Top 10 Epic Anime Last Stands

"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" (2012-13)

As Jonathan Joestar's Hamon teacher and surrogate father-figure, William A. Zeppeli quickly established himself as a lovable addition to Phantom Blood's line-up. Not to mention within the first minute of meeting him, he did pull off the now iconic frog punch. Alas, the shadow of death constantly lingered over him, given how he was prophesized to give his life in order to free a "young lion" and set him one step closer to his destiny. He ends up accomplishing this when the Dark Knight Tarkus tears him in half, but not before he gives the last of his Hamon to JoJo, providing him with the final boost he needs to take on Dio. Arrivederci.

"The End of Evangelion" (1997)

It doesn't matter if you're the biggest Angel on the block, there's nothing more terrifying than a pissed off Asuka coming at your full-speed with murder on the brain. With SEELE sending a whole swam of mass produced EVA units in order to destroy the NERV facility and everyone inside, their last line of defence comes in the form of everyone's favourite tsundere. While she certainly puts up a valiant effort, she's eventually overwhelmed by the robotic vultures, resulting in a very messy end.

"Devilman Crybaby" (2018)

The world has gone to shit, Satan has gathered his forces, and Miki's dead. You can see how Akira might have been a tad unhinged after all that. Ready and willing to kill his former best friend, he assembles the last of the Devilmen and leads an assault on Ryou and his demons in a final battle for the Earth. While Akira does manage to put the kibosh on a fair few of his hellish minions, he ultimately ends up losing his life when his lower half gets blown to pieces. Just as Ryou is overcome with grief, God decides now would be a good time to nuke the planet.

"Fate/Zero" (2012)

In spite of their mutual respect for one another, there was only ever going to be one king left standing at the of the Fourth Holy Grail War. In order to defeat the Archer-class Servant, Rider unleashes the full power of his Noble Phantasm, leading an army of warriors in a desperate charge. Alas, numbers can't compare to Gigamesh's ultimate treasure; the sword known as Ea. Even after his soldiers are decimated, Rider pushes forward until he too is claimed by the Gates of Babylon. Now there was a ruler worth going to hell for.

"Naruto" (2002-07)

He may have been Naruto's first real antagonist, but you can't deny that Zabuza knew how to go out like a boss. After getting himself gravely injured and losing his beloved student, it's fair to say that the Demon of the Mist wasn't having the best day. Things only got worse when his employer betrayed him, arming himself with a horde of mercenaries that were all set to slice him up for his failure. Did he roll over and accept his fate? Nope, he slaughtered his way through them all with nothing more than a kunai in his mouth, all before dying of his wounds next to Haku.

"Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans" (2015-17)

Betrayed, isolated and leaderless, the child soldiers of Tekkadan were practically handed a death sentence after they found themselves surrounded on all sides by Rustal Elion's forces. With the goal of getting as many of his friends as possible to safety, Mikazuki pushes Barbatos to the limit as he cleaves through waves after waves of enemy Mobile Suits. Even after he gets blasted to pieces by Elion's use of illegal weaponry, he just brushes himself off and proceeds to go on a feral rampage. While his ending was undeserved, at least he went out defending the dream he and Orga had worked so hard for.

"Hunter x Hunter" (2011-14)

The old geezer was one of the most powerful Nen users to ever exist, easily able to smite the hell out of any foolish Chimera Ant that tried to step up to him. Alas, for all his incredible strength, he still wasn't a match for the King. After exhausting all of his options, even the deadly Zero Hand, Netero is unable to break through Meruem's defences. Thankfully, he has one last trump card up his sleeve...one that unfortunately involves him taking his own life in order to trigger an explosion of catastrophic proportions. Needless to say, the Ant King felt that one.

"One Piece" (1999-)

Nothing lasts forever, not even the manliest anime character to ever live. Unable to save Ace from dying at the hands of the World Government, Whitebeard prepares for a final standoff against the Navy forces, as well as his traitorous ex-crew member Blackbeard. As a result, he gets stabbed, shot and blasted with magma until he finally passes away. Mind you, while all this was going on he did manage to royally wreck all of Marineford as well as teach Blackbeard a valuable lesson about why you should never betray your crew. The fact he died standing is just the cherry on top.

"Dragon Ball Super" (2015-18)

We think it's fair to say that out of everyone who competed in the Tournament of Power, Vegeta was the one who ended up going through the ringer the most. Not only did he have to blast his way through lesser combatants of various universes, but he also had to contend with Toppo in his God of Destruction form. A battle like that would have caused most people to call it quits, but not the Prince of Saiyans. In order to keep Universe 7 in the fight he constantly throws himself at Jiren despite getting the stuffing beaten out of him. At the end of it all, Vegeta puts aside his pride, trusting his last ounce of his energy in the hands of his eternal rival and now… only hope.

"My Hero Academia" (2016-)

It's the end of an era. After once again coming face to face with his ultimate adversary, All Might finds himself pushed to the edge due his rapidly-fading strength. The fact that All for One has multiple Quirks that he can summon at will doesn't help much either. However, thanks the words of his mentor and the encouragement of the public, the Symbol of Peace manages to come through by using the last of his power to overcome this seemingly impossible hurdle, via quite possible the greatest punch in all of anime in the form of the United States Smash.