Even beyond the realm of anime, Son Goku is frequently compared with extraordinarily powerful characters due to his immense strength. Goku is considered by many as anime’s strongest fighter, and you’d be hard-pressed to find others capable of rivaling him in strength.
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Despite this, rare as they may be, there exist characters within the medium with powers more impressive than those of the popular Saiyan. Most of them possess abilities that transcend time, space, and logic, defying natural human limitations with profiles usually matching deities. These characters may also take many different forms as they fight battles on massive scales, serving to highlight their incredible power.
Updated May 28, 2023, by Emedo Destiny: In the vast landscape of anime, certain characters have achieved legendary status for their incredible strength. While Goku from Dragon Ball is widely regarded as one of the most iconic and influential anime characters, a select few surpassed him in terms of raw power and abilities. From god-like entities to supernatural warriors, these individuals have left an indelible mark on the anime world with their jaw-dropping feats and their near-unparalleled might. This is an insight into characters who have transcended Goku’s power level and captivated audiences with their immense power and unique skill. Here are some anime characters who stand at the apex of anime strength, challenging Goku’s dominance and cementing their own place in the pantheon of iconic characters.
15 Giorno Giovanna – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures
Giorno is the protagonist of the fifth JoJo in the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series. He possesses a Stand ability called “Golden Experience” and later awakens a nigh-omnipotent form known as “Gold Experience Requiem”. With this stand, he can heal wounds, give life to inanimate objects, manipulate life energy, and is capable of even greater feats.
His Gold Experience Requiem stand gives him the ability to nullify any action or attack directed toward him. This power allows him to render opponents’ abilities useless, rewinding their actions back to zero, completely denying any casualties.
14 Jiren - Dragon Ball
Jiren is a protagonist from Dragon Ball Super who is widely regarded as one of the most powerful fighters in the Dragon Ball universe. Many fans consider Jiren to be stronger than Goku based on the exceptional abilities and feats that he demonstrated in the Tournament of Power arc.
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He possesses an overwhelming amount of power and strength. His raw physical abilities, immeasurable ki, and mastery of various martial arts techniques. His power is said to be limit-breaking and to be on par with the gods of destruction. Some of his strength also lies in his unyielding will and determination, which always pushes him to surpass his limits.
13 Black Frieza – Dragon Ball
Black Frieza is Frieza’s most powerful form, which he acquired after training in a Hyperbolic Time Chamber for 10 years worth of time. The form has no drawbacks for Frieza, as he spent so much time mastering it. He fully unveiled the form against True Ultra Instinct Goku and Ultra Ego Vegeta, knocking both of them out simultaneously with a hit to their torso.
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He also killed Awakened Gas in an instant using only a single Ruthless Blow. Black Frieza is so much more powerful than the gold one and showcases a more refined use of it as opposed to when Gold Frieza was unveiled.
12 Haruhi Suzumiya – The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya
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Haruhi is an eccentric schoolgirl who seeks supernatural phenomena such as aliens and time travelers. She possesses the power to warp reality according to her subconscious desires. She can reshape the world around her, alter the laws of physics, and even manifest people into existence, just like the aliens and espers she thought she found but actually created.
She can also create time loops, manipulate the weather and change the properties of objects. Though she does most of it unknowingly, her god-like powers are more than enough to place her over Goku in the grand scheme of things.
11 Usagi Tsukino – Sailor Moon
Usagi Tsukino, the reincarnation of the goddess Sailor Moon is the main protagonist of the Sailor Moon anime series. She and her allies, called the Sailor Senshi, are tasked with the protection of Japan from the monsters of Queen Beryl. Sailor Moon has so many forms, but Sailor Cosmos is the cream of the crop.
With her ability to use the power of rebirth, warp reality, interact with and manipulate non-physical and abstract concepts, replicate the powers of any Sailor Senshi, control space and time, and grant her a healing factor that can allow her to survive the destruction of her mind and body on even abstract planes.
10 Lain Iwakura – Serial Experiments Lain
Lain is the titular protagonist of the classic 90’s anime Serial Experiments Lain. She started out as a timid, reserved young girl, but as the series progressed, she adopted various personas due to her connection with The Wired; a virtual environment that is basically the show’s equivalent of the internet.
However, the main difference between The Wired and the internet is that the former has much greater implications on the real world than the latter. This means that when Lain gained powers that far transcended those of regular humans within the virtual space, she became a being similar to a god in the real world. She is fully in control of the universe and can alter any aspect of the world however she pleases. She is omnipresent, has time-altering abilities, can freely manipulate matter, and possesses boundless amounts of knowledge.
9 Kami Tenchi – Tenchi Muyo!
Kami Tenchi is the fully omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent god of the Tenchi Muyo! series. As a result, he is a supreme being and has no significant rival in the franchise. His appearances are limited, but when compared to other powerful characters in the series, it is possible to grasp the absurd level of his power.
First, he exists on a larger scale than the Chousin, a group of hyperdimensional beings credited with creating the entire world. They possess powers so great that they can destroy galaxies just by existing in them, and even despite that, they possess no threat to the Kami. Secondly, there is an entity known as the Counter-Actor, a force with unimaginable power capable of defeating the Choushin. In relation to Kami, they have also been shown to be powerless, as, in direct confrontation, Kami handled them with a single touch.
