The Strongest Video Game Protagonists
Oh yes. We're doing it. I'm delving right into dangerous fandom territory with this. Believe it or not, I actually found a old high school journal entry I wrote on this topic. Guess I was doing this shtick long before Backloggd came to be.
(Warning: Very nerdy discussion ahead. Proceed with caution and headache medication)
Hopefully, so long as this list doesn't leave its niche circle, we shouldn't need to deal with any... erm "passionate" patrons.
We need some rules and guidleines to consider, and boy there's a lot:
1. Game-originated, playable protagonists only. No Goku since he's from a manga. And no Sans since he isn't playable.
2. Keep it to only real-time action games. Yeah it removes a lot of games, however turn-based games creates a lot of problems. What do the damage numbers mean in the context of several different games (9999 in Final Fantasy compared to 500 in Dragon Quest, as an example)? How fast is "100 Agility" compared to "999 Agility"? In fact, what is the real speed of all these simulated battles? Obviously the characters aren't actually standing still and waiting their turns, the combat is merely a simulation. There's just too many unknowns to not make this a pain.
3. No non-cannonical crossover appearances. No Phoenix Wright from MvC 3U, as in his own game he can't do any of that crazy lawyer magic.
Though don't discount fighting games with their original characters.
4. When considering characters, specifify which version of that character we're talking about. Saying "Sonic" isn't helpful as sometimes he can move faster than sound like in Sonic Unleashed, or sometimes he can't run at all like in Sonic Labyrinth. And of course, we want their strongest incarnation that you can think of.
5. No cheats or god mode. So no Creative Mode Steve McMinecraft.
6. Try not to just think of a character's strengths but also their weaknesses. Unless explicitly stated, even the most agile and strongest game protagonists can still die or get a game over. What are the hardest boss battles have they faced, and why were they difficult for them?
7. When comparing characters to one another, keep in mind their tactics and strategies. If one character can theoretically kill in one punch, then the other must employ keep away strategies, zone them out, or out maneuver them. The question is: can they? Basically, don't pretend a different protagonist is dumb at fighting your favorite.
8. The durability of these characters is going to be contentious. A lot of game protagonists can in fact survive bullets, sword slashes and explosions aplenty; but how much is debatable. And we aren't going to factor cutscenes, so yes the Like A Dragon games do show that Kiryu can survive at least twenty gunshots (at least the non-turned based games for sure).
Also I'm going to have to trust you guys on your suggestions, as I only felt comfortable with these initial choices since I actually played the games myself.
I think that covers the most important points. May thefighting discussion begin.
(Warning: Very nerdy discussion ahead. Proceed with caution and headache medication)
Hopefully, so long as this list doesn't leave its niche circle, we shouldn't need to deal with any... erm "passionate" patrons.
We need some rules and guidleines to consider, and boy there's a lot:
1. Game-originated, playable protagonists only. No Goku since he's from a manga. And no Sans since he isn't playable.
2. Keep it to only real-time action games. Yeah it removes a lot of games, however turn-based games creates a lot of problems. What do the damage numbers mean in the context of several different games (9999 in Final Fantasy compared to 500 in Dragon Quest, as an example)? How fast is "100 Agility" compared to "999 Agility"? In fact, what is the real speed of all these simulated battles? Obviously the characters aren't actually standing still and waiting their turns, the combat is merely a simulation. There's just too many unknowns to not make this a pain.
3. No non-cannonical crossover appearances. No Phoenix Wright from MvC 3U, as in his own game he can't do any of that crazy lawyer magic.
Though don't discount fighting games with their original characters.
4. When considering characters, specifify which version of that character we're talking about. Saying "Sonic" isn't helpful as sometimes he can move faster than sound like in Sonic Unleashed, or sometimes he can't run at all like in Sonic Labyrinth. And of course, we want their strongest incarnation that you can think of.
5. No cheats or god mode. So no Creative Mode Steve McMinecraft.
6. Try not to just think of a character's strengths but also their weaknesses. Unless explicitly stated, even the most agile and strongest game protagonists can still die or get a game over. What are the hardest boss battles have they faced, and why were they difficult for them?
7. When comparing characters to one another, keep in mind their tactics and strategies. If one character can theoretically kill in one punch, then the other must employ keep away strategies, zone them out, or out maneuver them. The question is: can they? Basically, don't pretend a different protagonist is dumb at fighting your favorite.
