History Main / WorldsBestWarrior

** ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' skirted around if its Doomguy was the same one as the original continuity or a new one, but ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' confirms that he's the exact same Doomguy who's been ripping and tearing his way through every last hellspawn throughout space and time to the point that he's willing to unleash [[{{Satan}} the Dark One]] just for a chance to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu utterly murder him]].

** Shang Tsung was the best warrior for nine generations (450 years), but was defeated by the ancient Kung Lao before he could achieve Mortal Kombat. Kung Lao and then Goro repeated this feat, before Goro was finally defeated by Liu Kang.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' has these two OneManArmies contenders.

** As for Hal, he takes up the mantle of "greatest Green Lantern", being capable of little things like taking on General Zod under ''two'' yellow suns, after Zod had comfortably been a small army of Lanterns to a pulp, and utterly curbstomped him. Sinestro tacitly admitting on more than one occasion that [[WorthyOpponent Hal is his only equal]], even considering him to be the embodiment of Will as he is the embodiment of Fear. Given that Sinestro was wielding Parallax and draining fear across the universe, while [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Hal was metamorphosing into a being composed of pure Will]], he had a point. The resultant battle ''destroyed'' the entire planet they were on, while Hal AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, then forged a Green Lantern Ring out of his own willpower, an act that rippled across the Emotional Spectrum. The initial reaction was astonishment, because that was supposed to impossible for anyone who wasn't a Guardian. Then, Ganthet, one of those Guardians, just said in amusement that he was surprised it had taken Hal this long to prove them wrong.

* ComicBook/TheMetabarons are an entire family of the universe's ultimate warrior as the son kills the father and takes his title. A Metabaron often starts their training by killing 20,000 supermax prisoners a day and one Metabaron even defeats an entire universe at the decree of the Emperoress.

** [[Characters/MCUThor Thor]] is the greatest warrior among the god-like Asgardians after Odin has retired and probably the best warrior in the universe, with millennium of training and combat experience paired with tremendous power. In both physical strength and destructive capacity he's very close to the top of his universe, and earns his title as World's Best Warrior due to the few who surpass him in one area (e.g. Hulk has more raw strength, Scarlet Witch has potentially more powerful and destructive magic) being [[MasterOfAll dwarfed by him in another]] (e.g. Hulk can't fly, shoot energy blasts, or fight with better instincts than a half-mad gorilla, and Scarlet Witch is a pure SquishyWizard to Thor's LightningBruiser MagicKnight). He quickly establishes himself as the best fighter among the Avengers, twice handling the stronger Hulk with superior combat prowess and versatility while himself holding back. He's usually unfazed by the big fighting he and his friends get into and takes down the most amount of enemies. In his first film he defeats the Destroyer in seconds, who Sif and the Warriors Three (the greatest warriors in Asgard outside of the royal family) can't beat together, and curb-stomps his brother Loki (a powerful fighter in his own right) when he stops holding back. In his second film he one-shots Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, cleaves through half their army, and even defeats Malekith after he boosts himself with an Infinity Stone (however he loses to the much stronger Kurse in a straight fight, though this is partly because he had an ill-suited weapon for the task; Loki does better with a spear than he does with Mjolnir). ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' at first furthers his reputation by having him defeat the legendary Surtur with ease in his base form. However it then reveals Hela, his older sister who has beaten and killed entire armies of Einhejar and Valkyrie with Odin as the only Asgardian better than her, also exceeds him in both skill and power, but even against her he still put up a strong fight (while everyone else is instantly killed or incapacitated) and with both Odin and Hela dead his title as the greatest Asgardian warrior is currently unchallenged. He accomplishes his greatest feat in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' when he shows up on Earth and kills much of Thanos's army by himself, and ''curb-stomps'' the Mad Titan (who is physically much stronger than him) in seconds by sticking an uru axe through his chest, though this was only achieved when he caught Thanos by surprise Even after getting out of shape and not fighting for five years, in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', he is able to fight Thanos better than most of his fellow heroes, putting up a decent fight on his own even if he can't replicate his previous performance. After he returns to shape, his fourth film has him single-handedly defeat, with hardly any usage of his godly electrical powers, an entire army that the Guardians of the Galaxy were losing to, and during his fights with Gorr the God Butcher, Thor proves more than a match for him, whereas many gods were killed, Sif got curb-stomped and lost an arm, and even Valkyrie and Jane with Mjolnir giving her his powers struggling against him, forcing him to back off in their first fight, being the only one out of himself, Valkyrie, and Jane AKA Mighty Thor who is able to land solid hits on him directly, and even with a weapon he is ill-suited with, he still goes toe-to-toe with the God Butcher.

