* A general ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' example: [[UselessUsefulSpell Petrify and Charm]]. No, seriously. Charm can be obtained ''very'' early in pretty much every game, and doubles as one of the best ways to deal with bad ElementalRockPaperScissors matchups you're bound to have, a way to deal with GoddamnedBats and a way to keep your party healed with low cost and, though rare, can also works on minor bosses. Petrify, on the other hand, kills pretty much everything non-boss, barring some rare occasions, with surprisingly high accuracy, even though it takes longer to get.
* In games that permit it, skill mutations can lead to your demons or Personas learning very powerful skills far earlier than the game expects you to have. In the earlier entries, you have no indication what the skill will change into, so it's usually too risky to play with, but later entries like ''Shin Megami Tensei IV'' and ''Strange Journey Redux'' show what's changing into what, giving you more control over what skills you'll access.
* The original ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'' plays around with this trope a bit. Early on, you can create a unique, high-level Cerberus by fusing your pet dog with a demon, in one of the precious few exceptions to the rule where you cannot create or recruit a demon of a higher level than yourself. This lets you plow your way through many of the game's early enemies. About halfway through the game's first act, however, it leaves your party. After you and your comrades are teleported to the demon world just before the nukes fall, you get a chance to reunite with the very same Cerberus, which also makes him a Disc Two Nuke.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'' has several ways to go about this.
** In the first town's Casino, you can purchase the Cat 'O Ninetails, an absurdly powerful melee weapon for female characters, for 5000 coins. That price might seem a bit prohibitive at first, but it's really not that hard to win that much with the slots. The only real limitation is that you must be of the Neutral alignment to equip it.
** Using Demon Fusions with a 'human' demon (ie any 'Gaean' or 'Messaian' type creatures) as a component is a bit of a wildcard. It could result in nothing spectacular, but could also land you monsters of much higher level that, amazingly, completely ignores any level restrictions. With diligence, you could end up with the likes of [[OlympusMons Metatron and Kali]] before you even leave the first town.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'':
** Early on, the Demi-fiend can learn the spell "Fog Breath" from one of his starting Magatamas at level 21. It's two castings of Sukunda (lowers accuracy and evasion) ''in one''. Despite the MP cost it will save your life, as enemies will lose turns if their attacks miss. It continues to be useful all the way until Demi-fiend and his familiars can learn Debilitate.
** Focus qualifies, being learnt as early as level 23. It's a cheap spell that amplifies the user's next physical attack by over 2 times. It ''never'' leaves the skill set of physical builds, especially for those going for the True Demon ending where they also attain Pierce to bypass most physical resistances.
** Tornado is learned at level 17 from the Hifumi Magatama. It deals heavy Force damage, and is earned extremely early for the level of power it dishes out. The Hifumi Magatama also gives Force Boost at level 22, making it even stronger.
* Early on in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', you can fuse an Angel with the right demons. Keep Angel in your party for three-fourths of the game and through a series of evolutions, it can eventually evolve in Cherub, the strongest Divine demon in the game.
** You can also do the same thing in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'', but only this time, Cherub isn't the strongest Divine demon. It's actually because there are two versions of Angel in this game, which are both the weakest and the strongest of the Divine demons of this game. The stronger Angel has access to Judgment Light, Luster Candy and Mediarahan.
* The midgame quest "A Power Beyond Control" in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiV'' rewards you with Amanozako's Essence, i.e the Essence of a ''Lv 76 Demon'' at a point where you're expected to be 50 at best. It comes with "severe" tier Elec and Force spells, Mediarahan and a boost skill for Almighty attacks. Alternatively, you can impart its elemental resistances into the protagonist and make him Null Force and Dark, Resist Light and Repel Elec, at the cost of two weaknesses.
** Even before that, if you bought the DLC, The first three fiends could trivialize the first two major bosses easily. Matador is immune to wind and dodges like mad, making Nuwa waste tons of press turns while wreaking havoc on her lower defenses. Daisoujou's components provide immunity to fire and he naturally learns Mahama, which hits Lahmu and all of his appendages on their light weakness and he doesn't care how powerful his opponents spells are, as he can tank them and heal off the damage while hurting Lahmu at the same time. Even when Lahmu changes to be neutral to light, he is still weak to fire and wind, which Hell Biker will happily exploit while being immune to his ailments. Fitting that the aspects of death can murder the most powerful of demons.
* The second ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' has Tentarafoo, normally a UselessUsefulSpell, except here it actually does damage. With only Pulinpa on one party member and any debuff on another, you can access this as a Combo Skill very early in the game, at a point where "moderate"-tier damage is enough to oneshot any random encounter. And very few enemies resist it at that point. Sure [[ContractualBossImmunity it's useless against bosses]], but on everything else...
* The first ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' has Phaleg, a level 18 Persona that nullifies ''magic'' and has a powerful attack spell and Mediarama (the first Persona to have it; the rest are at level 29 and up). Not only is it absurdly easy to obtain, you can fuse it at a point where it can literally one-hit just about anything, and it remains useful even in the endgame due to its low SP cost.
