Who remembers the old days when magic meant simple elemental powers?
It looks like anime has come a long way since then, with newer series introducing us to magic powers beyond our wildest imagination– all while taking basic elemental powers to a whole new level.
When it comes to power systems, it doesn’t get any simpler than good ol’ magic. Basic as it is, it gives the writer a lot of creative freedom. Magic doesn’t have to follow reason or logic, so characters have free reign to pull off whatever reality-defying stunts the plot requires.
That being said, here are 20 of the strongest magic users in anime:
20Tatsuya Shiba The God Of Destruction (The Irregular At Magic High School)
You people incurred my wrath… That’s reason enough for you to meet your demise.
Kicking off in 2095, The Irregular At Magic High School centers around Tatsuya Shiba, an incompetent mage in a school full of prodigies– which, of course, turns out to be untrue.
Tatsuya’s innate magic abilities include Regrowth– which can undo physical harm by rewriting reality, and Decomposition– which allows him to disassemble anything from Magic Sequences to the intermolecular bonds of any physical object, living or inanimate.
Material Burst, Tatsuya’s strongest spell, is said to be the ultimate Decomposition spell and is hinted to be the strongest spell in existence. The spell decomposes matter into pure energy, which can cause destruction on par with a nuclear bomb.
19Sakura Kinomoto Mistress Of The Clow (Cardcaptor Sakura)
Everything will definitely be alright!
Cardcaptor Sakura follows the journey of 10-year-old Sakura Kinomoto, a high school student average in every sense except that she is a Cardcaptor tasked with a mission to collect all the Clow Cards.
The Cards’ powers range from conjuring sunlight, darkness, earthquakes, wind, tidal waves, and whirlpools to warping space, stopping time, creating anything the mind can conjure, and permanently erasing anything from existence.
Sakura also possesses the ability to see past and future events through dreams, sense the presence of Clow Cards, other magic wielders, spirits, and ghosts, as well the power to create new Clow Cards.
18Yū Otosaka The One-Eyed Grim Reaper (Charlotte)
Yū Otosaka, the protagonist of the twisted coming-of-age story called Charlotte, possesses the ability to possess another’s body for five seconds temporarily. Seems relatively harmless on its own, right? Well, that isn’t all there is to Yū’s ability.
Yū later learned that Plunder’s true nature of ability allowed him to steal others’ abilities by possessing them.
Some of Yu’s plundered abilities include Permeation, Telekinesis, Healing, Foresight, Explosion, Pyrokinesis, Time Leap (allows him to leap back in time), Cloak (grants invisibility), and my personal favorite– Thoughtography (allows Yū to take a photograph of any mental imagery in his head).
17Rimuru Tempest the Ruler of Monsters(TenSura)
I’m not interested in seeking pure power for power’s sake with no other particular goals in mind.
Rimuru Tempest, aka Satoru Mikami, is the protagonist of TenSura, which follows his journey as he leaves behind his former monotonous human life, gets reincarnated as a magical blue slime, and navigates the new world around him.
Rimuru possesses multiple magical abilities that draw on magicules– the basis of all magical and demonic life in TenSura.
Predator allows Rimuru to analyze, store, decompose and mimic the appearance of anything he devours, including an opponent’s soul and abilities.
He can also create multi-dimensional barriers (like Gojo Satoru’s Infinity), teleport, summon the dragons Veldora and Velgrynd, create new skills, duplicate existing skills, resurrect others and many more.
16Shirou Emiya (Fate/Stay Night)
I can’t lose against myself. There’s no element that would make me lose if our powers are equal.
Following his parents’ mysterious demise, Shirou was saved by Kiritsugu Emiya, a magus who later adopted him and taught him Magecraft.
Shirou’s signature Magecraft Projection allows him to materialize anything he imagines out of thin air. He can also create projections beforehand and store them in his Reality Marble to deploy them later when needed. Using Tracing Shirou can also duplicate everything regarding the creation and existence of any object.
Shirou is also skilled at Reinforcement, which allows him to analyze the structure of any object and upgrade it– including his eyesight.
