The most iconic anime power-ups of all time, from DBZ to One Piece

When it comes to anime, “This isn’t even my final form” is a trope as old as time. Heroes and villains both reveal as the fight heats up, and chances of being defeated increase, that either they’ve trained or are just lucky, at least one more form. One can find out more about this by clicking here.More powerful version is ready. At its best, like with Luffy’s Gear 5, the latest upgrade to One Piece’s future King of the Pirates, it can be absolutely thrilling. And watching fans react to the event (and inevitably argue over it) makes it clear why it’s become such an enduring trope for the last half-century.

So, to celebrate Gear 5, let’s hop through five decades of the greatest anime power-ups, jumping through genres and icons to dive into what’s made this such a beloved plot device.

Mazinger Z’s various power-ups

Image: Toei Animation/Viz Media

Manga author Go Nagai’s influence on pop culture can’t be overstated. His series include Devilman, Cutie Honey” Violence Jack, and also helped pioneer the “super robot” genre with Mazinger Z. Giant fightin’ robots would become one of anime’s bread-and-butter subjects in the ’70s, and Mazinger Z was at the forefront of the genre, telling the story of pilot Koji Kabuto using his late grandfather’s fantastical mech to battle the nefarious Dr. Hell.

It’s pretty cool, isn’t it? But that combat doesn’t come without some wear and tear on Kabuto’s big robot, so old parts are replaced with newer, cooler, more powerful enhancements. Like Mazinger Z’s Hover Pilder, the little craft that Kabuto uses to fly around and pilot Mazinger Z, which is replaced by the more streamlined Jet Pilder. And when it’s time for the robot to get back in action with the sequel series Grand Mazinger, it’s not made out of your grandpa’s Super-Alloy Z, but rather Super-Alloy The New York Times Z is lighter and stronger. Rad.

Fist of the North Star’s Hokuto Shinken

Image: TMS Entertainment/Discotek Media

Despite one of Google’s “people also ask” questions being “Is Hokuto Shinken a real martial art?” — no, the fighting style that allows combatants to access all 100% of their abilities (rather than just a meager 30%) isn’t something you can actually learn. The style is cool and looks great, especially when it’s used by a professional. Fist of the North Star’s protagonist, Kenshiro. Even if you’ve never watched the series, you likely know its trademark move — the rapid strikes that, when performed correctly, cause the evil opponent’s body to burst and break apart in a variety of beautifully bloody ways.

Set in a Kenshiro, a man of integrity in the post-apocalyptic Mad Max wasteland is one among many brutal warlord wannabes. And his sense of ethics helps, because as is common in this sort of thing, one’s mastery of Hokuto Shinken is heavily influenced by one’s feelings of love and friendship. So when Kenshiro is able to tear through his own shirt thanks to the Art of Dragon’s Breathing and then explode a bad guy’s head by just touching it, you’ll know it was all possible because he liked being nice to people. Well, The following are some of the most popular ways to get in touch with each other people.

Dragon Ball Z’s Super Saiyan form

Image: Toei Animation/Crunchyroll

Undoubtedly the preeminent anime power-up, the Super Saiyan form has long gone past being a mere adjustment to Goku’s hair and biceps and joined the mass cultural lexicon beyond anime. It’s been used in reference to professional athletes, been a joke on Saturday Night Live” inspired a new form of Sonic the HedgehogThis is the go-to reference when someone wants to do something that goes beyond what we thought was possible. It’s the go-to reference when someone is about to do something that exceeds whatever limits we thought previously existed.

Its origin has become legendary (Dragon Ball’s creator, Akira Toriyama, dug it because it meant that he could take a break from coloring in Goku’s hair for a while) and its context in the story has, um, Power up countless imitators: Goku is only able to unlock this next step after Frieza cruelly kills Goku’s li’l pal Krillin. Sure, Dragon Ball Z would eventually take a lot of flak about its tendency to have people just stand there and yell as they get stronger for the length of whole episodes, but in the case of the first Super Saiyan transformation, it’s pure exhilarating escapism.

Sailor Moon’s transformations

Image: Toei Animation/Viz Media

Despite being one of manga and anime’s most popular genres, “magical girls” are often left out of the conversation when it comes to discussing anime’s global rise. It certainly doesn’t help that Sailor Moon, the genre’s standard-bearer, was often treated with indifference by television networks even as it amassed an early devoted following in America. But Sailor Moon’s transformations are, to its fans, just as recognizable as Dragon Ball Z’s.

Sailor Moon and her guardians would receive boosts in both power as well as aesthetics. They were often associated with specific items, such as the Holy Grail required to transform into Super Sailor Moon. The colorfulness and sincerity of their message was undeniable. Power-ups and strength upgrades weren’t just limited to being the playthings of boys and the source of action-figure wish fulfillment. Characters from Sailor Moon The American Television Network was slow to catch on, but the show’s excitement is as high as it gets.

