Magical girls can make up some of the strongest anime characters of all time, and in Japanese, the genre is called Mahō shōjo. As their title implies, they are warriors skilled in magic who also happen to be girls. The magical powers have a vast range depending on their backstory and the plot of their series. Just a couple examples of magic magical girls can have include reading minds, time travel, and healing others.
The strongest magical girls are those that prove themselves through combat and strategy along with being badass and OP. They are the ones that you would never want to make enemies with because you know you would lose.
Updated June 26, 2022, by Kristy Ambrose: Magical girl is a popular anime genre, and new movies, shows, manga, and novels are added to the vast library of choices every day. It's easy to find new names to add to the list but it's difficult to choose between them. Here are some of the most powerful magical girls that fans and curious viewers can find in the world of anime.
Spoiler Warning for magical girl anime ahead.
13 Homura Akemi, Peulla Magi Madoka Magica
From Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Homura is a magical girl that has time-altering powers. She can freeze time and well as rewind it. She is also one of the few magical girls to use military weapons along with her powers. So she can freeze time, place bombs and shoot bullets during the freeze, and then unfreeze to eliminate her enemies in what appears to be only seconds.
The movie, Rebellion, has also put Homura up there with magical girls on par with Gods as she de-throned Madoka and became a new ruler of the universe. For those who like magical girl anime, Homura and Peulla Magi Madoka Magica are definitely worth checking out.
12 Rue, Princess Tutu
Viewers shouldn't be fooled by the whimsical title. This series is a lot darker than its setting and backstory make it sound. It combines some elements of Black Swan with fairy tales and classical music in the form of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.
Rue, Princess Kraehe's alter ego, is the antagonist of the story and one of the most powerful magical girls in the anime universe. Another name for her is Princess of the Crows, as she commands several different familiars in bird form and can manipulate the magic of Raven's blood.
11 Anthy Himemiya, Revolutionary Girl Utena
Anthy is a magical girl wrapped in mystery. She is the Rose Bride and gives power to whoever proves their worth as her champion. By the end, it seems she is stronger than any other character despite her door-mat-like personality. She can magically seal people, as she sealed Dios and his power in a castle.
With the full power of Dios, she is on another level. She can bestow powers to others, astral project, warp reality, and make pocket realities. There is a reason the manga hinted that Anthy could be an immortal goddess.
10 Tsukikage Yuri, Heartcatch Pretty Cure!
Tsukikage is also known as Cure Moonlight. She is also known as one of the most powerful magical girls in the Pretty Cure! franchise due to her ability to do so much on her own. She can perform attacks alone that other characters can only do in groups.
This is exemplified when she takes down some of the most powerful villains in the series all on her own. She is also the oldest Cure in the franchise, showing that age and experience can matter in terms of magical strength.
9 Fuu Inubouzaki, Yuki Yuna Is A Hero
Not every powerful magical girl looks like one, and often the true nature of these characters is designed to take the viewer by surprise, but Fuu Inubouzaki doesn't fit into that category. She is the first president of the Hero Club, after all, and those epic braids and massive greatsword are just part of who she is.
The sword that Fuu wields is lethal anyway, and it's so big that she also can use it as a shield. Her powers make her a natural leader, and the responsibility she embraces towards the younger students that look up to her is her real superpower.
8 Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon
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Also known as Usagi, Sailor Moon has a ton of power, despite sometimes acting like a baby. Her powers are on the level of godhood at times. She can manipulate light, energy, memory, time, gravity, and matter. She can heal others in both mind and body as well.
Sailor Moon can live for thousands of years at least in her previous and future lives. Even if she does somehow perish, she can just reincarnate. Her one weakness is her own emotional state. After all, she does have the mind of a regular teenager.
7 Nanoha Takamachi, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
From the anime Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Nanoha is also known as Ace of Aces, Ace of the Sky, Aggressor 1, and StarS 01. She starts her journey in magical combat at the young age of nine, becomes a hero to the multiverse, and then becomes a teacher in magical combat.
Nanoha has a great balance of offensive and defensive abilities, which makes her incredibly useful in combat. On top of that, she is a tactical savant, helping her to cement her place as one of the strongest magical girls in anime.
6 Sakura Kinomoto, Cardcaptor Sakura
The protagonist of Cardcaptor Sakura, Akura has the ability to fly, move at incredible speed, and has mastery of all fighting styles without weapons. She can even control plant life, time, and space at times. Of course, this is all dependent on her artifacts and cards.
Sakura would be conceived as the most powerful magical girl if all her abilities were innate. However, she is still among the strongest magical girls for just having the means to these powers in the first place.
5 Akari Taiyo, Day Break Illusion
She was born with the destiny to defeat Demonia and wields the power of the Sun. That's a perfectly accurate description of the main character in Day Break Illusion, and it doesn't get much more OP than that.
The plot of this series is based on the occult lore that surrounds Tarot cards, and, in this case, The Sun is the card that's part of the Higher Arcana in each deck. Akari's powers are based on fire and include a flaming sword along with some brutal AoE abilities.
4 Hotaru Tomoe, Sailor Moon
As her alter ego, Hotaru is Sailor Saturn, also known as the Destroyer. Many anime fans put Sailor Saturn next to Sailor Moon herself when it comes to the strongest magical girls in their show. This is because Sailor Saturn has incredible destructive powers.
Hotaru can destroy whole planets, along with all that lives upon them, without much effort. Outside of destruction, she can also make powerful force fields to protect herself and others from strong attacks.
3 Ryuko Matoi, Kill la Kill
As the protagonist of the anime, Kill la Kill, Ryuko is a pretty unique magical girl. She is unique because her series is unique to the genre, as it is heavy on action and comedy. Her powers are heavily tied to the plot and world she lives in, making it hard to compare her with other magical girls. There is no doubt she is incredibly strong though.
Ryuko is one of the few magical girls out there with superhuman strength as a natural ability. She's one of the most powerful too, though sometimes doesn't even need to use magic to defeat her opponents.
2 Snow White, Magical Girl Raising Project
In the dark magical girl anime, Magical Girl Raising Project, Snow White is a magical girl that all others did not perceive as a threat due to her happy-go-lucky personality and innocent-seeming powers. However, she turned that upside down, being the sole survivor of the project and defeating what killed everyone else.
Snow White's magical girl powers are to feel the emotions of those that need help and saving. She made that sweet power brutal, however, by using it as a way to find the weaknesses of her enemies.
1 Madoka Kanani, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Most anime fans agree that Madoka is the most powerful magical girl of all time. This is because she turns into a god by the end of the series. She made a wish so big in scope that the powers she gained gave her control over space and time.
Madoka rewrote history and saved every magical girl's soul that was doomed to become a witch. Of course, in the Rebellion movie, Madoka got de-throned by Homura. It goes to show that even gods have an Achilles heel.