As soon as fiction began introducing absurdly powerful heroes, fans started needing to pit them against each other to determine who would win.
These battles take place in crossover scenarios that would likely never happen — even if only because that kind of defeats the purpose of them being the good guys. Still, here’s the only ranking on the Internet that tells you with pinpoint accuracy who the most powerful hero in all of fiction is.
10. Kratos
Kratos was always strong, but what made him powerful to the point of challenging the gods was a deal he made with one. He received immense power from Ares, but that power came with a blinding rage that cost Kratos everyone he loved. He set out to get revenge against one god but then ended up killing the entirety of Mount Olympus and pretty much every Norse God in existence.
The only argument you can have against Kratos from God Of War as being one of the most powerful characters in existence is the fact that he dies three times in his series. Then again, dying only really helps set him up to kick the ass of whoever’s working as the warden of hell at that point and return even stronger, so maybe he really does belong on this list.
9. Doom Slayer
The original DOOM games play like a horror movie where humans pay for messing with the wrong thing. The DOOM reboot from 2016 turns the tables and has the demon horde as the dumbasses that open the wrong sarcophagus and unleash something that they cannot deal with: the Doom Slayer.
The Doom Slayer is what the biggest and baddest demons in the DOOM universe see in their nightmares at 666 in the evening. He’s like a version of Kratos who has guns and who can make use of interstellar travel to get close enough to perform a glory kill on any demonic entity in the universe. Also, he already spends most of his time in hell, so dying and being sent there would feel more like waking up from a nap than a proper respawn — not that he would die, anyway.
8. Asura
Even though it’s a tremendous game, Asura’s Wrath doesn’t ever play like a regular game. You play as a god here, and a true god doesn’t care for the tiny zombies that Kratos and the Doom Guy need to kill in their respective games’ early levels—unless there are a million of them at once.
Every level in Asura’s Wrath is a set piece of enormous proportions where Asura has to go against Akuma, giants, entire fleets of combat spaceships, or even planet-sized gods. If the Doom Slayer is the sci-fi version of Kratos, then Asura is the anime version of Kratos, which naturally means he’s at least an order of magnitude above in terms of power and wildness.
7. Kirby
Kirby’s power level isn’t immediately obvious, but he’s a wildcard of such magnitude that you just cannot help but respect it. It’s almost impossible to make a list of all his abilities because they make up new ones whenever a new Kirby game comes out, but he’s basically able to eat anyone (or anything) and gain their powers.
If you want more clear proof of Kirby’s power, just look at the trailer for Super Smash Bros. World Of Light. It shows Galeem, the god who controls the master hands, wiping out an entire galaxy — the galaxy where every character you’ve ever seen in SSMB lives — but failing to even put a bruise on Kirby. You don’t mess with that kind of power.
6. Superman
When not failing to fly through some hoops because of bad controls, Superman is your quintessential strong character. he’s the character every comic book hero cribs from, whether they realize it or not.
Superman is SO strong, in fact, that it works against him. Many complaints from modern fans are that he’s boring because there are so few instances when someone was able to present him with an interesting physical challenge.
5. Goku
While kid Goku from the original Dragon Ball would likely take no more than one half-charged slap from Superman to explode and die, the same definitely doesn’t apply to DBZ’s Goku. I believe there’s one point in Dragon Ball Z, likely the time when Goku first reaches SSJ, when Goku just leaves Superman in the dust and never returns.
I’ve read very detailed scientific number crunches detailing how Superman is actually stronger than Goku, but here’s the thing: you’ve picked the only place where science doesn’t matter. Frieza’s weakest form was able to conjure enough energy to destroy a planet in one of his fingers, and Goku still slapped his final form silly.
Goku’s biggest advantage? A genetic trait that makes him stronger whenever he gets beat. Do you know who also shares that genetic trait? Doomsday, the only creature who ever killed Superman, and it wasn’t even powerful enough to destroy a planet with a finger gun.
4. Vegito
I know Vegito is half-Goku, so that may invalidate his form for this tournament, but he’s here to prove a point and also too strong for me to just push away.
Vegito, who is a fusion of Vegeta and Goku using the Potara Earrings, is significantly stronger than Goku alone. Even though no character in Dragon Ball Z can match up to him, he avoids becoming boring simply because the mix between Goku and Vegeta’s personalities makes him too funny not to enjoy.
3. Dr. Manhattan
Dr. Manhattan’s powers go well beyond those of mere strength. This is a being so powerful he can end or create life in an instant. He exists at the current moment but also in all moments. Dr. Manhattan is an omnipotent being above all beings, which might somehow make him the most human character in Watchmen.
His only weakness comes not from any imaginable lack of power but rather from having too much of it. By the time of Watchmen‘s event, Dr. Manhattan has gone so far past the line separating humans from deities that he no longer feels empathy for humankind.
2. Saitama
Impossibly powerful “gag” characters aren’t a new thing —children and Reddit users come up with them every day. Still, It’s not common for a gag character to get promoted to the main character role in a legit and spectacular anime.
Saitama feels like an alien even in the incredibly wild world of One Punch Man, as he goes through the suffering that a real human who’s too good at his job would, but keeps the invulnerability that only a joke character would have. Though he’s known for finishing off any enemy with one single punch, no aspect of Saitama is bound to any sort of power or ability ruleset, meaning that he’ll always be more powerful than whatever enemy you put in front of him.
1. Herbie Popnecker
The most powerful character on the list is, interestingly, the least famous one. Herbie Popnecker dates back to the ’50s, and his powers are, well, pretty much all of them. He’s capable of teleportation, but also he can just walk anywhere in the universe. Herbie is so strong he tends not to notice even when incredibly powerful beings are physically attempting to kill him. Also, he can communicate with animals, and ghosts are afraid of him.
I cannot say that this is the first godlike gag character in history, but he’s at least the most influential one. If you love Saitama, which you should, know that he might only exist because of Herbie, and that’s why he’s not number one.
Don’t agree with my pick for number one? Well, I only even know of Herbie because he’s the favorite hero of Watchmen creator Alan Moore, so good luck taking it up with him.
