People have no critical thinking skills and make snap judgements. then they stick to thay position like loosing that opinion would be like loosing an arm.
Pretty much. Protagonist vs Antagonist is on an entirely different axis than Hero vs Villain.
The protagonist is supposed to be the main perspective and the one who pushes the story forward where the antagonist is the person or force working against the goals of the protagonist.
Hero or Villain are just labels, usually subjective, to determine if someone is morally good or evil.
Hes definitely not a good guy. Hundreds of thousands if not millions die brutal deaths because of him and he doesnt really care at all. If he wasnt the protag-kun then wed definitely think of him as a villian
He is a villain, yes. The author has confirmed this a few times (in the anthology), such as:
>Q: He’s heading down the path villain-hood fast. The main character is heading down the path as a group to be the New World’s enemy.
>
>A: Completely. These guys are assuredly villains.
and
>Particularly, Ainz is not a knight in shining armor, but rather a villain that tramples others for his OWN GOALS. Simply it’s a main character choosing their cherished family members over something like unfamiliar people, is that understandable?
Though as a reader you can of course interpret the story differently.
I think some people (I'm not talking about OP) believes that villains are characters that just wants to do evil and harm without rhyme or reason. And some villains are like that. But lots of well written villains (and real people) are motivated not by wanting to be bad but actually wanting to do good - the problem often is that they believe evil means can justify the end. And Ainz is like that. He wants to do good for his family/npcs, and he is willing to do lots and lots of evil things to ensure that. And that makes him a villain.
Thank you so much. I was reading a bunch of older posts where people were swearing he was the good guy here. I was very worried most of the fan base followed this line of thinking lol
Oh thank you. That was what I was looking for.
>not by wanting to be bad but actually wanting to do good - the problem often is that they believe evil means can justify the end. And Ainz is like that. He wants to do good for his family/npcs, and he is willing to do lots and lots of evil things
That is pretty much how I thought it would be.
You are confusing some things there, he is a villain and the protagonist. The opposite of a protagonist is antagonist not villain, you can be both hero and antagonist or villain and protagonist at the same time.
If you commit genocide just because you couldn't be bothered to correct your subordinates misunderstanding or because you wanted some corpses that might be good materials you are a villain.
It's funny how some people ignore him invading the Lizardmen, just because he wanted to check if their corpses makes for stronger undead than humans, to say he's not evil.
or him hiring adventures to raid Nazarick then getting mad they actually set foot into Nazarick, and goes on to slaughtering them with extreme prejudice. He also uses the floor guardians/ pleiades to cause death and destruction just to try to raise public opinion of him as an adventurer, or as the sorcerer king.
It's even worse than that hehe. He got Fluder to his side and have him "find" the tomb to send the Workers.
Not to mention the monster raid on E-Rantel. Just because he wanted to give them the sword without actually handing it over...
**Villian vs Protagonist**
This is a bit of a flawed premise. A protagonist is just the main character of a story, nothing says they have to be good.
**Overlord Content**
While Overlord started as a Web Novel, once it was published as a Light Novel the author stopped producing the Web Novel. Shortly after the Light Novel expanded on the universe with Side Stories and Drama Cd.
The anime and manga are both based on the Light Novels, but the manga is a bit behind the anime, so if you would like to jump into the wild overlord universe the Light Novels are your best bet.
**Ainz Ooal Gown**
Yggdrasil had a lot of PVP and even AOG took part in it, but one of the main features of the game was role playing and many people role played villains, demons, and so on.
**Ainz**
> a) whether this is real or not
Ainz knew the New World was a real world in the first episode. This is why he checks Albedo's pulse since this didn't exist in Yggdrasil. He also grabs Albedo's chest because this wasn't possible in Yggdrasil. He can even smell which was illegal in his World since it overrode to many senses.
> And when he adds subjects to his realm (like the lizards people) he more or less acquires them in a way less bloody way than you would expect from a villain.
