15-year-old Kurosaki Ichigo is a high school student who has always had the ability to see ghosts. One night, a woman dressed in a black kimono appears in his room, armed with a sword. She claims to be a Shinigami, an entity like the grim-reaper which is tasked with the ushering of human souls to the realm of Soul Society, while also combating evil spirits known as Hollows. When one such Hollow attacks Ichigo’s family and leaves the Shinigami gravely wounded, she offers to give him some of her power so he may defeat it. From that day forth, Kurosaki Ichigo’s abnormal life took yet another abnormal turn.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri is the Captain of the 12th Squad of the Gotei 13, a mad scientist with no real care for life – human, Shinigami or otherwise. His visually staggering visage is but one part of his eccentricity, but it isn’t the part we’re concerned with. Mayuri’s Zanpakuto, Ashisogi Jizou, is a monstrosity of a blade which becomes a giant toxic smoke-spewing baby-headed caterpillar thing. It’s quite the sight, but the noxious fumes it breathes out make it such that anyone seeing this particular sight won’t be around to see it for too long.

One day while riding the bus, Sakurakouji Sakura looks out the window and witnesses people being burned alive while a boy her age stands over the burning people. Visiting the site the next day, Sakura sees no trace of what she witnessed the day before; however, there is a new transfer student at her school who looks eerily similar to the boy she saw that day. Oogami Rei, a mysterious student who wears a black glove on only his left hand, is a Code Breaker, an individual who “does not exist.” He is a cold-blooded killer who follows the principle of “an eye for an eye” to deadly degree; however, the upstanding Sakurakouji simply won’t let him stain his hands with blood any more.

Lily is a cold-blooded woman who doesn’t care about any aspect of human life. She is a mercenary capable of a technique known as Secretion, which allows her to create any substance through her own metabolism. This includes poisonous gases which she uses in order to throw off her opponents’ balance. Later on, Lily’s abilities are augmented and she gains the ability to manipulate ozone, which allows her to make fires burn faster and oxidise the objects around her.

Toramizu Ginza dreams of a magical world every night and yearns to be able to go there. Only his friend Koyuki supports that dream; however, Ginza’s dreams are answered when one day, a large door appears in front of him. It leads him into the world of MAR Heaven, where weapons known as ARMs exist in a war-torn land.

Kouga is a member of the Chess Pieces and the weakest of the Knights. He uses ninja-themed weapons or ARMs such as his Daimonji, the Centipede, Sand Hell, Kung Fu Frog and of course, the Smokescreen. His Smokescreen is a Nature ARM which is a gray mist which is capable of hiding just about anything and this also includes magic power.

The Holy Knights of Britannia are feared yet revered warriors who use powerful magic to defend Britannia and its kingdoms. However, a small faction of Holy Knights defected in an attempt to overthrow the ruler of Liones. Ten years after this insurgence was dealt with by the Holy Knights, rumours of the survival of these knights, dubbed “The Seven Deadly Sins,” persist and the Holy Knights themselves have staged a coup of their own, ruling over the Kingdom of Liones with an iron fist. The third princess, Elizabeth, sets out to find The Seven Deadly Sins and enlist their help in taking back the kingdom.

Coming from the a crop of fledgling Holy Knights, Guila was wrapped up in their darkness when she, much like many others, consumed the blood of demons in order to achieve considerable strength and magical ability. Her ability allows her to create massive explosions which in turn leads to smoke generation. Manipulating this advantage with her use of longer-ranged weapon such as a lance or rapier makes Guila terrifying to fight in the smoke.

Pokemon are strange creatures with varying appearances and abilities. People find them in the wild, catch them and train them in order to battle other trainers. Satoshi (Ash) is a youngster who has always dreamed of becoming a Pokemon Master. On his tenth birthday, he has a chance to make his dream a reality; however, he was late to receive his first Pokemon, having to settle for the rebellious electric-type, Pikachu. Facing difficulty at first, the bad start soon proves to be the beginning of a close friendship and an exciting adventure! Together with Pikachu, Satoshi travels across various regions, coming across various Pokemon and trainers alike in his journey to become the very best.

Weezing is a Poison-type Pokemon which is the evolved form of Koffing. The creature is a floating ball which emits poisonous smoke from the volcano-like openings on its surface. The emissions are incredibly potent and cause adverse reactions in those unfortunate enough to smell them. The gas that Koffing and Weezing emit is lighter than air and as a result, the Pokemon are able to levitate.

