The ability to see the future can be just as powerful as the ability to manipulate time itself, allowing characters to plan ahead with utmost perfection as they dodge threats and strategize attacks. Foresight is, obviously, pretty overpowered as an ability. That’s why most anime series include twists and drawbacks that prevent characters from seeing everything at all times—and, to be honest, it’s those limitations that make foresight more interesting. From characters who can only see several seconds ahead to characters who can see years into the future but not the time between, here are the best anime characters who can see the future.
10. Gamamaru (Naruto Shippuden)
In Naruto Shippuden, Gamamaru is a toad sage from Mt. Myoboku. He lived long before the current timeline and he’s the one who trained the original Hagoromo to harness nature energy. Gamamaru has precognitive abilities, and he prophesied that Jiraiya would one day train a student who’d either unite or destroy the world, all depending on Jiraiya’s course of action with him. Well, Gamamaru’s prophecy came true—not just once, but twice. Jiraiya’s first student, Nagato, nearly destroyed the world; his second student, Naruto, successfully united the world.
9. Neon Nostrade (Hunter X Hunter)
Neon Nostrade of Hunter X Hunter is a member of an elite family. Despite her age, she still throws childish tantrums whenever she doesn’t get what she wants, but no one reprimands her. Why? Because of her wealth-generating ability. Neon’s father earns his fame and riches by exploiting Neon’s ability (called Lovely Ghostwriter) to predict someone’s future. When she activates her ability, Neon goes unconscious and a “ghost writer” takes over, using her hand to write predictions that come out in the format of a metaphorical poem. Unlike other Nen users, she didn’t undergo any training for her powers, as it seems like an innate ability.
8. Sir Nighteye (My Hero Academia)
Mirai Sasaki, known by his hero name Sir Nighteye, is a Pro Hero and Mirio Togata’s mentor. He was formerly All Might’s sidekick and was known as the “brain” of their duo. His Quirk, Foresight, allows him to see the future of someone, but he must first touch them and make direct eye contact with them. Furthermore, Nighteye can only use Foresight once every 24 hours. But Nighteye is smart and doesn’t rely solely on this ability. Between Quirk activations, he uses his intelligence to take what he knows and devise bulletproof plans and strategies.
7. The Attack Titan (Attack on Titan)
In Attack on Titan, most titans are mindless slaves to instinct, but there are special titans—called Titan Shifters—who are intelligent and can transform between human and titan forms. The Attack Titan is one such Titan Shifter, and he has the unique ability to see the future. The twist is that the current Attack Titan can’t see his own future, only the future of the next Attack Titan.
6. Ishizu Ishtar (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
In a Yu-Gi-Oh! card battle, Ishizu Ishtar is the worst opponent you could go up against. Why? Because she knows what your next move will be. Ishizu has the ability to see the near future, which allows her to directly alter the end result of that foreseen future by preparing for what’s coming. A pretty strong cheat for a card game, no? Her ability was granted to her by the Millennium Necklace in her possession. It’s similar to Pegasus’s Millennium Eye, except it sees what’s destined to come rather than reading another’s mind.
5. Future Diary Users (Future Diary)
In Future Diary, the contestants of the death game are given extraordinary tools that predict the future. The tools come in many forms, but for most of participants it’s just a cell phone. While they can all see the future, these Future Diaries each have their own distinct functions (like Yuno’s, which can know Yukiteru’s actions in ten-minute intervals). These Future Diary users all know what’s going to happen next, but each Future Diary’s predictions are unique. Moreover, the predictions can change when certain futures are altered by character actions.
4. Honey (Hamatora)
In Hamatora, Honey’s ability to predict the future is a mixture of high intellectual analysis and supernatural ability. To fully activate her Analysis Minimum, she needs her “Mighty Script” tablet—and must also bite down on a specific trigger candy. With the data and numbers given to her by the Mighty Script, she can deeply analyze what’s happening in a certain area and accurately predict what’s coming in the next ten minutes.
3. Diavolo/Doppio (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: The Golden Wind)
Diavolo’s Stand is called King Crimson—which he shares with Doppio—and has the ability to erase time. King Crimson has a sub-Stand called Epitaph, which can see ten seconds into the future. The predictions of Epitaph are always 100% accurate, but they’re only glimpses of the end result and don’t include everything that happens leading up to the end result. As such, interpretations can differ. With dual powers of time erasure and future prediction, Diavolo/Doppio are nearly unstoppable.
2. Sakunosuke Oda (Bungo Stray Dogs)
Sakunosuke Oda is a member of the Port Mafia and possesses an ability called Flawless, which allows him to see five-to-six seconds into the future. It makes any surprise attack—even a gunshot—useless as he can see through it and react before it happens. Flawless is powerful, but it has a grave downside: it only activates when a near-future event would directly affect Oda and no one else. As such, the ability leaves his friends vulnerable to attacks. His fight against Andre Gide was really interesting since both of them have nearly identical abilities, causing a singularity stemming from the chaotic cause-and-effect sequence of their powers.
1. Charlotte Katakuri (One Piece)
Charlotte Katakuri is the second son of Charlotte “Big Mom” Linlin and one of the Three Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates. Aside from his Devil Fruit ability—Mochi Mochi no Mi—he also has a refined Observation Haki that allows him to see a few seconds ahead into the future. He uses the ability in combat to evade, react, and counter his opponent’s moves. Katakuri combines the Observation Haki with his Devil Fruit ability to pinpoint where an attack would land and avoid it entirely. Read next: The Best Anime Characters With Tragic Love Stories