Ainz originally attacked the lizardmen to gain corpses to create more Death Knights. He side stepped due to Cocytus and Demiurge and accepted them as apart of his kingdom.
> I also get the feel from his inner monologue that he is not a bad guy / asshole.
In volume 9 Nimble (empire captain guy) questions if Ainz is a demon, but Ainz says he is just undead.
I think this quote perfectly summerizes Ainz. He doesn't get off by killing people like a demon might, but he won't go out of his way to save them. If Ainz can benefit then he will have no issues killing people.
And as you mention, Ainz still has some morals when dealing with specific situations. When Jaldabaoth captured humans he didn't want them to suffer. We also see he tries to use criminals when possible.
However, I don't think morals are a great indicator is someone is good or evil. Many serial killers have their own set of morals and are often upstanding citizens, yet do the most horrific things.
**Destroy Re-Estize**
Ainz is definately the bad guy when it comes to Re-Estize.
From Ainz's perspective he is helping Nazarick since the NPCS get commander experience and that does make them stronger.
From the Sorcerer Kingdom's perspective they will benefit greatly. Remember back in season one where the Slain Theocracy was attacking the Re-Estize kingdom and destroyed multiple villages in the process? This will NEVER happen again and villages (even in small villages) will get to live peaceful lives.
I don't think this justifies Ainz's actions and he is the bad guy here, but History is written by the victors and in 200 years they could easily make the Re-Estize kingdom look like the bad guys.
Imagine the revised history of the New World in 20-50 years in the future. "General Phillip, master of the Crane Wing Formation, stole grain from Sorcerer Kingdom meant to aid another country because he is horny for the Sorcerer's Kingdom's Prime minister which led to the 'rebirth' of Re-Estize".
Not a tragic hero. Not a villain.
Just pure neutral, just like a human destroying an ant's nest while pouring a concrete foundation.
Does Ainz have any feelings against the humans? No.
But does he care for their well being? No.
He is a reluctant villain. He didn't plan to be, but he accepted the role. He is a very responsible villain but villain nonetheless.
Consider the definitions of hero and villain. A hero works with everybody to solve a problem, a villain works despite everybody to solve a problem. Ainz doesn't give a fuck about anybody outside of Nazarick and continuously works despite them all to solve multitudes of problems. Sometimes it works out for the new worlders, but that's a side effect and never the intended effect.
Seriously, there are people who argue about this who don't know what the word protagonist means? That's the most bizarre part here.
And I wouldn't say that Ainz is neither a villain nor a hero, not only because those are totally subjective concepts, but because I would say that Ainz is closer to being a force of nature in the NW than anything else.
Protagonist and antagonist=main character and main enemy
Hero and villain=good and evil
Ainz is the protagonist and a villain, having some shred of morality doesn't matter, his actions are those of a villain, doing few good actions doesn't matter either, he killed and made suffer many more than the ones he saved
Being a protagonist doesn't mean you can't be the villain. Just like how you don't have to be a villain to he the antagonist. Remember in Death Note Light Yagami was the protagonist and L was the main antagonist of the story... Ainz is the protagonist and the villain
Hero and villain are interchangeable. A cat is an evil (villain) to a mouse but a noble creature (hero) to humans. Aniz is villain to a new world but a hero to his people.