8. The durability of these characters is going to be contentious. A lot of game protagonists can in fact survive bullets, sword slashes and explosions aplenty; but how much is debatable. And we aren't going to factor cutscenes, so yes the Like A Dragon games do show that Kiryu can survive at least twenty gunshots (at least the non-turned based games for sure).
Also I'm going to have to trust you guys on your suggestions, as I only felt comfortable with these initial choices since I actually played the games myself.
I think that covers the most important points. May the
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5 Comments
@moschidae By the sounds of it, other characters would need their own counter strategy against the girls. The ones currently on the list really don't have much to deal with them. I mean, the two of them do die in one hit which is a massive downside, but as you said they're basically the masters of dodging. I can think of a few ways they could be countered like a very fast homing projectile (probably V1's ricochet gunshots), screen clearing attack like Samus' Power Bombs, or reflecting their own projectiles back at them. But yeah there really isn't much.
Will add them since they're certainly powerful, though I'm very curious what you mean by "manipulate boundaries" cause that kinda sounds like it implies Reimu can warp space itself.
Will add them since they're certainly powerful, though I'm very curious what you mean by "manipulate boundaries" cause that kinda sounds like it implies Reimu can warp space itself.
Its implied that Reimu has learned some of Yukari's techniques for manipulating boundaries, in aocf she can straight up create gaps like the ones Yukari uses to teleport though thats a special instance. I looked it up on the wiki page for her and it seems I got a little confused with barrier manipulation which is apparently a different thing.
Wikipedia describes it like this: 'Reimu displays great aptitude with magical barriers (beyond that normally associated with shrine maidens), presumably related to her work in maintaining the Great Hakurei Barrier. Among her techniques are barriers that explode, push enemies (or herself), or allow her to teleport. Reimu is capable of dismantling barriers and seals too complex for Marisa Kirisame and Patchouli Knowledge to understand, with what Marisa calls her "cheat technique".'
Lotsa weird shit in touhou so its easy to get confused ^_^'
Wikipedia describes it like this: 'Reimu displays great aptitude with magical barriers (beyond that normally associated with shrine maidens), presumably related to her work in maintaining the Great Hakurei Barrier. Among her techniques are barriers that explode, push enemies (or herself), or allow her to teleport. Reimu is capable of dismantling barriers and seals too complex for Marisa Kirisame and Patchouli Knowledge to understand, with what Marisa calls her "cheat technique".'
Lotsa weird shit in touhou so its easy to get confused ^_^'
By "strongest" I assume you mean "most likely to be able to beat the ass of everyone else on the list" the first one that comes to mind is Asura. I believe he may be canonically immortal; he survives for some centuries buried in rock at least. Over the course of his narrative he accomplishes a number of ludicrous feats of strength, including kicking the crap out of a god the size of a planet using nothing but his six fists and some truly impressive lumbars.
@cowboyjosh I'm well aware of Asura but I'm honestly hesitant. Not because he isn't canonically powerful, he's arguably the strongest of all, but this list is more power scaling based on gameplay actions rather then story and cutscenes. Like, imagine if one of these protagonists showed up in someone else's game but their skillset and abilities were not balanced for the game itself, but rather is 1-to-1 the same as their original game. That make sense?
But Asura's Wrath is challenging since it merges cutscenes and gameplay at every waking opportunity it can. And even during the standard action game segments, it implements many context sensitive actions and QTEs. If you took the action segments and removed the latter, then Asura wouldn't be too impressive in the grand scheme of things. This list is more for controlling immensely powerful characters that can do so much dynamic shit. And it's hard to argue how much you actually control Asura if you can't activate his six arms on command, or if you can only deflect giant orbs when the game tells you you can.
Sorry if this list wasn't as clear cut as it seemed at first, but I'm not opposed to hearing otherwise.
But Asura's Wrath is challenging since it merges cutscenes and gameplay at every waking opportunity it can. And even during the standard action game segments, it implements many context sensitive actions and QTEs. If you took the action segments and removed the latter, then Asura wouldn't be too impressive in the grand scheme of things. This list is more for controlling immensely powerful characters that can do so much dynamic shit. And it's hard to argue how much you actually control Asura if you can't activate his six arms on command, or if you can only deflect giant orbs when the game tells you you can.
Sorry if this list wasn't as clear cut as it seemed at first, but I'm not opposed to hearing otherwise.
moschidae
4 months ago
Im not sure what game theyre strongest in because their skills r pretty much the same throughout the series but i'd say Wily Beast and the Weakest Creature, if only because the powerups in that game can push their attack power over its max and shield them from damage occassionally