Top 10 Most Powerful Characters in gaming
One of the best parts of video games is getting to play as ridiculously over powered characters, who are nigh-unstoppable. They can fight gods, monsters, machines, and other cosmic beings. They prove a challenge to game writers to make their story hit important narrative points, all while making the player feel challenged and at the same time unstoppable. Feeling like you could lose, and not be able to lose at the same time is a challenge that few games succeed on. These characters push the upper boundaries of abilities and power levels, and yet exist in some cases in critically acclaimed games, beloved by gamers. This list included protagonists only; so no side characters, villains, or vague cosmic entities included. Some other rules, these characters must have originated in gaming so characters who have been in games like Superman or Saitama aren't on this list. For more lists like these and other regular gaming news and entertainment make sure to follow Game Infinite on social media!
10. Cloud - Final Fantasy Universe
Prior to playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake I didn’t know much about the final fantasy multiverse, and wouldn’t know Cloud was anything more than a guy with a big sword. The fact that Cloud is a unarmored hero with a sword, fighting in a modern day environment and repeatedly faces enemy types with armor and guns, really showcases his power.
He is durable enough to take shots from weapons fire, fast enough to block bullets with his sword, and strong enough to weild an impossibly large sword hard enough to damage heavy tank-class robotics.
While not appearing so, he is one of the strongest characters in gaming, capable of defeating massive and powerful and even magical foes with nothing but a sword.
9. Master Chief - Halo Universe
On a list of most powerful characters, all of whom have some type of magic or immortality or other mcguffin giving them an edge, seeing a super soldier grounding in science fiction instead of fantasy crack the top 10 is impressive. Even Cloud has some magic, Master Chief has none. Existing in a purely science fiction universe Masster Chief pulls off feats on an order of magnitude than he should be able to. He has survived multiple falls from orbit, point blank nuclear explosions, massive energy blasts of ancient alien origin, and more. He is incredibly strong, able to lift a future miliary tank. His offensive abilities may be more common place comprising mostly of small arms fire and throwables, and probably wouldn’t be able to kill most of the characters on this list; but his durablity is so next level he secures a spot on this list.
8. The Fateless One - Kingdom's of Amalur Universe
I realize this one is a little bit unconventional, but those of you who didn't play the original Kingdom's of Amalur Reckoning way back in 2012 because you were like many, too busy with Skyrim, I am here with good news. KOA got a beautiful remaster last year so you can experience my favorite fantasy RPG of all time. We gave it our Best Remaster of 2020 title, and is a phenomenal game. The main character in KOA is known only as the "Fateless One" because they cheat death in the beginning of the game, therefore getting the supernatural ability to cheat fate. They have no fate except that which they make for themselves. While on the surface this may not seem to powerful, but they literally have the ability to kill characters that FATE ITSELF wishes to keep alive. Being beyond fate is an ability to break the fourth wall and overpower plot armor itself. In addition to being able to wield the strands of fate, The Fateless One has the ability to wield powerful magic, and is trained to fight with almost any weapon type. The Fateless One is essentially a magical Master Chief with the power to warp the fabric of reality. The only reason I don't rank the Fateless One higher on this list, is we just don't get to see the full scope of their power in game. They are incredibly powerful, but their feats are mainly against traditional fantasy foes.
7. 2B - Nier Universe
2B is in my opinion one of the most powerful female characters in gaming. She accomplishs this by being an nigh-immortal android. When she falls in combat, her android consciousness is transmitted to another android body, and she can even repair and resurrect her falled body to fight alongside her temporarily. Thanks to this robotic form of immortality, she may not be able to be stopped but only slowed down.
She fights in such a fluidic dance of combat that is almost memorizing in its choreography. She is equipped with two massive swords that fly around her in a telekinetic swarm that moves at lightning speeds. She also has a floating machine that will blast a high-repeating plasma. Immortality, Speed, and deadly offense make her a easy choice for the list.