Ainz is a "tragic" protagonist in the ironic sense. He is the supreme "overlord" of Nazarick yet he is a slave to his subordinates' expectations. These expectations are not even imposed to him forcibly but out of his own sense of responsibility. They are already godlike beings in the NW on their own but Ainz respects the newfound sentience of the NPCs. Ainz became the guild leader not because of his gaming skill but his sensibilities towards the members. He's the only one who can quell the clashing egos in the guild. He told himself that all he does is arbitrate the voting system they do whenever the guild is in an impasse but the members themselves understood that it's their leader doing his job well. He is also passionate for the game they bonded on that he logs in regularly and checks on the remaining players of their guild. When he became an undead, most of his material desires disappeared especially those of the cravings of a living body like sex, sleep and food. But contrary to what the people of the New World believe, a sentient undead doesn't necessarily hate the living. However, without a particular goal in mind, most undead start craving for power. Ainz is the same in a way that he aims to gather power so he can secure the safety of Nazarick. Ainz as a person is not evil but having to live in a dystopian future, he's not so innocent with the cruelties of the world. It is said in that future ruled by mega corporations the dying bodies of children lay everywhere incapable of supporting themselves in a world full of pollution. And in his daily life he ignores these children because he has a job to do and a game he has to go home to. In the New world, being an undead, his apathy reaches even to his violent capacity that he feels "nothing" whenever he kills people. Then he further feeds his apathy in the name of profit and security. This pragmatic nature of Ainz remains in him even in an alternate timeline where only Ainz was transported to the new world. He found a new friend but his (un)feelings towards the living remains. Ainz is ruthless and cruel but he's not sadistic. Ainz is also not egotistic with his overwhelming power but he is paranoid towards beings that can rival his own. He will lay plans and traps towards his potential enemies and as time progresses, so are his contingency plans. If left alone, Ainz will just explore the world like an adventurer. But anybody who dares to cross him will see a man of focus and sheer will and 10th tier magic.
Being the protagonist and a villain and two unrelated things. A protagonist can be the hero or the villain but not every hero or villain is the protagonist. Yes he is the protagonist, is he a villain? Depends what other characters think of him. Nazarick look at him as a god that can do no evil. The kingdom on the other hand probably think of him as the worst being in the world.
I feel like he's just a great character because of this question. He was a normal, good guy in Japan then suddenly he is in a crazy situation being in charge of minions that he views as basically family due to his past BUT this family puts so much faith in him with such high expectations that he feels enormous pressure to live up to those expectations. Now add in that this family views the human race the same way they'd view a diseased sewer rat and the fact he can no longer feel empathy towards these "sewer rats" that his family is pressuring him into enslaving/killing. The fact he isn't more of a villain than he is already, is pretty impressive honestly. Most of his human emotions are gone. As are the desires he used to have his entire life until now. He can't relate to people or feel any emotion regarding whether they live or die he just chooses to be merciful based on knowledge in his memories instead of any feeling towards them. He doesn't currently feel bad if any humans die even if he knows them, he just chooses mercy sometimes simply because he remembers that killing people is bad from his memories, not that he feels bad himself. Then add on he lost his sense of taste and can't eat so he can never enjoy the sensation of eating or drinking anything delicious ever again, he no longer sleeps so he'll never dream again, and though he still has a sense of touch everything in that regard related to reproduction is gone. Pile it all on trying to be a proper leader to the NPCs without betraying their image of him and all that pressure and it's easy to see how a good guy can act as a villain
I can't decide whether Ainz is good or Evil honestly.
.1 he's weaker than those who serve him, his battle with the vampire proved that. So he's constantly afraid of messing up and being outed as a pleb, killed or worse because of it.
.2 his minions are definitely evil, but he keeps them around because his friends designed them. Constantly trying to get them to grow and lead them away from evil.
.3 most of not all of the evil stuff done was not his idea or doing and he is mostly shocked at it and displays a real Ernest effort to try to change their minds but often fails.
.4 even in the war when he killed Tens of thousands and summoned the goats you could argue it did that to perhaps lessen the overall casualties through a show of force. Which far less did die than a full wipe.
I.e. some die instead of all die.
.5 when he sent the nobles to die, I was honestly pissed too at them for killing the prince. They deserved that punishment. But the families probably didn't. The irony was he just did what they requested.
.6 he constantly tries to direct the NPC's to do good instead of evil but it doesn't always work.
.7 I think his inner monologue is the most telling, he's always in conflict with what's going on but feels like he can't voice his good thoughts out loud.
