Hayase is a courageous warrior sent by the land of Yanome to oversee the sacrifice to Oniguma, the Spirit Bear. This year the girl picked from the Ninannah tribe is March, a sweetheart with an obstinate spirit that manages, if only temporarily, to escape. Hayase thinks that she can contain Fushi and experiment on him but she gets crushed. She made it on this list thanks to her unyielding will, strength, and strategic foresight. It’s difficult to root for her but we do admit she was an excellent antagonist to Fushi and March.

Why, Tsuki, why? Secretive, obsessed, and a double agent, Makoto Tsukishiro doesn’t strike immediately as a through and through evil, but more like a chaotic neutral character that pulls the strings according to their needs. However, Tsuki attacking Asahi and bringing her to the brink of death, as well as his selfish motivations behind that— keep Sawa in suffering, so that she continues being one of the strongest Nue assassins—easily grants him a spot on our list. His blue blood transformation was memorable, to say the least!

A war hero and a benevolent father figure to Maeda, Nakajima is actually the perfect example of the “goal justifying the means” kind of guy. Not only does he hide his true intentions about the vampire units, he even sacrifices his daughter and his loyal troops to his hellish vision of a world filled with vampires. This way, in his twisted mind, no more unnecessary losses will happen. We wonder what kind of horrors Nakajima has witnessed on the battlefield to lead him to such a morbid plan.

Ariel and memorable go hand in hand. Playing a more active role in the second cours of So I’m a Spider, So What? the Demon Lord is the super OP villain even heroes fear. Ariel looks young and cute, a fanged girl with attitude, but she actually is an old and extremely powerful being that can wipe out enemies with a click of her fingers. Her encounters with Kumoko kept us entertained and her banter is always fun, so she deserves the second spot as a memorable villain of the season.

Ren is truly evil. Of course, we can always think of a character’s backstory, understand their motivations, their struggles, all the experiences that led them to questionable decisions, however Ren, despite any traumatizing experiences, chooses to torment Akito, and consequently the rest of the Souma clan. Ren feels powerless so she exerts power by scheming, plotting, and gaslighting Akito. Her luscious dark hair and evil laughter create a memorable villain who combines sexiness and pure evil.