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Watch out, Smallville! First gracing the DC Universe in Action Comics #1, Lois Lane has become a role model for reporters everywhere, with her dogged tenacity and determination to find the truth in journalism. She’s living proof that the pen can be mightier than the sword…or heat vision, in her case.

There have been many incarnations of Lois over the years across various media, with the original comics version herself changing repeatedly to stay current. Just about everyone has at least one favorite version of Lois, with some honoring their favorite version or versions of the star reporter with spectacular fan art.

10 “Lois Lane 75th Anniversary” by Clay Rodery

Original image from Clay’s DeviantArt page.

Clay Rodery perfectly captures Lois in her element, with a determined — perhaps even defiant — look on her face, a pen in one hand, and a reporter’s bloc in another. This is, without a doubt, Lois Lane at her most iconic, exuding the inner strength the character has become known for.

Lois’ tough questions and hard-hitting journalism have earned her many an enemy… primarily bad people with something to hide. She also has no problem challenging people with power, verbally sparring with Lex Luthor on a regular basis. Recently, she drew the White House’s ire in 2019’s Lois Lane #1 for profiting off placing children in refugee camps.

9 “Lois Lane(s)” by Des Taylor

Original image from Des’ DeviantArt page.

Des Taylor seemingly homages a number of Lois Lanes throughout history. While it’s not outright stated which Lois is which, a few educated guesses can be made: The one second from the left is obviously a homage to the Golden Age Lois, for example, complete with black-and-white pictures of Superman in his early black-shield S costume.

The Lois with a Styrofoam cup and briefcase resembles the characters’ late ‘90s appearance (especially with the short brown hair), and the Lois in yellow and beige looks remarkably similar to Margot Kidder. Could the Loises on either end (one of whom gets a piece of her own) be based on Erica Durance and Teri Hatcher, perhaps?

8 “Lois Lane Star Reporter” by Samarasketch

Original image from Samara’s DeviantArt page.

There’s no time to waste in Samarasketch’s drawing, as Lois excitedly takes down notes while talking to her latest source on her cell phone.

The author has included plenty of visual Easter Eggs for fans, including a Superman keychain on her purse zipper, S-symbol and Bat-symbol pins, a Daily Planet press pass and shirt pin, and references in her notes to Clark Kent, her sister Lucy Lane, and the ever-scheming Lex Luthor. Samarasketch also nudged Lois’ normally brown hair toward the auburn category, doing the same for Lois’ blue-violet eyes, as well.

7 “Blue Lantern Lois Lane” by Luciano Vecchio

Original image from Luciano’s DeviantArt page.

As a crusading journalist, keeping hope burning bright is part of Lois’ job description… which just so happens to also be the task of the Blue Lantern Corps. Ironheart and New Warriors artist Luciano Vecchio has specifically given the Rebirth-era Lois the uniform and ring, although she is not the first version of Lois to become a Blue Lantern.

In Nightwing: The New Order #3, another Blue Lantern Lois Lane appeared, in an alternate future where Nightwing had removed or suppressed the abilities of most superpowered people on Earth.

6 “The Wedding Guests” by Laddy Legasus

Original image from Laddy Legasus’ DeviantArt page.

An enormous Teen Titans Go! Fan, Laddy Legasus also creates fan animation based on the series. This particular piece is from Laddy’s “Supes And Wondy Sitting in a Tree” short, which sees Lois Lane and Supergirl (with Beast Boy’s scratching post and the city of Kandor next to them, respectively) watch as Superman and Wonder Woman are about to get married.

This version of Lois clearly isn’t too thrilled to be there; unsurprising, given how most Lois Lanes have held feelings for Superman. The full video is well worth checking out, as it has a few surprising twists…not so much for Lois, but definitely for poor Supergirl.

5 “Sun Punch” by Brittney L. Williams

Original image from Brittney's DeviantArt page.

Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge artist Brittney Williams has drawn Lois and the Superman family for longer than you might think. Made in 2013, before many of her published comics, “Sun Punch” lives up to its name, as Lois uses a piece of the sun to fight an alien invader.

The Super-family costume is a Williams original, although it does resemble the suit Lois wore when she received Superman’s powers for a day in All-Star Superman. What sells the piece the most is Lois’ facial expression and body language, both of which convey confidence, power, and strength.

4 “Lois Lane / Margot Kidder” by Ismael Alabado Rodriguez (The Frisbeeman)

Original image from Ismael’s DeviantArt page.

Ismael Alabado Rodriguez has been a VFX and concept artist for a number of Marvel movies, including Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, and Sony’s Venom. Yet he is also known for doing several fan pieces, including this spot-on rendition of Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane from the 1970s and 1980s Superman films.

While Lois clutching Superman’s shirt is one of the details that stands out the most, fans with sharp memories will immediately recognize the dress she’s wearing is from her iconic balcony interview with Christopher Reeve’s Man of Steel in 1978’s Superman. What perhaps impresses the most is how perfectly the artist captures Margot’s likeness, particularly on an emotional level.

3 “LOIS LANE GOT SUPERPOWERS!” by Pablo Alcalde Fdez

Original image from Pablo’s DeviantArt page.

Speaking of Lois as a superhero… Pablo Alcalde Fdez pays tribute to the many superpowered identities the intrepid reporter has had over the years in the comics.

Here’s a list, from top left to bottom right: Power Girl (complete with red wig and not to be confused with Kara Zor-L), Supermaid, Superwoman (both the All-Star Superman and 1940s costumes), Super-Lois, Insect Queen (borrowed from Lana Lang), Elastic Lass (from when she used Jimmy Olsen’s Elastic Lad formula), and Krypton Girl. Sure, Lois may not need superpowers, but her ventures into superheroism can be a lot of fun.

2 “Lois Lane” by Zoe Potaka

Original image from Zoe’s DeviantArt page.

Wake up and smell the coffee, Kent! It seems Lois has already beaten her mild-mannered co-worker and husband to the office in Zoe Potaka's piece, with a coffee in hand and a copy of what is presumably the Daily Planet’s morning edition.

In most versions of Lois and Clark’s story, the two began as fierce rivals, often due to Clark beating Lois to the scoop when Superman debuted. Naturally, their rivalry would cool as they got to know each other, especially once Lois began dating either Clark or his alter ego, Superman. That said, it takes far more than romance to rob Lois of her competitive streak completely.

1 “Superwoman commission” by Phil Cho

Original image from Phil’s DeviantArt page.

Sure, Lois has been a superhero a few times. Yet as comic fans will tell you, one of the most prominent alternate versions of Lois is a supervillain: Specifically Superwoman from the Crime Syndicate’s universe.

Phil Cho depicts the Superwoman of the New 52, a Lois Lane who is actually an Amazon. Sporting her own versions of Wonder Woman’s weapons, namely bulletproof bracelets and a Lasso of Submission (rather than truth), Lois effortlessly blocks bullets while lightning strikes above her. Not far behind her is Lexcorp, but could the Luthor inside be the benevolent Lex from her Earth? Or the cruel version of the main DC Universe?

NEXT: 10 Fan Art Pieces Of DC Characters Re-imagined As Teenagers

Doctor Strange may be the Sorcerer Supreme most prevalent in the public consciousness due to his prominence in the MCU, but DC’s Doctor Fate has been kicking around the comics for a longer time. A Lord of Order, the wizard Nabu’s spirit inhabits the Helmet of Fate, which was discovered in a tomb by archaeologist Kent Nelson.

Nabu trained Nelson in the mystic arts, and Doctor Fate, one of DC’s most powerful magicians, was born. How powerful is he? Here are Doctor Fate’s top 10 powers and abilities, ranked.

10 FLIGHT

The basis of Doctor Fate's powers and capabilities is magic, which allows him the ability to fly. This might seem somewhat humdrum when considering how many superheroes can do this, but a lot of them can't, so it remains an important ability.

With flight, Doctor Fate can travel from place to place with ease, allowing him to get to crisis centers quickly and unencumbered. It also affords him the ability to be more maneuverable, giving him a tactical advantage in battle.

9 TELEKINESIS

Telekinesis may be most closely associated with Jean Grey or Professor X, but Doctor Fate is also capable of moving things with his mind. Granted, he may not be as powerful as the Phoenix Force or the most powerful mutant mind on planet Earth, but Fate can focus his mind strong enough to affect change in the physical world.

This ability is more powerful when the host is wearing the Helmet of Fate, but is present without it, albeit to a lesser degree.

8 STRENGTH

The Lords of Order are powerful mystic beings, representatives of structure in the cosmos, and sworn enemies of the Lords of Chaos. As one of them, Nabu has tremendous physical strength which he can share with his human host.

Also, with magic augmenting his power, Doctor Fate's physical strength is considerable, as he can lift objects such as cars and buildings with relative ease. Doctor Fate has been able to go toe-to-toe with Superman and hold his own, indicating the extreme levels of his strength.

7 ENERGY & ELEMENTAL CONTROL & PROJECTION

For one of DC's preeminent sorcerors, manipulating the elements is as easy as getting The Joker to smile. Doctor Fate can control and conjure powerful energies, directing them into concussive bolts to subdue opponents. He also can form those energies into flame, ice, or lightning, choosing from amongst them as the situation dictates.

With Doctor Fate on one's side in a battle, villains susceptible to the elements are at a severe disadvantage and should give him a wide berth.

6 FORCE FIELD PROJECTION

Another useful ability in Doctor Fate’s repertoire is his ability to create force fields. Much like the Fantastic Four’s Invisible Woman, Fate can conjure defensive shields to protect himself and others from all forms of projectiles, energy projections, and debris.

Fate can also use them as Green Lantern does, as spherical transportation nodules for himself and others. Finally, he can create fields as force projections and invisible battering rams to attack opponents or smash through walls.

5 INVULNERABILITY

Between Doctor Fate’s status as a Lord of Order, his mastery over magic, and his ability to conjure force fields, it should come as no surprise that invulnerability is also one of his capabilities.

Like Superman, Wonder Woman, and Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate is impervious to most forms of projectile attacks and can deflect everything from bullets to energy bolts. It would take a tremendous amount of force to faze Doctor Fate, so unless his opponent is a powerful magician or has access to cosmic energies, his invulnerability will keep him safe.

4 INTANGIBILITY

As if the good doctor wasn’t powerful enough, he can also transmute his body into an intangible form. As the Martian Manhunter, when Doctor Fate wills it, his immaterial form can pass effortlessly through any substance, allowing him unparalleled reconnaissance abilities.

It also affords Fate the chance to allow bullets or any other projectiles to pass through him. The only instance in which this ability can be counteracted is magical; if one of his enemies casts a blocking spell, Doctor Fate cannot pass through the area where the spell is in effect.

3 TELEPATHY

It may not be obvious, but Doctor Fate is a powerful telepath who has no problem reading just about anyone’s mind. Affording him a unique ability to telegraph his adversaries’ next moves in battle or interrogate them without them even knowing, Doctor Fate’s telepathy is unbelievably useful to himself and his allies in terms of battle tactics and intelligence gathering.

Fate's telepathy also affords him the ability to raise mental shields, eliminate delusions from someone’s mind, and alter memories at a whim.

2 SPELL-CASTING

If Doctor Fate is one of the DC Universe’s most powerful magicians, it logically follows that spell-casting would be one of his most powerful abilities. Seeing as how Nabu, the Lord of Order who inhabits the Helmet of Fate, has spent millennia honing his magical skills, the variety and extent of his mystical ability is vast and near-infinite.

Although his tutoring of Kent Nelson in those skills is extensive but far from complete, Doctor Fate can conjure anything from energy blasts to trans-dimensional portals with nearly no limitations save for one: He can’t undo someone else’s spells.

1 TRANS-DIMENSIONAL TELEPORTATION

Of all the spells Doctor Fate can cast, by far his most powerful is the opening of trans-dimensional portals and his ability to teleport through them. With this spell, Fate can appear anywhere he wishes at any time instantaneously, increasing his efficacy in matters of battling evil. He can also transport others away, bringing allies with him where he or they needs to be or banishing evildoers and malevolent entities to alternate dimensions.

Trans-dimensional transport is something most comic book heroes and villains spend lifetimes researching and trying to attain, which Doctor Fate can do effortlessly.

NEXT: All of Firestorm's Powers, Ranked

Rebecca Sugar's Steven Universe is truly one of Cartoon Network's smarter business decisions. The uniqueness of the story combined with the radical warmth it emits — the power of communication, the importance of empathy — has made the show one of the most popular in recent times.

The content of each episode is painstakingly measured out, giving as much credence to developing relationships as it does for every battle scene (which, to be honest, are just alternative modes of emotional expression.) Below are ten of the most crucial fights in Steven Universe, rated not just by their explosive nature but also by how much the characters grow as a consequence.

