Anime heroes save the world all the time, but they’re pretty terrible at taking credit for their victories. Some people are just better at promoting themselves than others, or at least have their own personal publicist. These people tend to take credit for other people’s achievements.
Some of them do it by accident, or have actual achievements that are simply blown out of proportion. Others are just good liars, even if the audience can tell they are full of it all the time. Good, evil, or chaotically neutral, the one thing these characters all have in common is that they are complete frauds.
10/10 Kayaba cheated to become SAO’s best player
Sword art online
Heathcliff is the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath and has a reputation for being so Sword art online‘s top player. The one problem is that he is actually Kayaba, the ruthless creator of SAO and the one responsible for capturing all the players in the game.
While Kayaba is certainly a skilled player, he also cemented himself as number one by cheating. He gives his avatar the strongest shield in the game. Even if someone got past it, he has also made himself an immortal object that cannot be killed by another player or monster.
9/10 Espa Roba does not have ESP
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Espa Roba quickly emerges as one of Battle City’s best duelists, largely thanks to his psychic powers. However, he has no psychic powers, his brothers used binoculars and earphones to tell him his opponents’ cards.
In addition to outright cheating, Espa Roba also gained a psychological advantage over his opponents. Facing an opponent who can read minds is a bit unnerving. Fortunately, he is found out before his cheating can take him too far. Although he’s hardly the only anime character to fake psychic powers.
8/10 Arataka Reigen takes advantage of the mob’s powers
Mob Psycho 100
Reigen is a pretty small con artist, who pretends to have physical powers to run an exorcism business. He mostly just tricked superstitious people into thinking they were possessed until he takes on Mob, one of the best psychics in anime, as a student.
Mob can easily take down actual spirits, allowing Reigen to take advantage of a more profitable market, under the guise of teaching the young boy to control his powers. Although he really does care about Mob, which is probably the only honest thing about him.
7/10 Usopps neither a god nor a superhero
One Piece
Usopp is one of the best liars in One Piece, often using his various fibs to help the Straw Hats or to entertain others. This gives him a somewhat undeserved reputation, especially on Dressrossa where he pretends to be a superhero descendant of Noland. Even more dramatically, he was revered as a god after freeing the former toys from Sugar’s powers.
While Usopp played an important role in saving the day, his achievements were over-dramatized, as Sugar was largely responsible for defeating himself. Still, this made Usopp the most wanted pirate on the island, with Doflamingo placing a bounty of five hundred million berries on his head.
6/10 Don Kanonji uses the children’s performances for his TV show
Bleach
Don Kanonji actually has a decent amount of spiritual power, at least by the standards of a normal human. Still, he’s not quite at the point where he can make a dent, so he recruits the various high-powered kids in Karakura Town into a fake superhero team.
While Karakura Town certainly needs protectors when Ichigo is gone, Don Kanonji is really taking advantage of these hero fantasies for his TV show. A little creative editing makes him the star, while the kids do all the real work.
5/10 Monaka is the “strongest” mortal in universe 7
Dragon Ball Super
Monaka is just a pink delivery man who travels around the galaxy dropping fruit and delicious treats. His power level might as well be non-existent, yet Goku, and for a time the rest of the Z-Fighters, believe him to be the strongest fighter in Universe 7.
It’s not really Monaka’s fault that he’s a fraud, as it’s all part of Beerus’ plan to motivate Earth’s Saiyans. Imagine saying no to the plan of a volatile god of destruction who randomly blows up planets over greasy desserts.
4/10 King’s An Accidental Fraud
One Punch Man
Saitama constantly destroys city-level threats with a single blow. But he didn’t really stick around afterwards. Poor King was unlucky enough to be at ground zero for almost every monster attack Saitama stopped, leading the audience to believe he was responsible for saving the day.
King’s reward for consistently being in the wrong place at the wrong time is the title of “World’s Strongest Man.” King is a weakling who would much rather play video games than risk his life as a pro hero. To his credit, he often uses his reputation to save the day, quickly becoming one of Saitama’s most useful allies.
3/10 Mr. Satan claims credit for Z Fighter’s achievements
Dragon Ball Z
Mr. Satan is a world martial arts champion, so naturally he bravely steps forward to confront the monster cell that threatens to destroy the Earth. He is easily sidelined, but with the cameras not witnessing Gohan destroying Cell, Mr. Satan manages to convince the audience that he is responsible for saving the world.
As Earth’s hero, Mr. Satan achieves incredible fame and fortune. He proceeds to claim more of the Z-Fighters feats, but this ends up being useful as he convinces the audience to give their energy to a Spirit Bomb.
2/10 Banna pretends to be Naruto
Naruto
After saving the Hidden Leaf Village from pain, Naruto becomes one of the most famous heroes on the ninja continent. But as a relatively new legend, most people didn’t know what he looked like. This allows Banna to pretend to be Naruto as part of a scheme to gain fame for his friend.
This backfires spectacularly when Banna is targeted by mercenaries who want to capture the real Naruto. The problem with pretending to be a great hero is that everyone wants to take that person down, to build their own reputation. It is one of the series’ more filler episodes that can be skipped.
1/10 Buggy fails upwards
One Piece
Buggy starts One Piece as a fairly low-level pirate, so it’s not surprising that he is captured by the Navy when he tries to sail through the Grand Line. This ends up being the best thing that could have happened to Buggy, as he happens to be in Impel Down when Luffy orchestrates a mass breakout.
Buggy’s role in the outbreak, and the revelation that he was a cabin boy on Gol D. Roger’s ship, immediately gives him a reputation far greater than his actual power. It doesn’t take long for him to become a Warlord, and then an Emperor despite not being nearly as strong as the other pirates to hold those ranks.