8 Anos Voldigoad – The Misfit of Demon King Academy
Anos is a reincarnated being who, before his rebirth, was commonly known as the Demon King of Tyranny. His strength alone is enough to leave many onlookers in awe, but he is also capable of defying established concepts such as death and time. Furthermore, Anos’ magic power is so powerful that, if not checked, it could destroy the entire world while also affecting other worlds.
Surprisingly enough, moving the moon with his bare hands is not even one of Anos’ most impressive feats. He is capable of destroying a universe with his bare hands and has a seven-step ability powerful enough to decimate the world a thousand times over. By simply opening his magic eyes of chaotic destruction, he can also plunge the world into ruin, destroying all order and reason in the process.
7 Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – Gurren Lagann
Gurren Lagann is a series that features many powerful mechs throughout its duration, with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann being the final form of the titular mech Gurren Lagann. Its size has been described as immeasurable as it exists on a plane far surpassing that of galaxies. It is also made up of different individuals' spiral power, meaning its true form is that of raw energy and not an actual mechanical entity.
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Despite making its first appearance in the series' final episodes, this mech played a pivotal part in defeating the show's overarching antagonist, the anti-spiral. It is strong enough to absorb impacts with the power of the big bang and can fire probability-altering missiles that deal significant damage. Furthermore, due to its unique constitution, it possesses an absurd amount of power and can be seen clearly from planets that are billions of light years away.
6 Pegasus Seiya – Saint Seiya
Within the Saint Seiya series, there exist powerful warriors referred to as Saints whose purpose is to serve the different reincarnations of the goddess Athena in every age. Among these Saints is Seiya, the Pegasus Saint, with powers connected to the Pegasus constellation. He is also aided by his Bronze Cloth and the Cosmo, the former being a piece of armor with special abilities while the latter facilitates his supernatural powers.
Since many fights in the series are fought on absurdly massive scales, Seiya’s abilities are usually shown to possess extraordinary power. For example, he is capable of fighting beings posing multiversal-level threats, such as Hades, and could exert a level of power comparable to the big bang while not even in his final form. He is also fast enough to traverse universes in minutes and could destroy the mainstay pillar, a pillar that could previously resist the destruction of the universe.
5 Yogiri Takatou – Instant Death
Yogiri Takatou is a laid-back high school teenager who gets transported to a fantasy world with mythical beings and a unique power system. Yogiri, however, possesses his own special power of being able to kill anything with a single thought, though his power is not immediately recognizable by those around him.
Despite the overt nature of this ability, it can be used in various ways. For example, Yogiri can individually kill off different parts of a person's body, possibly rendering any of their limbs or senses useless. He can also sense ill intent, which partly dictates when he chooses to use his ability. He is also capable of killing concepts such as gravity and immortality, as entities affected by his abilities cannot be healed or regenerated. Furthermore, his power is strong enough to kill multiversal beings while also instilling fear into others.
4 The Anti-Spiral – Gurren Lagann
The Anti-Spiral is a mysterious entity originating from the Anti-Spiral tribe, a group of extraterrestrial beings who heavily influenced the state of the Gurren Lagann universe. His main goal was to halt the evolution of the spiral race and prevent an apocalyptic event that would occur as a result of the overflow of spiral power.
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By purging himself of all spiral power, he gained the opposite force known as anti-spiral power, giving him the strength to fight against spiral lifeforms. He is capable of creating a galaxy-sized mech mirroring the one created by team Dai-Gurren, and through it fired a blast as strong as the big bang. In fact, through his mech Granzeboma, he was able to overpower Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and was only defeated after Simon and Nia detached themselves from the main body.
3 Grand Zeno – Dragon Ball
Grand Zeno is the short-statured ruler of the Dragon Ball multiverse. Despite possessing a childlike demeanor, he oversees the 18 universes in the series, holding full jurisdiction over them. Furthermore, he is referred to by many as the strongest character in the series, as he commands respect from the different Gods of Destruction and their accompanying Angels.
Not much has been shown of his combat sense or fighting ability, but his most terrifying power is the ability to erase anything from existence while exerting minimal effort. He simultaneously erased six universes prior to his introduction and was seen eliminating even more during the Tournament of Power. His power even transcends that of the titular Super Dragon Balls as he effortlessly erased Infinite Zamasu despite the being’s wish for immortality.
2 Akuto Sai – Demon King Daimao
Akuto Sai was originally an unassuming orphan, but after enrolling in the Constant Magick Academy, it was foretold that he would become a Demon King. During the early parts of the series, Akuto showed shaky magic control as his powers were yet to manifest fully. However, as the series progressed, he unlocked power strong enough to place him among anime’s strongest.
He became able to transcend the boundary between fiction and reality, thereby existing on a higher plane of existence than any other fictional being. He is also capable of creating infinite stories, which he can dictate freely, as they are essentially worlds he created. He also possesses control over the Law of Identity, an entity that transcends all stories and is capable of destroying multiple worlds as a result.
1 Featherine – Higurashi: When They Cry
Featherine is an omnipotent being who has existed for thousands of years in the When They Cry series. She takes up the role of a spectator throughout most of her existence, though she has at one point assumed the identity of Tohya Hachijo—a popular author—to traverse the human world.
She is responsible for all creation, including establishing universal laws and all the entities bound to them. So naturally, she is boundless, and along with her omnipotence, she is also omnipresent. Furthermore, she is capable of altering reality as if it were a script and is unquestionably more powerful than any other being in the series, as she has far transcended the realm of Witches; the most powerful entities in the franchise.
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