Top 10 Smartest Anime Characters of All Time

The Top Ten
1 L - Death Note L Lawliet, exclusively known by the mononym L, is a fictional character in the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

L knew that light was kera the entire time the only reason he didn't win was because he lacked evidence. And can we really blame him when light was literally using a supernatural god given power. L is hands down an absolute genius and the smartest anime character of all time

L was literally the greatest detective in the world at age 24, he easily deduced Kira's general location after a few weeks ago, it could have been anywhere in the world. Throughout most of the series, he was 99% sure that Light was Kira, and only the lack of evidence was what stopped him from saying 100%. Despite lacking several key pieces of information, L still came pretty close to discovering who Kira was, and he only died due to a illogical and unknown factor. Also, L was specifically designed to not be attractive, but there are probably more girls who want his ass than there are who'll even look at you or me. Just saying... T-T

Dude became a victim of the plot... Near and Mello acknowledged him to be better than both of them individually. Light had the unfair advantage of Death Note, Shinigami and writers. He's not only smart but street smart. He built an empire which led to Near and Mello. He scored the highest marks with LIght in the University exam, like Light is a student but L did it just to play his game. And boy did he have a Game,
Normally, I'd say that it's better to not compare characters from different anime but in this case it's not even close. He beats Lelouch of Code Geass, Itachi of Naruto et cetera, et cetera...

Do any of people know the reason either Beyond Birthday or L Lawliet is the one of the smartest anime character that exist one thing that L special is he could access the world and police while, constantly uses cameras to watch any accident or cases. Another L Lawliet is smarter than all death note characters is because, he could manipulate, lie, trick, and very mysterious or foolish. The reason I think should be at the top of the list is because, it was the most probably difficult case for L Lawliet to solve and he was maybe the greatest criminal at the world. Especially, Beyond Birthday use his tactics or strategy to use wara ningyo to create identical humans he could possibly die mysterious for some reason but is menace, extremely intelligent. Beyond Birthday would be foolish copy of L Lawliet. I meant foolish by being notorious for his capability of acting usually be the copy of L a highly exotic ability he could the best known criminal prodigy

2 Light Yagami - Death Note Light Yagami is a fictional character and the protagonist of the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

Alright, time out! It specifically states that Light defeated L and L was basically the smartest guy there is. That clearly shows that Light (in many BUT not all aspects) is smarter than L. In one aspect, he is smarter with social situations which is a sort of genius. And they basically tie when it comes to strategy solving. Yes, Light lost to Near, but this was only because, as stated, Near could only do this with Mello's help. Individually, they could not surpass L, but together they could. This is why I believe Light should be above L. On the other hand, if L had been more ruthless and less caring of people's lives, he would have won. But my vote still goes to Light.

I haven't watched a lot of animes. Death Note is the only one I've completed. But here I see L at the top of the list.
People are voting for L as they like him. I love L too, and hate Light (who is every bit of evil, selfish and greedy, despite his intentions). But, as far as intelligence is concerned, its Light all the way.
He leaves nothing to chance, while L appears to have made several assumptions in his reasoning.
I am an engineer, and from a professional standpoint, I was amazed by the solution he designed to keep the note safe in his drawer.

Light isn't the smartest by IQ, but he's the type of smart who would be capable of taking over the world. Here's how. He should have left Mikami alone, as he was the reason he died. Then, he should have become a politician, and as popular and competent as he is, he could've easily become president of Japan. Then, Light could proceed by starting war with China, and winning by killing off all of the leaders of that country, to demonstrate his power. Now that he has the Chinese army, he does the same with Russia, including an entire army to his command in case it doesn't work. Now that he has both the Chinese and the Russian millitary at his command, he takes over the USA using either the same method or starting war and overpowering America. Now, he is officially the leader of the strongest millitary in history. Then he can easily take over the other countries. Niw that he is the World Leader, he established the New World Order to create justice around the world. Also, he's the leader of ...more

Definitely , the smartest. Alone fought against whole world. Which includes ,L ,near , mello the one the smartest. Also all countries police, task forces and many more intelligent detectives were behind him then too not got caught. Also he had to plan all alone, he has to investigate Kira and has to the job of Kira (killing criminals), you know what's I'm saying. Had to do everything without getting caught.

