Every shonen anime eventually reaches the point where the main character stops being strong for a human and starts being a problem for reality itself. These eight are past that line. What sets them apart isn’t who would win a hypothetical fight, but where their power comes from, because that determines what they can and can’t do with it.
The eight and the origin of their power
| Character | Series | Source of power | Ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goku | Dragon Ball | training, later divine ki | Ultra Instinct; charging his ki shakes the Void |
| Saitama | One Punch Man | parody: training that shouldn’t work | never measured |
| Rimuru Tempest | Reincarnated as a Slime | reincarnation and absorption | practically omnipotent by the end of the story |
| Monkey D. Luffy | One Piece | Devil Fruit awakening | Gear 5: reality bent by imagination |
| Naruto Uzumaki | Naruto / Boruto | training plus Six Paths chakra | Baryon Mode, at a permanent cost |
| Ichigo Kurosaki | Bleach | hybrid origin | the fight with Yhwach at the peak of his world |
| Sung Jin-woo | Solo Leveling | external system | Shadow Monarch on the level of the Rulers |
| Gon Freecss | Hunter x Hunter | one-time sacrifice | Adult Gon, comparable to Meruem |
Goku (Dragon Ball)
The reference point for the entire genre. Goku’s journey leads from physical training to divine energy, and his current peak is Ultra Instinct: reacting without thinking, which bypasses the usual limit of reaction time. The showcase feat is simple: charging his ki shakes the Void itself.
Saitama (One Punch Man)
A joke about power escalation that ended up at the top of the power rankings. Saitama can destroy planets and nobody has ever measured his ceiling, because no fight has ever forced him to use it. Even his “serious” moments are still just hints, which is exactly the point the series is making.
Rimuru Tempest (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime)
Isekai specializes in overpowered heroes, and Rimuru still stands out. For isekai series that keep their quality past the first season, check out our roundup of nine isekai anime without a weak second season. Rimuru starts as a slime and ends as a being whose magic collapses entire worlds and dimensions: by the end of the story practically omnipotent, without a single rival in his own universe.
Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)
Proof that you can make it even with average starting stats. The awakening of the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika revealed that he carries the power of the sun god, and Gear 5 lets him rewrite what is physically possible around him based on what he imagines. Cartoon logic as a combat system.
Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)
An untalented outsider who became the strongest shinobi in history. Six Paths Sage Mode let him stand up to Kaguya Otsutsuki, and Baryon Mode in Boruto pushed him even higher. The series made him pay for it. What happened to him afterward is a story of its own.
Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)
In popularity he usually ranks below Goku and Naruto, in power almost never. As a hybrid of human, Soul Reaper and Quincy, he built up an unusually wide arsenal, and the fight with Yhwach pitted him against the highest being in his own universe, not against some average villain.
Sung Jin-woo (Solo Leveling)
The newest addition and also the most satisfying one, because his growth is easy to follow: humanity’s weakest hunter becomes the Shadow Monarch commanding an army of extracted shadows. His power is purely external, granted by the System, which makes him the odd one out on this list.
Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)
Hunter x Hunter almost never allows planet-level destruction, so Gon’s presence here is remarkable. Adult Gon was a single trade: all of his future potential and his Nen at once, in exchange for a state comparable to Meruem and most likely above Netero. It worked, and it couldn’t be repeated.
Why cross-series comparisons are never settled
Each of these characters is calibrated to a different universe. Saitama’s ceiling is deliberately unmeasured, Rimuru’s is stated outright, and Gon’s existed for a single battle. Comparing them means comparing rules, not numbers. That’s why “who would win” debates drag on forever, and the more interesting question is “what can that power actually do”.
If you want a real dividing line, it’s born versus earned. Rimuru and Saitama sit at the top by their very nature. Naruto, Luffy and Jin-woo got there through a grind the story actually showed, and that’s why their power-ups hit harder, even when the numbers are lower.
FAQ
Going by destructive scale, Saitama and Rimuru lead: one because nobody has found his ceiling, the other because the story states his omnipotence outright.
No. Naruto, Luffy and Sung Jin-woo all started as outsiders and reached god level through training or circumstance.
The awakening of the true nature of his Devil Fruit, which unlocked Gear 5 and the power of the sun god Nika.
No. It was a one-time sacrifice of all his future potential for instant overwhelming power, and it cost him his Nen.
The shadow army built from defeated enemies and gradually taking on the full mantle of the Shadow Monarch.
Information verified as of 7 September 2026. Several of these series are still ongoing, so the ceilings keep moving. More anime and manga articles: who can defeat Imu, Loki’s abilities, the System in Solo Leveling, ten manhwa like Solo Leveling and the Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle schedule.