6. Galen Marek, "Starkiller" - Star Wars Universe
Galen Marek aka Starkiller from the Force Unleashed is one of my favorite and most bad ass characters in gaming. He is my favorite Star Wars gaming character, and one of the most powerful telekinetics on this list. He is more than just a Jedi, he is a Jedi wrecking ball. He is so powerful with the force, his incredibly destructive lightsabers seem like accessories. Some of his feats include completely incinerating an army of storm troops with just a telekinetic blast,
defeating massive Kajui level momsters, and in one of the most impressive moments in Star Wars telekinetically grabbing and crashing a star destroyer. Starkiller is a perfect example of the best defense being a good offense, in one of the most deadly characters in gaming. Starkiller has a similar advantage to 2B in a alternate form of immortality thanks to uniquely being able to be successfully cloned. In the Star Wars universe, it is near-impossible to clone force sensitive beings. This is probably for no other reason other than to answer the question of why they don't clone army of Jedi if Jedi are so powerful. If a Jedi could face down an army of cloned mandalorians, it would make sense to clone an army of Jedi. Even in the most recent Rise of Skywalker, it took advanced decades later technology, Sith Magic, and Darkside Force, combined to make imperfect clones of Palpatine that degrade. However, Starkiller not only is one of the most powerful Jedi ever, he is able to be cloned successfully, with no negative side effects. He is able to reach full maturity in a tiny fraction of the time it took the Kamino clones too as well. Also, his memories are able to somehow potentially transfer to to his clone. If someone does manage to defeat him, he could be resurrected easily.
5. Kratos - God of War Universe
No "power list" is quite complete without Kratos. Kratos is the gold standard for developers to look to how to create an amazing game when your hero is that massively powerful. Kratos is most known for slaying the entire pantheon of greek gods, from Zeus, Ares, and even the massive titan Kronos. Kronos is so large he could squish (or try to) a tiny Kratos in his finger tips. He is nigh immortal, and carries deadly magical weapons like his blades of chaos or his more modern Axe. There are only 4 other characters in all of gaming who I think could have a chance to defeat Kratos. We are talking a power tier so high that he actually proves a challenge to fun gameplay. Kratos proves to be without equal in his own universe.
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4. Dante - Dante's Inferno Universe
Coming in at #4 on this list is the most powerful all "human" character, Dante, from Dante’s Inferno. While Dante’s Inferno is not everyone’s favorite, as it was overshadowed by other games of the era, with God of War taking more of the spotlight, I vastly enjoyed this game. Everything about the setting, combat, and story were just amazing. I desperately want a sequel, reboot, or remake!
While the rest of this list is compose of gods, super soldiers, androids, demigods, nephilim, and other otherworldly beings, Dante is just human. He is not an alien, or a demigod or magical creature. He is just a man, he was a crusader during the Middle Ages. However, his first feat is defeating death by slaying the Grim Reaper itself! Armed with the Scythe of the personification of Death itself, Dante becomes one of the most powerful characters in gaming. His feats include slaying his way through the entire armies of Hell, able to kill otherwise immortal demons. Armed with the personification of Death, we see him slay unplayable foes. We see him face down the ultimate villain in Lucifer himself and win. If that weren’t enough, he is armed with all types of magical offensive attacks, and a magical projectile weapon, a cross that blasts Divine energy.
While a controversial opinion, I think Dante could potentially even defeat Kratos. There is an arguable difference in power level sources. The greek gods and greek god magic come from a pantheon, instead of a monotheistic universe. In the Dante’s Inferno universe, characters like the protagonist and the villian hold entire focal points of magical power instead of having it being spread out over a pantheon of gods. The Death Scythe in the Dante’s universe should be an order of magnitude more powerful than anything found in the greek mythology of the God of War universe. We see Dante frequently best characters who I think would challenge Kratos.
