Top 20 Times Anime Characters Went Beast Mode

“My Hero Academia” (2016-)

Following on from All For One’s mass prison break, Deku scours the city, hoping that one of his cronies will attack and lead him to the villain. This leads to him coming face to face with the hero turned villain Lady Nagant, who has been tasked by All For One to capture him. Using her incredible sniper abilities, Deku is forced to go on the offensive, taking many shots in the process. When Deku finally reaches the Sniper and gets the upper hand, Lady Nagant is forced to fire at Overhaul to divert Deku’s attention. To counter this, Deku goes plus ultra and stacks his various powers to deliver his new ultimate move: the Manchester Smash. In doing so he both saves Overhaul from certain death and defeats Nagant in one fell swoop.

“Digimon Adventure:” (2020-21)

The Digimon franchise has featured many Digivolutions gone wrong, but this may be the darkest one yet. When Devimon digivolves into DoneDevimon and appears to devour Metalgreymon’s digidestined Tai, our hero completely loses it and appears to digivolve into a form that closely resembles Machinedramon. Equipped with powerful laser beams, this dark digimon quickly pins down DoneDevimon and proceeds to viciously tear them apart. If it wasn't for a last minute change of heart, Agumon could've been lost in the madness forever.

“Kengan Ashura” (2019)

Born as a member of the Gurkha tribe, Haruo was practically a god among his people from a very young age. After being brought to Japan, Haruo’s warrior spirit became corrupted, turning him into a spoiled giant with incredible strength. During his fight against Seishu Akoya, Haruo’s spoiled nature gets the better of him, leaving him vulnerable to Akoya’s ruthless onslaught. Just when it looks like Haruo is down for the count, he experiences an unexpected awakening. This awakening purges Haruo of his vices and most of his fat, temporarily bringing back the warrior known as the avatar of Indra. Despite losing the match, Haruo’s physical abilities increased to the point where he nearly overwhelmed Akoya’s unbreakable iron defense.

“BNA: Brand New Animal” (2020)

After surviving a massacre that destroyed his home, Shirou Ogami became immortal and spent over a millenia protecting his fellow beastmen. During that time, Shirou carried out many great deeds as the Silver Wolf, or Ginrou. Preferring to keep his identity hidden, Shirou only unleashes his Silver Wolf form in dire situations. With its majestic appearance and god-like powers, the Silver Wolf looks like something straight out of a fairy tale… which it kind of is. Once Shirou unleashes this form and draws on the souls of his fellow beastmen, he becomes an unstoppable force of nature.

“Pokémon” (1997-2023)

The concept of Mega Evolution was a welcome element to the Pokemon mythos, but this scene in the anime showed that it may not always be for the best. While battling it out against Ash’s Pikachu, Korrina mega evolves Lucario and the results were less than admirable. Her Lucario goes on a rampage, ignoring all of her orders and swings around Pikachu like a toy. If it wasn’t for the other Lucario intercepting the battle, the Pokemon anime may have ended nine years earlier!

“Jujutsu Kaisen” (2020-)

When you're dealing with a cursed object, you might as well be playing with fire. After Yuji takes a cursed object containing the finger of the terrifying demon Ryomen Sukuna, he finds himself drawn into a battle with monsters known as Curses. Despite his superhuman strength, Yuji is unable to defeat a powerful Curse which attacks him and his friends. In a last ditch attempt to save them and the sorcerer Fushiguro, Yuji swallow’s Sukuna’s finger. Instead of dying, Sukuna temporarily takes over Yuji’s body and destroys the Curse with little effort. Although the threat was easily dealt with, one can only imagine what kind of hardships lie ahead for Yuji now that he has a demon living inside him.

“Killing Bites” (2018)

Underneath her cute exterior lies one of the most terrifying Brutes in the underground world of Killing Bites. Born as a therianthrope with the power to turn into a ferocious honey badger hybrid, Hitomi Uzaki, or Rattle, is a waifu to be feared. Unlike other Brutes, Hitomi’s unique origins allow her to transform into an Origin Beast, a more powerful and more feral version of her hybrid form. When combined with her superhuman strength and inability to feel fear, Hitomi becomes a ruthless killing machine. With a resilience that defies the natural world, Hitomi is determined to prove she has the sharpest fangs and achieve victory, even if her body is torn apart in the process.

“Radiant” (2018-)

At first glance, the kind and wise Myr hardly seems like much of a threat. However, underneath his smiling persona lies unfathomable power and centuries of repressed rage. After an invasion by the Inquisition drains Myr’s home of the magical energy Fantasia, his wife Jill and their unborn children appear to have lost their lives. This painful loss reignites Myr’s hatred for humanity, causing him to revert to his original form as the all powerful Merlin. After driving the Inquisition forces away, Merlin unleashes his wrath upon the people. Although his student Seth prevents further tragedy by revealing that his children survived, the sight of a rampaging Merlin was still downright terrifying.

“Chainsaw Man” (2022)

Whilst raiding the Morin Hotel, Tokyo Special Division 4 find themselves trapped in a never ending loop by the Eternity Devil. They’re told that their only means of escape is handing over Denji and allowing the Devil to consume him. After a serious debate between the group, Denji decides to take things in his own hands and starts quite possibly the most insane endurance test in all of anime. Denji figures out that the Eternity Devil's blood is more than enough to help him recover his stamina and proceeds to battle it out for three whole days. The Devil eventually gives in to the seemingly endless pain, allowing Denji to finish it off once and for all.

“Seraph of the End” (2015)

After emerging from their container, Shiho’s younger sister Mirai appears before everyone and summons Abaddon, which soon finds itself under the control of Kureto, who has betrayed them. In order to protect his friends, Yu goes within his own subconscious to retrieve the golden trumpet and awakens as the ‘King of Salt’. Also known as the ‘second trumpet’, Yu uses these new powers to harness, you guessed it, salt. He goes on to make quick work of Abaddon, striking it with his lance all before turning it into a giant mass of sodium chloride. Talk about salty!

