Fighting game fans are always looking for an edge. That’s the nature of competition. For the most part, that comes through practice, but you can also get a leg up by choosing a top-tier character. For example, if you want to dominate in Street Fighter 6, you’ll probably want to learn someone like JP or Ryu. You can absolutely style on weaker opponents with someone like Lily, but there’s a reason why top players at events like the Capcom Cup 11 use specific characters. That said, some characters are so broken, most players will look at you funny if you decide to break them out in a competitive setting.
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Here are the seven most broken characters in fighting games. I’ve tried to largely stay away from boss characters like Gill in Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike, but a few have filtered in because of how powerful they are.
7) Kabal
- Mortal Kombat (2011)
The MK9 iteration of Kabal is one of the fastest characters we’ve ever seen in a Mortal Kombat game. His attacks are incredibly difficult to avoid because your opponent can spam them much quicker than most players can react.
With his ability to stun you mid-air, that leads to strings of combos that can end in a “Flawless Victory” before you know what hit you. It got so bad online that most players would leave a match if you loaded in as Kabal.
6) Pet Shop
- Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future
Pet Shop is banned by most Jojo players; that’s how strong his moveset is. He has a smaller hitbox, weird movement patterns, huge damage, and great mixups. Simply put, if you want something in a fighting game, Pet Shop probably has it.
That said, the real reason most ban the bird is its unblockable ice attacks. With this, he can easily rattle off a huge combo, leaving you crying in the dust, not really knowing what hit you. Pet Shop is impossible to beat, but most Jojo players would rather not bother dealing with it.
5) Yoda
- Soulcalibur 4
When it was revealed that Soulcalibur 4 would include Darth Vader and Yoda, fans were excited. Guest characters are always fun, and the two Star Wars fan favorites seemed to fit well. Then, players got their hands on Yoda.
Not only is Yoda tiny, which means most high attacks whiff over the top of him, but he also can’t be grabbed. This makes him a defensive juggernaut who can easily use his speed to quickly dispatch opponents. Sure, he didn’t deal much damage, but that doesn’t matter when you can’t hit him.
4) Storm
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
MVC2 has quite a few overpowered characters. Magneto, Sentinel, and even Cable can more than hold their own against most foes, but Storm stands above everyone. She is incredibly versatile, and her potent combos put her on top of the rest of MVC2‘s broken characters.
Once you get up enough meter to launch Hail Storm, you’ll have the best Hyper Combo in the game. Add in the annoying Typhoon attack (if you can stand listening to Storm repeat the same line over and over), and you have a character that can rush down just about anyone. She also has good mobility and is effective against every character. Her only downside: A relatively low health pool. Thankfully, most opponents will be dead before you need to worry about that.
3) Akuma
- Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
There’s a good reason fighting game fans sometimes refer to other characters as “Akuma-likes.” He’s a well-known demon on the Street Fighter 2 scene, and many developers have tried to emulate the red-haired monster because he’s so beloved.
The reason Akuma is such a strong character is that he’s blindingly fast. Luckily, players didn’t have access to his boss version, but even the toned-down character you could play as was widely banned in competitive play. That’s how strong Akuma’s speed and damage potential were in Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo.
2) Meta Knight
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Meta Knight is such a well-rounded character in Brawl that he often has his own “SS” tier on most Smash Bros. tier lists. Seriously, there are no drawbacks to playing as Meta Knight. He deals huge chunks of damage with his Galaxia sword and has ridiculous recovery tools that make it nearly impossible to get rid of.
In many ways, Meta Knight is the poster child for broken fighting game characters. He’s often banned at Brawl tournaments, and if he isn’t, expect to see players on the podium using him. Thankfully, he’s settled lower on the tiers in later releases, and Smash Ultimate has several characters fighting for the top spot.
1) Ivan Ooze
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition
Ooze is a boss character, so I debated not putting him on this list, but he has the distinction of being one of the few boss characters that isn’t neutered when players unlock him. You’ll need to beat the Story Mode on hard difficulty to earn the code to unlock Ooze, but when you do, you’ll essentially have the full might of the villain behind you.
He can fly, forcing his opponent into predictable air attacks. He has access to spammable and multi-hit homing moves. Oh, and most of those include invincible variants. He’s immune to throws. Sure, he can’t block, but it doesn’t matter when you remember he can just fly over his opponents.
Most boss characters are essentially broken as a final challenge, but most developers also don’t upset competitive balance by giving players access to that boss. Ivan Ooze is a different beast, and easily the most broken fighting game character of all time.
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
