In action-oriented anime, typically shonen and seinen anime, the protagonist will power up a few times so they can face the villains and win. Such power-ups often involve personal growth as well, such as learning discipline and patience while training and tapping into the power of friendship to gain strength.
The best anime power-ups are for the heroes, such as going Super Saiyan or getting bankai in Bleach, but anime villains can do it, too. Certain villains upped their game when they unlocked or simply stole new powers, abilities, and weapons, which will always raise the stakes and tension in the story. For some villains, getting a power-up is the means to an end, and for others, it’s a major part of their character arc.
The following contains spoilers for Demon Slayer.
10 Griffith Became Femto (Berserk)
In Berserk, protagonist Guts upped his game when he obtained the dragon slayer sword and a prosthetic left arm, but Griffith’s power-up was far more impressive. He reached a low point after enduring a year of torture in captivity, then used the Egg of the King to summon the God Hand.
Griffith sacrificed the Band of the Hawk to join the God Hand and become Femto, a supernatural being with immense power and influence. Then Griffith was reborn in the Conviction arc and set his plan into motion to create his own kingdom in Midland’s territory.
9 Eren Yeager Gained The Attack Titan (Attack On Titan)
At first, Eren Yeager was Attack on Titan’s classic shonen protagonist, but everything changed when he learned about all his enemies across the vast ocean. Slowly but surely, Eren became a powerful villain bent on destroying the entire non-Eldian world.
To do that, Eren obtained first the War Hammer Titan, then the Founding Titan, which made all the difference. With it, Eren launched the apocalyptic Rumbling, flattening the entire world underfoot as an army of Colossal Titans slowly marched across the planet in a genocidal campaign.
8 Sosuke Aizen Got The Hogyoku (Bleach)
Near the end of Bleach’s Soul Society story arc, Captain Sosuke Aizen outed himself as a traitor and commented on the limits of power. He told the heroes that there are upper limits for even the most talented and powerful Soul Reapers like himself, so he must tap into new sources of power to keep growing.
Aizen stole the Hogyoku, a bizarre invention of Kisuke Urahara’s making, to break down the barrier between Soul Reapers and Hollows. He created an Arrancar army with it, then used the Hogyoku on himself to gain Hollow powers and even discard his zanpakuto in the process. He nearly defeated the Soul Society with that hybrid power, but Ichigo and Kisuke stopped him.
7 Cell Became Perfect (Dragon Ball Z)
Cell was one of Dr. Gero’s finest creations, and he went through a few phases of growth to become his ultimate self in Dragon Ball Z. Cell was a formidable foe when he first appeared, but he got even stronger after absorbing Android 17 and obtaining a newer form.
Then Cell temporarily absorbed Android 18, and he eventually became Perfect Cell, his strongest form of all. It was in this form Cell truly challenged Goku and the other heroes, and his long tail became retracted, suggesting that he didn’t have to absorb anything else to get stronger any longer.
6 Kokushibo Became A Demon (Demon Slayer)
Strictly speaking, every demon in Demon Slayer experienced a villainous power-up, since all demons are former humans who gained supernatural power. People often become demons out of desperation when it’s offered to them, but the Upper Moon 1, Kokushibo, is different.
Kokushibo was once a human demon slayer who couldn’t get as strong as he wanted. He sought out Muzan’s blood and became a demon by design, granting him the supernatural power he sought at the cost of never walking in the sun again.
5 Lord Boros Removed His Armor (One-Punch Man)
Lord Boros the alien warlord was the first character to endure more than one of Saitama’s punches in One-Punch Man. Boros, like Saitama, was bored by his unbeatable power and had no real challenges, so he donned special restraining armor.
Boros fought well against Saitama at first, then removed that restraining armor to power up. When he was at his strongest, Boros actually sent Saitama flying to the moon, but in the end, Saitama was still stronger and won the fight with rare serious punches.
4 Blackbeard Stole The Tremor-Tremor Fruit (One Piece)
Captain Blackbeard was already dangerous with his Dark-Dark Fruit, but during the paramount war in One Piece, Blackbeard practically doubled his firepower. The moment Captain Whitebeard died in the war, Blackbeard stole his Tremor-Tremor Fruit by unknown means.
Captain Blackbeard, in just a few moments, vastly powered up as a shonen villain and became one of the Four Emperors in the New World. With two Devil Fruit powers at his command, Blackbeard is almost definitely Luffy’s greatest nemesis for the remainder of One Piece’s run.
3 Dio Brando Became A Vampire (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)
In the first arc of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Dio Brando poisoned George Joestar, and when Jonathan cornered him, Dio took the drastic next step and put on the stone mask. He became a powerful vampire, forever discarding his humanity to become a true monster.
Dio gained immense strength, speed, and endurance as a vampire, and he also had supernatural powers such as laser beams and creating ice as well. He powered up again sometime before the Stardust Crusaders arc when he obtained The World as a new Stand user.
2 Tomura Shigaraki Gained Many New Quirks (My Hero Academia)
Tomura Shigaraki the villain got his first power-up when his Decay Quirk awakened in the My Villain Academia arc, but his real power-up came courtesy of Dr. Garaki. Tomura had proven himself while fighting Re-Destro, so Dr. Garaki used dark science to give Tomura more Quirks.
Tomura awakened as a powerhouse villain loaded with Quirks, making him My Hero Academia’s new symbol of evil. However, All For One also intends to use Tomura as a living vessel, and Tomura is determined to retain his autonomy no matter what.
1 Zaheer Mastered Flight (The Legend Of Korra)
Zaheer gained airbending when Korra opened the spirit portals in The Legend of Korra, and as a trained acrobat and experienced fighter, Zaheer quickly made the most of his new bending talents. Zaheer still wanted more power as a villainous airbender, though, so he sought the ultimate airbending art: true flight.
During the climax, Zaheer let go of his last “earthly tether,” his lover P’li, and became the second-ever person to master flight. For the rest of that battle, Zaheer could fly around like Superman, not needing air gusts or a glider to remain aloft as all other airbenders do.
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