Summary

• Fictional character strength not just about power, but overcoming faults.
• Wonder Woman's abilities make her almost unbeatable in DC Comics.
• Goku from Dragon Ball is renowned for his battle prowess.

The pantheon of superpowered heroes in pop culture continues to grow as the world is introduced to hundreds of thousands of stories across all media forms. Comic books, video games, and manga have introduced the masses to some of the most iconic and incredibly mighty individuals humanly imaginable, yet the list is still untapped.

Deciding the strength of a fictional character should not be based solely on brute strength or feats alone. Strength of character, the ability to overcome personal faults, and the overall grasp of such given powers all play key roles in determining which fictional beings are the mightiest among all of them.

This article was last updated on April 16, 2024 by John Dodge: Comic books, manga, anime, and video games often feature superpowered beings capable of incredible feats. One of the most common things in the fandom is for fans to compare them, always wondering who is the most powerful fictional character. This list has been updated with even more of the strongest characters in fiction ever.

20 Wonder Woman Has a Great Power Set and Great Weapons

DC Comics

Created by William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman is unarguably one of the biggest powerhouses in DC Comics. This superheroine comes from Themyscira, a hidden island where Amazons train their whole lives to be great at physical feats. Besides being a trained athlete and soldier, Wonder Woman has superpowers given to her by the Greek Gods.

These abilities, combined with her Lasso of Truth and her bracelets, make Wonder Woman almost unbeatable. Among the strongest Justice League members, the only thing holding Wonder Woman back is that she doesn't have cosmic abilities like other fictional characters. Instead, Diana succeeds in battle as one of the most proficient and strongest melee fighters ever.

19 Goku Is One of the Most Iconic Characters in Anime for His Vast Power Levels

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball's Goku is one of the most common names when mentioning the strongest fictional characters, no matter the medium. Created in 1984 by Akira Toriyama, Goku is typically depicted as carefree and eccentric. However, he is world-renowned for his battle prowess and strategic thinking in the most violent situations.

Goku is regarded as one of the best martial artists in all anime and often enters the conversation when comparing the world's best comic book martial artists. His power levels are vastly exaggerated in Super Saiyan mode as he taps into his endless reservoir of ki, which he has used to defeat literal gods in hand-to-hand combat.

18 Kratos Is One of the Strongest Fictional Characters Due to His Resilience & Immortality

God Of War

Kratos is the protagonist and main character in the God of War video game franchise. Born in Sparta, Kratos is a human warrior who successfully hunted and killed the entire pantheon of Greek Gods and Titans. Due to his weapon-wielding abilities, Kratos is known for being incredibly resilient and powerful.

Kratos has survived death on multiple occasions because of a special onetime pact that was made with the Titans to ensure his victory over Zeus. His strength is augmented substantially due to years of warfare, which he later used to usurp and destroy the Norse pantheon of deities.

17 Saitama Is Physically Unbeatable

One-Punch Man

Saitama is one of the most complex yet strongest characters in Manga history. Many regard him as a slacker for his unmotivated demeanor, but he is extremely formidable when coaxed into fighting. Saitama could even beat Goku in a hand-to-hand encounter.

Saitama is regarded as one of the most powerful fictional beings ever. It's nearly impossible to defeat him, especially when he can end most fights with one punch or blow; hence, he is known as the One-Punch Man. Saitama's lacking overall motivation ultimately keeps him from ranking the highest in power during most discussions.

16 Albus Dumbledore Beat Dark Magic to Become the World’s Strongest Fictional Wizard

The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

Albus Dumbledore is the leader of The Phoenix and Headmaster of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter franchise by J. K. Rowling. Dumbledore was born into a wizarding family in 1881 and is regarded as one of the world's most powerful magic practitioners.

The true power of Albus Dumbledore is both unknown and untapped. However, it is worth noting that dark magic is typically more powerful than white magic, and Dumbledore never wielded dark. He successfully beat two of the world's foremost dark magic wielders, Voldemort and Grindelwald, and was deeply feared by both antagonists.

15 Reverse-Flash Is the World’s Strongest Villain as a Living Paradox

DC Comics

Reverse-Flash is one of the most enigmatic yet iconic supervillains in the world. Simply put, he is like The Flash in terms of power and abilities. However, he uses that gifting in nefarious ways, often causing irreparable generational damage.

Reverse-Flash is immensely powerful due to his intellect and intimate knowledge of the Speed Force. Despite having many incredible speed-based powers, Reverse-Flash's greatest ability is that he is a living paradox, allowing him to survive literally anything. He has even avoided being permanently erased from existence by an omnipotent being.

14 Haruhi Suzumiya Is an Underrated Force to Be Reckoned With

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu

The main character of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu is Haruhi Suzumiya, a young girl who leads a high school club that is always searching for bizarre phenomena, such as aliens and time travelers. Haruhi is an eccentric girl who tends to push her friends into doing whatever she wants.

