Stealing is bad! But in anime, the ability to steal someone else's ability is cool, useful, and badass.
Ability stealers make for some of the most troublesome opponents. No matter how strong you are, they can take your strength from you and use it against yourself. Even the most powerful characters must be wary.
And that's why ability stealers make for great characters. They add to the tension by challenging our protagonists, and they often lead to extraordinary fight scenes that are unlike any others.
Ability stealing can be as simple as cloning someone's ability, or it can be as harmful as depriving someone and making them unable to use their own abilities—often temporarily, but sometimes even permanently.
Here are my picks for the best anime characters who can steal abilities and the impacts they've made on their respective narratives.
19. Ryōta Kise (Kuroko's Basketball)
Ryōta Kise is a member of the Generation of Miracles and his specialty is copying the gameplays of other players on the court.
He can easily copy and perform all kinds of ball-handling and shooting techniques as soon as he sees it done. He's also able to replicate the gameplays of his fellow Generation of Miracles members.
In the movie Kuroko's Basketball: Last Game, Ryōta takes this even further when he tries a tag-team strategy with Daiki Aomine, giving their opponents "two Aomine" to deal with.
18. Shogo Haizaki (Kuroko's Basketball)
While Kise's ability is copying moves, Shogo Haizaki literally steals them—and when he does it, the original players can't use them anymore.
His style might appear the same as Kise's at a glance, it's actually quite different. He not only copies the move but also interrupts the actual sequence of the move, making the owner unable to continue.
One time he even copied his own teammates' moves, rendering them unable to play well in the game!
The only thing is that he can't copy any of the Generation of Miracles techniques, making him inferior to Ryōta in that sense.
17. Kakashi Hatake (Naruto)
Kakashi Hatake is widely known as the Copy Ninja due to his ability to copy moves using his Sharingan eye, which he acquired in an unfortunate event when he was still young.
With his Sharingan's Eye of Insight, he can analyze anyone's muscle movements and instantly react based on what he sees—but more than that, he can memorize someone's hand seals as they perform a particular jutsu and then perform the same jutsu himself.
One iconic example is when he copied Zabusa's Water Release: Water Dragon Technique and Grand Waterfall Technique.
16. Genjuro (Flame of Recca)
Genjuro of Team Uruha Maboroshī is an old man. He's like a mad doctor because of his sinister experiments, which have involved creating chimeras and implanting mystic weapons inside someone.
One of his techniques is called Psychic Surgery, which he uses to reach deep inside Recca's body in order to steal his fire powers and become a flame master himself.
Unfortunately for him, he ended up pulling out Setsuna instead, the flame dragon who obeys no one.
15. Neito Monoma (My Hero Academia)
Neito Monoma has a Quirk called Copy, which allows him to use the Quirks of whomever he touches. Though it works the same way as All For One, this one only copies Quirks for a limited time.
We first saw it in action during the UA Sports Festival when he copied Kirishima's Hardening and Bakugo's Explosion. He also tried to copy Midoriya's Quirk but failed to do so, as there are certain requirements to use that Quirk (which he didn't meet).
14. Kashamaru (Flame of Recca)
Alongside the old man Genjuro, Kashamaru is another character who wants to beat Recca Hanabishi at his own game. He's a ninja enlisted in Team Uruha Ma, headed by Magensha, under the banner of Kurei.
Kashamaru's madōgu (i.e., mystic weapon) is called Nisebi and allows him to copy the powers of any flame master. That means being able to mimic and recreate Recca's fire techniques, and the copied results are just as hot and powerful as the real abilities!
Fortunately, the sixth dragon Rui lends her powers to Recca and exposes Kashamaru's tricks and deceptive tactics.
13. The Sternritter (Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War)
The Bleach anime series explained that one's Zanpakutō comes from—or is made of—its owner's soul. That makes any given Zanpakutō, along with its Shikai and Bankai abilities, exclusive to its owner.
However, the Sternritter who infiltrated Soul Society managed to disable some of the Captains' Bankai, leaving only their Zanpakutō base swords.
At first, it was believed to be some sort of sealing technique. However, the truth was revealed when Äs Nödt actually managed to use Senbonzakura Kageyoshi (i.e., Byakuya Kuchiki's Bankai).
At that point, we learned that it's more of a stealing than a sealing and that they're able to use the Bankai they steal. Many Bankai were stolen, including Captain Shigekuni Yamamoto's Zanka no Tachi.
12. All For One (My Hero Academia)
All For One is the main antagonist of the My Hero Academia anime series. His Quirk, which is also called All For One, allows him to steal the Quirks of other heroes and use them as his own.
He's collected tons of stolen Quirks that are always ready for use, from enhancement Quirks to reconnaissance Quirks, making him one of the most powerful characters in the MHA world.
He can also distribute his stolen Quirks, like when he gives his brother an unnamed power-stockpiling Quirk and when he gives members of the League of Villains some Quirks they can use against Pro Heroes.
11. Blackbeard (One Piece)
Blackbeard acquired the power of the Yami Yami no Mi after murdering a former crewmate. The Yami Yami no Mi grants its user the power of darkness, which can pull anything into the void.
What's unique about this Devil Fruit ability is that it's not only limited to sucking physical matter into nothingness, but it can also nullify the powers of other Devil Fruit users.
Not only that, but the user can also absorb the Devil Fruit abilities of other users, as seen when he stole the Gura Gura no Mi from Whitebeard and the Suke Suke no Mi from Absalom.
