Naruto is one of the best shōnen series ever made for dozens of reasons. Like every shōnen series, for the franchise to truly work, it needs villains for its heroes to fight against, and that’s just one of the many areas in which Naruto is exceptional.

There are more than a few great villains in Naruto. Starting with the original franchise, great villains were introduced early and often, and that didn’t change once the sequel came around.

Naruto: Shippuden, somehow, has even better villains than Naruto. These villains are even more grandiose in their ambitions, but out of them all, there is only one who can be called the greatest villain both in Naruto and in anime in general.

Shōnen Series Are Defined by Their Villains

To make a shōnen series function correctly, there needs to be conflict. For conflict to exist, there needs to be at least two opposing ideologies forced against one another, usually through the hero and villain. Shōnen series are defined by fights, and fights can’t exist without fighters embodying these ideologies.

The best shōnen series of all time are marked by characters with wickedly different ideologies than others. Frieza cares about conquest while Goku cares about a good fight. All For One cares about himself while One For All cares about those who can’t protect themselves. Mereum dominates his subjects while Netero guides them.

It’s important to have these ideological distinctions because they give characters a reason to exist. Without a thought process behind their actions, fights lose meaning and characters become boring. Naruto has this idea down pat, and it’s easy to see the series’ mastery of this concept through its villains.

Naruto Has a Handful of Exceptional Villains

If a shōnen series needs good villains to shine, Naruto is shining like a star. The original Naruto franchise has a bevy of brutal bad guys, and Naruto: Shippuden takes that to a new level. Almost every great antagonist in Shippuden comes from the Akatsuki, the greatest villain group in anime.

Each member of the Akatsuki stands out in one way or another, and there are a couple that stand out significantly from the rest. Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, is one of the most memorable villains in years. His Rinnegan make him a force to be reckoned with, and his desire to share pain with the world makes his actions truly villainous.

Itachi Uchiha is both a villain and a hero in the series. He serves the light by serving the dark, creating a truly complex character that can really only be understood after his story is told in totality. Sasuke Uchiha is another example of complexity, starting the series as an anti-hero before turning into a villain.

The Akatsuki was always meant to be a breeding ground of villainy, and looking back, it’s easy to see why. The group was started by one man who began a series of lies to achieve his goals, and his decades-long deception is just one of the many reasons why he is the greatest villain in anime.

Madara Uchiha Is the Best Villain by Far

Madara isn’t just the best villain in the Naruto franchise: he might be the single greatest villain in anime. From the moment he enters the franchise, it feels like the world revolves around him. He’s second to none, and nobody knows that better than his enemies. He had been planning his reanimation for decades, and unfortunately for Naruto and his friends, almost everything went according to plan.

Pain is another great villain in Naruto, but he doesn’t have the gravitas that Madara has. Madara is so singularly focused on his plan that it’s almost intoxicating. In a way, he wants the same thing as everyone else: world peace. The difference, however, is that Madara is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his twisted version of happiness.

Madara is amazing because of every aspect of his character. There isn’t a part of his persona that can be improved, and that’s a testament to Naruto’s creator’s writing ability. Masashi Kishimoto made a masterpiece with Madara. The Uchiha has some of the best quotes in Naruto, the strongest abilities, and an arrogance that can be backed up by sheer power.

Madara is more than happy fighting all five Kage at once, gets genuinely excited when his rival, Hashirama Senju, steps onto the battlefield, and is more than willing to use his closest allies as pawns. He cares about nothing but his goal, the mark of a truly magnificent villain.

His Entrance Defines His Character

There isn’t a villain in shōnen whose entrance matches Madara Uchiha’s. For hundreds of episodes, the series touted the Ghost of the Uchiha as the most ferocious, terrifying villain that could ever be. This unrelenting level of hype would break almost every character, but it made Madara thrive.

Madara is the only character who can make hundreds of episodes of hype feel like they weren’t enough. He was so much more than anyone expected, and that’s saying something for a series filled with the best villains in shōnen. In episode 322 of Naruto: Shippuden, rightfully titled “Madara Uchiha,” the former Uchiha leader took the battlefield by storm.

Within minutes of being reanimated, Madara took on an entire regiment of the Allied Shinobi Alliance, two Kage, and Naruto. He flew through the army like nothing, made the Kage look like fools with not one, but two massive meteors that pushed them past their limits.

There will never be another villain in anime like Madara Uchiha. The art form has more than a few top-tier threats, but Madara’s ability to capitalize on a near paralyzing level of build-up makes him second to none. There won’t ever be a character as wholly monstrous as Madara in Naruto: Shippuden, full stop.