It’s a familiar scene, the prince is
condemning the villainess of the story, nullifying his engagement and instead
choosing to be with the heroine of the romance tale. He lists out her crimes which
she denies, but it matters not – the evidence, real or imagined, is irrelevant because the
prince has already picked true love instead. However this story is slightly different
- our villainess accepts this new reality, and asks for one final thing from her ex-fiance.
Walking forward she pulls back, and punches the heroine right in the face, before doing the same
to the prince sending him flying into a wall. But I’m getting ahead of myself aren’t I. We are currently in a golden age of Villainess
Content, which is amazing for me because I have an obsession with Villainess Stories. This was
inevitable, All Routes Lead to Doom airing in 2020 was the break in the dam necessary for
MagiRevo, Endo & Kobayashi, 7th Time Loop & I’m in Love with the Villainess getting their shots (including many others),
and this trend isn’t going to be stopping anytime soon. We’ve got hundreds of villainess stories
waiting in the wings, both manga and manhwa with new ones showing up daily that will no doubt
continue to grow its seasonal market share in the future. Villainess fans - my people - you
already know how good we’re eating, so let’s take out victory lap. But for those of you who have
no idea what I’m talking about - asking yourself, what the hell is a Villainess story - hey
you’re in the right spot - because this video isn’t just for the believers, it’s
also for you - the people I’m going to convert to the church of Villainess stories.
Yes it is I, Replay, the Villainess Shill, and that requires me explaining what exactly
the Villainess subgenre is, why my obsession makes logical sense, and hopefully recommend
a few great villainess stories along the way. But I guess I have to start with answering…what
exactly is a Villainess story? The most simple villainess plotline is that a female main
character - usually the principal but not always - who is engaged or otherwise entwined
with a male character is the spiteful bully / rival in another female character’s romance with
said male character, who picks the character we would describe in most romance stories as
“the heroine” and, if in a position of power, condemns our main character for their crimes and
evils, killing, banishing, or some other third option, so that the couple can live happily ever
after. But what if our “villainess” was actually a reincarnated person who had consumed this romance
story via an otome game or a book, or perhaps had traveled back in time after their demise and
decided – long before their condemnation event to not wind up in that circumstance – what
would happen then? That is the primary flavor of the villainess sub-genre, taking place in a
usually aristocratic european society, and occasionally sprinkled with magic because this
sub-genre’s super genre is traditionally fantasy. This tent has gotten quite wide, with stories
that feature secondary or mob characters who want to save the villainess as the main character
instead, villainesses who have been banished and now must make the best of their new situation
- this is actually the second primary flavor, and then you have villainesses who are not the
romantic rival, but are the evil step-mother type – some people refer to these stories as a
whole as otome fantasy and I get why but I like the name villainess, because it’s got punch. This
subgenre is also popular in both Japanese Manga and Korean Manhwa, and their differences are fun
to explore since the base that the majority are built from are different - and we’ll talk about
that a little bit later - because I now get to bust out my villainess alignment chart wi–
For your sanity I have removed the 20 minute rant about my Villainess Alignment Chart we now
return to our previous scheduled programming – And that’s why if you think Yona of the Dawn
counts as a villainess story, you probably think a hot dog qualifies as a sandwich. Which of
course leads us to the obvious question, why am I, and hundreds if not thousands of others like me,
obsessed with this kind of story. Most simply? Villainess stories are full of characters you want
to root for. There are genre reasons as well that I’ll get to in a second, but at the end of the
day, your average Villainess character has been dealt an incredibly bad hand - in a fair number
of cases, it’s not even their fault - and there are some really shitty people on the other
side who stand to gain from their downfall. Whether your villainess is a precious needs to
be protected at all costs introvert, a unfairly maligned noble lady whose universe based on a
game has whimsically decided to forgo all logic by making her the villain, a conniving brilliant
tactician who is maybe a touch wicked but is a saint compared to their opponents, or of course
a reincarnated soul who has done nothing wrong in this world, you are rooting for the underdog
and that honestly feels nice. The antagonists have the most punchable faces and always fail
to recognize the humanity of our protagonists, which is such a vile trait. It’s great when Sigrid
finds a meaningful emotional connection with her squadmates after ignoring them in her previous
life and realizing how devoid of substance she used to be. Melissa dressing down her ex-fiance
because he’s cheated on her, and the old her would’ve never said anything, will never not bring
a smile to my face. Rooting for those crazy kids to wind up together because it’s so obvious that
they complete each other in a world designed to destroy them – I love rooting for characters
who face impossible odds while their enemies get their just desserts. This world can be so
unfair, and my favorite villainess stories are fiction righting that wrong at its absolute best.
Another reason that this category is so popular - I’d wager that it is because we’ve got a core
premise with tons of opportunity for variation, while centering on a few common popular
touchstones of fantasy, isekai and romance. The baseline of the villainess story is so malleable
that you can fit in basically whatever big G genre or idea that the author wants, whether that’s
“let’s cook good food post-banishment” or “let’s engage in serious political intrigue to determine
the fate of the continent” – and this structure gives clear tempo to the writer: this is the
knowledge we have from the previous life, these are the events / flags that need to be avoided,
this is how much time our protagonist has until it’s too late. That sets up obvious stakes, stark
motivations, and the juicy narrative questions that help us get invested in the early chapters.
