Warning: SPOILERS for Solo Leveling aheadThe strongest necromancers in anime prove that the power of the dark side is still unrelenting and strong. For the majority of the past few decades of anime, the necromancer occupation has never made it to the forefront of the medium. However, with the advent of the recent Solo Leveling anime adaptation, Sung Jinwoo has brought the necromancer to the front of the public sphere with its own twist.
Other than Sung Jinwoo, who is technically a necromancer but redefines the traditional definition, there have been all sorts of necromancers in anime, many of which have been previously overlooked as such. From controlling conjured shadows, to skeletons, to zombies, all of these abilities fall under the categorization of necromancy. The strongest of these bunch will have proven the potency of such powers and their effect on the fantasy worlds that they are present in.
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10 Beldia Is a Hilariously Strong Dullahan
Konosuba (2016), Studio Deen
In the wacky and unpredictable fantasy world of the isekai anime Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! all sorts of characters have free rein in terms of eccentricity. The series follows the main character, Satou Kazuma, who is transported to a new world following an embarrassingly unfortunate death. When he is given the choice of one wish from the goddess who will reincarnate him, in his spite, Kazuma chooses the goddess herself, thus starting the hilarious adventures of Kazuma and Aqua in the world of Konosuba.
Along the way, Kazuma meets Beldia, a headless undead knight, or a dullahan, who was once the Devil King’s General. Beldia is also a necromancer who has the ability to summon fellow undead knights to aid him in battle. Beldia is often overlooked as a necromancer because he himself is capable of a high level of combat. Although he is one of the stronger enemies in Konosuba, his weakness to Aqua’s disappointing stream of holy water slightly takes away from his prowess.
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9 Rades Only Has One Type of Magic, But It’s More Than Enough
Black Clover (2017), Studio Pierrot
Black Clover is a modern shonen anime that does its best to revitalize the wizards and magic tropes in anime, introducing a unique system of magic that doesn’t stray too far from original fantasy ideas. The series follows Asta, who aspires to become the wizard king despite his inability to use magic. The story thus becomes a journey of overcoming adversity and the enemies that Asta faces with his unwavering perseverance.
One such enemy is Rades, whose grimoire hosts only a single page, signifying the fact that he can only use one type of magic. However, this one type of magic is what makes Rades so strong because it allows him to reanimate the souls and corpses of the dead. Using this power, Rades resurrects an entire army of undead, terrorizing the innocent and becoming one of the more prominent early antagonists in Black Clover.
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8 Adalman Shows What It Means To Be a Lich
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018), 8bit Studio
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is one of the most successful isekai anime that takes the genre to the next level, as the main character, Rimuru, begins the story as a slime who was previously a Japanese salaryman. Through this premise, a hilarious, but world-driven story unfolds, leaving room for all sorts of characters that don’t necessarily have to be human.
One character that appears late in the series is Adalman, formerly one of the Five Fingers of Clayman, who resembles a skeleton wearing priests’ robes. His magic includes controlling an army of skeleton warriors, including an undead swordsman and a frightening bone dragon. In episode 45 of the anime, Adalman shows that his magic is nothing to scoff at, but eventually is defeated at Shuna’s hand and defects to Rimuru’s party.
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7 Gecko Moria Rules an Island of Undead
One Piece (1999), Toei Animation
One Piece is one of the longest-running shonen anime of all time, and rightly so because of its unique premise, world-building, and creative use of characters. The series follows Luffy, a young man aiming to become King of the Pirates, as he travels the high seas searching for companions who will follow him along his journey. Although Luffy meets many friends along the way, he meets just as many enemies, if not more.
Gecko Moria is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. His devil fruit allows him to manipulate shadows, and one application is to put stolen shadows into corpses to reanimate them and bend them to Moria’s will. He captains an enormous vessel that is basically an island, and the space is filled to the brim with sewed corpses and makeshift chimeras that he calls his crew mates. Interestingly enough, these experiments of his all have their own souls and consciousnesses, showing that Gecko Moria is a well-versed necromancer.
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One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history’s longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.
6 Giselle Can Control Anyone With a Drop of Blood
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War (2022), Studio Pierrot
Bleach has long gained a lot of love from the anime community for being one of the Big Three of shonen anime, but in recent years, its noteriety has reached a new peak with its continuation, Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War. This new series takes off where the 2004 original anime left off, with main character Ichigo raring to enter another high-octane soul reaper battle. One of the new supporting antagonists in Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War is Giselle, a Quincy who is part of the Wandenreich.
Her powers are unique in that they resemble those of a necromancer, but don’t quite fit the traditional mold. With a few drops of her blood, she is capable of turning people into zombies under her control, which is a frightening ability that earns her the title of one of anime’s strongest necromancers. Giselle’s personality makes her also one of the most twisted ones.
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Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is a sequel series to the popular anime from creator Tite Kubo. This anime follows Ichigo and his friends as they investigate why people are disappearing while trouble arises in the Soul Society. The first season was released in 2022 and has been critically acclaimed since its beginning.
