But we all know that one type of character reigns supreme over all others: the trolls. So in an act of celebration, here’s my list of the biggest trolls anime has to offer.
15. Riki Nendo
Anime: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. We’re going to kick things off with Nendo as he’s not a troll by choice. The dude is just so comedically stupid that he accidentally trolls everyone around him. Especially Saiki. Since Nendo literally never thinks about anything, he’s the only person that Saiki can never detect. Of course, this translates to “Nendo will always be there at the worst time possible”. It also doesn’t help that he doesn’t take anything seriously and generally has a pretty bad perception about how his actions affect other people. He might get himself turned into stone in one episode, and then in the other start a rivalry without even knowing it. On that latter point, he not only wins, but does it while having two volleyballs up his shirt. To say that his adversary was pissed off would be an understatement. But like I said, he’s not even aware of the S class trolling he dishes out on a pretty regular basis – which is why he has to go into last place.
14. Kuroko Smith
Anime: Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls Kuroko is probably the most realistic troll I’ve ever seen. This is because her main way of getting under the MCs skin is by unloading most of her duties onto him. Do you remember how he was initially only supposed to house one demi-human? Kuroko sure as hell doesn’t, as she just keeps inviting people over like she was paying rent for the place. And when something does go wrong with the girls, you can rest assured that Kuroko won’t do just about anything to stop it. She’s like the definition of “it isn’t in my job description”, even though it literally is in her job description. However, she does occasionally put her big girl pants on, so I can’t call her a complete troll. Therefore, number fourteen will have to do.
13. Joseph Joestar
Anime: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Joseph is probably my favorite Joestar simply due to the fact that he doesn’t care at all about appearances. My dude will straight up run away from a fight at full speed if he’s not confident that he’ll win – much to the chagrin of the rest of his party. But it’s his fight with Kars that really solidified him as a troll at heart. After his arm gets torn off, it ends up hitting Kars straight in the face. Joseph then proceeds to act like that was his plan all along, just because (and I quote) “it would really piss him off”. This is the type of character writing I came to anime for! And don’t even get me started on his impeccable female disguise when entering enemy territory. Or the fact that he was late to his own funeral. Joseph simply has too many trolls under his belt, and I’ll always love him for it. But since he’s usually a bit more serious, I can’t put him too far up.
12. Laurent Thierry
Anime: Great Pretender The show would have you believe that Laurent pulls off all these elaborate schemes in order to make money and send a message. But I honestly think he just does it in order to piss off Makoto. The dude just can’t catch a break! Even when he moves far away, starts a completely new life, and completely gives up crime – Laurent always pops out of some bush and makes him come back to the dark side. He even orchestrated an entire chapter in Makoto’s life just because he needed him to learn how to fly planes! What kind of next-level manipulation is that? He honestly could’ve just paid a pilot or learned how to do it himself in that time. This is why I’m convinced his life’s goal is just to troll Makoto.
11. Anos Voldigoad
Anime: The Misfit of Demon King Academy When you’re the most powerful dude around, it’s honestly a waste if you don’t troll your enemies a little bit. And Anos definitely takes this advice to heart. He will deflect your magic with a blink and kill you with the sound of his heart. Why? Because he can, and it’s bloody hilarious when you’re not on the receiving end. He will have a sword duel with a stick and yeet your castle into the air to prove that barriers are stupid. And let’s not forget that he unironically stated that it would take more than killing him in order for him to die. In other words, he’s that one douche who’s playing in creative mode while the rest of us peasants are still punching trees. But you have to love the lengths he’ll go to just to prove a point.
10. Koro-Sensei
Anime: Assassination Classroom Koro-Sensei is one of the goofiest characters in anime. He also moves at Mach 20 and can give a lecture while also dodging bullets. You can see how these two facts pair nicely when creating a troll soufflé. He can’t (nor wants to) kill his students, so he has to get creative with how to declare his victory. It usually goes something like this: You try to stab him? He’ll quickly do your nails. Shoot him? Now you have a new hairstyle. Blow him up? He just changed your Netflix password. You’d think this would get old at some point, but it really never does. The dude is just too likable, and his pranks are always so harmless that you can’t help but laugh.
9. Izaya Orihara
Anime: Durarara!! Izaya is one of those characters where I honestly can’t even tell what his end goal is most of the time. It always just seems like he’s bored and can only be satisfied with the most absurd situations. He’s the type of dude to just randomly create a grudge against you for existing – and then devote the next month of his life to working on a scheme to get you divorced. No goal is too out of reach and no trigger is too stupid when you’re Izaya! It also doesn’t help that his personality is quite goofy as well. He’ll be all serious and scary one second and then act like a seven-year-old in the next. Sure, he doesn’t have the raw Looney Toon aesthetic of Isaac and Miria, but he actively seeks out people to troll – which is why he deserves this spot.
