Everyone loves a good samurai character. Samurai usually have amazing combat scenes, or they follow their own unique code—but not all are the same. Some samurai are goody-two-shoes, and others anti-heroes who are just a step away from being villains.
The anime world doesn't just provide viewers with awesome samurai characters, but strong ones as well. Some of them are just talented swordsmen, but the limitation of keeping things realistic isn't always there in an animated world. There are series that have samurai possess special powers that allow them to defeat dozens or even hundreds of enemies in a single battle, and some were just brute strength.
10 Manji Is An Immortal Asked To Kill 1,000 Evil Men (Blade Of The Immortal)
Blade of the Immortal follows a man who was once a simple criminal who killed one hundred innocents. Manji was cursed with immortality. The only way he can become mortal again is by killing a thousand evil men, which sets him off on a journey that lasts for several decades.
In that time, Manji only becomes more skilled. However, he’s actually not the most skilled samurai in his universe. What makes him dangerous is that he can only be killed by being beheaded. Otherwise, he’ll recover from any injury, which has made him a worse swordsman over time because he doesn’t have to worry about taking too much damage at one time.
9 Mugen Is An Unpredictable Swordsman Who Can Adapt To Fighting Styles He Sees (Samurai Champloo)
As the main character in Samurai Champloo, Mugen is a talented swordsman who managed to teach himself how to fight. What helps him, in particular, is his ability to study anyone else’s sword style and both learn from them and adapt what they know into his own skills.
Combining breakdancing into his movement style, Mugen is hard to fight because he’s so unpredictable. He also figured out how to use ki attacks after only having it used on him a single time and managed to defeat the person who originally showed him how it worked, to begin with.
8 Jin Is Capable Of Predicting His Opponent's Fighting Style And Movements (Samurai Champloo)
As the other main character in Samurai Champloo, Jin is everything his partner Mugen is not. Where Mugen is loud, Jin is quiet. Where Mugen is constantly seeking battle, Jin only seeks to serve someone worthy. And where Mugen is completely untrained, Jin not only has formal training but excelled at it.
Jin trained to learn a sword style entitled Mujushin-Ryu, where the goal is to become unreadable in his movements, and his mastery makes him nearly impossible to defeat.
7 Amidamaru Was A Legendary Samurai Who Felled Several Hundred Soldiers In A Single Battle (Shaman King)
The spirit that Asakura Yoh finds and bonds with, Amidamaru was a legendary swordsman in his era. His abilities were so amazing that he was capable of killing hundreds of soldiers in a single battle.
His skills are also amplified by owning a sword created by his friend, known as Harusame. He’s also capable of dual-wielding swords and ultimately is so powerful that he was only killed by betrayal rather than actually losing a fight. He’s also got the ability to break other samurai’s swords with his special techniques, something Yoh eventually learns from him.
6 Afro Is So Strong He Can Take People Out Unconsciously (Afro Samurai)
In the world of Afro Samurai, Afro is the most hunted man in Japan. The vaunted Number 1 headband is said to denote the most powerful swordsman in the world. But only one man can challenge the owner of the Number 1 headband, while anyone can challenge Number 2.
From the moment Afro takes the Number 2 headband, he spends much of his time either hunting down the owner of the Number 1 headband or fighting off the people who want his Number 2. He consistently proves himself to be a superior swordsman and eventually is so good he can defend himself from other swordsmen without even thinking about it.
5 Demon-Eyes Kyo Was Able To Fell One Thousand Enemies In One Battle (Samurai Deeper Kyo)
As the main character of Samurai Deeper Kyo, Demon-Eyes Kyo starts the series trapped in the body of the only man nearly as strong as he is. Kyo wields the legendary Tenro, forged by Muramasa, which allows him to use the Mumyou Jinpuu Ryu-style.
This sword style allows one to remain calm in the face of overwhelming adversity and has four ultimate techniques: Seiryu, Suzaku, Genbu, and Byakko. With his sword style and his special techniques, Kyo has torn through over a thousand people in a single battle.
4 Gintoki Has Defeated Everything From Other Legendary Samurai To Aliens (Gintama)
Gintoki is somewhat similar to Kenshin. He originally was a powerful swordsman during the war, but after his side lost, he decided to go after peace rather than war.
He was such a great swordsman that he had nearly everyone’s respect, though almost no one recognizes who he is or what he’s capable of by the time of the series. He’s very different from what people normally think of when they see a samurai, but that hasn’t stopped him from defeating aliens when Gintama does its genre shifts and gets into "serious" storylines.
3 Kenshin Was The Legendary Assassin Hitokiri Battousai (Rurouni Kenshin)
Kenshin Himura starts as a fairly unassuming guy when he’s introduced—he’s small and quiet and not at all the type someone would mistake for a dangerous samurai. But then viewers learn he’s actually the Hitokiri Battousai—a legendary assassin that existed during the war. He’s trying to live a life of peace now, but as the master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style, he’s capable of things in combat that few, if any, other swordsmen can achieve. They've shown him dodging Gatling gunfire before without being injured at all, and he's one of the strongest characters in his series.
2 Goemon's Blade Could Slice Seemingly Anything (Lupin III)
Lupin’s partner Goemon Ishikawa is perhaps one of the most absurd samurai in anime. Instead, the character shuns most technology, trying to focus on living a simple life and following Lupin around because he’s the first target that manages to keep up with him from when he was an assassin. But Goemon’s swordsmanship abilities are basically as good as the plot requires them to be. He’s cut everything from bullets to tank shells to actual missiles fired at him. There doesn’t seem to be a limit to his abilities.
1 Zoro's Feats In The One Piece World Place Him At A Superhuman Level (One Piece)
The first member to be added to Luffy’s Straw Hat Pirate crew. Zoro starts as a Pirate Hunter who creates his own style—the Santoryu, where he holds a blade in each hand and one in his mouth. Zoro’s goal is to become the most powerful swordsman that ever lived, though he’s constantly chasing the current most powerful swordsman, Dracule Mihawk. However, while he isn’t the best in his world, he’s displayed truly superhuman feats that place him above most swordsmen in his universe and any samurai in any other universe.