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5 Melascula Overpowers Opponents With Her Cocoon of Darkness
The Seven Deadly Sins (2014), A-1 Pictures
The Seven Deadly Sins is a shonen anime that experienced an encouraging wave of support on its release, but unfortunately fell into the depths of obscurity, mostly because of the underwhelming work made on season 2. The series follows Mediodas and Elizabeth through a magical world with some resemblance to the European Middle Ages, with magical knights and demons. The protagonist’s group, called the Seven Deadly Sins, goes up against organizations such as The Ten Commandments.
Of the Ten Commandments, one figure stands out as a necromancer, as Melascula controls her reanimated spirits all the while sporting a calm and somewhat dead-pan look on her face. Of her necromancy, the ability called Cocoon of Darkness stands out, as it allows her to trap her enemies within a disorienting black sphere while it siphons the energy of the trapped target to resurrect even more undead, causing a vicious cycle.
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4 Orochimaru Is a Necromancer as a Side Occupation
Naruto (2002), Studio Pierrot
One of the “Big Three” of shonen anime, Naruto is a franchise that leads the ninja anime categorization, as its many continuations, movies, and spin-offs have earned it much popularity and acclaim. The story follows Naruto through his adventures of becoming a notable ninja, and hopefully eventually the Hokage, but enemies from both within and outside his village hinder him along the way. One of the most notable and strongest villains in the series is Orochimaru, one of Konoha’s three legendary Sannin.
However, Orochimaru defected from the Hidden Leaf village, and embarked on studying evil ninjutsu, many of which involve necromancy. His most famous contribution is the Edo Tensei jutsu, a reanimation technique that allows Orochimaru (and others) to resurrect and control powerful ninja of the past, such as the previous Hokage. While the technique was later perfected by Kabuto and used massively in the final war, it was Orochimaru who first brought it to life in the series.
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Naruto: Shippuden
Set two and a half years after the events of Masashi Kishimoto’s original anime, Naruto Shippuden continues the titular hero’s attempts to become the best ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village and bring his former friend Sasuke Uchiha back to the light. The 500-episode series features the return of allies such as Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki’s mentor Jiraiya, as well as the villainous organization Akatsuki.
3 Ainz Ooal Gown Is a Max Level Lich
Overlord (2015), Madhouse
The anime Overlord which is expecting a long-awaited return with a movie sequel, takes a spin at the immensely popular isekai trope of getting stuck in a video game, which was first lifted to prominence by series such as Sword Art Online. However, contrary to the latter, Overlord subjects Momonga, the main character, to being stuck in the body of his character, who was an incredibly powerful Lich with a skeleton-like body.
Luckily, Momonga, who renames himself as Ainz Ooal Gown, is still an overpowered existence that has reached the max level of the world. He doesn’t mind his undead body at all and rather focuses on making the NPCs created by his player friends happy. Necromancy is only one of the protagonist’s overpowering abilities, letting him control legions upon legions of undead, while also wreaking havoc with magical spells of all elements and forms.
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2 Wei Wuxian Is the Founder of Demonic Cultivation
The Founder of Diabolism (2018), B. CMAY PICTURES
The Founder of Diabolism, also known as Mo Dao Zu Shi, is an anime adapted from a Chinese web novel of the same name. With its adaptation into an anime, or donghua (Chinese Animation), the series brings the idea of cultivation, which takes massive influence from Taoist and Buddhist teachings and mythologies, to the greater anime world. This idea has long been present in fantasy, but only recently has it come to the forefront of animated media.
The main character of the series, Wei Wuxian, is the creator of the demonic path of cultivation that harnesses the dark energies of the world, which includes but is not limited to souls and spirits. However, Wei Wuxian is endowed with incredible powers that have limitless potential for growth, as he controls the corpses of the dead with the bolstering of weapons such as the Spirit Attraction Flag and the Yin Tiger Tally. Aside from his necromancy, Wei Wuxian is also adept at sword-wielding, archery, and a plethora of magical techniques.
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1 Sung Jinwoo Is the Shadow Monarch
Solo Leveling (2024), A-1 Pictures
The Solo Leveling manhwa has been one of the most popular of its medium for years, and with its debut in the world of anime, fans have been clamoring with anticipation. With the first of the episodes having been released, Sung Jinwoo is introduced as one of the weakest hunters in the Solo Leveling universe, but a tragic encounter in a dungeon changes his fate for the better. Although the anime has not yet revealed the true extent of Jinwoo’s powers, he will soon gain necromancy abilities that will carry him throughout the series.
His powers provide for infinite ways to expand his supporting cast, as his summoned shadow creatures act as his companions as well as his strongest support. Without getting too deep into the story of Solo Leveling, there is much to be expected from the necromancer Sung Jinwoo and the shadows he summons from the monsters that fall by his hand.
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Solo Leveling
Based on a webtoon series, Solo Leveling is an action-adventure fantasy anime originally created by Chugong. When Sung Jinwoo is slain in the depths of a high-level dungeon, he is reborn – but this time with a plan. Utilizing a unique program that only he can, Jinwoo levels up remarkably fast – and he intends to use his newfound strength to reach the heart of the dungeon and uncover its secrets.
