I’m ranking EVERY SWORD USER IN ANIME from
sword fighters who get HARD CARRIED by their own magic to some of the most skillful
samurai we have ever seen all the way to the absolute peak of sword masters, who
are so powerful they might as well be gods. And to really kick this list off, let’s
reveal our first god-tier swordswoman, who is Saber from the Fate Series. And wow,
Saber is the literal definition of God tier because her unmatched sword skills allow her to
defeat even the strongest sword fighters with ease. But if we’re being honest, her true
powers come from combining her terrifying swordplay and her legendary magic to wipe
out opponents with NUCLEAR scale attacks. And what a way to start the rankings! But Saber is far from the only God Tier sword user
because there are a total of ten of these monstrous powerhouses who could wipe
out every other sword user on this list. That’s not to say that this next group of
characters wouldn’t put up a fight though because our next Tier is the Superhuman
Sword Users, who you might argue could even hold their own in a fight against the
God Tiers. And the perfect example of this tier is Clare from Claymore who combines her
INSANELY fast windcutter sword technique with her astonishingly powerful yoki transformations
to slice even the strongest enemies to pieces. However, while those top two tiers are
just stupidly powerful, this next tier is my personal favorite. That’s because the Pure
Samurai tier is full of the most incredible natural sword users in all of anime. No
magic. No superhuman powers. Just raw, beautiful swordsmanship. And there’s no better
example of this than Afro from Afro Samurai who uses his lethal techniques to cut down his
enemies while he hunts down his father’s killer. This next tier is going to be the MOST
CONTROVERSIAL though because now we have the I’m Only A Strong Swordsman Because I’m
a Main Character tier. And let’s be honest, it’s super easy to give a character a sword
and just call them a master swordsman. Almost every anime does it because you don’t have to
have a complicated power system or in-depth explanation to say someone is a sword master.
And the perfect example of this is the Goblin Slayer from the anime with the same name
because this author just straight up said Goblin Slayer is a master of basically
every single weapon. So yeah, not really convincing me that he is a true sword master,
so he goes right in the Main Character tier. But even the main character swordsmen
are more impressive than our next tier, which is what I like to call the Toothpick
Tier. And I’m just going to pop Rin Okumura right here because while he does technically
use a sword and we’ve seen him use it in combat, the vast majority of his power comes
from his magical blue flames which leaves his actual sword skills
far behind others on this list. Now, by this point if you might have
noticed this tier list is not ranked by JUST HOW STRONG a character is or
JUST their pure sword skill. Instead, I had to consider all of a character’s
unique skills and abilities in terms of how it affects their sword fighting. Which is
why if you are just popping off magic spells and barely use your sword like Overlord here,
you are going straight into Toothpick Tier. On the other hand, if your magic directly
enhances your sword-wielding abilities like Fullmetal Alchemist’s King Bradley, you
rise up the list. And let me just tell you, I’ve always loved Bradley’s powers. I mean he
can use five blades and his ultimate eye even lets him see a bit into the future as well
as his opponent's strengths and weaknesses, which is just perfect for the Superhuman
Tier. And I will add here that I’m not exactly sorting each tier from top to
bottom by power in case you were wondering. But even Bradley would likely get DESTROYED
by Yuta Okkotsu from JuJutsu Kaisen, who is our first character to land in a
special tier outside of the main five. This is the Swords Are My Side Hustle Tier, which is
perfect for characters like Yuta who ARE highly skilled with their blades, but mainly rely on
their other magical techniques when fighting. For this next ranking though, I just have to
tell you about one of these most criminally underrated and unknown sword fighting anime, Sword
of the Stranger. And WOW the final battle between Nanashi and Lou Lang is just a pure injection of
samurai brilliance, which lands them both in the Pure Samurai Tier. Seriously, go check it out if
you haven’t already experienced this masterclass. As much as it pains me to say it, both
of those characters would certainly be cut apart by Nobunaga from Hunter x Hunter.
