The best female martial artists in anime

Summary

• Female martial artists in anime shine just as brightly as their male counterparts.
• Characters like Sakura and Boa Hancock bring unique fighting styles and power to the screen.
• Fighters like Yor Forger are refined, deadly, and among the best martial artists in anime.

Action, especially martial arts, is one of the most popular anime genres. It doesn't really matter what sub-genre the action follows – action/fantasy, action/comedy, action/adventure, etc. – guaranteed to have some martial arts elements in them.

That being said, most of the iconic martial artists in manga are men, like Goku from Dragon BallGarou z One-Punch Manand Rock Lee in Narutoto name a few. However, this does not mean that it is a discipline created exclusively for men. Conversely, there have also been some notable female martial artists on screen. With that in mind, here are some of them the best female martial artists in anime.

7 Sakura Haruna

Earth-shaking boxer

• First appearance: Episode 1
• Martial Arts: Taijutsu/Boxing

Sakura was never good at hand-to-hand combat (Taijutsu). As a ninja, he is certainly better than the average human and can hold his own in a normal fight. However, compared to a skilled taijutsu practitioner like Rock Lee or her teammates Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura definitely lacks. But everything changed when she studied under the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

Sakura not only learns about medic jutsu from Tsunade, but also learns about martial arts that focus on his fist, kind of like boxing. In addition, Tsunade also teaches Sakura how to store her chakra so she can use it to increase her speed, strength, and regeneration abilities. By combining proper boxing technique along with enhanced muscles and chakra, a single punch from Sakura packs enough power to destroy an entire building. She is easily the strongest puncher in Konoha at the moment.

6 Boa Hancock

Petrifying Kicker

• First appearance: Episode 409
• Martial arts: Capoeira/Taekwondo

Amazon Lilly is a society full of warriors. The only way to gain respect in this place is to be a strong warrior as well. As Empress Lilly of the Amazons and Captain of the Kuja Pirates, Boa Hancock is therefore the most powerful warrior in her homeland.

Hancock's fighting technique focuses heavily on her long and flexible legs to create a powerful kick that looks like a combination of Capoeira and Taekwondo. Her kick has enough power to destroy the pacifist's hard shell. Add to that her Petrified Devil Fruit ability and the result is a stunning Pirate Empress who can turn anyone to stone and leave nothing more than tiny debris with a single kick.

5 Annie Leonhart

A giant fighter

• First appearance: Episode 2
• Martial Arts: Muay Thai / Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

From each character inward attack on titan Annie is quite possibly the most gifted fighter in the series. Trained by her father since childhood as a means of self-defense, Annie was already an expert in close combat by the time she infiltrated Paradis Island as a teenager.

Although never officially mentioned in the series, Annie's stance and movement are similar to Muay Thai, with a bit of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on top. This is why unlike other shifters who rely on their titan's special abilities, Annie's main offensive ability comes from her martial arts. Even when she transforms into a Titan, she is still on guard and ready to unleash a killing kick at any moment.

4 Yoruichi Shihouin

Thunder mixed martial artists

• First appearance: Episode 15
• Martial Arts: Hakuda/Mixed Martial Arts

In a world where everyone fights with their sword, Yoruichi Shihouin is the only one who always fights with her bare hands. Yoruichi is an expert in close combat known as Hakuda, which is the real world equivalent of mixed martial arts. Every shinigami in the Gotei 13 knows Hakuda, but Yoruichi takes this technique to greater heights. One should think of her as Might Guy Naruto.

Furthermore, as the former commander of Onmitsukido (Soul Society's special forces), Yoruichi takes great pride in her extraordinary speed. As if that wasn't enough, she has also mastered an advanced technique called Shunko. When activated, this technique envelops her body in Reiatsu-like lightning, further increasing her speed and strength.

3 Maki Zen'in

Heavenly Omniscient

• First appearance: Episode 5
• Martial Arts: Mixed Martial Arts

Maki Zen'in was born under a sacred binding vow called the Heavenly Restraint. This technique severely limits Maki's cursed energy output, making it impossible for her to use cursed technique or even see cursed spirits. However, in exchange for this glaring weakness, Maki gains strength, speed, and agility beyond what a normal human can create.

With intense training from a young age, Maki has now become an expert in hand-to-hand combat and can also use all types of melee weapons. Her absurdly strong and flexible body makes Maki's fighting style incredibly fluid. He can flawlessly chain kicks and punches that inevitably lead to him breaking the bones of his opponents or at least choking them out in the blink of an eye.

2 Violet Evergarden

A battle-hardened warrior

• First appearance: Episode 1
• Martial Arts: Mixed Martial Arts

Every martial artist discussed so far used their fighting technique in tandem with their innate abilities, whether it was through the power of devil fruits or shifting titans. But for Violet Evergarden, it's all about martial arts. As someone who was trained as a killing machine and spent years on the battlefield, Violet probably has the most dangerous fighting style of most martial artists in anime. The reason for this is simply because she would only go to the battlefield to kill the enemy without caring what happens to her in the process.

This ruthless approach means that there is nothing anyone can do to scare her, and nothing will stop her from killing an enemy. That's why she never hesitated to jump into a group of soldiers and start breaking their arms, legs and especially necks while dodging their bullets. She is not bound by any specific technique and simply uses the most appropriate move to take down the enemy, be it a kick to the head, a punch to the stomach or a devastating choke to name a few. During this dark period of her life, Violet Evergarden was truly the epitome of a living weapon.

1 Your Forger

A highly lethal mixed martial artist

• First appearance: Episode 2
• Martial Arts: Mixed Martial Arts

Like Violet, Yor Forger is trained as an assassin from a young age. The difference is that while Violet was forced to become a soldier, Yor became a murderer by choice, although the reason is mainly because she needs the money to raise her brother. Both are highly lethal martial artists with arms and legs that can kill their target. What makes Yor better than Violet is her much more sophisticated techniques and inhuman strength harnessed from years of deliberate muscle training.

As an assassin, Yor is very well versed in human anatomy and knows where to strike to incapacitate her target. Not only that, but her attacks also pack enough power that she doesn't really need a weapon to take out her target. Her sidekick can break a target's arm and her right hook can break their jaw.

If that wasn't enough, he can slam a potential threat to the concrete with an over-the-shoulder roll, disrupt their oxygen supply with a triangle choke, or even break their neck with a classic guillotine choke. With such a vast arsenal of techniques that he can use to take down his targets, it's safe to say that Yor Forger is best female martial artist in anime and one of the best martial artists ever.