Summary
Shonen Jumphas published various stories across multiple decades, but the biggest hallmark of their brand is undoubtedly their action stories. Some of the most popular action stories inanimeand manga have come out ofShonen Jump, and going right along with that, they’ve become popular thanks in large part to how bombastic and over-the-top they make their action, either gradually or from the very start.
An action story that comes out ofShonen Jumpwill likely be as over-the-top as possible, and the characters involved in those stories tend to go along with that.
Whether it’s from the very start of their stories or near the end of them,manyShonen Jumpstories tend to have characters who have grown to have utterly ridiculous levels of power compared to the rest of the cast, and that’s true of both the heroes and the villains. SomeShonen Jumpcharacters have particularly stood out in that regard, and each one is especially worth highlighting.
The entries on this list will focus on stories published specifically inWeekly Shonen Jumpand not any of its spinoff magazines.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Cast
Jujutsu Kaisen follows Yuji Itadori, a high school student with extraordinary strength, who becomes intertwined with curses after ingesting a cursed object. Under the guidance of sorcerer Satoru Gojo, Yuji joins Tokyo Jujutsu High School to combat malevolent forces and navigate his new, perilous existence.
Sukuna is an ancient sorcerer from Heian-era Japan and one of the main antagonists of Gege Akutami’sJujutsu Kaisen. Both in his old life and after reemerging in modern day, Sukuna has been defined by his bloodlust, sadism, and constant need for a good fight, all of which tend to be hard to satisfy with how much stronger than other sorcerers he tends to be.
Sukuna fights with both powerful slashing techniques and a fire-based ability comparable to a thermobaric weapon, and after taking over Megumi’s body, he even adds the versatility of the Ten Shadows to his arsenal, including the nigh-indestructible Mahoraga. The biggest showing of Sukuna’s power came about from howSukuna defeated Gojo, the other character built up as one of the strongest characters inJujutsu Kaisen, and after incarnating into his original body, he’s never stopped showing off just how much stronger he is than everyone.
My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia is a multimedia franchise that follows a young boy named Izuku Midoriya, who dreams of becoming a hero despite being born without superpowers. These superpowers, known as “Quirks” are found in most people after birth, but Izuku wasn’t so lucky - until a fateful encounter with All Might, Japan’s greatest hero, Izuku inherits his Quirk and enrolls in U.A. High School to learn the true meaning of heroism. Alongside his classmates, each endowed with unique abilities, Izuku faces rigorous training and lethal threats from villainous forces.
Among the heroes in Kohei Horikoshi’sMy Hero Academia, the most notable is All Might, the idol to Izuku Midoriya and many other characters old and young. All Might dedicated his life to stamping out villainy in and out of Japan, and by the time of the story, he’d long since become regarded as the symbol of peace and the number one hero in Japan and the world, at large.
One For All might not be as flashy as other Quirks, butthe raw power of One For All puts All Might’s power on a level that not even All For One could surpass, and in his prime, his mere presence was enough to derail any villainous plot. All Might was forced to retire due to injuries, but his power is still used as a measuring stick, and it’s one that very few characters have ever been close to matching.
One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history’s longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.
Gol D. Roger, better known as “Gold Roger”, was the Pirate King in Eiichiro Oda’sOne Piece. Roger’s quest to accomplish that made him infamous among pirates and Marines, and upon his death, he set the entire story in motion by inspiring pirates to take to the seas and go after his legendary treasure, the titular One Piece, and become the new Pirate King.
Little is known about Roger’s life, but what is known paints a picture of an incredibly powerful fighter. Not only did Roger boast incredible physical abilities and mastery of advanced Conqueror’s Haki, but he was someone who explicitly outclassed Whitebeard, Kaido, and Garp in power, three characters who are often stated to be some of the strongest characters in the story.Roger’s power is something no one has ever surpassed inOne Piece, and even with the series in its final saga, that’s unlikely to change.
Medaka Box
Medaka Box is an anime adaptation centered on Kurokami Medaka, an extraordinary first-year student and new student council president at Hanokiwa Academy. With her formidable abilities, she implements a suggestion box for students, setting the stage for unique challenges that test her and her council members.
Medaka Kurokami is the titular hero of Nisio Isin and Akira Akatsuki’sMedaka Box. Medaka is introduced as the beautiful and charismatic student council president of Hakoniwa Academy, and while her conflicts start off relatively lowkey, they quickly escalate into physical battles of massive scales that often put the entire world at risk.
In addition to her superhuman physical and mental abilities, including an attack that allows her to move faster than the speed of sound, Medaka possesses two nigh-invincible abilities: God Mode, which lets her further augment her strength with various transformations, and The End, which lets her copy other superpowers and make them even stronger than they were in their original form. Najimi Ajimu, someone with over 12 quadrillion powers, once remarked thatMedaka will always win a fight by virtue of being the protagonist, and overall, there’s plenty of truth to that idea.
Naruto: Shippuden
Naruto: Shippuden follows Naruto Uzumaki as he returns to Konoha after two and a half years, facing new challenges and enemies, including the Akatsuki organization. The series continues Naruto’s journey and growth as a shinobi while navigating complex alliances and adversaries.
