When talking about powerful anime characters, the big names that always get dropped are Goku, Ichigo, Naruto, and Luffy. Unsurprisingly, male anime characters are associated with "power" and eviscerating their enemies with energy blasts. It is easy to forget that there are also plenty of equally ripped women that could give the men a run for their money in the power rankings.
From cybernetic police officers to goddesses, some of anime's heaviest hitters are female. Characters across all genres have proven their mettle in battle. That power can be physical, magical, or technological. The more damage these girls and women have dealt, the more they have solidified themselves as some of the most powerful anime characters.
Updated by Alexandra Locke on April 20, 2023: Powerful women often get overlooked in anime, but these female characters stand out anyway. Their strength and powers are so incredible that they are beloved (and feared) for their abilities. As the number of fantastic female characters grows, this article has been updated to include even more of anime fans’ favorite powerful females.
25 Erina Nakiri (Food Wars)
Erina Nakiri is a force to be reckoned with in Food Wars. As the God Tongue, Erina’s palette can make or break any chef - and she never holds back her criticism. Even chefs who have been in the spotlight for years can be brought down by a single bad review from Erina.
Erina’s tasting abilities are so powerful and unique that her word on any dish is law. Many chefs have lost faith in their abilities after having Erina taste their food. Erina’s God Tongue is the most awesome source of power in the culinary world.
24 Maka Albarn (Soul Eater)
Maka Albarn is one of the most promising Meisters in Soul Eater. Though she is the daughter of a prestigious Weapon, Maka’s skill is all hers as she easily wields Soul Evans to defeat increasingly terrifying enemies.
Maka’s bond with Soul is so strong that they achieve the highest level possible for their partnership. Yet, everything hinges on Maka’s ability to wield any form Soul transforms into. Her incredible fighting skills and unbridled tenacity make her one of the most powerful anime females.
23 Mikasa Ackerman (Attack On Titan)
Attack on Titan may focus on Eren Yeager, but, his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman shines as the better soldier. Mikasa is great at her job - ranked first out of all the cadets in the 104th Training Corps.
Mikasa has killed many Titans by herself (plus more with help) and top military brass have stated that her "prowess is equal to that of a hundred ordinary soldiers." Mikasa is a one-woman army. She certainly proves this when she takes on Annie Leonhart - a Titan who swats top-notch soldiers away like flies - and lives to tell the tale.
22 Yuuki Asuna (Sword Art Online)
When 10,000 players became trapped in the world's biggest VR MMORPG, "Sword Art Online," their fate seems sealed. However, for Yuuki Asuna, the predicament became her time to shine. By the time Kirito meets her in Sword Art Online's first season, Asuna is already one of the strongest members of the Knights of Blood. Her adeptness with the rapier earns her the nickname, "The Flash."
Desperate to complete the game and escape, Asuna spends three to four days battling non-stop on the Labyrinth's first floor until exhaustion forces her to stop. After partnering with Kirito, the pair leveled up incredibly fast and become the first players to clear the game, achieving levels in the mid-90s by the end. Even as a healer in Alfheim Online, Asuna cannot resist a good fight.
21 Kagura (Gintama)
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Gintama's Kagura would want audiences to believe she is just a sweet-natured girl, but, just like her signature parasol gun, there is much more to her than meets the eye. As the daughter of a famous alien hunter, Kagura has a natural gift for fighting and enhanced physical abilities. She might even be the strongest of the Yato Tribe.
When Kaguralets go, her true nature is triggered - usually when her friends' lives are threatened. In Yato Mode, Kagura becomes monstrously scary. She once killed an enemy in this form by impaling his shoulder and forcing him through a wall in one move. Her best party trick, though, is catching bullets with her mouth.
20 Sakura Kinomoto (Cardcaptor Sakura)
Sakura Kinomoto is a little girl with a big secret: Sakura is a Cardcaptor. This job is entrusted to her by the great magician, Clow Reed, whose cards she must find and seal. Once Sakura captures a card, its power becomes hers to wield. There are fifty-two cards by the end of Cardcaptor Sakura, giving her an impressive arsenal. Without the cards, Sakura can still sense magical presences, has enhanced senses, clairvoyance, and dreams that predict the future.
Sakura is also extremely positive and resilient in the face of challenges. After she converts the Clow Cards to Sakura Cards, Sakura ultimately becomes even more powerful than Clow Reed himself, making her the world's greatest magician.
