Top 20 Most Badass Female Anime Characters

The brawn and beauty of Company 8, Maki is pretty much the whole package. While she’s sweet as pie most of the time, make the mistake of calling her a gorilla, and you’re in for a world of hurt. As a second generation pyrokinetic, manipulating flames is her bread and butter, which when combined with her intense physical prowess is enough to put any White Clad six feet under. Better be on your best behaviour, otherwise you’re going to get burned…or at the very least get a flying robotic fist to the face.

Never seen without a smile on her face, this Hashira is the very image of a proper lady who will treat anyone with dignity and warmth, even demons. Of course, her perky attitude does nothing to dissuade her from slicing apart anything that tries to square up to her. Her mastery of poison and Insect Breathing has allowed her to overcome her lack of upper body strength, to the point where no one is safe from her sting. Shinobu will always be the beauty of the Demon Slayer Corp, but that smile takes on a much more sinister nature while she takes apart her prey.

You couldn’t ask for a better right hand when kickstarting a revolution to overthrow a monarchy, and thankfully for Zero, he has the expert piloting skills of this fearsome resistance fighter. An impassioned Eleven who spends her days infiltrating Britannia’s elite academy and her nights wasting those who hinder their goals to free the oppressed masses, Kallen isn’t afraid to get her hands bloody when the mission calls for it. With her personal Knightmare Gurren allowing her to unleash all manner of calamity, she racked up quite the body count during her time with the Black Knights. Even when stuck in a bunny outfit.

She’ll steal your heart before stealing your wallet. The sultry femme fatale of the Bebop crew may be exceptionally easy on the eyes but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know her way around a gun. Never one to skip out on the chance of earning some extra credits, Faye’s pursuit of the good life led her both into conflict and eventual cooperation with Spike and the rest. From there, we started to see beneath the beautiful veil, revealing that for all of her sass and sharpness, Faye just wants somewhere to belong, not that she’ll admit it. Anyone who can hold their own against the Space Cowboy is not one to be messed with.

When we first met Ms Sunday, she was nothing more than a henchwoman of the fearsome Pirate Warlord known as Crocodile. Sure, she was charismatic and had a really awesome, if bizarre, Devil Fruit, but wasn’t exactly outstanding. Then we learned her backstory. Her heart-breaking, tear-jerking backstory. Condemned to death by the World Government since she was a child, Robin is a true survivor who held onto the dying words of her friend to keep smiling even in the face of overwhelming hostility. Ever since joining the Straw Hats, she’s continued to excel, as well as develop new ways to flatten her foes.

Living as a Ghoul isn’t easy. Starting off as a cold but collected individual, Touka found shelter from the horrors of her past and her constant hunger for flesh in her day job at the coffee shop. While she began to grow warmer as her relationship with Ken Kaneki grew, she’s not without her bestial side, possessing an abject hatred for the CCG after they killed her parents. In a series where everyone seems to be on the precipice of turning into merciless monsters, humans and ghouls alike, Touka remains one of the few fighting for the chance of a peaceful life.

Teresa was certainly a badass in her own right, but in the end her successor wins out due to her overwhelming willpower. After watching her guardian be butchered by the Awakened Being Priscilla, Clare became a Claymore with the sole purpose of exacting revenge. Initially regarded as the weakest member of the Organisation, over the series run her strength increased to the point where she was on par with the worst the Yoma could throw at her. Don’t let that cold front of hers fool you, should you push her enough you’ll awaken a monster that will carve you in two before you know it.

She’ll serve you up an ass-whoopin’ just as easily as her signature gyouza. Despite living in such a run-down city and having to deal with wayward sorcerers using her and her patrons for target practise, Nikaido is still a ray of sunshine, always finding time to cook up some grub for her best buddy Caiman and assist him in recovering his memories. However, beneath that smile, is a regretful soul running from her past. Not only is she a sorceress of substantial power, but Nikaido is so skilled with martial arts she can go toe to toe with an amazon like Noi!

Forget Father and the Homunculi, the only person you should fear is the Armstrong family’s resident Ice Queen. This general isn’t only a tour de force with her sword but commands such respect from her fellow soldiers that she’s essentially a living war deterrent all her own. In spite of her immense position, the leader of Fort Briggs isn’t one to let hierarchy and rank stop her from doing what’s right, even if that involves slicing apart her superiors when they try to tempt her to the dark side. All in all, Olivier is a beast!

They don’t call her the goddess of flash for nothing! While originally appearing as a cat, this former Captain of the Gotei 13 left jaws on the floor when she revealed her true self. As playful as she is powerful, Yoruichi is the fastest in all of Soul Society, allowing her to wipe out whoever and whatever she chooses quicker than they can blink. She not only paved the way for Ichigo to complete his Bankai training but did so while relentlessly teasing the poor strawberry. Hey, she knows what she’s got and isn’t afraid to flaunt it!

