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Plot armor plays a huge role in anime, letting heroes win against their vastly superior villain counterparts. Sometimes, a hero will win against an undefeatable villain just because they are the main character.
These tropes are famous in the Shonen genre, where characters like Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo always come out victorious no matter how strong their opponent is. There is always a last-minute power-up or transformation that gives these heroes the edge they need to outclass their stronger opponents. This is certainly not fair to well-written villains who are better at everything than the protagonists.
In this list, we will talk about 8 such anime villains who lost due to plot armor.
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Kaido and 7 other anime villains who could have won if there was no plot armor
8) Crocodile
Crocodile was one of the strongest characters in the Alabasta Arc of One Piece. He was able to orchestrate a large-scale coup and was on the verge of overtaking the nation of Alabasta. He also fended off resistance from Luffy and defeated him twice with his Sand-Sand Devil fruit.
However, Luffy, being the protagonist, eked out a victory in his third fight with Crocodile. Even after poisoning and beating Luffy to a pulp, it wasn't enough to keep our hero down. He got back up and turned the tide of the fight with his sheer willpower and determination.
7) Kars
Kars was beyond anything Joseph Joestar could handle and when he evolved into his ultimate form, it should have been the end for everyone else. Kars was invincible, immortal, and nearly indestructible in this form.
Joseph was a normal human being with the power of Hamon up against the strongest lifeform in the world and the odds weren't looking good for him. However, being a protagonist has its own benefits. He was able to fling Kars into space where he crystallized and floated through the void of space forever. The fact that Joseph survived this ordeal was nothing short of a glaring plot armor.
6) Toji Fushiguro
Toji Fushiguro was born with no curse energy but had inhuman strength due to his Heavenly Restriction. He was powerful enough to easily incapacitate Suguru Geto and even proved to be a formidable opponent for a Six Eyes and Limitless user like Gojo Satoru.
In his fight against Gojo, Toji quickly gained the upper hand due to his speed and use of cursed tools. He even managed to nullify Gojo's Limitless ability by stabbing him with a special grade cursed tool: Inverted Spear of Heaven. Toji was able to kill the strongest character in the series with nothing but his own powers.
However, Gojo's abilities allowed him to bypass death at the last moment. In their rematch, he used a new attack called Hollow Purple which caught Toji by surprise, mortally injuring him. Toji died as a result of his injuries, leaving Gojo standing as the overpowered protagonist he was.
5) Dio Brando
Dio is a diabolical villain who was in control of one of the strongest stands in Stardust Crusaders. His Stand, The World, allowed him to stop time and defeat his enemies with ease, effectively making him invincible.
Dio managed to kill Kakyoin and mortally injure Joseph Joester and was almost on the verge of wiping out our heroes. Jotaro then revealed that his and Dio's Stand shared similarities and that he could overcome his time freeze. This blatant last-minute plot armor helped him defeat Dio.
4) Kaido
Kaido is known as the strongest creature in One Piece. He has gone up against the likes of Oden, Shanks, and Big Mom, giving the audience an idea of his monstrous strength. He was even able to one-shot Gear 4 Luffy and render him unconscious, in a show of their vast difference in power.
During their final fight, Kaido almost clinched victory when Luffy underwent a new transformation. It was revealed that Luffy's Devil Fruit is a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit called the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika. This gave him the power to activate his Gear 5. Luffy wiped the floor with Kaido in his new form and won with the help of plot armor.
3) Sosuke Aizen
Sosuke Aizen is considered one of the smartest characters in anime history and his presence in Bleach acts as a constant threat to the Soul Society. He went up against the likes of Gotei 13, Captain General Yamamoto, and Ichigo, showing how strong of a character he really was.
He was on the verge of destroying Soul Society when Ichigo, the main character, decided to reveal his strongest technique, Saigo no Getsuga Tenshō, effortlessly defeating Aizen. Despite all his strength and cunning, he could not escape the power of plot armor.
2) Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha took on the entire Shinobi Alliance single-handedly and blitzed past Naruto and Sasuke, leaving them in a near-death situation.
He managed to become the Ten Tails Jinchūriki and was on his way to execute the Infinite Tsukuyomi when he was inevitably apprehended by Naruto and Sasuke once more. Through plot armor, they managed to acquire new powers from the Sage of Six Paths himself, allowing them to finally take on Madara and win.
1) Jiren
Jiren was introduced in Dragon Ball Super anime as one of the strongest mortals in the multiverse. He made a mockery out of some of the strongest fighters in the series like Goku, Vegeta, and Hit. Even in Super Saiyan Blue Kaikoen form, Goku was no match for this titan and it looked like Jiren would take home the win for his universe.
However, Goku's plot armor kicked in and he surpassed his limits yet again for the thousandth time and achieved Autonomous Ultra Instinct. Jiren was nearly as good as Goku but fell short as he was not the main character.
