Everyone loves a character who knows it all. With all their flaws and arrogance, people still tend to love them for their cunning attitude. Take an example of the modern Sherlock Holmes; even though he is arrogantly rude, fans still root for him. This is the charm of a smart character. In anime, writers have created many characters that people love to see on the screen. From intelligent detectives to genius scientists, anime has them all. Hence, today we will be listing the Smartest Anime Characters of all times.
1. Shikamaru Nara (Naruto)
Who’s a better contender to start off the list of the smartest anime characters than Naruto’s Shikamaru Nara. Shikamaru is one of those characters who is a leisurely genius. He is a person who believes that working too much is a waste of power and potential. Thus, Shikamaru relies more on strategy in any combat. Moreover, we have often seen Nara doing errands to ease his brain to think clearly. Thus, Shikamaru is definitely one of the smartest characters in the anime Naruto.
2. Senku Ishigami (Dr. Stone)
The Dr. Stone anime series features a genius scientist who brought an entire human race back from the stone age, Senku Ishigami. Well, Senku is the master of almost anything and everything. He can dissect the anatomy of everything that he can place his eyes upon. His intelligence proves to be helpful even in battle. As a result, he can predict the moves of his opponents to forge a strategy and charge an attack.
3. Kekashi Hatake (Naruto)
A more godly character who has proved his wit in Naruto is Kekashi Hatake. He is the master ninja who has been a teacher to many existing Naruto characters. Most of his students have become incredible fighters in the future. Despite all his powers, he is always calm in the face of danger. Hence, Kekashi Hatake gets the third spot on this list of the smartest anime characters.
4. Tenya Iida (My Hero Academia)
Even though Tenya Iida is far behind the other characters we have named in this list, he is still a pretty smart character. We see in My Hero Academia that his quirk is as simple as calf-engine, but he still manages to outsmart many opponents with them. Iida is a well-read student who knows how to counter any move strategically. Moreover, he is a brilliant student with a straight-A score in all the exams.
5. Itachi Uchiha (Naruto)
It looks like our list is going to be full of Naruto characters. Itachi Uchiha is undoubtedly a smart player in Naruto. He was able to stop a grave war by killing his whole tribe. At first, everyone believes Itachi to be a dark character, but it turns out that he was only preventing the war. Moreover, his fighting skills are unmatchable to any in the widely popular Naruto anime series.
6. Winry Rockbell (Fullmetal Alchemist)
The genius who never got her due in Fullmetal Alchemist is Winry Rockbell. Winry has lent her armor and gear to many characters in Fullmetal Alchemist. And her machines often prove helpful to the characters who use them in combat. She was so able to fix Ed’s arm that was facing troubles for a long time. Hence, we place Winry at the sixth spot on our list of the smartest anime characters.
7. Yagami Light (Death Note)
How can we not place Yagami Light on the list of the smartest anime characters? The series that is the pioneer of all smart anime shows is Death Note. The show has introduced us to a plethora of genius characters that we will look at further in the list. Yagami Light is the protagonist of Death Note, who uses sheer with to outsmart the world’s best detectives. And all this while he was still in high school.
8. Conan Edogawa (Detective Conan)
The next anime character on the list is the smartest detective, Conan Edogawa. Since the series is inspired by the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, many of Conan’s traits will remind you of Sherlock Holmes. His ability to look through people’s lives with a meet glance is something we have seen Holmes doing a lot many times. Moreover, Detective Conan is an actual genius in many subjects like biology and physics.
9. L Lawliet (Death Note)
The detective who was Japan’s number one investigator just at the age of 17 was ‘L.’ The college boy had an established name within the authorities to solve mysterious cases. But his most difficult case was the identity of the mass murderer Kira. Even then, L was successful in identifying Light as Kira. Besides, L was just moments away from catching the real Kira when he was murdered in cold blood. Nonetheless, Death Note’s popular character, L still is one of the smartest anime characters.
10. Dio Brando (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)
One of the smartest villains that we have come across in any anime is the antagonist of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Dio Brando. The reason why Dio is a smart villain is that, despite limited powers, he has managed to make quite some trouble for the Joestars. He is a master strategist when it comes to planning trips for the family. Therefore, we can safely call Dio Brando one of the smartest anime characters of all time.
11. Bulma (Dragon Ball Z)
Bulma has been a smart character ever since she first appeared in the manga. Over the years, she has helped many of her peers with her inventions. Initially, it was only because of her smartness that Goku was able to locate the dragon balls. Even though her experiments go wrong sometimes, she still manages to create useful gadgets out of them.
12. Near (Death Note)
Let’s get back to Death Note, because almost everyone in this anime is intelligent enough to make it to this list. So, Near was the only one who could identify the real Kira and defeat him by the end. After all the endless back and forth between L and Yagami, Near threw aside the drama and put Light behind bars. While Light was in Japan, fooling the authorities, Near was observing his moves only to forge a plan to arrest him. Hence, he deserves a spot as the smartest anime character.
13. Madara Uchiha (Naruto)
A character that was able to beat even death is Madara Uchiha of the anime Naruto. Madara can be called the Beerus of Naruto. He is smart, he is powerful, and he is a genius. Over the years, Madara has trained himself to be a lethal opponent. He has perfected all his moves, and there no Jutsu that he cannot perform. People are still waiting for a character who can take down Madara Uchiha in Naruto.
So, with Madara Uchiha, we can conclude our list of the 13 Smartest Anime Characters. Which is your personal favorite? Did we miss out on any other character? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. For more such nerd stuff, keep an eye on The Anime Daily.
