History Main / WorldsBestWarrior

** Takamura, however, is unquestionably this. Takamura was a nearly-invincible badass even before he learned to box, but after learning, he's utterly dominated his competition (although he's had some very close fights). It's even his goal to conquer every single weight division, and he's already completed two (Junior Middleweight and Middleweight, in which he even unified the WBA and WBC belts). WordOfGod says he's the single best boxer in the series, even over Martinez, above.

* Ronin, duellist, writer, philosopher and artist, [[UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi Myiamoto Musashi]], credited with 61 duel victories. The man became such a proeminent figure in Japanese folklore that its, at times, hard to distinguish the facts from the legend in his life.

* ''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. A martial art which has been commended by Iron Fist, himself a candidate for Marvel's greatest martial artist. Even '''Wolverine''' has stated he wouldn't want to fight Spider-Man in a serious bout. In fact, an alternate version of Wolverine puts it perhaps best;

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''Manga/TimeStopBrave'': [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Swordmaster Leafa Colby]] constantly boasts that she is the greatest swordfighter in history and is unbeatable. From what we have seen, she is indeed supremely skilled and [[LightningBruiser incredibly fast]] and [[MusclesAreMeaningless strong for her size]]. The only person whom she admits she cannot defeat is [[TheHero Kuzuno Sekai]], who can [[TimeStandsStill freeze time]], which nobody can counter. Even then, she is fast enough to hit him before his time freeze activates.

** 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, with Jagganoth [[SealedEvilInACan temporarily sealed away from the rest of Creation and Solomon wandering the worlds deprived of much of his power]].

** 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, with both Solomon and Jagganoth [[SealedEvilInACan temporarily sealed away from the rest of Creation]]. According to [[TheOmniscient Jadis]], Jagganoth is still alive but Solomon's status is unknown.]]

*** [[Characters/EldenRingRadahn 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.

*** Godfrey, the first Elden Lord, was regarded as the greatest warrior of his age, and still has a strong claim to the title after his return, rivaled only by Radahn and Malenia. [[DeityOfHumanOrigin Beginning as a mere mortal chieftain]], he rose to the status of Elden Lord through his overwhelming strength and military competence. As Elden Lord, he dueled countless fire giants, dragons, and the Stormlord, coming out the victor in all these conflicts, to the point where the lack of worthy opponents left to [[BloodKnight sate his lust for battle]] partially contributed to his loss of grace. While he lacks Malenia's [[SuperSpeed massive speed]] and [[ImplausibleFencingPowers completely unrivalled sword skill]], or Radahn's [[MagicKnight prodigious talent as a battlemage paired with enchanted war gear]], Godfrey's [[SuperStrength simple raw strength]] stands out from the rest of the Demigods and he's all the more notable for lacking any other supernatural qualities. It's telling that Radahn admired and sought to emulate his step-father over even his own father, the second Elden Lord Radagon.
*** 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]]. If placed in a boss-vs-boss duel, he's the ''only'' one who can regularly defeat Malenia; who wins between them generally comes down to whose arena they're using, because some of their combat AI [[HomeFieldAdvantage only works properly in their intended arenas]].

*** ''ArmoredCoreForAnswer'' subverts this a little as the top two Lynxes, Otsdarva and Lilium Wolcott, are notably less skilled and are quicker to fall in battle to the two lower on the list to them: Wynne D Fanchon and Roadie. Also, aside from the player character, the best pilot here is White Glint who sits comfortably at rank 9.

* The ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' franchise generally has the highest ranking raven in each game's respective arena as the best pilot in the setting. Prime among them being the first, [[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreMasterOfArena Nine-Ball]], who is noted in-universe for holding the rank one spot for so long (since its inception, in fact) that [[VideoGame/ArmoredCore2 Leos Klein]] was dubbed the Nine-Breaker after killing him. Such is his prowess and reputation that the top ranker in ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreNineBreaker'', which is in a separate continuity, is given the same title and the Raven's Ark somehow got their hands on the schematics for Nine-Ball's AC.

* [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Val Armorr]], the ComicBook/KarateKid, qualifies as the ''Galaxy's'' Best Warrior during the 31st century. Despite his [[BadAssNormal lack of powers]], [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Val has mastered every martial art in the known universe]], including the alien ones. He and his master combined aspects of those martial arts specifically to design a ''super'' martial art that allowed normal people to fight superhuman opponents and win. Val was so proficient in the style he could hold his own against [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age Superboy]] and routinely defeated similarly powerful opponents.

* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/{{Barsoom}}'' stories.
** John Carter is called the "greatest (or "master") swordsman in two worlds" (Mars and Earth) in ''The Chessmen of Mars'', ''Llana of Gathol'' and ''Swords of Mars''. His exploits in the series back up this statement.
** Solan, an {{Elite Mook|s}} for the Yellow Martians, receives this honor because of John Carter stating (in narration) that Solan was still his better with the sword.

* Literature/ConanTheBarbarian is wildly considered the most powerful man and the most dangerous warrior in the entire world.

** First of all: the PlayerCharacter in every game (Slayer of Demons, the Chosen Undead, the Bearer of the Curse, the Hunter, Wolf and the Tarnished), who by the end of it will have slaughtered thousands of foes including the setting's strongest [[PhysicalGod physical gods]]. While they can get really strong, they notably ''never'' manage to approach the strengths of the late bosses. Instead the player characters triumph through skill, agility, specialized equipment, and [[{{Determinator}} sheer stubbornness]], the latter helped by the protagonists all possessing some degree of ResurrectiveImmortality ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation with present but often unclear limits]]) tied to willpower.

** First of all: the PlayerCharacter in every game, who by the end of it will have slaughtered thousands of foes including the setting's strongest [[PhysicalGod physical gods]]. While they can get really strong, they notably ''never'' manage to approach the strengths of the late bosses. Instead the player characters triumph through skill, agility, specialized equipment, and [[{{Determinator}} sheer stubbornness]], the latter helped by the protagonists all possessing some degree of ResurrectiveImmortality ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation with present but often unclear limits]]) tied to willpower.

* ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'': UltimateLifeForm Yujiro Hanma is by far the strongest fighter on the planet. He is so strong the United States signed a peace agreement with him. He is so strong that his [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower abilities]] are such that he can stop earthquakes with a single punch. [[RuleOfThree He is so strong]] the whole premise of the series is Yujiro birthing a son (the protagonist Baki) that could potentially ''pose a challenge'' and raising Baki in [[ButtMonkey such]] [[PaterFamilicide a]] [[ArchnemesisDad profoundly]] [[AbusiveParents messed]] [[OedipusComplex up]] [[ParentalAbandonment way]] it borders on BlackComedy.

** 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 would AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, 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.

*** Grand Caster is King Solomon, the [[TheArchmage inventor of magecraft]], until he sacrifices himself (erasing himself from the Throne of Heroes and preventing him from being summoned again) 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.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', there are three Hunters who contend for this position; Gherman, who was noteworthy enough to be considered the [[RedBaron First Hunter]] and is implied to have slain numerous other hunters if the Hunter's Dream Tombstones are indicators; Maria, who mixes up both superhuman skill with a weapon and Blood Arts; and Ludwig, who even as a malformed beast is able to wield his massive blade like the master he once was. In a unique twist, however, it's entirely possible the best fighter, or at least the most formidable, is the HumanoidAbomination Orhpahn of Kos, on the basis its extremely aggressive style of fighting is pretty much modelled off that of Hunters.

* Myth/NorseMythology: Thor, once armed with his hammer Mjölnir. Yeah, [[TopGod Odin]] has a [[BladeOnAStick spear that never misses]] and Freyr has a magical sword of his own. But Thor is considered so powerful with Mjölnir that the gods are positive that the giants can never conquer Asgard, causing Thor, god of order and stability, to stand out among a group of war gods. This tends to be proven as Thor slays every giant who tries to fight him, but with the flip side being the gods tend to panicky whenever Mjölnir goes missing or the giants trick Thor into leaving it at home. Of course, even without it Thor is still one of the top three strongest beings in the universe.

* While in land warfare, one is hard pressed to find a common answer of who was the world's greatest warrior, its generally accepted that the answer for naval warfare was of Yi Sun-Sin of Joseon Korea, an autodidact when it came to naval warfare, Yi was more or less the biggest reason as to why the Japanese failed in conquering Korea in the Imjin War. Where most of the corrupt, incompetent or just nepotistic Korean military floundered, Yi won victory after victory despite overwhelming odds and made the life of Japanese logisticians a living hell by stubbornly holding the Korean seas with an iron fist. To illustrate how highly the man is seen by naval commanders, after [[CurbstompBattle crushing the Russian navy]] in the Russo-Japanese war, Japanese naval commander Tōgō Heihachirō had this to say:
--> '''Togo''': It may be proper to compare me with Nelson, but not with Korea’s Yi Sun-sin, for he has no equal.

* UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts: The current UFC Heavyweight Champion is usually considered to be the most powerful MMA fighter in the world, since the UFC has the largest and deepest pool of MMA talent in the world. Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Frank Mir, Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, and Stipe Miocic, among others, have all held this title. In the Aughts, when the heavyweight talent pool was arguably deeper in Japan, Fedor Emelianenko is a notable exception, going almost 10 years undefeated at the highest ranks of MMA competition. Emelianenko is widely considered the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time and usually finds himself on the shortlist for greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time. '''However,''' it is important to note that a lot of expert martial artists, particularly from Eastern styles, are {{Martial Pacifist}}s, and so unlikely to participate in competitions.

* Pre-Modern History:
** Duellists were, many times, chasing this exact distinction, seeking to prove themselves the best among the best in their particular combat discipline.
*** One of the most well known in the world was ronin, duellist, writer, philosopher and artist, [[UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi Myiamoto Musashi]], credited with 61 duel victories. The man became such a proeminent figure in Japanese folklore that its, at times, hard to distinguish the facts from the legend in his life.

* ''Film/JohnWick'': Let's put this is perspective. Our protagonist John has mowed his way through entire criminal empires, overwhelmed the best assassins, got the better of men at least twice his size, is skilled with any weapon or plain object with which he can kill, can dance-fight a foe into an inescapable grapple, has a near flawless gift for landing headshots and fighting the entire assassin/criminal underworld is considered an even matchup...and this is him after '''five years''' of inactivity.

-->'''Samuel Hayden''': The Slayer has ''no'' equal.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'': PlayerCharacter Agent 47 is the world's deadliest assassin. Unusually for this trope, while he's no slouch in a straight-up fight (due to his incredible [[ImprobableAimingSkills marksmanship]], [[MadeOfIron durability]], and [[SuperReflexes reflexes]]) what truly makes him dangerous is his intelligence - not only is he a MasterOfDisguise, but he is also capable of turning nearly anything into a weapon. His less successful missions have made him an urban legend and earned him a reputation as the perfect assassin. His most successful missions were never recognized as assassinations at all.

* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals''[=/=]''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'' has Dekar, who proudly boasts that he's the world's strongest warrior. He takes out hordes of monsters by himself without breaking a sweat and saves the hero from dire situations more than a few times. Even [[spoiler:when he makes a HeroicSacrifice to save the others, he manages to survive and come back to help the party when they need it the most.]]

* ''Franchise/MegaMan'': As far as the [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Classic]] timeline is concerned, Zero takes this position as of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero''. [[spoiler:He's no longer the WorldsStrongestMan by virtue of that body and all its power belonging to [[TomatoInTheMirror Omega]] since he transferred out of it and using a technically inferior copy body (and well as X's cyber-elf form displaying powers potentially exceeding that of Omega and the Dark Elf despite only being at 1/5 of his original existence)]], but what defines the Zero of this age is his potent, multifaceted arsenal and his peerless skill in using it to its fullest. To drive it home, he defeats Copy X, [[UnskilledButStrong who is a perfect copy of X from a technical standpoint but lacks any of the original's experience in either combat or life in general]], easily, as well as defeating combat-capable Reploids just as capable as those from the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX X]]'' era with the same level of ease.

** Red, the player character in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', is often recognized as the strongest Pokemon trainer 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).
** Cynthia is the highest-leveled female NPC trainer across all ''Pokémon'' games. In ''Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl'', her final rematch team's overall level is actually the highest of all NPC trainers in the series — while her highest leveled Pokémon is a tie with Red in ''[=HeartGold=] and [=SoulSilver=]'' (Garchomp and Pikachu, at level 88), the rest of her team is a few levels ahead of Red's. Cynthia's combination of balanced team composition, level, and MinMaxing makes her one of the strongest trainer encounters in the entire franchise as far as actual gameplay goes.

** Sagat tried to invoke this trope. The plot of [[VideoGame/StreetFighterI the first game]] is that he held the first World Warrior Tournament to prove that he was not only the best Muay Thai fighter in the world, but the best fighter in the world, period. According to ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'', he technically delivered by [[CurbStompBattle mowing down Ryu]], but then the [[KillingIntent Satsui no Hadou]] [[DiabolusExMachina happened and...]]

