The Top Ten Most Unlikely Overpowered RPG Characters (Full-Length Version)
Credits: ClearTranquil, DjinnandTonic, Jo'ou Ranbu, MagicFanatic, Makkotah, NeoElfboy, OblivionKnight, Taishyr
The spiky-headed blonde hero with the over-sized sword. The winged princess with a hidden destiny. The dragon-riding knight in shining armor. The bad-ass ninja. These are the kinds of heroes we expect of our RPGs. Sure, some RPGs claim to have a large variety of colorful characters, but just how many of those characters actually get used? Why can't the fuzzy mascot with a megaphone, or the paintbrush-wielding little girl catch a break and prove to the world how amazingly powerful they are?
Well, the world of RPGs is a vast and varied place, and this list presents some of the most overpowered PCs that you would never have expected! The unique traits that allow them to stand out from their casts and transcend precedent have earned them a place here to validate the existence of all useless fuzzy mascots out there!
Let's begin.
10. Yuna (Final Fantasy X)
For those who don't know, Yuna is a waifish young summoner-girl who faints in the first 30 seconds we see her. But don't let that fool you! She is among the few Final Fantasy Summoners who aren't slow and frail. Until FFX, Final Fantasy has churned out a stream of summoners who are hindered by their speed, durability, and reliance on finite resources. It started with Rydia in FF4, who died to a sneeze and took so long to summon anything that she often died before making herself useful. It continued through FF5 and FFT, whose summoners could only summon once or twice before running out of MP, and culminated in the frail Garnet and Eiko from FF9, who were more healers than summoners. Even with their potential to deal large amounts of damage, these summoners were severely hampered by their weaknesses.
So how does a frail healer like Yuna transcend this pattern? For starters, she has amazing evasion. Just within her own Sphere Grid, Yuna has the potential to become the second most evasive character in the game. It doesn't matter how frail you are if nothing ever hits you! As for the resource woes that plagued her predecessors? Her celestial weapon makes it so all of her spells cost only one MP, which allows her to cast spells as long as she wants. But even before you spend the time unlocking and upgrading Yuna's celestial weapon, she never has an issue with resources; none of her Aeons require mana.
But even that is simply icing on the cake. The true secret to her power is that when she summons something, it stays summoned. Yuna's Aeons aren't just flashy spells; they are meatshields. While summoned, they absorb damage and status effects that would otherwise reach the rest of the party. Even if the enemies manage to defeat one of her beasts, Yuna is capable of summoning another one immediately after the first one falls! This endless parade of Aeons makes short work of most anything the game throws at you.
Yes, Yuna's power certainly earns her a spot on this list. However, she is the heroine of her game. It is no large stretch of the imagination that a leading character is one of the more powerful members of their cast, even if the rest of the party members are ostensibly there just to protect -her-. Remember, this list is about characters whom you would not expect to be as powerful as they are. Thus, she only manages to place number 10.
9. Taro (Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories)
This is Taro, the main character's dopey little brother and the bad guys' favorite kidnapping target. Like the rest of his family, he's recently been transformed into a demon... an adorable big-eyed cow demon with a penchant for drinking milk and eating candy. Yeah. Taro's not the most manly of RPG characters. His best move is even named "Crybaby Strikes".
But what a move it is! Taro surprises everyone by being the PC of choice to solo the game. His moveset is just incredibly well-designed for survivability. First of all, despite appearances, Taro is quick to level up - an incredibly important factor in a grind-heavy game like Disgaea 2. He also sports the game-best defense and magic resistance.
But then you factor in that every one of his abilities is designed to either strengthen his defenses or lower the enemy's attacks, and you start to see how evil Taro's tanking can be. His "Chocolate Milk" skill is a straight 50% buff to BOTH of his defensive stats...and it stacks. His "Strawberry Milk" skill is a minor healing spell... that runs off of the Resistance stat that he just buffed to heal -more-. His "Crybaby Strikes" skill is the money skill though - he not only pulls off damage to multiple enemies if they surround him, but he simultaneously lowers their attack and intelligence stats to keep them from dealing any decent damage to him on the next turn.
With all this tanking potential, it couldn't -possibly- get better could it? Well, then there's the awesome addition of Taro's innate passive trait: Taro's defenses increase an extra 20% if he's ever knocked into Critical HP range! He... just... -can't-... die!
