History Main / PurposelyOverpowered

* Algol in the VideoGame/SoulSeries. He has numerous powerful projectile attacks (a trait only shared even in the least by Ivy and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]]) that can strike anywhere on the entire stage, ''both'' of the series' {{InfinityPlusOneSword}}s that are both wielded fluidly, and in ''Soul Calibur V'', a Critical Finish that can instantly take down half of the opponent's health meter not counting the numerous attacks that can and will be comboed into it. Justified in that he's meant to be a boss character, after all.

* The Valkyrie character class in ''{{Nethack}}'' might qualify. Barbarian was an original class, Valkyrie was added later, with similar starting stats and quality of equipment but more special traits, spellcasting power, and much better magical items. AIUI it was designed to be easier to win the game with. In the descendant game Slash'em, Monks seem to be this, especially when the Doppleganger species.

* [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Inspector Fox]] in ''[[Franchise/SlyCooper Sly Cooper Thieves in Time]]'' when she becomes a playable character. She changes the gameplay from [[StealthBasedMission sneaking around undetected]] to [[MoreDakka "tear through the stage in plain sight gunning down foes with an infinite ammo rapid-fire gun"]].
* VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce2017 has the aptly-named Genocide Gun that does a million HitPoints of damage--enough to one-shot any enemy in the game--and has an enormous blast radius. But you can only get it by [[BraggingRightsReward completing all levels at the highest difficulty]].
* Jade golem and Red minister forms in ''JadeEmpire''. Both are overpowered (Red minister is immune to weapons and Jade Golem is immune to everything else) because you should use them on Jade Master.

** And if you're able to A-rank all [[spoiler:three]] of her skirmishes, [[spoiler:a final skirmish opens up, giving you command of ''[[SuperMode Awakened Valkyria Selvaria.]]'' In this state, her defense goes through the roof - nothing short of tank shells and ''bags'' of gatling gun bullets can even ''chip'' at her HP - and she swaps out her machine gun for her Valkyrian lance and shield, which boasts a rapid-fire mode and a single-shot, 'kill everything directly in front of me' mode. Her troops are ''still'' about as tough as cardboard, though.]]

* Most of the bonus characters in the ''SuperRobotWars'' games, who are you reward for doing various things, or just getting to the real final chapter.

* At the end of ''SuperMetroid'', Samus is given the Hyper Beam during the last stage of the fight with Mother Brain. It's rather important as it's the only thing that can hurt her, however you get to keep it during the [[CatastrophicCountdown timed escape sequence]] and any enemies foolish enough to get in your way are obliterated by it in one shot.

* The [[EleventhHourSuperpower Super Gravity Gun]] in ''{{Half-Life}} 2''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ41UmUU0QE Check it out in action]].

* The final boss characters in ''AdvanceWars 2'' and ''Days of Ruin'', Sturm and Caulder/Stolos, are horribly broken (The latter is in fact outright BANNED from Wi-Fi play). Sturm in the first game and Von Bolt from ''Dual Strike'', meanwhile, are not.

*** Except Ma Chao is not invincible at all. His infamous shockwave attack is USELESS on Chaos difficulty and will only become broken when he gains access to the Shadow Runner and spam his normal one-side swing mounted attack (though this applies to Zhou Tai as well). Lu Bu IS the most powerful non-mounted unit in most of the games; as long as you are aware of archers, you can beat all Chaos mode stages just spamming his square x 3 attack. Also, being able to clear the game with ease IS the definition of overpowered, so his ease of use is exactly part of what makes him overpowered.

*** Except Ma Chao is not invincible at all. His infamous shockwave attack is USELESS on Chaos difficulty and will only become broken when he gains access to the Shadow Runner and spam his normal one-side swing mounted attack (though this applies to Zhou Tai as well). Lu Bu IS the most powerful non-mounted unit in most of the games; as long as you are aware of archers, you can beat all Chaos mode stages just spamming his square x 3 attack.

** The RYNO-5 revels in the fact that it's basically MoreDakka, BeamSpam, and MacrossMissileMassacre all rolled into one and garnished with a light dusting of pure crack by playing ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8&t=836s the finale of the 1812 Overture]]'' while you are firing it. It's exactly as awesome as it sounds.

