10 Strongest Anime Deuteragonists of All Time, Ranked by Power (2026)

In anime, a deuteragonist is the character who is the second most important in the story. For example, Sasuke Uchiha in Naruto. These are very important characters in each and every story, as they often exist to contrast the protagonist, and share the journey with.

Let’s rank ten of the strongest anime deuteragonists, sticking only to their powers in their respective universes. For this ranking, the only criterion is being a deuteragonist, so we are not focusing on how well a character is written. Let’s dive in.

10 Yuno Grinberryall – Black Clover

Yuno is the childhood friend and rival of Asta, the protagonist of Black Clover. He ranks at the bottom because his magic is limited in destruction when compared to other characters in this ranking. He uses wind and star magic and is capable of destroying large countries if he takes his time.

That said, he is restricted to physical magic, so he can’t do anything mystical like most in this ranking either. While he is truly formidable in his own verse, his power scaling is limited.

9 Roronoa Zoro – One Piece

Roronoa Zoro is the first crew member that Luffy recruits. He is a pirate hunter who aims to become the world’s strongest swordsman. He created his own three sword styles. While relatively stronger than most characters in the shonen genre, he remains held back in this ranking because he, too, is all physical.

Using his Haki, he can ignore most defences, making him very dangerous in a direct fight. However, he cannot survive things that would kill a normal human, such as poison, lack of food, or simply magic, which many characters in this ranking are capable of.

8 Genos – One Punch Man

Genos is the disciple of Saitama. Since Genos is a machine, he doesn’t have to worry about basic human needs. Just like Zoro, he can also split mountains apart and ignore defences through his sheer power output. Furthermore, he is physically stronger and faster than most characters in this ranking, as he doesn’t have to worry about human limitations.

However, he has to rely on his doctor to keep upgrading and fixing him, and he, too, runs on energy. In fact, some of his best attacks have limits on them that he cannot cross, be it output limit or time limit. While in his current form, he cannot defeat any character above him in this ranking, he can keep growing stronger and stronger with each upgrade. In fact, at the start of the anime, he was really weak, but he went on to gain many new forms.

7 Hiei – Yu Yu Hakusho

We are now entering the mystical realm of this ranking. Hiei is a demon of upper S-Class. In his universe, even lower S-Class demons emit enough energy to defeat all 3 characters mentioned till now. Physically, he is stronger than most in his universe, being able to move at enough speed to leave afterimages behind. Furthermore, he has a third eye, which allows him to perform many psychic feats such as telekinesis.

While Hiei doesn’t start off in the series as a deuteragonist, he eventually becomes one, owing to the narrative. As far as the powers are concerned, Genos is considered fast, but in his Jaganshi form, Hiei ranks far above Genos and Zoro. Furthermore, he is also able to paralyze his opponents using his curse, and he can summon literal dragons to the battlefield if the situation demands it.

6 Sasuke Uchiha – Naruto

Sasuke Uchiha holds a solid planetary power scaling. He can use the Rinnegan and Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan to control space and time. He can travel through dimensions, trap enemies in illusions, and summon a massive armor called the Perfect Susanoo. In fact, one can argue that after the main anime’s conclusion, Sasuke is stronger than the protagonist himself.

Sasuke ranks above Hiei because of his broken abilities. While Hiei has a huge reserve of energy and many mystical attacks, Sasuke can simply teleport Hiei’s attacks away, swap places with objects instantly, or simply seal him away. Furthermore, just being able to fight is not enough against Sasuke, as he has been trained since childhood to fight through tactics that a standard anime character wouldn’t even think of.

5 Arthur Boyle – Fire Force

Arthur Boyle’s strength increases based on his own delusions. During a major battle, Arthur physically cut the Earth itself in half with his plasma sword. He also fought against a world-ending Dragon in the vacuum of outer space, being able to survive because of his own imagination, and survived massive attacks that would destroy a planet.

This power scaling is a big jump in this ranking. Arthur beats Sasuke because his durability and cutting power are way higher. Sasuke’s space-time tricks will not stop an attack that can casually slice a planet in half. Furthermore, Arthur’s delusions are also fueled by the video games he played, meaning he can surpass standard logic.

4 Uryu Ishida – Bleach

Uryu Ishida is one of the top fighters in his universe, but his real weapon is a power called The Antithesis, which allows Uryu to instantly reverse the state of events between two targets. If a stronger opponent injures Uryu, he can use The Antithesis to transfer all of his damage to the enemy instead, fully healing himself in the process.

If Arthur tried anything on Uryu, it would simply be reversed. However, he cannot do anything against literal gods or characters who can speed blitz him, which makes him rank out of the top three.

3 Yuno Gasai – Future Diary

Initially, Yuno was just a normal human who was able to read about what Yukiteru, the protagonist, was doing around her. This sounds like a useless power, and it sure was. That was until, by the end of the original timeline, she won the survival games and became the god of space and time.

She can, as her title suggests, do anything with space and time. For example, traveling in the past or future, being at any space at any time. Meaning, in a standard fight, she surpasses all logic. However, as seen in the anime, she is not capable of everything that a god would be. For example, she was not able to bring back the protagonist from the dead, which itself resulted in the events of the anime.

It is worth noting that she is not ranked number one because she doesn’t have a destructive power, and her control is limited to only one universe.

2 Vegeta – Dragon Ball Super

Vegeta scales to the low multiversal tier. Some of his strongest strikes and energy blasts can destroy an entire universe. His Ultra Ego form makes him even stronger: the more he is hit, the higher his power output goes. He easily takes punches from characters who move faster than anyone else and can erase reality with raw energy.

Vegeta ranks above Yuno Gasai because Dragon Ball power scaling proves that enough power alone can shatter reality manipulation, as long as there is enough power, like in the case of Vegeta.

1 Homura Akemi – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Homura Akemi takes the number one spot with multiversal power scaling. In the movie Rebellion, she evolves into a conceptual entity named Demon Homura, similar to what Madoka herself did. She overpowered Madoka, a goddess who exists across infinite timelines and universes at the same time. Which means that the concept of space and time no longer applies to Akemi.

Homura rewrote the fundamental laws of the entire multiverse to trap Madoka and create her own reality. So while Vegeta can destroy an entire universe, Homura Akemi has enough power to erase him out of existence, or simply create a new universe.

Which deuteragonist is your personal favorite? Let us know in the comments.