There’s nothing more fun than scaling Akatsuki members. And for this ranking it’s everyone’s exploding artist that’s on the chopping block! We’re looking across all of anime to find a handful of characters that could potentially bring Deidara to his knees. Also, no obvious picks like Saitama or Goku, because this is supposed to be fun after all.
10. Killua Zoldyck
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) Killua is the iffiest pick on this entire list. I’ve seen this battle discussed on a few forums, and let’s just say that Killua’s win condition is very specific. If Deidara manages to get into the air, it’s pretty much GG. But if they’re both on the ground and no more than 20 feet apart from each other, I’m confident that our zappy boy has a pretty solid chance. Killua, of course, has electricity powers – which are a big counter to Deidara. And since his God-Speed has him entirely enveloped in lightning, a few of Deidara’s moves are more or less useless. C4 won’t work because Killua’s entire body is electrocuted. And the same goes for any clay clone shenanigans. That being said, Killua would have to instantly go into God-Speed and one-shot Deidara on the spot if he’s to have any chance of winning.
9. Asta
Anime: Black Clover Anti-magic is kind of broken all around. And when your spells are as noticeable as Deidara’s, you’re pretty much screwed. Since Deidara’s clay is infused with his chakra, I think it’s completely reasonable to say that Asta can just whack them away immediately. But it gets better. Deidara’s C4 bomb is arguably the most difficult ability to beat – but Asta is quite lucky in this regard, as his Demon-Destroyer sword can get rid of the clay even after it gets into his body. Plus, Asta actually has long-ranged attacks as well as the ability to fly. So Deidara taking off into the air isn’t a death sentence. In terms of speed, I think they’re pretty similar. And Asta obviously gets the W in terms of both strength and tenacity, so I think he would win the fight overall. You also have to love the irony, since this would be the second time Deidara lost to a devil-looking fellow.
8. Natsu Dragneel
Anime: Fairy Tail There’s a few ways that I could see this fight going. Number one: Natsu simply melts all the clay before it gets to him, as he’s basically a miniature Sun once he becomes fully enraged. As you could imagine, this would spell for quite the easy victory. Number two: Natsu defies all logic and somehow eats Deidara’s clay to power up, since god knows the rules over what he can eat are loose as all hell. Not only would this counter Deidara, but it would definitely piss him off as well. Number three: neither of the previous two things happen, and Natsu relies on his superior tenacity and strength to get the victory. Although I’ll admit that things get a bit shaky once the C4 bombs are put into play.
7. Ainz Ooal Gown
Anime: Overlord This fight would be one of those battles that would destroy half of the country. Because Ainz definitely does not fall short when it comes to raw destructive power. He has multiple giant AoE spells that would take care of any C1 goons Deidara sent his way. And since his spells are mostly ranged, the same goes for C2. With plenty of barriers under his belt, as well as all the elemental magic that one could ever want, C3 could be taken care of as well. Plus, he has a lot of summons that could keep Deidara on his toes & not give him the time to chew any of the clay. And when it comes to C4, Ainz could either survive normally (as he doesn’t breathe), or if he wanted to flex on Deidara he could use his Black Hole ability to wipe out the C4 before it gets the chance to detonate. Overall, it would be quite the explosive battle.
6. King
Anime: The Seven Deadly Sins One of Deidara’s best attributes in battle is his ability to keep you at a distance and bombard you like there’s no tomorrow. King takes this to an entirely new level, and makes Deidara look like a chump. A fully-powered King can use his Chastiefol to attack you from miles away. And since he can divide it into a thousand weapons, there’s no way in hell Deidara could keep up. Plus, since King can chill quite a distance away, even Deidara’s C4 and C0 abilities are rendered quite useless. Even if some of Deidara’s clay monsters did get to King, he can just use his shield to soak up any of the damage. And once he’s really lost his temper, he could use the Sunflower form and bomb the entire surrounding area. What can I say? King is simply better at ranged combat than even the artist bomber himself.
5. Sasori
Anime: Naruto: Shippuden I want to include Sasori on here as well, since people meme my boy way too much. Yes, he lost to Sakura. But that’s just because he got heavily countered, and was also emo and wanted to die. A serious Sasori would wipe the floor with Deidara. And Sasori is better at ranged combat too, since he can spin way more puppets than Deidara can clay minions. Plus, Sasori only needs a single scratch to win – as opposed to Deidara whose explosions do way less damage than one could think. And if Sasori entered his true form, it would be over for Deidara – because his long-ranged high damage combo would absolutely destroy him. There’s also the whole “he’s a puppet and doesn’t breathe” aspect to the fight. Which means that even Deidara’s trump C4 card is useless.
4. Genos
Anime: One Punch Man Just like with Ainz, this fight would definitely destroy a few cities. Genos is a pretty destructive boy. He can dish out city level blasts rather consistently, so he’s pretty even with Deidara on that front. However, where he really shines is speed. Yes, people do tend to downplay Deidara’s speed. But even if we high-ball it, I just don’t think he could keep up with this cyborg. Especially if he’s at full power and wants to go in for the kill. Of course, there’s also the argument of cyborgs don’t breathe. So goodbye C4, as well as the fact that Genos could even lose a few limbs and not be down for the count. Genos doesn’t counter Deidara as hard as some of the other characters on this list. But I do think he beats Deidara in raw stats overall.
3. Merlin
Anime: The Seven Deadly Sins The thing with Merlin is that she’s a master at countering her enemies. And given her performance in the last season, she would definitely figure out that electricity completely stops Deidara in his tracks. All she would have to do is teleport around or put up a few barriers to buy herself some time, and then unleash her electricity swarm once she was certain it worked. And since she has the hax ability of only using mana to set up a spell, she could keep Deidara enslaved forever in an endless web of electricity and pain.
2. Shigeo Kageyama
Anime: Mob Psycho 100 This goes without saying, but Mob would have to be at 100% and fully blood-lusted in order to win this fight. Because Deidara isn’t exactly the type to be merciful just because someone looks like a sweet kid… But once Mob gets going, things get very difficult for Deidara. I know I mentioned electricity as a major counter to Deidara. But telekinesis is arguably just as devastating, since Mob can fling the clay puppets back at Deidara and shield any explosions that do go off. Plus, he can bound Deidara’s hands to his back and stop him from chewing the clay in the first place. And if even that doesn’t work, he can just chuck a building at him.
1. Luck Voltia
Anime: Black Clover As usual, the number one spot goes to the fight that I’d like to see the most. Luck is basically Killua on steroids – so his win condition is not nearly as strict. However, his victory isn’t completely certain either. If we take Luck’s elf mode as the benchmark, we know that he’s constantly surrounded by electricity, and would therefore defuse most of the damage coming his way. Except maybe the C4… I don’t think the electricity goes inside his body. However, it’s speed where a full-power Luck really shines. We’ve already seen him dodge dozens of point blank blasts in his fight against Magna, so there’s that. And just like Killua, Luck is a bit unhinged. So if he does manage to get close, he’s definitely going in for the one-shot. This battle wouldn’t be all that one-sided, and it would make for some amazing anime fight scenes in my book – with Luck probably coming out on top in the end.