15Aladdin The Fourth Magi (Magi)
Don’t be fooled by Aladdin’s cute angelic appearance because young as he is, the blue-haired little boy is a Magi– beloved by Rukh and an expert Magoi manipulator. Using the Wisdom of Solomon, Aladdin can communicate with anyone’s Rukh, remove curses, and temporarily summon the dead.
Aladdin’s other abilities include Heat Magic, Water Magic, Wind Magic, Light Magic, Lightning Magic, Clairvoyance Magic, Strength Magic, Teleportation Magic, and Alchemic Magic.
(PS: Here’s a fun fact I found while going through the wiki: Aladdin’s favourite hobby is groping women. Quite the pervert at such a young age, right?)
14Ryner Lute The Deadliest Magician (The Legend Of The Legendary Heroes)
Lazy as he may seem, Ryner Lute isn’t one to be underestimated. Ryner possesses a deadly ability, and also carries the essence of the legendary demon lord known as The Lonely Demon.
Ryner’s powers stem mainly from the Alpha Stigma, a curse passed down from ancient Dark Gods. His Cursed Eyes allow him to analyze and copy all types of magic and spells– including incomplete ones.
Although the ability comes with the dangerous risk of losing control and going berserk, Ryner is the only stigma bearer to have regained his sanity. Having overcome the Alpha Stigma’s only drawback, Ryner has no qualms using the power.
13Shin Wolford (Wise Man’s Grandchild)
Following his death as an ordinary Japanese salaryman, Shin Wolford was reincarnated into a new magical world where he was adopted and raised by Merlin and Melinda, the greatest mage and enchanter who taught him everything about magic.
Shin is incredibly skilled at magic due to his tutelage and his understanding of science and physics which allows him to learn, improve and create new magic with ease.
He also possesses immense amounts of magic power. He can level entire cities with one blow, and has mastered various forms of elemental magic dimensional magic, light magic and anti-gravity manipulation. He can also use enchantment magic to heal himself and nullify other magic.
12Ainz Ooal Gown The King Of Darkness (Overlord)
I am Ainz Ooal Gown. With that name at stake, there can be no defeat.
Even though Overlord is set in a virtual reality game, the magic system still follows the same rules– complete with Mana(MP), magical items, and spells.
Ainz’s strength lies primarily in his tactical thinking and intellectual prowess. Even so, his magical abilities are hard to ignore. Ainz’s MP exceeds the limit, and he’s the only mage to have mastered over 700 spells.
He can summon undead minions, nullify all low-tier spells and attacks, and cause fear, panic, confusion, insanity, and death through his Despair Aura ability.
Ainz also possesses several 10th tier spells, which can summon an army of demons, a meteor, and cut through the fabric of space and stop time.
11Kazuma Yagami The Grim Reaper (Kaze No Stigma)
After being scorned and banished by his father, Kazuma, the heir of the Kannagi family, returned four years later as a master wind-manipulator, after making a contract with the Spirit King of the Wind.
Much like other wind users, Kazuma can fly, create sharp blade-like gusts of wind, tornadoes, and wind barriers, and even a unique barrier that grants invisibility. He can also redirect an opponent’s attacks and track them by sensing their physical and spiritual energy.
Kazuma can invoke his contract at any point, which amplifies his powers tenfold. He can also read minds when using a power called Black Wind.
10Demon Lord Diablo (How Not To Summon a Demon Lord)
In the tenth spot, we have yet another ordinary gamer boy– Takuma Sakamoto, who gets transported to the virtual world of his favorite MMORPG called Cross Reverie. Here he takes over the body of his character, the Demon Lord Diablo.
Takuma has maxed out his character Diablo at level 150 and has mastered all forms of elemental magic, including several high-ranking Darkness spells. He can summon meteors, create black holes and tear an opponent apart from the inside using lightning.
Diablo’s most potent spell is White Nova, a level 150 Fire and Light spell that creates a highly destructive white fireball the size of a ping-pong ball. The spell causes disintegrating annihilation due to the concentrated magic power involved and can one-shot high-level monsters.
9Rin Tohsaka (Fate)
If you don’t like pain, standstill. I’ll finish you off nice and quickly!
