It's more than that at this point. He's become almost synonymous with strength. Whenever someone pops up as a 'strongest' archetype, the first instinct of a lot of people is to ask "But can he beat Goku tho?". People measure strength by Levels of Goku
@@goku-fs7 Yeah, it’s why so many characters are so strong nowadays. I firmly believe that most characters today are designed with defeating Goku in mind. Everyone wants their bragging rights.
b4 dbz Goku was the strongest. After his fight with Junior and winning the 23rd tenkaichi budokai if was set. but in the db franchise, that moment is always fleeting. there's always someone stronger, and Goku will forever chase them
Mob from Mob Psycho 100 is an interesting case too. Its clear that he is the strongest from the start but he knows that he cant solve all his problems with his power. Very nice analysis btw ;)
It's an amazing story because he's both the strongest esper but also inadequate in literally everything else, which is a big detriment when there isn't constantly world ending threats happening.
I said exactly this! He's basically the opposite of all of these characters, but thats what makes him so unique. If there's a problem thats spiritual or evil, Mob can do it with zero effort every single time. It's interacting with *people* that brings about the conflict in the series, and it's why I love the show so much. Taking out a majority of the power struggles for the protagonist lets the series focus on his growth and his interactions with his enemies. Also, it lets the side characters get to show off more, which is fun but unrelated to this point.
My favorite OP villain has to be Mereum because how OP he is isn't the main factor of his character arc. He evolves and how he's defeated speaks to the overall theme of the arc of how evil humanity can be in order to stay on top of the food chain. Togashi really knows how to make amazing villains throughout his works.
Tbh I was surprised they didn’t mention the nuke. Mereum wasn’t going to win that fight regardless of whether or not he was stronger, and that ties into both characters’ relationships with strength. Like, Netero was 100% willing to sacrifice himself just to spite someone who may have been stronger than him. And Meruem, for all his intelligence and power, couldn’t do anything about it.
Yeah. I despised Meruem at first, probably like most people, because of how strong and arrogant he was. Yet once they started to introduce the human side to his character, he immediately went to being one of faves. Top tier villain and character overall.
The best part about Almight is 100% how he is written. Almight embodies strength because he wanted to be a beacon of light around the world but sadly due to this most of the problems in the narrative all arose because Almight wanted to take the burden alone. Heroes became complacent because Almight handled it all, citizens became bystanders who would ignore crime or not reach out a hand because Almight would probably come eventually. After Almight loses his power you see how uneasy everyone is because the gap between Almight and Endeavor is just that big. Almight wanted to change the world but his strength only created a temporary band aid solution where everyone just relied on him. It shows that too much strength in one individual even if for good can be bad
I’ve never seen this put so well to be honest I didn’t really see it like that until you pointed it out as strong as all might is the world is simply too big for one person to hold alone
Yeah to much strength on one individual is bad but it wasn't because other heros got complacent, endeavor literally did everything in his power to become stronger to protect more people. All might didn't create a temporary band aid solution he literally fixed the problem what changed was the precieve notion that heros are good. Once stain made proclamation about killing all the heros and the league of villian sowing doubt into people minds by constantly attacking UA that's when the public changed on them and more people who would been heros turned to villians.
@@LuciferWrld999 endeavor was the ONLY hero who tried to become stronger to match Almight. They make a point to show that when all other heroes said “who can even compare to him?” Endeavor instead tries to be the only one to match him. Almight did create a band aid solution. He wanted people to rely on him for hope and this is the biggest take away that Deku understands that almight doesnt. Deku is creating a society where everyone is the greatest hero. Where everyone contributes to the greater good. Almight solved the issues temporarily and allowed heroism to become what it was (being moreso a symbol of wealth or fame). It was unintentional but it was all a direct result of his actions.
@@ShurikanBlade you're correct in the fact that endeavor was the only who tried to surpass all might, but its realistic for them to look at all might as see that can't even compete but that doesn't stop them for trying any harder to save one, you're seem to only be worried about how strong someone is or is trying to get rather then looking at how hard they try to become a better and stronger hero. From hawks, to midnight eye, to endeavor to the newer generation they were inspired by all might. What your saying that because of all might all they other hero didn't try to be better then him and that's what caused the problem which just is incorrect every hero we seen on screen is literally giving their all and even at some points there life to save someone else or make sure no one gets hurts. Just because they could match all might strength doesn't mean they can save as many people as he could. Without all might, all for one still would did something similar and tried throwing the world in to chaos. The has literally been happening for many generations wether he became a symbol of peace or not no one would been strong enough to stand against all for one.
I know Saitama struggles with being the strongest in his universe cause he finds no joy in being so. Being at the absolute pinnacle of power means no one can stand up to you, and when you are a person who finds excitement in fighting, you'd get bored pretty easily from how easy it becomes once you're at the top. You can definitely see how that plays out in the Boros fight, where Boros found what he was looking for, while Saitama didn't even use most of his strength. And Boros realizes that, and was pretty disappointed that Saitama didn't even have a challenge. But later on, we see why he keeps fighting. He fights for his friends. Saitama needs Genos more than Genos needs Saitama. Genos really brings out the best in Saitama.
I also really enjoy how saitama kinda saw himself in boros, someone also looking for a strong opponent after reaching the top. I think that's why saitama humored boros's planet-enslaving plan for so long. He wanted to give someone the joy that they've been searching for for so long.
@@goddessyamato5238 and he didn't enjoy the fight because Genos died, you can see how mad he was at garou and how he sees the fight as him beating garou to a pulp, he wasn't excited he was mad, which is terrifying.
One interesting thing about Gojo and Sukuna which differentiates them in the series is how they use power to solve their problems. All Sukuna knows is power. He rejects love, and when Jogo cries and asks what that feeling is, Sukuna states that he wouldn't know it himself, as he never felt this type of vulnerability before. During his era, when confronted with opposition, his first instinct was to massacre those around him, and usurp his way to the top of the food chain. Whenever confronted with a problem, his one and only solution is strength On the other hand, Gojo, despite being just as strong, doesn't use his power in the same way Sukuna did. Gojo has shown a clear distaste for the higherups and the world of jujutsu, and has even expressed the desire to kill them, very much like Sukuna did to those who ruled before him. However, Gojo stops himself from doing so, and molds the world around him by teaching the new generation of sorcerers to be better. When Gojo gains his full power in hidden inventory, he becomes this unstoppable force. Geto stopping him from massacring the members of the cult that got Riko killed was the event that prevented him from becoming an usurper like Sukuna.
@@m4ik0n54but even he doesn't personally believe that was the right way, however, it's the only way to stop shitty stuff like the Shibuya Incident from happening again, because of the stupidity of the higher ups
@@m4ik0n54 It's because the Jujutsu sorcerers reality is gray. Gojo wanted to find a way to achieve his objective without the need of shredding blood, but that's like 99% impossible in JJK, well only 99% because the next generation is the one who's gonna teach Sukuna about love.
“gojo’s just as strong”, the hell he is, pretty much everyone might as well be at his level now with how each person is built up only to then be clowned on immediately, just like him. sukuna’s not even that much more powerful, he just has the power or author asspulls
@IAMINSIDEYOURWALLS604 You can’t tell me Sonic & the Black Knight isn’t an anime without lying to yourself. Sonic gets teleported to Arthurian legend, wields a talking sword, faces demons from the underworld, slays King Arthur and dragons, duels the knights of the round table, and has an awesome super transformation. How is that not an anime, just turned into a video game?
Goku served as a great example of what it means to be the strongest....version of yourself. He's inspiring and is like 90% of the reason why I started going to the gym
Dude, I use his perseverance as inspiration to overcome my crippling anxiety and the afflictions I was undesirably born with. He may not be the same character that I loved in Dragon Ball Z, but the impact that (pre super) Goku, has personally had on me, is something that I will never take for granted.
So what about the versions of him that revert and don’t even know what meditation is in super? Goku is a static character and has almost never changed since his creation, his growth is purely a stat with not much changing about him from DB all the way to DBZ, super is when it needed to revert and regress him.
I like Beerus’s strength cause it explores another type of the “Strongest.” He’s someone who achieved that so long ago and has been secure with it for so much time that being the strongest has stopped being part of his character. If you sit at the peak for so long you eventually have to stop reveling in your power and just find something else to do, and that’s the point Beerus has been at for millions of years. He is not his power because that story was told eons ago, and like I do wish we could’ve gotten some idea of what he and Champa did when they were mortals, but that time is so far removed from who they are now that it wouldn’t matter to see it
I understand what you mean with this, but from a writing perspective this is a cop out for the author. You can’t just mark someone as the strongest for the goal post and then do absolutely nothing with it, even if you give canon reasons in the story at the end of the day your still doing nothing with the character.
@@RaeTekd personally I think he works for Dragonball. The role of his power is to be an unattainable goal so that Goku and Vegeta will never stop pushing themselves. It makes it so they won’t fall into a rut like what happened after Cell died where nobody really sees a reason to train without a visible villain in front of them. It wouldn’t really work in many other stories but Saiyans always perform their best with a tangible goal in mind, especially if they think that it’s achievable, so Beerus let’s them think that so they get the best results from their training. Obviously more could be done with him but he doesn’t really need a character arc or anything since we’re already seeing the aftermath of his story That being said, a story set millions of years ago with Beerus and Champa as the twin MCs on their mission to usurp the gods would be sick. It could include Old Kai too and establish why Beerus doesn’t like him, and have their be many more universes that are more interconnected, hence us seeing a member of Beerus’ race in universe 11, with the end result being Zeno destroying all but 12 and separating them a lot more. It wouldn’t really have any bearing on Dragonball itself since literally none of the races we see would exist at that point except for possibly Namekians, but a cool story could be written about it. Hell maybe even have the origin of the Super Dragon Balls be explored all that time ago. Who knows?
@@Aerowarrier again from a story perspective it makes some sense for beerus to be some unachievable goal. But at the same time it’s a cop out for the author, saying that it makes sense, doesn’t mean that it isn’t lazy writing. There’s so much more you could do with beerus that would still keep the same character point. But they don’t do that. They establish beerus as a strong goal for the saiyans but at the same time they do nothing with him. I understand his character makes sense for him, it’s still lazy writing 🤷♂️
I feel like there are mainly four ways to write "the strongest" characters, basically four themes that are mostly intertwined to some extent but to get good results you need to have one of them as the central theme: 1 - The Status Quo. The strongest character is - to a good extent - the embodiment of the status quo of the world, in which case the initial plot should be about trying to dodge them and eventually getting rid of them entirely (or temporarily) so the actual plot can kick in. It's extremely important that you show how they maintain the status quo, and immediately kick the plot in 5th gear as soon as they are out, and show how things change without their support pillar. This character will most often work as a good or at least neutral party (Gojo, All Might, etc), since it can allow you to slow boil the reader into the plot, and then go crazy on the second act. However, it also works for villains, in which case you actually focus more on dodging this immovable wall/unstoppable force and the finale is the about taking them down (i.e. Homelander, Injustice Superman); 2 - The Ceiling. Basically, they are the ceiling of the series, but also something meant to be surpassed (i.e. Freeza, Beerus, Jiren, Madara, All for One, etc). Either through communal effort or through personal growth, these characters are fated to be surpassed. 3 - The Superman. I mean, it's in the namesake. This theme is all about the burden of being the strongest. It's better used by heroes (Superman), whether they can maintain their morals or be corrupted. Often more than not these stories will be philosophical in nature, and personally I find it best when the strongest takes a spiritual guide-like role. That said, Meruem is a good example of a villain who falls into this category. 4 - The calamity. These are the Sukunas. Basically, characters that are closer to being forces of nature than just a person who happens to be very strong. They need to be stopped but not simply through effort, but through war. They are sorta like the Ceiling types, but overall it is not a case that the heroes surpass these beings, they SURVIVE them. It's not a triumphant victory. Finally, as a bonus, this doesn't qualify as a theme on it's own, it needs to be a sub-types of either 1, 2 or 3, but a great way to add nuance to your strongest. This is the theme of the "strongest who can't win". Simply put, have the character be the pinnacle of everything, basically omnipotent, but within the machinations of the lore, they fail at all of their goals (or at least nearly all, you gotta give them some good wins at the start to make the strongest title believable). It's the idea that once you have everything, you can't do anything. The best way to do this is to give them goals that can't be met through sheer force - make them win physical battles, but always lose in the grand scheme, lose politically, lose socially, ideologically, etc, etc.
@@peld5762 Gojo is probably the best recent example. He is a power house, but he only collects minor wins and is constantly losing the bigger game. Though it's for a brief moment, I'd also say Gon is within this category. He had all the power of the world but couldn't even properly finish his target.
These are some ways to write 'strongest characters' but I would hesitate in saying you have to have one. So long as you can find a way to write interesting conflict from their strength you can make a good 'strongest' character. Saitama for example while he has a bit of overlap with 3 its not really the centre of his character. Yes he carries a burden of never getting an exciting fight but that's just a surface aspect that really only shows up in the very beggining and the Boros fight. Saitama's writing is more reliant on how he affects others he's a paragon hero who's action push the other hero's for the better, something that isn't at all focused on the burden of his strength but rather his nature as a hero. This is why people like King and Mumen Rider have the best scenes with Saitama as Saitama's nature pushes King into heroism and highlights Mumen Rider's actions because Saitama's character center isn't his strength its that his nature as a hero is the prime example most of the other hero's need to meet. Other times you have characters that just are the strongest but have other heavy conflicts that you don't need to build their story around their strength. That can take the form of a goal that will test their strength or a challenge that can't be tackled by strength at all. Of which the latter is done extensively by Mob whoose whole character is built around him being the strongest but having that position not be what defines him.
"The Strongest" in my opinion is so much better written as a sort of force of nature that is disconnected from the other characters; like Saitama funny as it is. He is too strong, so strong that if he cared he would end the show in three episodes tops. This is unlike characters like Gojo like you mentioned, he is too strong and literally needed to be locked in a prison realm for so many chapters just to let other characters struggle. (I will say though, Gojo is not omnipresent, so Gege did allow him to be absent beforehand.) In OPM Saitama is moreso used as a character to write around as someone who is genuinely just bored because he knows nobody can beat him, it makes the writing so much more interesting, and I'm not saying OPM has no flaws in its writing, but the idea that "The Strongest" simply isn't meant to be focused on is so great. Writing "The Strongest" in like Saitama is also a very interesting way to avoid power creep, there is no creep, no endlessly scaling villains (aside from Garou) but regardless, having Saitama exist already forces the writer to not fall immediately into power creeping every single new villain, it lets the other characters and villains have interesting fights.
