Best Anime Characters Who Fight With Knives

The most common weapons in anime are undoubtedly swords and guns. After all, those are considered to be the main weapons that are not only able to cause great damage, but they look cool as well. A knife, on the other hand, is often considered a much lesser kind of weapon because it can only inflict minor damage and doesn’t look as cool as a bonafide sword. That’s why knives are usually only used as a secondary weapon in anime.

The following characters, however, are the exceptions. Not only do they use knives as their main weapon, but they also manage to dominate their fights. So here they are, the 10 best anime characters who fight with knives, ranked based on their combat prowess. By the way, this list focuses on knives, which are multipurpose tools, rather than daggers, which are specialized offensive weapons. That’s why somebody like Sung Jin-Woo from Solo Leveling won’t be on this list.

10

Chane Laforet

An Assassin and Her Trusted Knife

• Anime Title: Baccano!
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.35
• Japanese VA: Ryō Hirohashi

In a world where immortal gangsters unleash torrents of bullets at each other with their submachine guns, Chane Laforet thrives in the shadow as a highly lethal assassin who can kill her target with a regular knife.

Chane is an exceptional martial artist with remarkable speed, agility, and flexibility. That’s why, unlike the loud, obnoxious, and trigger-happy hitmen and gangsters, Chane prefers to stalk her target first and slit their throat before they even get the chance to see her.

9

Izaya Orihara

A Playing Knife for the Puppet Master

• Anime Title: Durarara!!
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.09
• Japanese VA: Hiroshi Kamiya

Izaya Orihara is the puppet master behind most of the troubles that happen in his city. He is the kind of person that you will get when you combine hyper-intelligence with a corrupt sense of morality. But the one thing that Izaya always takes pride in is his close-quarter combat ability.

Izaya mainly uses his martial arts skills as self-defense or as a way to annoy Shizuo Heiwajima, the strongest character in the series. When things started to become serious though, that’s when Izaya pulled out his trusted pocket knife. People often underestimate a pocket knife, but in the hands of Izaya Orihara, it becomes a dangerous weapon that can help him take out numerous targets in seconds.

8

Juuzou Suzuya

A Mad Lad and His 56 Knives

• Anime Title: Tokyo Ghoul
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.79
• Japanese VA: Rie Kugimiya

Despite his short stature and slender body, Juuzou Suzuya is actually one of the most dangerous Ghoul investigators from CCG. That’s why he managed to become one of the few Special Class Ghoul Investigators in CCG. As a high-ranking officer, Suzuya receives not one, but two Quinque–a special weapon made from a ghoul’s kakuhou.

Before he uses his iconic Jason the 13th Scythe, Suzuya’s trusted weapon is a set of 56 throwing knives called the Scorpion 1/56. He is so skilled at using these knives that they have basically become an extension of his body. That’s why Juuzou manage to take down countless ghouls with his trusted Scorpion. Interestingly enough, Suzuya still has his beloved set of throwing knives hidden somewhere in his clothes even after he started to use the Scythe as his main weapon.

The Ruthless Knife of a Vengeful Man

• Anime Title: Vinland Saga
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.76
• Japanese VA: Yūto Uemura

Thorfinn is quite possibly the strongest non-superpowered knife user on this list. He may be small for a Viking standard, but his short stature is the reason why he can move like no other fighter and defeat opponents twice his size before they can even see him coming.

Not only that, Thorfinn also has a wealth of experience in a real-life battlefield. He has shown his true worth as a fighter on so many different occasions, be it in a duel against fellow Viking warriors that forces him to carefully calculate his move in order to catch the enemy by surprise or in a chaotic war that allows him to go berserk and kill every enemy on sight. That’s why even though he doesn’t have any superpower, he can certainly give anybody on this list a run for their money.

6

Buggy the Star Clown

The Many Knives of the Clown Juggler

• Anime Title: One Piece
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.73
• Japanese VA: Subaru Kimura

When it comes to his fighting style, many people remember Buggy as the crazy clown who relies solely on his devil fruit power, the Chop-Chop Fruit. What most people may not realize, however, is the fact that Buggy’s weapons of choice are actually throwing knives.

