And since almost every fandom turns these into hot debates anyways, why not throw my hat into the fiery ring of hell. In this list I’ll be going over some of the strongest anime characters of all time, ranked by yours truly. The ranking will be a mix of in-world power, as well as overall power, so keep that in mind.
50. Puck
Anime: Re:Zero A rather fluffy beginning to this list, but still a very valuable one. In his base form Puck doesn’t seem too out of the norm. He flies around Emilia, jokes around, fires a few ice spells, and that’s it. But when he gets serious it’s a whole different story. He transforms into a giant beast who saps the mana out of everything around him, turning it into ice. In this form, he can one-shot a normal person with an angry glare. And if he rampages he could definitely take out an army or two.
49. Asta
Anime: Black Clover As far as general power goes, Asta is pretty trash. Especially by shounen standards. However, in-world he is a powerhouse. This is because the little shrimp hard-counters the entire world he lives in. Every fighter in Black Clover uses magic and locates their enemies through their magical presence or whatever. But Asta completely negates magic with his swords, and is invisible to detection because the lad literally has zero magic power. There’s also the whole demonic origin of his powers. And we all know that he’s only going to get stronger and stronger.
48. Akame
Anime: Akame ga Kill! The thing with Akame is that she’s guaranteed to one-shot you, with even just a graze. This is because her sword puts a “death mark” on you. But instead of letting you pass the Chunin exams, it just kills you. And that’s very relevant when the wielder of said sword is as fast and precise as Akame is. But honestly, that alone would not land her a place on this list. However, having the power of what we in the business like to call “hacks” is a different story. I’m not going to spoil anything. But her powers don’t even make sense by the end.
47. Muzan Kibutsuji
Anime: Demon Slayer Demon Slayer would have hardly been such a joy to watch, if it weren’t for a strong villain. And Muzan is pretty nuts in all regards. Just being a demon already means that during the night he’s invincible to everything that doesn’t harbor the power of the Sun. But Muzan can also create other demons, and not some baby foot soldiers. But real demons that the protagonists barely fend off. If we get into some manga spoiler territory, we see both how much Muzan had to be nerfed, as well as how many people had to help for him to finally be brought down. So definitely a solid spot.
46. Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade
Anime: Kizumonogatari Kiss-shot is the type of character that makes you remember how powerful and awesome vampires are. I mean Jesus, those regeneration abilities are just insane. Losing a limb is brought to the same level of losing an eyelash. Just her presence kicks off most of the action throughout the show because she’s so powerful that she sets everything out of whack. And if you’re all caught up on the Monogatari series, then you know that she took over the world at one point. Just because she got all cranky. I think that deserves to, at the very least, be bottom tier of “strongest anime peeps”.
45. Eren Yeager
Anime: Attack on Titan I’m really sensing a pattern here with shounen protagonists getting ridiculous in the manga, yet somehow always being mediocre in the anime. Well nevertheless, since you’re reading this in the future, you’ll understand why Eren is here. With that said, I’m not going to spoil anything. I’ll just say that by the time the anime catches up, you’ll see Eren become such a powerhouse that he’s a far greater threat than any titan or human ever was. Like seriously, I could see him being the monster in a horror movie or something.
44. Kazuto Kirigaya
Anime: Sword Art Online Kirito’s entire character could be summed up with just “strong dude”. Because in the original series, that was kind of all he was. A wet blanket of a character who God himself couldn’t smite down because his HP regen is through the roof, and he takes 10% less holy damage. And just when you thought that he had met his match, Kirito uses some hacks or something. And still ends up winning. Is he a great character? No. But is he a powerful one? Definitely.
43. Rimuru Tempest
Anime: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime If you don’t want to accept infinite scaling as an argument here, just mentally put in Milim in this spot. But yeah, slime man/girl/person can just absorb whatever they chose and gain their power. And when you take into account that among those absorbed was a huge dragon, their position as an undisputed leader really starts to make a lot of sense. Plus, they can buff all of their enemies. And it’s a very significant buff. So if they’re in a party their power just goes through the roof.