"The Strongest" could also be written well as someone interconnected with other characters, serving as a beacon of hope and someone to look up to because of their strength. Like All Might, even if his time as "The Strongest" was short-lived, and Goku, who still embodies strength because of his purity and simple demeanor, even though he isn't even the strongest in his verse. Gojo had a similar phase, being technically someone everyone looked up to and even acknowledged by Sukuna, the King of Curses, but he was ganged up on and met his end. He still had his time as "The Strongest" nonetheless. It depends on perspective, whether one sees strength as a disconnected league that no other character can reach, like what we saw with Yujiro in Baki before Baki started to rival his father, or as someone that symbolizes strength to other characters in the story, like how reanimated Madara proved himself by wiping the Allied Shinobi Forces with upscaled feats that made other characters look like nothing, a one-man army. Saitama is more like the guy in the background, almost nobody started to acknowledge his strength until he destroyed that meteor that even Bang couldn't, and then after the events with Garou, he became synonymous with strength. I'm pretty sure before Saitama proved himself, people had considered Blast and other top-tier heroes as "The Strongest".
@@smileyfaceproductions7477 and supermarkets. But as Saitama once said I usually arive too late, do i really have a hero's intuition? Sure doesn't seem like it.
One of the things I really like with all might is we actually get to see how the character has to grasp with no longer being the strongest, their burden, their privilege, and where they should or could end up after no longer being so vital. It's nice to see as the strongest is typically only surpassed or killed by the end and those characters don't typically get much to do after by then.
I think Sukuna is an excellent example of how to do the strongest because he fulfills a lot of criteria that lesser villains fail to live up to. Why is he the strongest? He is the strongest because of his intelligence, savagery, cunning, power, and ability to seize big moments as well as his understanding of jujutsu. Why does he CONTINUE to seek power? Two reasons: he enjoys jujutsu and the different aspects of it, and to maintain his agency. Since he is a hedonistic monster, people will try to stop him, thus he needs to stay ahead in order to maintain that power. But after these fundamentals, Sukuna has a number of contradictory traits that make him seem more realistic (humans are often full of contradictions). He dresses as a monk and yet is hedonistic. He is incredibly calculating, breaking down curse techniques sometimes before they have even been used against him, yet chaotic, picking fights with curses and humans alike. Additionally Sukuna talks tons of shit but never actually proclaims himself to be the strongest (he is in fact called the strongest and honored one by the narrator - Gojo called himself that), and shows respect (or his version of it) to those who entertain him. Sukuna is just an interesting character with depth OUTSIDE of his motive. Which all to often is the only thing villains have going for them.
@@keerthan7558 Oh my god, I love the Phantom Troupe. And even though this wasn't in the video, I feel like Hisoka has cemented himself as one of the "strongest" in HxH too, simply because he seems unkillable. He has been beat, like when Chrollo killed him, but he still managed to come back to life. He seems to regularly get life-threatening injuries and even dismemberment but still somehow survives. He's there the entire time, mostly one of the villains, sometimes an ally, and you know so little about him that everything he does is enigmatic. He's extremely fickle and sly, and has build up this relationship with the audience that makes us feel like he can't lose, can't die, because he always has a trick up his sleeve. He's not directly acknowledged as one of the strongest, but we can't help but feel he is.
@@Austib_ Really? I think sukuna behaves more like a final boss than any other character i've come across. He's extremely cunning, knowledgeable , adapts quickly and strength wise hasn't been undermined as easily and just like final bosses has lot of "gotcha" moments that make it feel authentic and interesting . I really disliked how typical shonens give that moment to protagonist, the hero instead, which is so goddamn boring cause of how predictable that is.
Idk, strongest in history got a better ring to it. Plus it’s not really wrong, as prior to Gojo Sukuna was always documented in jujutsu history as the strongest there ever was to the point of residents of that era worshipping him like a god
Broly. Love that he's the Outcast of the Saiyans. Who didn't get spoiled with a peaceful environment like the others. Also having the highest potential and Base Power. Embodies the Strongest Well. He's a Hulk.
@@powerstar8862 Tbh he really doesn't. Hulk's got the same issue in vs debates just like any other comic book character, WHICH Hulk does Broly beat? Hulk's exsisted for multiple decades now, do you do golden age hulk? Silver age? Mr fix it? Superior Hulk? World breaker? The four armed hulk that fought and killed the celestials? Demon Hulk? All of these hulks are different hulks yet the same hulk at the literal same time. They're all canon because the entire multiverse is canon, so which one do you do?
Another character that comes to mind is Whitebeard. He uses his strength to protect others and his found family. Found family being a relevant theme in one piece and specifically that saga. He’s been the bar of strength for a while now. His display on Marineford and the way he died really solidified his place as the strongest. His strength and ideals also serves to put Blackbeard up as Whitebeard and Luffys foil and rival. I think once Blackbeard solidifies his power in the future, him and Whitebeard will be a good contrast for the Strongest archetype.
Funny how the opposite of this is Mihawk, a character who’s only purpose as a goalpost and who doesn’t have much relevance to the story and other characters and actually nothing story relevant now
@@Usernameis7 Mihawk isn’t story relevant, buggy and crocodile are but I’m pretty sure Mihawk has never done anything that is not related to Zoro or shanks
Yoriichi is probably the most consistent and coherent example of “the strongest” and was a fantastically executed character. It’s fascinating to me how little people talk about him when bringing this topic
How little? People literally always bring him up all the time when it comes to this topic, he is good but when it comes to representation of the "strongest" the characters in the video is so much better
@@Akbar_and_Shaa I just looked it up. It acts like radiation poisoning. He just never explicitly states radiation. "It's a poison that affects you the seeps out of you." From where?! I've only got one gas hole and it's never killed anyone. But thinking of it like the radiation sickness first responders had during chernobyl then it makes more sense. I'm willing to bet the wording is due to some censorship.
@@bruurb786 what gas? It wasn't a mustard gas bomb. Does it poison the air? Then once it's inside a person they just... Sweat it out and it turns into a gaseous air again?
A character I feel that fits “The Strongest” really well outside of anime is the Man of Steel, Superman. The thing that is so endearing about Superman is despite his godlike strength and abilities, he’s more human than most people are. He acts as a symbol of hope and peace and isn’t exactly an instawin button but when he shows up, you know you’ll be safe and everything will be alright because Superman is there.
@@TheSaladBar Ah, yeah I can definitely understand that. Still, there are very few charcters where being "the strongest" is so fundamentally tied to their identity as it is with Yujiro.
Any good "The strongest" character has one rule of writing. Power should not be the identity. The word Gojo remind you of the strongest, but it also remind you of the cool, pretty boy with a massive ego. All Might is the mightiest, but he is also Heroism incarnate, I would go as far as to say All Might is the definitive "Hero" in fiction, but he is also a man broken by the persona he has been putting up. I would say Shigaraki fits this too. He is very much the strongest post S6. But he isn't known for that. He is known for being a villain with massive character development alongside the protag instead of being the classic sitting on a chair already on the top type of villain that's pretty much in every story. Whitebeard too is great example. Strongest sure, but more that than he is a father figure to his crew and the symbol of the old days passing by. Saitama and Mash are the strongest. But again you get reminded also of the comedy (which I'd would say Mash does better) they bring to the story, the plain durpy faces and lack of concern or seriousness. Jiren on the other hand is the opposite. He is a plot wall Goku has to overcome. A very basic backstory with no personality. Beerus again while strongest has personality, aura and his banter with Whis is fun to watch. Also a lot of the characters here have goals that strength alone can't accomplish. All might wanted to be the symbol of peace, but in doing so the world became too reliant on heroes, he was lifting it all by himself and he couldn't it all crashed. Gojo wants to change the ways of Jujutsu, thus he uses teaching. Mash wants to just live in peace with his pops. Whitebeard wants a family. I am writing a story where the MC is the strongest (he still faces challenges but is dominant till first half of the story) but the main issue he has to overcome is his wife's death and , which is a trial that strength can't overcome.
Jiren is more than just a plot wall and has a fairly distinct personality, not to mention there's more depth to him as a character than both Whis and Beerus combined. His backstory fleshes out his character and recontextualises most of his actions prior to his reveal. The battle with Jiren is not just a physical challenge for Goku but also one of ideals with him serving also as a parallel to him.
Hope you all enjoy, I spent a while on this script! I should’ve name-dropped Saitama, the only reason he didn’t have a section is because I wanted to avoid retreading ideas. His section would’ve covered points, just goes to show he checks all the boxes for me lol
People keep saying Home lander is a good example of The strongest in his verse. I haven't watched it so take it with a grain of salt. but I have seen videos on him and I see why people would say that.
Honestly I think you should have given Komugi her own segment because her outlook(no pun intended) embodies "the strongest" quite explicitly. She bets her life on every game she plays because she sees herself as worthless if she's not the strongest. It's a level of determination that inspires characters that were 'born' the strongest. We see this juxtaposition a lot when it comes to the strongest. Gojo was born a menace while Sukuna(as far as we can tell) clawed his way to the top. Meruem was born a king while Netero spent 10 years in a field training his art day and night. Beerus is a God while Goku has spent more time training than most animes get episodes.
@@Marigaming143 meh the last arcs are kinda messy but 7ds doesnt deserve the hate it gets, the first two season(specially the first one) are actually quite decent
@@andrewacacia9851 literaly my least favorite anime off all time, its true that the start is alright, but it goes from alright to absolute ass very quickly, every single character (exept Escanor, he is just that cool) and plot poit gets ruined and it has some off the worst most convuluted plot twists off all time. In a nutchell, i think it should receive even more hate.
@@akechigoro3340 Also doesn’t help the animation becomes god awful and boring, I could at least enjoy watching the early season while being bored af during s3 and later.
One kind of strength I've always loved is the kind that poses a paradigm shift for the entire series, my favourite example being Arima from Tokyo Ghoul. His first fight with Kaneki, and his first show of power in the series, has some of the most brutal manga panels I've ever seen, his indifferent and imposing disposition as he butchers Kaneki, who seemed to be near the top of the food chain, with ease is both utterly terrifying and strangely elegant. The way he speaks to Kaneki, almost coming across as sympathetic, highlights their vast difference in skill while also giving insight into the kind of person he is. This scene and their rematch in :re are probably my two favourite scenes in the whole series, Arima's relationship and parallels with Kaneki and the burden that he carries alongside his immense power is conveyed beautifully with Sui Ishida's artstyle and makes him my favourite character in the entire series
Honestly, i like to think Sukuna as an evil version of Goku. They like to fight and eat and even though they can probably solo like 95% of their respective universes are overjoyed when something peaks their interest and focus in on that interest. The only difference between the two is that Sukuna only cares about himself while Goku cares about others.
I'll go as far as to say that both Goku and Sukuna are equally selfish in the sense that they both prioritize their selfish desires over other people. The main difference is that Sukuna draws his joy from hurting other people while Goku enjoys living and spending time with other people
you actually see Goku train and improve, he’s suffered defeats and has died. sukuna has the author throw ass-pulls in order for them to win. They change the rules of the game so they don’t lose. These things are not the same.
@@rabl3535 It's honestly not really ass pulls and while I'm a Gojo glazer by heart. Sukuna is introduced as the strongest curse, he was once a human but then became a curse and became the king of curses. And People tend to forget that , A PREVIOUSLY HUMAN is the king of curses. And throughout the series his presence is always a threat and to be considered. Unlike Gojo, as the video said, He embraced being the strongest and doesn't have much identity crisis with it (which actually is a good aspect of Gojos character) and as well as the fact that he's thousands of years old. So in a way he's far more experienced because somehow, the Hein Era is said to be the prime of Jujutsu so god knows how many sorcerers and curses he's faced, therefore making his character decisive. He knows who he is and doesn't have a crisis with strength and enjoys how he's living. And therefore if he didn't win against Gojo, he would have been not deserving of that title or in simple terms : a fraud. Problem might be the way some things are rushed or written now in the manga but seriously anime fans now are dumb man. Although the current chapters are arguably Sukuna glazing, he the whole reason the series began is now at his peak therefore I think this 'glazing' is deserved. It's the fact that another strangest character was present in the story, Gojo which happened to be hated by Gege which might be, sadly, one of the reasons his character got badly executed, butchered even, that made Sukuna seem like he's getting ass pulls. Because sadly Gege never stretched out how Gojo usually tends to think and left it for people (or simply not cared or thought about it and sadly the people who were left with the character are the modern fans of today).
@@rabl3535 thats not even what this comment is talking about. yall just try to bring the convo to asspulls out of nowhere and wouldnt ever mention how sukuna had more than maybe 1 or 2 asspulls
A perfect example of a very strong wrtitten character is Superman, he isnt anime but he is a strong fictional character, and its his character, beliefs and responsibility that make him great, good examples are when he helps the people of metropolis, when he fights his villains but also talks to them to understand them better and the fact that he is hopeful and gives hope to others, and im talkin about the main superman not his doppelgangers from other earths. Its crazy how alot of people hate Superman because of how powerful he is and alos because of the adaptations in movies and shows, and that there are people who prefer him when he is super serious, mostly Snyder fans, but its the main Superman thats the best representation imo
It's really not that crazy that he is such a hated character. What you are saying is true, but only for a very specific timeframe, basically the late 80s to early 2000s version of Superman. For him, yes. You are correct. Before that Superman was the first Mary Sue, with no personality apart from "I'm good" and no struggles to overcome. They literally only invented cryptonite because otherwise there simply wasn't anything you could do with his character. Most people who hate Superman for his strength really only know this version of Superman. The original Mary Sue who had no personality other than "Good", never struggled with anything, and his superpowers were whatever the writers needed them to be to be able to resolve the "problem" at hand without any struggle. And after that Superman became pretty much just Batman with superpowers. Dark, brooding and edgy. For that one specific timeframe, Superman was a good depiction of the strongest and a good superhero. But before that he simply wasn't deep enough to be interesting, and after that he became too "deep" in the 13 year old emo kid sense of the word to be a good hero. Most people who hate him hate him because the time he was actually good was extremely brief, and before that and since that, he is one of the most boring, worst written heroes of all time.
@@EskChan19what your describing most people who hate superman have never read or experience. And superman for the most part is written as a caring kind hearted character even in recent media. People just hate because hes strong and that its. It has nothing to do with his character or how he was written.
