Some time ago, I reeled off a list of anime’s finest minor antagonists — in other words, those villains whose sole purpose was to serve as a narrative stepping stone en route to the true threat lying in wait.

It brought me to a realisation that I have a bizarre obsession with peripheral characters. Rarely do I gravitate towards the stars of the show, electing to instead adulate the supporting cast on the lower tiers.

This doesn’t just apply to secondary protagonists, either. Sometimes, I grow unreasonably attached to inconsequential characters who have mostly been forgotten in anime’s extensive annals. Their obscurity is part of their charm, and that’s why I want to put the spotlight on them (even if it’s a spotlight far brighter than the ones they received in their source material).

Please note, spoilers will be present! You’ll be so gosh darn spoilt, I swear it.

Okuhito Iemon

Blue Lock

If you’re unfamiliar with Blue Lock’s premise, let me break it down for you. Basically, 300 of Japan’s best strikers are enlisted to a soccer boot camp, where they must showcase their abilities as pure, ruthless egomaniacs. If they’re eliminated, they’re banished from playing for the national team. Forever. Forever ever. Forever ever? Yep.

So obviously, if you’re to stand out, you want to be around the goal as much as possible. Unfortunately for mild mannered Iemon, he just so happened to be around the wrong goal.

Allotted into the bottom tier Team Z during First Selection, Iemon was assigned the inglorious role of goalkeeper in every single match. It’s a raw deal, because not only is he playing out of position, but he has no realistic opportunity of ever scoring a goal of his own. Though his team progresses to the next round, Iemon is subsequently eliminated offscreen, not even considered important enough for a proper sendoff.

In a tournament of asshole strikers, this guy was stuck being a do-gooder goalie. He’s the antithesis of everything that Blue Lock represented, and we thank him for his service. Tough luck, Lemon.

Mad King

Ranking of Kings

It may not seem it at a glance, but Ranking of Kings is pretty darn dark. There is some sickening depravity occurring across the realms, and even when Prince Bojji’s first mission seems like a lighthearted affair, he runs afoul of a rather sinister figure.

True to his moniker, the Mad King is a strange hermit lurking out in the forest. He lives in harmony with the land, taking only what he needs, and even whipping out a festive boogie called the Dance of Reconciliation as a form of penance. His chance meeting with Bojji looks to be an inspirational affair where the young prince learns of the balance of life, until the Mad King up and suggests that maybe the kid will be his next sacrifice.

Cool, dude! You want to murder and devour a child. Thanks for the heads up, we’ll be taking our leave now.

Though his backstory isn’t explicitly confirmed, it is heavily implied that he’s the father of Kingbo, a fallen monarch who watched on as his pops razed his own kingdom to the ground. Kingbo was actually in contention for this list, incidentally, billed as an unstoppable force before being absolutely clowned by the underworld swordsman, Ouken (who did NOT perform the Dance of Reconciliation after committing this act of violence).

Kirara Habu

Talentless Nana

To be honest with you, when I came up with this article, it was with Haru in mind. Talentless Nana takes place at an elite school for youths with supernatural powers, where the eponymous Nana Hiiragi has been sent as a sleeper agent to assassinate the students, one by one.

When you’re up against enemies with terrifying abilities, you’re bound to run into trouble, and several of Nana’s targets come close to exposing her secret. Poor old Haru, however, is an easy mark who is disposed of without the foggiest clue. She’s just a bitchy gyaru with venomous saliva, who gets ambushed while out hunting for reptiles in the woods.

Her design is so wonderfully appealing, and the money shot is the one image above where she is showing off her toxic tongue. She posed little to no threat, with her most noteworthy achievement being the moment she sent a fake love letter to a presumed friend in an effort to bully them. Some folks are destined for greatness, but for Haru, she was only destined to look great, and little more than that.

Atla & Lemuria

Dragon Ball Z

Following the shocking reveal of Goku’s older brother Raditz as Dragon Ball Z’s first antagonist, the big event is set to be the arrival of even more villainous Saiyans; Vegeta and Nappa. To allow time between the two major encounters, there is a period of time spent on the good guys training, while the bad guys, basically, are in transit.

In one of the more baffling anime-only additions, Vegeta and Nappa find themselves visiting the planet Arlia and its population of bug-like aliens. There, they learn of the plight of the overthrown ruler, whose wife has been kidnapped by the self-inserted new monarch, King Moai. Vegeta and Nappa dispose of Moai and depart Arlia, allowing for King Atla and Queen Lemuria to share a loving embrace, reunited at last. Vegeta then blows the planet up, eradicating the whole population.

The reason I obsess over these characters so much isn’t particularly for anything they did in their brief time on-screen, but more so what they represent: a bizarre inconsistency in Vegeta as a character. Not only does this make his eventual turnabout into a good guy dubious — the fucker wiped out an entire race of happy bug people — but we never again see his Galick Gun display planet destroying potential.

Imagine if the Namek saga came to a swift conclusion when Vegeta just finger bangs the entire Frieza Force into oblivion. It’s as if he forgot he could do this one, really cool, potentially game-changing thing.

