Best Underdog Moments In Anime

Few tropes are as effective at reeling in viewers as a good underdog story, and the medium of anime has been guilty of using this plot point too many times to count. Luckily, the majority of underdog stories in anime are executed quite well, which is why this approach to structuring conflicts has been repeatedly rehashed and recycled in several different contexts.

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In the realm of battle anime, especially those belonging to the shonen genre, underdogs are exceedingly common over successive generations of titles, from Dragon Ball to newer series such as Attack on Titan or My Hero Academia. Due to the ease of implementing the notion of a weaker protagonist going up against a much stronger opponent, there have been many incredibly memorable underdog moments throughout contemporary anime, and here are some of the best among them.

7 Deku’s 1,000,000% Delaware Detroit Smash

My Hero Academia

In a desperate bid to protect a young boy from his parents’ killer, Izuku Midoriya — whose hero alias is Deku — faced a hopeless battle against the villain Muscular, during the ill-fated Quirk Training Camp for students from UA High School. Pushed to the brink of defeat after using his Quirk at full power without fully mastering it, Deku was severely injured and on the verge of death.

Seeing this, Muscular (Goto Imasuji) began to crush him with his overwhelming strength. Just as he was about to give up, Deku watched as the young boy, Kota Izumi, attempted to save him with his own Quirk. Visibly moved by this act of valor, Deku summoned his remaining strength and delivered a brutal 1,000,000% Delaware Detroit Smash. This devastating attack took down Muscular and showcased how far Deku had come in his journey as a budding Pro Hero in My Hero Academia.

6 Armin And Eren Defeat The Colossal Titan

Attack On Titan

Backed into a tight corner, the Scouts’ Operation To Retake Wall Maria seemed doomed to end in failure. Facing the wrath of the Beast Titan, Armored Titan, and the Colossal Titan all at once, they had to take desperate measures to hold on and survive. On one hand, Erwin Smith led a sacrificial charge against the Beast Titan, while Eren and Armin took on the Colossal Titan.

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After developing a strategy to take down the largest Titan shifter in Attack on Titan, Armin used himself as a decoy to draw out the Colossal Titan’s steam, distracting it, as Eren snuck out from his Attack Titan to seal the hole in Wall Maria and deliver the final blow. Steadying his resolve while staring death in the face, Armin bore the full brunt of the Colossal Titan’s steam and was burnt alive, but he managed to buy just enough time for Eren to cut the massive Titan down and turn the battle in the Scouts’ favor.

5 Edward Gives It His All Against Father

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

During the final battle to decide the fate of Amestris, the Homunculus known as “Father” faltered in controlling the power of “God” due to Van Hohenheim’s interference, as Edward Elric grieved the loss of his brother Alphonse. Having given up his soul in exchange for Edward’s lost organic right arm, Alphonse’s soul was sent from the suit of armor it was once sealed in, to reunite with his body in the Gate of Truth.

Clapping both his real hands together to perform a transmutation for the first time in years, an enraged Edward unleashed a barrage of earthen projections which pounded Father to a pulp, forcing the souls in his Philosopher’s Stone to burst out from his body. Seeing this, Edward continued his assault, aided by the soldiers of Briggs, Roy Mustang, Lan Fan, Greed, and a host of others assembled at the scene. After Father absorbed Greed, the Homunculus used his power to weaken the composition of Father’s body, allowing Edward to drive a hole through his stomach and end his reign of terror Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

4 Jotaro Matches Dio’s Ability To Stop Time

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

Empowered after absorbing Joseph Joestar’s blood, Dio was on the cusp of finally putting his generational feud with the Joestar family to rest, with the aid of his time stopping Stand, The World. Unable to contend with Dio’s power, Jotaro and his own Stand, Star Platinum, suffered an onslaught while frozen in place. As Dio’s nine-second time stop was about to run out, the vampire brought a steamroller to pummel his adversary into oblivion.

Right as he began to celebrate his triumph, Dio was shocked to see Jotaro alive and well. To his horror, Jotaro explained that he finally understood his own Stand and its parallels to The World. By using Star Platinum’s own newly discovered time stop, Jotaro decisively struck Dio down, bringing the final battle and his allies’ long journey in Part 3 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure to a close.

3 Rock Lee Takes Off His Weights Against Gaara

Naruto

In terms of iconic underdog fights, there are few that come close to Rock Lee’s emotionally charged endeavor to prove his worth against the Hidden Sand’s strongest genin, Gaara. Unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, Lee was trained to be a taijutsu specialist by his mentor Might Guy, and he relied solely on his pure martial arts prowess against Gaara’s sand manipulation during the Chunin Exams Preliminaries in Naruto.

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Noticing that his speed at the time was no match for Gaara, Guy gave Lee the signal to take off his leg weights. After dropping them, the impact of Lee’s weights hitting the ground shook the entire arena, and astonished every observer. Lee then used his true speed to clobber away at Gaara’s defenses, and proceeded to unlock five of the Eight Inner Gates, breaking through Gaara’s Sand Armor in the process.

2 Ichigo Shows Byakuya His Bankai

Bleach

Having been humiliated by Byakuya in their previous fight, Ichigo returned to save Rukia from her execution, and challenged the Sixth Division Captain to a rematch. After the pair exchanged blows, Ichigo goaded Byakuya into revealing his Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, which took form as a huge collection of small blades evoking the image of cherry blossom petals.

In response, Ichigo pulled out his own newly acquired Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, for the first time in Bleach, to Byakuya’s disbelief. Furious at Ichigo’s claim that his ordinary-looking Zanpakuto was actually his Bankai, Byakuya readied himself to attack. However, he was once again stunned to see that his adversary had closed the distance between them, and was holding the tip of his blade against Byakuya’s throat.

1 Gohan Unlocks Super Saiyan 2

Dragon Ball Z

Gohan’s journey from a scared young boy to the warrior who saved the entire world was a core narrative thread running from Dragon Ball Z’s Saiyan Saga till the grand finale of the Cell Games Saga. With the Z Fighters in peril due to the Cell Juniors’ constant attacks, Gohan was left helpless to watch as Perfect Cell crushed the severed head of Android 16, just as the latter left him with some parting words of inspiration.

Pushed over the brink by this act of cruelty, Gohan’s anger burst forth, releasing his energy in the process, as he powered up to the ascended state of Super Saiyan 2 for the very first time. Through a transformation that ranks among the best in the series, Gohan’s journey was brought full circle, as his many grueling battles had finally produced the warrior who was destined to defeat Cell once and for all.

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