** The game's eponymous "King of Iron Fist (Tekken) Tournament" is designed to settle who is the best. The title has changed hands multiple times amongst the Mishima family, with Kazuya, Heihachi and Jin (in that order) all winning at various points. However, Heihachi and Jin have both won twice (''T2'' and ''[[VideoGame/Tekken4 T4]]'' for Heihachi, ''T3'' and ''[[VideoGame/Tekken5 T5]]'' for Jin). It must be clarified that Jin both won the third tournament and lost the fourth tournament only by a technicality, but also defeated the FinalBoss characters for both games, as well as the [[GreaterScopeVillain Bigger Bad]] behind the whole Devil Gene subplot in the sixth game. So, in spirit, Jin has won four games in a row, which at this point probably makes him this trope. In ''VideoGame/Tekken7'', the plot was centered around Heihachi and Kazuya, with Kazuya finally emerging victorious once and for all [[note]]though it took a CombatBreakdown after Heihachi, [[BadassNormal using nothing more than his own willpower]], beat Kazuya out of [[OneWingedAngel his "true" Devil form]] (and was most likely [[WorfHadTheFlu already suffering]] from having {{No Sell}}ed Akuma's [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Shun Goku Satsu]] earlier in the story)[[/note]], but Jin is acknowledged in the SequelHook ending as being the only person who has a chance at stopping Kazuya, once again acknowledging how highly his abilities are regarded.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'': Kazuma Kiryu, in addition to having the greatest physical power level seen among the characters, is also the current greatest fighter in the series. He has displayed consummate mastery of many forms of martial arts, and his combat experience, knowledge, and talent is not only more than enough to instantly learn new moves and techniques from different masters of martial arts, but he can even learn new moves and techniques by himself via random events happening around him through sight and muscle memory alone, all which ultimately culminated in him developing his own form that assimilated and mixed several elements of the fighting styles he had, the self-created style having the same legendary moniker that he had, Dragon of Dojima. [[StrongAndSkilled He is not just strong unarmed, though]]: He's also well-versed in the usage of all sorts of weaponry and can easily take a weapon from an enemy and then finish them off with their own equipment. His prowess is such that he can easily take on and defeat entire buildings of enemies, and those who can challenge him still end up losing as he ends up being the better fighter in the end. The only time we see Kiryu being stalemated was in an actual fair brawl against the legendary Taiga Saejima, who is just as physically powerful as him and is also extremely skilled enough to match him directly, and even then Kiryu ultimately wins in their last fight.

* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''. The number of warriors that can take him in a fair one on one fight can be counted on one hand and the Guardian is the ''only'' character to flat out be superior to him [[spoiler:and even then it's heavily implied that Jack is destined to one day surpass him]]. It certainly helps that his childhood involved being trained by the greatest warriors in the world and mastering every weapon and fighting style physically possible. Aku outright states that, if nothing else, a ''fighting style'' superior to his simply does not exist and has to create [[EvilKnockoff Mad Jack]] just to have a minion that can match him one on one. In Season 5, the [[AbusiveParents High Priestess]] spent years [[TrainingFromHell raising and training]] her seven daughters to create a fighting force capable of killing Jack, and even Ashi, the strongest of them and capable of [[OneWomanArmy slaughtering an entire army on her own with no injury]], can't beat him head-on alone and they need to work together to stand a chance. Take note that this was while Jack was going through a DespairEventHorizon which had accumulated for ''50 years'' and yet, [[TheAgeless he hadn't aged that entire time]] and was still in his formidable prime.

** Obi-Wan Kenobi is also a reasonable candidate for the title of the most skilled warrior in the galaxy. He's the absolute master of Form III, Soresu, a particularly proficient master of Ataru, and well-versed in numerous other forms as well, and his skills with the Force and strength is also exceptional. Kenobi's mastery is such that he can handily best armies of elites with all his abilities, and he's fought and handled some of the most dangerous enemies in the galaxy, names such as Grievous, (ultimately killing him), Maul, (as a Padawan, he cut him in half. During the Clone Wars they were evenly matched, except for the time where he not only matched Maul, but also Opress and managed to cripple the latter. Their final fight on Tatooine, with Maul still capable of gleefully taking on three Inquisitors at once, had him lure Maul into repeating his murder of Jinn and killing him in about five seconds), Dooku, (he lost pretty handily at their first fight, but their final fight has them well-matched by the Count's own admission), and above all else, Darth Vader.

* 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 retire 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.