* In the UpdatedRerelease ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}: FES'', you can now indulge in ItemCrafting at the Shinshoudo Antique Shop. The process is simple: you must forge a persona you have in your inventory to a "blank" weapon. With a bit of MoneyGrinding, and use of the OldSaveBonus feature to bring back one's persona compendium from the original game, one can buy back a high-level persona and fuse it to any blank weapon resulting in a weapon you probably wouldn't get for at least 70% into the game. For more fun and potential game breakage, forging certain personae results in an InfinityPlusOneSword.
** Fusing the right 3 Persona (Pixie and Nekomata then the result with an Angel) early on can give you a Lilim with the 4 main elements[[note]]In this game, hitting an enemies weakness gives you an extra turn once per round[[/note]] by level 8. This lasts more than long enough for the next quad elemental persona (Pale Raider) which lasts till the right skills are accessible for specialists.
** A similar recipe exists to create a 4-element Yomotsu Shikome, a Lv. 9 Hermit Persona[[note]]Forneus + Angel = Lilim, Lilim + Ara Mitama = Inugami, Orpheus + Angel = Alp, Inugami + Alp = Yomotsu Shikome[[/note]]. It's slightly better than Lilim because Shikome lack's Lilim's weakness to Hama skills.
* You can do a similar trick in ''VideoGame/Persona4''. NewGamePlus lets you carry over your money and any registered personas. As soon as the compendium is available, you can just buy a high-powered persona such as Ardha, Lucifer, Satan, Metatron, Yoshitsune, etc. and bulldoze through dungeons in at least one day.
** There's also the "Victory Cry Kaiwan" trick. Kaiwan is a Lv. 24 Star arcana persona who starts with Tetrakarn. While it is a useful spell because it will reflect any Phys-based attack (except almighty) once, the true beauty of it comes when you fuse the persona on a day where the Fusion Forecast gives the "skill change" bonus. When it is fused with the least amount of passed-on skills, there's a random chance of Tetrakarn morphing into Victory Cry (full HP/SP restore after winning a battle). If Kaiwan gets Victory Cry, he makes great fusion fodder for passing the skill to other personas. While Victory Cry is the most desirable skill, it's also possible to get any number of high level abilities like this, such as Repel Physical.
** As early as the first dungeon, you can obtain the Persona Slime, who learns the skill "Resist Physical", which is incredibly useful against the early enemies who don't use magic as often. On top of that, in [[UpdatedRerelease Persona 4 Golden]], you can pick the Magician card during Shuffle Time to turn it into "Null Physical", making you completely immune to physical attacks, which is extremely useful during the whole game. While Slime is a weak Persona in terms of stats and attacks, the Resist/Null Physical skill can then be passed down through fusion, making it easy to acquire an army of powerful, physical-immune Personas right at the start of the game.
** Sarasvati's a level 17 Persona, and just 2 levels up from base she gains Invigorate 2, which can aid greatly in SP management to clear early-game dungeons in one in-game day. Keep her around until level 23, and she gains Null Wind, one of your earliest elemental Null passives. She then makes for great fusion fodder from that point.
** Neko Shogun's a solid level 32 Persona, and the earliest Special Fusion you'll encounter. (You'd also need it for Margaret's Social Link, so it's hard to miss.) It resists physical, repels elec, is immune to light and dark, and it comes with a good spread of skills -- Black Spot for critical hits, Mediarama and Divine Grace for incredible healing, Matarukaja for buffs, and Evade Wind to cover its own weakness.
* ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'' has two notable examples, Agathion and Turdrak.
** Agathion is one of the first personas you'll receive, being handed to you for free once you have the ability to equip sub personas. What makes him so good is the fact that it starts with Hama, and almost every single enemy in the first dungeon is weak to it, as well as a few annoying enemies in the second. To boot, once Agathion has been outstripped by stronger personas, it can be fused into several incredibly useful personas AND pass them Hama.
** Turdak is a persona earned for completing a side quest in the second dungeon. At first it can be underwhelming as it is meant to use the various 'Link' skills, but the nuke part comes from the fact that it can learn 'Shinkuuha,' a skill that's a gamebreaker in and of itself, and the passive skill 'Heroic Gemini,' which gives about a 20% to use a skill twice with no extra HP/MP cost. This persona is obtained at around level 20, but can easily be used up to around the FOURTH dungeon, which is around level 50!
* ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVSKingAbaddon'' features Fiend battles. They are quite tough as per usual for the series as they start hounding you as early as Episode Three. However, with a little patience and demon setup, you can kill the White Rider (and Red Rider if you're lucky) and unlock it for fusion. What makes this so great is that Fiends do not have the level restriction as most other demons--all you need is to have defeated the Fiend just once, have the proper gems (which can be acquired by bribing demons) and the moon phase to be New Moon. If you create the Rider, he'll be about 40+ levels higher than Raidou, have a boatload of resistances ''and'' can be augmented with Full Moon Mitama fusion. With this demon(s) on Raidou's side, they can pretty much curbstomp the next two Episodes or so. This can also be done when fusing Magatsu/Evil-type demons (any moonphase except new moon), and for those you don't even have to kill them to unlock. The system can be further exploited by the fact that you cannot have the same demon twice, Fiend and Magatsu/Evil fusions are no exception, if you have the demon that you would get from the gems, you simply get the one lower, unless there isn't any in which case you get one HIGHER, with enough time and saving you could easily get a level 31 and a level 33 evil demon from the moment you are able to fuse.
