Top 10 Bold Female Characters in Anime

It is common in most anime and manga series that men take the leading roles. However, female characters on this list have proven their worth through their strong and captivating personalities, and some of them even rival the main character in popularity. If this list were solely about the strongest women in anime, many characters wouldn’t make it into it regarding the difference in power scales between series.

For the sake of this article, 22 female characters were selected to be evaluated based on these factors: charisma, confidence, power, and role in the story. The average point of these criteria for each character was taken and here are the results (drum roll please!):

10 | Jujutsu Kaisen: Nobara Kugisaki 

Nobara is the tritagonist of the new hit Shonen series and a first-year student at Tokyo Jujutsu High. The grade-3 Jujutsu sorcerer caught our attention right from the second episode with her strong personality and confidence, though she can appear at first arrogant. Nobara uses various semi-cursed tools such as her hammer and straw doll and powerful skills like Resonance to fight the mightiest opponents with a smile on her face. The fearless girl had many outstanding moments in the first season and the fandom can’t wait to see more from her (don’t let manga readers spoil you!)

9 | Black Lagoon: Revy (Rebecca Lee)

Revy, also known as Two-Hands because she uses two guns simultaneously, is the female protagonist of the Black Lagoon series. The Chinese-American girl is a famous top-tier gunman in Roanapur that no one wants to mess with. Her deadly personality is mainly characterized by a wild temperament and confidence which makes her quite the opposite of Rock, the main protagonist of the franchise. Revy’s merciless nature helps her to take on any foe during missions with her crewmates and her boss Dutch. At the beginning of the series, she seemed like a psychopath but after a few episodes, Revy started to change a bit due to the emotional balance that Rock provided.

8 | Attack on Titan: Mikasa Ackerman

Mikasa Ackerman is the female deuteragonist of Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) alongside Armin Arlert. She entered the military after the titans invaded her town Shiganshina and enlisted in the Survey Corps following Eren. After the latter saved her from human traffickers who killed both of her parents, Mikasa became emotionally withdrawn and an intimidating person. The girl is known for her stoicism in the most critical situations and strong personality. She stands out from the others due to her deadly power and confidence as seen not giving a second thought to whom she faces, especially when Eren is in danger.  

7 | Naruto/Naruto Shippûden: Tsunade

Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First Hokage Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki. She was inaugurated to be the Fifth Hokage after the death of her teacher and the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. Tsunade’s boldness and charisma made her one of the strongest and most famous kunoichis in the ninja world. Tsunade is a very committed character and risks her own life for the sake of Konoha. Her unwavering resolve and confidence made her able to stand against many enemies and face many challenges, like when she broke Madara’s Susanoo with bare hands and protected everyone in the village from Pain’s Shinra Tensei to the point that she drained all of her chakra.  

6 | Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Olivier Mira Armstrong

Olivier Mira Armstrong, also known as Major General Armstrong, is the primary heir to the Armstrong family, the commanding officer charged with the protection of Amestris' northern border at Fort Briggs, and the older sister of Major Alex Louis Armstrong. Olivier attained her high rank in the military thanks to her furious nature and her commanding presence. The sharp-tongued woman is highly respected by her subordinates and feared by her enemies due to her high charisma and leadership abilities. Not to mention Olivier’s high combatting skills as she can defeat even the best state alchemists like her brother Alex and stand against a homunculus like Sloth.

5 | Akame ga Kill: Esdeath 

Esdeath is the main antagonist of the Akame ga Kill series. She was a high-ranking general of the Empire. Eventually, due to Night Raid's effectiveness as an assassination unit, she became the leader of the Jaegers under the orders of the Prime Minister. Esdeath is a sadist warmonger who enjoys fighting and killing. She has, like Oliver, a tremendous presence and charisma that makes even former generals like General Liver obey her. Compared to most characters in the series, the Ice Queen is on a whole other level in terms of power; so powerful that she was able to take out all of the Revolutionary Army’s teigu users with her teigu Demon’s Extract. She is also creative, as she was capable of stopping time by freezing the universe with the ability of Mahapdama.

4 | One Piece: Big Mom (Charlotte Linlin)

Charlotte Linlin, also called Big Mom, is the captain of the Big Mom Pirates one of the Yonko. She rules over the Totto Land archipelago with her 85 children.  As a little girl, Big Mom was a kindhearted and loving person despite her monstrous strength. When she grew up, she became a cruel and manipulative pirate who loves sweets. In addition to her abnormal physical abilities, she has the Soru Soru no Mi (Soul Soul Devil Fruit) and access to all types of Haki with advanced usage as we saw in the manga. Being born with Conqueror’s Haki tells a lot about her strong will and ambition. On top of that, Linlin’s gluttony makes her raging personality emerge, killing and destroying everything that comes in the way, even her son.

3 | Black Lagoon: Balalaika (Sofiya Pavlovna)

It’s no surprise that another woman enters this list from Black Lagoon which has many bold female characters. Balalaika is the boss of Hotel Moscow, the Roanapur branch of the Russian Mafia. She is a former USSR veteran who served in the hellish war of Afghanistan. She loves war and will always search for an opportunity to deploy her elite soldiers, sharing many attributes with Esdeath. But she can also be pragmatic, as proven by the peace pact she agreed on with Chang from Honk Kong Triad and when she let Caxton and his soldiers flee from the city for her interests. She is a charismatic and strategic person with high leadership and combat skills. Her enormous strength was enough to throw Rock with one hand and kill the Yakuza leader Bando. She is one of the few people who earned the respect of Revy. Balalaika is the standard of this list and the definition of boldness.

2 | One Punch Man: Tatsumaki 

Tatsumaki (aka Tornado) is the S-Class Rank 2 professional hero of the Hero Association in One Punch Man and one of its most powerful assets. The Tornado of Terror (Tatsumaki’s hero alias) is the most powerful esper and the older sister of Fubuki. The two sisters are known as the Psychic Sisters. Tatsumaki is a hotheaded and arrogant character who belittles almost whoever she meets, but she is also dedicated to fulfilling her duties by defeating monsters. Her alias is proof of her extraordinary powers as she seeks monsters to fight in her spare time (just like all the crazy women on this list). According to manga illustrator Yusuke Murata, Tatsumaki can lift the entirety of Z-City with psychokinesis, which is insane. The hero takes confidence standards to another level by not worrying at all in missions that others regard as critical or difficult. 

1 | Black Clover: Mereoleona Vermillion

Mereoleona Vermillion is a royal family member of the Clover Kingdom and the temporary captain of the Crimson Lion magic nights squad. She uses Fire Magic like her two brothers Fuegoleon and Leopold. Mereoleona is the most hostile woman on this list with a short temperament and wild attitude. This has been shown multiple times like when she broke into the Black Bulls’ HQ. The mighty mage is very strict and charismatic. Since she hates the noble life in the capital, Mereoleona spends most of her time in the wild hunting and eating monsters which made her stronger over time. She is powerful enough to humiliate even the most fearsome bad guys like Rhya and earn the respect of Yami. The lioness doesn’t fall short in leadership where she was chosen to be the captain of the Royale Squad. Manga readers are well aware of the endless potential Mereoleona has.

 

Whether fighting all kinds of monsters or leading mafia, these female characters deserved the title of bold woman.

What do you think about this list? And who's your favorite character on this list? Share your thoughts below in the comments.