The fighting game genre has always been difficult for casual gamers to approach but is also a genre filled by far with the most larger-than-life characters on average.

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There are so many characters in these titles who only work in the fighting game genre simply because they're so absurd in both personality and power levels. So, let's take a look through the most well-known fighting game franchises, pick some of the most overpowered characters from each, and talk about them.

Disclaimer: This list has NOTHING to do with how the characters play in-game, it's entirely based on power levels relative to the CANON of their respective games. So, no Meta Knight from Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Petshop from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fighting game "JoJo's Heritage for the Future", or Akuma from Street Fighter Turbo 2.

10 Street Fighter IV: Oni

PNG Of Oni From Street Fighter Overlaid On Image Of Him In-Game

The stereotypical answer for the most broken character in Street Fighter is obviously Cody without his handcuffs, but since he never takes them off, let's focus on a character with a bit more going on. For the most part, the Street Fighter games (created by the iconic Takashi Nishiyama) are filled with regular martial artists, some of whom have a slight supernatural spin. But, when talking about villains like M Bison, Gill, Seth, or Urien, those same standards don't quite apply. But the one at the peak has to be Oni, the name Akuma takes on when he completely gives himself to the Satsui No Hado and becomes “evil incarnate”.

In contrast to most of the other villains in this series, Oni doesn't scheme or have any grandiose plans, he just destroys whatever is in front of him. Oni has been seen mercilessly beating down anyone he finds, fighting toe-to-toe with Asura from Asura’s Wrath (who spends his whole game killing literal gods), and even karate-chopping inactive volcanos to force them into erupting. He started out as the secret boss of Street Fighter 4, before actually becoming playable, and is likely the only character able to give Cody, Oro, or Gouken a true run for their money.

9 Tekken Series: Paul Phoenix

Paul Phoenix From Tekken PNG Overlaid On Image Of Him In-Game

This Tekken pick is probably another one people weren’t expecting, as Heihachi, Devil Jin (who recently got added to Smash Ultimate), or True Ogre would have been the more stereotypical pick. But, if you are the literal "God of Fighting" like Ogre is or a man raised by Heihachi and given the Devil Gene like Jin, is that nearly as admirable as someone who worked their way into "overpowered" status from hard work alone?

Paul Phoenix is just a dude who wants to prove he’s the strongest guy in the universe, even going so far as to challenge alien lifeforms to come and fight him in his Tekken 5 ending. Outside of the Mashima family, Paul is the only other Tekken character to make it to the end of the King of Iron Fist tournament multiple times, and he even managed to defeat Ogre all on his own in Tekken 3. Sure, Paul left before Ogre transformed into True Ogre and was defeated by Jin, but a win is a win, and Paul easily earns a spot amongst the strongest in the series.

8 Guilty Gear Series: Slayer

PNG Of Slayer From Guilty Gear Franchise Overlaid On Image Of Slayer And Bed-Man Staring Each Other Down

Out of all the fighting game series, the characters in the Guilty Gear games are probably the hardest to “rank” in terms of power, considering they’re all absurdly overpowered in their own ways and always have some flaw or writing device that’s holding them back from truly strutting their stuff. For example, if you look into Sol Badguy's backstory, you'll quickly realize how absurdly overpowered this MC is.

The only other playable character that might have a slight edge on him is Slayer, a descendant of the first vampire Nosferatu and likely one of if not the most powerful character in Guilty Gear canon currently. Slayer is always holding back in his fights, never really shows his true power, and is also one of the only characters who doesn’t get “knocked out” at the end of a round, he just lays down while looking irritated. Again, it’s unconfirmed just how powerful Slayer truly is, but considering he’s able to shrug off Dizzy’s Insta-kill Finish in Guilty Gear: Revelator (who is also a half-Gear herself), it’s safe to say that he's at least in the top 3. Sadly, Slayer isn't playable in the amazingly well-received Guilty Gear Strive yet, but fingers crossed that he's eventually added to the roster.

7 Mortal Kombat 11: Kronika

Kronika

Kronika is so overpowered in contrast to the rest of the Mortal Kombat universe that the developers at Netherrealm had to invent a whole new tier of being above the Elder Gods to categorize her. Kronika is a Titaness, the mother of Elder Gods Shinnok and Cetrion, as well as the Time-Keeper who governs both time and space.

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Kronika is able to "reset" the entire universe if she so deems it, is almost entirely immune to damage thanks to her time-manipulation abilities, can create immortal servants (AKA Geras), and much more. Sure, Kronika looks like a middle-aged woman with an Avant-Garde fashion sense, but she’s the peak of power in the Mortal Kombat universe to date. Sadly, for some reason, Netherrealm never made her playable, but that might change in future games down the line since MK11 finally finished releasing DLC characters.

6 BlazBlue: Takehaya Susanoo

PNG Of Susanoo From BlazBlue Overlaid On Image Of Their Sprite In-Game

Anyone who has played a lot of fighting games can tell you that their stories tend to get convoluted and overly complex pretty quickly. But, there’s no fighting game storyline that feels more needlessly complicated than BlazBlue. Both of the gameplay and characters are incredible, but the story is almost impossible for any casual fans to follow.

