Strong and Skilled in Anime & Manga.
- All Rounder Meguru: All professional MMA fighters and those who plan to go pro, as they need much greater strength than the average amateur and the skills to properly apply it. In fact, Furuya (who actually challenged the Pacific Rim Champion) cannot say if strength or technique is more important, and states that lacking one means certain defeat.
- Eren from Attack on Titan is able to wreck normal titans with ease in his Titan Shifter form. However, he loses badly when up against other Titan Shifters, who are both as strong as he is at least, and have combat training such as boxing and wrestling. This forces Eren to fight more intelligently instead of just hurling his Super-Strength around.
- Baki the Grappler:
- Yujiro Hanma mauled a polar bear with his bare hands, stopped an earthquake with a Ground Punch and one shotted fighters with their own styles. He is more than capable of using martial arts but doesn't even try due to how powerful he is and how bored he becomes.
- Miyamoto Musashi's insane sword mastery may be the most dangerous thing about him, but he's also extremely strong and can take a lot of punishment.
- Dorian Algardos. Of the convicts at least, he's terrifyingly fast, strong and seems to be very skilled with utilizing stances and strikes reminiscent of Chinese martial arts. This is due to him being a Kaioh, like Retsu.
- Berserk:
- Guts is one of the greatest warriors in the land (and most likely strongest human) and has spent years killing the thousands of demons who hunt him. While he is supposed to be a human, his strength clearly hits the superhuman mark, especially when he's wearing his Berserker armor. However, it's actually Guts' guile and pragmatism that keeps him alive in the direst circumstances.
- When he was human, Griffith was strong enough to block Guts's BFS with his rapier, but what really ensured his first two victories over Guts was his graceful but deadly technique, as Griffith will happily take or exploit any advantage or weakness. It was a mark of how far Guts had come that he could soundly beat Griffith in their third duel.
- Zodd the Immortal, has centuries of combat experience and is much smarter than he looks. While he can usually just overpower his opponents with his demonic strength, it's shown in his second battle with Guts that Zodd is crafty enough to grab any nearby weapon during battle to win.
- Like Zodd, The Skull Knight has millennia of battle experience combined with supernatural powers which him helped him in his crusade against the God Hand. Skull Knight has single-handedly saved Guts and Casca from certain death and even got the jump on The God Hand multiple times. It's also telling that The Skull Knight has only gotten off his horse three times in the series.
- Black Clover:
- Yami Sukehiro, captain of the Black Bulls uses Darkness Magic, that inflicts Status Effects and has absorption and destructive properties that make him a Person of Mass Destruction. He's also a Master Swordsman with his katana, uses ki to boost his already incredible reflexes and shows surprising tactical ability when it comes to analyzing opponents powers, showing keen instincts and quickly identifying the best method of attack.
- Mereleona Vermillion is a Kung-Fu Wizard with intense Flame Magic. In combat she supplements top notch hand to hand skills with bursts of flame for increased power and mobility, that along with her Mana Zone and refined instincts make her monstrously fast, strong and absurdly hard to knock out. She was on the giving end of a Curb-Stomp Battle against Rhya, who noted even water (normally a fire mages biggest weakness) barely slowed her down. It says something that it takes five elves (when just one usually requires several human mages working together to defeat) to actually beat her, and even then, they note it was a close call.
- Nozel Silva has an even greater mana pool than the aforementioned Yami along with incredibly precise control over his Mercury Magic, which lets him create blades, bullets and barriers at a moments notice,, letting seamlessly shift between offense, defense, melee and ranged combat as needed. Unlike the middle siblings of the Silva family, Nozel has not just assumed that his status as royalty means he has no need to improve his strength and skills because having personally witnessed their mother's murder, he knows how terrifyingly powerful the devil he seeks revenge against really is.
- Fuegoleon Vermillion has powerful Flame Magic on par with his sister, who considers him her superior in combat (though he feels the same about her). He's also a Genius Bruiser who excels at picking apart enemies magic and tacticss even in the midst of combat, and identifying the most efficient means of attack.
- The real Licht has exceptional mana, even amongst the Elves, being able to float from sheer mana density. He possesses great control over this power and displays top-tier combat skills, delivering a Curb-Stomp Battle to Asta and Yuno while the two were in their respective Super Modes, even surprising the former before his Ki sensing could sense him move. What's more, he did this without a Grimoire, which deprived him of most of his arsenal.
- Bleach:
- Sosuke Aizen is a Master of All, having great skill with raw power. He has twice the reiatsu of an average Captain-class Shinigami and the skill to employ it almost better than any one. His skill with his reiatsu is so great that he can force Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez (the sixth Espada and a Captain-level fighter) to his knees as well as nullify Soi Fon's Shikai with his masterful control over his vast reiatsu.
- Captain Commander Yamamoto, who has so much reiatsu that only the Big Bad can actually steal and control his Zanpaktou. He is also a master of all four main methods of Shinigami combat, being able to use techniques of the highest level with great power.
- Kisuke Urahara, who has enormous reiatsu, is able to hurt Aizen after his initial Transformation, as well as use level 90's kido, has speed comparable to the "Goddess of Flash" and strength to block a punch from a man thrice his size with an open palm. He also has the greatest intellect in the entire series.
