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Who is the most canonically powerful and/or capable Final Fantasy protagonist?
- Thread starter SolVanderlyn
- Start date
He was a dude.
that's kinda neat, but i feel that they always paint the gods as selfish assholes or something.
Shifty1897
Member
veloxStrix
Banned
Final Fantasy XIVs Protagonist (for me, at least. Your protagonist might suck.)
Synless
Member
And that's one of the reasons LR's plot is so stupid (IMO!)
I know, I was countering the point about "gods as competent but evil" bit, not the goddess counterpart.
Rynocirator
Member
Now I want to see Noctis vs. Firion
Yeah, but just how powerful is Bhunivelze? Yes, he is the creator of the FFXIII universe, but just how does he compare to other universes? Could Sephiroth take him? Could Kefka?
He is the god of creation, but if he can be killed by a human, no matter how "deified" it is, then he must not be omnipotent. Besides his obvious power to create stuff, how powerful are his offensive capabilities in comparison to other villains/heroes? The question would be, how well would other FF heroes or villains fare against him? Impossible to know.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
I still think LR was meant to be a Valkyrie Profile game and Bhunivelze is a stand-in for Odin. Hrist is even the kind of person who'd fight him, unlike Lenneth or especially Silmeria. But that's a subject for another time.
I also think XIII-2 and LR were weird games because of how different in tone they were from the original XIII.
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
Going by only main protagonists.
God Tier
Sequel Lightning
Has divine power from Etro and later Bhunivelze. She's basically a full fledged god.
Godhood FFXI Adventurer
While he/she never fights in this form, they have ascended to godhood and are on equal footing with Altana. This is only brief.
Superhuman Tier
Warrior of Light (Dissidia)
As a perfect manikin based on one who has obtained godhood, the WoL is able to fight on equal grounds with Chaos.
Terra
Half Esper. Her true power is such that she can freely fly around at sonic speed and throw high level magic around like nothing.
Zidane
His trance form is comparable to Terra. Has the potential to be even more powerful than Trance Kuja, who can wipe the surface of a small planet.
Warrior of Light (FFXIV)
Has obtained divine power from Hydaelyn, and is continuously growing in power. Has supposedly surpassed what should be possible for mortal strength, even with divine help, and is encroaching on the strength of gods.
Enhanced Human Tier
Warrior of Light (after Bahamut)
Peak human, chosen by destiny. No known augments before being granted power by Bahamut half way through the game.
Onion Knight
Peak human who has been further strengthened by divine power granted by the crystals.
Bartz
Peak human who has been further strengthened by divine power granted by the crystals.
Cecil
Half Lunarian, his natural ability is higher than any normal human.
Cloud
Augmented through the SOLDIER program, the strength he can achieve is higher than possible for normal humans.
Lightning
A peak physical human augmented by becoming a l'Cie, granting her higher physical and magical ability than normal humans can achieve.
Peak Human Tier
Warrior of Light (before Bahamut)
Peak human, chosen by destiny. No known augments before being granted power by Bahamut half way through the game.
Firion
Peak human with mastery of both the physical and magical.
Terra (epilogue)
After magic is gone from the world, Terra is a normal human with extensive combat experience.
Squall
Peak human with mastery over all forms of combat.
Tidus
Peak human. Pro athlete. Goes on to master many forms of combat and magic.
FFXI Adventurer
Peak human. Through friendship and teamwork, has toppled even godlike foes despite being a simple mortal. In the future, he/she is seen as a paragon of humanity.
Vaan
Peak human, along with his companions. No special powers.
Lightning (before branding/epilogue)
Peak human and skilled soldier. No special powers.
Of course Terra and Zidane, don't know about or use their full power most of the game, and all characters have access to stuff like enchanted armor and accessories, and whatnot. This puts them on more even footing in their main games at least.
God Tier
Sequel Lightning
Has divine power from Etro and later Bhunivelze. She's basically a full fledged god.
Godhood FFXI Adventurer
While he/she never fights in this form, they have ascended to godhood and are on equal footing with Altana. This is only brief.
Superhuman Tier
Warrior of Light (Dissidia)
As a perfect manikin based on one who has obtained godhood, the WoL is able to fight on equal grounds with Chaos.
Terra
Half Esper. Her true power is such that she can freely fly around at sonic speed and throw high level magic around like nothing.
Zidane
His trance form is comparable to Terra. Has the potential to be even more powerful than Trance Kuja, who can wipe the surface of a small planet.
