Flight is one of those anime tropes that splits the medium right down the middle. Some characters have actual wings (feathers, leather, fairy-style, you name it). Others fly because they’ve trained their ki to defy gravity. Some pilot mechas. Some warp space-time. Some just have wind magic, magical computation orbs, or telekinesis powerful enough to lift themselves off the ground.
The question “which anime characters can fly?” doesn’t have one answer. It has at least four different categories of answers, and the best characters from each category are wildly different. Hawks isn’t comparable to Goku, who isn’t comparable to Kiki, who isn’t comparable to Tatsumaki. Each represents a completely different anime tradition of how flight works.
Below, the 25 best flying anime characters, organized by how they actually get airborne. From the iconic winged heroes to the magic-school witches to the Dragon Ball Z ki-powered superhumans, here’s the definitive guide.
Anime Characters With Iconic Wings
These are the characters whose flight is built into their character design. Whether feathered, demonic, or angelic, the wings are part of who they are.
25Hawks (My Hero Academia)
24Ryuk (Death Note)
23Happy (Fairy Tail)
22Raynare (High School DxD)
21The Haibane (Haibane Renmei)
20Kiki (Kiki’s Delivery Service)
19Howl (Howl’s Moving Castle)
18Yuno (Black Clover)
17Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail)
16Homura Akemi (Madoka Magica)
15Sinbad (Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic)
14Goku (Dragon Ball Z)
13Tatsumaki (One Punch Man)
12Mob Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100)
11Yusuke Urameshi (Yu Yu Hakusho)
10Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)
9Tanya Degurechaff (Saga of Tanya the Evil)
8Nausicaä (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
7Ange (Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon)
6Koro-Sensei (Assassination Classroom)
5Donquixote Doflamingo (One Piece)
4Washu Hakubi (Tenchi Muyo!)
3Deidara (Naruto)
2Sakura Kinomoto (Cardcaptor Sakura)
1Ainz Ooal Gown (Overlord)
Honorable Mentions
The list above hits the 25 best, but several other characters deserve recognition:
- ✅ Frieza, Cell, and Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z — all use the same Bukū-jutsu technique as Goku
- 💡 Piccolo from Dragon Ball Z — Namekian flight, slightly different mechanics
- 🔥 Levi Ackerman from Attack on Titan — uses ODM gear for high-mobility “flight”
- ✅ Erza Scarlet and Mavis Vermillion from Fairy Tail
- 💡 Meliodas from The Seven Deadly Sins
- 🔥 Kanade Tachibana from Angel Beats! — manifests hand-shaped wings
- ✅ Ikaros, Nymph, and Astraea from Sora no Otoshimono — full Angeloid winged characters
- 💡 Carla / Charles from Fairy Tail — flying Exceed cat companion
- 🔥 Albedo from Overlord — wings on her hips and shoulders
- ✅ Rias Gremory from High School DxD — devil wings
- 💡 Angewomon from Digimon — 8-winged Champion-level digimon
- 🔥 Tokoyami from My Hero Academia — Dark Shadow flight
The Different Ways Anime Characters Fly
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve seen that “anime characters who can fly” isn’t a single category. It’s at least four:
- ✅ Characters with wings. Hawks, Ryuk, Happy, Raynare. The wings are part of the character design.
- 💡 Characters who fly through magic. Kiki, Howl, Yuno, Homura, Sinbad. Their flight is part of their magic system.
- 🔥 Characters who fly through energy manipulation. Goku, Tatsumaki, Mob, Yusuke, Ichigo. They’ve trained their ki, spirit, or psychic power to defy gravity.
- ✅ Characters who fly through technology or special mechanics. Nausicaä, Ange, Koro-Sensei, Doflamingo, Tanya. They use gliders, mechs, alien physiology, or creative power systems.
Each of these categories has its own visual language and narrative implications. A character with wings looks different in flight than a character using ki. A glider pilot has different stakes than a witch on a broomstick. The variety is part of why anime continues to produce new and creative flying characters decades after Dragon Ball Z first made airborne combat a genre staple.
The best flying anime characters aren’t just airborne. They use their flight as a core part of who they are. Hawks’s wings define his identity as a hero. Goku’s flight defines his place in the Dragon Ball Z power hierarchy. Kiki’s broomstick defines her coming-of-age journey. Nausicaä’s Mehve defines her relationship with the natural world. Flight in anime is never just a power. It’s always character.
What’s your favorite flying anime character? The 25 above represent the consensus picks, but anime has produced enough airborne heroes, villains, and supporting characters over the decades that this list could easily be 100 entries long. The skies of anime are crowded, and that’s a beautiful thing.