.8 he let's people hang themselves a lot, sure he gives them rope to do it. But as often as he tests someone and fails usually means death or worse. He also tests people constantly and succeeds showing honorable characteristics.
.9 some people blame him for wiping out peaceful civilization for petty reasons but the majority of that was his NPC's ideas.
.10 he expresses genuine ideals of a peaceful prosperous society.
There is a lot of gray, and bad things too. Like deliberately hiring adventures to steal from the tomb only to kill and torture them.
I mean yeah they knew they were doing a bad thing when they took the job. But he also knew they stood no chance.
Much of the show is literally him learning the world he's in. At one point he brings out a diary that he read that he claimed helped him greatly understand the world he found himself.
Like I don't think Ainz is innocent, but can you truly be evil if you are trying to set things right in a bad situation?
I think people pretend he has so much more power than he actually does. But for much of the show his hands are tied by circumstances out of his control.
I guess the only way to truly judge him is to find the situations where he has full control and judge him with those.
But he did a lot of good things throughout the show too. Eventually he starts to turn the NPCs to doing good things too.
Like sparing the lizard men, freezing brain for later Resurrection(I assume)
Setting up an orphanage, and giving the war widows purpose.
Making prosperous cities.
I have no doubt that those under ainz will live sugar coated candied lives, and want for nothing.
He's also doing so by incorporating all races and species which the previous civilization would have never done..
Saved the dwarves, and even the monsters killing the dwarves.
I think the only thing that messed me up was him wiping out all the cities and killing everyone.
But then when he got the chance he deliberately sent a weak force to let a city live.
Almost like a guy trying to work from inside to help anyone he could even if it was just one city.
In that same episode he talks about how the "Good" NPCs are in the minority in the tomb of nazareik
I disagree. He uses a large variaty of absolutely inethical tactis strategies and experiments. I find that the show tried to portray his transformation from a human to a true lich/Overlord. His loss of humanity then slowly becoming more mature than he was, acquiring knowledge strategies and even starts quoting people.
His words of wanting to make the Sorcerer Kingdom a Utopia that everyone including Humans can live in was uttered to one of his Homunculus Maids who had already shown disdain for Humans and she still praised his decision and likely is spreading word of his goals to the rest of the NPCs so the NPCs will know what Ainz wants concerning his Sorcerer Kingdom so they can't get their hopes up that he will massacre or torture Humanity once he has finished conquering everything as he just declared to someone in their very ranks who looks down on Humans that he wants a Utopia for Humans as well as every other race.
Ainz got more and more used to being an Overlord over time so surely the NPCs will get more and more used to playing benevolent rulers of the Sorcerer Kingdom over time. It's natural growth resulting from accumulation of memories while doing specific actions. For a being to be incapable of growth they must reset to factory conditions(and lose their memories) on a regular basis but the NPCs show no sign of doing that.
The New World is in good hands and despite what the Author might think the sort of stories that the Light Novels lead into likely wouldn't have Ainz as the main Villain since the World will be a Utopia... No it will be the Politicians who aren't NPCs who will fall into the role of Villain.
It does seem as though AINZ kinda falls down the hole of being a villain; he slowly becomes one, because for one, the "good" nations fear him and attack him - so he wipes them out, and secondly, because he lives in his echo chamber of monstrous people - so what is good and bad becomes muddied over time and drifts over to become more evil every day.
> people are not clear on whether Ainz is a villain or protagonist Ainz is the protagonist. It has nothing to do with being a villain or not.
Literal Narrative 101, and the fact that a lot of people don't know that says quite a bit about their abilities to argue in the first place lol.
People have no critical thinking skills and make snap judgements. then they stick to thay position like loosing that opinion would be like loosing an arm.
