Top 10 Manipulators in Anime with Genius Mind

Manipulators dazzlingly control situations and people to achieve their desired goals through deception, fraud, and their charismatic impression.

Characters like Light Yagami from Death Note and Johan Liebert from Monster have shocked viewers with their unexpected twists and reveals. Despite portraying the role of a deceiving person, these anime characters have won the hearts of millions of viewers.

Here is the list of the top 10 manipulators in anime with great plans and manipulative tactics.

10. Kiyotaka Ayanokoji – Classroom of the Elite

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji is a prominent character in Classroom of the Elite and is known for his fascinating personality and manipulative mind.

Ayanokoji, a Class D student, seems to be a quiet and unpretentious boy who is bad at making friends but possesses high intelligence and incredible physical ability. Behind his calm nature lies a perfect manipulator, an expert at getting whatever he wants.

His manipulative nature grows when he gets involved in many school affairs. He effectively predicts and influences people’s actions, making it tough for others to predict his moves and know his true intentions until it’s too late.

Ayanokoji engages in long-term planning, carefully directing circumstances to achieve his desired goals.

9. Sebastian Michaelis – Black Butler

Sebastian Michaelis is a demon disguised as Ciel’s butler who uses his supernatural abilities to undertake various tasks.

Despite his charming appearance, Sebastian is a sly and heartless manipulator with a dark past and joins Ciel, intending to consume Ciel’s soul and with many other mysterious motives.

Furthermore, Sebastian often uses his supernatural powers and mind games to manipulate situations in his favor and for his own benefit.

His character in Black Butler has gained worldwide popularity, and Sebastian Michaelis ranked ninth on a survey, “The Character I Want to Be My Groom.”

8. Yuichi Katagiri – Tomodachi Game

In the anime Tomodachi Game, Yuichi Katagiri is portrayed as a highly manipulative character who uses his slick mind to control situations and people to his benefit.

In the beginning, Yuichi Katagiri is regarded as a normal boy from a poor family background who participates in the Tomodachi Game and has his trust in his friends.

But as the game progresses, Yuichi starts to reveal his dark side. He is ruthless, competently manipulative, and merciless, with a mysterious talent for unraveling rules and people’s natures.

Furthermore, the series also illustrates Katagiri’s dark past, where he eradicated people with his manipulative tactics.

7. Lelouch Lamperouge – Code Geass

Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass is renowned for his manipulative prowess and genius-level cleverness.

He is a former Britannian prince who, along with his sister Nunnally, is sent as a political pawn to Japan to soothe the Japanese government into a false sense of security after a terrible incident takes place in Britannia where his mother Marianne is eradicated and having to witness the event, his sister loses both her sight and ability to walk.

Seven years later, Lelouch mysteriously finds a girl named C.C., who grants him a power known as Geass. This power allows him to command anyone to do whatever he wants, including bending their will to live, fight, or die on his behalf only through direct eye contact.

Furthermore, with his manipulative Geass power and charismatic appearance, Lelouch gained popularity and support among the Japanese and formed a resistance movement called the Black Knights to destroy the British empire, find his mother’s assassin, and achieve his own goals.

When Code Geass aired, Lelouch was recognized as one of Japan’s most popular characters, appearing at the top.

6. Eren Yeager – Attack on Titan

Eren Jaeger is a teenager who vows to take revenge on all Titans after a Smiling Titan eats his mother. He enrolls in the military and joins the Survey Corps, where he gets to study the psychology of Titans to learn what they are fighting.

As the story progresses, Eren discovers a mysterious ability to transform himself into an aware Attack Titan. This ability helps him utilize his psychological manipulation, convincing people to believe he can initiate massive change.

Eren’s manipulation further extends to complex plans, such as provoking his father to steal the Founding Titan and destroy the Reiss family, indicating his long-term manipulation tactics.

His role as a manipulator contributes to the complexity and depth of the narrative in Attack on Titan.

5. Kyubey – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Kyubey is a small cat-like creature from Puella Magi Madoka Magica who initially appears to be a cute, innocent character.

But as the story progresses, Kyubey, with his manipulative strategy, lures young girls by promising them to grant any wish they make in exchange for obtaining magical powers to fight against Witches.

Furthermore, Kyubey reveals to Madoka that he is of an alien race. His true agenda is to harvest girls’ energy and try to transform them into witches so that Kyubey can steal the world’s energy, which can keep him alive and content.

For Kyubey’s catchphrase, the series won the 2011 Bronze Prize, and his character was regarded as a famous manipulator in the anime world.

4. Makima – Chainsaw Man

Makima in Chainsaw Man is regarded as a highly manipulative and controlling character to achieve her desired goals.

Her apparently harmless and charismatic appearance easily misleads people into accepting her requests and orders without opposition.

Makima’s manipulation strategy mostly involves emotional and psychological manipulation, managing the desires and fears of others.

When Denji, a chainsaw man, joins a team of governmental Devil Hunters led by Makima. He is manipulated and controlled by Makima with the promise of an intimate and romantic relationship.

Makima is later revealed to be the Control Devil, who ultimately seeks to control Pochita as he can erase evil concepts from the world by consuming their Devils.

3. Johan Liebert – Monster

Johan Liebert is an antagonist character known as a charismatic and manipulative sociopath with a dark past in the anime series Monster.

Liebert uses psychological manipulation, often misinterpreting perceptions and using misinformation to control others.

He can also easily infiltrate his targets’ minds and drive them to do his dirty work. Because of his actions, many people lose their lives, but Johan doesn’t feel guilty and wants to control others and achieve his desired goals.

Johan is ranked among the best manipulators in anime due to his terrifying tactics.

2. Sōsuke Aizen – Bleach

Sosuke Aizen is the main antagonist of the anime series Bleach, who is a highly manipulative man with a sadistic nature.

Using his intelligence and charm to control others, Sosuke tricks the protagonist, Ichigo, into falling under his spell of becoming stronger. Sosuke fooled him, sparked a revolution in Renji, and even faked his demise.

Intending to achieve his goals by hook or crook, Aizen tricks Ichigo several times. He further possesses abilities like time manipulation, relativistic speeds, and existence erasure, which enhance his manipulative skills.

Sosuke is also known as the most threatening opponent and most manipulative character in anime.

1. Light Yagami – Death Note

Light Yagami from Death Note is an intellectual manipulator who uses various techniques to achieve his goals.

He mysteriously finds a Death Note, a supernatural notebook that allows the user to exterminate anyone by knowing their name and face.

Frustrated by the status quo and injustice of the world and fueled by his deformed, misguided sense of justice, Light uses the book to manipulate the people to choose who gets to live and who deserves to die.

His tactics of manipulating people psychologically, exploiting their weaknesses and fears to bend them to his will by using his charismatic appearance, led to the horrific assassination of people and also made him able to garner most of the world’s support, reaching the point where his followers begun worshipping him as a god.