So Taro brings durability and tenacity to the ranks of the under-appreciated. He still wishes he had something called -damage-. That makes him the #9 pick.
8. Ranger: Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Admittedly an obscure choice, but Ranger's well deserving of a spot on the roster. After all, those traps are devastating tools in a bat- wait, what do you mean, they're unimpressive? Oh, right, people have to walk into those, and while you can just turn the Ranger's back to a trap... overall, too much setup, quite possibly. They do cost the opponent his action if he walks onto one, but.
But! He can see invisible units, that's clearl- wait, what do you mean invisible units are rare? Oh, just that. Hm. Equipping bows? Surely that's worth somethi- no? Not really?
Hm.
Well, it isn't the pathetic FFT Ubersquire Wish clone, likely isn't his own ability to turn invisible (five other classes have that), and sure, his stats are solid all around, but there's only one skill that hasn't been mentioned - Mirror Item. And, kinda honestly, that seems worthless. I mean, it just reverses item functions, so X-Potions do 200 damage instead of healing you like they shou-
Wait, you can use that on the enemy? ...It's only 200 damage, tho- ...wait, it gets doubled by Ranger's innate, Item Lore? ...400 damage when other PCs struggle to break 100 damage, and when enemies struggle to break 200 HP?
The Ranger's true capabilities lie solely in one skill in its set, Mirror Item. With this, any item in the game can be used to cause a fair bit of calamity to his opponents. Mirror X-Potions are 400 damage, which is frankly better than anything aside from aftergame twink options (and even then, the fabled Dualcast Summoner or Dual Wield Magic Frenzy Paladin is hard pressed to match the Ranger's damage on a solo unit, let alone do so while ignoring defenses or resistances of any sort). If that weren't bad enough, Mirror Elixirs give a 50% chance of reducing an enemy's HP and MP to single digits, and Mirror Remedy is a ~50% chance of every status that a Remedy normally heals (there are eight, six of which are dangerous, two of which are lethal).
This versatility alone would earn Ranger a spot here; his own excellent stats (speed, defenses, HP) simply support this package, and the traps serve only to drive the point home if no one's in range for his items. That's not all, however - Ranger can also Mirror Item the two rarer items in the game, Eureka and Grimoire Stones, which are normally all ally full HP+Attack/Defense Up (for Eureka) or full MP+Magic/Resistance Up (for Grimoire).
When mirrored? 100 damage to all enemies' HP or MP, plus a permanent drop to either Attack/Defense or Magic/Resistance.
Support and brutal overkill offense, and yes, even some (bad) healing to boot - Ranger has the full package, and is perhaps the simplest way to bust FFTA2 in half.
Not too bad for a race and class that, in game, seems devastatingly incompetent!
7. Lucia (Shadow Hearts: Covenant)
Shadow Hearts Covenant. A dark, deep and mysterious setting. With such a tone setting the course of your journey chances are you'll be taken a back when Lucia joins your quest. A ditzy dancer that fights with a fan. A fan. In a world where you are fighting creatures from people's worst nightmares, you have Lucia tackling them with a fan of all things? A dancer with a fan. Surely not a character to be taken seriously. Oh what's that? You're the type that doesn't judge a book by it's cover and like to give all a fair chance? Well let's see then ...
Take a look at those stats ... why those are *mage* stats. MP, magic defence, magic offence oh yes - yet- typical of a mage the HP and physical offence/defence stats might as well not exist. Look at that speed too. A slow mage is never a good thing. Right? Surely you'll be doing the sexy dancer a -favor- by leaving her assets er I mean her safely on the bench. Afterall if you ever actually *need* a mage you have Gepetto or Anastasia who apparently have better magic offence than Lucia. Ahhh but Lucia certainly is better on the eyes than those too. Is there any other reason to justify using her other than sexy eye candy fanservice though? Well yes. One word. Support.
Support? Where? Oh those ... special ability ... commands. Well I don't blame you for being distracted by other things. Ohhh Tarot Cards? What does that ... Oops! Nonono don't touch that double edged sword yet. Well you'll learn. Take a look at the other command. Aromatherapy. What oils and stuff? What do you mean you still can't take Lucia seriously? Do not be deceived oils are potent stuffs. By mixing them together Lucia comes up with all sorts of effective support blends for her allies. Support is the name yes. Healing, physical offence/defence buffs, magical offence/defence buffs, evade buffs, MP restores and regens .. She can even prevent you from going Berserk - a factor in SHC - with SP regen and restores. You name it - Lucia covers it. If you want buffs Lucia's your girl. Buffs galore. The buffer of all buffers.
