Every anime fan has seen this at least once. A character that seems like they're totally helpless; they might allow themselves to get bullied, they may even purposefully let themselves get beat up. They don't seem able to defend themselves against someone that's bigger and seemingly stronger than they are, and they aren't even trying.
But then something sets them off. Perhaps the bully bothers someone else, perhaps they insulted a friend. Whatever it is, a character everyone believed was weak suddenly reveals themselves to be one of the most powerful characters on the show, and issues a proper thrashing to someone shortly afterward.
10 Genkai Pretends To Be A Weak Old Lady Before The Dark Tournament (Yu Yu Hakusho)
When Genkai is first introduced, she takes on the role of an old lady with an acerbic wit. She doesn’t seem to care that someone has come to her home with the intention of learning her Spirit Wave and using it for evil.
She also seems like she’s powerless to stop it at first, leaving it in the hands of Yusuke to do so if it’s going to be done. But then when Yusuke needs to get ready to fight her old Spirit Detective partner Toguro, Genkai shows off her true strength, helping him become strong enough to at least participate in the tournament.
9 Vash the Stampede Tries To Avoid Having Anyone Realize Who He Is (Trigun)
The opening episodes of Trigun feature Vash trying to pretend like he’s not Vash the Stampede. His non-violent nature sees him go out of his way to avoid using weapons to solve situations.
When he does fight though, he quickly proves everything people say about him correct —from his incredible talent to the destruction left everywhere he goes. And later Vash is revealed to have a third gun made out of his arm that can blow a hole in the moon.
8 Gohan Pretends To Be A Weak Nerd To Help His Disguise As Great Saiyaman (Dragon Ball Z)
After the Cell Saga, Gohan goes out of his way to lead a normal life. So much so that he takes on a new identity as the Great Saiyaman when he’s going to school while also wanting to do good.
This means he’s effectively a superhero in the Buu Saga timeline, one that’s gaining fame when the series begins again. Meanwhile, at school, he pretends to be a helpless nerd to throw people off from guessing what his true abilities are, though eventually someone figures him out anyway.
7 Rando Pretends To Be Harmless Until He's In The Finals Of The Tournament (Yu Yu Hakusho)
When Yusuke starts his first real job for the Spirit Detective position, it’s to head to Genkai and learn how to fight under her. But before he can do so, he’s also asked to discover the criminal Rando, whose goal is to learn Genkai’s abilities for the sake of killing people with them.
Rando hides their power early on, and while he’s still a martial artist, he tries to make everyone think he’s one of the weaker ones there until there’s only him and Yusuke remaining and the winner becomes Genkai’s student.
6 Isshin Kurosaki Pretends To Be A Human Doctor But Is Actually A Shinigami Captain (Bleach)
Isshin Kurosaki seems like a well-meaning but otherwise clueless guy who has no idea what’s going on in his son Ichigo’s life. Since Ichigo’s battles take place in the Spirit World, he has no reason to notice anything wrong with his kid.
People believe him to be a regular guy for much of the series... until it’s revealed that Isshin is actually a Shinigami as well. And not only was he a Shinigami, but he was one of the most powerful Shinigami and a former Captain of the 10th division.
5 Colonel Hughes Seems Like A Hapless Father Obsessed With His Family, But Is Actually Incredibly Good At His Job (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Maes Hughes was a jokester who worked alongside Roy Mustang, constantly showing everyone who was within range pictures of his wife and kid. It felt like that was the only thing he was good at, especially since even Mustang would often berate him for not getting to work.
But they reveal that not only was this mostly an act, but Hughes was an incredibly talented soldier at one point, though he didn’t have the ability to use alchemy.
4 Joseph Joestar Acts Like A Helpless Old Man Until He's Forced To Fight (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
Joseph Joestar was basically the opposite of his grandfather Jonathan. While Jonathan was completely serious about every fight, having been honed by training to fight his adopted brother Dio, Joseph was completely different.
Joseph got to live his own life, often pretending to be weak or helpless only to later reveal he had a plan to take his opponent down the entire time. Even when he ages, he takes advantage of his old age in the hopes of being able to beat his opponent while they aren’t taking him seriously.
3 Kenshin Himura Pretends To Be Helpless As A Way Of No Longer Leading His Assassin Life (Rurouni Kenshin)
When Kenshin is introduced, people naturally underestimate him because he’s trying not to appear dangerous. His tiny build and general disposition mean people don’t notice what he’s actually capable of.
At first, he even tries to convince Kaoru to stop trying to teach her sword-style, warning her that fighting only leads to death. However, when he’s forced to battle, Kenshin’s true technique is revealed, placing him as one of the strongest swordsmen that ever lived in that world.
2 Zenitsu Is Actually Helpless Until He Falls Asleep (Demon Slayer)
Technically, Zenitsu isn’t “pretending” to be weak. He’s literally scared of everything and doesn’t want to fight as a Slayer in the first place. But he’s mastered the first form of the Thunder Breathing style and while he doesn’t know the other forms, the one form he knows has become instinctual to him.
When he’s knocked out or scared, he goes into that mode, which grants him multiple victories through the use of one of the best Sword Styles in the series.
1 Kyoshiro Mibu Pretends To Be Helpless But Is The Strongest Swordsman Of All Time (Samurai Deeper Kyo)
Kyoshiro is one of the main characters of Samurai Deeper Kyo. When the show begins, he’s working as a medicine man and trying to help people as much as possible. But it turns out he’s got the soul of a powerful swordsman inside of him, which leaves him facing off against enemies everywhere.
Not only that, but the soul of the swordsman inside of him, Demon-Eyes Kyo, has only had one rival: Kyoshiro Mibu. Underneath the facade, Kyoshiro is a swordsman with such power it’s almost impossible to defeat him.