42. Natsu Dragneel
Anime: Fairy Tail I feel like Natsu’s greatest strength is his position as the shounen protagonist. It doesn’t matter what you throw at the guy, he will find a way to eat it, give a nakama speech, and burn you to a crisp. We’ve seen how nutty his fire gets. You can get the Tanacon experience just by being in his vicinity for a split second. And with the amount of beatings he’s gotten over the years, you really have to think whether anything is going to stop this little dragon boy.
41. Mu-Jin Park
Anime: The God of High School Okay so Mori, his old man, and the Naruto knockoff could possibly overthrow Mujin for this spot, as they’ve yet to show feats on his level. But so far we’ve seen Mujin slap an entire island(remotely might I add) and kill everyone on said island like flies. We have also seen him manhandle Q, who’s said to be the strongest commissioner. And hold back a giant sword that was pushed by god, again remotely. So not only is his power amazing, but just because you can’t see him doesn’t mean he can’t squash you.
40. Guts
Anime: Berserk It hurts me to start the list off with Guts because I honestly think he’s the strongest, at least mentally… because odds are no other character could go through what he has and remain sane. As far as physical feats are concerned, we’ve seen that Golden Age Guts can take out one hundred armed soldiers on his own. And after he gets the Cesar treatment, he tackles some pretty powerful demons on a semi-regular basis. So he’s at the very least the strength of an army.
39. Tanya Degurechaff
Anime: Youjo Senki If attitude was a major stat on this list, Tanya would definitely reign way higher. Because were she ever to scream at me I would cower in fear. Others might have not felt this way initially. But after seeing her defeat battalion after battalion by herself, they quickly learned. Very quickly. She’s also an absolutely amazing tactician. So she could probably punch a lot higher than her weight class when it comes to power. She isn’t destroying any planets. But she could definitely wipe out a few cities.
38. Jotaro Kujo
Anime: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
As far as overall destructive power goes, Jotaro is definitely on the lower end on this list.
That said, his one vs one potential is superb.
This is mostly due to his stand being one of the strongest the series has seen. It has excellent attack, defense, and speed.
It’s also revealed by the end of the series that he can stop time. Which as you can guess, is a guaranteed victory most of the time.
So not the most destructive.
But if the conditions are right, he is a beast.
37. Light Yagami
Anime: Death Note Light has a very unconventional power system, to say the least. He’s virtually helpless if caught off guard. But is unstoppable if given prep time. I’m sure you all know how the Death Note functions: by writing someone’s full name in it, securing that person’s death. You can only add quite a bit of specifications regarding to how the person will die. Light’s kill count is definitely among the larger ones in anime. But considering that he needs info on you, I have to place him fairly low. However, if he and Zuckerberg ever formed an alliance… he would jump up into the top 10 no doubt.
36. Edward Newgate
Anime: One Piece I mean, Whitebeard is literally known as the strongest man on Earth within the One Piece world. So I can’t really leave him out now can I? And he definitely deserved the title. As we have seen him take on multiple admirals, punch the water so hard a tsunami formed, and display the biggest tenacity I have seen in a while. The man had a hole in his chest and half a face, but that did not slow him down. On top of that, he was far from his prime when that happened. So you can imagine the absolute havoc he would have unleashed were it not for his old age and injuries.
35. Ichigo Kurosaki
Anime: Bleach Scaling Ichigo is a bit of a drag as the extent of his power is a lot of “tell don’t show”. If we go where the anime dropped off then we know he can, at the very least, destroy a city. And at most a country. If we go with the series finale, his power is closer to being able to destroy a planet. So either way you spin it, the boy is packing. He also has quite the speed stat, as it’s said he can move at the speed of light. So he isn’t quite god-level unless we count in coolness points. Because man, does he always look like a badass.
34. Kuro Sakuragawa
Anime: In/Spectre This man has the weirdest powers in anime (or at least high up there). Yet he can be rather average and unbeatable depending on the circumstances. This is because his flesh is poisonous, and he’s immortal. Undead Ban levels of immortal. So encountering anyone who bites, or those creeps who lick their sword after they cut you, he just wins. And even if you’re smarter than that, there are still some issues. Mainly the fact that his hand to hand combat is not so shabby, and that he can see into the future. In conclusion: destructive power at zero, but an extremely good duellist.