Because while you could say Nobunaga’s sword techniques aren’t any better than Nanashi or Lou
Lang, our favorite Phantom Troupe Samurai has the added benefit of Nen Enhancement to take
his physical abilities to superhuman levels. Now, let’s go back right up to the top of
the ranking, because it is time to reveal our second God Tier sword fighter. Because
here we have the captain of the 11th Division, Kenpachi from Bleach. And now, come
on, how could I not rank him up in God Tier? He has superhuman strength and
endurance, unmatched pure sword skills, and he even restricts his own strength so
that he can enjoy battles longer. But man, when he unleashes his full potential,
it is a scary sight for his opponents. And this isn’t the only character we’ll see
from this legendary sword fighting anime, but do you think any others will make God Tier? But this next character is so insanely
powerful that he nearly broke this ranking. That’s because D, from Vampire
Hunter D, is basically an immortal being who is a master of literally every weapon you
can think of. And on top of that, he even has reality bending abilities. So even though D
uses a sword and is technically a swordsman, I didn’t know where to put him, so I made a
Too Stupidly Powerful tier and put him there. And you could almost say the same for Alibaba
from Magi, but his powers are more reasonable as he is an extremely skilled swordsman with
quick reflexes and hyper awareness of his surroundings. But what earns him a spot
in the Superhuman tier is his fire Djinn which allows him to combine his impressive
swordsmanship with scorching magical flames. But he’s still not as strong as another
character from Magi because Sinbad has all the same skills as Alibaba only
he has SEVEN elemental Djinn instead of one. So bam, let’s pop Sinbad just right there. Enough with the magic though, let’s talk about one
of the MOST FAMOUS swordsmen in all of anime. Of course, I’m talking about Himura Kenshin from
the Rurouni Kenshin anime. This man is just the perfect definition of a pure samurai. He even
fights with the dull edge of his blade because of his commitment to never kill again, plus he has
incredible determination to protect his friends. You might be wondering though if
we ranked Kenshin in Pure Samurai, well what about his master, Hiko Seijuro?
Well, considering Seijuro’s supreme strength and mastery of every legendary Hiten
Mitsururgi technique, I don’t think anyone would debate that he far surpasses his student
and ascends straight into the Superhuman tier. Whew, this is getting intense, and I can already
feel the hot flames from the comments below, but this next ranking might make even more
of you furious because I’m ranking Zabuza from Naruto in the Toothpick Tier.
That’s right, I said it. Toothpick for Zabuza. And while he’s undoubtedly many
people’s favorite villain from early Naruto, his actual sword skills just don’t stack up
with the rest of the characters on this list. This next one though might be even more
controversial. Because it’s time to introduce another of our special tiers, the
Too Cool for Swords Tier. And we’re kicking this off with Denji from Chainsawman. And yes, I
know, I know, he’s not technically a swordsman, but he uses blades, and he’s super cool, so I
just had to find a spot for him on the list. But right next to Denji’s tier is the most
fun tier in this ranking with the Help, My Sword Is Alive tier. And there’s no more
perfect character to start this with than Yato, from one of my personal favorite anime,
Noragami. And if you didn’t know, Yato’s blades are literally the living
souls of dead humans that he has bonded and become friends with. So,
a perfect fit for this tier. What’s even more debatable though
is Asuna’s ranking in this tier list. Because the Swordswoman from Sword
Art Online conveniently always seems to forget how to fight whenever the plot needs
her to be a damsel in distress. So honestly, there’s no perfect place for her
than the Main Character tier. Now, it’s time for your favorite
sword anime’s favorite swordsman, Geomon from Lupin the 3rd. This chad
from OG anime fights with his reality bending Zantesuken sword, which can cut
anything including buildings, helicopters, and hilariously even the 4th wall when he cut
