Animes
20 Badass Old Men in Anime Who Aged Like the Finest Wine: Elegance, Wisdom and Power!
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*NOTE I will rank these people primarily in terms of strength and intuition/battle ability. People who shine only in strategy will not beat the people who are strong AND somewhat strategic on this list*
20. Dot Pixis – Attack on Titan
At the bottom of our list is a man built on the foundations of truth and exploration. Commander Pixis is the 67th Commander of the Garrison Troops mounted atop the walls, guarding against any Titans attempting to destroy the base of the walls. Pixis carries an essence that can make him indistinguishable from a normal citizen, never carrying an ounce of arrogance.
He patriotically believes in the idea of recognizing all aspects of a problem to find a solution, and almost all of these strategies are incredible with intricate details and causalities that befit a genius commander like him. His experience as a soldier has made him flexible for many things, such as quickly accepting the fact that Eren is a Titan shapeshifter and using it to hide Wall Rose.
Pixis is best known as a very laid-back man who is friendly to everyone he meets. However, his nerves of steel and his burning passion for fighting and living earn him immense respect from all military branches, even the Commander-in-Chief himself. Not to mention his chilling speeches.
19. Walter. C. Dornez – Hellsing
Valter. C. Dornez is the sophisticated, polite, and mercilessly brutal butler of the Hellsing family. His micro-thin steel fiber thread technique can easily allow him to dismember and decapitate his opponents with a single blow of his hand.
In his youth, he displayed a more sadistic and violent appeal, gleefully slicing up various Millenium soldiers. Now, as an old man and working for the Hellsing family, he is a proud man who cares for Integra and Sera, but feels a deep loathing for humans and their feeble mortality.
18. Führer King David Bradley – Fullmetal Alchemist
Führer King David Bradley, or commonly known as King Bradley, is a brave, stoic, and ruthless man. He was trained as a spy and selected in a battle royale to participate in a genetic experiment to become a super soldier.
Bradley is a man with little empathy for humans, pursuing his agenda regardless of innocent lives and the opinions of others. He is a perfectly engineered war machine who has eliminated nearly every person he has fought in the series with little to no effort.
His exceptional German-style sword fighting can locate and sever vital areas of the body. In addition to his exceptional talent, he is the most powerful man in the entire army that governs the country.
He is truly one of the most powerful humans, especially due to the fact that he can throw out all his emotions, going so far as to kill his own son out of rage in the original FMA series (2003).
17. Watari – Death Note
Watari is a fan favorite among Death Note and even anime fans. Watari is the butler and handler of L, the genius and enigmatic detective who is only known by the letter “L” written in the Cloisters’ calligraphy. Watari provides logistics and assistance to L’s Japanese Task Force dressed in a trench coat and mask, furthering our interest and love for such an enigmatic and edgy pair.
Watari not only helped L, but also raised him and other “special” children as the founder of Wammy’s House. His tutelage and guidance produced some of the greatest detectives to ever exist. Watari is a kind, diligent, and pragmatic man who shows deep care and concern for all of his students at Wammy’s House, even after they have left, such as L and Near. Don’t be fooled, as Watari is highly trained in combat, espionage, emergency medical care, and a variety of tasks.
16. Makarov Dreyar – Fairy Tail
Makarov Dreyar is the cute, dwarf-sized grandpa who leads the Fairy Tail guild in Fiore. He is a somewhat grumpy but caring man who does not hesitate to strictly reprimand his guild members, as he considers them his own children.
However, Makarov's size is no match for his power, as he is one of the Ten Holy Wizards and has the ability to use powerful Light magic and transform into a titan. He has fought dragons, destroyed armies, and has always been the pillar of support for the Guild members, ensuring that he will protect them with his life no matter the situation.
Makarov’s immense magical prowess, acrobatics, and durability make him more than just a formidable opponent. His mastery of three distinct magical elements and the ultimate “Fairy Law”—which makes anyone Makarov considers an enemy afflicted with Light magic—earn him his rightful place as Guild Master.
15. Joseph Joestar – Jojo's Bizarre Adventures
Joseph Joestar is probably the most popular JoJo character in the series after Jotaro Kujo. As a young man, Joseph embodied everything you could imagine a delinquent to be: confrontational, brash, impetuous, and arrogant. He would easily get into fights at the slightest provocation and never wanted to take responsibility for anything, preferring to play pranks, women, and more. His natural Ripple ability and later Stand abilities forced him to train to master this power. As he grew older, he is still playful and playful, but he has mellowed out a lot and shows more kindness towards people. His experience with different Stand and Ripple users, along with the friends he made, gave him a lot of experience to teach and help his grandson Jotaro Kujo.
