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Aizen has been a mascot of unpredictable villains in anime for years. However, there are other characters like Aizen from Bleach in anime.
Cunning, patient, and an expert planner, despite the betrayal he committed, there’s no denying Aizen’s genius. He had made a name for himself, both in the Bleach universe and the real-life anime community. So far, he doesn’t have much competition in terms of being the most iconic villain in anime. Aizen’s façade succeeded in fooling many of the anime’s characters and fans alike.
That being said, if we look deeper into various anime, some characters do have a spitting image of Aizen’s character. Though not always in terms of their cunningness, they share similar motivations and traits with Bleach’s mastermind villain. From old anime to recent ones, here are eight characters that resemble Aizen.
Naraku in Inuyasha
The overarching villain of Inuyasha, Naraku, began as a lowly bandit named Onigumo. He was disfigured and barely hanging on until Kikyo, the shrine priestess who sealed Inuyasha, helped him. He initially accepted her help, though reluctantly. However, as time went on, he grew a liking for her. But Onigumo was drowning in insecurity and considered himself unworthy.
Desperate and frustrated, he resorted to giving himself to demons in exchange for a new body. However, his true consciousness was suppressed, and in turn, he became obsessed with power and the sacred artifact, the Shikon Jewel. This artifact was the very thing Kikyo guarded in her shrine. Through this jewel, Naraku believed he could achieve transcended perfection, much like what Aizen wanted in Bleach.
Lord Daigo in Dororo
Lord Daigo is the antagonist of Dororo. At first, he was a lord of a dying and suffering land. His territory wasn’t thriving, and his people were starving and poor. Desperate for a solution, he turned to demons and made a deal. However, this deal came at the cost of his son’s body. The son was born without skin, limbs, eyes, and many other body parts. He ordered the nurse to dispose of his son.
But, seeing the baby was still alive, the nurse decided to put him on a floating boat on a river. Because he was concerned about his people, Lord Daigo was willing to seek solutions to the extreme, even if it meant sacrificing his own firstborn. Much like Aizen, he pursued his goal at all costs.
Dr. Kanou in Tokyo Ghoul
If there is a big theme between these characters, including Aizen, it is their thirst for advancement. Dr. Kanou in Tokyo Ghoul was exactly like this too. Though on the surface, he might appear to be a kind-hearted doctor who always gave his best to his patients, deep inside, he yearned for something more. His scientific side was rather terrifying, with all his human-ghoul experiments.
He saw humans as a weak species. On the other hand, Dr. Kanou saw ghouls as more advanced and evolved beings. Perhaps what he sought was the equivalent of Aizen’s final transformation in Bleach. However, rather than creating his own ghouls, Dr. Kanou tricked naïve and easily misguided people into becoming his research subjects.
Light Yagami in Death Note
Brilliant and calculated, Light Yagami in Death Note is an icon in his own right. However, rather than seeking evolution on a biological or spiritual level, Light was more concerned with the societal level. He had a vision of a society free from injustice. However, with the Death Note, he took the liberty to judge whoever and however he wanted.
At this point, it’s apparent that the book corrupted him. He quickly became ruthless and cold. However, the fact that he was that way makes him a parallel to Aizen. Both of them didn’t care what they had to do as long as their ideals were achieved.
Lelouch in Code Geass
Lelouch vi Britannia, also known by his alias Lelouch Lamperouge, grew up in an elite aristocratic environment, and his demeanor perfectly reflected that. However, he maintained a façade of someone who was kind-hearted and sociable. In Code Geass, his character development took a turn when he used everything in his power to create the world he wanted.
His primary motivation was to create a world where his sister, Nunnally, could live in peace. However, he willingly used others as pawns and had no problem betraying others. He is somewhat similar to Aizen in how pragmatic he was in the series and in the fact that both had a friendly persona.
Madara in Naruto
One of the founding fathers of the Hidden Leaf Village, Madara Uchiha, was keen on bringing peace, but not in the way you’d think. In contrast to Hashirama, the first Hokage, who preferred collaboration between clans and different groups, Madara thought this idea was bound to fail. Instead, he preferred control over everything, and as a result, the two clashed. Their legendary battle inadvertently created the Valley of the End.
In the end, Madara was defeated, but not exactly. He had prepared a contingency plan. By using the genjutsu Izanagi with his Sharingan, he was able to come back to life. Madara’s intricate mind was already ahead of everything, including his death in his battle against Hashirama. Faking death and masterminding plans—sound familiar? Aizen and Madara shared the quality of always thinking two steps ahead of everyone.
Kenjaku in Jujutsu Kaisen
In Jujutsu Kaisen, there was someone who shared the same ambitious motives as Aizen. Kenjaku deemed humanity to be inferior to cursed spirits. He sought to further evolution by integrating cursed energy into all humans. So much so that he manipulated the U.S. to infiltrate Japan by promising them an unlimited source of energy, which was cursed energy itself.
Kenjaku explosively conducted his master plan. Much like how Aizen shocked the whole Soul Society, Kenjaku impacted the whole Jujutsu Sorcerer world immensely, particularly in Japan. Interestingly, he had been experimenting with fusing cursed energy and human flesh for hundreds of years. For instance, the living cursed objects, known as the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, were very much alive—Choso, Eso, and Kechizu. Although the last two met their end at Nobara and Yuji’s hands.
Griffith in Berserk
Both Griffith and Aizen were equally unpredictable. That’s why their final actions to betray everyone who cared about them were so shocking to fans. In Berserk, Griffith was the leader of the Band of the Hawk, a mercenary group in the Midland Kingdom. He was a well-decorated soldier; he even officially climbed the ranks and brought his group into official knighthood.
However, his downfall began after the captain of the group, Guts, decided to leave to make a name for himself. The two were close friends, and so Griffith was upset, knowing this, and challenged him to a duel, which he lost. Griffith knew that Guts was a pivotal figure among the army and the Hawks he had worked so hard to build would crumble without Guts. This event led him into a downward spiral in his life.
At the moment of the Eclipse, he sacrificed his whole mercenary group to the God Hand, a group of all-powerful beings born from humanity’s darkest sides. Griffith then reincarnated into Femto, embracing all his evil side.
Conclusion
Cunning and determined geniuses always make for scary characters in anime. Characters like Aizen from Bleach are often ambitious and won’t stop until they get what they want. Furthermore, they often play an overarching role in their series, much like Aizen, who still made an appearance in Bleach’s recent anime despite being the earliest antagonist in the series.
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