Warrior of Light (FFXIV)
Has obtained divine power from Hydaelyn, and is continuously growing in power. Has supposedly surpassed what should be possible for mortal strength, even with divine help, and is encroaching on the strength of gods.
Enhanced Human Tier
Warrior of Light (after Bahamut)
Peak human, chosen by destiny. No known augments before being granted power by Bahamut half way through the game.
Onion Knight
Peak human who has been further strengthened by divine power granted by the crystals.
Bartz
Peak human who has been further strengthened by divine power granted by the crystals.
Cecil
Half Lunarian, his natural ability is higher than any normal human.
Cloud
Augmented through the SOLDIER program, the strength he can achieve is higher than possible for normal humans.
Lightning
A peak physical human augmented by becoming a l'Cie, granting her higher physical and magical ability than normal humans can achieve.
Peak Human Tier
Warrior of Light (before Bahamut)
Peak human, chosen by destiny. No known augments before being granted power by Bahamut half way through the game.
Firion
Peak human with mastery of both the physical and magical.
Terra (epilogue)
After magic is gone from the world, Terra is a normal human with extensive combat experience.
Squall
Peak human with mastery over all forms of combat.
Tidus
Peak human. Pro athlete. Goes on to master many forms of combat and magic.
FFXI Adventurer
Peak human. Through friendship and teamwork, has toppled even godlike foes despite being a simple mortal. In the future, he/she is seen as a paragon of humanity.
Vaan
Peak human, along with his companions. No special powers.
Lightning (before branding/epilogue)
Peak human and skilled soldier. No special powers.
Of course Terra and Zidane, don't know about or use their full power most of the game, and all characters have access to stuff like enchanted armor and accessories, and whatnot. This puts them on more even footing in their main games at least.
KittenMaster
Member
IMO a lot of FF characters are roughly on an even level, as most are capable of feats of using their own strength to take on monsters as well as another large chunk of their power coming from the series iconic crystals or a game specific equivalent to crystals (magicite, materia, GFs, spheres, etc).
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, but IMO, there is only one answer.
Ramza Beoulve.
He was responsible for changing history, and destroying evil demons, even if it meant going against his own flesh and blood to do what was right. Proclaimed a heretic for his efforts rather than a hero, it didn't matter. He may not be the most powerful being, but dude could hold his own.
Ramza Beoulve.
He was responsible for changing history, and destroying evil demons, even if it meant going against his own flesh and blood to do what was right. Proclaimed a heretic for his efforts rather than a hero, it didn't matter. He may not be the most powerful being, but dude could hold his own.
Neoleo2143
Member
Truth.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't actually kill God in Xenogears. You fight an emissary.
Yes (s)he does - against a dark alternate of him/herself: https://youtu.be/1hkW2oLxj2Q?t=278
(I tend to interpret this as a metaphor for a player's decision to keep playing or not, the whole storyline has parallels of that sort)
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
Well, yeah. I meant battle feats that can be used to see power scale. That's just an energy wave clash between established equal forces. If i recall, it was said to be very small compared to the winds that are formed when Promathia and Altana clash, so all we really know is that it's "god level but not top god level".
We've been omnislashing fools since before 2000...Noctis?
Yeah, but Omnislash is Cloud's ultimate technique, while Noctis' teleporting slashes are pretty much his default stuff.
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Those are some pretty weak numbers popping off, though.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
By Dissidia lore it would have to be Shantotto - Cosmos sends everyone else to fetch crystals, but Shantotto is the one she keeps nearby to protect her, the last and best line of defense.And everything goes to hell when Shantotto gets bored of it all and leaves, because she can.
Heck, most villains show her respect or admiration - not that she's too far off from their kind of moral compass...
BTW, if we go by this Amano illustration featuring FF protagonists, XI's representative is Altana, the setting's goddess:
Therefore, an ever-goddess might trump characters that become divine or inhabit her domain. Also, note how she's above everyone else.
Then again, the illustration may indicate that XI is more about its vast world than about any individual character (Shantotto most of the times isn't really that important in the game), an a divine embodiment of it all is closest one could get to represent it with a single character.
If you mentioned his father you might have a case.
That's basically how Bartz works, considering blue mage skills are included in his skill set.
Frankly, if Lightning gone goddess counts, peak ability Bartz with full job mastery and the ability to mimic the rest of the cast like he did in Dissidia should count as well.
That's not Altana, that's Cosmos...
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
The OP didn't know what to expect.