14. Matal Mogamett – Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Matal Mogamett didn't have many feats in Mages to rank higher on this list, but his final suicidal act against the invading Kou Empire was one of the most powerful and dark magics ever used, showing his true magical prowess.
Originally a righteous and selfless man, he slowly began to delve into the deepest, darkest depths of his psyche as he witnessed countless massacres of mages used in the empires' wars.
He began to greatly hate non-magic users as he compared them to people who used mages as weapons even though they knew nothing about magic. He devises the plan to take the life energy of all non-magic users in Magnostadt and provide power to the city.
His greatest feat was when he used the cursed fates of thousands of citizens to create the greatest Dark Djinn of all time, which required the combined work of Alibaba, Aladdin, Sinbad, and Kouen Ren.
13. Kuzen Yoshimura – Tokyo Ghoul
Kuzen Yoshimura's story is extremely bittersweet, filled with regret and dying love. Yoshimura is an SSS-ranked ghoul who was widely feared as he ate both humans and ghouls.
However, he cursed his own existence and did this purely to survive. He softened and found solace in the waitress at the cafe he frequented when they got married and had a child. Tragically, the mother died and the daughter was taken away.
Since then, Yoshimura has adapted and overcome the emotional trauma of losing everything and resolved to become a better man. Now, as the owner of Anteiku Coffee Shop, he is a kind and generous man who exudes wisdom and reasonableness that earns the adoration and respect of his employees.
He shows compassion and sympathy for what Kaneki is going through, despite never having experienced it himself, and offers to gently guide him. However, this behavior does not detract from his unparalleled strength and speed as one of the strongest ghouls of all time.
12. Hiruzen Sarutobi – Naruto
One of the OG's of Naruto which coincidentally was one of the first major deaths that shook people. Hiruzen Sarutobi is the third Hokage after Tobirama Senju. He passed the title to Minato Namikaze, but regained it after the latter's death.
He is widely known as "The Teacher" or "God of Shinobi". He is capable of mastering all elemental releases, including Yin and Yang, and possesses the rigid chakra structure of the Sarutobi clan.
His summoning jutsu is the Monkey King Enma, which comes in the form of a bo staff that is similar to Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu. Hiruzen is a strict but soft-hearted man who will gladly sacrifice his life any day to preserve a future for Konoha.
He was able to compete fairly against Edo-Tensei Hashirama and Tobirama Senju simultaneously and even fought Orochimaru on equal footing. He is not someone to be counted on.
11. Bang/Silver Fang – One Punch Man
Bang is a calm and collected man with nerves of steel. He has a serious demeanor and lives a life of strict diligence and determination. Beneath this stoic exterior, he is extremely fair and criticizes his S-rated heroes for ignoring minor issues.
He is the head of the Water Flow Stone Crushing Fist School - a martial arts form that utilizes the flow of water to land surprising critical strikes.
As the third S-Class Hero, there are only two Heroes stronger than him and this is a demarcation of how strong this man truly is. He can crush rocks with a light palm strike and easily defeat dozens of Demon-level threats without much effort.
10. Jiraya – Naruto
The fact that brings tears to our eyes when we remember. Jiraiya was like our cool uncle who always teased you. Jiraiya was known to be a child at heart and also an incorrigible pervert.
He played pranks and joked around all day as a child like Naruto, but still maintains a focused and tense pose when in battle. Jiraiya has mastered several different techniques, such as using his hair as thorns, Toad Summoning Jutsu, Rasengan, Mount Myoboku genjutsu, and Sage Mode.
His Sage Mode places him above Hiruzen on this list due to his versatility in not consuming too much chakra reserves, allowing Jiraiya to throw out jutsu after jutsu. Being one of the most well-rounded fighters, Jiraiya's character is a pseudo-nostalgic one who longs for a future to come and shrugs off being mischievous.
9. Zeno Zoldyck – Hunter x Hunter
Another tough nut to crack in the Hunter x Hunter universe, Zeno Zoldyck is the former head of the Zoldyck family, a clan of extremely powerful and deadly assassins. He is the father of Silva Zoldyck and grandfather of Killua, Illumi, Kalluto, and Milluki.
