Summary
- Shonen Jump stories tend to center around characters with over-the-top powers.
- The characters in Shonen Jump stories tend to be among the strongest in all anime and manga.
- Characters like Sukuna, All Might, and Gold Roger all showcase unbelievable power levels.
anime and manga have come out of Shonen Jump, and going right along with that, they’ve become popular thanks in large part to how bombastic and over-the-top they make their action, either gradually or from the very start.
An action story that comes out of Shonen Jump will likely be as over-the-top as possible, and the characters involved in those stories tend to go along with that.
Whether it’s from the very start of their stories or near the end of them, many Shonen Jump stories tend to have characters who have grown to have utterly ridiculous levels of power compared to the rest of the cast, and that’s true of both the heroes and the villains. Some Shonen Jump characters have particularly stood out in that regard, and each one is especially worth highlighting.
The entries on this list will focus on stories published specifically in Weekly Shonen Jump and not any of its spinoff magazines.
10 Sukuna More Than Earned His Place as Jujutsu Kaisen’s Strongest Sorcerer
Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen is a supernatural action anime that follows high school student Yuuji Itadori as he battles against magical curses. After Yuji selflessly saves a classmate by taking a curse into his own body, he is discovered and trained by a powerful sorcerer named Satoru Gojo. Gojo, who also happens to be a faculty member at a high school, enrolls Yuji there to help him and other students prepare themselves against the supernatural forces that plague humanity.
- Release Date
- October 3, 2020
- Directors
- Sunghoo Park, Shōta Goshozono
- Writers
- Hiroshi Seko
- Franchise(s)
- Jujutsu Kaisen
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu
- Main Genre
- Animation
Sukuna is an ancient sorcerer from Heian-era Japan and one of the main antagonists of Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen. Both in his old life and after reemerging in modern day, Sukuna has been defined by his bloodlust, sadism, and constant need for a good fight, all of which tend to be hard to satisfy with how much stronger than other sorcerers he tends to be.
Sukuna fights with both powerful slashing techniques and a fire-based ability comparable to a thermobaric weapon, and after taking over Megumi’s body, he even adds the versatility of the Ten Shadows to his arsenal, including the nigh-indestructible Mahoraga. The biggest showing of Sukuna’s power came about from how Sukuna defeated Gojo, the other character built up as one of the strongest characters in Jujutsu Kaisen, and after incarnating into his original body, he’s never stopped showing off just how much stronger he is than everyone.
9 All Might Has Always Been My Hero Academia’s Strongest Hero
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as "Quirks" are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn't so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan's greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.
- Movie(s)
- My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018), My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019), My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission (2021)
- First Film
- My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018)
- Cast
- Daiki Yamashita, Kenta Miyake, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Ayane Sakura, Yûki Kaji, Aoi Yuki, Kaito Ishikawa, Toshiki Masuda, Marina Inoue, Yoshimasa Hosoya
- TV Show(s)
- My Hero Academia
- Video Game(s)
- My Hero Academia: Battle for All, My Hero One's Justice, My Hero One's Justice 2
Among the heroes in Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia, the most notable is All Might, the idol to Izuku Midoriya and many other characters old and young. All Might dedicated his life to stamping out villainy in and out of Japan, and by the time of the story, he’d long since become regarded as the symbol of peace and the number one hero in Japan and the world, at large.
One For All might not be as flashy as other Quirks, but the raw power of One For All puts All Might’s power on a level that not even All For One could sur, and in his prime, his mere presence was enough to derail any villainous plot. All Might was forced to retire due to injuries, but his power is still used as a measuring stick, and it’s one that very few characters have ever been close to matching.
8 Gold Roger Was One Piece’s Pirate King For a Reason
One Piece
One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history's longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix's 2023 adaptation.