Kaguya Ohtsutsukiwas the overarching villain of Masashi Kishimoto’sNarutoand the one who helped form the foundations of the ninja world. Kaguya was sealed away for countless centuries by her children, but during that time, Black Zetsu, an extension of her will, manipulated people and events in the world, including Madara Uchiha, so she could return to the world and hijack the plot to trap the world in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Kaguya possesses incredible physical strength and has access to a wide variety of powerful ninjutsu, most notably her Kekkei Mora techniques that let her manifest fists of pure chakra and disintegrate people with weaponized bones.Kaguya was so powerful that Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi could only seal her away as opposed to kill her, and whileBoruto: Naruto Next Generationshas introduced characters stronger than her, Kaguya still stands as the strongest character in the originalNaruto.
Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc
Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc (2024) continues the iconic wrestling saga, exploring the backstory of Kinnikuman. This new installment delves into the origins and adventures of the protagonist and his rivals, combining humor, action, and character development. Featuring new and returning characters, it aims to captivate both long-time fans and newcomers to the series.
Kinnikuman is the titular hero ofYudetamago’sKinnikumanand the bumbling hero of Japan. Kinnikuman never fully grows out of his man-child behavior, but throughout the story, he gradually matures into a more competent person and is always the wrestler people turn to when the world and the galaxy, as a whole, end up in danger.
Not only does Kinnikuman possess a wide variety of wrestling techniques derived from both the Kinniku royal family and Prince Kamehame’s tutelage, but one early story established thatKinnikuman is strong enough to throw someone as far as Pluto, a ridiculous feat of strength that similarly puts all Chojin inKinnikumanon an incredibly high level of power. Every Chojin is capable of massive feats of strength, and as the hero of the story, Kinnikuman easily stands out as the strongest of them all.
Bleach
Bleach is a multimedia franchise created by Tite Kubo. The franchise started as a Japanese manga series. Ichigo Kurosaki is the main protagonist who is granted the powers of a being called the Soul Reaper. The success of the manga led to two anime TV shows, four feature-length animations, and several video games.
Yhwach is the leader of the Wandenreich, an ancient and villainous organization of Quincies, and the final villain ofTite Kubo’sBleach. After a fierce battle with Captain-Commander Yamamoto left Yhwach incapacitated for 1000 years, he returned to wage war on Soul Society once more and continue his mission of killing the Soul King and returning the three realms to the primordial state of old where there was no boundary between life and death.
As the king of Quincies, Yhwach’s Quincy abilities are far above other Quincies to the point that he can hold his own against someone like Yamamoto, and with his Schrift, “The Almighty,”Yhwach has the power to see the future and change it however he sees fit. Even when Yhwach was defeated, it was just barely so, and it’s hard to see him as anything other than the strongest character in all ofBleach.
Dragon Ball
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
Son Gokuis the hero of Akira Toriyama’sDragon Ball, introduced as a young boy with unnatural strength, a love of fighting, and the tail of a monkey. After growing into an adult, Goku was revealed to be a Saiyan, a nearly extinct race of powerful and bloodthirsty aliens, and learning that brought Goku and his friends into conflict with increasingly dangerous alien and generally sci-fi-based threats.
Goku was a powerful fighter from the moment he was introduced, and that only became more pronounced over the years as he continued to gain power under numerous teachers and unlocked his powerful Super Saiyan transformations. Goku has always shown off the best skill and overall power of any of the heroes, and whileDragon Ball Superand other stories have introduced characters stronger than Goku,the originalDragon Ballstill ended with Goku becoming the strongest character in the universe.
2Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo Is Nigh-Invincible Thanks To His Story’s Parody Stylings
Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
In the world of Yoshio Sawai’sBobobo-bo Bo-bobo, the world is under siege by the Chrome Dome Empire, a tyrannical empire seeking to leave everyone in the world bald. Leading the fight against them is Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, the bizarre master of the Super Fist of the Nose Hair, and in his fight against the Chrome Dome Empire, he slowly assembles a team of allies to help him who are just as weird as him, if not weirder.
Owing to the manga prioritizing comedy over logic,Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo’s titular hero has some of the greatest feats of strength of anyShonen Jumpcharacter, with things like destroying stars, moving planets, and manipulating reality all being things that take zero effort on Bobobo’s part.Bobobo-bo Bo-boboprides itself on never taking itself seriously, and thanks to that, its hero has a level of power few others can hope to match.
1Akira Toriyama Created One Of His Strongest Characters In Dr. Slump’s Arale
Dr Slump
Dr. Slumpwas the debut work of Akira Toriyama and stars Arale Norimaki, a robot created to be the perfect little girl. Arale’s naivety, superhuman strength, and bizarre personality make her anything other than that, though, and most stories involve the many misadventures she and her friends go on, many of which involve one of her father’s inventions going awry.
Much likeBobobo-bo Bo-bobo,Dr. Slumpbeing a gag story means that Arale casually has incredible feats of strength such as throwing the sun around and breaking the fourth wall to alter reality, and whenever she cameos inDragon Ball,Arale has been shown to hold her own against some ofDragon Ball’s strongest fighters without so much as breaking a sweat. There are few characters in fiction capable of what Arale does, seriously or otherwise, and that easily makes her thestrongestShonen Jumpcharacter of all time.
