If I’m already going to imagine my life being the same as what’s on screen, I might as well be the absolute boss, right? Now if you’re looking for options to do just that, here are our picks for the best anime series with an overpowered main character. And there’s a lot of ‘em! Prepare for a lot of shounen.
20. Asta
Anime: Black Clover I know Black Clover was supposed to be this underdog story of a boy who can’t use magic becoming the Wizard King. But come on, in a world where magic is literally everything, you get the power to just completely negate it? And on top of that, no one can detect Asta precisely because he has no magic whatsoever. True, Yuno the almighty prodigy is currently near his level. But let’s be honest, little demon boy over here is bound to become an absolute monster sooner or later. Plus, have you seen his biceps? He can crush a watermelon with those things.
19. Akame
Anime: Akame ga Kill! I mean, her name is in the title so we really should have seen this one coming. For the majority of the series, the ice queen Esdeath seemed way more overpowered. But then Akame pulls some interesting power boosts out of thin air and becomes virtually unbeatable. And even before that, we see her take out countless people at once. I mean if she scratches you, you’re dead. Seems kind of broken in a world where armor is basically a superpower.
18. Koro Sensei
Anime: Assassination Classroom Imagine being so powerful that you create an entire class where you teach people how to kill you. I mean, he teaches them everything really. As even his guardian skills are overpowered. But the main goal is to off him. He gives tips, corrects form, points out his flaws, and still the entirety of humanity can’t seem to deal with this guy. I mean, he’s the most lovable yellow blob I have seen in my life. So honestly why would you even want to… but my point still stands.
17. Izuku Midoriya
Anime: Boku no Hero Academia Okay I admit that currently Deku might not be the strongest. But like we already know, he’s going to become the strongest at some point. His power, One for All, is so overpowered that the entire series is just Deku learning how to use it. The second he fully masters it, he will be able to blow 99% of the other heroes (and villains) out of the water with a flick of his finger. Just look at All Might, and then imagine him being even stronger. I’m not even going to touch what the hell is going on in the manga.
16. Yuu Otosaka
Anime: Charlotte I have to spoil the later part of the series in order to stress how overpowered this dude is. So, spoiler warning for this one. In this world a small minority of people have superpowers. Yuu’s power is the ability to take over your body for a few seconds, if he’s making eye contact. Okay, not bad, but definitely not overpowered. Or so we thought. It’s later revealed that if he takes over a person who also has a power, he flat out just takes it from them. And can now use it as he pleases. By the end, he collects so many that he basically becomes God.
15. Shizuo Heiwajima
Anime: Durarara!! How is Shizuo being human still cannon? I honesty don’t even know. In a universe where a mythical creature like a Dullahan exists, not to mention the demon possessing sword, this man is somehow still the most powerful. With his Hulk-like strength and durability he’s able to throw vending machines at you no problem. Or get hit by a truck and just become more agitated. And in a similar fashion as our #1 pick lower on this list, whenever you hurt him, you just make him stronger the next time around.
14. Gon Freecss
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011) From the very beginning it was no secret that Gon was powerful. Even before Nen became a thing, he easily overpowered most grown adults and didn’t seem too phased by the usually deadly entrance exams. But he was still somewhere near Killua’s level. Not to say Killua is weak. But it wasn’t a proper overpowered scenario. That is, until that fateful cat lady encounter. I’m not going to specify exactly what that means, but if you’ve watched then you already know. Jesus that was just insane.
13. Sinbad
Anime: Magi: Adventure of Sinbad Even in The Labyrinth of Magic we saw just how powerful Sinbad truly is. But there was a hope that he has some weakness, or that he wasn’t always so strong. Then we get his spin-off series and nope, he was always a god-tear warrior. I mean, the man blew up a mountain just to prove a point. He basically Alexander the Great-ed the world and became ruler through just charisma and raw power. Plus, he’s a sneaky little bastard. So you can’t even nerf him with the usual good-guy, everything for my friends trick.
12. Shigeo Kageyama
Anime: Mob Psycho 100 If Mob was interested in actually being an esper and didn’t have guilt over using his powers, this show would have probably ended in like 2 minutes. Unless they went the slice-of-life bodybuilder edition route. Sure, when Mob is being his usual self, bad guys can get a few licks in. Maybe even have us think that they have the upper hand. But the second that rage meter hits 100% and Mob uses his true power it’s just game over, no exceptions.
11. Naruto
Anime: Naruto That’s right, I didn’t even have to put Shippuden or Boruto into the mix. Because Naruto has always been overpowered. Just from the original series, if you actually scale his feats, you realize that he was an underdog for about five minutes. Episode one, boom multi-shadow clone jutsu and beats up an academy instructor. The audience stands in awe as Sasuke pierces Gaara’s sand shield, and then Naruto takes on the one tails a few minutes later. Say what you will about his talk no jutsu, but this guy was an absolute powerhouse from episode one.
