What Are The Most Famous Ugly Dark-Colored Cartoon Characters?

If I had to make a quick, no-frills list of the most famous dark-looking cartoon characters who lean into being 'ugly,' I’d pick these off the top of my head: Aku ('Samurai Jack'), No-Face ('Spirited Away'), Venom (various 'Spider-Man' media), Oogie Boogie ('The Nightmare Before Christmas'), Ursula ('The Little Mermaid'), Ryuk ('Death Note'), and the monster gallery from 'Courage the Cowardly Dog.'

Those picks span Western animation, anime, and even stop-motion, but the common thread is obvious: designers use deep, shadowy palettes and extreme shapes to make characters unforgettable. Sometimes the ugliness reads as menace (Aku, Venom), sometimes as tragic or lonely (No-Face, Ryuk), and sometimes it’s just gleefully gross (Oogie Boogie, the 'Courage' monsters). I love how these characters prove that being visually 'ugly' can be more expressive and memorable than the prettiest hero — they’re the ones that haunt dreamscapes and fan art alike, which says something about great design.

A parade of delightfully grotesque, dark-toned characters storms my mind whenever someone asks about the most famous ‘ugly’ cartoon figures — and I say that with a big grin, because these designs are often brilliant in how they use darkness and odd shapes to stick in your head.

Aku from 'Samurai Jack' is probably the first face I think of: pure inky blackness given shape with horns and a constantly shifting body. He’s terrifying but iconic, and his silhouette alone tells you he’s the villain. Then there’s No-Face from 'Spirited Away' — a shadowy, hollow figure who’s more eerie than conventionally ugly, yet unforgettable because of how unsettling and sympathetic the character becomes. On the superhero/monster side, 'Venom' (from various 'Spider-Man' animated shows and movies) is a textbook example: glossy black, teeth and tongue everywhere, designed to be repulsive and amazing at the same time.

Animated films give us great entries too: Oogie Boogie from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' is burlap-dark, creepy, and full of bugs — a vintage ugly-but-fun design. Ursula from 'The Little Mermaid' is a voluptuous, dark-purple sea witch whose exaggerated features lean into classic villainous ugliness. 'Shrek' probably deserves a spot on the list despite being green and lovable — ogres were designed to be gross by fairy-tale standards, and that aesthetic made him stand out. 'The Grinch' from 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' sits in that same green, grouchy space where ugliness is part of personality and charm.

Anime contributes too: Ryuk from 'Death Note' is a lanky, shadowy shinigami with spiky hair and an unsettling grin; he’s goofy and sinister in equal measure. And I can’t leave out the parade of monsters from shows like 'courage the Cowardly Dog' — that series specialized in horrifyingly weird dark creatures that look intentionally off-model to haunt your dreams. What I love about all these characters is how their darkness and ugliness aren’t just shock value — they communicate mood, function, and personality. Some are scary, some are tragic, and a few are oddly sympathetic, but all of them are memorable in a way that pretty characters rarely are. They stick with me more than any perfectly handsome protagonist ever could.