Top 35 Smartest Anime Characters Ranked.
With the availability of plenty of combat-focused content in animation, you are always likely to come across a heated debate about which character displays more strength than another.
By itself, anime is pretty great, and having conversations with other anime fans in physical or digital spaces can enhance the experience greatly.
Among the longest-running conversations in the animation, fandom centers include which of the characters are strongest or who is more likely to emerge as a winner in a fight. These debates are likely to persist as long as a new anime airs each season.
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Top 35 Smartest Anime Characters Of All Time (Rank)
See our top list of the smartest anime characters of all time fans admire below.
35) Light Yagami – Death Note
Light Yagami is a famous protagonist of the suspenseful and dramatic Death Note anime. Light Yagami could be smoked in a heartbeat if he could have a fight with other anime characters. However, one of his superpowers is that he does not really have to be in a fight with anyone directly.
His genius intelligence and capability of the utilization of the deadly Death Note allow him to destroy any person in his most desirable way so long as he is aware of their full names. Light Yagami ends the countless number of people with the least effort in Death Note.
Additionally, Yagami defeats almost everyone who attempts to uncover any of the diabolical plots. Having these abilities, Light Yagami is able to fight down any other character in existence.
34) Ruby Rose – RWBY
Ruby Rose is among the newest animation characters thanks to a popular series by Rooster Teeth. Different people can be found arguing that Ruby Rose is not even the toughest personality in her own series. At first, that honor is likely to be left for Salem.
Ruby Rose has her version of super speed and is known more for performing her kills with a scythe. Additionally, Ruby Rose has magical silver eyes that have the ability to stop her foes in their tracks.
Though Ruby Rose might lack the magic possessed by the series villain, Salem, she is lucky to have some skills Salem lacks. Additionally, she has room to grow, which Salem lacks.
Even just several volumes into this sweet anime series, Ruby can still be found learning how she could pull off impossible feats, which makes her a truly tough opponent whether she is taking on other Huntsmen or Grimm.
33) Kenshiro – Fist of the North Star
Kenshiro, who is the Master of Hokuto Shinken, imagines a post-apocalyptic world and ensures that he fights the defenseless and weak. He not only possesses incredible strength but also a ludicrously honed battle sense, and the special ability to put an end to any opponent if he makes his strikes at the right pressure points.
With quite a bit less of a personality arc than any of the other entries and the inability to get much stronger throughout the course of his series, Kenshiro still makes a devastating opponent with the ability to defeat any enemy if they let their guard down for a second.
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32) Guts – Berserk
Guts, the Black Swordsman is a strong warrior whose determination manages to halt impossibly great demons using his massive Dragon Slayer sword, a prosthetic arm that contains a hidden cannon, and a pain-suppressing armor.
While most of his exploits are viewed more in the Berserk manga than the anime, Guts kills demons like a possessed man and even manages to slay gods during the quest to take down Griffith, who is his former comrade.
Although Guts lack mystical powers, he sits at the summit of humanity and can emerge victorious from almost any battle against the strongest foes.
31) Baki Hanma- Baki the Grappler
Baki Hanma is a preposterously muscular teenage kid whose sole goal is defeating his father, and the world’s strongest living thing, Yujiro Hanma. Baki continuously trains his body by placing himself in precarious situations.
Baki Hanma constantly defeats countless masters with skills in various fighting styles, which includes the prehistoric Pickle, a caveman with the ability to take down any dinosaur, and survived to this modern age while he was left to freeze in a glacier.
Baki’s immense power comes from disciplining and honing both his fighting technique and body, which makes him one of the most challenging martial artists in the whole of anime.
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30)Edward Elric – Fullmetal Alchemist
Edward Elric is a young, extremely powerful man who multiplied a natural knack over alchemy after losing his left leg and right arm tragically while attempting to bring his mum back to life.
By the use of his alchemy skills, he is able to change the terrain of a battlefield and transform any substance into an armament to complement his nifty fighting style.
His abilities allow him to the toe-to-toe encounters against homunculi and even fight a god-like figure into insensibility. Although Edward Elric surrenders his power in the final scenes of Fullmetal Alchemist, at his peak, he could top just about any other animation character.
29) Sakura Kinomoto – Cardcaptor Sakura
It might seem unbelievable that a girl aged ten years could go to war against strong warriors in anime. However, Sakura Kinomoto is a lot stronger than what the first appearance might tell you. After she accidentally released a deck of magical cards to the world, Sakura remains with the task of recapturing them and in her own right, she becomes a sorcerer.
In the Sequel Clear Cards series, Sakura’s magic is so powerful that she is able to rewrite the cards as the series continues. She can use her magical powers to augment the cards, make the cards stronger, or make her own.
The use of the cards consents to her the power of flight, strength, super speed, and more. However, she is one of the youngest magical girls in animation, which ensures that she lacks similar ruthlessness as some of her other counterparts.
