When watching anime, it's no great surprise to see immensely skilled fighters from all schools of combat, some with the help of more otherworldly powers in their arsenal. We all have seen iconic techniques that possess incredible strength like the Kamehameha, the Detroit Smash, the Spirit Gun, Rasengan, and Fourth Gear, but rarely do we talk about the weaponry of anime.
Everyone admires the charm of a mighty sword or gun, especially the bigger it is, and the more damage that it can inflict on the victims of our favorite characters. With this list, we'll be looking at 10 of anime's most powerful hardware to grace the screen. We will undoubtedly miss some of your favorites, so be sure to let us know about them in the comments.
10 Toyako Bokuto
The primary weapon of Sakata Gintoki, who claims he purchased the sword as a souvenir during a trip to Lake Toya, the Toyako Bokuto. In Gintama, it is a legendary artifact known as the Star Smasher forged from the wood of a ten-thousand-year-old tree from another planet, possessed by the spirit of a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses. While the weapon routinely breaks throughout the series, he orders replacements from a television shopping network. The sword's unique ability to slice through nearly anything like a gigantic metal cannon, while remaining wood, make the Toyako Bokuto the most dangerous piece of timber in all of anime.
9 The Punisher
A weapon whose weight became jokingly attributed to its mercy would bring the lesser man crumbling to his knees under its 300 pound, 5 foot 7 frame. There are around ten in existence, and each one was handmade, capable of outputting a tremendous amount of power. Wolfwood's Punisher from the Trigun series resembles an enormous crucifix, with each end of the cross being a unique and deadly weapon. With a machine gun on one end, a rocket launcher on the other, and 4 pistols on both sides, the Punisher remains a true powerhouse of offense.
8 Dimension Sword
The iconic sword of Yu Yu Hakusho's, Kuwabara, somewhat of an offspring to the spirit sword, remains one of the strongest in all of anime. The Dimension Sword is the life force of Kuwarbabra, the manifestation of his fighting spirit that he's able to channel into a glowing beam of focused energy. Initially, he was only capable of manifesting the powers of the spirit sword, but by the end of the series, he was able to cut through the very fabric of the dimension. The Dimension Sword has the power to cut through anything in existence; there are no known defenses against its attacks.
7 Tessaiga
The primary weapon of the dog-human half breed, Inuyasha, the infamous Demon Blade. The Tessaiga, forged from the fangs of his demon father, is said to possess the power to kill 100 demons with a single strike.
Notorious among demons of the underworld, the sword of destruction, has the ability to learn the techniques and powers of any beast slain with the weapon. It even maintains defensive capabilities like creating a barrier to protect the wielder. The sword takes on multiple forms throughout the series, from turning red, black, developing scales, and even bursting into flames.
6 Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon
While penned as somewhat of a joke in Gintama because of its unusual likeness to the male reproductive organ, the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon is a tremendously powerful weapon. In the series, it exists as a legendary and powerful weapon utilized by the original Amanto that arrived in Edo, allowing them to take control of the country. The legendary device played an instrumental role in numerous galactic wars that helped to shape the power and politics of the universe. If it is strong enough to dominate the cosmos, then it's strong enough to take a spot on our list.
5 The Dragon Slayer
When you have a name like The Dragon Slayer, and you stand taller than the size of an average human being, it's safe to say that you are probably one of the most powerful weapons in existence. The primary sword of Guts from the Berserk manga and anime is a massive slab of metal crafted by a famous blacksmith, after being tasked by a local king to forge a weapon powerful enough to kill a dragon. Tempered by the blood of demons and evil spirits alike, the sword exists as the only known weapon to have damaged a member of the God Hand, the most vicious and elite group of demons in the universe, who threw the entire planet into chaos.
4 Spear Of Longinus
The Spear Of Longinus, an ancient extraterrestrial artifact created by an ancestral race of humanoids that played a role in all of the impacts featured in Neon Genesis Evangelion, is a weapon of immense power. The spear resembles a massive, double helix styled red bident capable of killing interdimensional god-like creatures.
Playing an integral part in the third impact, it managed to spare the universe from absolute destruction, taking EVA unit 01 and disappearing into space. Equipped with an individual intelligence and its own free will, the Spear Of Longinus exists as an organic weapon said to possess enough power to repair the earth.
3 Death Note
The weapon made famous by Light Yagami in the series, which shares the same name, Death Note, has the potential to wreak havoc on the entire planet. Originally, a notebook wielded by the gods of death to maintain their life force by entering human names and their cause of death upon its pages, killing whoever's marked down and returning that life to the god of death. However, when it falls into lights hands, the Death Note becomes a killing machine of epic proportions, sending society into a downward spiral of crippling anxiety and fear. The fact that it allows the user to write ANY person name down as well as the way they will die, without any method to counteract it, makes the Death Note a nearly unbeatable weapon.
2 Sword Of Rupture
The very sword of Gilgamesh! The Sword Of Rupture from the Fate series is an immensely powerful weapon, capable of tearing the earth, sky, and space in half. It would be an injustice to its strength to consider it just a weapon, with its ability to expose all truth and decimate nearly anything it touches; its more of a calamity than a device used for combat. When used to its greatest potential, a single attack possess enough energy to produce an abyss strong enough to annihilate all creation, a swirling hole of darkness that reinvents all matter which enters and reconstructs the world.
1 Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
The Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann stands at the top of the list as the single most powerful weapon and mecha in existence. It reaches well over the size of its predecessor, being larger than the known universe, and with a power level that draws from an infinite multiverse of energy; it's safe to say that nothing can compare to its strength. The mecha's ultimate form, the Super Tengen Toppa Giga Drill, forces it to take the shape of a giant drill bit, growing in size to be 20 trillion light-years in height. It is a weapon that's primary function is manipulating reality, time, space, matter, and existence itself. In the wrong hands, it would spell disaster for all creation.