Top 5 Spooky Boys in Anime

Hi everyone,

This is a collab post! I’m gonna start it off but if you want to see the top spots (and obviously you do!) don’t forget to head on over to Otaku Essays and Analyses

Luminous Mongoose: You know, monster girls get a lot of traction, but what about monster guys? While I think the spooky world of supernatural creatures has some great male representation in the anime industry, it’s usually not in the fanservicey way that monster girls are, so in retrospect, that’s probably why this market isn’t as oversaturated.

With that said though, pickings weren’t slim when I started thinking about all the monster guys, so with the help of fellow blogger Irina, we’ll be sharing our 10 favorite monster guys in anime. I chose 5, she chose 5, and we made it into a top 10, because top 10 lists are how people survive on the internet these days.

When Lumi – you don’t mind if I call you Lumi right? Great! When Lumi approached me with this little collab idea – he was worried that we wouldn’t be able to come up with enough monster men in anime for a full post… Lumi’s lacks vision! Let me tell you folks, it was a chore limiting myself to 5 (also I cheated…)

In the spirit of spooky month i’Ve made my post uber scary! It’s full of SPOILERS!!!!! OOoohooooOOO…

10 – Eren Jaeger – Attack on Titan

Remember with Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hide was the scariest story around? Me either.. It was 1886…How old do you people think I am??? By today’s standards some snoothy white dude who gets all surely and violent after drinking isn’t exactly up to monster standards, it’s more (insert political joke here then be a little sad…) Still, the archetype got updated as the Hulk for younger generations.

However neither hold a candle to SPOILER undercover Titan and walking talking moral dilemma, Eren Jaeger. You most certainly wouldn’t like HIM when he’s angry. Not only are Titans…Titaninc. Dwarfing your average monster in both strength and size, but they may very well spell out the end of mankind as we know it. How’s that for effective? Most monsters barely wipe out a single town…lazy bums. Their skinless Ken doll design is also rather unsettling.

With all that you’d figure Eren would be higher on my list but you see, despite being the main protagonist who turns out to be a Monster in one of the biggest reveals on season 1, he’s still one of the most boring characters on Attack on Titan. That says as much about the show as about Eren himself.

Lumi’s note: Never liked Eren, but the idea of a hormonal teenager turning into a gigantic monster is dangerous in its own right. The real scary thing about Eren is the screentime he gets.

9  – Zombie Man – One Punch Man

While primarily appearing in the manga and only being a focus in one OVA as a victim, Zombie Man is nonetheless a really cool and spooky hero. His entire design is based on that of a grizzled old detective, and the grayish skin really give him that cool Frankenstein look. His few appearances and the great covers that feature him should warrant a spin-off manga where he’s basically anime zombie Batman, and you can’t tell me that anime zombie Batman isn’t the one of the most 90s things you’ve ever heard.

Zombie Man is pretty low on this list by virtue of him actually being a professional hero whose appearance doesn’t mirror his nice attitude. You would think a guy named Zombie Man would be a bit more gruff, but he’s actually quite sociable and friendly, going so far as to forgive Tatsumaki for literally stabbing him. I mean, it’s not like that would have killed him, but it’s the thought that counts.

PrincessLovelySuperCool : I have to admit I wasn’t that familiar with the character so I had to google him and..hum.. I am o.k. with his character design. He should be higher…

8 – Ainz Ooal Gown – Overlord

Can’t have Spooktober without SKELETONS!

When it comes to skeletons, Ainz-sama has to be one the most badass skeletons around. Despite his roots as a salaryman, Ainz’ experience as a corporate worker, his skill in the game, and sheer power level, has made him a very fearsome Overlord indeed.

Much like Ryuk, what makes him terrifying is the contrast of how bumbling he is to us as an audience in private, but to just about everybody else in the world, he is a terrifyingly powerful god of death.

