Top 20 Demonstrations of Strength in Anime
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Script written by Alex Crilly-Mckean
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 20 Demonstrations of Strength in Anime.
For this list, we’re looking over the times where anime characters flexed on others to such a savage degree that it’s still being talked about today. Did we skip over any other crazy chad moments in the anime scene? Let us know in the comments!
Just when you think you thought you had a grip on the hierarchy of this fantasy world, along comes one grumpy Dragon God and flips everything on its head. As someone who despises the Man God, Orsted didn’t take too kindly to Rudeus revealing himself to be one of their associates – leading to a severe one-sided slaughter-fest that demonstrated just how low on the ladder the isekaier really is. And this is why Rudeus really needs to learn to watch his motor-mouth.
The only thing deadlier than the growing conflict between the east and the west is the war for Loid’s heart, as evident when Yor and Nightfall battled it out in an impromptu tennis match. If she were in any other show, Nightfall would have walked away the winner, given her skill and precision as a spy that can match that of Twilight. Unfortunately, she chose to mess with the knifeu waifu, whose forehand is out of this world. Be careful Loid, you’ve seen what she can do to one set of balls…
By this point, we really should stop underestimating what the leaders of the Tokyo Manji Gang can do. While Mikey taking down a monster like Taiju with a single kick was impressive enough, it was the feat of his right-hand man that proved so devastating that it ended the Black Dragon gang once and for all. To ensure that the enemy would be cut off from support, Drakken took out all hundred other Black Dragon members in record time – by himself! The man is an absolute beast!
When your Mobile Suit is essentially the poster boy for the series, it’s important that your debut shows off just how much of a unit it really is. In that sense, Exia excelled with flying colors. Dropping in uninvited to an enemy base, interrupting their unveiling of their newest mecha, and essentially showing up all their hard work by taking down their ace with minimal difficulty – Exia dominated with its debut. Turns out that Mr Special isn’t so special when facing Setsuna and one of Gundam’s finest machines.
Something of an underrated flex, but still one of great substance – since it not only demonstrates how much of an S-Tier ninja Kakashi is, but also unwittingly shows up the main character in his own series. Following his fight against Zabuza, Kakashi had been left wounded and drained of chakra, while being set upon by an angry mob. Naturally, Naruto comes to his teacher’s side and unleashes his Shadow Clone Jutsu. And what does Kakashi do in response? Busts out his own Shadow Clone Jutsu, twice the size of Naruto’s, even though he had zero gas in the tank! Cuck no Jutsu indeed.
Whether you’re creeped out by her, or she’s your number one waifu, there’s no denying that this merciless display revealed just how far Makima was willing to go in order to get her way at any given time. In order to get information out of the yakuza, Makima, all by her lonesome, reveals that she has collected the eyes of all of their family members and loved ones. If they want them reinserted, they had better spill the beans. Careful Denji…
Just because he doesn’t have any emotions, doesn’t mean this boy doesn’t know how to throw hands! After the thuggish Ryuen kidnaps Kei, Ayanokouji steps in to reveal that for all his wits, he also knows how to dish out a beating. Easily taking out the likes of the rival class flunkies, Ayanokouji puts the fear of God into the much larger and imposing Ryuen by displaying his abject numbness towards violence. Between the beatdown and the mind games, it’s no wonder he turned Ryuen into his simp.
Can’t be the Captain Commander of Soul Society without having the power to back up the title, and Old Man Yama more than proved his worth when he incinerated the leader of the invading Quincy army. Facing off against who he believed to be his nemesis Yhwarch, Yamamoto unleashes the full force of his Bankai - conjuring flames that threatened to vaporize everything in their path. Between summoning flaming skeletons and creating fissures with every swing, Aizen must thank his lucky stars he wasn’t on the receiving end of this when he was the main villain.
Well, that’s one way to show off the difference in power level. After returning to his original, purely evil self, Buu decides to celebrate with some planetary genocide. With a single attack, Buu happily destroys the Earth and everyone in it, including himself – knowing his regeneration is strong enough to withstand it. Planet busting has been flaunted by Frieza and Vegeta in the past, but there’s something next level about how casually Buu wiped out billions of lives with a smile on its face.
