The Most Popular Anime Characters of All Time, Ranked by Fan Votes
Ask ten anime sites for the most popular characters of all time and you get ten different opinions, none of them with a number behind them. This list fixes that. The order comes straight from AniList favourite counts, the biggest open ledger of who the anime community actually loves, so it is the fandom voting with its bookmarks rather than one editor guessing. The result is a who-is-who of modern anime, topped by a certain very short, very deadly Survey Corps captain. Here are the fifteen characters the world rallies behind the most.
#1 Levi
Attack on Titan · 41,843 favourites
Levi is humanity's strongest soldier and the most reliably terrifying fighter in Attack on Titan. Small, blunt and absurdly fast, he turns titan-killing into a clean art form. Fans have kept him at or near the top of global polls for years, and nothing has knocked him off.
#2 Satoru Gojou
JUJUTSU KAISEN · 40,413 favourites
Gojo is the strongest sorcerer alive and he knows it. Limitless and the Six Eyes make him borderline unbeatable, but it is the swagger, the blindfold and the constant needling of everyone around him that turned Jujutsu Kaisen into a phenomenon.
#3 Killua Zoldyck
Hunter x Hunter (2011) · 36,617 favourites
Killua is the assassin-turned-best-friend who gives Hunter x Hunter its heart. Lightning-fast, deadly and quietly loyal, his growth from cold killer to someone who chooses friendship is the arc fans point to when they call the show a masterpiece.
#4 Luffy Monkey
ONE PIECE · 35,535 favourites
Luffy is the rubber-limbed captain chasing the title of Pirate King, and after a thousand-plus chapters he is basically anime's mascot. His relentless optimism and refusal to abandon anyone are why One Piece became the best-selling manga ever.
#5 Eren Yeager
Attack on Titan · 33,651 favourites
Eren starts as the boy screaming about freedom and ends as one of the most divisive protagonists in anime history. That journey, from wide-eyed idealist to something far darker, is exactly why he stays glued to the top of these lists.
#6 Zoro Roronoa
ONE PIECE · 28,422 favourites
Zoro is the three-sword swordsman aiming to be the world's greatest, and the fandom's favourite for sheer cool factor. Loyal to a fault and hopeless with directions, he is the straight man whose fights are series highlights.
#7 Emilia
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- · 28,241 favourites
Emilia anchors Re:Zero as the half-elf Subaru keeps dying to protect. Her quiet kindness in a brutal story is what fans latched onto, and she remains one of the most favourited female leads in all of anime.
#8 L Lawliet
Death Note · 27,996 favourites
L is the sugar-addicted detective who turned Death Note into a chess match. Slouched, barefoot and always one step from cracking the case, he is proof a character can dominate a series without ever throwing a punch.
#9 Lelouch Lamperouge
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion · 27,987 favourites
Lelouch is the exiled prince who weaponises a single power into a global chess game. Code Geass runs on his ruthless brilliance, and the ending sealed his place among anime's most respected masterminds.
#10 Mikasa Ackerman
Attack on Titan · 27,828 favourites
Mikasa is Attack on Titan's most capable soldier and its emotional core. Her devotion to Eren splits the fandom, but nobody argues with the skill: she takes down titans most of the Survey Corps would flee from.
#11 Ken Kaneki
Tokyo Ghoul · 27,073 favourites
Kaneki is the reluctant half-ghoul whose slow unravelling made Tokyo Ghoul unforgettable. The white hair, the mask and that transformation scene are burned into anime memory for a whole generation of fans.
#12 Arataka Reigen
Mob Psycho 100 · 24,131 favourites
Reigen is the con-man "psychic" with no powers at all, and somehow the most quietly inspiring adult in anime. Mob Psycho 100 hides its best life lessons in a guy who is technically a fraud, and fans adore him for it.
#13 Kurisu Makise
Steins;Gate · 22,602 favourites
Kurisu is the genius neuroscientist who makes Steins;Gate work, all sharp tongue and buried warmth. The romance built on real intellectual sparring is why "Christina" ranks among the best-written characters of her era.
#14 Itachi Uchiha
Naruto · 22,572 favourites
Itachi is the Uchiha who murdered his own clan to protect his brother and the village, then let the world hate him for it. That final twist reframed everything and rocketed him up every Naruto popularity poll.
#15 Makima
Chainsaw Man · 22,470 favourites
Makima is the rare antagonist to crack a top-of-all-time list. Calm, controlling and genuinely unsettling, she turned Chainsaw Man into a study of devotion and power. You are not meant to trust her, and that is the appeal.
Popularity shifts every season as new shows drop and old favourites hold their ground, but this top tier has been remarkably stable. Think someone is missing? Half the fun of a list like this is arguing about it. When you are done, see how many you can name on sight in the daily character game below.