Relationships in most anime play a major role in the character developments and who they become. Because for most characters, some just want to be recognized by their parents for who they have become.
We have seen this through several anime, and once a character is good, then we start to wonder about their lineage. So we will be looking at some of the greatest Father-Son duos in anime.
Let’s start by looking at the most popular of shows, and at the moment, One Piece is a stand-out show due to its manga and anime showing one of the greatest arcs since the manga made its debut.
So whilst the manga is creating headlines week by week. The anime is also starting with the battle to overthrow Kaidou.
Throughout anime history, we have seen different Father-Son relationships in anime. Some good and some bad, but in the end, they created some interesting character development, especially when both the father and the son ended up as badass characters.
Seeing them working together or teaming up is just the icing on the cake, and we have also seen that in several anime like Dragon Ball Z and even Naruto.
Let’s look at what we have so far and how the Father-Son Duo in modern-day anime is performing:
Luffy and Dragon: One Piece
It is no secret that Luffy is commonly known as Straw Hat Luffy and goes by his full name as Monkey D. Luffy. He has been the center of the show ever since its debut, even though we got some arcs where he did not make an appearance.
But as we know, One Piece is all about Luffy and his dream of becoming the Pirate King. Later in the series, we got to know that Luffy is the Son of Dragon and the grandson of Garp.
His relationship with Dragon is somewhat distant because he has never met Dragon and did not ask much about him. The closest encounter that Luffy has ever had with his father was when Dragon saved him from Smoker, and they did not even exchange dialogues.
Luffy was only shocked when Garp told him that Dragon of the revolutionary army was his father and that he was a powerful pirate. So if ever you wondered who Luffy’s father is, then now you know.
Despite their relationship. Modern-day Luffy proves to be a very strong pirate as well, and together with his father, they can make one powerful team or Father-Son duo in anime.
Roger and Ace: One Piece
Even though we know about Ace’s full story and despite the two of them being deceased. Ace and Roger have a strange history despite living in different generations.
Roger was executed before Ace was born, while Ace did not make it to the modern-day were he would watch over Luffy and manage to see him as a Pirate King that he aspires to be.
It was revealed in the anime, and the manga that Ace’s father was the Pirate King Gol D Roger, as most people used to think that Monkey D Dragon was his father since Ace, Sabo, and Luffy vowed to become brothers.
So their relationship led most people to believe that it was because they shared the same father. Now we know who is Ace’s birth father and how powerful he was as he managed to become the Pirate King. This is another Father-Son due that would make an unbelievable team should they have lived at the same time.
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Garp and Dragon: One Piece
As we already know that Dragon is Garp’s son, we have not yet seen any direct interaction between the two. Garp is open about the idea that his son is a revolutionary who is wanted by the world government, so this would always have clashing interests between them, just like how Garp used to tell Luffy that he should not become a Pirate.
Despite their differences, they seem to have mutual understanding and respect for each other and even though the dragon was a wanted man. Garp did not interfere with his appearance in Logue town to see Luffy set off for the Grand Line.
The history of Garp speaks for itself, as he once teamed up with the Pirate King Roger to stop the Rocks Pirate. On the other hand, Dragon being a revolutionary meant that he has become a very powerful individual that has formed a resistance to fight against the world government.
So these two are already formidable opponents on their own, and their team-up would even shake the oceans if it should happen.
Judge and Sanji: One Piece
Even though their relationship is marked by hatred and rage, Sanji and his father managed to make their relationship a bit better in Tottoland when Sanji had to save his family, and in return, they help him and his crew escape the Big Mom pirates.
They have a sort of a love-hate relationship with each other, and this got worse after Sanji realized that his father also made a raid suit for him that he ended up using as a last resort.
They managed to team up and made great progress against the Big Mom Pirates with the Straw Hats Pirates and Sanji successfully making an escape.
