// Ranking · Intelligence

The smartest anime villains

We rank the archive’s 168 anime villains by their intelligence, as each case file scores it. Top of the list is Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass), with 99 out of 100.

Sorted by intelligence · the top 25 of 168 anime villains · full live ranking →

01Poster of Lelouch vi Britannia, villain from Code GeassLelouch vi BritanniaRadical criminology / New criminology · Code GeassLelouch vi Britannia and the New Criminology: when "crime" is a political challenge to an unjust order, who defines what counts as an offense, and in…9902Poster of Akihiko Kayaba, villain from Sword Art OnlineAkihiko KayabaCognitive criminology · Sword Art OnlineAkihiko Kayaba and cognitive criminology: the creator of Sword Art Online hated no one. He thought in a way that let four thousand deaths fit inside…9803Poster of Father, villain from Fullmetal AlchemistFatherCriminal personality · Fullmetal AlchemistFather, from Fullmetal Alchemist, and the criminal personality of Yochelson and Samenow: grandiosity, the craving for absolute power and the perfect…9804Poster of Light Yagami, villain from Death NoteLight YagamiLabeling · Death NoteDeath Note and labeling theory: how the role society hands you ends up writing who you are.9805Poster of Sōsuke Aizen, villain from BleachSōsuke AizenIntegrated theory (Elliott) · BleachSōsuke Aizen and integrated theory: the strain of contempt broke his loyalty, the broken loyalty left him without brakes, and he himself manufactured…9806Poster of Johan Liebert, villain from MonsterJohan LiebertPsychopathy · MonsterMonster and the most disturbing face of psychopathy: is a monster born or made? Johan Liebert forces us to look at the experiment, not just the…9707Poster of Schneizel el Britannia, villain from Code GeassSchneizel el BritanniaMoral cost-benefit · Code GeassMoral cost-benefit lets people cause atrocious harm in the name of a greater good. Code Geass’s Schneizel does that sum with whole cities, and…9708Poster of Askeladd, villain from Vinland SagaAskeladdNeutralization · Vinland SagaAskeladd, from Vinland Saga, and the techniques of neutralization of Sykes and Matza: how a lucid man commits atrocities without breaking his…9609Poster of Kenjaku, villain from Jujutsu KaisenKenjakuAntisocial personality disorder · Jujutsu KaisenKenjaku and antisocial personality disorder: the manipulator who leaps from body to body and treats all of humanity as laboratory material. Contempt…9610Poster of Shōgo Makishima, villain from Psycho-PassShōgo MakishimaSocial control · Psycho-PassPsycho-Pass and social control theory taken to the extreme: a society that measures the criminality of every mind… and a man the system does not know…9611Poster of Yhwach, villain from BleachYhwachCriminological eugenics · BleachYhwach and eugenics: the emperor who absorbs and kills his own "weak" Quincy to strengthen the whole. The Auswählen is eugenic selection taken to the…9612Poster of Chrollo Lucilfer, villain from Hunter × HunterChrollo LucilferDelinquent subculture · Hunter × HunterChrollo Lucilfer and the delinquent subculture: how the Phantom Troupe invents a world with its own rules, where status is earned by stealing and…9513Poster of Kyubey, villain from Madoka MagicaKyubeyUtilitarianism · Puella Magi Madoka MagicaKyubey, of Madoka Magica, and utilitarianism: the Incubator offers a wish in exchange for a contract and keeps quiet about the fine print, because…9514Poster of Makima, villain from Chainsaw ManMakimaUtilitarianism · Chainsaw ManMakima and utilitarianism with no brakes: a world without fear or death, bought at the price of treating every person as a means. The calculus of…9515Poster of Meruem, villain from Hunter × HunterMeruemModern biosocial criminology · Hunter × HunterMeruem and the gene × environment interaction in reverse: he is born with the biology of a super-predator programmed to kill, but it is the…9516Poster of Orochimaru, villain from NarutoOrochimaruCriminological eugenics · NarutoOrochimaru and eugenics: the scientist who treats human bodies as fungible material to manufacture "superior" beings and perpetuate his own survival.…9517Poster of Roswaal L. Mathers, villain from Re:ZeroRoswaal L. MathersMoral cost-benefit · Re:ZeroRoswaal L. Mathers and the moral cost of crime: Re:Zero's court mage does not ignore the harm he causes. He records it, weighs it and decides his…9518Poster of Undertaker, villain from Black ButlerUndertakerPsychoanalytic criminology · Black ButlerThe Undertaker and psychoanalytic criminology: in Black Butler, the funeral director who only accepts payment in laughter is a deserter Grim Reaper…9519Poster of Doctor Kanou, villain from Tokyo GhoulDoctor KanouModern biosocial criminology · Tokyo GhoulDoctor Kanou and modern biosocial criminology: the surgeon who transplants organs without consent to manufacture a species. The file on the…9420Poster of Dr. Genus, villain from One Punch ManDr. GenusDesistance · One Punch ManDr. Genus, of One Punch Man, and desistance theory: the founder of the House of Evolution gives up decades of experiments after watching Saitama.…9421Poster of Itachi Uchiha, villain from NarutoItachi UchihaNeutralization · NarutoItachi Uchiha, of Naruto, and the techniques of neutralization: he wipes out his clan to stop a coup and save Sasuke. The higher loyalty lets him…9422Poster of All For One, villain from My Hero AcademiaAll For OneCriminal heredity · My Hero AcademiaAll For One looks like living proof that crime is inherited through blood: an empire passed from one generation to the next. But look closely at how…9323Poster of Suguru Geto, villain from Jujutsu KaisenSuguru GetoMoral disengagement · Jujutsu KaisenSuguru Geto and Bandura's moral disengagement: how a man who began wanting to protect the weak ended up relabeling extermination as salvation. The…9324Poster of Cell, villain from Dragon BallCellPsychopathy · Dragon BallCell, from Dragon Ball Z, and Hare’s psychopathy: not a deluded monster but a cold, charming and calculating predator who turns sadism into spectacle.9225Poster of Eto Yoshimura, villain from Tokyo GhoulEto YoshimuraRadical criminology / New criminology · Tokyo GhoulEto Yoshimura and radical criminology: the novelist who argues that the order is the crime. The file on the tradition that stopped asking why people…92
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