Weakest anime main character

[Laevatein]

@Laevatein

Wow! birds left her in a crater of destruction??? Is her plot that she just has bad luck?

The main premise is that she has extreme social anxiety.

This Mother's Basement video explains more:

[Captain Morgan]

Yes, great breakdown, these heroes are still quite powerful because of their added "equipment" they hold. And no, i'm not including the weak rom-com or isekai that fall into powerful bodies, etc.

So it has to be a protagonist of an action based anime, then? That certainly makes it harder. Are we talking relative to their setting or absolute? For relative, the main character of Solo Leveling begins as the weakest person with powers in his world. (But they note even the weakest awakened person is stronger than the strongest regular human, and obviously he doesn't stay the weakest for long.)

For absolute, Alan's call from Cells at Work sounds like the contender to beat. I've never watched it, but a single white blood cell shouldn't be beating anyone listed so far.

[Jackalope89]

Now that I've thought more about it, I have a different contender. Well, its more like its a certain arc/chapter for said character. Ranma 1/2 is a gag/martial arts series, Ranma and cast have some fairly impressive feats, all things considered. But one arc for Ranma, left him so weak a child literally beat him in one hit. Happosai had poked a nerve that basically sapped all of Ranma's strength. He can walk and wear clothes, and other such normal things. But getting one shot by a small child (whom he accidentally hit, but did no damage to at all), let alone bodied by foes he normally smacks around without much issue (Kuno, Principal Kuno, and Mousse for instance), puts him below even the Digi Destined kids.

I know its not a permanent thing for Ranma, but that wasn't a condition. It just had to be a "weak character".

[Blackid]

So it has to be a protagonist of an action based anime, then? That certainly makes it harder. Are we talking relative to their setting or absolute? For relative, the main character of Solo Leveling begins as the weakest person with powers in his world. (But they note even the weakest awakened person is stronger than the strongest regular human, and obviously he doesn't stay the weakest for long.)

For absolute, Alan's call from Cells at Work sounds like the contender to beat. I've never watched it, but a single white blood cell shouldn't be beating anyone listed so far.

Thanks for the help with clarity. Yes, it must be action based, main character, the longer and more consistent, the better.

So many of them like Solo Leveling start with a person just getting splattered only to be given a crazy power boost in the first episode that increases with each episode. I LOVE THOSE, but that's not what i'm looking for here.

Great answers all around tho!

[Captain Morgan]

Thanks for the help with clarity. Yes, it must be action based, main character, the longer and more consistent, the better.

So many of them like Solo Leveling start with a person just getting splattered only to be given a crazy power boost in the first episode that increases with each episode. I LOVE THOSE, but that's not what i'm looking for here.

Great answers all around tho!

What about relative vs absolute strength? I still think Alan won absolute anyway, so relative is the next best thing. And that's tough. What main character remains weak throughout the entirety of their series when you still bring powers/equipment/Pokemon into the equation?

[Wildling]

Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai might be the kings of putting regular people in extraordinary circumstances. Suzume grew as a person but didn't gain powers even temporarily, just used magical items and was assisted by her mystically trained companion and a couple of Japanese deity characters. Mahito Maki from Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron is just a boy who navigates from Earth to a fantastical world. He wielded a homing arrow for one scene that only worked with one character due to the specific reason it was homing, it's his aunt who had ability as an archer. He was assisted through the movie by the titular humanoid Heron character and his (same age as his in that world) mother who was pyrokinetic. His ancestor who was the ruler of the fantasy world after going there from Earth and kept it's space-time together (think Emperor Dornkirk from The Vision of Escaflowne) offered Makito to succeed him but he went back to Earth to continue living a regular life.

[The MunchKING]

There are a ton of manga/anime titles that take place in the modern world with perfectly normal people doing perfectly normal things. Kids, even. Zero action, zero fighting, zero feats.

Pick one.

PERFECTLY normal people doing perfectly normal things? That can't be true. That'd be boring. They've got to throw at least one small plot-twist in to give them a hook. Maybe one of the girls in the school is a centaur or something.

[Sharpandpointies]

Now that I've thought more about it, I have a different contender. Well, its more like its a certain arc/chapter for said character. Ranma 1/2 is a gag/martial arts series, Ranma and cast have some fairly impressive feats, all things considered. But one arc for Ranma, left him so weak a child literally beat him in one hit. Happosai had poked a nerve that basically sapped all of Ranma's strength. He can walk and wear clothes, and other such normal things. But getting one shot by a small child (whom he accidentally hit, but did no damage to at all), let alone bodied by foes he normally smacks around without much issue (Kuno, Principal Kuno, and Mousse for instance), puts him below even the Digi Destined kids.

