Hiei

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Who are the best anime characters ever? This list includes the top favorites in manga, possibly of all time. These are the classics, the most beloved characters, including anime and manga protagonists like Son Goku, the fictional protagonist of the Dragon Ball manga series, and &quot;L,&quot; the fictional detective in the manga series Death Note. Be sure to vote for your own personal favorites, add any characters that might be missing and, of course, rerank this list of greatest anime characters in any order you want.Not surprisingly, many of the best and most memorable anime characters, like L and Son Goku, are the stars of some of the <a href="/crowdranked-list/best-anime-series-all-time" target="_blank">best anime series of all time</a>. Be sure to head over to that list and cast your votes, if you haven't already. And not all of the great anime characters listed here are among the so-called &quot;good guys&quot; - some are among the worst and most notorious anime villains&nbsp;as well. If you're a huge anime fan, once you're done voting for these famous anime characters, you might also want to check out this list of the <a href="/list/anime-fan-communities/dot-commander" target="_blank">best anime fan communities</a> on the web. A fan community can be a great way to connect with other people who share a common passion for anime, manga, and otaku style!

Killua Zoldyck

The Best Anime Characters of All Time

The Very Best Anime Characters

Best Anime Characters | List of Top Favorites in Manga

Ranker Community

With such a wide range of abilities in anime, they need to be broken down by type. Who is the best fire user? What about electricity, water, or even ice users? Let's rank the best of the best from these categories and many more!

Anime Character Abilities

Anime Characters

Here is our list of the best swordsman in anime, including samurai, demons, shinobi, and anyone in general who wields a blade. Who is your favorite anime character that uses a sword? Is it the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro? What about substitute soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki, or the medieval swordsman Guts? No matter who you love, we want you to vote for your top anime character that fights using a sword. They don't have to exclusively be a sword fighter- we have characters like Sasuke on this list that don't always fight with a blade. If one of your favorites is missing, then definitely add them to the list! That way other people can vote for your pick, and that character might even make it to the top. We intentionally didn't include every character from Bleach since there are so many, but feel free to add as many of the soul reapers as you want.

di Ichigo Kurosaki

The Best Anime Swordsman of All Time

The 50+ Best Anime Swordsman of All Time

Ranker Anime

Anime characters broken down by various features, including hair color, eye color, accessories, and more.

Anime Appearances

Anime <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-anime-girls-with-black-hair/ranker-anime?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">characters with black hair</a> are rather abundant, so we're going to need a lot of help from anime fans on this one. There are an uncountable amount of black hair anime characters, so we need you to add as many as your favorites to this list as possible. In a medium where characters have pink, purple, and green hair, black hair can seem rather boring in comparison. However some of the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/my-top-10-favorite-anime-characters?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best anime characters</a> have black hair, including Monkey D. Luffy, Vegeta, Kirito, L, Itachi, Rukia, and so many more. See how hard it's going to be to rank this? Do your best job and vote for your favorite anime characters that have black hair. Add as many characters that aren't here already to the list, so others can vote for your picks too.

Monkey D. Luffy

The Best Anime Characters With Black Hair

The 25+ Best Anime Characters With Black Hair

Anime characters broken down by various qualities, including personality, family role, career, and more.

Which anime characters deserve their own show where they're the sole protagonist? Since there are so many worthy characters, we've decided to list them all and let you vote on the ones you'd want to see the most. Can you imagine an Initial D season that is all about Bunta's backstory as the fastest racer on the Akina Pass? What about Shikamaru from Naruto, using his logic to solve puzzles and defeat villains? There are so many great anime spinoffs that seriously need to happen, but we want to know what you'd like to see the most. Vote up the anime characters you feel deserve their own show, and add any characters to the list if they're not already here.The characters we've included for this poll are mostly good, but if there are any villains you'd want to see in their own show then please add them to the list. Who knows? Maybe a show about Orochimaru and his backstory would actually be pretty cool.