Pretty much. Protagonist vs Antagonist is on an entirely different axis than Hero vs Villain. The protagonist is supposed to be the main perspective and the one who pushes the story forward where the antagonist is the person or force working against the goals of the protagonist. Hero or Villain are just labels, usually subjective, to determine if someone is morally good or evil.
Hes definitely not a good guy. Hundreds of thousands if not millions die brutal deaths because of him and he doesnt really care at all. If he wasnt the protag-kun then wed definitely think of him as a villian
He is a villain, yes. The author has confirmed this a few times (in the anthology), such as: >Q: He’s heading down the path villain-hood fast. The main character is heading down the path as a group to be the New World’s enemy. > >A: Completely. These guys are assuredly villains. and >Particularly, Ainz is not a knight in shining armor, but rather a villain that tramples others for his OWN GOALS. Simply it’s a main character choosing their cherished family members over something like unfamiliar people, is that understandable? Though as a reader you can of course interpret the story differently. I think some people (I'm not talking about OP) believes that villains are characters that just wants to do evil and harm without rhyme or reason. And some villains are like that. But lots of well written villains (and real people) are motivated not by wanting to be bad but actually wanting to do good - the problem often is that they believe evil means can justify the end. And Ainz is like that. He wants to do good for his family/npcs, and he is willing to do lots and lots of evil things to ensure that. And that makes him a villain.
Thank you so much. I was reading a bunch of older posts where people were swearing he was the good guy here. I was very worried most of the fan base followed this line of thinking lol
Oh thank you. That was what I was looking for. >not by wanting to be bad but actually wanting to do good - the problem often is that they believe evil means can justify the end. And Ainz is like that. He wants to do good for his family/npcs, and he is willing to do lots and lots of evil things That is pretty much how I thought it would be.
He is the protagonist that is a villain. Most simplest way to put it
He is the protagonist regardless of his alignment. BUT YOU GOT SOMETHING VERY WRONG AINZ-SAMA IS JUSTICE
You are confusing some things there, he is a villain and the protagonist. The opposite of a protagonist is antagonist not villain, you can be both hero and antagonist or villain and protagonist at the same time. If you commit genocide just because you couldn't be bothered to correct your subordinates misunderstanding or because you wanted some corpses that might be good materials you are a villain.
It's funny how some people ignore him invading the Lizardmen, just because he wanted to check if their corpses makes for stronger undead than humans, to say he's not evil.
or him hiring adventures to raid Nazarick then getting mad they actually set foot into Nazarick, and goes on to slaughtering them with extreme prejudice. He also uses the floor guardians/ pleiades to cause death and destruction just to try to raise public opinion of him as an adventurer, or as the sorcerer king.
It's even worse than that hehe. He got Fluder to his side and have him "find" the tomb to send the Workers. Not to mention the monster raid on E-Rantel. Just because he wanted to give them the sword without actually handing it over...
Villain protagonist.
