Anime characters come in all shapes and sizes- the hilarious comic relief, the underdog protagonist and that one badass character who is pretty much impossible to ignore. Such characters tend to dominate the scene whenever they are on-screen and are often the most popular anime characters.
Badass characters in anime are not necessarily the good guys. In fact, it is often the villains who show the most badassery in a series. Anime badass characters, whether male or female, have to be savage, charismatic and highly skilled to become the one that is deeply loved by the audience.
Let us look at some such badass characters who have cemented their status as the coolest anime characters of all time. This list includes not just badass male anime characters but also badass anime villains and badass anime female characters.
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Contents
10 Badass Anime Male Characters
Madara Uchiha
Series: Naruto
Number of Episodes: 220
Created By: Masashi Kishimoto
Voice Artist: Naoya Uchida, Go Inoue(Japanese); Neil Kaplan, Xander Mobus(English)
We will begin our list with Madara Uchiha- perhaps the most badass anime villain of all time. Belonging to the same clan as Sasuke and Itachi, he is one of the most groundbreaking characters in Naruto. An antagonist with a powerful aura, Madara is one of the masterminds behind the fourth Shinobi war.
He has fought armies, the five Kages and the main cast including Sasuke and Naruto and won without even breaking a sweat. Madara even manages to wake the Rinnegan which gives him the power to control minds and cast illusions.
Needless to say, this man is a force to be taken seriously and he lives up to the reputation of being the ultimate villain for Naruto.
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Satoru Gojo
Series: Jujutsu Kaisen
Number of Episodes: 42(as of November 2023)
Created By: Gege Akutami
Voice Artist: Yuichi Nakamura, Mariya Ise(Japanese); Kaiji Tang(English)
Jujutsu Kaisen’s Satoru Gojo may not fit the definition of a badass anime character at first glance. He is goofy, flamboyant and has the mental presence of a child.
However, once you take a step back and realize that his carefree persona comes from the sheer amount of power he holds, you start appreciating his character.
Satoru is one of the strongest characters in the Jujutsu Kaisen universe but at the same time is incredibly likeable and a great mentor to his students including Yuji Itadori. His battle sequences are so stunning that you may just forget to blink your eyes.
Satoru’s past and his relationship with the antagonist Suguru Geto have also helped cement his popularity as a fan-favorite character.
Itachi Uchiha
Series: Naruto
Created By: Masashi Kishimoto
Voice Actor: Hideo Ishikawa and Yuka Terasaki(Japanese); Crispin Freeman and Michelle Ruff(English)
Number of Episodes: 220
Naruto has a long list of badass anime characters especially in the Uchiha clan. Sasuke’s older brother Itachi is one such badass man. Sure, he killed all of his clan members but his remarkable life and the things he has been through make him one of the toughest characters in Naruto.
A fan favorite, Itachi has an iron-clad will and some of the best fighting techniques. He is also a prodigy who established milestones for all future Uchiha clan members to live up to. His love for Sasuke and his emotional storyline of going from a villain to the unsung hero of a whole generation heavily resonated with viewers.
Itachi was badass even when he was the hot psycho killer but the reveals about his past and redemption arcs have turned him into an anime legend.
Levi Ackerman
Series: Attack on Titan
Number of Episodes: 94
Created By: Hajime Isayama
Voice Artist: Hiroshi Kamiya(Japanese); Matthew Mercer(English)
Attack on Titan’s Levi Ackerman may be a supporting character in the series but hardly anyone can compete with him in terms of badassery. He is, in fact, considered to be one of the most badass anime male characters of all time.
In Attack on Titan, people live in enormous walled cities to protect themselves from gigantic man-eating Titans who have brought humanity to the verge of extinction. Levi works as the leader of the Survey Corps Special Operations Squad aka Squad Levi in this world.
It’s an elite squad and our man Levi is the best of the best. After all, he is known as humanity’s strongest soldier for a reason.
Levi can destroy anyone with his ODM gear and that too, with razor-sharp precision. His skills are on an entirely new level. In this way, his strength, dedication, skills and realistic outlook on life make him the most badass anime character.
