There is no official all-time ranking of anime’s best side characters. This list is an editorial selection of consequential characters who are not the central protagonist, judged by their narrative contribution, development, memorable scenes, and what they add beyond the lead. The picks are associated with anime seasons from 2025, so this is a recent-season ranking—not a claim to settle the all-time debate.
How this ranking works
“Side character” here means a non-protagonist whose choices, relationships, or presence meaningfully shape the story. Some supporting characters approach co-lead status; that boundary is noted where it matters. The ranking weighs four things consistently: contribution to the plot, character development, memorable moments, and a distinct perspective or energy beyond the protagonist.
There are different kinds of evidence for popularity and recognition, but none creates a universal cross-series order. Crunchyroll’s 2026 Anime Awards guide includes a Best Anime Supporting Character category, while Anime Corner’s seasonal fan polls measure votes within particular seasons and categories. FandomWire’s list, published December 30, 2025, is an outlet’s editorial ranking of characters associated with 2025 anime seasons. The list below makes its own editorial choices rather than presenting any of those formats as an all-time verdict.
The 10 best side characters in anime, ranked
1. Gaoshun — The Apothecary Diaries
Gaoshun earns the top spot for how much he adds through restraint. As a trusted aide in the imperial court, he is observant, discreet, and often positioned between powerful people and the consequences of their decisions. He is not the story’s central mystery-solver, but his competence and measured reactions help make the court feel like a functioning political world rather than a backdrop built only for the protagonist.
#1 Best Overall
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His value lies in the contrast he creates: a steady presence amid intrigue, and a character whose small gestures can carry more weight than a dramatic speech. He supports the story without simply echoing its lead.
2. Kyo Kasahara — The Summer Hikaru Died
Kyo’s importance comes from the human pressure he brings to an unsettling story. His connection to the people around him gives the supernatural unease an intimate cost; the tension is not only about what is strange, but about what friendship, trust, and grief can withstand.
He stands out for being more than a witness to the central relationship. His reactions and choices help ground the horror in everyday emotional stakes, giving the series a perspective beyond its most mysterious figure.
3. Enjin — Gachiakuta
Enjin gives the story momentum and texture as an experienced, charismatic figure in a harsh world. He can guide the protagonist while remaining distinct from him: his confidence and practical instincts suggest a life shaped by the setting’s dangers, rather than a character whose only function is to explain the rules.
Rank #2
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That combination—mentor energy, personality, and a place within the wider world—makes Enjin one of the ranking’s most effective supporting presences.
4. Reinhard van Astrea — Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
Reinhard is an unusually powerful supporting character, and that power is precisely what makes his role interesting. He could resolve many conflicts by force, yet the narrative’s central tension belongs to someone else. His appearances expand the sense of what is possible in the world while highlighting the limits of strength as a solution to every problem.
He edges toward a larger role than a conventional side character, but remains outside the protagonist’s point of view and personal struggle. That contrast makes him a memorable presence rather than a replacement lead.
5. Cha Hae-in — Solo Leveling
Cha Hae-in gives the series a capable and distinctive hunter whose identity is not reducible to her connection with the protagonist. Her skill establishes her credibility in a story where power matters, and her presence opens a window onto the wider hunter world beyond the lead’s rapid rise.
Rank #3
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She ranks here for adding both a different kind of strength and a personal dimension to the action. The supporting role is most effective when it makes the world feel larger; Hae-in does that without needing to dominate the plot.
6. Shoto Todoroki — My Hero Academia
Shoto is a close call for the label “side character”: he is one of the series’ major heroes and sometimes functions like a co-lead. Still, the story’s central protagonist is not Shoto, and his arc is a strong example of how a supporting character can carry substantial development of his own.
His journey is shaped by family expectations, personal agency, and the question of what it means to define himself apart from his upbringing. That emotional conflict gives his heroic growth a different shape from the protagonist’s and makes his scenes resonate beyond the action.
7. Igris — Solo Leveling
Igris makes a strong impression with relatively little dialogue. His visual design, disciplined presence, and loyalty give the protagonist’s expanding world a ceremonial, almost mythic dimension. In a series driven by escalation, he helps turn power into something with atmosphere and character rather than a simple tally of victories.
Rank #4
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His appeal depends on presence more than a long personal arc, which places him below characters whose development is more fully explored. Even so, he demonstrates how a supporting figure can be memorable through action and visual storytelling.
8. Bond Forger — Spy × Family
Bond brings warmth and comedy to a story built around secrets and competing roles. As a family pet with an unusual ability, he changes the rhythm of scenes and gives the Forger household another way to connect. His contribution is not just cuteness: his instincts can affect what happens, while his perspective reinforces the gap between the family’s domestic surface and its hidden lives.
In Anime Corner’s Fall 2025 male supporting-character poll, Bond placed first with 8.09% of the votes. That is a result from that poll and season, not evidence of a general or all-time popularity ranking.
9. Belno Light — Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray
Belno Light earns her place through the value of a supporting role that helps another character’s ambition take shape. Her importance is relational: she contributes a different kind of encouragement and perspective, making the emotional and competitive world around the lead feel less solitary.
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Anime Corner’s Spring 2025 female supporting-character poll placed Belno first with 7.07% of votes. The result belongs to that seasonal poll, which is separate from the Fall 2025 male-character poll and cannot be directly compared with Bond’s percentage.
10. The side characters ranked by FandomWire’s 2025 list
FandomWire’s December 30, 2025 article names characters including Gaoshun, Kyo Kasahara, Enjin, Reinhard van Astrea, Cha Hae-in, Shoto Todoroki, and Igris in its own ten-character ranking. Its list is a useful snapshot of one outlet’s selections, not a formal award or poll. The ranking here draws on that 2025-season field while applying the criteria described above; it does not treat the source list’s order as an objective result.
For readers who want to compare recognition formats directly, the distinction matters: an awards category, a seasonal fan vote, and an editorial list answer different questions. None establishes a definitive all-time top ten.
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