@@savage7882it’s funny how injustice only happened as a complete what if, it never made sense for superman to go evil but they did give a decent explanation yet people treat it as like a mainline version of superman
@@Deathmare235 People just don't understand superman. He's not ''super'' because he's very strong and has laser eyes, he's Superman because despite the power he holds he's got a good heart and an unyielding spirit
An interesting take on the concept I'd say would be Saitama from One Punch Man. Without question the strongest character in his verse but, completely overlooked because of his amateur/low rank in the hero association. The few who truly understand his power respect and, to a large extent, fear him. In some of the earliest episodes he is concerned about not being recognised but quickly develops the philosophy "I''m a hero for me. I save those who need my help because its my duty, not because of praise or status" which I think is so intriguing.
3:50 One thing i like about Gojou is how everyone reacts to his sealing, i'm not talking about his friends but the other sorcerers, they were like "The Jujutsu Society is over" that was insane
This video might single handedly have convinced me to read MHA just because of how he explains All Might and Endeavor, 2 characters that I thought was plain and boring started to become interesting due to this video.
I think another good example would be someone like Kenpachi from Bleach. A man who's strength is near unrivalled but is held back by his love of a good fight. He'll hadicap himself to his opponents level looking for as good of a fight as he can get, even doing it without realizing himself. I think it's a fun take on the premise.
Im rlly surprised nobody is talking about kisho Arima , dude was a antagonist and the father of the MC at the same time , he is my fav example of " the strongest" in all of fiction
All Might vs the USJ Nomu is still one of my favorite examples of an introductory fight for the strongest. Prime example of all he'd been hyped up to be even though we're blatantly told he's physically lesser, but the symbol of peace he represents and therefore his resolve to save the day is so overwhelming that it's a perfect reflection of AFO and his introduction. That sense of innate fear and death Deku and his classmates had just by being near him rivals or exceed the relief they felt back then. Its true banger Horikoshi shit
@@LigmaballzallthetimeEXACTLY bro. It's the damn clinically insane fandom. That's the only reason people have a bad taste in their mouths about it. The fandom has NOTHING to do with My Hero, nothing
Dam I was gonna mention takamatsu but I personally think Ricardo is a better example, he is the strongest by simply mastering the most basic and simple techniques
My man! I just got done writing a comment about how Takamura is perfect for this sort of topic, then I scroll down and see someone else is on the same wavelength. Takamura is such a great example of this archetype because we get an understanding of who he is as a person and why being the strongest means so much to him. We see the lengths he goes to in order to reach the top of the mountain, stay there, and eventually find a newer, bigger mountain in the form of higher weight classes. So his own journey of becoming the true, objective Strongest is still ongoing. But we see how he serves as an example to the other characters, as their gym senpai, their big bro, and as their favorite boxer, even as he is undergoing trials of his own. His strength is influential on others, but he pursues it for his own purpose. Which makes him feel more complete as a character, and it fleshes out the world of the series by showing there's more to it than what's around our MC.
I think the most fascinating part about Goku is he usually isn't the strongest fighter in the Z era. He is surpassed in 3 of the 4 major sagas. But he feels the strongest because of the feeling of assurance when he arrives at the scene. A feeling that things will be okay in the end. And I feel that aids in tension when even he shows signs of worry or concern in the major battles
Whitebeard from One Piece is an amazing example, every brief moment he appears there is no second of a doubt that he is the strongest, and during Marineford war every single handicap he was givin like being old, sick and betrayed was believable in showing how he lost, he was never done dirty and his impact of his actions and the results of his loss were felt even HUNDREDS of chapters after Marineford.
A note, both Gojo and Sukuna have abilities that tie directly into their views on themselves and their role as the strongest. Sukuna's power revolves around cutting down his targets and "cooking" them, effectively turning the world into a kitchen with every opponent on the chopping block to be consumed at his whim. Gojo's power, or at least the most central aspect of it, revolves around keeping everything at an "infinite" distance from himself and that is a very tangible reflection of his view on his role as the strongest, he sees the overwhelming loneliness of being literally and metaphorically untouchable, the only time we ever see a character being viewed as stronger than him, they literally have to reach him physically and that serves as a metaphorical signifier of how that character is on his level with him.
AM was so strong that him losing OFA basically allowed the rest of the series to even happen. The League, Overhaul, MLA would never have even tried to take power otherwise, ‘cause they knew he’d just immediately whoop them.
I think Sonic is a great “The Strongest” type of character. Because he doesn’t seek fame or validity for being known as the “Fastest Thing Alive”. He may be known for his speed and can boast about it, but that isn’t the point of his character. He is a person that does what he thinks is right, even if it means to slay a tyrannical king to free a kingdom from his reign (yes that happened). He says he can’t be the hero every time, but he will do what he believes is right regardless of what others think. Sonic will go out his way to save a little girls family trapped in a distant cave, even if it means he will fail the mission given to him (he had a time limit). On the flip side, he prevents a land from becoming everlasting, because they are enforcing eternity onto people and the person is experiencing one sided sadness. In short: Sonic may be strong and fast, but he is a great example of how he has his own moral compass. Which is in his own words “I just got to do what I got to do. That’s all.”
I think part of the brilliance of manga/anime as the Japanese indigenous variant of the medium of comics and animation is how you can have a lot of similar themes and contexts handled in a myriad of differing ways. One of the things I find brilliant is the “ strongest” but portrayed through dichotomies, often with coded as good evil, or ally vs antagonist. What’s funny is often anime fans often think 1 guy generally the good one, is the stronger one even if it’s implied the opposite like Gojo and Shanks . Fascinating. Excellent work man. Fans often say a trope’s handling is bad, but really it’s because they’re not trying to reason with what the author is trying to do and what it means like Gojo’s strongest as a mantle that isolates, so he usually fights all out and eradicates his opponents vs Sukuna’s strength as a matter of personal taste, so he can vary and taper his own power to his own whims.
Lina Inverse from Slayers is pretty interesting. I don't actually know much about the complexities of her character too much as I only watched the anime as a kid, but I remember it always being so cool not knowing when she would pull out an absolute nuke of a spell to completely vaporize her enemy. She also kind of has that air of goofiness and humility, like Saitama.
Benimaru ìs an excellent example of the strongest. Its made plain from his introduction exactly what his character is and it provides good reasoning for why he doesnt use his power to meddle in the story unless it directly impacts him or those he cares about. The universe he exists in all know hes the strongest too and it provides equal parts of some of the best levity and tension in the story when hes involved.
If we're talking about how to write them, then it usually depends on the story you're writing. Spoilers ahead for multiple stories, read at your own peril. Something as a rule of thumb, if you're writing a story about relatable characters overcoming difficult trials and tribulations, then as a rule of thumb you can't really have the overpowered characters around, really. Like, it's just not going to work, because then you start asking why the character can't just fix every problem. Because either they do and there's no stakes, or they get turned into a plot device and aren't really overpowered anymore anyways. All-Might is a good example of this, as he isn't really around all that often, and had to even be nerfed and limited to a plot device throughout the story. But he still got a few chances to show up super powerful, and wow the audience with the crazy stuff he can do. This is why Mihawk just sails off halfway through Baratie, or why Shanks so rarely appears. Because otherwise they'd just be sitting there, watching, not doing anything, and it's not their story. No, One Piece is the Luffy Show. What you're usually looking for is to make them mysterious and larger than life. They're like a hurricane just walking into town one day. As I said, there's no way to really make them stick around without turning them into a plot device to drive the story forward, as anything they can do that's relevant will have too much affect on the world around them. Hell, even Saitama can't show up all that often. A good portion of One Punch Man is spent with Side Characters and showing THEIR struggles, though do get Saitama's own. He more struggles at life in general, and getting from one day to the next. The Side Characters on the other hand are often seen struggling with powerful monsters and waiting for Saitama to wake the hell up and come move the plot along. But still. Saitama struggles with himself, most of the time. We've seen him express a desire for recognition, which he could easily get by going out and proving himself to everyone until they believe him. But he clearly doesn't want THAT. He wants to be recognized for his heroic deeds. He wants people to notice him for the good he's done in the world, not for the fact that he's a bald dude in a stupid yellow jump-suit with a cape. But nobody does, and that's just ONE of his struggles. As for Isekai Protagonists? There's not much to say really. They have the depth of a puddle, and there's no real struggle. There's no overcoming the odds and they disrespect and clown on everyone who isn't them. They're somehow surrounded by girls even more shallow than they are, and they're not funny nor interesting to watch. Notice how them not struggling rarely comes up? Because that honestly isn't the biggest problem. It's literally everything about those stories. The world building is ass, and often leads to major plot holes, they recycle the exact same magic-video-game-skill system, and I'm tired of it. Now on the other hand, two of my favorites are: "Overlord" and: "So what if I'm a Spider? So what?" Overlord is a great take on it, as what Ainz does is usually very interesting, and he's already surrounded by man level entities at his beck and call. He's careful, and smart, and when faced with a situation he shouldn't have normally been able to handle, he used skills he earned and overcame a difficult situation anyways. You get to watch as he carefully scouts out his surroundings, and confirms that his enemies are no threat to him, until finally he begins to starts using his forces to invade foreign countries. Overlord is great, because there's plenty of depth put into the world building, and especially the world building of the game before Ainz got sent to this world. As for Spider-Story, it's a good example of it being done well, and earned, then falling apart in execution later. Our main character is met with plenty of struggles, and when she does become overwhelmingly powerful, it feels earned, and by then we've already got a majorly built up world that, (Yes it could be a little more creative and have a little more depth, to say the least.) that we care about to some extent and want to see the outcome of. We want to see what happens to our favorite Spider Girl, and how she proceeds now that she is so powerful. I of course have a bunch of criticisms I could level on it, like the fact that by the time you get to where I am, you could give less of a shit about anyone who ISN'T Kumo or Shiro, or whatever she wants to call herself. I mean, Kumo is a GOD at this point, and everyone else has had way too little screen time, and is so utterly below her in power, it's like- You're practically asking yourself when they'll go away so we can just focus more on Kumo? It basically just becomes the Kumo show, because everyone else was so completely underused. I'm sure they could've been great, if they had been given time so we can CARE about them. But no, they just get taken to Magic Evil Hive-Mind Elf-Land, and now Kumo's gotta come out and tell them: "Hey, I don't care about any of you but Teacher-Lady, so go away and give up on being relevant." And doesn't that just suck ass after you practically BEGGED the Author to make these characters relevant, 'cause you're so excited to see them meet up with Kumo at some point. Nah, she just smacks a force-field with the Home-Run Bat from Smash Bros, then fights Elf-Hitler's army of EVIL LASER SEA URCHINS. Anyways, I think that's enough about Spider Story. I've experimented with the use of these characters in my own right, and found what I think are some interesting methods, but I'll only mention one here. The Mary Sue. The story ends up revolving around this character, and a lot of it is written from the perspectives of the characters they interact with, or whom they've majorly affected. They just need to be relevant most of the time, really. I like to write them as an extremely intelligent super-being that can read a person in almost an instant, they can predict people and plan things out potentially thousands of years in advance. They're hyper talented in everything they do, surpassing everyone else as soon as they pick ANYTHING up. This character is powerful, and is impossible to defeat. That's their purpose after all. This turns the character into a larger than life figure, they become an unknowable god in the eyes of others, whether they are or not. Everyone does love them or ends up liking them, either as a person, or for how powerful and capable this person is. But there in lies a horror, in that this character doesn't really care about others in the same way we do. Even the eldest people are like young children that cannot function, nor be reasonably expected to make their own decisions. Your wants and desires are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and you can never hope to oppose them because they can read you in an instant, and soon enough, they'll probably start predicting every thought you have before you even have it. You're just another cog in the vast machine they're building. And~ That's the end of that. I admit I kind of just started ranting about Spider Story a bit near the end there, but I hope this was informative and helpful for anyone who wants to learn about this stuff. The golden rule is that you just gotta remember that what you're trying to do is make the story entertaining. Doesn't matter how you get there, just that you get there. And luckily for you, there's countless ways to get there.
Kratos from God of War. To me there’s two aspects to his strength: physical and mental. He’s physically the strongest because whatever the challenge or problem he has to face he will always get strong enough to overcome come it. He changed his literal fate by doing this, by killing the gods of fate. Something that should be impossible. But there’s also his mental strength which shows in his ability to change as a person and a demigod. Kratos did some really vile and evil stuff in the first three games. That’s why he was such an infamous character. Which made him all the more compelling when you see him try to change and help people and raise his son. The ability to change yourself as a person, I would say, is the hardest thing you can do
I think One Piece uses their "strongest" characters very well. Mihawk is used to set up a power/skill ceiling for Zoro to reach and potentially surpass and Mihawk is even aware that making good relationships is a strong part of someone's abilities after he tested himself against Whitebeard but whitebeard didn't need to move or do anything. He even acted as a mentor for Zoro mostly offscreen. Whitebeard is also another great example because despite being in his 70s, terminally ill and having severe health problems showing in the middle of battle he was still a force of nature that all the other top tiers should be wary of. Whitebeard also exemplifies a form of good masculinity. He was an orphan child whose island was terrorized constantly by pirates so he protected the land and eventually went out to sea to become a pirate himself but ironically he used that power to protect. His pirate crew consisted of others who had nothing left or he liked and that became his family of which he is proud of. Garp had very little showings but whenever he does pop up his presence is used to expand on the worldbuilding. He even allows his emotions to take over which earns him the sympathy or empathy of viewers as while yes he's another very powerful guy in the setting he's still a human and tries to do what's best for everyone but not everyone shares the same goals or ideologies so he finds himself in conflict with what he wants and what he should do. He knows Ace is a good person but as a pirate he has to be put down. Garp wants to go against the world government but too much civilians don't know the corrupt nature of the world gov and most people look up to him as a hero so Garp doesn't want to make people around the world lose their symbol of hope and security. Kaido will be the last one I bring up. During his backstory we know life was really rough for him. Kaido got taken advantage of many times and he also ended up grouping with bad people which helped influence how evil he was during the main story. During his adult years Kaido was too strong for practically everyone in the setting and grew unwell mentally (don't want my message to be shadow realmed). His display of powerful was genuinely amazing, he got jumped multiple times back to back by many other high tiers and he dealt with them all admirably. When it came to the final blows against Gear5 Luffy their wishes told more about them than anything else. Kaido's whole life was practically war, and he wanted to make everyone participate in it equally to show their worth because those at the top started but didn't take place in wars. Meanwhile Luffy told him he wanted a world where all his friends can eat. Luffy's wish seamed so insignificant in comparison but it showed why one was destined for evil and the other for good. Kaido by this point was too far gone and was forged by all the bad he was surrounded with while Whitebeard did the opposite despite having similarly rough upbringings. Whitebeard was loved and he also loved others while protecting his land + people. Kaido terrorized and made his crew+civilians of his land fear him. The HxH examples are amongst my favorites and I consider them very well written characters, I personally would have gone more in depth about their humanity as Netero was actually a bad and selfish person while Meruem started off completely evil but grew more humane through his interactions and growing affinity with Komugi. I'm not a big fan of JJK but I can understand why so much people like those two.
