One of the coolest abilities in any anime series is being able to control the power of ice. It might only be the solid form of water, but its crystalline appearance looks flashy and its hardened surface can be used for all kinds of practical effects.
Many anime characters, perhaps unsurprisingly, possess the ability to control ice—and that ability usually bleeds into their personalities, resulting in frigid attitudes and cold stares. But on the inside, they're often warm and loyal towards friends and leaders.
Here are our picks for the best anime characters who have ice powers and why they stand out from the rest.
16. Mariella (Black Clover)
Mariella is an assassin from the Diamond Kingdom who was taught and trained by Fanzel Kruger—the same person who taught Asta how to use his swords to best effect. She owns a Diamond Grimoire with ice-based spells, like her ice daggers which she uses for attacks.
Though she was tasked to hunt down and capture (or kill) the Kingdom's escapees Fanzel and Domina, she instead decided to live with them far from the Diamond Kingdom's rule.
15. Yue (Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest)
The Vampire Princess, Yue, is Hajime Nagumo's companion and eventually his lover. As a vampire, she possesses huge amounts of mana just like the rest of her race does.
Apart from mana, Yue has several destructive spells that include a few ice-based attacks. From Glacial Sleet to Frost Prison, she's proven herself to be a formidable opponent in battle.
While her relationship with other characters is often as cold as her ice, she has a soft and warm spot for Hajime.
14. Horohoro (Shaman King)
Horohoro's real name is Usui Horokeu and he's one of the Shamans who accompany Yoh Asakura in Shaman King. With his Guardian Spirit Kororo, together they can freeze water vapor in the air and turn them into projectiles, a large defensive wall, and more.
13. Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach)
Rukia Kuchiki is one of the main characters of Bleach and the sister of Byakuya Kuchiki, one of the captains in Soul Society.
Rukia owns an ice-type Zanpakuto named Sode no Shirayuki, which gives her abilities which she calls "dances." With it, she can drop the temperature of everything surrounding her to freezing point.
12. Tokiya Mikagami (Flame of Recca)
Tokiya Mikagami wields the mystical weapon Ensui. The Ensui looks like a bladeless tsuka or sword handle when not in use, but can absorb water to form its blade for battle.
Most of Mikagami's techniques are based on the water and ice manipulation abilities of the Ensui, like the Icicle Dance. The weapon's ability isn't limited to water manipulation, though, as seen when he uses his own blood to form the Blood Sword in absence of water.
11. Brook (One Piece)
Brook is the musician of the Straw Hat Pirates and one of the close-combat fighters of the crew. Not much is known with his cool-yet-badass techniques that cut and freeze with his cane sword.
His graceful swordsmanship gives him a sure hit with techniques like the Pastoral Song: Blizzard Slash, where Brook simply walks past the target and sheathes his sword while the target is instantly slashed and their blood frozen.
His movements are so fast that even the effect of his cuts take time to sink in before the victim realizes they're cut.
10. Esdeath (Akame ga Kill!)
Esdeath is the antagonist of Akame ga Kill! and has the ability to freeze anything with her ice abilities, including time itself. She's a brutal combatant and a fierce leader of her army.
Her Teigu, the Demon's Extract, gives her the ability to manifest ice out of nothing and freeze her surroundings to absolute zero. With her ice manipulation ability, she can even make her own army of ice soldiers and command them to war.
9. Lyon Vastia (Fairy Tail)
On top of being an expert in hand-to-hand combat, Lyon Vastia is also a mage who uses Ice-Make Magic. He can form a dragon, an ape, or snow tiger that he uses to attack opponents. He also has the ability to craft weapons from ice and use them for offense and defense.
8. Gray Fullbuster (Fairy Tail)
Gray Fullbuster is another mage in Fairy Tail who can use the Ice-Make Magic and is a student of Ur alongside Lyon Vastia. He can make ice weapons like a lance, an arrow, and a giant hammer.
He's also capable of using the Ice Devil Slayer Magic, with abilities similar to any Slayer Magic that can consume elemental sources to regain strength as well as manipulate ice.
Next to Juvia, who uses water-based magic, they make devastating Unison Magic out of their mixed water-and-ice powers.
7. Isaac McDougal (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Isaac McDougal is a former State Alchemist who deserted his post when he found out something was wrong. He's known as the Freezing Alchemist because he can freeze any liquid, whether it be water on the streets or even human blood.
But freezing isn't the only trick up his sleeve. He can also rapidly increase the temperature of liquids to cause steam. When used on people, they explode due to the resulting pressure!
6. Haku (Naruto)
When Naruto first aired, everyone was confused and/or deceived by this boy who looks very much like a girl. Haku seemed nice enough to be a potential ally, but turned out to be the sidekick of Momochi Zabuza who could use the Ice Release bloodline limit.
His most notable technique is the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, which looks like a wall of mirrors and allows him to jump from mirror to mirror in the blink of an eye, attacking opponents as he does so and making it difficult for them to predict his movements.
5. Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia)
Shoto Todoroki is the son of Endeavor and a student at UA High School. He possesses the Quirk called Half Hot, Half Cold, which is a combined manifestation of his parents' Quirks (fire and ice).
He can make towering pillars of ice and large walls of frost, which he can use offensively and defensively. During the early episodes of My Hero Academia, he only uses his ice abilities because he despises his father (from whom he inherited his fire powers).
4. Geten (My Hero Academia)
In My Hero Academia, if the Pro Heroes have Shoto Todoroki for his ice powers, then the Meta Liberation Army has Geten. But unlike Shoto, Geten has no fire side—just pure ice!
He's one of the more powerful individuals of the MLA, able to withstand even Dabi in a one-on-one battle where his element suffered a great disadvantage. He can manipulate ice within a huge radius and he can use that ice to envelop nearly a whole town.
While Shoto and Geten seem to have similar powers, the key difference is this: while Shoto can create ice out of thin air, Geten can only manipulate ice that's already there and can only create ice from water.
3. Karim Flam (Fire Force)
Fire Force is an anime series full of pyrokinetic characters who can control fire to varying degrees and in different forms. That's why Karim Flam is so unique among the roster: he's the sole user of ice.
Karim is a Second Generation pyrokinetic who can pull heat out of an external source into his instrument, which converts the energy into sound and results in cold—a lot like modern air conditioning.
His ice-based attacks are creative applications of this cold-based ability, which is actually a form of fire and heat manipulation.
2. Toshiro Hitsugaya (Bleach)
Toshiro Hitsugaya is the most iconic ice user in Bleach, who owns the Zanpakuto named Hyorinmaru. His ice abilities are among the most destructive, what with their huge ranges and areas of effect.
With the Bankai form Daiguren Hyorinmaru, the ice forms from his sword to his hands up to his shoulders, forming armor and wings. In this form, he can use more ice abilities for offense and defense.
1. Aokiji (One Piece)
In One Piece, Aokiji (or Kuzan) is a former Admiral of the Marines who resigned after his fight with Sakazuki. He has the power of the devil fruit Hie Hie no Mi, a Logia-type fruit that gives him the ability to create and control ice and even become ice himself.
If he's shattered while in his solid ice form, he can easily restructure his body back to normal as if nothing happened.
With his abilities, he can freeze someone to death—or freeze an entire ocean. He can make weapons out of ice (to fight opponents) and even craft a prosthetic leg to substitute for his own missing leg.
He's so powerful that he was able to change half of an island's weather and make it succumb to snow blizzards. (The island's other half was left burning under flames by Akainu.)