the film sheets of his own anime. Geomon, my man, breaking barriers everywhere. Which is enough
for him to just push into Superhuman tier. We can’t talk about breaking barriers though
without bringing up our next God Tier character. And in a bit of a twist, this is going to
be a God Tier Pair, because Toji Fushiguro and Maki Zenin basically have the same powers
and are both unrivaled when it comes to sheer physical abilities. Seriously, no one touches
their pure strength and durability. However, their sword abilities are also next
level, which puts them firmly in the conversation as some of the strongest
characters in all of JuJutsu Kaisen. And now I’m going to hit you with a double bit of
Pure Samurai brilliance. Because next up we have Jin from Samurai Champloo who is a brilliant
technician of the purest swordplay. His moves are precise. His footwork is flawless. He is
a model samurai in every sense of the world. And even though Jin is arguably slightly stronger,
I’m also going to place Mugen right next to his friend from Champloo. But wow, you’ll never meet
two swordsmen so completely different because Mugen has developed his own sword style based on
a mind-blowing combination of breakdancing and stolen techniques from his opponents. Honestly,
though, I always love watching this man fight. From these incredible swordsmen though, we
drop right into the Toothpick tier with Ryuko Matoi from Kill La Kill. And as much as I love
seeing Ryuko swing around one half of a giant pair of scissors to cut down armies of magic
clothes wearing enemies, I’d say like 95% of her power comes from her own magic clothes and
not from her actual sword skills themselves. At least she’s better than Bell Cranel from
Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon, though, because his lack of
confidence and over reliance on magic put him basically at
the bottom of Toothpick Tier. This next ranking is going to hurt some
of your hearts though because I simply had to rank Kakashi from Naruto in the
Swords are my Side Hustle tier. And I know some of you would love to see him
up in a different tier, but seriously, this dude has way too many powers and we
rarely see him fighting with an actual sword. Which might make you extra mad when I rank
Sasuke all the way up in the Superhuman Tier. Because yeah, I get Sasuke has all of the
chakra techniques, Six Paths Powers, Susanoo, and the Rinnegan, but the show puts a much greater
emphasis on Sasuke’s swordsmanship and even gives him a named blade. So yeah, sorry Kakashi fans,
Sasuke is without a doubt the better swordsman. And joining Sasuke in the Superhuman tier is
a LEGENDARY duo from Final Fantasy. Of course, I’m talking about Cloud and Sephiroth,
who both just have these awesome giant blades. Now hold on, I know you’re saying
Final Fantasy is a video game, but come on, how can I make a sword ranking video
and not include them? Plus there is technically a Final Fantasy anime so yeah,
I don’t want to hear any complaints here! Which brings us to the man with the
MOST FAMOUS swordsman in all of anime. The ABSOLUTE GOD TIER Black Swordsman
himself! Kirito from SAO! Wait… wait, hold on, that’s not right. Kirito goes down here. It’s time for the REAL Black Swordsman, who
is of course Guts from Berserk. And come on, what more do I really need to say? Guts’
unbreakable will leads him to cut down armies of demons and even fight a literal
god to satisfy his thirst for vengeance. But from a God Slayer, this next swordsman
is basically a God themselves. That’s because Reinhard from Re:Zero combines his
INSANE natural sword talent with his over one hundred magical diving protections. And
this makes him so absurdly powerful that even the author of the story essentiallysaid
there is no way to actually kill him. Which means I nearly put him in the Stupidly
Overpowered Tier, but since he is seriously talented with the sword, I just couldn’t
bring myself to drop him out of God Tier. The same can’t be said for Gilgamesh from Fate
though because he is a similar God-like character and he uses so many original Noble Phantasms
that he is basically unbeatable. However, only ONE of these Noble Phantasms is a sword.