Kakashi Hatake

50+ Anime Characters Who Deserve Their Own Show

50+ Anime Characters That Deserve A Spinoff Series

It&#39;s always best to be as strong as possible...right? Not always. Actually, sometimes it&#39;s better to limit one&#39;s powers - which is exactly what the anime characters on this list did.&nbsp;

Anime characters who make themselves weak have a wide range of reasons for making that choice. Some, like Fai D. Flowright from&nbsp;Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle&nbsp;and&nbsp;Saiki Kusuo&nbsp;from&nbsp;The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.&nbsp;are trying to suppress powers that could be dangerous if they got out of control. Others, like Kenpachi Zaraki from&nbsp;Bleach&nbsp;and Rock Lee from&nbsp;Naruto&nbsp;are giving themselves a handicap so that their fights are more challenging and they can get stronger through overcoming challenges. Still others have unique, personal reasons for doing so - Shoto Todoroki is better off when he embraces his fire powers, but he starts off the series refusing to do so out of resentment towards his father.&nbsp;

Regardless of their reasons, all of these characters made major changes to their strength.

15 Anime Characters Who Make Themselves Weak On Purpose

Anna Lindwasser

If you watch <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-fan-service-anime/ranker-anime?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">a lot of anime</a>, you know almost every anime character has some kind of backstory. That being said, what are the best anime backstories of all time? We want to know which characters you think have the most interesting pasts, so vote up the anime characters with the best backstory on this list. In long form <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-shonen-jump-anime/ranker-anime?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Shonen Jump anime</a> like One Piece and Naruto, exploring the past of a character takes place in almost every story arc. We've included plenty of those types of characters here, but also characters like Spike Spiegel and Edward Elric who aren't featured in such long shows.Which anime character has the most interesting past? Vote up your choices below, and add any characters to the list if you feel their backstory is compelling enough.

Lelouch Lamperouge

The 40+ Best Anime Character Backstories

The 40+ Best Anime Character Backstories of All Time

Lists that rank the top villains, antagonists, and evil organizations throughout the worlds of anime and manga.

The Bad Guys of Anime

Anime villains don't always stay villainous. Actually, there are plenty of anime villains who turned good. In series like&nbsp;Naruto&nbsp;and&nbsp;Yu-Gi-Oh!&nbsp;this happens to nearly every villain, while other anime use the trope more sparingly. Sometimes it's heartfelt, and sometimes it's kind of hamfisted, and it happens for a lot of different reasons.In some cases, a change of heart occurs when an <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/smartest-anime-villains/leo-reyna" target="_blank">intelligent&nbsp;villain</a> realizes that their former behavior is no longer in their best interest. In other cases, a <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/sympathetic-anime-villains/leo-reyna" target="_blank">villain with good intentions</a>&nbsp;finally gets the opportunity to be the good guy they've always been on the inside. Maybe a villain who was really into the whole evil thing realizes the error of their ways after a showdown with the protagonist. Maybe they begrudgingly join the good guys, but their old personality keeps creeping in. No matter the reason, characters who make the switch from villain to good guy can be fascinating.&nbsp;Which switchover&nbsp;did you think was the most plausible and interesting? Vote up the anime villain who joined the good guys whose story&nbsp;most resonated with you, and vote down the characters who would have been better off staying villains.

The 20 Best Anime Villains Who Switched Sides And Became Heroes

The 20 Best Anime Villains That Turned Into Good Guys

Without a doubt, fire is a force of nature, so it makes sense that the people who use it are often forces of nature by themselves. Unlike <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-anime-characters-with-ice-powers/christine-rivas" target="_blank">anime ice users</a>, anime characters who control fire&nbsp;usually have a more assertive personality, speak their mind more freely,&nbsp;and have a&nbsp;major dose of impulsiveness. They love a good challenge and aren't afraid of turning up the heat to reach their dreams.&nbsp;The characters who made this list can be considered some of the greatest characters to have fire powers in anime. If you found your favorite fire elemental on this list, make sure to vote them up! if you don't see them&nbsp;and feel like your favorite should be here, go ahead and add them at the bottom.

The 25+ Greatest Anime Characters With Fire Powers

Christine Rivas

Rankings of everything in the Naruto Universe, from strongest jutsus to the greatest villains in the series. Grab a bowl of ramen and  vote on them all!

Naruto

Sasuke Uchiha is one of the most well-known characters in anime history. He begins Naruto&nbsp;as the protagonist&#39;s haughty and powerful rival, and while the two hate each other at first, they ultimately come to appreciate and care for one another. Sasuke&#39;s&nbsp;ultimate goal is to get revenge on his older brother Itachi, who eliminated their entire clan for seemingly no reason. He&#39;s willing to do whatever it takes to get his vengeance, including allying himself with dangerous villains. When he discovers that Itachi was forced to do the deed by their city&#39;s government, his goal changes to destroying Konoha. In the end, he chooses to work to protect his home in spite of that betrayal. His story is tragic, moving....and surprisingly common in the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-anime-world-to-live-in/anna-lindwasser?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">world of anime</a>.

