.
He’s not interested in friendship, fame, or even winning; he only wants to observe. But when he does make a move, it’s brutal. He’s like a quieter Light Yagami, without the god complex, just vibes and psychological domination. An interesting modern-day anime anti-hero you will end up liking.
9. William James Moriarty (Moriarty The Patriot)
What happens when a genius math professor becomes a ruthless mastermind? Moriarty secretly runs a criminal empire as the infamous Lord of Crime, targeting corrupt nobles to shake up society with cold, calculated moves.
Though his methods are violent, his goal is justice for the powerless. His intense rivalry with Sherlock Holmes is the one thing that truly matches his mind. Moriarty chooses the villain path but fights for a cause, making him one of the most fascinating anti-heroes in anime.
8. Baji Keisuke (Tokyo Revengers)
Baji is the wildcard of Tokyo Revengers. He fakes betrayal, throws punches at his own friends, and has zero issue putting himself in harm’s way if it serves a bigger purpose. A modern-day anti-hero with loyalty as his code, but he shows it in the most anti-heroic way possible.
He’s hot-headed, unpredictable, and emotionally raw, but always in control of his intentions. His tragic arc cements him as the chaotic heart of the show, and honestly, Tokyo Manji Gang was never the same without him.
7. Loid Forger (Spy x Family)
A master spy who lies for a living, Loid Forger lives behind a wall of secrets. His marriage is fake, his job as a psychiatrist is a cover, and even his daughter is part of the act. Yet, despite all the deception, he still manages to be one of the most lovable dads in anime.
What makes Loid an anti-hero is that he uses everyone around him for the mission, even his pretend daughter. But it’s how those bonds start to mean something that pulls him back from the edge. He’s a good man forced to do morally grey things, and that’s the heart of any great anti-hero.
6. Gabimaru (Hell’s Paradise)
Gabimaru is a cold, ruthless shinobi assassin in Hell’s Paradise and the protagonist of the series. Tired of his life of killing and betrayal, he was ready to die when we first meet him in the story. A man like that can hardly be considered a hero. However, the love he holds for his wife is what makes him human, and for a chance to get back to her and live a peaceful life, Gabimaru agrees to go to the island of Shinsenkyo to find the Elixir of Life.
The actions Gabmiaru takes are often brutal and violent, and he never tries to hide the fact that he is a merciless killer. This is what makes him an ideal anti-hero. He doesn’t have any delusions in his mind that he is the hero; he is just a man trying to do whatever it takes to get back to their wife. Gabimaru has to go through hell to achieve this goal, but that is what makes him a compelling character that fans can root for.
5. Denji (Chainsaw Man)
Denji might be the greatest evolution of an anti-hero. He fights devils not to save the world, but to eat good food and on the off chance he gets to be intimate with a girl. He’s selfish, blunt, and emotionally stunted, and that’s exactly why fans love him. Denji doesn’t have grandiose plans like Lelouch and Eren, and he doesn’t want to be better like Thorfinn; he just wants to exist.
Denji is the closest depiction of what a realistic main character looks like. No fake morality, no hero complex, just raw survival and carnal dreams. But in the process, he grows. Slowly, messily, and violently. Denji is anti-heroism in its most unfiltered form. No wonder he has become one of the most famous characters in modern anime.
4. Gojo Satoru (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Right and wrong lose their meaning when you’re the strongest in the world. Gojo Satoru stands at the pinnacle of the Jujutsu Society, wielding powers no other sorcerer can even understand. He mocks his enemies, disrespects his superiors, and doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice civilians, as shown during the Shibuya Incident arc.
Gojo is far from a hero. He’s an immensely powerful individual driven by a desire to reform the Jujutsu world, starting with a new generation of sorcerers. He’s the cool teacher archetype turned up to eleven. Gojo doesn’t care about being liked, but he’ll put an opponent in their place if they’re foolish enough to challenge him. From Toji to Sukuna, everyone who has faced Gojo has learned the hard way why he’s considered the strongest sorcerer of all time.
Sukuna barely managed to defeat him, even with a cheat code like General Mahoraga, proving why Gojo is truly worthy of the title “the Honored One.”
3. Thorfinn (Vinland Saga)
Thorfinn is the epitome of what someone can turn themselves into when they decide to let go of the past and accept the flawed human being they are. Even though he started as a bloodthirsty, revenge-driven boy, through pain and self-reflection, he very slowly transformed into a man who found the value in peace. That shift doesn’t erase his past. He’s done horrible things, but it makes his arc one of the best redemptions in modern anime.
Thorfinn lived a life tormented by the fire of vengeance. But in the end, when he was denied the opportunity to kill his mortal enemy, Askeladd, he lost any reason for living. However, he slowly came to understand what his father meant when he said, “I have no enemies”. He then slowly started building a life dedicated to peace. Thorfinn is an anti-hero who chose pacifism in a world of blood and never backed down from paying the price.
2. Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass)
One of the most iconic anti-heroes in anime history, Lelouch Lamperouge, walked so Eren Yeager could run. A genius strategist who becomes the masked revolutionary Zero, Lelouch was an anti-hero who gave his life to achieve world peace. He has done some terrible things, such as orchestrating the Black Rebellion, and never hesitated to be perceived as a villain by the world.
Lelouch’s hands are stained with blood, and he knows it. But in the end, he sacrifices everything for peace. Lelouch is what an ideal anti-hero should be. In the end, Lelouch died being stabbed by Suzaku wearing the Zero mask. It was a perfect end for a tyrannical emperor and helped usher in a new era of peace led by his sister, Nunnally.
1. Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)
How far would you go for the people you love? Eren Yeager answered this question by annihilating 80% of humanity, uniting the world against him through the Rumbling. He sacrificed his love, his friends, and ultimately his life. In the end, he was both the hero and the anti-hero of Attack on Titan. He saw the only way to protect Paradis from the world was to create a threat that would wipe the slate clean for the new world, uniting them under one singular banner.
Eren Yeager is a character who defies every label fans have placed on him. He was a prophet, a hero, a monster, all at once. In the end, he was just a man who chose the only path he believed could lead to peace and set the world free from the curse of the Titans. From an idealistic boy to a genocidal calamity, his transformation was impossible to look away from. Eren is easily one of the greatest characters in fiction and sets the standard for what an anti-hero can be.