3 Bulma - Dragon Ball Z Bulma is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. Bulma is the most significant female character in the series.

How is lelouch, light, shikamaru and l lawliet smarter than her. She built time machine. She built dragon radar and laser guns at age of five when light will be crying for milk. She can drive a car at age of five. She can drive spaceships. She can drive alien space ship. And you saw Vegeta is better than her. She slapped beerus while Vegeta just slayed hum like a dog. What can light do kill people, lie read a note book's instructions. Bulma is way better than him.

Bulma not only made the dragonball radar and a time machine and owns Capsule Corp, she also found a way to convince the most stubborn and princely of saiyans to marry her. Plus she's got Whis and Beerus in her back pocket with all those tasty foods as incentives. She doesn't just have book smarts but also knows how to work people and gods too. This girl basically has the world in the palm of her hand.

Aside from her father, Bulma is the smartest character in DBZ. She'd bring the Saiyans to their knees if she wanted to with just one invention.

Don't forget she made a very powerful laser gun and knew how to drive an alien space ship at 5 years old!

4 Lelouch - Code Geass Lelouch Lamperouge, whose real name is Lelouch vi Britannia, is the title character and protagonist of the Sunrise anime series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

My only problem with Lelouch being so high is that he isn't as smart about people as other characters like, say, Light Yagami. Lelouch continuously meticulously maps out plans and I will give him the fact that these plans are well made and all around genius, but he isn't able to predict people's reactions as well as he should. The only time his plans fall apart is when some factor comes into play that he didn't calculate because he doesn't exhaust every possibility that the enemy has. For example, one of the first few battles, Lancelot comes shooting into play and Lelouch is completely shocked and realizes this will mess up his plan, but he already knew that the enemy had Lancelot and even if he was aware, he didn't think of any sort of backup or escape in case they did use Lancelot (which they did). He doesn't map out every scenario and that's why I don't think he's the smartest character. I do believe he deserves to be on this list because he is obviously a genius, just not this ...more

Lelouch was better than L and Light because they couldn't get their hands dirty and their allies were weak. Light is the bigger fool. With such great power, he could have mobilized an effective force from his Kira Supporters. Even after getting the USA as an ally, he didn't make any use of it instead, he killed his own supporters. Lelouch created a powerful nation on his own without even using the Geass on his allies to control them. L was not also effective because he couldn't play dirty. Look at Mello, dude caused more harm to Light than all Lawliet could do. This is because Mello could activate the initiative. Lelouch destroys cities and mountains as well as oceans and gets away with it. Lelouch didn't even use the Geass that much but he was little by little able to create a powerful force as Brittania all with his brain. Light was so stupid and power drunk. After winning over the United States, he should have used his head to form a force. He would have owned the whole world and ...more

How is this even a discussion? Lelouch is obviously the smartest character in all of anime. He managed to take over the world, without the superhuman strength that other characters have. All he used was his strategy. Even if you make the argument that he had a geass to help him, his power is actually so much more limited than the other people on this list. He can predict exactly what people say and record a conversation to play to them, IN THE FUTURE! On top of all that, he even managed to manipulate the entire world into creating world peace, with none of them knowing.