Yujiro defies the laws of physics just by existing, though this might be his most memorable feat, outside of the one time he gave his son the most haunting birds and the bees speech ever. Just as he’s set to finally have that long-awaited bout with his son Baki, their duel is interrupted by a sudden earthquake. So, what does Yujiro do? Rams his fit into the ground and stops it. Just like that. It’s a wonder why Baki even bothered to go through with the fight after a stunt like that! Yujiro basically made mother nature his mistress!
You’ve got to love Rimuru’s thinking here. He gets ambushed by a bunch of deadly ogres dead set on killing him due a case of mistaken identity, and what does he do? Casually shows off his accumulated abilities without doing any real damage, all before stopping them in their tracks when he exerts a fraction of his true power. He could have fried them all easily, but by staying his hand, he ended up recruiting them into his ever-growing ranks.
When Soma is first introduced to the ragtag residents of the polar star dormitory, he was greeted with open arms. However, it seemed his earlier claim of becoming the number one in Totsuki academy did not fall on deaf ears. Turns out that there was a lot more to Isshiki than just being a delightfully optimistic nudist, as shown when he revealed his incredible cooking to Soma and declared that he was a member of the elite 10. That’s right, this dude proved what a tough SOB he really was by feeding our hero a delicious meal!
Because why beat the crap out of the kid who got one up on you previously, when you can just show up out of the blue, reveal you only used twenty percent power last time, buff up to sixty percent, and level every floor of a multi-story parking lot using only your fists. Very rational.
This was all before letting Yusuke know about an upcoming martial arts tournament in the Demon World, where he planned to whoop his candy ass there. That’s Toguro for you, and as you might have guessed the whole incident leaves Yusuke shaking like a leaf.
It’s not enough that Muzan Kibutsuji is the alpha of the demon race, that he’s got legions of powerful underlings, or that he’s seriously rocking that Michael Jackson look, but the dude can also sire fresh demons on the fly. After being confronted by Tanjiro, instead of killing him then and there, Kibutsuji takes advantage of the young slayer’s shock at how the ultimate evil has a human family…by cutting a random passer-by in the blink of an eye, and triggering a sudden convergence. Because why dirty your own hands to deal with an annoyance when you can turn strangers into your own personal hellhounds?
While only a handful of wannabe caped crusaders got to witness Saitama utterly trounce this hardcore hero association test, it did a hell of a job reaffirming that beneath his blank expression, this guy has got muscles to spare. It’s a shame that despite managing to crush each exercise so completely, his wins didn’t sky rocket him to the S-Rank, since written essays are a bitch. But considering he’s in this gig for fun, he’ll probably get over it. At least those losers will think twice about trying to stick it to rookies.
When you’re an undead sorcerer with power, resources and innumerable monstrous minions at your fingertips, you’ve got to learn to spice things up. In Ainz Ooal Gown’s case, instead of simply melting an oncoming army with his top tier magic or sending out his indestructible servants to cull the herd, he decides to get…creative. And by creative we mean unleashing a spell that instantly kills seventy thousand soldiers, all in order to summon giant Lovecraftian tentacles goat demons which proceed to stomp out the survivors. Now clap!
In all honesty, Escanor could have simply ruffled his godly mustache and it still would have outdone anything the Ten Commandments could throw at him. Upon his transformation from meek bartender to well-groomed Adonis, the Lion Sin of Pride proceeded to automatically endear himself in the hearts of otaku everywhere by brushing off every assault Galand sent his way, including a slash that cleaved through mountains. If that’s not beastly enough, he didn’t even have to touch the demon knight in order to kill him, his mere presence and overwhelming aura scared the poor bastard so much he literally turned to stone.