- Created by
- Eiichiro Oda
- First Film
- One Piece: The Movie
- First TV Show
- One Piece
- Cast
- Kazuya Nakai, Akemi Okamura, Kappei Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Hirata, Ikue Ôtani, Yuriko Yamaguchi
- Video Game(s)
- One Piece: Unlimited World Red, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, One Piece Odyssey
Gol D. Roger, better known as “Gold Roger”, was the Pirate King in Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. Roger’s quest to accomplish that made him infamous among pirates and Marines, and upon his death, he set the entire story in motion by inspiring pirates to take to the seas and go after his legendary treasure, the titular One Piece, and become the new Pirate King.
Little is known about Roger’s life, but what is known paints a picture of an incredibly powerful fighter. Not only did Roger boast incredible physical abilities and mastery of advanced Conqueror’s Haki, but he was someone who explicitly outclassed Whitebeard, Kaido, and Garp in power, three characters who are often stated to be some of the strongest characters in the story. Roger’s power is something no one has ever sured in One Piece, and even with the series in its final saga, that’s unlikely to change.
7 Medaka Kurokami Is Invincible By Virtue Of Being Medaka Box’s Protagonist
Medaka Box
Medaka Box is an anime adaptation centered on Kurokami Medaka, an extraordinary first-year student and new student council president at Hanokiwa Academy. With her formidable abilities, she implements a suggestion box for students, setting the stage for unique challenges that test her and her council .
Medaka Kurokami is the titular hero of Nisio Isin and Akira Akatsuki’s Medaka Box. Medaka is introduced as the beautiful and charismatic student council president of Hakoniwa Academy, and while her conflicts start off relatively lowkey, they quickly escalate into physical battles of massive scales that often put the entire world at risk.
In addition to her superhuman physical and mental abilities, including an attack that allows her to move faster than the speed of sound, Medaka possesses two nigh-invincible abilities: God Mode, which lets her further augment her strength with various transformations, and The End, which lets her copy other superpowers and make them even stronger than they were in their original form. Najimi Ajimu, someone with over 12 quadrillion powers, once remarked that Medaka will always win a fight by virtue of being the protagonist, and overall, there’s plenty of truth to that idea.
6 Kaguya Ohtsutsuki Quickly Became Naruto’s Strongest Villain
Naruto
Set two and a half years after the events of Masashi Kishimoto's original anime, Naruto Shippuden continues the titular hero's attempts to become the best ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village and bring his former friend Sasuke Uchiha back to the light. The 500-episode series features the return of allies such as Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki's mentor Jiraiya, as well as the villainous organization Akatsuki.
Kaguya Ohtsutsuki was the overarching villain of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto and the one who helped form the foundations of the ninja world. Kaguya was sealed away for countless centuries by her children, but during that time, Black Zetsu, an extension of her will, manipulated people and events in the world, including Madara Uchiha, so she could return to the world and hijack the plot to trap the world in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Kaguya possesses incredible physical strength and has access to a wide variety of powerful ninjutsu, most notably her Kekkei Mora techniques that let her manifest fists of pure chakra and disintegrate people with weaponized bones. Kaguya was so powerful that Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi could only seal her away as opposed to kill her, and while Boruto: Naruto Next Generations has introduced characters stronger than her, Kaguya still stands as the strongest character in the original Naruto.
5 Kinnikuman Never Fails To Come Out With A Big Win
Kinnikuman
Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc
Cast
- Mamoru Miyano
- Akira Kamiya
- Sumire Uesaka
- Daisuke Ono
Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc (2024) continues the iconic wrestling saga, exploring the backstory of Kinnikuman. This new installment delves into the origins and adventures of the protagonist and his rivals, combining humor, action, and character development. Featuring new and returning characters, it aims to captivate both long-time fans and newcomers to the series.
- Release Date
- July 7, 2024
- Seasons
- 2
- Main Genre
- Animation
Kinnikuman is the titular hero of Yudetamago’s Kinnikuman and the bumbling hero of Japan. Kinnikuman never fully grows out of his man-child behavior, but throughout the story, he gradually matures into a more competent person and is always the wrestler people turn to when the world and the galaxy, as a whole, end up in danger.