- Pretty much any Gotei 13 captain who isn't Zaraki or Mayuri would qualify. Having a high amount of reiatsu and being a master combatant is expected of a Captain. A few Lieutenants could also fit this trope, like Hisagi.
- Yhwach has an extreme amount of spiritual power that even after his death he had enough power to serve as a replacement to the Soul King. He also has the skill, knowledge, talent and the abilities of anyone who possesses a fragment of his soul which is recalled to him when they die as well as their spiritual power. In addition, he has a good number of broken abilities in the form of Schrift which he can flawlessly use.
- Code Geass:
- Kallen Kozuki, the redheaded Hot-Blooded pilot of the prototype Knightmare Frame Guren and its upgraded versions, the Guren Flight-Enabled Version and the Guren SEITEN Eight Elements. In comparison to Suzaku Kururugi, who's Unskilled, but Strong when it comes to being a pilot, having a powerful machine but lacking skill, Kallen's much more experienced as a pilot, which more than makes up the difference. Case in point, Kallen's Guren is a unit designed for close-quarters combat while Suzaku's Lancelot carries an energy rifle and later gains flight capabilities. Kallen's skill enables her to keep up with Suzaku even with his advantages. Outside of a Knightmare, Kallen more than proves herself as a soldier. In the start of the second season, she jumps over a chess table and takes out several guards with a spin-kick.
- Li Xingke of the Chinese Federation also counts. Xingke, despite bearing a chronic illness, was physically capable of piloting the prototype Knightmare Shen Hu, a unit that was made so strenuous to use that it was thought that no human could pilot it. Additionally, Xingke is a Genius Bruiser described as being as strong a warrior as Suzaku and as smart as Lelouch.
- Dragon Ball:
- Son Goku is probably the Trope Codifier for anime characters. He possesses both advanced skill in martial arts and the natural fighting power from his Saiyan physiology. He would continuously ascend the power hierarchy until he was the World's Best Warrior of his universe.
- Vegeta was blessed with his Elite Saiyan heritage and has trained rigorously his entire life, striving to surpass Goku. By the time of Super, he's obtained a god power-up, and is second only to Goku in the universe.
- Gohan's potential actually surpasses his father's, enough so that as a child he was Unskilled, but Strong. By the time of the Cell Saga, he'd dropped the unskilled part and was briefly the most powerful being on Earth; although in the ensuing Time Skip he ceased training in favor of his studies, so he dropped far behind Goku and Vegeta, and didn’t catch up again. In Dragon Ball Super, following the "Resurrection "F"" Saga, thanks to Frieza's invasion of Earth, Gohan realizes how he needs to keep up his strength to protect his loved ones, and so begins to catch up again. Becoming Piccolo's student once more, Gohan gradually regains the strength he possessed before, including regaining his Ultimate form. Additionally, Piccolo also makes it a point to rid Gohan of the overconfidence he tends to develop when his power becomes truly immense. That, combined with the years he already had as a scholar and academic, leads to Gohan becoming a Genius Bruiser, combining his strength and intellect. During the Tournament of Power, he acts as The Strategist for Universe 7's Team alongside Piccolo. In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, which takes place after the end of the Super anime, Gohan surpasses his father, Vegeta and possibly Broly purely through concentration, rage and building off the power he gained in the Buu Saga.
- Piccolo is a Genius Bruiser. While he keeps getting left behind by the Saiyans (at least before Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero), he is still able to gain huge power-ups along the way. He's also a master tactician whose skill and resourcefulness are boundless. In Super Hero, Piccolo is able to more than regain the “strong” quota for this with his Orange Form while still putting his strategic genius to good use as seen in the Cell Max battle.
- While they seem like they'd be Unskilled, but Strong, both 17 and 18 show skill in how they fight their opponents, being able to outmaneuver and punish their more experienced opponents with help from their enhanced endurance and stamina. Notably, they are only ever defeated by running into foes that essentially dwarf them in power so thoroughly that their capabilites don't matter.
- Cell fits this the best out of all the Big Bads. Not only does he possess all of the powers of his genetic materialnote , but also all of the techniques that they knew as well. On top of that, he can continue adding onto his raw power by absorbing the life force of others, which allowed Imperfect Cell to go from being overwhelmed by Piccolo to stomping both Piccolo and Android 17 simultaneously. Had Cell not been put down he could have become the most powerful villain period, given how far the Saiyans and Frieza have gotten.
- Zigzagged with Majin Buu. Fat Buu starts off as Unskilled, but Strong, only dominating due to his insane Healing Factor, limitless stamina, and just brute strength. However, his knowledge of fighting styles is very limited, so that Super Saiyan 3 Goku was able to quite easily get the advantage over him. That said, Buu learns very quickly with his mimicry ability to steal the moves of his opponents. Played straight with Super Buu, who is a master combatant, both physically and mentally, proving to be far more deadly than Fat Buu, while continuously getting stronger via absorbing opponentsnote , which made him (at that point in time) the strongest villain in Z. Played with for Kid Buu, as while he has regressed to a mindless animal who relies on raw impulse, he still has his arsenal of skills and his mimicry, being able to learn Kibito Kai’s teleportation simply by observing it once, making him an odd combination of both this trope and Unskilled, but Strong.
