Bungou Stray Dogs was created by mangaka Kafka Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Harukawa. The series takes iconic real-life literary figures and turns them into fictional characters, many of who have abilities based on the prose or poetry they had written when they were alive.
The main characters in Bungou Stray Dogs are members of the Armed Detective Agency, and the narrative follows their daily lives as well as their fight against Port Mafia. Their magnificent abilities range from extremely powerful to utterly mediocre. While some are truly incredible, others barely manage to make a difference.
Updated on May 23, 2022 by Ajay Aravind: The Bungou Stray Dogs manga has been running since 2012, with the first anime season released in 2016. The story remains unfinished, but fans are hoping that Atsushi Nakajima's story will have a happy — or at least bittersweet — ending. Given the sheer number of supernaturally empowered characters in Bungou Stray Dogs, we've gone ahead and revamped this list with some more information.
18 Undefeated By The Rain
Kenji Miyazawa
Kenji Miyazawa possesses Undefeated by the Rain, which is based on a poem. The ability enables Kenji to pick up anything heavy. In simple terms, he has super strength. It grants Kenji the physical power needed to dismantle a train track with his bare hands and throw tanks across the street.
Undefeated by the Rain also seems to provide Kenji with extra durability — he has described getting kicked in the head by cows all the time as a kid, but he turned out alright. This is the weakest technique in a series full of supernatural abilities, as Kenji becomes almost useless when he's hungry.
17 The Great Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
The Great Fitzgerald is an ability those with unlimited amounts of money can use, making it worthless for anyone else. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald's power allows him to get stronger the more money he spends, regardless of what he purchases.
The Great Fitzgerald essentially transforms his spent money into physical strength, vastly augmenting his agility, combat prowess, stamina, and endurance. Unfortunately, he's probably the only one in Bungou Stray Dogs who can exploit this unique power.
16 The Matchless Poet
Doppo Kunikida
Doppo Kunikida lives strictly by the ideals written in his beloved notebook. This works well for him as his ability Lone Poet grants him the power to create objects by writing them down in his notebook.
Doppo can also use pre-written pieces of paper to create support items for the other members of the Armed Detective Agency. Although his skill is useful, it has very few direct offensive capabilities. Thankfully, Kunikida is an excellent supporting character.
15 Discourse On Decadence
Ango Sakaguchi
Discourse on Decadence allows Ango Sakaguchi to read and absorb the memories related to any objects, materials, and structures he comes into contact with. He can extract information left behind on items like money, weapons, or even deceased humans.
This ability lets Ango act as a spy for the government and Port Mafia. The only downside of this ability is that Ango suffers from extreme mental overload and gets burnt out if he mistakenly overuses Discourse on Decadence. Sometimes, it's so extreme that it causes physical symptoms.
14 All Men Are Equal
Yukichi Fukuzawa
All Men Are Equal is the ultimate supportive ability held by the leader of the Armed Detective Agency, Yukichi Fukuzawa. As the name implies, All Men Are Equal allows Yukichi to suppress the abilities of the Armed Detective Agency. But only those who have proven themselves worthy can be affected by it, making it useless against others.
However, Yukichi's incredible swordsmanship and martial artistry make him a force to be reckoned with, even without this strangely specific ability. Due to the nature of this ability, every prospective member of the agency must undergo a personalized exam to gauge their strength.
13 The Overcoat
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai will be a major antagonist during Bungou Stray Dogs' fourth season. The Overcoat basically acts as a portal through which Nikolai can transfer anything he wants. This ability is great for shoplifting, not to mention crimes like kidnapping, wiretapping, or transferring explosive devices during a fight.
The Overcoat functions through Nikolai's cloak, which is basically the doorway to a 30-meter-long pocket dimension. Nikolai has transferred Atsushi's leg, a revolver, and a telephone pole, as well as Fyodor, Sigma, and Dazai through his cloak.
12 Thou Shalt Not Die
Akiko Yosano
Akiko Yosano is one of the few female characters in Bungou Stray Dogs, partly because women are less likely than men to be recorded in history. She is based on a Japanese feminist as well as a poet. She possesses a rare ability called Thou Shalt Not Die, which allows her to heal external wounds.
Although this is a wonderful power, the only people Akiko can use it on are those who have been fatally wounded. To overcome this flaw, she must "half-kill" them. As a result of her ability, Yosano can be pretty cruel when it comes to operating on people — she forces them into a near-death state just so she can restore them afterward.
11 Demon Snow
Kyouka Izumi
Even without her ability, Kyouka Izumi is a formidable foe to come across in Bungou Stray Dogs. After she leaves Port Mafia and decides to become a member of the Armed Detective Agency, she gradually learns how to bend Demon Snow to her own will.
For a while, however, Demon Snow could only be activated by using a cell phone. This ability only listens to orders from the phone, which is a big flaw before Kyouka gains control of it. Furthermore, Demon Snow utilizes a katana and has immense psychical capabilities.