Since she looks (and often acts) like a high-schooler, fans tend to forget about Haruhi when discussing powerful anime characters. However, the leader of the SOS Brigade is way more than a quirky girl. Haruhi can alter reality. When she becomes emotionally unstable (or simply bored), she can create close spaces and pocket alternate realities that overlap with the main continuity. She'd be even more formidable if Haruhi could control her god-like abilities.

13 Scarlet Witch Once Erased Almost Every Mutant

Marvel Comics

Scarlet With must be a part of the conversation when discussing strong characters in fiction. Originally believed to be a mutant, Wanda Maximoff is a powerful sorceress thanks to her connection to chaos magic, one of the most ancient types of magic in the Marvel universe. Thanks to chaos magic, the Scarlet Witch can modify reality to a great extent, especially if she's emotional at the moment.

One of the most iconic moments of Scarlet Witch's history is when she erased mutants from the Marvel universe by just uttering a few words. She removed the X-gene from millions of mutants' DNA and made it so no mutants could ever be born. Besides reality warping, Scarlet Witch has many other abilities, such as teleportation, telepathy, mental manipulation, and energy blasts. All these combined make her a formidable adversary on top of one of the strongest heroes ever.

12 Cosmic Armor Superman Is a Literal Plot Device

DC Comics

Introduced in Superman Beyond 3D by Grant Morrison and Doug Mahnke, Cosmic Armor Superman is the strongest version of Superman in the entire DC Comics Universe. Also known as the Thought Robot, this version of Superman is powered by his ideals, personal convictions, and heroism.

Cosmic Armor Superman is so vastly overpowered that he has only made two comic appearances since his inception. He can defend and adapt to any multiversal threat imaginable and edit any aspect of the multiverse. Cosmic Armor Superman is even revered as more powerful than omnipotent beings such as Doctor Manhattan because his plot device allows him to access any power needed to win a fight.

11 Mister Mxyzptlk Uses Fifth-Dimensional Magic in the Most Chaotic Way

DC Comics

Mister Mxyzptlk is the biggest trickster in the DC Universe. This imp loves annoying Superman with his fifth-dimensional magic. His connection to this power allows him to warp reality as much as he wants with only a snap of his fingers. Generally speaking, fifth-dimensional magic allows Mister Mxyzptlk to go above and beyond physics laws as if he were a god.

What truly makes Mister Mxyzptlk problematic is the fact that he's an agent of chaos. He uses his magic to make random changes to reality, leaving Superman to deal with the problem. Fifth-dimensional magic makes Mister Mxyzptlk the most dangerous of Superman's villains. However, since he's often depicted as an antihero, he's never as evil as he could be.

10 The Creator Is Anime’s Supreme Deity

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

The Creator is the most powerful character in anime, functioning as the universe's supreme deity. In the world of Umineko no Naku Koro ni, the Creator began as a witch but quickly surpassed that by becoming omnipotent because of her ability to create something out of nothing.

The Creator functions outside the laws of nature and is subsequently boundless and devoid of any tangible boundaries or limits. It is unclear how she obtained godhood; however, an exchange was made to attain a free existence. The Creator's character is so intricately complex that some also refer to her as The Writer.

9 Man of Miracles Is the Supreme Deity of the Image Universe

Spawn

The Man of Miracles, also known as The Mother of Existence, controls the reality of the Image Comics universe, which makes him one of the most powerful beings in indie comics. She is father to both God and Satan and created the universe that Spawn is part of. The Man of Miracles is a buffer between the two and helps guide mankind away from destruction.

The Man of Miracles is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient at once, which proves and solidifies her sovereignty. However, the Man of Miracles does not interfere with people's everyday lives but rather prefers to allow super-powered individuals to deal with them.

8 Eru Ilúvatar Is the God of the Tolkien-Verse

The Lord of the Rings

Eru Ilúvatar is the most powerful character in the world created by Tolkien. According to the Tolkienverse's complex mythology, Eru Ilúvatar created all existence. He's referred to as the god of this universe, often named "The One," "Father of All," and "He that is Alone."

Eru Ilúvatar is analogous to the Christian God in many literary analyses of The Lord of the Rings. He can do anything. For instance, he brought Gandalf back to life when he died in the fight against Balrog, and he created everything in the universe. The only reason Eru Ilúvatar isn't the strongest fictional character ever is that he doesn't delve into multiversal matters.

7 The Presence Is DC Comics Highest Power

DC Comics

In DC Comics, the highest power is The Presence. He is also known as Yahweh, a variation of the Judeo-Christian Deity of the same name. The Presence created the DC Comics Universe from a void, spawning a universe and multiverse.

Since The Presence created all the gods and vastly powerful characters of the DC Universe, he can never be usurped by beings such as The Spectre, Phantom Stranger, or Asmodel. He exists in every being of the multiverse and is everywhere. The Presence's sheer will is why everything happens or comes to fruition.