** Mace Windu is acknowledged as being second only to Yoda among the Jedi, being the premier Jedi master of Form VII, a very difficult form to master, along with also being proficient with other forms as well, which is specifically stated to give him a special edge due to having access to many unpredictable superior sword techniques, and among the strongest Force masters in the Order. What truly earns him a position alongside Anakin and Yoda is his ability to defeat Darth Sidious, which no other Jedi but Yoda and Anakin could have done. Although it's ZigZagged by the fact that Palpatine was holding back somewhat so he could goad Anakin into JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope.

* Achilles in the ''Film/{{Troy}}'' film. This retelling [[DoingInTheWizard Does In The Wizard]] by removing his heel-excluded invincibility and just portrays Achilles as so exceptionally skilled that he might as well be.

** [[BigGood Albus Dumbledore]]. According to an in-universe Trading Card, Dumbledore is "considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times" and is TheDreaded to the franchise's two reigning Dark Wizards. WordofGod specifically confirms that any one who tries to fight him would find themselves in serious trouble because he's just so good in dueling. His titles are many: [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard Order of Merlin, First Class, and Grand Sorcerer; Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards; Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot]]. He was a brilliant Hogwarts student, prefect, and Head Boy and used magic in ways that one of his teachers had "never seen before." Among other things, he's an accomplished Legilimens and Occlumens; a skilled alchemist who discovered the twelve uses of dragon's blood and worked with Philospher Stone-creator Nicholas Flamel; and a wandlore expert on par with the franchise's legendary wand experts, Ollivander and Gregorovitch. At his prime, he delivers a CurbStompBattle on the likes of Credence Barebone, who was an extraordinarily powerful Obscurial and unstoppable even before he received the 5 years of training he did just to kill him, and overpowers Gellert Grindelwald, the most dangerous dark wizard of the time, when he was armed with the so-called undefeatable Elder Wand. Even in his old age, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', he hands out ass-whoopings like pamphlets: effortlessly defeating four skilled wizards attempting to arrest him, singlehandedly subduing a cadre of Voldemort's [[EliteMooks Death Eaters]] in the Department of Mysteries, and culminating with him driving Voldemort to retreat after a spectacular duel. Notably, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', even with one arm disabled, he calmly states that Harry shouldn't worry about being attacked as long as he was around him, indicating even with that injury, he would still be more than a match for anything Voldemort could throw, and while delirious from having drunk a potion that showed his worst nightmares, he drives off an entire army of Inferi that Harry was barely able to hold his own against with a single large spell.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has a couple of candidates. Looking purely at {{Badass Normal}}s, the greatest is almost certainly [[MasterSwordsman al'Lan Mandragoran]]; at one point, it's explicitly stated that Lan is the best of [[PraetorianGuard the Warders]], which means he is the best ''of the best''. Taking [[FunctionalMagic channelers]] into account, [[TheChosenOne Rand]] gives a very good showing and is treated in-universe as a PersonOfMassDestruction with the potential to destroy the world; he also gives Lan a run for his money as the greatest swordsman in the world, going up against a half-dozen [[MasterSwordsman Master Swordsmen]] at once for ''practice'' and rewarding handsomely anyone who can get ''a single hit'' in. [[spoiler:The last book puts the Forsaken Demandred handily into the running as well, giving him ample opportunities to show off his role as a HeroKiller]].

[[folder:Game Books]]
* After the 4th book in ''Literature/BloodSword'', your Warrior has returned from the Land of Dead and slain his archenemy Icon the Ungodly. The experience has transformed him and given him new powers while he returns to a new, flawless body that's missing its old scars and other handicaps but also lacks the permanent improvements you might have had. If he wasn't before, he's now the stuff of legends and capable of competing with beings that are ascending [[PhysicalGod into godhood]] or were already there.
* In ''Literature/LoneWolf'', Lone Wolf through self-discovery discovers he can go beyond any Kai Master ever and grow even more powerful. This occurs just shortly after Lone Wolf has become a Kai Grandmaster and already in the ranks of the best Kai Masters in history having slain gods, dark lords, psychic liches and etc. The forces of evil have come to dread Lone Wolf and with good reason.
* In ''Literature/WayOfTheTiger'', you are the good ninja Avenger and essentially the best warrior on Orb. In the series, using only bare hands and often in one on one combat, Avenger will have killed the world's deadliest assassin, world's best mage, world's best swordsman and world's best martial artist. Avenger also defeats a team of epic-level evil adventurers, primordial godbeasts, demon princes, giants, efreet, a god-forged golem and etc.
* In ''Literature/WizardsWarriorsAndYou'', the Warrior is unrivaled in good King Henry's kingdom and implied to be the best in the world. He can singlehandedly vanquish any foe in combat whether it's corrupted legendary Knights of the Round Table to Troll swordsmasters and dragons. Taking on simultaneous enemies isn't a problem either as he mulches a warband of amazons with just his mundane battle axe.
[[/folder]]

