Sure, Powers Are Great, But The Physically Strongest Anime Characters Don't Need Them

The debate over who is the most powerful anime character is a tough one because, at the end of the day, it all comes down to differing definitions of power. How do the psychic powers of a character like Mob from Mob Psycho 100 compare to the magical powers of a character like Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist? In a media landscape dominated by flashy powers and abilities, measuring power gets muddled and becomes highly subjective.

What's less subjective though is raw physical strength. Tremendous feats of strength give fans a lot more material to compare their favorite heroes. Physical strength is easy for fans to understand, not requiring the lengthy explanations that often accompany special abilities in anime focused on battling. While differing rules for how each anime's world works might make a 1 to 1 comparison impossible, the physically strongest anime heroes show off such impressive achievements of raw physicality that it's difficult to deny their prowess.

10 Toji Fushiguro

Jujutsu Kaisen

Though Jujutsu Kaisen's complex power system might make it appear as though non-sorcerers don't stand a chance against sorcerers or curses, Toji is the exception. One of Jujutsu Kaisen's Heavenly Restriction users, Toji completely gave up all access to Cursed Energy in exchange for major enhancements to his bulk, senses, and reflexes. The result is an absolute monster on the battlefield.

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Using nothing but his body, Toji is able to take on incredibly strong cursed-energy users like Satoru Gojo and Seguru Geto without breaking a sweat. Perhaps Toji's greatest physical achievement came after his death. Post-resurrection, Toji used the Playful Cloud to destroy one of Dagon's Shikigami in one hit. Considering strong Cursed-energy users like Megumi, Naobito, and Nanami struggled with Dagon's fearsome summons, that's no small achievement.

9 Guts

Berserk

Guts from Berserk might not have any innate superhuman abilities in canon, and that's what makes his impressive feats of strength all the more praiseworthy. In a world overflowing with demons and eldritch beings with powers beyond comprehension, Guts manages to be a major threat with nothing but his absurdly large sword, his unrivaled willpower, and of course, his unrelenting rage.

Perhaps the biggest symbol of his strength is the sword he wields. One of the most iconic swords in anime history, the Dragon Slayer is a massive hunk of iron that's estimated by fans to be anywhere from six to seven feet long. By all real-world logic, Guts should tear or even break his should with every sword swing. The fact that Guts wields such a huge sword without much effort is proof alone that Guts' strength is simply unreasonable.

8 Gyomei Himejima

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

While anime-only Demon Slayer fans haven't seen some of Gyomei's most impressive achievements yet, fans of the manga know that Gyomei's physical strength is nothing short of unreasonable. Gyomei isn't justDemon Slayer's strongest Hashira, he's one of the strongest characters in the entire series.

The anime series has already shown Gyomei pushing boulders twice his size with little effort, and that's nothing for the Stone Hashira. Without going into outright spoiler territory, some of the things he pulls off in Demon Slayer's Infinity Castle arc would make pushing boulders look like child's play. If the manga is anything to go by, then fans who've been waiting to see Gyomei in action will not be disappointed by his role in the upcoming Infinity Castle movie trilogy.

7 Muscular (Goto Imasuji)

My Hero Academia

Being a series based on superheroes, My Hero Academia has several candidates for physically strongest character. Despite good competition from All Might and Gigantomachia, no My Hero Academia character can rival the unparalleled strength of Muscular. A villain with a body augmentation quirk, Muscular can grow muscles in any part of his body to increase strength, stamina, and speed.

Given that growing muscles is his primary ability, it's no wonder that Muscular is one of the strongest anime characters. He's able to swat away Deku using 100% of One For All, which is one of the other most powerful quirks in My Hero Academia. Muscular has been shown to destroy entire buildings with a single punch or jump, showing just how far raw physical strength can get a person even in a world of incredible superpowers.

6 Mash Burnedead

Mashle: Magic and Muscle

While there are plenty of examples of characters without powers trying to make it in a world where everyone else has them, few characters make it work as well as Mash Burnedead from Mashle. Instead of receiving some sort of superpowered upgrade like My Hero Academia's Deku and Black Clover's Asta, Mash survives his magical world strictly with his own physical strength. Lucky for him, that strength is, quite frankly, absurd.

Mash is able to flex his abs enough that blades break against them. Mash can move his legs so hard and fast that he can actually fly without any assistance from magic. When Mash takes off his wrist weights, he's able to enter Unlimited Physical Mode and can move so fast that he leaves behind after images. Mash is so strong that he's fooled everyone into believing he has magic, when really it's just muscle control.

