Anime has no shortage of powerful characters. Especially in the many action focused series, it’s easy to find characters who can decimate their opponents with little effort. However, these characters usually end up looking the part.
Sometimes however, the term “don’t judge a book by its cover” becomes extremely relevant. Some characters hold all the dangerous power and abilities of their colder peers, without letting it affect their usual dispositions. These characters are friendly, bubbly and kind most of the time, making one assume they’re not a threat. However, when the chips are down, they reveal just how deadly they can really be.
8 Principal Nezu (My Hero Academia)
While the students and teachers of UA academy are off fighting villains, someone has to keep the school running. This falls to UA’s principal, Nezu. As an educator dedicated to the growth of his students, Nezu is usually a bright and cheery mascot, but hides the potential for much cruelty.
Nezu is actually an animal whose quirk ‘high spec’ gives him greater intelligence than most humans. While My Hero Academia doesn’t show much of him, in his one fight against 2 students, he took on a maniacal persona, manipulating an entire urban training ground to keep the students running in fear.
7 Killua (Hunter x Hunter)
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At first glance, Killua looks like any regular 11 year old. He and his best friend Gon do everything kids usually do, from play-fighting, to joking around and playing video games. What nobody expects though, is that Killua is the youngest of a family of deadly assassins.
The Zoldycks trained their son well, and at his young age, Killua is already a terrifying person to deal with. He can rip someone’s heart out in a flash, endure hours of torture with a smile on his face, and then go back to playing with Gon like nothing happened.
6 Yor Forger (Spy x Family)
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When secret agent Twilight sought out a wife for his pretend family, Yor Briar seemed like the perfect candidate. While a little clumsy, she was a beautiful and friendly woman, who got along with his newly adopted daughter, Anya. Yor however, was using him for cover as well.
Yor has been moonlighting as an assassin for most of her life, carrying out jobs for the assassin organization, ‘the garden’. Her speed and technique in battle are insane, and she can swing a tennis bat hard enough to slice the ball into pieces. It’s fortunate for everyone that she’s such a well-meaning woman.
5 Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)
Nobody in the world of Danganronpa would have guessed that the world would be ended by a single high school girl. Especially not a girl like Junko Enoshima. As the ‘ultimate fashionista’ at Hope’s Peak Academy, everyone saw her as a typical popular girl with a love of fashion and beauty.
Junko however, had only entered Hope’s Peak to create despair. She not only caused the end of the world, but then forced her classmates to kill each other on live TV, shocking the survivors even more. Even after her death, Junko’s will continue to seek despair by causing the death of more and more people through her followers.
4 Goku (Dragon Ball)
Goku is likely the most well known anime character in history. His home series, Dragon Ball has been releasing chapters for over 30 years, and most know him as the warrior saiyan who protects the earth from space overlords and gummy demons alike.
When there’s nothing to fight however, Goku is actually an extremely soft guy. He’s a lovable idiot, who usually only cares about training and eating. He shows kindness to even his enemies, and can often be found smiling and playing around. None of this changes the fact that he’s one of the strongest people in the entire multiverse though.
3 Satoru Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen)
When Jujutsu Kaisen first introduces Satoru Gojo, he doesn’t seem like the type of person to be the world’s strongest sorcerer. He has an irreverent personality, often joking around to the chagrin of his students and colleagues alike. Nobody can so much as spill water on him, however.
Gojo’s strength is ridiculous. He has a barrier that stops anything hostile from hitting him, and using his ‘six eyes’ ability, can spend very little energy to output cataclysmic attacks that can erase anything they touch. Silly as he is, nobody wants to have Gojo coming after them.
2 Shinobu Kocho (Demon Slayer)
In the world of Demon Slayer, the only thing keeping the demons in check are the titular demon slayers. The strongest among them happen to be the hashira, veteran warriors with their own unique breathing styles that they use to kill demons.
Shinobu is the most outwardly friendly hashira, rarely being found without a smile on her face and bright eyes. However, she’s just as vindictive against the demons as her peers. She develops various varieties of poison to use against the demons she fights, often causing them to burn and melt to death while she stares at them, smiling.
1 Tohru (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid)
Tooru is a dragon who came to the human world to repay a debt to Kobayashi, an office worker who saved her life on a drunken bender. She’s full of love and enthusiasm for her new job as Kobayashi’s maid, but acts as a ferocious guard dog as well.
Putting Kobayashi at risk means unleashing Tooru’s draconic powers, and she has no mercy against enemies. She can level buildings, fire destructive beams of fire, and even change into her dragon form for extra power. When she has her game face on, it’s hard to believe she’s usually so upbeat.