10 Strongest Shield Users In Anime, Ranked
Descriptions
One of the most important aspects of any good action show is some cool weaponry, and for anime fans, it's often melee weapons that stand out the most. From intimidating broadswords to elegant katanas, it's hard not to want something that looks like it'll do some serious damage.
But this often leaves shields, the more defensive side of weaponry, out in the cold. And that's a shame because shields often allow for tactics and abilities that make them even more interesting than their more aggressive counterparts. Some anime characters have impressive skills with shields that can stop even the most experienced of opponents in their tracks.
10 Pearl Almost Stops Luffy In His Tracks (One Piece)
If more shields equal more power, then One Piece's Pearl -- dubbed 'The Iron Wall' -- is certainly one of the most powerful shield users out there. Covered from head to toe in shields, before the Straw Hat Pirates encounter him, he had never lost a drop of blood in battle.
This quickly changes after he comes across Luffy, however, and he is ultimately only a minor antagonist for the heroes. Still, his fighting style highlights a lot of creative uses for his shields, such as setting them on fire to make it even harder for his opponents to get close to him.
9 Tor Kokonoe Makes The Perfect Defensive Teammate (Absolute Duo)
The plot of Absolute Duo revolves around Tor Kokonoe, a boy who achieves notoriety in the battle-centered world of Koryo Academy when his signature weapon manifests as a shield, rather than a melee weapon. This makes him the perfect partner to the sword-wielding Julie Sigtuna -- and the ideal partner for several other girls in the school.
Although he would have never gotten there without Julie, Tor's skill is such that by the end of the show he has managed to achieve the extremely powerful Level Four Sublimation. What his shield isn't able to do is break the show out of mediocrity -- it's remembered as one of the weakest shows of its season.
8 Jil's Trusty Shield Lets Him Scale New Heights (Tower Of Druaga)
Tower of Druaga is a story about climbing as many levels of a dangerous tower filled with enemies as possible, so it would make sense that a defensive character who can last for a long time in combat would be a good fit for the challenge. Protagonist Jil is able to fill that niche for his climbing party, with his original weapon being a shield.
As the series goes on, he makes use of every melee weapon he finds on his way and, by the time of his eventual victory, his shield is no longer his most powerful asset. Still, without it, he couldn't have made any headway in the tower at all.
7 Maple's Defenses Are Game-Breakingly Powerful (BOFURI)
BOFURI's full title is I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense, which is an accurate summary of the first episode: Kaede Honjou is Maple, a nervous new player of a VRMMO whose min-maxed stats end up making her one of the most formidable enemies in the game.
The anime showcases one of the best advantages of shields: not only do they prevent damage, but Maple is able to prolong fights long enough to pick up new techniques. Amusingly, she becomes so strong that she starts to be a problem even in the real world, with the game's admins being forced to step in and nerf her powers -- and even that doesn't stop her!
6 Heathcliff Is "The Man Of Legend" & The Final Boss (Sword Art Online)
Sword Art Online plays with the idea of the shield as a symbol of protection through the character of Heathcliff, whose supportive and heroic character turns out to be a front concealing his identity as the instigator of the deadly game itself.
Rumor has it that Heathcliff's skill means his health has never gone below half. As "the man of legend," his presence casts a huge shadow over the first series, and as Kirito's final opponent in that arc, he's a threat that lives up to the hype.
5 Mash Kyrielight Can Channel The Power Of The Nights Of The Round Table (Fate/Grand Order)
Mash Kyrielight is one of the Fate franchise's most interesting characters: a genetically engineered human whose short lifespan means that she is forced to reckon with her coming death, even while fighting to protect humanity.
Her skill with the shield is a fitting metaphor for her desire to prolong her life, but it's also an incredibly powerful weapon. Although her strength is limited for the first part of the series, once Mash discovers the True Name of the Heroic Spirit possessing her, she is able to use the Noble Phantasm Lord Camelot, a shield that can block just about any attack -- as Mash is able to keep her willpower strong.
4 Zamazenta's Power Is Truly Legendary (Pokémon)
Over the years, there have been several Pokémon with a shield motif, including Shieldon and Aegislash. Neither of them, though, come close in power to Zamazenta, the legendary Pokémon that gives Pokémon Shield its title.
Along with its partner Zacian, Zamazenta is able to defeat the gigantic Eternatus, saving the entire Galar region from destruction. Even on its own, though, it definitely earns its legendary status: its signature move, Behemoth Blast, has its power doubled against a Dynamaxed or Gigantamaxed Pokémon, the toughest foes in the franchise.
3 Homura Akemi's Shield Allows The Girls To Take On Kyubey (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
While Puella Magi Madoka Magica's Homura Akemi does use her shield to protect herself from attacks from witches and other magical girls alike, it's most useful for its unique and incredibly powerful ability: she can use it to turn back or freeze time.
Not only does this ability cause the entire plot of the series and, by saving Madoka, allow her to save all magical girls, but it also means that Homura is near-unbeatable in combat. Freezing time allows her to escape from any situation and gives her all the time she needs to gather weaponry.
2 Rei's Unit 00 Manages To Hold Back An Angel (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Anyone who's watched even one episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion knows how devastating a single attack from an angel can be: A.T. Field piercing power that can level cities with a single blow.
That's why it's so impressive that, in the fifth episode of the original series, Rei Ayanami and Unit 00 are able to hold off an attack long enough for Shinji to finish off the angel. She uses a shield made out of part of a space shuttle, but it still almost gets destroyed. Her willingness to stand in front of the blow is an incredible moment of courage, and it's no surprise that this scene would be chosen as the climax of the first Rebuild of Evangelion film.
1 Naofumi Iwatani Proves To Everyone How Strong A Shield Can Be (Rising Of The Shield Hero)
How powerful can a shield really be? Isn't it far inferior to a sword, a spear, or a bow? These are the questions that Rising of the Shield Hero's protagonist Naofumi Iwatani is forced to confront when the Legendary Shield is bestowed on him and he is shunned in response.
What follows is an incredible underdog story that shows Naofumi far surpassing anyone's expectations -- including his own. Between taking down the Waves and toppling a corrupt monarchy, it looks like there might be nothing the Shield Hero can't do.
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