That's all very well and good you say. Extremely effective and useful you're sure. Makes it worth not having Lucia lying on the bench forever. There is some milage to be had out of her now. Yet ... what pushes Lucia beyond the beyond? Makes her worth using over other characters? Why is she on this list for example? To put it simply why is Lucia broke?
The answer is - out of all the numerous oil combinations - three very special oil combinations. As if covering everything supportive wasn't already enough Lucia can for example buff ... buffs! That's right. With Moon X Ocean Lucia can increase the effectiveness of ally crest and special abilities. Not just buffs but healing and damage too and so on. Moon X Ocean - 50% strike increase. To *everything* As if that weren't enough - buffs *stack* So you could have ally Yuri under a Lucia boosted Energy Charge *and* an ally boosted ATK up crest spell for example. As you can imagine with Moon X Ocean the effectiveness of buffs, healing, damage and well everything skyrockets. Broke. The second of Lucia most effective oil combinations is Moon X Night which increases the critical hit rate of allies. With three physical attackers + Lucia as your buffer chances are that you are potentially doubling or so the damage output of your team with critical hits. Last but surely not least is Lucia's ultimate oil Aurora. With Moon X Aurora Lucia grants all allies (excluding herself) the Third Key effect (all allies can use their physicals three times in a row) As you can guess an MT Third Key effect is quite brutal. It doesn't end there. Oh no. The ultimate of all ultimate oil combinations - Aurora X Moon is an all in one effect of granting all allies the Third Key effect *and* restoring their HP, SP and MP. Not surprisingly it does cost Lucia alot of MP to cast the Aurora oil combinations but with MP tweaking and cost reduction equipment it is easily done - and by using Tents at save points to fully restore HP/MP lost in random fights before bosses you can abuse Lucia's ultimate of ultimate combos to your heart's content. Character quests become available once the final dungeon rises - do Lucia's first and with Aurora Oils you can make a complete and utter mockery of the all the other extra dungeons including of course the final and it's bosses.
That's it right? Not quite. What it couldn't possibly get any better you say? Ahhh but yes. If you're a daring soul and like to take risks for results. Oh yes. Remember that Tarot Card command that may or may not have exploded in your face when you touched it? Well you see Tarot Cards were so broke when they came out that they had to restrict them. With the reverse effect the cards do the opposite of what they are supposed to do but oh when they do what they are supposed to do ... 100% Instant Death that even works on bosses, increasing the speed of the entire team including Lucia by four times with Special, fully restoring the HP*and*MP of the entire team including Lucia, prevent enemies including enemies from being able to act, debilitating enemies with status effects, multiplying the strength/damage out put of the entire party, gravity/demi damage that can actually lower enemy HP to zero including bosses. The World that can greatly boost the EXP you receive or the Tower which can increase the total amount of cash you carry by up to four times. With Lucia by your side you can become extremely levelled and filthy rich fast. If only it were real. Just save your game before trying the cards~
6. Chemist (Final Fantasy Tactics)
While Chemist badassery should be hardly a surprise to anyone familiar with in-depth Final Fantasy V lore, Final Fantasy Tactics' Chemist strikes as quite an odd bird for its awesomeness. After all, a quick glance at the stats tells that, aside from acceptable speed, they don't have much going for them. Not to mention that the Item skillset can seem very non-exciting to a first-timer, and basic classes tend to have this tendency of being black holes of worthlessness you want to get out of as soon as possible in many games.
However, a Chemist in FFT is one of the most valuable classes you can have for a very long time. This happens mainly due to how deceptively awesome the Item skillset is, particularly off Chemist's quirks: immediate, cheap long-range healing and revival from the get-go off perfect accuracy, and later on, the niches of reliable status healing and MP restoration, are quite valuable assets in the game's setups - particularly so in a game where permanent death is a realistic threat.
