With unlimited power and sturdy plot armor, our heroes need their own evil counterparts to keep them in check. Known as enemies, antagonists, or even a great plot device, these villains are a prime motivator for the protagonists and their friends to grow and strive for strength.
Some excellent examples of this are directly showcased in popular shonen series such as Naruto, Dragon Ball, Hunter x Hunter, etc. As such, these protagonists’ corresponding villains are often more powerful than them.
However, it is not that easy to hook in an audience, as a one-dimensional villain often falls short.
A series only grows more attractive to us when it introduces truly powerful villains that can strike terror into people’s hearts with the proper motivation behind them.
After all, a good anime series is only as interesting as its villains, and on that note, here are the top 25 strongest villains in Shonen anime.
25Shinobu Sensui
Anime – YuYu Hakusho
Power System – Energy [Spirit, Life, Demon, Sacred]
Signature Ability – Resshu Ko Kyu Ha
Sensui was extremely powerful and one of the few villains the protagonist of the series really had to struggle against.
He was noted to have more than ten times the spiritual energy, and when he released his Sacred Energy, his energy levels reached S-class, even though he was still suppressing his true power.
His power was so great that he held a distinct advantage over Yusuke, even in his demon form, and would’ve eventually killed him.
While his mental resilience took several blows in the end, his use of Sacred Energy warrants him a position at the 25th place.
24Shishio Makoto
Anime – Rurouni Kenshin
Power System – Ki
Signature Ability – Three Secret Swords
Shishio Makoto was the main antagonist for the Kyoto arc in Rurouni Kenshin. He was another master swordsman like Kenshin, with his sword made specially by Arai Shakku.
His weapon was unique in the sense that it could utilize the blood and oil from people it struck down (wicked!). This, paired with his bandages and red eyes, made Shishio look extremely devilish.
He also was capable of wielding that classic anime swordsman move where he cut one of his soldiers in half without his sword being seen leaving the scabbard. With his extraordinary skills and intellect, he is placed 24th on this list.
23Ragyo Kiryuin
Anime – Kill La Kill
Power System – Life Fiber
Signature Ability – Shinra-Koketsu
Ragyo Kiryuin is a Life Fiber-infused human (yep, that’s right) whose only goal is to end all life on earth.
She has super strength, agility, and intellect that, when paired with her regenerative abilities, makes her one of the strongest characters in Kill La Kill.
Another ability that is literally way too overpowered in her universe is sewing Life Fibers known as Marionette Threads into the brains of her victims, which allows her to bend anyone to do her bidding.
The main reason she is listed 23rd on this list is due to this ability and her absolute cruelty towards her children.
22Beast Titan
Anime – Attack on Titan
Power System – Titan Powers
Signature Ability – Hardening
Next on this list is a villain from an anime on almost everyone’s list – Attack on Titan.
While Titans were first introduced as creatures possessing just brute power and no intellect, the Beast Titan came and turned all these conceptions around its head.
In possession of Zeke Yeager, this villain is not only one of the largest Titans in the series, but it also has the ability to think, talk, and plan.
While its ability to hurl objects at extreme accuracy doesn’t sound particularly strong, it is a different case when paired with its genius intellect.
21Accelerator
Anime – Toaru Majutsu no Index
Power System – Magic
Signature Ability – Accelerator
Accelerator is the 1st-ranked Level 5 and the strongest esper currently residing in Academy City, who was first introduced as an antagonist.
Just like his name, his ability creates a thin field of AIM around him, which allows him to modify the vector values of anything he touches.
His vector transform ability makes him invincible to any kind of attack and allows it to return to the sender with more power.
The only way he could be beaten was when he went up against someone who could cancel any ability. Due to this, he is ranked 21st on this list.
20Lucifero
Anime – Black Clover
Power System – Mana
Signature Ability – Gravity
Lucifero is the strongest devil and the most vicious and ferocious demon in Black Clover.