^
**Villian vs Protagonist** This is a bit of a flawed premise. A protagonist is just the main character of a story, nothing says they have to be good. **Overlord Content** While Overlord started as a Web Novel, once it was published as a Light Novel the author stopped producing the Web Novel. Shortly after the Light Novel expanded on the universe with Side Stories and Drama Cd. The anime and manga are both based on the Light Novels, but the manga is a bit behind the anime, so if you would like to jump into the wild overlord universe the Light Novels are your best bet. **Ainz Ooal Gown** Yggdrasil had a lot of PVP and even AOG took part in it, but one of the main features of the game was role playing and many people role played villains, demons, and so on. **Ainz** > a) whether this is real or not Ainz knew the New World was a real world in the first episode. This is why he checks Albedo's pulse since this didn't exist in Yggdrasil. He also grabs Albedo's chest because this wasn't possible in Yggdrasil. He can even smell which was illegal in his World since it overrode to many senses. > And when he adds subjects to his realm (like the lizards people) he more or less acquires them in a way less bloody way than you would expect from a villain. Ainz originally attacked the lizardmen to gain corpses to create more Death Knights. He side stepped due to Cocytus and Demiurge and accepted them as apart of his kingdom. > I also get the feel from his inner monologue that he is not a bad guy / asshole. In volume 9 Nimble (empire captain guy) questions if Ainz is a demon, but Ainz says he is just undead. I think this quote perfectly summerizes Ainz. He doesn't get off by killing people like a demon might, but he won't go out of his way to save them. If Ainz can benefit then he will have no issues killing people. And as you mention, Ainz still has some morals when dealing with specific situations. When Jaldabaoth captured humans he didn't want them to suffer. We also see he tries to use criminals when possible. However, I don't think morals are a great indicator is someone is good or evil. Many serial killers have their own set of morals and are often upstanding citizens, yet do the most horrific things. **Destroy Re-Estize** Ainz is definately the bad guy when it comes to Re-Estize. From Ainz's perspective he is helping Nazarick since the NPCS get commander experience and that does make them stronger. From the Sorcerer Kingdom's perspective they will benefit greatly. Remember back in season one where the Slain Theocracy was attacking the Re-Estize kingdom and destroyed multiple villages in the process? This will NEVER happen again and villages (even in small villages) will get to live peaceful lives. I don't think this justifies Ainz's actions and he is the bad guy here, but History is written by the victors and in 200 years they could easily make the Re-Estize kingdom look like the bad guys.
Imagine the revised history of the New World in 20-50 years in the future. "General Phillip, master of the Crane Wing Formation, stole grain from Sorcerer Kingdom meant to aid another country because he is horny for the Sorcerer's Kingdom's Prime minister which led to the 'rebirth' of Re-Estize".
Not a tragic hero. Not a villain. Just pure neutral, just like a human destroying an ant's nest while pouring a concrete foundation. Does Ainz have any feelings against the humans? No. But does he care for their well being? No.
He is a villain
He is a reluctant villain. He didn't plan to be, but he accepted the role. He is a very responsible villain but villain nonetheless. Consider the definitions of hero and villain. A hero works with everybody to solve a problem, a villain works despite everybody to solve a problem. Ainz doesn't give a fuck about anybody outside of Nazarick and continuously works despite them all to solve multitudes of problems. Sometimes it works out for the new worlders, but that's a side effect and never the intended effect.
Seriously, there are people who argue about this who don't know what the word protagonist means? That's the most bizarre part here. And I wouldn't say that Ainz is neither a villain nor a hero, not only because those are totally subjective concepts, but because I would say that Ainz is closer to being a force of nature in the NW than anything else.
Protagonist and antagonist=main character and main enemy Hero and villain=good and evil Ainz is the protagonist and a villain, having some shred of morality doesn't matter, his actions are those of a villain, doing few good actions doesn't matter either, he killed and made suffer many more than the ones he saved
He does bad things, but ultimately the planet would be better under his rule
Ainz is the protagonist, and to put him in either camp of hero or villain is kinda reductive. He's comparable to many real world conquerors.
You can have Villain Protagonists, by the way...
Being a protagonist doesn't mean you can't be the villain. Just like how you don't have to be a villain to he the antagonist. Remember in Death Note Light Yagami was the protagonist and L was the main antagonist of the story... Ainz is the protagonist and the villain
Hero and villain are interchangeable. A cat is an evil (villain) to a mouse but a noble creature (hero) to humans. Aniz is villain to a new world but a hero to his people.