- Beerus is an odd case where he seems like a Physical God with unparalleled raw power, but he later shows just how much of a master combatant he is when he goes up against all the other Gods of Destruction at once, especially in the manga where he displays his own version of the Ultra Instinct (it's quite rough and unmastered, but is still far better than any of the other Gods of Destruction).
- Whis and angels in general, are the strongest beings in their respective universes, but are also martial arts masters that train the Gods of Destructions they serve.
- Although he has been Unskilled, but Strong for most of his life and afterlife, Frieza slowly moved towards this after Character Development kicked in. As of the Universe Survival saga, he is one of the strongest mortals in the universe (with only Goku decisively beating him out), but also has hand-to-hand skills that can keep up with Goku or Vegeta, incredible energy controlling skills,Example the ability to sense energy (even Godly Ki), enough analytical skill to predict and counter an Instant Transmission expert, and a perfected Super Mode. Frieza can also torture someone for insanely long times without killing them. Lastly, Frieza's actual array of techniques is surprisingly large. Example
- Hit from Dragon Ball Super clearly qualifies. Not only is he the World's Best Warrior for Universe 6, his combat skill is unparalleled. He can analyze opponents to exploit their weaknesses, while constantly able to improve himself in the midst of battle. It also helps that he can skip short amounts of time to attack his opponents while they can't fight back.
- Goku Black is an interesting example. While he is undeniably powerful, having stolen the body of Goku, and has garnered extensive combat training in preparation to be a Supreme Kai, he actually falls into being Unskilled, but Strong when it comes to using his Saiyan body. He's unfamiliar with his Saiyan physiology and is unable to utilize its full potential, which causes him to seemingly fluctuate in strength as he gradually taps into more of his power. However with more usage, he does manage to better control his power, learning that Saiyans grow stronger through anger which he had previously been suppressing. Upon gaining this newfound understanding, Black immediately becomes a far bigger threat.
- Broly at least in his debut was this. While demolishing the Z-Fighters, Broly displayed several complex wrestling moves, adeptly dodged rapid strikes from Goku and Piccolo simultaneously and displayed an evil intellect despite being The Berserker. Unfortunately, Broly would decay after his first movie being portrayed as little more than mindless Dumb Muscle due to Sanity Slippage. In his canonisation, Broly is mostly Unskilled, but Strong thanks to only having his weaker father Paragus to spar withnote , meaning the more skilled Saiyans Vegeta and Goku (initially) and Gogeta could clobber him and Whis danced circles around him. Although Broly did learn and grow more skilled as the fight went on as Vegeta noted under duress, and at the end Goku promises to spar and train with Broly implying he'll inevitably become more Strong And Skilled.
- Heck, outside of the series' context, almost any character with a degree of proper skill qualifies as this. While they seem Weak, but Skilled compared to the Saiyans and Gods, the weaker human cast members like Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and even Master Roshi are still audaciously powerful compared to normal standards, being planet-busting, alien army-defeating powerhouses in their own right. Even early Dragon Ball villains like General Blue and Mercenary Tao possess incredible superhuman power, speed and secondary abilities on top of their martial arts, and Mr. Satan has both awesome combat skills for someone who can't use ki and can pull four buses or rip three phone books. There's also Chi-Chi who despite being overshadowed by her husband and sons, is still skilled enough to spar with them with her own martial arts and strong enough to wreck houses and take down two alien soldiers with one kick.
- It's openly stated twice early in the Majin Buu saga that to manipulate ki and become truly strong, one needs some martial arts skills:
- When Gohan starts teaching Videl how to fly, he has to teach her to manipulate ki first, and when she succeeds on her first day he attributes it to her exceptional martial arts skills.
- During the 25th Tenkaichi Goku, notes that Spopovich is far too strong for his abysmal skills... So he correctly deduces there's some kind of danger afoot, as Spopovich's ki-enhanced strength and ability to fire ki blasts and fly had to come from outside.
- Fairy Tail: The most powerful mages in the story are this, possessing not just incredible magic power and physical abilities, but the smarts and skills to make use of them. Special mention goes to Acnologia, who despite having the raw power to destroy entire countries on his lonesome during the final battle spends most of it using hand-to-hand combat in a seven-on-one fight with the other Dragon Slayers, each a skilled and powerful Kung-Fu Wizard on their own, while missing an arm, and almost casually has the edge the whole time.
- Fist of the North Star has Kenshiro who: lifts boulders around, destroys tanks, casually punches down skyscrapers and makes mincemeat of the endless parade of bandits he faces but behind that all strength lies honed skill. Ken is a trained assassin having studied pressure points on the human body and know which ones to hit to get the desired result. Kenshiro is so skilled only Shin, Souther and Raoh have given him trouble in a fight.
- Hellsing:
- Alucard falls into this. As the original vampire, Alucard has full mastery of his vampiric powers and is unimaginably powerful. But even when he goes for more mundane methods he's shown to be an expert gunman.