Your comment encompasses the definition of strong in an almost perfect manner I never found gojo or even sukuna enjoyable as the strongest because they at the end of the day seem like they don't have any actual goal For me strong characters are op but also face challenges to grow stronger which can be anything whether it's strength or in emotional manner or phylospical manner Nice examples though
@@Iamconfused229 Only one character that OP listed actually cares for the One Piece (Kaido), Whitebeards just wanted to protect his family, Mihawk sought to establish himself in the government to not be persecuted by pirates and marines, and Garp literally is a marine that fight against pirates
I think the key to writing "the strongest" character, is that their very presence shapes the world around them. All might gojo yujiro are excellent examples. Their presence/absence has tilts the world and the story in a certain way. A minor example would be yamamoto from bleach, he is seen as the linchpin of the shinigami organisation. His death marked more than the changing of the guard but a level of desperation in our heroes that actually hadnt been seen at any point. Now that their strongest weapon had been annihilated. The heroes had to cut deals with former criminal and unleash powers they were uncertain they could put back in the bottle metaphorically speaking
Hanma Yujriou from Baki is kind of interesting; I think he has a lot of similarities to Sukuna--he's not a complete "villain" and does things and makes valid points that are relatable sometimes, but other times he'll just do whatever the heck he wants because he's the strongest, without repercussion because everyone in the world, even governments, have decided that they can't beat him and even have treaties with him, and thus also just accepting of what he does, but he still has his principles and morals, some of which are respectable.
Really well written video and I loved the editing style, reminded me of playing a video game/gave me a sense of nostalgia. Definitely will be subscribing for more!
I think one of the greatest parts of All mights writing is how you can feel the ehole show everything shift after All might vs AFO. Even if endeavor is there once s6 hits and All might isn't there to always win, and always come through... Its the first time you really notice the safety net is gone. Though his presence alone is enough to scare villans and reduce crime even without his power.
I prefer the idea that being the “strongest” isn’t the definitive trope of a character, but rather a characteristic. Thors from Vinland Saga is arguably the strongest, but it’s through his actions do we see his true nature: a father, a mentor, and a hero. Like the application of strength through Thorkell; a tall and unstoppable force that embodies violence as a Viking. Pulling off feats that leaves a spectacle to the viewer. War can be fun if you were Thorkell, but Thors tears down that idea when Thorkell himself admitted Thors was stronger. This leaves a mark on how we view Thors as a person, being strong doesn’t have to benefit your own agenda, but rather the way you approach strength for others. Whether it’s to protect or kill. He always left an impression on everyone throughout the story. Especially Askeladd and Thorfinn.
@@scumknight6074 I don’t think the show tries to sell this angle, but to me it speaks to the privilege that is peace which comes from strength. A weak man doesn’t get to choose peace like Thors does, he has it (or violence) thrust on him.
Reinhardt from Re Zero is an excellent character that displays the truest extent of being considered “the strongest” (if we exclude Stella). Every time he is on screen or pops up in the light novel, it’s like a wave of relief washes over me.
For HxH Tserriednich feels like a new example of the strongest or well the most potential, someone so unsurmountably talented that anything is but a blink of an eye for him, maybe thats why his nenpower is what it is, and in this case it isnt framed as a good thing or aspirational or a worthy enemie but as a ticking time bomb, someone so strong that when they become "the strongest" it may truly be over, someone so strong that his growth being held back is the number 1 mission to all who know, truly freakish
Tbh, beerus's threats don't even hold much weight anymore because he's literally pretty much buddy buddy with goku and vegeta and anytime he makes those threats, we KNOW its not going to actually happen.
Levi from aot also works as a great example. Hes not a titan shifter but hes the strongest human soldier in the show. He’s a really great character who’s really very tragic
@@Deathmare235 that’s an oversimplification. Yes he’s got a little strength boost, but he doesn’t have the strength that the attack titan would have. He definitely earned his retirement, Levi, the goat
It's nice to see saladsaiyan get this many views on a video and truthfully I believe this channel a couple years from now or so will far outmatch saladsaiyan's main channel on quality db what ifs in both viewcount,relevency and subscribers . (Please if you ever see this years from now and this ages poorly don't bring it back up and if it doesn't age poorly however and you do repost I told you so.)
My favourite "strongest" characters were Meruem in HxH and Tachikawa in World Trigger. Meruem was born the strongest and stayed the strongest while Tachikawa is acknowledged by everyone (including Jin, who can see into the future) as the strongest by sheer skill alone as well as the highest points in all of border.
Yoriichi from demon slayer is a great example, he gave the demon king such a beating he got ptsd from some earrings 500+ years later and has all breathing styles derived from
I like the example of Diavolo from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. He is the strongest, always was, but he is absolutely obsessed with holding this power and scared of losing it so bad that it led him to defeat. He is ready to do anything possible to avoid any chance of losing his power and fluency, this obsession and insanity is really great point of view on absolute power
Accelerator from a certain scientific railgun is a good example in my opinion. A villain becomes kind of an anti hero due to his relationship to power, morals and others.
@@Takyodor2 Absolutely. Accelerator's whole life prior to meeting Last Order was shaped by his overwhelming power. Because of it, others only saw him as a phenomenon to be studied, a threat, or an obstacle to overcome. No one ever saw him for him. He became so disconnected from the rest of humanity he even forgot his own name.
I feel like someone who can also be described as the strongest is yorichii from demon slayer as he was known as the strongest in the verse and even though we didn't see many feats, it's quite clear that he is
You made a good point about how one for all or generally powers are very important parts of a character. Gojo is the same. He feels he is the strongest and there are no equals after geto leaves, infinity is essentially how gojo feels after geto left, there is no more people that can reach him both power wise and mindset wise.
what gives Goku “the strongest” title isn’t the fact that he is the definitive strongest it’s the fact that the audience is intrigued and knows he will overcome his next foe, often dragon ball is a show where they could fight the antagonist from the start and their are many times they do this but it doesn’t go well or they’ll need to fight again after some training or a power up to stand a chance or out right dwarf the bad guy in power. People recognize that Goku, gohan, even vegeta will do that. They’ll surpass their limits by some means because they’ll find a way.
I think The Boxer does this entire concept the best. You should definitely give it a read. One main character is naturally the strongest, but then they meet the second main character that is naturally THE STRONGEST. This is also paired with a third character that is naturally weak, but trains to become really strong. This paired with really well written side characters is one of the best stories I've ever experienced.
It's not a good written story, he is naturally born strongest, aside from this there is really nothing to his character. I think to really represent the strongest you have to represent some sort of personality as well,a strong mentality like almight.
@Fshii0 I don't know if you've read the whole thing, but there is nuance to his character. None of it is explicitly stated though, so that's probably why you would say he has no character
I’m writing a character that is going to have one hell of a character arc, they will go from the strong and powerful mentor character, to the near unstoppable villain. And no this isn’t self promotion I just wanted to pitch an idea to others
This is a really good video, but i wish you would go more in depth as to what specifically in story makes these characters the strongest and how that can be applied to writing in general. ill use jjk as an example- i know nothing about it, but i can gleam from this video alone that Gojo and Sukuna are opposite sides on how they perceive strength, yet that dosent give me the context as to how that effects things in story. Such as at 3:27 . How does Gojo's power effect the story? How does it effect Geto? How does it connect to his personality as you say? I understand that he wants to help the next generation, but why? and how does his strength affect that? I understand the worry of not wanting to spoil the viewer, but this video is framed as writing advice (it's even titled how to write), and i cant really get as to why this is well written as opposed to say, Beerus. You did a good job explaining Beerus, but im still missing some context, what is the granola arc? how is it relevant to Beerus? how does it show his strength? Again. this is a good video, and i can tell that you're passionate! but never be afraid to go in depth, remember, this is a lesson.
greatness can be summarized by one quote and one alone. "Out of all the stars in the night sky, i shine the brightest." the strongest is similar. of all the powers and forces at play, mine stands above them. Greatness and Strength are relative concepts without determinate boundaries or objectivity, what matters is the perceivable relationship between all within view. Of all that i have challenged, i have remained unconquered.
If you ever want to do a part 2 about this topic, you should give Overly Sarcastic Productions' Superman Detail Diatribe videos and Monkey King series a watch. Superman pre-dates all these characters and his best stories capture even more depth of this topic. Monkey King is an equally interesting even-older example.
@@evereethingplayyz8509he said how to write the strongest. Saitama isn’t that good of character also he said the series he knows well. He could just not watch one punch man or it was too much to do.
Here’s the Saitama (and Mob) video about this topic that I mentioned ☝️ ruclips.net/video/sxineO2F3o0/видео.htmlsi=XZ0zfSbG2mzYAI04
Goku isn't the strongest in his verse, but whenever there is trouble you look to him for help. He embodies the spirit of the strongest
Whenever a Strong character in anime enters , immediate thoughts of anime watcher is to scale him against goku
It's more than that at this point. He's become almost synonymous with strength. Whenever someone pops up as a 'strongest' archetype, the first instinct of a lot of people is to ask "But can he beat Goku tho?". People measure strength by Levels of Goku
@@goku-fs7 Yeah, it’s why so many characters are so strong nowadays. I firmly believe that most characters today are designed with defeating Goku in mind.
Everyone wants their bragging rights.
@@thezackast2752 because GOKU IS HIM and.. probably the most popular anime character of all time
b4 dbz Goku was the strongest. After his fight with Junior and winning the 23rd tenkaichi budokai if was set. but in the db franchise, that moment is always fleeting. there's always someone stronger, and Goku will forever chase them
Mob from Mob Psycho 100 is an interesting case too. Its clear that he is the strongest from the start but he knows that he cant solve all his problems with his power. Very nice analysis btw ;)
Reigen is truly the most powerful
It's an amazing story because he's both the strongest esper but also inadequate in literally everything else, which is a big detriment when there isn't constantly world ending threats happening.
I said exactly this! He's basically the opposite of all of these characters, but thats what makes him so unique. If there's a problem thats spiritual or evil, Mob can do it with zero effort every single time. It's interacting with *people* that brings about the conflict in the series, and it's why I love the show so much. Taking out a majority of the power struggles for the protagonist lets the series focus on his growth and his interactions with his enemies. Also, it lets the side characters get to show off more, which is fun but unrelated to this point.
Why are you winking like that
yep
Are you nah I’d win because you’re the strongest or are you the strongest because nah I’d win
oh no
Stand proud Nah I’d Win, you’re strong.
THE LOBOTOMY!! THE LOBOTOMY IS REAAAAAAAAL!!!!!
Nah, I’d stand proud with this treasure because you’re Satoru Gojo
Always bet on the one piece is with his overwhelming intensity would you lose?
Nah, I’d with this treasure i summon
My favorite OP villain has to be Mereum because how OP he is isn't the main factor of his character arc. He evolves and how he's defeated speaks to the overall theme of the arc of how evil humanity can be in order to stay on top of the food chain. Togashi really knows how to make amazing villains throughout his works.
Tbh I was surprised they didn’t mention the nuke. Mereum wasn’t going to win that fight regardless of whether or not he was stronger, and that ties into both characters’ relationships with strength.
Like, Netero was 100% willing to sacrifice himself just to spite someone who may have been stronger than him. And Meruem, for all his intelligence and power, couldn’t do anything about it.
Yeah. I despised Meruem at first, probably like most people, because of how strong and arrogant he was. Yet once they started to introduce the human side to his character, he immediately went to being one of faves. Top tier villain and character overall.
His name is Meryem, when was the last time you read the arc?
@theonetruefusion8533 does it say meryem in the manga or something? I'm pretty sure it's meruem in the anime
@@swagpillar I can confirm that its Meruem (メルエム) in japanese, too. Meryem is simply not correct
The best part about Almight is 100% how he is written. Almight embodies strength because he wanted to be a beacon of light around the world but sadly due to this most of the problems in the narrative all arose because Almight wanted to take the burden alone. Heroes became complacent because Almight handled it all, citizens became bystanders who would ignore crime or not reach out a hand because Almight would probably come eventually. After Almight loses his power you see how uneasy everyone is because the gap between Almight and Endeavor is just that big. Almight wanted to change the world but his strength only created a temporary band aid solution where everyone just relied on him. It shows that too much strength in one individual even if for good can be bad
I’ve never seen this put so well to be honest I didn’t really see it like that until you pointed it out as strong as all might is the world is simply too big for one person to hold alone
now that the manga has concluded the final fight, this is even more impactful
Yeah to much strength on one individual is bad but it wasn't because other heros got complacent, endeavor literally did everything in his power to become stronger to protect more people. All might didn't create a temporary band aid solution he literally fixed the problem what changed was the precieve notion that heros are good. Once stain made proclamation about killing all the heros and the league of villian sowing doubt into people minds by constantly attacking UA that's when the public changed on them and more people who would been heros turned to villians.
@@LuciferWrld999 endeavor was the ONLY hero who tried to become stronger to match Almight. They make a point to show that when all other heroes said “who can even compare to him?” Endeavor instead tries to be the only one to match him. Almight did create a band aid solution. He wanted people to rely on him for hope and this is the biggest take away that Deku understands that almight doesnt. Deku is creating a society where everyone is the greatest hero. Where everyone contributes to the greater good. Almight solved the issues temporarily and allowed heroism to become what it was (being moreso a symbol of wealth or fame). It was unintentional but it was all a direct result of his actions.