What I want to say is that Lelouch isn't the smartest anime character in history but for now he deserves the number one spot. First of all, in code geass R3 2019, Lelouch outsmarted Shanna who has the ability to go back in time 6 hours at the time of her death. Her power defies logic. How can L and Light defeat someone like that? He killed the Viceroy, sealed the escape routes of the black knights and hid in the Chinese federation at the same time hours after REGAINING HIS MEMORY. He easily outsmarted Rolo who is Op as Light and his death note, to join forces with him. He made the black knights a force to be reckoned with from scratch and fought against an advanced civilization far ahead of the Japan and US in Death note's universe. And remember all of his last stands battles! The one he blew up a mountain and also the last stand in the Japanese ocean. This shows his high scientific knowledge as he easily hacks complicated computers. He's a born leader. He easily outsmarted Jeremiah ...more

5 Shikamaru Nara - Naruto Shikamaru Nara is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto.

At the beginning of the story I thought he was just a funny guy but as the chuunin exams were going on we got to learn how genius and amazing he really is. I loved his leadership skills, I mean it's not an easy task he was a genius definitely with an iq over 200! and the writer proves that with all of his actions

There is no one smarter then SHikamaru.

L is a deductive genius but not all that smart
Light would NEVER have even gotten close to winning if it weren't for his father being in the police force.
Lelouch is an absolute genius but SHikamaru is smarter
Zarbon is surprisingly smart and might (Like Bardock) Be able to see the future.onyl
Bulma isn't smart. She's just gifted and has her father to help. She was only able to build the time machine because of her father's blueprints and ideas

Well... enough said

Shikamaru is smart in a way that he can be a great leader. But he doesn't possess the deductive reasoning like that of L's. I've never seen him like a real detective, tactician maybe.

The ultimate strategist, smarter than L to be honest. He even said in his fight against tamari that he had already planned out his next 200 moves in case his finisher didn't work.

6 Vegeta - Dragon Ball Z Vegeta is an anime fictional character from the anime series, Dragon Ball Z, created by Akira Toriyama.

Vegeta is a mastermind. He thinks quick and can bluff his way out of anything. He can deceive many people. Like in the android saga against android 19. Plus he can fight. PS he is on par with Goku and whiss in the revival of F stated that if he relaxed and wasn't as tense he would surpass Goku

Badass, sexy, a prince, strong, proud, a complete genius he is just perfect. Bulma is so lucky but she deserves him. They were meant to be.

He's definitely quick witted. I love it when he makes fun of everyone. He's like the male version of Santana Lopez.

He's smarter than Goku, that's for sure. Goku is the stupidest guy on DB, DBZ, DBS.

7 Zarbon - Dragon Ball Zarbon is Frieza's right hand man and highest ranking Commander and General in an army of millions. He is always beside his master and emperor, Lord Frieza, following his orders and carrying out his dirty work alongside his comrade, Dodoria. Zarbon is responsible for advising Frieza on numerous matters, including the elimination of the Saiyan race. Zarbon remains loyal to Frieza throughout the entire story arc, executing young Namekian children and elderly, collecting the Namekian Dragon Balls, and in general, offering his efforts to increase Frieza's reign in the galactic planet trade. As a refined warrior, Zarbon is a vain lover of beauty and a blue-skinned alien designed as a handsome elite. Although he is extremely skillful as a combatant, the full extent of his true power lies in his beastly transformation, accessed only when his appearance becomes reminiscent to that of a demonic reptilian beast. With his strength increased, the transformed Zarbon is able to brutally pound the ever-stronger ...read more.

Acting as Frieza's advisor for many years, Zarbon caused many of Frieza's diabolical decisions, including Burdock's team being decimated, the wiping out of the Saiyan race, and pointing out Vegeta's betrayal. All the things Zarbon warned Frieza about came true and his intelligence played a large factor in adding to Frieza's hatred toward his opponents and fueling the rage against the Saiyan race. As Dodoria was Frieza's deadly brute, Zarbon was the intellectual aide, helping Frieza achieve further grandeur, conquering numerous planets, and even aiding in the collection of the Dragon Balls. The success of Frieza's forces are largely thanks to Zarbon's patience and diligent loyalty. Even as the Ginyu Force served as a backup mercenary squadron for emergency situations, no one was more trustworthy and loyal to Frieza than Zarbon, which is why he was kept at his side at all times, not just to protect the Emperor but also to contribute guidance and recommend battle maneuvers that resulted ...more

Zarbon becomes such a fierce and brutish monster; a great parallel to the calm and collected demeanor seen in his initially handsome appearance. However, he uses this to his severe advantage as he is not only a master tactician and military leader but also a fierce combatant when necessary.

