Powerful main characters are always fascinating, especially if they have some form of control over other characters. Some of them, even have loyal followers who would do anything for them.
This article will show you some examples of the best anime where the protagonist can exercise such control. This form of power isn’t always negative, as proved by One Piece, where Luffy is a very charismatic and reliable captain.
This listicle is highly subjective and will be updated consistently.
Table of Contents
7. The Heroic Legend of Arslan
An underrated war-themed and political anime with an exquisite compelling fantasy world as its backdrop. We are talking about The Heroic Legend of Arslan, a 2015 anime based on a shonen manga.
In the prosperous kingdom of Pars resides the capital city of Ecbatana, a city of countless beauty and wonders, ruled by King Andragoras.
Arslan is the young prince of Pars, but he does not seem to have the qualities to be a respected king like his father, due to being a bad figure during his first battle.
But he won’t be deterred and will embark on a journey aimed at his redemption and regaining the fame due to a king, He will soon gather a long line of followers who believe in his crusade thanks to his charisma.
You will hardly fail to end up rooting for him and feeling like a comrade of his in turn.
6. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
One of the most popular isekai of recent times, animated in various series by Studio 8-Bit and based on Fuse’s light novel of the same name.
The main character is transported to a fantasy world after this death, as typical in the isekai genre. The protagonist is Satoru Mikami, a salaryman who dies stabbed after saving a colleague from a robber.
He will be reincarnated as a blind slime who, after befriending the dragon Veldra, begins his adventure in the world, gathering around him a vast array of followers that share his ideals.
This anime can count on a good plot, with characters never left to their own devices and well characterized.
All this combined with an excellent technical aspect helped to quickly make it one of the great classics of the genre and an anime that should be watched.
5. Code Geass
A very famous anime released between 2006 and 2007 by the collaboration between Sunrise studio and the very famous female mangaka group CLAMP.
Japan became a colony of the empire of Britain and is now known as Area 11, taking away all rights from its citizens. Only a few, for merits acquired, can assume the status of honorary British citizens.
Lelouch gets caught in a crossfire and can escape after receiving the Geass by C.C., a mysterious girl. This power allows him to have absolute power over others, just by direct eye contact.
It follows that Lelouch builds his following to revolt against the Holy Britannian Empire and get his revenge. In fact, he was much more than a simple Japanese citizen as you will notice by watching Code Geass.
Lelouch will find his cohort of loyal followers who believe in his ideology, becoming the general of the rebellion, being a charismatic leader and one of the best genius MCs ever.
4. Legend of the Galactic Heroes
An OAV series about the devastating and interminable war that has raged now for 150 years between the Galactic Empire led by the Goldenbaum dynasty and the Alliance of Free Planets.
Set in the distant future when humanity has now colonized and made the entire cosmos its own, we see two MC pop up in the great turmoil of the war: Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen-li.
Each of them, as can be guessed, is part of a high office of the two respective factions, each with opposing war visions, plans, and ambitions.
Both protagonists can count on trusted comrades ready to go all out to help the man they believe in. This is especially true for the charismatic Reinhard, an icon.
This is an anime that sees kingdoms at war and political entanglements as its main themes. But it also dwells on side stories designed to illustrate the different lives of the social classes in the futuristic world in which it’s set, with one of the best male MC duos ever.
3. Overlord
Overlord is an anime based on another light novel series written by Kugane Maruyama and illustrated by So-Bin in 2012.
A great Isekai classic, it takes the basics of the genre and reworks them into a dark fantasy atmosphere all its own.
Although the initial premise is the same as much other anime in the genre, here the protagonist Momonga is not reincarnated into a weakling, but rather into an extremely powerful demon lord.
This will lead him to be in command of a powerless army of trusty allies, ready to do everything in their power for his boss.
The great virtue of Overlord, in addition to the aforementioned change of perspective from similar isekai, is the rawness of the actions performed by the protagonist.
The great virtue of Overlord is the rawness of the actions performed by Momonga and the real and tangible weight they have on the people of the world. And indeed we consider him as one of the best evil MCs you can find.
2. The Mobile Suit Gundam Universe
The Gundam series is immense, with 10 timelines and many movies/OVAs. But what they all have in common is two things: war and its consequences and the fact that most main characters have their lineup of loyal followers.
While this may not be the case for every show in the franchise, it’s true for 0079 and 08th MS Team, to name just two.
The most important timeline is the Universal Century (UC), which brings the entire universe alive and doesn’t simply focus on the main cast.
Gundam manages to give us a complete perspective on war and describe the conflicts between factions in the most impartial way.
This is the proof that Tomino, the author, wants to show us that war is negative and that the conflict between two or more parties is just a proxy to get his message through.
The use of technology and realistic scenarios are relative and not an unlikely possibility for the future of humanity.
1. One Piece
One Piece is super famous and it’s the best example of how you handle a cast of loyal followers. Luffy is the head of the pirate crew and gathers a huge following during his journey to find the One Piece.
The Straw Hat Pirates form several alliances during One Piece and get several followers after Whole Cake Island.
Even without the enlarged crew, his comrades have proven to be extremely faithful and ready to die for him, as we could see during Enies Lobby and in the recent Wano.
We can even say that the most loyal followers are the fans of the series, as One Piece is always selling extremely well and is already past 500 million copies sold. It’s the most sold manga ever, after all.
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