Many action-oriented shonen heroes appear in shonen anime. However, many other heroes might not be as combat or action-oriented, but still, stand out thanks to being extremely smart. They used their quick thinking and intelligence to resolve any issues they had, no matter how complicated these issues were.

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From Azuma and Soma showing off their creative cooking skills to Light and L duking it out against each other with their extreme smarts, these characters stole the show thanks to how they utilized their intelligence. No matter how tough the obstacles ahead of them were, they solved their problems with their brains rather than brawn.

10 Azuma Kazuma Has Extremely Creative Baking Techniques (Yakitate!! Japan)

Azuma Kazuma in Yakitate!! Japan with mushroom head guy

Though it was not shown in the anime adaptation of Yakitate!! Japan, the manga adaptation revealed that Azuma was so creative that he saved the world with his baking techniques and also created Japan's national bread in the process. Even though he lacked some common sense compared to his other baking-related peers and coworkers, he pulled off countless victories during baking competitions thanks to how wildly creative and inventive his baking techniques were.

No matter what rivals tried beating him, including swordsman Kai Suwabara, Azuma usually came up victorious in the end, save for a few losses.

9 Soma Yukihira Is extremely creative when it comes to cooking (Food Wars!: Shokugeki No Soma)

Soma Yukihira, Food Wars

Even though Soma is not the typical genius that anime viewers might think of, he is also extremely creative when it came to cooking, similar to Azuma. He made many mouth-watering dishes that were worth their given hype, and he often won many competitions thanks to how creative and advanced his cooking techniques were.

It also helped that he learned more varied cooking techniques during Food Wars, making him one of the best chefs on the show. Even though he had many losses, he had even more victories thanks to growing as a chef and as a person.

8 Light Yagami Was Kira & Killed Countless People With The Death Note (Death Note)

Death Note Light Yagami

Light concealed his identity as Kira from most people until the anime and manga adaptation's finales, when Near finally exposed him to everyone. However, up until then, he successfully killed countless people for the sake of his view of justice. This included killing L, who constantly tried exposing him as Kira after realizing early on that it was likely Light who was Kira.

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Even though Light failed to realize that Ryuk would kill him in the end, he still mostly succeeded in achieving his goals of getting rid of criminals and others that previously escaped justice.

7 L Almost Caught Kira (Death Note)

L From Death Note

Despite L's extremely strange mannerisms of crouching while sitting and constantly eating sugary foods, he was one of the smartest people in Death Note other than Light. Both he and Light had a cat-and-mouse dynamic between each other as they tried foiling each other's plans and constantly trying to one-up each other.

Even though L failed to expose Light as Kira and died in the anime and manga, he survived in the Japanese movie adaptations and also succeeded in his plans.

6 Senku Ishigami Was A Great Strategist & Retained Consciousness While Being Petrified (Dr. Stone)

Senku grinning in the forest

Senku Ishigami is Dr. Stone's main protagonistHis ultimate goal is to establish the Kingdom of Science and rebuild civilization. Since he is extremely smart in chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and other subjects, he used this intelligence to create useful medicines, including the de-petrification elixir.

He is also so mentally resilient that he retained his consciousness while being petrified. During this time, he counted the time he was petrified to the last second for four-thousand years. He also successfully pulled off a bloodless war against Tsukasa's Empire of Might, making him a sound strategist.

5 Akira Shiroyanagi Constantly Outsmarted His Foes (Battle Game In 5 Seconds)

Akira Shiroyanagi Battle In 5 Seconds

Despite Akira Shiroyanagi's obsession with playing games, he is extremely smart. In Battle Game In 5 Seconds' premiere episode, he used his game-playing skills to outsmart a monster trying to kill him. He was also so smart that he used every opportunity possible to test out the ability Mion gifted him—the ability to use any ability as long as he could convince his targets that he had that specific ability.

His incredible skills at manipulating the battlefield and his opponents helped him survive the events of the series and ultimately make it out alive.

4 Edward Elric Studied Alchemy At A Young Age (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Ed Elric from FMA scowling

Edward Elric was so smart that he and his brother Alphonse tried using alchemy to bring back their dead mother. Though this attempt failed, Edward successfully managed to save Alphonse by sacrificing his arm in exchange for putting Alphonse's soul into a nearby suit of armor. His and Alphonse's ultimate goal was to get themselves back to normal.

They faced many obstacles, including confronting Father and the Homunculi, but they eventually succeeded in reaching their goals. Edward's quick thinking and knowledge of alchemy often helped save him, Alphonse, and their allies from some extremely dangerous situations.

3 Shin Was Extremely Adept At Magic Despite Lacking Common Sense (Kenja No Mago)

Kenja no Mago Shin magic

Shin from Kenja No Mago, also known as Wise Man's Grandchild, was extremely adept at using magic despite his complete lack of common sense. The lack of common sense got him in trouble with other characters, such as Kurt. However, he became widely popular with other characters including August and King Diseum.

He was so good at using his magic that he even passed the entrance examination to the academy with flying colors. This resulted in him getting top marks and having the opportunity to speak on behalf of all the new students during the welcoming ceremonies.

2 Ciel Phantomhive Is An Extremely Smart Child (Black Butler)

Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler)

Despite being a young child, Ciel Phantomhive is incredibly smart and manipulative. Though he successfully ran a toy company on the outside, he also worked for Queen Victoria to investigate threats including Jack the Ripper and other enemies.

He and his butler Sebastian were nearly unstoppable due to how much they outwitted their enemies in grand schemes, including disguising themselves to fit in with Noah's Ark Circus during the Book of Circus and uncovering a murderer during the Book Of Murder. 

1 Phoenix Wright Successfully Defended His Clients' Innocence (Ace Attorney)

Phoenix Wright

Phoenix Wright started as a rookie attorney but proved to be an incredibly good defense attorney over time in Ace Attorney. Phoenix was incredibly observant and used his skills to point out contradictions in witnesses' testimonies. He also often discovered who the real criminal was in every trial, while successfully defending his clients that were often accused of murder or other crimes.

Phoenix's quick thinking prevented many innocent people from ending up in jail, and also prevented the criminals from getting away with murder. He was so good at his job that he even won cases against prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.

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