* From all the great hockey players in ''VideoGame/PuckOFF'', only one has earned the title of the best warrior. [[spoiler:Even though there are multiple people using that name.]] Saying that other boss characters can controverse his dominance in some aspect of the game with their gimmick skills and stats is a reach because he has it [[MasterOfAll all]]. He has no weakness, which makes the match against him a bit [[GodDamnedBoss "unfair"]]. He dominates.(Well that's in his name) He is Dominator.

*** General Radahn, the Conqueror of The Stars, who was not only a 27-foot giant who could [[LightningBruiser defy physics with his movements]]; a FourStarBadass and AFatherToHisMen; an [[TheStrategist expert strategist]] and MasterOfAll, being a master of MountedCombat; a MasterArcher; and a fearsome warrior DualWielding a pair of ''tremendous'' cleaver-shaped swords made of black steel with great skill, but was on top of all that also TheArchmage, having [[GravityMaster mastered gravity sorcery]] to the point where he could cast devastating spells while only needing his ''swords'' as foci.

** The Chosen One Anakin Skywalker ''had'' the potential to become this, along with being WorldsStrongestMan. He was the top Ace Pilot, an exceptionally skilled lightsaber duelist, being the undisputed master of Form V with working knowledge of the other lightsaber combat forms as well, and particularly having unparalleled Force powers that could even bring actual gods to heel. WordOfGod clarifies that Anakin ''could'' have defeated Darth Sidious, by ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', although with superior strength rather than skill, after he's defeated Count Dooku, albeit granted because Dooku wasn't actually fighting to kill and Anakin was in a rage that increased his efficiency, and single-handedly slaughtered much of the Jedi. Alas, while Lucas confirmed that Anakin had the potential to exceed even Yoda and Palpatine's skill, getting Drunk on the Dark Side, while increasing his strength, did not allow him to prevail against Obi-Wan, the other contender for the title of "Galaxy's Best Warrior" status, and his defeat weakened him to where he could no longer reach the full extent of his strength. That said, however, becoming Darth Vader and working with his handicaps ''did'' allow him to dramatically improve his skills and grow stronger than he was as a Jedi. He becomes a master of all lightsaber combat forms, incorporating them into his new style, and displays much greater actual skill with the Force than ever, capable of casually handling be it dozen normal Mooks or some of the best fighters in the galaxy, even without his lightsaber, and he only ever loses to again Obi-Wan and his own son, who was in a rage at the time and also Vader was holding back.
** Grandmaster Yoda is stated by all as the greatest Jedi of his time, if not in history, due to having thousands of years of experience. His mastery and understanding of the Force was unmatched by virtually any other Jedi and he's the premier master of Form IV, along with having fully mastered all the other lightsaber combat forms as well. He's had a hand in the training of nearly all Jedi, turning them into formidable warriors, and respected and acknowledged by them all, including even the likes of Kenobi and Windu, also among the few contenders of the title, as the best. While he doesn't fight that much, his feats all but live up to this, given that he is the only person to defeat Count Dooku, Mace's equal and the premier master of the dueling-suited Form II, in a fair fight, with Anakin, the only other person to do so, managing it only ever whenever in a rage, and he comes very close to defeating Darth Sidious, the greatest Sith, both with a lightsaber and the Force, and leaving aside indications that he is slightly stronger, Yoda clearly has the edge in terms of pure skill.
** Mace Windu is acknowledged as being second only to Yoda among the Jedi, being the premier Jedi master of Form VII, a very difficult form to master, along with also being proficient with other forms as well, which is specifically stated to give him a special edge due to having access to many unpredictable superior sword techniques, and among the strongest Force masters in the Order. What truly earns him a position alongside Anakin and Yoda is his ability to defeat Darth Sidious, which no other Jedi but Yoda and Anakin could have done.
** Palpatine, A.K.A, Darth Sidious, is the greatest Sith. Although he's more focused with the Force than a lightsaber, his dueling skills are extremely high for someone of that kind of personality. He straight up murders three powerful members of the Jedi Council, defeats both Darth Maul and Savage Opress, terrifying Siths in their own right, and is only ever surpassed in terms of skill by Yoda and Windu, with WordOfGod confirming he is the better warrior to Darth Vader (In his diminished state where he can no longer reach the level where he can surpass him) and being backed up by him repeatedly beating Vader into submission.