It’s Zoro. He practically breathes badassery. Though oddly enough his arguably greatest moment has nothing to do with him cutting pirates and marines apart. Following the arrival of the nigh indestructible warlord Bartholomew Kuma, Zoro makes a plea for his Captain’s life by offering his own. Kuma agrees, in a sense, agreeing to leave Luffy alone if Zoro takes on all of his accumulated agony courtesy of his Devil Fruit. Considering just a fraction nearly sent him six feet under, taking all of it was pretty much a death sentence. So, what did Zoro do? Takes it all in at once, survives by the skin of his teeth, then tells the crew that nothing happened. What a legend!
Most people would struggle with what to do after gaining the power of a God, but not this Pillar Man. After finally claiming both the Stone Mask and the Red Stone of Aja, Kars ascended from your average, half naked superbeing into the most powerful creature on the planet, one with dominion over all life. First thing he does? Creates a squirrel out of nothing, only for it to go on a rampage and slaughter its way through a bunch of Nazis. The god of the new world everybody. He can kill you with rodents.
He may have supposedly shaved off all of his sins, but that didn’t stop the Father of the Homonculi flaunting his arrogance and pride following his consumption of God. From dwarf in a flask all the way to an omnipotent blonde in a toga, the genocidal entity decided to usher in his new godhood by creating a miniature sun in his hand in the most blasé manner possible. It may not have lasted long, but nothing screams alpha and omega when you can summon a star as easily as blinking.
Top 20 Demonstrations of Strength in Anime
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 20 Demonstrations of Strength in Anime.
For this list, we’re looking over the times where anime characters flexed on others to such a savage degree that it’s still being talked about today. Did we skip over any other crazy chad moments in the anime scene? Let us know in the comments!
#20: Orsted Messes Up Everyone
“Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation” (2021-)Just when you think you thought you had a grip on the hierarchy of this fantasy world, along comes one grumpy Dragon God and flips everything on its head. As someone who despises the Man God, Orsted didn’t take too kindly to Rudeus revealing himself to be one of their associates – leading to a severe one-sided slaughter-fest that demonstrated just how low on the ladder the isekaier really is. And this is why Rudeus really needs to learn to watch his motor-mouth.
#19: The Princess of Tennis
“Spy x Family” (2022-)The only thing deadlier than the growing conflict between the east and the west is the war for Loid’s heart, as evident when Yor and Nightfall battled it out in an impromptu tennis match. If she were in any other show, Nightfall would have walked away the winner, given her skill and precision as a spy that can match that of Twilight. Unfortunately, she chose to mess with the knifeu waifu, whose forehand is out of this world. Be careful Loid, you’ve seen what she can do to one set of balls…
#18: Drakken’s Cleanup
“Tokyo Revengers” (2021-)By this point, we really should stop underestimating what the leaders of the Tokyo Manji Gang can do. While Mikey taking down a monster like Taiju with a single kick was impressive enough, it was the feat of his right-hand man that proved so devastating that it ended the Black Dragon gang once and for all. To ensure that the enemy would be cut off from support, Drakken took out all hundred other Black Dragon members in record time – by himself! The man is an absolute beast!
#17: Exia Arrives
“Mobile Suit Gundam 00” (2007-09)When your Mobile Suit is essentially the poster boy for the series, it’s important that your debut shows off just how much of a unit it really is. In that sense, Exia excelled with flying colors. Dropping in uninvited to an enemy base, interrupting their unveiling of their newest mecha, and essentially showing up all their hard work by taking down their ace with minimal difficulty – Exia dominated with its debut. Turns out that Mr Special isn’t so special when facing Setsuna and one of Gundam’s finest machines.
#16: Kakashi's Shadow Clones
“Naruto” (2002-07)Something of an underrated flex, but still one of great substance – since it not only demonstrates how much of an S-Tier ninja Kakashi is, but also unwittingly shows up the main character in his own series. Following his fight against Zabuza, Kakashi had been left wounded and drained of chakra, while being set upon by an angry mob. Naturally, Naruto comes to his teacher’s side and unleashes his Shadow Clone Jutsu. And what does Kakashi do in response? Busts out his own Shadow Clone Jutsu, twice the size of Naruto’s, even though he had zero gas in the tank! Cuck no Jutsu indeed.
