It’s Tiger & Bunny that encapsulates the feeling of every student in My Hero Academia once they graduate: life as a professional hero. While both the adult heroes in Tiger & Bunny and My Hero Academia end up going public with their superheroic antics, the point system and blatant sponsorship for heroes have become both an interesting and hilarious take on the profitability of superheroes. However, being profitable doesn’t necessarily mean being useless in Tiger & Bunny.
While the new season of Tiger & Bunny once again stars the Wild Tiger and Bunny duo, the main roster of heroes in Tiger & Bunny is arguably just as capable. After all, they actively compete for the top spot in terms of hero scoring with their various abilities. As such, these make for some interesting rankings in terms of the strongest superheroes in Tiger & Bunny.
12 Magical Cat
Thematically designed to look like a magical girl, Magical Cat has an innate command of water, allowing her to summon a gush of water from her palms to affect enemies. Unfortunately, she can't do much to enemies with this power alone and often needs help from Dragon Kid to make her water a much deadlier asset.
While Magical Cat is still not mature enough to keep her cool during the dangers and perils of her heroics, a more mature Magical Cat holds a lot of potential, especially since her waters can help to deter villains in a non-harmful way. She can use her powers to aid the other heroes in numerous ways too - augmenting Blue Rose’s ice, creating steam with Fire Emblem, and the like.
11 Blue Rose
With the series focusing on its themes of being in a world with sponsored superheroes, Blue Rose, whose real name is Karina Lyle, does well to represent the model side of things. With a focus on beauty and style, Blue Rose retains her popularity as one of the most well-liked superheroines out there, especially among male fans. She focuses on performance-themed appearances on Hero TV, which are always excellent thanks in part to her training as a singer and dancer.
Regardless of this focus on performance rather than combat, Blue Rose is no pushover. Her Liquid Freezing Guns allow her to produce ice that she can control and manipulate. However, it’s due to the fact that she needs to produce ice first before being able to become useful in combat that makes her more of a risk than a helpful asset.
10 Origami Cyclone
Although his regular persona is a little meek, Ivan Karelin as Origami Cyclone transforms into a hyperactive and outgoing hero. In his kabuki-themed costume, Origami Cyclone employs the usage of swords and shuriken to fight enemies, all while helping to keep hostages and civilians safe. While he initially believes his passive powers don’t make him a hero, encouragement from Wild Tiger helps Origami Cyclone to develop more creative uses for his abilities.
A master of disguise and ninjutsu, Origami Cyclone specializes in keeping himself out of view and revealing exactly when he wants to through Shapeshifting. This often comically manifests as “photobombs” within spectacular heroic shots of other superheroes, and may manifest in missions as his ability to mimic the appearance of others. While Origami Cyclone is certainly a trained fighter, his rather passive powers may not always work well against rampaging and violent villains. He makes up for this by focusing on helping civilians to evacuate or taking down opponents with his martial arts and weapons.
9 Golden Ryan
In the Tiger & Bunny: The Rising film, Kotetsu’s absence had Golden Ryan or Ryan Goldsmith serve as Barnaby’s new partner. Known for his ever-glowing sense of arrogance and independence, Golden Ryan is renowned for his sense of style, making him the perfect partner for Blue Rose in Season 2. His powers make him just as golden, however.
As a NEXT, he can create a gravity field around himself that affects everyone around him. His powers over gravity in this area are so extreme that anyone trapped in the field can’t escape, except for the likes of Barnaby and Kotetsu (who are able to counter its effects by using their powers). Golden Ryan can also focus the effects of his gravity dome into a beam, affecting those within a line instead. While useful against most opponents, the fact that Golden Ryan has to stay put and channel this power can leave him extremely vulnerable, making this power only useful with backup.
8 Rock Bison
A veteran hero similar to Wild Tiger, Rock Bison is an imposing figure that is as protective as he is strong. While more of a father figure than anything else, Rock Bison will stop at nothing to protect his teammates. Thankfully, he has just the right abilities to do so consistently. Donning the strength of the bison, Rock Bison isn’t just armored like a tank, he also acts like one.
His NEXT power is that of Impenetrable Skin, allowing him to impose his durability to withstand attacks and even use his enormous strength to both overwhelm opponents and lift heavy objects. Through his armor, Rock Bison earns the title “Bull Tank of the West Coast,” as he’s notable for charging straight to his opponents while using his shoulder-blade drills. He’s often seen stopping getaway vehicles or helping to save civilians from falling debris. However, his durability-focused abilities do mean he's a little lacking in the speed department, making him detrimental for chases.
