Who Has The Best Ability In Bungou Stray Dogs?

Set in a version of Yokohama rampant with Ability Users, each season of the anime Bungou Stray Dogs introduces a new slew of Abilities. Some are powerhouses capable of bringing down entire nations, while others tend to have excellent defensive and regenerative capabilities.

However, in this world, Abilities are only as effective as the ones wielding them, with their users able to use their powers in synergy with their combat abilities. From gravity manipulation to being able to turn oneself into an enormous dragon, here are the strongest abilities seen in Bungo Stray Dogs.

10 Flawless

Precognition

First introduced in the second season of the show, the Ability known as Flawless belonged to Port Mafia member Oda Sakunosuke (nicknamed Odasaku). Flawless allowed the user to see five seconds into the future, making it the perfect counter-measure to any ambush.

Although not an outwardly flashy Ability, it was a useful one to have for one such as Odasaku, who used to be an assassin and still worked dangerous missions as part of the mafia. You know what they say: forewarned is forearmed.

9 Anne of the Abyssal Red

Dimensional Room Creation

Anne of the Abyssal Red is an Ability belonging to Lucy Montgomery, an American Ability User introduced at the end of Season One. The Ability allows Lucy to summon a room existing between dimensions, which she calls Anne’s Room. Inside this space is its very own warden, a gigantic doll named Anne with extreme strength and unmatched speed.

Lucy only needs to snap her fingers to pull her targets into the Room with her. To exit Anne’s Room, prisoners would need to battle Anne to retrieve a key that unlocks the door to the real world or be captured by Anne and dragged into an inescapable prison room. Lucy’s Ability makes recovery of captives nearly impossible; later on in the series, Lucy uses her Ability as a safe house for the Armed Detective Agency while on the run.

8 Midwinter Memento

Metal Manipulation

Tachihara Michizō was initially thought to be a Port Mafia operative, only to be revealed to be a secret Hunting Dogs member in Season Four. He had been hiding his Ability from his colleagues and unleashed it in full against Yosano Akiko.

Metal manipulation is as self-explanatory as it sounds. Tachihara can control any form of metal within his vicinity; he’s able to do so to such a degree that he manages to maintain his undercover identity while manipulating a metal mannequin to pose as the attacker. He was even able to control the space-time sword Shintō Amenogozen and manipulate metal shards lodged in his opponent’s veins.

7 Dogra Magra

Mind Control And Madness Inducement

One of the most malicious Abilities in the show, Dogra Magra belongs to the six-year-old Q (real name Yumeno Kyūsaku). Dogra Magra is primarily a Mind Control Ability; others would need to hurt Q to activate it, and then a mark would appear on their body to pin them as targets.

Since Q has a demented, sadistic personality, they would hurt themself on purpose by bumping into others. Q would proceed to rip their doll and activate the Mind Control aspect of his Ability. Their victims would be badgered with sinister hallucinations, causing them to lash out at their surroundings. This Ability caused city-wide havoc in the show and, once activated, cannot be turned off at will – not even by its user.

6 Thou Shalt Not Die

Healing

Thou Shalt Not Die is a healing Ability, which can completely heal its user and others. However, the Ability’s only caveat is that its target must be near the brink of death to be activated. In most cases, Yosano Akiko – resident doctor for the Armed Detective Agency – had to further injure her patients to use her power, one which she relishes doing.

Healing Abilities are rare in the world of Bungo Stray Dogs and, as such, make Yosano Akiko a powerful character and a hot commodity. Her power makes her an indispensable fighter, since she’ll be back in fighting shape the minute the conditions to her Ability are met.

5 Rashōmon

Clothing Manipulation

Rashōmon is an Ability owned by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, a high-ranking member of the Port Mafia. The Ability grants him the power to manipulate the clothes he wears into whatever shape he desires. Akutagawa favors manipulating his trench coat into a draconic beast and multiple sharp blades that can deal massive damage.

Furthermore, Rashōmon can stop bullets and shield its user from most physical attacks. The Ability can also be used to maneuver and extricate its user from dangerous situations. Akutagawa has occasionally been shown to use his Ability to cover himself from head to toe as an extra layer of armor.

4 Beast Beneath the Moonlight

Weretiger Transformation

Beast Beneath the Moonlight is a handy Ability owned by the show’s main character, Atsushi, which has offensive and defensive capabilities. One of the first Abilities shown in the show, it turns its user into a weretiger with enhanced speed, strength and regeneration. Moreover, the tiger’s skin is impenetrable to bullets and most forms of physical attacks.

Using the Ability does not always entail fully transforming into the tiger, however, as Atsushi could choose to turn only his legs or arms into the tiger’s limbs when needed.

3 Mirror Lion

Weapon Enhancement

Mirror Lion is an Ability owned by Fukuchi Ōchi, leader of the Hunting Dogs and main antagonist for the third and fourth seasons. The Ability grants Fukuchi the power to increase his chosen weapon’s impact by 100 times. It is even powerful enough to overcome the strength of Atsushi’s Beast Beneath the Moonlight.

Fukuchi can use his Ability to enhance his katana’s effects and turn a simple rock lethal. In the show, he was able to turn a simple handrail into a weapon capable of cutting a ship in two. This Ability allowed Fukuchi to become a terror on the battlefield, capable of wiping out entire squadrons.

2 Draconia

Ability Separation And Dragon Transformation

We first see this unimaginably powerful Ability in the movie Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple and its varied use in full show. The Ability produces a mist called Dragon’s Breath, which separates Ability users from their Abilities and forces them to fight each other. Should the user die, their Ability transforms into a gem that will be stored in Tatsuhiko’s collection chamber.

Tatsuhiko has thousands of Ability gems in his collection, and once fused, he transforms into an enormous, fire-breathing dragon capable of mass destruction. However, Tatsuhiko’s reign of terror ended due to the next Ability on this list.

1 For the Tainted Sorrow

Gravity Manipulation

Nakahara Chūya is one of the strongest characters in anime and the Port Mafia’s most lethal weapon, largely due to his Ability. For The Tainted Sorrow allows Chūya to control the gravitational forces of objects, people, and himself.

However, the Ability can go a step further by activating the Corruption form, which comes from Arahabaki, the God of Calamity. This form fully takes over Chūya, allowing him to control gravitons and hurl projectiles of compressed gravity. His speed and strength are also enhanced, but Corruption wipes its vessel of his humanity, causing him to attack anything within sight unless stopped by Dazai Osamu’s nullifying Ability.