That&#39;s right, there are&nbsp;actually a lot of anime characters like Sasuke Uchiha. In some cases, as with Kurapika&nbsp;from <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-hunter-x-hunter-characters/ranker-anime?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Hunter X Hunter</a>&nbsp;and Yuliy Jirov from Sirius The Jaeger,&nbsp;their backstories and personalities are nearly identical to Sasuke&#39;s In other cases of anime characters similar to Sasuke&nbsp;Uchiha, such as Ash Lynx from Banana Fish&nbsp;and Seto&nbsp;Kaiba from&nbsp;Yu-Gi-Oh!,&nbsp;the connection is a little more abstract, but it&#39;s still there.&nbsp;

If you like Sasuke&nbsp;Uchiha, these characters are worth paying attention to, because chances are high that you&#39;ll like them too.&nbsp;

13 Characters Who Are The 'Sasuke Uchiha' of Their Anime

General

13 Anime Characters Like Sasuke Uchiha, Ranked by Similarity

Fictional Characters

Not every anime hero actually looks the part. In fact, there are plenty of menacing anime heroes who look straight up villainous.

Sometimes, this is because they have anti-hero tendencies, and the character designers were trying to imply that through visual cues. This is definitely the case for Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho, a former criminal who is still largely on his own team, but frequently works to protect humans and demons alike from danger. But sometimes, these types of characters defy expectations about what a hero should look like.&nbsp;Sajin Komamura of&nbsp;Bleach&nbsp;may look like a menacing wolfman, but he&#39;s actually a gentle soul.

Anime heroes who look like villains can take some getting used to, but they add to the overall visual experience of the series in which they appear.&nbsp;

21 Anime Heroes Who Look Like They Should Be Villains

21 Anime Heroes Who Look Like They Should Be Villains, Ranked

Unlike Edward Elrich, not all short anime characters get testy when you point out their lack of verticality. For this list we're ranking the greatest short anime characters of all time, with the help of your votes. Do you have a favorite anime character who is really short? Given that <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/my-top-10-favorite-anime-characters?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">famous anime characters</a> like Krillin, Himura Kenshin, and Edward Elric are particularly short, we're willing to bet the answer is yes.One of the funniest running gags in Fullmetal Alchemist is that Ed doesn't like being called short. There are multiple instances throughout the show where a character calls Edward short to his face, usually because they are shocked that Edward, and not his younger (but bigger) Alphonse, is the famed prodigy alchemist.If you think the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-anime-13-episodes-or-less/anna-lindwasser?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best short anime</a> character is represented on the list below, simply add them to the polls so that others can vote up that character too.

Vegeta

The Best Short Anime Characters of All Time

The 25+ Best Short Anime Characters We Can't Get Enough of

Saitama of&nbsp;One Punch Man&nbsp;is known for his ability to knock anybody out with a single punch. While his Serious Punch is definitely one of the strongest anime attacks out there, it&#39;s not the only powerful move. Actually, there are a ton of physical attacks that can wreak havoc - let&#39;s take a look at a few of the best.&nbsp;

This list will be looking at attacks that require the users&#39; physical strength, so Ainz&#39;s OP spells and Light Yagami&#39;s magical notebook won&#39;t be included, even though they&#39;re super cool. Pure energy attacks like Goku&#39;s Kamehameha or Hiei&#39;s Dragon of Darkness Flame are strong contenders, though.

Which of these attacks would you never want to end up on the wrong side of?

20 Ridiculously Strong Anime Attacks Ranked By How Cool They Are

The 20 Strongest Attacks In Anime History, Ranked by Power

Lists that rank the best horror, gore, zombie, vampire, and creepy anime and manga you need to check out.

Anime to Creep You Out

Devils & Demons

When you think of demons, an image of satan will most likely appear in your head. However, anime demon characters usually have the appearance of a human, and often times anime characters will be half demon and half human. Take Inuyasha for example, or Naruto, who had the spirit of the Nine Tails Demon Fox sealed inside of him. By the way, if you're a fan of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-yu-yu-hakusho-quotes/ranker-anime?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Yu Yu Hakusho</a>, you know that Kurama had a demon fox fused with his human body before it was cool. Anyways, the best anime demon characters aren't as scary as you would think they are! Vote your your favorite demon characters in anime, including good guys like Rin Okumara, and villains like Naraku.

