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Clever anime characters are usually quite entertaining to see because they break a lot of classic tropes from the medium. These are the characters who don't punch their way to victory but they come up with strategies and analysis to be victorious, which is often a creative and fun way to elevate the battle. Simply put, they are the medium's top-level strategists.
Of course, clever anime characters are not an area that is strictly related to battle IQ since being smart can be shown in a lot of different ways. Therefore, this list focuses on ten clever anime characters from ten different series and they are ranked by the feats they accomplished and their impact on their respective stories.
Disclaimer: This article contains massive spoilers for all the stories on this list.
Bleach's Aizen and nine other clever anime characters, ranked
10) Shikamaru Nara (Naruto)
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Naruto, like a lot of shonen series, had a power creep problem, with some characters becoming so strong that they had a massive gap compared to the rest. While is true that Shikamaru Nara is never going to defeat someone like Madara Uchiha, it's his intellect and tactical knowledge that allows him to level the playing field a little bit.
Shikamaru is the textbook example of clever anime characters because he was never involved in a battle where he could win by raw strength since his skill set is not based on that. He managed to punch above his weight, even defeating an Akatsuki member in Hidan, while relying solely on his brain, which is more than commendable.
9) Chrollo Lucilfer (Hunter X Hunter)
Hunter X Hunter is filled with a lot of clever anime characters since the fighting style is quite strategic and requires a lot of thinking outside the box.
In that regard, Chrollo Lucilfer deserves a lot of praise. While he is powerful, he is often forced to deal with situations where he is cornered, thus, his intelligence, and his resolve, are worth mentioning.
Perhaps the best example of his strategic know-how was against the Zoldryck duo during the Yorknew arc, although his battle with Hisoka is also the stuff of legends. Chrollo knows his stuff and can adapt to a lot of different situations, making him a fearful opponent.
8) Conan Edogawa (Detective Conan)
Clever anime characters are not just those who come up with strategies to win battles but also those who rely on their brains to solve a lot of different situations. When it comes to that, Conan Edogawa, the protagonist from the Detective Conan series, is a very good example that clever anime characters can have a lot of shapes and forms.
Conan is Japan's answer to Sherlock Holmes at this point of the game and his intellect is at full display during the entirety of the series. He has to resolve an infinite amount of cases and does so with little more than his intellect and analytical abilities which is saying a lot considering all the challenges he had to deal with.
7) Bulma (Dragon Ball)
Bulma's intelligence is as big as she is underrated and that is saying a lot. Despite coming from one of the most important manga and anime franchises of all time, she doesn't often get the credit she deserves. However, Bulma's role in Dragon Ball is so important that the entire franchise would have been different without her existence.
She is one of the most clever anime characters because she invented the Dragon Radar and managed to understand alien technology to create spaceships. She also tweaked Android technology and even went as far as creating time travel. If it wasn't for her efforts, Goku and his friends would have died several times in the series.
6) Giorno Giovanna (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
Giorno's case is quite interesting because he is very clever but in many different ways, which is something that is displayed throughout the fifth part of JoJo's, Golden Wind. His intelligence, coupled with his capacity to read people and know when to act, eventually led him to become the leader of the mob in Italy.
He knew that Bruno Bucciarati was a good man based on his actions during their battle and knew he had to get rid of Polpo to progress with his plans. His constant strategic mindset, along with the life-creation abilities of his Stand, Golden Experience, made him quite capable as a fighter.
Bucciarati and his team wouldn't have survived that long in Golden Wind without Giorno and he was instrumental in Diavolo's downfall even before getting the Arrow.
5) Johan Liebert (Monster)
Johan is one of the all-time greats when it comes to anime and manga villains and that is down to his intelligence and extremely cynical nature. He represents a lot of the patterns and logic of the serial killer quite well, and is almost chilling to see him act during the Monster series.
Considering his role as the story's villain, his actions are often backed by his careful planning and understanding of human nature. Perhaps that is what is so impressive about his character: the way he understands people and, at the same time, enjoys tearing them limb from limb.
4) Light Yagami (Death Note)
To further contextualize Light's position on this list, it's worth pointing out that he was extremely close to taking over the world from the shadows through just a magical book. Sure, the Death Note was extremely powerful but other users of the book showed that the tool alone wasn't enough and there had to be some intelligence behind that.
Light picked up the Death Note and through intellect and a strategic mindset managed to put the world's nations in disarray. His alter ego, Kira, had the world and legal system by the throat and would have won if it wasn't for L Lawliet and his disciples, which is saying a lot because they were once-in-a-lifetime geniuses as well.
3) Makima (Chainsaw Man)
Makima is a great example of knowing how to work with what one has and she was almost close to achieving her goal of pretty much world domination if it wasn't for her thinking less of Denji. However, there is no denying that, beyond her powers as the Control Devil, she was one of the most clever anime characters.
There were countries sacrificing their people to put an end to Makima and people trying all kinds of strategies to defeat her. Not even Denji in the full Chainsaw Man form was enough to defeat her at first.
Makima was strong, sure, but it was her manipulation abilities and understanding of human nature that made her stand out from most anime antagonists of her generation.
2) Aizen (Bleach)
Aizen is one of the first names people think of when discussing clever anime characters and that has to do with his overall popularity and the "That was part of my plan" meme. However, beyond the memes, popularity, and how powerful he is, Aizen is also a very intelligent man when his hubris and ego are not getting in the way of his goals.
The former Gotei 13 Captain managed to manipulate and deceive that powerful organization for centuries while revolutionizing the science field through the Hollowfication experiments. He achieved immortality through his own experiment and even played a role in the creation of the first successful hybrid since the Soul King in Ichigo Kurosaki.
Beyond that, Aizen is probably one of the most interesting ideologues when it comes to the Bleach series. His reasoning that admiration is poisonous or that Shinji Hirako didn't know he was followed around by an illusion of Aizen because "he never knew him" is fascinating. Aizen's final speech at the end of the series is quite poignant and a good reflection of the story's themes until that point.
1) Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass)
It's difficult to not put Lelouch in the first place when he literally conquered the entire world and later decided to choose the way he wanted to die to unite people from all over the globe. It is a testament to his intelligence and understanding of what the world needed to heal and move from all the tragedies it had endured in the Code Geass series.
Of course, Lelouch was also a genius-level tactician and a natural leader, which helped a great deal during his conquest to destroy the Britannia empire. Very few anime characters can boast of having the success Lelouch had in the series and doing so in a way that felt natural and coherent in the story.
Final thoughts
The most clever anime characters can come in a lot of shapes and forms but there is no denying that they are often the most entertaining parts of their series. They know how to come up with creative solutions and manipulate events to get what they want, which is always fun to see.
