Anime may have a reputation for fast-paced fight scenes and magical abilities, but that’s not all the medium has to offer. Almost every piece of media has its own version of the nerdy, glasses-wearing know-it-all, and anime is no exception. So, while it’s true a good deal of anime focuses on characters that are physically strong or have supernatural powers, there are plenty where a character’s defining trait is their superior intellect. Even better, many anime combine the two to show us how brains can best brawn even in a fight.
And with the supernatural elements so common in anime, the medium has the ability to put smart characters in complex situations that would otherwise be too unrealistic, testing their brains to the max and entertaining audiences all the way. Besides that, intelligent characters serve one more important purpose. Challenging the audience’s beliefs of what can be accomplished with good planning and attention to detail, inspiring us to be at least a little bit smarter in our everyday lives. Just like these 10 genius anime characters.
Warning: Given the Nature of This List, Major Spoilers Ahead for Each Entry!
Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion)
Code Geass’ titular character Lelouch is consistently ranked as one of the smartest in all of anime, and it’s easy to see why. From leading a rebellion against the fictional military superpower Britannia to his grand plan to bring world peace, Lelouch’s intelligence and resourcefulness shine throughout the series. But his smartest moment comes when he has to go up against Mao, the Geass user who can read minds.
Against him, Lelouch’s ability to constantly plan and see all the flaws in his plans becomes his biggest weakness. But when Mao kidnaps Lelouch’s sister, Nunnally, Lelouch figures out an ingenious counter to Mao’s mind-reading. Using his own Geass, Lelouch deletes his memory of his plans after setting them into motion, tricking Mao into believing he’d won while Lelouch was the one actually winning all along.
Light Yagami (Death Note)
Much like Lelouch, Light Yagami is a certified genius. He’s at the top of all his classes and is able to go toe to toe against L, the world’s greatest detective. His smartest moment, however, is when he gives up ownership of the Death Note to convince L of his innocence (losing his memories of his time as Kira in the process) while simultaneously setting into motion his plan to eventually get it back.
Predicting that without his memories, he’d want to help L catch Kira, Light entrusts the Shinigami Rem to give his Death Note to someone selfish and greedy, creating a new Kira. Then, when he catches this new Kira, he regains the Death Note and all his memories, becoming Kira again. And just to prove his incredible foresight, Light even hides a piece of the Death Note inside his watch, predicting he’d be wearing it when he gets his memories back and using it to kill the new Kira.
L Lawliet (Death Note)
As Death Note’s greatest detective, L has a lot of smart moments throughout the series’ run. His most brilliant move, however, is when he localizes Kira’s location with just one broadcast. Claiming to broadcast worldwide but actually targeting each region of Japan individually, L has convict Lind L.Taylor claim to be him and reveal his name and face on live television, knowing that Kira would not be able to resist the temptation to kill him.
And when Lind L.Taylor dies, L’s able to figure out Kira is from Japan’s Kanto region and hypothesize that he needs a name and a face to kill. This was especially impressive considering L was up against actual supernatural forces. It was also the first time Light was bested by another genius character in the series, without whom he could have easily continued killing from the shadows with no one being the wiser.
Johan Liebert (Monster)
A known genius and master manipulator, Johan does most of his work from the shadows. But one instance of his terrifying intellect viewers do get to witness is when he makes Detective Richard Braun commit suicide. Johan starts by pretending to be a student looking to write a report for class, revealing just enough information to get Richard on edge.
But even as the detective demands answers, Johan keeps walking until the two are finally on a rooftop. It’s there that Johan drops his act, and we see some of the monster peeking through. Accusing Richard of having shot a 17-year-old criminal sober and not drunk as he claimed, Johan tears to the core of his character, questioning if a murderer like him even deserves to see his daughter. As Richard feels crushed under his own guilt, Johan offers him a drink. And the next time we hear of this character is news of his death.