33. Yato
Anime: Noragami Aragoto This list has quite a few god characters. However, Yato is definitely the weakest among them. He still is a god. But his power fluctuates quite a bit. In times of war when everyone prays to him, it’s implied that he could take on an entire army. Even after losing some of that power, we still see him moving at incredible speeds and taking on other gods. So at the very least he’s gotta be around C/D tier, right? He might not be all that strong. But at least his business is booming.
32. Yuuichirou Hyakuya
Anime: Owari no Seraph Base form Yuu is nothing too spectacular. He’s a solid soldier, but nothing more than that. Yet when he embraces his online gamer from within, he becomes a monster. He transforms into the Salt King: which heavily increases his attack, and with every swing of his sword he’s destroying a building. Plus he can fly. But the most important power he gains is to both turn his enemies into salt, one shotting them in the process, and controlling that salt like a makeshift Gaara.
31. Ken Kaneki
Anime: Tokyo Ghoul As a duellist, Kaneki is definitely a threat. He has very solid range, a strong attack, mobility and just insane regeneration. So in his base form, it’s not a stretch to assume that he could take on an entire army and survive. However, with the Red Wedding episode, we saw that his destructive power is far higher as he turns into a giant centipede. In this form, he could have easily destroyed the city had he gone full bonkers.
30. Zagred
Anime: Black Clover As far as portrayals of demons go, Zagred is definitely one of my favorites. Just look at that face. There’s not a sliver of mercy to be seen. And his kit is just a nightmare. He can manifest physical items, such as swords. Or manifest magical items, usually again swords. All through simple words. And later on, after he acquires a grimoire, he starts teleporting some nightmare goop that sucks up magic and your life force alike. He also distorts space, copies your magic, and looks like an absolute boss while doing it. Not world-destroying but he’s an absolute pain to deal with one-on-one.
29. Tomura Shigaraki
Anime: Boku no Hero Academia This might be a little odd, placing the villain ahead of the hero. But hear me out. I know I called Deku’s powerups in the manga ridiculous… but Shigaraki is way more insane. Again, I don’t want to spoil too much. But let’s just say that he can destroy entire cities on a whim. Plus, if the story had been a little different he would have been even stronger. So I feel like Shigaraki is overall a much bigger threat. He just happens to be weaker in a one-on-one than Deku. And if you’re wondering why all for one isn’t here, oh boy… you are in for a ride.
28. Tatsuya Shiba
Anime: The Irregular at Magic High School If going by attitude alone, you would really think this guy is at the very top. He’s always so calm and collected when facing anyone and anything, that you just know he’s going to win. In battle, he’s a brilliant tactician. He moves at ridiculous speeds and has enough power to destroy a falling satellite. He would probably lose to a lot of people below him on this list, were that battle to run a bit long. But I doubt he would ever allow for that to happen.
27. Anri Sonohara
Anime: Durarara! I say Anri, but what I really mean is Saika. This demon blade can easily allow you to take over the world if you play your cards right. And if the show had a more mature rating, I’m sure it would be more emphasized. You literally cut someone with the blade and now they’re your slave. You can see how quickly you could make an entire army with this method right? Plus, they’re not even just meat puppets. You can also gather a lot of info as well as letting them assimilate into society, even after becoming your minions.
26. Koro-Sensei
Anime: Assassination Classroom It’s honestly just a flex when you have to train people for months and teach them how to kill you. If getting killed wasn’t his goal, Koro-Sensei would have been no less than a god in his world. A very goofy one, though. With his inhumane speed, like seriously ridiculous regeneration, impenetrable defense, and even some pretty decent attacking power, this yellow god squid is no joke. His charisma is also through the roof. But that is neither here nor there.