Buggy often uses his knife in conjunction with his devil fruit power. He would usually separate his torso from his lower body, which allows his torso to move freely in the air. Once he is airborne, he would either throw the knives at the opponents or ambush them from above.

5

Himiko Toga

A Knife to Draw First Blood

• Anime Title: My Hero Academia
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.84
• Japanese VA: Misato Fukuen

Himiko Toga is another example of somebody who uses her knife in conjunction with her unique power. Himiko’s quirk allows her to copy somebody’s appearance by ingesting their blood. After her awakening, she can mimic other people’s quirks as well.

Since she needs the target’s blood to activate her quirk, the main purpose of Himiko’s knives is to draw first blood, rather than causing critical damage. That being said, she is also a fairly capable close-quarter combatant and knows how to use her knives to leave a mortal injury to the enemies if she needs to do so.

4

Kohaku

A Stone Knife for a Stone-Age Huntress

• Anime Title: Dr. Stone
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.27
• Japanese VA: Manami Numakura

Unlike the other original citizens of the new Stone Age Kohaku was born with inhuman physical strength. She can even comfortably go toe-to-toe with some of the strongest fighters of the modern age, such as Tsukasa Shishio. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Kohaku is one of the strongest characters in the series.

Kohaku’s trusted weapon is a primitive stone knife. Before Senku and the other people from the past come around, Kohaku mainly uses her trusted knife for hunting purposes. That being said, she is more than capable of using her knife in heated combat as well.

3

Bell Cranel

A Rising Star with a Magical Knife

• Anime Title: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.53
• Japanese VA: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu

At first glance, Bell Cranel seems like a nice young man who is still trying to figure his way out around the dungeons. But if you look closer into who he is and what he has done in the series, it becomes clear that he is a proper warrior who deserves the top three positions among these remarkable knife users.

It’s true that Bell was nothing more than a hopeless young adventurer who could barely stand up against low-level monsters at the beginning of the story. But as the story progresses, Bell continuously improves and keeps getting better with every fight. Additionally, the Goddess Hestia bestows upon him a blessed magical knife to aid him on his dangerous path in the dungeons. Armed with the Hestia knife and his well-honed combat skills, Bell can take down all kinds of opponents, monsters and adventurers alike.

2

Kaiman

The Brutal Knives of Justice

• Anime Title: Dorohedoro
• MyAnimeList Score: 8.05
• Japanese VA: Wataru Takagi

Compared to the other knife users in this list, Kaiman has by far the most brutal and violent fighting style. Unlike Chane’s graceful slicing technique, Suzuya’s relentless attacks, or Thorfinn’s intricate knife work, Kaiman will simply blitz through his enemies and chop them up into tiny pieces.

Kaiman managed to produce such carnage due to the combination of his proficiency in hand-to-hand combat and his tremendous physical prowess. Kaiman clearly despises his cursed body, but even the man himself has to admit that his new physique grants him extraordinary strength, which certainly helps him a lot in combat.

1

Shiki Ryougi

A Knife That Cuts Through Destiny

• Anime Title: The Garden of Sinners
• MyAnimeList Score: 7.56
• Japanese VA: Maaya Sakamoto

The Garden of Sinners was the early work of the creator of the Fate series, and it is quite possibly the least-known anime in this list. Not only that, but its main character, a young woman named Shiki Ryougi, is possibly the least powerful character in this list as well. Make no mistake, she is quite adept at hand-to-hand combat and an expert in swordsmanship. But compared to a professional like Chane or a freak of nature like Suzuya or Thorfinn, she has no chance.

So why does Shiki end up at the top of this list? The answer lies in her special ability: The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. With this power, Shiki can perceive the lines of death in anything, be it a battle-hardened warrior or a fancy chair. Once she sees the line, she can use her knife to cut it. Once the line has been cut, that object will lose its life. Humans and other living creatures will instantly die, while chairs and other non-living things will crumble. With this overpowered ability, Shiki can easily kill every fighter in this list. That’s why she sits comfortably at the top.