*** It's worth noting that he's the only guy to ''ever'' beat the [[TheDreaded infamously]] [[TheJuggernaut unstoppable]] Vader in a straight fight. They fought four times: in ''Revenge of the Sith'', he put on a master-class in defensive dueling, steadily leading Vader into a trap and dismembering him with a single strike - and that after giving up several visible openings to kill him. In ''Kenobi'', he was initially rusty and terrified and spent most of his time running away while Vader toyed with him. In the second duel in that series, third overall, he had his mojo back, matched Vader, then following a HeroicSecondWind, absolutely ''destroyed'' him, even more comprehensively than on Mustafar, obliterating his respirator, carving open his helmet, and leaving him screaming impotently after him. In the fourth and final duel, [[Film/ANewHope on the Death Star]], he was much older and out of practise, while Vader had finally got the message and fought more cautiously, and he still put up a good fight, before [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence going out on his own terms.]]

* Red, the player character in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', is often recognized as the strongest Pokemon player who ever lived in the later games of the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series. Notably, Red is also the only trainer in ''VideoGame/PokemonMasters'' so far who can Mega Evolve and Gigantamax his Pokemon, and given that in ''Sun and Moon'' he also uses Z-Moves, this also makes Red the only trainer in the series' history to be shown using all three types of in-game battle transformations this way. He, along with Blue, were given the title "Battle Legend" in the Alolian Battle Tree and are the bosses of a battle facility where other Champions and Elite Four members participate, implying they are beyond the level of a typical Champion. Paulo in ''Pokemon Masters'' outright says that Red is "the strongest Pokémon Trainer in history", even though Cynthia and many other Champions are in the game and he's seen them battle. Red also had two tenures as the untied highest-leveled NPC trainer in the entire franchise, between the releases of ''Gold'', ''Silver'', and ''Crystal'' and ''Platinum'' (where he was surpassed by Barry), and then again between ''[=HeartGold=]'' and ''[=SoulSilver=]'' and ''Brilliant Diamond'' and ''Shining Pearl'' (where he was tied by Cynthia in terms of their highest-leveled Pokémon, but with the rest of Cynthia's team being higher-leveled overall).

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': In much the same vein as Batman above or Wolverine below, Spider-Man himself has a reputation for having gone up against some of the heaviest hitters in his home universe (the Hulk being the tip of the iceberg) and coming out alive each and every time. His SpiderSense gives him a massive advantage on the battlefield when combined with his amazing acrobatics skills, supergenius-level quick thinking and the Way of the Spider martial art he developed, which has been commended by Iron Fist who is himself a candidate for Marvel's greatest martial artist. Even '''Wolverine''' has stated he wouldn't want to fight Spider-Man in a serious fight. In fact, an alternate version of Wolverine puts it perhaps best;

* In ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'', the Big Bad Wolf is the strongest and most skilled fighter, easily besting Puss himself in their first encounter to the point that the cat tries to hang up his sword and live as a normal pet. Part of Puss' CharacterDevelopment involves gaining the will to stand up to the wolf despite knowing he stands no chance of winning a one-on-one duel.

* From all the great hockey players in ''VideoGame/PuckOFF'', only one has earned the title of the best warrior. [[spoiler:Even though there are multiple people using that name.]] Saying that other boss characters can controverse his dominance in some aspect of the game with their gimmick skills and stats is a reach because he has it [[GoddamnedBoss "unfair"]]. He has no weakness, which makes the match against him a bit [[MasterOfAll all]]. He dominates.(Well that's in his name) He is Dominator.

