Summary
Bungo Stray Dogsis one of the many anime series where characters are blessed (or cursed) with superhuman abilities. Not only do the characters share their names with real-life notorious literary authors, buttheir abilities also come from the authors’ most famous works. Not all the connections between a novel and an ability are super obvious, but the manga’s author, Kafka Asagiri, did an outstanding job crafting a suitable “gift” for an abundance of characters.
Some abilities are more thought-out than others, some are incredibly specific, while others might be pure and simple super strength. The case is similar tothe quirks inMy Hero Academia, given that also each person can only (naturally) develop one. The abilities in Bungo Stray Dogs are much rarer, though, and not many people actually develop them.A good fraction of the characters have offensive abilities, whether it is something relatively simple like Atsushi’s “Beast Beneath the Moonlight”, or an ability with extra steps like Yumeno’s “Dogra Magra".
10 Strongest Shonen Jump Characters Ever
Shonen Jump has produced some of the strongest characters in all of anime and manga, and here are the 10 characters that are the strongest among them.
10Howard Phillips Lovecraft
Non-ability: Great Old One. Organization: The Guild
When thinking of H.P. Lovecraft (the author), what comes first to most people’s minds is Cthulhu, the terrifying tentacled monster. Asagiri took this association for the best and gave the character theunique trait of turning any part of his body into very strong tentaclesthat can regenerate themselves. Additionally, Lovecraft can also turn his whole body into a creature. He loses his state of mind, essentially going berserk, but in return he becomes almost invincible. Almost.
The most curious thing about Lovecraft is that this peculiar characteristic of becoming an eldritch monster is not an ability like all the others, as it is not affected by Dazai’s nullifying one. That’s what makes this member of The Guild especially dangerous.
9Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
Ability: Light Snow. Organization: Armed Detective Agency
There is a great deal of power incontrolling someone else’s perception of reality.That’s why Tanizaki, an often overlooked member of the Armed Detective Agency, has a spot on this list. His ability, “Light Snow” allows him to create illusions within a certain range. This allows him to manipulate what the enemy sees, making it appear as if he’s surrounded by stronger allies, or already dead, or whatever is convenient at a time.
The ability Light Snow combined with Tanizaki’s above-average fighting skills make him a genuine threat. He is one of the characters that proves thatan ability doesn’t have to be offensive to make a user powerful.
8Nikolai Gogol
Ability: The Overcoat. Organization: Decay of the Angel
Though introduced relatively late in the series, Nikolai, a member of the Decay of Angels, proved that he’s to be feared. His special ability is called “The Overcoat” and basically it allows him tocreate a space riftthat he can use either as a portal, or to “store” items that he’ll need later. It’s an ability so elemental that it relies on the users’ creativity to make it lethal, and given how unhinged Nikolai is, he’s extremely dangerous with it.
Ability aside, another factor that makes Nikolai a powerful being is his mental state. Much like Dazai and Fyodor,Nikolai just has the right screws loose to make him an outstandingly brilliant master of disguise. A lot of his power comes from his deceptive and intimidating personality.
7Tetchou Suehiro
Ability: Plum Blossoms in Snow. Organization: Hunting Dogs
Essentially a good man at heart, and also an oddball,Tetchou is also a demonstration of sheer physical power. Labeled as the one with the strongest physical ability with the Hunting Dogs, with Tetchou there’s no mind games, no illusions or anything,just outright swordsmanship. His ability “Plum Blossoms in Snow” allows him to control his blade, manipulating its size, shape, and range. It can also cut through anything without ever losing its edge.
Tetchou is a fierce attacker, with the advantage that he’s deadly in both close combat and ranged fights. He can manipulate his sword not only at an incredible speed, but also to make it work as some sort of whip, pulling objects and people close to him (or the other way around) if he needs to.
6Atsushi Nakajima
Ability: Beast Beneath the Moonlight. Organization: Armed Detective Agency
Bungo Stray Dogs’ protagonist is yet another example of pure physical strength. Atsushi’s ability is called “Beast Beneath the Moonlight” and it gives him the power to transform into a massive white tiger, with all that it entails:enhanced strength, sharper senses, extreme speed and agility, and even a bulletproof condition. Atsushi has also got an intense heroic nature that fills him with the courage to pull up stunts no one else would dare to, which inevitably gives him that extra notch of power.