Domino

Pokemon: Mewtwo Returns

Alright, alright. I confess that Domino perhaps plays too significant a role to qualify for this list. In the context of Mewtwo Returns, she is the secondary antagonist behind only Giovanni himself. But considering that she has never appeared before or since this one television special, I just had to include her. Besides, unless you’re a weirdo like me, did you even remember this chick in the first place?

We’re first introduced to Domino as an annoying, peppy airhead who works at the Pokemon Institute. You wouldn’t really suspect her of anything more than that, as this anime is loaded to the gills with annoying, peppy airheads. Once she has her target acquired, however, she unveils her true identity: Agent 009 of Team Rocket, aka the Black Tulip.

Domino presents as one of the few competent Rocket members, capably enacting plans and even squaring up against Pokemon herself. Like, I didn’t notice until now, but she doesn’t appear to have any pocket monsters of her own, she just pulls out some tulips and fucks shit up like a boss. No wonder she’s never come back, she’s clearly too powerful for Ash to deal with more than once.

The Jumping Titan

Attack on Titan

Another villain too obscure even for the best minor antagonist list, this dude is a testament to the notion that there are no small parts, just small people.

Attack on Titan’s Pure Titans are basically just hideous, braindead eating machines that run about in the nude. Their twisted appearances make them stand out enough, but every now and then, they do the weirdest shit for seemingly no reason whatsoever. In the case of the Jumping Titan — one of two Titans bearing this unofficial moniker — when he discovers the presence of the nearby human Scouts, he takes after them by first twirling in midair before giddily running towards them, arms akimbo.

Whoa, are you right there, mate? His unnatural behaviour and significant size would make him intimidating, were it not for the fact that most viewers will have been too dazzled to even treat him with fear. Needless to say, he made my list of the most underrated Titans, as I most certainly rate him — and highly, at that.

All-Japan Machine Gun Lovers (Team ZEMAL)

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online

Rapid-fire, rapid-fire! Strafe! Ack-ack! Random fire!

In the Sword Art Online spinoff series, Gun Gale Online, the major focus is on team battle royales known as the Squad Jam. Here, eager VR players duke it out with a range of firearms until only one team is left standing.

It’s usually a bit of a mystery who is going to win, and there are a few strong contenders such as Team SHINC, Memento Mori, or whichever squad includes the main character, LLENN. What you can be sure of, however, is which team is most definitely not going to win — and that is this band of meatheads here.

Team ZEMAL are absolutely obsessed with machine guns, and will swoop about the battlefield peppering everything with a hellfire of bullets. Thing is, this makes them easy targets, made even worse by their tendency to stand in place while screaming nonsense at one another.

They fucking suck, and pose a challenge for nobody in particular. They’re the Cleveland Browns of Gun Gale Online, and despite all this (or perhaps exactly because of this), I can’t help but love them.

Tongue Tank Kid

My Hero Academia

So maybe you’ve been looking at this list and thought to yourself, “how dare he deem my favourite character insignificant! As the chairperson of the Kirara Habu Fan Club, I will not stand for such besmirching!”

And that’s fair enough (sorta). With so many people watching anime, even the most minor characters are likely to have some level of interest. With that being said, surely 99.9% of My Hero Academia enthusiasts are unlikely to give half a shit about the Tongue Tank kid.

Devoid of even a name, this primary school student appears in an All-Mighty two episodes, causing a ruckus for the participants of the Hero License remedial lessons. He’s mostly a background figure, except for his one crowning moment where he unleashes his Quirk, the glorious Tongue Tank, and offloads a round of artillery from out of nowhere.

I thought so much of him, I made reference to him in the My Hero Academia Beginner’s Guide, effectively equipping first-time viewers with the awareness of this awesome power as if he has an important role to play in the story. He does not, unless it is my very specific interpretation of the events of My Hero Academia.

Fuck yeah, Tongue Tank kid.

“Yeah” guy

Fire Emblem

And yet somehow, the Tongue Tank kid isn’t even the most obscure character on this list. No, that dubious honour belongs to a man we only see for a scant few seconds, who can’t even be described with something as distinctive as a tank turret in his mouth.

In episode two of the ill-fated Fire Emblem OVA, Marth’s army faces off against a horde of bandits in a cramped canyon battlefield. During this kerfuffle, the cavalier Abel easily disposes of several attackers. He flashes a thumbs up to the overzealous archer Gordon, who leaps to the air in celebration. Then, this random fucking soldier returns the gesture, and in the English dub, he grunts “yeah!” before the shot cuts away.

It is a downright baffling directorial choice, because there was no earthly reason to linger any longer than Gordon’s reaction. At least, it could have been a nod of approval from the faithful knight Draug, who is a character of actual importance that was also in the shot. But no, the honour goes to the completely anonymous unit, and his dub actor who decided that his excitement should resemble a middle aged father of two who has just been asked if he’s ready to fire up the grill.

It’s one of the many reasons why the Fire Emblem anime is perfect and amazing, and quite honestly, for me it is probably the main reason.