10 Best One-Man-Army Moments in Anime

One-man-army moments in anime can capture the feeling of a single character being strong enough to take on legions of foes. While there are plenty of powerful people in anime, only a select few have the bloodlust, skill, and otherworldly abilities needed to single-handedly destroy all of their enemies. To be a one-man army, a character can’t have any allies to help them. Usually, they become one-man-armies to defend their friends, or in some villain’s cases, to go on the offensive.

Every one-man-army moment is a thrill to watch. They’re jaw-dropping spectacles filled with great animation and usually end up being some of the best fights in anime. No matter if the one-man-army is fighting for good or for evil, their enemies should be worried. One-man-armies don’t go down without a fight, and most times, they don’t even go down with a fight either.

10 Tanya vs. Anson and His Troops

Saga Of Tanya The Evil

The Saga of Tanya the Evil stars the most unintentionally funny character in 12-year-old Tanya von Degurechaff. She was a salaryman in her previous life and was reincarnated into the body of a little girl. While Tanya might be tiny in stature, she’s a giant on the battlefield. She entered Mage school at the age of 9 and was immediately promoted to Second Lieutenant. Now at just 12, she leads her own Battalion masterfully. In a battle against Anson and his troops, Tanya had her best one-tiny-girl-army moment in all of The Saga of Tanya the Evil.

She flew straight into her enemies and left her friends behind. In the air, there aren’t many better than the Devil of the Rhine. She blasted her opponents to pieces with colors flying everywhere. When she was done with the low-ranking soldiers, she went straight for their boss.

9 Rimuru vs. The Kingdom of Falmuth

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Rimuru has never been an angry or vengeful character in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. He’s never one to pick a fight and if someone were to hurt him, he’d sooner make up with them before escalating the problem. Unfortunately for the Kingdom of Falmuth, Rimuru doesn’t extend that mercy to those who hurt his friends. When invaders from Falmuth snuck into Tempest and killed Shion, Rimuru had enough. He found their invading army and decided to handle them all himself.

He flew high into the air and cast what might be his most lethal spell, Megiddo. By refracting the sun’s beams of light through thousands of water droplets suspended in the air, Rimuru was able to wipe out The Kingdom of Falmuth’s entire army in an instant. It was an insane feat too, as each solider died from a simple beam of sunlight. Rimuru then sacrificed their souls to become a Demon Lord, further increasing his power and cementing his position as the ultimate one-man-army.

8 Ainz vs. the Re-Estize Kingdom (The Massacre at Kazte Fields)

Overlord

Ainz is a walking one-man-army in Overlord. He’s the only one of the Supreme Beings to remain behind in the Great Tomb of Nazarick when the game Yggdrasil shuts down and leaves him in it. Ainz isn’t too upset though, as he can now become the Overlord of his new world and try to find other real people who might have been trapped. Before Yggdrasil was shut down, Ainz was one of the strongest players in the game. Now, in a world without other players to contest him, Ainz is in a league of his own.

His vast superiority was put on full display during the Massacre at Kazte Fields. In a skirmish between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Empire, Ainz let loose a level-90 spell that obliterated 100,000 troops in minutes. It was such a horrifying feat that the soldiers on Ainz side were scared, even leading a chant to proclaim their allegiance to the Sorcerer Kingdom out of pure fear.

7 Shimizaki vs. Teru and Friends

Mob Psycho 100

Shimizaki is a unique character in Mob Psycho 100. Mob’s story doesn’t involve too much violence, so to see someone as skilled at fighting as Shimizaki was a treat. Shimizaki took on Teru and all the other espers that opposed him in one of the most well-animated fights in anime. He teleported all over the battlefield, dodging attacks and hitting his opponents at lightning speeds. If it wasn’t for Teru eventually catching onto Shimizaki’s fighting style of teleporting behind his opponent, he might’ve been killed.

Shimizaki is a great one-man-army. He baits the espers into fighting each other while he teleports away. When he realizes Teru is the glue holding the group together, he singles him out and beats him in stunning fashion. Luckily for Teru, Kageyama showed up at the last second to help out.

6 Gotou vs. Yakuza

Parasyte: The Maxim

Gotou was so strong, he made watchers feel bad for Yakuza during Parasyte: The Maxim. Gotou recently got a new body and wanted to test out its strength. He decided the best way to do that would be to find a local Yakuza gang and have them fight him. To say he slaughtered the notorious Japanese gangsters would be an understatement. Gotou’s new body is basically impervious to guns, swords, and anything else the Yakuza could’ve thrown his way.

