A big part of why Shōnen Jump is such an iconic name in the world of anime is because of its action stories. While action-based shōnen anime are easy enough to find, Shōnen Jump’s selection always has a level of scale and overall craft to it that few other brands can match, and its anime have become some of the most iconic stories in the demographic because of that.

Shōnen Jump stories are always filled with incredible action, and much of that is owed to the heroes of those stories. As with any good action story, the heroes of Shōnen Jump stories are almost always at the center of the action, and as they continue to fight and grow for one reason or another, the heroes in Shōnen Jump stories inevitably develop into some of the strongest characters in Shōnen Jump and the medium, as a whole. Some of those heroes are especially worth highlighting, as each one has incredible power to them that’s been virtually unmatched for ages.

This list will focus specifically on the central protagonists of Shōnen Jump stories, and not simply anyone with a major part in a story.

10 Izuku Midoriya

Main Character Of Bones' My Hero Academia

Izuku Midoriya is the protagonist of Bones’ My Hero Academia who dreams of being a hero, despite being one of the rare people in his world to be born without superpowers. One day, though, a chance encounter with All Might, the world’s greatest hero, finally gives Izuku a chance to become a hero, as well, and his journey to do so becomes more important than anyone could have imagined.

Between the super strength of One For All and the variety of the other Quirks it gives him access to, Izuku slowly but surely develops into an absolute powerhouse, and it’s to the point that ’s final arc has Izuku become strong enough to fight on even ground with Shigaraki, someone at least as strong as All Might. My Hero Academia ends with Izuku losing his powers, but that doesn’t make what he did with them any less impressive.

9 Monkey D. Luffy

Main Character Of Toei Animation's One Piece

Monkey D. Luffy is the protagonist of Toei Animation’s One Piece. Like many people in the Great Age of Piracy, Luffy dreams of finding the legendary One Piece and being crowned the new Pirate King, and while he and his crew start as just a bunch of rookies, it isn’t long before Luffy proves himself to the entire world.

Luffy’s continual mastery of his Gum-Gum Fruit and Haki gradually makes him one of the toughest pirates in all of One Piece, and in recent arcs, Luffy recently awakened his Devil Fruit and obtained Gear 5, which not only makes his regular abilities more powerful, but essentially makes him a reality warper who can weaponize toon force. Even after so many years, Luffy keeps finding new ways to outdo himself, and there’s no telling how far that will go when One Piece finally ends.

8 Naruto Uzumaki

Main Character Of Studio Pierrot's Naruto

Naruto Uzumaki is the eponymous hero of Studio Pierrot’s Naruto. Growing up, Naruto was ostracized by his ninja village for being the host of the nine-tailed demon fox that once nearly destroyed them all, so he’s devoted himself to becoming the Hokage, the leader of the village, and earning everyone’s respect, a quest that becomes far bigger than anyone could have imagined.

Naruto has a tremendous amount of growth through his gradual mastery of Shadow Clones, Rasengan, Sage Arts, and Kurama’s chakra, and after countless struggles, Naruto ends with Naruto as the definitive strongest ninja in the world, a fact that’s perfectly maintained through Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, as well. Naruto, himself, is nowhere near as active in the plot as he used to be, but he’s still left an incredible mark on the series that won’t fade anytime soon.

7 Ichigo Kurosaki

Main Character Of Studio Pierrot's Bleach

Ichigo Kurosaki is the hero of Studio Pierrot’s Bleach. When Ichigo’s family was attacked by a bloodthirsty monster known as a Hollow, Ichigo saved them by taking on the powers of a Soul Reaper, the natural enemies of Hollows, and as Ichigo continues to protect his loved ones, he quickly finds himself at the center of one major world-ending conflict after another.

Ichigo is introduced as a surprisingly powerful fighter and only gets stronger as he slowly masters his Soul Reaper abilities and gets more and more power boosts, and by the end of the series, Ichigo ends up as one of the only characters in Bleach capable of defeating Yhwach, the strongest villain in the entire series. Ichigo’s growth was great to see, and whenever Bleach’s Hell arc continues, he’s sure to get even stronger.

6 Medaka Kurokami

Main Character Of Gainax's Medaka Box

Medaka Kurokami is the eponymous hero of Gainax’s Medaka Box. Medaka is introduced as the beautiful and charismatic student council president of Hakoniwa Academy, and while her conflicts start 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 being the protagonist, and overall, there’s plenty of truth to that idea.

5 Kinnikuman

Main Character Of Toei Animation & Production I.G's Kinnikuman

Kinnikuman is the stage name of Kinniku Suguru, the main protagonist of the Kinnikuman franchise. Kinnikuman fights as the superpowered protector of Japan, and while he starts as little more than a bumbling coward, he eventually comes into his own as a hero and becomes a symbol of justice for Earth and the universe, as a whole.

While the wrestling matches in Kinnikuman typically never get too large in scale, not only do Kinnikuman and other characters always show off some sort of superhuman feats, but an early Kinnikuman arc established that Kinnikuman is strong enough to throw someone to Pluto, meaning he, and all other Chojin, are ridiculously powerful, even if the fights never fully lean into it. As the main character, Kinnikuman, of course, stands above most of the ing cast, and even after almost 50 years, he keeps finding new ways to show off his strengths.

4 Toriko

Main Character Of Toei Animation's Toriko

Toriko is the eponymous hero of Toei Animation’s Toriko. Toriko is one of the most celebrated Gourmet Hunters and seeks to one day complete his full course menu with God, the most delicious food in history, but along the way, he inevitably comes into conflict with the villainous Gourmet Corps and the massive conspiracy behind why their world is the way that it is.

The anime, alone, makes it easy to see how powerful Toriko is, but it’s only by reading the manga that his power fully shines, as Toriko’s numerous power-ups in the second half of the manga eventually make him someone who can definitively cause destruction on a planetary scale. Toriko has some of the biggest feats of strength of any Shonen Jump manga of the 2000s, and its hero is a big part of how that came to be.

3 Son Goku

Main Character Of Toei Animation's Dragon Ball

Son Goku is the hero of Toei Animation’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

Main Character Of Toei Animation's Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is the eponymous hero of Toei Animation’s Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. In a world where the evil Chrome Dome Empire seeks to shave everyone in the world, Bobobo fights against their evil with the power of his Super Fist of the Nose Hair, and with the help of his friends, most of whom are just as weird as him, he just might save the world from going permanently bald.

Owing to the story prioritizing comedy over logic, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo’s eponymous hero has some of the greatest feats of strength of any Shōnen 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 Arale Norimaki

Main Character Of Toei Animation's Dr. Slump

Arale Norimaki is the protagonist of Toei Animation’s Dr. Slump, a robot girl created by the eccentric inventor Senbei Norimaki of Penguin Village. Much of the story is centered around Arale’s misadventures with the eccentric inhabitants of Penguin Village, with Arale’s naivety and superhuman abilities getting her out of trouble almost as often as they get her into trouble.

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 Shōnen Jump hero of all time.