** Note, this is only the case for Warriors. [[MagicKnigt conjure]] could get some use out of it, but they are still more mage then warrior, with most of their physical talents geared towards using of ranged weapons, so the staff isn't quite the GameBreaker it is for the warrior. Meanwhile the Mages have so little use for it one has to wonder why they spent 3/4 of the game building the weapon before attacking the BigBad. One could argue the staff power is an in-story way to combat /LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards

* Battletech did this over and over, though justified in that the timelime progresses. When the game was first created, there were only 17 different weapons, all well balanced against each other, and every mech had single heat sinks. For the Autocannons, the high damage AC20 had only 40% of the range of the AC2 (9 hexes vs. 24). At the time the AC20 was also the only weapon that could take the head off a mech in 1 shot (1/36 chance of head hit, 12 damage needed to kill. Weapons that can do 12 in 1 shot are known as headchoppers). Then Star League tech was introduced, including the Gauss Rifle, which could do 15 damage at 23 hexes, making the previously badass AC20 completely obsolete. Then the Clans were introduced, who aside from all their weapons being longer ranged, stronger, and lighter, also got the Clan ERPPC, an energy (doesn't need ammo) headchopper with the same range as the Gauss, and the Ultra AC20, which was just like the AC20 except it fires 2 shots at a time. In the ensuing 15 years, 7 more headchopping weapons were introduced, all with longer range than the AC20, and many not needing ammo. The most overpowered units in the game mount several of these. For the Inner Sphere, the Thunderhawk carries 3 Gauss Rifles. For the Clans, The Annihilator C2 has 4 Gauss Rifles AND an ERPPC.

** The RYNO-5 revels in the fact that it's basically MoreDakka, BeamSpam, and MacrossMissileMassacre all rolled into one garnished with a light dusting of pure crack by playing ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8&t=836s the finale of the 1812 Overture]]'' while you are firing it. It's exactly as awesome as it sounds.

* Polish Winged Hussars in the ''With Fire and Sword'' expansion get a mix of both: They really ''were'' badass, and they have to contend with everyone else. And in this expansion, everyone else has ''muskets''. Result is, you can shoot a winged hussar in the face and he'll still spear you.

** The main character in ''MakaiKingdom'', overlapping with ATasteOfPower.

* Some legendary {{Pokemon}}, especially the non-event ones that are forbidden to use in the Battle Subway anyway, were designed with this in mind, particullary Mewtwo, who after a HUGE nerf remains one of the most dangerous creatures to face in the game. Kyurem, who gets the same treatment from the game as Mewtwo, is an odd case, as it was designed to be slighty less overpowered, but its redundant typing and lack of movepool made it a suboptimal choice compared to less overpowered (in paper) critters. The rule of thumb is that legendary and pseudo-legendary Pokemon will have above average stat totals, but may suffer from lack of movepool, lack of synergy between stats and type, or being overshadowed by "regular" Pokemon with better movepools and/or stat distribution.

* You basically need the legendary weapons in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' to beat Penance. Oh, and nearly maxed out stats too.
** Or be lucky and get Yojimbo to use Zanmato, which is overpowered specifically because of bosses like this.
* Another bonus boss example is the bonus Weapons in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Knights of the Round is a GameBreaker on anything else, but killing the bonus Weapons without it is maddeningly difficult.

** His son also counts; his unique class, Astrologer, has only a single move to its name... which automatically stops, immobilizes, and disarms every single enemy on the field regardless of range (separately, so immunity to any one status effect still doesn't protect them.) For free. Fortunately or unfortunately, he only joins you for one battle, and you can't control him. Many fans have commented on the absurdity of a battle where you team up with somebody as overpowered as Orran, and ''you'' are supposed to rescue ''him''.

* In the ''Tribunal'' expansion for VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind, you can [[spoiler:kill King Hlaalu Helseth.]] If you managed to do that, you can loot the best defensive item in the game: A ring with 100% Reflect, 100% Resist Magicka, 100% Resist Paralysis, AND health and fatigue restoration. Note that all of these effects are ''constant''.

* Mario's [[NewSuperMarioBros2 Gold Flower]] power-up, full stop. While his speed, strength, etc. is still normal, the fireballs are ridiculously powerful. They can take out ''any'' enemy, including bosses, in one hit; give Mario a ton of coins; and even turn blocks near where they hit into coins.