Black characters don’t appear often in anime, and when they do, it’s not uncommon for their portrayal to be problematic. “Not all representation is a good representation,” Professor Nor Azlili Hassan from Malaysia’s University of Tunku Abdul Rahman told The Toronto Observer. “The representation that we’ve seen of the BIPOC communities was racist and stereotypical. There are still existing negative attitudes towards Black people, which can lead to offensive and problematic portrayals of them in anime.” It’s definitely been an issue over the years, though it’s not an industry-wide one — there are several examples of Black characters being done right in anime, and many of them are extremely powerful.

This ranking focuses on sheer power rather than how likable a character is. And, so that certain series don’t completely dominate the rankings, we’re limiting this list to one character per franchise (with the exception of one notable double act). We must also acknowledge that a lot of darker-skinned anime characters don’t have a clearly defined ethnicity. Many anime fans have head-canonned characters like Yoruichi Shihoin from “Bleach,” Uub from the “Dragon Ball” franchise, and Enrico Pucci from “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” as Black, but this list will stick to examples where the characters’ Blackness is widely recognized.

It’s hard to assess the exact power level of Canary from “Hunter x Hunter,” given how little the manga and anime depict her in action. Still, the young apprentice butler of the Zoldyck family can clearly put up a fight. Growing up in the slums of Meteor City, she picked up advanced techniques like Shadow Step and Rhythm Echo without any formal training, just her own strength and wits.

When she was just 10 years old, three years before her introduction in the Hunter Exam arc, Canary defeated a Blacklist Hunter and a hundred henchmen without even breaking a sweat. She can use Ten and sense Ren, indicating ability in at least two of the Four Major Principles of the Nen magic system. Yes, she lacks the required battle experience to be deemed one of the strongest characters in “Hunter X Hunter,” but even mid-range “Hunter X Hunter” characters are incredibly powerful, and, as such a fast learner, her power has plenty of room to grow.

Pyunma, aka Cyborg 008, is the African member of the international cyborg team from the “Cyborg 009” franchise. On land, he’s as strong as any of his teammates — he’s skilled in hand-to-hand combat and he is also the smartest tactician. Underwater, Pyunma is even more powerful, thanks to his cybernetic lungs. If the 00 Cyborgs were the Justice League, then he would be the group’s Aquaman.

Looking at the different versions of 008 across the decades really shows how depictions of Black characters in manga and anime have improved. While Shotaro Ishinomori wrote 008 as a strong and complex character in the original manga (which ran from 1964 to 1981), he drew him in an extremely offensive manner, something that was sadly common at the time. Subsequent anime adaptations have given Pyunma better, more realistic redesigns. His backstory has also been updated from being an escaped slave to a guerrilla fighter.

Atsushi Ohkubo has put more of a concerted effort into creating strong Black characters than most other mangaka: This list features two characters from shows based on his work. First up is Ogun Montgomery from “Fire Force.” He’s the grandson of the Immigrant Hero, a sea captain who helped people escape apocalyptic catastrophe and find safety in the Tokyo Empire. Seeking to live up to his ancestor’s heroic deeds, Ogun earned the highest marks in the Special Fire Force Training Academy before becoming a member of Company 4.

Named after the Yoruba god of metalworkers, Ogun uses his pyrokinetic abilities to forge any weapon he desires. His most powerful fighting technique is called Flamy Ink – he has tattoos that light on fire and increase his strength, speed, and durability. The only weakness when it comes to Flamy Ink is that Ogun can’t keep it activated for very long, or he runs the risk of burning himself up. However, when used efficiently, it’s a very powerful technique, and it also looks extremely cool.

“Stardust Crusaders,” the third and arguably most iconic arc of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,” follows a team of Stand Users on a journey to Egypt to defeat the evil vampire Dio. Muhammad Avdol, an Egyptian astrologer and fortune teller who wields the bird-headed Stand Magician’s Red, is the first to discover that Dio has returned. He guides the group on their quest, with his combination of knowledge and strength proving vital to their survival. With Magician’s Red, Avdol can control powerful short-range fire attacks, though this Stand wasn’t enough to save his life. Avdol was actually killed off twice — first with a fake-out death in the battle with Hol Horse, then with a real death, with Avdol sacrificing himself to save Polnareff and Iggy from Vanilla Ice (one of the best “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” villains).

The “Black guy dies first” trope was all too common in the ’80s and ’90s, and “Stardust Crusaders” — written between 1989 and 1992 — seemingly fell right into it. However, the creator of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” says that killing Avdol was more about him being too strong. The truth is that Hirohiko Araki decided Avdol’s attacks were overpowered and a pain to draw, which is why he had to go. “Drawing Magician’s Red was a bit of a struggle for me,” he said. “I think in terms of ‘JoJo,’ flames and poisonous gas have become off limits for me.” Araki also revealed that he regrets not making the most of Avdol after revealing that he was still alive. “Now that I think back on it, since I killed him once, I probably should have made him more important in the story.”

Afro from “Afro Samurai” might not have any explicit supernatural powers like the other characters on this list, but when you can survive seemingly any injury and are such a skilled swordsman that you can slice RPG missiles in half, you deserve a spot on this list. The character design by Takashi Okazaki (who would go on to create a memorable new take on the Dark Knight for the film “Batman Ninja”) is fantastic. Also, how could anyone ignore a character voiced by Samuel L. Jackson when putting together an article about awesome Black anime characters?