Humanity has become a superhuman society after the appearance of super powers and special abilities known as “Quirks”. 80% of the population exhibit these abilities, but for the rest of the population, including 15-year-old Midoriya Izuku, powerlessness is the mode of being. Despite this, Izuku dreams of becoming a hero like his idol, the top hero, All Might. After meeting All Might, Izuku soon learns that All Might’s Quirk is transferable and he’s looking at Izuku to be his successor! After months of intense training, Izuku enrols at UA High, a prestigious high school with an elite hero training course, all with the desire of one day becoming a fully-fledged hero.

The mysterious League of Villains member and apparent number 2 to Shigaraki Tomura is Kurogiri, the wispy apparition. His quirk is the Warp Gate, which allows him to manipulate the black fog that makes up his body in order to create a portal which can transport anything to a different location. He is capable of creating several entry and exit points with this fog and it has been fairly useful to the villains in several occasions.

Guts is a mercenary who knows nothing but the battlefield, putting his life on the line just to make enough to survive. After an encounter with the Band of the Hawk, a powerful mercenary group, Guts is recruited by their leader, Griffith – the “White Hawk”. Soon after his entry, Guts climbs the ranks and becomes head of the offensive faction; however, Guts soon begins to realise that the world is not as he once thought.

Emperor Ganishka, the powerful leader of the Kushan Empire who desires to conquer every corner of the world. His true form is a mist-like substance which can expand and contract as he so wills and even generates lightning strikes. He is also capable of manifesting this fog from afar, making Ganishka incredibly formidable in combat.

Every 500 years, a tournament known as the Shaman Fight is held in which shaman – people who can command spirits, go head to head in combat. The winner becomes the Shaman King, the only one capable of interacting with the Great Spirit and reshape the world as they wish using its power. While on a late night walk, Oyamada Manta runs into his classmate Asakura You, who invites him to stargaze with his friends. These “friends” turn out to be ghosts from the local cemetery. You becomes fixated on Manta and his sixth sense, so when Manta is bullied by a local gang, You arrives on the scene with Amidamaru, the ghost of a formidable samurai. Having made a new friend, Manta begins to learn more about the world of the shamans.

Kanna Bismarch, a German-born shaman with blue eyes and royal blue hair, uses powers based on the spirit known as Ashcroft – her guardian ghost. Ashcroft is a medieval German knight who pledged allegiance to the Bismarch family. He uses cigarette smoke as his medium which is deadly in connection with his Oversoul, the O.S Ashcroft, which resembles a suit of armour. This armour can come apart at will and uses incredibly dangerous jousting strikes to take down opponents.

When his wife is burned at the stake after being falsely accused of witchcraft, the vampire Count Dracula declares that the people of Wallachia will pay for the incident with their lives. He sets upon them a legion of monsters which overrun the country and send fear into the hearts of many. In order to combat the monster problem, the monster hunter Trevor Belmont decides to take up arms against Dracula’s forces, with the assistance of the magician Sypha Belnades and none other than Dracula’s own son, Alucard.

Alucard Fahrenheit Tepes, a half-human, half-vampire hybrid who decides not to hate humanity for the death of his mother and fights on the side of the humans against his father, Dracula. Besides his impeccable ability with a sword, Alucard is capable of using powerful dark magic. His shapeshifting ability allows him to assume various forms, such as a wolf, bat or even mist. In his mist form, Alucard can become a poison cloud, using his shapeshifting for both offense and defense.

Fifteen-year-old Higurashi Kagome’s normal life ends when a demon drags her down into a cursed well on the premises of her family’s shrine. Instead of falling and hitting the ground, Kagome finds herself 500 years in the past, during Japan’s Sengoku period, with the wish-granting Shikon Jewel reborn inside of her. When a battle with a revived demon causes the jewel to shatter, Kagome gets the help of a dog-demon/human hybrid named Inuyasha to help her collect the shards before they fall into the wrong hands.

Unlike Inuyasha, Sesshomaru is a full-blooded dog-demon, and as a result, he has the power to show for it. In his Daiyokai form, Sesshoumaru is an incredible danger to his opponents with his poison claws and fangs, but also with his saliva which can be turned into a poisonous, caustic mist. In addition to this manipulation of his poison abilities, Sesshoumaru is incredibly adept as a swordsman and as a demon and beyond the noxious fumes he is capable of emitting, he is an incredibly formidable opponent.

