Despite how destructive the element of fire is, it seems we can't just get enough of characters who wield flames as part of their superpower arsenal. Perhaps it's because we like the idea of a person controlling the destructive force rather than being a victim to it, or maybe it's just because fire looks cool. It's probably a little bit of both, but regardless, fire-powered characters, especially those in anime, are very cool and very powerful. Fire-users in anime tend to be a bit different to comic book fire-users, since powers tend to work different in anime and manga to begin with. Fire-elementals in anime use the element in a wide variety of ways, each mostly unique to each other. So, which amongst all the fire-starters in anime are the strongest?
We've narrowed down the 15 strongest fire-powered characters in all of anime, ranging from various shows, backgrounds and applications of their powers. These 15 fire-users stand amongst the others as some of the strongest in both anime and in other media, their flames burning hotter and more intense than any other. Fire is a tricky element, and as such, we won't be ranking these characters from weakest to strongest, since it would take some temperature-related math and science to truly get an accurate ranking. Instead, we just found the top 15 we know to be the strongest fire elementals in anime and gathered them into one place. Without further ado, here are the 15 strongest fire elementals in all of anime.
15 RIN OKUMURA
Starting off we have the main protagonist of Blue Exorcist, Rin Okumura, for which the series is named after, since he aims to fight demons and is known for his blue flames. In fact, those flames are part of his own demonic power resulting from being the son of Satan.
Thus, Rin's flames are the blue flames of Satan, which grant him a number of demonic abilities. On top of becoming stronger in his demon form and having the powers of telepathy and regeneration, Rin's demonic heritage gives him the power to create powerful blasts of blue fire as well as control flames with his mind. With demonic power behind them, Rin's flames are among the strongest in anime.
14 CAPTAIN YAMAMOTO
Next up is the captain of all Soul Reapers in Soul Society, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, who also founded the Gotei 13 that he commands. Captain Yamamoto's Zanpakutō is known as Ryūjin Jakka, which roughly translates to Flowing Blade-like Flame, and it grants him a number of pyrokinetic abilities.
On top of being a master swordsman and experienced fighter, Captain Yamomoto can also unlock his Zanpakutō's power and turn it into a blade of pure fire, which is just the start of its flame abilities. When using his Bankai, Captain Yamamoto and his Zanpakutō are engulfed in a blistering heat that allows his flame attacks to burn even hotter, making it clear exactly why the fire-powered Soul Reaper is the captain of the Gotei 13.
13 FIRE EMBLEM
No, we're not talking about the video game series, Fire Emblem, we're talking about the fire-powered superhero character of Tiger & Bunny. This series follows superheroes as they protect their city while competing on a reality/game show to earn points for heroics.Amongst the competing heroes is Fire Emblem, a nonbinary pyrokinetic with immense firepower.
Not only is Fire Emblem's power easily and quickly activated (something of a rarity in this world), but they also have the ability to manipulate flames like solids and increase the heat of their flames with ease. When you put it all together, Fire Emblem's power is one of the strongest in the series.
12 CYBORG 006
Cyborg 009 is one of the coolest manga/anime of all time, and it definitely needs to get a properly animated reboot in modern times. It followed 9 cyborgs from different backgrounds, countries, walks of life, etc., that are brought together to use the powers given to them for good, rather than for the world domination they were intended for.
Each 00 Cyborg had their own unique ability, and for Cyborg 006, that ability was, you guessed it, fire powers, specifically the ability to breathe fire. With this power, Cyborg 006 could melt practically anything, and could actually dig underground using his flames. Interestingly enough, 006's flames also come in handy in his day job as a cook.
11 SAILOR MARS
We couldn't do a list of fire-powered anime characters without including one of the most famous examples, Rei Hino, A.K.A. Sailor Mars of the Sailor Senshi. This Sailor Moon character is something of a fan favorite, probably because she has the coolest attacks.
Sailor Mars' fire-based attacks are flashy and cool and incredibly powerful, so it's not hard to see why people love her and her powers. Two of the character's most recognizable fire attacks are her Fire Soul, which consists of shooting a fire ball from her index fingers, and her Mars Flame Sniper, which shoots a flame arrow from her Mars Arrow weapon.
10 DABI
Dabi is a rather interesting character and villain in My Hero Academia. Though unconfirmed, the character is theorized to be a member of the Todoroki family, the son of Endeavor and brother of Shoto Todoroki. If this is true, then his immense fire power would make sense.
Dabi's power is known as cremation, a blue fire, the hottest kind of flame, that he can use to level entire forest areas without a thought. But Dabi's flames aren't just hot, he also has immense control of them, as seen in his battles in the series. Seriously, he calls his power "cremation," you know it's gotta be incredibly powerful.
9 SASUKE UCHIHA
The Uchiha clan's symbol is a fan, the reason being that their family were experts in fire jutsu techniques, thus the clan could stoke flames like a fan. This fire power is no more evident than in one of the last members of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke.