And then the Vinsmoke family, who was due to be executed at the tea party, managed to make an escape of its own as well. If you ever wondered who Sanji’s father was, then it is no longer a secret as almost every one-piece fan knows about this.
Usopp and Yasopp
Some of the fans still wonder what is Ussop’s name as he is simply known as “God” Usopp and wonder what his full names are.
But for now, we know that he is the son of Yasopp and Banchina. Neither of their last names has been revealed in the series, so this makes Usopp’s last name a mystery as well. Yasopp is like an idol for Usop, who also wants to be a perfect sniper like his father.
Even though we have never seen them interacting much in the anime. They both seem to be skilled snipers. Yasopp is the sniper of the Red Hair pirates, which is a crew where none of its members has a devil fruit.
But their captain is regarded as one of the four emperors of the sea. So this means that they are a crew that specializes in Haki and its usage. As two people who are in the same field, Usopp and Yasopp make a good Father-Son duo in anime.
Oden and Momonosuke
When Momonosuke was introduced in the anime, he was a nobody as he was just the son of the wandering samurai Kinemon.
But now his true identity has come to light, and he is now at the center of the fight that is going on in Onigashima to reclaim his rightful land and position as the Shogun. So if you were also wondering who is Momonosuke’s true parents, then you are in for a treat.
Momonosuke is the son of Kozuki Oden and Hiyori, and now that the Wano arc is in full swing, we have got to learn everything about him. He has been raised to become a great Samurai, and his father Oden left behind one of his powerful swords for him.
On the other hand, Oden was a powerful samurai from Wano that was able to fight on equal grounds with Kaidou despite being outnumbered. So it took one trick for Kaidou to deceive and had Orochi execute him.
But looking and how his son has grown and how Oden used to be back in the days, then we can see that the two make a good impression when it comes to father-son relationships in the anime.
Kaidou and Yamato
Known as the strongest creature alive. One would wonder what Kaidou’s kids would look like. But for now, only Yamato has been revealed as one of his, and of course, we expect a lot from Kaidou’s offspring.
Even though Yamato is a girl, Kaidou refers to her as his son for unknown reasons. So this is a strange one as it has always sparked controversy amongst the fans.
Maybe Kaidou has his reasons that he could not accept a daughter as his successor and just decided that he would refer to her as a boy.
Yamato managed to face off against her father, Kaidou, in the final confrontation against Kidou of the Beast pirates. So she was able to fight on equal grounds with Kaidou for a while, and the Yonko only had the advantage of endurance over her.
But in the end, we managed to see how these two are powerful. Especially Yamato, whom we did not know much about when she first appeared in the anime. So this puts Yamato and Kaidou as one of the strongest Father-Son duos in anime.
White Beard and Weevil: One Piece
Everyone knows almost everything about White Beard due to his impact on the Marineford war. And as a former Yonkou, his might and devil fruit powers were notable as they could literally shake oceans and break ground.
White Beard was a family man but most of what he referred to as Kids were people he had adopted throughout his voyage as he wanted to create a family that he would live with.
But later, when he ended up with defeat, that cost his life at Marineford. a self-proclaimed biological son of his appeared. He called himself Edward Weevil and wanted to claim every one of White Beard’s property.
He proved to be too powerful and knew Whitebeard as a family man. Then it is very difficult that he would have a biological son of his that he would abandon.
Nonetheless, Weevil has proved his might, even though all he has now are claims. He seems to be a good character should it end up true that he really is White Beard’s biological son.
Minato and Naruto: Naruto Shippuden
This is one interesting Father-Son duo in anime, as we also managed to see them in action in the fourth Great Ninja War. We used to hear about Minato’s feats as Naruto came to be, and he had to measure up to the footsteps of his father.
So he managed to become a formidable Shinobi because of this, something that contributed to him becoming the Seventh Hokage. Minato has revealed that he had sealed the remaining half of nine tails within him.
So this meant that the other half was left inside Naruto. This made it easier for Minato and Naruto to combine their attacks in battle.