10 Pearl Vs. Sugilite

Sugilite, the fusion of Amethyst and Garnet, does not like Pearl, mainly because of Amethyst's unconscious bitterness towards her. When she requests the Gems to unfuse, they respond by attacking her and wrecking Greg Universe's gym. After getting Steven to safety, Pearl tries to force Sugilite to split up by trying to fight them, but is nowhere powerful enough to take them down.

With Steven's encouragement, she tricks the unruly fusion to the top of the cliff, knocking them back into Amethyst and Garnet with their own weapon. The latter admits that Pearl was right all along, and that they should have obeyed her from the start.

9 The Crystal Gems Vs. Blue Diamond

Blue Diamond reaches Beach City during Ruby and Sapphire's wedding, and immediately starts fighting the Crystal Gems. Her power — the ability to induce sorrow — overwhelms all of them, with the exception of Connie. Unfortunately, Blue easily shatters Rose Quartz's sword, and sends her attacker flying.

Garnet is able to distract her long enough for Lapis Lazuli to drop the entire barn on Blue's head. However, Yellow Diamond comes to her aid soon enough, and the battle seems all but lost. Until Blue senses a presence she hasn't felt for millennia, Pink Diamond, and realizes that the aura is coming from Steven.

8 Steven Vs. Bismuth

Bismuth is obtained from within Lion's infinite consciousness, but she shows herself to be a ruthless character, telling Steven that the Breaking Point is the only weapon powerful enough to destroy the Homeworld Gems. She is taken aback when he shares the opinion of his mother: that shattering Gems is not the answer to their problems.

They end up fighting each other on behalf of their moral opinions, and Steven finishes it by piercing Bismuth with Rose's sword, poofing her back into gem form. He then destroys the Breaking Point by submerging it in lava, and carefully stashes Bismuth's bubble in the Burning Room.

7 Alexandrite Vs. Malachite (Ft. The Watermelon Stevens)

Jasper forces Lapis Lazuli to fuse with her, believing that Malachite is the only way to defeat the Crystal Gems. In the Mask Island battle, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst fuse into their triple form for the first time, resulting in Alexandrite. It looks like Malachite is winning, given that Lapis has lost control, allowing Jasper to go all out against her enemy.

Luckily, the Watermelon Stevens come to the rescue and attack Malachite with their spears (not enough to damage them in the slightest, but just enough for Alexandrite to rip the two Gems out of the fusion with Opal's arrow.

6 Amethyst Vs. Pearl

Steven tags along with Amethyst on the trip to the Prime Kindergarten, where she reveals that she was born on Earth, unlike the other two Crystal Gems. Suddenly, Pearl teleports in and scolds Amethyst for her irresponsible behavior (because Steven is "not ready" yet to learn about the horrific backstory of the Kindergarten.)

As the two Gems start fighting, their emotions start emerging, as Amethyst screams that she knows exactly how embarrassing Pearl finds her. Steven, the peacekeeper, attempts to stop his friends hurting each other, but not before an injector collapses on top of Amethyst. It all ends well when Pearl acknowledges her mistreatment of Amethyst, saying that she was the only worthwhile product to be created in that nasty place.

5 Stevonnie And Lion Vs. Jasper

A seamless blend, Stevonnie is 3/4 Human and 1/4 Gem — and likely stronger than several Gem-Gem fusions on the show. As Jasper effortlessly knocks Amethyst around (mocking her for her "deformation"), Stevonnie makes their entry.

Jasper cannot stand the idea of a Gem fusing with a human, and uses the Corrupted Gem beast as a steed to gallop towards Stevonnie, who reciprocates on Lion's back. Jasper is bonked on the head with Rose Quartz's sword; and realizing that she has been outmatched, she returns to the sea, but not before declaring that she will return for more vengeance.

4 Obsidian Vs. The Diamond Mech

The four Crystal Gems fuse for the first time while fighting the gigantic Diamond Mech, turning into the spectacularly scary Obsidian. The fiery black Gem scales their opponent, while Connie, Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis Lazuli struggle to divert the Mech's attention.

The distractions only last for a short time, but Obsidian has reached high enough to pull a flaming Greatsword out of her mouth, neatly dismembering the Mech's arms. However, the Crystal Gems are forced to separate when the Mech slams Obsidian against a building. No matter, because the heroes are able to enter the room inside its head.

3 Steven Vs. White Diamond

White Diamond has Blue and Yellow under her control, and quickly manages to extend her puppetry to Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet. She refuses to accept that Pink Diamond is really gone, and cruelly plucks the gem out of poor Steven's stomach.

White does not expect another Steven to be standing there, a ghostly Gem version with enough power to block even her energy blasts. Steven and Gem Steven fuse against White's will, and she screams in rage at "Pink" behaving immaturely. Steven takes one look at her and admits that he is a kid, so "what's your excuse?"

2 Opal Vs. Big Bird

Steven begs Pearl and Amethyst to fuse, so desperate is his need to see a "Giant Woman" that he makes a whole song and dance about it. Their efforts fail, however, as they are seriously lacking in sync with each other. Nevertheless, when Steven is engulfed by the corrupted gem, Big Bird, they put their differences aside and blend into the magnificent Opal.

She extracts Steven (and his goat-son) from the creature's belly, and gracefully slides down the collapsing ruins of the temple. For her final move, Opal combines Pearl's spear and Amethyst's whip to form a bow, destroying every shard of Big Bird with a single arrow.

1 Garnet Vs. Jasper

Jasper and Peridot kidnap the Crystal Gems and plan to take them to the Homeworld. Steven succeeds in rescuing Ruby and Sapphire, and watches in awe as they reveal that they are, in fact, Garnet. When Jasper arrives, Garnet shows that she is more than capable of taking her on, shattering her visor and tossing her into the core of the ship.

The song performed in this scene, "Stronger Than You", is one of the most beautiful in the entire show — it depicts Garnet's strength as a direct consequence of the intense love shared between Ruby and Sapphire.

NEXT: 10 Steven Universe Cosplay Straight From The Show

After Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, Ash went onto the fourth region, known as Sinnoh, and dove into the fourth generation of Pokémon. Like his departure from Johto to Hoenn, Ash left all of his Pokémon caught in the Hoenn Region at Oak's lab at the end of the Battle Frontier saga, with the exception of Aipom. Ash began another fresh start with the Sinnoh Region.

He caught several Pokémon in the Sinnoh Region, certainly more than the five he caught in Hoenn. Many were powerful heavy-hitters while others never really measured up. Today, we are going to count down all of the Pokémon Ash caught in the Sinnoh Region from least powerful to most.

6 Gible

Gible was a wild Pokémon that took to following Ash around. Ash eventually caught it, and the Pokémon was immediately used to battle Barry's Empoleon. Unfortunately for Gible, it proved no match for Empoleon.

It swiftly mastered the move Draco Meteor and managed to take down a Shuckle at the Lily of the Valley Conference, and it even went on to defeat a powerful Dusknoir in the same battle. It took on the Legendary Pokémon Darkrai during the Conference as well, but it was unable to beat it.

5 Gliscor

Ash caught Gliscor when it was still a Gligar and trapped, alongside several other Gligar, by the tall buildings of a city. One of Gligar's first battles under Ash was against a Gliscor, which frightened Gligar as it is the Pokémon's evolved form. Gligar later used a Razor Claw item to evolve into Gliscor to save Ash from Team Rocket.

It won Ash a victory over Gym Leader Byron's Bastiodon, but it followed that up with a streak of devastating defeats. Eventually, Ash left Gliscor for further training with fellow Pokémon Trainer McCann. Ash retrieved Gliscor in time for the Lily of the Valley Conference, where it took down McCann's own Drapion.

4 Buizel

Buizel was initially caught and used by Dawn, but she traded it to Ash for Aipom when they realized Aipom's affinity for contests and Buizel's for battling. Buizel immediately proved its worth by tieing in a double knockout against Gym Leader Maylene's Lucario. Buizel also got Ash far in the Pokémon Contest at the Wallace Cup and took out a Kecleon at the Battle Stage.

Later, Buizel went on to fight against Water-type Gym Leader Crasher Wake. He was able to take down the Gym Leader's Quagsire with a powerful combination of the moves Ice Beam and Aqua Jet. Wake then sent out Floatzel, the evolved form of Buizel. With the tag team help of Pikachu, Buizel was able to win this battle as well. From there, it took down Gym Leader Fantina's Gengar, though it lost to her next Pokémon, Drifblim.

3 Torterra

Ash caught Torterra as a Turtwig early on in his journey through Sinnoh. It very quickly showed its worth against Gym Leader Roark's Cranidos/Rampardos and took out Gardenia's own Turtwig in their official Gym battle. It later saved Paul's Chimchar from a Zangoose shortly before Paul released the Chimchar and Ash became its new trainer.

Turtwig evolved into Grotle while battling against Paul's Honchkrow. It later dominated against a Rhyperior when Grotle learned it could power itself up by swallowing its own Energy Ball attack. Grotle finally evolved into Torterra when Ash's battle against Gym Leader Volkner was interrupted by Team Rocket. Unfortunately, Torterra's victories would become few and far between from here on out.

2 Staraptor

Ash caught Staraptor as a Starly, and it was the first Pokémon that Ash caught in the Sinnoh Region. Ash found the Starly after it was weakened in a fight with a wild Aipom, and he took the opportunity to catch Starly, as Pikachu was currently being held by Team Rocket. Starly evolved into Staravia not long after in another showdown with Team Rocket. Staravia was beaten in an unofficial battle against Gym Leader Gardenia, but he scored a win for Ash in the official rematch against a Cherubi.

He was beaten by Gardenia's Turtwig though. Later, Staraptor took on Gym Leader Maylene's Machoke and Meditite, mastering the powerful Flying-type move Brave Bird in the process. During the PokéRinger contest, Staravia evolved into Staraptor on Ash's behalf, beating a Honchkrow in the process. Staraptor later took down Gym Leader Candice's Medicham and beat Paul's Torterra during a championship match. He also took out Pokémon Trainer Nando's Roserade with a single Brave Bird hit.

1 Infernape

Infernape made his first appearance as a Chimchar under the care of the brutal Pokémon Trainer Paul. He often put Chimchar in impossible scenarios and put it through a cruel training process. After several losses, Paul released Chimchar, but Ash invited Chimchar to join him. The Pokémon accepted. Ash and Paul were later paired up in a battle competition. Ash chose Chimchar to team up with Paul's Elekid, and the two managed to take down a Heracross and a Buizel.

Chimchar later protected Pikachu by taking a Poison Jab from a Toxicroak belonging to Saturn of Team Galactic. During a battle with Barry, Chimchar took down a Staraptor. During Gym Leader challenges, Chimchar took out a Mismagius, a Bronzor, and an Abomasnow. In another battle against Paul, Chimchar took out Ursaring and evolved into Monferno, but he then lost to Paul's Electabuzz. Monferno evolved into Infernape to save Ash's other Pokémon from Team Rocket, and it went on to beat Gym Leader Volkner's Jolteon and Luxray. During the Lilly of the Valley Contest, Infernape got more retribution against his former trainer by taking out Paul's Aggron, Ninjask, and Electivire.

NEXT: Sailor Moon: 5 Pokémon Sailor Mars Could Defeat (& 5 She Would Lose To)

Naruto Uzumaki is the protagonist of Masashi Kishimoto's famous manga, Naruto. From the very start, Naruto only had one goal in mind and it was to become the Hokage. He had to go through several ordeals before he finally realized his dream.

Throughout the entire show, Naruto's progressed, both physically and mentally. There are instances where the fans felt that Naruto undid all of his hard work and his character seemed to have regressed. In this post, we shall discuss instances where Naruto progressed as a character and where he regressed.

10 REGRESSED: Almost Killed Jiraiya

Jiraiya and Naruto left the Hidden Leaf towards the end of Part 1. Jiraiya had decided that he would train Naruto, and so the two of them set out together. While training, Jiraiya tried to undo a bit of Naruto's seal.

He believed that Naruto could handle it, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Naruto was completely overwhelmed by the chakra of the Nine-Tails. Naruto almost killed Jiraiya with his attacks. According to Jiraiya, it was one of the two instances in which he was left at death's door.

9 CHANGED: Became Hokage

Naruto's goal from the very start was to become the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. He wanted to be acknowledged by the villagers and to be considered one of them. Naruto achieved his dream after going through many ordeals.

By the time Naruto became the Hokage, he was a much better person and ninja. He was more mature and he could pass a much more mature judgment. He realized that in his job, he couldn't make a judgment based entirely on his emotions.

8 REGRESSED: Stole The Forbidden Scroll

As a boy, Naruto was bound to make some errors. After being manipulated by Mizuki, Naruto stole the forbidden scroll, which contained information about several forbidden Jutsu.

Everyone knew that Naruto was a rebel, but no one believed that he would go as far as to steal something that was of very high importance to the Hidden Leaf. If the scroll fell into the wrong hands, it would have jeopardized the security of the village. This may have happened at the very beginning of the series, but it caused a bigger ordeal than his normal pranks, meaning he regressed.

