Hello, how are you? I don’t know about you, but I always watch an anime and hope that the protagonist will find a way to solve everything. Of course, that doesn’t always happen, but it’s great when it does. However, when it’s not the protagonist, there’s always someone who can resolve the situation. But the way of solving varies, so here’s a list of the smartest protagonists in anime.
Yes, those guys with super developed brains, or rather, they have the same brains as everyone else, but they use them in a much more rational and logical way than all the others, and they reach the point of understanding things that are impossible for us mere mortals. Of course, not all of them are god-level, but this type always stands out from the majority.
Remembering that here we will not only see those with skills in all areas of science, but also some who focus their brains on a specialty. But I will explain this information throughout the list; for now, let’s start our investigation, because it is “elementary, my dear Watson.”
We also recommend the animes on this list, since the characters are the smartest protagonists, so these animes are definitely great psychological thrillers. The list below is not in any order; I don’t want to label rankings.
Table of Contents
Inaho Kaizuka – Aldnoah Zero
Protagonist of the anime Aldnoah. Zero, where Mars was colonized and a technology was discovered that is many times more advanced than that of Earth, and with that, the colonizers of Mars decided to become independent and declared war against their home planet. With the help of this new technology, Mars won the war and now… No spoilers here.
The important thing is that this guy, with only a training robot—I forgot to mention that the mecha genre is included in the anime—manages to defeat the robots from Mars, which are the technologies found on Mars. To give you an idea, the guy became so famous that he was forced to take a bullet to end the first season, but he survives and comes back in the second.
Liebert Johan – Monster
The protagonist of Monster, an older anime that is undoubtedly a success, as it ranks 50th in the MAL ranking in terms of score. Where a doctor considered a genius among all is placed in a very complicated situation, however, it soon becomes clear that not everything is as simple as it seems, and everything can change.
I don’t have much to say about this guy, because the level of mentality he possesses is enough to persuade you to kill yourself in just a few minutes, and this was not acquired through life experience or much effort, as he achieved this feat when he was still a child. Honestly, it scares me that someone can reach this level of persuasion.
Doze e nove – Zankyou no terror
The two main characters of Zankyou no Terror, where two survivors of a government research project survived only because they escaped from the place where the research was conducted. There, they were selected based on intelligence, and these two plan years later to take revenge on the government, and for this, they resort to terrorism.
Doze and Nove are two different characters; one has motor skills and a special gift, while the other has his intelligence focused on attack and defense strategies. They plan several terrorist acts, and it takes an entire investigation department to try to find these two, and even then, they don’t come close to catching them.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka – Youkuso Jitsuriuki
Straight from the school where your future is guaranteed if you can get in, comes the protagonist of Youkuso Jitsuriuki… I definitely won’t remember the whole name, but the important thing is to know that in this anime, no one is what they seem, and everyone is connected and divided by something. The protagonist is a neutral guy who wants nothing more than to study at school.
Well, this is half true; after all, the protagonist does want to study, and he doesn’t take sides unless it affects his journey. The problem is that if it does affect him in some way, he is forced to solve the problem by any means necessary. Of course, most people don’t know this, and sometimes he solves the problem with such intelligence that no one knows how he did it.
Ernesti Echevalier – Knight’s & Magic
A computer genius obsessed with mecha who, for some reason, died and had the chance to reincarnate in another fantasy world. This is the premise of Knight’s and Magic, and in terms of intelligent protagonists, this anime has the best in robotics engineering and planning, not to mention the creativity, which is astonishing.
But that’s not all; I have to remember the detail that he went to another world but still inherited the talent and genius he had in the other world, and in this one, he helped develop technological innovations in magical robots that would take centuries to develop. He is also one of the most charismatic protagonists.
Sora e Shiro – No Game No Life
Yes, another duo occupying the same position. Who doesn’t know the siblings who are not siblings, super intelligent, who after a game of chess were somehow transported to another world, a world dominated by those who have more talent for games? In the case of the protagonists of No Game No Life, this is not a problem.
In the anime, they are already introduced after humiliating thousands of players in an online game within an open field. Those who play Fortnite have an idea of what I’m talking about—thousands of players, and all of this alone. They don’t stop there, as they have knowledge in various sciences, ranging from philosophy to astronomy, which gives them super intelligence.
Ikta Solork – Aldemiran on the Sky
The laziest and smartest protagonist you will find in anime. Straight from the anime Aldemiran on the Sky, our protagonist lives in a war-torn world where he is unintentionally led to join the army of a country currently at war with other countries, but he doesn’t care about that.