I know its not a permanent thing for Ranma, but that wasn't a condition. It just had to be a "weak character".

It's an interesting idea...

.....

...Ranma still has all his speed and skill, though, and can pull of the HSH in this state.

[Sharpandpointies]

PERFECTLY normal people doing perfectly normal things? That can't be true. That'd be boring. They've got to throw at least one small plot-twist in to give them a hook. Maybe one of the girls in the school is a centaur or something.

...you've clearly not read any of these. ^_^

[The MunchKING]

...you've clearly not read any of these. ^_^

The centaur girl WAS the most "normal people doing normal stuff" one I could think of, but all them I've read have SOME weird twist. Chobits has the robogirls, Sgt Frog has the titular alien and his other aliens doing hijinks, Negima has wizards/magic, Aoi House has a sentient battle-hamster, Reality Check takes place mostly in the Matrix, etc.

[Sharpandpointies]

The centaur girl WAS the most "normal people doing normal stuff" one I could think of, but all them I've read have SOME weird twist. Chobits has the robogirls, Sgt Frog has the titular alien and his other aliens doing hijinks, Negima has wizards/magic, Aoi House has a sentient battle-hamster, Reality Check takes place mostly in the Matrix, etc.

As an example, A Silent Voice's main characters are at first elementary school children, then high schoolers. Neither of them have any special powers or abilities at all.

Another: Bunny Drop's central characters are an adult worker in Japan and and a child who grows into her late teens in a time skip. Neither of them have any powers/abilities at all.

Keep in mind that the post of mine you quoted (from the first page of the thread) was before the OP clarified they wanted stuff that 'must be action based (which was on this page).

[The MunchKING]

As an example, A Silent Voice's main characters are at first elementary school children, then high schoolers. Neither of them have any special powers or abilities at all.

Another: Bunny Drop's central characters are an adult worker in Japan and and a child who grows into her late teens in a time skip. Neither of them have any powers/abilities at all.

Keep in mind that the post of mine you quoted (from the first page of the thread) was before the OP clarified they wanted stuff that 'must be action based (which was on this page).

Ummmm... Well... The other part of your statement was Doing Perfectly Normal things.

DO they do anything odd or unusual in those manga??

[Dark Soul # 7]

Does Hajime no Ippo count? It's a boxing manga so it kinda balances the line between being a sports and an action series. The main character is a professional boxer, so he's stronger than the average joe, but he's still a pretty realistic human and therefore weaker than most action based main characters.

[Sharpandpointies]

A Silent Voice is a manga about children growing up while at the same time learning to deal with someone who has a disability. It's about bullying and inclusion. There is no magic or any kind of weirdness.

Bunny Drop is a family drama about a kid growing up and a single man parenting. There is no magic or weirdness.

Let's throw on a more famous one. Yotsuba&! is about a kid. It's a comedy manga. There is no magic and weirdness, outside of the usual weirdness a very young kid may get up to in the normal world.

Manga and anime aren't a genre, they're a kind of media; there are all kinds of different genres that use that media. You can find all kinds of manga that are dramas or comedies about 'normal life'. It's not all Pokémon and DBZ, Munch. ^_^

[Dark Soul # 7]

A Silent Voice is a manga about children growing up while at the same time learning to deal with someone who has a disability. It's about bullying and inclusion. There is no magic or any kind of weirdness.

Bunny Drop is a family drama about a kid growing up and a single man parenting. There is no magic or weirdness.

Let's throw on a more famous one. Yotsuba&! is about a kid. It's a comedy manga. There is no magic and weirdness, outside of the usual weirdness a very young kid may get up to in the normal world.

Manga and anime aren't a genre, they're a kind of media; there are all kinds of different genres that use that media. You can find all kinds of manga that are dramas or comedies about 'normal life'. It's not all Pokémon and DBZ, Munch. ^_^

This is very true. I could toss the girls from Azumangah Daioh or the school council from Seitokai Yakuindomo in here for the same reason.

But the thread starter said this:

Thanks for the help with clarity. Yes, it must be action based, main character, the longer and more consistent, the better.

Which is why I suggested Ippo from Hajime no Ippo.