* From all the great hockey players in ''VideoGame/PuckOFF'', only one has earned the title of the best warrior. [[spoiler:Even though there are multiple people using that name. ]] Saying that other boss characters can controverse his dominance in some aspect of the game with their gimmick skills and stats because he has all the gimmicks. He has no weakness, which makes the match against him a bit [[GoddamnedBoss "unfair"]]. He dominates.(Well that's in his name) He is Dominator.

** One of the game's numerous {{Bonus Boss}}es is "Dadaan, the Strongest Prone". Prone in this game are {{Mooks}}, but Dadaan? He has that title for a reason. And you will find out why, ''painfully'', if you attack him without careful preparation, even with end-game builds.

** [[BigBad Lord Voldemort/Tom Riddle]]. TheDreaded of the Wizarding World, so feared that most refuse to speak his name. A twisted prodigy, Riddle was considered "perhaps the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen" whose "knowledge of magic is perhaps more extensive than any wizard alive," by Dumbledore himself. Both he and Rita Skeeter both regard Voldemort as "the most dangerous Dark Wizard of all time" (even moreso than Grindelwald). Before his first defeat, Voldemort: split his soul into an unprecedented seven [[SoulJar Horcruxes]], effectively becoming immortal; jinxed the Defense Against the Dark Arts post at Hogwarts so powerfully that Dumbledore himself was unable to break it; and killed dozens of skilled witches and wizards. Before his final defeat, Voldemort killed legendary Wizarding Badasses like [[AuthorityGrantsAsskicking Amelia Bones]] and [[OldSoldier Mad-Eye Moody]]; learned to fly unaided, defying Magical Law; held his own against an Elder Wand-wielding Dumbledore; and, even with his powers critically nerfed in the final chapters of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', he dueled and defeated [[BadassTeacher Minerva McGonagall]], [[TheLancer Kingsley Shacklebolt]], and [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Horace Slughorn]] at the same time.

-->-- Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}}

* ''LightNovel/DateALive'': [[DarkActionGirl Ellen Mira Mathers]] is stated repeatedly by the [[ShowDontTell narrative]], [[CharacterShilling others]] and [[{{Pride}} herself]] to be the strongest Wizard in existence. The truth is more complicated; while Ellen is a talented fighter, other people (like [[TimeMaster Kurumi]], [[GreatBigBookOfEverything Nia]] and [[SemanticSuperpower Mukuro]]) are such hefty winners of the SuperpowerLottery that it's hard to think she could win a straight-up fight against them.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''[='s=] "Mother's Rosario" arc ends with swarms of players from all races in [=ALfheim=] Online converging on the island where Yuuki [[spoiler:lies dying]] to send her off, and Asuna explains that it's because everyone recognizes her as "the strongest swordsman" in ALO. It's [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagging]] somewhat, though: while she defeated [[TheHero Kirito]] fairly in two one-on-one duels, astute observers on both sides of the FourthWall note that Kirito wasn't fighting all-out, since [[DualWielding he never drew his second sword]]. Kirito says he still would've lost. The author says that Kirito could've won if he used [[InfinityPlusOneSword Holy Sword Excalibur]] (which he possesses but made an oath not to use for personal gain), but not when using equal equipment.

** ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Lancelot was considered the strongest and most skilled Knight of the Round Table. In life, he was able to battle evenly with Gawain, who is invincible as long as the sun is up. He retains his skills even as a Berserker, and ends up fighting evenly with [[WorldsStrongestMan Gilgamesh]], though supplementary material points out Gilgamesh would be able to overwhelm him if his strength and speed weren't enhanced by being Berserker.

*** Grand Assassin is The Old Man of the Mountain, AKA The First Hassan, the founder of TheHashshashin with the ability to kill anything, even immortals, or at the very least make them vulnerable to death, until he forfeits his position to be allowed to help the heroes fight Tiamat.
*** Grand Caster is King Solomon, the [[TheArchmage inventor of magecraft]], until he sacrifices himself to help the heroes defeat Goetia, then Merlin replaces him. It is mentioned that a prerequisite for this position is all-seeing clairvoyance, so Gilgamesh, who has this level of clairvoyance, could have qualified if he wasn't a demigod. Later, Taigong Wang claims that if he was summoned as a Caster instead of a Rider, he would be able to be Grand Caster.

*** Grand Berserker is Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec WarGod. His Master, Daybit Sem Void, went BeyondTheImpossible by summoning a god as a Grand Servant, and no one is sure how he did it. It is revealed that Tezcatlipoca used a loophole of creating a human body and possessing it, but it still doesn't explain how Daybit summoned him.