Jotaro Kujo
Series: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Created By: Hirohiko Araki
Voice Artist: Daisuke Ono, Natsumi Takamori(Japanese); Matthew Mercer, Dorothy Elias-Fahn(English)
Jotaro is the definition of an iconic badass anime character. He is the protagonist of the Stardust Crusaders arc who travels from Egypt to Japan with his grandfather Joseph Joestar to defeat DIO and save his mother’s life.
Honestly, no one can resist Jotaro’s brooding badboy with a heart of gold persona. Even appearance-wise, he comes across as an intimidating dude whose one look is enough to get people to shut up.
Jotaro has a Star Platinum Stand that enables him to have incredible speed, strength and precision. He later also gains the ability to stop time for a few seconds. His stoic personality, heroic actions and unique fights make him a badass character of all time.
Guts
Series: Berserk
Created By: Kentaro Miura
Voice Artist: Nobutoshi Canna, Hiroaki Iwanaga(Japanese); Marc Diraison, Kaiji Tang, Michael Bell(English)
Guts is the very definition of a badass anime male character. A mercenary who travels from company to company, he is an absolute legend who can easily dispatch demons with his huge sword. Even his origin as a man who was literally born from a corpse is intense.
Guts is far from being a noble hero character. He does not care about protecting the innocent or being heroic and acts within a gray area. The character is initially presented as an antihero but his tragic past and internal conflict give him unexpected depth.
Guts is the very personification of tenacity as he embarks on a downright terrifying journey to accomplish his mission. He experiences some great character development over the course of the series and his struggles with friendship and human relations make him an iconic anime protagonist.
Alucard
Series: Hellsing
Number of Episodes: 13
Created By: Kouta Hirano
Voice Artist: Jouji Nakata(Japanese); Crispin Freeman(English)
Alucard is stylish, dark, gritty and extremely badass. He fights with ferocity and cruelty and sometimes only kills a target after they have been disabled and humiliated. Alucard is particularly terrifying because he feels like a God in this universe where he belittles his opponents and allows them to wound him before regenerating and killing them.
He can suck out a person’s soul while drinking their blood and turn them into an extension of himself called a Familiar. Alucard also possesses great strength and speed and can take other humanoid forms as well.
He is the badass guy you cannot help but root for even though you know he is not a good guy at all.
Thorfinn
Series: Vinland Saga
Number of Episodes: 48
Created By: Makoto Yukimura
Voice Artist: Yuto Uemura, Shizuka Ishigami, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka(Japanese); Mike Haimoto, Shannon Emerick, Aleks Le, Laura Stahl(English)
Vinland Saga’s protagonist Thorfinn is the definition of an intense character. He is a teenage warrior in a Viking company and hates his commander for killing his father. His thirst for revenge made him a savage person who did anything for Askeladd to earn the right to duel with him.
Thorfinn legit relinquished his humanity to become a warrior. His harsh upbringing and experiences as a slave are a catalyst to his growth and realisation of the dream of a land without violence where people are able to live peacefully.
Roy Mustang
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Number of Episodes: 51
Created By: Hiromu Arakawa
Voice Artist: Toru Okawa, Shinichiro Miki(Japanese); Travis Willingham(English)
Colonel Roy Mustang is a State Alchemist in Amestris’ State Military who strives to become the next leader of Amestris. He is a “Flame Alchemist” i.e. those who can create fire with alchemy. Though he may come across as arrogant and manipulative, he is also very intelligent and adaptable.
Roy may not be as savage as the other characters on this list but touch any of his loved ones and you would wish you weren’t born. As a commander, he cares about the well-being of his subordinates which has earned Roy their fierce loyalty.
Once you see him fighting two different Sins with his flame alchemy skills, you will have to accept that he is one of the most badass anime characters.
Karma Akabane
Series: Assassination Classroom
Number of Episodes: 47+ 1 OVA
Created By: Yusei Matsui
Voice Artist: Nobuhiko Okamoto(Japanese); Austin Tindle(English)
Badassery is not bound by age. Karma might just be a high school student but don’t underestimate him. He is a menacing assassin and the strongest and smartest student in Class 3-E. He is the first one who was able to inflict injuries on Koro-sensei on their first meeting.