10. Escanor
Anime: Seven Deadly Sins I was originally going to put Meliodas on here, as he does get pretty nutty later on. But how can I not mention the titan himself, the god of ego, Escanor. The show struck gold with this character, as his one-liners are the most badass thing ever to be said in anime. Basically so powerful that you can’t even hate a person, because they’re so below you that you can only pity them. Even when hard countered, he can simply ask “who decided that” and blast you off into space. Now if only his flirt game was as strong as his battle game, he could live a truly blissful life.
9. Ainz Ooal Gown
Anime: Overlord This spooky scary skeleton is bound to send shivers down your spine. He holds the power to destroy entire nations if he pleased, with henchmen at his hand who individually possess the power of an entire army. Plus he’s a player of the game he’s stuck in. So he can even metagame the hell out of every fight. I mean, the second most powerful character in the series is Ainz wearing a costume and wielding a sword. Even though he’s a mage. That’s very telling of his power, in my opinion.
8. Saiki Kusuo
Anime: The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. Okay this might be an odd pick as the series itself is not a battle focused show, but rather a skit based comedy. Nevertheless, the humor comes from the fact that Saiki is a god amongst men. Being an esper, on like power steroids, he can seemingly do anything. Change his form, his size, teleport, read everyone’s thoughts, fly, fly while carrying a plane, everything. The only threat the show has ever seen, he deals with off screen. Because I suppose it wasn’t that interesting to watch him snap his fingers.
7. Levi
Anime: Attack on Titan I was going to put Eren on here, as he gets pretty ridiculous in the manga. But decided to stick with Levi because this man is overpowered without even having powers. I’m not even sure whether I should call him overpowered or overskilled, to be honest. We have seen him take out many, and I mean many titans. Sometimes more at once, usually by himself, without even sustaining a scratch. Even when he had a real adversary, Levi was still able to come out on top without sustaining any serious damage.
6. Kazuto Kirigaya
Anime: Sword Art Online Kirito being an overpowered character has been a meme for quite some time now, and for good reason. Ever since the first installment he has been a powerhouse. Swinging away with his sword like there’s no tomorrow, defeating everyone in his path. When a group of people attack him, they can’t even see his health bar decreasing. The one time he was seriously challenged, he seemingly hacked the universe and still won. And later he did it all over again for who knows how many times, he might still be doing it, I lost track.
5. Rimuru Tempest
Anime: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Like most of the characters on here, Rimuru is overpowered simply because they can scale infinitely. As a slime, they can just keep absorbing foes and keep cranking up those numbers. And not only is Rimuru getting stronger, but as the story goes, more and more people are at their side. So even in terms of military might, they are quite terrifying. Plus Rimuru can scale up their soldiers by naming them. I swear it’s like a never ending scale with these people.
4. Tanya Degurechaff
Anime: The Saga of Tanya the Evil Okay so Tanya was reincarnated by a god she, formerly he, didn’t believe in. So this god, creature X, gave her a buttload of power in the hopes that it will somehow make her more pious. Can you guess what happened? She became a literal terror of the battlefield, killed so many people that she doesn’t bother to even remember their names, and was probably made out to be the boogieman by the opposing army. How the hell was giving her this much power supposed to make her believe? I have no idea. But it’s really interesting to watch her blow entire armies up, so meh it’s fine.
3. Alucard
Anime: Hellsing Ultimate I don’t care who you are, the literal Pope or an all-mighty king. Alucard is that terrifying presence that lurks in the dark, ready to snap your leg off at any moment. I’m pressed to think of a single moment where Alucard was actually losing, unless he wanted it to appear that way for some giggles. But after he’s done humouring you, he will turn into a devil’s nightmare and like eat you alive. The writers really went all out with this guy. They didn’t want the “good guys” to stand a feasible chance.
2. Saitama
Anime: One Punch Man You all saw this one coming. I mean the show’s entire point is that Saitama cannot break a sweat no matter who he’s facing. The man is so powerful that he turned an epic action shounen into a comedy series just by existing. And it’s not even like he toys around with his enemies, like some others on this list. Or that he gets super-buffed later on. He simply one-shots everyone and everything. Even YouTubers who do scaling videos have a hard time with this guy, as we’ve yet to ever see him actually try in battle… so god only knows how high his power ceiling is.
1. Goku
Anime: Dragon Ball Universe This man is the textbook example of power-cliffing. He’s so powerful that he’s in leagues with like actual gods. And he just keeps getting stronger and stronger, achieving every color of the rainbow as some sort of transformation, only to further baffle viewers regarding whether he will ever stop getting stronger. Whenever a new overpowered character steps onto the scene, the question is always whether they can beat Goku. And there’s a reason the answer is always either no, or I don’t know.