It is fun to read two stories with an almost identical premise, and see how different writers
handle the material, with character personalities and the tone they employ and how they tackle
themes. What was it about the broad concept that spoke to them, what twist are they putting on the
core conceit, how are they playing with the tropes we’re familiar with? There is something really
cool about the fact that “My Fiance is in Love with my little sister” a dark sisyphean time loop
story came out of the same “my younger heroine sister winds up with my love interest” framework
as “I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again” which is the exact opposite side of the continuum as a
cutesy romcom with some light drama. As you could probably tell from earlier, I am a big fan of
revenge stories, despite my real life philosophy being “Good living is the best form of revenge”
my fiction is not the same. I love Villainesses who operate in aristocratic settings creating
and executing dramatic revenge plots against those that wronged them in their previous life,
manipulating systems of power and foreknowledge to utterly ruin their enemies - that’s my shit.
I also enjoy seeing characters reform, bad people recognizing the error of their ways and trying
to be better and kind when given a second chance. Main characters that are in tension with the world
they want to live in and the story that they find themselves in, asking questions about the nature
of fate and authorial intent and time loops for that matter. I never get sick of the premise no
matter how many of these I’ve scarfed down like a ravenous wolf because I know the villainess
template so well, I feel like I get to know the authors in the process of consuming the work, and
at this point Villainess content is basically my comfort food in storytelling - I have the benefit
of knowing the big strokes of what’s likely to come through but also not the specifics so I can
still be surprised. I’m not the biggest romance and comedy guy, but you’ll find some really
thoughtful romances and some ridiculous romcoms here as well - Villainess stories have a little
bit of everything for anyone who’s interested in starting one. Hell you might as well check one of
the many Villainess anthologies that are floating around if you want to test out some oneshots
to find something that might be up your alley. And that feels like a pretty good place to jump
into recommendations and continue to clarify some of my earlier points in the process. If you want
to test the waters, you need a good starting point to see if this category is for you - you can’t
go wrong with HameFura which for many people is their first peek behind the curtain. It’s heavy on
the comedy, has 2 seasons of anime, and Katarina is incredible content. But if you want something
a bit more on the serious side - look no further than With One Day Left. A lot of Villainess
stories are long running, this one trims all the fat, and is a svelte 3 volume, 16 chapter perfect
encapsulation of everything that makes Villainess stories great. The subtitle for this one is 24
Hour Speedrun and that’s because it’s just that, the Villainess awakens to her previous life’s
memories a day before her condemnation event and uses them to avoid the bad end. I love
how Alexandra doesn’t let her previous life’s personality overtake hers, which is a common
occurrence, Alexandra is a villainess from top to bottom, which means her domineering personality
is fully on display, and she is extremely fun to root for as she expediently burns through what are
traditionally long arcs in the space of a chapter, manipulating all the levers of power at her
disposal, familial, monetary, interpersonal societal, and even accidentally romantic. There’s
even some internal emotional storytelling here despite the short runtime, here’s Alexandra who
just woke up to the fact that this is all a game, recognizing that her love for her fiance would
never bear fruit, and yet has to power through that realization to make sure that she doesn’t
die or has a fate worse than death. I can’t think of a better starting place for someone who
wants the more dramatic side of the Villainess genre, and there is an incredibly fun plot twist
in here that I still get a kick out of years later. If you want something similar to this,
currently ongoing, and arguably even better - The One Within The Villainess - asks the obvious
question, “hey what happens to the original personality when the main character gets isekai’d
in?” with a really interesting and fun answer, and Remilia is peak villainess doing the right
things for the wrong reasons. The One Within The Villainess is so fucking good but we
have to keep moving right along because… Before we get to the my absolute no-doubt favorite villainess story - a story so good it’s in
my top 10 ongoing manga, I want to quickly talk a bit about the difference between Japanese and
Korean villainess series, because I said I would and you dear commenter, would keep me honest if I
didn’t keep my promise. You’ve probably gotten a sense of it from what we’ve talked about so far,
Japanese villainesses tend to stick close to the otome game roots, which means a lot of them take
place at a noble academy. The heroine is a special commoner or low level baron who uses light magic
and slowly has events with a series of male leads who inevitably fall for her once their affection
levels get high enough. Villainess Lvl. 99’s anime is so aware of this fact that it plays the otome
game completely straight in its first episode, even making an intro cutscene for it. Even our
post-banishment stories have the banishment occur during their school days, so you wind up with
a lot of stuff that feels similar. The great stories take this and play on your expectations,
or use the structure to create subversions, and occasional take one element and just run with it -
7th Time Loop which if you’re going to watch just one villainess anime is probably the one that’s
currently out that you should pick - maximizes on the previous experiences aspect to create a jack
