16 Times Anime Villains Actually Killed Their Own Men

No to be confused with the 2003 anime version of the character, the Pride in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Selim Bradley, is the child-like embodiment of the worst aspects of humanity, The young son of King Bradley possesses the cruel and egotistical attitude of Father, but views humanity through a more hostile lens. Despite the love and honor Pride has towards Homunculus like himself, it didn’t stop him from killing his fellow brother Gluttony, after the voracious monster was deemed worthless. Gluttony dying by being eaten by Pride’s otherworldly shadows was a delicious twist of irony. 

As the final boss of the series, Demon Slayer fans knew that Muzan Kibutsuji would be ruthless. But it wasn't until the end of the first season that viewers realized the lengths he's willing to go. Muzan is the progenitor of all Demon-kind who established a group called the Twelve Demon Moons to do his evil bidding. They are made up of twelve extremely powerful Demons separated into two groups based on power: Upper Ranks and Lower Ranks. After the death of Rui (Lower Rank Five), Muzan decided to completely eliminate the Lower Rank altogether, believing them to be useless against the Demon Slayer Corps' elite Pillars. It's one thing to disband a group of your own men, but Muzan decided to kill all of them instead. That's cold.

As one of the smartest anime villains of all time, Sōsuke Aizen of Bleach doesn’t make a move unless it’s a stepping stone to victory. In his mission to overthrow the Soul Society, Aizen manipulated the emotions of his former lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, by faking his own death, then he tried to kill her later on. Aizen is also not above killing his own men, such as Kaname Tōsen, the 9th Division of the Gotei 13. In the novel Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, it’s revealed Aizen killed Tōsen after he was defeated by Shūhei Hisagi. Aizen rationalized Tōsen’s death by believing if he had lived, Tōsen would have been afflicted with guilt over the harm he caused following his betrayal of the Soul Society.

Vegeta has come a long way since the days of Dragon Ball Z. However, there’s no denying that this former bad guy was as ruthless as they come during Saiyan Arc. Just ask his former partner in crime, Nappa. Oh, wait, you can’t, because Vegeta blasted Nappa to smithereens after Goku broke his back with the Kaio-ken attack. Why? According to the Prince of all Saiyans, a Saiyan that cannot move is “useless.”

Before his life-changing encounter with Komugi, Meruem from Hunter x Hunter was the baddest Chimera Ant around. His cruel and apathetic attitude towards others - whether they be human or a fellow Chimera Ant - held no bounds. So, it’s not surprising that a villain who once ate a little girl would take out his own men so callously. What is surprising is that it happened minutes after his birth. The premature birth of Meruem caused severe internal injuries to his mother, the Chimera Ant Queen. When a small penguin named Peggy tried to save the queen, Meruem ruthlessly decapitated him. Meruem demanded the condor-like Colt to clean the blood off his tail, but when Turtle volunteered, Meruem decapitated him as well.

Shishio Makoto would do anything it takes to overthrow the Meiji government for burning him alive, even if it meant killing the woman he loved. Throughout the Kyoto arc of Rurouni Kenshin, Shishio was accompanied by his lover, Yumi Komagata, who loved him no matter how horrific his burned body was. She even came to Shishio’s aid when Kenshin Himura came close to delivering the final blow during their duel. Shockingly, Shishio took advantage of the opportunity by running his sword through Yumi’s body to hit Kenshin. Kenshin chastised him for sacrificing Yumi, but Shishio exclaimed it's what Yumi would have wanted him to do. Before dying, Yumi expressed joy about finally being useful in a fight with her love.