3. War - Darksiders Universe
The top three on this list start to approach that rule about no vague "cosmic beings" as they maintain a corporeal form and personality, while still being almost cosmic in power levels. War is from the Darksiders universe where I propose one of the strongest gaming characters in gaming is. I considered having Dante over War, but upon consideration, had War take the top. He is not angel or demon. He is a Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the cosmic force that ushers in end of cosmic balance. He is the personification of War itself. He is not named after war, he IS war. Dante only ever bests Demons, while War is more powerful than demons and angels combined. All the conflict and war in the cosmos fuels him. Imagine a gaming protagonist so powerful that the forces of Heaven and Hell fear him. He is also massively tall in his normal form, able to tower twice over a human and pick them up by their head with ease. He is so powerful, picking up a human is a simple one handed task. His sword is a massive blade capable of slaying towering foes. His ultimate form is a flaming monster the size of a small building. He carries magical weapons and sports a long list of magical abilities. He slays the Darksider's equivalent to a ultimate evil role in killing multiple massive and S tier powerful demonic villains. The Horsemen of the apocalypse are nigh immortal and invincible.
2. Asura - Asura's Wrath Universe
I once heard a youtuber describe Asura from Asura’s Wrath as an Anime Kratos and I think that’s fair. He’s similar in being a demi-god slaying the gods of the universe he is in. However, this game tackles the sub-genre of “pantheon slaying” to ridiculous anime levels of destruction. The feats portrayed in Asura's Wrath make even the god-slaying journey of Kratos look tame by comparison. I considered placing War above Asura as War is a cosmic level being while Asura is still "just a Demi-god in a pantheon", as there should be a power level difference there. However, I just can't ignore the feats produced by Asura. He has the cosmic level power of War but the brutality of Kratos. Asura punches the fingertip of a being larger than a planet...and wins.
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Honorable Mentions:
In a list of most powerful video game characters, narrowing it down to 10 is incredibly difficult. I had to leave a spot for some honorable mentions. These are all characters who I could see someone making the list, and perhaps I would have included if this was a top 15 or top 20.
Mario
Bayonetta
Lightning
Commander Shepard
Doomslayer
Dante (DMC)
Link
Mario is arguably one of the more powerful characters in his universe, capable of mastering a wide variety of abilities, able to kill most foes in under three stomps to the head. However, he lacks the durability and feats of some of the others on this list. Commander Shepard is one of my absolute favorites, and is incredibly powerful. They are almost up to the levels of Master Chief. Their biotic and technological powers are second to few. Bayonetta and Dante from DMC are two massively powerful magical characters that I struggled to leave off this list. I will admit it was one part my lesser familiarity with them and one part just strength of the characters on this list. While left off, I feel like they one could argue for them to go toe to toe with at least the top half of the list.
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1. Kirby - Nintendo Universe
Ok, hear me out. Kirby certainly may not look like the most powerful character in gaming, but mine is not the first most powerful list to feature him or even have him top out. Kirby’s powers haven’t really been detailed too much by Nintendo, but his ability to absorb pretty much anyone and take their powers make him one of the most powerful beings in gaming. His presence in the super smash bros shows he is able to absorb the abilities of characters from very different and less cartoon universes. Some incredibly powerful characters like Cloud, Bayonetta, and Sephiroth can be swallowed and absorbed by Kirby. I see no reason why he could not theoretically defeat any character on this list. He is a cosmic level entity that has been theorized by fans to contain a black hole or an entire universe inside him. When the entire Nintendo / Super Smash Bros universe was defeated and "thanos snapped" to oblivion, Kirby was the sole survivor. He has never been shown to have a weakness, and his limitless ability to inhale and absorb any character in existence, gain their powers, all give him a seamingly Saitma level of OP. This immortal, cosmic, pink ball of death is in my opinion the most powerful character in gaming. Asura can punch a planet, Kirby could swallow it. I just want to see Kratos in SSBU so we can see Kirby wielding little blades of chaos and have a little red face tattoo.