When a mysterious virus suddenly appears and kills everyone over the age of 13, vampires that had kept their existence hidden suddenly began to take over in order to rule over the survivors. A Colonel of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army tasked to defeat these vampires, Norito Goshi tends to be laid back and good natured and yet has a tendency to be rebellious. Goshi suffers from an inferior complex due to his younger brother being much more talented than him, resulting in him not being motivated to work very hard. However, he gets by with the help of his friends in the Moon Demon Company, especially Guren. Goshi’s fighting ability revolves around an illusory style as opposed to fighting directly, and this is aided by his demon weapon Kakuze, which takes the form of a smoking pipe. Goshi’s illusory techniques all begin with the smoke he blows out of the pipe, leading to a variety of powerful illusions such as a field of lava or numerous soldiers. Definitely a unique way of using smoke in combat.

Evil spirits are awakening all across the world, and many of them will stop at nothing to defeat JoJo and his friends as they journey to Cairo, Egypt in order to save Jotaro’s mother. Redefining the cray definition of “crazy Grandma”, Enya is one of these main villains Jotaro’s group goes up against in Stardust Crusaders. Despite her age, Enya seems to be able to do things no normal elderly woman should be able to do, such as run at the speed of a normal adult. She is also twisted and evil, delighting in murdering those that stand in her way. Speaking of, her Stand is Justice, a massive fog that takes on the form of a skeleton looking phantom. Enya’s main technique involves sending strings of Justice’s smoke form into her opponent’s wounds and controlling them like puppets to fight her other opponents. In addition, because of Justice’s smoke form, no other Stand can harm it; the only method of defeating it lies with the connection Justice has to Enya. It is because of Justice’s smoke like qualities that Enya is as powerful as she is.

As a Spirit Detective, it is Yusuke’s Urameshi’s job to protect both the Spirit World as well as Earth from some of the most powerful demons, and one of his missions involves him and his friends competing in the Dark Tournament. One of the 5 shinobis that make up Team Masho during the Dark Tournament, Bakken is very much like Risho and Gama in the sense that he is very boastful about his strength and how his opponents have no chance of defeating him. Despite the numerous attempts at bravado, however, Bakken ends up being the weakest member of the group, easily getting pummeled by Yusuke. Bakken’s ultimate technique, however, is his White Mist. A popular smoke variation branching from general smoke, Bakken’s mist envelops the immediate area around him, allowing him to be a shinobi in the truest sense and attack his opponents from the shadows. If it weren’t for his cowardice as well as his lack of other techniques, Bakken could be a much more powerful fighter.

As hundreds of Shamans compete for the title of Shaman King, Yoh Asakura comes to learn that he and his friends will eventually have to defeat his ancestor Hao and his followers. As one of many of Hao’s followers, Kanna Bismarch is a no-nonsense fighter who hates humanity based on her troubled past with her family and how they took advantage of the deaths of her parents. Like many of the other followers of Hao, Hao himself came to her rescue and destroyed those that were bringing her harm, earning her trust and extreme loyalty. Although we see Kanna multiple times watching many of the other fights that take place, we only get to see her fighting style once, in her battle with Ren’s sister Jun. Even though the audience is led to believe that Kanna’s spirit medium is the armor which her spirit fights in, it is actually revealed that the true medium is Kanna’s cigarette smoke, and were it not for Yoh’s father intervening, Kanna would have won the fight. Yet another creative way of using smoke as an effective means of combat.

With Planet Earth possessing the 7 Dragonballs needed to make anyone’s wish come true, a lot of villains turn up seeking this power. In this case, the Dragonballs helped unlock the main villain of the 13th Dragonball Z movie: Hirudegarn. Hirudegarn is simply a blind beast that attempts to destroy everyone and everything within its reach. Described as “a phantom of mist and shadow” by the legendary warrior Tapion, Hirudegarn lives up to the name, revealing the ability to briefly turn itself into smoke and teleporting incredibly quickly, resulting in much difficulty for the Z warriors as they try to destroy it. There’s not many villains that can say they’re powerful enough to force Goku to use Dragon Fist as a Super Sayian 3 in order to beat them. Were Hirudegarn to resemble Vegeta in his Oozaru form in terms of having intelligence and cunning, he could have been an even more deadly villain, as his power alone made truly made him a force to reckon with as well as almost impossible to hit.

