The Top 10 Best Anime Demon Lords

5. Maou- Maoyuu Maou Yuusha 

Demon Lords and heroes are fated to a never-ending dance that inevitably ends with a battle to the death only for it to start all over again… Or are they?  Rather than actually fight the hero who storms her castle, the Demon Lord Maou proposes they work together to find a peaceful resolution to the whole human demon war. What is her twisted plan to bring prosperity to both sides? Education. Seriously, she and the hero set out to share her knowledge of farming and economics. Unfortunately, back in the days of Demon Lords and heroes, the Church and Government didn’t like the idea of educated women and they quickly brand her a heretic, which I think is hilarious considering her true identity. Despite being an intelligent and powerful Demon Lord, Maou has a sense of humor and isn’t afraid to let her inner-child out. Thanks to Maou, this list of Demon Lords isn’t a total boys club.

4. Milim Nava- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Season 1 of The Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime established the existence of a number of Demon Lords. However, one of the most powerful and adorable that we’ve met so far in the anime is Milim Nava. You might also know her by her other name “The Destroyer,” a “Catastrophe” level demon whose power is the embodiment of destruction itself. Upon meeting her, you might think it’s one of those funny “ironic” nicknames (like a fat guy named “Slim” or a tall guy named “Shorty”). Afterall, she looks like your typical cutesy, optimistic high school girl type in an incredibly age inappropriate outfit (she’s actually one of the oldest Demon Lords in the land). However, she is terrifyingly powerful when it comes to a fight. Luckily, she’s also dumb as a stump and incredibly loyal, so the hero is quickly able to convincer to become best friends rather than fight. Needless to say, it’s always nice to have a Demon Lord in your corner.   

3. Sirzechs Lucifer- High School DXD

There are a lot of demons in High School DXD. The most easily recognizable of which is Rias Gremory who is the heir to the Gremory clan of Demons and leader of the merry little band at the center of the series. Her entire team though has nothing on her big brother. Sirzechs Lucifer is the most powerful of the great devils in the series and even stronger than the original Lucifer (he inherited the title when he became one of the four Devil Kings). Despite being such an incredible powerhouse, Sirzechs actually prefers not to fight. He’s a relatively kind and gentle soul who prefers to settle disagreements with negotiations. Some might say that’s because when you’re as powerful as Sirzechs is, fighting is boring. I say it’s because he’s really just a lazy and lackadaisical guy who likes to goof off. When he does get serious though, you’ll find out exactly why he’s among the top 5 Demon Lords on this list. 

2. Diablo- How Not to Summon a Demon Lord

Imagine waking up suddenly to find yourself summoned to a strange world by two girls who want to make you their pet Demon Lord. This is exactly what happens to hardcore gamer Takuma Sakamoto when he magically finds himself inside the world of his favorite videogame in the body of the character he uses, the Demon Lord Diablo. This version of Diablo features all the benefits that Takuma worked so hard to achieve through countless hours of “grinding” online and is seriously overpowered. So powerful, that the spell his summoners cast to control him simply reflected back on them. Even though he might look the part of a Demon Lord, Takuma is actually an introvert who is painfully awkward around women. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a bit of a perv, but far from the full-blown monster he could potentially be. Thankfully, some Demon Lords have a sense of morals that prevent them from being true embodiments of evil.  

1. Sadao Maou- The Devil is a Part-Timer!

From what I’ve seen, being a Demon Lord is a lot of hard work and really stressful. So, when the nigh invincible Sadao is thrown from his world into the human one he finds himself at the bottom of the pecking order once more. Not exactly the kind of a place a Demon Lord wants to be, but Sadao refuses to be discouraged and sets his sights on conquering all of mankind. Before he can do that though he needs to find a way to pay the bills and decides to start his conquest with the local MgRonald’s franchise. Sadao is the kind of Demon Lord who subscribes to the philosophy that how you do anything is how you do everything and pours himself into becoming a model employee so that he can rise in the ranks. While he starts his journey off as a fish out of water, Sadao comes to love the human world and starts to think that a quiet life slinging burgers isn’t so bad afterall, especially when he finds his “friends” have also ended up there with him. 

Honorable Mention: Momonga Aka Ainz Ooal Gown AKA Momon- Overlord

Overlord, Demon Lord, what’s the difference? Well, I wasn’t going to risk a semantics argument by including Momon among the Demon Lords above since he’s never actually called by that name. However, he is an all powerful being with a slew of demonic servants willing to die for him. Besides with the way things are going in the series, he’s pretty much on his way to subjecting the entire world to his will (whether he initially planned to or not). Because of that, Ainz Ooal Gown is more or less a Demon Lord in my eyes. He also happens to be one of the most powerful anime characters I’ve ever seen, which would have definitely qualified him for a spot above. However, I’m not going to force the title on the character… Yet. Instead, I’m just going to give him an honorable mention for now.  

Dishonorable Mention: Lucifer- Seven Mortal Sins

I’ve seen some pretty intense anime over the years, but it’s hard not to consider Seven Mortal Sins as thinly veiled pornography. Now, I’ve personally got no problem with anime getting a bit risque at times, so long as there’s an actual plot holding it together. Seven Mortal Sins paints itself as a series about Lucifer rising from the ashes to become the ruler of the underworld, but really it’s about her getting sexy with other Sins. It’s not a God awful series, but I think the other Demon Lords I mentioned wouldn’t want anything to do with Lucifer. So, she’s getting a dishonorable mention this time.

Those are my picks for the best anime Demon Lords of all time. I’m pretty sure I managed to find most of the good ones, but if I missed any be sure to let me know in the comments below. I’ll keep updating this list as I discover new and improved Demon Lords in future series. So, make sure you keep checking back to see how the rankings might change in the future.