If you have a character who’s referred to as “The God of Time and Space” in your series, then it’s safe to assume you have yourself a character at the peak of their powers. Deus is responsible for setting the main plot of Future Diary in motion; as a way to determine his next successor, Deus gives each of the 12 participants he has selected for a special Battle Royale a one of a kind diary with unique abilities. The winner will be chosen as Deus’ successor, but the only way to win is to kill the other 11 participants before the world ends in 90 days. The fact that Deus decided to have the competition be carried out in this manner speaks to not only how much power Deus has, but also what he can get away with. No one can stop him or reign him in; the world’s only purpose is to serve as his source of amusement. The only other character close to his power is his servant, Mur Mur, who only really becomes a factor near the end of the series. With the amount of chaos that takes place and the tense and exciting survival moments that occur as the 12 duke it out, it’s safe to say that Deus did get to end things on his terms, something not many anime characters are able to pull off.

Guldo is a member of the Ginyu Force, Frieza’s elite squad of fighters. Even though Guldo is a terrible hand to hand fighter, it’s soon revealed why he was able to become a member of the Ginyu Force, as he can stop time whenever he holds his breath. Combined with his unique psychic powers, Guldo doesn’t even need to fight anyone in combat; he can either kill an opponent through other methods or simply escape to live another day. Unfortunately, like most moronic super villains, Guldo is overconfident with his abilities and allows himself to be unguarded around Vegeta, leading to his death quite quickly after his introduction. With the glimpse we were able to see of his power, however, we see a lot of potential, and had Guldo gone through a discipline and approach that would reflect a true understanding of what he could do, he could have been one of the most powerful foes the Z warriors ever faced.

While Itachi may seem a bit out of place among the rest of the characters on this list, one of the more “exclusive” time abilities we see in anime belongs to him. With the Tsukuyomi Jutsu, several seconds in real time pass as several days for Itachi’s target, making the pain they go through that much more extreme. Itachi doesn’t hesitate in using this ability when he needs to, especially since he’s the only one who can use it. The scary thing about the power of this ability is that were this Itachi’s only ability, he would still be considered a formidable opponent. Even though this is the only real time ability Itachi has, the fact that Itachi knows how to effectively use it gives him a solid ranking.

If Guldo is seen a failure in regards to his ability, then Sailor Pluto is seen as a success. A member of the Sailor Scouts, Sailor Pluto’s role in the series is different from the other scouts, as she serves as the guardian over the Door of Space-Time, a special gate that can be used for time travel. The rules given to Sailor Pluto, however, are to never abandon this post, never travel through the gate herself, and never use her ability to freeze time in its entirety. The fact that Sailor Pluto not only has the capability to do these things but also has the discipline to almost never use them speaks to how truly powerful she is. Even when she ends up having to break these rules, it is mainly because there is no other alternative left for her to use in order to save her friends. Since the cost for Sailor Pluto to freeze time is to give up her own life in exchange, it speaks magnitudes about how powerful this technique is.

While technically Ultear Milkovih’s time abilities are due to magic, her tragic story involving them (as well as the abilities themselves) deserve to be mentioned. Ultear Milkovich is a female mage that sets herself upon learning everything she can about the Arc of Time. Ultear eventually sets out to complete it, believing that she can undo all the horrible acts she commits along the way once she succeeds. However, after she learns the truth about what the Arc of Time really is, Ultear does her best to redeem herself, and near the end of the story makes a crucial choice that will change her life forever. Ultear’s abilities mostly involve moving objects forward and back in time in various ways as well as being able to restore broken objects to their original state before being destroyed. Ultear’s ultimate time ability involves rewinding time, but at the cost of her body rapidly aging. The fact that she was able to use this ability, however, shows how far she has come from when we are first introduced to her.

Baraggan Louisenbairn serves as a classic example of someone whose abilities are so impressive that they’re actually a danger to themselves. Unlike some of the other characters on this list, Baraggan is fully aware of what he can do, leading him to be very arrogant. His high self-confidence is justified, however, as Baraggan can not only project a field around himself that slows time, but also instantly age anything that he touches to the point of complete annihilation. The extent of these powers in conjunction with his other abilities are used in his battle with Hachi. The only real reason Baraggan loses is due to the fact that Hachi was able to use Barragan’s own aging power against him. Perhaps if Baraggan had not been so arrogant, things would have turned out differently…

Joe Shimamura, aka Cyborg 009, uses his time control ability differently from most of the others; the focus of his ability is used on himself rather than the world around him. By activating a switch in his molar, Joe can accelerate himself to the point where it appears to him as if time has really slowed down, whereas to everyone else he is moving incredibly fast. This ability makes him one of the most powerful of the 9 cyborgs that make up his group, as he can use his speed to generate enough strength to destroy Black Ghost’s evil forces hunting down him and his friends. With his ability and his tactical way of using it, especially against other cyborgs with the same ability, Joe certainly knows how to use the best of what his ability has to offer.

The last thing any character should be with an ability to control time and space is insane, yet here we have a character that is exactly that. Kurumi is a spirit whose purpose is to find Shido Itsuka and consume him in order to use enough energy to travel back to the past and kill the First Spirit. Kurumi’s antics in trying to achieve this are borderline psychotic, as many people are killed due to her antics. What makes Kurumi really dangerous, however, are the special bullets that she possesses, as each bullet has a different function associated with time. One speeds up anything it hits, one slows down anything it hits, one rewinds anything it hits…multiple abilities are available to Kurumi, and there are still some bullets she possesses that she hasn’t even used yet. Combine that with her clones, her ‘spacequakes”, and her craziness, and you have someone who’s not only unpredictable, but also not even at her full potential. If Kurumi reaches her max potential, then she can be the most powerful type of character with time control abilities.

Amber is one of the most powerful characters on this list, if not the most powerful. Amber can gain knowledge of future events, stop time all around her, rewind time a short amount, and can possibly time travel. In addition, she has a side effect that is the opposite of Ultear’s; Amber’s cost at using her ability is to age backward, or appear younger every time she uses her abilities. The only way it would seem to defeat an ability like this is for Amber to choose to eliminate herself, which is what ends up happening…or so it seems. But the amount of different time control abilities Amber has as well as almost achieving an eternal youth of sorts definitely places Amber near the top.

So why is someone who is actually a normal person without any time abilities themselves at the top of this list? Perhaps that in itself is the very reason. “Okarin”, in his experiments with time travel, accidentally causes multiple world lines to exist, and as the series develops, it’s up to him to try and get back to the original timeline, as he is the only one aware of all the changes that have happened to his friends. What makes this remarkable is not only the lengths Okarin goes to make things right, but the fact that he has only his wits and his willpower to succeed. We have a bit of a Groundhog Day situation in the sense that we don’t know how many times Okarin failed to rescue his friend Mayuri from dying. The fact that he was able to mentally keep it together, work out what he needed to do, and perfectly execute his plan before finally rescuing her shows how impressive it was for Okarin to wrap his mind around the whole process. Not to mention him successfully creating a “time machine” of sorts in the first place; most of the normal people who time travel in anime either do it by accident or are guided by someone with supernatural abilities. As a result, we have a normal person who successfully created a time machine, used it for his wishes as well as his friends, realized his mistake, and changed things back to normal without any negative consequences. Considering that some of the characters on this list with their abilities never come to terms with what they have, Okarin’s achievements are just that much more remarkable.