Anime's Strongest Pilots, Ranked
Descriptions
Anime is no stranger to all sorts of heavy machines, from planes to spaceships, and even giant robots. While all of those vehicles have their strengths and weaknesses, they all have one thing that they can never be without, the incredible talent that pilots them, and it takes a truly skilled pilot to operate these machines.
Whether it's because of an unyielding sense of courage, natural talent behind the cockpit, or years of experience, they have the right stuff when it comes to conquering just about any terrain, land, sky, and even space. These pilots have practically made an art form out of defying death itself.
10 Porco Rosso/Marco Pagot (Porco Rosso)
Marco Pagot (aka "Porco") from the movie Porco Rosso, is a skilled fighter pilot turned bounty hunter who spends his days shooting down air pirates. Despite being cursed to have an unusual pig-like appearance, Porco has not been slowed down in the slightest.
In the air, Porco's practically a force of nature, shooting down his opponents in aerial dogfights with ease, and even outside his plane Porco's one tough customer who isn't afraid to fight with his bare hands if he has to. Porco's truly talented ace pilot who's more than he appears.
9 Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
Cowboy Bebop's Spike Spiegel is a space bounty hunter of many talents, which makes sense for someone who was a member of the Red Dragon Syndicate. On top of being skilled in hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship, Spike's also pretty talented behind the cockpit of his fighter ship, the Swordfish II.
Being a former racing model, the Swordfish is naturally fast, and all the weapons it has installed make it a deadly combatant too, made all the more dangerous by Spike being the pilot. Though Spike's exploits have put the ship through wear and tear, he is the perfect pilot for the Swordfish.
The perpetually military-minded Sousuke Sagara of Full Metal Panic! has been a soldier since his childhood, and in time Sousuke became a master of war, skilled when it comes to firearms, explosives, tactics, trap-setting, and infiltration. Of course, among his many other skills, the young sergeant is also quite capable when piloting the giant mechas known as "Arm Slaves."
Sousuke himself isn't particular about which Arm Slave he uses, and in his hands even an outdated one would be highly effective, but in the cockpits of the Arbalest and Laevatein, his talents as a pilot pair perfectly with the powerfully suffocated machinery at his disposal.
7 Roger Smith (The Big O)
The Big O is as mysterious as it can be dangerous. Fortunately, when catastrophe strikes, it has the colossal Megadeus, "Big O" to defend it, piloted by professional negotiator, Roger Smith. Intelligent and methodical to a fault, Roger is an expert at what he does, wrapped in the suaveness of a secret agent.
Thanks to his military experience, Roger is also competent in a fight and of course, he can also make the seemingly clunky Big O keep up with even agile opponents. With Big O's brute strength combined with Roger's wit and keen reaction time, they're a force to be reckoned with.
6 Suzaku Kururugi (Code Geass)
When one grows up around heavy violence and seemingly never-ending war, one often has to fight to survive even if they wish for a peaceful world, such is the case for Suzaku Kururugi from Code Geass. Despite fighting for the nation that conquered his homeland, Suzaku took to military life within Britannia quite well, being a fierce fighter whether on the ground or inside the cockpit of a Knightmare Frame.
Suzaku's physical capabilities can't be understated, and make for a formidable pair when piloting the Lacelot Albion. Despite not having a Geass himself, Suzaku's been able to match those with Geass abilities that give them the advantage, through sheer survival instinct and force of will alone.
5 Zero-Two and Hiro (Darling In The Franxx)
Sometimes two heads are better than one, and some combos go together like peanut butter and jelly, Zero-Two and Hiro from Darling in the Franxx are one such case. For a while, the human-klaxosaur hybrid Zero-Two believed she was alone in piloting Strelitzia, as her previous partners couldn't handle the strain—but that all changed after Hiro became her partner.
As their bond deepened and became romantic, so too did their prowess as pilots, further unlocking Strelitzia's true potential and power. Together they managed to defeat the VIRM and their invading forces, ushering in a new age for humanity.
4 Eureka and Renton Thurston (Eureka Seven)
L.F.Os are complicated machines, and in the case of the Nirvash type Zero, only a certain kind of pilot can operate it. Having something of a mind of its own, it only accepted Renton Thurston and the half-human, half-coralian Eureka as its pilots, and it chose well, as the two were able to bring Nirvash to greater heights.
Achieving various new forms for Nirvash, some capable of traveling to other universes, Renton and Eureka were able to achieve peace between humans and Scrub Coral. Eureka Seven may have many different continuities and endings, though the one thing that stays consistent is Renton and Eureka's skill in piloting the Nirvash.
3 Noriko Takaya (Gunbuster)
Some pilots are destined for greatness despite some of their humble beginnings. As for Gunbuster's Noriko Takaya, she was once mocked for her clumsiness and lack of skill as a pilot but was able to become a pilot for the powerful Gunbuster thanks to her incredible willpower and ability to improvise quickly in a fight.
Within the Gunbuster, Noriko was able to take out hordes of alien monsters, some of which were as large as whole spaceships, by herself. Through enough hard work and determination, Noriko defied expectations and truly became one of anime's greatest mech pilots.
2 Amuro Ray (Mobile Suit Gundam)
While it takes other pilots years of training to be amazing in the cockpit of a mecha, Amuro Ray of the oiriginal Mobile Suit Gundam, had enough raw natural talent to keep up with some of Zeon's most feared pilots. Thanks to his Newtype abilities, Amuro had that essential sixth sense needed to pilot of Mobile Suit, even without training.
With more and more experience under his belt, Amuro only kept getting better and better. He even Char Aznable on multiple occasions and becoming the deciding factor during many key battles during the Universal Century.
1 Simon (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)
Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann started out as just an ordinary digger, the most unlikely person to ever achieve anything great in life, but time and a battle for humanity's very future proved otherwise. Thanks to the inspiration from Kamina that ignited his fighting spirit, Simon became an unstoppable force inside his Gunman, Lagann, and the combined mech that is Gurren Lagann.
Simon's fighting spirit only made him and Gurren Lagann stronger and stronger, achieving even bigger and more powerful forms, including "Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann," which was bigger than the universe itself. Not only did Simon free humankind from years of oppression and carve out a new path for its future, but became a legend that some mecha pilots only dream of.
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