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The smartest anime characters often feature unbelievable intelligence and mental capabilities that exceed human limitations. These characters utilize their exceptional intellectual prowess to outmaneuver rivals, solve intricate puzzles, or make scientific breakthroughs.
Whether through sheer processing speed, immense knowledge application heightened deductive capabilities, or astonishing memories, the smartest anime characters stand apart as marvels of the human mind’s true upper limits.
The following list compiles anime’s greatest intellectual virtuosos across genres and decades into a single guide to fiction’s most staggeringly brilliant thinkers.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the writer's opinion and is not ranked in any particular order.
Masters of the mind: 10 smartest anime characters ever
1. Light Yagami - Death Note
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Death Note follows Light Yagami, a highly intelligent high school student and one of the smartest anime characters, who finds a supernatural notebook called the "Death Note."
This notebook grants Light the ability to kill anyone simply by writing their name while picturing their face. Through the series, Light leverages his exceptional intellect to stay several steps ahead of those trying to uncover his secret identity as serial killer "Kira."
While Light's exact IQ is not specified in the series, he excels academically and quickly analyzes complex situations. Despite lacking physical prowess, Light outmaneuvers world-class detectives like L through careful planning and psychological manipulation alone.
His cold, calculating nature makes him both sinister and the exact type of mastermind you'd expect for the top spot on this smartest anime characters list.
2. L Lawliet - Death Note
L serves as Light's arch-nemesis in Death Note. Known only as "L" or "Ryuzaki," he is a mysterious international detective prodigy and one of the smartest anime characters. L leads the investigation into the "Kira" serial murders. Despite eccentric behavior, L's intellectual capabilities prove on par with or greater than Light's.
He makes deductions nobody else imagines through seeming intuitions bordering on the supernatural. Like Light, L has exceptional knowledge of mathematics, science, languages, psychology, and other subjects. He can analyze minimal data to uncover information people aim to hide.
L stays a few steps ahead of the Japanese police force and even figures out that supernatural forces give Kira killing power. In the battle of wits between L and Light, L deduces Light’s identity as Kira before his untimely death prevents him from definitively proving it.
3. Shiro - No Game No Life
Shiro forms one half of the unbeatable sibling duo at the center of No Game No Life. Shiro, along with her older brother Sora, challenges creatures throughout a reality governed solely by games in hopes of becoming the god of the new world. Despite being just 11 years old, Shiro's intellect proves immeasurable by normal human standards.
As one of the smartest anime characters, Shiro can process incredible amounts of data in minimal time. She uses probability, statistics, and psychological analyses to quickly form perfect strategies.
Shiro can master highly complex games instantly and then dominate opponents who have decades more experience. Her genius even impresses the gods, spirits, and excavators that inhabit the reality in which she finds herself.
4. Itachi Uchiha - Naruto
As Sasuke's older brother in the world of Naruto, Itachi Uchiha first appears as a cold-blooded criminal. He murders his entire clan in a single night, leaving only his younger brother alive. Later revelations uncover Itachi's history as a ninja prodigy turned double agent trying to prevent a Uchiha clan coup.
To buy peace for his village, Itachi made impossible decisions - like assassinating his family and clan. From early childhood, Itachi masters techniques that confound adult ninjas. He analyzes battle scenarios and creates complex plans in seconds. Itachi's intelligence, coupled with his exceptional chakra reserves and diverse abilities, allows him to outwit and defeat opponents.
Even while suffering from a terminal illness, Itachi has all the knowledge and deductive prowess to trap and manipulate figures like Kabuto and Nagato. He is recognized as one of the smartest anime characters due to his advanced strategic and analytical skills.
5. Bulma - Dragon Ball
The Dragon Ball franchise spans decades in both manga and anime formats. Amid the planet-destroying fighters like Goku and Vegeta stands one "normal" human woman - Bulma. Bulma invents devices like the Dragon Radar to detect the dragon balls. She also plays a pivotal role in developing a time machine, which her future son Trunks and later the villain Cell use.
Bulma's contributions extend to uncovering the secrets of the dynocaps' technology and helping maintain the gravity chamber Vegeta trains in.
As a teenager in early Dragon Ball hunting dragon balls, Bulma already shows herself as an engineering prodigy on par with full research institutes. She quickly grasps alien technologies and makes significant improvements to inventions like the scouter device.
Decades later, in Dragon Ball Super, a middle-aged Bulma continues to play a pivotal role through her scientific genius by creating new gadgets and methods to help her friends face increasingly potent threats. It makes her one of the smartest anime characters.