Mephisto Pheles

The Best Demon Anime Characters

Ranking the 40+ Best Demon Anime Characters of All Time

Anime

One method of categorizing&nbsp;fictional characters is through the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alignment_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)" target="_blank">character alignment system</a>, which is derived in the fantasy tabletop game&nbsp;Dungeons &amp; Dragons. Through this system, nine different alignments consisting of combinations of good, neutral, evil, lawful, and chaotic are created to help classify and describe a variety of personality types. Most anime characters can also be sorted into this system.&nbsp;

Let&#39;s take a look at one of these alignments:&nbsp;chaotic neutral. Chaotic neutral anime characters don&#39;t care about <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-law-and-order-svu-episodes-based-on-true-stories/whitneyvanlaningham?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">law and order</a> - they&#39;ll either make their own rules and happily break them as necessary, or live without any kind of orderly system. Unlike <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-chaotic-good-anime-characters/anna-lindwasser" target="_blank">chaotic good</a> characters, who care about bettering society and helping others, and chaotic evil characters who are all about causing misery, chaotic neutral characters don&#39;t really care if their actions help or hurt others. They might help or hurt other people incidentally, but that&#39;s never the primary goal. Rather, they have their sights set on something that has nothing to do with morality, and they&#39;ll flip between good and bad to suit their own needs.

These characters can be some of the most puzzling, but also the most complex. Which is the best? You decide.

The 20 Best 'Chaotic Neutral' Anime Characters of All Time

Villains

Every memorable villain needs a good backstory. Anime villains&nbsp;with compelling backstories end up being just as, if not more so, engaging as their heroic counterparts. Since many anime stories are told through multiple episodes, anime villain backstories receive plenty of&nbsp;fleshing out. It's easier to find Mao from Code Geass a more <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/sympathetic-anime-villains/leo-reyna" target="_blank">sympathetic anime villain</a> after learning how another character exploits him.That said, plenty of&nbsp;backstories fail to make the character's evil actions forgivable, though they might illuminate something else about the character's motives and/or the story's theme. Nothing excuses Monster's Johan Liebert&nbsp;serial killings, but when understand the horrors of his childhood, they at least make a lot more sense. A fleshed-out anime villain gives a movie or a series an added depth. Just because they're bad guys doesn't mean their stories need to be too.

The 15 Greatest Anime Villain Backstories

The 15 Greatest Anime Villain Backstories of All Time

Big brothers are supposed to be warm, kind, protective people who love their younger siblings more than anything in the world - right? Well, not exactly - in both the real world and the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-anime-world-to-live-in/anna-lindwasser?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">world of anime</a>, older brothers come with a wide variety of personalities and relationships with their younger siblings. One common form of this is the aloof or distant older brother.&nbsp;

Some&nbsp;aloof big brothers in anime actually go so far as to become their younger siblings&#39; enemy. One famous example is Itachi Uchiha of&nbsp;Naruto,&nbsp;who massacred the entire Uchiha clan and then joined a villainous organization, leaving his little brother Sasuke&nbsp;with a singular goal - revenge. There are also distant older brothers who just don&#39;t care about their younger siblings as much as they&#39;re expected to. Until he became an adult, Ayame Sohma had little to no interest in his younger brother Yuki. Now that he wants to repair the relationship, Yuki would rather be left alone.&nbsp;

Whether these strained sibling relationships are an important part of an action plot or a means of character development in a drama, they&#39;re a great source of conflict and drama. Which aloof older brothers are&nbsp;your favorites?

15 Aloof Big Brothers In Anime Who Are Super Distant

Lists about the most popular, memorable, and complicated characters in anime across all genres.

Anime People

In the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfGjLIPRgDA" target="_blank">immortal words</a> of the great Sonic the Hedgehog: &quot;gotta go fast!&quot;&nbsp;

Joking aside, some of the coolest anime characters are also the fastest anime characters. Moving at superhuman speeds allows fast anime characters to dodge their opponents&#39; attacks and land their own, traverse the globe in a matter of seconds, or even more unique methods like folding their bodies into a thin paperlike substance. Whether it&#39;s Goku using his Instant Transmission technique, Koro-sensei flying at Mach 20 to pick up snacks in other countries, or Saitama traveling back from the moon in the blink of an eye, these characters are impossible to keep up with.

Who is the greatest anime character with a need for speed? That&#39;s for you to decide.&nbsp;

Hiei

Hiei is listed on