7 CHANGED: Conversation With Itachi

Itachi was branded a criminal and he was driven out from the village. The truth about Itachi wasn't revealed until he died. However, Itachi and Naruto met each other before the whole truth about Itachi came out.

Itachi wanted to know what Naruto would do if Sasuke sought to destroy the Hidden Leaf. Naruto's response was that he would save the Hidden Leaf without killing Sasuke. Naruto reiterated that he would not give up on Sasuke and that it was a part of his ninja war.

6 REGRESSED: Rampage Against Pain

Naruto rarely allowed anger to get the better of him, and the fight versus Pain was one of the few instances where Naruto was at the mercy of his emotions. When Naruto saw Pain was getting the better of him and when he saw Hinata being tossed around, he went berserk.

Naruto's rampage caught Pain by surprise. Even Pain's Planetary Devastation could not contain the power of the Nine-Tails. The scene sent shivers down the spine of the fans as well.

5 CHANGED: Tamed Kurama

Naruto didn't manage to control the power of the Nine-Tails until the Fourth Great Ninja War. He was sent to a distant island along with Killer B to master the chakra of the Nine-Tails completely.

In order to control the chakra of Kurama (the Nine-Tailed Fox), Naruto had to overcome his inner hatred. It took some time for Naruto to realize what he needed to do, but he got there in the end.

4 REGRESSED: Taking Responsibility For Sasuke's Actions

Naruto was Sasuke's friend because he knew that deep down he and Sasuke were similar. Sasuke was alone just like him, and not everyone was fond of Sasuke. The people of the Hidden Cloud hated Sasuke for when he attacked the Raikage at the Five Kage Summit.

Naruto, being Naruto, offered for the ninjas to beat him up instead of Sasuke. The ninjas from the Hidden Cloud were more than happy to oblige. They beat him badly, and it really felt that Naruto didn't need to pay for something stupid that Sasuke had done. In spite of the kinship Naruto felt for Sasuke, Naruto should have prioritized the safety and wellbeing of a figure like the Raikage.

3 CHANGED: Saved Konoha From Pain

Naruto had been an outcast for the majority of childhood. He struggled to be acknowledged by the villagers. Naruto's big moment finally came when Pain invaded the Hidden Leaf.

Naruto risked his life to save the Hidden Leaf from being wiped out entirely. After defeating the final body of Pain, Naruto went to Nagato and talked about their shared dream of having peace throughout the world. Naruto assured Nagato that he will achieve their common goal of achieving peace.

2 REGRESSED: Missed Himawari's Birthday

Naruto spent the entirety of his life alone, without parents. He knows how it feels like to not have a single person be there for you, but in Boruto, Naruto missed Himawari's birthday.

He sent a shadow clone in his stead. Naruto should have known how important it was for Himawari, but he let her down.

1 CHANGED: Haku's Death

The first big mission that Team 7 received was to escort Tazuna, a citizen from the Land of Waves. The mission was really tough as Team 7 had to face the likes of Zabuza Momochi and Haku.

Zabuza, who was labeled a murderer with no feelings, was moved to tears by Naruto. Despite being just a kid, Naruto turned the menacing assassin into a normal human. This was just the beginning of Naruto's great adventure.

NEXT: Naruto: 10 Things You Never Knew About Madara Uchiha

Beerus has brought about a new age for Dragon Ball. Not only is he responsible for the movie that officially continued a series that has been all but dormant for twenty years, but he also noteworthy for bringing back beloved characters, larger than life fights, and an excuse for adults put their hands together and shout "Kamehameha!" when no one is looking. Most importantly of all, he also brought a whole universe of new power for Goku and friends to surmount.

And surmount they did. At the end of Dragon Ball Super, they proved to be the strongest in the whole universe when they won the Tournament of Power. Once again proving that there are little to no limits to their power and that even a God of Destruction might just another goal for them to surpass.

10 Will Surpass: Goku

In all honestly, Goku might already be stronger than Beerus. Ultra Instinct grants him a level a power that has been previously unheard of in Dragon Ball. Literally referred to as the "State of the Gods," it would be no surprise if Ultra Instinct Goku could already beat Beerus.

Even in a meta sense, Goku surpassing Beerus is all but guaranteed. Goku's journey is one of encountering and overcoming obstacles. It was demonstrated with Demon King Piccolo, then repeated with Frieza, and eventually brought home with Kid Buu. Beerus is yet another obstacle for Goku to overcome.

9 Won't Surpass: Tien

Tien has been stuck in a rut ever since he used the Tri-Beam technique to stall Imperfect Cell. The same sort of rut most of the human character has fallen into ever since Saiyans were introduced.

His sub-standard showing during the tournament of power further cements this. Thankfully, he does seem mostly content with his current power level and has plenty to show for it even if he isn't anywhere near a Saiyan. Unfortunately, that also means he won't be anywhere near Beerus as well.

8 Will Surpass: Vegeta

Vegeta has always been on the heels of Goku when it comes to power level. If Goku becomes Super Saiyan, Vegeta then does it a few episodes later. If Goku becomes a god you better damn well believe that the Prince of all Saiyans won't let him one-up him for long.

So if Goku is destined to eventually surpass Beerus, so is Vegeta. He just possesses that overall competitive spirit and lust for power that makes him Goku's most long-standing rival and will make him rival Beerus one day.

7 Won't Surpass: Krillin

Krillin also suffers from the curse of not being a Saiyan. Just like Tien he just seems to be stuck in a sort of rut when it comes to power levels. Leaving him as a very powerful human but nowhere near the level of the Saiyan mainstays.

Furthermore, fighting is no longer that important to him. Sure, he'll put on the old Turtle Hermit gi if the world or universe is on the line, but Krillin prefers to put his efforts towards his wife and child more than anything else.

6 Will Surpass: Jiren

Jiren put Goku over the edge like no one else has (and Krillin didn't even need to die to do it). And just like Goku, he might already be far more powerful than Beerus.

In his current form, he is already strong enough to be feared by Gods of Destruction. Furthermore, he is somehow strong enough to completely negate Hit's time-stopping power by the virtue of his sheer muscle power. It is a level of power that verges on a level of ridiculousness that puts all other Dragon Ball antagonists to shame. And given his budding rivalry with Goku, it would only make sense that he would strive for further power after his loss.

5 Won't Surpass: 18

Power is about the least important thing in 18's laundry list of things she wants. Unlike Goku or Vegeta, she was merely given power and that's probably why it is of so little importance to her. She was born strong enough for most things, and she will continue to be that way from now until the end of time.

She much rather go after other pursuits. Money, fashion, and overall luxury on her mind when it comes to things that will make her and her family happy in the long run.

4 Will Surpass: Frieza

Frieza has proven to have quite the potential in Dragon Ball Super. Four months of training made him go leaps and bounds above what Goku and Vegeta could achieve over years of training. It resulting in a form that dwarfs previous nemeses like Perfect Cell and Kid Buu in the process.

If he just takes his training a bit more seriously, he would easily become like Vegeta. Right on the heels of Goku and maybe even then some. And somewhere along the way, he would pass Beerus as he goes after Goku.

3 Won't Surpass: Future Trunks

While powerful, most of the half-Saiyan children just do not possess the same lust for power that most full Saiyans have. It must be a recessive gene.

And because of that, they just don't seem to gain any power whenever the world is not in danger. Sure they are bound to bust out some sort of new form, or last-second power-up when engaging a powerful foe but without the impetus of a strong adversary trying to destroy the world, they all seem to stagnate in power. A far cry from Vegeta and Goku that train constantly with our without impending danger to spur them on. And given that Future Trunks no longer has an adversary to face, he'll fall into the same habit.

2 Will Surpass: Broly

This is not the Legendary Super Saiyan from the previous films. The new Broly from the new movie is just brimming with natural potential and fighting talent. Combine that with a power level that just seems naturally off the chart, and you have one good contender for giving Beerus a hell of a fight.

In the movie, just the standard Super Saiyan power-up was enough for him to beat the crap out of Frieza for about an hour and it took the combined might of both Vegeta and Goku (literally) to finally take the big beast down. If he achieves any other form his power would improve exponentially, easily putting him on the realm of Gods of Destruction like Beerus.

1 Won't Surpass: Gohan

It hurts to say but Gohan will not be surpassing Beerus anytime soon or ever. Just like Trunks, his powers seem to stagnate during times of peace leaving him strong but nowhere near Goku or Vegeta's level.

Gohan just has other things on his mind. Studying, family, and living his own life away from fighting seems to be his utmost priority and he couldn't really care less if he was stronger than Beerus, as long as he isn't an enemy.

NEXT: Dragon Ball: 5 Facts That Prove Goku Could Beat Beerus (& Why He Never Will)

While it may not always be talked about as much, there are tons of great examples of LGBTQ+ characters in anime. Even in the '90s, when other media was still mostly showing straight relationships, anime series like Revolutionary Girl Utena weren't afraid to show a wider range of relationships.

Anime has had everything from proud crossdressers to anime based around tender, blooming relationships. For many fans, anime has become a medium that provided them with more relatable characters in a world that tends to favor heteronormativity. While pride month may be over, the characters below should still be celebrated for representing the LGBTQ+ community in anime.

10 Sailor Uranus

One of the most well-known lesbians in the anime is Sailor Uranus, who is in a relationship with Sailor Neptune. The interesting thing about Uranus is that it is mentioned that the manga states that Uranus is neither male nor female, alluding to the fact that she may be gender-neutral.

Uranus also tends to dress in more male styled clothing while in her civilian form and isn't a stranger to flirting with cute girls. If Uranus were single, it's likely that she would have tried harder for Usagi.

9 Homura Akemi

Madoka Magica is another magical girl series featuring lesbian characters. Homura, in particular, is crazy for Madoka and even confesses her love to her. In fact, the whole reason the series is able to happen is that Homura's wish was to be with Madoka, which hasn't happened quite yet.

While Homura does lose herself after witnessing tragedy after tragedy, the love that drove the original wish is pure. Fans still don't know if Madoka has romantic feelings towards Homura, but they still hope.

8 Ymir

Ymir comes from the series Attack on Titan and is one of the few characters with a titan origin. Although Ymir was extremely guarded, she developed feelings for Historia who she was willing to protect with her life. Ymir wanted to see Historia succeed in all that she did, as long as it meant she wasn't harmed.

Ymir was one of the most straightforward characters in the series, despite the fact that she couldn't stay with Historia.

7 Utena

Utena of the aforementioned Revolutionary Girl Utena is another well-known and famous woman who is gay. Utena takes on the role of a prince and ends up protecting Anthy, a woman with whom she develops a relationship. While the original series left some speculation about the pair's feelings for each other, the official movie later revealed that they were, in fact, romantic.

Utena is a princely woman who could easily make the girls around her swoon.

6 Ryoji Fujioka

Ryoji is an interesting character that comes from Ouran High School Host Club. Ryoji started crossdressing after his wife died and claims that he isn't interested in being with another woman. Ryoji is a recurring character in the show and gets along well with his daughter's classmates.

This is a great example of a character being able to express himself and live as a woman without being judged.

5 Yukito Tsukishiro

Yukito is considered to be one of the most beloved characters in Cardcaptor Sakura. Yukito is in a romantic relationship with Sakura's brother Touya. The pair confess their feelings for each other quite frequently making it apparent to anyone enjoying the series that the two are in love.

At one point, Touya even gives up the ability to see his mother's ghost in order to save Yukito's life. This is another couple that appeared in an earlier series.

4 Victor Nikiforov

Yuri on Ice!!! is a show that constantly dropped hints that Victor and Yuri had feelings for each other. The two shared several moments together were nothing short of precious. Victor is committed to helping Yuri no matter how far he has to travel or how much work he must put in to help Yuri achieve his dream.

By the end of the series, Victor even publicly kisses Yuri in front of a large audience.

3 Kaworu Nagisa

Kaworu is a bit complicated, but his feelings for Shinji seem pretty straightforward. Kaworu tells Shinji multiple times that he loves him, and the Shinji even seems to blush out Kaworus's words. While nothing comes of the relationship, seeing a series like Evangelion with LGBT characters is perfect.

While Kaworu is a bit of a tragic character, it's highly likely that his feeling for Shinji where real.

2 Seiya Kou

Seiya is another character that appears in Sailor Moon and is in the series final arc. Seiya lives as a male in human form, and when he transforms, the anime shows his body changing to that of a woman. Regardless of the form Seiya takes though, he expresses tons of interest in Usagi.

Seiya is especially interesting as Usagi seems to fall for him as well and seems to still be attracted even after his true identity is revealed.

1 Yuzu Aihara

While the same can't be said for Mai, Yuzu was a pretty great representation of a lesbian. Yuzu was outgoing, knew how to speak her mind, and overall went through learning about herself extremely well in the series. Yuzu came to the conclusion that she was gay in Citrus and she owned it.

Overall, she was a fun character to watch and contributed to the depiction of some realistic issues about being LBGT.