8. Satoru Gojo
Anime: Jujutsu Kaisen Gojo basically became the poster child of the anime community. The dude literally can’t be bothered with anything. He has a similar vibe as Anos, being that he’s so strong he can just troll his enemies. For example, he might just leave mid-fight in order to grab his apprentice. Not for support mind you, but rather so that he can give a lecture on kicking butt while he’s kicking your butt. That alone just makes him the embodiment of everything I strive for in life. But even if you’re on his team, you’re probably not safe either. Gojo can’t be bothered with things such as responsibilities or respect, so he’ll pretty much make fun of just about anyone. No wonder the higher-ups all want him dead. Todo gets an honorable mention here – as his metric for judging people is one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen.
7. Heartseed
Anime: Kokoro Connect The plot of this entire show can honestly be summed up as “Heartseed is bored and thinks that trolling high schoolers is pretty funny”. Because that’s truly all there is to it! It’s not like Madoka Magica where Kyubey wants to siphon energy or something like that. Heartseed is literally just bored. So he starts creating drama, swapping people around, messing with their emotions, everything you could think of. This is honestly what the world would look like if an angry teenager became God. And it’s not every day that a character being a troll is literally the central plot device that keeps everything moving along.
6. Kazuma Sato
Anime: KonoSuba Kazuma is one of the most relatable characters anime has to offer. He’s constantly grumpy, and probably founded the subreddit r/MaliciousCompliance in his own head. He’s far from evil but he’s also not about that hero life. If you threaten to hurt him, he’ll do whatever you want no questions asked. And if you flex on him, he’ll find a way to humiliate you (regardless of how scummy the method is). Plus, the man believes in true equality, so no one is safe. As you could imagine, this catches the rest of the cast off guard quite a bit. He’s not rescuing a damsel in distress – he IS the distress. And if we’re being honest with ourselves, this is very much relatable. Kazuma is simply the internet hivemind as a person, and that automatically makes him one of the biggest trolls around.
5. Dio Brando
Anime: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure To prove this point, I need only focus on a single scene. Do you remember when the gang in Stardust Crusaders was finally going to confront Dio? Polnareff went ahead and made his way to Dio’s chambers. But as he went up the stairs, he kept being transported back to the bottom. At the time, I thought this meant Dio could rewind time or something like that. But upon rewatching the series, it hit me – this dude can only stop time. Meaning that every time Polnareff “teleported” back, it was because Dio stopped time, walked over to him, and then placed him at the bottom. He could’ve easily just killed him multiple times but Dio’s priority at this moment was just to confuse the hell out of Polnareff. And if that doesn’t make him a top-tier troll, I don’t know what does.
4. Kisuke Urahara
Anime: Bleach Urahara is one of those characters where you can never truly tell what they’re going to do next. Sometimes he’ll start joking around mid-combat and acting like a goof. Other times he’ll say the most absurd things in a completely serious voice. The only thing you know for sure is that you can never take him at face value. The dude can just get into your head and run circles around you on wit alone. He’ll have a casual conversation with Aizen himself, and also manage to stand on pretty equal footing in combat. A rather rare combo if you ask me. And if the stakes aren’t high, he’ll probably just troll Ichigo or something. He needs to maintain his good mood somehow after all.
3. Excalibur
Anime: Soul Eater If we were to define the main goal of trolling as “to annoy someone”, Excalibur is basically unbeatable in his category. After all, he’s a legendary weapon that ANYONE can use. And he holds absolutely immense power. In spite of all that, he rarely sees battle. This is simply because my dude is annoying as all hell. He’ll make the most absurd requests, sing his own praises, and have a drink infinitely shaken. Don’t get me wrong, he’s probably the best part of the show as a viewer. But the actual cast runs away from Excalibur like he’s the plague and not the world’s strongest weapon.
2. Eikichi Onizuka
Anime: Great Teacher Onizuka Onizuka is simply one of those teachers that would genuinely make school fun. This is mostly because he doesn’t take himself all that seriously and everything is a joke to him. Will he be cosplaying as a ninja, a monkey, or a superhero? Who really knows? But the dude definitely loves to disturb the status quo. And sometimes that simply necessitates pulling some legs and annoying the principal. But man does he make it all look fun!
1. Gintoki Sakata
Anime: Gintama I’d say that Gintoki is the ultimate troll because he transcends the medium of trolling itself. Sure, Onizuka can trick some thugs, but Gintoki can literally troll the audience. Fourth wall breaks are nothing new to Gintama. And Gintoki takes advantage of this to great effect. He’ll be watching his own movie and then just state how it’s never going to happen. And in-world, he isn’t much better. He’ll give advice to the people holding him hostage, barf his guts out while receiving important information, and even try to kill death itself. The dude can do it all – and god knows he takes advantage of every second. For this reason, he’ll always be the ultimate anime troll in my heart.
