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Two of the most iconic characters in all of comics are DC’s The Flash and Marvel’s Iron Man. While they may be more well-known and recognizable than most anime characters, there are some who outrank them in their respective fields of skill.
While The Flash is incredibly fast, certain anime characters outspeed him, whether through legitimate skill and talent or with the help of tactics.
Similarly, Marvel’s Iron Man may be a genius, billionaire, playboy and a philanthropist, but there exist anime characters whose intelligence clearly outranks his own.
Here are five anime characters who are faster than DC’s The Flash, and five more who are smarter than Marvel’s Iron Man.
Admiral Kizaru and four other anime characters outspeed DC’s The Flash
1) Minato Namikaze (Naruto)
Often called the Yellow Flash of the Leaf, Naruto’s Minato Namikaze was incredibly fast. Even excluding the infamous Flying Raijin jutsu, fans still consider him to be one of the fastest characters in the anime series, especially as a former Hokage.
The Flying Raijin jutsu takes this to a completely different level, however, allowing Minato to teleport to and fro specifically marked areas.
This allows for instant teleportation and movement, with the jutsu functioning more like a summoning technique than a movement tactic. Until The Flash can utilize literal instant teleportation, there’s not much he can do to outspeed Minato.
2) Saitama (One-Punch Man)
One-Punch Man’s protagonist Saitama serves as a parody character, meant to envelop all the classic anime tropes seen in famous series. As a result, however, he instantly becomes superior to every other anime character in every way, as a satirical protagonist.
Saitama will always be faster than The Flash, since his core characterization is as a fourth-wall-breaking, supreme-reigning anime hero. There’s little the DC Universe’s speedster can do to overcome this obstacle.
3) Admiral Kizaru (One Piece)
One Piece’s Admiral Kizaru became a light human after eating the Glint-Glint Fruit, essentially turning his body into light. This allows him to attack and travel at the speed of light, easily making him the fastest character in One Piece.
While some of those taking up the mantle of The Flash are able to run faster than the speed of light, that isn't the case for most of them. As a result, Admiral Kizaru is probably going to be faster than The Flash thanks to his lightspeed capabilities.
4) Yoruichi Shihoin (Bleach)
Known within her series as the Goddess of Flash for her proficient use of the Flash Step technique, Yoruichi Shihoin is one of the fastest characters in fiction. Her own technique, called Shunko, further heightens her speed, bringing her to near untraceable levels of pace.
While The Flash is incredibly quick, it’s likely that Bleach anime’s femme fatale is much quicker.
The Flash Step and Shunko techniques enhance one's abilities via their Reiatsu, a boosting factor to which The Flash wouldn’t have access to. At full power with both techniques active, her superiority is clear over the DC Universe’s trackstar.
5) Isaac Netero (Hunter x Hunter)
Even as an old man, Hunter x Hunter’s Isaac Netero was able to easily outspeed Gon and Killua, the latter of whom became one of the series’ fastest characters. This was even done effortlessly, with his true speed coming out against Meruem which saw the Chimera Ant King barely able to get any moves in.
It’s likely that, even in his old age, Isaac Netero would outspeed The Flash if he got serious enough about the matchup. His domination over Meruem, combined with earlier feats of speed displayed casually against Gon and Killua, seems to indicate his superiority over DC’s speed expert.
Johan Liebert and four other anime characters are smarter than Marvel’s Iron Man
1) L (Death Note)
Death Note’s L is one of the smartest characters in anime. His intelligence shines through in his deductive reasoning and detective capabilities, which almost pushed protagonist Light Yagami into a corner several times throughout the series.
While Tony Stark, better known as the Marvel Universe’s Iron Man, might be more knowledgeable in certain areas, he’s likely not more intelligent than L.
The sheer level of genius L displays throughout Death Note is simply on a different level than Iron Man’s inventive tendencies.
2) Light Yagami (Death Note)
Canonically speaking, within the Death Note anime series, L himself has admitted that Light Yagami is even smarter than him. This is eventually proven to be true when Kira, his alias, defeats L in their game of cat and mouse, discovering his true name and killing him.
With Light clearly being smarter than L, there’s little that can be said to argue against the claim that he’s smarter than the Marvel Universe’s metallic man-at-arms.
3) Johan Liebert (Monster)
Johan Liebert serves as the antagonist for Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, one of the most-praised anime and manga series of all time. His genius-level intelligence is displayed and mentioned several times throughout the series, with one of his most notable accomplishments being starting and running a successful underground bank at the age of 15.
There are simply too many examples of Johan’s brilliance and genius to be listed here, but the laundry list proves, without a doubt, his superior intelligence to Iron Man.
It’s often said that no one could surpass Johan in any field relating to knowledge or intelligence, which likely includes Tony Stark as well.
4) Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass)
Lelouch vi Britannia is similarly shown to be intelligent in a number of areas. His initial, albeit short-lived, royal upbringing afforded him a fantastic education, which continued into his teenage years despite his exile from the royal family.
Nevertheless, he’s shown to be a brilliant tactician with a deep understanding of strategy, people, and military-style organization.
While likely not as knowledgeable in some areas as Tony Stark, his general intelligence is undoubtedly superior to the iconic comic book inventor. Lelouch’s general cunning in a variety of areas cements this claim, especially seen via his final, grand plan.
5) Senku Ishigami (Dr. Stone)
Senku Ishigami is an incredibly unique addition to this list, as he’s both smarter and more knowledgeable than Tony Stark. Senku’s superior knowledge is demonstrated by his encyclopedic ability of all things scientific, from aspects incredibly interesting to the monstrously mundane.
His superior intelligence, however, shines through in being just as brilliant and genius an inventor as Tony with none of the accouterments of 21st-century science.
Senku’s ability to build anything and everything in a stone world where nothing is premade undoubtedly solidifies his superior knowledge and intelligence to Marvel's Iron Man.
Be sure to follow for more anime updates and manga news as 2023 progresses.
This article was modified on Wednesday, June 28, at 5:28 pm.