*** Grand Lancer is Romulus-Quirinus, the deified founder of Rome, who ends up getting summoned as a regular Lancer to help the heroes, meaning he's not as powerful, but he's still very powerful and skilled. Though he is a god, he becomes a Grand Servant through the loophole that he used to be a human and is still deeply connected to humanity.

*** Grand Berserker is Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec WarGod. His Master, Daybit Sem Void, went BeyondTheImpossible by summoning a god as a Grand Servant, and no one knows how he did it.

** Sephiroth is truly a '''LivingLegend''' for this in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and the collective ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII''. The most elite member of the already elite SOLDIER branch of Shinra, he's famous for not only being the greatest swordsman, but also for his incredible strength, blinding speed and ability with magic. [[WordOfGod According to]] [[Creator/TetsuyaNomura the creator of the game]], Cloud, the one man who's faced him more than once and not only lived, but '''defeated''' him, was only ever able to beat him due to Sephiroth was toying with him on each occasion, and only lost due to [[PrideBeforeAFall hubris]], with Sephiroth being shown to easily toy with him whenever they dueled before his pride got the better of him and allowed Cloud to beat him. (For example, see ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'', where Cloud is on the ropes ''the entire battle'' and only wins after surprising Sephiroth with his new Omnislash Ver. 5 LimitBreak after a HeroicSecondWind.) Indeed, in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', Sephiroth goes off to firmly show that he is truly the greatest warrior in the series by holding off the combined efforts of the entire party on a five-on-one fight and walking away without being truly defeated and even remaining confident the entire time, indicating he was still holding back against them, proceeding to easily {{curb stomp|Battle}} Cloud as if to show Sephiroth could have easily defeated him had he really wanted to go for the kill.

** In ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'', the Interior Ministry seeks the destruction of the land of Ashina. Considering that Ashina is not a very big land, and that most of its army consists of poorly equipped conscripts, and that the land's leader, [[CoolOldGuy Isshin Ashina]], is standing at death's door, clearly there has to be ''some'' reason that the Ministry -- who have Ashina outmatched in every single regard -- don't just steamroll the land, right? Right. And that reason is that Isshin "The Sword Saint" Ashina is still just standing at death's door: As long as he still draws breath, the Ministry do not dare going to war against Ashina. Isshin is also the final boss in all routes of the game: In the Shura Ending, he fights with the precision of a wizened old master while in all other endings he succumbs to his illness but is brought back to life in his prime and ''really'' demonstrates what it means to be a OneManArmy whose mere existence is enough to deter a full-scale war.

** ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Lancelot was considered the strongest and most skilled Knight of the Round Table. In life, he was able to battle evenly with Gawain, who is ''invincible'' as long as the sun is up. He retains his skills even as a Berserker, and ends up fighting evenly with [[WorldsStrongestMan Gilgamesh]], though supplementary material points out Gilgamesh would be able to overwhelm him if his strength and speed wasn't enhanced by being Berserker.
** ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' introduces the Grand Servants, Servants of the seven regular Classes who are considered the absolute best at their craft. They are granted bodies much more powerful than regular Servants, increasing their combat potential even more. They normally cannot be summoned by humans; instead they are summoned by the World/Alaya itself to deal with threats to humanity like the [[BeastOfTheApocalypse Beasts]]. Under normal circumstances, Servants with Divinity are not allowed to become Grand Servants because they are supposed to be the greatest pure human warriors, explaining why Heracles and Gilgamesh (demigods who are normally the most skilled and strongest in their respective classes) are not Grand Servants. It is possible for them to lose their title for whatever reason and be replaced.

** In terms of pure skill, however, Jagganoth is outdone by [[TheAce Solomon David, the Demurge of Pride]]. While lacking Jagganoth's prodigious strength and CompleteImmortality, Solomon David is the most skilled duelist and martial artist currently alive in the multiverse, having spent his long life on learning and mastering practically every martial art known in TheMultiverse. He doesn't even need to use any of them, as he is already the sole living grandmaster of [[TheGreatestStyle Ki Rata]], but nontheless has learned all the others as well to satisfy his perfectionism and allow him to deal with challengers by turning their own martial arts against them. [[spoiler:When faced with Jagganoth in all-out battle during the Discordance, neither combatant is initially able to harm the other -- Jagganoth simply ignores all of Solomon's attacks thanks to his immortality, while Solomon is so fast and skilled that Jagganoth can't deal telling blows to him, and is backed up by one of the other Demiurges whenever Jagganoth gets the upper hand. Ultimately, it takes a CavalryBetrayal and Jagganoth breaking out his OneWingedAngel form followed by Solomon using his [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique ultimate move]] to end the battle: Jagganoth [[SealedEvilInACan was sealed away from the universe for three years]], [[HeroicSacrifice Solomon did not survive the sealing]].]]