- Alexander Anderson, Alucard's rival, also falls into this. Augmented with all sorts of technology to superhuman levels, including a Healing Factor, yet he's also a master swordsman. It speaks volumes that he's actually the one who came closest to killing or at least doing lasting damage to Alucard using a Legendary Weapon.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Jotaro Kujo is exceptionally clever, has one of the strongest, fastest Stands in the series, and can manifest it within his own body to give himself Super-Strength, Super-Toughness, and Master of Your Domain abilities. He can be thought of as a combination of the previous JoJos; whereas Jonathan was clever in his own right, he mainly powered through his fights and Joseph tended to win through strategy more than power, Jotaro finishes his fights by first outsmarting his opponents, then hauling out Star Platinum to deliver a beating.
- The Lyrical Nanoha franchise tends to treat skill and power as being roughly equal, so the strongest fighters tend to be those that excel in both departments. Nanoha herself is a prime example, being strong enough to blast straight through an Anti-Magic starship and skilled enough to be teaching grown adults advanced arial tactics before she had even graduated middle school.
- My Hero Academia:
- All Might has Super-Strength, Super-Speed and Super-Toughness which he combines with his keen tactical sense and refined punch techniques. The official guide lists him as the only hero who has 6/5 points in every hero category (power, speed, technique, intelligence, cooperativeness). Even though he is way out of his prime, he is still the top ranked hero in the world.
- Katsuki Bakugo has no real weakness when it comes to fighting. He has both the technical and tactical skill added to his incredibly powerful Quirk; his drawbacks are entirely regarding his personality and emotional maturity, rather than anything connected to his capacity to fight (before a few embarrassing defeats, he had a tendency to forget that he had any fighting skills or any creative uses for his Quirk and Leeroy Jenkins his opponent, but he learned better soon enough).
- Izuku Midoriya becomes this. Initially he was Unskilled, but Strong thanks to being unfamiliar with the power of One For All (though that's still a step-up from being Quirkless); but after hurting himself several times, he studied how to use his power more efficiently from several mentors. As a result, he graduates from a Glass Cannon into a Lightning Bruiser, with classmates directly comparing him to Bakugou in a fight, while being capable of making split-second tactical decisions to minimise property damage and maximise the effect his moves have on opponents. Later, Midoriya learns how to use the other Quirks that One For All passed down to him, allowing for some Combo Platter Powers that he trains extensively whenever possible, giving him even more versatility in combat.
- Shoto Todoroki. Not only does he have powerful Fire and Ice Quirk, but he's also highly intelligent and skilled having been trained by his father Endeavour. Shoto is cable of taking out multiple opponents at once with abilities, and can restrict his ice to avoid fatally freezing someone or use precision attacks to freeze only certain portions of a target's body.
- Inasa Yoroashi/Gale Force has an extremely strong wind Quirk, and some incredibly fine control to go with it. He's able to move dozens of victims (actually actors for their exam) to a triage center at once without making any mistakes or hurting them further.
- Lemillion/Mirio Togata has an incredibly powerful Quirk (if with a high learning curve) and is very good at using it, at one point landing a roundhouse kick on a villain while phasing part of his foot through the hostage he was rescuing. He also has superlative hand-to-hand combat skills.
- My-HiME has Natsuki Kuga. All the Hime have power. But Natsuki has also developed a set of hand to hand skills that serve her well, like when she has to take on a group of armed soldiers.
- Naruto:
- Madara Uchiha has great natural talent and skill to use them efficiently. He has both the Sharingan to copy almost any technique flawlessly, and the Rinnegan, which allows the user to master all five Elements as well as any technique within a very short time. He also has massive chakra reserves to fuel his techniques, so much so that he is called the "Tailless Tailed Beast".
- Kakashi Hatake becomes this after receiving Uchiha Obito's chakra towards the end of the manga, being able to use his techniques with great power behind it and graduating from Weak, but Skilled.
- Tsunade is the poster woman for Super-Strength in Naruto which she inherited from her Senju and Uzumaki ancestors, but what makes her truly legendary is her extensive medical knowledge as a Combat Medic. Even when out of practice, her skills easily outclassed Kabuto; and once she activated her Forehead Seal, she forced her powerful former teammate Orochimaru to flee after overwhelming both him and his giant summoned snake Madna.
- Jiraiya, while having less impressive strength than his aforementioned teammate Tsunade, he's still strong enough to Megaton Punch a ram out of a building and killed a some of Pain's summons with a few kicks. His skill on the other hand is truly astounding, having a diverse range of Ninjitsu power as well as the Senjutsu Super Mode, Jiraiya is so canny and powerful, even Itachi —one of the most deadly Ninjas period— admits if he fought Jiraiya seriously, there's a good chance they'd both just kill each other.
- Might Guy, despite being unskilled in Genjutsu, makes up for it by being the most powerful and skilled Taijutsu user in the world. Guy also utilises the Eight Gates to augment his skills, further allowing him to effectively fight the likes of Kisame, Tobi and even the aforementioned Madara. It's telling even after becominh wheelchair bound in the Distant Finale, Guy is still very capable of kicking ass.