5 Sloth

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Much like other anime characters who are physically strong, Sloth from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has a relatively simple powerset, but that's all he needs. Having worked on digging a vast network of tunnels for much of his life, Sloth is an absolute tank who can crush solid rock and steel like it's a soda can. If anime ever had an equivalent to Marvel Comics' Juggernaut, it's certainly Sloth.

Just as impressive as his physical strength though is his speed. For such a big guy, Sloth is impossibly fast. His speed combined with his musculature make him absolutely devastating in battle, proving just as threatening as his homunculus siblings. Fans shouldn't let Sloth's name fool them, because when motivated, Sloth is a true nightmare.

4 Kaido

One Piece

One Piece has no shortage of characters who could easily make a claim for strongest anime character. Zorro's wielding of three swords isn't just visually impressive, it's also representative of tremendous strength. Still, no matter how strong someone like Zorro or Franky may get, there's just no competing with Kaido in terms of strength. The Beast Pirates captain is sometimes known by his title of "Strongest Creature", and that's no exaggeration.

Even without his devil fruit, Kaido is ridiculously strong. Kaido's able to sink entire fleets of ships all on his own. Most impressively, Kaido was able to break through Luffy's Gear 4 defenses and made it look easy. These achievements combined with his devil fruit are proof enough that Kaido more than deserves a place among the strongest anime characters.

3 Might Guy

Naruto

Naruto is swimming with candidates for strongest anime character. Sakura, Tsunade, and Rock Lee are all tremendously strong and all have a laundry list of achievements in strength that are worth celebrating. Despite this, however, no one in Naruto can match the physical strength of The Green Beast of Konoha himself, Might Guy.

When unlocking all eight Chakra Gates, there is quite simply no ninja that can match Guy blow-for-blow. With his various Taijutsu techniques, Might Guy is the only Konoha ninja who can pose a threat to Madara, one of Naruto's most powerful ninjas. Eventually, Guy is able to deliver a blow to Madara so powerful that it literally just destroys a piece of Madara's torso. When the Uchiha elder declared Guy the strongest, it was for good reason.

2 Broly

Dragon Ball: Super

Dragon Ball Super

TV-PG

Animation

Action

Adventure

Anime

Fantasy

Cast

See All

• 
  Masakazu Morita
• 
  Masako Nozawa
• 
  Ryo Horikawa
• 
  Hiromi Tsuru

7/10

131

9.0/10

Release Date

July 5, 2015

Directors

Ryota Nakamura, Masanori Sato, Kenichi Takeshita, Takao Iwai, Hideki Hiroshima, Masato Mitsuka, Kazuya Karasawa, Ayumu Ono, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Nagamine, Kôjiro Kawasaki, Kouji Ogawa

Writers

Ryu King, Hiroshi Yamaguchi

Franchise(s)

Dragon Ball

Number of Episodes

131

Seasons

1

Studio

Toei Animation

Creator

Akira Toriyama

Streaming Service(s)

Hulu, Crunchyroll

Based On

Manga

MyAnimeList Score

7.46

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Sorry Goku and Vegeta, but the strongest Saiyan title has to go to Broly, and it's not particularly close. As Universe 7's last Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly's physical strength should not be in doubt. When enraged, Broly is a demon, able to deal and take damage like no other.

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What makes Broly so strong is also what makes him so unpredictable; his rage. Broly loses control of himself and that can lead to rampages that might literally destroy planets. The fact that he fought Super Saiyan Blue Vegito, a fusion of two incredibly powerful Saiyans, and kept up is a testament to just how strong he is. Unfortunately, as strong as Broly is, he misses out on being the physically strongest anime character, but only because the character that beat him can canonically defeat any foe with just one punch.

1 Saitama

One-Punch Man

Some anime's "strongest" character is just someone who is really good at fighting or maybe has an overpowered skill. One-Punch Man's strongest character is someone who's sneeze is powerful enough to destroy Jupiter. To compare Saitama to even the next strongest anime character is like comparing the strengths of a gorilla and an amoeba. They're not even in the same league.

Though no one knows exactly how, Saitama became his series' strongest hero, someone able to defeat any foe with just one punch. While the power to destroy a planet in anime isn't exactly unheard of, the fact that Saitama can do it just with his physical strength is as horrific as it is awe-inspiring. What makes all this even more impressive is that fans haven't even seen Saitama unleash his full strength, as he has far too much self-control to do so. By all appearances, Saitama's only real threat is god itself, and even then, only the foolish would ever bet against Saitama.

As expected as it is, there is simply no anime character who can match Saitama on a physical level. He's so indestructible and strong, that there's even some doubt about whether reality reshapers could stop him. Saitama's physical strength is enough to make him easily rank among the strongest anime characters, even taking powers and special abilities into account.