Not only does Kinnikuman possess a wide variety of wrestling techniques derived from both the Kinniku royal family and Prince Kamehame’s tutelage, but one early story established that Kinnikuman is strong enough to throw someone as far as Pluto, a ridiculous feat of strength that similarly puts all Chojin in Kinnikuman on an incredibly high level of power. Every Chojin is capable of massive feats of strength, and as the hero of the story, Kinnikuman easily stands out as the strongest of them all.
4 Yhwach’s Power Nearly Breaks The Entire Setting Of Bleach
Bleach
Yhwach is the leader of the Wandenreich, an ancient and villainous organization of Quincies, and the final villain of Tite Kubo’s Bleach. After a fierce battle with Captain-Commander Yamamoto left Yhwach incapacitated for 1000 years, he returned to wage war on Soul Society once more and continue his mission of killing the Soul King and returning the three realms to the primordial state of old where there was no boundary between life and death.
As the king of Quincies, Yhwach’s Quincy abilities are far above other Quincies to the point that he can hold his own against someone like Yamamoto, and with his Schrift, “The Almighty,” Yhwach has the power to see the future and change it however he sees fit. Even when Yhwach was defeated, it was just barely so, and it’s hard to see him as anything other than the strongest character in all of Bleach.
3 Son Goku Was Quick To Grow Into Being Dragon Ball’s Strongest Fighter
Dragon Ball
Son Goku is the hero of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball, introduced as a young boy with unnatural strength, a love of fighting, and the tail of a monkey. After growing into an adult, Goku was revealed to be a Saiyan, a nearly extinct race of powerful and bloodthirsty aliens, and learning that brought Goku and his friends into conflict with increasingly dangerous alien and generally sci-fi-based threats.
Goku was a powerful fighter from the moment he was introduced, and that only became more pronounced over the years as he continued to gain power under numerous teachers and unlocked his powerful Super Saiyan transformations. Goku has always shown off the best skill and overall power of any of the heroes, and while Dragon Ball Super and other stories have introduced characters stronger than Goku, the original Dragon Ball still ended with Goku becoming the strongest character in the universe.
2 Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo Is Nigh-Invincible Thanks To His Story’s Parody Stylings
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
In the world of Yoshio Sawai’s Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, the world is under siege by the Chrome Dome Empire, a tyrannical empire seeking to leave everyone in the world bald. Leading the fight against them is Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, the bizarre master of the Super Fist of the Nose Hair, and in his fight against the Chrome Dome Empire, he slowly assembles a team of allies to help him who are just as weird as him, if not weirder.
Owing to the manga prioritizing comedy over logic, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo’s titular hero has some of the greatest feats of strength of any Shonen Jump character, with things like destroying stars, moving planets, and manipulating reality all being things that take zero effort on Bobobo’s part. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo prides itself on never taking itself seriously, and thanks to that, its hero has a level of power few others can hope to match.
1 Akira Toriyama Created One Of His Strongest Characters In Dr. Slump’s Arale
Dr Slump
Dr. Slump was the debut work of Akira Toriyama and stars Arale Norimaki, a robot created to be the perfect little girl. Arale’s naivety, superhuman strength, and bizarre personality make her anything other than that, though, and most stories involve the many misadventures she and her friends go on, many of which involve one of her father’s inventions going awry.
Much like Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Dr. Slump being a gag story means that Arale casually has incredible feats of strength such as throwing the sun around and breaking the fourth wall to alter reality, and whenever she cameos in Dragon Ball, Arale has been shown to hold her own against some of Dragon Ball’s strongest fighters without so much as breaking a sweat. There are few characters in fiction capable of what Arale does, seriously or otherwise, and that easily makes her the strongest Shonen Jump character of all time.