He is a high-ranking devil who possesses Dante – the King of the Spade Kingdom and a member of the Dark Triad. He uses otherworldly Magic with healing and gravity attributes.
While there is not much known about him yet, the fact that he is the most powerful from all the other devils is enough to place him 20th on this list.
19Naraku
Anime – Inuyasha
Power System – Demonic Power
Signature Ability – Kazaana
Naraku is the main driving force behind Inuyasha anime and has been the constant motivation factor for the series’ characters.
As his name suggests, he literally has power over the underworld. While he is extremely strong, what makes him a great villain is his ability to always remain one step ahead of Inuyasha and the rest.
Unlike other villains who use brute strength to destroy their enemies, Naraku revels in playing with their emotions and weaknesses as a human. He is such a terrible and morally black character that one can’t help loving him.
18Evangelist
Anime – Fire Force
Power System – Adolla
Signature Ability – Grace
Unlike the other villains on this list, Evangelist is the antagonist of a relatively newer Shonen series called Fire Force. She is the one behind all the events and injustices taking place.
For now, she has been known to perform all kinds of inhuman feats, such as passing through the Tear in Space, causing countrywide earthquakes, and blinding people who so much as look at her.
While her exact identity and strength are unknown, her ability to grant terrifying skills such as stopping time, etc. to others, already make us wary of her power.
17Blackbeard
Anime – One Piece
Power System – Devil Fruits, Haki
Signature Ability – Kurouzu
Blackbeard is undoubtedly one of the most interesting villains in One Piece. He is the only man who is capable of utilizing the powers of more than one Devil Fruit.
After Whitebeard’s death, he stole his ability and became the wielder of 2 overpowered abilities, i.e., controlling darkness and creating earthquakes.
The most terrifying aspect of his ability to access more Devil Fruit powers is that he does not have a limit, and with time can prove to be one of the most feared and powerful villains.
16Shigaraki Tomura
Anime – My Hero Academia
Power System – Quirks
Signature Ability – All for One
Shigaraki Tomura is the primary antagonist in My Hero Academia. As the leader of the Paranormal Liberation Front and the successor of All for One, his strength is nothing to scoff at.
After having the power of All of One at his disposal, as well as boosting his disintegration quirk, Shigaraki has become the strongest villain in My Hero Academia and has surpassed the original One for All.
This means that Shigaraki can now have an unlimited set of powers, and he is basically going against the natural law of quirks.
He can very well become the sole supplier and collector of power in the MHA world. Due to this, he is ranked 16th on this list.
15Yhwach
Anime – Bleach
Power System – Spiritual Power
Signature Ability – The Almighty
As a character comparable in power to Aizen, Yhwach simply wants everything and does whatever it takes to get it.
He has the ability to shape destiny in a way that provides him the best of all the world has to offer without caring about the consequences.
All of his powers revolve around his eyesight, everything that he sees he takes, be it power, souls, or anything else. This ability to shape the future itself ranks him 15th on this list.
14Griffith
Anime – Berserk
Power System – Magic
Signature Ability – Unknown
Next on our list is Griffith, the perfect example of appearances that deceive.
While most villains are not often blessed with aesthetic beauty, Griffith is blessed with heroic and divine looks. However, you’re in for a one-way ride to hell if you judge him based on them.
This villain is the Supreme Commander of the Midland arm, and, with that title, comes terrifying abilities and a rotten interior.
While he is an incredible swordsman with charisma enough to make anyone battle for him, the main reason he is placed 14th on this list is due to his transcendence into Femto.
After doing that, he no longer existed within the boundaries of the Physical World.
13Aizen
Anime – Bleach
Power System – Spiritual Power
Signature Ability – Kanzen Saimin
Aizen was the main antagonist in Bleach, and though he tried to reform himself in the end, his deeds and power make him one of the best villains ever.
Unlike other villains who suddenly get a massive boost in power from the very start, Aizen was a criminal mastermind who developed his plans for years and years on end.