19 Ochaco Uraraka (My Hero Academia)
In the world of My Hero Academia, superpowered people greatly outnumber non-superpowered people. "Quirks" come in all kinds of weird and wonderful forms with some appearing deceptively benign. Ochako Uraraka's Zero Gravity is one such Quirk. With just a touch, Uraraka can nullify the effects of gravity on a person or object, rendering them helpless as they float upwards.
Uraraka can cancel the effect by touching her fingers. Her current weight limit is three tons, meaning she can drop very heavy things from great heights. Her most impressive feat is the Home Run Comet, which showers her enemy with debris. After training with Gunhead, Uraraka also has the martial arts chops to drop enemies without using her Quirk.
18 Aoi Kuneida (Beelzebub)
In Beelzebub's "hoodlum" school, Ishiyama High, Aoi Kuneida leads the Red Tails gang and is the strongest woman around. At just seventeen years old, she is already a fiercely skilled martial artist, with superior strength, speed, and stamina. But, her real skill lies in swords. Aoi prefers a wooden sword that can slice through glass and concrete.
Aoi can apply this to just about anything: rulers, umbrellas, even her bare hands. Thanks to the Shingetsu Style passed down from her grandfather, Aoi can break rocks with a mere punch. Aoi's flashier moves include the Second Ceremony 100 Flower Storming Sakura, which transforms her body into glowing cherry blossom petals, slashing through foes in deadly waves of pink.
17 Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon)
Usagi Tsukino is an average high school student, but as Sailor Moon, she is the leader of the Sailor Senshi, a band of superheroes with similarly cosmic names and powers who are tasked with guarding Earth against evil. As her name suggests, Sailor Moon's attacks are lunar-powered, and draw strength from sound, healing, and love - the strongest force in Sailor Moon.
Arguably, Sailor Saturn has the most destructive power of the Senshi with her planet-busting Silence Glaive, but she can only use this once. Sailor Moon's royal identity means she is the only person able to use the Silver Crystal - a source of immeasurable power that can revive entire worlds. She is also the only Solar System Senshi immune to turning evil.
16 Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica puts a dark spin on the Magical Girl subgenre. It also features some of its most powerful spell-casters, like Homura Akemi. Akemi is a small and unassuming teenager with an incredible gift. She possesses a shield that acts as a time manipulation device. This allows her to pause and reverse the flow of time.
Additionally, she can make people immune to the effect by touching them. The shield also doubles up as a pocket dimension weapons cache, hiding countless guns, rocket launchers, and ammunition. After Madoka resets the universe, Akemi's power over time becomes power over memories instead, and her shield becomes a black bow.
15 Nobara Kugisaki (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Nobara Kugisaki is as ruthless as she is fun-loving. Though she loves to go shopping and have a good time, she has also proven that she will go above and beyond to take down her enemies. She even goes as far as using her Straw Doll technique on herself to take down a particularly strong Cursed Spirit named Eso in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Kugisaki is still in training, but she easily takes down villains. She is incredibly resourceful and is always aware of her surroundings. As strong as she is now, fans can only imagine the immense power Kugisaki will have as a Grade One Sorcerer.
14 Major Makoto Kusanagi
The lead protagonist of the iconic Ghost in the Shell franchise is one of the most capable cyborgs in pop culture. Kusanagi is the most mechanized of all Section 9's members. As a technological organic-synthetic, she is a top-of-the-line model, with artificial skin that behaves and reacts as close to the real thing as possible.
Chief Aramaki claims Kusanagi's expertise as a cyberbrain specialist and fighter was "rarer than ESP." She can hack into cyberbrains, control external humanoids like drones, and swap her consciousness into different hosts if needs be. Physically, she is fast enough to intercept bullets, powerful enough to jump between buildings, and advanced enough to turn herself invisible.
13 Major General Olivier Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Olivier Mira Armstrong is a Major General in the Amestrian army in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. She is not only one of the best soldiers but also the most ruthless. Olivier has little time for mind games and dissenters and has proven herself merciless when punishing her enemies.
Olivier’s influence is so strong that she manages to command the rough soldiers at Fort Briggs. Her reputation precedes her so much that enemies fear having to face Fort Briggs in a fight. Olivier is cunning, commanding, and competitive - traits that make her a ruthless and incredibly powerful character.
