20 Epic Moments Where Anime Characters Awakened Their True Powers

During a battle with Äs Nödt, Rukia finally achieves her Bankai. It involves dialing down the temperature of her own body to absolute zero, and using her sword in order to freeze everything around her. Her merciless and effective moves drive Äs Nödt into an absolute frenzy, forcing him to resort to increasingly grotesque moves. But nothing he does is enough to defeat Rukia.

This moment is great because of Rukia's elegant fighting skills, but also because Byakuya is openly cheering her on, and trusting her to get the job done. Earlier, he would have tried to intervene because he assumed she was too weak. This moment is both a turning point in Rukia's power development, and in her relationship with her brother. 

When we first meet Gojo, he's so stupidly powerful that it's hard to imagine that his abilities have an origin. But during his showdown with Toji Fushiguro, we get to see him achieve “enlightenment.”

For the first time, he's able to master the Reverse Cursed Technique that lets him take all of the negative energy being thrown at him by Toji and convert it into positive energy, healing his injuries and getting him back into the game. After that, he suddenly perceives how everything in the world is connected, and is able to use that knowledge to unleash a barrage of attacks. This moment leads to one of his titles - “The Honored One.”

Though not as well-known for his fighting prowess as some of the other characters in Dragon Ball, Gohan still has some badass moments. One of them was his SSJ2 transformation during the Cell Games. He was infuriated by Cell's willingness to destroy Android 16, and the merciless treatment of his father and friends by the Cell Juniors.

This rage helped him achieve a new transformation that enhances his strength enough to allow him to take on all the Cell Juniors - and to face Cell himself.

Before Tanjiro unleashes his Hinokami Kagura for the first time, defeating Rui seems like a hopeless endeavor. But despite the stress of the moment - and because of his connection to his family - he remembered learning the breathing technique from his father, and was able to incorporate it into battle in order to drastically increase his speed, strength, and energy levels.

Combine that with Nezuko's burning blood, and Rui doesn't stand a chance. 

Every time Luffy amps up the power of his Devil Fruit it's a pretty big deal, but Gear 5 is the latest and most incredible power yet. It debuted during his final showdown with Kaido. Sometimes referred to as “the most ridiculous power in the world,” Gear 5 lets him totally ignore the laws of physics and do whatever the heck he wants to with his body.

But there's a drawback - this power is far more draining than any that he's used before. Ultimately, he could end up drastically shortening his life.

Asta doesn't exactly want his devil Liebe to take over his body while he's fighting Ladros. He's pretty sure that he can handle it himself, and more importantly, he wants to.

But Liebe doesn't give him much of a choice. He takes over Asta's body and lets him use his Black Asta form for the first time. This form amps up his speed and strength, gives him the power of flight, and clears his mind so he can focus on the battle. Also, it coats his body in Anti-Magic, which blocks many of the spells cast at him.