- Sasuke Uchiha is able to use powerful techniques with great skill and power, especially his Amaterasu techniques in the form of Blaze Release, which can burn anything with greater skill than his brother Itachi Uchiha.
- Naruto through the course of the series goes from Unskilled, but Strong due to his ridiculous amount of Chakra to Strong and Skilled. This is thanks to learning Sage Mode, taming Kurama (which powered him up even more) and being taught by the likes of Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Killer B who all effectively turned Naruto into a powerhouse.
- Negima! Magister Negi Magi: Jack Rakan is often assumed to just be a big musclehead, relying on pure strength and durability to win his fights. That is true to a certain extent, as his raw power is usually more than enough for him to beat most opponents. However, if he does meet someone who can stand up to his strength, that's when he suddenly reveals that he's been Obfuscating Stupidity. Surviving more than 60 years of continuous battles has made him experienced as well as tough, and there's almost nothing that can catch him off-guard anymore. Even up against a ridiculously complex and rare ability like turning yourself into lightning, that the protagonist himself invented solely to defeat him, Jack sees through it instantly and comes up with a countermeasure in no time.
- One Piece:
- The Straw Hats of course:
- Luffy was initially Unskilled, but Strong, which is how Crocodile beat him (twice); but after being Taught by Experience, Luffy craftily utilizes his Rubber Man powers (like making his rubber heart pump faster to increase his speed) in order to further enhance his strength. Chopper even compares Luffy to a wild animal, saying his senses in regards to combat are acutely aware. This is seen at certain points, e.g. when Arlong bites Luffy's with his shark teeth, Luffy freed himself by slamming Arlong to the ground, releasing his hold on his arm. Sanji points out if Luffy had moved back he would've lost his arm, but Luffy was instinctively aware of what to do. Post-time skip, Luffy learned to advance his skills mid-battle against Katakuri, becoming more adept at Observation Haki the more he focused on it. In Wano, Luffy was able to learn advanced Armament Haki in a short space of time while fighting in some Gladiator Games and wearing a deathtrap around his neck. Furthermore, during his battle with Kaido, he learned how to channel his Conqueror's Haki into his attacks and even Awakened the true power of his Devil Fruit.
- Zoro originally relied on brute strength in his swordplay; but after Mihawk curbstomped him, Zoro started focusing on more nuanced skills. For instance, Zoro initially had no real skill at Ittoryu (one-sword style) compared to his usual Santoryu (three-sword style); but as the series went on, Zoro built up this skill by using one-sword attacks more and more often as Finishing Moves. Oda also reveals Zoro keeps and reads swordplay books in the Sunny's library. Zoro also meditates as much as he lifts weights, and even as early as Alabasta was in-tune with the spiritual side of swordplay which helped him beat Daz Bones. Zoro is also proficient in Armament Haki to empower his blades and prevent them from chipping, and his Observation Haki isn't too shabby either.
- Sanji, thanks to his mentor Zeff's Training from Hell, has acquired plenty of martial arts skills as well as super strength; in fact, Sanji being smarter than Luffy and Zoro means he invokes this more often. In several fights, Sanji studies his opponents while fighting them, like using Kuroobi's gills against him, figuring out the flaws of Bon Clay's Voluntary Shapeshifting powers, and even employing Deliberate Injury Gambit in his fight against Jabra. At one point in Fishman Island, Sanji analyzed the trajectory of his Fast Ball Special, with Luffy knowing he used too much strength that he would send Luffy flying into the ocean. Like Luffy and Zoro, Sanji can also use Haki, with his speciality being Observation Haki; though as Wano arc shows his Armament Haki is pretty good too.
- Franky has comparable strength to the aforementioned trio; but as an intelligent shipwright, he's also a genius in combat and will employ multiple methods of taking down foes, including exploiting Devil Fruit users weakness to water, which is how he defeated Monster Point Chopper. In Thriller Bark, Franky used his architectural skill and physical strength to craft two stone pillars into nunchucks. On the Sea Train, he outwitted Nero by Obfuscating Stupidity, and later exploited the weaknesses of Fukuro's Geppo by grabbing his leg. At one point in Dressrosa, Franky used a woman as a weapon by suplexing her just as Senior Pink was attacking him from behind, effectively taking both of them out.
- Chopper zigzags this being less combat oriented than most of his crew; but nevertheless, in multiple fights, he has shown skills that adequate his brute strength. Chopper invokes Awesomeness by Analysis frequently, with his "Scope" ability which helped him beat a lot his opponents. Also, being The Medic, Chopper can be particularly deadly when it comes to exploiting the weaknesses his opponent's bodies. This helped greatly in the defeat of the undead giant Oars.
- Jinbe, thanks to years of experience, has incredible skills that he uses in conjunction with his Fishman strength and powers. Jinbe also makes pragmatic use of undersea life, which is how helped Luffy and thousand others escape Impel Down. In Whole Cake, Jinbe not only freed Luffy and Nami from prison using his wits, but countered Katakuri's Devil Fruit by using his liquid controlling powers on some nearby tea. Like the Monster Trio, Jinbe can use both Observation Haki and Armament Haki to an effective degree.