That is of course Ea, also called the Divergent Sword, which is a magical blade capable of
creating world-shattering attacks. So yes, he barely counts as a sword user, but I have
to put him in the stupidly overpowered tier. Which is actually similar
to Yu Kanda from D.Gray Man, who mostly uses his sword as a vessel
for his many magical attacks. He’s not as ridiculously strong though, so
he can go in the Side Hustle Tier No one will argue that Gintoki from Gintama
isn’t jaw droppingly powerful because with his STAGGERING strength and endurance combined
with his straight up brutal sword skills, Gintoki is certainly deserving of the
top spot in Pure Samurai, for now. And you might even argue that he
should have been in Superhuman, but one character who without a doubt deserves
this tier is Ryuma from One Piece. And this man is literally a legend who is even famously
called the Sword God. But despite that I just couldn’t put him in God Tier because we just
haven’t seen him truly fight in the actual anime. And if you think that’s insane, well then
just wait until you hear that I'm also placing Zoro into the Superhuman category
alongside his distant relative. And yes, I’m trying to be fair. No One Piece bias
to put Zoro in God tier, but for now the three-style swordsman just isn’t strong enough
to even earn the top spot in his own story, so I just can’t put him into
our top ten in this ranking. But even being a hero doesn’t
save Kamina from Gurren Lagann, from being placed in the Main
Character tier, because yes, while his extra long sword is cool, I’ve just
never been super impressed with his techniques. To sink even further though, next
we have Vicious from Cowboy Bebop, who honestly barely made this ranking since
he only rarely fights in the story. However, I have to give him credit for bringing a sword
to a show dominated by guns, so props to him. I can’t say the same for Inuyasha though
because even though he possesses basically the strongest sword in his entire anime, he
still mostly fights with his demonic powers, claws, and raw strength to win his
battles. Shoutout to the OG anime though. Speaking of the OG’s though, Manji from Blade of
the Immortal has been around since the early 90’s, and man, he is one of the coolest swordsmen on
this list. He is basically immortal, but even before he became immortal he has won countless
deathmatches. Plus, he has a breathtaking collection of blades which means he simply
must go near the top of the Pure Samurai Tier. There’s still one character that will
top even him in this tier though, but for now let’s reveal our sixth God-Tier sword
fighter with Yami Sukehiro from Black Clover. And without a doubt he is an incredible swordsman,
and he is the PERFECT example of combining supreme skill with mind-blowing magic to create attacks
that can completely obliterate the environment. But if you want a true Samurai sensei, look
no further than Haruko from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Because even
though this man was originally an ogre, he perfected his swordplay which is
enhanced by his extra magical senses. And right next to him is the character
who is said to be on his same level, Hinata Sakaguchi. And you wouldn’t know it
by looking at her, but she has essentially 2000 years worth of battle experience
which makes her a true sword master. But I feel like the characters in the
special tiers are getting a bit lonely, so let’s jump back into the My Sword is
Alive Tier with Big Mom from One Piece. Now, admittedly she mostly relies on her
brutal strength rather than sword skills, but what’s cool about her is that her sword
Napoleon has actually been infused with a piece of her own soul so that it can freely
change its size and even turn into a hat. And sticking in the same tier, we
have the definition of a living sword with Funkfreed. Now if you don’t know,
this sword literally ate a devil fruit, allowing it to transform from
a regular blade into a full on living elephant. *chuckle/shake
head* Yup. That’s One Piece for you. Now, these next two fighters were impossibly
tough to rank. That’s because Levi and Mikasa Ackerman are without a doubt the strongest
non-titan fighters in all of Attack on Titan. And since they primarily use blades,
and are very similar in abilities, I just had to include them. But where is the
question?? Certainty, these two have superhuman abilities and can slice through titans with
ease, but I also think they get wrecked by most of the swordsman in the upper tiers.