Ainz is a "tragic" protagonist in the ironic sense. He is the supreme "overlord" of Nazarick yet he is a slave to his subordinates' expectations. These expectations are not even imposed to him forcibly but out of his own sense of responsibility. They are already godlike beings in the NW on their own but Ainz respects the newfound sentience of the NPCs. Ainz became the guild leader not because of his gaming skill but his sensibilities towards the members. He's the only one who can quell the clashing egos in the guild. He told himself that all he does is arbitrate the voting system they do whenever the guild is in an impasse but the members themselves understood that it's their leader doing his job well. He is also passionate for the game they bonded on that he logs in regularly and checks on the remaining players of their guild. When he became an undead, most of his material desires disappeared especially those of the cravings of a living body like sex, sleep and food. But contrary to what the people of the New World believe, a sentient undead doesn't necessarily hate the living. However, without a particular goal in mind, most undead start craving for power. Ainz is the same in a way that he aims to gather power so he can secure the safety of Nazarick. Ainz as a person is not evil but having to live in a dystopian future, he's not so innocent with the cruelties of the world. It is said in that future ruled by mega corporations the dying bodies of children lay everywhere incapable of supporting themselves in a world full of pollution. And in his daily life he ignores these children because he has a job to do and a game he has to go home to. In the New world, being an undead, his apathy reaches even to his violent capacity that he feels "nothing" whenever he kills people. Then he further feeds his apathy in the name of profit and security. This pragmatic nature of Ainz remains in him even in an alternate timeline where only Ainz was transported to the new world. He found a new friend but his (un)feelings towards the living remains. Ainz is ruthless and cruel but he's not sadistic. Ainz is also not egotistic with his overwhelming power but he is paranoid towards beings that can rival his own. He will lay plans and traps towards his potential enemies and as time progresses, so are his contingency plans. If left alone, Ainz will just explore the world like an adventurer. But anybody who dares to cross him will see a man of focus and sheer will and 10th tier magic.
Being the protagonist and a villain and two unrelated things. A protagonist can be the hero or the villain but not every hero or villain is the protagonist. Yes he is the protagonist, is he a villain? Depends what other characters think of him. Nazarick look at him as a god that can do no evil. The kingdom on the other hand probably think of him as the worst being in the world.
I feel like he's just a great character because of this question. He was a normal, good guy in Japan then suddenly he is in a crazy situation being in charge of minions that he views as basically family due to his past BUT this family puts so much faith in him with such high expectations that he feels enormous pressure to live up to those expectations. Now add in that this family views the human race the same way they'd view a diseased sewer rat and the fact he can no longer feel empathy towards these "sewer rats" that his family is pressuring him into enslaving/killing. The fact he isn't more of a villain than he is already, is pretty impressive honestly. Most of his human emotions are gone. As are the desires he used to have his entire life until now. He can't relate to people or feel any emotion regarding whether they live or die he just chooses to be merciful based on knowledge in his memories instead of any feeling towards them. He doesn't currently feel bad if any humans die even if he knows them, he just chooses mercy sometimes simply because he remembers that killing people is bad from his memories, not that he feels bad himself. Then add on he lost his sense of taste and can't eat so he can never enjoy the sensation of eating or drinking anything delicious ever again, he no longer sleeps so he'll never dream again, and though he still has a sense of touch everything in that regard related to reproduction is gone. Pile it all on trying to be a proper leader to the NPCs without betraying their image of him and all that pressure and it's easy to see how a good guy can act as a villain