They made a great team until the end, and they also played a pivotal role in the fourth great ninja was as well. This could be the best Father-Son duo in anime there could ever be. Because they understood each other very well even though they had never trained together.
Rudeus and Paul: Jobless Reincarnation.
Even though their relationship was marked by animosity at first and Rudeus did not see Paul as a father figure at first. They ended up as one of the best combination attackers we have seen in anime.
Rudeus used to train with his father from a young age. And even though Rudeus was a reincarnate in another world. His father always bested him despite him possessing large amounts of magic.
When they reunited after the mana calamity, they ended up reconciling after a brief fallout. Rudeus then later joins his father together with members from the Fangs of Black Wolf party, looking to reach for the final floor of the Teleport Labyrinth in Begaritto continent trying to save Roxy and Zenith.
In their final fight with the final boss Hydra, Paul managed to save Rudeus from a point-blank range attack, but unfortunately, this would be the last time we saw Paul as he ended up dead.
Paul and Rudeus have already made the best Father-Son duo in anime as we see that Paul deeply cares for his son.
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Joseph and Josuke: Jojo’s Bizzare Adventures
Even though Josuke was seemingly adopted by the Higashikata family. Joseph and Josuke’s relationship got off to a rough start, but Joseph understood his illegitimate son’s concerns and followed through with all of them.
This meant that he had to refrain from seeing Tomoko as this would frustrate Josuke and would end up in him getting lost in town. Joseph managed to earn Josuke’s respect later on after he risked his life to save Shizuka.
After this, Joseph and Josuke would casually hang out together during part 4 of the anime. This led to Joseph respecting his son’s sense of justice, and he believed that Josuke would protect Morioh.
But this did not stop Josuke from stealing Joseph’s wallet, so in the end, their relationship was on good grounds. Individually, they have proved to be formidable opponents, and as the father and son duo, they managed to solve any problem they had, be it psychological or one that would need them to use their powers. So we managed to see a good Father-Son duo in anime from their relationship.
Kyojuro and Shinjuro Rengoku: Demon Slayer
Rengoku grew up revering his father, who was the Flame Hashira, and he also aspired to be like him when he grew up. He used to train with his younger brother under Shinuro, and he was also a passionate man.
But the death of their mother led to Shinjuro retiring from the demon slayer corps. This did not stop Kyojuro from pursuing his passion of becoming the flame Hashira as it ended up as a dream come true.
Trying to protect him, his father ended up berating him for becoming a Hashira. Something that ended up costing Shinjuro the life of his wife as he believes it.
The death of his son caused Shinjuro to try again being a Hashira and rejoined the other Hashira in the final battle against Muzan as he wanted to restore honor to the Rengoku family and Kyojuro’s memories.
Even though they later did not see eye to eye, things ended well for them despite Kyojuro’s death. So this also puts them on the list of the best Father-Son duo in anime so far.
Endeavor and Shoto: My Hero Academia.
Shoto is also known as the flame hero’s son. Or simply the son of Endeavor, who is the current number 1 hero. Shoto’s relationship with his father has been a bit distant.
And for most My Hero Academia fans, it is now clear who is Shoto Todoroki’s father after the recent seasons of the anime have explored how things are in the Todoroki household.
Endeavor has trained Shoto from a young age. But their relationship was tainted by how Endeavor used to favor some of his children over others.
Shoto used to hate his father to the point where he would not use his fire powers at first. Something he used to believe that it resembles his father, whom he hates so much.
Their relationship got a good chance when Shoto rescued his father from Dabi’s mental torture when he revealed that he is really Toya Todoroki.
So, in the end, they managed to mend their differences and displayed how powerful they are individually and even when fighting alongside each other as one of the strongest Father-Son duos in anime.
Natsu and Dragneel: Fairy Tail
Natsu and Dragnee’s relationship is strange because Dragneel is more of a foster parent than a biological one. Because Dragneel is Dragon while Natsu is a human.
