The 14 Smartest Anime Characters of All Time

Tacticians, detectives, scientists and schemers - some famous for a single deduction, others for plans that span decades. Which mind wins?

1

L

Death Note's detective, who narrows the world's population down to one suspect from a single televised broadcast.

1000pts

2

Lelouch vi Britannia

Code Geass's exiled prince, who wins battles as a chess problem and treats an empire as the board.

600pts

3

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji

Classroom of the Elite's protagonist, who hides his ability as carefully as others display theirs.

551pts

4

Armin Arlert

Attack on Titan's strategist, physically the weakest soldier and repeatedly the decisive one.

494pts

5

Light Yagami

Death Note's protagonist, who plans several moves ahead and builds contingencies into his own memory loss.

494pts

6

Senku Ishigami

Dr. Stone's scientist, who rebuilds civilisation from first principles after humanity is petrified.

428pts

7

Sosuke Aizen

Bleach's captain, who spent a century setting up a deception nobody detected.

350pts

8

Meruem

Hunter x Hunter's Chimera Ant King, who masters a board game to superhuman level within days.

257pts

9

Near

Death Note's third great mind, who beats Kira by being patient where L was impulsive.

257pts

10

Johan Liebert

Monster's antagonist, who manipulates people so precisely he never needs to touch them.

257pts

11

Shikamaru Nara

Naruto's tactician, an underachiever with a genius IQ who wins by planning ten steps out.

143pts

12

Kurisu Makise

Steins;Gate's neuroscientist, published at eighteen and the anchor of the series' time-travel logic.

143pts

13

Norman

The Promised Neverland's strategist, who plans his own escape as a piece of someone else's plan.

143pts

14

Koro-sensei

Assassination Classroom's tentacled teacher, who out-thinks a class trained specifically to kill him.

143pts