6 The One Above All Is the God of the Marvel Universe

Marvel Comics

The One Above All is the supreme deity of the Marvel Comics universe, much like The Presence is for DC Comics. He serves as the ultimate source of life inside and beyond the multiverse. Since he is the sole architect, The One Above All typically does not intervene in basic matters but usually defers to his servants, such as The Beyonder and The Living Tribunal.

Unlike other comic book deities, The One Above All created The One Below All so that his powers would be counter-measured and balanced. He typically also serves as an avatar of Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, depending on the writer.

5 The One Below All is the Antithesis of Marvel's One Above All

Marvel Comics

If the One Above All is the supreme, divine entity of the Marvel Multiverse and beyond, then the One Below All is the antithesis of it in every possible way. The One Below All also happens to be a part of the One Above All unto itself, specifically as its own dark, vengeful alter-ego.

First seen in the pages of 2018's Immortal Hulk #4 (by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, and Paul Mounts), the One Below All inhabits the Below-Place, the deepest pit of Hell and the focal point for its connection to the Marvel Universe's gamma radiation. This also ties the One Below All to the gamma mutates of the Marvel Universe, all while providing them apparent immortality via access to the ethereal Green Doors that allow the likes of the Hulk the ability to effectively self-resurrect.

4 Miracleman: The Silver Age Turns Its Presumed Hero Into Something Akin to a God

Marvel Comics

With a history stretching back to the 1950s and spanning numerous publishers and timelines, it is no surprise that Miracleman is one of the most powerful characters of all time. That being said, there is likely no version of him with more power and resources at his disposal than that of Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham's Miracleman: The Silver Age.

Despite being neither the protagonist of Miracleman: The Silver Age, the series gives fans a broad and detailed look into the world its eponymous hero has crafted. With superhuman strength, speed, and senses under his command, not to mention total invulnerability, regenerative and self-sustaining tissues, and vast psionic abilities, Miracleman turned Earth into a utopia devoid of famine, war, and disease. Unfortunately, that isn't enough to make him the hero of the latest chapter in his ongoing saga, even if it proves how powerful he truly is.

3 Arceus is the Pokémon Universe's Living God

Pokémon

Introduced in the fourth generation of Pokémon games, Diamond and Pearl, Arceus was the then-latest in a long line of legendary Pokémon when it debuted. While this had fans hyped for Arceus' arrival and lent a great deal of tension to its role in the story, nothing could have prepared players for the revelation that this new Pokémon was quite literally responsible for the creation of its own entire universe.

Arceus isn't just an enigma unto itself due to its unique Multitype ability, but because of the deep, ancient mythology surrounding it. While Pokémon Pearl notes that Arceus existed before the universe as players know it, Pokémon Diamond states that Arceus crafted that same universe "with its 1,000 arms." And, while Arceus doesn't have 1,000 arms in any of the forms fans have seen it take on so far, nothing about its time, space, and reality-bending abilities has given players a reason to doubt those statements so far.

2 Eddie Brock Might Be Immortal as Marvel's King in Black

Marvel Comics

When Eddie Brock made his Marvel Comics debut in the pages of 1986's Web of Spider-Man #18 (by David Michelinie and Marc Silvestri), no one expected him to become the Wall-Crawler's next great nemesis, let alone the Marvel Universe's next living god. And yet, that is exactly the trajectory that Eddie's life in the comics has taken, and even after nearly forty years of such drastic changes, he still isn't done getting stronger.

It was after Eddie was killed at the hands of Knull that he discovered he could self-resurrect through the symbiote Hive courtesy of his Codex, just as it was after Eddie killed Knull in return that he discovered the seemingly infinite extent of his powers as the new King in Black. Since then, Eddie has learned to traverse space and time at will, cross over interdimensional thresholds with a mere thought, resurrect himself on a moment's notice, and even consume past and future versions of himself to reclaim the power they command as his own. As confusing as that might sound on the surface, digging deeper into what exactly Eddie Brock has become makes it that much clearer that he isn't far from being the absolute most powerful force in the Marvel Universe.

1 Dominions are Marvel's Highest Lifeforms - And They're a Problem

Marvel Comics

When it comes to what the absolute most powerful force in the Marvel Universe actually is, the One Above All is the clear front-runner. Yet, the recent emergence of Dominions in the pages of Marvel Comics has given the classic ultra-cosmic entity some steep competition. At their most basic level, Dominion are intelligences or groups of intelligences that have ascended to the point of a specific form of omnipotence that secures them a home outside of time and space itself.

Typically, Dominions are the culmination of numerous artificial intelligences working in concert with one another as part of a carefully calculated effort to usher in the rise of their so-called machine god. This is exactly what the AI leadership within the anti-mutant organization known as Orchis was revealed to have been working toward in secret. However, they failed to claim Dominionhood as their own. Instead, it was Nathaniel Essex, better known as Mister Sinister, who ascended to become the Dominion now called Enigma, and in doing so, he put not just his mutant enemies in jeopardy but the future of everything both within and beyond the bounds of the Marvel Multiverse.