#15: Makima Threatens the Yakuza
“Chainsaw Man” (2022)Whether you’re creeped out by her, or she’s your number one waifu, there’s no denying that this merciless display revealed just how far Makima was willing to go in order to get her way at any given time. In order to get information out of the yakuza, Makima, all by her lonesome, reveals that she has collected the eyes of all of their family members and loved ones. If they want them reinserted, they had better spill the beans. Careful Denji…
#14: Don't Mess with Ayanokouji
“Classroom of the Elite” (2017-22)Just because he doesn’t have any emotions, doesn’t mean this boy doesn’t know how to throw hands! After the thuggish Ryuen kidnaps Kei, Ayanokouji steps in to reveal that for all his wits, he also knows how to dish out a beating. Easily taking out the likes of the rival class flunkies, Ayanokouji puts the fear of God into the much larger and imposing Ryuen by displaying his abject numbness towards violence. Between the beatdown and the mind games, it’s no wonder he turned Ryuen into his simp.
#13: Yamamoto's Bankai
“Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War” (2022)Can’t be the Captain Commander of Soul Society without having the power to back up the title, and Old Man Yama more than proved his worth when he incinerated the leader of the invading Quincy army. Facing off against who he believed to be his nemesis Yhwarch, Yamamoto unleashes the full force of his Bankai - conjuring flames that threatened to vaporize everything in their path. Between summoning flaming skeletons and creating fissures with every swing, Aizen must thank his lucky stars he wasn’t on the receiving end of this when he was the main villain.
#12: Kid Buu Blows Up the Earth
“Dragon Ball Z” (1989-96)Well, that’s one way to show off the difference in power level. After returning to his original, purely evil self, Buu decides to celebrate with some planetary genocide. With a single attack, Buu happily destroys the Earth and everyone in it, including himself – knowing his regeneration is strong enough to withstand it. Planet busting has been flaunted by Frieza and Vegeta in the past, but there’s something next level about how casually Buu wiped out billions of lives with a smile on its face.
#11: Yujiro Punches an Earthquake
“Baki the Grappler” (2001)Yujiro defies the laws of physics just by existing, though this might be his most memorable feat, outside of the one time he gave his son the most haunting birds and the bees speech ever. Just as he’s set to finally have that long-awaited bout with his son Baki, their duel is interrupted by a sudden earthquake. So, what does Yujiro do? Rams his fit into the ground and stops it. Just like that. It’s a wonder why Baki even bothered to go through with the fight after a stunt like that! Yujiro basically made mother nature his mistress!
#10: Kneel Before the Slime
“That Time I Got Reincarnated into a Slime” (2018-21)You’ve got to love Rimuru’s thinking here. He gets ambushed by a bunch of deadly ogres dead set on killing him due a case of mistaken identity, and what does he do? Casually shows off his accumulated abilities without doing any real damage, all before stopping them in their tracks when he exerts a fraction of his true power. He could have fried them all easily, but by staying his hand, he ended up recruiting them into his ever-growing ranks.
#9: The Seventh
“Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma” (2015-)When Soma is first introduced to the ragtag residents of the polar star dormitory, he was greeted with open arms. However, it seemed his earlier claim of becoming the number one in Totsuki academy did not fall on deaf ears. Turns out that there was a lot more to Isshiki than just being a delightfully optimistic nudist, as shown when he revealed his incredible cooking to Soma and declared that he was a member of the elite 10. That’s right, this dude proved what a tough SOB he really was by feeding our hero a delicious meal!
#8: Screw Your Parking Lot
“Yu Yu Hakusho” (1992-94)Because why beat the crap out of the kid who got one up on you previously, when you can just show up out of the blue, reveal you only used twenty percent power last time, buff up to sixty percent, and level every floor of a multi-story parking lot using only your fists. Very rational.