So to be fair, let’s put them in Superhuman. But now we have one of the characters with
the most unique weapons, which is Yor from Spy Family. And this deadly assassin uses these
lethal stiletto blades to do her bloody work, which makes her perfect for
the Too Cool for Swords Tier. Even Yor can’t compare to the sheer
ridiculousness of Shichika Yasuri from Katanagatari though because hold on, just listen
to this. Shichika learned sword techniques growing up, but instead of using ANY KIND OF BLADE
he uses his bare hands and feet to slash his opponents. Like, what??? I guess he is just
absolutely perfect for this category though. But now for a character from a manhwa, we have
Jinwoo from Solo Leveling. And if you’ve read the manhwa already then you’ll know that
Jinwoo is a master of his dual daggers, but his true power comes from his
astonishing strength, magic, speed, durability, and healing powers. So just pop
him into the Swords are My Side Hustle Tier. Which is also where we’re going to put
the only My Hero Academia character on this list. Because Stain here mostly uses
his blades to cut opponents so that he can taste their blood and activate his special
quirk. So not quite the traditional swordsman. And while Stain basically idolizes the main
character of MHA, Akame from Akame Ga Kill is a strong swordswoman with her famous poison
coated blade. And while she is undoubtedly strong, I don’t think she stacks up to
other characters on this list, so she’s going into the Main Character tier. This next one’s going to get me in a lot of
trouble though, because for these next two characters, I’m going to tell you who
they are before we rank them. First, we have Ichigo from Bleach, and then Asta from
Black Clover. One of them is in God Tier and the other is Superhuman. So which one is which??? Oh
man, this is going to piss so many people off, but I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t put
Ichigo into God Tier because come on, he’s Ichigo. Which unfortunately means that Asta is
going into Superhuman. And to be fair, he can summon anti-magic swords
which can cut through any magic, but if he isn’t fighting a magic user they are
basically just blunt weapons. Though he has proven to be highly effective at using them to
defeat his opponents with his ridiculous speed. To show I’m not totally biased towards
Bleach though, I’ll throw Urahara into Superhuman as well, even though his bankai
lets him instantly split anything in its area of effect. So I don’t know??? Maybe
that is God Tier? But no, I’ll leave him here. But that means we only have three God
Tiers left which I can’t wait to show you… Before that though, we have another beloved
character with Thorfinn from Vinland Saga. And even though he isn’t a Samurai per
say, I think his sword skills deserve more than a spot in the Main Character
tier so we’ll put him in Pure Samurai. I can’t say the same for Shana from
Shakugna no Shana though because even though she is a skilled swordswoman,
her lack of battle experience means she often relies on her flame spells,
so she’s going into the MC Tier… Right next to Stella Vermillion from
Chivalry of a Failed Knight. Because come on, even with her impressive
magic, royal heritage, and years of training she lost to our next character
in their very first duel of the series. And of course I’m talking about Ikki
Kurogane. And this man definitely deserves Pure Samurai tier because Ikki taught himself
swordsmanship over the years by watching masters and challenging dojos to eventually become
one of the strongest fighters in the world. Even Ikki isn’t strong enough for the
top of this legendary tier though, and for me personally that belongs to Miyamoto
from the Vagabond manga. Seriously, this man is a wild beast of a fighter with his ridiculous
physical strength, Guts-level unbreakable will, and he even developed his own two sword style
to maximize offense and defense. Plus the art, man. Wow. I’ll never get over
some of the panels in this manga. That’s still not enough to beat
this next God Tier character though, because Dracule Mihawk from One Piece
is literally known as the Strongest swordsman in the world. And with his
world famous blade and his ability to casually slash through mountains, he certainly
deserves his status as a god tier swordsman. But is that enough to decide the age old debate
about Shanks versus Mihawk? I mean in the story we know they used to duel and we’ve seen just
how absolutely soul-crushingly powerful Shanks is as a swordsman, but I still don’t know… So I’ll
just leave them next to each other for now. Let me know what you think in the comments and if you’d
like to see a whole future video on the topic. Which just leaves one God Tier character
left, but before we get there we have Gabimaru from Hell’s Paradise who is
a top tier ninja. And honestly he is exceptionally talented with a sword and
kunai, but without a doubt he prefers hand to hand combat and using his ridiculous
fire powers. So Side Hustle for Gabimaru. Which leaves Melidoas from Seven Deadly
Sins as our last Side Hustler because let's be honest… Of course he has his
sacred treasure sword Lostvayne which allows him to clone himself. And
Meliodas IS unimaginably strong, but I just think it’s less about his sword
skills and more about his demonic powers. Which brings us to Meliodas’ friend
Escanor, who is Too Cool for Swords because he uses this GIANT. ONE-HANDED. AX.
