Anime Protagonists Tier List
Twelve leads from very different kinds of show, which makes this board a test of what you think a protagonist is for. Some drive the plot, some react to it beautifully, and one or two are mostly a delivery system for jokes. All of those can be good. Every entry starts in Unranked — drag or tap a tile to fill S through F, rename any row, then export the finished board as a PNG.
Naruto Uzumaki
Monkey D. Luffy
Son Goku
Ichigo Kurosaki
Edward Elric
Tanjiro Kamado
Izuku Midoriya
Eren Yeager
Yuji Itadori
Gon Freecss
Light Yagami
Saitama0 of 12 items ranked.
Board saved automatically in this browser. Original.
How this board is built: the 12 tiles are an editorial starting set, not an official roster and not a published ranking — every entry waits in Unranked until you place it. Item tiles are original pictograms or two-letter emblems drawn for this site rather than character artwork, film stills or club logos, so nothing here is licensed material reused from a rights holder. Tiers you set are your own judgement.
What's included in this Anime Protagonists board
The board arrives with all 12 entries present as tiles and none of them assigned to a tier. That is deliberate: a template that opens with a finished ranking only invites you to agree or disagree with whoever made it, whereas an empty ladder makes you commit to an ordering of your own. Drag a tile onto a row, or on a phone tap the tile and then the tier you want. You can add rows for extra categories, rename the standard ones, and remove any entry you do not recognise — a list you can defend is more useful than a long one you cannot.
How to rank this Anime Protagonists board
Rank agency first: how much the lead actually decides, and how much just happens to them. Then weigh development — a character who starts and ends in the same place can still be well written, but it is a different achievement. Iconic moments are the third pass, and the easiest one to be honest about; everyone remembers the same three scenes, and pretending otherwise is wasted energy. Writing quality comes last and is the hardest to separate from nostalgia. A practical tip: rank two leads at a time rather than all twelve at once. Pairwise comparisons expose inconsistencies that a full-board sort hides, especially in the middle tiers where most of these characters land.
Using the board without over-thinking it
Most people finish a board like this in a couple of minutes and then reorder the middle rows for another ten. That middle is where the honest disagreement lives, so do not rush it: place the obvious top three and the obvious bottom three first, then work inward. If two entries still feel identical, that is a real observation — say so in a row note or a text tile rather than inventing a difference. When the ordering settles, export the PNG so the arrangement is saved somewhere permanent, and copy the share link if you want someone else to argue with it.
Ranking criteria used here
- writing
- agency
- development
- iconic moments
Before you share it
Put your criterion in the board title, so a reader knows whether they are looking at a favourites list or an analytical one. If the subject changes with patches, seasons or releases, add the date. And remember the share link carries tier names, colours and the tile order — uploaded photos stay on your device, so export a PNG when those matter.
All 12 items in this template
Back to the boardNaruto UzumakiMonkey D. LuffySon GokuIchigo KurosakiEdward ElricTanjiro KamadoIzuku MidoriyaEren YeagerYuji ItadoriGon FreecssLight YagamiSaitamaAnime Protagonists tier list FAQ
Does popularity affect the ranking?
It should not, unless you name it as the criterion. A popular lead and a well-written one are different claims, and this board is more useful when it says which one it is measuring.
How do I rank a lead from a show I dropped?
Either remove them or place them in a clearly labelled Dropped row. A partial viewing is a legitimate basis for an opinion, but it is not the same basis as a complete one.
