There are many cool animes, but choosing the best anime characters from a wide range of options can be tricky. Anime characters are often hyperbolized versions of real people with grandiose personalities and amped-up looks. The coolest anime characters are almost mythical entities we’d love to be. Some are the epitome of goofiness, and others are serious, but the ones we’ve dedicated our list to are the coolest.
When the storyline is backed with weird and wonderful Japanese folklore, it creates even more badass anime characters. Let’s dig deeper into the world of these cool anime characters and explore their exceptional qualities and interesting backstories. There’s a fair share of not-so-noble samurai, like the ones from series like Samurai Champloo and Drifters. There is also a good chunk of assassins, and watching them do their thing is dope!
Which Anime Character Has the Most Fans?
All famous anime characters come with a dedicated fanbase willing to go to war for them. Of these, Goku is undoubtedly a character with the most fans. He has been the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball series for 32 years. His strength, charms, and humor have drawn fans far and wide. People love him and the series so much that they have shown commitment by getting inked with dragon ball tattoos.
Apart from Goku’s strength, his ability to turn his enemies into friends is one of his greatest assets. Fans love seeing his character transform from a bratty boy to the Earth’s most excellent defender, which is why he is one of the most popular anime characters ever.
Some anime characters are just as human as we are, but many have incredible superhuman powers. Scroll down to check out our list of the coolest top anime characters ever! Whether it’s from old-school anime or new shows, upvote the ones you love the most, and share this article with your anime-loving friends.
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#2 Alucard - "Hellsing"
Alucard, the immortal vampire from the Hellsing family, is a creation of Kouta Hirano and can be met in the Hellsing manga and anime series. Alucard (also formerly known as Count Dracula) is known for his ferocious and cruel fighting style, although he's the series' protagonist. To lessen the blow of his dark traits, Alucard was given dandy-like outfits and stylish guns. While it is fun to know that Alucard is basically immortal and unbeatable, later in the series, the character of Father Alexander Anderson was created to be a match in powers to the vicious vampire.
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84points
#3 Saitama - "One-Punch Man"
Saitama is the forever-bored superhero from the anime and manga series created by One and illustrated by Yusuke Murata, called One-Punch Man. He's a bald 25-year-old man who's fed up with fighting villains because he can defeat anyone with just one punch. Saitama became a hero 'just for the fun of it' and attributes this superhuman strength mainly to his exercise routine and healthy eating habits. While we all know that it is quite far-fetched (however much we'd like it to be true), Saitama is still an absolutely believable and even relatable character.
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80points
#4 Guts - "Berserk"
Guts is the protagonist of the medieval Europe-inspired dark fantasy manga by Kentaro Miura, called Berserk. Guts is a mercenary traveling from company to company and seeking to fulfill his calling. However, after one unlucky encounter, Guts loses his left forearm and right eye and seeks revenge on the wrongdoer. His story is that of a hero slowly turning into an anti-hero, and his character arc is so impressive with its embodiment of painful topics that Guts has become one of the most iconic manga and anime characters.
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76points
#5 Spike Spiegel - "Cowboy Bebop"
Spike Spiegel is a fictional character and the protagonist of the legendary 1998 anime series Cowboy Bebop, which just got a Netflix live-action remake. Spike is a former member of the criminal Red Dragon Syndicate that he left by faking his own death. Now he spends his days as a member of a bounty hunter crew aboard the spaceship Bebop. Spike's creator Shinichirō Watanabe said that the character's calm, collected, and secretive demeanor was inspired by real-life yakuza, so if you want a nice study of the criminal element, Spike Spiegel would be a good place to start.
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74points
#6 Gintoki Sakata - "Gin Tama"
Gintoki Sakata is a fictional character and the protagonist in the Gin Tama manga and anime series franchise created by Hideaki Sorachi. He's a former rebel samurai living in a fictionalized version of 1860s Japan after it was invaded and transformed by aliens. Before that, he fought the same aliens fiercely, but decided that there was no point in it and became a freelancer in Edo alongside his friends. A cool-as-cucumber killer, Gintoki is often mentioned as the fan-favorite character from the Gin Tama series.
