The best anime swordsmen and swords users are the ones who understand the essence of the sword and use it to its maximum potential to perform incredible feats of skill and power. They strike their foes with deadly accuracy and defend themselves from incoming attacks with ease. From the classic heroes to the more modern heroes and anti-heroes of anime and manga, these are the 10 best anime swordsmen and swords users.
Here are the 10 strongest anime swordsmen and swords users of all time
Many anime and manga series feature great sword-wielding heroes and villains, but the question is which one is more powerful or the best swordsman. The genre is filled with shows that feature epic battles between sword wielders, and to find the best swordsman in the whole anime series, these are the top 10 best anime swordsmen and the best sword users of all time.
10. Kirito (Sword Art Online)
Yeah, the famous dual wielder, the black swordsman, Kirito. He had defeated bosses like Gleam Eyes that no one else had been able to defeat before, received the Dual Wield in SAO with the fastest reaction time, and was the only person who defeated the SAO and the Alfheim Online and won the GGO Bullet of Bullets Tournament.
He is definitely one of the best swordsmen and OP characters in anime. OP enough to play shooting games with a laser sword. He rarely loses combat when he uses his two swords and demonstrates incredible speed and strength.
He knows a lot about RPGs, and his kendo knowledge and experience make him an OP character. Kirito is sure one of the greatest swordsmen in anime and the best solo player of all time.
09. Goemon (Lupin The Third)
The Lupin series isn’t exactly the first title that crosses anyone’s mind when the topic shifts to overpowered characters, but can we take a step back and look at Goemon’s insane feats. With Goemon, the show takes realism and throws it out the window in hilariously entertaining ways.
I’m not just talking about one man army moment. What makes him overpowered is how his sword can just slice through anything literally. I mean, airplanes, cars, trucks, anything heck, even meteors and lightning are no match against his almighty Zantetsuken.
08. Hiko Seijuro (Rurouni Kenshin)
It takes a monster of a man to be the master and mentor to the notorious Battousai but that description doesn’t exactly describe Hiko Seijuro, does it? First impressions can be misleading and while he does look cool and powerful, Seijuro doesn’t seem to be an absolute top-tier fighter.
Well, he’s strong but to the point where his involvement would have quickly ended the whole Shishio fiasco. No one in Rurouni Kenshin can even come close to this guy. It’s just a shame that he doesn’t have a lot of chances to show his actual prowess in the show. It’s in the personality, after all.
He doesn’t get too involved with the story in its events but given that he’s the one who trained Kenshin and how he demolishes all competition when he does show up. It’s clear as day that Hiko Seijuro is the most powerful character in Rurouni Kenshin.
07. King Bradley (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)
The unstoppable King Bradley. Owner of the ultimate all-seeing eye but a broken ability does not make a badass overpowered swordsman. For all the hype behind the powers of precognition, King Bradley as both a character and a fighter isn’t solely defined by it.
If it were me, I’d say that King Bradley strikes fear in the hearts of enemies due to his sheer skill in swordsmanship. Being a Homunculus, he naturally has augmented physical abilities, agility, reflexes, all of that sort of stuff.
He’s not the biggest powerhouse the series has to offer but he’s by far one of the best dualists here, who is able to turn numbers disadvantages into easy and memorable wins. Then you remember that ultimate eye I talked about that more or less brings everything over the edge and you can see how Bradley has maintained his hold over power for so long. It makes his eventual defeat all the more cathartic and built Scar up so much.
06. Guts (Berserk)
We couldn’t have this list without Guts too. Guts is just the type of character that oozes badass edgy energy with his every movement. The design speaks for itself and he fits seamlessly in the gritty no-nonsense storytelling that Berserk gives us. I don’t exactly know where to start with Guts because he just has so many moments worth talking about in the show.
Probably the most popular amongst them is the one where he defeats 100 soldiers, a shining moment where he not only shows off his power but his durability as well.
Berserk’s filled with badass characters but none of them embody the word as much as Guts himself. Among the characters we’ve covered so far, he’s by far the perfect raid boss. A pure juggernaut of power and hardiness.
05. Afro Samurai (Afro Samurai)
Afro Samurai is not too known but who else can get a short anime series all meant to show how awesome he is. Yet the whole premise of Afro Samurai is his quest to be the strongest and how amazing he is in the road to glory.
From the get-go, we get treated with one man army moment after another in a series that pulls no punches in depicting violence and how unstoppable Afro really is. In terms of having strength, it’s just impossible to wrap our heads around. I admit that Afro falls a bit short compared to someone like King Bradley, but that doesn’t detract from his overpowered and badass.
This is something you must see to believe, so head on over, start watching the show’s five episodes and be dazzled at the might of Afro Samurai.
04. Levi (Attack on Titan)
Does Levi count? Well, he’s pretty overpowered as they come. He’s not humanity’s strongest soldier for nothing. It’s been almost a decade since Levi first graced our screens with his jaw-dropping feet and it’s great that he’s still going strong.
He’s still as overpowered as they come and even in the later seasons of Attack on Titan, you can see that he’s pretty much a one-man army. Some people even go as far as to say that he’s the one person single-handedly keeping the balance of power between humanity and titans in check.
We all know that Eren’s the big star in the finale of Attack on Titan, but Levi has left quite a legacy in his wake. His Zeke battles are moments immortalised in every Attack on Titan fan’s life and everyone knows how epic seeing him slice and dice his way to titans will always be.
03. Kenpachi (Bleach)
Bleach poster chart for overpowered swordsman Kenpachi. You know part of me wanted to give the title to Aizen or Juha from the upcoming thousand year blood war arc. However, the latter’s manga exclusive for now and the former feels like a mage in terms of fighting.
However, in honest brutal no-holds-barred sword fights without deriving into the manga only spoiler territory for to be revealed swordsmen and swordswomen, few can come close to Kenpachi.
Kenpachi is the series definition of an overpowered monster that’s virtually impossible to stop. Whereas most shinigami use magical powers from their swords, Kenpachi just prefers to face his battles head-on.
Direct combat and getting down, if we’re going to let the anime’s combat record speak, it’s a pretty damn effective tactic, isn’t it? Kenpachi hasn’t really lost a single fight so far. Will the thousand-year blood war arc be finally when Kenpachi finds his match? Let’s wait and see.
02. Mihawk (One Piece)
From the One Piece universe, the undisputed king of the sword is Mihawk. There’s a good reason to fear Mihawk. Titled the strongest swordsman in the world. His appearance alone strikes into his opponents a very powerful presence but wait until you get to actually see what he’s capable of. To which he’s defeated Zoro handily and you know you’re pretty badass to have dueled with shanks multiple times.
With those credentials under his belt, seeing him lay waste to entire fleets of ships or flexing his power against gigantic icebergs does seem like child’s play.
He has no devil fruit but I wouldn’t blame you if he thought that he had one.
01. Utsuro (Gintama)
In all my years of watching anime, I don’t think that any anime swordsman comes close to Utsuro in terms of being overpowered. We’re talking about a guy who can outright defy death here. Besides those gimmicks, Utsuro himself is as skilled as they come in combat. He’s the type of person who would take on an entire protagonist party and come out on top without breaking a sweat.
Considering how many top-tier swordsmen Gintama has, I mean that’s a feat by itself but then you add all those immortality gimmicks, it’s no wonder there’s an entire arc about him wanting to die in a blaze of glory and having to take the whole universe with him.
It does take a whole load of plot contrivances and combinations from the protagonists and allies to finally put him down that’s just a testament to how broken he really is. There is no doubt that Utsuro is the strongest swordsman in all the anime.
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