By the time he had revealed himself, he had ruled over Arrancar, and his skills were so immense that he fought literally every captain and lived through a battle with squad one captain Shigekuni Yamamoto.
In fact, Aizen was so intellectually powerful and strong that he had taken into account Ichigo’s life from the very beginning, and even made him strong enough to hold on against him. Simply speaking, he became a god among gods.
12Gilgamesh
Anime – Fate
Power System – Unknown
Signature Ability – Unknown
Gilgamesh, a villain from the Fate series, has often appeared during its duration.
Like a textbook villain, he is extremely arrogant and completely one dimensional. However, what makes him likeable despite his poor attitude, is his ability to back it up.
Gilgamesh has the power to summon any weapon through the Gate of Babylon. He is even capable of shattering the Reality Marble using the sword of rupture – Ea. While he is just a wannabe God, his power truly is something to be wary of.
11David Jehoahaz Abraham
Anime – Magi
Power System – Mana
Signature Ability – unknown
As Magi’s most powerful character, this man can simply change all of your perceptions of divinity and higher-end entities.
He first develops and creates a wonderful society just to enslave all of it for a greater goal.
He brainwashed dozens of people to do his bidding in a way that he destroyed society as we know it.
He is a sorcerer who can do pretty much anything, elemental Magic, dimensional travel, life absorption, soul absorption, soul possession, destiny control, and brainwashing.
10Meruem
Anime – Hunter x Hunter
Power System – Nen
Signature Ability – Unknown
Arguably one of the most loved villains, Meruem, is way too overpowered within the Hunter x Hunter universe. From the time of his birth, he was already the most powerful character in the series.
His tremendous physical prowess, along with an unparalleled intellect, placed him well above humans’ domain.
He was born with the ability to use Nen and had a vastly superhuman amount of aura. His speed, strength, and intelligence make him a monster, even among this list of villains.
9Boros
Anime – One Punch Man
Power System – Unknown
Signature Ability – Meteoric Burst
Boros is the strongest monster in One Punch Man, literally. He became way too overpowered and had to travel the universe in search of someone who could match and fight against him.
While he lost against Saitama, he was the only character who could survive multiple punches from him and was strong enough to kick the caped-hero to the moon.
When drawing on his full strength, Boros could fire laser beams with enough power to decimate an entire planet.
8Homunculus
Anime – Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Power System – Alchemy
Signature Ability – Unknown
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has had its mark made on the shonen genre, especially with its not-so-typical villain.
In the beginning, the all-powerful antagonist of the series, the Homunculus, was just a tiny black creature in a flask.
It was its ambition and greed that gave it a human form, and after discarding it and coming to terms with itself, Homunculus became able to consume God.
It transcended all the rules surrounding alchemy and became powerful enough to do whatever he pleased with any type of matter.
He was able to ascend by manipulating molten metal, creating tornadoes indoors, and, most notably, fashioning a sun in the palm of his hand.
7Misogi Kumagawa
Anime – Medaka Box
Power System – Unknown
Signature Ability – All Fiction [Minus]
Kumagawa is the chief antagonist of the Kumagawa Incident Arc. in Medaka Box and has the most broken ability of all time.
While he considers himself “the weakest person in the whole world”, his power to erase reality itself says so otherwise.
Kumagawa’s Minus allows him to deny aspects of reality and make anything “nothing”. His ability can even reverse his own death as well as the death of others. This power makes us rank him 7th on this list.
6Funny Valentine
Anime – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
Power System – Stand
Signature Ability – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
With its unique power system, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is full of odd yet powerful abilities and characters.
Funny Valentine, who’s supposedly the United States president in the anime, is the strangest of them yet.
After finding Jesus’ remains (you read that right), he got blessed by the messiah and was granted powers that made him immune to any “misfortune.”
With such a broken ability, coupled with him being able to create and access parallel dimensions and realities, he is already an undefeatable and immortal villain.