The high-tech feudal world of “Afro Samurai” has its own power ranking system: Whoever wears the “Number One” headband is basically a god, and the only person who can challenge them in battle wears the “Number Two” headband — but anyone can challenge Number Two. After witnessing Justice (Ron Perlman) kill his father and take the Number One ranking as a child, Afro swears revenge. He becomes Number Two and eventually Number One, confirming him to be the strongest fighter in this brutal land. To get to this position requires so much bloodshed it becomes a curse, and he’s even more merciless in the manga, where his killer instinct often takes over.

One of three fire-based characters on this list, Nathan Seymour from “Tiger & Bunny” is a pyrokinetic superhero operating under the codename Fire Emblem. “Tiger & Bunny” was ahead of its time in terms of representation — not only is Seymour a Black character, they’re also queer and non-binary. They are strong in battle, and they’ve delivered some powerful quotes that LGBTQ+ fans love, such as: “They say a man is made of courage and a woman is made of love. So what does that mean for people who are both? We are invincible!”

Seymour’s relatively low ranking among the competitive heroes in the first season of “Tiger & Bunny” was, if anything, a result of Fire Emblem’s powers being too strong — fire is a dangerous and risky ability when working in a no-killing profession. Their ranking improved in Season 2, where they got to show off more of their skills partnering with Sky High, the King of Heroes. In addition to hero work, Seymour is also the owner of the Helios Energy company, making them the only hero who is their own commercial sponsor. They’re definitely one of the coolest gay superheroes.

Before Naruto Uzumaki learned to master the Nine-Tails, Killer Bee was by far the strongest of the jinchuriki thanks to his complete control over the Eight-Tails. The aspiring rap star can access all of the tentacled beast’s transformations without risking his own self-control, and he has enough chakra to keep fighting all day long even in his transformed state. He’s no slouch in his regular human form, either — Killer Bee does kenjutsu with seven swords and he excels with lightning-natured powers. He also developed the dance-like fighting style of Disturbance Taijutsu.

While a few different Black characters from the Hidden Cloud Village in the “Naruto” franchise warranted consideration for this list, Killer Bee comes out ahead of even the Third Raikage, Killer Bee’s adoptive father who’s widely considered to be the village’s strongest leader. The Third Raikage’s battles with the Eight-Tails came down to a draw, so Killer Bee combining the Eight-Tails’ raw power with his own sharp intelligence means he would likely dominate this theoretical father-son showdown.

“Soul Eater,” the second Atsushi Ohkubo title recognized on this list, makes power rankings easier to determine with its star system. Sid Barrett is an elite meister with a three-star rating, the highest attainable rank at the Death Weapon Meister Academy. His demon weapon, Mira Naigus, is just as impressive, even teaching martial arts at the academy. Since meisters and weapons work together, we’re including them alongside each other on this list — though this formidable pair of Black characters are both very powerful in their own right.

As a human, Sid was already exceptional with knives, guns, and martial arts techniques. He was killed in the line of duty, but when Franken Stein brought him back from the dead as a zombie, he was stronger than ever, digging through the ground at a great speed and even using his own gravestone as a weapon. Mira not only serves as Sid’s most dependable weapon in her Demon Knife form, she can also put up a fight with her own fists, which is rare for a weapon. Her skill at setting traps is her most celebrated talent, one which proved particularly useful during the big battle on Lost Island.

Marshall D. Teach, better known as Blackbeard (not to be confused with Edward Teach, the real historical Blackbeard), stands out from all other pirates in “One Piece” thanks to having the powers of not just one, but two Devil Fruits. With the Dark-Dark Fruit, the “most evil” of the Devil Fruits, he controls the power of darkness, able to create black hole-like vortexes and nullify the powers of opponents’ Devil Fruits. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit, meanwhile, lets him cause earthquakes of varying intensities — he uses smaller shockwaves in battle, but he can also cause quakes big enough to destroy the world if need be.

Looper’s ranking of the most powerful “One Piece” characters placed Blackbeard ahead of even Monkey D. Luffy himself, which should tell you just how formidable he is. He’s certainly used his skills to further his cause over the years: Having murdered Whitebeard and handed Ace over to the Marines, this pirate Emperor — who “One Piece” creator Eiichiro Oda says would be from Somalia if he existed in our world — is one of the most villainous characters in the series. With the long-running pirate manga and anime now in its last stretch, many have speculated that Blackbeard will end up being the final boss in Monkey D. Luffy’s epic journey.

“Bleach” has one of the most diverse casts of any major shonen anime, including many powerful Black characters who could have made this list if we weren’t sticking to a one-character-per-series rule. When picking the most powerful Black character in “Bleach,” Lille Barro surpasses all other contenders. With his Schrift power, The X Axis, Lille is unbeatable as a marksman. His bullets travel to any target within his sight instantaneously and are impossible to block. If anyone tries to shoot back, he can use The X Axis on himself to become intangible, letting gunshots and other objects pass through him.

With his winged Quincy: Vollständig, his spiritual power reaches even higher levels. If any part of his body somehow gets injured, he can regenerate it in Vollständig’s second form, making him effectively immortal and unkillable. Lille’s only weakness is ultimately his own power. Others’ attacks don’t hurt him, but Nanao Ise was able to reflect Lille’s Trompete blast attack back at him — and that hurt badly, costing him much of his godlike power. Yet, even weakened by this defeat, Lille is still a strong fighter and a force to be reckoned with in the world of “Bleach.” As far as we’re concerned, he’s the strongest Black anime character around.