- Robin, after spending most of the series Weak, but Skilled compared to the men, upgrades to this during her fight with Black Maria in Onigashima. After getting pummeled by Maria for a while, Robin reveals she knows Fishman Karate, having been taught moves by Koala and Hack and combines it with her Hana Hana no Mi Devil Fruit power with impressive results. Then Robin uses her "Demonio Fleur" form, which drastically overpowers Black Maria, all while using her signature submission holds and Neck Snap to good use.
- Trafalgar Law is a skilled surgeon who has been trained in martial arts, swordsmanship, and gunplay from a early age and topped off his abilities with the Ope Ope no Mi Devil Fruit, which gives him an extreme advantage in almost every fight. Much like Luffy, Crocodile and others, Law uses his Devil Fruit power in nuanced ways due to his surgical precision. If all that wasn't enough, he can use Haki, too.
- Dracule Mihawk, the Greatest Swordsman in the world, has enormus strength so that he can dice icebergs and even meteorites apart, but it's Mihawk's more nuanced skills that really makes him infamous. For example, when he first shows up, a few Mooks shoot at him and Mihawk gracefully deflects their bullets across the edge of his blade, then he decimates Zoro's Fantastic Fighting Style with just one small knife.
- Crocodile, the first antagonist to hand Luffy an outright defeat shows his skill and prowess in his Curb-Stomp Battle of Luffy, carefully explaining to the rookie why mere strength and determination was not enough to beat skill and technique. Even when Luffy bypasses Crocodile's Nigh-Invulnerability, the former still shows his ingenuity by using his powers to reduce the area of their battle to sand leaving Luffy vulnerable; and when Luffy comes back a third time, Crocodile poisons him and only loses the fight due to Luffy being a Determinator. Though even then ,Luffy still would've died without Robin providing the antidote.
- Rob Lucci, one of the strongest opponents Luffy has faced, is certainly strong and skilled, as Lucci makes the good use of his Animorphism to adequate his Supernatural Martial Arts. Lucci was quick to figure out how Luffy's Super Mode works and how it's actually a Deadly Upgrade, and also nearly killed the rest of the crew in the same fight by knowing where they were at the right time and attempting to drown them. Lucci is also intelligent enough to use someone's pulse as a way of confirming the truth.
- Boa Hancock is a Lightning Bruiser whose elegant fighting style is as beautiful as it is deadly. Combined with her petrification powers and her ability to use all three types of Haki, it's little wonder why she is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
- Donquixote Doflamingo, another one of said Warlords of the Sea, is a monster of strength, skill and cunning. Instead of just wasting time just brawling his opponents, Doffy often will use his string powers to incapacitate foes (e.g Jozu and Sanji) or control them like puppets. Doflamingo also is the first character to counter and defeat Trafalgar Law's Story-Breaker Power by exploiting Law's depleting stamina. When forced into a true fisticuffs, Doffy just blocks and shrugs off almost everything he gets hit with; and even when Law used his "Gamma Knife" attack on Doflamingo (which slices up the victims's internal organs), Doffy just used his string powers to sew his guts back together and kept fighting. It's telling Luffy had to use Gear Fourth to smash Doffy through the island of Dressrosa just to put him down for real.
- Sabo, before he even gets his brother Ace's Flame Flame fruit, is a super strong and skilled revolutionary who won the Corrida Colosseum Gladiator Games and uses Haki to boost his martial arts style.
- Silvers Rayleigh shows why he's the Old Master and formerly Gold D Roger's Number Two when he fights Admiral Kizaru to a standstill and prevents him from killing the Straw Hats by diverting Kizaru's Light 'em Up powers with his Haki. Rayleigh further shows off his experience when training Luffy, demonstrating all three types of Haki and calculating that there were five hundred creatures on the island who were stronger than Luffy and only through beating all of them could Luffy grow stronger. Rayleigh's wife Shakky claims as strong as the Worst Generation is, Rayleigh is "100 times stronger", and even the Marines admit they'd have to be Crazy-Prepared if they wanted to arrest Rayleigh.
- Charlotte Katakuri is in the same vein as the previous examples when it comes to being skilled and deadly. Using his Observation Haki, Katakuri will take care of problems before they even become an issue; and with his Devil Fruit, he will not only aid his family with his ability, but also uses it to trap foes as well as give power and nuance to his attacks. Katakuri is one of the few villains who denies the Transformation Is a Free Action rule, and even deconstructs Luffy's rubber powers by countering with his similar abilities. Katakuri likely could've won his fight with Luffy had he not purposelessly injured himself to make it a more fair fight.
- Kozuki Oden is a Long-Dead Badass samurai who epitomises this. Besides having super strength since he was born, Oden is a Master Swordsman who would give even the likes of Mihawk and Zoro a run for their money. He's the first character who's managed to seriously injure the nigh-invulnerable Kaido and has held his own against Whitebeard in a duel.
