Is Mikey the Main Villain in Tokyo Revengers?

The Tokyo Revengers plot has seen a range of unexpected character shifts, and Mikey has undoubtedly been at the heart of central events. While there’s a ton of trauma that leads up to him turning dark, many fans have wondered if Mikey is actually the main villain in Tokyo Revengers.

Mikey started off as a classic anti-hero in Tokyo Revengers, primarily seen as a goodhearted deuteragonist. However, dark Mikey did take the role of a minor villain in his fourth timeline, as well as a main villain towards the end of the final Tokyo Revengers arc. That being said, he is not the main bad guy throughout the entire story, and he turned out to remain a good guy by the end of the series.

Although Mikey has done some seriously messed up things, none of which are fairly justified by his pain and trauma, the true Mikey isn’t technically the main villain throughout the entire storyline. Stick around to find out everything there is to know about Mikey’s character, including why he turned bad as well as his role in the universe.

Is Mikey a Villain in Tokyo Revengers?

Manjiro “Mikey” Sano is possibly the most renowned anti-hero throughout the Tokyo Revengers saga, and debatably one of the most popular characters within the series. Although Hinata was the primary catalyst for Takemichi Hanagaki traveling back into the past, many of the most notable events in the Tokyo Revengers universe have somehow revolved around Mikey.

He is described as a completely complex individual, with inner workings that would be too complicated to understand for most people (a possible reason for Mikey refusing help or intervention). He has always been strong and tough, but he has a lot more expression and feelings to his personality than many would expect, and he has always deeply cherished those around him.

Similar to many future villains, Mikey’s ambitions began with good intentions. At the start of his journey, all Mikey really wanted was to help create an era in which delinquents and misfits could thrive – although, these hopes and dreams would wane after losing the people he loved most.

Technically speaking, Mikey is the mischievous deuteragonist within the Tokyo Revengers saga, eventually turning into a main antagonist as the storyline progressed. He was seen as an anti-hero within the earlier stages of the saga, after which he slowly began to embrace his darker side – refusing to seek out help for his mental scars and grim world views.

During his fourth timeline, Mikey became a minor villain in the Tenjiku, while his Bonten timeline counterpart served as the main antagonist of the Bonten Arc. Two years after Mikey formed the Kanto Manji Gang, he served as one of the main antagonists of the Three Deities Arc, after which he took the role of the main antagonist in the Kanto Manji arc.

While the dark side of Mikey can be seen as one of the main villains in Tokyo Revengers, Mikey himself is not the main antagonist. When compared to a villain such as Tetta Kisaki, Mikey is more of a misguided and broken anti-hero with a world of hurt lying beneath the surface – although, this is by no means a defense for any of his violent actions.

Why Did Mikey Turn Evil?

There are quite a few events and reasons for Mikey eventually turning evil, at least in some of the timelines. But, the main contributing factors appear to be the loss of his closest friends and family members.

He tries his best to keep it together after the death of his older brother, Shinichiro Sano, his lifelong childhood friend, Keisuke Baju, and others who suffered due to Kisaki’s actions. But, he seems to reach his breaking point after the tragic death of Emma, who was the only one keeping tabs on Mikey’s well-being and mental state at the time.

Losing everyone and everything he loved seemed to have racked up some insane trauma and psychological damage, but losing Emma was the final straw before Mikey began his descent into darkness. Many fans were led to believe that Mikey simply could not handle his past traumas and losses, without the ability to cope with any of his emotions or pain.

As a result, it’s believed that Mikey simply snapped after being under too much emotional stress and suffering, without any healthy outlet to deal with his inner turmoil. In addition to Mikey being killed due to various events, he also attempted to take his own life (or, force another’s hand in taking his life instead).

He began going on rampages, murdering innocents, former allies, and much more. He even went as far as to nearly kill Takemichi for absolutely no reason – possibly the only person who actually had his back and would stop at nothing to help him.

It is later revealed that Mikey was also turning dark due to a curse that he was suffering from, which stemmed from an old man who was killed for his time-leaping abilities. However, there’s no denying that this could not have been the sole contributing factor.

Mikey definitely fed the beast, so to speak, refusing help while embracing the darkness as a temporary means to cope with his pain. All of his actions would not provide any peace or solace, however, as he still cherished his loved ones deep down.

He was still in pain, and he stated that his life was only suffering – the main reason for Mikey simply wanting to die. His emotional and mental state would later be worsened by his own actions and guilt, although he finally ends up asking Takemichi for help on the verge of their deaths.

Does Mikey Turn Good Again?

Mikey does have a softer side, as he was pretty carefree and happy as a child – long before he began succumbing to his darker side. He has a sweet tooth, hates spicy food, and has a special talent for motorcycle mechanics. But, all of these traits paled in the face of his trauma, guilt, and loss after the death of his loved ones.

It seems that all of Takemichi’s attempts to change or save Mikey failed after a certain point in time, as he had already begun his unstoppable descent into madness. Fortunately, Takemichi managed to travel further back in time to when Mikey and Takemichi were still children, in the hope of preventing the events that caused Mikey to turn evil and ultimately die as a result.

This last shot seemed to be successful, although there’s evidence to show that at least some of the main Tokyo Revengers characters were still aware of the events that transpired in other timelines. In the end, Mikey is quite happy, seemingly free of his darkness, pain, and suffering since his loved ones were saved as well.

It’s safe to say that many fans weren’t happy with how inconsistent the ending of Tokyo Revengers was, in addition to various unexplained details as well as many events simply being discarded. However, most fans were at least happy to see that Mikey turned out for the better in the end, being the childlike and loveable ally that fans originally came to admire.

That’s everything there is to know about Mikey turning into a main villain in Tokyo Revengers, with images thanks to the Villains Wiki. Although Mikey has certainly caused trouble for the Tokyo Revengers characters, he was thankfully prevented from going down that road due to Takemichi’s time-leaping abilities and unparalleled efforts.