Dragneel has been with Natsu for a long time and has trained and taught Natsu a lot of things. In the end, we got to see how strong their relationship is.
As a mage from the Fairy Tail guild, we managed to see Natsu win battles that we thought he would not, thanks to his magic and unwavering spirit.
In the end, Dragneel joined Natsu and the others in their fight against Acnologia. As one of the strongest Dragons, Dragneel joined forces with other dragons and dragon slayers, and it is where we managed to see how powerful of a dragon, Dragneel was.
Dragneel was also a father figure to Natsu, and together they have accomplished a lot that shows how strong they can be when working together.
Boruto and Naruto: Boruto Next Generations
The lineage and legacy from Naruto Shippued progressed towards Boruto Naruto’s next generations as we know Naruto to be a kind-hearted Shinobi. So just like any other parent, he wanted his child to grow up with both of his parents present and also develop a strong relationship with him.
So their relationship has been quite a normal one but at an impressive level. Boruto got to team up with his father from a young age and also received some of training from him.
We managed to see how strong the Boruto and Naruto Father-Son duo is when they defeated Momoshiki in the early episodes of Boruto anime. Naruto was already the strongest character of his generation.
Boruto being the cream of the crop from his generation, then meant that together they form the strongest Father-Son duo in anime that we have seen so far in the franchise. They have been involved in several battles as well, and now Boruto is at a level where he has surpassed his father thanks to his Karma powers.
Vegeta and Trunks
Vegeta and Trunk’s relationship has been close to perfect as they have been practicing and training with each other from a young age. Since Vegeta was always in rivalry with Goku, and he hardly won any battles he had with him.
He wanted to train Trunks so that he could at least be stronger than Goten, who was Goku’s son of the same age. This strengthened their relationship to a point where we would see future Trunks appearing on several occasions in the anime.
Whenever Future Trunks would appear, it would mean that things are difficult in the future, and he has come to warn the present-day Z fighters of something.
Trunks also had his Super Saiyan rage transformation that would boost his base form powers drastically, making him one of the most powerful Super Saiyan users.
On the other hand, we have seen how strong Vegeta is, but his clumsiness usually leads him to defeat in battles where he would have easily won. Together with Trunks, this weakness would be masked and would result in them being one of the strong Father-Son duos in anime.
Gon and Ging: Hunter X Hunter
Gon started off as a rookie hunter, and his main objective was to search for his father. While on his journey, he managed to become a formidable hunter.
His father, Ging Freecs, was a nonspeaking character at the beginning of the show, and he hardly made any appearances at all. It’s like he had something hidden for his son and would only reveal it once Gon manages to locate him.
Most times, he would appear in episodes of cameos. We managed to see Ging’s true strength when he was attacked by Muherr’s henchmen, and he managed to copy Leorio’s remote punch perfectly at first glance.
Later on, he went on to explain that he can generally mimic other people’s attacking abilities from just receiving one hit from such an attack.
Even though we never saw them standing side by side in battle, Ging and Gon really make the strongest Father-Son duo in anime. The concept of power and Nen in Hunter X Hunter is vast, so there could be a lot that Ging is capable of, given that he has greater battle experiences.
With new anime seasons coming out every now and then. The world of anime is expanding. And what used to be the norm has shifted to accommodate the acts of modern anime.
Lately, we have One Piece anime dominating the popularity, with Boruto: Naruto Next Generations trailing in behind. And back in the 2010s, Naruto, Bleach, and Fairy Tail were the anime to go to.
With Naruto having ended a few years back. One Piece has managed to establish itself as one of the greatest anime ever. And this would mean that most facts about anime and their shows will have to change. Like we have seen with One Piece, where Luffy and his crew are getting stronger.
So this simply means that we will be having more characters joining on in the list of the strongest Father-Son Duo In Anime as more and more seasons are coming with new and powerful anime characters.
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