SPOILERS FOR OVERLORD S2

One of the most metal things he does involves summoning an army of undead zombies, stacking them into a staircase, walking to the top of said staircase onto a towering structure HE created, looking down on the lizard people, with his entire entourage of insanely powerful beings, for a peace treaty meeting. If that’s not the most intimidating and spooky flex to you, I don’t know what is.

SPOILERS FOR OVERLORD S2 DONE

PLSC: I loves me a comedic creepy crawley. I got to say Ainz reminds me of Skeletor and the only thing I can think of when I think skeletor is:

Ergo – Ainz is Penny Arcade!

7 – Pride – FMA

I always seem to end up with a homunculus on my tops 5 collabs with Lumi.

It took my a good long while to figure out which of the supernatural baddies I should single out for the honour. In the end, I figured I would go with the one most closely fitting the bill of monster “boy”.

The homunculi are all terrifying in concept. All human looking, they can blend in perfectly but not only do they possess powers beyond the grasp of mere mortals, there’s something deeply other about their thinking. They aren’t good or bad. The concepts of human morality are simply don’t come naturally to them. There’s something so eerie about someone playing “human”. When you don’t even have certain basic assumptions of normalcy to fall back on, understanding becomes almost impossible.

Combined with the basic terror all of this entails, is that fact that pride looks downright angelic. A sweet little boy with a friendly disposition, that could tear you to shreds with a stray thought just because.

Lumi’s Note: Pride is one of my favorite twists on the entire show, and his introduction is hands down the most intimidating of all seven Homunculi. Riza had it rough.6 – Abridged! Alucard – Hellsing Ultimate

Abridged! Alucard from the Abridged series by the hilarious TeamFourStar is legitimately much more psychotic and dangerous than the real Alucard. While the real Alucard was also a rampaging bloodlusted murderer, Abridged! Alucard cranks the psycho up to 100, being much more of a morally bankrupt monster who actually takes pleasure from the terror he brings upon his opponents, before brutally murdering them of course, and that’s just in his base form.

Endlessly quotable to us for sure, but remember, in-universe, his presence and name alone is enough to make anybody terrified out of their mind, so much so that some people kill themselves before he can even reach them, all while he’s laughing and probably tweeting about it. Worst of all, the screaming probably turns him on immensely. It helps that he’s voiced by the ever-charismatic Takahata101, who gives our resident immortal psychopath the deep, resonant, voice he needs to taunt, threaten, and harass all those around him, friend or foe.

PLSC: In general TeamFourStar deserves way more recognition. These guys are geniuses and incredibly talented. Now I’m a pretty big fan of Hellsing…especially a certain Miss Hellsing.. I mean that silhouette and…wait, what? who? where? So far this is the most delicious monster post ever!

5 – Mr Tatsumi – Shiki

Carni – I see your vampire and raise you a werewolf! – spoilers…

Have you all seen Shiki? It get duh-ark!!! I could have just pick any 5 characters from that show and called it a day. Now Shiki is a story about a “family” of vampires praying on a small isolated country village, bringing it to the brink of extinction. It’s fantastically paced and gets under your skin. More than a year later, I still have a vivid impression of the series.

As you can imagine, it offers a plethora of vampires to choose from (and some of those humans aren’t exactly angelic). So I chose SPOILERS the werewolf. Team whatever that guy from Twilight is, I haven’t read those books!

In a world of tortured monsters, guilt ridden over the harm they instill on those around them yet driven by their vampiric nature, Mr. Tatsumi is just having a ball. Embracing every inch of his barbaric leanings with glee. He is undoubtedly a monster but you can’t deny, the man’s got swagger! I mean I always call him Mr. Tatsumi, even when I think of him in my head. Yet, I only see him referred to as Tatsumi. The character is so imposing, I’ve self conditioned to add an honorific.

Lumi’s Note: I ended up ranking Mr. Tatsumi higher than Alucard for one reason, and that reason is because I would be laughing to death while terrified with Alucard, while with Mr. Tatsumi, I’d just be terrified.

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