The world of anime is chock full of ridiculously powerful characters. That is often the point, a power fantasy cranked up to the absolute maximum of credibility. Many of these characters are the main protagonist of their story — such as Naruto, Goku, Saitama, and so on — but all too often it is revealed that that character’s father is just as powerful as she is.
Often neglected in this regard are the mothers. Mothers in anime are often presented as non-combatants, largely due to norms in both Japanese culture and anime storytelling. There are exceptions to this rule, however, and they are ridiculously awesome. Here are the most powerful moms in all of the anime.
10 Android 18 (Dragon Ball Z)
Android 18 came on the scene as a deadly warrior made to hunt and kill Goku. However, when Android 17 was defeated and absorbed by Cell, Android 18’s resolve began to waver. When she finally met Krillin, although she initially found him insufferable, she was provoked by his determination and straightforwardness.
Seven years after the Cell Games, Krillin and Android 18 got married and have a 3-year-old daughter named Marron. She and Krillin’s life is unusually normal, although Android 18 is still terrifying when she gets mad. Beyond the World Tournament arc, Android 18 is really fighting again Dragon Ball Superbut no one doubts that she is more than capable of it.
9 Suyin Beifong (The Legend of Korra)
The youngest daughter of OG metalbender Toph Beifong, Suyin spent her early years traveling the world to gain knowledge. She is an established dancer and performer and is adept at both metal and earthbending. Her combat skills are at least comparable to her half-sister Lin, who is the chief of police in Republic City, but Suyin’s influence extends far beyond her sister’s.
Suyin used her worldly knowledge and gift of metalbending to found the city of Zaofu, home of the Metal Clan, of which she is the matriarch. Known as one of the safest cities in the world, Zaofu managed to repel an invasion from the United Republic of Nations. But even with all this on her plate, Suyin considers her husband Baatar and their five children her number one priority.
8 Moro (Princess Mononoke)
Power comes in many forms. In the case of the God of the Wolves, Moro, her power comes largely from her superior intelligence. She is over 300 years old and is the guardian of the Forest Spirit. She has a deep-seated hatred for people, but when she meets San as a baby abandoned by her parents, instead of killing her, Moro adopts San as her own child.
When the corrupt Forest Spirit sucks the life out of Moro, the Wolf God nearly dies. However, when the Forest Spirit is shot by Lady Eboshi, Moro’s disembodied head comes back to life and is still strong enough to not only bite off Lady Eboshi’s arm, but also do battle with the Forest Spirit.
One of the saddest stories on this list, Izumi Curtis was a mother just minutes before her baby died in childbirth. Torn with grief, she committed a mortal sin and tried to use alchemy to bring her child back to life, but what she brought back was abomination.
Her self-taught alchemy and combat skills eventually become essential as she accepts Edward and Alphonse Elric as her apprentices. Despite her skill in alchemy, Izumi prefers to do as much work with her hands as possible, using alchemy only as a last resort. When she does, however, she is one of the strongest characters in the series, able to take on Greed and Sloth and defeat them both with little effort.
6 Kushina Uzumaki (Naruto Shippuden)
Although Naruto never meets his mother in real life, he eventually meets her as a ghost and realizes how similar they both are. Nicknamed the “Red-blooded Habanero” by her classmates because of her fiery temper, Kushina possessed an exceptionally strong life force, which gave her a huge amount of chakra reserves.
Her chakra was so powerful that she was eventually chosen to be next jinchurik of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The power of the Nine-Tails lured kidnappers to Kushina, and she was stolen to be rescued by Minato Namikaze, Naruto’s father. The two fell in love and eventually Kushina became pregnant. The seal that kept the Nine-Tails locked in her body was at its weakest during childbirth, and a masked thief took advantage and released the Demon. Kushina didn’t survive this alone and gave birth, but she helped Minato on the battlefield just moments later.
5 Lisa Lisa (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)
Although Joseph Joestar didn’t know it at the time, he met his mother, Lisa Lisa, during the Battle Tendency arc. Lisa Lisa is both a master of martial arts and a master of ripple technique, allowing her to channel and use massive amounts of energy to destroy the undead. She uses this technique to single-handedly fend off the Pillar Men, a group of vampire-like creatures.
Prior to this, Lisa takes Lisa Joseph as her apprentice and creates a brutal training regimen for him that nearly kills him on several occasions. After their battle with the Pillar Men, Lisa reveals to Lisa that she is Joseph’s mother before moving to Hollywood, where she marries a screenwriter.
4 Dina Fritz (Attack on Titan)
Dina was the last surviving member of the royal family when she arrived at the Eldian Restorationists, and she brought with her crucial information about the location of the Founding Titan. She soon met Grisha, and the two had a son named Zeke Yaeger, who further expanded the royal bloodline.
When Grisha discovers that Marley’s government wanted to breach the walls of King Fritz’s land to steal the Founding Titan, Grisha proposes to include Zeke in the Titan program to be a mole for the Eldian Restorationists. However, Zeke betrays his parents to Marley’s government and both Grisha and Dina are sent to heaven as captives. There, Dina is condemned to become a man-eating Titan. While Dina may not have been the most powerful human being, her strength as a Titan is virtually unparalleled.
3 Nana Shimura (My Hero Academia)
One of the more complicated moms on this list, Nana was a kind, empathetic figure who believed that heroes should always smile, no matter the situation. This attitude influenced All Might to adopt his signature smile, which he used to put others at ease. Nana also received the One For All Quirk, handed over to her from En, which could greatly improve all of her physical abilities.
Nana’s relationship with her son, Kotaro, was a difficult one. In every way she was a kind and loving mother when he was a child. However, the task of being a hero became too dangerous and Nana eventually placed Kotaro in foster care to protect him, causing grief and resentment. As an adult, Kotaro banned any mention of heroes or his mother in his household, even going so far as to physically abuse his children for breaking those rules.
2 Ragyo Kiryuin (Kill La Kill)
Mother of the two protagonists, Ryuko Matoi and Satsuki Kiryuin, Ragyo is an absurdly powerful character whose body is made up of a vast amount of life fibers. She possesses superhuman speed, strength and durability, as well as the ability to control ghosts. She is even able to break a sword designed to sever life fibers with her bare hands.
Ragyo’s disdain for human life is due to the fact that she deliberately gave her soul to the Life Fibers. As a result, she has both sexually abused and experimented with her daughters without regard for the consequences. In the end, it’s not even her daughters who beat her. Instead, they kill all life fibers on Earth, and Ragyo responds by ripping out her own heart and crushing it in her hands.
1 Kaguya Otsutsuki (Naruto Shippuden)
Kaguya is the most powerful character of them all Naruto, and it wouldn’t be right to leave her off this list, since she’s also the mother of twin boys: Hagoromo and Hamura. Kaguya arrived on Earth to protect the God Tree from her clan’s eventual harvest, which would also result in the planet’s destruction. However, she became fond of humanity and instead ate the fruit of the God Tree herself, becoming the first human with chakra.
After the birth of her sons, Kaguya found herself consumed with the idea of controlling the chakra of the world, and she integrated herself with the God Tree and became the Ten-Tails. Her sons eventually figured out a way to seal her power in Hagoromo’s body, making him the first jinchurik. However, with a creature as strong as Kaguya, such power cannot be sealed forever.
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