This was all before letting Yusuke know about an upcoming martial arts tournament in the Demon World, where he planned to whoop his candy ass there. That’s Toguro for you, and as you might have guessed the whole incident leaves Yusuke shaking like a leaf.
#7: Demon Spawning Like a Champion
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” (2019-)It’s not enough that Muzan Kibutsuji is the alpha of the demon race, that he’s got legions of powerful underlings, or that he’s seriously rocking that Michael Jackson look, but the dude can also sire fresh demons on the fly. After being confronted by Tanjiro, instead of killing him then and there, Kibutsuji takes advantage of the young slayer’s shock at how the ultimate evil has a human family…by cutting a random passer-by in the blink of an eye, and triggering a sudden convergence. Because why dirty your own hands to deal with an annoyance when you can turn strangers into your own personal hellhounds?
#6: Best in Class
“One-Punch Man” (2015-)While only a handful of wannabe caped crusaders got to witness Saitama utterly trounce this hardcore hero association test, it did a hell of a job reaffirming that beneath his blank expression, this guy has got muscles to spare. It’s a shame that despite managing to crush each exercise so completely, his wins didn’t sky rocket him to the S-Rank, since written essays are a bitch. But considering he’s in this gig for fun, he’ll probably get over it. At least those losers will think twice about trying to stick it to rookies.
#5: 70,000 Sacrifices
“Overlord” (2015-22)When you’re an undead sorcerer with power, resources and innumerable monstrous minions at your fingertips, you’ve got to learn to spice things up. In Ainz Ooal Gown’s case, instead of simply melting an oncoming army with his top tier magic or sending out his indestructible servants to cull the herd, he decides to get…creative. And by creative we mean unleashing a spell that instantly kills seventy thousand soldiers, all in order to summon giant Lovecraftian tentacles goat demons which proceed to stomp out the survivors. Now clap!
#4: Critical No-ver
“The Seven Deadly Sins” (2014-21)In all honesty, Escanor could have simply ruffled his godly mustache and it still would have outdone anything the Ten Commandments could throw at him. Upon his transformation from meek bartender to well-groomed Adonis, the Lion Sin of Pride proceeded to automatically endear himself in the hearts of otaku everywhere by brushing off every assault Galand sent his way, including a slash that cleaved through mountains. If that’s not beastly enough, he didn’t even have to touch the demon knight in order to kill him, his mere presence and overwhelming aura scared the poor bastard so much he literally turned to stone.
#3: Taking Luffy’s Pain
“One Piece” (1999-)It’s Zoro. He practically breathes badassery. Though oddly enough his arguably greatest moment has nothing to do with him cutting pirates and marines apart. Following the arrival of the nigh indestructible warlord Bartholomew Kuma, Zoro makes a plea for his Captain’s life by offering his own. Kuma agrees, in a sense, agreeing to leave Luffy alone if Zoro takes on all of his accumulated agony courtesy of his Devil Fruit. Considering just a fraction nearly sent him six feet under, taking all of it was pretty much a death sentence. So, what did Zoro do? Takes it all in at once, survives by the skin of his teeth, then tells the crew that nothing happened. What a legend!
#2: Creating Life
“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” (2012-)Most people would struggle with what to do after gaining the power of a God, but not this Pillar Man. After finally claiming both the Stone Mask and the Red Stone of Aja, Kars ascended from your average, half naked superbeing into the most powerful creature on the planet, one with dominion over all life. First thing he does? Creates a squirrel out of nothing, only for it to go on a rampage and slaughter its way through a bunch of Nazis. The god of the new world everybody. He can kill you with rodents.
#1: Grasping the Sun
“Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” (2009-10)He may have supposedly shaved off all of his sins, but that didn’t stop the Father of the Homonculi flaunting his arrogance and pride following his consumption of God. From dwarf in a flask all the way to an omnipotent blonde in a toga, the genocidal entity decided to usher in his new godhood by creating a miniature sun in his hand in the most blasé manner possible. It may not have lasted long, but nothing screams alpha and omega when you can summon a star as easily as blinking.
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