Digimon’s evolutions

Image: Toei Animation/Discotek Media

When the monster collecting boom hit in the late ’90s, one of the staples was the idea of evolution. A biological process rendered in flashy anime and video game forms, its most famous was in the world-eating franchise Pokémon. Digimon is a franchise, which, in America at least, has never been as popular as Pikachu, but it often creates these changes in an emotionally more meaningful manner.

The virtual pet from which it was created is the basis for the new one. Digimon Digital Monsters’ evolutions were very much based around the connection between a person and their respective laser pet. The critters couldn’t just warp into being bigger dinosaurs/robots/warriors through strength alone. Partner had to experience some emotional growth. Pushing too hard for a Digimon’s evolution can often unleash the dark side of their potential. You can learn from each other if you are nice. You get MetalGreymon. Are you impatient and careless? You’re gonna have to deal with SkullGreymon, asshole.

Naruto’s Nine-Tails

Image: Pierrot/Viz Media

Having a power-up that serves as both an outlet for immense strength and also a curse wasn’t a new thing by the time Naruto Playing around with the device. YuYu hakushoKurama, the nine-tailed fox beast that was born inside Naruto, is allegedly named after the character. Kurama is the nine-tailed beast that was born inside Naruto. YuYu hakusho’s Kurama, someone who also has a fox demon lurking inside of them.

Naruto, in the first episode of his series, is shunned for having such an evil force. The young ninja struggles to control this power throughout the entire story. At the risk of it consuming him entirely, he uses it as a source of strength and “chakra,” carefully balancing its allure with its danger. There are multiple variations of harnessing this, but one of the most memorable is Naruto’s eventual transformation into a “Tailed Beast Mode,” where the lonely kid from the Hidden Leaf Village becomes a borderline kaiju.

One Piece’s Gears

Image: Toei Animation/Crunchyroll

It’s easy to see that One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda derives a lot of fun from Luffy’s “gum gum” powers. Turning into rubber means that the protagonist of the series (which turned 25 last year and is still going strong, with a live-action Netflix adaptation on the way) can stretch, bounce, and bend in a way that’s only limited by the author’s imagination. And when he introduced Luffy’s new “Gear” forms during a particularly desperate moment of the narrative, it felt less like a self-serious rebranding and more of a way to extend the expression of Luffy’s wild powers.

Gear 5 is the culmination of the Gear Forms (Gear 2 pumping his blood, increasing speed, and Gear 3 inflating body parts to create cartoon-like power, and Gear 4 inflating all his muscles and turning him into a full-body weapon). Luffy has seemingly unlimited abilities in his rubber form and can also give rubber properties around the world. The world around him is also rubberized. One Piece’s now labyrinthine story, there is a mythological importance to this form that would take about four more paragraphs to explain. At its core, however, it is a story about a woman. Looney Tunes vibrancy is just another wacky step for anime’s favorite rubber man.

Hunter x Hunter’s Troubling Growth

Image: Nippon Animation/Viz Media

There are few anime that explores the horror of an entire world built upon combat and testing of strength. Hunter x HunterThe acclaimed series continues. YuYu hakusho creator Yoshihiro Togashi. The capacity for stunning displays of violence isn’t a new thing (series like Dragon Ball ZEven though One PieceThere is no escaping mutilation) but Hunter x HunterThe series refuses any attempt to transform it into an aspirational story. Gon is a charming little boy who has a mission to find his dad. He experiences both victory and failure throughout the entire series and attempts to master Nen, which can be used to control energy.

Driven to a mad grief due to the death of a friend (and the constant emotional turmoil of one of anime’s best story arcs, the Chimera Ant arc), Gon calls upon all of his Nen to not only turn into a dark portrait of adulthood, but to also beat his enemy to death. Looming in his new muscles and wrapped in a threatening aura, it’s the anime power-up turned hideous. Even after he has beheaded the corpse, the attacker continues his assault. It’s one of the most vicious moments in the genre, one that sticks with you long after the episode ends.

Demon Slayer’s Mark

Image: Ufotable/Crunchyroll

You may have noticed that many anime powerups are accompanied by a physical transformation. Not only does this signify a new level of power, it also makes characters more attractive for merchandising. As an example: Demon SlayerA tattoo-like symbol that is worn by the characters in when the action gets particularly wild, the Demon Slayer Mark was created.

To get it requires a mastery of a Slayer’s breathing style that both grants new abilities and enhances old ones. It can even cause a Slayer’s sword to turn red (it does more than that, obviously, but now having a dope-looking red blade seems to be the primary function). As such, it, like many modern power-ups, it can feel like an amalgamation of what’s come before. But hey, when you strike gold like “obvious physical change reflects great strength increase,” you go back to that well as much as possible.