- Zig-zagged with the Admirals. Aokiji and Kizaru are certainly this. Unlike other Logia users they are incredibly versatile with their powers being able to create weapons from their bodies, Aokiji in his first appearance, effortlessly curbstomped the aforementioned Luffy, Zoro and Sanji (The Monster Trio) with the bare minimum effort; and even when faced with characters like Marco who can bypass his Nigh-Invulnerability, Aokiji still matches him. Kizaru is even more impressive as, while he can Speed Blitz almost anyone, he uses more precise attacks in the heat of battle as seen in Marineford, and will change his tactics when faced with a strong opponent like Rayleigh. Akainu, on the other hand, comes off as Unskilled, but Strong as his fighting style is Attack! Attack! Attack! with massive lava fists; although he did show some martial arts skill when fighting Whitebeard up close in the anime. Played straight with Fujitora, who can just summon meteors and crush people with craters of gravity; but he's also a Master Swordsman who's easily kept up with Zoro, even parrying the latter's Razor Wind while Zoro was underground, and he's also blind by the way. On top of all that, every Admiral we've seen fight can use Haki to back up their Devil Fruit powers.
- Played with the Emperors of the Sea. Most of them are so ridiculously strong and powerful they don't even need finesse, but some show hints of extreme skill which makes sense since they have been pirates for decades.
- Whitebeard was a monster of strength who could expertly catch one of Akainu's magma balls on the tip of his naginata before it even touched him.
- Big Mom, while mostly Strong, but Unskilled, still knows Haki as seen when she clashed with Gear 4 Luffy; and in Wano she perfectly matched Kaido in combat, even blowing his attacks back at him in the anime.
- Kaido himself in his "normal form" takes on eight Samurai who all know Haki; and when he gets serious he takes them all down with his mace.
- Shanks, despite being a Handicapped Badass, matches his BFS one handed to Whitebeard's aforementioned naginata. He's also the first character to display Haki in the series, and has repeatedly fought and rivaled Mihawk in the past.
- Blackbeard, while more clumsy and pathetic than the previous examples, is still incredibly strong, skilled and powerful, being able to overwhelm Ace once he bypassed the latter's Nigh-Invulnerability; and with his as Power Copying method and his unique body compossition, he's only character in the series to have more than one Devil Fruit powers, allowing for Combo Platter Powers.
- The Straw Hats of course:
- One-Punch Man:
- Not only Garou specializes in Bang's martial arts techniques, but he also has a lot of raw power to back it up. However, he can subvert this trope by preferring to use his skill even though he has a lot of strength to back up his fighting ability. Especially when he amps up his abilities in his One-Winged Angel form to where he can fight Saitama at "Semi-Seriously", making Garou the second antagonist to force Saitama to try a little.
- Implied with Watchdog Man, a hero who easily rips apart Dragon-class monsters since the early days of his hero career, and is able to parry Garou's martial arts moves with little to no effort, and gives the latter such a beatdown that he's forced to retreat. Garou notes that Watchdog was actually holding back during their fight.
- Shimi from Outlaw Star. While the rest of the Anten Seven are genuinely powerful, they tend to be skilled in only one particular area with nothing else other than their trademark to fall back on. Shimi, on the other hand, is skilled in various weapons- always carrying a large metal case containing any weapon he might need for the situation at hand, but is also immensely skilled in martial arts without them. It's heavily implied that Shimi was the strongest of the seven with only subtle signs of self-loathing at his job that prevented him from killing Gene's group outright and faking his death to leave the guild, leaving Hazanko, having to rely on the weaker but still dangerous other members to finish the job in their area of expertise- though their combined failures gradually build up until Hazanko outright gives up on sending them to their potential deaths in individual missions altogether- keeping the remaining ones as his Praetorian Guard to face any dangers in the Leyline.
- Pokémon: The Series:
- Ash's Charizard was initially Unskilled, but Strong, but after leaving Ash's team to train at the Charicific Valley, it's become this, expanding its moveset and techniques, being able to defeat Legendaries.
- Ash's Greninja. The Chosen One among his species which blessed him with a unique Mega Evolution, but also has a strict discipline of training his entire life. He became Ash's trump card while travelling with him.
- Mewtwo, an Ultimate Lifeform, Person of Mass Destruction, and borderline Physical God. While his raw psychic power already speaks volumes of his capabilities, his execution of them can only be possible with exceptionally refined skill. He was able to simultaneously hold a beam battle with his genetic donor, Mew, controlling hundreds of Pokeballs at once, repressing the power of all the individual Pokemon present, and putting up a force field that made him impervious to physical attacks. Not even Mew, who has had eons more experience, was able to pull this off.
- As for Trainers, many of Ash's major rivals fit the bill, but special mention goes to Paul. He obsessively pursues the most powerful Pokemon he can find, even to the point of releasing whatever doesn't meet his standards, but what really makes him such a threat is how notoriously skilled he is battle. He's stated to have roughly the same amount of experience as Ash himself, and it definitely shows: he prepares extensive strategy before and during battle, and unlike most of Ash's rivals, can easily adapt to Ash's Outside-the-Box Tactics.
