While most anime fights revolve around the hero’s uphill battle to defeat an impossibly strong enemy, every once in a while it’s the enemy who is put in that position instead.
Some flawless victories in anime take place in shows where such outcomes are common. Saitama of One Punch Man, for example, is rarely injured in battle, and never loses a match, so most of his battles end this way. In other shows, injuries are typical – nearly every scene from My Hero Academia ends with a recovery period.
These are 9 epic scenes where an anime hero defeated a powerful villain without taking a scratch, ranked by how badass they were.
9. Roronoa Zoro Vs. Hyouzou – ‘One Piece’
Two years of training have increased Roanoa Zoro’s already formidable skills by a significant margin. When he faces Hyouzou, a fishman with an octopus form, there’s little competition. Still, while Zoro is obviously the more talented of the two, it’s not like Hyouzou is completely incapable. One would expect that Zoro would at least break a sweat. But no – he manages to fully destroy Hyoudou’s eight poison tipped swords, and then do the same thing to Hyoudou, all without sustaining a speck of damage himself.
8. Monkey D. Luffy Vs. Bellamy – ‘One Piece’
Like many of the villains on this list, Bellamy is thoroughly convinced of his own superiority. Normally, Luffy gets a little bit more involved in conversing with his enemies but he’s so irritated by Bellamy’s bragging that he simply stands there while Bellamy bounces around at top speed with the power of his Devil Fruit, jeering at Luffy for supposedly not being strong enough to beat him. Luffy is able to take him out with a single punch that knocks him out entirely. Talk about an arrogant jerk getting what’s coming to him.
7. Meliodas Vs. Fraudrin – The Seven Deadly Sins
When Meliodas takes on Fraudrin, he’s not playing around. Fraudrin is a demon who has been inhabiting Dreyfus’ body for over ten years, and he’s also a member of the Ten Holy Commandments. He craves revenge on Meliodas and attacks with the intent to destroy him. Those intentions don’t seem to matter much, however, because Meliodas totally wrecks him, literally flying into his torso and bursting out the other side. Fraudrin plans to self-destruct and take out all of the onlookers with him, but when Dreyfus’ son – who he feels parental toward despite himself – begs him not to, he gives up and allows Meliodas to put an end to the fight once and for all.
6. Satoru Gojo Vs. Jogo – ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’
If you’re up against Satoru Gojo, chances are you won’t come out of the fight victorious. Jogo, one the special-grade cursed spirits working with Geto and Mahito, foolishly challenges Gojo to a fight. Needless to say, it didn’t go well for the cursed spirit. Unable to land a single hit on the powerful sorcerer, Jogo nearly dies even after trapping Gojo in his domain expansion. This fight is so easy for Gojo that he even leaves in the middle of it to fetch Itadori and have him watch for training purposes.
5. Trunks Vs. Frieza & King Cold – ‘Dragon Ball Z’
Most of the flawless victories in Dragon Ball Z belong to Goku, so let’s put the spotlight on somebody else this time – Future Trunks. When Future Trunks goes up against Frieza and King Cold, the two villains think that Trunks is nothing more than a weak little boy – that is, until he goes Super Saiyan. After that, their confidence evaporates. Trunks manages to use a gigantic ball of energy that was thrown at him as a weapon, escape repeated dangerous attacks, and slice Frieza’s body clean in half before going after King Cold. King Cold begs for his life and tries to blame all of their evil doings on his son, but Trunks shows him no mercy at all.
4. Saitama vs. Speed o Sound Sonic – ‘One Punch Man’
This particular trope is what One Punch Man is made of – Saitama rarely takes any damage from his fights, and he always wins. One particularly fun instance of this is when he goes up against Speed o Sound Sonic, who is convinced of his superiority toward Saitama but is proven hilariously wrong by the end of the battle. While Sonic dashes around at supersonic speed, he expects to be able to hit Saitama before he even realizes what’s coming – but Saitama is able to dodge him every time. The fight ends when Sonic’s speed bursts accidentally knock Saitama’s fist into Sonic’s own crotch. Sonic shakily tells Saitama that he’ll get him next time, but it’s not exactly convincing.
3. Levi Ackerman Vs. The Beast Titan – ‘Attack on Titan’
Levi Ackerman is covered in blood from a previous battle, but when he’s up against the Beast Titan, he sustains no damage whatsoever. The Beast Titan, who is currently possessed by Zeke Jaeger, has been warned about Levi’s battle prowess, but that warning doesn’t help him much. Levi slices his arms to ribbons, blinds him, then severs the tendons on his feet so that he can’t walk, all while Zeke is still trying to figure out what’s going on. Sadly for Levi, defeating the Beast doesn’t mean he gets to harness his powers – another Titan runs off with Zeke before Levi is able to do so.
2. Class 1-A Vs. Mirio Togata – ‘My Hero Academia’
When Class 1-A is first introduced to the Big Three, they get to see how Mirio Togata earned that distinction firsthand. He challenges the entire class – minus Todoroki, who sticks to the sidelines – to a brawl. Not one of them is able to put a scratch on him. That’s because his quirk, Permeation, allows him to slip seamlessly through solid matter, and the class is so baffled by where he is at any given moment that they’re unable to mount a strategy.
This outcome would have been devastating if Mirio were an enemy, but he’ll soon become one of their most powerful allies in the fight against villainy.
1. Killua Zoldyck Vs. Johness the Dissector – ‘Hunter X Hunter’
When Killua Zoldyck has to face a notorious serial killer called Johness the Dissector during the Hunter exam, his companions want him to give up and try again next year. Johness is capable of rending the flesh from his opponents’ bones and is fully planning on doing that to anyone who faces him. Killua is confident in his skills and decides to face him anyway.
Before Johness can lay a hand on him, he snatches the prisoner’s heart straight out of his body. It’s a grueling scene, made no less terrifying by the ruthless look on Killua’s face.