However, their worth doesn't end there: Auto-Potion is, hands down, the best Reaction ability in the game, and it's surprisingly affordable: the chance to counter any damage inflicted with healing does wonders for one's survivability, and, as long as the targets aren't being killed in one shot and you keep only the most up-to-date potions in your inventory, is capable of often trivializing damage for one-to-two thirds of the game, and all that for 400 Chemist JP. This ties in with keeping a dedicated Chemist in your party: doing so means that the spillover JP you get on your other characters can be used for supplementing Item as a secondary skillset - and, as said before, the Item skillset is very valuable on its own right - and providing them with Auto-Potion down the line as well. Chemists also get solid equips for stat tweakery (namely, clothes and hats), and due to not being straight out durability liabilities, they can fill their battery role well enough, and due to their greater accessibility and affordability, do so far better than the other dedicated healer class in FFT, the Priest.
In the lategame, their worth may dwindle due to their healing no longer being as good as it once was and due to their offense being poor (being able to equip guns is an okay niche, since it gives them range, but the good guns are rare and not easy to obtain), but their utility range is fundamental for a good party, and they can provide valuable support in almost any setup they're put into throughout the game - if nothing else, the best revival in the game isn't something you immediately dismiss. It's quite a package coming from a class with no requirements and relatively simple upkeep (after all, even if you have to buy a bulk of items, they're cheap enough and more than worth the stock required).
5. Miakis (Suikoden 5)
What a cute little knight. Seriously, she's cheerful, affable...you'd never expect her to be an effective bodyguard with that face.
That's where you'd be dead wrong.
Oh, sure, she looks like she's going to be just a generic mage type - she starts with a Shield Rune, has a pretty good magic stat, fights with flimsy daggers... and has 3 open rune slots? And has actual defense? And wears armour? And is fast? And...what the hell?
Miakis follows in the fine footsteps of Suikoden twinking dynamos such as Sheena Lepant and Killey from Suikoden 2 (who, by the way, also has as much potential in his Suikoden 5 entry), who had 3 rune slots with which to completely brutalize the game with. Miakis does the same, and then some - she has excellent stats to back it up, great equipment options, is available relatively early, and also has a high rate of both critical hits and multiple strikes, both paramount for physical prowess in Suikoden 5. Take off that Shield Rune and go to town - while Miakis is admittably great with magic, if you toss her a Double-Edged Rune, Boost Rune, Killer Rune or any of Suikoden 5's vast array of physical boosting options, she will often attack every single random and kill them before they act... and do the same to bosses, too, like a fine chippershredder. And unlike her forerunners, who tend to get their third rune slot at endgame if at all, she can do this as soon as she joins the Stars of Destiny. And, as said before, even if you don't want her offensive physical, she is a thoroughly competent mage, with downright good durability for a spellcaster, fine speed and the Magic stat to keep both her offense and resources afloat.
In a cast of many (and with quite a competition, considering the likes of Georg Prime and Zerase hang around in Suikoden 5's roster), it takes a lot to stand out - and Miakis having such impressive combat ability on both ends secures her a spot on this list.
4. Jessica Albert (Dragon Quest Eight: Journey of the Cursed King)
Did someone say fanservice? No? Well, too bad! When Dragon Quest 8 hit the shores, we were once again given the standard staple party of the hero (I'll refer to him as "Guv"), the heavy fighter (Yangus), the frail magical girl with gigantic boobs and a hot body for all the prepubescent boys to ogle over (Jessica), and the random other person (Angelo) with which to quest through an adventure. Pretty standard fare for Dragon Quest.
But wait a second - like many on this list, looks are very deceiving. In a game where character growth is highly determined by levels and skill points (which come from those levels), Jessica stands out the most by having insane growth for the majority of the game (up to about level 40), meaning she has the widest variety of skills to choose from. Any unlike the rest of the cast barring Angelo, who generally have a few paths they want to focus on, Jessica has options on every single path she can take. And those options are extremely surprising. For instance, take her down whips - place 23 points into the weapon ranks, and you'll be rewarded with the strongest physical attack in the game, Twin Dragon Lash.
The mage chick has the strongest physical attack what? No, this isn't a joke - two hits where each hit is higher power than most other skills in the game. But it can't do much since she's a weak little girl, right? Wrong - whips are strong, and the strongest whip in the game is available mid-way through the game with not too much trouble. Thrill as Jessica whips enemies in to shape, and starts putting your heavier fighters to shame. The skill is early and powerful - and not expected.
