Oikawa Tōru is NOT a villain
Oikawa... the best villain anime? Okay...
I know that words like villain or antagonist can be confusing when you’re not familiar with writing. You might notice that a character can be both a villain and an antagonist at the same time, but that doesn’t mean these words are equivalent.
When you think of a villain, you picture someone who does evil things — “evil” according to an established morality, because what you consider bad might not be bad for someone else. Villains may or may not be aware of this. A villain might know they’re doing something wrong but justify it with “the end justifies the means,” or they might truly believe they’re doing the right thing because they have a different perspective on life. A villain makes bad decisions and commits harmful actions, and in many cases, the villain stands against the protagonist.
Here is where we can understand the difference between “antagonist” and “villain.” The antagonist is simply the opposing force.
Let me give you an example: Death Note and Star Wars.
Both have protagonists — Light and Luke — and antagonists — L and Darth Vader. The difference between Light and Luke is that Light is a villain, while Luke is a hero.
Why is Light a villain? It has nothing to do with whether he’s the main character or not; he’s a villain because he becomes evil. At the beginning of his story, he has good intentions, but his actions are questionable, and things get worse when he starts killing innocent people just to avoid being caught. L, on the other hand, disapproves of these actions and opposes Kira. L has a clear moral compass (well, we could argue about that to some extent). That’s why L is an antagonist — but not a villain.
Now, if we think about Star Wars, we see Luke as a hero who rejects the Empire’s actions. Darth Vader, however, is a good example of a villain who commits evil acts because of his different perspective on life. He’s a suffering soul, someone who lost everything, but in the end, he redeems himself. He’s also an antagonist because he stands against Luke.
If we talk about Haikyuu!! and Oikawa, there are no villains in Haikyuu!!.
It’s a series about many boys who love volleyball and do everything they can to win. Karasuno, Aoba Johsai, and Nekoma don’t do anything wrong when they compete. You might say, “But Oikawa tries to beat Kageyama…” — my goodness, that doesn’t make him a villain. He’s simply reacting naturally to the pressure and stress he feels. It’s not like he kept trying to do that afterward. Besides, it’s normal not to like everyone — we all have people we like and dislike.
Oikawa’s goal isn’t to harm anyone; he just wants to win, like everyone else. The fact that he’s not the main character doesn’t make him evil. It just makes him an antagonist, because he’s on the opposing team. There’s nothing bad, evil, or wrong about that.
The same goes for Shiratorizawa, Inarizaki, and Kamomedai — they’re not villains either. They just have the same goal and compete against the protagonists. Nothing more.
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