The following contains spoilers for the My Hero Academia manga.
Some Japanese anime characters are obviously villains from the very start, such as Madara Uchiha in Naruto or the sadistic Jason/Yamori in Tokyo Ghoul, and everyone knows to beware of them and not trust them. Other villains, meanwhile, wait until the right moment to strike and betray the people who once trusted them. This often leads to some of the best plot twists in anime.
A shocking betrayal will turn any anime story on its head, and shatter everyone's trust in the traitorous character once they show their true colors. Some traitorous anime characters always intended to backstab the people who trusted them, while others were once loyal but were eventually convinced to switch sides, such as for glory or sheer survival. Some anime traitors are loyal only to themselves, and might betray more than one party.
10 Amy Kirio (Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun!)
Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-Kun! is a cartoony, feel-good isekai anime series where nearly all the main characters are at least semi-wholesome young demons with a sympathetic side. That made it all the more shocking when Iruma Suzuki's new friend, Amy Kirio, turned on him.
At first, Iruma thought that the mild-mannered Amy was a kindred spirit, someone Iruma could relate to more deeply. Unfortunately, Amy turned on Iruma and the entire Babyls school as an agent of Baal, a truly villainous demon who wants to revert the Netherworld back to a brutal place of violence and rage.
9 Akira Hayama (Food Wars!)
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma is a hilarious and often PG-13 shonen anime about the power of cooking and food. However, this anime is about more than award-winning recipes and mild edutainment – the anime's main themes focus on cooking for love and food's ability to bring people together.
In contrast to those wholesome themes, the skilled Totsuki student Akira Hayama went from Soma's rival to his sworn enemy once he sided with Azami Nakiri. Akira betrayed all his fellow students and their faith in him when he started cooking for Azami's selfish regime, posing a serious threat to Soma, who struggled to beat Akira at his own game – culinary fragrances.
8 Nikki Hanada (Dr. Stone)
Early in the Dr. Stone anime, the brawny Tsukasa Shishio had a falling out with Senku Ishigami the scientist, and they realized they couldn't reconcile their views. They each formed separate Stone Age nations and went to war, with Nikki Hanada being one of many members of Tsukasa's Empire of Might.
Nikki was a strong and ferocious girl, but she had a gentle heart, and Senku's team swayed Nikki's heart with the power of music. It wasn't easy at first, but Senku's team convinced Nikki to abandon Tsukasa's destructive cause and join the Kingdom of Might, which helped turn the tables in the desperate Stone Wars. That showed that Nikki was indeed a good person who could recognize the right thing to do when she saw it.
The "crimson lotus" alchemist Solf J. Kimblee took part in the Ishval Civil War, where he decided to keep the Philosopher's Stone he was given and killed several of his fellow officers. That made him a war criminal who ended up in prison for years, but his betrayal wasn't complete until he was freed.
The supervillain Father had Kimblee freed, and Kimblee agreed to work for Father against his own kind, making his betrayal complete. He eventually lost to Alphonse Elric and Heinkel in battle and got absorbed into Pride, only to sabotage that homunculus from the inside. Ultimately, Kimblee was only loyal to his own creed and desires.
6 Black Zetsu (Naruto)
It was clear all along that Zetsu was a villain in Naruto, but even then, no one saw Black Zetsu's betrayal coming until it was too late. The being called Zetsu was two in one, and the black half only pretended to be an extension of the mighty Madara Uchiha's will. Black Zetsu betrayed him, then revived his true boss – Kaguya Otsutsuki.
The Naruto anime had various traitors and double agents, such as Orochimaru and the Uchiha Clan, but none of them backstabbed a character as spectacularly as Black Zetsu did. He played a key role in Naruto Shippuden's "villain behind the villain" narrative, and when his work was done, Team 7 faced its greatest challenge yet.
5 Captain Blackbeard (One Piece)
In his youth, Marshall D. Teach was a part of Captain Whitebeard's crew, and was accepted as one of them. But unlike the other Whitebeard pirates, who valued trust and the power of found family, Teech was selfish and didn't mind betraying his friends. He broke the fleet's "iron law" when he lethally betrayed Thatch to seize the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Stealing that powerful Devil Fruit had been Teech's intention all along, and he never meant to be a true member of the Whitebeard pirate crew. After turning traitor, Blackbeard fled and formed his own Blackbeard pirate crew, and Portgas D. Ace ran off to administer personal justice on the turncoat Teech.
4 Yuga Aoyama (My Hero Academia)
Ever since the League of Villains attacked the secure USJ compound at UA, the school's staff were convinced that a traitor was involved, someone who had given Tomura Shigaraki inside information. For much of My Hero Academia's story, this sinister subplot festered under the surface, until the manga finally resolved it.
Yuga Aoyama of class 1-A was the traitor, but it wasn't his own idea. He was born Quirkless, and his parents struck a desperate bargain with All For One to give their son a Quirk in exchange for Yuga's use as a double agent. Yuga was terribly distraught, but he couldn't defy All For One and risk having his parents killed, so he reluctantly played the role All For One gave him.
3 Suguro Geto (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Suguru Geto's betrayal wasn't as sudden or dramatic as some other betrayals, but it was still a meaningful turn of events in Jujutsu Kaisen's story. Suguru's traitorous ways didn't take fans by surprise since he was introduced as a villain, but his decision still speaks volumes about his views of sorcery, humanity, and himself.
Suguru Geto was once Satoru Gojo's friend and classmate, but they had a falling out in their teens. Suguru began to believe in sorcerer supremacy and wanted to wipe out all non-sorcerer humans, something Satoru could never accept. So, Suguru abandoned his school and became Satoru's worst enemy as a loyal ally of Mahito's.
2 Captain Sosuke Aizen (Bleach)
Anime fans love Bleach's Soul Society arc not just because of all the cool characters and fights, but Captain Sosuke Aizen's shocking betrayal as well. Partway through that arc, Aizen was seemingly murdered at night, but several Soul Reapers doubted this and determined that something else was afoot.
Those Soul Reapers were right, but they were helpless to stop Aizen's betrayal. He had faked his death and fooled everyone for years with a false persona, and he even slew Central 46's members for good measure. He made his dramatic reveal later as the Soul Society's worst traitor, then fled to Hueco Mundo with Captains Ichimaru and Tosen by his side, setting the stage for the Arrancar saga.
1 Griffith (Berserk)
The Berserk anime's Golden Age story arc is iconic, telling the tale of how protagonist Guts the mercenary, Casca, and Griffith formed a tragic love triangle on the battlefield. Griffith betrayed everyone when he decided to set his selfish and ambitious plan into motion, and Guts and Casca paid dearly for it, even though they survived when the rest of their allies didn't.
Griffith used the Egg of the King to summon the God Hand and join their ranks, at the cost of almost every Band of the Hawk members' lives. Griffith's betrayal was especially personal for Casca and Guts, who once admired hims as a great leader, but Griffith only had his eyes on his destiny.
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