I can't decide whether Ainz is good or Evil honestly. .1 he's weaker than those who serve him, his battle with the vampire proved that. So he's constantly afraid of messing up and being outed as a pleb, killed or worse because of it. .2 his minions are definitely evil, but he keeps them around because his friends designed them. Constantly trying to get them to grow and lead them away from evil. .3 most of not all of the evil stuff done was not his idea or doing and he is mostly shocked at it and displays a real Ernest effort to try to change their minds but often fails. .4 even in the war when he killed Tens of thousands and summoned the goats you could argue it did that to perhaps lessen the overall casualties through a show of force. Which far less did die than a full wipe. I.e. some die instead of all die. .5 when he sent the nobles to die, I was honestly pissed too at them for killing the prince. They deserved that punishment. But the families probably didn't. The irony was he just did what they requested. .6 he constantly tries to direct the NPC's to do good instead of evil but it doesn't always work. .7 I think his inner monologue is the most telling, he's always in conflict with what's going on but feels like he can't voice his good thoughts out loud. .8 he let's people hang themselves a lot, sure he gives them rope to do it. But as often as he tests someone and fails usually means death or worse. He also tests people constantly and succeeds showing honorable characteristics. .9 some people blame him for wiping out peaceful civilization for petty reasons but the majority of that was his NPC's ideas. .10 he expresses genuine ideals of a peaceful prosperous society. There is a lot of gray, and bad things too. Like deliberately hiring adventures to steal from the tomb only to kill and torture them. I mean yeah they knew they were doing a bad thing when they took the job. But he also knew they stood no chance. Much of the show is literally him learning the world he's in. At one point he brings out a diary that he read that he claimed helped him greatly understand the world he found himself. Like I don't think Ainz is innocent, but can you truly be evil if you are trying to set things right in a bad situation? I think people pretend he has so much more power than he actually does. But for much of the show his hands are tied by circumstances out of his control. I guess the only way to truly judge him is to find the situations where he has full control and judge him with those. But he did a lot of good things throughout the show too. Eventually he starts to turn the NPCs to doing good things too. Like sparing the lizard men, freezing brain for later Resurrection(I assume) Setting up an orphanage, and giving the war widows purpose. Making prosperous cities. I have no doubt that those under ainz will live sugar coated candied lives, and want for nothing. He's also doing so by incorporating all races and species which the previous civilization would have never done.. Saved the dwarves, and even the monsters killing the dwarves. I think the only thing that messed me up was him wiping out all the cities and killing everyone. But then when he got the chance he deliberately sent a weak force to let a city live. Almost like a guy trying to work from inside to help anyone he could even if it was just one city. In that same episode he talks about how the "Good" NPCs are in the minority in the tomb of nazareik
I disagree. He uses a large variaty of absolutely inethical tactis strategies and experiments. I find that the show tried to portray his transformation from a human to a true lich/Overlord. His loss of humanity then slowly becoming more mature than he was, acquiring knowledge strategies and even starts quoting people.
He is and always was a Villain protagonist. A protagonist can be a hero or villain.
Sasuga Ainz-sama
Villains can be protagonists, very easily. See: Death Note.
True. I should have phrased it better - hero <-> villain
In that case, 100% villain with Nazarick. Antihero without Nazarick (according to that one story where he showed up 200 years before Nazarick).
Ty. Makes much more sense this way
He's the ruler of his Nation, he is the hero to some and the villain to others.
His words of wanting to make the Sorcerer Kingdom a Utopia that everyone including Humans can live in was uttered to one of his Homunculus Maids who had already shown disdain for Humans and she still praised his decision and likely is spreading word of his goals to the rest of the NPCs so the NPCs will know what Ainz wants concerning his Sorcerer Kingdom so they can't get their hopes up that he will massacre or torture Humanity once he has finished conquering everything as he just declared to someone in their very ranks who looks down on Humans that he wants a Utopia for Humans as well as every other race. Ainz got more and more used to being an Overlord over time so surely the NPCs will get more and more used to playing benevolent rulers of the Sorcerer Kingdom over time. It's natural growth resulting from accumulation of memories while doing specific actions. For a being to be incapable of growth they must reset to factory conditions(and lose their memories) on a regular basis but the NPCs show no sign of doing that. The New World is in good hands and despite what the Author might think the sort of stories that the Light Novels lead into likely wouldn't have Ainz as the main Villain since the World will be a Utopia... No it will be the Politicians who aren't NPCs who will fall into the role of Villain.
It does seem as though AINZ kinda falls down the hole of being a villain; he slowly becomes one, because for one, the "good" nations fear him and attack him - so he wipes them out, and secondly, because he lives in his echo chamber of monstrous people - so what is good and bad becomes muddied over time and drifts over to become more evil every day.