Zarbon holds the most beastly and demonic transformation which happens to be the fastest and most surprising as well. He goes from a handsome guy to a monster in an instant; that was amazing and awesome all at the same time.

Reasons why saiyans where killed, was cause this guy knew they get stronger easily and will revolt against Frieza one day. And his smart to his his more powerful form, and even when he's not in that form he still fights pretty smart since he lasted a lot longer then dodoria

8 Aizen - Bleach

Simply because of how well he formulates his grand plan, one that spans over 100 years and all goes perfectly for him. He is also one of the few villains in all of anime that actually succeeds in becoming immortal, not much you can do about that.

Genius.. Although Gin is about the same.

9 Itachi Uchiha - Naruto Itachi Uchiha is a fictional character in the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto.

The fact that Itachi Uchiha isn't at least in the top 10 of this list makes no sense whatsoever. The fact that Sakura, SAKURA, has taken his place at number ten leaves me in absolute disbelief. Let's start and take a look at all of Itachi's feats of intelligence. First, he was the second youngest Academy graduate behind Kakashi at a mere age 7. Second, this man is responsible for quite possibly one of the most intricate and deceiving plans in all of anime history. Not only did he destroy the Uchiha clan and fool his entire village and his younger brother (save for a select few of elders) for half of his lifetime, he fooled the people who thought they had control over him. This man is so intelligent, appearing as a villain to both of the parties he was serving (Akatsuki and Konoha), and he planned it out so perfectly that in the end, had it not been for Obito working with him to destroy the Uchiha, the secrets behind his true intentions would have long been forgotten. Itachi is a ...more

Normally I would've voted for L or Shikamaru but seeing how close Sakura and Itachi were on this list created a max rage to make sure Itachi moves up. I won't allow some pink haired, loud mouthed, annoying, crybaby to be listed as smarter than someone who outsmarted his entire village and most of Akatsuki. Sakura couldn't even trick Sasuke properly or fight one Akatsuki member on her own. She needed to act like a puppet..She might have been good in school but that's not the even on the same level as anyone on this list! Many of the people on this list are geniuses! Itachi deserves to be on it and much higher! It's a disgrace to the genius of Itachi, L, and the others on this list to rank someone as dim as Sakura next to Itachi..just no. Itachi is so many moves ahead of his opponent that he's already won before his enemy even realizes.

Itachi is definitely amongst most intelligent character in all fantasy world. It would be fine if you put light yagami or L ahead of him even if light was disposed in last and killed whereas Itachi died on his own will just the way he decided years ago. But man sakura, who told you she's smart. I don't think any main character is dumber than her apart from naruto who was shown to be dumbest.I think you have just watched naruto till their first mission when she learns to climb the tree earlier than the other two.

Come on people your kinda dissing Itachi by making that wench sakura be higher than him...I mean if your clan was going to be at war and you had to find a way to keep the peace while protecting your village and younger brother...could you plan an amazing plan in a short time as Itachi Uchiha? No I thought so. In anyway case please fix this list Itachi isn't stupid plus he's way smarter than sakura...

10 Trunks - Dragon Ball Z Trunks is an anime fictional character from the anime series, Dragon Ball Z, created by Akira Toriyama.

My trunks is actually pretty smart he at least needs to be a bit higher like at ten or something...

Trunks has shown any signs of being smart. People are just biasing him because he's Bulma's son.

He got it from his mama. Literally the smartest kid after Bulma.

With those parents his intelligence is more than obvious.

The Contenders
11 Dr. Brief - Dragon Ball Z

Another genius member of the Brief family. Should be right up there with Bulma.

He invented the capsules.

