25 Most Powerful Anime Characters Of All Time (2022)

Posted by , Updated on November 23, 2023

You can find anime characters of all shapes, sizes, and abilities from your typical teenager to cute little animals, but which characters are the most powerful? This list of the top 25 most powerful anime characters of all time will answer that question. The ranks are based on the power levels of each character as well as other factors like their personality, origin story, and even their appearance. Some of these anime characters may be familiar to you while others will be completely new to you, but they’re all worth seeing at least once before they appear on this list of the

25 most powerful anime characters of all time!

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25

Ash Ketchum (Pokémon)

ash ketchumSource: https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

Even as a young kid, Ash Ketchum had lofty goals of finding all the Pokemon, earning all the gym badges, and becoming the best Pokemon trainer in the world. Though only a human, Ash has a special ability to manipulate an Aura, similar to other heroes in his world. However, he chose not to master this magical power. Instead, he continued focusing on catching, training, and fighting with Pokemon. Despite his youth and size, Ash defeated many trainers in battle and deserves a place in the annals of powerful anime characters.

24

Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)

Cowboy BebopImage: scmp.com

Cowboy Bebop’s Spike Spiegel has several human abilities, including sharp eyesight, perception, and luck. During his past employment with the Red Dragon syndicate, Spike learned all about weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. He’s also a stellar pilot. His ability to slip out of any problem with his keen intellect and charming wit makes him a force to be reckoned with.

23

Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin)

kenshinSource: http://kenshin.wikia.com

Though he vowed to never kill again, legendary Battosai, Kenshin Himura is an unstoppable force on the battlefield. With great agility, speed, and reflexes, he hacks and slashes through any opponent with ease. Everyone in Meiji-era Japan feared him and his sword techniques.

22

Alucard (Hellsing)

AlucardImage: bloody-disgusting.com

Alucard is one of the most powerful anime characters of all time. He exists everywhere and nowhere, which makes him impossible to kill. He is a relentless killer with an endless array of abilities including superhuman speed and strength. Alucard devoted himself to fighting against other vampires and evil forces.

He refuses to die and always finds a way to come back from the dead. He can even control his own aging process since he is immortal. He takes everything in stride and does what needs to be done no matter how long it takes or how difficult it may be for him. His immortality makes him practically unstoppable!

21

Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)

Eren YeagerImage: otaquest.com

Eren Yeager is a protagonist from the popular manga and anime series Attack on Titan. As a teenager, he swears to take revenge on man-eating humanoids referred to as Titans who slaughtered his mother and attempted to devour him. To fight against them, Eren joins the elite group of soldiers to patrol the land.

He then gets swallowed by a giant Titan and after hours of fighting from the inside, he breaks out and kills it with his bare hands before transforming into a Titan himself. His newfound power proves to be quite deadly and there are only a few other superheroes who can challenge him at this point.

20

Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Edward ElricSource: buildingcharacterblog.com

A child prodigy in alchemy, Edward Elric proved incredibly powerful to anyone who stood against him. Ed lost his right arm and left leg in an alchemy accident when he and his brother Al tried to bring their mother back to life. He was then fitted with automail prosthetics and could transmute them to his advantage.

He is one of the only alchemists that doesn’t have to draw a transmutation circle to utilize the elements around him in combat. He can essentially create and form any object to his will and is able to copy the fighting styles and alchemy of others into his own style. Without question, Ed is a powerful force of nature. Even if he is a little short.

19

Archer (Fate/stay night)

ArcherSource: moecharacter

Archer is the servant of Rin Tohsaka in the Fate/stay night visual novel and anime. He is a handsome young man, but he has a distinctively androgynous appearance that makes it difficult to determine his gender. Archer’s true identity is Shirou Emiya, who at the time of his summoning had lost all memories of his past due to trauma.

This lack of memories causes him to have a personality very different from his normal self. He becomes cold, ruthless, and cynical. He also displays much more fluid movement than Shirou does normally. He has the ability to create a powerful Noble Phantasm known as Unlimited Blade Works through his Reality Marble.

His technique is called Projection Magic, which allows him to instantly materialize weapons from anything he has encountered in the past.

18

Broly (Dragon Ball)

BrowlyImage: amazon.co.uk

Broly first appeared in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan. As one of the Legendary Super Saiyans that only appear every one thousand years, Broly has unspeakable power and ultimately had to be defeated by Goku. While defeated one way or the other by the Z fighters, Broly continued to increase his strength and avoid death at every turn. Eventually achieving Super Saiyan Level 3, Broly’s villainy was always a thorn in the Z Fighters side.