Not just physical strength, Karma is also a gifted student in terms of intelligence. He had outstanding test results and grades but was relegated to class 3-E due to his extremely violent behavior. You are bound to fall in love with Karma’s captivating personality and devil-may-care attitude.
11 Badass Anime Female Characters
Motoko Kusanagi
Series: Ghost in the Shell
Number of Episodes: 52
Created By: Masamune Shirow
Voice Artist: Atsuko Tanaka, Maaya Sakamoto(Japanese); Mimi Woods, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Peggy O’Neal, Allison Matthews(English)
When it comes to badass anime female characters, very few can compete with Major Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell. She is a synthetic cybernetic human who has been augmented with a full-body prosthesis.
Motoko is the field commander of Public Security Section 9 which is responsible for anti-cybercrime law enforcement. She is a badass woman who is highly intelligent and physically powerful and is known for her strong will, deduction skills and hacking and military tactics.
Motoko may have been artificially augmented but she is an unquestionably human character who is cool and professional for the large part.
She is proficient in a variety of weaponry and is often cited as an example of one of the most skilled anime gunslingers. In short, Motoko’s no-nonsense attitude, professional competence and extraordinary skills make her a badass female anime character.
Revy
Series: Black Lagoon
Number of Episodes: 24
Created By: Rei Hiroe
Voice Artist: Megumi Toyoguchi(Japanese); Maryke Hendrikse(English)
In Black Lagoon, Revy is the fighter of the group. She is a confident and cynical woman who spent most of her youth as a criminal. Revy is simply undiplomatic and often resorts to violence and brute force to get her way.
Due to the tragedies in her life, she has a bleak outlook on life and believes in relying only on her own skills, money and power.
Apart from that, Revy’s skills with firearms are unparalleled in the series. There are very few characters who can hold their ground against her when it comes to combat.
Mikasa Ackerman
Series: Attack on Titan
Number of Episodes: 94
Created By: Hajime Isayama
Voice Artist: Yui Ishikawa(Japanese); Trina Nishimura(English)
Mikasa Ackerman stands out as one of the most badass female characters in the male-dominated world of Attack on Titan. As a young girl, she lived in a loving environment on a farm before a group of traffickers murdered her parents. She was later taken in by Eren Yeager’s family and lived with them until Wall Maria fell.
Mikasa is extremely loyal to Eren and joins the Survey Corps along with him to fight against the Titans. In most shounen anime, she would be relegated to a cheerleader or emotional support for the protagonist but Mikasa is anything but that.
She is a skilled warrior and you bet she uses those skills to protect the people she cares about. Mikasa is usually stoic but her charming side that only comes out with Eren humanizes her. The tragedies in her past, her strength and determination make her an iconic badass anime character.
Erza Scarlet
Series: Fairy Tail
Number of Episodes: 328+ 9 OVAs
Created By: Hiro Mashima
Voice Artist: Sayaka Ohara, Aiko Ninomiya(Japanese); Colleen Clinkenbeard(English)
Nineteen-year-old Erza Scarlet, nicknamed “Titania”, is the guild’s most powerful female wizard. She can use magic called “The Knight” to instantly exchange and equip weapons and armor that can alter her tremendous strength and magical ability.
Erza is a strict disciplinarian who often criticizes the bad behaviour of other guild members causing them to fear her wrath. She can also be an impatient person getting angry at people who don’t answer her questions quickly enough.
Maki Zen’in
Series: Jujutsu Kaisen
Number of Episodes: 42(as of November 2023)
Created By: Gege Akutami
Voice Artist: Mikako Komatsu(Japanese); Allegra Clark(English)
Of course, the badass Satoru Gojo’s student is going to be a badass girl. Maki is a second-year student at the Tokyo Jujutsu High School and Mai’s twin sister. A rejected member of the Zen’in clan, she is a fearless girl and a skilled warrior who doesn’t need to rely on others to propel herself forward.
She has an analytical mind and incredible endurance and can wield a variety of weapons. Maki can be as powerful as the protagonist Yuji Itadori even though she has poor energy in comparison. Her cocky personality and the way she crushes societal expectations make her a popular badass female anime character.