10. Yū Otosaka (Charlotte)
The comet named Charlotte and its dust become the power source of the characters in the Charlotte anime series, and Yū Otosaka is one of the children who happens to awaken superhuman abilities.
Yū gained the ability to possess people for five seconds, which is more than enough time to control his victims to do his bidding. But if that weren't enough, it's later revealed that he can also steal the abilities of those whom he possesses to use as his own.
9. Chrollo Lucifer (Hunter X Hunter)
Chrollo Lucifer is the leader of the Phantom Troupe and a strong opponent whom even the Zoldycks have a hard time dealing with.
Why? Because he has a very unique Nen ability called Skill Hunter. As the name suggests, this Specialization-type Nen ability allows Chrollo to conjure a special book called "Bandit's Secret" and steal the Nen abilities of others when certain conditions are met.
He's collected several interesting Nen abilities in his book, like Owl's Fun Fun Cloth and Neon Nostrade's fortune-telling powers.
8. Ban (The Seven Deadly Sins)
Ban grew up as a thief before becoming the Fox's Sin of Greed of the Seven Deadly Sins. He has the ability called Snatch, which allows him to literally snatch anything—even the hearts of demons.
Although Snatch doesn't exactly steal special abilities like the others mentioned on this list, it does allow Ban to steal physical attributes like strength, speed, and vitality, which he uses to enhance himself.
The only downside to using Snatch is that it has limitations on how much he can steal and use to upgrade himself. Even so, Ban is able to make use of it with finesse, making himself quite strong.
7. Adam (Record of Ragnarok)
What could Adam—the first man to ever exist—possibly do against Zeus, the king of the gods of the Greek pantheon? Well, he has an ace up his sleeve: the ability called Divine Reflection.
This ability allows him to copy any godly ability that he witnesses. To make it more interesting, he isn't just plainly copying the move but also turning it into a counterattack—he's simultaneously evading the attack while throwing the same move back against the attacker.
In his battle against Zeus, he threw the same exact punches and kicks that came his way, and the fight only ended because it ended up becoming a test of endurance. Unfortunately, he overused his eyes and exhausted his Divine Reflection ability.
6. Akane Sawatari (Chainsaw Man)
Technically, Akane Sawatari herself isn't able to steal abilities. However, she's in a contract with the Snake Devil, who can consume a devil and release its powers for her to use—even without formally entering into a contract with the consumed devil.
She used this ability against Aki Hayakawa when she summoned the Ghost Devil (through the Snake Devil). The Ghost Devil was once in a contract with Himeno but was stolen or captured by the Snake Devil during its battle against the Katana Man.
However, devil contracts come with a great price. With every summoning of the Snake Devil, Akane loses a fingernail—and with every devil she summons through the Snake Devil, an even greater prize is required.
5. Suguru Geto (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Suguru Geto's innate ability is called Cursed Spirit Manipulation, which allows him to control the Curses he has captured and ingested. However, he isn't just about manipulating Curses.
In fact, he has a special application of this technique that makes him a good fit for this list: if his opponent uses a cursed spirit as their ability, Suguru can steal it from them using his Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
This happened during his fight with Toji Fushiguro when he tried to steal the latter's Inventory Curse. (After the latter's death, that very same cursed spirit finds its way to him.)
4. Kenjaku (Jujutsu Kaisen)
I'm going to include Kenjaku on this list because he's a special case. Instead of simply stealing or copying techniques, he steals by taking over his victim's body through the implantation of his brain in them.
Once in control, he can utilize the victim's innate ability—and because of his many years being alive, he has great proficiency. He now resides in the corpse of Suguru Geto and utilizes his Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
Another notable instance of Kenjaku stealing other abilities is when he used the Cursed Spirit Manipulation on Mahito, activating Mahito's Idle Transfiguration to start the Culling Game.
3. Rhya (Black Clover)
In Black Clover, Rhya is an elf who has the ability to copy magical attributes and spells using his Imitation Magic.
He's copied tons of offensive spells, including Fire Spirit Magic: Salamander's Breath, Light Magic: Light Sword of Judgment, and Yami Sukehiro's Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Black Blade.
He also tried to copy Asta's Anti-Magic... and even though he succeeded in creating the Demon-Slayer Sword, he ultimately failed to copy the sword's Anti-Magic properties.
2. Rimuru Tempest (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime)
Through his overpowered Predator ability (which eventually evolved into the more powerful Beelzebuth ability), Rimuru Tempest now has tons of abilities in his arsenal, which came from those whom he consumed.
However, he also showed that he can steal the abilities of others without consuming them. During the Walpurgis, he immediately casted a barrier identical to Guy Crimson's barrier, surprising him with his seemingly disrespectful yet badass show of power.
1. Yuta Okkotsu (Jujutsu Kaisen 0)
If you've seen Jujutsu Kaisen, then you already know that Yuta Okkotsu is a Special Grade Sorcerer who has Rika (a very powerful Cursed Spirit) by his side. You know he's the descendant of a great sorcerer and someone with immense cursed energy. But what exactly is his innate ability?
Well, it wasn't fully explored in the anime series, but it was teased in the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 film. Yuta has the ability to copy a cursed technique, as shown when he was able to use the Inumaki Clan's Cursed Speech in his fight against Suguru Geto during the Night Parade of 100 Demons.
With this reveal, Yuta Okkotsu became one of the more interesting characters in Jujutsu Kaisen and there's so much hype and anticipation to learn more about him in upcoming story arcs.
