Top 10 Anime Characters Who Got RIPPED (ft. Todd Haberkorn)

“Hajime no Ippo” Franchise (2000-14)

Bullied all his life and lacking any form self-confidence, Ippo longed to know what it would feel like to be strong. As chance would have it, he ended up finding the answer after becoming embroiled in the art of boxing. Not only did he take to the sport like a moth to flame, but thanks to his innocent passion, ended up becoming the Japanese Featherweight Champion. As you can imagine, you can’t reach that status without getting into shape, and thanks to some intense training camps, Ippo soon found himself with the body of a tank. You do not want to be on the receiving end of one of his signature jabs…

“That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” (2018-)

When we first encountered this elderly goblin, he was practically knocking on death’s door. The dude had seen one too many winters if you get what I mean. At least until he struck up a friendship with an all-powerful slime who decided to give the geezer a name – which in this world, constitutes an automatic evolution. And just like that, Rigurd went from grandpa to DADDY! Not sure why he’s the one who ended up getting all the muscles compared to the sprightlier males among his tripe, but who cares! The old coots got his flare back. Watch out ladies.

“Masamune-kun’s Revenge” (2017)

The younger years of your life can be a gauntlet of awkwardness and cruelty, leaving many hearts broken along the way. Masamune is one such victim, who after getting cruelly rejected by the girl of his dreams and labelled as Piggy, decided to dedicate his life to getting his revenge. How so? By going from chubby to hubby with the sole intention of winning the heart of the girl who ruined his life…and then breaking her heart in an equally brutal fashion. Sure, it’s not the healthiest reason for someone to go on a diet, but you can’t argue with the results.

“One Piece” (1999-)

Despite having a scrawny figure, a habit for telling tall tales and the occasional bout of cowardice, deep down we all knew this member of the Straw Hats had the heart of a lion. He just needed a little…encouragement to bring out. In Oda’s world, that apparently translates to two years training on an island filled with killer plants and bugs. It might sound unorthodox, but the proof is in the pudding. Just look at how jacked this guy got! Good on you Sogeking!

“One-Punch Man” (2015-19)

Sure, once upon a time he looked like an average dork with a head full of hair, but as we all know, even a minor love tap from his fist spells doom for anyone caught on the end of it. A shame too, since if any of them actually managed to tear through his superhero get-up, they’d actually see that Saitama is shredded. We’re not sure if it’s down to those one hundred sit ups that he likes to brag about, but we’re pretty sure all those other idiots in the Hero Association would stop giving him grief if they took a gander at what he was packing.

“Dragon Ball” (1986-89)

Way before he was rocking blue hair and taking on other universes in tournaments, Goku was nothing more than a chubby kid with a tail who likes to fly on a magic cloud. Sure, he knocked down a few demon kings and occasionally transformed into a giant killer ape, but for the most part, he was an adorable chubster. And then puberty hit. Hard. By the time it came for his battle against Piccolo, Goku was practically the spitting image of the Saiyan we’ve all come to know and love. Guess when you live and breathe training, it starts to show after a while.

“My Hero Academia” (2016-)

We’ve all been there – the nerdy beanpole that dreams of one day becoming the greatest hero in the world, saving lives with a smile and carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. While Deku over here is certainly on his way to making that dream a reality, turns out it requires way more exercise than you’d expect. In order to fully realise the power of One for All, Midoriya had to push his body to its limit so it wouldn’t explode when busting out all those Smashes. With a strict regiment provided by All Might, it wasn’t long before the uber nerd had a body that anyone would want a piece of. Ain’t that right Uraraka?

“Attack on Titan” (2013-)

You really don’t know how lucky you are, do you Eren? While she may have started out as the meekest girl around, tragedy and time turned Mikasa into both a beautiful young woman and one of the deadliest Titan killers ever to walk the earth. As you can imagine, that takes work. Since her sole goal in life is to protect Eren and butcher any who would threaten him, Mikasa had a lot of time on her hands dedicated to turning her body into a tool of destruction. Given the amount of muscles she’s got tucked away under that Survey Corp uniform, we’d say she’s well on track.

“Pokémon” (1997-)

We’re not joking here. Brock. THE Brock. Lord of Drying Pans, Jelly-filled Doughnuts and Rejections. Turned out that while Ash was off draining the souls of other Pokemon Trainers to eternally remain ten years old, the rock master was hitting the weights. Don’t believe us? Just check out his cameo in Sun and Moon. Jeez, if the Nurse Joys and Officer Jenny’s of the world knew he that many boulder badges under his shirt they might have actually agreed to go to dinner with him. Hang in there Brock, maybe one day you’ll get your Onyx polished.

“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood” (2012)

What kind of crazed Victorian diet was this guy on and where can I get some?! Seriously, in the space of seven years, the original JoJo went from your average whippersnapper to the bulkiest rugby player ever seen. Is that even biologically possible? The dude didn’t even reach twenty before he had shoulders wider than Windsor and a neckline sharp enough to cleave through diamonds. No other Joestar descendent has come close to measuring up to Jonathan’s immeasurable bulk and likely ever will. Seriously, the longer you look the bigger he seems to get!