@@ShurikanBlade you're correct in the fact that endeavor was the only who tried to surpass all might, but its realistic for them to look at all might as see that can't even compete but that doesn't stop them for trying any harder to save one, you're seem to only be worried about how strong someone is or is trying to get rather then looking at how hard they try to become a better and stronger hero. From hawks, to midnight eye, to endeavor to the newer generation they were inspired by all might. What your saying that because of all might all they other hero didn't try to be better then him and that's what caused the problem which just is incorrect every hero we seen on screen is literally giving their all and even at some points there life to save someone else or make sure no one gets hurts. Just because they could match all might strength doesn't mean they can save as many people as he could. Without all might, all for one still would did something similar and tried throwing the world in to chaos. The has literally been happening for many generations wether he became a symbol of peace or not no one would been strong enough to stand against all for one.
I know Saitama struggles with being the strongest in his universe cause he finds no joy in being so. Being at the absolute pinnacle of power means no one can stand up to you, and when you are a person who finds excitement in fighting, you'd get bored pretty easily from how easy it becomes once you're at the top. You can definitely see how that plays out in the Boros fight, where Boros found what he was looking for, while Saitama didn't even use most of his strength. And Boros realizes that, and was pretty disappointed that Saitama didn't even have a challenge. But later on, we see why he keeps fighting. He fights for his friends. Saitama needs Genos more than Genos needs Saitama. Genos really brings out the best in Saitama.
Saitama sucks
@@PedroApp Take that back right now young man.
I also really enjoy how saitama kinda saw himself in boros, someone also looking for a strong opponent after reaching the top. I think that's why saitama humored boros's planet-enslaving plan for so long. He wanted to give someone the joy that they've been searching for for so long.
@@Stikkz-truehe literally fought someone as strong as him and that’s garou
@@goddessyamato5238 and he didn't enjoy the fight because Genos died, you can see how mad he was at garou and how he sees the fight as him beating garou to a pulp, he wasn't excited he was mad, which is terrifying.
One interesting thing about Gojo and Sukuna which differentiates them in the series is how they use power to solve their problems. All Sukuna knows is power. He rejects love, and when Jogo cries and asks what that feeling is, Sukuna states that he wouldn't know it himself, as he never felt this type of vulnerability before. During his era, when confronted with opposition, his first instinct was to massacre those around him, and usurp his way to the top of the food chain. Whenever confronted with a problem, his one and only solution is strength
On the other hand, Gojo, despite being just as strong, doesn't use his power in the same way Sukuna did. Gojo has shown a clear distaste for the higherups and the world of jujutsu, and has even expressed the desire to kill them, very much like Sukuna did to those who ruled before him. However, Gojo stops himself from doing so, and molds the world around him by teaching the new generation of sorcerers to be better. When Gojo gains his full power in hidden inventory, he becomes this unstoppable force. Geto stopping him from massacring the members of the cult that got Riko killed was the event that prevented him from becoming an usurper like Sukuna.
hmm, what do u think about it now?
Which is ironic since the recent chapter revealed that he was the one who killed the higher ups now.
@@m4ik0n54but even he doesn't personally believe that was the right way, however, it's the only way to stop shitty stuff like the Shibuya Incident from happening again, because of the stupidity of the higher ups
@@m4ik0n54 It's because the Jujutsu sorcerers reality is gray. Gojo wanted to find a way to achieve his objective without the need of shredding blood, but that's like 99% impossible in JJK, well only 99% because the next generation is the one who's gonna teach Sukuna about love.
“gojo’s just as strong”, the hell he is, pretty much everyone might as well be at his level now with how each person is built up only to then be clowned on immediately, just like him.
sukuna’s not even that much more powerful, he just has the power or author asspulls
I feel most isekai anime fail at writing “ The strongest” type of characters.
You think? Most are just copy and paste again and again and again. It's so painful to see.
When the best written Sonic game is an Isekai (Sonic & the Black Knight): Welp… I’m just going to pretend you didn’t type that statement.
@@theomnigamer9177 A N I M E
"I feel most isekai anime fail at writing." there fixed your comment
@IAMINSIDEYOURWALLS604 You can’t tell me Sonic & the Black Knight isn’t an anime without lying to yourself. Sonic gets teleported to Arthurian legend, wields a talking sword, faces demons from the underworld, slays King Arthur and dragons, duels the knights of the round table, and has an awesome super transformation.
How is that not an anime, just turned into a video game?
Goku served as a great example of what it means to be the strongest....version of yourself. He's inspiring and is like 90% of the reason why I started going to the gym
Dude, I use his perseverance as inspiration to overcome my crippling anxiety and the afflictions I was undesirably born with.
He may not be the same character that I loved in Dragon Ball Z, but the impact that (pre super) Goku, has personally had on me, is something that I will never take for granted.
hope Goku teaches us how to meditate too
So what about the versions of him that revert and don’t even know what meditation is in super? Goku is a static character and has almost never changed since his creation, his growth is purely a stat with not much changing about him from DB all the way to DBZ, super is when it needed to revert and regress him.
@@ouchiegiverjrokay lil bro.
@@ouchiegiverjr does every person you know change everyday in their life?
I like Beerus’s strength cause it explores another type of the “Strongest.” He’s someone who achieved that so long ago and has been secure with it for so much time that being the strongest has stopped being part of his character. If you sit at the peak for so long you eventually have to stop reveling in your power and just find something else to do, and that’s the point Beerus has been at for millions of years. He is not his power because that story was told eons ago, and like I do wish we could’ve gotten some idea of what he and Champa did when they were mortals, but that time is so far removed from who they are now that it wouldn’t matter to see it
This is a good take, he's also the best fighter among the destroyers so it makes sense
i think you are overthinking it a little bit
I understand what you mean with this, but from a writing perspective this is a cop out for the author. You can’t just mark someone as the strongest for the goal post and then do absolutely nothing with it, even if you give canon reasons in the story at the end of the day your still doing nothing with the character.
@@RaeTekd personally I think he works for Dragonball. The role of his power is to be an unattainable goal so that Goku and Vegeta will never stop pushing themselves. It makes it so they won’t fall into a rut like what happened after Cell died where nobody really sees a reason to train without a visible villain in front of them. It wouldn’t really work in many other stories but Saiyans always perform their best with a tangible goal in mind, especially if they think that it’s achievable, so Beerus let’s them think that so they get the best results from their training. Obviously more could be done with him but he doesn’t really need a character arc or anything since we’re already seeing the aftermath of his story
That being said, a story set millions of years ago with Beerus and Champa as the twin MCs on their mission to usurp the gods would be sick. It could include Old Kai too and establish why Beerus doesn’t like him, and have their be many more universes that are more interconnected, hence us seeing a member of Beerus’ race in universe 11, with the end result being Zeno destroying all but 12 and separating them a lot more. It wouldn’t really have any bearing on Dragonball itself since literally none of the races we see would exist at that point except for possibly Namekians, but a cool story could be written about it. Hell maybe even have the origin of the Super Dragon Balls be explored all that time ago. Who knows?
@@Aerowarrier again from a story perspective it makes some sense for beerus to be some unachievable goal. But at the same time it’s a cop out for the author, saying that it makes sense, doesn’t mean that it isn’t lazy writing. There’s so much more you could do with beerus that would still keep the same character point. But they don’t do that. They establish beerus as a strong goal for the saiyans but at the same time they do nothing with him. I understand his character makes sense for him, it’s still lazy writing 🤷♂️
I feel like there are mainly four ways to write "the strongest" characters, basically four themes that are mostly intertwined to some extent but to get good results you need to have one of them as the central theme:
1 - The Status Quo. The strongest character is - to a good extent - the embodiment of the status quo of the world, in which case the initial plot should be about trying to dodge them and eventually getting rid of them entirely (or temporarily) so the actual plot can kick in. It's extremely important that you show how they maintain the status quo, and immediately kick the plot in 5th gear as soon as they are out, and show how things change without their support pillar. This character will most often work as a good or at least neutral party (Gojo, All Might, etc), since it can allow you to slow boil the reader into the plot, and then go crazy on the second act. However, it also works for villains, in which case you actually focus more on dodging this immovable wall/unstoppable force and the finale is the about taking them down (i.e. Homelander, Injustice Superman);
2 - The Ceiling. Basically, they are the ceiling of the series, but also something meant to be surpassed (i.e. Freeza, Beerus, Jiren, Madara, All for One, etc). Either through communal effort or through personal growth, these characters are fated to be surpassed.
3 - The Superman. I mean, it's in the namesake. This theme is all about the burden of being the strongest. It's better used by heroes (Superman), whether they can maintain their morals or be corrupted. Often more than not these stories will be philosophical in nature, and personally I find it best when the strongest takes a spiritual guide-like role. That said, Meruem is a good example of a villain who falls into this category.
4 - The calamity. These are the Sukunas. Basically, characters that are closer to being forces of nature than just a person who happens to be very strong. They need to be stopped but not simply through effort, but through war. They are sorta like the Ceiling types, but overall it is not a case that the heroes surpass these beings, they SURVIVE them. It's not a triumphant victory.
Finally, as a bonus, this doesn't qualify as a theme on it's own, it needs to be a sub-types of either 1, 2 or 3, but a great way to add nuance to your strongest. This is the theme of the "strongest who can't win". Simply put, have the character be the pinnacle of everything, basically omnipotent, but within the machinations of the lore, they fail at all of their goals (or at least nearly all, you gotta give them some good wins at the start to make the strongest title believable). It's the idea that once you have everything, you can't do anything. The best way to do this is to give them goals that can't be met through sheer force - make them win physical battles, but always lose in the grand scheme, lose politically, lose socially, ideologically, etc, etc.
This is incredibly well written!
The last one sounds really interesting, but I can't clearly imagine it
Can you give me some example about this type of characters?
@@peld5762 guts kinda fits that I mean he isn't the strongest but more often than not he wins his physical battles but loses the mental ones
@@peld5762 Gojo is probably the best recent example. He is a power house, but he only collects minor wins and is constantly losing the bigger game. Though it's for a brief moment, I'd also say Gon is within this category. He had all the power of the world but couldn't even properly finish his target.
These are some ways to write 'strongest characters' but I would hesitate in saying you have to have one. So long as you can find a way to write interesting conflict from their strength you can make a good 'strongest' character.
Saitama for example while he has a bit of overlap with 3 its not really the centre of his character.
Yes he carries a burden of never getting an exciting fight but that's just a surface aspect that really only shows up in the very beggining and the Boros fight. Saitama's writing is more reliant on how he affects others he's a paragon hero who's action push the other hero's for the better, something that isn't at all focused on the burden of his strength but rather his nature as a hero.
This is why people like King and Mumen Rider have the best scenes with Saitama as Saitama's nature pushes King into heroism and highlights Mumen Rider's actions because Saitama's character center isn't his strength its that his nature as a hero is the prime example most of the other hero's need to meet.
Other times you have characters that just are the strongest but have other heavy conflicts that you don't need to build their story around their strength. That can take the form of a goal that will test their strength or a challenge that can't be tackled by strength at all. Of which the latter is done extensively by Mob whoose whole character is built around him being the strongest but having that position not be what defines him.
Thank you for not spoiling the mangas on any of the animes you talked about especially JJK.
Agreed
Chapter 236 something REALLY funny happens
@@redtalon8947 it’s most likely already been spoiled for me.
@@redtalon8947 something even funnier happens in chapter 261
@@BeyondAbsolute chapter 262 is even funnier knowing 261 was funny at first
"The Strongest" in my opinion is so much better written as a sort of force of nature that is disconnected from the other characters; like Saitama funny as it is. He is too strong, so strong that if he cared he would end the show in three episodes tops. This is unlike characters like Gojo like you mentioned, he is too strong and literally needed to be locked in a prison realm for so many chapters just to let other characters struggle. (I will say though, Gojo is not omnipresent, so Gege did allow him to be absent beforehand.)
In OPM Saitama is moreso used as a character to write around as someone who is genuinely just bored because he knows nobody can beat him, it makes the writing so much more interesting, and I'm not saying OPM has no flaws in its writing, but the idea that "The Strongest" simply isn't meant to be focused on is so great. Writing "The Strongest" in like Saitama is also a very interesting way to avoid power creep, there is no creep, no endlessly scaling villains (aside from Garou) but regardless, having Saitama exist already forces the writer to not fall immediately into power creeping every single new villain, it lets the other characters and villains have interesting fights.
"The Strongest" could also be written well as someone interconnected with other characters, serving as a beacon of hope and someone to look up to because of their strength. Like All Might, even if his time as "The Strongest" was short-lived, and Goku, who still embodies strength because of his purity and simple demeanor, even though he isn't even the strongest in his verse. Gojo had a similar phase, being technically someone everyone looked up to and even acknowledged by Sukuna, the King of Curses, but he was ganged up on and met his end. He still had his time as "The Strongest" nonetheless.
It depends on perspective, whether one sees strength as a disconnected league that no other character can reach, like what we saw with Yujiro in Baki before Baki started to rival his father, or as someone that symbolizes strength to other characters in the story, like how reanimated Madara proved himself by wiping the Allied Shinobi Forces with upscaled feats that made other characters look like nothing, a one-man army.
Saitama is more like the guy in the background, almost nobody started to acknowledge his strength until he destroyed that meteor that even Bang couldn't, and then after the events with Garou, he became synonymous with strength. I'm pretty sure before Saitama proved himself, people had considered Blast and other top-tier heroes as "The Strongest".
@@asianpersuasion4901 Saitama's nerf is depression lmao
Unfortunately that doesn't last. Not gonna say much else
@@smileyfaceproductions7477 and supermarkets.
But as Saitama once said
I usually arive too late, do i really have a hero's intuition? Sure doesn't seem like it.
Reminds me of Yogiri Takatou lol
One of the things I really like with all might is we actually get to see how the character has to grasp with no longer being the strongest, their burden, their privilege, and where they should or could end up after no longer being so vital. It's nice to see as the strongest is typically only surpassed or killed by the end and those characters don't typically get much to do after by then.
Amen to that 100%
I think Sukuna is an excellent example of how to do the strongest because he fulfills a lot of criteria that lesser villains fail to live up to. Why is he the strongest? He is the strongest because of his intelligence, savagery, cunning, power, and ability to seize big moments as well as his understanding of jujutsu. Why does he CONTINUE to seek power? Two reasons: he enjoys jujutsu and the different aspects of it, and to maintain his agency. Since he is a hedonistic monster, people will try to stop him, thus he needs to stay ahead in order to maintain that power. But after these fundamentals, Sukuna has a number of contradictory traits that make him seem more realistic (humans are often full of contradictions). He dresses as a monk and yet is hedonistic. He is incredibly calculating, breaking down curse techniques sometimes before they have even been used against him, yet chaotic, picking fights with curses and humans alike. Additionally Sukuna talks tons of shit but never actually proclaims himself to be the strongest (he is in fact called the strongest and honored one by the narrator - Gojo called himself that), and shows respect (or his version of it) to those who entertain him.
