8 Strongest Mecha In Anime, Ranked

These days, fans have a ton of choices when it comes to anime genres. But back in the day, things were different, and the mecha anime genre was the undeniable king. The overpowered anime protagonist trope arguably began with this genre’s massive, insanely powerful mecha. Much like with shonen anime today, over time the powers of these mecha became more and more outlandish as rival series tried to compete with each other and themselves.

Over the years, hundreds of mecha anime have been produced, many of them featuring outlandishly powerful mecha. That makes choosing the “most powerful” kind of difficult. For this list, we’ve stuck to some of anime’s more well-known examples and ignored those whose full potential was only ever seen in the manga, not the anime. We have tried to rank these mechanical giants by not just their listed powers but their feats too.

8 Eva Unit 01 – Neon Genesis Evangelion

Tears Through Enemy Angels And Is Almost Indestructible

The EVA units are pretty weird, even by Evangelion‘s standards. Rather than being robots, they’re giant kaiju-style beings encased in robotics. Except when they’re going berserk, they are operated by pilots just like traditional mecha. Out of the numerous EVA models, Unit 01 is easily the most powerful.

Related

The Best Neon Genesis Evangelion Games, Ranked

The legendary Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise has spawned a multitude of games. These are some of the best.

On paper, most of its armaments don’t sound very impressive and basically consist of up-sized pistols, rifles, and knives. But it isn’t Unit 01’s weapons that make it special. It also comes equipped with an S2 Engine, granting it limitless energy reserves and infinite regeneration from damage. If that wasn’t enough, its AT (Absolute Terror) Field is an almost unbreakable force shield that can only be damaged by other EVAs and angels. The S2 Engine and AT Field make Unit 01 next to invincible, while its impressive agility and weaponry mean it can tear through enemy angels when it needs to.

7 Devil Gundam – Mobile Fighter G Gundam

Could Repeatedly Evolve To Become Stronger And Corrupt People Using DG Cells

• Released: 19994
• Genres: Sci/Fi, Mecha
• Creator: Yoshiyuki Tomino

Living up to its name, Devil Gundam served as one of the primary antagonists of Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Designed by Dr. Kasshu it was meant to heal the Earth with hyper-advanced nanotechnology. Instead, thanks to a malfunction, it transformed into the Devil Gundam and set out to do the opposite. Its original armaments were fairly typical for a Gundam: four vulcan guns mounted in its head and a powerful beam cannon. Its real strength, however, was its DG Cells.

These cells meant that the Devil Gundam could self-regenerate, self-reproduce, and self-evolve. It could also use these cells to take over and transform any Gundam they touch, as well as mind-control organic beings. The DG cells could then force the exposed Gundams to evolve into new forms. At its peak, the Devil Gundam evolved into the Devil Colony after merging with the Neo-Japan space colony. This version of the Devil Gundam could destroy entire cities and could only be taken down using the God Gundam. If it hadn’t been stopped, then who knows how high on this list it could have reached with enough evolutions.

6 System-∀99 ∀ Gundam – Turn A Gundam

Harnesses The Power Of A Blackhole And Carries Deadly Nanomachines

• Release Date: April 9, 1999
• Creator: Yoshiyuki Tomino
• Genres: Sci-Fi (Genre), Mecha (Genre), Drama (Genre)

System-∀99 ∀ Gundam, also known as Turn A Gundam, is the result of generations of mecha innovation in the Gundam universe. Mostly piloted by Turn A Gundam’s lead, Loran Cehack, the mecha was designed for interstellar conflict if our solar system was ever invaded by extraterrestrial powers. The result is a mecha much more overpowered than most seen in any of the Gundam series.

Turn A’s immense power comes from an artificial black hole that is used to power it. This black hole supplies energy to its various weapons and the nanomachines that it uses for offense and defense. These nanomachines make Turn A almost invincible, as they can rapidly regenerate any damage done to it. More importantly, they can destroy any artificial or organic matter when utilized in the Gundam’s Moonlight Butterfly attack. According to novelizations that came out after the series ended, Turn A had even more powers fans never got to see in the show that would have made it even more OP. Turn A has also appeared in some of the best Gundam games, but for balancing reasons, they’ve never really done it justice.

5 Gunbuster – Gunbuster

Can Travel At Light Speed And Packs A Blackhole Bomb

Hideaki Anno has created a lot of great anime series, but Gunbuster is one of his best. It was his directorial debut and is about as 80s and over the top as it gets. This classic 80s anime sees the titular mecha, Gunbuster, blowing massive space monsters into small pieces and destroying the kinds of enemies that would make most mecha buckle.

Gunbuster’s arsenal is designed for space combat. Its go-to attack is the Buster Collider, where it uses its huge fists to pulverize enemies. As far as ranged attacks go, it has the Buster Beam, capable of carving through entire fleets and its homing lasers and missiles. Its true strength, however, lies in its speed. The Gunbuster can move at 99% the speed of light and can travel faster than that even when using its FTL warp technology. It’s also got a secret weapon up its sleeve in the form of its Black Hole Bomb, which it unveiled in the anime’s final episode. This superweapon creates a black hole said to be able to wipe out entire star systems. In the anime, this was used to wipe out a wave of space monsters about to destroy humanity. As the following entries will show, Gunbreaker is about as powerful as a mecha can get before becoming comically overpowered.