BotchPoppaPump
Member
Auron kills 2 Gods then chooses to die only when he's ran out of Gods to kill.
Wait till FF7 Remake.
Truth.
If we want to nominate non-FF characters, I would argue that Emeralda might be the most powerful JRPG party member ever.
You know the old meme "Nanomachines, son!"? Unlike those other pansies, Emeralda is 100% Nanomachines. The game literally refers to her as a "colony" that can morph her body into all sorts of crazy things from drill feet to hair spikes, and in one attack she breaks herself down into a literal swarm of particles that tear through enemies. Not to mention a healing ability that can regenerate her entire body down to the molecules. This isn't even factoring her screen-filling Ether magic, which she inherited from her mother
Elly
So unless you tossed her in a lava pit or something, she's pretty much unstoppable.
More or less how I would have ranked them.
Although Zidane in particular has the potential to be in the god-tier, this however is never really shown in the game, only implied.
Now to make one for all of the spin-off main protags!
The most powerful set of heroes in a Final Fantasy game are the ones from Final Fantasy V: Bartz, Lenna, Faris, Galuf, and Krile. They are not just good fighters, they are good fighters who were then directly merged with the spirits of the four crystals that created their world, and inherited the knowledge of all of the greatest heroes from their history. They final boss casts them into a black hole capable of devouring the entire world, and they crawl their way right out of it (with some help sure, but the Void certainly wasn't able to keep them down). Those four spirits they merged with were powerful enough to completely rebuild and restore the world that was consumed by the Void, resurrecting the destroyed Crystals. The characters can even come back from the dead in the ending.
Gameplay wise, they are still the strongest. The legendary Barrage+Dual Wield+Sword Magic combo is incredible. It is eight hits of damage infused with elemental power of your choice that can easily do over 5000 to 6000 points of damage with each hit. And Bartz or Faris can do this EVERY. TURN. The same combo can be repurposed to inflict instant death, petrification, take advantage of elemental weaknesses, or shut down enemy spell casting. It is both potent and versatile, with no limit gauge required. And this is just one of the variety of powerful ability combinations at the FFV cast's disposal. Combine Time Magic, and Red Mage's X-Magic to get the ability to cast upwards of four or five Meteor spells in a single turn. Or just use Mix to break the game in a hundred ways.
Gameplay wise, they are still the strongest. The legendary Barrage+Dual Wield+Sword Magic combo is incredible. It is eight hits of damage infused with elemental power of your choice that can easily do over 5000 to 6000 points of damage with each hit. And Bartz or Faris can do this EVERY. TURN. The same combo can be repurposed to inflict instant death, petrification, take advantage of elemental weaknesses, or shut down enemy spell casting. It is both potent and versatile, with no limit gauge required. And this is just one of the variety of powerful ability combinations at the FFV cast's disposal. Combine Time Magic, and Red Mage's X-Magic to get the ability to cast upwards of four or five Meteor spells in a single turn. Or just use Mix to break the game in a hundred ways.
They could not.
Bhun's stats
Destructive Capacity: Galaxy level+, likely higher (created a new universe over an unknown period of time during the game, a blast fired by him after being severely weakened dwarfed and obliterated planets)
Range: Planetary
Speed: Relativistic+ (able to keep pace with Lightning, who can react to his energy blasts and Hypernova from close range)
Durability: Galaxy level+, likely higher (endured a beating from Lightning both magically and physically, tanked the backlash of his Hypernova, and possibly survived the destruction of the old universe)
Range: Planetary
Speed: Relativistic+ (able to keep pace with Lightning, who can react to his energy blasts and Hypernova from close range)
Durability: Galaxy level+, likely higher (endured a beating from Lightning both magically and physically, tanked the backlash of his Hypernova, and possibly survived the destruction of the old universe)
Kefka
Destructive Capacity: At least continent level+, likely much higher (destroyed 3 Guardians and killed the Thamasa Espers with casual ease) | At least large planet level+ (the Warring Triad could levitate a continent at high speeds and trigger the Apocalypse with the release of their power, Kefka should be capable of harnessing similar levels of energy by proxy)
Range: Extended human melee range with weapons and wings, thousands of kilometers with magic