That said, Blazblue has some of the more interesting and diverse characters to date, one of which is Susanoo. When Yuki Terumi (who is sort of like Susanoo's "soul") finally gets the Susanoo Unit, (which is his original body) back from Jin Kisaragi/Hakumen (who had stolen it unknowingly), there are few characters in the Blazblue universe who could even attempt to stand against him. See how confusing just that one sentence of explanation was? Anyway, Takehaya Susanoo can pull out much more from the Susanoo Unit than Jin Kisaragi could. And, since the Susanoo is one of the "Three Radiant Gods" AKA Sankishin, it's able to use its sword to literally cut through time itself.

5 Marvel Vs Capcom: Shuma Gorath

Shumagorath
Shuma Gorath Earth Version PNG Overlaid On Image Of What Shuma Likely Looks Like In Own Dimension

We tried not to include any fighters based on comics or anime, but Shuma-Gorath from both the Marvel Comics and the Marvel vs series of games is just too fun of an idea not to talk about. In a series of rosters throughout Marvel Vs Capcom games that has also featured characters like Thanos, Amaterasu, and even Jeddah from Darkstalkers, Shuma Gorath is still likely the most overpowered.

Think about it this way, Thanos, one of the scariest antagonists in the MCU, is nothing before Shuma-Gorath within Gorath's dimension/realm of control. The version of this creature in the MvC games is oddly cute, but the true form of this fighter is bigger than a planet and eldritch in nature.

4 Super Smash Brothers: Kirby

Kirby
Kirby Sucking In Air PNG Overlaid On Image Of Void Termina Core Which Ends Up Having Same Face As Kirby Does

Okay, if you found the Shuma Gorath one ridiculous, this Kirby one will come off as a bit "over the top". But Kirby is an entity capable of galactic destruction, he's caused it before, and is by far the most powerful entity in his games, bar none. Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby’s creator as well as the genius behind the Super Smash Bros Franchise, has an excellent way of writing the lore of each Kirby game so that casual players can enjoy all the childlike delight of the game while dedicated fans can read all the lore entries, pause screens, and more to see the subtle, darker narrative.

It’s still unknown what “race” of species Kirby is, but there is heavy speculation the pink puff is of a similar creature to Void Termina, a “god-like” being also called the "Destroyer of Worlds" who appears as the final boss of Kirby Star Allies.

3 Soul Calibur Series: Algol

Algol Floating PNG Overlaid On Image Of Algol Coming Out Of Astral Chaos In-Game

Algol, otherwise known as “The Great Hero King”, is the oldest recorded wielder of Soul Edge, and is also the “person” who created Soul Calibur, the counter to Soul Edge, in the first place. As a human, Algol was basically like Alexander the Great, but more benevolent and powerful. He conquered most of the known world in the Soul Calibur universe and was able to resist the Soul Edge’s evil temptations with pure willpower. But, after a series of events that split his soul, created the Soul Calibur, and sealed him in the Astral Chaos, Algol is no longer really "human".

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Rather, he’s an entity that craves domination, power, and control, and will do anything to achieve it. While Inferno, the “soul” of the Soul Edge, and Elysium the “soul” of the Soul Calibur are both deity-like beings that have shown up in the Soul Calibur games previously, neither of them holds a candle to Algol and he himself believes that he is the only one capable or worthy of wielding both swords in general. Say what you will about Soul Calibur vs Street Fighter, but Algol is an incredibly interesting addition to the series compared to, say, Necali from SFV.

2 Skullgirls: Eliza

PNG Of Eliza From Skullgirls Posing With Her Microphone And Staff Overlaid On Image From Her Story Mode In-Game

The world of Skullgirls has to be one of the more unique and interesting ones in the fighting genre. In it, each lady has their own special gimmick, whether it's some magical artifact like Ms. Fortune’s Life Gem, a biological monstrosity in the form of a Parasite like Eliza or Squigly, or even the ultimate Monkey’s Paw vessel of power, the Skullheart, which is currently wielded by Marie.

But compared to Marie, the literal final boss of most character's campaigns, Eliza is still stronger. Eliza was the third DLC character to get added to the game, after Squigly and Big Band, and is host to the Parasite Sekhmet which replaces her entire skeleton and essentially turned her into the most powerful vampire in existence. With it, Eliza terrorized the world as “The Crimson Scourge” an untold number of years ago and seems to be easily able to handle most of the Skullsgirls fighters canonically.

1 The King Of Fighters: Orochi

Orochi Floating PNG Overlaid On Image Of Gigantic Orochi Looming Over Group Of Silhouttes From King Of Fighters '97

And lastly, here is a character from one of the most well-respected but least popular “mainline” fighting games of this age, Orochi from King of Fighters '97. Orochi served as the final boss in KoF ‘97 and unlike most of the fighters in these games, who are humans with some supernatural abilities, Orochi is best described as a force of nature. While it takes the form of a man in-game, Orochi is based on the classic Japanese legend of the Yamata No Orochi, an eight-headed serpent/dragon who is commonly used in all types of media as a villainous entity.

This version of Orochi, however, is not exactly evil like other iterations, he just desires balance between man and nature, even if that means wiping the current inhabitants of Earth out to achieve that. So, when seen side by side with a lot of other KoF antagonists and bosses who are just strong fighters, Orochi is sort of ridiculous in comparison.

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