5Madara Uchiha
Anime – Naruto Shippuden
Power System – Chakra
Signature Ability – Infinite Tsukuyomi
As a character that almost became a God, Madara’s name struck fear into the ninja world, and it wasn’t for no reason.
He had terrific physical abilities, exceptional dojutsu, and great tactics. He obliterated a whole army consisting of 5 nations by himself and toyed with the Kages.
When he became the Jinchuriki of the Ten tails, he became practically immortal. He would have been unstoppable if not for Black Zetus’s betrayal.
4Zeref Dragneel
Anime – Fairytail
Power System – Magic
Signature Ability – Ankhseram Black Magic
Ever seen a villain who was so strong, he had to create someone to kill him? Zeref Dragneel was so powerful that he had to create END (Etherious Natsu Dragneel) to specifically put an end to his life.
He was considered to be the strongest and the evilest Mage of all time. He possessed extremely dangerous and powerful Ancient Magic and was the founder of the Alvarez Empire.
Zeref’s Magic was so enormous that he could not consciously control it. Due to the Ankhserum curse, when he cared about others’ lives, his Magic burst outward, killing everyone around him.
His mastery over forbidden and dark Magics, extraordinary feats, and apparent immortality makes him the strongest Mage in Fairy Tail and the 4th most powerful villain on this list.
3Kaguya Otsutsuki
Anime – Naruto Shippuden
Power System – Chakra
Signature Ability – Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb
Kaguya Otsutsuki became the first wielder of chakra in the Naruto Universe after eating from the forbidden God Tree.
She was revealed to be the ultimate evil in the series and was the most formidable foe that Naruto and the rest of the shinobi world had to face.
Kaguya possessed the ability to change space and time, read others’ thoughts, and traverse dimensions. She could also absorb any technique she encountered and was capable of using the Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb.
In addition, she was known to wield all the three major eye jutsu’s, i.e., Byakugan, Sharingan, and the Rinnegan.
Kaguya Otsutsuki is a Celestial Being and the strongest in Naruto Shippuden. Due to this, she is placed 3rd on this list.
2Frieza
Anime – Dragon Ball
Power System – Ki
Signature Ability – Death Beam
Frieza was and is the most iconic villain in the Dragon Ball franchise and anime.
He was so strong that he conquered the whole universe, and was even a candidate for the God of Destruction.
Each time he transformed, he seemed to grow stronger, and comparatively speaking, he outmatched almost everyone when it comes to his raw power. Along with his horrific deeds and strength, he is placed 2nd on this list.
1Beerus
Anime – Dragon Ball
Power System – KI
Signature Ability – Beerus’ Judgement, AUI, Hakai
Finally, last but not least, the strongest villain in Shonen is from Dragon Ball, well, former villain.
Beerus is extremely overpowered and simply way too strong for Goku to defeat. Berus is the God of Destruction and the strongest anime villain of all time. Even against Goku’s Super Saiyan God power, Beerus won using only quite 70% of his full potential.
As a God of Destruction, Beerus’ job literally asks him to destroy not only entire planets but likely the universe as a whole, when required.
He is so powerful that he once eradicated a world by merely letting a tiny bit of energy drop from his finger onto its surface.
Honorary Mention: Light Yagami
Anime – Death Note
Power System – Death Note
Signature Ability –
Killing people while eating chipsNone
An anime whose name is famous even outside of this particular niche, death note is a series that every anime lover has watched at least once.
Following Light Yagami, a “typical” high school genius who kills people using a notebook that he finds (Why not?!), we see him spiraling down and becoming a mass murderer.
While his ideals seem noble at first, he, later on, seems to wear the cloak of a wannabe God.
The main reason he is not ranked in this list is that his hacked power to kill anyone by just writing their name heavily depends on the circumstances.
If Light does not know someone’s name and faces anyone stronger than a weak high-schooler, he’s as good as dead.
5 Comments on Top 25 Strongest Villains in Shonen Anime, Ranked!