NEXT: Sailor Moon: 5 Costumes That Made Her Look Cool (& 5 That Were Just Lame)

Sword Art Online has grown from a light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec to nine mangas, an animated TV series, and ,made-for-TV movies, a live-action series underway at Netflix, and six video games. The light novels alone have been sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

Summer 2020 will see even more SAO for fans. Alicization – War of Underworld Part 2 will be released on July 11, and a video game adaption with new gameplay options is set to drop a day earlier on the tenth of July. Beloved by many, even the biggest fan will admit there are some aspects of SAO that are fully understood only by few, and, for new fans, it can get downright confusing. Here’s a little help.

10 Don’t Expect Continuity In The Beginning – The Timeline Jumps Around

Fans typically love the series from the beginning, but one of the aspects that tends to throw people off the animated aeries is that lack of continuity. The episodes jump around the timeline, just as the novels do. In addition, the anime is based on portions of the light novel, but not the whole thing, so the first several episodes of the animated series are somewhat disconnected. Essentially, patience will reward viewers who are willing to keep watching until the story settles into a groove.

9 The Kids Are Alright... More Or Less

It’s not really a spoiler, it's more of a fan public service, to mention that it’s not until episode 13 or so that viewers will learn what happened to the kids’ real bodies while they were trapped in the game. As Kirito explains to Asuna after they wake up in the hospital, the gamers were disconnected for a couple of hours so they could be transported to hospitals. There, their bodies were drip-fed and kept alive for two years until Kiroto freed them. It’s explained in the novel in the Tutorial section.

8 Why Don’t The Police Just Arrest The Game Developer??

You’d think there would be a simple solution: arrest Akihiko Kayaba, the game developer, and get him to stop the whole thing. As it turns out, the police do search for him on an ongoing basis, but he disappears.

Later in the story, it is revealed that Akihiko is actually in the game himself as a player, and is as trapped in it as anyone else. There’s nothing the police can do to stop him, as killing him would only mean they’d lost the only person who understands how it works.

7 The Manga Does Not Follow The Anime Exactly Or Vice Versa

Anyone trying to follow both the manga and the anime at the same time or to correlate the two is bound to get mixed up. The first season of SAO covers the Aincrad and Fairy Dance mangas pretty closely. Sword Art Online Progressive goes back to fill in some of the details of the first story arc and was written because of fan demand. Elements of Progressive also appear in the first season. Sword Art Online II follows the story of the Phantom Bullet and Mother’s Rosario mangas.

6 Why Didn’t They Know Who Heathcliff Was?

At one point, Kikuoka Seijirou tells Kirito that they keep constant track of all the game players. So, why didn’t they realize that one of them—Heathcliff, aka Akihiko in the game—was logging in and out to eat and use the washroom and things like that? It’s not explained in the story, but the reason is pretty self-evident. Kayaba controls the Cardinal System, and would easily be able to figure out a way to manipulate his player data to look like everyone else’s.

5 How Did Kirito And Asuna Survive November 7, 2024?

Kirito discovers Heathcliff is really Kayaba, and everyone else is frozen while the two duel. Kayaba eventually kills both Kirito and Asuna, who reappear for the rest of the series. How? The Cardinal system actually allows for a slight delay between avatar death and death in the real world.

In SAO Chapter 24, he notices the time lag and clears out the game so that he’s logged out before the Final Phase has completed. Another fan theory is that he used the 10 Second Revival Item he got after defeating Nicholas the Renegade during the Christmas Event to resurrect them both.

4 How Could Kirito Keep Fighting After His HP Reached 0?

Your health score, or HP, in SAO determines how much punishment you can take from the game. Once it hits zero, you’re done. But, somehow, in the seminal battle with Heathcliff/Kayaba, Kirito is able to keep fighting, just as Asuna can move despite her paralysis status. It seems that the game itself evolves beyond Kayaba’s set limitations, which is due to the fact it is based on A.I. or artificial intelligence. Cardinal reacted to support both Asuna and Kirito because of their determination.

3 How Does Kayaba Come Back Into The Story After His Own Death?

At the end of the Aincrad Arc (November 2024), Akihiko dies along with the SAO virtual game. He has repurposed a FullDive unit that transfers his consciousness into the virtual world permanently. The scan fries out his brain cells and kills his physical body. But...he reappears in ALfheim Online when his virtual ghost is reawakened by hearing Kirito's voice. He disappears again at the end of Fairy Dance Arc after helping Kirito defeat Oberon. The character also appears in some of the video games, including Hollow Fragment and Infinity Moment, which retcons his death.

2 Why Does Kayaba Akihiko Create A Death Game...And Then Enter It To Help Players?

Kayaba Akihiko is the game developer, but, at the same time, he enters the game as Heathcliff, leader of Asuna’s guild, and he helps players along the way. He even battles some of the end bosses himself. Why?? It has to do with a sense of honor and fairness, albeit an extreme case. Yes, he did trap people in the game, but he believes the best will be able to get through and puts himself to the same challenges he puts to others. It’s weird and twisted, sure, but it’s anime.

1 What's The Difference Between Augma And FullDive VR?

Augma shows up in the movie Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale. The augmented reality device developed by Professor Shigemura Tetsuhiro soon became a hit because players remain conscious, and it augments their own abilities rather than creating new ones (which is why Kirito has problems, with his lack of natural athletic ability). But, it turns out it was only developed so Tesuhiro could steal memories of Yuuna, his dead daughter, from other players to attempt to recreate her. When it doesn’t work, and Kirito and friends defeat the end boss, Augma is disabled.

NEXT: 5 Sword Art Online Characters Who Deserve One For All (& 5 Who Really Don’t)

Dark Nights: Death Metal is the newest event story at DC Comics. Written by Scott Snyder and with art by Greg Capullo--the legendary team behind The New 52's Batman run and the original Dark Nights: Metal--this newest story is already looking to be as epic, dark, and twisted.

Death Metal is one of the craziest events in years, combining all of the over-the-top elements of comics in a sensational fantasy tale. In fact, its story directly spins out of the events of roughly a dozen other titles, though about half of these aren't essential reading. Here are five comics to read before Dark Nights: Death Metal and five that can be skipped:

10 Read: Dark Nights: Metal

Dark Nights: Metal was one of the best comic book event stories in decades. It was concise and self-contained without too many tie-in books, but also truly epic in its scale and quality. The book mixed surrealist glimpses of parallel realities and dream-like possibilities with harrow devastation that irrevocably altered the landscape of the DC Multiverse.

Death Metal's main villain, the Batman Who Laughs, was introduced in Dark Nights: Metal. More than this, the dark fantasy style of Snyder's writing and Capullo's art combined here, unleashed in their full potential without any constraints.

9 Skip: Tom King's Batman

Tom King took over writing the main Batman title in 2016 as part of DC: Rebirth, creating a compelling, innovative story that was at once iconic and experimental. He boldly used repetition in dialogue to create spoken word poetry while examining the Batman's mental health and his pursuit of happiness, making for a genuinely compelling story. He also wrote a story with almost no connection to Dark Nights: Metal.

To be clear, some elements of King's run dealt with other key DC events, including Flashpoint, the return of Doctor Manhattan, and Year of the Villain, but the book's strength was its character-driven narrative and invocation of poetic styles--not its relationship to epic events.

8 Read: Doomsday Clock

Watchmen is considered by many to be the greatest graphic novel ever written. Ever panel and page was perfectly constructed by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. As such, DC Comics cheated the two out of their rights as creators, then did all they could to capitalize on the book, including making Doomsday Clock--a comic where the characters from Watchmen entered the main DC Universe.

While an excellent comic, Doomsday Clock failed to live up to the standards set by its predecessor. However, it set several events in motion that make it essential reading to fully appreciate Dark Nights: Death Metal.

7 Skip: Scott Snyder's Batman

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo collaborated for five years on the main Batman title following The New 52 reboot of the DC Universe. Their stories took the Dark Knight to even darker places as he battled horrors lurking in the shadows of Gotham's underbelly and faced off against psychopathic villains who would flay the flesh from his loved ones as acts of romantic devotion.

This comic was fantastic. Then it took a weird twist toward the end, making Jim Gordon the new Batman--a particularly questionable choice as police killings were all over the headlines at the time. When Bruce Wayne returned to being Batman, he used a machine that showed him flashes of other possible realities for him as Batman--the realities he later covered in Metal and Death Metal, respectively. While a great comic worth reading for its own merits, these tiny flashes of alternate realities don't add anything to later event stories.

6 Read: Scott Snyder's Justice League

Snyder's work on the main Justice League title spun out of Dark Nights: Metal and dealt directly with the events of the comic. The comic was epic, fun, and filled with cosmic horror, pitting the Justice League against dark forces built into the fabric of reality. The book forced the heroes to question themselves, expanding DC's lore with the introduction of concepts like the Still Force and the Ultraviolet Lanterns.

Justice League covered the events prior to Death Metal, and very well may be the most important comic on this list to read before diving into DC's newest event story.

5 Skip: Justice League: No Justice

Immediately after finishing Dark Nights: Metal, Snyder began working on Justice League: No Justice, a short four-issue miniseries that set the tone for his work on the longer Justice League title.

No Justice was a fun and tragic story, recapturing some of the feeling of classic DC events set in space. The story was continued in his main Justice League title, and frankly, fans could skip this miniseries if they wanted.

4 Read: The Batman Who Laughs

Of all the Batman books on this list, the only one that fans need read before Death Metal is the seven-issue miniseries The Batman Who Laughs. This book showed just what the villainous anti-Batman was up to after the end of Metal and just how big of a threat he was.

The Batman Who Laughs might not be as powerful of a villain as the demon Barbatos or the multiverse's mother, Perpetua, but he is scarier because of his humanity (and his loss of it). This book showed just the cracks in Bruce Wayne and the horrors that continue to haunt the Dark Knight's innermost thoughts.

3 Skip: Flash Forward

Over the past decade, the Flash went from being a second tier Justice Leaguer to one of the most important characters in the DC Universe. Flashpoint featured Barry Allen rebooting the entire DC Universe, while one of the two biggest events in DC: Rebirth was the return of the original Wally West. Beyond this, the main Flash title has delivered one fantastic story after another in recent years, making it a consistently strong and engaging title.

Flash Forward did some amazing things as an event story, ending with a dramatic twist that took Wally West in a new direction. Death Metal built upon this, but one can enjoy the book without seeing what led up to it.

2 Read: Heroes in Crisis

The book Heroes in Crisis was a miniseries about the ways heroes cope with trauma. The writer, Tom King, spent years working in the CIA and so had firsthand knowledge about how trauma impacted people who confronted real-world violence.

The big reveal at the end of Heroes in Crisis made the book one of the most important DC titles of recent years, but even more than this, the emotional journey the characters underwent made this book essential reading for all comic fans. Its impact will echo through Death Metal and future titles in which heroes are forced to confront reality-shaking horrors.

1 Skip: Multiversity

Grant Morrison's epic multiverse-spanning comic Multiversity pushed the bounds of what a comic could do. Each issue was a separate standalone story within the greater DC Multiverse, simultaneously self-contained and yet connected to the larger overarching events of a grand narrative.

Dark Nights: Metal emerged from Scott Snyder playing with the themes and ideas established in Multiversity. However, Metal also made Multiversity's map of the Multiverse irrelevant. To put it another way, Metal shattered the Multiverse; Death Metal is the primal scream echoing in the ruins of what has been left behind.

NEXT: 10 Best Batman Stories We Saw In The 90s, Ranked

With huge titles like Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, and My Hero Academia dominating mainstream media, it may be easy to think that the anime world is small. However, thousand of anime titles exist, many being original stories never seen before. With so many titles available, there are definitely some with similar themes and concepts.

Inuyasha and Kamisama Kiss are among some of the many anime casual fans may confuse at first glance. With similar looking leads and some of the same tropes, it can be easy to confuse the two. While no two anime are exactly the same, both of these titles have enough similarities that it's worth comparing the two.

10 Same: The Leads Look Similar

When describing a white-haired character with animal ears, anime watchers will either think of Inuyasha or Tomoe. Their similarities do not end there, though, as they both have bright-colored eyes, Inuyasha's being a golden hue and Tomoe's a purple tone. Both Inuyasha and Tomoe dress in more traditional style clothing.

Inuyasha and Tomoe may have the most obvious similarities, but Kagome and Nanami look alike too! They both have long, dark hair with bangs and they both primarily wear their school uniforms.

9 Different: Kagome & Nanami's Lives

At first glance, it appears that Kagome and Nanami have a lot of similarities. When it comes to their background stories, it gets a bit more complicated. Kagome comes from a very loving and supportive family. She lives with her mom, brother, and grandpa, who all help her balance her life between the feudal era and the current time.

Nanami's life hasn't been so easy. Nanami's mother died when she was younger and her father is an irresponsible gambler. As a result, Nanami grew up distrusting men and leaning towards being independent. Nanami accepts the role of the Shrine God because she does not have a place to live.