10 Vita Sexulis
Ogai Mori
As the boss of Port Mafia, his underlings and many members of the Armed Detective Agency know about Ogai Mori's odd obsession with young girls. Ogai's appearance as Elise is based on the story The Dancing Girl, and his ability is called Vita Sexualis, which is based on an erotic novel.
As Vita Sexualis is almost always active, many do not think twice about him walking around with Elise. When summoned, Elise can fly at high speeds and wields a giant syringe to hurt her opponents. She also does not die when defeated, but disappears instead.
9 The Perfect Crime
Mushitaro Oguri
Mushitaro's The Perfect Crime is enough to stump any detective. Even Ranpo, the world's greatest detective, couldn't bypass it for a period of time. The Perfect Crime alters reality, allowing Mushitaro to erase any and all evidence from a crime scene.
The Perfect Crime has a pretty gnarly visual too — it manifests as tiny translucent organisms oozing out of Mushitaro's body. This ability isn't combat-oriented, but it's a pain in the neck for anybody trying to investigate a crime. The Perfect Crime is why Mushitaro is regarded as the "Detective Killer."
8 Flawless
Sakanosuke Oda
Sakunosuke Oda possesses the ability Flawless. It enables him to predict whatever was going to happen five to six seconds into the future. Not only is he rarely taken by surprise, but he can also stump any of his enemy's plans before they could act on them.
Despite its name, Flawless is far from perfect. Oda can only see a few seconds into the future, so anything that requires more response time than that is still going to hurt him. But even so, Flawless is an extremely powerful ability in the right hands.
7 Beast Beneath The Moonlight
Atsushi Nakajima
Atsushi Nakajima is the protagonist of Bungou Stray Dogs. He possesses the ability Beast Beneath the Moonlight, which enables him to transform into a white tiger. Although he could not control it at first, he learned how to partially change to boost his psychical capabilities, such as turning his human feet into tiger feet to increase his speed.
Atsushi also gains enhanced senses of sight and smell, as one would expect from a tiger. The one flaw associated with this ability is that he faints after using it. Then again, Atsushi has a long way to go before his character arc comes to an inevitable end.
6 Dogra Magra
Kyuusaku Yumeno
Kyuusaku Yumeno's gender has never been revealed in the story, but they seem quite strong, nonetheless. They possess an ability called Dogra Magra, based on the detective novel of the same name. Dogra Magra riddles their opponents with hallucinations and makes them attack anyone they see.
Kyuusaku must be hurt to activate Dogra Magra, but they always have razor blades in their arms to ensure it activates at the slightest touch. The only way to stop Kyuusaku's ability is with No Longer Human, which makes Dogra Magra even more of a threat.
5 No Longer Human
Osamu Danzai
Osamu Dazai may not have the strongest physical ability, but he is nearly undefeatable in every other respect. He possesses the ability called No Longer Human, which enables him to nullify anyone else's ability with a single touch.
This makes Osamu essentially invulnerable if one tries to hurt him with an ability, although he can still be attacked or wounded by normal means. Some overpowered ability users can only be taken down by Dazai's nullification, like Kyuusaku's Dogra Magra.
4 Rashoumon
Ryuunosuke Akutagawa
Ryuunosuke Akutagawa has the ability Rashoumon, which has many variations that he can utilize to his liking. His ability is summoned from his black coat or anything else he may be wearing at the time. Rashoumon takes on the appearance of a shadowy beast.
Rashoumon can be used for both defense and offense, and is most powerful from a mid-range distance. That said, it is one of the most deadly abilities in Bungou Stray Dogs at any range. The only disadvantage is that Ryuunosuke cannot properly control Rashoumon unless he controls his emotions.
3 Crime And Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Crime And Punishment is an ability held by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's still an enigma in Bungou Stray Dogs, but based on what fans have seen thus far, this technique is terrifyingly powerful. The results of this ability are instantaneous since Fyodor is ostensibly able to kill someone with a single touch, as seen during his encounter with Karma.
It's also worth noting that Crime And Punishment can bypass skin-to-skin touch since the government agent wearing gloves was still killed by Fyodor. It's unclear if this devastatingly overpowered ability can even be nullified.
2 Another
Yukito Ayatsuji
Ayatsuji's Another is so powerful that he's classified as an A-Grade dangerous ability user. Not even Dazai's No Longer Human can counteract this ability. Similar to the power of a Death Note, Ayatsuji's Another inflicts an accidental death upon his victims.
Even if it needs to bypass or physically change any object impeding its progress, nothing can stop Another once Ayatsuji decides to kill the target. However, the only people who Ayatsuji can kill are criminals. In addition, Ayatsuji openly admits that he doesn't have much control over the ability.
1 Upon The Tainted Sorrow
Chuuya Nakahara
Chuuya Nakahara possesses the ability known as Upon The Tainted Sorrow, but the real power behind this ability is called Corruption. As the God of Calamity is within Chuuya, he does not have control over the true form of his ability and only uses it during the most desperate times.
Chuuya can create black holes, summon and move objects with his mind, as well as freeze his enemies in place. He will continue to use Corruption until he either runs out of power or Osamu Dazai deactivates it with No Longer Human.