Just because she doesn’t have an EVA Unit to pilot doesn’t mean this NERV agent isn’t an ace on the battlefield. If anything, without her guidance, emotional support and strategic input, Shinji and the rest would have found themselves axed off by the Angels a long time ago. While her skills as a field commander are indispensable, that’s not to say she can’t hold her own in a fire fight, evident from when she took down a whole slew of SEELE’s enforcers by her lonesome. Forget about the Asuka vs Rei waifu war, Misato will always be our pick!

In a world long gone, where gigantic humanoids roam the Earth and feast on whatever they find, you have an apex predator like Mikasa. As a member of the Survey Corp, she doesn’t just kill Titans, she eviscerates them. Hailed as the strongest of the corps’ new recruits, her ever-growing kill count is second only to Levi. With a bloody past involving the murder of her mother, Mikasa is a terrifying and seemingly uncaring individual, unless it comes to childhood friends Eren and Armin, who she values more than anything, to the point where she won’t hesitate to fly into the thick of danger to save them. You don’t want to be caught in her crosshairs.

Her choice in armor may be a little on the revealing side, but trying to go up against this rebel isn’t a good idea should you value your life. In search of her father’s murderer, Ryuko somewhat unwillingly takes up the sentient sailor uniform Senketsu, using its power to challenge the dictatorship of the academy’s Student Council. Utterly unrelenting, Ryuko will happily cross scissor-blades with whoever stands in her way, no matter how badly the odds are stacked against her. Even if she is still mildly self-conscious about her outfit, you won’t find a more stubborn soul in the entirety of this erotically charged action-fest.

Hey, we like Asuna just as much as the next person…but come on, we all know Alice is the real golden girl! Originally an Integrity Knight duty-bound to obey the tenets of the corrupt Axiom Church, her touching relationship with Kirito eventually gave her the strength to rebel. She’s suffered countless losses and at points lost all faith in herself, but still found the strength to rouse herself up to protect everyone from the threat of the Dark Territory. Throw in enough top-tier skills worthy of a final boss, and you have a truly radiant character worthy of being called the franchise’s best.

She kicked Vegeta so hard that his arm was mangled. What more reason do you need? One of two androids created by Dr Gero to assassinate Goku, 18 was a literal killing machine who took great pleasure in exterminating humanity. However, she found herself switching sides after finding a new lease on life after being saved by her future hubby Krillin. Despite taking a backseat to focus on being a mother, she’s still an impressive fighter who can still hold her own against multiple Super Saiyans at once.

While many sadly only remember her for the hellish betrayal she suffered that left her mind broken, the truth remains that Casca is one of the best soldiers ever to fly under the banner of the Band of the Hawk. She helped lay siege to Castle Doldrey and end the One Hundred Year War, she led the Hawks when they were hunted by Midland, she even earned the love and respect of the equally fractured Guts. While her Golden Age might be over, she’s a shining example of a warrior woman. No wonder Guts was willing to go to hell and back to save her from her tragic fate.

There are parental issues, and there’s Mordred’s twisted origins. Born to a grim ritual, Mordred is the legitimate child of the Fate-verse’s very own Saber. Given their complicated relationship (seriously, it’s insane), her admiration for the King of Britannia soon turned to hatred, scorned by rejection. As Saber of Red, Mordred channelled her disdain into sword-work, becoming a one woman army capable of slaughtering many of the other Servants taking part in the Great Holy Grail War. Say what you will about her heritage, her Noble Phantasm is nothing to laugh at!

She went from child slave to one of the strongest mages in all the land. Forced by her possessed childhood friend to build the fearsome Tower of Heaven, Erza eventually escaped her captivity, finding her way to the Fairy Tail Guild. From there she would rise to become an S-Class Mage and one hell of a fighter. With her magical ability known as Requip; she has access to a seemingly endless series of armours and weapons, each possessing their own devastating abilities. She’s a stoic warrior with a soft heart and tragic past, that you can bet she will defend her adoptive family to the bitter end.

She’s a woman of simple taste. All she cares about is stealing, smoking, and getting wasted, not to mention shooting down anyone who gets in her way. This sociopathic gunslinger serves as the muscle of Lagoon Company, and while she may be terrible at taking orders, she is in her element when it comes to life or death situations. From hunting down Nazis, taking on bounty hunters and assassins, not to mention participating in an epic one-on-one duel with an ex-Yakuza, Revy is a foul-mouthed basket-case who would put a bullet through anyone and everyone to get what she wants. And we love her for it.

The net may be truly vast and infinite, but there is no-one we would want to lead us into battle. Commonly referred to as Major, she’s an integral part of Public Security Section 9, taking the lead when it comes to dangerous spec-ops missions. As an augmented-cybernetic human, Motoko possesses far greater strength and endurance than most. You put a firearm in her hand, and she’ll take out whatever target comes her way. Her cyberization has made her less emotionally inclined than others, but she’s in no way stripped of it. Hey, if some jerk in an armoured suit started stomping on your head, wouldn’t you get a little pissed off too?