8 Same: Inuyasha & Tomoe are Both Demons (Who Can Turn Human)

Inuyasha is plagued by the fact that he is a Dog half-demon. He spends the majority of the anime hunting down the Sacred Jewel shards to use it to become a full demon. Inuyasha becomes human every new moon and can become a full demon during moments of distress. Inuyasha also has the choice to turn human, as he planned to do while he was with Kikyo.

Tomoe is a fox demon and has been alive for a long time. Before becoming a familiar, he was an evil demon who wreaked havoc until he meets a human he falls in love with. As he serves Mikage, he becomes docile but is still strong. He ends up turning into a human to live alongside Nanami.

7 Different: Inuyasha & Tomoe's Maturity

One of Inuyasha's defining characteristics is his hot-headedness. Inuyasha is short-tempered and likes to fight first, think later. He can be easily angered and provoked to battle. When it comes to his relationship with Kagome, he is prideful and can be immature.

Tomoe is the opposite. Tomoe initially comes off as aloof, as he doesn't care for Nanami. He does have moments where he snaps at Nanami, but overall he isn't quick to get angry. He is very honest and straightforward. He is also charming and sly, which he uses to his advantage to get his way.

6 Same: The First Loves

At the time Kagome and Nanami enter the lives of Inuyasha and Tomoe, both of them have had their first loves. Inuyasha fell in love with Kikyo 50 years before meeting Kagome. Inuyasha lives haunted by Kikyo's death and when she returns to life, he is conflicted between Kagome and his first love. Kagome is troubled between wanting to be with Inuyasha but having to accept he loves someone else.

Tomoe was in love 500 years prior to meeting Nanami with Yukiji, a human woman who changed his life. Tomoe has a hard time accepting his feelings for Nanami because he is under a spell that has caused him to "forget" his first love. As Nanami comes to terms with her feelings, she also has to deal with the role Yukiji played in Tomoe's life.

5 Different: Supporting Characters

Inuyasha and Kagome are the main characters of Inuyasha but the anime would be incomplete without its amazing cast of characters. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo all provide their own unique stories that contribute to the overall plot. They also provide a lot of comic relief and make enemy battles more fun.

In Kamisama Kiss, the set-up with the other characters is almost a reverse-harem situation. There is Mizuki, a snake demon who becomes Nanami's second familiar; Kurama, a fallen angel who develops a crush on Nanami; and Akura-Ou, Tomoe's enemy who also seems to develop an attraction to Nanami that is beyond using her to hurt Tomoe.

4 Same: Rivals in Love

The women aren't the only ones with reasons to be jealous in Inuyasha and Kamisama Kiss. Both Kagome and Nanami have other suitors vying for their attention. In Kagome's case, there is Koga. Koga is a wolf-demon who fell in love with Kagome essentially at first sight. He declares that she will be his woman and spends the remainder of the series arguing with Inuyasha over Kagome.

Tomoe's main rival in Kamisama Kiss seems to be Mizuki. He appears seemingly out of nowhere and kisses Nanami to become her familiar. At the beginning of the series, he works hard to try and sway Nanami towards him and away from Tomoe.

3 Different: The Villians

In Inuyasha, there are many characters that try and create conflict, however, the biggest enemy is Naraku. Naraku has directly and deliberately hurt every single character in the series. His main goal is to collect all the Jewel Shards and to kill Inuyasha. It also appears that he wants to Kikyo as well. Naraku is evil to be evil.

For Tomoe and Nanami, their nemesis isn't quite as calculated. Akura-Ou and Tomoe were partners in crime, set on doing whatever they wanted to whoever they wanted. When Tomoe falls in love with a human, their dynamic is ruined and Akura-Ou falls to his demise. Once he makes a comeback, he wants to seek revenge on Tomeo.

2 Same: Time Traveling

Both Inuyasha and Kamisama Kiss incorporate time travel in an interesting way for their respective series. In Inuyasha, Kagome accidentally travels to the past through a well in her home. She spends the entire series using the well to join Inuyasha and the others in the hunt of the Jewel Shards. In addition, Kagome is the future reincarnation of Kikyo.

Kamisama Kiss takes place in the current time but does have a time-traveling arc that unravels a major plot point. Nanami travels back 500 years to save Tomoe and discovers that he never fell in love with Yukiji. Instead, he fell in love with Nanami and thought it was Yukiji. This casual loop completely changes the series and intensifies Nanami and Tomoe's relationship.

1 Different: The Overall Tone

The romances in anime are usually the most memorable parts because fans love to root for love. While Inuyasha does have some notable romances and one of the most famous love triangles, the overall plot is not a love story. Inuyasha is a shounen anime. It is an action-based series with comedy, romance, supernatural, and fantasy elements. Inuyasha is also darker and gorier.

Kamisama Kiss, on the other hand, is a shojo anime. It is a romantic comedy that has elements of fantasy and magic. While both anime are rated PG 13, Kamisama Kiss is the lighter title with themes suitable for most audiences.

NEXT: Demon Slayer: 5 Way It's Like Inuyasha ( & 5 Ways It's Not)

Iconic villains stand the test of time. They come in and out of fashion. They defy trends. In the right hands, they embody everything fans love to hate about the best of the worst villains of all time. In the wrong hands, their unique qualities are poorly translated, or sometimes not at all.

The most iconic Marvel villains have had a lot of different takes over the decades in the comic books, and more still across different media as they show up in animated series or live-action films. Here are the ten worst versions of iconic Marvel villains, ranked.

10 Magneto (Earth X)

In what can only be described as 'Huh?', the Earth X version of the Master of Magnetism is one of the worst takes on the character. Good, bad, or in between Magneto is always a force to be reckoned with and not someone who will bow -willingly - to anyone.

In the alternate reality of Earth X, not only does he lose his signature electromagnetic powers, he's forced to become a court jester for the new ruler of Sentinel City, Toad. This humiliation is hard to square with a character as strong-willed as Magneto.

9 Electro (Amazing Spider-Man 2)

The cinematic version of iconic Spider-Man villain Electro had a lot going for it: Jamie Foxx first and foremost, and an interesting design that amplified the electrical nature of the character.

All of that looked great on paper, but like with almost everything else in the truncated Amazing Spider-Man reboot, it didn't work. The character was rendered as a bumbling fool and was made largely irrelevant thanks to an overstuffed plot that also included (checks notes) the Rhino, Green Goblin, and Sinister Six (kind of).

8 Green Goblin (Spider-Man Unlimited)

Green Goblin is one of Spider-Man's greatest foes and is pretty much a lock for any screen adaptation of the Wall-Crawler. So it was natural when he showed up in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series from the early 2000s.

What wasn't expected was the tack the series took with him. Green Goblin wasn't Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn, or even a villain. He was a man named Hector Jones and in his one appearance on the show, helped Spider-Man out instead of trying to kill him.

7 Dark Phoenix (X-Men Last Stand)

Dark Phoenix is one of the greatest villains of all time, from one of the greatest comic book stories of all time, so fans assumed her translation to the big screen would be a slam dunk. Instead, the character and her classic comics arc were botched in X-Men: The Last Stand.

Rather than be the focus of her own story, Dark Phoenix is relegated to an accessory in an overstuffed plot. She mostly stands around as Magneto and a mutant army fight a battle she can win in a flash and when she gets into it finally, Wolverine kills her.

6 Thanos (Helicopter Pilot)

Thanks to his snappy rampage through the MCU, Thanos has become one of the greatest Marvel villains on screen and in the comics. Being a genocidal terror wasn't always the Mad Titan's deal, though. When he first appeared in the comics, he was more down to earth. Well, just above it.

In Spidey Super Stories #39 from 1979, Thanos tries to steal the Cosmic Cube and makes his escape in his own personal Thanos-copter. It's very Silver Age, in a bad way.

5 Apocalypse (X-Men: Apocalypse)

Apocalypse is one of the most powerful, intelligent, and ruthless villains in all of comics and yet in the first movie to bring him to the big screen, he spends most of it walking around collecting people to do things he can do for himself.

His powers are all over the place and so is his place in the plot, which barely exists. Oscar Issac is utterly wasted in a role that should have put the character on the map in the minds of the general public. Instead, the movie was pretty forgettable and so was Apocalypse.

4 Bullseye (Daredevil, 2003)

A Marvel comic book villain played by Colin Farrell sounds like a great idea, but the movie version of Bullseye didn't quite hit the mark. Conceptually, the character didn't come together, much like the 2003 movie adaptation of Daredevil itself.

He's kind of a grungy, punk character who's supposed to be a ruthless assassin so good at his job the Kingpin hires him. But this version of Bullseye is hardly a match at all for the highly trained Daredevil, and it doesn't make sense he's a threat at all.

3 Ultron (MCU)

Despite its astronomical success, not everything in the MCU works. For a long time, the franchise struggled with presenting really good villains who weren't Loki, and Ultron is a great example of that.

The comic book version of Ultron is a frightening, unstoppable menace that gets worse every time he shows up. The movie version - despite a unique performance from James Spader - seems like a standard big action-movie villain who just wants to destroy the world when he can't get what he wants.

2 Doom (Fantastic Four 2015)

Doctor Doom is virtually unrecognizable in the generally maligned disaster that is the 2015 Fantastic Four. The character doesn't feature any of the character's comic book qualities, and his costume, such as it is, only provides a passing resemblance.

While it's easy to hate on the film, which got little about the franchise right, the mischaracterization of Doctor Doom is especially egregious considering that he is one of the all-time great villains and he was utterly and completely wasted.

1 Galactus (Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer)

While the 2015 Fantastic Four movie may have been the worst screen adaptation of the franchise - and that's saying something - it doesn't feature the worst cinematic depiction of a classic Fantastic Four villain. That distinction goes to the 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

In that film, all-time great villain Galactus is rendered as a giant cloud in space. Not a big purple guy with Kirby-tech. A cloud. That complete whiff on one of the best characters in comics signaled the end of this version of the Fantastic Four movies.

NEXT: 10 Villains Who Defeated The Fantastic Four All By Themselves

Anime genres have a habit of producing comparable protagonists, like the energetic heroes of shonen anime or the love-struck couple featured in a shojo. Archetypes have their place in any medium, as they serve as a way for audiences to quickly get an idea of a character's general disposition.

Just as characters can be categorized into known archetypes based on their personalities, people can also be grouped together in real life based on their behavior using astrology. If the zodiac signs were then translated into anime characters, here are the character archetypes they would fall under.

12 Aries: Shonen Hero

Shonen anime are action-packed adventures that need a strong hero to lead the story along. Traditionally, these heroes are fiery, determined, and fight for what they believe in.

Aries signs display these traits as well, and their passion and convictions drive everything they do. Aries love to lead, and, like a shonen protagonist, they tend to take charge and dive head-first into danger. Well-known shonen heroes include Gon from Hunter x Hunter and Asta from Black Clover.

11 Taurus: Dandere

Timid and shy, dandere characters seldom speak unless first spoken to. This makes them appear stoic, just like the even-tempered Taurus sign. While not all Tauruses are bashful, many prefer solitude over large crowds, and they're often comfortable inside their shell.

Break open that shell, however, and a Taurus will reveal their kind, steady heart to those they trust. Similarly, a dandere character – Hinata from Naruto or Homura from Madoka Magica – will reveal a bold sort of confidence when encouraged to open up by someone they trust.

10 Gemini: Deredere

The term "deredere" stems from the Japanese onomatopoeia for "lovestruck," and characters under this archetype aren't shy when it comes to sharing their feelings with the ones they love. Full of enthusiasm, deredere characters spread happiness wherever they go.

They can sometimes, however, be air-headed or naive. Geminis share this love for the happier side of life. Often optimistic, Geminis would feel right at home amongst other deredere characters, like Chiyo from Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun or Hinata from Haikyuu!!

9 Cancer: Magical Girl

Well-known for their colorful outfits and love for protecting the world, the protagonists of magical girl anime transform their emotions into pure magical energy to save the day. Some magical girls struggle with the emotional instability, like Sayaka from Madoka Magica, while others express their emotions in their everyday lives, like Usagi from Sailor Moon.

Cancer signs are no strangers to deeply feeling emotions. If a Cancer were to gain superpowers, they'd no doubt find themselves converting their feelings into magic.

8 Leo: Himedere/Oujidere

Leos take a lot of pride in being the best at everything they do. Sometimes, they might take this a little too far and come off as vain or overconfident. This is true also for himedere characters, who want to be treated like princesses; with regards to their male counterparts, oujideres lead the life of pampered princes.

Despite their arrogant demeanor, these characters excel at achieving perfectionism in all they do. Erina from Food Wars is a prime example of a himedere, while Ciel from Black Butler is a prime example of an oujidere.

7 Virgo: Kuudere

Like the trustworthy Virgo sign, kuudere characters are calm, collected, and pragmatic. They don't show much emotion on the outside, but their deadpanned expressions often give them a killer sense of sarcasm and dry humor.