** In terms of pure skill, however, Jagganoth is outdone by [[TheAce Solomon David, the Demurge of Pride]]. While lacking Jagganoth's prodigious strength and CompleteImmortality, Solomon David is the most skilled duelist and martial artist currently alive in the multiverse, having spent his long life on learning and mastering practically every martial art known in TheMultiverse. He doesn't even need to use any of them, as he is already the sole living grandmaster of [[TheGreatestStyle Ki Rata]], but nontheless has learned all the others as well to satisfy his perfectionism and allow him to deal with challengers by turning their own martial arts against them. [[spoiler:When faced with Jagganoth in all-out battle during the Discordance, neither combatant is initially able to harm the other -- Jagganoth simply ignores all of Solomon's attacks thanks to his immortality, while Solomon is so fast and skilled that Jagganoth can't deal telling blows to him, and is backed up by one of the other Demiurges whenever Jagganoth gets the upper hand. Ultimately, it takes a CavalryBetrayal and Jagganoth breaking out his OneWingedAngel form followed by Solomon using his [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique ultimate move]] to end the battle; which remains undecided with both of them seemingly dead.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', TheDragon [[spoiler:Mukuro Ikusaba]], a.k.a. the the "[[TheAce Ultimate Soldier]]" is shown to be one of these. [[spoiler:According to her backstory she [[ChildSoldiers spent her early teens serving]] with PrivateMilitaryContractors, and was never injured once during all those years in the front lines due to her [[SuperSoldier superhuman speed and reflexes]]. In the WhatIf novel ''Danganronpa IF'', she manages to fight the [[WorldsStrongestMan World's Strongest Woman]] [[BrawnHilda Sakura "Ogre" Ogami]] to a draw with her WaifFu and do the same to MasterSwordsman Peko Pekoyama in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool''.]]

*** Maliketh, the Black Blade, was Queen Marika's Shadowbound Beast and her half-brother, and was [[TheDreaded the one being all Demigods, even the likes of Radahn and Malenia feared]]. Unlike the other three, he's not in contention because of his own skill and strength; he's by no means lacking in that regard but he's definitely overshadowed by both the above and several other endgame bosses. What makes him so dangerous is that he's the designated guardian and wielder of the Rune of Death, giving him his access to [[WeaponOfMassDestruction the Black Blade]], which channels power capable of [[ImmortalBreaker permanently killing even gods]].

** Meti Ten Ryo was the greatest slave to the sword to ever live. A peasant woman from the Golden City of Kesh, Meti trained her body until every part of her body was a lethal weapon and then mastered the sword until she had understood its true nature, which was Cutting Down Your Opponent, a revelation that granted her the ability to Cut anything using anything. Meti once fought ten thousand men naked and won, and at another point in time killed thirty-five men. unconsciously, when they ambushed her while she was gathering food. According to the author, Meti would absolutely destroy any character present in the comic living or dead (except possibly YISUN, Zoss or Intra) if she weren't long dead.

* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'': Thors, [[RedBaron "The Troll of Jom"]]. In the Jomsvikings, a BadassArmy working on AsskickingEqualsAuthority, he worked his way up from [[WorkingClassHero nobody]] to captain on skill alone and became second-in-command. He was able to [[OneHitKill One Hit KO]] [[WorldsStrongestMan Thorkell]], and in his one fight scene he defeats a boatload of armed veteran raiders [[BareFistedMonk bare-handed]] and [[MartialPacifist without killing a single one of them]], before handily beating Askeladd (who can split a man's skull through his helmet and claims to have been able to beat 50 men single-handedly) for an encore.

