Moyomoto, a name for the Prince of Midenhall that, thanks to a Good Bad Bug in the famicom version, causes him to begin the game at level 48 (out of 50) with three of the Plot Coupons already in hand and no equipment, allowing him to tear through the early and mid game with his bare hands. Fan art depicting him as a Kenshiro-like One-Man Army runs abound.
The Prince of Midenhall in general is often viewed as this due to being the only protagonist in the series to not be some form of Magic Knight, which has caused many to declare him to be a Badass Normal man among men who can take down vicious monsters with pure muscle.
And he's running as fast as it is — backwards — on top of that.
Forget a train, Sabin can suplex himself! He defies physics. That's how badass Sabin is.
By understanding how Mantra actually works, in the correct conditions Sabin can, in fact, successfully divide by zero to do maximum damage to an enemy.
Quoth the man himself: "You think a minor thing like the end of the world was gonna do me in?"
Emperor Palamecia is so badass, he conquered Heaven and Hell at the same time! Either way, you're fucked from either end of the celestial food chain.
Ricard Highwind, the first Dragoon of the series, set the bar high. His defining Badass moment? Pulling a You Shall Not Pass!Heroic Sacrifice against the freshly-back-from-Hell Emperor, all by himself. And then, in the remakes, being dead doesn't stop him from kicking the Emperor's ass in Heaven!
Though they weren't very memorable when they were first introduced in FFV, the Tonberries have since obtained a meta status as The Dreaded to all Final Fantasy players who've ever met them.
If it isn't clear by now: When you go up against a Tonberry, you have to be prepared to burn through your revival resources at a rate most bosses won't make you use your healing resources.
Jecht, originally from Final Fantasy X, has achieved this thanks to Dissidia Final Fantasy, and has earned the Fan Nickname"Captain Jecht." The nickname only makes more sense when you think that he has his own version of the Falcon Punch — one of his HP attacks is an exploding punch. Also, in a cutscene where he slams his son Tidus halfway across the arena with a single blow, and takes a sword slash to the chest and literally shrugs it off.
And in Duodecim, he gains the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes. Why? Because he's Jecht.
A giant lizard thingy tried to bite Auron. After days of excruciating pain, the giant lizard thingy died.
One time, Auron got stranded in the Via Purifico. He loudly complained that this was inconveniencing him; because the universe knows better than to mess with Auron again, it brought the exit to him so he could be on his way.
Sometimes Auron lies down in the middle of a fight until a Phoenix Down is used on him, just to give the enemies a fighting chance.
Kain Highwind from Final Fantasy IV isn't quite as memetic as Gilgamesh or Jecht, but he definitely has his fans, and his own "Kain Facts." With his inclusion in Dissidia 012, you can be assured that there will be many a YouTube video of Kain and Jecht duking it out... or teaming up via the new Assist feature.
Hell, Golbez, the not quiteBig Bad of IV, is one of these in Dissidia (not to the levels of the above three, but still). Jecht might beat your face in with his manly vigor, but Golbez literally pimp slapssome knowledgeinto you.
In a little known universe known as Final Fantasy VII, there exists a woman who can powerbomb a 50 foot monster... UNDERWATER! ON THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN FLOOR!. That woman is Tifa Lockhart.
Cloud Strife as he will shrug and say he’s so “Not interested” in your bullshit, so long as he gets paid. But if he needs to crossdress as a woman, snowboard down a mountain or beat a man Dance-Off Cloud will do it like a pro. He also gets stronger in combat when he says “Lets dance asshole” or especially when he says “Let’s mosey”.
Aerith Gainsborough with her chair. Not even Sephiroth can defeat Aerith when she wields her foldaway of pain.
Can’t forget the manliest Scary Black Man Eco Terrorist sticking it to Shinra Rebel Leader and best dad ever Barret MOTHERFUCKING Wallace. Mr. Twishes he was as cool as Barret. Not to mention the reason Barret wears sunglasses in Remake is because we’d all get lost in his beautiful eyes.
Roche from Final Fantasy VII Remake unlike literally every other SOLDIER in series he’s just here to party on his Cool Bike and have cool sword fights. He’ll even heal you up before fighting, because he’s such a cool dude.
Lightning. She's so badass, people actually mistrope her as a Super-Soldier. Nope. Pure skill and badassness lead to her being considered among the best in the military after less than six years for XIII. Fans then ran away with the nickname "Warrior Goddess" as given by Caius in the sequel. And now many people have asked "Is she still a goddess in Lightning Returns?"
Sazh's Chicobo.