12 Gohan - Dragon Ball Z Son Gohan is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. Gohan is introduced as the first son of the protagonist Goku, and his wife Chi-Chi, in chapter #196 Kakarrot, first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on October 24, 1988. Chi-Chi is a strict and protective mother to Gohan, forcing him to focus on his studies and forbidding him from practicing martial arts. However, due to the various threats to the Earth, she reluctantly allows him to fight, with him ultimately becoming one of the strongest characters in the series. Gohan has been well received by both fans and critics, the latter usually citing the character's growth from his initial appearance to his defeat of Cell.

Gohan should take Vegeta's place. Vegeta's not a cool character. He's just a hot-headed dumbass who could never get anything right. Strategical analytical mind? More like stupid so-called prince who pokes his stupid nose in everything, causing the villians to become 10x stronger due to his overconfidence then geting his ass beaten. Deserved it.
Gohan, on the other hand, is smart academically and strategically, inheriting Goku's great battle smarts.

I used to wonder how Gohan got so smart when his parents are so dumb. The. I realize he was around Bulma and Piccolo a lot. They unleashed the nerd in him.

The only reason I think gohan is the smartest is because spoilers he is the main tactical leader for the universe seven team ahead of people like vegeta and 18.

He could be smarter than you might think. He 's just seen as useless because of Akira teriyaki.

13 Conan Edogawa - Detective Conan Jimmy Kudo, known in Japan and internationally as Shinichi Kudo, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the manga series Case Closed and its adaptations, created by Gosho Aoyama.

Conan is smart, the smartest on the show (besides KID) but I think he flaunts it to much. He assumes no one can figure out anything without him speaking for them (though he is right, I mean his best friend can't see it's him even after all the hints? ). I guess that's his fatal flaw but I am not disagreeing with his IQ because...like people have said, he is only 17 and a great detective.

Can we please push him higher?
I've watched death note and I know that L and Light are awfully intelligent. But this guy is so damn versatile!
He can read lip syncs, got a perfect pitch, can plan elaborate plans involving the FBI and the BO and even akai shuichi appreciated his brain during his fake death! He's a believable and super smart guy!

The 17 year old genius. Survived more than the FBI, CIA and Law Enforcement could from the Organisation. He's solved nearly 300 cases (known) and he has managed to keep his identity a secret. For something so based on reality (well, as much as shrinking poisons allow) he deserves a higher place!

He's a guy or a boy with unusual intelligence he solves many cases and he's so smart and his curiosity is very present in his personality...

14 Shikaku Nara - Naruto

You all say Shikamaru is smart well his father is 100x more intelligent. He commanded all by himself every single able ninja in the war all by himself with no help. Every kage and ninja commended him as his plans were the greatest.

15 Near - Death Note Nate River, exclusively known by the mononym Near, is a fictional character in the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

Near was able to almost match Light in intelligence. He gets my vote.

He's confirmed to be smarter than L. And he is just as smart as Light at 7 years old.

He was the smartest person from other anime charecters. He also defeat light by his intellgence. And I am sure that if every anime charecter will fight with him then also he will defeat everyone?

Why's Near so low down the list?

16 Android 18 - Dragon Ball Z

18 got a lucky shot with Vegeta and Trunks. Just Toriyama being a complete butthole to the two most badass characters in db history.

Smart, badass, pretty, defeated Vegeta, trunks can't defeat her. Kicked Vegeta ass. She is aewsome.

My number one anime girl

Why is she even on here. I mean 18 is not even smarter than half the cast... really, but still she is an awesome character nonetheless.

17 Dr. Gero - Dragon Ball Z

He's a an evil genius.

18 Shiro - No Game No Life Shiro (Japanese: 白) is the main female protagonist of the light novel and anime series, No Game No Life and the calm and calculative half of the siblings. ...read more.

She should be way higher because she is breathing supercomputer that in a little girl's body. She is smarter than the three Ls. I mean, could L memorise every position in a chess game? Hell no! She is predicted where projectiles would land with mere calculations. Judging by my analysis, her IQ is over 250+. She is far more impressive than Shikamaru. I swear L, Light and Lelouch are overrated.

Shiro is able to figure out games and schemes in a matter of seconds! She is able to learn a new language in a matter of minutes! She never lost a game of chess- and on top of that she's only 11!

