Many anime series, especially shonen action series, involve at least one mentor character who has a lot to teach. Often, these mentors are older and stronger characters who use their words and actions to hammer vital lessons into the main character’s head. In some cases, these mentors are quite stern, or they might even be a parental figure for their apprentice.
Some anime mentors or teachers are all business, and they try to act serious or aloof around their students. Other mentors are more easygoing and are prone to comic relief, such as cracking jokes, making funny faces, or even getting involved in pratfalls. Even if these goofy anime mentors have a serious character arc and know a lot, they still know how to unwind and have some fun, and their students might join in, too.
10 Master Roshi (Dragon Ball)
Like many other characters and elements in Dragon Ball, the elderly warrior Master Roshi defined the formula for what shonen mentors should be like. He is the classic “wise, strong old man” character who often coached Goku, Krillin and other characters, often with highly unconventional methods.
Roshi knows his stuff, but he is also famously silly and wacky as a chilled-out old man, perhaps too much so. His ultra-pervy antics have aged badly and may make him somewhat unlikeable, but everyone can agree that Roshi helped launch the “strong but funny mentor” trend in anime.
9 Jiraiya (Naruto)
Naruto Uzumaki‘s best mentor, the toad sage Jiraiya, clearly took many cues from Master Roshi before him. In Naruto, Jiraiya is a white-haired mentor who coached an energetic, orange-clad youth in the ways of combat while also building a reputation for being a total skirt-chaser.
Over time, Jiraiya toned down his womanizing antics and focused more on building a legacy, and he passed on many vital lessons and worldviews to his favorite student, Naruto. Jiraiya’s story had a tragic end, but until then, he sure knew how to make anime fans laugh with his slapstick comedy.
8 Silvers Rayleigh (One Piece)
Silvers Rayleigh was one of Luffy’s best mentors in One Piece, spending two whole years teaching Luffy how to use a few different types of Haki before the Straw Hat crew finally reunited on the Sabaody archipelago. He’s a master of Haki, but Silvers would rather chill out than boast about it.
Silvers Rayleigh is an easygoing and friendly older man who likes to meet people and make friends, and he’s also fond of booze and the ladies. Most of all, Silvers was once on Rogers’ crew, for which he is famous, and he was also greatly upset when Captain Whitebeard died.
7 Kisuke Urahara (Bleach)
Kisuke Urahara was one of several mentors who helped train Ichigo Kurosaki as a proper Soul Reaper warrior in Bleach. Kisuke has a grim past and can be quite serious, especially when Aizen and the Sternritter are involved, but Kisuke still prefers peace to war.
Kisuke is a gifted scientist, inventor, and swordsman, but he won’t brag about it much. Instead, he enjoys his everyday life in Karakura Town as a shop owner and has a great sense of humor, which makes him likable to anime fans and annoying in Ichigo’s eyes.
6 Satoru Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen)
Satoru Gojo the sorcerer clearly takes a few cues from both Jiraiya and Kisuke before him, all while having his own identity as a funny, gifted, and memorable sorcerer mentor in Jujutsu Kaisen. In fact, Satoru saved Yuji’s very life by postponing Yuji’s execution early in the anime.
Satoru Gojo is ferocious in combat and is nigh-unbeatable, but he greatly prefers the joys of everyday life, such as teasing his fellow sorcerers and pulling pranks with Yuji. He often exasperates his students, Nobara Kugisaki and Megumi Fushiguro, but Yuji finds it pretty funny.
5 Senku Ishigami (Dr. Stone)
Usually, a teenage shonen protagonist needs a mentor, but in Dr. Stone, it’s the other way around. Senku Ishigami is such a gifted and skilled scientist that he was a mentor for his Stone Age allies, most of all for the rookie scientist Chrome. Along the way, Senku was a total goofball with his smug, blunt statements and outrageous reaction faces.
Senku taught Chrome all he knew about hard science, such as engineering and chemistry, and Chrome did his best to absorb it all and put it into practice. Over time, Senku became immensely proud of Chrome’s creative, resourceful mind, even though Chrome had never even seen a book before.
4 Gran Torino (My Hero Academia)
Izuku Midoriya trained under All Might for a time, but his single best mentor was definitely the petite, elderly Gran Torino. Partway through My Hero Academia, Izuku met All Might’s former mentor and learned much from him.
Gran Torino helped Izuku figure out and practice intuitive ways to master One For All, but he was also rather silly. Gran Torino pretended to be slow and clueless at first, like Jedi Master Yoda, and he was rather fond of taiyaki, fish-shaped snacks with a savory filling.
3 Saitama (One-Punch Man)
The caped baldy hero Saitama doesn’t consider himself a real mentor, but his unofficial apprentice, the cyborg Genos, believes he is. Early in One-Punch Man, Genos volunteered to become Saitama’s apprentice and vowed to learn all he could.
Genos rarely learns any real lessons from his powerhouse mentor, but he’s not discouraged. Genos will gladly study Saitama’s lifestyle and fighting style, trying to figure out vital lessons from it all and use them to become an even stronger hero himself.
2 Joichiro Yukihira (Food Wars!)
Soma Yukihira is an expert chef because he learned essential lessons on cuisine from his late mother, Tamako, and especially from his lovable father, Joichiro. In the backstory of Food Wars!, Joichiro spent years teaching his son how to run and cook in a family diner, then sent Soma to Totsuki to learn even more.
Joichiro is an expert chef famous around the world, but it never went to his head. He is an easygoing and goofy fellow who likes to prank people with intentionally terrible dishes, which Soma also tends to do. Joichiro is only serious on the topic of Asahi Saiba, whom he once mentored as well.
1 Uncle Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Earlier in his career as a Fire Nation general, Iroh was fond of war and personally led the siege of Ba Sing Se, only to lose his beloved son Lu Ten in the battle. That personal tragedy changed Iroh, and he became an advocate of peace and unity, to his younger brother Ozai’s disgust.
Iroh is serious when he must be in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but he prefers to fill his days with peace, tea, and happiness. Iroh is a total joker, which used to exasperate his tense nephew Zuko. Meanwhile, Iroh is also greatly fond of the board game pai sho, favoring the white lotus gambit despite its many risks.
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