Sukuna is just an interesting character with depth OUTSIDE of his motive. Which all to often is the only thing villains have going for them.
It reminds of of Phantom Troupe from HxH actually, like Gege has also told openly he has taken inspiration from it.
@@keerthan7558 Oh my god, I love the Phantom Troupe. And even though this wasn't in the video, I feel like Hisoka has cemented himself as one of the "strongest" in HxH too, simply because he seems unkillable. He has been beat, like when Chrollo killed him, but he still managed to come back to life. He seems to regularly get life-threatening injuries and even dismemberment but still somehow survives. He's there the entire time, mostly one of the villains, sometimes an ally, and you know so little about him that everything he does is enigmatic. He's extremely fickle and sly, and has build up this relationship with the audience that makes us feel like he can't lose, can't die, because he always has a trick up his sleeve. He's not directly acknowledged as one of the strongest, but we can't help but feel he is.
@@elainez i agree hisoka has the same ominous feeling around him as sukuna
Hes also an insanely boring final villain
@@Austib_ Really? I think sukuna behaves more like a final boss than any other character i've come across. He's extremely cunning, knowledgeable , adapts quickly and strength wise hasn't been undermined as easily and just like final bosses has lot of "gotcha" moments that make it feel authentic and interesting . I really disliked how typical shonens give that moment to protagonist, the hero instead, which is so goddamn boring cause of how predictable that is.
Still think its more epic to say "Strongest of today vs the Strongest of yesterday"
Agreed. “Strongest in history” implies he’s already stronger than Gojo before the fight even starts.
Idk, strongest in history got a better ring to it. Plus it’s not really wrong, as prior to Gojo Sukuna was always documented in jujutsu history as the strongest there ever was to the point of residents of that era worshipping him like a god
but it makes it sound like gojo is stronger
@@sqeekeezthehamster1116 then just call it "The strongest vs The strongest"
@@MultiSidrat”Strongest in history” implies before the modern era. That’s why gojo’s says “strongest of the modern era.” Its past vs present.
Broly. Love that he's the Outcast of the Saiyans. Who didn't get spoiled with a peaceful environment like the others. Also having the highest potential and Base Power. Embodies the Strongest Well. He's a Hulk.
and yet he has a gentle nature to him
And he destroys Hulk
Since when did the saiyans have a “peaceful” environment 😂. Only Gohan fits that description and he’s only half saiyan
Idk I think Z broly does a better job at embodying strength even though he is weaker than super his nature is more sadistic
@@powerstar8862 Tbh he really doesn't. Hulk's got the same issue in vs debates just like any other comic book character, WHICH Hulk does Broly beat? Hulk's exsisted for multiple decades now, do you do golden age hulk? Silver age? Mr fix it? Superior Hulk? World breaker? The four armed hulk that fought and killed the celestials? Demon Hulk? All of these hulks are different hulks yet the same hulk at the literal same time. They're all canon because the entire multiverse is canon, so which one do you do?
Another character that comes to mind is Whitebeard. He uses his strength to protect others and his found family. Found family being a relevant theme in one piece and specifically that saga. He’s been the bar of strength for a while now. His display on Marineford and the way he died really solidified his place as the strongest. His strength and ideals also serves to put Blackbeard up as Whitebeard and Luffys foil and rival. I think once Blackbeard solidifies his power in the future, him and Whitebeard will be a good contrast for the Strongest archetype.
Funny how the opposite of this is Mihawk, a character who’s only purpose as a goalpost and who doesn’t have much relevance to the story and other characters and actually nothing story relevant now
@@Deathmare235 Well cross guild is story relevant. They just haven't done much yet, especially Mihawk.
@@Usernameis7 Mihawk isn’t story relevant, buggy and crocodile are but I’m pretty sure Mihawk has never done anything that is not related to Zoro or shanks
@@Deathmare235 Marineford as well but other than that no not really.
@@Usernameis7 he did nothing in marineford either
Yoriichi is probably the most consistent and coherent example of “the strongest” and was a fantastically executed character. It’s fascinating to me how little people talk about him when bringing this topic
How little? People literally always bring him up all the time when it comes to this topic, he is good but when it comes to representation of the "strongest" the characters in the video is so much better
I’m guessing it’s cause he’s not really too active in the story since he’s a flashback character but he does fit the strongest
Yoriichi is probably one of the best displays of (the strongest), gave me chills 🥶🥶 when I was reading the manga and watching the anime
Meruem didn't die to disease, he died to radiation poisoning. Radioactivity so powerful he himself became radioactive.
No its an actual poison
@@Akbar_and_Shaa I just looked it up. It acts like radiation poisoning. He just never explicitly states radiation.
"It's a poison that affects you the seeps out of you."
From where?! I've only got one gas hole and it's never killed anyone.
But thinking of it like the radiation sickness first responders had during chernobyl then it makes more sense. I'm willing to bet the wording is due to some censorship.
"Radioactivity so powerful he himself became radioactive"
Well, yes. That's what powerful radiation does.
@@chriscutler7588the gas is what poisonous, all the gas had a chemical reaction inside making the gas a extremely deadly poison
@@bruurb786 what gas? It wasn't a mustard gas bomb. Does it poison the air? Then once it's inside a person they just... Sweat it out and it turns into a gaseous air again?
A character I feel that fits “The Strongest” really well outside of anime is the Man of Steel, Superman.
The thing that is so endearing about Superman is despite his godlike strength and abilities, he’s more human than most people are. He acts as a symbol of hope and peace and isn’t exactly an instawin button but when he shows up, you know you’ll be safe and everything will be alright because Superman is there.
Not talking about Yujiro Hanma in a video like this is honestly a crime
I almost included him (since he is a good example) but felt the absurdity of him would detract from the tone I had in mind for this video
@@TheSaladBar Ah, yeah I can definitely understand that. Still, there are very few charcters where being "the strongest" is so fundamentally tied to their identity as it is with Yujiro.
Honestly if I were to cover Yujiro’s embodiment of this, it would probably be within his own video ☝️ I might actually do that now
@@TheSaladBarI know there aren’t too many but Yujiro and Gojo are both similar to the fact that their birth changed the world around them so I get it
@@TheSaladBar would love to see that 👍
Peak cinema
Absolute cinema
\_O_/
Absolute cinema \_O_/
Any good "The strongest" character has one rule of writing. Power should not be the identity. The word Gojo remind you of the strongest, but it also remind you of the cool, pretty boy with a massive ego. All Might is the mightiest, but he is also Heroism incarnate, I would go as far as to say All Might is the definitive "Hero" in fiction, but he is also a man broken by the persona he has been putting up.
I would say Shigaraki fits this too. He is very much the strongest post S6. But he isn't known for that. He is known for being a villain with massive character development alongside the protag instead of being the classic sitting on a chair already on the top type of villain that's pretty much in every story.
Whitebeard too is great example. Strongest sure, but more that than he is a father figure to his crew and the symbol of the old days passing by.
Saitama and Mash are the strongest. But again you get reminded also of the comedy (which I'd would say Mash does better) they bring to the story, the plain durpy faces and lack of concern or seriousness.
Jiren on the other hand is the opposite. He is a plot wall Goku has to overcome. A very basic backstory with no personality. Beerus again while strongest has personality, aura and his banter with Whis is fun to watch.
Also a lot of the characters here have goals that strength alone can't accomplish. All might wanted to be the symbol of peace, but in doing so the world became too reliant on heroes, he was lifting it all by himself and he couldn't it all crashed.
Gojo wants to change the ways of Jujutsu, thus he uses teaching. Mash wants to just live in peace with his pops. Whitebeard wants a family.
I am writing a story where the MC is the strongest (he still faces challenges but is dominant till first half of the story) but the main issue he has to overcome is his wife's death and , which is a trial that strength can't overcome.
I personally think the manga treats Jiren & Beerus better than the anime.
Name of story
Interesting, I'd be interested to see your story, so you can let us know If you will post It, or you can send us where we can see It.
power as identity is a good trope for a tragic character
Jiren is more than just a plot wall and has a fairly distinct personality, not to mention there's more depth to him as a character than both Whis and Beerus combined. His backstory fleshes out his character and recontextualises most of his actions prior to his reveal. The battle with Jiren is not just a physical challenge for Goku but also one of ideals with him serving also as a parallel to him.
Hope you all enjoy, I spent a while on this script! I should’ve name-dropped Saitama, the only reason he didn’t have a section is because I wanted to avoid retreading ideas. His section would’ve covered points, just goes to show he checks all the boxes for me lol
Besides him, “why is ____ not included” is explained in the beginning 🗿
Nice
People keep saying Home lander is a good example of The strongest in his verse. I haven't watched it so take it with a grain of salt. but I have seen videos on him and I see why people would say that.
You should make a what if where Goku focuses on developing his martial arts and techniques over power.
@@Deathiplyx why would he make that
Honestly I think you should have given Komugi her own segment because her outlook(no pun intended) embodies "the strongest" quite explicitly. She bets her life on every game she plays because she sees herself as worthless if she's not the strongest. It's a level of determination that inspires characters that were 'born' the strongest. We see this juxtaposition a lot when it comes to the strongest. Gojo was born a menace while Sukuna(as far as we can tell) clawed his way to the top. Meruem was born a king while Netero spent 10 years in a field training his art day and night. Beerus is a God while Goku has spent more time training than most animes get episodes.
That Lr Ssj4 standby Ost goes brrrrr
fr thats what im sayin
Nice to see fellow dokkan enjoyers
1:59 actually its 2. Gojo upper torso and lower torso.
go and jo
This was insightful and helpful, especially since I'm trying to create my own manga in which one character is "the strongest."
I could be clowned on for this, but i think Escanor is a good representation of the strongest. I love the way that his power shapes his pride.
Escanor is awesome, he should have been in a better series
@@Marigaming143 meh the last arcs are kinda messy but 7ds doesnt deserve the hate it gets, the first two season(specially the first one) are actually quite decent
@@andrewacacia9851 literaly my least favorite anime off all time, its true that the start is alright, but it goes from alright to absolute ass very quickly, every single character (exept Escanor, he is just that cool) and plot poit gets ruined and it has some off the worst most convuluted plot twists off all time.
In a nutchell, i think it should receive even more hate.
@@akechigoro3340 Also doesn’t help the animation becomes god awful and boring, I could at least enjoy watching the early season while being bored af during s3 and later.
I don't understand why you are clowned for this
One kind of strength I've always loved is the kind that poses a paradigm shift for the entire series, my favourite example being Arima from Tokyo Ghoul.
His first fight with Kaneki, and his first show of power in the series, has some of the most brutal manga panels I've ever seen, his indifferent and imposing disposition as he butchers Kaneki, who seemed to be near the top of the food chain, with ease is both utterly terrifying and strangely elegant. The way he speaks to Kaneki, almost coming across as sympathetic, highlights their vast difference in skill while also giving insight into the kind of person he is.
This scene and their rematch in :re are probably my two favourite scenes in the whole series, Arima's relationship and parallels with Kaneki and the burden that he carries alongside his immense power is conveyed beautifully with Sui Ishida's artstyle and makes him my favourite character in the entire series
Honestly, i like to think Sukuna as an evil version of Goku.
They like to fight and eat and even though they can probably solo like 95% of their respective universes are overjoyed when something peaks their interest and focus in on that interest.
The only difference between the two is that Sukuna only cares about himself while Goku cares about others.
I'll go as far as to say that both Goku and Sukuna are equally selfish in the sense that they both prioritize their selfish desires over other people. The main difference is that Sukuna draws his joy from hurting other people while Goku enjoys living and spending time with other people
you actually see Goku train and improve, he’s suffered defeats and has died.
sukuna has the author throw ass-pulls in order for them to win. They change the rules of the game so they don’t lose.
These things are not the same.
@@rabl3535 Not the point
@@rabl3535 It's honestly not really ass pulls and while I'm a Gojo glazer by heart. Sukuna is introduced as the strongest curse, he was once a human but then became a curse and became the king of curses. And People tend to forget that , A PREVIOUSLY HUMAN is the king of curses. And throughout the series his presence is always a threat and to be considered. Unlike Gojo, as the video said, He embraced being the strongest and doesn't have much identity crisis with it (which actually is a good aspect of Gojos character) and as well as the fact that he's thousands of years old.
So in a way he's far more experienced because somehow, the Hein Era is said to be the prime of Jujutsu so god knows how many sorcerers and curses he's faced, therefore making his character decisive.
He knows who he is and doesn't have a crisis with strength and enjoys how he's living.
And therefore if he didn't win against Gojo, he would have been not deserving of that title or in simple terms : a fraud.
Problem might be the way some things are rushed or written now in the manga but seriously anime fans now are dumb man.
Although the current chapters are arguably Sukuna glazing, he the whole reason the series began is now at his peak therefore I think this 'glazing' is deserved.
It's the fact that another strangest character was present in the story, Gojo which happened to be hated by Gege which might be, sadly, one of the reasons his character got badly executed, butchered even, that made Sukuna seem like he's getting ass pulls. Because sadly Gege never stretched out how Gojo usually tends to think and left it for people (or simply not cared or thought about it and sadly the people who were left with the character are the modern fans of today).
@@rabl3535 thats not even what this comment is talking about. yall just try to bring the convo to asspulls out of nowhere and wouldnt ever mention how sukuna had more than maybe 1 or 2 asspulls
A perfect example of a very strong wrtitten character is Superman, he isnt anime but he is a strong fictional character, and its his character, beliefs and responsibility that make him great, good examples are when he helps the people of metropolis, when he fights his villains but also talks to them to understand them better and the fact that he is hopeful and gives hope to others, and im talkin about the main superman not his doppelgangers from other earths. Its crazy how alot of people hate Superman because of how powerful he is and alos because of the adaptations in movies and shows, and that there are people who prefer him when he is super serious, mostly Snyder fans, but its the main Superman thats the best representation imo
People don't understand that the super part of superman isnt his strength but his spirit. Injustice would never happen for a reason.
It's really not that crazy that he is such a hated character. What you are saying is true, but only for a very specific timeframe, basically the late 80s to early 2000s version of Superman. For him, yes. You are correct.