How is Shiro not higher on this list. She is literally the youngest person on this list! So having that intellect at that age should automatically put her in the top 10.

She memorised all states of the Chess board and even said "It's no different from tictac toe". She learnt a whole new language in an hour too.

19 Johan Liebert - Monster

Most of the characters on this list feel like, they're smart because author said that... and that's all. In many cases when author tries to support this claim, it ends up more as a meme than anything else. That's why we all love L, we see his schemes and planning with some reasoning, but in my opinion Johan Liebert would see pretty easily through his schemes and only reason, why he is so low on this list is because not that many people have watched the anime or read the manga.

So Sakura is in top 10 but Johan isn't? Clearly the common person watching anime doesn't know anything about Johan and his intelligence. He's more intelligent than L and Light, combined. People are idiots. Johan is so intelligent that he can make all of people in this list kill each other by the sheer skill of manipulation, those who've watched monster know what I'm talking about.

The Monster. At 10, he manipulated a whole orphanage to kill each other. At 15 he created a money laundering company and just left once he got tired of it. At 20 he was a serial killer that nobody believed he existed, could manipulated anyone to kill themselves or to obey him.

The true God of manipulation, his genius has no limits and he doesn't even need a book that kills people whose names are written in it or an eye power that controls people.

20 Kisuke Urahara - Bleach Kisuke Urahara is a fictional character in the Bleach manga series and its adaptations created by Tite Kubo.

Cleverest bleach character, should be in the top ten.
Even Aizen admits that Kisuke is the only soul reaper that is more clever than him, created the hogyoku. Founded the research and development.

Definitely smart, should be part of top ten.

Even aizen admits that kisuke is the only soul reaper that has greater intellect than him

21 Sora - No Game No Life

In raw calculating intelligence, his sister actually beats him. But in games where you need to play the player, not the game (which, to be honest, is most of them in this show) he comes out on top. He's an absurd genius, capable of forming extremely accurate profiles of people he's just met and able to use those to manipulate them. He thinks several steps ahead of pretty much anyone, and has contingency plans for days.

I'd rank him around Shikamaru in tactical and strategic ability, and above in mental processing power (he's not as good as his sister here, but he still learned an entire language in like an hour, and can make amazing mathematical projections).

The only reason he's this low on the list is because NGNL is a bit niche in comparison to things like Naruto and Death Note. He does kind of fail at normal life, but that's not a product of intelligence (or lack thereof) more like a form of PTSD (that's played for laughs in the show) and the natural result of ...more

How is he not higher on this list. Sora is a master manipulator and tactician.

I don't really get why he's after Shiro he's a bit smarter than her...

My boy blank is the best

22 Izaya Orihara - Durarara!!

He may not seem overly smart at first, but to be able to manipulate and lie to people as successfully as him you need to be very intelligent. Aside from also being fluent in Russian, his little rants about the afterlife and nothern mythology show that he can be very book smart and philosophical as well.

Izaya is not only intelligent but he is also able to manipulate others behaviours by merely saying a few words, not only that but it is shown that he can fight quite a bit. He is also fluent in Russian and hell, he can escape and injure the strongest man in ikebukero.

This is my all time favorite character. He maybe a troll but he's a sexy troll. He is smart enough to take on gangs and come out with them listening to every word he says

Izaya is pretty damn smart considering he played a bunch of people as puppets for his own amusement.

23 Ging Freecss - Hunter x Hunter

He predicted his son's life from A to Z, and the votes of the Zodiacs. He also got a huge knowledge and is the only one for the moment who can match Pariston's intelligence.

How is Killua not on here.

24 Mello - Death Note Mihael Keehl, universally referred to by the mononym Mello, is a fictional character in the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.

The anime doesn't do this character justice. In the manga and the Death Note novel he's a genius.

He outmaneuvered Light and Was also the reason for Kira's downfall He should be at least Top ten

25 Skuld - Ah! My Goddess
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