Bungo Stray Dogsintroduces a wide cast of characters that only expands with each season. From the Port Mafia’s swiftest assassins to the most cunning detectives at the Armed Detective Agency, Yokohama is held in the grasp of some of the most powerful warriors and ability users in the city.
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However, being exceptionally powerful isn’t entirely what makes these stray dogs so strong, especially with The Guild and the Hunting Dogs on the playing field. Given that thisgripping and action-packed animecenters its weight on strategic plays as well as powers, part of what makes or breaks a character also depends on how witty and sharp they are.
Spoiler warning: Beware of plot spoilers for Bungo Stray Dogs throughout.
10Lovecraft
Other than a rather relatable fear of being the center of attention, nothing seems to faze The Guild member Lovecraft. His state of being, Great Old One, is not easily affected by others and cannot be nullified, making him a worthy opponent. The only weakness this being seems to have is from within (literally) and, even then, this does not kill him.
Despite the fact that he isn’t a primary antagonist in the show overall, Lovecraft challenges Chuya and Dazai enough that they must work together as they’d done before to move the ever-growing being out of their way. If he had become more prominent, he may have ranked higher.
9Akiko Yosano
Despite its extreme limitations, Dr. Yosano’s Thou Shalt Not Die ability makes both herself and her teammates practically immortal if the circumstances are right. While she serves the role of a healer on their rag tag Agency team, she is able to heal herself too. This ability, alongside her own physical strength, allows her to play both a defensive and offensive role if needed.
The only trouble with healing her colleagues on the brink of death is that she needs to be readily available to save them, and she cannot counter others abilities used on peoples’ bodies (such as the viral ability user’s trickery in Season 3).
8Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
Tanizaki is the best kind of friend to have on and off the field. He’s a fairly nonchalant person unless someone threatens the lives of those he cares about. His illusion-based ability, Light Snow, doesn’t require that he be physically strong. Yet, that is what fools his opponents, regardless of their own strengths.
More often than not, he uses this ability to flank his colleagues, but the illusion of the snow screen grants him both protection and clearance. This ability, paired with the right moves at the right time, serves as both a trap and a stealth attack setup. He is more physically limited than some of his fellows, however. He’s a very valuable yet very vulnerable allyin the heat of battle.
7Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
Guild leader Fitzgerald holds a power that relies entirely on money, which makes it a rather privileged power to have. This is also its limitation. His ability, “The Great Fitzgerald,” depends on how much money he spends, allowing him an array of physical strength and super speed.
In a way, this forces him to stay strategic with the amount of money he accrues and when he spends it. If he does not use it wisely, he is left powerless (physically and financially). Fortunately, Fitzgerald doesn’t need much money to regain that power. As seen after the war between The Guild, the Agency, and the Port Mafia, even a mere fifty cents gives him enough power to send a man flying.
6Tatsuhiko Shibusawa
To talk about Shibusawa is to talk about quite the comeback. His ability, Draconia, is malleable to the extent that it both extracts and “collects” others' abilities. It even extracted his own ability, to the degree that he could still somehow continue to use his ability in a liminal space.
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Thus, it both served a purpose in keeping him “alive” and made him a catalyst in another antagonist’s plan. Shibusawa’s weakness is that he is easily manipulated by others and may not be physically strong himself (as we only see him use such strength when it’s granted to him).
5Kyōka Izumi
The biggest weakness for Kyōka when it comes to her ability, Demon Snow, is that she must control it through her cell phone. However, when she does use it, the phantom can slice through any material within seconds. Yet Kyōka herself is highly skilled even without her ability, due to her time as one of the Port Mafia’s assassins.
She is both nimble on her feet and handy with a short sword of her own. What additionally makes Kyōka so strong is found in her arc: Her acceptance of Demon Snow as a part of her and her understanding that she can take ahold of her life; using her abilities and knowledge to help instead of hurt the people of Yokohama.
4Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Even though Akutagawa often feels inferior to the people around him, his Rashoumon overcoat is one of the most flexible abilities in the Stray Dogs world. The fireproof “black beast” makes him bulletproof by consuming the space surrounding him. It can also reach from afar and serves as a physically potent armor when needed.
This allows Akutagawa an upper hand in both offensive and defensive positions. Another aspect of his power that contributes to his strength is the fact that it is transferrable. He can strip himself of his ability at any time while still controlling it from afar (as seen when he transfers it to Atsushi in Season 3).
3Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fans don’t yet have an intimate knowledge of exactly what the extent of Fyodor’s abilities are. However, what they do know is that he plays on the same level of intelligence as Dazai: always one step ahead of everything and placing people where he wants them to be.
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On top of that, Crime and Punishment seems to be rather multifaceted. With one touch, Fyodor could kill someone on the spot. He can also influence the way people think. Layered on top of both of these features, his ability also appears to nullify itself, as if it didn’t turn against him in Dead Apple. Pulling strings left and right, it’s clear that when the Agency comes face to face with him, he will already be known as a formidable opponent.
2Chūya Nakahara
Nakahara is the man called to the front lines whenever the Port Mafia or their allies are in a bind. His ability, Upon the Tainted Sorrow, is both a long-range and short-range offensive strength. From making himself lighter to weighing someone down with just a touch, Chūya is one of the strongest characters in Bungo Stray Dogs.
His greatest strength is the Tainted version of his ability. This is also a weakness for him, though, given that he cannot control or stop the rampage mode himself. Creating miniature black holes that could suck in or spit out everything in its vicinity makes him almost entirely untouchable.
1Osamu Dazai
Having played both on the side of justice and of crime, Dazai has the all-around capabilities of a naturally intelligent character. He also boasts the ability No Longer Human, which nullifies the abilities of anyone he touches. It is key to notice that Dazai doesn’t always rely on his ability, which is part of what made (and continues to make) him cunning as both a detective and a mafia member in thisintriguing anime series.
His ability to predict the actions of others, expertly toying with and manipulating the people around him, even threatened the head of the Port Mafia and trumped Fyodor in his own game.