** [[BigBad Lord Voldemort/Tom Riddle]]. TheDreaded of the Wizarding World, so feared that most refuse to speak his name. A twisted prodigy, Riddle was considered "perhaps the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen" whose "knowledge of magic is perhaps more extensive than any wizard alive," by Dumbledore himself. Both he and Rita Skeeter both regard Voldemort as "the most dangerous Dark Wizard of all time" (even moreso than Grindelwald). Before his first defeat, Voldemort: split his soul into an unprecedented seven [[SoulJar Horcruxes]], effectively becoming immortal; jinxed the Defense Against the Dark Arts post at Hogwarts so powerfully that Dumbledore himself was unable to break it; and killed dozens of skilled witches and wizards. Before his final defeat, Voldemort killed legendary Wizarding Badasses like [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Amelia Bones]] and [[OldSoldier Mad-Eye Moody]]; learned to fly unaided, defying Magical Law; held his own against an Elder Wand-wielding Dumbledore; and, even with his powers critically nerfed in the final chapters of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', he dueled and defeated [[BadassTeacher Minerva McGonagall]], [[TheLancer Kingsley Shacklebolt]], and [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Horace Slughorn]] at the same time.

** Archaon the Everchosen is the most powerful Chaos Lord of the current generation, and Chaos Warriors live by AsskickingEqualsAuthority: if he ''wasn't'' the best warrior around, he wouldn't be in charge. In-game, it's mostly his selection of magic items that makes him so dangerous; his base stat line is very comparable to a generic Chaos Lord's, just with 1 point higher Weapon Skill (which is referenced in the lore; in his journey to become Everchosen it was actually explicitly noted that one of his companions was physically stronger than him, but lost out in the competition anyway due to Archaon's cunning). That said even without his magic he's still a very beefy MagicKnight, as strong and tough as a Troll while being much faster and covered in thick plate armor, a capable (if modest) spellcaster, and wielding a magic {{BFS}} that auto-wounds regardless of the enemy's armor. Said magic items include the aforementioned BFS (the Slayer of Kings), the Armour of Morkar (which gives him a 1+ armor save instead of the 4+ armor save given by the standard plate other Chaos Lords wear), the Crown of Domination (inflicts the Terror effect on nearby enemies and inspires nearby allies), and the Eye of Sheerian (which gives him limited precognition of his enemy's blows in a fight; in game terms, it grants a 4+ ward save). In both the Storm of Chaos and the End Times, he roughly drew against the other candidates for this trope in the setting: Sigmar reborn (in both Karl Franz and Valten), Grimgor Ironhide, and Bel'akor.

** A bit more limited, but being this on [[DeathWorld Tuchanka]] is what allowed Wrex to essentially become [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority the leader]] of the entire [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan species]]. Wrex himself heavily implies that the only person in the galaxy that he thinks could beat him in a straight fight is Shepard.

** Ashikaga Yoshiteru wouldn't be [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking the sword saint shogun]] if he wasn't also this trope. To wit, he's undefeated in battle by the start of the events of ''[=SB4=]'', frighteningly proficient in not only swordsmanship, but also spear-wielding and archery, and stands above even DemonKingNobunaga in the food chain. [[spoiler:Only [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Keiji]] has ever been shown to be capable of disarming him, and even then Yoshiteru was still more than confident enough to fight him ''bare-handed''.]]

*** Grand Berserker is Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec WarGod. His Master, Daybit Sem Void went BeyondTheImpossible by summoning a god as a Grand Servant, and no one knows how he did it.

** ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' introduces the Grand Servants, Servants of the seven regular Classes who are considered the absolute best at their craft. They are granted bodies much more powerful than regular Servants, increasing their combat potential even more. They normally cannot be summoned by humans; instead they are summoned by the World/Alaya itself to deal with threats to humanity like the [[BeastOfTheApocalypse Beasts]]. Under normal circumstances, Servants with Divinity are not allowed to become Grand Servants because they are supposed to be the greatest pure human warriors, explaining why Heracles and Gilgamesh( demigods who are normally the most skilled and strongest in their respective classes) are not Grand Servants. It is possible for them to lose their title for whatever reason and be replaced.

** ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' introduces the Grand Servants, Servants of the seven regular Classes who are considered the absolute best at their craft. They are granted bodies much more powerful than regular Servants, increasing their combat potential even more. They normally cannot be summoned by humans; instead they are summoned by the World/Alaya itself to deal with threats to humanity like the [[BeastOfTheApocalypse Beasts]]. Under normal circumstances, Servants with Divinity are not allowed to become Grand Servants because they are supposed to be the greatest pure human warriors, explaining why Heracles (a demigod) is not a Grand Servant. It is possible for them to lose their title for whatever reason and be replaced.