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70points
#7 Hyakkimaru - "Dororo"
Hyakkimaru is the protagonist of the 1967 manga created by Osamu Tezuka. The Dororo manga was adapted to an anime series twice, and the image that you see here is from the 2019 release. Now, about Hyakkimaru - due to his father making a pact with 48 demons, Hyakkimaru was born malformed, limbless, without any facial features or internal organs. Being such, he was set afloat in a river but found by one Dr. Jukai, who gave the boy prosthesis. Because of these prostheses and the healing magic of Dr. Jukai, Hyakkimaru became invincible and determined to avenge the malevolent demons.
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68points
#8 Jotaro Kujo - "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure"
Jotaro Kujo is the main protagonist of the manga and anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure third story arc. Jotaro is depicted as this rough delinquent with a noble heart, wishing for nothing else but to save his mother's life and avenge his bloodline's sworn enemy Dio Brando. Jotaro's character was highly influenced by Clint Eastwood's stoic persona with a bit of added heroism. The character was so well-written that Jotaro even became a synonym of the manga and anime series as a whole.
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65points
#11 Yusuke Urameshi - "Yu Yu Hakusho"
Yusuke Urameshi, a fourteen-year-old junior high school delinquent, is the protagonist of Yoshihiro Togashi's 1990 manga YuYu Hakusho, which later got adapted to an anime series. Although Yusuke starts his story as a no-good teenager, one selfless deed gets him killed, and because the Underworld doesn't have a place for him yet, he's sent back to continue his life on Earth as an Underworld detective. Later on, we learn that Yusuke is a descendant of the demon king Raize, but that doesn't interfere with his plan of opening a ramen stand and helping humans and demons cooperate.
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61points
Who Is the Most Loved Female Anime Character?
Female characters in animes might often seem like one-dimensional love interests. But the truth is that they are just as diverse, powerful, engaging, and extraordinary as their male counterparts. It might be surprising, but one of the best female anime characters is Chihiro from Spirited Away. This is because she is realistically depicted, and the film covers her journey from being a whiny child to slowly maturing. Chihiro’s experiences and journey into adulthood won the hearts of many and made her one of the most popular female anime characters.
#14 Mugen - "Samurai Champloo"
Mugen is a fictional character from the 2004 anime series Samurai Champloo. Besides having the coolest premise of a fictionalized version of the Edo period of Japan, it included one of the most awesome hip-hop soundtracks created by Nujabes, Fat Jon, Force of Nature, and Shinji Tsuchida. But let's go back to Mugen - he's a vagrant outlaw from the Ryukyu Islands with a deep mistrust stemming from his harsh and solitary life since childhood. Immature and kinda silly, Mugen uses self-taught sword techniques to fight anyone that gets in his way on the quest to find the Sunflower Samurai together with his friends.
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58points
#16 Vash The Stampede - "Trigun"
Vash The Stampede is the protagonist of Trigun, a manga created by Yasuhiro Nightow in 1995, which later got adapted into an anime series. Although the most-feared outlaw in the No Man's Land/Gunsmoke planet, Vash is not your regular kill-all action hero. He's actually known for his kind heart and sparing his enemies’ lives; a refreshing plot twist, if you'd ask us. His mixture of seriousness and goofiness hooked the fans quickly, and Vash The Stampede is often met in various coolest anime characters lists.
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56points
#19 Kogami Shinya - "Psycho-Pass"
Shinya Kogami is the protagonist of the 2012 anime series called Psycho-Pass. Shinya is a police officer in a cyberpunk dystopia obsessed with killing a criminal mastermind responsible for one of his allies' death. Kogami was given a strong sense of individualism to oppose the series's general vibe and stand out in the dystopian setting. He's a well-written character with an enviably good psychological growth arc written into him that made Kogami into one of the coolest anime characters ever.
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53points
#20 Kenshiro - "Fist Of The North Star"
Kenshiro is the protagonist of the Fist Of The North Star manga created by Tetsuo Hara and Buronson, which later got adapted into an anime series. What makes Kenshiro an inherently cool character is the fact that his design was heavily based on Bruce Lee and the Mad Max film series. Kenshiro also has the ability to kill his enemies using their meridian points - a bloodless, stealthy end. Because of his undeniably boss characteristics, Kenshiro is often considered one of the anime series' strongest characters.
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51points