28) Akame – Akame Ga Kill
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The ostensible character of the anime, Akame uses most of her life in training to be a ruthless assassin. Though Akame might have better hand-to-hand combat skills than most of the anime characters, this is not enough to make her among the strongest.
Akame has both speed and quick reflexes which makes it so hard for her enemies to barely touch her while they are fighting. As a matter of fact, only a single person ever actually gets a direct hit in the manga series.
If all of this were not enough, Akame also attacks using a magical poisoned blade that leaves anyone she strikes dead.
27) Inuyasha – InuYasha
Inuyasha, a half-demon is a warrior from feudal Japan with the ability to slay any foe who comes his way, whether they are demons or humans. Inuyasha is the son of the strongest demon the world has.
He is the strongest half-demon and his strength and capabilities only enlarge over the course of the anime as he gets new mystical transformations and advanced techniques for his shape-shifting sword.
He has unrivaled skills in battle and has the ability to absorb the opponents’ energy and turn it against them, together with his mystical blade making an almost unstoppable force.
26) Akira Fudo – Devilman
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Akira Fudo, the leading role of numerous Devilman anime and other productions by Go Nagai, gets the power to convert into the strong Devilman after he conquers a demon spirit that attempts to possess his body.
Gaining the speed and strength to fight the fallen angel Satan and his apocalyptic forces, Akira is the last of humanity’s hope as there begins the rise of the long-hidden demons.
Although all his efforts proved that they were futile in the end, Akira Fudo’s power is indisputable and he demolishes even the most powerful of demons with ease in his attempts to save the world.
25) Natsu Dragneel – Fairy Tail
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Fire dragon slayer and Fairy Tail mage, Natsu Dragneel is a shockingly strong wizard who learned his flexible magic acts from Igneel, his adoptive dragon father. Natsu Dragneel is able to push his whole body past his natural limitations by consuming metal that is embedded with magic.
When he is in ‘Dragon Slayer Mode’ he is able to defeat apocalyptic and immortal beings such as the Black Mage Zeref. Fighting with the flame-enhanced melee attacks and his occasional fire breath blast, Natsu can destroy anyone who poses a challenge to him or his guild and obliterate anything in the surrounding area of his brawl.
24) Yusuke Urameshi – Yu Hakusho
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Spirit Gumshoe Yusuke Urameshi commences off as a criminal who passes in an accident and as Yu Yu Hakusho is coming to the end, he becomes a nigh-unstoppable part demon feared by other demons all across the world.
His spirit gun is able to destroy landscapes that are miles long and cause mortal wounds to the highest class of the available demons. Furthermore, his mastery of the Spirit Wave Technique and Spirit Shotgun makes him a flexible fighter who is capable of dealing with opponents, irrespective of their fighting styles.
Growing both as a fighter and as a person over the sequence of Yu Yu Hakusho, Yukuse Urameshi is not only a terrific character but also a combatant.
23) Usagi Tsukino – Sailor Moon
Usagi Tsukino is among the most powerful magical girls to be in anime or manga. She commences her series as a young damsel who fears her own shadow and who uses her own crying to fight her enemies. Over time, Usagi becomes a force to be toted up with, on par with goddesses on other series.
However, Usagi does not have all the power on her own. Since she is a Sailor Moon, her strength is buoyed by her squad of Sailor Senshi. Most of the work is done by the squad for her and all is left is to land the finishing blow.
She draws on the strength of friends and their adoration for her to have the capacity to save the world. Through her humanity and compassion, she came out on top.
22) Big Mom – One Piece
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Big Mom’s real name is Charlotte Linlin. She is the leader of Big Mom Pirates. All she is about is control. To maintain control, Big Mom uses the Soru Soru no Mi Devil Fruit. With this fruit, Big Mom is able to manipulate nearly anything whether dead or living by transferring the human soul into it. This means that the human whose souls are used by Big Mom lose some of their life force and she has more control over her own creation. One of her creations has the special ability to control the weather for her.
21) Korosensei – Assassination Classroom
Korosensei is a yellow squid man who has nearly unmatched destructive power and speed. Through his capabilities, he is able to avoid gunfire, punch a hole through the moon, and outfly fighter jets.
Korosensei takes the world hostage and threatens to obliterate it unless a certain group of some troubled children is capable of putting an end to him before the academic year comes to an end. With inhuman abilities, a keen intellect, and a body that possesses more tricks than tentacles, Korosensei has the ability to destroy any foe if he chooses to.
20) Meliodas- The Seven Deadly Sins
Despite his cute appearance and small stature implying the lack of physical prowess, Meliodas has powerful demonic strength and as long as he is durable, he is strong.
19) Erza Scarlet – Fairy Tail
Erza is extremely skilled in a fight. However, he fights with the aid of magic which makes him more powerful.
18) Ken Kaneki – Tokyo Ghoul
Throughout Tokyo Ghoul, Kaneki transforms from a timid bookworm to a worship figure referred to as the One-Eyed King. He has the ability to destroy cities and also command the legions of monstrous beasts with the power to transform other characters into Ghouls.
