10 Strongest Fictional Characters of All Time, Ranked

Well, it had to happen eventually – we had to put together the grand-daddy of all power ranking lists: the 10 strongest fictional characters of all time! But be warned, this list is not going to be the same kind of list that you see out there. While there will be a few familiar faces, we’ve taken our own twist on this list, and we think what we’ve done makes a difference.

In this list, we’re not simply going for the big and mighty, God replacements in storylines. We’re taking a multi-faceted approach to this, finding different characters who fit different areas of expertise better than others. That means your all powerful, omniscient characters like Eru Iluvitar or The One Above all are missing, and instead we will be featuring actual protagonists that play a tangible role in their respective universes.

So, without further ado, here are the 10 greatest fictional characters of all time!

#10 Sherlock Holmes

A lot of you may be more familiar with the exploits of a certain Bruce Wayne than of Sherlock Holmes. However, long before the caped crusader hit the streets, Sherlock Holmes was on the scene, solving crimes. No matter what adaptation you’ve seen, the source material for Sherlock Holmes beats them all. He is truly the greatest detective in the entire history of fiction making him a powerful adversary, as well as ally.

#9 Albus Dumbledore – Harry Potter

Some of you might be surprised to find Albus Dumbledore on this list. But Harry Potter is the best selling Book series of all time, and a massive global phenomenon. So it makes sense that Dumbledore would be on this list. He might very well be just one of the most famous, if not the most famous, wizards of all time, and his name int he Harry Potter Universe is synonymous with power. And while he himself admits that there are wizards stronger than himself out there, he still warrants a spot on any list of heavy hitters.

#8 Ciri – The Witcher

Ciri is strong. How strong? It’s hard to say for sure. But she has power over time itself, and can portal in-between parallel universes. On top of that, she has combative top-notch combat powers stemming from her Elder Blood, making her a powerful foe, and easily the strongest character in the Witcher Universe. Her magical powers seem to be without limit, and her closest parallel in other material might just be Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force.

#7 Darth Vader – Star Wars

There’s a lot of debate over who is the strongest Jedi/Sith in Star Wars. There shouldn’t be. Darth Vader is the strongest, as well as one of the most powerful and dynamic bad guys in all of fictiondom. At his peak, he has the power to destory planets. At his weakest, he can still overwhelm just about anyone through sheer power of the dark side.

# 6 Avatar the Last Airbender

We never get to see Aang at his full power – he faces down the Fire Lord well before he’s actually mastered all four elements. And yet, he’s still super powerful. Thanks to his deus ex machina esque power the Avatar State, Aang comes out of the box with all the power of the previous Avatars. And this isn’t unique to him. Any Avatar that comes after him has this power, making them incredibly strong. Just imagine what a fully grown Avatar would be like.

#5 Thor – Marvel

Technically, yes there are far other more powerful “beings” in the Marvel universe (a simple Google search will show you who they are). But those characters have such little impact on the plot, and are mostly personifications of God. Thor, however, is very much a “character” in the sense that he is directly involved with the goings-on of the story.

Just to give you an idea of how powerful Thor actually is, he was able to rival Superman when they fought in the crossover comic JLA/Avengers #2 (2003). Superman even told Thor that he was the single strongest opponent he’d ever faced.

Putting comic books aside and going to the movies that fans are more familiar with, Thor at his peak strength in Infinity War seems to have become the single strongest being in Marvel at that point in time, making him capable of even easily destroying Thanos. Say what you want about “The One Above All” or “The Presence” – Thor is tough enough.

#4 Achilles – The Iliad

No, we’re not talking about the Achilles knockoff you can find in the Marvel universe. Instead, we’re talking about the original warrior badass, Achilles the Greek. Achilles is the greatest Greek warrior of the greatest era in Greek warrior mythology, and he’s the central character to Homer’s work, The Iliad.

Achilles was incredibly powerful – skilled in all arts of war, but most of all, he was invincible. Except for his heel. But every great warrior also has a weakness.

#3 Superman – DC

Speaking of characters with weakness, Superman is probably one of the first characters that comes to mind when you think of strength. He’s so iconic as a character, almost an embodiment of America’s own strength in the post WWII world. But he does have his weaknesses. He is lethally vulnverable to kryptonite, something his adversaries use well against him. As mentioned earlier, he’s not particularly strong against magic, either. His power originates more from nature, so he doesn’t hold any sway over magic. Of course, that’s not to say he can’t still beat magic users.

All in all, Superman is one of the most powerful characters of fiction of all time. It’s basically written into his character to be one of the strongest beings around.

#2 Goku – Dragon Ball Z

Goku has a lot in common with Superman – both are aliens who come to Earth and basically become honorary earthlings. And they both are incredibly strong. They are both so legendary for their strength and power, in fact, that a lot of debate has occurred over who would win between them. While we love Superman, we have to give the edge to Goku. Goku’s main weakness is his low levels of intellect and strategy. Superman outclasses him here. However, a big reason to give Goku the edge is that Superman can easily be destroyed by Kryptonite. If Goku theoretically got his hands on some of that stuff, Superman would be finished.

Also, Goku is able to continually get stronger. While Superman also has ways to raise his power ceiling, it’s less common for him to seek increased power. His power level is so high relative to everyone else around him to start with that he hasn’t had to acquire new abilities the way Goku does.

#1 Gandalf – The Lord of the Rings

Remember how we said this list would be a little bit different? Gandalf is not the person you think of when you think raw power. But he may very well be the single most powerful character on this list in terms of well roundedness. This well roundedness enabled him to plot the eventual downfall of one of the greatest Dark Lord’s in all of fiction. In terms of strategy, he is easily the most powerful strategic thinker on this list, putting even Sherlock Holmes to shame. The downfall of Sauron was planned thousands of years in advance, and involved so many massive chances that only someone supremely and supernaturally intelligent could have done this.

In regards to his physical power, Gandalf is not vulnerable to weapons, and he has complete mastery over magic. Lastly, he can’t die – something which no one else on this list can claim. That’s simply because he is not actually a mortal being – he’s a spirit that can take human form. Outside of his human form, it’s likely his powers are even more unlimited. Plus, when he does “die”, like Goku he just comes back stronger.