In typical shonen anime storylines, the main characters need to train up and enhance their abilities in order to defeat increasingly stronger opponents who present new challenges.
But not every anime is like that! Some of our favorite anime series feature overpowered main characters—a concept that might at first seem boring since there'd be no room for character development.
Sure, some of them do end up clichéd and lackluster, but the best ones incorporate unique spins that make for interesting stories. Characters who are overpowered can be challenged in ways that can't be overcome simply through sheer force of power.
Whether they were born with their immense powers or created to become true monsters, here are our picks for the most overpowered main characters in anime and why they're great.
13. Korosensei (Assassination Classroom)
Korosensei is a most powerful being, and that was true even before he underwent the tentacle-augmentation experiment that turned him into an invincible alien-like entity.
When he was fully human, he was a world-class assassin. After the experiment, he gained all kinds of incredible abilities: regeneration, superhuman hearing, supersonic speed that can travel the Earth in mere minutes, and so many other powers.
His speed can even make multiple afterimages, which he uses as clones to teach his students at a ratio of 1:1. He can teach each student a different subject and topic, alone and all at once!
With his huge smile and friendly attitude, you likely wouldn't see him as a threat. However, he can be as dangerous as any monster can be, as seen when he rebuked his students who failed an assassination attempt.
12. Anos Voldigoad (The Misfit of Demon King Academy)
Anos Voldigoad is the reincarnation of the Demon King, who preemptively set up his own reincarnation in order for him to live in a world different from the one he lived in before.
In his current life, he still possesses his extraordinary powers, magic, and traits, making him a truly overpowered character. Not only does he possess the power of destruction, he can access many forms of magic.
And what makes him even more powerful by comparison is the fact that his enemies and descendants grew weak after 2,000 years of peace.
11. Hajime Nagumo (Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest)
In Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Hajime Nagumo is transported to another world to fight against demons, but ends up betrayed, discarded by his party, and left to die in a labyrinth.
Fortunately, his undying will and his solo adventures in that labyrinth make him strong. With all the monsters he consumed, he mutated from just a normal human into something much more powerful, having acquired their abilities and using them as his own.
With his newfound powers, his knowledge of creation, and his ability to create new guns (through his base skill "transmutation"), Hajime is now an unstoppable adventurer whose only goal is to go home. Anyone who stands between him and home is an enemy.
10. Rimuru Tempest (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime)
Upon reincarnation, the man-turned-slime Rimuru Tempest gained an ability called Predator, which allows him to consume anything and use their properties as his own, including skills and abilities.
This makes him a pretty overpowered character even by anime standards, equipped with all the stats, attributes, and powers of those whom he's consumed, including Ifrit and Veldora (which technically gave him the immense magicule property).
Rimuru even reaches the level of Demon Lord, resulting in a powerful nation between him, his subordinates, and the Jura Forest.
9. Licht Bach (Plunderer)
In a world where powers and stats are displayed as numbers called "counts," Licht Bach has a rating of -1,000. That's right, negative! Yet while it appears to be way below zero, this isn't his true count.
Licht Bach's true and original count is 5,700, and it increases multiple times to the point of reaching 3,000,000.
As it turns out, he isn't just an ordinary citizen (contrary to how he appeared early in the series). He's actually one of the Legendary Aces, known as the Ace of Flashing Strike.
Licht Bach can kill and annihilate his opponents in the blink of an eye—and he's even more powerful when he taps into Schmelman's bloodlust. However, the higher his count gets, the more he loses his sanity.
8. Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)
To be fair, Eren Yeager was far from overpowered during the early parts of Attack on Titan. Back then, we didn't know the full extent of Eren's capabilities—or even that he was a Titan Shifter.
Over time, as he discovered his powers and mastered them, we got to see just how overpowered he really is. It's not just that the Attack Titan has so much raw strength, but also the hidden power that allows him to influence the past to establish a certain future.
And now, with the power of the Founding Titan, Eren is truly unstoppable as he flattens the world with the Wall Titans and the Rumbling.
7. Shigeo Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100)
Shigeo Kageyama, also simply known as Mob, is an overpowered Esper in the Mob Psycho 100 anime series. His overwhelming power, however, is tied to his emotions: the darker his feelings, the more powerful he is.
And the scary thing is that when his emotions reach a certain level of darkness, he loses his sanity and his control over his powers, making him a walking disaster for everyone—both friends and foes.
6. Wang Ling (The Daily Life of the Immortal King)
From our perspective, having immense power might seem like it'd be great. But for Wang Ling—the reincarnation of an immortal king—it's far from desirable. He just wants to be a normal student living a normal high school life, but his power won't let him.
With his incomparable strength, he was able to easily defeat a demon king at a very young age. Nowadays, he suppresses his power level to the bare minimum, yet it's still way above average.
The Daily Life of the Immortal King is a fun anime that depicts this man's struggles in a comical way, resulting in an anime that features a brand new take on insanely powerful main characters.
5. Mash Burnedead (Mashle: Magic and Muscles)
Mashle: Magic and Muscle has a plot that feels reminiscent of Black Clover, with Mash Burnedead sharing similarities with Black Clover's Asta: they're both magicless individuals in a world filled with magic.
Like Asta, Mash trains himself up physically—but unlike Asta, Mash reaches an unprecedented level of power that puts him in the same tier as someone like Saitama from One Punch Man.
Mash is physically overpowered and able to match the magical abilities of others using only his bare hands and physical attributes. For him, his own magic is what he calls "Muscle Magic."
4. Maple (Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense)
As you can probably glean from the title of this anime, Kaede Honjo (also known as Maple) is the kind of person who allocates all of her game points into her VIT attribute.
As a result, she unwittingly becomes the ultimate tank—and a pretty overpowered one at that. Her immense Vitality gives her several defense-related bonuses, such as immunity to poisons.
Her one downside as an overpowered character is that she's pretty slow because she has no points allocated to her other stats. However, it's not a big deal for her because she's proven many times that the best defense can also be the best offense.
3. Seiya Ryuuguuin (Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious)
Seiya Ryuuguuin from Cautious Hero is a pretty weird character, but he's one that many gamers can relate to. He's extremely cautious, so he always overprepares—much like how gamers complete side quests and max out levels before facing the main boss of a game.
With all his prep, Seiya becomes quite buff. Even still, he remains overly wary and never jumps right into the action. Instead, he always has more grinding and preparation to do, which pushes him to levels way higher than what's needed for his current enemies.
2. Alucard (Hellsing)
Alucard is a menacing protagonist in the Hellsing anime series. He's a vampire who can't be killed, and he can also take many forms ranging from a woman to a dark mist-like apparition.
He's so strong that fighting is actually quite boring for him because his opponents are too weak to entertain him. To make those fights at least somewhat entertaining, he mocks and humiliates his enemies to instill fear in their minds before he consumes or kills them.
On top of that, Alucard has several power levels that can only be unleashed with permission from his higher-ups. But even his restrained power is enough to make him a monster with few rivals.
1. Saitama (One Punch Man)
With great power comes great... boredom. That's the main premise of One Punch Man, and Saitama is living proof of it.
With his unmatched superhuman strength, Saitama can end any high-level threat in an instant—with only a single punch. However, despite saving humanity multiple times, he's never given proper credit. (Then again, he doesn't really care about that anyway.)
What makes One Punch Man so great despite its incredibly overpowered main character is his interactions and relationships with other characters. Saitama is our vessel for discovering all the great side characters and villains who have interesting backstories and motivations.