25. Izuku Midoriya
Anime: Boku no Hero Academia Where the anime is right now, Midoriya is extremely powerful. Where the manga is at he’s insane. And by his proclamation in the very first episode that he was going to be the number one hero, we know that in the future he’s going to be plus ultra god-tier. One for All is just such a strong quirk. It basically scales infinitely and gives you enough strength and speed to body-slam anyone that’s in your way, while also teaching them US geography. And if you think that All for One, or All Might or Mirio should be on this list instead… then you have no idea what tomfoolery Deku is up to in the manga.
24. Sinbad
Anime: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad In the world of Magi, capturing a Dungeon basically makes you the main character. They’re just that powerful. But apparently if you collect seven, you get a whole prequel series for yourself. And man, I knew he was powerful. He is an undisputed king after all. But the prequel really put his power into perspective. He blew up a mountain just to prove a point. The point being that going against him is a direct ticket to hell, of course. So he’s a clever tactician, in control of a giant army, with not only multiple vessels but with each of them being ridiculous in strength. Great combo.
23. Shigeo Kageyama
Anime: Mob Psycho 100 I feel like adding “when mad” to this title. Because if it were up to him, Mob wouldn’t hurt a fly. Then when he’s made to fight, he does alright, throws them about a few times, maybe gets hit in the nose. But when the counter reaches 100% or glitches out… oh boy. Get all your loved ones and run. It’s like gravity itself gets drunk as huge chunks of land start flying everywhere while colorful explosions take over the sky. God forbid Mob every truly decides to murder someone(or everyone) because I am pretty sure that he could do so with no difficulty.
22. Escanor
Anime: Seven Deadly Sins For once I’m going to pretend like the manga doesn’t exist. Because I will be darned if I don’t put mustache man on here. He’s the ultimate Chad. He said he was the strongest there is, next to the Commandment of truth and nothing happened. A man murders his friend and he can only pity the bastard for being so weak while doing it. And as far as feats go, I’m pretty sure that summoning miniature suns that evaporate lakes and take down the Commandments is a pretty significant one. And although it was shot at like 5 fps, he did go toe to toe with Meliodas.
21. Ainz Ooal Gown
Anime: Overlord I mean, it’s not even fair to compare Ainz to the rest of the characters in his world. It’s like Faker went against some beginner bots. With how ridiculous his magic is, Ainz can easily blow away entire armies. And then summon his own armies of terrible CGI, making it all that more frightening. The second strongest character in his entire world is himself, but in disguise. That’s how far above he is. Okay, Shalltear did give him some trouble. But luckily he also has the power of metagaming the hell out of every fight.
20. Alucard
Anime: Hellsing Ultimate Alucard is just pure nightmare fuel. He can seemingly beat just about anyone. And the only times he looks like he’s having trouble, he’s just messing around. Mind you, this is against foes whose sole purpose is to defeat creatures like him. So imagine if your average warrior went head to head with this Satan spawn as he unlashes darkness all around and limbs start flying about. I’m not sure where his ceiling cap is. But if I had to take a guess, I would say it would bump him up by at least a few spots.
19. Yuu Otosaka
Anime: Charlotte I have to go deep into spoilers to justify this one, so brace yourself or skip ahead. Early game Yuu is nearly useless. I mean sure he can beat up some thugs, but that’s about it, as he takes control over your body for a few seconds while his own flops to the floor. However we later learn that if you happen to have any power whatsoever, Yuu can not only use it while in your body, but it’s also no longer your power. He has it. He has hundreds or thousands of them, and he can use them however he pleases. So in the long run he basically scales infinitely and all it cost him was his sanity. A fair trade-off.
18. Haruhi Suzumiya
Anime: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Bet you didn’t see this one coming, now did you? Although this is somewhat of a troll pick, I still think it has merit. I mean, she is a literal god after all. The entire plot of the show is people running on eggshells around her so she doesn’t get cranky and just destroy reality. True, she is not aware of her power. And only throws hands to gain some tsundere points. But her absolute power makes her deserve to at least be on this list.