4 Mazinger Z – Mazinger Z

Capable Of Whatever the Plot Demands And Then Some

Created by the legendary Go Nagai, Mazinger Z was one of the earliest and most influential examples of mecha anime. Dating back to 1972, the main robot itself was an absolute beast. Pretty much every episode saw the mecha develop a new weapon, power, or ability so that it could take on that week’s big bad. Some of these were incredibly powerful, some a little lame and some were just ludicrous.

Related

8 Best Seinen Mecha Manga, Ranked

Fans of manga that feature plenty of mechs should check out the following seinen stories if they haven’t already.

The Mazinger Z of the anime has some impressive attacks but wasn’t much more powerful than the earlier entries on the list. The most impressive things about it are the metal it’s made of, Super-Alloy Z, and its engine, which was said to be as powerful as the sun. The mecha’s most powerful version is only featured in the manga series Shin Mazinger Zero and Shin Mazinger Zero vs. The Great General of Darkness. These mangas revealed that Mazinger Z held seven black boxes that, when awakened, granted it insane levels of power. When accessed via the mecha Mazinger Zero form, the mecha can dish out damage at a planetary and even galactic level. Since these abilities don’t appear in the show, ranking Mazinger Z any higher feels a bit like cheating.

3 Ideon – Space Runaway Ideon

Can Cut Planets In Half And Blow Up Galaxies

From this point onward, there’s a lot of hyperbole over what these mechas can do, which makes ranking them difficult. Ideon is a great example of this. The mecha was supposedly designed to defend humanity from an aggressive alien race known as the Buff Clan, but its armaments suggest it was designed for offense, not defense.

Related

7 Best Co-Op Mecha Games, Ranked

These mecha games, from roguelikes to first-person shooters, have options for 2- to 4-player co-op, allowing for mech battles with friends.

Ideon is made up of three starships that combine to make the mecha. It starts fairly so-so and packs the kinds of missiles, guns, and cannons one would expect from a typical mecha. Then things get OP quickly. Ideon can summon two swords, imaginatively called Ideon Swords, that can cut planets in half. If that wasn’t enough, it also has a Black Hole cannon that fires a micro singularity capable of destroying everything in Ideon’s immediate vicinity.

Then there’s its Wave Leader Cannon, which shoots a beam so powerful it can destroy multiple planets and entire enemy fleets with one blast. These attacks alone make it a great fit for any of the best isekai mecha anime, but we’re not done yet. The mecha’s ultimate attack is a massive self-destruct that is described as destroying the entire universe (although in the anime the blast seems to be more galaxy-sized than universe-sized).

2 Zinv – Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure

With Its Limiter Removed, Zinv Can Destroy And Remake Entire Dimensions

• Released: 1999
• Genre: Sci/Fi, Mecha
• Created By: Masaki Kajishima

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure is one of the best mecha anime for fans of overpowered robots who don’t mind things getting silly. Piloted by Kazuki Youtsug, a young man who discovers he can control mecha, Zinv isn’t just a weapon, he’s designed to correct multiversal imbalances. Zinv and Kazuki have a symbiotic relationship, and as their bond deepens, Zinv becomes exponentially more powerful.

Even fairly early on, Zinv is capable of firing energy blasts that can destroy planets, can easily crush enemy mecha, and has energy shields that make it next to indestructible. With a strong enough bond with its pilot, and once its limiter is removed, Zinv is capable of dimensional warping. It can jump between parallel universes and even alter them at a whim. When Zinv is eventually destroyed toward the end of the series, it simply regenerates itself and creates an entire new universe for Kazuki and his friends. This might make Zinv sound like it should top the list, but its incredible power comes with a caveat – the symbiotic relationship with its pilot. Zinv might be insanely powerful, but without a strong connection to its pilot, it’s not much use.

1 Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – Gurren Lagann

Is Bigger Than The Universe And Uses Galaxies As Projectiles

Gurren Lagann was never a series aimed at fans of the most realistic mecha anime. The series was constantly trying to outdo itself when it came to the power levels of its mecha but peaked during the events of its second movie when it debuted the Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. This massive, hard-to-pronounce mecha was formed during protagonist Simon’s final battle against the Antispiral in a last-ditch attempt to save all reality.

This mecha is just a little bit silly. It is said to be bigger than the observable universe (which is 93 billion light-years wide for reference) and moves at ridiculous speeds (fans have estimated 50 trillion light-years per second). This mecha is basically a god, existing out of time and space as we think of it. It can throw entire galaxies and use them as projectiles and destroy universes like they’re nothing. Enjoying this mecha in action means being able to suspend any sense of disbelief one might have.

More

7 Best Co-Op Mecha Games, Ranked

These mecha games, from roguelikes to first-person shooters, have options for 2- to 4-player co-op, allowing for mech battles with friends.