Speed: Sub-relativistic (Mach 8890+, fought Espers that rushed from the sealed gate to Thamasa in seconds) | Sub-relativistic+ (should be comparable in speed to Esper Terra, his attack speed is Mach 49524+, his Light of Judgement showcases this level)
Durability: At least continent level+, likely much higher (no sold attacks from Espers that opened the Sealed Gate and caused a massive earthquake) | At least large planet level+ (equal to the combined might of the Warring Triad)
Range: Extended human melee range with weapons and wings, thousands of kilometers with magic
Speed: Sub-relativistic (Mach 8890+, fought Espers that rushed from the sealed gate to Thamasa in seconds) | Sub-relativistic+ (should be comparable in speed to Esper Terra, his attack speed is Mach 49524+, his Light of Judgement showcases this level)
Durability: At least continent level+, likely much higher (no sold attacks from Espers that opened the Sealed Gate and caused a massive earthquake) | At least large planet level+ (equal to the combined might of the Warring Triad)
Seph
Destructive Capacity: At least large planet level+, likely higher (superior to the likes of Zack and Bahamut Fury [characters stronger than Typhon]) | Star system level (superior to Knights of the Round) | Star system level+ (showcased that kind of power with Supernova) | At least star system level+
Range: Extended human melee range with the Masamune, much higher with magic, blade beams can go on for hundreds of meters
Speed: FTL+ (much faster than Zack Fair [a character that can fight Bahamut Fury] in all incarnations)
Durability: At least large planet level+, likely higher | Star system level (tanked the reawakening of the five remaining Weapons in the Northern Crater) | Star system level+ | At least star system level+
Range: Extended human melee range with the Masamune, much higher with magic, blade beams can go on for hundreds of meters
Speed: FTL+ (much faster than Zack Fair [a character that can fight Bahamut Fury] in all incarnations)
Durability: At least large planet level+, likely higher | Star system level (tanked the reawakening of the five remaining Weapons in the Northern Crater) | Star system level+ | At least star system level+
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
lol what the fuck
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
Thankfully after starting FFXIII the second time and still getting bored to death by the blanded main FF character of all time, I didn't have to deal with it. I just stopped playing the most boring FF game ever made.
This is the dumbest thing I've read in a while.
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
Challenge accepted.
Superhuman Tier
Vincent
Vincent is the most powerful protagonist in the series who isn't literally a god. He is Chaos, and single handedly defeated Omega WEAPON.
Layle (Empowered by Crystal Reactor)
He's basically a Green Lantern level superhero in this form.
Enhanced Human Tier
Zack
An enhanced SOLDIER. Far exceeds the limits of normal humans. Borderline superhuman.
Class Zero
Enhanced through Fal'Cie Arecia Al-Rashia's power, on top of the Vermilion Crystal's power. Can become l'Cie, which put them at borderline superhuman.
Layle
As a Crystal Bearer, is magic ability is far higher than a normal human's.
Wol
Seems pretty super. I don't know much about him yet.
Peak Human Tier
Ceodore
Possibly enhanced by his quarter Lunarian blood, but probably not by much.
Yuna
Peak human who has reached the heights of mortal magic ability.
Crystal Chronicles Hero
Normal peak human adventurer.
Yuri
Normal peak human boy.
Echoes of Time Hero
Normal peak human adventurer.
The Turks
Highly trained peak humans.
Ramza
Peak human soldier. No special abilities.
Marche
Peak human. No special abilities.
Luso
Peak human. No special abilities.
Benjamin
Peak human adventurer.
Sumo
Peak human gladiator.
Brandt
Peak human. Possibly enhanced by crystal.
Sol
Peak human. Possibly enhanced by crystal.
Rain
Peak human soldier. Story unfinished.
Prettz
Peak human adventurer.
The Explorer
Peak human equipped with Crystallizer.
Normal Human Tier
Leo
A King. No evidence of above average physical ability.
Mira
Daughter of the Dark Lord. No evidence of above average physical ability.
Aki Ross
Normal scientist.
Ai and Yu
Normal kids.
Tyro
Normal kid scholar.
Chocobo Tier
Chocobo
I think that's most or all of them. It's hard to keep track of the small mobile titles.
SoundPulse
Banned
You forgot Kaze!
It's okay - Nobody watched Unlimited.
SilverArrow20XX
Walks in the Light of the Crystal
You forgot Kaze!
It's okay - Nobody watched Unlimited.
Nope. I put Ai and Yu as the protags lol.
I have the DVD boxset
Lee Chaolan
Member
Oh, this is easy.
Ramza.
Oh boy, better not piss him off, he'll throw stones!
Ramza.
Oh boy, better not piss him off, he'll throw stones!
anothertech
Member
Rhinoa.
Or Mickey if your counting Kh.
Or Mickey if your counting Kh.