Fang is the Sexy-Female-Dragoon-Aussie version of Chuck Norris, AKA: Chick Norris.
Two words: Snow. Villiers. As one YouTube comment puts him:
Snow is goddamned awesome. He punches monsters in the face to get strong enough to punch bigger monsters in the face. He faces beasts, abominations, god-like beings and Lightning's wrath to save his fiance. He nearly gets killed protecting Hope's life and STILL protects him after Hope made it clear he wants to kill him, and he rides a motorcycle made of women! If this dude was any more bro, the game would be about him (andSazh) instead.
In-universe, Cidolfus Orlandu was so awesome he gained the nickname Thunder God Cid. Among fans he's known as the Game-Breaker that makes winning the game simple, and he's invariably one of the highest-rated characters of his type in any spinoff he appears in, possibly with some special unique concessions made for his benefit to make him look that much more awesome.
Jack from Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is both this and Memetic Loser for how ludicrous he is: “GOTTA KILL CHAOS!”. Also interrupting Lich’s villain monologue with the direct quote “I don’t give a fuck who you are!” — something no other FF protagonist has done to a villain has quite endeared him to fans who likewise don’t care about elaborate plots and backstories.
The Reveal that Jack is actually the aforementioned Garland from FFI has also helped his Memetic Badass status as all his Large Ham ridiculousness is actually justified and in-character.
Mickey Mouse. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That Mickey Mouse. Square made him the KH-verse's answer to Yoda, and it worked. He's so badass, that they made Big Damn Heroes a gameplay mechanic revolving around him.
Also from Birth by Sleep, there's Aqua. Considering what our awesome Keyblade Master can and has done including kicking (Master) Xehanort's ass when he was theoretically at his strongest, kicking the aforementioned Vanitas' ass three times, with the the third and final time in a Back-to-Back Badasses moment with Mickey, and being the only one of the game's trio to not have their body stolen or end up in coma, it's easy to see why!
And she's a raging goddess of pain and destruction in gameplay too. Meld a few commands, and by early midgame no mob can touch you.
What commands, you ask? Mega Flare is one of them. Yep, Aqua can spam the ultimate attack of the God of Dragons.
She spent 12 years in the World of Darkness without a Black Coat and for all of that time, the darkness had yet to eat away at her heart. The storyboard writers have probably kept her out of commision for so long in fear of Aqua becoming a One-WomanStory-Breaker Power.
She's not speaking in Dull Surprise, she's just relaxed because petty matters such as Master Xehanort's plan are child's play for her.
The KH version of Seifer has undeniable proof that he can totally own lamers like Roxas. He's always lookin' after the town, y'know?
Kingdom Hearts III shot Donald Duck up from Memetic Loser to Memetic Badass in a single moment. The Royal Court Magician notorious for not healing Sora when he needs it is capable of casting Zettaflare, the most powerful spell in the Square Enix canon, without any outside assistance. This makes Donald freaking Duck canonicallythe most powerful mage in ANY Square Enix game.
Speaking of Kingdom Hearts III, Kairi got this treatment come the Re:Mind DLC. Usually relegated to Damsel in Distress, she finally makes up for years of inactivity by not only overpowering Xemnas to the point where he had to restrain her, but also being available to go toe-to-toe with Xehanort (who previously had her Stuffed in the Fridge) alongside Sora, potentially without getting damaged. Because of this levelup in badass, Kairi's reputation skyrocketed.
Octopath Traveler: Alfyn's Chapter 3 boss, Miguel Twinspears, is regarded as completely unstoppable by the fanbase due to his That One Boss status and being able to fight the entire party to a standstill while recovering from mortal wounds. Jokes abound that if he were in his prime, nothing could stop him, not even the True Final Boss.
Aya Brea of Parasite Eve a underpaid 25 year old NY cop in high rise Demin jeans who casually destroys the Ultimate Life Form with her 9 millimeter. Bonus points when she’s “FEELING HOT!”
Aya’s first action scene alone cements her as this, when she’s on a date at Carnegie Hall and gowned up but when all hell breaks loose Aya has immediately gets her piece out while her date wusses out next to her. Made better when Aya shoulder bumps that loser out of frame◊.
Daniel Dollis might just give Barret a run for his money, especially his Crowning Moment of Awesome in the ending where he jumps out of a helicopter, spontaneously combusts while falling but still throws Aya the Infinity +1 Sword bullets to finish the Final Boss with before extinguishing himself in the ocean.
Sho Minamimoto knows the last digits of pi, and those last digits are Sho Minamimoto.