* This is a later example, but ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' has Black Frost and Frost Ace, both of which have no weakness and spells that demons of their level shouldn't have; both Black Frost and Frost Ace have third-tier ice magic, and Black Frost also comes with Mamudoon, a reasonably accurate dark-based TotalPartyKill spell. You can get them both as early as Delphinus if your level's high enough; having both of them only requires you to be at level 34 and having 5 specific demons in your party, which the game is generous enough to tell you. Black Frost's D-Source also comes packed with Agidyne, Bufudyne, and Mamudoon, giving extra elemental flexibility to whichever caster you use it on.
** Unlocking the fusion for Frost Ace, which can be done a little earlier, gives you an extra DiscOneNuke in the form of the Frost Cannon, a gun that comes with three spells; Bufudyne, Mazionga and Garudyne, all three of which are notably stronger than what other guns available to you at this point come with.
** High Pixie is available at level 19, and comes with Bufula, Media, and Peter Piper, which is a Gun skill. Her inheritance preferences also allow her to inherit Mazio and Magaru from her fusion components. Throw in a D-Source and you can also impart Agilao or Maragi, and you have a great all-rounder demon for setting off Co-Op attacks. Her D-Source is also very good, containing Mediarama and Recovery Boost to let you turn anyone into a strong healer.
** Shiisaa is available at level 16, but has War Cry, which is equivalent to ''two castings of Tarunda''. For comparison, the next demon that innately has this skill is level ''36''. While its MP cost is steep, the ability to defang bosses in a couple turns (as opposed to having a team spam Fang Breaker) is invaluable. Not just that, but War Cry also appears in Shiisaa's D-Source, which allows you keep it around on your team until you access Debilitate and Luster Candy.
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', you fight against [[Literature/ArsGoetia Botis]], who has the Ziodyne spell (strong electric damage against one enemy), relatively early in the game. If you use skill crack to get it, it will be the only -Dyne level spell you have for a long time.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'':
** [[MetalSlime Treasure Demons]] come jam-packed with useful skills that make them great fusion fodder, and will be recruited without demands if you knock them down. The first one, Regent, is a fixed encounter in the second Palace designed to serve as a tutorial for how they work, and cannot be missed. Said Treasure Demon comes with first-tier area-hitting spells for all eight magic elements, which is great if you're missing elemental coverage. Once the Gallows are unlocked, the Treasure Demons become invaluable for imparting bountiful amounts of experience to power-level your Personas in exchange for some money, on top of imparting a random skill they possess.
** Swift Strike is available as early as level 19 for Joker, but causing a guaranteed 3-4 light hits to all foes is a lot more powerful that it sounds. Don't be surprised if you find yourself keeping this skill on most new Persona you upgrade from. The skill was nerfed in ''Royal'' to do "miniscule" hits instead of light, making it much less useful.
** Shiki-Ouji is a level 21 Persona that Nulls Phys/Gun/Curse skills, an absurd level of resistance for that early in the game. Given the amount of Phys skills alone you come across, Shiki-Ouji more than makes up for his level in sheer usefulness right out the gate, and in ''Royal'' it can prove an absolute life-saver against Shadow Kaneshiro.
** Itemizing Ame-no-Uzume (which the player would no doubt end up fusing if they're working on the Strength Confidant) will create Senryou Yakusha, a katana for Yusuke that gives an impressive +5 Strength bonus. Even if its power or accuracy will get overshadowed later on, this stat boost continues to be useful into the late- or endgame, where the player would be using his physical skills more than his basic attack.
** As expected by their DownloadableContent status, the Legacy Personas (Orpheus, Izanagi, Thanatos, Kaguya, Magatsu Izanagi, Messiah, Ariadne, Tsukiyomi, Asterius) are overpowered for how early you get them in the game -- you absolutely destroy the < level 10 enemies with the level 20-'''81''' Personas, even on Hard or Merciless difficulty. What really drives them into this territory however isn't just their strength, it's that the ''first'' summoning of any of them (even the lvl 80 personas) is entirely ''FREE'' of charge. Any summons after this should you use them in a fusion must be paid for of course, but still a free courtesy summon is insane to ignore.
** In ''Royal'', the new Consultant Confidant, Takuto Maruki, gives Joker the Detox X and Flow abilities as his first two Confidant powers. Detox X gives Joker a free chance to instantly dispel any negative statuses that affect him, while Flow gives him a chance to start a battle with Charge already on. They're both ridiculously powerful for early-game effects.