Rin Tohsaka, the model student of Homurahara Academy, hails from a family of skilled mages and is a prodigy herself. Unlike most mages, Rin can manipulate two elements and possesses twenty times more Od than an average mage.
Rin excels at Transferring of Power– she imbues jewels with Mana which she can then use in combat for an immediate magic release or summon her servant Archer. Rin’s pendant, a family heirloom, contains enough magical energy to even revive a dying person.
Her strongest spell, Gandr, creates a concentrated hazy black orb of magical energy. Rin can fire multiple shots of this spell, and it is her signature offensive spell.
8Irene Belserion The Scarlet Despair/ August The Wizard King (Fairy Tail)
There is no good or evil in light or darkness. It does not exist. If there is justice in this world, it may well lie in love, and naught else
August
Irene and August were the strongest members of the Spriggan 12 and were easily the strongest in the Alvarez Empire, second only to Zeref.
Irene Belserion is known as the Scarlet Despair because of the sheer magnitude of her magic power. She is a skilled enchantress who can animate objects like swords with personalities, transfer her personality to others, separate magic from others, and alter landscapes.
Irene’s strongest spells include, Deus Sema, which can enchant and summon an asteroid to come crashing down like a meteor, and Universe One, which can alter the geography of the land, move people, countries, buildings however she sees fit.
August possesses immense magic power as the son of the legendary Black Wizard Zeref and Fairy Tactician Mavis. His strongest spell, Ars Magia, can destroy an entire country. It can evaporate the very blood within any living being.
Using his Copy Magic he can copy, perfect and nullify any magic except Holder Magic or magic that uses tools. He can use Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, Wind Magic, manipulate time, create magical barriers, and predict an opponent’s moves by hearing their soul and thoughts.
7Lina Inverse aka Lina The Pink (Slayers)
Even at fifteen years old, Lina Inverse boasts an absurd amount of magic power and already has a reputation as one of the most powerful and feared sorceresses.
Lina excels at Black Magic– offensive magic which draws power from demons including Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, one of the four demon kings and the Lord of Nightmares.
She can also use Shamanistic Magic which draws power from the forces of nature. All of her spells are highly destructive and can decimate entire cities.
Lina’s strongest spell, Giga Slave, draws power from the Lord of Nightmares and can annihilate anything in its way. If cast improperly, the spell can destroy the whole world.
6Meliodas The Demon Prince/ Merlin aka Britannia’s Greatest Sorcerer (Seven Deadly Sins)
All people eventually die. But… as long as someone protects what that person stood for, their principles will never die!
Meliodas
All of the Sins are powerful in their own right, but Merlin and Meliodas undoubtedly stand out from the rest.
Meliodas is not only the captain of the Sins but also the Demon King’s eldest son. He possesses exceptional combat skills and continues to get stronger as the series progresses. Meliodas’ signature spell Full Counter can absorb, amplify and reflect any attacks aimed at him.
He can also create black flames capable of slowing down an immortal’s regeneration, and slash at opponents a thousand times in an instant with his sword. Meliodas’ true magic is highly destructive and surpasses the Demon King, seeing as though it could damage him effortlessly.
Merlin was a prodigy even in the capital of wizards where she was born, surpassing every wizard there. She was granted all the knowledge of the Demon Realm’s dark secret arts and immunity to the goddesses’ possession and brainwashing abilities by the Demon King and protection from dark curses and the Commandments by the Supreme Deity.
Merlin’s magical abilities are seemingly limitless. She can create deadly poisons, whirlwinds, water dragons, and icicle prisons. She can also teleport, locate any object or person, and erase the existence of any spell. Moreover, Merlin can also manipulate time to make her spells last indefinitely.
5Julius Novachrono The Wizard King (Black Clover)
People want just one thing from the Wizard King… Achievements that mark you as the strongest. Produce results. Devote yourselves to building a reputation… That’s everything. No one who’s unable to do that could ever stand at the top!
Julius is easily among the strongest wizards in the series. A wizard’s grimoire is indicative of their strength, and Julius Novachrono’s coverless grimoire with it’s seemingly endless number of pages is by far the strangest.