Kuuderes are also similar to Virgos because their self-control keeps their feelings in check to a degree unmatched by others. When they start to open up, kuuderes see that expressing emotion isn't a sign of weakness. Popular kuudere characters include Mai from Nichijou and Todoroki from My Hero Academia.

6 Libra: Tsundere

Tsundere is one of the most well-known anime character archetypes. It refers to characters who are lovestruck but choose to act cold towards the person they like. Libras are social butterflies who tend to love to flirt. Flirt back, however, and a Libra will become flustered and unsure of what to do.

This is similar to how a tsundere may seem confident on the outside, but inside are too confused by their feelings to know how to act properly. Noelle from Black Clover and Kyo from Fruits Basket are two strong examples of the tsundere archetype.

5 Scorpio: Mayadere

Mayadere refers to anime characters who are usually introduced as violent villains, but who have a change of heart and befriend the hero later. Scorpios fit the mayadere archetype well since their intense auras can intimidate anyone around them.

Those who mess with a Scorpio will regret it, as they are no strangers to holding grudges. However, to befriend a Scorpio or a mayadere means to have a strong, ambitious partner who is willing to lend their support. Well-known mayadere characters include Teru from Mob Psycho 100 and Zuko from the non-anime Avatar: The Last Airbender.

4 Sagittarius: Rival

Sagittarians have a similar fiery passion to Aries and Leo signs, making them the perfect rival characters for an anime hero to compete against. When a protagonist begins a journey, they may meet someone who challenges them to surpass their limits.

Sagittarians love to travel and learn from real-world experiences, and would no doubt love walking in the shoes of popular rival characters like Yuno from Black Clover or Gary from Pokémon. Plus, their determined attitude and friendly disposition make them excellent at lifting others' spirits, even while trying to beat them at their own game.

3 Capricorn: Glasses Character

Think of anime "glasses characters," and personalities like Kyoya from Ouran Highschool Host Club and Iida from My Hero Academia are likely to come to mind. These characters tend to be the top of their class or business professionals and can pull the strings of any operation behind the scenes.

Typically appearing stoic, they let their intelligence express how they feel, often preferring logic over emotions. Capricorns fit this description well, as even someone of this zodiac sign who doesn't wear glasses may have a glint in their eye when they have a great idea.

2 Aquarius: Otaku

Aquarians and Otaku characters both love the strange and uncanny, often to an obsessive-like degree. Otakus are nerdy characters who are fans of anime, like Tsukimi from Princess Jellyfish or Mikorin from Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun.

Often, their rooms are decked out in show merchandise and they will go to extreme measures to worship whatever they love. Aquarians can similarly get swept up in their passions to the point that can intimidate other people.

1 Pisces: Wise elder

With all of the plucky youngsters in anime, there needs to be someone to teach them before they set off on their journeys. Where would Tanjiro be without the lessons of Sakonji in Demon Slayer? Or, how would Midoriya have trained without the help of Grand Torino's internship in My Hero Academia?

These characters are often wise, elderly individuals whose worldly experience is set in the wrinkles on their faces. Deep thinkers and dreamers, Pisces represents the end of a cycle when all that is available to learn has been consumed.

NEXT: Which Demon Slayer Character Are You, Based On Your Zodiac?

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece has been going on for more than two decades, and a significant portion of its success and longevity can be credited to its iconic protagonist. Seeking to become the pirate king, Monkey D. Luffy consumed the Gomu Gomu no Mi, became a man of rubber, and set out on the open seas. Throughout his travels, the Straw Hat pirate managed to form a fantastic crew filled with strong, smart, and talented members, all of which were drawn to their captain's fiery passion and adventurous spirit.

They were presumably not attracted to Luffy's brains, as One Piece's protagonist has had his share of unbelievably dumb moments. While these scenes are mostly played for laughs, there have been instances when Luffy's stupidity was a bit too much.

10 Luffy Accepts Foxy's Davy Back Fight

The Long Ring Long Land Arc tends to be pretty divisive among fans, with the Davy Back Fight being especially polarizing. This refers to a contest that sees two pirate crews competing in a series of matches, with the winner of each round getting their choice of the loser's crew members. Foxy the Silver Fox tries to coerce Luffy into a contest, a plan that succeeds when Foxy threatens a horse named Shelly.

Luffy gained absolutely nothing from this whole escapade and should have known better than to accept Foxy's proposal. It is even worse in the anime than the manga, as Foxy shoots a net at the horse rather than the source material's bullet and Luffy even agrees to a second Davy Back Fight.

9 The Blatant Trap

Luffy is not solely to blame for this one because the rest of the Straw Hats should have also known better. While traversing Crocodile's Rain Dinners casino in the Alabasta Arc, the heroes came across a diverging path with a sign saying that one side is for VIPs and the other is for pirates.

Despite Usopp suggesting they follow the VIP path, Luffy says they are pirates and should go down their corridor. Naturally, the only thing waiting for them is a trapdoor.

8 A Hero, Defined

Luffy might have a habit of taking down dictators, but the Straw Hat pirate does not classify himself as a hero. This is expressed elegantly when Jinbe states that Luffy could be Fish-Man Island's hero; however, the protagonist rejects this idea because heroes would need to share the meat with everyone. He refuses to do something as dumb as that.

Luffy has never pretended to be altruistic and he mostly takes on fights that challenge his dream of being a free pirate. However, the way Luffy expressed his motives in this instance made him look a bit too selfish.

7 A Bronze Statue Paid By Gold

Luffy has always wanted a bronze statue. After viewing the one in Kumamoto, it is not difficult to understand the Straw Hat pirate's desire to immortalize himself as a glorious statue. That said, paying for a bronze item with gold seems foolish. At that point, why not just create a gold statue?

Luffy was prepared to use the gold he received from Skypiea to erect a bronze statue of himself, a train of thought that presumably still haunts Nami to this day.

6 Luffy Reveals He Ate The O-Shiruko To Big Mom

This is a moment from the manga that has yet to be covered by the anime.

Big Mom loves food. It is something she shares in common with Luffy, although she tends to react a bit more violently when it is not forthcoming. During the Wano Country Arc, a Big Mom suffering from amnesia goes on a rampage in search of o-shiruko, a Japanese dessert, only for Luffy to blurt out that he was the one who ate it all.

To make the moment even dumber, Luffy did not realize he was speaking out loud at the time. Considering Luffy knows too well a hungry Big Mom's power, this was especially stupid.

5 Challenging Kaido

Luffy has a habit of jumping headfirst into battles without giving it a second thought. More often than not, this recklessness backfires spectacularly; however, no other defeat proved as crushing as the protagonist's "fight" against Kaido. One Piece's Strongest Creature took down Luffy with a single punch, confirming the latter entered a battle that was far beyond his current level.

The anime expands this encounter a bit and allows Luffy to save some face by dodging a few attacks and even landing a solid hit with his Elephant Gun. That said, this was never a contest.

4 Revealing His Location To Big Mom

Leading up to Sanji and Pudding's wedding, Capone Bege devised a plan to drive Big Mom mad by ruining the wedding cake. In order to spread chaos and give the Straw Hat captain some breathing room, Bege unleashes an army of Luffys to distract Big Mom.

The plan was going fine until Big Mom demanded to know who was the real Luffy and, like a fool, the latter announced his location. At that moment, Bege learned that some people really are that stupid.

3 Not Recognizing That Usopp Is Sogeking

A running gag during the Enies Lobby Arc is that Luffy, somehow, fails to realize that Sogeking is merely Usopp in disguise. Now, in all fairness, it could be that the Straw Hat captain was only pretending to be oblivious to give Usopp a chance to apologize for their fight during the Water 7 Arc. However, that might be giving Luffy a bit too much credit.

One Piece's protagonist has great instincts but he tends to take things at face value.

2 Telling Usopp To Leave

In a decision that was far from popular with the rest of the Straw Hats, Luffy told Usopp to leave if he was not happy with his captain's decision to retire the Going Merry ship. While Luffy instantly regretted bringing this up, there was no turning back once he uttered those words.

It even prompted Sanji to kick Luffy out of anger, a rare sight for the series. This was one instance when the heat of the moment rather than comedic shenanigans led to Luffy saying something stupid.

1 Punching A Celestial Dragon

Luffy punching Saint Charlos, a Celestial Dragon, ranks among the greatest moments in One Piece. It showcases the protagonist's readiness to stand up to those who seek to crush other people's freedom. As cathartic as the moment is, it still stands as Luffy's dumbest action.

This decision almost cost Luffy his pirate crew and all of their lives, a hefty price to pay for what ultimately was a punch that offered instant gratification and little else. Luffy needs to learn how to pick his battles.

NEXT: One Piece: 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Celestial Dragons

The cult classic, Kentaro Miura's Berserk, first serialized with its prototype in 1988 and continuing to this very day, was later adapted to an animated series in 1997, then a beautifully animated film series in 2012 and recently, a sort of remake of the original series with closer detail to the manga in 2016. This seinen series has been popular among the masses for it's unique as well as grotesque storyline, selling over 40 million copies as of 2016.

Fans of this series are a select bunch, however, their tastes can be satiated in many other ways by similar anime. Here will be a list of recommendations for those who want to quench their thirst for the grueling struggle of morality, fantastical creatures, gore, and madness, while they wait for Miura-san to come out of his many hiatuses.

8 Claymore

Sharing in Berserk's medieval theme, Claymore is a tale that follows Clare, a female Claymore, named after the immense sword she wields, similar to Gut's 'Dragon Slayer'. Claymore is a human/demon or 'Yoma' hybrids, and use their superhuman strength and wit to defeat them. Aside from the similarity of its demons within a medieval setting, these 'Yoma' also have shapeshifting abilities as well as super strength, speed and can possess others. From its use of medieval weaponry to a world overthrown by demons and bloodshed, this would be a good recommendation with a similar vibe, just with more strong female roles.

7 Hellsing: Ultimate

Hellsing: Ultimate, the original video animation (OVA) series that moreclosely followed the manga by Kouta Hirano, is one that immediately comes to mind when thinking of blood, gore, and monsters. Alexander Anderson, one of the supporting characters, a sort of arch-rival and out to kill Alucard, would fit in well within the Berserk universe as he is a priest within the Vatican who kills vampires. A similarity being the use of religious and paganistic themes, and acts of ridding the world of heretics and sinners. Aside from these themes, the use of gigantic weaponry (for example, Seras' massive Harkonnen cannon) as well as copious amounts of blood, gore, and strong sexual themes and language, are things that are shared between the two series and would be enjoyed by fans.

6 Gungrave

Video game turned anime, Gungrave has been described as 'Berserk with guns.' The premise of the story is one that is shared between both of the main protagonists, Guts and Brandon Heat, also known as 'Grave', who were both once calm individuals, molded to something more sinister due to their hardships, both betrayed and their friends brutally slaughtered. Also, both characters do anything in their power to protect their love interest/significant other, as this is all that they have left that holds meaning in their world. Both Guts and Grave are driven by revenge and use any means necessary to exact it, such as wielding extremely powerful weaponry and being particularly ruthless.

5 Bastard!!

Bastard!!, as the title suggests, is a fantastical wild ride not suitable for young audiences. This sex-driven romp holds many similarities to Berserk in that, as aforementioned, it doesn't shy from mature themes. From slime that deteriorates clothing in very suggestive areas, to large, muscle-bound men who rip both demons and men alike, these both share many aspects, however, Bastard!! is more comedic and not so serious at times but in end, still dark but not nearly as dark as Berserk. Also, both take place in medieval times and magic is heavily used. If a fan is interested in a similar series but a bit more light-hearted and romantic, this would be a good match.

4 Devilman Crybaby

Devilman Crybaby, a Netflix original series based off of Go Nagai's manga, is one that showcases many scenes of graphic nudity, gore, and sexual themes. Along with these similarities to that of Berserk, the premise, which follows two male friends, Akira and Ryo, have a relationship like that of Guts and Griffith. Both contain one friend that influences the other and they both seem to be opposites. The designs of the grotesque monsters and the use of human possession are reminiscent of the cursed world that Guts is challenged with on the daily. All in all, this is a good watch for those who are fans of the genre and seems to be more shock value-based rather than stricken with tragedy.

3 Fist of the North Star

Fist of the North Star, also known as Hokuto no Ken, is a series that every anime fan has heard of. It follows the characteristics of other novel seinen series, particularly with its male-dominated, 'save the helpless woman' sort of vibe. However, similar to that of Berserk, it follows the story of a man, Kenshiro, as he searches his post-apocalyptic wasteland for his missing fiancee, Yuria, who was taken away by a jealous rival. This is similar to that of Guts, after the Eclipse, continues to protect his love interest, Casca, who had lost her memory and reverts to a child-like state due to the horrific act that was done to her at the hands of his then closest comrade, Griffith. Both series have overtly muscular men putting their lives on the line for a woman and said woman being stolen forcefully by someone who was once trusted.