But what else does she offer? Jump down Sex Appeal, and you get a healing ability you can use for free every single round of battle at max. And before that, you'll get accurate status attacks that confuse foes and make them fall asleep
Take her down staves, and she'll learn MP regeneration, gain bonuses to her MP total, and learn some killer spells. Acceleratle (doubles party speed), Bounce (protects from enemy magic...but your healing goes through just fine!), and Kazing (reliable revival!) are all excellent support skills that complement the party very well.
Take her down fists, and at the end, she'll learn Magic Burst - MPx2 damage. Which stacks wonderfully with the staff MP bonus.
Take her down swords...ok, this isn't that impressive, but everyone has at least one crappy tree (Fisticuffs for everyone else, for example!). At worst, she can now equip heavier swords if she really wants to.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg - she also learns some great skills naturally: Insulatle (halves fire and ice damage for the whole party), Oomph (doubles physical damage), Snooze (sleep), and a plethora of elemental attack spells round out her list of skills.
Oh, and that frail thing you were expecting? Yeah - she has the highest defense in the game, as well as huge amounts of unique equipment that reduces elemental damage, resists status, gives her non-negligible evasion, and overall just completes her overall package (ahem). Combine this with the highest speed in the game (so she can cast all those support spells before your party gets hit), and you have one tough girl on your side. Sure, she has the worst HP in the game...but when you have all this going for you - arguably making you tougher than the hero of the game - you're allowed some faults.
3. MOMO (Xenosaga Series)
The Xenosaga series brought us plenty of unique and powerful characters, from the robotic powerhouse KOS-MOS to the masterful swordsman Jin. But the most surprising of all of these was...a little girl? MOMO may look like the archetypical frail little healing girl, but looks in this case are very deceiving. Throughout the series, she is arguably the most powerful character, and you might not even know it.
In Xenosaga I, she's less stupidly powerful, generally a "more than meets the eye" character. She is the fastest character in the game, which, considering the battle system of the series (CTB) makes her excellent for getting the jump on enemies. The most surprising parts of her ability in the first game of the series is that she is one of the strongest physical attackers - defeating the optional boss Mintia provides her with the Dark Sceptre ability, a powerful physical attack that even turns some enemies into items - and some of these items are fantastic, including the rare Skill Point bonus items, the ultimate weapon for chaos, and unique support items such as the Hemlock (which, when paired with Bravesoul, slaughters anything). And Dark Sceptre is the fastest ultimate technique in the game, with a very short lag time and a high speed compared to all the other attacks, meaning she can spam it all she wants with precious few adverse effects. She also has two weapons that provide very powerful effects - 100% slow and 100% confusion, which can turn the tide of the battle pretty quickly. And her ethers run the gamut - Life Shot is cheap, strong healing that can be added to any character, as is Refine for revival. Overall, pretty good, though not the best by any means.
Her real showing is in Xenosaga II. Characters lost unique ethers (except for Shion) in this game, so all you have to deal with are basic attacks. So you're expecting the powerhouses like Ziggy and KOS-MOS to win the day, right? Well, you'd be wrong - MOMO has the best type of attack (piercing) in the game. Large numbers of bosses are weak to it, as well as huge numbers of randoms. In addition, since it's a ranged attack, she has no problems hitting enemies at any height, an issue chaos and Ziggy have, as they can't hit air targets (making a party of them and Jin/KOS-MOS, who both air targets, kind of hard to use). But that's not all - combine this attack of hers with an elemental sword (to strike the weaknesses that most enemies have), and her damage skyrockets - one of the biggest ways to deal damage in Xenosaga II is via huge elemental chains - MOMO's normal attacks are all non-elemental to begin with, so she can use any elemental enhancer she wants to get involved in any chain she wants (Ziggy, chaos, and Shion can't, as they have elementalized attacks that can't be over-written by the elemental sword ethers). Her damage is also, surprisingly, ether - the higher her ether attack stat, the more damage she deals. She has the highest ether attack in the game by a large margin, and most enemies have worse ether defense than physical defense...you can probably see where this is going. So ok, she owns in damage...that's it, right? Wrong! She still maintains the highest speed in the game, as well as the largest EP pool, and highest evade. Speed is pretty self-explanatory. The EP is excellent, as she can cast spells the longest of any character, and, as an added benefit, is very helpful for the AGWS battles, as she is the only character that can cast her ethers while in one of the giant fighting robots - meaning she can heal, and is the only character who can do that in the entire game, making her an invaluable support character in those fights. But that evade...can't mean anything, right? Nope - evasion is the best defensive stat in the game, as nearly everything in Xenosaga II is evadable, and MOMO has the most by far. This is especially awesome because, combined with the skill Inner Peace (when using Stock, increase evade), she can build up stock exceptionally fast (because of her speed), and not worry about dying while doing it (because of Inner Peace stacking with her already awesome evasion). Sure, she has the worst HP and defense in the game...but this never matters, as she is generally the most durable character in the game due to her evasion and (probably the least relatively impressive thing about her) game-best ether defense. So yeah, the little girl kicks all kinds of butt.