At his peak, he could go toe-to-toe with the entire Phantom Troupe and maintained a near-perfect record of completed assassinations. He is a witty, cunning, and rational man who only uses quick killing and cruelty to make his targets' deaths as quick as possible, finding it distasteful to hurt people more than necessary.
He forces Silva to see the logic behind his decisions regarding Killua and the family, acting as his pseudo-advisor. His Nen is of the Transmutation type, where he can shape his Nen into cosmic objects and dragons, launching devastating rains from the sky until nearly destroying Meruem's palace.
He has been compared to Netero many times, though the former is quick to dismiss these comparisons as he has a great deal of respect for Netero. Zeno is still the strongest member of the family despite his advanced age, based on his skill and technique as a Nen user.
8. All For One – My Hero Academia
All for One is the main antagonist of My Hero Academia. He has lived for nearly 200 years thanks to his devastatingly powerful Quirk. He is the titular holder of his Quirk "All For One", which grants him the ability to steal other people's Quirks for himself upon contact. Due to this power, 200 years ago, he subdued many violent Quirk users when such powers were still an anomaly to the world. However, he became power-hungry and desired to monopolize every Quirk on the planet, having his own super-powered Quirk army to take over the world. He experimented on human bodies by injecting various Quirks into them and dehumanized them to kill monsters. He is a truly cruel and malicious individual who will not hesitate to use anything to further his agenda. His younger brother saw the tyranny he imposed on humanity and wished to end it. To counter his resistance, All for One gave his brother a Quirk to accumulate power, thinking he was Quirkless. However, his brother's Quirk was useless for transferring Quirks. This Quirk was passed down through nine generations and is now known as "One for All".
7. Edward Newgate/Whitebeard – One Piece
Edward NewGate was the strongest pirate in One Piece after Gol. D. Roger (The Pirate King) died. He was the closest man to One Piece and was feared by all as Whitebeard and the "Strongest Man on Earth".
His Devil Fruit is a Paramecia-type and is called the Gura Gura no Mi, which causes catastrophic tremors and earthquakes that can turn into deadly tsunamis that destroy ships and pressures that can crush cannons.
Due to his skills, Whitebeard was fearless and little could alarm him due to his experience. Unlike many pirates, he values family and the connections people make with each other.
He valued his crewmates and adopted new members into his crew, judging their character and sometimes saving people from despair by giving them a place on his ship.
When in battle, his versatile thinking allows him to analyze situations much more quickly than other captains and has earned him the trust and respect of his entire crew.
In addition to his honor and dignity as a man, he loves to drink and reminisce like a jolly old man. Whitebeard's carefree attitude brought peace to the minds of his sailors and allowed him to control one of the greatest crews of all time.
6. Isaac Netero – Hunter x Hunter
HunterxHunter has become one of the biggest anime to grace the Earth with its dramatic story arcs, social commentary on class divides, and incredibly animated action scenes, thanks to the ingenious Nen system that gives people in the series their powers.
In this series, there is a man who decided to focus his Nen on the harmony of life in the universe and create a new technique. For decades, this man has trained his body and Nen to resonate with the warmth of life around the universe: Isaac Netero. Netero is a carefree, playful, and caring old man who is very confident in his ability to protect the Hunter Association as its chairman.
He is also the strongest hunter to ever exist. The reason why he is so confident is his divine Nen technique. His Nen ability is Bodhisattva Type 100.
Through training, he can summon an extremely powerful physical representation of the 100-handed Buddha that controls the life energy throughout the Universe. This is the physical manifestation of the life energy of the Universe that resonates within everyone and is almost a representation of the essence of God in HunterxHunter.
5. Lord Genome – Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
One of the most genocidal characters in the anime, Lordgenome is a military strategist with the mind of a tyrant and the behavior of a fully evolved man who revels in Darwinism. Lordgenome believed that the spiral power was the greatest in the Universe and monopolized it on Earth, driving all humans underground.
By removing the humans, he could let the Earths roam with his species and other dominant planets. He has given birth to countless daughters and treats them like dolls, putting them in freezers and throwing them into landfills when he is bored. However, his complex character makes him change in many ways and even helps the protagonists he fought later. He is truly an interesting man.
This, however, is not the only reason he is in such a high position. During his rule as the Spiral King, he was immortal and controlled a considerable portion of the Spiral life energy that controlled the Universe from his realm in Teppelin.
His power has built skyscrapers twice the size of Mt. Everest and commands thousands of powerful Beastmen who fear him greatly. Lordgenome has been compared to a near-godlike being for his power levels alone.
4. Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto – Bleach
Captain of the 1st Division and Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto is an old fire monster who rules and protects Soul Society. He has lived for over 2,000 years as a high-ranking executive of the Soul King, the god of the afterlife who controls Soul Society.
Yamamoto is a proud, loyal, and steadfast person whose conviction and loyalty are unmatched, earning him immense respect from everyone in Soul Society. He cares deeply for all Shinigami, but will not hesitate to strike one down if they harm Soul Society.
A patron of traditional Japanese arts, Yamamoto has lived through many years of conflict and war and has become a wise man with experience in many truths about the Universe and the Soul King himself. His experiences are what guide the decisions he makes for the good of Soul Society.
He has a Fire-type Zanpakuto called Ryukin Jakka. When drawn, it burns the wooden cane that surrounds it and heats the air around it to the temperature of the Sun.
Yamamoto can unlock his weapon further in the Bankai stage, which allows him to literally melt countries with the residual heat energy and cause near-solar explosions. His connection to the Soul Society and the Spiritual Pressure connecting to the transdimensional plane where the Soul King resides give him life and power as he trains every day.
3. Master Roshi – Dragon Ball
Master Roshi is our favorite grandpa that we all grew up with, but that doesn't take away from the greatness that this man possesses. Roshi is a carefree, cheerful, and kind old man who taught almost all of the protagonists how to fight and use their skills properly, as well as showing them new techniques.
Over 300 years old at the start of the series, Roshi has returned to his childhood self, who loves to live life, as he has lived a long life and sees so many things that he cannot be tied down.
He is a hermit and a pervert, but he is also the inventor of the Kamehameha. His influence and compassion have touched the hearts of all his students, as he cares deeply for each of them.
Of course, Roshi is not only a good technique user and teacher, but he is incredibly strong. Holding the title of the strongest human on Earth for the longest time, his physical strength, speed, and durability surpassed almost anyone and could even take down non-human opponents, surpassing him in special abilities.
He has strong control over ki and can expel galactic levels of it. He is slowly being surpassed by the new fighters and Saiyan gods, but he deserves third place for how much he taught Goku and how strong he was.
2. Hagoromo Otsutsuki – Naruto
Born from the flesh of Kaguya Otsutsuki, Hagoromo Otsutsuki lived during the time when Chakra was introduced to the world by his mother. Kaguya ate the Forbidden Chakra Fruit of the Ten-Tails and became the progenitor of all Chakra in the Universe. She divided her body into two sons, Hagoromo and Hamura. Hamura's descendants reside on the Moon, but Hagoromo became the father of all shinobi as we know them today.
He taught his sons Indra and Asura Chakra and they became very powerful shinobi. Hagoromo was almost a physical manifestation of half of the Chakra that exists in the Naruto Universe since his mother is the progenitor.
Known as the Sage of the Six Paths due to his mastery of the Rinne-Sharingan and Rinnegan, Hagoromo was able to transcend space and time to grant the power of the Six Paths to his children's reincarnations. He can be loosely compared to a god due to his origin, and his immense chakra reserves allow him to control titanic beasts such as the Ten-Tails.
1. Father/Van Hohenheim – Fullmetal Alchemist
Taking pride of place on this list is a relic of human history. An artifact of how humanity perished, evolved, adapted, feared, loved, and grew, that lived to use humanity to achieve Truth. This man—or thing—is Father. Father is the original and most powerful Homunculus, taking the form of a black orb with a single eye and mouth set in a twisted, sadistic grin.
Confined in a jar his entire life, he tricked Van Hohenheim into releasing him and copied his body to live forever. Over the past few centuries, he began planning to increase his control and power in order to attain the Truth and become all-powerful, which, momentarily, he did.
By reaching the maximum power of many Philosopher's Stones, he gained unimaginable power that sent shivers down the spines of Van Hohenheim himself, the only man who could face him on equal terms.
Father has created several different Homunculi, calling them his children, but uses them as tools to further his agenda. His mischievous attitude is a front for his inner distaste for humans and his sadistic, tyrannical enthusiasm for being God.
When Father gained the ultimate alchemist power, he was able to materialize elements and weapons out of thin air, ignoring any notion of equivalent exchange. He manifested different forms of energy and matter at will while effortlessly attacking the Eldric brothers. A power like this is something that one should never obtain and never use, because it is easily comparable to the power of God.