Before that Superman was the first Mary Sue, with no personality apart from "I'm good" and no struggles to overcome. They literally only invented cryptonite because otherwise there simply wasn't anything you could do with his character. Most people who hate Superman for his strength really only know this version of Superman. The original Mary Sue who had no personality other than "Good", never struggled with anything, and his superpowers were whatever the writers needed them to be to be able to resolve the "problem" at hand without any struggle.
And after that Superman became pretty much just Batman with superpowers. Dark, brooding and edgy.
For that one specific timeframe, Superman was a good depiction of the strongest and a good superhero. But before that he simply wasn't deep enough to be interesting, and after that he became too "deep" in the 13 year old emo kid sense of the word to be a good hero. Most people who hate him hate him because the time he was actually good was extremely brief, and before that and since that, he is one of the most boring, worst written heroes of all time.
@@EskChan19what your describing most people who hate superman have never read or experience. And superman for the most part is written as a caring kind hearted character even in recent media. People just hate because hes strong and that its. It has nothing to do with his character or how he was written.
@@savage7882it’s funny how injustice only happened as a complete what if, it never made sense for superman to go evil but they did give a decent explanation yet people treat it as like a mainline version of superman
@@Deathmare235 People just don't understand superman. He's not ''super'' because he's very strong and has laser eyes, he's Superman because despite the power he holds he's got a good heart and an unyielding spirit
Gojo is the best example tbh because no matter what literally EVERYONE fully believes Gojo could solve any problem
Also Mob
Despite being the strongest he finds true joy in being normal, having friends and family
An interesting take on the concept I'd say would be Saitama from One Punch Man. Without question the strongest character in his verse but, completely overlooked because of his amateur/low rank in the hero association. The few who truly understand his power respect and, to a large extent, fear him.
In some of the earliest episodes he is concerned about not being recognised but quickly develops the philosophy "I''m a hero for me. I save those who need my help because its my duty, not because of praise or status" which I think is so intriguing.
3:50
One thing i like about Gojou is how everyone reacts to his sealing, i'm not talking about his friends but the other sorcerers, they were like "The Jujutsu Society is over" that was insane
This video might single handedly have convinced me to read MHA just because of how he explains All Might and Endeavor, 2 characters that I thought was plain and boring started to become interesting due to this video.
That's awesome dude
You won't regret it. It's the most inspiring show I've ever seen in my life.
Thank you for this incredible analysis man, and more than anything thank you for rightfully including All Might! You got a new sub.
This is one of the best videos you have made so far
Keep up the good work
I think another good example would be someone like Kenpachi from Bleach. A man who's strength is near unrivalled but is held back by his love of a good fight. He'll hadicap himself to his opponents level looking for as good of a fight as he can get, even doing it without realizing himself. I think it's a fun take on the premise.
Bleach way of writing strong character is not good.
It just power creep and each time Ichigo get stronger the others must get stronger too 😅
@@tontj this is just a shonen way of doing things. It started with the ogs like Goku or Seiya
@@tontj that just mean you do not understand Bleach.
Wouldn’t Aizen be the best example, he’s the strongest yet he also doesn’t want to be and wants to become a normal person
Im rlly surprised nobody is talking about kisho Arima , dude was a antagonist and the father of the MC at the same time , he is my fav example of " the strongest" in all of fiction
My very first thought, super well written and in my favorite manga oat
YESSS i was waiting for him to mention arima. He really is written beautifully
Or Renji. I always liked a lot how he'd just show up in Touka's way.
@@euthanasia9930 its more cause hes her uncle rather than anything about the strongest lol, but still a great character
Which manga
All Might vs the USJ Nomu is still one of my favorite examples of an introductory fight for the strongest. Prime example of all he'd been hyped up to be even though we're blatantly told he's physically lesser, but the symbol of peace he represents and therefore his resolve to save the day is so overwhelming that it's a perfect reflection of AFO and his introduction. That sense of innate fear and death Deku and his classmates had just by being near him rivals or exceed the relief they felt back then.
Its true banger Horikoshi shit
@@PlusUltraMan mha gets a lot of shit but it's genuinely Peak
Hell yeah, amen to that
@@LigmaballzallthetimeEXACTLY bro. It's the damn clinically insane fandom. That's the only reason people have a bad taste in their mouths about it. The fandom has NOTHING to do with My Hero, nothing
Takamura perfectly exemplifies rhetorical strongest, I think he’s genuinely the best written “strongest” character ever. All of ippo is just amazing
Very true
Dam I was gonna mention takamatsu but I personally think Ricardo is a better example, he is the strongest by simply mastering the most basic and simple techniques
My man! I just got done writing a comment about how Takamura is perfect for this sort of topic, then I scroll down and see someone else is on the same wavelength. Takamura is such a great example of this archetype because we get an understanding of who he is as a person and why being the strongest means so much to him. We see the lengths he goes to in order to reach the top of the mountain, stay there, and eventually find a newer, bigger mountain in the form of higher weight classes.
So his own journey of becoming the true, objective Strongest is still ongoing. But we see how he serves as an example to the other characters, as their gym senpai, their big bro, and as their favorite boxer, even as he is undergoing trials of his own. His strength is influential on others, but he pursues it for his own purpose. Which makes him feel more complete as a character, and it fleshes out the world of the series by showing there's more to it than what's around our MC.
Truly goated
@@joaquinzarza4070 yo dog off topic but try getting into ashita no joe
I gotta say, very clever, cool and dynamic editing to avoid copyright stuff. Also great video topic and very well explained
I think the most fascinating part about Goku is he usually isn't the strongest fighter in the Z era. He is surpassed in 3 of the 4 major sagas.
But he feels the strongest because of the feeling of assurance when he arrives at the scene. A feeling that things will be okay in the end.
And I feel that aids in tension when even he shows signs of worry or concern in the major battles
Goku is weird since he’s always the strongest at the beginning of the arc but then the villain is stronger than him so it begins a cycle
Enjoy the SSJ4 Theme from Dokkan Battle in the background 🤌
It’s a shame man’s fell off hard..
Such an amazing analysis
Whitebeard from One Piece is an amazing example, every brief moment he appears there is no second of a doubt that he is the strongest, and during Marineford war every single handicap he was givin like being old, sick and betrayed was believable in showing how he lost, he was never done dirty and his impact of his actions and the results of his loss were felt even HUNDREDS of chapters after Marineford.
Great video. As someone who’s at art school designing characters and writing them, this video helped a lot.
A note, both Gojo and Sukuna have abilities that tie directly into their views on themselves and their role as the strongest. Sukuna's power revolves around cutting down his targets and "cooking" them, effectively turning the world into a kitchen with every opponent on the chopping block to be consumed at his whim. Gojo's power, or at least the most central aspect of it, revolves around keeping everything at an "infinite" distance from himself and that is a very tangible reflection of his view on his role as the strongest, he sees the overwhelming loneliness of being literally and metaphorically untouchable, the only time we ever see a character being viewed as stronger than him, they literally have to reach him physically and that serves as a metaphorical signifier of how that character is on his level with him.
AM was so strong that him losing OFA basically allowed the rest of the series to even happen. The League, Overhaul, MLA would never have even tried to take power otherwise, ‘cause they knew he’d just immediately whoop them.
Very true, 100%
I think Sonic is a great “The Strongest” type of character. Because he doesn’t seek fame or validity for being known as the “Fastest Thing Alive”. He may be known for his speed and can boast about it, but that isn’t the point of his character. He is a person that does what he thinks is right, even if it means to slay a tyrannical king to free a kingdom from his reign (yes that happened). He says he can’t be the hero every time, but he will do what he believes is right regardless of what others think. Sonic will go out his way to save a little girls family trapped in a distant cave, even if it means he will fail the mission given to him (he had a time limit). On the flip side, he prevents a land from becoming everlasting, because they are enforcing eternity onto people and the person is experiencing one sided sadness.
In short: Sonic may be strong and fast, but he is a great example of how he has his own moral compass. Which is in his own words “I just got to do what I got to do. That’s all.”
I think part of the brilliance of manga/anime as the Japanese indigenous variant of the medium of comics and animation is how you can have a lot of similar themes and contexts handled in a myriad of differing ways. One of the things I find brilliant is the “ strongest” but portrayed through dichotomies, often with coded as good evil, or ally vs antagonist. What’s funny is often anime fans often think 1 guy generally the good one, is the stronger one even if it’s implied the opposite like Gojo and Shanks . Fascinating. Excellent work man. Fans often say a trope’s handling is bad, but really it’s because they’re not trying to reason with what the author is trying to do and what it means like Gojo’s strongest as a mantle that isolates, so he usually fights all out and eradicates his opponents vs Sukuna’s strength as a matter of personal taste, so he can vary and taper his own power to his own whims.
Satisfying tone,amazing editing and well educated on the topic. Deserved a like and subscribe
Lina Inverse from Slayers is pretty interesting. I don't actually know much about the complexities of her character too much as I only watched the anime as a kid, but I remember it always being so cool not knowing when she would pull out an absolute nuke of a spell to completely vaporize her enemy. She also kind of has that air of goofiness and humility, like Saitama.
With how much effort you put into these videos, you deserve far more
Benimaru ìs an excellent example of the strongest. Its made plain from his introduction exactly what his character is and it provides good reasoning for why he doesnt use his power to meddle in the story unless it directly impacts him or those he cares about. The universe he exists in all know hes the strongest too and it provides equal parts of some of the best levity and tension in the story when hes involved.
If we're talking about how to write them, then it usually depends on the story you're writing.
Spoilers ahead for multiple stories, read at your own peril.
Something as a rule of thumb, if you're writing a story about relatable characters overcoming difficult trials and tribulations, then as a rule of thumb you can't really have the overpowered characters around, really. Like, it's just not going to work, because then you start asking why the character can't just fix every problem. Because either they do and there's no stakes, or they get turned into a plot device and aren't really overpowered anymore anyways.
All-Might is a good example of this, as he isn't really around all that often, and had to even be nerfed and limited to a plot device throughout the story. But he still got a few chances to show up super powerful, and wow the audience with the crazy stuff he can do.
This is why Mihawk just sails off halfway through Baratie, or why Shanks so rarely appears. Because otherwise they'd just be sitting there, watching, not doing anything, and it's not their story. No, One Piece is the Luffy Show.
What you're usually looking for is to make them mysterious and larger than life. They're like a hurricane just walking into town one day.
As I said, there's no way to really make them stick around without turning them into a plot device to drive the story forward, as anything they can do that's relevant will have too much affect on the world around them.
Hell, even Saitama can't show up all that often. A good portion of One Punch Man is spent with Side Characters and showing THEIR struggles, though do get Saitama's own. He more struggles at life in general, and getting from one day to the next. The Side Characters on the other hand are often seen struggling with powerful monsters and waiting for Saitama to wake the hell up and come move the plot along. But still. Saitama struggles with himself, most of the time. We've seen him express a desire for recognition, which he could easily get by going out and proving himself to everyone until they believe him. But he clearly doesn't want THAT. He wants to be recognized for his heroic deeds. He wants people to notice him for the good he's done in the world, not for the fact that he's a bald dude in a stupid yellow jump-suit with a cape. But nobody does, and that's just ONE of his struggles.
As for Isekai Protagonists? There's not much to say really. They have the depth of a puddle, and there's no real struggle. There's no overcoming the odds and they disrespect and clown on everyone who isn't them. They're somehow surrounded by girls even more shallow than they are, and they're not funny nor interesting to watch. Notice how them not struggling rarely comes up? Because that honestly isn't the biggest problem. It's literally everything about those stories. The world building is ass, and often leads to major plot holes, they recycle the exact same magic-video-game-skill system, and I'm tired of it.
Now on the other hand, two of my favorites are: "Overlord" and: "So what if I'm a Spider? So what?"
Overlord is a great take on it, as what Ainz does is usually very interesting, and he's already surrounded by man level entities at his beck and call. He's careful, and smart, and when faced with a situation he shouldn't have normally been able to handle, he used skills he earned and overcame a difficult situation anyways. You get to watch as he carefully scouts out his surroundings, and confirms that his enemies are no threat to him, until finally he begins to starts using his forces to invade foreign countries. Overlord is great, because there's plenty of depth put into the world building, and especially the world building of the game before Ainz got sent to this world.
As for Spider-Story, it's a good example of it being done well, and earned, then falling apart in execution later. Our main character is met with plenty of struggles, and when she does become overwhelmingly powerful, it feels earned, and by then we've already got a majorly built up world that, (Yes it could be a little more creative and have a little more depth, to say the least.) that we care about to some extent and want to see the outcome of. We want to see what happens to our favorite Spider Girl, and how she proceeds now that she is so powerful. I of course have a bunch of criticisms I could level on it, like the fact that by the time you get to where I am, you could give less of a shit about anyone who ISN'T Kumo or Shiro, or whatever she wants to call herself. I mean, Kumo is a GOD at this point, and everyone else has had way too little screen time, and is so utterly below her in power, it's like- You're practically asking yourself when they'll go away so we can just focus more on Kumo? It basically just becomes the Kumo show, because everyone else was so completely underused. I'm sure they could've been great, if they had been given time so we can CARE about them. But no, they just get taken to Magic Evil Hive-Mind Elf-Land, and now Kumo's gotta come out and tell them: "Hey, I don't care about any of you but Teacher-Lady, so go away and give up on being relevant." And doesn't that just suck ass after you practically BEGGED the Author to make these characters relevant, 'cause you're so excited to see them meet up with Kumo at some point. Nah, she just smacks a force-field with the Home-Run Bat from Smash Bros, then fights Elf-Hitler's army of EVIL LASER SEA URCHINS. Anyways, I think that's enough about Spider Story.
I've experimented with the use of these characters in my own right, and found what I think are some interesting methods, but I'll only mention one here.
The Mary Sue. The story ends up revolving around this character, and a lot of it is written from the perspectives of the characters they interact with, or whom they've majorly affected. They just need to be relevant most of the time, really. I like to write them as an extremely intelligent super-being that can read a person in almost an instant, they can predict people and plan things out potentially thousands of years in advance. They're hyper talented in everything they do, surpassing everyone else as soon as they pick ANYTHING up. This character is powerful, and is impossible to defeat. That's their purpose after all. This turns the character into a larger than life figure, they become an unknowable god in the eyes of others, whether they are or not. Everyone does love them or ends up liking them, either as a person, or for how powerful and capable this person is. But there in lies a horror, in that this character doesn't really care about others in the same way we do. Even the eldest people are like young children that cannot function, nor be reasonably expected to make their own decisions. Your wants and desires are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, and you can never hope to oppose them because they can read you in an instant, and soon enough, they'll probably start predicting every thought you have before you even have it. You're just another cog in the vast machine they're building.
