Fantasy anime has some of the strangest and sometimes most powerful characters of the genre, and among them, there’s a particular age group that is older than the average human being by a lot. Though most of them are not precisely human, orat least not in the traditional sense, they still have an anthropomorphic shape.
This list has some of theoldest fantasy anime main charactersfrom a myth that has survived the passing of time only to be summoned for vicious purposes to a dragon in human form that has decided to live a relaxed life alongside her fated partner while wearing a maid costume. There’s nothing normal about these fellows and they’re quite old to boot.
Gilgamesh from theFateseries is one of the main antagonists and Servants summoned by the Grail to re-enact the Holy War in every generation. He has been deemed one of the most popular and most powerful villains in anime, and he so happens to beone of the oldest main characters in fantasy anime. ThoughFateis more like a Dystopian Urban Fantasy, it has some strong elements of mythology and folklore, and the truth is that Gilgamesh, The Hero King, is the oldest recorded hero of man-made literature. At least, that we know of.
Though it appears as if he was in his prime (around 24 years old) Gilgamesh holds all the wisdom of the ages, he is a master tactician, an expert schemer, and one of the most powerful warriors to boot. No wonder he is considered one of the three strongest Servants of theFateseries. However, his inclination for evil-doing and causing pain is a little hard to understand since his myth always portrayed him as a wise and benevolent king. Makes one wonder about how the Grail twists and corrupts the heroic spirits when a summoning happens.
A Japanese woman who died from exhaustion, Azusa Aizawa reincarnated asan immortal Witch in a fantasy worldand decided to live a laid-back life hunting the most harmless of creatures: Slimes. Since she was 27 years old when she got reincarnated, and she spent an additional 300 years earning a living by killing some defenseless creatures, then we can infer she is at least 327 years old (mentally) though physically she looks like a girl in her late teens.
What’s really impressive, and honestly ridiculous, about this fantasy anime character is the fact that she has reached the whooping 99999 level just by slaying the weakest of monsters. In terms of gaming, that would be approximately 100 times the usual maximum level in an RPG game. So it is no surprise that Azusa has become the most powerful being in the world where she was reincarnated, and attracted unnecessary attention due to this. She’s absolutely broken.
The Devil is a Part Timer!
Satan, the Demon Lord from Ente Island has been fighting against humanity and the heroes for over 300 years, and upon facing the heroine Emilia, he was defeated and fled through a portal, only to end up stranded in modern Japan. So the devil had no choice but to learn how to adapt and survive in the harsh human world, where taxes, bills, and health insurance are the scariest enemies he has to face.
From what the Devil expresses directly, his age should be around 3 centuries and a half, though his appearance is that of a young 20-ish male, with dark greenish hair and crimson eyes. This slice-of-life comedy reverse isekai isone of the best fantasy anime to watch, with a whacky sense of humor and dozens of wholesome side stories about normal people and strange visitors from a fantasy world learning to coexist.
Alucard is not the overpriced antique one would expect to find in their grandparent’s basement, and most definitely not, one to be sold in Amazon. Nevertheless, Integra Hellsing found the ancient Vampire chained to the dungeon of the Hellsing manor just when she was about to be murdered by her uncle Richard, and from that moment both were bound by an oath that spans centuries. Alucard (obviously Dracula spelled backward) has been a loyal servant of the Hellsing family since her grand-grand-grandfather Abraham Van Hellsing defeated him.
That could trace the origins of the infamous vampire around 568 years prior to the events where Integra finds him chained in the dungeon, though the information in the anime sometimes is a little bit imprecise with dates, and his exact age may vary between 560 years old and 572. Still, he is as old as he is crazy strong, though he remains a perfect gentleman when the need arises (well, sort of), as he isconsiderably well-behaved for a pure darkness immortal being, to the point that he has been called “the Hellsing Pet Dog” by several enemies of the organization.
Tohru, the destruction dragon, who also happens to enjoy beer and can assume human shape is one of the main characters inMiss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, and though her true age is unknown, the information conveyed in the show by Tohru and her father, Damocles, allows inferring that she is at least 5 centuries old. Due to the many particularities of her speech and how she narrates certain events that span hundreds of years, like the Chaos Dragon /Human War, we can narrow it down to between 500 and 1200 years old.
Though other characters like Fafnir, Lucoa, and even Damocles himself do not appear to be concerned about the concept of time and age, they do point out some interesting facts that add some context to the origins of the friendly dragon turned full-time maid.