of all trades protagonist whose foresight and experiences are overpowered except in the context
of her biggest obstacle which is her fiance, a crown prince who in the future becomes a brutal
warlord, and therefore has very particular ideas about his governing style, creating conflict
with his future wife’s ideology. Korean stories meanwhile tend to transport their leads, if it’s
an isekai, into books – and for that reason has a wider number of settings as a result. Even the
main video game example I can think of - Villains are Destined to Die, which leans very heavy into
those affection levels - is not academy based. Because of that, the protagonists trend a little
bit older, mid 20s compared to high schoolers, and even some flat out 30s which is a really nice
change of pace because their goals and maturity usually reflect that gap. You just get way more
variety in the kinds of villainess stories here, and as a result instead of recommending just
one manhwa I’m gonna quickly scattershot a few of them. I Raised My Fiance With Money was
recommended to me by a community member and quickly became a staple, with an extremely cute
main pair and a ridiculous gap between the male lead’s appearance and his personality - I have
fallen head over heels for every character in this manhwa and cannot praise the art and character
design enough. Time to Change the Genre is one of those evil-stepmom series that I mentioned
earlier and Judith is simultaneously so out of her depth in trying to avoid the bad end while also
utterly killing it that we simply must stan. I’ll Shall Master This Family is a quintessential
“overdog thought of as underdog” but without removing all stakes and tension, making those
moments of triumph ultimately satisfying and watching Tia go from young girl behind the scenes
to front of page commander is awesome. Knight to a Lady explores how rigid hierarchies prevent
us from finding common connections, how gender roles can harm us from finding the things we’re
good at and make assumptions about others based on unfair prejudices, all the while showing
how women’s aristocratic life is a battlefield not too dissimilar from what a swordswoman
experienced during a brutal war. The slow burn on the character development and romance might
put you off, but I still recommend it. There’s so many others, and some of them might even
get adaptations - you can watch Gekai Elise - a rare double isekai - if you want a Korean Manhwa
adapted into anime. If you want me to recommend a bunch more and go into depth on some of the one’s
I only hinted at, like Sigrid, or something that I really love like Stationary Store let me know
if you want the follow-up and, assuming this video does okay, I’ll be sure to make a little
addendum with a bunch more villainess stories. And that brings us at last to my personal favorite
villainess story - “The Holy Grail of Eris”. On a rainy evening, a young girl is separated from
her friend and witnesses a beautiful noblewoman stand on a platform meant for her execution.
The noblewoman is named Scarlet Casteel, a duke’s daughter, who after being accused of
attempting to kill her love rival for a prince, is condemned at the Grand Meryl-Ann Banquet Hall.
10 years later, that same young girl, Constance, attends the same banquet hall with her fiance,
only to find that he is cheating on her with another girl. And after the timid Connie resolves
to do something about it, followed by performing a kindness for another young girl, she finds that
she has been set-up by her fiance’s cheating partner - that act of kindness being portrayed
as a theft - and Connie’s condemnation begins, just like what happened to Scarlet a decade
before, where no one will step-up to speak the truth on her behalf against her charismatic
opponent who desires Connie’s fiance – at least until the spirit of Scarlet descends, taking
over Connie’s body and flipping the tables asking “Just which of us is the real thief here?”
Scarlet as Connie proceeds to utterly obliterate both of the cheater’s reputations, turn the
entire audience against them and onto her side, and annul Connie’s engagement through sheer
force of charisma and tactician level social intelligence. These opening chapters are so
incredibly fun to read, and perfectly set-up Scarlet and Connie’s future dynamic – but
it isn’t even the juicy meat of what makes Eris such a great manga. Because - yeah I’d read
chapters of Scarlet destroying people socially, she’s a wizard, but the payment for Scarlet’s
assistance in this act, is that Connie now needs to help Scarlet get revenge against those
that conspired to kill Scarlet – and that of course includes finding out the truth of what
happened 10 years ago since Scarlet was framed. What ensues is one of the most intricate mystery
stories I’ve read in manga, with a cast that is second to none and political intrigue and
conspiracy falling out of every orifice to a degree that keeps me on my toes like no other.
Scarlet the apex of ego and self-confidence, matched with a wicked tongue and social brilliance
having to work with and through a mild-mannered, truthful to a fault, plain Viscount’s daughter is
peak buddy-cop comedy. And Connie being forced to open her eyes to the reality of this society
- with morally gray characters who aren’t as simple as she believed them to be by the
stories printed by the media - Connie’s growth in particular feels so earned as she tries
to do the right thing and balance that with her family’s motto of be honest. Especially when her
enemies are equally clever and the match-up of wits doesn’t only have implications for solving
Scarlet’s death, but expands to a much larger conspiracy. I won’t spoil anything, but anytime
that a story can have me on the edge of my seat purely via boring surface level dialogue that’s
covering an intense battle in subtext and every panel brings immense anticipation and dread,
that’s a story that I need to share with others and The Holy Grail of Eris is that manga. If
you walk away from this video unwilling to try anything else and this sounds even remotely like
it might be interesting, please give it a try.