17

Inuyasha (Inuyasha)

inuyashaSource: http://inuyasha.wikia.com/wiki/Inuyasha

Because his father was one of the most powerful demons to ever live, Inuyasha didn’t fall far from the tree, becoming a powerful half-demon. His abilities were far ranging, including super speed, agility, strength, and durability. He lived much longer than most people and was able to transform into the Yokai form. This gave him even stronger powers. Except, in this form, he was mostly an evil, all-consuming force. Inuyasha rarely seemed to have limits with his powers, always overcoming his enemies.

16

Tetsuo Shima (Akira)

Tetsuo ShimaSource: themarysue.com

Tetsuo was an average kid before being experimented on by the Japanese government. After the experimentation, he developed powerful telekinetic and psychic abilities. Trying to better control his powers, Tetsuo goes on a violent rampage until it eventually consumes him and the entire city in a giant explosion.

15

Yusuke Urameshi (YuYu Hakusho)

Yusuke UrameshiImage: designerwomen.co.uk

Besides super strength, speed, and stamina, Yusuke Urameshi had enhanced control of the spirit world, capable of harnessing incredible power and inflicting it on his enemies. Some of his techniques include the Spirit Gun, Spirit Gun Mega, Demon Gun, Spirit Shotgun, Spirit Wave, and his Transformation. With his Transformation into a demon, Yusuke is at his most powerful.

14

Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon)

sailormoonSource: http://sailormoon.wikia.com

Usagi Tsukino was just a regular teenager before being bestowed with incredible magical powers. Given the title Sailor Moon, and with the help of her other Sailor Scouts, she pursued and defeated the Dark Kingdom among many other evil foes. As the series progresses, she grows in both maturity and strength. Essentially a Goddess by the end, Sailor Moon is incredibly powerful with dozens of magical techniques lending her the ability to overcome all obstacles.

 

Be sure to also check out 25 Most Influential Japanese Anime In The US.

13

Gohan (Dragon Ball)

GohanSource: http://dragonball.wikia.com

Unlike his father Goku, Gohan doesn’t crave the thrill of the fight and wants to just live in peace with his books, but that doesn’t stop him from becoming an incredibly powerful force in the Dragon Ball Universe. Becoming the first to achieve Super Saiyan 2 and defeating Perfect Cell once and for all, Gohan was the most powerful force on the planet but decided to retire and become a scholar. Of course, with the advent of Buu and many other villains, he was always brought out of retirement to take on the next powerful villain.

12

Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)

narutoSource: http://naruto.wikia.com

Though initially a poor student, Naruto Uzumaki became one of the most powerful shinobis and realized his lifelong dream of becoming the Seventh Hokage. As an Uzumaki, Naruto had an innate chakra, giving him the ability to achieve several transformations and using techniques like cloning. Eventually, he could control all element types including wind, lightning, earth, and water, among many others.

11

All Might (My Hero Academia)

All mightImage: myheroacademia.fandom.com

Howl Jenkins Pendragon is a powerful wizard in the movie Howl’s Moving Castle. With the ability to transform into any animal, and by having a cunning intellect, he can sneak in and out of any situation and teleport from one place to the next. Being one of the most powerful wizards in his world, it’s safe to say defeating him would be no easy task.

10

Vash the Stampede (Trigun)

TrigunSource: comicbook.com

Vash the Stampede, also known as The Human Typhoon, is a perfect marksman and powerful humanoid intent on keeping peace and love throughout the world. However, despite his intentions, he’s a wanted outlaw due to the destruction and chaos surrounding him. Along with his near-perfect aim, the ability to go without eating, and fast healing, his Angel Arm is what makes him the most powerful. If unleashed to its full potential, it could destroy the entire world. Fortunately, Vash refuses to kill anyone, a virtue his enemies often take advantage of.

9

Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)

LuffySource: http://onepiece.wikia.com/

With a name like Monkey D. Luffy, you might not think he could be very powerful…but make no mistake, he is. Besides physical strength where he can shatter steel with his bare hands, after eating the Gum Gum Fruit, Monkey is capable of being elastic and stretchy, punching people at far distances. Through intense training, Monkey discovered many ways to utilize this ability and enhance his strength, speed, and agility. By the end, Monkey is practically an unstoppable force.