And while he probably shouldn’t be on here, he is also too cool to leave off the ranking. But how could I ever make an anime tier list
without including the chadest anime of all, JoJo’s? Which means that it’s time to put
Polnareff into the My Sword is Alive tier because his Stand, Silver Chariot, uses a
rapier with devastating power and skill. But don’t think this is just magic though
because Polnareff has trained with Silver Chariot to an absurd degree to make them
both an incredible sword fighting team. Now we’ve gone this long without bringing up one
of the most popular recent sword fighting anime, which is of course Demon Slayer.
So we just have to include Tanjiro, and honestly I considered putting him in
the Main Character tier, but he truly works super hard and has come quite a long way, so at
this point he deserves the Pure Samurai tier. Hyakkimaru from Dororo isn’t so lucky though.
Because even though he is one of the most interesting characters on this list. Just listen
to this, since his body parts were stolen by demons, his current body is mostly made up of
artificial parts that can shoot out chemicals, poison and explosives. However, with
just considering his sword skills, nothing he did really impressed me enough
to move him out of the Main Character tier. But even Hyakkimari gets more credit than Aki
from Chainsawman, who initially used a sword, but mostly relies on his devil contracts
which lands him in the Toothpick tier. Which is a similar fate for Arthur
Boyle from Fire Force. And honestly, Arthur was one of the hardest characters to judge.
Because he fights with a sword made of flames, but he suffers from low confidence for
most of the story. Plus there are almost no other sword uses in the story, so because
of all this, it's Toothpick Tier for Arthur. One man who has no lack of confidence though
is Shion from Hell’s Paradise. Because even though he is LITERALLY BLIND, he has DEADLY
fast sword skills that can cut down even the strongest enemies with ease. And even though he
eventually gets physical boosts from Wood Tao, Shion is still the definition
of a Pure Samurai for me. Which brings us to some of the most fun characters
to rank, starting with Demon Eye Kyo. And wow, this man has insane demonic AND spiritual
powers, which give him tremendous healing, boosts in physical strength, elemental attacks
based on the Chinese Shijin, and even an intimidating aura to destroy an opponent's
will to fight. Oh, and he’s a ridiculously skilled swordsman. Seriously, what an insane
character who fully deserves Superhuman Tier. It’s debatable though if he’s stronger than
Atomic Samurai from One Punch Man, who can slash 100 times in a single second. Which if
that’s not superhuman then I don't know what is. This next one is going to make some people furious
though because now we have Guts’ main rival, Griffith from Berserk. And even though they
were basically even in the Golden Age arc, I just can’t put them on the same level,
so Griffith goes to Superhuman as well. Which is the exact same tier as Ezra from
Fairy Tail, and while she’s definitely not the strongest character in this tier, she has
some of the highest versatility in the entire ranking. That’s because her expertise
with her Requip magic allows her to swap between over TWO HUNDRED different
blades, which is certainly impressive. Which brings us to Yoriichi from Demon Slayer,
who was SO POWERFUL that he could even terrify a literal god-like demon. Seriously,
he is basically the true godfather of demon slayers and even without crazy magic
abilities in my opinion he is the greatest pure swordsman in the entire ranking,
which earns him a spot in God Tier. I’ll be completely honest though, there was one
more character who was so sooo close to making God Tier. This is Hiei from Yu Yu Hakasho,
who is undoubtedly a God Tier fighter, but since he uses so many magic-based attacks
alongside his swordsmanship, I just couldn’t put him into the God Tier of this ranking. And one of
those magic abilities is a fiery blast so powerful it can literally turn people into dust. And if
you want to see just how high these fire powers pushed Hiei on my Ranking of Every Fire User in
Anime, you can check out that video right here. Thanks for watching, and
I’ll see you in the next one.
