The Top 10 Best Anime Demon Lords
These Demon Lords Can Put Any Hero Through Their Paces!
Before anyone starts splashing holy water and chanting in Latin, let me be clear that the Demon Lords I’m talking about are of the anime variety. Demon lords have grown in popularity over the years with the resurgence of the isekai genre (accidental travel) and I’ve seen some pretty crazy ones. I’m sure you’re probably expecting a list of evil characters hell-bent on taking over the world, and you’re not wrong, but not all Demon Lords are such bad guys (or gals) once you get to know them. Heck, some of them are downright nice… In their own peculiar way. The rules for this list are that characters have to have appeared in anime (not just manga) and have to specifically be referred to as Demon Lords. I will also accept the title Demon and/or Devil King. The only other thing I’ll note is (as most anime fans know) that Demon Lords are usually pretty overpowered, therefore this list is going to be looking at a combination of strength and how cool the character is. So, better summon a hero, because this list of anime Demon Lords is really to take over!
10. Demon King Piccolo- Dragon Ball
Back before Piccolo fought alongside the likes of Goku and Vegetta in Dragonball Z (and beyond), he was actually one of Goku’s main villains. Well, technically his “past-self,” Demon King Piccolo, was one of Goku’s first major villains. See, before the Namekian Kami could become the God of Earth, he had to cast out all the evil inside of him. That evil took on the form of Piccolo and declared himself the Anti-Kami aka the Demon Lord. King Piccolo didn’t waste any time getting down to business and set off on his plans to conquer the world. Once his youth and strength had been restored to him thanks to the titular Dragon Balls, he claimed the King of the World’s throne. Fortunately for the world, Goku showed up and, as usual, laid a beat down on the Demon King. Before he died, King Piccolo puked up an egg that contained his reincarnation, the Piccolo we all know and love from later in the series.
9. Demon Lord Zenos Road- Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious
Defeating Demon Lords is no easy task, and because of that, cautious hero Seiya Ryuguin isn’t taking any chances when it comes to Zenos Road. He’s not going up against this Demon Lord until he’s “perfectly prepared” and that means a lot of training, training, and more training. We don’t get to see too much of this Demon Lord in the series until the very end, but he does have four pretty impressive Demon Generals that pop up throughout Cautious Hero and it’s clear that without Seiya’s intervention they could have easily conquered the entire planet all on their own. They don’t get the chance to though, and once they fall, Seiya has his eyes set on the big dawg. Lord Zenos is undeniably cruel and pretty arrogant, but he kind of has an excuse considering there’s only one weapon in his world that can kill him. Seiya though isn’t from the world of Gaeabrande.
8. Raizen- Yu Yu Hakusho
90s kids will remember running home from school to catch Yu Yu Hakusho every day on Toonami. I wasn’t as fervent a fan as some of my fellow pre-teen weebs, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to include Raizen on this list of Demon Lords. When it comes to the Demon Plane there’s a delicate balance between the 3 Demon Kings. However, Raizen isn’t doing so hot since he fell in love with a human a few centuries ago. See, he made a promise that he wouldn’t eat human flesh until he saw his love again and, well, she’s dead. Still, even in his condition he’s able to maintain his hold on power long enough to find a successor. Luckily, he’s got a great-great-great-great-(you get the idea)-grandson that might be up for the job. Raizen has some impressive will-power to match his incredible strength making him a perfect addition to this list of anime Demon Lords.
7. Mephisto Pheles AKA Samael- Blue Exorcist
Fans of Blue Exorcist might be wondering why I didn’t include Satan or Lucifer on this list of Demon Lords since they are both technically stronger than Mephisto. Well, that’s because Mephisto is actually a pretty good guy when you get right down to it. The principal of the True Cross Academy, he actually helps train exorcists to take out demons. That means there are plenty of them who would love to get their hands on Mephisto and teach him a lesson for betraying his own kind. The thing is that the guy is just too powerful for any of them to reach, much less take on in a fight. He is the King of Time after all and has the ability to summon objects at will whenever he wants. Those two skills combined make Mephisto a pretty powerful adversary. Despite being an educator, Mephisto describes himself as an agent of chaos, but really he’s a skilled tactician that’s always two moves ahead.
6. Akuto Sai- Demon King Daimao
Not all Demon Lords grew up wanting to take over the world. Akuto Sai definitely wanted nothing to do with being one at all. In fact, he grew up in a church and wanted to be a high priest. That all changed when he arrives at Constant Magick Academy and learns that he’s destined to become a Demon King. Sai does his best to fight his fate but ends up getting dragged towards it by a harem of hotties anyway (this seems to happen a lot in Japan) that he has to constantly rescue from danger. Now, Sai seems about as far away from Demon Lord material as you can get. He’s actually very kind and seems concerned about proving that he’s not a bad guy despite being a future Demon King. Even when he does get violent it’s always for a good cause. Something tells me that even though Sai is doomed to become a Demon Lord, he’s going to be a benevolent one.