Shikamaru Nara (Naruto)
Naruto’s world is full of powerful, fatal Jutsu techniques. But what do you do against an enemy that literally cannot die? That’s where Shikamaru comes in. A known lazy genius, Shikamaru proves his worth after his teacher Asuma’s death, besting the immortal Hidan to avenge him.
Shikamaru starts by using his Shadow Imitation Technique to lead Hidan away from his comrade Kakuzu. But once they reach the Nara forest, Shikamaru loses control of his technique, letting Hidan attack him and seemingly draw blood.
However, as Hidan begins his killing ritual, we learn the blood isn’t Shikamaru’s but Kakuzu’s. The Nara clan heir cleverly tricks Hidan into harming his own teammate before using his Shadow Technique and explosive tags to blast Hidan’s body into pieces and bury him.
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Armin Arlert (Attack on Titan)
While Armin Arlert’s sharp mind and observation skills are repeatedly shown as one of humanity’s greatest assets in the fight against Titans, his best moment has to be when he figured out the Female Titan’s identity. When Armin is attacked by the Female Titan but not killed, he becomes suspicious.
He then lies about the Female Titan having killed “the suicidal maniac,” intentionally referring to Eren using his nickname. When the Titan seems to recognize the nickname, Armin is able to figure out it had to be someone from the 104th trainees. Thanks to his earlier observation of Annie presenting Marco’s gear instead of her own for inspection when the captured titans were killed, Armin is able to figure out that the Female Titan had to be Annie.
Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Despite his brash personality and penchant for solving problems with his (metal) fist. It should be noted that Edward Elric is an alchemical genius, and the anime proves this on multiple occasions. One of the most memorable of which is the time he, Ling, and Envy end up trapped in the Homunculus Gluttony’s stomach.
An artificial Gate of Truth, Gluttony’s stomach exists between reality and the Gate with no way out. But Ed cleverly comes up with a risky solution, using a modified version of Xerxes’ Human Transmutation mural to open a true Gate of Truth to transfer them back to their reality. Breaking down and reconstructing his own body and soul as the transmutation, and paying the toll with parts of Envy’s Philosopher’s Stone.
Sosuke Aizen (Bleach)
An excellent planner and even better manipulator, Aizen had the entire Soul Society fooled for over a hundred years. While serving as Shinji Hirako’s Vice Captain, he used his Zanpakuto’s illusory abilities to make Shinji believe he was always by his side when he was actually off conducting unethical experiments. He then had his own captain and others turned into Visoreds, intending to kill them if not for Kisuke Urahara’s intervention.
Seeing his plans being interrupted, Aizen smoothly changed course, removing the threat of Kisuke exposing him by having him blamed for the incident. Despite Kisuke knowing the truth, Aizen used his Zanpakuto to trick the rest of Soul Society into believing Kisuke was the one responsible. Having him banished for Aizen’s actions.
Bulma (Dragon Ball)
When it comes to engineering, Bulma’s intellect is near superhuman level. She’s responsible for most of the technology that helps the main cast win important battles like the Saiyan Battle Armour and Super Dragon Radar. However, her smartest moment has to be her invention of a Time Machine defying the laws of the universe.
While this invention was done by a future version of Bulma instead of the one we see in the series. Bulma does attempt to recreate it with notes from her future self and nearly succeeds. The only thing stopping her being Beerus and Whis’ intervention.
Senku Ishigami (Dr. Stone)
A genius with an encyclopedic knowledge of science, Senku Ishigami’s life is turned upside down when his world is turned into stone. But even in these extreme circumstances, he manages to keep his consciousness by counting the seconds the entire time he is petrified. Even more impressively, he keeps this up continuously for an absurd 3,700 years.
And when he is finally released from his stone prison, he goes on to restart civilization. Building various tools and gadgets with incredibly limited resources. Perhaps his most famous achievement was his earliest upon his revival, creating a de-petrification elixir to cure those still petrified.
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