His vast magic power alone sets him apart as the Wizard King. He was able to cover the entirety of the Clover Kingdom with one of his spells and still walk away from it relatively unscathed.
Julius’ Time Magic lets him accelerate, decelerate, stop, and reverse time. He can also steal time from opponents and store it away. He can also heal injuries, forsee attacks using Mana Zone and trap opponents in time loop spheres.
4The Black Wizard Zeref/ Acnologia The Black Dragon (Fairy Tail)
If this world continues to reject me, then I shall reject the world.
Zeref
Zeref Dragneel and Acnologia are the primary antagonists of the Fairy Tail series and, as such, are legendary figures.
Zeref is considered the strongest, most wicked mage in the series due to his ancient, deadly and destructive magic.His magic originates from the curse placed on him, which granted him immortality and magic power that is death itself. His dark magic can kill any living being without a second thought.
He can also teleport, manipulate time and create near-invincible Demons. Zeref’s strongest spell, Neo Eclipse, allows him to destroy the current reality and replace it with a new one allowing him to re-live life.
Acnologia, on the other hand, is regarded as the most fearsome Dragon to exist and is no less than a cataclysm– known to bring despair, death, and destruction with him wherever he goes.
Together with overwhelming magic power, raw speed, strength, and immense durability, Acnologia also possesses destructive Dragon Slayer Magic that mostly takes the form of energy blasts. His Roar alone was capable of eradicating an entire island. Acnologia later acquired Time Magic as well.
3Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
If evil is supposed to disrupt the divine and be a force of chaos, it’s only natural for me to upset the laws of a god.
In exchange for her a wish to protect Madoka, Homura became a magical girl with the power to rewind time using her magical shield.
Homura can freeze time and rewind it to the beginning of the month indefinitely. Her main form of offense involves using stolen non-magical firearms and self-crafted bombs.
As a witch, Homura gained the power to rewrite the universe to create a reality where Madoka and her friends lead normal lives. She sealed their memories away, separated Madoka’s divinity from her humanity, and oversaw the new universe as a metaphysical being, calling herself ‘Devil.’
2Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
If someone tells me that it is wrong to hope, I’ll tell them that they’re wrong every time.
Madoka is known to possess immense magical potential and the ability to destroy the world if she were to become a witch. Her offense originally consisted of her staff or a bow and arrow, and she could create enough arrows to cover an entire city.
Upon becoming a magical girl Madoka used her wish to cease the creation of witches in the past, present, and future. The paradoxical nature of Madoka’s wish caused her to transcend into an omnipotent god-like form known as Ultimate Madoka.
Her strongest feat was creating the Law Of Cycles, and with it an alternate reality where Madoka could absorb despair and purify Soul Gems, allowing magical girls to ascend to a higher plane.
1Sinbad The High King Of The Seven Seas (Magi)
Do you believe people are born to fulfill certain destinies?
Sinbad is the strongest magic user in anime. He is exceptionally skilled at Magoi Manipulation and is the only character in the series to use both black and white magoi and possess seven Djinn, which grant him various overwhelming powers.
Sinbad’s Magoi Manipulation also allows him to negate an opponent’s abilities.
What truly sets Sinbad apart from the rest is the sheer number of dungeons he has conquered. Sinbad conquered his first dungeon at the age of fourteen, going on to amass a total of seven Djinns before he was banned from entering more dungeons.
Sinbad’s Djinns grant him various powers such as lightning, ice, wind, mind control, molecular manipulation, and many more. The powers of only four of the seven Djinn have been revealed so far. Even so, Sinbad’s magical prowess is evident.
Bararaq, one of Sinbad’s most destructive spells, can decimate an entire chain of mountains with a single strike of lightning.
Honorary Mentions: Asta (Black Clover)
This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Asta and his unique anti-magic, which can nullify all types of magic and cut through any spell no matter how potent.
Asta’s anti-magic is a power unique to him since he possesses no Mana within himself naturally. The power is linked to the Devil Liebe, sealed within Asta’s grimoire, and can be harnessed through different swords.
Asta can access more of this power by uniting with Liebe and channeling the anti-magic through his body after forming a contract with Liebe and becoming his Devil Host.
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