17) Ichigo Kurosaki – Bleach
The Shinigami with orange hair has a set of powers that are sometimes confusing since he is even able to defeat the most overpowered enemies.
16) Tatsumaki – One Punch Man
Tatsumaki can be positioned as among the few anime personalities who lack great hand-to-hand skills but they have psychic abilities. She is the Tornado of Terror thanks to his capabilities.
15) Naruto Uzumaki – Naruto
Naruto is everyone’s much-loved loudmouth Ninja and has the power to go toe to toe with any other anime character.
14) Alucard – Hellsing Ultimate
Alucard is a mythic Dracula in Hellsing Ultimate and performs the legendary figure justice.
13) Lucy – Elfen Lied
Despite dissociative identity disorder means that Lucy possesses many voices that she uses to make up her personality, Lucy shows immense strength over any other character in the bunch.
12) Isaac Netero – Hunter X Hunter
Isaac Netero, the former chairman of Hunter Association can be ranked as among the strongest martial animes anime has. After he subjected himself to training that was meant to end him, he gained incomprehensible strength and speed.
11) Eren Yeager – Attack On Titan
Eren Yeager, the titan shifter is a strong anime personality with the ability to transform and become a 15 meter tall Titan that has incredibly regenerative abilities. He also has the ability to command legions of Titans since he has the power of the Founding Titan in him.
10) The Avatar – The Last Airbender And The Legend Of Korra
Avatar: The Last Airbender is ranked as one of the most popular animes that were a hit in the last 20 years. This anime introduced their audience to a character who had the capacity to wield the power of four elements and was also able to communicate with the spirits in their world
9) Mob – Mob Psycho 100
Mob, also known as Kageyama Shigo, is a super powerful character with the capability of destroying anything or anyone with a simple thought. He has very intense powers that he is forced to shackle his emotions to keep them safe from running wild.
8) Jotaro Kujo – JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Jotaro Kujo is the lead actor of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Stardust Crusaders. He is also among the strongest personalities in this anime. What makes him smarter is his toughness and ability to discern and counter all abilities of any person trying to fight him.
7) Simon – Gurren Lagann
Simon is one simple earthling who has the ability to incorporate spiral powers in the attacks to come up with devastating results. He is capable of commanding a mech so big it spins galaxies, Simon is able to create a drill having the capability to rip reality and destroy anyone that stands in his way.
6) Son Goku – Dragon Ball Super
Son Goku is the most powerful martial artist in anime. He is the strongest warrior in his own universe and the other universes in the anime Dragon Ball.
Having his Ultra Instinct form, he is capable of beating every fighter as long as he has the ability to tap into his power.
5) Kaguya Otsutsuki – Naruto
Also known as the Rabbit Goddess, Otsutsuki Kaguya is one of the strongest villains in the Naruto franchise and is also the most powerful woman in the whole of anime. Though Kaguya is not originally an earth inhabitant, he travels to this planet to take the fruit of the tree of God. She planned to unite people by instilling fear in them, which works eventually.
4) Tetsuo Shima – Akira
Tetsuo Shima is a de facto antagonist of Akira who awakens his psychosomatic powers after he collides with another psychic. His powers immensely grow in strength and before time, he runs the risk of destroying the entire universe.
Before he has destroyed the world, he twists himself to a place outside of reality and all the force from his psychic explosion gives birth to a new universe. Only a few other anime characters have the ability to destroy or create reality and this is what has made Tetsuo among the strongest characters in the medium.
3) Kyubey – Madoka Magica
Kyubey from Madoka Magica is a characterization of entropy or the universe’s heat ends. He is immortal, omnipotent, and lives only to bring existence to ruin. Despite lacking strength himself, he manipulates reality and people into continuing with the cycle of destruction that unavoidably leads to the erasure of all matte that exists.
If something is in existence, Kyubey will obliterate it and there is no way you could escape his obliterate force. Only a few characters stand a chance of stopping the anime.
2) Zeno – Dragon Ball Super
Zeno rules every reality in Dragon Ball Super and he has the power to both destroy and create all of existence in one instance. The god with the resemblance of a child has absolute power and is capable of erasing anyone or thing on a single whim.
Zeno does not have any special moves or techniques; he is just an all-powerful god with the capability to command time and space with youthful abandon.
He has destroyed several humanities for his entertainment and plays with galaxies as if they were marbles. Any way that stands against this god proves to be futile in the end. Only one anime character has a chance of fighting down Zeno in a fight.
1) Saitama – One Punch Man
Saitama, from the anime One Punch Man, is the strongest character. One Punch Man differs from most other combat animes, in that the lead character is already the strongest person, rather than making efforts to reach that goal.
However, Saitama keeps stressing about his unbeatable strength, and the series reconnoiters the emptiness following the achievement of a lifelong goal. Saitama is the strongest character in anime since the entire point of the personality is that the search for strength or one’s goal fulfills more than holding such a position. Anyways these are the Top 35 Smartest Anime Characters of all time.
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