Kratos from the God Of War series is considered one of the most powerful characters in video gaming. With incredible feats like taking down the Hydra in the first game to single-handedly destroying the Gods of Olympus in God Of War 3. Kratos definitely deserves his status as one of the strongest characters in gaming.
The God Of War series has always been fantastic at providing incredible experiences with large scale battles and amazing set pieces, playing as Kratos is the ultimate power fantasy.
However, as often as Kratos seems to rank among the strongest game characters, there are a mountain of other portagonist who could best him. Maybe he sits on the throne because of how mainstream the God Of War series has become? There have been many characters before and since that should be above him in terms of power.
Here is a list of 15 characters that could overpower Kratos on the battlefield, and send him back to the depths of Hades.
15 Dante - Devil May Cry
In the original Devil May Cry series, Dante is a half human and half demon who began slaying demons even as a child. He possesses superhuman speed and strength and has managed to defeat demons the size of mountains. He is no stranger to God-slaying, which we saw first-hand when he destroyed Leviathan The Evil Beast God from the inside out.
It could be argued that Kratos is a stronger than Dante, but Dante would definitely have the edge in speed when taking his ability to slow time with Quicksilver and his teleporting-like speed.
Even if Kratos managed to gain the upper hand, Dante's most powerful ability the Majin Devil Trigger form would activate when he is close to death and annihilate Kratos.
14 The Incredible Hulk - Ultimate Destruction
The Incredible Hulk is arguably Marvel's most powerful superhero. The purple trunk wearing hero has accomplished feats such as destroying an asteroid twice the size of earth, and holding up 150 billion ton mountains. The Hulk's strength has no limits.
While Kratos' rage seems to be the source of a lot of his power in battle, The Hulk could easily match this and more. The more angry Hulk gets, the stronger he becomes, and there's no way Kratos could cope with this on any level.
The Hulk has even defeated Gods, and demigods like Thor and Hercules, even Superman himself had to resort to using the Phantom Zone Projector in the DC and Marvel crossover event to send him to another dimension before their battle destroyed everything in sight.
If you want to see The Hulk's strength for yourself, check out Radical Entertainment's The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, which launched on PS2, Xbox, and GameCube in 2005.
13 Gene - Godhand
Gene was the protagonist of the game Godhand The twenty-three-year-old fighter gets his hand cut off by three bounty hunters, and eventually ends up with one of the Godhands fused to his body instead.
The Godhands were left over by a man who defended the world against demons using the power of God in his hands. After he died, the left over hands were protected by a clan, until someone was worthy enough to wield them.
The Godhand granted Gene the power of both a god and a demon, which gave him endless power and strength capabilities, even providing invincibility for a limited amount of time. After Gene finally obtains both hands, he became completely unstoppable and vanquished the leader of the demon world Angra.
This kind of power could easily match Kratos strength for strength. Together with Gene's speed, martial arts, and eventual invincibility, Kratos could find himself overwhelmed especially when Gene hits the "Invincible Fist" move.
12 Enoch - El Shaddai Ascension Of The Metatron
Enoch was a scribe who was called upon by heaven to serve on the Council of Elders. He was God's chosen one and transcended his humanity to become an angel known as Metatron serving at God's side.
Enoch's power allowed him to defeat the Fallen Angels of God, and he has the ability to master the use of any weapon just by touching it through God's knowledge. Additionally, he wields the Weapons Of God which would likely destroy the Blades Of Olympus.
Most interestingly, Enoch was gifted with the power to purify vileness and evil, and could possibly nullify all of Kratos strength, power and rage in a single touch.
11 Conan The Barbarian - Age Of Conan
Long before Kratos, Conan The Barbarian was the original barbaric anti-hero warrior, who laid waste to hordes of men and mythical monsters in their hundreds. Conan was a character that was created by Robert E. Howard in 1932, and has long been the archetypical hero of the sword and sorcery genre ever since.