Shinobu Kocho
Series: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Number of Episodes: 55(as of November 2023)
Created By: Koyoharu Gotouge
Voice Artist: Saori Hayami(Japanese); Erika Harlacher(English)
Shinobu Kocho is a member of the Demon Slayer Corps and the current Insect Hashira. She lost her parents to a demon attack and joined the organization along with her sister to protect others from suffering a similar fate.
Shinobu is creative, intelligent and cool-headed. She may seem cheerful but harbors a deep rage towards demons for taking away her loved ones. While she does not have the strength to behead them, Shinobu wields a deadly stinger katana that can inject a wisteria-based lethal poison to kill or incapacitate them.
Bishamonten
Series: Noragami
Number of Episodes: 12+ 1 OVA
Created By: Adachitoka
Voice Artist: Miyuki Sawashiro(Japanese); Elizabeth Maxwell(English)
Bishamonten or Bishamon is the Goddess of War and Combat in the Noragami universe. Do not be lured by her beauty, she has remarkable fighting skills and can crush you in a minute with her Shinki or Regalia. This makes her one of the best characters in the series.
Bishamon is also one of the Gods of Fortune and as such is quite popular among both humans and her Regalia. She is very generous and takes in all wandering or troubled spirits that come her way without caring about whether they are useful or not.
Seras Victoria
Series: Hellsing
Number of Episodes: 13
Created By: Kouta Hirano
Voice Artist: Fumiko Orikasa(Japanese); K. T. Grey(English)
Seras is a young policewoman who was turned into a vampire by the ruthless Alucard when she was about to die from a fatal gunshot wound. He acts as a mentor to her even though she is frequently at odds with him because of Alucard’s preference for bloodshed.
Seras is empathetic and strong-willed and does not let her past dampen her integrity and determination to live. She struggles with her monstrous capabilities after her conversion but eventually learns to reconcile them with her humane qualities.
Seras proves herself to be a capable assistant to Alucard often showing far more maturity than others her age.
Ylva
Series: Vinland Saga
Number of Episodes: 48
Created By: Makoto Yukimura
Voice Artist: Hitomi Nabatame(Japanese); Olivia Swasey, Allegra Clark(English)
Badassery is not just about physical strength and fighting skills. It takes power and determination to endure less-than-favorable circumstances and rise up to the occasion. This perfectly describes Thorfinn’s older sister Ylva who takes up the duties of her father and brother as she stayed back in Iceland with her mother.
Ylva is the main supporter of the family as she looks after the family farm and livestock, hunts whales and does cooking and weaving. She is a strong woman who is independent and does not need to rely on anyone for her work.
Kallen Kozuki
Series: Code Geass
Number of Episodes: 25
Created By: Ichiro Okouchi
Voice Artist: Ami Koshimizu(Japanese); Karen Strassman(English)
Half Britannian and half Japanese Kallen Stadtfeld prefers going by her mother’s maiden name Kozuki. She is an outstanding student who attends the Ashford Academy and is also a member of its student council. This girl has a deep connection with her brother Naoto and decides to fight against the Britannian Empire for him and her mother’s sake.
Kallen is a badass girl who leads a double life as a student and as a member of a guerilla resistance group. Her forceful and strong-willed personality comes out in her life as a resistance fighter.
Kallen has the highest possible score on Lelouch vi Britannia’s combat ability and loyalty tests. She is a skilled Knightmare Frame pilot and is acknowledged as being the ace pilot of the Black Knights by both enemies and allies.
Lucy
Series: Elfen Lied
Number of Episodes: 13+ 1 OVA
Created By: Lynn Okamoto
Voice Artist: Sanae Kobayashi(Japanese); Kira Vincent-Davis, Carli Mosier(English)
While Lucy is the protagonist of Elfen Lied, it is hard to categorize her as either good or bad. The ‘Queen’ Diclonius, she was abused by humans as a child but also seems to lack empathy herself as kills people without any concern. Lucy has a sadistic streak as blinds and severs the limbs of her enemies often leaving them to bleed to death.
Despite this, she seems to care about Kouta and occasionally gets to see that receiving love is also possible for someone like her.
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