10 Most Destructive Abilities in Anime History, Ranked

Anime might be the best medium for overpowered abilites. Series like Naruto and Jujutsu Kaisen often do an excellent job of portraying just how destructive an ability can be, showcasing leveled towns, demolished buildings, and droves of people who didn’t make it. Due to their inherent behavior to cause significant collateral damage, most of the characters capable of the most destructive abilites in anime aren’t fighting for the good guys.

If a good guy is capable of a destructive ability, they usually need to prepare before they can let loose. They can get their move ready by using a bunch of magical spells, using an incantation, or in Benimaru’s and Endeavor’s case, they can send their enemy high into the sky for a massive explosion. No matter if it’s a hero or a villain using a destructive ability, it always makes for a good viewing experience and a jaw-dropping moment.

10 Explosion!

KonoSuba

Megumin’s Explosion magic makes her one of the strongest characters in all of KonoSuba. It’s so strong that Megumin can only use it once a day. Once she uses it, she passes out from exhaustion, forcing one of her teammates to carry her back into town. Luckily, they can carry her, as their enemies are almost always obliterated entirely by the spell. It’s such a powerful spell, that immortals try to learn it, and even then most of them can’t figure it out.

Megumin could have spent her time learning more useful magic, or even a magical ability that wouldn’t sap her of all her strength, but she didn’t care. She wanted the single best spell in the world to be in her arsenal, and thanks to the Dark God Wolbach, her wish came true. There’s nothing funnier than watching Megumin practice her Explosion Magic on a random castle only to learn someone was living in it the whole time.

9 I am Atomic

The Eminence in Shadow

The Eminence in Shadow features the Eminence himself, Shadow. In his old life, before he was transported to another world, he was a vigilante who loved fighting bad guys, but he always wanted a body that could withstand any type of damage, namely atomic. When he gets transported to a new world, he gets the opportunity. He uses his I Am Atomic abilites throughout the series, concentrating an immense amount of magical energy into his sword before releasing it in devastating fashion.

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The best use of the I Am Atomic ability was against a single person. While Shadow could have easily killed Zenon with his sword, he wanted to show off a little. He concentrated all of his magical power into his sword, said his trademark ‘I Am Atomic’ catchphrase, and blew Zenon away in an instant. His I Am Atomic ability is so powerful, that he can use it across entire kingdoms, or he can use it on just one guy. It’s Shadow’s world after all.

8 The Colossal Titan – Attack on Titan

Attack On Titan

Each Titan emits steam when they transform or heal a wound, but none emit as much energy as the Colossal Titan. As the largest Titan, it makes sense that the Colossal’s transformation would be different from the rest of the Titan Shifters. Both Armin and Bertholdt used the Colossal Titan’s ability to devastating effect in Attack on Titan. Bertholdt used it first, melting his fellow Survey Corps members down to their bones when they tried to attack him.

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Armin’s use was much more devastating, however, as he essentially nuked the entire Marleyan Navy. He transforms into his Colossal Titan on the edge of the Marleyan coast, destroying their entire Navy and killing thousands of people at the same time. It’s a sad moment for Armin as he never wanted to bring this kind of death to anyone, but he had to do it to protect his fellow Scouts.

7 Malevolent Shrine

Jujutsu Kaisen

Sukuna is a great villain in Jujutsu Kaisen. He’s evil, manipulative, and willing to destroy everything in his path if it means winning. His Domain Expansion, Malevolent Shrine, is the perfect representation of who he is as a character. It’s a Domain Expansion that allows him to relentlessly slash anything and everything in a 200m radius. He used it during the Shibuya Incident in a fight against Mahoraga and brought Shibuya to its knees.

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After Sukuna was done with the Malevolent Shrine, Shibuya looked like Konoha after Pain used the Shinra Tensei. There was nothing to see, just empty space where buildings and people used to be. He slaughtered everyone in Shibuya without a second thought and reduced every building in the area to rubble. Worse yet, when he was losing control of Yuji’s body, he made young Itadori face the destruction he had caused using Yuji’s body.

6 Shinra Tensei

Naruto

Pain’s obliteration of Konoha is one of the biggest events of mass destruction in anime. He showed up the Village Hidden in the Leaves looking for the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, Naruto. When he didn’t find him, he decided to fly high into the air above the village and use one of his strongest abilites: Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push in English). It’s a simple ability where Pain literally pushes things away, but he does it with such force and ferocity that buildings and people are swept away like nothing.