The most notable of Conan's foes are the frost giants, ape men, wizards, and demonic entities like the Devourer Of Souls. Perhaps more impressive, Conan managed to defeat god's in his adventures, like Azoth the god of pain, Bardisattva the god of the skies and Arisnaub the god of death just to name a few.
Incredibly, he did this without having the blood of a God running through his veins like Kratos or any super powers, because he's completely human, and relies solely on his determination, natural strength and intelligence to achieve victory.
There are a myriad of Conan games to dip your toes into the role of this epic warrior. The MMO Age of Conan delievered a sprawling Conan world to explore.
10 Kazuya Mishima - Tekken
Kazuya is a long running character in the Tekken universe and has been both the protagonist and the antagonist in the series plot. He was already a very powerful warrior before obtaining full control of the Devil genes, by absorbing the powers from both Jin and his grandfather Jinpachi.
The Devil's powers are meant to be completely limitless, with his laser beam seemingly able to penetrate any object, he also has the powers of telekinesis giving him the power to manipulate objects and matter — including Kratos' weapons.
All these powers combined with the already incredible skill of Kazuya in battle he would make for an almost impossible opponent for Kratos deal with.
9 Mewtwo -Pokémon
Mewtwo is a creature from the Pokémon universe and was born of a Mew, but had its DNA altered in genetic experiments. After Mewtwo was born, experiments continued, including gene splicing tests, which caused the hybrid Pokémon to become vicious and aggressive. Eventually, Mewtwo broke free and destroyed the laboratory where these tests were conducted.
Some of Mewtwo's powers include telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to wipe memories from a person's mind. Using his psychic abilities, he can create storms and an invincible shield.
Based on those abilities alone, Kratos wouldn't be able to get close to him. He would get crushed under the power of Mewtwo's mind control before even getting to swing his Blades Of Olympus.
8 War - Darksiders
War is one of the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse from the Darksiders series, and Nephilim derived from angels and demons and created by the demon Lilith.
In his normal and physical form, he's already at least as strong as Kratos and much faster, without being at full power. As most of his powers sealed away by The Watcher.
War, at full power, in his Chaos Form, is completely unstoppable, capable of bringing down demons, angels and Gods while remaining invincible. Along with the other three Horsemen, War was created to bring about the apocalypse, and because of this, their powers are limitless. As strong as Kratos is he can't take down an invincible Horseman of The Apocalypse.
7 Bayonetta
Bayonetta is named for the of the lead character in the series and is an Umbra Witch. The Umbra Witches are the controllers of the dark power. She possesses superhuman speed agility and reflexes. She is also shown to have superhuman strength where she has picked up buildings and vehicles with ease.
Bayonetta has slain countless Angels, and is capable of summoning Infernal Demons into battle. One summon, in particular, is the gigantic Queen Sheba which can hit so hard it separated the soul of the Goddess Jubileus from her body and sent it hurling into the sun.
Bayonetta can not only match Kratos for strength, she also has speed, intelligence, and a completely calm demeanor which can be used to outwit the enraged Spartan. Kratos, wouldn't be able to deal with the onslaught of attacks from every conceivable angle.
6 Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII
Sephiroth is the primary antagonist from Final Fantasy VII, and even before he was fully aware of the power he possessed, he would be a match for Kratos. He gained his strength because he was injected with the cells of a shape-shifting parasitic alien life form that wiped out an ancient civilization.
Sephiroth was able to control the alien Jenova Cells within his body, and summon apocalyptic powers such as a meteor. He even created a deadly plague after his death, so that he could be reborn again.
Kratos' demigod status would be perfect 'fodder' for someone like Sephiroth, who could calmly match blades and strength with him without breaking a sweat. At the same time, using the infected lifestream to infect Kratos with Geostigma. Knowing Sephiroth, he could probably even consume Kratos' body and become stronger in the process.