Can her last showing in Xenosaga III even compared to that? Yes, yes it can. She's taken a bit of a hit stat-wise from the previous installment, but her skillset turns out to be pretty awesome to compensate. All the healing spells you could need? Check. All the full-screen elemental attacks possible? Yep. Huge numbers of supportive ether abilities? Also check. The two best Master Skills in the game (Abyss Walker and Blood Dancer)? Yes. Her durability isn't the best in this game, and her speed took a bit of a hit...but she's still very good. Due to how striking elemental weaknesses increases the boost gauge the most, and is increased further by striking multiple enemies, the fact she has all the elemental spells means she can make the boost gauge rise exceptionally fast (not to mention deal excellent damage - she still retains that excellent ether attack stat), allowing her to use her special attacks, which range from full screen damage to a full party stat boosting effect. Or allowing anyone else to use their special attacks, for that matter. Since she can heal for ages (high EP, once more), she can keep your party going forever in boss fights or against randoms. So yes, once more, an offensive powerhouse.
Don't mess with little girls - MOMO's mix of mind-blowing offensive abilities combined with surprisingly excellent support abilities and occasional amazing defensive games throughout an entire -series- brings her the coveted number 3 spot on this list.
2. Maria Traydor (Star Ocean: Till the End of Time)
This blue haired gunwoman joins you around midway through the first half of Star Ocean 3. By that point in the game most players have been fighting with a well established battle team for a while. Chances are that you have Fayt, the main character and your swordsman; Cliff, your brawny muscle man of a brawler; and Nel, your healer - as without a FAQ, you may not have found Adray or Roger. Even if you did their advantages aren't obvious either and you're likely to have stuck with the Fayt/Cliff/Nel trio anyway. Then in comes Maria at an even later stage and why should you use her when you already have the fast, competant, useful and supportive Nel? Maria starts slow, with a poor weapon and no healing. She has even less HP than Nel and her starting AI leaves much to be desired.
Despite this, don't be fooled! Stick with Maria and you have what is widely regarded across the intarwebs as the best character in SO3. It doesn't take much to fix her up when she first joins - buy/create (or even wait for an upcoming boss to drop) her a new weapon, level up her stats in the status section of the battle skills menu, toss her a Decrepit Tome for Common Support Symbols and Tattered Tome for Convert Damage. Now Maria can equip the Common Support Symbols as support in the battle skills section and is one of the prime candidates for one of your limited Decrepit Tome as she has one of the fastest casting times in the game (faster than Nel's). With Convert Damage Maria can use Preserve HP which converts the HP damage enemies do to her into MP damage. This is best used in tandem with MP regen (Regeneration Symbols/refined Rings of Mental Power). Since Maria's MP growth is more impressive than her HP or DEF this setup is an extremely effective way of increasing her durability. It basically allows her to out-last even the game's designated tank, Cliff. And unlike Cliff, this twinking doesn't weaken Maria's offensive capabilities...
So what is the pay off - your reward for this effort? The best HP damage in the game, that's what. At point blank range, Maria's godly Scatter Beam combos can wrack up damage at a surprising rate. Especially given that the move was intended as a long-range ability. Maria can destroy even super bosses within seconds with her damage output. Practically no other character scores record breaking kills quite like her. As if that weren't enough, she can still play her intended range game with Energy Burst for MP damage, wiping out random enemies without even breaking a sweat. In a game where 0 MP means Death, MP Damage is just as useful for downing a foe as HP Damage... and Maria has both in spades. Good luck to those bosses and enemies in even denting Maria though. With 50'000+ MP at later levels, she's an absolute beast of an MP tank.