17. Altair
Anime: Re:Creators The thing with Altair is that she’s extremely difficult to scale. In the world of Re:Creators, fictional characters start popping up in the real world. Altair is the one who made this happen, alongside going to other fictional worlds and offing their characters. She then proceeded to demonstrate that she’s technically capable of anything, as long as a Reddit post claiming she has this power gets one karma. She has erased people’s existence, flipped damage inflicted to her onto her enemies, thrown giant mechs with one hand, she’s done a lot. So technically all-powerful, but even if we stick to just what we have seen her do, she is still in a higher tier.
16. Kusuo Saiki
Anime: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. This might be an odd one, as it is a comedy series. But I think Saiki could kick some serious ass if he ever had to. He constantly has to suppress his powers because if he just left them alone, he would probably rip a hole in the Earth or something. Whether it be teleportation, flight, changing his form, reading your thoughts, it’s all as easy as one two three to this guy. Granted, we have never seen him attempting to hurt someone. But judging from what he has done, he could probably just squish your heart with a single glare and be done with it.
15. Madara Uchiha
Anime: Naruto Shippuden You read that right, I’m picking this Uchiha over Sasuke. Mostly because his introduction was the rawest display of power I have seen in a while. Not only does he manhandle the 5 kage, but he also takes their entire army apart with just taijutsu. And then he drops a meteor on the battlefield, followed by another meteor. The madlad looked the kage in the eye and asked whether they wanted his clones to use Susanoo or not. So even though he got taken out and adult Sasuke is around his level, I just have to give it to Madara.
14. Gon Freecss
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) I honestly wouldn’t have included Gon were it not for one sentence. Major spoiler warning: Once he released all his nen and went into his adult form, Neferpitou actually sees him as a threat to the king. I’m going to ruin the surprise here, but the king is also on this list, and quite high. So the fact that Gon scales to that monster already gives him a spot. Plus, we have seen the collateral damage he’s capable of when he’s truly adamant about murdering someone.
13. Tatsumaki
Anime: One Punch Man If it were not for our bald friend, I’m sure Tatsumi would take the role of the main hero. At least with what the anime has covered. She has the average psychokinesis kit, but taken to a ridiculous level. She can pull asteroids out of space and throw them at her enemies, or she can just pick you up and chuck you into space. Her attack range is pretty solid, covering as far as the eye can see. And she has both great mobility and defense. And if we’re being honest, she definitely would not have struggled against that mosquito.
12. Ryou Asuka
Anime: Devilman Crybaby Major spoilers again folks. Skip ahead as needed. I put down Ryou’s name, but it should have just said Satan. Because that’s who Ryou is. And when fully revived he gets some ridiculous power. He literally cut the moon in half with a single attack. His clash with Akira made explosions visible from space. But even then, he was never seriously damaged while Akira relied on the other demons to substitute his missing limbs. So not a full-fledged god in the sense of destroying universes. But he could definitely destroy a planet with little difficulty.
11. Ross
Anime: Senyuu Okay, if you haven’t watched this very short comedy I want to set the scene for you. A party of two plus an adorable Demon Princess are all trying to stop the awakening of the demon king. But newsflash, one of the adventurers(Ross) is a legendary warrior and is basically all-powerful. I mean, he teleported to the demon king and just slapped him like the dude owed him money. Said demon king was supposedly going to take over Earth, mind you. I can’t place him too high though, as he doesn’t show off too much of his power. But he is definitely strong.
10. Naruto Uzumaki
Anime: Naruto: Shippuden I mean, you have to hand it to him. He really did become the strongest ninja. Even though he only has a few jutsu, each is so stupidly powerful that he had to carry the entire Ninja Alliance in the war arc. His speed is ridiculous as he dodges lasers point-blank. His strength is ridiculous as he can punch you into a new dimension. He’s a one man army with his shadow clones, his Rasengan is both AoE, close range, long-range, and can kill immortal beings… and all of this is not even getting into Kurama. He’s just ridiculous by the time Shippuden closes out. And if you dare argue that Sasuke is just as strong I will look at you through this computer screen with digital disappointment.