5 Shao Kahn - Mortal Kombat
Shao Kahn is the main antagonist from the Mortal Kombat series and possesses a great deal of strength and black magic power. He managed to defy the Elder Gods and who were said to fear him. Shao Kahn also merged all the realms (dimensions) together into one —becoming immortal.
With his considerable strength and battle experience, he could go toe to toe with Kratos using his Wrath Hammer. He would only need to catch Kratos once with the weapon to unsteady the Spartan and 'finish him' with it.
Shao Kahn is also capable of stealing the souls of his opponents without even touching them, as evidenced when he invaded the Earth realm. Shao Kahn could use this power on Kratos at any given time without lifting a finger.
4 Asura - Asura's Wrath
Asura is the protagonist and one of the Guardian Generals in the game Asura's Wrath. He was betrayed, framed for his emperor's murder. His wife was murdered and daughter kidnapped because he refused to take part in a war.
The act sent Asura in pursuit of his missing daughter, and on a mission of revenge. Consequently, Asura destroyed the other eight Guardians, including Wyzern, whose fingertip alone would dwarf any of the Titans or Gods that Kratos has faced (he was bigger than the entire planet). Finally, Asura killed Chakravartin, the creator of all things in the universe — the ultimate primordial god.
In a battle with Asura, Kratos couldn't hope to win against Asura. He is stronger, faster and with the power of the Mantra Reactor Kratos would be knocked out of the universe.
3 Luca Blight - Suikoden 2
The "Mad" Prince Luca Blight was the main antagonist in Suikoden 2 and quite possibly one of the most evil and sadistic characters seen in a video game. He takes pleasure in slaughtering innocent people, while making them beg for their lives. Luca Blight has an unrivaled blood lust.
As well as being exceptionally cruel, Luca Blight was capable of great strength and ferocity as a 'berserker' type character with no known weaknesses. Similarly to Conan The Barbarian, Luca is completely human.
The Suikoden series' source of magic and power are the Runes with the most powerful being the True Runes, and none of them have any effect on him at all. Consequently, you could say he's invulnerable to magic. His berzerker status could match Kratos' rage, but his bloodlust and cruelty are beyond anything Kratos could deal with.
In Luca's own words, "It took hundreds to kill me, but I killed humans by the thousands!!!! Look at me!!!! I am sublime!!!! I am the true face of evil!!!!"
2 Goku - Dragon Ball Z
Son Goku is the protagonist of the Dragon Ball Z series. He was Saiyan originally sent to earth as a child to destroy the planet, but he lost his memories and instead grew up learning compassion, becoming Earth's protector.
Goku has the ability to become Super Saiyan which multiplies his power exponentially. In one of his most recent outings, he absorbed the power of a God to battle against the God of Destruction, Beerus. The punches between the two apparently sent ripples throughout the entire universe. Additionally, it was stated that just three punches in this state could wipe out an entire universe.
Goku in Super Saiyan God form could withstand everything that Kratos throws at him and more, because the ability allows Goku to nullify all attacks. Truthfully, if Goku could destroy a universe, he could make light work of the Ghost Of Sparta.
Goku's role in games is renowned. Kratos has nothing on this anime hero.
1 Demi-Fiend - Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call/Nocturne
The Demi-Fiend is the protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, he was granted his powers during the events of the 'Conception' a cataclysmic event that brings about the end of the world.
His powers were granted to him by Lucifer, he is capable of controlling an army of demons, and he even had the ability to hurt the omnipotent God. He was gifted with multiversal powers and can destroy or create new multiverses at his disposal. There wouldn't anything Kratos could do hurt to Demi-Fiend as he doesn't come close to having this kind of power.
In addition to his destructive power, he has limitless stamina, immeasurable speed, and the ability to bypass any defenses with his "Pierce" move. These are the kinds of powers that illustrate exactly how Demi-Fiend could obliterate Kratos — and possibly everyone else on this list.