Summary
In the world of video games, anything is possible. Players can be anyone from a goose that annoys a village to a god that saves the world. It’s also true that some of the most beloved characters are also very powerful. Thus, it begs the question, who is the most powerful among them?
As with all fiction, a character’s strength and abilities can change as the story advances. This is also very much down to interpretation from the personal perspectives of fans and creators. However, based on accomplishments, these candidates tend to rank as the most powerful heroes in gaming.
Updated June 26, 2025, by Michael Llewellyn:A list of who is the most powerful will always be subjective, as there is always an argument and counter-argument for their abilities and strengths. However, it’s always fun to debate, even if no ranking system can be considered definitive. This list has been updated to include more powerful heroes from video games that fans can argue over.
Without powers, Adol from theYsseries is a powerful expert swordsman who has defeated giants, monsters, and more. His energy levels, speed, and stamina significantly surpass those of his friends and party members. However, Adol is a vulnerable human and frequently needs time to recover from his injuries after getting shipwrecked. That said, he has overcome several events that would have killed a normal human.
Adol was tortured, weakened, and compelled to battle in a coliseum-like arena. against a giant monster with low-level equipment and still defeated it. Perhaps his most significant accomplishment came when he critically wounded a Demi-Galba inYs 6: The Ark Napishtimwith nothing but a steel sword. The monsters can only be defeated with a special metal called Emelas.
The least powerful of the most powerful characters isthe Sega mascot himself, Sonic the Hedgehog. He has impressive skills, such as super speed, spin attacks, and more. However, his more impressive abilities often require specific criteria to be met. For example, his most famous, the Super Sonic, requires him to have all the Chaos Emeralds.
As a powerful video game character, Sonic often needs external factors and relies on Chaos Emeralds to assess his true potential. However, his super forms have allowed him to defeat powerful bosses in the Sonic universe.
Samus from theMetroidseriesis a bounty hunter and the last remaining piece of the Chozo legacy. After her parents were killed, Samus was raised by the highly advanced Chozo. She is gifted with their technology, namely, her highly advanced suit, which gives her numerous impressive abilities.
Her abilities include firing missiles with laser beams, freezing enemies solid, transforming into a ball, dropping bombs, dropping super bombs, and making force fields that allow her to survive in space, lava, and underwater. While powerful, Samus is like the Iron Man of Nintendo. Her physical strengths come from the powers obtained from her super suit.
The Master Chief is a genetically engineered super-soldier who underwent rigorous training and was given advanced armor capable of surviving a fall from space. He is like a one-person army, defeating hordes of alien enemies with enhanced strength, size, speed, and tactical intelligence.
The Master Chief possesses exceptional skill with almost any weapon and has demonstrated a remarkable ability to quickly understand how to utilize alien weapons. He has unparalleled endurance, having survived numerous wars on a global scale.
Lenneth is a Valkyrie and a Goddess of Fate, revered as a bringer of life and a harbinger of death. As a powerful battle maiden with control over life and death, she should be recognized as one of gaming’s strongest characters. Lenneth is a powerful swordswoman and archer capable of defeating the undead and raising the souls of killed warriors to fight by her side.
InValkyrie Profile, Lenneth gains powers similar to Odin’s, controlling human life and expanding her divine abilities. After a world-ending event, she restored life to Midgard and became one of the most powerful Norse gods. This makes her a match for any warrior on this list.
Alucard is the half-human son of the legendary vampire Dracula. He possesses the superhuman strength, speed, and telekinetic powers of a vampire and very few of their weaknesses. In addition to his physical traits, Alucard possesses dark magic mastery comparable to that of Dracula, including the ability to shapeshift, transforming into poison mist, bats, wolves, and a giant gargoyle invulnerable to damage.
The lore suggests that Alucard possesses a final form similar to Dracula but avoids using it to distance himself from his father. His powers are nearly limitless, but he has weaknesses, as shown inCastlevania: Symphony of the Night.Water, electricity, and poison can harm him; however, Alucard can overcome these vulnerabilities with relics..
TheShadow Heartsgames are set in a Lovecraftian alternate universe during the First World War. Yuri is the protagonist of the firstShadow Heartsgame and a dual protagonist inShadow Hearts: Covenant.He is referred to as a Harmonixer in theShadow Heartsuniverse and can take on the form of demons he has defeated in combat.
Even without transforming into a demon form, Yuri is a powerful fighter who can defeat opponents with his fists. InShadow Heartslore, Yuri has the highest sanity meter, meaning he can stay in Demon form longer than other Harmonixers and utilize all their elemental powers in combat.
Cloud is a long-time favorite ofFinal Fantasy 7fans and the protagonist of arguably the most popular entry in the franchise. Even though Cloud never officially made it to SOLDIER, he had the physical capabilities. Cloud is a natural swordsman, given his ability to go toe-to-toe with Sephiroth and other characters in theFinal Fantasyuniverse through theFinal Fantasy Dissidiaseries.
Due to Hojo’s experiment with Jehova cells, Cloud gained Zack’s abilities, skills, and strength.
As the story progresses, Cloud develops into a stronger character, highlighted by his battle in the skies with Sephiroth inFinal Fantasy 7: Advent Children,showcasing Cloud’s almost god-like powers. Unfortunately, Cloud’s self-doubt and reliance on his friends can make him vulnerable to the other beings mentioned here.
Clive Rosfieldis the protagonist ofFinal Fantasy 16and is already ranked by fans as one of the strongest characters in the universe. He is a powerful warrior who can match anyone with a sword, fights his enemies with little to no help from a supporting cast, and can utilize the powers of Eikons - summons.
Like Yuri fromShadow Hearts, Clive absorbs and utilizes the elemental powers of other characters in the story with the Eikons he defeated. Clive can mergethe capabilities of multiple Eikonswithout damaging his body or psyche. However, he does have a limit on how long he can use the semi-dominant form of his powers. He only uses his maximum power when fighting other Eikons, but he would be a match for most of the characters in this list.
As the hero of theShadow of Mordorseries, Talim may rank as one of the most powerful characters inThe Lord of the Ringsuniverse. The character is not considered canon, but if he were to make it in the official lore, he could be more powerful than Sauron.
Talim is immortal in the game and can fall in battle several times, only to reemerge stronger and exact revenge on the enemies who killed him. Skillwise, the Ranger is almost unmatched, but his immortality is limited to completing his mission and bringing down evil.
