6 Most Powerful Heroes in Final Fantasy, Ranked

The Final Fantasy series has been putting out new games for decades, giving fans plenty of heroes to meet and play as. During that time, a few of those characters have become fan favorites for their god-like exploits. These heroes are so powerful, they put everyone else to shame. In a battle of the strongest good guys in Final Fantasy, these are the ones you want to put your money on.

Here are the six strongest heroes in Final Fantasy history.

6) Cloud Strife – Final Fantasy VII

You’d have to be strong to wield a sword that big. While Final Fantasy VII‘s protagonist might look like a skinny weakling, his physique is fooling you. This guy packs a punch, thanks in part to his status as a former SOLDIER 1st Class fighter. That elite unit is filled with strong warriors, but Cloud stands out as one of its best.

After all, he’s the guy who took down Sephiroth, one of Final Fantasy‘s strongest antagonists. Cloud uses FF7‘s Materia system to become one of the series’ most dominant fighters, while also using deadly Limit Breaks like Omni-Slash to deal massive damage. He doesn’t quite have the other-worldly powers of some of the other characters on this list, but he’s no slouch.

5) Terra Bradford – Final Fantasy VI

Unlike later Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy VI doesn’t have a main protagonist. As one of the last games to have a larger focus on the entire party, you might assume that FF6 wouldn’t have one character who completely overshadows everyone else. Unfortunately for you, you haven’t met Terra Bradford.

She is a human-Esper hybrid, which gives her access to incredible magical powers. When she transforms into a pure Esper through her Trance ability, all her skills get a big boost, making her even more powerful. It’s not quite on the level of gods (which we’ll get to soon), but Terra is holding her own against most characters in Final Fantasy‘s history.

4) Clive Rosenfield – Final Fantasy XVI

Like Cloud, Clive isn’t bad with a sword. However, that’s not where his true power lies. Clive can summon Eikons, but it’s much more powerful than other Final Fantasy summoners because he actually transforms into those Eikons. These demigod characters are supremely powerful, so seeing Clive control them is undoubtedly impressive.

The reason Clive doesn’t rank higher is that he can only control one Eikon at a time. That limits his abilities quite a bit, though it’s not like he’s struggling to destroy most of the baddies in Final Fantasy XVI. He’s strong, but there are levels to this.

3) Noctis Lucis Caelum – Final Fantasy XV

Case in point: Noctis can also summon several different types of demigod-like minions. That includes thirteen Kings of Yore and five Astrals. The difference is that Noctis can summon all of these at the same time. Clive’s Eikon is undeniably powerful, but it’s little comfort when you’re going up against an army of similarly powered summons.

Granted, most of that power comes from the Ring of the Lucii, so you could argue Noctis’ real strength comes from his birthright and shouldn’t count. That seems more like an argument of semantics, so I think he comfortably takes this spot. Plus, Noctis can teleport around the battlefield like he’s Nightcrawler from X-Men. That’s always worth an extra point in my book.

2) Lightning – Final Fantasy XIII

The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy is somewhat decisive among fans, but what can’t be denied is that Lightning is one of the strongest protagonists in the series’ history. That’s because she becomes Etro’s champion, which gives her the power to find and kill actual gods.

Again, some might argue it’s not Lightning that has that power. She’s only tapping into Etro’s own abilities, so it’s not something she innately has access to. However, that is again a matter of semantics. At the end of the day, Clive and Noctis are dealing in the world of demigods, and Lightning is taking things up a notch.

1) The Warrior of Light – Final Fantasy XIV

Am I cheating here? Maybe, but it’s hard to imagine any character overtaking the player character in Final Fantasy XIV. You could argue Final Fantasy XI into this spot, but I didn’t want to have two MMO characters on the list. Regardless, the player character in both games is incredibly strong and relatively easily takes the top spot.

Granted, it’s not exactly fair. I’m sure if Lightning had the equivalent of several more sequels, she would also be as powerful as the Warrior of Light. However, she doesn’t, and in FF14, players have literally killed the concept of despair and struck fear into the heart of the gods.

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