10 Best Immortal Anime Characters, Ranked

Anime fans love a good immortal character, and these are the very best.

For the eternally youthful characters in anime, their endless lifespans do come with some perks. Whether they’re mystical shamans, ancient demons, or zany vampires, immortal anime characters often develop a rather unique perspective on life, humanity, and what really matters when you have unlimited time on your hands.

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Of course, not all immortals handle eternity with grace and wisdom. Some remain petty and vindictive, nurturing age-old grudges and scheming to make mortal lives miserable. And a rare few just want to have a good time and make people smile, even after countless lifetimes. Here we’ve ranked the best immortal characters in all of anime!

Immortality is often seen as a blessed gift, but for Yume it is nothing but a curse. Afflicted with the parasitic Pupa as a child, Yume is trapped in an endless cycle of violence not of her choosing. She preys upon humanity to keep Pupa satisfied in a perverse mockery of survival.

Yume's skill is her rapid regeneration. No matter how severely she is injured, she heals quickly and comes back to life. Bullets, knives, and broken bones cannot stop her. However, her regeneration requires human flesh to sustain itself, driving her to hunt and feed on humans.

Immortality for Nazuna is more of an excuse to indulge in hobbies and passions without worrying about adult responsibilities. Mentally she's still a teen who loves junk food, video games, and messing with her friend Ko.

Nazuna delights in learning modern lingo on social media and enthusiastically documents each decade's fashion trends in her ever-growing wardrobe. She is playful yet lonely, worldly yet quirky, trapped in time but chasing new experiences each night with Ko. They race through the empty streets, dance among moonlit trees, and share secrets no one else would believe.

Akihito Kanbara's immortality comes from his hybrid status, as the offspring of a human and a youmu, supernatural beings that exist in the Spirit World. Youmu possess incredible regenerative abilities, and Akihito has inherited this trait to an even greater extent.

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The only downside is that serious injuries can cause him to lose control of his youmu instincts, turning him into a frenzied beast. Yet as long as his high school friends are by his side, Akihito finds the strength to persevere as both human and youmu – two halves of a whole.

Ban, the Fox Sin of Greed, is one of the most powerful characters in The Seven Deadly Sins. He was granted eternal life after drinking from the Fountain of Youth. He has a hyper-accelerated healing factor that allows him to recover from almost any injury instantly.

Ban even survived in purgatory which houses demonic criminals. Just the harsh winds of Purgatory would have destroyed any normal being, but he endured its torment for centuries. However, Ban's immortality is not without limits – he still needs to eat, drink, breathe, and sleep to function. Depriving him of such necessities can temporarily weaken him.

Ryuk is bored. Utterly and hopelessly. When you're an immortal death god who has lived forever, life loses its sparkle. But Ryuk's yellow eyes gleam with mischief – evil is too petty a concept for an immortal to care about. And if that means manipulating a human into mass murder, then so be it.

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With jagged teeth and leathery wings, Ryuk cuts a fearsome figure. He can fly, become invisible, and kill any human just by writing their name in his Death Note. No mortal weapons can harm Ryuk, and he cannot be exorcised or contained by human means. Even the sun itself does not threaten him like other immortal creatures. However, Ryuk ranks slightly lower than other seemingly omnipotent characters on this list.

Unlike immortals gifted with eternal youth or superhuman powers, Fushi wanders the ages as an orb that inhabits many mortal forms, learning what it means to live, love, and lose all too briefly. Fushi puts the "shape" in shapeshifter. Wolf, bear, human – you name it, he can become it.

When he assumes a new form, he gains all the physical abilities, skills, and attributes of that creature. While Fushi seems indestructible, his immortality may have some limits. There are also hints that if Fushi strays from his purpose to help and learn from others, he may lose his powers.

After dying at the young age of 27, she was reborn into a fantasy world as an immortal magician. 300 years later, the only things this overpowered witch desires are naps, snacks, and peace. While other immortal characters struggle with ennui or detachment from normal human experiences, Azusa embraces life with open arms.

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She finds beauty in small moments, whether enjoying a cup of tea, gardening, or spending time with loved ones. Azusa also never stops learning and improving her magic skills, showing that immortality does not necessarily lead to stagnation.

In Made In Abyss, The depths of the Abyss hold horrors beyond imagination, but none as twisted as the immortal madman, Bondrewd. His secret to eternal life is a relic he calls Zoaholic. With this infernal device, Bondrewd has cheated death time and again by transferring his vile consciousness into clone bodies.

But such unholy immortality demands sacrifice, and Bondrewd is all too willing to offer up the lives of children to satisfy Zoaholic's hunger. Bondrewd has devoted his immortal existence to peeling back the layers of the Abyss through any means necessary. Morality, ethics, compassion – such frail constructs mean nothing before the glory of scientific discovery to him.

The menacing leader of the Pillar Men, Kars is an immortal being of unfathomable power. He’s able to twist and contort his body to form lethal weapons and nigh-impregnable defenses. Yet his desire for power knew no bounds – using a stone mask, he sought to become the Ultimate Life Form.

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In this state, Kars gains the ability of adaptive evolution, allowing him to instantly develop abilities to counter threats. Joseph was only able to defeat Kars by launching him into space where he remains frozen and unable to move. Although defeated, Kars is still alive, reflecting his status as an unkillable.

Aizen from Bleach possesses an object called the Hogyoku which grants him virtual immortality. He cannot be killed by any normal or even supernatural means. Only plot devices and convenient weaknesses finally stop him from being completely invulnerable.

In the anime, Aizen could only be truly defeated by being imprisoned and sealed away into Muken, the lowest level of the Underground Prison. As long as he remained there without access to any spiritual energy, his immortality was nullified.

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Omar is an Evergreen Writer at DualShockers. His love for anime sparked a lifelong fascination with the Japanese culture. And even though he doesn’t want to admit it, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has messed up his fashion sense.