8

Meliodas (Nanatsu no Taizai)

MeliodasSource: ranker.com

Meliodas is the captain of The Seven Deadly Sins, an organization that protects their kingdom from the Holy Knights. His power is so great that he’s able to control the demon Estarossa, who was sealed in a magic sword.

He’s also extremely charismatic and has a way with words, being able to convince people like King which other characters find impossible. I would say his most powerful skill though is his ability to sense emotions from others and use them against them!

7

Goku (Dragon Ball)

gokuSource: http://dragonball.wikia.com

In the anime world, Goku is synonymous with power, always getting one step ahead of his friends, rivals, and enemies. Even when he gets knocked down, he finds a way to push harder and fight on. He’s usually considered the most powerful fighter in the Dragon Ball world. One of the first to achieve the level of Super Saiyan during his fight with Frieza, Goku continued to grow in strength eventually reaching Super Saiyan level 4. Of all the heroes in the series, he’s the one to usually defeat the greatest of villains.

6

Beerus (Dragon Ball Z)

BeerusSource: fightersgeneration.com

Beerus, also known as Bills, is an immensely powerful purple sphynx in the Dragon Ball Z universe. He is one of the most widely feared beings, even by Shenron the Dragon. In a dream, Bills is told he will wake and fight the Super Saiyan God who turns out to be Goku. At the end of their battle, even Goku couldn’t defeat him.

5

Yhwach

YhwachSource: epicstream.com

Yhwach is the former king of the Quincies and was originally known as Yhwach of Quincy. He was one of the most powerful beings in existence, with a power level that dwarfed even that of other Quincies. He is able to see what is going to happen, he can alter the future and even change what the future looks like when he is not alive, he can re-write it and return from the dead much stronger than he was before.

He can use this immense power in many different ways like creating blasts, barriers, and weapons out of spiritual energy. Yhwach also has an incredible healing factor and can regenerate from injuries that would be fatal to others, such as cutting off his arm.

4

Kageyama Shigo (Mob Psycho)

Kageyama ShigoSource: wegotthiscovered.com

Kageyama Shigo is one of the strongest characters in Mob Psycho 100. He is the most powerful esper and the leader of Claw, an organization that aims to take over the world. He has psychic abilities such as telekinesis, psychokinesis, and telepathy.

He also uses his psychic powers for intimidation tactics by giving people nightmares or controlling their minds to make them do his bidding. Shigo is shown to be more dangerous than usual when he is under extreme stress or when his power is not being suppressed by Arataka Reigen’s mind-controlling ability.

3

Saitama (One-Punch Man)

SaitamaSource: mipon.org

Saitama in the anime One-Punch Man is so powerful none of his foes stand a threat, making him question his existence. He gets no thrill from fighting because all it takes is one hit and they’ll be defeated. Because of his incredible strength and ability to defeat anyone who opposes him, Saitama is definitely one of the most powerful anime characters ever.

2

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki (Naruto)

Kaguya ŌtsutsukiSource: naruto.fandom.com

Kaguya Otsutsuki is an incredibly powerful character in the Naruto series. After eating a fruit from the god tree, she gained powers such as reading and manipulating minds and interstellar travel. She is even able to erase memories or put people into a deep sleep. Kaguya has proven herself to be a formidable villain for Naruto and his team of shinobi because of her deadly abilities and her ability to control minds and thoughts.

The power of Kaguya goes beyond manipulation and universal travel. She is also a superhuman fighter that is capable of standing against Naruto. Her power makes her difficult to fight against. Thanks to Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto would never have beaten Kaguya on his own.

1

Zen-Oh (Dragon Ball Z)

zen-ohSource: http://dragonball.wikia.com

If there’s a character in anime who reaches the highest point of power, it’s Zen-Oh in the Dragon Ball Z universe. As King of the 12 Universes, Zen-Oh has unlimited power with the ability to wipe out all twelve in a blink of an eye. While he doesn’t fight, and there’s no known example of his full abilities, many characters like Beerus are unquestioning of his power.

 

Enjoy this list? Be sure to check out 25 Best Anime Of All Time You Will Want To See.



Photo: 25. bagogames via flickr. CC BY 2.0,  23. Net Sama via flickr. (Public Domain), 12. cocamert via flickr. CC BY 2.0,

 

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