In one move, Pain changed Konoha forever. He literally leveled the city, wiping away every trace of civilization. It’s a great moment that shows just how angry and deranged Pain has become as the leader of the Akatsuki. He doesn’t care that Naruto isn’t there or that the innocent civilians have nothing to do with his pain, he wants to share his pain with the world.

5 Pain Packer and Rising Sun

Hunter x Hunter

The Phantom Troupe are some of the strongest villains in Hunter x Hunter, which makes it surprising when they all run away from Feitan in the middle of his fight. Feitan was fighting Zazan, the self-proclaimed new Queen of the Chimera Ants and a strong fighter in her own right. She was very cocky and was able to get a few good hits on Feitan, but that only made him mad. While his fellow Phantom Troupe members were watching the fight eagerly, they ran away in an instant when he decided to use his Pain Packer.

He dons a suit of red-and-white armor that protects him from what he’s about to do. He then casts Rising Sun, a small sun that grows bigger based on how much damage he’s taken. He completely incinerates Zazan and even gets close to hurting some of his own teammates. It’s not often you see the strongest villains in a series scared of one of their own friends.

4 Poor Man’s Rose

Hunter x Hunter

Isaac Netero’s fight against Mereum was one of the best in Hunter x Hunter. He took the Chimera King far away from the rest of the fighters, including Gon, Killua, or anyone that would help Meruem. While it seemed like an odd choice at first, it was genius. Netero had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to kill Mereum on his own, so he set him up. He fought him valiantly for a while, but then Netero knew his time was up. Right before he died, he goaded the King by saying he knew his name.

Meruem let his guard down so that he might learn it, and that’s when Netero stabbed himself in the heart, detonating the Poor Man’s Rose. It’s a near-nuclear level explosion that leveled the entire battlefield and eventually leads to Meruem’s death. Netero’s decision to sacrifice himself was noble, and his ability to trick one of the most powerful villains in the series showed why he was the Chairman of the entire Hunter Association.

3 Crimson Moon (Akatsuki)

Fire Force

There are some abilites that are just too strong to be used in town. Benimaru’s Crimson Moon is that ability. It’s so strong, Benimaru needs to take his opponent into the sky before he can use it, or else he would have leveled everything around him. When Benimaru was fighting Haran, who had just turned himself into a powerful Demon Infernal, he knew what he had to do. He used his matoi’s to send the Demon high into the air before using the Akatsuki, Crimson Moon ability on him, decimating him in an instant.

Benimaru’s Akatsuki might be the single greatest moment in Fire Force. Fire Force is a series known for its excellent sound design, and this fight takes the cake. The Akatsuki ability resonates with a booming bass, making it sound unlike any other ability in anime. The fact that Benimaru had to take Haran high into the sky makes the moment even cooler as well.

2 Plus Ultra, Prominence Burn

My Hero Academia

Endeavor had something to prove as the new Number One hero. He earned the top spot, but he didn’t defeat All Might, so he felt he still had to prove to himself that he really was the strongest hero around. He did just that when he fought one of the first High-End Nomu’s of the series, Hood. Hood was almost too much for Endeavor, overwhelming him multiple times. Towards the end of the fight, Endeavor realized what he had to do, and with Hawks’s help, he took Hood high into the sky like Benimaru from Fire Force.

Endeavor had a nice speech with himself, reflecting on his past and his decisions, before using the strongest ability in his arsenal: Plus Ultra, Prominence Burn. It’s an exceptional moment made even better when Endeavor finally lands on the ground. While it looks like he could’ve passed out from exertion, he stands defiantly with a fist in the air as the new Number One hero.

1 Iä Shib-Niggurath (Dark Young)

Overlord

Ainz Ooal Gown’s Iä Shib-Niggurath ability is so absurdly destructive, there’s a wiki page dedicated to the massacre that it caused. It’s easily the most broken ability in anime, and that isn’t even considering the fact that Ainz used it to set up another massively destructive spell, Dark Young. His first super-tier magic spell, Iä Shib-Niggurath, can barely even be considered an attack. Ainz cast a single spell and 70,000 soliders died instantly. There was no explosion, no shockwave, just instant death.

Somehow, that was only the first part of the spell. Ainz then used the soldiers he killed as sacrifices to summon the Dark Young, massive goat-like creatures that trampled another 100,000 soldiers. In less than 10 minutes, Ainz killed over 170,000 enemy soldiers without moving a muscle. He said a few words, used a cash item to speed up the process, and won a war before it even started.