2 Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

The second animated film in the Vampire Hunter D series, Bloodlust, is a cult favorite and one of the most beautifully animated movies of the 2000s. It follows the path of wandering dhampir (half-vampire, half-human) D, as he searches for a vampire Noble who abducted a young woman. The premise is primarily a romance with supernatural beings and bloodshed, but its story is deep and brooding, like that of Berserk. While in that vein, the two main male protagonists, D, and Guts, share many common traits, both quiet, reserved, extremely skilled, and devoted to their goal. For fans of the occult, this masterpiece is worth a watch.

Blade Of The Immortal: Immortal

Another series known for its gore and a good match would be Blade Of The Immortal: Immortal, based on the manga by the same name. This samurai tale follows Manji, who has been cursed with immortality. To free himself of this hell, he must first take one thousand lives. His fate is very similar to Guts', as both of these men are cursed. As for Guts, after being branded during the Eclipse, he is relentlessly followed by demons who wish to devour him. In comparison, this series contains just as much tragedy and a sense of morality as Berserk and has a very similar feel. This series is currently still in production, but there is another animated series from 2008 that is complete.

1 X

Lastly, a classic from CLAMP, based on the manga X/1999, is X. This being within the shoujo genre, and not seinen like all the others within this list, there are still many similarities that would appeal to those who are fans of Berserk. For a shoujo series, it has its share of dark fantasy, with the Dragons of Earth/Heaven battling for the future of humanity, as well as a looming Armageddon that shadows over the world. The overwhelming sense of dread and religious undertones match well with the world of Berserk and checking out this series would possibly open up interest in this genre, as it does not always have to be girly and cheerful.

NEXT: Kentaro Miura's 8 Best Works That Aren't Berserk, Ranked

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,"Adapt or Die," which aired Wednesday on ABC.

In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s seventh and final season, Coulson and his team went on a mission across time to stop the Chronicoms from erasing the spy organization from history. While the agents' mission first started out as a quest to ensure no changes in the timeline were made, the Chronicoms changed the game and took things much further in last week's "A Trout in the Milk." By allowing Wilfred Malick to live on after he was supposed to die, the Chronicoms helped the Hydra leader fast-track Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Project Insight by several decades.

But that's not the only change in the timeline. With Malick still alive, his sons' lives were altered, and Nathaniel Malick, who originally died as a teenager, was also now alive and well. Worse still, thanks to his obsession with Daisy Johnson, Nathaniel may have been transformed into the team's most dangerous new villain.

In "A Trout in the Milk," Daisy first met Nathaniel at a S.H.I.E.L.D. party in 1973. There, the young man tried to seduce her, only to be shot down when Agent Sousa posed as Daisy's betrothed. When things took a turn for the worse, Nathaniel saw Daisy use her Quake abilities, and he instantly recognized them for what they were: Inhuman powers. Then, after the team jumped forward to 1976, Daisy once again faced Nathaniel. However, in the last three years, he had grown obsessed with her abilities and become far more dangerous -- a fact he proved when he kidnapped both Daisy and Agent Sousa.

Now, in "Adapt or Die," we discover what Nathaniel wants exactly: Daisy's power. The Malick family knows all about the Inhumans, given that they worship an ancient Inhuman god from another planet. However, Nathaniel's interest is much more self-serving, as he just wants power for himself. He shows that, over time, he's grown twisted, obsessive, violent and completely mad.

Through a series of torturous experiment taking place inside a barn, Nathaniel takes Daisy's blood and spinal fluid, leaving her a weak and bloodied mess. His hope is that, with her genetic material, he will be able to replicate her powers in himself -- a feat that he actually pulls off.

In fact, Nathaniel later returns, demonstrating that he now has part of Daisy's quaking abilities. However, as he is forced to learn (just as Daisy did when she first got her powers), there is a gruesome side-effect to using these superpowers: the bones in his body shatter, and Nathaniel loses control. As a result, the ceiling of the barn caves in on him, something which gives Sousa and Daisy the chance to escape.

However, it's all but certain that Nathaniel was simply taken out of the fight. Chances are he survived, and that he will return more dangerous than ever before. After all, the team has just once again time jumped, and it's unclear where they'll land next. During this time, Nathaniel could have gotten the chance to heal, to learn how to use his powers and even perfect his experiment. With this knowledge and power, he could become a veritable menace who seeks out other Inhumans and who takes their abilities for himself.

So far, Daisy hasn't really taken a central role in this final season, but that may have just changed. If Nathaniel returns, then she will face an enemy of her own making -- a threat to her team, her family and her own people.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s final season airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on ABC. The series stars Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge and Clark Gregg.

KEEP READING: Agents Of SHIELD's '50s Episode Connects To Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Artist Jason Fabok analyzed the first issue of Batman: Three Jokers. All three issues will have multiple variants for each one, and much like the interior pages, the covers have references from historic Batman tales.

The cover itself is of Joker holding a Joker Fish by the tale as it smiles just as creepily as the villain. Fabok posted both the colored and inked version and explained the inspiration behind it on his Twitter.

Explained Fabok, "The Joker laughing fish is a classic staple of the Joker and something that has shown up in comics as well as the Batman Animated Series throughout the years. I decided to riff on Brian Bolland again, seeing that so much of this book is influenced from the universe he created in Batman: The Killing Joke." He remained true to the way the fish was drawn, but he decided to make the teeth more human-like, which made the fish "freaky."

Fabok discussed how he decided what changes to make from Bolland’s work on The Killing Joke and what to keep, writing, "I meshed the fish that he drew with the classic Joker Fish from Detective Comics 475. I gave Brad {Anderson} a few notes on the colors, but I wanted him to go with a color scheme that would pop on the page."

Anderson, the colorist for Three Jokers, went with Bolland's use of golds but added green eyes for extra creepiness, and Fabok included a special touch to make the Joker stand out as well. "I also have the Joker licking his chops," he wrote, "which is disturbing, and if you notice, he is wearing clothes from Detective Comics 475 cover (green shirt, orange vest) which he does not wear in our actual book."

Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Jason Fabok, Batman: Three Jokers #1 goes on sale August 25 from DC.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of The Politician, now streaming on Netflix.

Netflix's The Politician changes life for Ben Platt's Payton Hobart drastically at the end of Season 2, offering him the dream he had since childhood of being American President. As New York State Senator, he's been successful, so Dede (Judith Light) is now asking him in two years to be her running mate when she attempts to moves from VP to Commander in Chief.

However, it won't be easy because there are a lot of family issues to iron out, as well as personal drama within his own political camp that makes for a very intriguing third season as he eyes the Oval Office.

Payton's more than likely to go from being Dede's VP to trying to run for President himself. And it's likely he'll be in good standing as his mom, Georgina, is America's sweetheart as the current President. So with the family name and Dede's backing, he should be a shoo-in. However, problems involving Georgina's infidelity with his dad could arise, as well as issues with his brothers who are sexist jocks.

They didn't pop up with Georgina's campaign but she's just so well-liked with her hipster attitude and blonde beauty. Payton, though, has to work much harder and he has his own skeletons. He's worn racist costumes in the past for Halloween, plus he has other incidents from high-school such as a failed "throuple" with Astrid and River, anything can be spun against him using the right media personnel.

His wife, Alice, helped Astrid get an abortion when he got them both pregnant so that could be used as ammo against the family too. The fact Alice has now completed medical school and they have their first child, it's unclear how all this will affect her and by extension, Payton. They've managed personal lives well but the pressures of the White House are a different stage altogether, whether he's gunning for VP or the big job.

Infinity stole ballot boxes when everyone thought Dede would beat Payton, but it turned out they actually had more votes for him. Still, it's a federal crime and while they weren't involved in the election, that's another skeleton he'd like to keep in the closet. What's most interesting is apart from it possibly damning him and Dede, Infinity has become demanding and could want more money and support for her climate change initiatives.

She already has shown an aggressive edge if he doesn't cooperate with her and seeing as she helped him lock the youth vote down, he is obligated. She was his running mate in high school and they do share a history as he was the one who helped her figure out her granny was drugging and faking her cancer, but at the end of the day, business is business. They both used each other so it's possible she blackmails him and Dede when the time comes.

Payton's campaign team, from James to McAfee, all know about it as well so everyone could become a target. The sad thing is he actually wanted to come clean so it'd definitely hurt if this came back to haunt him when it counts in a much bigger race. It won't just be a slate destroyed; it'll be jail time.

Payton working with Dede shouldn't be a problem as they have now established a good rapport but the handover from Georgina won't be easy. She won the Governor of California with a 98 percent majority, but her bisexual lifestyle, the propensity to sleep with other politicians and the fact she's willing to cheat on her own spouses do paint a torrid picture should Payton be asked to account for it.

On top of that, while she's pushing climate change and such just like Infinity, she does have a very whimsical attitude towards politics. It's the opposite to Payton and Dede so in the transition period they could butt heads with her over the new vision of the slate. Payton has been in the parental role more to her recently so that could cause a rift.

Throw in Dede's own love quadrangle with William, Hadassah and Marcus, that's baggage she can bring to the table. Mix that in with Georgina's woes, and everyone lashing out at each other for what they did or said to one another in the past, the self-destruct button could be hit sooner rather than later. Payton's team has a lot of personal issues, especially surrounding relationships and love, so that's an extra dimension of drama he will have to account for when the young guns and older heads mix again. There are people such as Andrew (whom Infinity rejected) and Ricardo (the jailbird who ran away with Astrid and cheated on Infinity) that have secrets that could damage Payton's future as well.

Ryan Murphy's The Politician stars Ben Platt, Zoey Deutch, Lucy Boynton, Bob Balaban, David Corenswet, Julia Schlaepfer, Laura Dreyfuss, Theo Germaine, Rahne Jones, Benjamin Barrett, Jessica Lange and Gwyneth Paltrow. Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.

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Rumors surrounding superhero movies are nothing new, especially in regards to Superman-related films. However, while many of them turn out to be false, Superman actor Henry Cavill revealed he won't disprove those kinds of rumors because he feels it's wrong.

During an appearance on Variety and iHeart's The Big Ticket podcast, Cavill -- who was recently reported to be in talks to play the Man of Steel again -- was asked if he will ever reprise the role, as well as what the wildest rumor he had ever heard surrounding him and the character was.

"They get wilder and wilder by the day," Cavill said. "The amount of speculation, the stuff I read on the Internet, is extraordinary and sometimes frustrating. It’s when you see people stating stuff as fact. Like, 'No, that’s not the case. That hasn’t happened, and that conversation isn’t happening.' But the important thing is that people are excited about it, and I think it’s important to be excited about a character like Superman. Superman is a fantastic character. If people are chatting about it, and even if they’re making stuff up, it’s okay, because that means they want to see the character again. And in an ideal world, I would absolutely love to play the character again."

After being asked if he ever leaves a comment on an online rumor under an alias, the actor responded, "I’m not going to lie; I’ve been very tempted, but there’s something about that, that feels deeply immoral. When it’s about Superman, and if I’m representing Superman, it just feels like the wrong thing to do. I’m just going to let this all play out. Me saying something isn’t going to make a difference. What does it really matter? One day, people will know the truth, and if they don’t know it now, it’s okay."

Henry Cavill's Superman was last seen in 2017's Justice League. The film also stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. Zack Snyder's Justice League will premiere on HBO Max in early-to-mid 2021.

By depicting nuanced, complicated people from different walks of life and backgrounds, art can foster connections, allowing one to both come to care about those who are different from themselves while also giving those same unique people a chance to connect with someone like themselves. Mission: It's Complicated, from Schell Games, is a superhero game that works to foster empathy for LGBTQ people by providing nuanced depictions of their relationships.

A free-to-play game, Mission: It's Complicated is a visual novel in which the player -- who takes on the role of Professor L -- works to build relationships between the five heroes on their team so as to save the world from a deadly threat to Earth. The team's five members -- tech-wiz Wifi, assassin Nightgaunt, alien exile Zael, the physically powerful Zirconia and aquakinesis user Riptide -- each represent different dimensions of LGBTQ identity. However, they're not reduced to their gender identity or sexuality. Instead, they're given room to be full-fleshed out characters with complex hopes, wants, anxieties and baggage.

Schell Games Senior Engineer Misha Velichansky told CBR by email that the studio got the idea for Mission: It's Complicated from "romantic superhero fanfiction. And the tension queer ships in fanfiction have with canon [...] I really liked the idea that any pairing would be considered canon by the game."

Mission: It's Complicated was also, in part, inspired by Velichansky's love of The Legend of Korra, and in particular the relationship between the titular Avatar and the non-bender Asami. That ship, dubbed Korrasami, was a popular one in the The Legend of Korra fandom -- and the series did eventually put the two in a canonical relationship. "It felt so incredible," Belichansky said. "This was my attempt to recreate that experience. Whatever character pair speaks to you the most, it's canon, it's real, it's legitimate."