With the world being rebuilt in a negative light after a cataclysmic event 50 years ago, it’s up to Haru Glory and his friends to find the Rave Stones before it’s too late. One of the first villains we see Haru, Elie, and Plue go up against, Georco is a Demon Card member that serves as the president of the dog racing track in Hip Hop Town. Georco is easily caught up in both money and accessories, placing a lot of value on these items. Despite having some good skills as a tactician, Georco’s weakness of underestimating his opponents when he has the upper hand proves to be his downfall in his fight against Haru. Georco’s Dark Bring is Smoke Bay, which allows Georco to turn any part of his body into smoke as well as release poisonous gasses. Georco’s abilities certainly make him formidable; if only he had a stronger tactical sense and a weaker ego to accompany it.

There exists in Magnolia Town a powerful wizarding guild named Fairy Tail whose members use their incredible abilities to fulfill certain quests in exchange for certain rewards. A veteran member of this Fairy Tail Guild, Wakaba Mine is certainly quite the character. A perverse man that hates the idea of marriage (despite being married and having a daughter), Wakaba constantly harasses Laki Olietta and Kinana, and seems to be obsessed with Mirajane Strauss most of all. Despite this behavior, Wakaba is a caring man at heart, and is often seen getting into antics with Macao Conbolt, his long-time friend. Wakaba’s style of fighting revolves around Smoke Magic; he is able to manipulate the pink-colored smoke from his pipe in various ways, such as creating multiple copies of himself, forming fists to punch his opponents, and into the shape of a girl. Even though he has little control over transforming himself into smoke, Wakaba’s mastery of the techniques he does transform his smoke into are why he’s so high on this list.

Naruto Uzumaki has one goal: to become the Hokage of his village so that everyone will finally respect him. In order for Naruto to achieve his dream, he will have to go through many trials and defeat some of the most powerful ninjas in order to make his dream come true. Such as Orochimaru. A prisoner of Orochimaru whose name literally means “devil fog”, Kigiri, like many of his fellow captives, wanted nothing to do with Orochimaru. The laid-back member of his group who never recklessly runs into a fight, Kigiri shows promise in his fights both with Rock Lee and Kakashi. Kigiri’s multiple smoke techniques were impressive; he showed the ability to create solid clones out of smoke to assist him, he could create a giant blinding smokescreen to disguise himself, and he could even manipulate his smoke to wrap itself around his opponent. Even though his appearance was brief, the number of effective techniques Kigiri possessed using smoke was impressive.

Twelve-year-old Gon Freecss will stop at nothing to achieve his dream of becoming a Hunter and finding his father. Along his incredible journey, Gon forms close friendships and encounters many powerful Hunters. One of these is Morel Mackernasey, a Single-Star Sea Hunter as well as a Manipulator. Morel Mackernasey has a vast amount of experience as a Hunter, possessing both a keen sense for strategy as well as the resourcefulness needed to survive. Morel is very perceptive, and uses his calm demeanor to his advantage against his opponents. Using a giant smoking pipe and smoke as his weapons of choice, Morel has 2 fighting styles. The first is with his giant pipe; because of its size, Morel’s strength, speed, and reflexes are enhanced, making his skills with the pipe in close combat quite impressive. In addition, Morel can also manipulate the smoke from the pipe into various animals or Smoke Troopers that follow his command. He can also create an impenetrable circle of smoke that prevents anyone from escaping or breaking into his barrier. Morel is truly a master when it comes to smoke-related abilities.

Monkey D. Luffy’s dream: to be the King of the Pirates. That isn’t going to come easy with the strongest pirates in the world seeking the same goal as well as the Marines seeking to stop them all. A strong white-haired Marine, Smoker is one of the most powerful members of the military with the attitude to match. Rarely seen without a cigar to smoke, Smoker is unlike most Marines in the sense that he not only understands how truly unique Luffy and his crew are early on in the series, but also doesn’t follow the Marines’ rule of Absolute Justice, instead following his own code. Like Luffy’s crew, Smoker grows in strength throughout the series as well as in rank, rising to Vice Admiral at the current point in the story. Smoker ate the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, allowing him to become, create, and control smoke as he sees fit and perform some impressive feats, such as making himself intangible as well as creating a unique form of flight. Combined with smoke’s unique properties and his immense physical strength, it appears the only way to damage Smoker is by using Haki, which is fortunate for Luffy, as his 1st battle would have ended in defeat had it not been for Dragon’s intervention. It’s pretty clear that out of all smoke users, Smoker is easily the most powerful.