12 Tatsumaki (One Punch Man)
One Punch Man is about a superhero who can take out anyone with a single punch. Yet, Tatsumaki is a contender to take Saitama's punch. Nicknamed the "Tornado of Terror," she is one of the most powerful of the S-Class Rank Two heroes in the Hero Association's roster.
As an esper, Tatsumaki can create psychic barriers, telekinetically pick up and throw things around and control people's Chi energy to paralyze or inflict horrible pain without ever touching them. Her nickname likely comes from her ability to also whip up powerful psychic whirlwinds to blow away several targets in one fell swoop.
11 Big Mom (One Piece)
Charlotte Linlin, also known as Big Mom: Captain of the Big Mom Pirates, Queen of Totto Land, and one of One Piece's legendary four Emperors. Big Mom wants Totto Land to be a paradise, but she exacts a heavy tax on her subjects.
Big Mom uses the Soru Soru no Mi Devil Fruit to manipulate any living or inanimate thing by transferring a human soul into it to grant it life as a "Homie." The human loses some or all of their life force, a power she uses to control her underlings. Prometheus the sun, Zeus the thundercloud, and Napoleon the bicorne are her best creations, which she uses to also manipulate the weather.
10 Ragyo Kiryuin (Kill la Kill)
In Kill La Kill, Ragyo Kiryuin is the CEO of the Revocs Corporation, Chair of Honnoji Academy, and the secret evil mastermind behind everything. She was the first human to ever be infused with Life Fibers, and her alpha matriarchal status allows her to easily overpower others armored with Life Fiber uniforms (known as Kamui.)
Ragyo's superhuman abilities make her strong enough to break her daughter Satsuki's Bakuzan. Additionally, she recovers from losing her head in no time at all. Ragyo's most sinister skill is "Mind Stitching," which lets her sew Life Fibers into a person's brain, so she can work them like a puppet. She can also fly - even in space.
9 Shihouin Yoruichi (Bleach)
Bleach is bursting with awesome powerful people, but Shihouin Yoruichi is among the best. When fans first meet this shinigami, she has been living as a cat in the human world for a century. Eventually, it is revealed that she was something of a big deal in Soul Society.
In or out of feline form, Yoruichi is a master of Hoho, Shunpo, Kido, and fighting techniques she made up herself. She is so proficient in hand-to-hand combat, she does not even need her Zanpakuto. Apart from her use of lightning, Yoruichi is best known for her speed. She can move fast enough to leave an after-image behind and defeat multiple foes instantaneously, earning her the nickname: "Flash Goddess."
8 Boa Hancock (One Piece)
Known as the Snake Princess of Amazon Lily, and with the Love Love Devil Fruit's power to use people's feelings of desire to turn them to stone, the beautiful Boa Hancock is One Piece's answer to Medusa. She is also one of the show's Seven Warlords and Captain of the Kuja Pirates. In One Piece, reputations are measured in bounties, and hers stands at 80,000,000.
Boa's bounty is hardly surprising, considering that she casually knocks out scores of Pacifistas by herself, while the entire Straw Hat crew spends two years training to defeat just one. Boa Hancock is also proficient in two types of the strange spiritual power, Haki, one of which only one in a million can master.
7 Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail)
In Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel might be the lord of the flame, but Erza Scarlet is just as fiery. She is in the top percentage of S-Class Mages, even becoming Master of the Fairy Tail Guild while Master Makarov is gone. Erza is a weapons specialist, with over two hundred swords, staffs, axes, and more at her disposal thanks to her "Requip: The Knight" spatial magic.
Her command of telekinetic Sword Magic also enables her to perform a range of multi-piercing, blade-based moves. Erza has over one hundred types of armor packed away too, the strongest of these is the Armadura Fairy armor, which is powerful enough to not only destroy a sacred lance but shatter itself in the process.
6 Android 18 (Dragon Ball)
It is hard to measure up to a Saiyan, but Dragon Ball's Android 18 has shown her mettle time and time again. Like many of the franchise's characters, the robotic fighter began as an adversary and morphed into one of the family. Her brute strength can bust handcuffs, lift and throw big vehicles, smash Future Trunks' sword, and break Vegeta's arm with one kick. Like a Saiyan, she can fly and perform a large array of energy-based attacks.
One of Android 18's biggest advantages is that she has an endless supply of energy that never needs replenishing; a limitless stamina she puts to good use when she takes down Goten and Trunks simultaneously during the Buu Saga.