“One Piece” (1997-)

Although she may be an adorable little bunny, Carrot is not to be underestimated. Along with her enhanced physical strength and the ability to generate electricity using Electro, she can also transform into a Sulong. Much like the Saiyans, this trump card can be activated whenever Minks like Carrot look at the full moon.. Beautiful, yet deadly, this form awakens Carrot’s primal instincts, greatly enhancing her speed and power to the point where she can incapacitate an entire fleet of ships all by her lonesomes. Definitely not a bunny girl you want to mess with.

“Attack on Titan” (2013-)

During their mission to retake Wall Maria, the survey corps find themselves on the defensive against the powerful Beast Titan and his long range attacks. In order to counterattack, Erwin and the recruits sacrifice themselves and charge towards the titan all so that Levi can sneak from behind and catch him off guard. Once Levi finally reaches him, he absolutely goes to town on the Beast titan, slicing him apart at light speed. This leads to Zeke emerging from his Titan form, and is instantly pinned down by Levi’s blade. To become a beast you’ve got to take down the beast!

“Highschool DxD series” (2012-18)

Sure he possesses one of the most powerful weapons ever created by God, but it’s hard to imagine that the oppai obsessed Issei could ever be considered dangerous. That is unless you do something stupid like harm his harem. After the apparent death of his lover Asia by the devil Shalba Beelzebub, Issei succumbs to his rage, forcing his Sacred Gear to activate its Juggernaut Drive. By removing the limiter on the Boosted Gear, Issei gains tremendous power but slowly loses both his sanity and life in the process. Though initially incomplete, there is no denying the Juggernaut Drive’s power, as it allowed Issei to use both Divine Dividing and the all powerful Longinus Smasher to decimate Shalba.

“Fire Force” (2019-)

Despite being labeled a devil and ostracized, Shinra never abandoned his dream to become a hero. While we can’t help but root for him, there are times where his inner devil tends to lash out. After being tempted and possessed by the First Pillar, Shinra becomes hellbent on burning those who’ve wronged him to a crisp. Needless to say, it's a little unsettling watching the heroic Shinra transform into such a monstrous version of himself. Especially after he works so hard to overcome the stigma that’s haunted him for years. Thankfully, his good frenemy Arthur was able to pull him back from the edge of the abyss.

“Bleach” (2004-12)

During his climactic battle with the Ulquiorra, all seems lost when the 4th Espada turns Ichigo into swiss cheese via a Cero Oscuras right through his chest. For anyone else, this would be the end, but not for our strawberry Shinigami as he undergoes a new and more powerful hollowfication. In this Vasto Lorde form, Ichigo overwhelms Ulquiorra at every turn, making it seem like he’s actually the 1000th Espada. Even his own allies aren’t safe from this mindless onslaught, as Ishida finds himself on the receiving end of his Zanpakto whilst trying to stop Ichigo from finishing off the Espada.

“Beastars” (2019)

He may be humble and kind-hearted, but even the gray wolf Legoshi faces fear and prejudice from his herbivorous peers. In their defense, Legoshi often has difficulty controlling his predator instincts, especially around his rabbit friend Haru. After Haru is kidnapped by a criminal gang known as the Shishigumi, Legoshi’s predator instincts slowly begin to take over as he tracks her down. In his final battle with Chief Lion, Legoshi holds nothing back and embraces his inner carnivore by ripping and tearing his way through the lion boss to save Haru.

“Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” (2022)

An improved version of the original Cell, the Red Ribbon Army’s latest creation is quite possibly one of the biggest and most powerful adversaries we’ve seen in the Dragon Ball franchise. Whilst Piccolo holds Cell Max back, Gohan unleashes a brand new form known as “Beast” in a scene that harkens back to the original cell saga. Gohan then effortlessly knocks the gigantic monster away and unleashes his teacher's signature move, the Special Beam Cannon straight through its skull, killing it instantly. With a new form called “Beast” how could we not feature it on this list?

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” (2019-)

Throughout the series Nezuko has shown that she is more than capable of combat, but it wasn’t until the Entertainment District Arc where we saw her true potential. When things go south for Tanjiro in his battle against the Daki, Nezuko unleashes a brand new transformation filled with rage and goes berserk. Despite losing a few limbs in the process, she violently strikes down Upper Rank Six multiple times all before incinerating Daki with her blood demon art. If Tanjiro hadn’t held her back and calmed her down, Nezuko may have never returned to normal.

“Hunter x Hunter” (2011-14)

After escaping Pitou, Gon is confident that his teacher Kite is still alive, and spends most of the Chimera Ant arc searching for him. Unfortunately, after being led to him, Gon discovers that Kite has been long since dead, and has been reanimated as a training dummy. This mind breaks Gon, causing him to sacrifice all of his Nen in order to obtain all of the power he’ll ever have known as the Limitation Transformation. In this new form Gon absolutely devastates Pitou, leaving them an absolute bloodied mess and is killed in the process.

“Naruto Shippuden” (2007-17)

With his unusual appearance and obsession with the “power of youth,” it’s easy to forget just how much of a beast Might Guy really is. After Madara Uchiha becomes the Ten Tails’ jinchuriki, all hope seems lost until Guy takes up the fight. With the fate of the world on his shoulders, Guy puts his life on the line by unlocking all eight of the Inner Gates. With his strength pushed way beyond his limits, Guy’s power leaves even Madara fearing for his life. After an insane barrage of Evening Elephants topped off with the fearsome Night Guy kick, Guy more than deserves the title of strongest taijutsu user of them all.