6. KBearer/Decim - Death Parade
In Death Parade, Decim is a mysterious bartender who also stands out as one of the smartest anime characters, serving newly deceased souls who must play a randomly selected game. The stakes are high: winners receive reincarnation, while losers vanish into the void. However, Decim’s role extends beyond just bartending.
His true role is to analyze the souls of the dead who come through the bar to reveal their deepest nature and true character. To judge souls, Decim's intellect needs to fully understand the human condition. His analyses unfold like advanced computer programs, making calculations deeper than any human could reasonably achieve.
Decim also showcases great knowledge of psychology, quickly identifying emotional states and mental illnesses to incorporate into his final judgments. Few anime characters face decisions as complex as deciding a literal afterlife, showcasing Decim's extreme intelligence.
7. William James Moriarty - Moriarty The Patriot
William James Moriarty in Moriarty The Patriot is an archenemy of Sherlock Holmes and is counted among the smartest anime characters due to his exceptional intellect.
In this series, Moriarty aims to create a better Britain by outmaneuvering influential figures he deems immoral aristocrats who abuse poorer citizens. To achieve this lofty goal, Moriarty can hardly act as just any criminal mastermind.
Moriarty demonstrates Holmes-level powers of observation and deduction at a young age. He uses mathematics-based predictions to plan events for years, accounting for every possibility.
Moriarty manipulates both criminals and police to place himself beyond suspicion, all while creating a persona nicknamed "The Napoleon of Crime." Ultimately, his plans demand a near-perfect accounting of human behavior, only possible through superhuman levels of applied psychology and analytics.
8. Johan Liebert - Monster
In Monster, Johan Liebert's unassuming appearance hides the mind of a true monster. Johan moves through societies, manipulating people's emotions and actions however he sees fit, using emotional coercion and subterfuge. He drives several figures to suicide purely for his entertainment while evading capture by elite detectives.
Johan seemingly comprehends human minds on a level rivaling that of psychiatry experts. He uses this knowledge of emotions, biases, and mental illness to dictate people’s behavior using words alone.
Johan also applies masterful acting and disguise skills to perfectly impersonate doctors and government officials for years without anyone questioning him. Ultimately, his exceptional analytical and strategic intellect ranks him among the smartest anime characters.
9. Shikamaru Nara - Naruto
Hailing from the same ninja world as prodigy Itachi Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara stands out as one of the smartest anime characters and an unmotivated genius compelled into action. As a member of Team 10, alongside allies like Ino and Choji, Shikamaru voices reluctance when engaging in threats like Orochimaru. However, when provoked into strategizing, Shikamaru’s intellect shines.
While his exact IQ is not mentioned in the series, Shikamaru's analytical abilities, concentration, and strategic planning are highly advanced, often eclipsing senior ninjas. Shikamaru can analyze multiple future move possibilities for both his allies and foes during combat. His shadow techniques enable perfect immobilizing traps that enemies scarcely escape from through planning dozens of steps ahead.
Later in Boruto, Shikamaru acts as a key strategist, maintaining peace across allied shinobi villages and leveraging his unmatched intellect against modern threats, further establishing him as one of the smartest anime characters.
10. Lelouch vi Britannia - Code Geass
Lelouch vi Britannia in Code Geass, an exiled prince with a powerful ability, is also one of the smartest anime characters. He gains a mysterious supernatural power known as the Geass, which grants him the ability to compel others to obey his commands.
With his natural intellect and this newfound power, Lelouch begins a revolt against his former empire. He adopts the secret identity of Zero and leads a complex, psychologically driven war campaign. Lelouch showcases his genius even as a child, mastering advanced strategy games and intellectually overwhelming nobles and generals.
His strategic prowess is significantly enhanced by his Geass power, allowing him to orchestrate a series of events exploiting weaknesses in both allies and enemies to shape optimal outcomes. Lelouch's ability to leverage both his intellect and the supernatural power of Geass makes him a unique figure in the realm of anime strategists.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the smartest anime characters tend to leverage knowledge, planning, psychology, intellect, and strategy over sheer physical force alone.
So among the many anime and manga series showcasing genius talents, the above smartest anime characters stand at the apex of strategic masterminds, staking claims as the greatest intellects the anime world offers audiences.
Their rapid data processing, future event prediction abilities, and inhumanly deep psychological understanding of behaviors echo the great detective and crime fiction icons that inspired several entries here.
