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Anime villains are stereotypically ruthless and vile beings. Their plans often include the deaths of a countless number of people, fueling the series’ protagonist to take action and resulting in a climactic showdown, often near the end of the series.
As a result, it may come as a great surprise that there are dozens of instances where the villain showed mercy to the hero. By identifying some examples and the circumstances behind them, we can better appreciate the complexity many anime evildoers have when going about their wicked machinations.
10 Aizen Spared Ichigo Before Leaving The Soul Society (Bleach)
After Aizen’s role in framing Rukia was revealed, Ichigo Kurosaki was filled with righteous indignation. With Renji’s assistance, Ichigo charged at Aizen and attempted to bury his Zanpakuto into his chest.
The former captain caught it with a single finger and delivered punishment that his heroic adversary would not soon forget. Since Aizen did not kill him, however, he would later be defeated in a second altercation outside of Karakura Town. In the end, the villain’s overconfidence in his ability and obsession with humiliating his foes was his downfall.
9 Magellan Could Have Killed Luffy At Impel Down But Imprisoned Him Instead (One Piece)
Luffy’s first fight against Warden Magellan was a complete disaster. Since he didn’t have armament Haki, every punch he threw exposed him to deadly venom and did minimal damage to the jailer.
After Magellan defeated Luffy with a poison dragon, he could have killed him immediately without the scrutiny of the World Government. Instead, he threw him into a frozen prison, providing Bon Clay a chance to save his rubber friend and whisk him into the hands of Emporio Ivankov.
8 Sasuke Let Naruto Live After The First Battle In The Valley Of The End (Naruto)
The first fight in the Valley of the End was decisively won by Sasuke Uchiha. Although Naruto’s mastery of Kurama’s chakra proved somewhat problematic, Sasuke’s new curse mark gave him the power to tip the fight back in his favor.
While standing over the broken body of his former friend, Sasuke considered killing him to advance his Sharingan. However, he ultimately showed mercy and declared that he didn’t need such cheap methods in order to grow stronger.
7 Hisoka Let Gon Live After Finding Him Out Because He Wanted To Discover His Potential (Hunter X Hunter)
Hisoka was intrigued by Gon since the young boy was able to steal his badge and nearly escape with it. While the villain was able to catch the future hunter, Hisoka let Gon go and even allowed him to keep his stolen prize.
This was because Hisoka wanted to see Gon receive his hunter’s license and grow stronger as a warrior. Once Gon became a sufficient challenge, Hisoka intended to relish every moment of their impending fight before finishing him. Gon’s progress was seen during their fight at Heaven’s Arena, although he still has far to go before the villain is satisfied enough to take him seriously.
6 The Demon King Let Meliodas & Ban Escape From Him For Decades (Seven Deadly Sins)
The Demon King stood at the threshold between his realm and the mortal world. Ban, Meliodas, and Wild made thousands of attempts to defeat him over six decades, all with little to show for it.
Despite their constant failures, the Demon King never actually thought to pursue his heroic adversaries and destroy them. While hubris may have been a factor in his misjudgment, he also didn’t want to abandon the gate he protected in order to fulfill his dark agenda.
5 Shigaraki Blew His Chance To Destory Midoriya During Their First Formal Meeting (My Hero Academia)
During a shopping trip with Uraraka, Deku was abruptly confronted by Shigaraki. The young villain wrapped his fingers around his enemy’s throat, instructing him to keep quiet while he spoke to him.
While Shigaraki’s method of coercion was successful, he ultimately chose not to reduce Midoriya’s throat to dust. As a consequence, he squandered the best opportunity the League had to obliterate the One For All quirk.
4 Father Showed Mercy To The Elric Brothers After Capturing Them
After uncovering Father’s hideout, the Elric brothers quickly confronted and attempted to defeat him. However, they were almost immediately subdued by his homunculus henchmen and brought at his mercy.
Ling Yi was infused with the essence of Greed in an attempt to rehabilitate Father’s rogue sin. Meanwhile, Edward and Alphonse were shown mercy since they had a more prominent role to play in the grand scheme of the villain’s plans for Amestris. Without them, he could never have the ascension he dreamed of.
3 Wamuu Let Joseph Live So That He Could Get Stronger (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)
During the first fight between Joseph Joestar and the Pillar Men, the hero was drastically outclassed. Regardless of his training and natural talent with Hamon, the ancient villains were much too strong for him to contend with.
Joseph made a desperate plea to Wamuu to give him a month to get stronger so that they might have a fair fight. Bound by honor, Wamuu agreed to Joseph’s terms and placed a dissolving poison ring in his chest so that he couldn’t simply run away without having their intended rematch.
2 Kuma Could Have Wiped Out The Straw Hats But Scattered Them Instead (One Piece)
Kuma’s fight with the Straw Hats on Sabaody illustrated just how much power the heroes were currently lacking. Even the combined might of Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy were barely enough to bring down a Pacifista, let alone the cyborg they were based on.
Although Kuma easily could have killed them, he instead used his devil fruit to scatter them across the world. Doing so gave the pirates a chance to become stronger after the two-year time skip and return to their quest to find the One Piece.
1 Annie Leonhart Could Have Eaten Eren To Gain The Founding Titan (Attack On Titan)
Annie Leonhart defeated Eren Yeager during their encounter in titan country and successfully swallowed him. She didn’t eat him outright because the Warriors’ objective was to deliver the Founders’ host in-tact to Marley.
However, Annie could have went against orders and consumed him anyway. Doing so would have given her both the Attack and Founding Titans, rendering her one of the strongest characters in the entire series. It would also make her invaluable to her home nation, as she could control the entire Eldian race with the assistance of a royal bloodline.
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