And~ That's the end of that.
I admit I kind of just started ranting about Spider Story a bit near the end there, but I hope this was informative and helpful for anyone who wants to learn about this stuff. The golden rule is that you just gotta remember that what you're trying to do is make the story entertaining. Doesn't matter how you get there, just that you get there. And luckily for you, there's countless ways to get there.
you said in a perfect way why most people dislike generic isekai
Kratos from God of War. To me there’s two aspects to his strength: physical and mental. He’s physically the strongest because whatever the challenge or problem he has to face he will always get strong enough to overcome come it. He changed his literal fate by doing this, by killing the gods of fate. Something that should be impossible. But there’s also his mental strength which shows in his ability to change as a person and a demigod. Kratos did some really vile and evil stuff in the first three games. That’s why he was such an infamous character. Which made him all the more compelling when you see him try to change and help people and raise his son. The ability to change yourself as a person, I would say, is the hardest thing you can do
Fantastic commentary and amazing production values 👏👏
A very interesting topic and a very well written essay
I think One Piece uses their "strongest" characters very well.
Mihawk is used to set up a power/skill ceiling for Zoro to reach and potentially surpass and Mihawk is even aware that making good relationships is a strong part of someone's abilities after he tested himself against Whitebeard but whitebeard didn't need to move or do anything. He even acted as a mentor for Zoro mostly offscreen.
Whitebeard is also another great example because despite being in his 70s, terminally ill and having severe health problems showing in the middle of battle he was still a force of nature that all the other top tiers should be wary of. Whitebeard also exemplifies a form of good masculinity. He was an orphan child whose island was terrorized constantly by pirates so he protected the land and eventually went out to sea to become a pirate himself but ironically he used that power to protect. His pirate crew consisted of others who had nothing left or he liked and that became his family of which he is proud of.
Garp had very little showings but whenever he does pop up his presence is used to expand on the worldbuilding. He even allows his emotions to take over which earns him the sympathy or empathy of viewers as while yes he's another very powerful guy in the setting he's still a human and tries to do what's best for everyone but not everyone shares the same goals or ideologies so he finds himself in conflict with what he wants and what he should do. He knows Ace is a good person but as a pirate he has to be put down. Garp wants to go against the world government but too much civilians don't know the corrupt nature of the world gov and most people look up to him as a hero so Garp doesn't want to make people around the world lose their symbol of hope and security.
Kaido will be the last one I bring up. During his backstory we know life was really rough for him. Kaido got taken advantage of many times and he also ended up grouping with bad people which helped influence how evil he was during the main story. During his adult years Kaido was too strong for practically everyone in the setting and grew unwell mentally (don't want my message to be shadow realmed). His display of powerful was genuinely amazing, he got jumped multiple times back to back by many other high tiers and he dealt with them all admirably. When it came to the final blows against Gear5 Luffy their wishes told more about them than anything else. Kaido's whole life was practically war, and he wanted to make everyone participate in it equally to show their worth because those at the top started but didn't take place in wars. Meanwhile Luffy told him he wanted a world where all his friends can eat. Luffy's wish seamed so insignificant in comparison but it showed why one was destined for evil and the other for good. Kaido by this point was too far gone and was forged by all the bad he was surrounded with while Whitebeard did the opposite despite having similarly rough upbringings. Whitebeard was loved and he also loved others while protecting his land + people. Kaido terrorized and made his crew+civilians of his land fear him.
The HxH examples are amongst my favorites and I consider them very well written characters, I personally would have gone more in depth about their humanity as Netero was actually a bad and selfish person while Meruem started off completely evil but grew more humane through his interactions and growing affinity with Komugi.
I'm not a big fan of JJK but I can understand why so much people like those two.
Your comment encompasses the definition of strong in an almost perfect manner
I never found gojo or even sukuna enjoyable as the strongest because they at the end of the day seem like they don't have any actual goal
For me strong characters are op but also face challenges to grow stronger which can be anything whether it's strength or in emotional manner or phylospical manner
Nice examples though
@@sai_neko_reddy like one piece characters have any special goal. They running after one piece for God knows how long 💀
@@Iamconfused229 me when I'm completely wrong
@@harrison549 ?? One piece defender will accept anything except the fact that their story is mid and streched.
@@Iamconfused229 Only one character that OP listed actually cares for the One Piece (Kaido), Whitebeards just wanted to protect his family, Mihawk sought to establish himself in the government to not be persecuted by pirates and marines, and Garp literally is a marine that fight against pirates
Saw this video in my recommended and I had a feeling I’d enjoy it and I was right this is a great video def gonna check out more
I think the key to writing "the strongest" character, is that their very presence shapes the world around them. All might gojo yujiro are excellent examples. Their presence/absence has tilts the world and the story in a certain way. A minor example would be yamamoto from bleach, he is seen as the linchpin of the shinigami organisation. His death marked more than the changing of the guard but a level of desperation in our heroes that actually hadnt been seen at any point. Now that their strongest weapon had been annihilated. The heroes had to cut deals with former criminal and unleash powers they were uncertain they could put back in the bottle metaphorically speaking
Amen to that. All Might is the best example, for sure
Hanma Yujriou from Baki is kind of interesting; I think he has a lot of similarities to Sukuna--he's not a complete "villain" and does things and makes valid points that are relatable sometimes, but other times he'll just do whatever the heck he wants because he's the strongest, without repercussion because everyone in the world, even governments, have decided that they can't beat him and even have treaties with him, and thus also just accepting of what he does, but he still has his principles and morals, some of which are respectable.
Really well written video and I loved the editing style, reminded me of playing a video game/gave me a sense of nostalgia. Definitely will be subscribing for more!
I think one of the greatest parts of All mights writing is how you can feel the ehole show everything shift after All might vs AFO. Even if endeavor is there once s6 hits and All might isn't there to always win, and always come through... Its the first time you really notice the safety net is gone. Though his presence alone is enough to scare villans and reduce crime even without his power.
100%.
I feel like you should of covered Mob, because he is very interesting and I personally love how his character is written
I feel like how Ippo is progressing he could be the ultimate point of "How to Write "The Strongest""
I prefer the idea that being the “strongest” isn’t the definitive trope of a character, but rather a characteristic. Thors from Vinland Saga is arguably the strongest, but it’s through his actions do we see his true nature: a father, a mentor, and a hero.
Like the application of strength through Thorkell; a tall and unstoppable force that embodies violence as a Viking. Pulling off feats that leaves a spectacle to the viewer. War can be fun if you were Thorkell, but Thors tears down that idea when Thorkell himself admitted Thors was stronger.
This leaves a mark on how we view Thors as a person, being strong doesn’t have to benefit your own agenda, but rather the way you approach strength for others. Whether it’s to protect or kill. He always left an impression on everyone throughout the story. Especially Askeladd and Thorfinn.
I was digging for a comment about Thors. Obviously it doesn't work for every story, but to me, Thors is the peak of what it means to be the strongest.
@@scumknight6074 I don’t think the show tries to sell this angle, but to me it speaks to the privilege that is peace which comes from strength. A weak man doesn’t get to choose peace like Thors does, he has it (or violence) thrust on him.
Vinland Saga is peak though
I feel Hao Asakura would be a really fitting example too
Meruem is one of my favorite "strongest characters"
mine too
Reinhardt from Re Zero is an excellent character that displays the truest extent of being considered “the strongest” (if we exclude Stella). Every time he is on screen or pops up in the light novel, it’s like a wave of relief washes over me.
For HxH Tserriednich feels like a new example of the strongest or well the most potential, someone so unsurmountably talented that anything is but a blink of an eye for him, maybe thats why his nenpower is what it is, and in this case it isnt framed as a good thing or aspirational or a worthy enemie but as a ticking time bomb, someone so strong that when they become "the strongest" it may truly be over, someone so strong that his growth being held back is the number 1 mission to all who know, truly freakish
I like how beerus existing adds stakes to the plot, cuz if he gets annoyed, he might just destroy stuff
Tbh, beerus's threats don't even hold much weight anymore because he's literally pretty much buddy buddy with goku and vegeta and anytime he makes those threats, we KNOW its not going to actually happen.
Levi from aot also works as a great example. Hes not a titan shifter but hes the strongest human soldier in the show. He’s a really great character who’s really very tragic
Tbf he’s basically a Titan shifter, the ackermans have Titan strength in them
@@Deathmare235 that’s an oversimplification. Yes he’s got a little strength boost, but he doesn’t have the strength that the attack titan would have. He definitely earned his retirement, Levi, the goat
I couldn’t agree with this video more💯
It's nice to see saladsaiyan get this many views on a video and truthfully I believe this channel a couple years from now or so will far outmatch saladsaiyan's main channel on quality db what ifs in both viewcount,relevency and subscribers .
(Please if you ever see this years from now and this ages poorly don't bring it back up and if it doesn't age poorly however and you do repost I told you so.)
1:40 why are they wiggling so much 😂😂
@@frantz48_ Infinity
My favourite "strongest" characters were Meruem in HxH and Tachikawa in World Trigger. Meruem was born the strongest and stayed the strongest while Tachikawa is acknowledged by everyone (including Jin, who can see into the future) as the strongest by sheer skill alone as well as the highest points in all of border.
Meruem: Tell me, Pouf. Do you really believe that there is anyone here who can stand against me?
Yoriichi from demon slayer is a great example, he gave the demon king such a beating he got ptsd from some earrings 500+ years later and has all breathing styles derived from
I like the example of Diavolo from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. He is the strongest, always was, but he is absolutely obsessed with holding this power and scared of losing it so bad that it led him to defeat. He is ready to do anything possible to avoid any chance of losing his power and fluency, this obsession and insanity is really great point of view on absolute power
Accelerator from a certain scientific railgun is a good example in my opinion. A villain becomes kind of an anti hero due to his relationship to power, morals and others.
@@Takyodor2 Absolutely. Accelerator's whole life prior to meeting Last Order was shaped by his overwhelming power. Because of it, others only saw him as a phenomenon to be studied, a threat, or an obstacle to overcome. No one ever saw him for him. He became so disconnected from the rest of humanity he even forgot his own name.
I feel like someone who can also be described as the strongest is yorichii from demon slayer as he was known as the strongest in the verse and even though we didn't see many feats, it's quite clear that he is
That Allmight artwork in the thumbnail looks wild
I’m pretty sure it’s a cover art for one of the my hero academia volumes
@@Shot0yami It is! It's the one where he beat afos ass. Volume 11
You made a good point about how one for all or generally powers are very important parts of a character. Gojo is the same. He feels he is the strongest and there are no equals after geto leaves, infinity is essentially how gojo feels after geto left, there is no more people that can reach him both power wise and mindset wise.
what gives Goku “the strongest” title isn’t the fact that he is the definitive strongest it’s the fact that the audience is intrigued and knows he will overcome his next foe, often dragon ball is a show where they could fight the antagonist from the start and their are many times they do this but it doesn’t go well or they’ll need to fight again after some training or a power up to stand a chance or out right dwarf the bad guy in power. People recognize that Goku, gohan, even vegeta will do that. They’ll surpass their limits by some means because they’ll find a way.
I think gojo is a very well written strongest as he really feel like he really is the strongest .
Also his character was not boring he was the most liked and fan favourite
Had a good character writing
And was relatable as well
I think The Boxer does this entire concept the best. You should definitely give it a read. One main character is naturally the strongest, but then they meet the second main character that is naturally THE STRONGEST. This is also paired with a third character that is naturally weak, but trains to become really strong. This paired with really well written side characters is one of the best stories I've ever experienced.
It's not a good written story, he is naturally born strongest, aside from this there is really nothing to his character. I think to really represent the strongest you have to represent some sort of personality as well,a strong mentality like almight.
@Fshii0 I don't know if you've read the whole thing, but there is nuance to his character. None of it is explicitly stated though, so that's probably why you would say he has no character
@@zaratio509 I'm not talking about character, I mean he does not have stoic or mentality of any other kind
I’m writing a character that is going to have one hell of a character arc, they will go from the strong and powerful mentor character, to the near unstoppable villain. And no this isn’t self promotion I just wanted to pitch an idea to others
Yo that sounds awesome!
Yo tell me when you make this bro!
I have a similar dynamic in something I'm writing, I love the idea!
What it going to be called? I want to read it
Similar to omniman?
This is a really good video, but i wish you would go more in depth as to what specifically in story makes these characters the strongest and how that can be applied to writing in general. ill use jjk as an example- i know nothing about it, but i can gleam from this video alone that Gojo and Sukuna are opposite sides on how they perceive strength, yet that dosent give me the context as to how that effects things in story. Such as at 3:27 . How does Gojo's power effect the story? How does it effect Geto? How does it connect to his personality as you say? I understand that he wants to help the next generation, but why? and how does his strength affect that?
I understand the worry of not wanting to spoil the viewer, but this video is framed as writing advice (it's even titled how to write), and i cant really get as to why this is well written as opposed to say, Beerus. You did a good job explaining Beerus, but im still missing some context, what is the granola arc? how is it relevant to Beerus? how does it show his strength?
Again. this is a good video, and i can tell that you're passionate! but never be afraid to go in depth, remember, this is a lesson.
I think Yorrichi from demon slayer represents all the aspects being the strongest Perfectly . Hope, you would have covered him .
I think that Medaka Box has a ton of fun with this archetype.
4:19 naw not the kfc breakup 😔
greatness can be summarized by one quote and one alone. "Out of all the stars in the night sky, i shine the brightest." the strongest is similar. of all the powers and forces at play, mine stands above them. Greatness and Strength are relative concepts without determinate boundaries or objectivity, what matters is the perceivable relationship between all within view. Of all that i have challenged, i have remained unconquered.
If you ever want to do a part 2 about this topic, you should give Overly Sarcastic Productions' Superman Detail Diatribe videos and Monkey King series a watch. Superman pre-dates all these characters and his best stories capture even more depth of this topic. Monkey King is an equally interesting even-older example.
And a bit from Epic of Gilgamesh as well
Saying the strongest but not including saitama as an example should be a crime. 0:01
Watch the intro…
@@arkinmukherjee5214 I did? He didn’t show saitama?
Watch the intro...
@@evereethingplayyz8509 he explains why
@@evereethingplayyz8509he said how to write the strongest.
Saitama isn’t that good of character also he said the series he knows well.
He could just not watch one punch man or it was too much to do.