9. Meruem
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) We’ve seen the perfect life form trope quite a few times in anime. But I think Meruem was definitely the most believable in that regard. The second he came out of the womb he could already one-shot any living thing in his vicinity. But the thing is, he has more to offer than just ridiculous strength. He’s a bloody genius, surpassing the smartest humans in mere hours. And is virtually indestructible unless you seriously break the Geneva convention. And even on top of that, just imagine if the dude learned how to use Nen! He would definitely rule the world without breaking a sweat.
8. Simon
Anime: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann On his own, Simon would get bodied by everyone on this list. He is just a normal dude, after all. But because of his spiral power, the amount of mech tomfoolery he’s capable of doing shoots him pretty high up this list. For heaven’s sake (and yea more spoiler alerts here) by the end of the series he was throwing galaxies around like it was nothing. Sure, he also had his crew with him. And many emotional speeches had to be made prior. But the fact still stands that he could, at the very least, destroy Earth if he chose.
7. Tetsuo Shima
Anime: Akira You definitely wouldn’t assume this guy was this far up by looking at his picture. Then again, I feel like that’s a rule of thumb when it comes to psychics. Shima’s psychic power grows to such extremes that even casually throwing hands results in massive damage to the surrounding area. And by the end of the movie, he nearly wipes out the entire universe just by releasing all his power at once. But that’s not all… after he’s teleported to a different dimension, said explosion creates a whole universe. Now that is some god-level power right there.
6. Nanika
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) I hate to do my boy Meruem like this. But even though he’s powerful and excellent in combat, Nanika is basically a deity, as she’s a calamity that comes from the Dark Continent. So theoretically she can just murder him if someone makes that wish. And after making that wish she would probably kill half the people on earth. I doubt she would win a fistfight. But the fact that she can wipe out millions of people if she just finds one greedy bastard who’s willing to wish for it makes her a planetary threat.
5. Wang Ling
Anime: The Daily Life of the Immortal King Anime purists, avert your eyes. As this is a Chinese anime. To the rest of you, let me introduce this monster of a man. Wang is probably most comparable to Saiki K. as he just wants to live an average life and hide his earth-shattering power. He has saved the planet multiple times with no effort, and is seemingly all-powerful. As proof of his greatness, all of his spells start with “great”. And the man unironically has “enlightened iPad” and “enlightened toilet” under his equipment.
4. Anos Voldigoad
Anime: The Misfit of Demon King Academy This guy is honestly the equivalent to vivid dreaming, because it seems like nothing is outside the realm of possibility when it comes to his power. In a move that has to be the biggest flex in anime history, he nearly killed a person just through the beat of his heart. That’s right. His heart made shockwaves strong enough to pierce a full set of armor and drop his enemy to his knees. So as a demon king he’s definitely god-level in every way, shape, and form.
3. Saitama
Anime: One Punch Man This man’s lore is literally this list. His entire character arc is curing boredom because he one-shots everything he punches. I mean, I say punch… but to him it’s more like pointing his hand in the general direction of his enemies. Even when getting pelted to the Moon, Saitama can’t even break a sweat. Or God forbid fight seriously. An argument can be made that he is (and always will be) number one on these lists, just because of the way he’s written. Yet because of his lack of feats, at least feats that compare to numbers one and two… he will have to be satisfied with third place for now.
2. Son Gokuu
Anime: Dragon Ball Super We all knew this was coming. The man, the myth, the legend, mister Kakarot himself. There isn’t much to say on this guy, as I think we all know how nutty he has become. From being the strongest on Earth to possessing the power to destroy entire worlds, galaxies, maybe dimensions, who knows. With every new installment he seems to get a new color in his arsenal, and strays further from God in terms of power. So even though Saitama might be stronger lore-wise, Goku has just shown way too many feats not to put him above our lovable capped bald spot.
1. Zeno
Anime: Dragon Ball Super Throughout this list I’ve used the word “god” quite freely. But this weird lemon-looking dude is an actual god. He does not have to fight you. He can just wipe you out of existence. He can wipe your entire planet out of existence. And if he’s feeling cranky he can wipe your universe out of existence. There’s no real nuance to him. He just wants something to go away and it does, every single time without fail. So all the martial arts, capes, and punches aren’t going to do much about him.
