The world of shonen anime is one of incredible power-ups, large casts, and crazy fight scenes. Within it, we’ve got some of the most recognizable characters in anime. And the 2000s was a particularly noteworthy era for this, as major shonen series were all on the air at the same time.
It wasn’t just Bleach and One Piece and Naruto. But it was Fullmetal Alchemist, Inuyasha, and more. Some of the most memorable and profitable anime series, most of which created the anime fanbase as we know it now. So which shonen anime characters are the most popular, most iconic of them all?
10 ZATCH BELL
Zatch Bell and Kiyo were the lead characters of the anime Zatch Bell, and they literally can’t be separated because the two were partners for the entire series. Kiyo was a genius strategist that worked with his Mamodo buddy Zatch, with the two of them becoming more powerful as their teamwork got better.
Zatch is kind of like if Goku never grew up—he isn’t very smart, but he believes in doing the right thing, and by working with Kiyo they both become better individuals. They do cry a lot, though. Like, My Hero Academia has nothing on this series.
9 KENICHI
People don’t give Kenichi enough respect. While the series wasn’t quite as big over here, it was quite popular in Japan, and the bigger problem was that they simply caught up to the manga thanks to the anime starting too soon.
Still, every shonen fan has love for Kenichi—he struggles for every win he gets, despite having zero talent in the martial arts. It helps having the best martial arts trainers ever, but it didn’t stop him from tearing through entire teenaged martial arts gangs.
8 MAKA ALBARN AND SOUL EATER
The main characters of Soul Eater worked together, so it feels unfair to split them for this list. Maka, the Meister, and Soul Eater, that developed his power to become a weapon and partnered with the strong-willed Maka. The two were so successful they had almost completed their goal of taking down 99 evil souls and one witch at the very beginning of the series.
What’s interesting about this pair is they exist to balance one another out. Soul’s completely calm and collected while Maka is easily riled by the things happening around her. Together they made one of the strongest pairs of protagonists in the series.
7 INUYASHA
Inuyasha can occasionally feel like he’s not a shonen protagonist, since his universe doesn’t quite have as many shonen tropes as other characters on this list. But the character came from a Shonen Magazine, and he gave out more than enough hands over the course of his series.
The son of a powerful yokai dad and a human mom, Inuyasha gradually grows into a powerful threat in his own right thanks to his friends. Though he’s rarely ever honest with himself about how much he cares about everyone around him, making him one of the few male tsundere protagonists.
6 GINTOKI
It can be easy to watch Gintama’s very early episodes and believe Gintoki isn’t actually a fighter. But on the contrary—Gintama often balances its arcs between comedy and being plot-centric, and when it’s time for Gintoki to throw down he’s never had a problem doing so.
He’s one of the most talented swordsmen on Earth, gaining renown because of his ability during the war with the aliens. Gintama went from being a series no one had ever seen to becoming an anime everyone needed to watch, so he must have been doing something right.
5 NATSU DRAGNEEL
Natsu is arguably not even the main character of Fairy Tail, but he is the character around whom most of the story is centered. Natsu is reminiscent of a lot of idiot shonen protagonists, but he’s so likable it’s still hard to fault him for that. His constant need for combat rivals even Goku’s.
As a Fire Dragon Slayer, Natsu surpasses his limits again and again, even as he faces opponents who would normally be stronger than him.
4 EDWARD ELRIC
Show some respect to the Fullmetal Alchemist. He was short, but he was a genius at what he did, becoming the youngest State Alchemist at the age of 12.
He’s hard-headed, but its this obstinate behavior that turns out to be exactly what’s necessary to fix him and his partner Al. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is one of the greatest anime of all time, but what makes the series so memorable is having such a strong-willed protagonist.
3 Kakashi
There are a ton of awesome characters in Naruto besides the lead character, but how many are as beloved as Kakashi? The calm jonin spends the early portion of Naruto trying to raise Team 7 to be the best ninjas they can be. ...Granted, one turns out to be Sasuke and the other Sakura, but Naruto became the Hokage.
Kakashi was the closest thing to a classic ninja that was one of the main characters—no flashy clothes, no showy style—we never even learned what he looked like. He just copied other people’s ninja techniques and wound up out doing everyone.
2 ICHIGO KUROSAKI
Part of the “Big Three”, there’s no question Ichigo from Bleach belongs in this list. While Bleach was the first of the big three to end, Ichigo might be the most unique of all their protagonists.
He wasn’t an “idiot” protagonist of the Goku template, but was actually rather smart—both academically and as a fighter, Ichigo was different from the Narutos of the world, approaching scenarios with a quick wit to smack down his opponents.
1 NARUTO
Naruto started out with a single technique in the Shadow Clone Jutsu—and an incredibly lofty goal: becoming the Hokage, leader of his village.
It was a long, arduous road, but as he learned about his past and tapped into the hidden power of the Nine-Tails within him, he gradually became one of the most impressive members of the Leaf Village.