He absorbs their attacks like a sponge. Throwing caution to the wind, Gotou heads straight inside the Yakuza office and fights as many people as he can at once. He kills them all in an instant, taking gun shots and sword stabs like they’re nothing. It’s not often an anime villain can make viewers look at the Yakuza with sympathy.

5 Striga vs. Humans

Castlevania

Vampires are a complicated group in Castlevania. They technically need to feed on human blood in order to be healthy, but that doesn’t make their subjugation of humans morally OK. While she might be on the moral wrong side of things, Striga’s one-man-army moment in Castlevania was one of the most spectacular events of the series. While she and her fellow vampires are out camping during the day time, waiting for the sun to die down so they can leave, humans find them and attack.

The humans are able to expose many vampires to the sun and kill them. Striga, however, has Day Armor that looks just like Guts’ Berserker Armor from Berserk. Like Guts in Berserk, Stiga then goes onto slaughter every human she can see. With her Day Armor, she’s a walking weapon. She slices through her opponents with a massive black sword that draws even more comparisons to the Black Swordsman himself.

4 Guts vs. 100 Tudor Men – Berserk

Guts is the Quintessential One-Man-Army

Guts is the quintessential one-man-army of anime. Every part of Guts is designed to be a single, unstoppable killing machine. While he’s no stranger to fighting with allies, Guts is at his best when he fights alone. He can become the vicious animal he was always meant to be. In the early stages of Berserk, before the events of the Eclipse, Guts and his friends are surrounded by 100 Tudor men. Guts, in a moment of self-sacrifice, tells Casca and the rest of his friends to retreat while he buys them time.

Guts then proceeds to take on 100 men by himself. At this point in the story, Guts doesn’t even have the fabled Berserker Armor. He doesn’t need it though, as he spends the rest of the night killing all the enemy’s forces by himself. By the time Casca arrives with backup, they’re not needed. Guts is found with bodies littered around him, still alive to fight another day.

3 Levi vs. Kenny and His Squad – Attack on Titan

Attack On Titan

Levi Ackerman is introduced to the series of Attack on Titan as the most proficient Titan-killing machine in the Survey Corps. Unfortunately for Kenny Ackerman and his squad, Titans aren’t the only thing Levi is good at killing. Kenny is a serial killer and one of the most interesting characters in Attack on Titan. He was the one who essentially raised Levi, making their fight even more interesting. Kenny had only ever wanted to get stronger and wanted the same for Levi. By hunting him, he can either kill Levi and continue his pursuit of strength or be killed by him, allowing the closest thing he has to a son to continue his life.

Their fight was awesome. Levi flew through town using his OEM gear while he was being hunted by Kenny’s squad. He did a great job of evading his attackers, and after some quick thinking at the bar, was able to lead a brutal counterattack against them.

2 Takauji vs. Prince Moriyoshi and His Men

The Elusive Samurai

Takauji is one of the most interesting characters in The Elusive Samurai and outside of it. He’s otherworldly every time he’s on-screen, having the charismatic charm of a prince with the lethality of an assassin. His one-man-army slaughter in episode six of the first season is hard to describe in words. Takauji didn’t actually swing his sword, and yet everyone around him died. Prince Moriyoshi recognizes Takauji as the threat he is and sends his men to fight him. As Takauji speaks, dozens of heads mystically fly off of their bodies. Moriyoshi can’t believe what he sees.

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As Takauji approaches the Prince calmly, congratulating him on his recent appointment as Shogun, more bodies fall to the ground. Takauji’s one-man-army moment is one of the coolest, most unique, and utterly jaw-dropping moments in anime. It shows exactly who, and more importantly what, Takauji is. He’s a supreme warrior, an expert leader, and possibly, a living god.

1 Madara vs. The Shinobi Alliance

Naruto: Shippuden

When Madara is brought back to life through the reanimation jutsu, the Fourth Shinobi War is changed forever. Madara Uchiha is easily one of the strongest characters in all Naruto and with a reanimated body that heals itself instantly, he’s too strong to handle. Within minutes of his revival, Madara goes on the single best one-man-army rampage in anime. He makes the Allied Shinobi Forces look like children the way he bobs and weaves through them. This fight sequence also has some of the best hand-to-hand fighting moments in Naruto: Shippuden, showcasing Madara’s masterful Taijutsu as he dispatches wave upon wave of Shinobi.

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Madara is an army all by himself. His Rinnegan techniques, years on the battlefield, and supreme bloodline make him an unstoppable force of evil. If he didn’t get stabbed in the back by his own allies, who knows how this ultimate one-man-army would have died.