Some of the longest-running conversations in the fandom center on ranking the strongest anime characters, or who would win in a fight. These debates are likely to go on for as long as new anime air every season. Anime can tell a broad range of stories, and the nature of animation allows anime to tackle just about every genre of fiction, from slice-of-life to sci-fi. However, combat-focused anime (usually in the shonen category) tends to be some of the most popular and commercially successful anime around.

With so much combat in anime, it’s no surprise that debates about which character is stronger than another are a staple of the fandom. Of course, with more anime airing than ever before and heroes of ongoing tales constantly receiving power-ups, these debates can change from day to day. It may be impossible to say for sure who would win in a one-on-one fight, but the most powerful characters in anime can be ranked when they are at their strongest and most capable.

40 Ken Kaneki

Character From Studio Pierrot's Tokyo Ghoul; Based On The Manga By Sui Ishida

Over the course of Tokyo Ghoul, Ken Kaneki goes from a timid bookworm to a figure of worship known as the One-Eyed King. In exchange for only being able to consume coffee and human flesh, Kaneki gained superhuman strength and the ability to regenerate limbs and even his entire body.

After transforming into a half-Ghoul and training his body, he’s able to destroy entire cities easily and command legions of monstrous beasts that can transform others into Ghouls. This makes Ken Kaneki a borderline undefeatable fighter who only grows stronger with each injury he sustains.

39 Muzan Kibutsuji

Character From Ufotable's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba; Based On The Manga By Koyoharu Gotouge

Muzan Kibutsuji is the progenitor of the Demons of Demon Slayer, who gained his own powers when experimented upon by a scientist with a rare blue spider lily over 1,000 years ago. Muzan is capable of turning others into demons and his blood will outright kill those who are incompatible with it. He can shape and mold his body to form weapons and is an absolutely vicious killer.

Muzan's only weakness is sunlight; as a demon, he's unable to go out during the day, and he's spent most of his long life desperately searching for a cure for this one flaw. When in the dark, however, Muzan's ability to regenerate is nearly unlimited, and as a result, he's killed many, many demon slayers over the years.

38 Yoriichi Tsugikuni

Character From Ufotable's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba; Based On The Manga By Koyoharu Gotouge

Not only was Yoriichi one of the first Demon Slayers, he was also arguably the strongest. Yoriichi invented the sun breathing style that all of Demon Slayer's other breathing styles derive from. As the base breathing style, Sun Breathing alone is incredibly powerful and effective against demons, making Yoriichi an absolute nightmare to face for any of Muzan's followers.

Yoriichi's older brother Kokushibo was also a Demon Slayer before he unfortunately ed Muzan's forces as a demon.

In addition to the power of Sun Breathing, Yoriichi is also just a strong fighter. His skill with a sword is second to none and he was in peak physical condition even in his eighties.

37 Chainsaw Man

Character From MAPPA's Chainsaw Man; Based On The Manga By Tatsuki Fujimoto

Fans of the anime series might not know it, but Chainsaw Man's titular hero ranks among the strongest characters in all of anime and manga. Before Pochita merged with Denji, he was the original Chainsaw Man and was one of Hell's most feared creatures for good reason. In addition to his incredible strength endurance, and regeneration, the original Chainsaw Man was capable of warping reality by 'eating' devils and erasing them from existence.

As a result of Pochita, major events in world history have just been erased from existence. Though Denji's longing for connection makes him easy to manipulate, his potential power as Chainsaw Man could make him one of anime's strongest characters if and when the series returns.

36 Korosensei

Character From Lerche's Assassination Classroom; Based On The Manga By Yusei Matsui

Koro-sensei is an "alien" who wields dozens of incredibly powerful tentacles, which make up the bulk of his body. Koro-sensei is unbelievably fast, able to zip across the world on his lunch break and dodge streams of bullets coming out of machine guns without breaking a sweat.

Koro-sensei can only be killed by special "anti-sensei" material, which is harmless to ordinary humans even when made into weapons. Koro-sensei is also a master assassin, skilled in various forms of combat--an ability that comes in handy even without a humanoid body. While his stamina isn't limitless, it's incredibly high, so if Koro-Sensei weren't specifically training people to kill him, he'd be nigh unstoppable.

35 Tetsuo Shima

Character From TMS Entertainment's Akira; Based On The Manga By Katsuhiro Otomo

Tetsuo Shima, the de facto antagonist of Akira, awakens his immeasurable psychic powers after a collision with another psychic. His powers quickly grow in strength, and before long he runs the risk of obliterating the entire universe. Thankfully, before that can happen, he warps himself to a place outside of reality and the force of his psychic explosion gives birth to a whole new universe. All of this adds up to making Testsuo anime's strongest psychic, and that's no small achievement.

Few other anime characters possess the ability to both create and destroy reality, and that’s what ranks Tetsuo among the strongest characters in the medium.

34 Eren Yeager

Character From MAPPA's Attack On Titan; Based On The Manga By Hajime Isayama

Attack on Titan's protagonist Eren Yeager is a very powerful character who has the ability to transform into a 15-meter-tall Titan with incredible regenerative abilities. However, the reason he ranks so highly among the strongest anime characters is because of his ability to command legions of Titans with the power of the Founding Titan.

Using this ability, Eren can bring entire nations to ruin with a simple command that summons thousands of 50-meter-tall Titans to action. Entire armies could not stand against this ability, and that makes Eren deserving of a spot as one of the most powerful characters in anime.

33 Sung Jinwoo

Character From A-1 Pictures' Solo Leveling; Based On The Novel By Chugong

The protagonist of 2024's breakout hit Solo Leveling, Sung Jinwoo is his world's strongest hunter and a major force to be reckoned with. Not only does he have incredible physical attributes like strength, speed, and durability, Jinwoo also has the incredible ability to substantially increase his powers after the end of each battle. More than anything else, this ability to grow and develop is what propelled Jinwoo to the spot of top hunter.

Sung Jinwoo might be one of the newest anime heroes, but it's already clear that he has the potential to rank highly among the strongest anime characters of all time.

32 All For One

Character From Bones' My Hero Academia; Based On The Manga By Kohei Horikoshi

The big villain of My Hero Academia, All for One is a villain from the dawn of Quirks, who has used his personal power to gather Quirks that enhance his power and allow him to live indefinitely. Over the time since the dawn of Quirks, All for One has collected hundreds of different powers, ranging from physical attacks to radio wave emission to regeneration.

All for One is also able to redistribute the Quirks he steals, allowing him to gain favor by providing underlings with new power. All for One's shrewd social manipulation is actually one of his most dangerous traits, and the reason why it's taken 9 generations of One for All s to even come close to bringing him down.

31 Mob

Character From Bones' Mob Psycho 100; Based On The Manga By One

Mob Psycho 100's Shigeo Kageyama, more commonly known as Mob, is an ultra-powerful esper who can destroy anyone or anything with a simple thought. His powers are so intense that he has to shackle his emotions to keep them from running wild, meaning that he doesn't often put them to use. However, if he feels something too strongly or falls unconscious, his psychic powers come rushing to the surface.

In his ???% state, Mob wields powers on par with large-scale natural disasters. Not only does the nature of his abilities make them impossible to guard against, but the strength behind them is also so great that even the strongest psychics in his world buckle beneath them. Mob is among the strongest anime psychics, though he isn't quite the strongest.