When one talks about some of the biggest gaming franchises in history, then it pretty much goes without saying that Final Fantasy would definitely rank extremely high in this regard. The series firmly established its roots in 1987 and never looked back since, introducing gamers to incredible worlds with fantastical stories and memorable characters throughout the fifteen mainline entries that have come up over time.
The Final Fantasy series is no stranger to incorporating its own power fantasies, introducing a litany of incredibly powerful creatures and figures throughout their games that boast some incredible might. Here's a rundown of the 10 strongest characters to have ever been featured in a Final Fantasy game.
10 Shantotto
While Shantotto might look like an unintimidating Black Mage at surface level, don't let that distract you from the fact that this cute-looking character is the most powerful mage in Final Fantasy XI and one of the most powerful characters ever conceived.
She's so powerful that, even if you manage to defeat her in Dissidia, it turns out that you've just been fighting a puppet that the real Shantotto has been controlling all along.
9 The Emperor
Final Fantasy II is widely reviled by many to be the worst game of the Final Fantasy series, mainly due to its gameplay that forgoes the traditional leveling system in favor of incremental stat growths.
However, what Final Fantasy II did manage to nail was the series' first attempt at a story, complete with an antagonist who becomes so powerful in the later stages of the game that he becomes the Lord of both Heaven and Hell. That statement should be more than enough to indicate just how powerful the Emperor actually is.
8 Sin
Imagine living in a world where everyone fears total annihilation at any moment. The catalyst who brings forth this apocalypse is such an imposing threat that the only solution people have is to sacrifice a summoner at regular intervals, which seems inhumane but is the only viable solution.
This fact is why Sin is easily one of the strongest characters in the history of Final Fantasy. It takes a ton of effort — and convincing — from Tidus and the rest of the party to finally tackle Sin and extinguish his threat once and for all.
7 Ultimecia
Time Compression is no joke, and the ability to do whatever you please with the fourth dimension requires a ton of power. This is exactly why the Sorceress Ultimecia is widely regarded as one of the strongest characters in Final Fantasy.
The fact that Ultimecia could play around with time without any problems and compress things into nothingness is an astounding power that definitely deserves some recognition.
6 Exdeath
While Exdeath might seem like your run-of-the-mill antagonist when you encounter him for the first time in Final Fantasy V, the fact of the matter is that he's actually the living embodiment of the Great Forest of Moore, a tree that is literally the living embodiment of evil.
He's so powerful and unrelenting in his approach that he doesn't succumb to the Void after he's thrown in it — rather, he comes back in the form of Neo Exdeath to fight one last time against the heroes.
5 Cloud Of Darkness
Imagine being so hateful that you want to erase that everything exists and bring the world back to a state of nothingness. Now, imagine that you're so powerful that you're actually able to carry out this course of action without so much as a second thought!
These two facets are what combine to make the Cloud Of Darkness such an imposing foe in Final Fantasy III. Fighting this Voidsent is the final challenge of the game and players need to be on their A-game if they wish to destroy this beast once and for all.
4 Bhunivelze
How could we not mention the deity that kickstarts the events of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII? A god that this alluded to time and time again in Final Fantasy XIII series, witnessing this god in person is a sight to behold in itself.
However, his intent to cleanse the world is not something that Lightning agrees, and the two engage in a divine battle that our favorite heroine actually managed to win! Speaking of which...
3 Lightning
Lighting is, without a shadow of a doubt, the strongest playable character in the history of the Final Fantasy series. While she starts out as nothing special, the kind of power and responsibility that she receives over the course of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy truly turns her into a force to be feared.
By the third game, her power is akin to that of a goddess as she becomes a keeper of human souls and fights against God himself in a bid to save humans from annihilation. It sounds completely ridiculous, but this is the truth — Lighting defeats the literal embodiment of God and saves humanity as a result.
2 Chaos
There are two versions of Chaos that appear in Final Fantasy, each of whom is powerful in their own right. The first one is from the original Final Fantasy, where the knight Garland absorbs the power of the four fiends to become the literal embodiment of evil itself.
However, the Chaos that appears in Dissidia is on a different level altogether. The God Of Discord lives up to his name as an unrelenting force of evil that almost destroys his counterpart, Cosmos. Fighting against Chaos in Dissidia is one of the hardest boss fights of all time, making it imperative that you have absolutely mastered the combat system before you can even think about besting this god's might.
1 The Creator
If you're wondering who The Creator is, it's the final boss from Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. The name should give you enough of a clue as to what this character is — its the being that has given birth to the Universe and all life within it.
Unfortunately, for some reason, The Creator does a massive heel turn and decides to destroy all life in the Universe. Obviously, this doesn't sit well with the heroes, who decide to dish out their own brand of justice to the strongest entity in the history of the Final Fantasy series.