As time progresses, Atsushi gains more and more control over his ability, in part thanks to the Armed Detective Agency’s boss’ ability “All Men Are Equal”. This gives Atsushi a convenient capability of partially transforming into the tiger, like just his arms or legs. Atsushi in tiger form is an absolute predator.
5Fyodor Dostoevsky
Ability: Crime and Punishment. Organization: Decay of the Angel
Fyodor is terrifying. He’sone of the few characters whose power does not come primarily from his ability. Fyodor is a genius who’s capable of foreseeing circumstances, but also acting as the situation progresses and still getting things right. He’s an extraordinary manipulator that knows how to influence people for his own benefit. Fyodor is also able to defend himself physically, but has rarely needed it.
If his threatening existence wasn’t enough,his ability “Crime and Punishment” makes him essentially immortal. Whenever he’s killed, he takes possession of the body of the person that killed him, so he’s just jumping from body to body and never really dying.
4Osamu Dazai
Ability: No Longer Human. Organization: Armed Detective Agency, ex-Port Mafia
Much like Fyodor, Dazai is another genius able to manipulate his way through life, knowing exactly what to say, when to say it and who has to hear it. Dazai’s ability “No Longer Human” makes himnegate any and all other abilities, with no exceptions. This makes every other character just a normal human to Dazai, and reduces the threats to only conventional weapons and attacks. This poses no problem for him, as his past with the Port Mafia made him very able to defend himself.
Dazai’s weapon ishis intellect, and while he’s also a very proficient shooter and brawler, the physical aspect is highly overshadowed by the power that the information he is able to obtain gives him. His goofy personality is all but a facade to his true calculating and manipulating self.
3Ochi Fukuchi
Ability: Mirror Lion. Organization: Hunting Dogs, Decay of the Angel
Fukuchi also enters the list of Bungo Stray Dogs characters who obtain power through manipulation, as he’s a double-faced phony. Fukuchi’s peculiar condition is a big “if” meaning that his offensive power depends on what he has on hand. His ability “Mirror Lion”multiplies the power of whatever weapon he is holding by 100 fold. When he wields theShintō Amenogozen, a sacred blade with the power to go back in time, Fukuchi becomes practically untouchable.
Offensive strength aside, Fukuchi also has a great deal of intangible power, being the leader of the Decay of Angels and the Hunting Dogs. This was proven in the way he got the whole world into a state of chaos following the events of seasons 4 and 5 of the anime.
2Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Ability: Rashomon. Organization: Port Mafia
Akutagawa is the Port Mafia’s assassin of choice. He isintroduced as cold and apathetic, never hesitating to assassinate if convenient. All of this is thanks to his ability “Rashomon”, which he manifests through his coat. Rashomon is some sort ofblack entity that is able to cut through anything, even space itself. Though it can be attacked, the only one who can actually stop Rashomon is Dazai with his ability.
Rashomon also has a defensive function. When entering its Tenma Tengai form, it can wrap itself around Akutagawa’s body, not only acting as an armor, but also greatly increasing his overall physical condition. Rashomon is also able to be combined with other abilities, as seen when Atsushi and Akutagawa teamed up at the end of the Cannibalism arc.
1Chuuya Nakahara
Ability: Upon the Tainted Sorrow. Organization: Port Mafia
Chuuya has the ability “Upon the Tainted Sorrow” which allows him to fully control gravity as he pleases. This makes him stop bullets and refire them, makes his punches much heavier, lets him jump high, increases his weight to the point he breaks the floor and so much more. On top of this,he’s also a vessel for Arahabaki, god of destruction and calamity.Chuuya is able to withdraw his consciousness and let Arahabaki take control of his body, upon which he becomes an unstoppable destructive force. Dazai’s nullification ability is the only way he can be stopped.
Chuuya has a cocky, explosive, and arrogant personality. When combined with the ability to fully control a force that affects everything on earth, this Port Mafia executive’s only limitation is his own imagination. That’s why Chuuya isBungo Stray Dogs’ strongest character.
Bungo Stray Dogs
Cast
Bungo Stray Dogs is an anime series that follows Atsushi Nakajima, a young man with the ability to transform into a tiger. After being kicked out of his orphanage, he joins the Armed Detective Agency, a group of individuals with supernatural powers combating mafia activities and other threats. Set in a fictionalized Yokohama, the series explores the balance between human conflicts and extraordinary abilities.
