Appearances are deceptive, even in the world of anime. Everyone knows about characters who seem weak but prove to be a lot stronger than they first appear, whether it's due to magic or the series ignoring the rules of physics, but the opposite sometimes pops up, too. There are plenty of intimidating characters who actually are not as strong as they first appear.
While this is often done to humiliate the character, this doesn't mean this contrast is only used on unsympathetic characters. Sometimes, perfectly well-meaning characters can gain a reputation they don't exactly deserve for being strong just by being in the right place at the right time. And some of the more likable examples get a chance to show they're not completely useless.
10 Rurouni Kenshin: Ogawa Heizo Pretends To Be Strong To Help Orphans
A character claiming to be Battosai appears in one episode of the series, effectively passing himself off as Kenshin, a retired killer who once saved the country. He even uses this reputation to scare local people into giving him money. However, the fake is revealed to have little fighting skills when having to deal with a professional killer, Anzai Jurobei, and has to be saved by the real Kenshin.
As mentioned, these types of characters aren't necessarily evil, as it turns out his whole scheme to scare people into giving him money was to support an orphanage. He even gets a scene where he manages to rescue some of the orphans from the villains.
9 Mobile Suit Gundam: Carta Issue Doesn't Realize Her Position Is A Meaningless Courtesy
Carta Issue is the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet Commander. Unfortunately, her title is pretty ceremonial, she and her forces have never really been involved in a true battle.
She makes use of her position and seems to believe that she's the one thing protecting the Earth from its enemies. In reality, she loses it completely when having to face Tekkaden.
8 Angel Densetsu: Kuroda Is Just A Coward At Heart
Kuroda is physically strong and imposing but is too much of a coward at heart to have any real advantage in a fight. He has faith in the power of numbers, surrounding himself with lackeys to be intimidating, but is usually the first to sacrifice his friends in a fight to save himself.
He's also not that bright, developing impossible theories at the drop of a hat. He also thinks a girl beating him up means she likes him, even if she treats the boy she actually likes far more kindly.
7 Toriko: Zongeh Seems To Have Luck On His Side
At first glance, Zongeh looks like a massive warrior who could take down dinosaurs. But there are hints he's not as strong as he looks.
For example, the dishes on his Full Course all tend to have low capture levels. Ultimately, the reason he and his two followers haven't gotten themselves in serious danger is that he has a good chunk of Food Luck on his side.
6 Baccano!: Jacuzzi Splot Somehow Has An Impressive Résumé Despite His Real Personality
Jacuzzi Splot is the leader of a group of bootleggers who managed to accomplish impressive feats, like destroying nearly 20 speakeasies in one night or surviving the Pussyfoot Train incident. He even has a tattoo of a sword plastered on his face. He's only mortal but has faced off immortals and lived.
Despite this, he's actually rather shy, socially awkward, and apologetic, even breaking down crying while committing an armed robbery. His only real advantage is that he has charisma.
5 Fairy Tail: Sabertooth Is An Entire Team Of Weaklings, Especially Sting
Many of the members of the Sabertooth guild have too much faith in their abilities, with a few of them going out of their way to mock and belittle the members of Fairy Tail, especially Sting.
While they did get their reputation from winning the Grand Magic Games for several years, they never seemed to realize it was because other guilds were either using frail competitors in the games or were holding back. This ultimately backfires for Sabertooth, with their members ending up humiliated by Fairy Tail.
4 Legend of Galactic Heroes: Yang Wenli Does Get Imprisoned A Lot
Yang Wenli is feared even by his superiors and a lot of his subordinates have accepted their fate of eventually having him as a dictator, all because of his past victories.
The truth is that he's actually a kindhearted man who only aspires to early retirement with no real political acumen or combat skills. He also keeps getting imprisoned by his own government. Even people who know better believe he must be a miracle worker.
3 Dragon Goes House-Hunting: Letty Became The Flame Dragon King By Word Of Mouth
Letty has the title of the Flame Dragon King, who is believed to be able to vanquish a whole kingdom within a couple of hours, who might one day take over the world.
However, he only has this reputation thanks to a series of misunderstandings and word of mouth. In reality, he's pretty weak and lazy, has poor stats, can't fly, and isn't able to breathe fire, either.
2 One-Punch Man: Nobody Believes King Isn't A Hero, Despite What He Says
King's reputation as one of the world's strongest heroes came about by complete accident, with him usually getting credit for other heroes' deeds. He tries to tell people the truth, but his fans just assume he's being modest.
That said, he has been able to use his reputation to scare off enemies. He's also pretty muscular, which is surprising considering he's better at video games than any physical activity.
1 My Hero Academia: All Might Is A Complicated Case
All Might is Japan's highest-ranking hero with good reason and is genuinely powerful, he defeated All For One and is one of the few wielders of One For all to have survived it, but he has a few secrets. For starters, he actually doesn't have a natural Quirk, having been given one by his mentor.
In all fairness, this is actually one of the reasons his Quirk hasn't killed him like his predecessors, who were essentially aged to death. But he still has some physical issues: thanks to a battle-sustained injury, he can only appear as his heroic self for three hours a day. Otherwise, he's a skeleton of a man who coughs up blood.