- In Ranma ½, most of the Nerima Wrecking Crew (Ranma Saotome, Ryoga Hibiki, Mousse, Shampoo, Akane Tendo, etc.) fall into this, all being skilled martial artists who emphasize on both honing skills and physical abilities.
- Ranma himself studies and mastered many different forms of martial arts throughout the course of the series. He has also received special physical training, with the most notable one being the Tenshin Amaguriken which granted him Super-Speed to the extent he can throw hundreds of punches in a second.
- Ryoga is roughly on the same level as Ranma in terms of skill (having amassed many fighting styles and techniques in his travels), but his strength and durability are through the roof. When in the right mindset he's essentially a juggernaut who will plow through everything in his path.
- Record of Ragnarok:
- The gods in general are this. Not only are they extremely strong by default, but their existence over thousands of years has given them plenty of time to hone their abilities to their limits, which proves to be quite the shock to many of the Weak, but Skilled humans, who go in to the Ragnarok tournament expecting them to be Unskilled, but Strong.
- On the human's side, there's Lü Bu. Not only is he naturally very strong with an animalistic fighting style, but his time in combat has also given him an impressive knowledge of battle and some great skills with a pole arm.
- Another human who manages to be this is Raiden Tameemon. While he started his career as a sumo wrestler relying entirely on his natural strength, his time training has given him the skills needed to compliment his strength.
- In Sailor Moon, Minako/Sailor Venus is possibly the most skilled of the Sailor Senshi and all the power of a Sailor Senshi and then some. Even when untransformed she often shows superhuman feats, such as Roof Hopping (the others need to transform to pull it off), or outrunning a car while weakened by having her Pure Heart Crystal extracted (something that by itself is a One-Hit KO against everyone else) and having just donated blood, while her combat skills at the starts of her solo series were already so formidable she could angrily kick a civilian in the face and instinctively hold back enough to not kill him, and they only grew from there-as a Brainwashed and Crazy Makoto discovered in their manga-only fight when she was kicked into a wall and knocked out before even realizing she was in a fight.
- Samurai Executioner: Asaemon is the shogun's official executioner and blade tester, jobs which involve cutting tied-up prisoners and corpses respectively. Naturally, this leads thugs who recognize him to assume he'd be no good against living opponents. They are very swiftly, and fatally, proven wrong.
- He manages to showcase this in one chapter by demontrating the technique of mizugiri, or testing blades against water. That is, he manages to hit the water so hard that Soft Water gets averted with a vengeance.
- While the strength part of chopping through a man's neck is assured, one enterprising criminal thinks he found a way around it by having the name of the deified shogun tattooed on his neck, making it a sacrilege to harm it in any way. Asaemon cuts around the tatoo (in a single stroke no less), flips it up, and then decapitates the criminal.
- Soul Eater: Lord Death is a bonafide Death God, with enormous physical ability, and a soul wavelength that envelops a city in a setting where accomplished fighters have one that covers their body. He's also got centuries worth of combat experience and while we never see it in action, he's implied to be able to use all the Death Scythes with great proficiency (including a hammer, sniper and a greave), only using Spirit as a matter of prefence.
- Tomorrow's Joe:
- Eventually protagonist Joe Yabuki acquires the skills necessary to take on such monsters as Carlos Rivera, Kim Yongbi and Jose Mendoza.
- Toru Rikiishi is strong enough to punch out pigs and bulls, and skilled enough to dodge a charging bull-and that was when he was rusty from his time in jail. There's a reason everyone expected him to become the featherweight world champion before his death cut his dream short.
- Jose Mendoza. As expected from the world champion, he has enough skills to dance around Carlos' attacks and catch the exact moment he's vulnerable and the strength to knock him down, brutally, without the devastating Corkscrew Punch. With it... When Carlos shows up after taking one at the temple, he can barely remember his name and has lost all of his strength and skill.
- Kirinmaru from Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon. Whereas Naraku's fighting style resolved around his barrier, appandages, and Miasma, making him somewhat Unskilled, but Strong by default of having many versatile abilities but displaying little skill in fighting, Kirinmaru displays such excellent control over his demonic energy that he can use it for numerous purposes and while he doesn't have Naraku's extra appandages and Miasma, he easily exceeds Naraku's abilities by being both extremely physically powerful AND incredibly skilled in fighting. All this combined means he is easily capable of taking on Inuyasha and Kagome whereas their abilities previously countered and nearly defeated Naraku, and the Skilled aspect shows and is outright stated compared to the Half-Demon Princesses as he easily outclasses them and mocks their lack of skill.
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Kaiba and his numerous expies fall under this trope. Their decks and playstyle lean heavily on high-ATK monsters, which makes it easy for them to overpower their opponents, but they also use complex strategies, skillful combos and are able to adapt to the situation they are facing. Due to this, their rivals need more than just power to actually defeat them in a duel.
- YuYu Hakusho: While he appears to be Unskilled, but Strong, Younger Toguro is actually this. He has massive Super-Strength, able to fire air bullets with just a flick of his thumb, and is in fact a skilled martial artist. In general, he prefers simply relying on his massive strength than flashy energy attacks.Younger Toguro: Strength to make the most learned techniques outmoded. That is strength absolute!