Sasuke moved away from his fire-based roots as he grew to become a villain—favoring electricity and snake-based attacks—but in his early days, he frequently used the fireball jutsu, which allows him to breath fire that can range from a small stream of flames, to a massive fireball that destroys everything in its path. He could also make dragon-shaped fire balls, which is as awesome as it sounds.
8 ROY MUSTANG
Alchemy is a complicated science, it requires great intelligence and dedication, especially when it comes to specialized forms, like Flame Alchemy, of which there is only one living master, Colonel Roy Mustang, A.K.A. the Flame Alchemist.
Mustang's Flame Alchemy is an incredibly powerful art; it is made of of two parts, using alchemy to increase the density of oxygen molecules in the air and igniting that oxygen with the use of special combustion gloves that create a spark from a snap. With these two elements, Mustang can shoot bolts of fire at his enemies and burn entire city blocks to a crisp.
7 ENDEAVOR
Dabi's flames are incredibly hot, so hot that they burn blue, which may mean that they are stronger than the flame hero of My Hero Academia, Endeavor. However, Endeavor is possibly much more skilled with his fire power, which is known as his Hellflame.
In both the anime and the chapters of the manga that have yet to be adapted, we've seen plenty of examples of Endeavor's power, which he can concentrate into super attacks. Some of these attacks include his Hell Spider, which shoots concentrated blasts of fire from his fingers, and his Prominence Burn, which shoots a massive, concentrated heat blast at his opponents to vaporize them.
6 REI OOGAMI
Next up is Rei Ogami of Code Breaker, a character with an incredibly powerful blue fire power. Known as the Flames of Puragtory, Rei's special power is said to be the strongest in the world, since it is used to judge evil and incinerate them.
On top of being able to use his standard Blue Flames, Rei can also use 6 other colors of flames, each representing a different deadly sin that he can punish. His Blue Flames act like actual fire, while others have different effects, like his Black Flames, which can burn away the special power of his opponents.
5 PORTGAS D. ACE
Arguably one of the coolest characters in One Piece, and one of the most-appreciated fire-powered characters in all of pop culture, has to be Portgas D. Ace, a pirate of White Beard's crew. Ace is the adoptive brother of One Piece protagonist, Luffy, and the son of Gol D. Roger, the pirate king whose actions spur the entire series' events.
Ace's power comes from eating the Flame-Flame fruit, which gave him the ability to turn his body into fire, earning him the nickname "Fire-Fist Ace." Ace's fire-body not only allows him to take any physical attack—since they phase right through the flames—it also makes him one of the strongest fire elementals in all of anime.
4 AGUMON (AND DIGI-VOLUTIONS)
Wether or not you were a Digimon kid or a Pokémon kid, there's no denying how cool Agumon and his digi-volutions were. The Digimon started as a miniature dinosaur-looking creature that could breathe fire, and with each different form he could digivolve into, his fire powers got stronger and stronger.
As Agumon, he could use his Pepper Breath attack, as Greymon, this fire-breathing was upgraded to his Nova Blast. From there, he digivolved to Metalgreymon, who could unleash the Powerful Flame attack from his claws. Finally, Wargreymon could obliterate his enemies with his fire attack, Terra Force, which is like a miniature sun.
3 SHOTO TODOROKI
Our third and final My Hero Academia entry is the son of Endeavor, Shoto Todoroki, who has both the power of fire and ice, his left half being capable of creating fire, and his right half being capable of creating ice.
This dual power was created deliberately by his father, who attempted to make a powerful quirk from his fire power and his wife's ice power. Todoroki was the only "successful" result of this, creating a Quirk capable of burning and freezing at extreme temperatures. However, Shoto's flames might not be as strong as Endeavor's yet, since he refused to use them for years in rejection of his father, resulting in the power atrophying a bit.
2 FIRE-TYPE POKÉMON
Both this entry and the Digimon entry are sort of technicalities, since both originated in other media, but their anime presences are still rather prominent. Regardless, fire-type Pokémon have played just as big a part in the Pokémon anime as any other type, and also like other types, it has a wide variety of attacks.
There are a huge number of fire-type Pokémon in the anime, but perhaps one of the most prominent is Ash's Charizard, which was the only of the Gen 1 starter Pokémon that Ash trained to its final evolution. Ash's Charizard is also incredibly strong, especially when it comes to its Flamethrower and Fire Spin attacks.
1 NASTU DRAGNEEL
Our final entry is also one of the coolest and most interesting examples of fire powers in anime, Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail. Rather than just having fire magic, this mage has the power of Fire Dragon Slayer magic, meaning his spells and abilities are meant to combat the flames and strength of a Fire Dragon.
As such, Natsu's greatest ability is being able to eat fire and add the power he gets from to his own. With this power, as well as his own massive reserves of magical energy, Natsu is capable of fire attacks—like his Fire Dragon Roar and his Fire Dragon Iron Fist—that hit with the same power and ferocity of an actual dragon!