7 Barnaby Brooks Jr.
Series deuteragonist Barnaby Brooks Jr. (who goes by his own name) is a serious individual through and through and is fueled only by his desire to find his parents’ murderers and uphold justice. Known for his charm and sense of cool, he’s the current reigning King of Heroes.
Unfortunately, he shares the same powers as his partner Kotetsu, with his Hundred Power giving his physical capabilities a one-hundred-percent boost for five minutes. This timer severely limits the capabilities of Barnaby. While his skill in strategy allows him to assess situations carefully, his lack of instinct can sometimes put both him and his allies at risk.
6 Wild Tiger
The protagonist of the series, Wild Tiger or Kotetsu Kaburagi is one of the first superheroes out there and has a reputation for being an old-timer. Despite his attachment to his instincts and his stubbornness, Wild Tiger is always someone people can rely on - having a strong sense of justice. His Hundred Power allows him to boost his physical capabilities a hundredfold, but its five-minute timer puts him down the list of the most powerful Tiger & Bunny heroes.
However, where Wild Tiger compensates is through his perseverance and sharpened instincts, both of which have been honed through age. When in the proper mood, Wild Tiger can spot opportunities in various sticky situations, pushing through and turning the tide in the most desperate of moments.
5 Mr. Black
The youthful Mr. Black has the same vigor as Kotetsu and just as much bluntness, which typically translates to him protecting others and his sense of justice. He loves getting to the frontlines and stopping criminals right in their tracks - something that he does consistently well, thanks to his powers.
As protective as he could get, Mr. Black is perhaps the ultimate defender among the heroes. By spreading an arm, he can call forth purple holographic shielding to deflect almost any attack, allowing himself to protect two angles at once and even enlarge his shielding to protect his friends. While each hand can only protect one direction, his defensive potential makes Mr. Black the perfect partner for almost any other hero.
4 Dragon Kid
A master of martial arts, Dragon Kid can defend herself in close quarters combat - capable of using her staff for complicated maneuvers. And even then, she can use her rod to channel electricity, often electrocuting opponents by herself or using an enhanced version of her Electrokinesis with the help of Magical Cat’s water.
If taken seriously, Dragon Kid can manifest these powers in various effects such as shutting down electronics or more powerful electric blasts. This is seen when Dragon Kid uses unique materials to conduct her electric blasts, such as metallic parts of a car that can act as a conductor.
3 Fire Emblem
Despite their flirtatious and flamboyant attitude, Fire Emblem is extremely serious when it comes to their heroics. Flamboyant as they are stylish, Fire Emblem is serious about their NEXT abilities - that of conjuring and controlling flames, or Pyrokinesis. They can produce fire from their fingertips, often resulting in blasts of fire that can both threaten and harm opponents.
What makes Fire Emblem so very deadly is perhaps the nature of their fire. Unlike other heroes, Fire Emblem can simply flick a finger to summon their flames and doesn’t need much effort to strengthen the scope and intensity of the fires they produce. This easily makes them one of the most powerful NEXT out there.
2 He Is Thomas
He Is Thomas is very confident and capable in his skills, and his training as a hero proves that he’s a force to be reckoned with despite his newcomer status. While often the more logical and quiet half of his duo, He Is Thomas and his abilities can change the tide of battle when used appropriately, which makes it helpful for the man behind the mask, Thomas Taurus, to maintain his cool.
One of the newcomers in the series, He Is Thomas is arguably one of the most powerful heroes in Tiger & Bunny. Simply put, he has the powers of Psychokinesis and is therefore capable of moving anything within his vicinity using only his mind. While he often uses this to knock down objects or subdue opponents, a more serious He Is Thomas can outright decimate foes mercilessly with the scope of his telekinetic abilities.
1 Sky High
Ever true to his majesty as the King of Heroes (before Barnaby took his title, at least), Sky High consistently soars to the skies to let villains know of his presence. While his abilities are limited in terms of their scope, Sky High’s experience as a hero allows him to dominate others in a match of pure force. After all, being able to conjure extremely strong winds on command won’t let anything get near enough to harm him.
True to the longest-record holder of King of Heroes, Sky High remains dominant in the skies despite Barnaby’s victory over him. Sky High has thrusters that allow him to soar through the skies and travel much faster than any aircraft, and his innate Wind Manipulation abilities allow him to manifest gusts of air at will. Despite the straightforward nature of his ability, the fact that he can fly and dominate the skies means that Sky High can get the jump on criminals regardless of their position.
Tiger & Bunny 2 was released on April 8, 2022, on Netflix.