While financial obligations might, in some cases, keep someone from being able to get access to LGBTQ content, that's not the case with Mission: It's Complicated, which is a free-to-play game without microtransaction. Schell Games CEO Jesse Schell called the choice to make the game free-to-play "an experiment" resulting from having "a complete game with a relatively small monetary investment." If the game was successful, Schell figured the team would later be able to find a way to monetize Mission: It's Complicated or "just make an even bigger sequel."

However, part of this choice was -- according to Schell -- driven by the idea of making Mission: It's Complicated "super accessible to queer teens -- for queer folks in general" as a way "to give something joyful back to the community."

The ability to choose one's preferred ships was part of the reason Velichansky and Schell Games chose to do Mission: It's Complicated as a visual novel. "I pitched the idea of a game where you could ship -- put in a relationship -- any pair of superheroes you wanted," Velichansky said, explaining the design team already had an engine on which to build Mission: It's Complicated as a result of a previous project.

"I think that feeling of being able to choose which relationship you're most invested in, and then getting rewarded for that choice with unique interactions and scenes, is really core to the experience," Velichansky continued. "You form your own relationship with each pairing, you create a unique story of what adventures helped that relationship to grow, you helped guide (or maybe hindered) their relationship along the way. I think (I hope) it makes the pairings feel that much more personal to the player. And while it's certainly not as open-ended as picking some tags and going to town on [fan-fiction website AO3], my goal was to recapture some of that same feeling of finding exactly the stories you personally need. A kind of build-your-own-canon engine. Making it a game packages all that together in one experience."

However, while ships are often understood as romantic, Mission: It's Complicated features a number of non-romantic pairings. While initially there weren't plans to have non-romantic ships in the game, Velichansky later made the choice to include "friendship pairings that were written with the same emotional weight and intensity as the romantic pairings. And I think it worked. I love them. We undervalue friendship in our culture, but it's just as important, just as powerful a force as romantic love--and I think arguably more important for our survival and emotional well-being."

Velichansky's preferred ship, for example, was Wifi and Riptide, which is a non-romantic relationship. "It's all about their mutual bonding over having mental health issues -- Wifi says they're Bad Brain Buddies -- and that all comes from such a personal place for me that I just fell for it completely," Velichansky said. "It manages to touch on serious things while also being completely ridiculous and silly. It's about found family, finding people who get you and are ride-or-die for you.

"It was one of the last pairings I wrote, and I think it just encapsulates so much of what I wanted to do with this game and with these stories. It's one of the few things I've written that I can enjoy as a fan."

Orlando, whose work on Midnighter as well as Midnighter and Apollo earned him a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book nomination in 2017, explained to CBR over the phone that Schell Games reached out to him because of his work on queer characters. Despite not being much of a gamer, Orlando explained, "I do, obviously, as a writer always react to backstories, sort of character push and pulls, and I was really taken with the creativity of the lead and how they put together a five person team when you start that really has a lot of inbuilt tension, things to learn from each other. So, from a narrative and character standpoint, I was just really impressed with how they built the skeleton of this story, because sometimes you don't get that."

Although he's not a shipper, Orlando found himself enjoying watching the characters who grew over the course of the game. "Zael and Zirconia were my best pairing. I liked watching them learn from each other and sort of broaden their minds in the way that real people do [...] It all comes back to character. When you make a cast that isn't perfect from the start, then yeah, they have to do some interior work. And I was really empowered and pleased to see that type of work being done. You know, a game that didn't need to deliver that, but it's a bonus that it did."

Depictions of queer characters -- specifically superheroes -- in media have come a long way over the years, but there's still much work to be done. The early days of video games, for their part, were hampered by technological limitations, which often prevented more robust, full stories from being told. However, comics -- which are generally considered the native medium for superheroes -- had a different set of confines that kept them for being able to depicted queer characters for decades: The Comics Code Authority (CCA). While indie comics sold outside the conventional markets for comics were not subject to the same strictures, Marvel and DC were forced to follow the draconian code, which prevented depictions of queer relationships and characters. This resulted in a general lack of explicitly queer superheroes.

Still, video games have, for their part, become significantly more technologically advanced in recent decades, with the internet removing many of the old barriers to distribution and creation. Comics, meanwhile, worked under various versions of the CCA before it was abandoned pretty much entirely in 2001. The reason both mediums have then been slow to embrace positive, nuanced depictions of queer people is then also due in part to shifting societal attitudes regarding queer relationships. According to Gallup, only 32 percent believed gay and lesbian relationships should be legal in 1986. In 2020, that number is closer to 72 percent. This incredible jump holds true for approval regarding the rights of same-sex couples to marriage, job opportunities, adoption and more.

In many ways, these changes attitudes have been reflected in media content. GLAAD's annual report on how TV represents queer people, for example, noted 2019 featured the highest number of LGBTQIA+ regular characters in the past 15 years. And yet, there is still work to be done not just in television but across all media to represent queer characters and relationships with the same depth and scope as their straight counterparts.

"Queer people are not a monolith," Orlando told us. "And we're not just summed up by one thing. We're not summed up by our sexualities. [...] I'm also Jewish. People have many other parts of their identities not solely based on their sexuality or their gender identity or their ethnicity. Everything is a mosaic, everybody's identity, and personality is a mosaic. So, the key for me when it comes to our representation is to create characters that are close to that as as possible."

He explained this holds true not just when representing queer people, but any marginalized community, saying, "[...] It's important to me with any type of marginalized representation to show people that are imperfect, to show people that are human, to show people that are have as many interests and pluses and minuses and facets of their personality as we do in real life. Because, for someone, when you write one of these characters, it's going to be the first time they meet a queer person, and they should know that we're human. We're not just one thing, and that can go a long way."

He added, "In the same way that we want people to realize that our experiences are mosaic and our experiences are diverse and myriad, at least me as a reviewer on that side and having opinions about comics, I've had to realize that too, and realize that if something doesn't just seem ring true to me specifically -- a bisexual Jewish guy in his 30s from upstate New York -- that doesn't mean it doesn't ring true for someone else [...] Even if it doesn't specifically connect with you in all ways, it's going to really empower a lot of people who have lived a different life from you and need a different type of representation from you. And the solution is to have more in all ways so that more people can be served."

Orlando believes Mission: It's Complicated "absolutely" has that sort of representation, singling out how Zirconia has to redefine herself and think about what her sexuality means in a deeper way during her relationship with Zael, who is non-binary. He also noted the importance of increasing representation across different mediums. "Representation in new mediums is so vital," he said, "because no matter the medium, sometimes if you are living in a homogenous community, this is the first time that you've ever 'met a person' that isn't like you, whether it's a person of color, whether it's a queer person. And so games like Mission: It's Complicated crossing into new, not just genre, but medium barriers is even more important than I thought [...]. And so it's super exciting."

Velichansky noted three reasons Mission: It's Complicated's representation was important. The first, like for Orlando, was about seeing oneself in stories and connecting to them. The second was on the importance of making the sorts of varied characters and stories featured in the game. Velichansky said, "[S]tories are important. They help us expand the boundaries of our hopes and dreams. If you're fifteen or twenty or thirty-five and thinking 'I might be queer,' what are the stories that are going to come into your mind? Is it only going to be the stories that boil down the queer experience to just misery and tragedy? It's the most common kind of queer story produced by and for straight audiences. Or is it going to be stories of fully-realized lives, lives that have the capacity for sadness and joy, for community, friendship, heroism? This is important stuff."

Finally, Velichansky noted, that Mission: It's Complicated isn't just for queer people, saying, "It's important for straight audiences to see the same thing. To see queer people as fully realized human beings with complex lives and complex experiences that are always informed by their queerness, but not always about their queerness. Hopefully, it creates empathy, and we need a lot more of that."

And in the end, what Mission: It's Complicated accomplishes is giving gamers more of the nuanced, queer characters that a world in which many still don't accept LGBTQ people needs by adding to the mosaic of queer experience.

Mission: It's Complicated is available now through Steam and Itch.io.

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There's a lot of factions in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, which can make things confusing for those just getting into it. The faction system in New Japan is primarily used for dream match-ups, as alliances allow for wrestlers to be put together into throw-away tag matches for reasons as simple as them being allies. Often in NJPW, many of its multi-man tag matches will consist of random members of one faction facing off against a rival faction to fill the card.

This is why knowing about New Japan's factions and their relationships with each other is crucial to following storylines. Many new fans can find themselves overwhelmed, so here's a quick rundown of NJPW's most prominent factions.

Seiki-gun quite literally translates to "Regular Army." This is because this faction isn't a real alliance but rather a makeshift unit for almost anyone that isn't affiliated with New Japan's more prominent groups. Seiki-gun has always consisted of babyfaces, which is why unaffiliated heels or tweeners like Jericho and Jon Moxley aren't regarded as a part of this group.

Seiki-gun's unofficial leader is New Japan's squeakiest, most clean babyface, the former Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi. His tag team partner -- both currently the Heavyweight Tag Team Champions -- Kota Ibushi has for most of his career wrestled independently, which by de facto also makes him a member of this faction. Seiki-gun is also home to many of NJPW's veteran stars, fondly referred to as the "New Japan Dads," as well as many other younger, unaffiliated babyfaces like Juice Robinson, David Finlay, and the Young Lions (NJPW's trainees and future stars).

Chaos is NJPW's official babyface faction, which is quite ironic considering its origin. Chaos first formed in 2009 when Shinsuke Nakamura defected from Togi Makabe's Great Bash Heel faction to form his own. Nakamura, wanting to preserve New Japan's traditions of strong-style, quickly became the primary rival for then-face of the company, Tanahashi, who wanted to steer away from strong-style. The King of Strong-Style has since then left NJPW for the WWE, leaving the group in the hands of the new face of the company, Kazuchika Okada.

Under Okada's leadership, Chaos quickly transitioned away from their heel roots, with their arch-rival, Bullet Club, now serving as NJPW's primary heel stable. Chaos presently consists of Tomohiro Ishii, founding member Toru Yano, Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi, Sho and Yoh, Robbie Eagles and Rocky Romero. With Okada firmly the new Ace of New Japan and his rivalry with Tanahashi now in the rearview mirror, the faction has since become closely tied with Seiki-gun, with many members of both factions teaming up on occasions to face off against the other more heelish stables.

Until 2011, this group was known as Kojima-gun. However, after members Taka and Taichi betrayed leader Satoshi Kojima in favor of Japanese wrestling and MMA icon Minoru Suzuki, the group changed its name to reflect its new leader. Suzuki-gun is one of the heel factions in New Japan, itself being loosely inspired by the Yakuza.

Currently, the faction includes the aforementioned Taichi and Taka, as well as Zack Sabre Jr, El Desperado, Kanemaru and Douki. With Suzuki pushing 52 years of age and close to retirement, it may be very soon that this group either dissolves or sees a change in leadership, perhaps to Taichi or Zack Sabre.

Ironically, Bullet Club was inspired by WCW's groundbreaking faction, nWo, which was itself inspired by an NJPW invasion angle from the mid-90s. Bullet Club serves as NJPW's most villainous stable as well as arch enemies of Seiki-gun and Chaos. It was formed 2013 by gaijin (foreign) wrestler Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) due to many of the non-native wrestlers on the roster feeling like outsiders in the company and wanting to rock the boat. Balor was succeeded by AJ Styles, who became the IWGP Heavyweight Champion on two occasions after beating Tanahashi and Okada. Styles was succeeded Kenny Omega, who also managed to beat Okada for the world title.

Bullet Club's present leader is the cut-throat Switchblade Jay White, a despicable heel who betrayed Chaos to become the leader of its rival faction. White, as well as Okada's former manager, Gedo, defected to Bullet Club, where the two now wreak havoc in New Japan. White also previously beat Tanahashi to briefly become the IWGP world champion before being unseated by his former ally and now nemesis, Okada. Bullet Club's other current members are Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club's first Japanese member), Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Chase Owens, Jado, and its most recent recruit, Kenta.

After being booed by fans for months, Tetsuya Naito went on a tour to Mexico, where he discovered the lawless faction Los Ingobernables (meaning "the ungovernables"). Joining this rowdy and uncaring stable, Naito's persona changed from the bland babyface "Stardust Genius" to the deviant "El Ingobernable." On his return to New Japan, he established the Japanese branch of Los Ingobernables and quickly soared as a fan-favorite despite his new heelish mannerisms.

While LIJ was initially formed as a heel group, it soon became a tweener faction due to its immense popularity. The group doesn't shy away from underhanded tactics, but neither is it loathed by the Japanese crowd. Unlike most of the other NJPW factions, LIJ is small in size and strong in its brotherhood bonds. It presently consists of members Sanada, Bushi, Evil, Hiromu and Shingo Takagi. It is also the only faction in New Japan where a member has yet to leave, despite inner rivalry and tension running high. Currently, LIJ holds most of New Japan's titles, with Naito most prominently being both the IWGP Heavyweight and the Intercontinental Champion.

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