Damaging, durable, supportive, range flexible. That's Maria.
1. Levin Brenton (Wild Arms XF)
Meet Levin, age 15, from the little-known gem of a Strategy RPG, Wild Arms XF. In a party of seasoned warriors, guardians, and strategists, he doesn't seem to fit in. The poor boy is even largely played for laughs, as he crushes hopelessly on both 17-year old female leads and neither even begins to notice. He has no legendary bloodline, and he wields a simple pair of tonfa. But once the story steps aside and the gameplay kicks in, there's no finer fighter to have on your team.
Levin's stats promise a Red Mage style approach to physicals and magic; he is, on paper, slightly below average at both. He possesses two special physical attacks, and both are terrific options. He has a powerful melee attack that only grows more powerful depending on the speed difference between he and his opponent... and his speed is game-best. His other attack? Merely a normal blow that cancels an enemy's next turn, as well as dealing damage. Any enemy. Even bosses. And Levin is very fast, so can use this very often. You can probably see where this is going. What you may not see coming is that Levin's physical game is his less highly-regarded one.
On the magic side... well. Let's start with Blast. Blast being 50% stronger than normal magic spells more than makes up for Levin's unimpressive Magic stat, even before you deck him out with magical gear. And, unlike other long-range spells, he can use it after moving. And it will never run into the elemental defences certain monsters and most bosses sport. Levin can easily run through the entire game just spamming this, picking up skills which raise his magic and let Blast target more than one enemy at once. Mind, eventually, to be fair, over halfway through the game, other characters do, finally, get access to their own spells that can be used after movement. Unfortunately for them, this is the same point in the game at which Levin's last nasty little trick comes into play. At this point, the player gains access to a wide variety of status spells, such as Sleep and Petrify. And Levin possesses an ability called Execrate, which raises the accuracy of his status spells by 50%. Suddenly that coin-flip Petrify spell is a lethal weapon, reliably eliminating durable enemies in a single shot. When that's immuned? Sleep and Confuse are good secondary disablers, and Misery seals everything an enemy has but their unimpressive regular physical. And by the way, even most bosses don't immune all status effects.
So, whether it's physicals or magic, status attacks or turn cancelling, Levin can pretty much do it all, and do it faster than anyone else. To be fair, Wild Arms XF, like many games in its genre, is a game rife with powerful skill combinations, to the point where even with all this, Levin may actually have a rival or two to the claim of being the game's most powerful character (the game's main character, Clarissa, is particularly notable). But given his role in the game's story and his personality, you'd never expect him to be good, let alone as amazing as he is. And that's why Levin is #1 on this list.
ALTERNATE #1 Option:
Geno (Super Mario RPG)
Now here's an interesting #1 choice. Geno is a pretty well-known badass... for a wooden doll. He begins life as a star spirit that had possessed a child's toy. This might sound cool until you realize that we're talking about the ridiculously adorable Stars of Mario fame. Geno goes out into the forest alone to reclaim a fallen star, and in true video game fashion, he needs saving by Mario and Mallow... But don't be fooled by this lackluster introduction, Geno turns out to be one of the most powerful members of the cast.
Think for a moment how surreal this is. Super Mario RPG is the first RPG in the Mario franchise, and the strongest character IS NOT MARIO. It's not Bowser or Princess Toadstool, either. And Luigi wasn't even playable, but we all know he wouldn't have been the strongest anyway. Geno was a definite surprise. Now he's what original characters seem to aspire to be - worthwhile without becoming the center of the game. But nobody has pulled it off quite like Geno.
The first value? Geno Whirl - this little baby only costs 8 FP, and if you time it right, deals 9999 damage. Pretty mind-boggling to see a number like that when the cast normally doesn't break triple-digit damage. Just a shame, really, that it doesn't work on bosses... Exor excluded.
But Geno's biggest contribution is in Geno Boost, not only increasing his damage by 50% (Rock Candies will now deal 300 damage instead of 200), but he will be taking half as much damage as well, making him one of the tankier characters in the cast. The effect lasts for an entire battle, making him a very cost-effective option for boss battles. His offensive special moves are also some of the easiest to power up between the members of the cast, also making him one of the most player-friendly characters in the game! Geno of Star Road, you get a gold Star! (Always end with a Pun!)
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