A common archetype in the world of anime is the overpowered hero. Whether they're the strongest warriors of their worlds or are literal gods, there's theoretically no way to defeat these anime powerhouses. But believe it or not, some of these overpowered beings actually lost.
Some of these defeats were completely accidental while some were well-deserved, but what they all share in common is that the overpowered heroes lost in the weirdest and most ridiculous ways imaginable. Some may have been intentionally humiliating, while others were unintentionally hilarious.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
10 One Piece - Zoro's Swordsmanship Lost To Mihawk's Dinner Knife
Zoro is one of the best swordsmen in all of One Piece, but even he was nothing to Dracule Mihawk. During his first encounter with him, Zoro was barely a blip on his legendary opponent's radar. Bored at the prospect of fighting yet another wannabe swordsman, Mihawk used his tiny dinner knife to fend off Zoro's three katanas.
Mihawk showed Zoro the huge gap between their skill and power levels by besting him with his personal eating utensil. To Zoro's credit, his raw but otherwise determined fighting prowess impressed Mihawk enough that he unsheathed his main sword and cut the Straw Hats' resident swordsman down in a dignified way.
9 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Josuke Got Trapped In Paper
Outlandish Stand abilities are the norm in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but this particular one from Diamond Is Unbreakable takes the cake. The unbeatable Josuke and Crazy Diamond occasionally found themselves at the mercy of enemy Stands, but their momentary loss to Terunosuke Miyamoto and Enigma was one of the most hilariously weird.
Enigma has the power to trap anyone or anything in paper, and this is exactly what happens to Josuke a few minutes after he encounters Miyamoto. For the remainder of Miyamoto's mini-arc, Josuke is uselessly stuck in his paper prison as Yuya Fungami desperately tries to break him out while dealing with Enigma's increasingly ridiculous paper traps.
8 My Hero Academia - Deku's Body Rejects His Own Ability
As the ninth inheritor of One For All, Izuku Midoriya has to train his body to adapt to My Hero Academia's mightiest of Quirks. Problem is, it's literally too powerful for anyone, turning Midoriya's greatest blessing into his own worst enemy. If he's not careful, Midoriya could seriously harm himself from just using even a fraction of One For All.
This was hilarious in the opening arcs where Midoriya found himself caught up in super-powered slapstick shenanigans made at his expense, but it took a serious turn later on. That said, constantly losing to your own Superman-tier superpowers has a darkly comical and ironic ring to it.
7 One-Punch Man - Saitama's One-Hit Kills Spell Personal Defeat
As One Punch Man's title implies, Saitama can end any fight in just one punch. This isn't badass or epic for him, though, since the lack of any credible challenge or threat has turned his life into a miserable bore. In short, every time Saitama defeats a giant monster or an alien villain, it's yet another loss for him.
Since every fight ends the same way, Saitama gave up on ever finding a worthy opponent. The closest he came to an actual brawl was against Lord Boros, who miraculously survived a barrage of Saitama's punches and traded blows with him. Only Saitama can defeat what would be another shonen anime's final boss in one strike and still go home feeling like he lost.
6 KonoSuba - Megumin Deliberately Knocks Herself Out By Spamming Explosion
Like in every fantasy story out there, mages are indispensable party members in KonoSuba, which is where Megumin fits. Thing is, she's a parody of the typically useful fantasy mage. Megumin is a master of the realm's most powerful nuclear spell, Explosion, and nothing else, and she has a crippling addiction to casting it.
Because Explosion drains all of her mana and stamina after one hit, Megumin can only blame herself whenever she gets knocked out immediately after casting it. However, her pyromania and addiction to the dopamine rush that hits when her mana gets depleted only encourages her to cast Explosion as many times as she can.
5 Dragon Ball - Gotenks' Ego Ensures His Own Defeats
In Dragon Ball, the Z Fighters can fuse into a new fighter who's a combination of their best and worst traits. Unfortunately for Goten and Trunks, their fusion in Gotenks is them at their worst and most immature. Gotenks is actually one of the most powerful Z Fighters, but he prioritizes looking cool over actually protecting the Earth.
More than once, Gotenks charged headfirst into battle because it was the badass thing to do. This almost always ends with him getting summarily beaten up and scolded for being stupidly childish at the worst possible moments. Of course, Gotenks couldn't care less and is more than excited to do it all over again.
4 The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya - Haruhi Got Deleted From Reality By An Annoyed Robot
The big twist of The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya is that Haruhi is actually a reality warping goddess. This explains her eccentricity and why the universe always seems to conspire in her favor. As much as they love her, the SOS Brigade can only handle so much of Haruhi's craziness. This hit an extreme in the movie The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, where a ticked off Yuki basically erased Haruhi.
Yuki is an android who monitors Haruhi and protects Kyon. Not only did she bottle up her frustrations with Haruhi's madcap nature, but she witnessed all of the Endless Eight time loops without her memories resetting. Though it was temporary, Yuki was still able to write a literal goddess out of her life for the comparatively petty need to enjoy some momentary peace and quiet.
3 Hellsing Ultimate - Alucard Got Deleted From Reality By A Nazi Catboy
As the original vampire, Hellsing Ultimate's Alucard is an immortal force of death and destruction who leaves few if any survivors. The Major knew this when he declared war on Alucard, admitting that Millennium's brute strength would be futile in a fight. His solution to this was Schrodinger: a literal Nazi catboy with reality-warping powers.
By unknowingly absorbing Schrodinger's blood, Alucard fell victim to Schrodinger's ability to be everywhere and nowhere at once. Basically, Alucard accidentally erased himself from reality. While this was a clever way to beat an unstoppable force like Alucard, it's incredibly silly when given some extra thought.
2 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - Weevil Underwood Threw Yugi's Exodia Cards Overboard
Early in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yugi was incredibly overpowered thanks to Yami's help and Exodia the Forbidden One. Exodia is comprised of five cards which guarantee instant victory if Yugi draws all five and completes the set. Since he has the King of Games on his side, Yugi has a high chance of summoning Exodia during duels.
While on the way to Duelist Kingdom, the minor villain Weevil Underwood beat Exodia not through card strategy, but by flinging the game-breaking cards overboard. Yugi still remained nigh-unbeatable in children's card games with Yami's guidance, but his overpowered status was knocked down a peg after the godlike Exodia was thrown away like trash.
1 Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt - Stocking Randomly Turned Evil & Diced Up Panty
By the end of the insane Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt, Panty regained her angelic powers and was stronger than she ever was. Despite being able to pierce the heavens and summon her godly mother Judgment, Panty was randomly killed by Stocking, who off-handedly revealed that she was a demon in the anime's last seconds.
Stocking chopped up Panty into 666 pieces and scattered them across the land. Beyond her high-strung friendship with Panty, there was no hint of Stocking's demonic allegiance or murderous intent before this bizarre finale. Panty's death was more farcical than anything else and, unsurprisingly, it was all intentional on the creators' end.