For him, the world could end, and he would just watch and drink tea. But unfortunately, he was forced by various circumstances, and now he has to show his potential to survive the wars. However, he soon starts to get more involved, and soon he will be so immersed that he becomes emotionally attached to some things.
Lawliet e Light Yagami – Death Note
A duo of characters from the classic Death Note. Well, I couldn’t just leave the protagonist, as the one who seems more like the hero in this anime is the character who plays the villain, or at least that was supposed to be, but I don’t know if that’s right since the protagonist seems more like the villain. Anyway, watch it and try to understand what I’m saying.
The important thing is that both are masters of strategy and manipulation. They are so good that they are on equal levels; however, one is the pursued, and the other is the detective, so intelligent that they plan strategies that foresee more than twenty steps ahead. They are so good that they can even persuade death gods.
Tatsuya Shiba – Mahouka Koukou
A world where magic is not a supernatural thing, but just a conquest of science that proposed technology that dominated supernatural events, and through it, it is possible to reproduce phenomena at the user’s will. However, there are several details of exact sciences that are necessary for this process. This is the world of Mahouka Koukou.
Here, the protagonist is so intelligent that he can calculate thousands of calculations in a few seconds and is even faster than a computer, and it may be that he himself is a supercomputer. A genius in engineering, physics, mathematics, martial arts, and several other specialties that have not yet been revealed in the anime.
Lelouch Lamparouge – Code Geass
A world where war is taking over and killing humans everywhere. However, someone does not accept this reality and wants to change it at all costs with his own hands, and for this, he will not spare any effort or sacrifice. By chance, he receives from an entity the power to control people.
With this power, our protagonist has the opportunity to change what he doesn’t like in this world. But none of this would be possible if he hadn’t had great intelligence beforehand to know what to do and not waste his efforts without an apparent plan. However, intelligence is not the obstacle for this protagonist, and that’s why he manages to progress with his plan.
Edogawa Conan – Detective Conan
One of the classic and most popular animes in Japan with over 800 episodes on the investigation theme that puts CSI to shame. Although the protagonist seems like a teenager who turns into a child, his investigative intellect and the plots that occur in the anime are responsible for making the Japanese so intelligent.
The entire anime is filled with intelligent characters, a lot of comedy, action, and secrets. The anime takes place in various locations in Japan and teaches a lot about the culture and tradition of the country, in addition to having a main plot with plenty of suspense and excitement. This is a must-watch anime that doesn’t stay in the TOP 5 weekly for nothing.
List of intelligent characters in anime
There are many intelligent characters in anime; some are just analytical, while others are truly brainiacs. Which ones are you looking for? Some are not the protagonists of the work. Perhaps the list below will help you expand your mind:
- L [Death Note];
- Kira or Light Yagami [Death Note];
- Lelouch Lamperouge [Code Geass];
- Shikamaru Nara [Naruto];
- Haruhi Fujioka [Ouran School];
- Killua Zoldyck [Hunter x Hunter];
- Shiro and Sora [No Game No Life];
- Okabe Rintarou [Steins;Gate];
- Izuku Midoriya [Boku no Hero];
- Kougami Shinya [PsychoPass];
- Akane Tsunemori [Psycho-Pass];
- Re-I Mayer [Ergo Proxy];
- Hattori Heiji [Detective Conan];
- Magic Kaito [Detective Conan];
- Sebastian Michaelis [Black Butler];
- Ye Xiu [Quan Zhi Gao Shou];
- Sai [Hikaru no Go];
- Oreki Houtarou [Hyouka];
- Horikita Suzune [Classroom of the Elite];
- Bege Capone [One Piece];
- Trafalgar Law [One Piece];
- Hachiman Hikigaya [SNAFU];
- Senkuu [Dr.Stone];
- Chrome [Dr.Stone];
- Ray, Norman, and Emma [Oyakusoku no Neverland];
- Franken Stein [Soul Eater];
- Izumi Curtis [Fullmetal Alchemist];
- Koro-Sensei [Assassination Classroom];
- Shizuka Hiratsuka [SNAFU];
- Hashida Itaru [Steins;Gate];
- Chihiro Fujisaki [Dangaronpa];
- Ryuunosuke Akasaka [Sakurasou];
That’s it; these are all the ones I’ve seen in anime. Of course, not all of them are on this list because I haven’t watched all the anime that exist. So if you know of any character that could be on this list but isn’t, please comment below.
And this is the end of this article. I have already made other recommendation lists that included the mentioned animes, and I advise you to take a look at the other lists as well. But if you have any questions, criticisms, suggestions, or anything of the sort, leave your comment. Thank you, my dear reader, for reading this article up to here, and see you next time.
Leave a Reply