Top 20 Most Unfair Playable Characters In Video Games

“The King of Fighters ‘98” (1998)

This dapper villain took on the role of final boss in the original “King of Fighters” and has made several memorable appearances since. Similar to many final bosses in fighting games, he was designed to be overpowered, with his signature move, Genocide Cutter, dealing higher damage than any other in the game. He was made playable in “The King of Fighters ‘98.” And from a pure strength standpoint, he surpassed every other character. That made him easy to play as but a pain to face. Console versions even had a code to let you use his much faster second form, Omega Rugal, in case you really wanted to annoy your friends.

“Mario Kart: Double Dash!!” (2003)

On paper, it’s hard to imagine that any “Mario Kart” racers are more unfairly balanced than others. But “Double Dash!!” introduced special items unique to each duo of characters. Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa’s special made them quick choices when entering the character select screen. Before they were added as items any racer could get, these minions had access to a trio of green or red shells. While the green ones made for excellent defense, the homing red ones made it much easier to get opponents out of the way. Each racer’s special had benefits, but this level of offense and defense was unmatched.

“Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege” (2015)

Each of the operators in “Rainbow Six Siege” naturally has their own strengths and weaknesses. However, when it came to Lion, weaknesses were hard to spot. His signature feat was using a drone to scan the environment, highlighting players on the opposing team through walls for all of his teammates to see. Given the game’s destructible environments, you and your allies could then easily unload into them. It got to a point where Ubisoft had to remove him for a while to figure out how to rework him. When he returned, he was significantly nerfed, with enemy outlines being replaced by pings on the map and shortened duration for how long they appeared.

“Star Wars Battlefront II” (2017)

To be fair, any character wielding a lightsaber and the force is overpowered compared to most of those who don’t. But when Anakin first released, he was on another level. Added to “Battlefront II” in early 2019, players only got to exploit him for a few months before the nerfs started rolling in. His Retribution ability charged when he or his allies took damage, and choked every enemy around him when unleashed for four seconds. He could also hit multiple enemies with Heroic Might, a powerful blast that dealt more damage depending on how much Anakin was taking. Both of these abilities, along with base damage output, would thankfully be reworked as he was a nightmare to encounter.

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#16: Ned Flanders

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“The Simpsons Wrestling” (2001)

It was funny finding out the soft spoken Flanders was secretly buff on the show. But facing him in the arena is no laughing matter. While you did have to unlock him, and his regular attacks weren’t too strong, his special abilities made him a popular pick. He’s the only combatant in the game who can be revived after he’s been pinned. Not only that, but his special move, which summons lightning bolts from the sky to smite you, deals the highest damage of any attack in the game. Who could’ve known that this mild-mannered churchgoer was so good at laying the smack down?

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#15: The Zerg

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“StarCraft” (1998)

In “StarCraft,” players can choose to play as one of three different races: the human Terrans, the technologically advanced Protoss, and the violent, alien Zerg. Each has benefits and faults, but when playing in multiplayer, the latter group is definitely the most problematic to face. Due to all of their weapons and structures being organic, it takes the Zerg much less time and costs less resources to build their attack units. While they are physically weaker than the other two, it gives you an edge at the onset as you can quickly overwhelm your opponents before they have a proper chance to defend themselves. If you want the early advantage, the Zerg are extremely enticing.

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#14: Pet Shop

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“Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage For the Future” (1999)

As an updated version of Capcom’s original game, “Heritage For the Future” brought in several new fighters, including the insanely broken Pet Shop. Being a bird, he may not look all that powerful, but he certainly is. His wings give him ridiculous mobility and agility, making the possibility of landing a hit on him very small. His speed means he can rack up powerful combos, with some moves being unblockable. In fact, he can summon icicles above an opponent and hit low at the same time. His opponent won’t be able to block both. Understandably, his ability to suppress every other character has gotten him banned in competitions.

“DOTA 2” (2013)

Valve’s ridiculously popular MOBA has seen a lot of characters get added over the years. But none were quite as unbalanced as the Chinese mythology-inpsired Monkey King. Added in late 2016, the Monkey King was the type of character you could just watch pop off with high damage numbers or groan if you were on the receiving end. His passive Jingu Mastery had no duration and could earn extra charge attacks that dealt higher damage and stole life. He had high armor and health, his Boundless Strike dealt major critical damage, and his Special, Wukong’s Command, created multiple clones with the Bash ability, which gave them a chance to stun and deal extra damage. Needless to say, he’s been nerfed quite a bit.

“Killer Instinct” (1994)

The final boss in Rare’s classic fighter, Eyedol undoubtedly brought in a ton of quarters at the arcade. However, if you went up against someone who knew the secret code to play as him, that basically ensured you’d lose the next fight. Eyedol is definitely a power-house with his ability to shoot multiple fireballs, massive horns, and a move that can reflect projectiles. Thankfully, it’s only during his boss fight where he can heal himself, though that’s just replaced by an ability that powers up special moves. He made it onto the console version as well. Being locked behind a code meant you could lord Eyedol over anyone you wanted.

“Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes” (2000)

Fans of this beloved mash-up refer to a group of characters as the “Four Gods” due to how overpowered they are. Of the group, it’s the gigantic Sentinel that seems the most unfair. It isn’t just the mutant killing machine’s stature that makes fights unbalanced, though it certainly plays a part. You’d expect a lumbering behemoth to move slowly, but Sentinel moves with frightening ferocity. It also has a handful of unblockable attacks, which is more than a little annoying. And its Specials take up the majority of the screen unlike many others, meaning there’s no place to hide from taking damage. No wonder these things are so efficient.

“Overwatch” (2016)

No matter how many times Blizzard reworked Bastion’s kit, he always seemed to pour damage everywhere while easily avoiding it himself. While in Turret mode, Bastion’s extremely fast fire rate led to many easy kills of the opposing team. Switching between Turret and Recon mode also gave him a huge clip size before needing to reload. And if he had a Mercy attached to him with a shield, there wasn’t much anyone could do to stop him. All of these annoyances on top of a self-healing mechanic and an Ult that could one-shot nearly every other hero. Thankfully, the sequel finally nerfed several of these overpowered abilities.

“Tekken 7” (2015)

Added through DLC in late 2019, it didn’t take long to realize how Leroy broke the entirety of “Tekken 7.” At the EVO Japan 2020 tournament, seven of the eight top contenders fought as him, which just goes to show how badly he needed to be nerfed. Prior to patches released that solely targeted him, he could deal heavy damage with minor button inputs. His ridiculous combo potential and the ability to parry most moves other than throws and projectiles made for a fighter that worked too well. Even if his attacks missed or were blocked, his recovery time made it hard to retaliate. These days, the game is all the better for having balanced him.

“Street Fighter” Series (1987-)

Introduced in “Super Street Fighter II Turbo,” Akuma was a nasty piece of work to fight but a joy to use against others. While he looks and fights a bit similarly to Ryu and Ken, he’s much stronger, faster, and has a few troublesome moves the other two don’t. His phasing ability made it so he could pop up right behind his opponent while his mid-air fireballs would catch players off-guard. On top of that, his super move became infamous for how much damage it could deal. He’s been unbalanced in other games as well; after being added to “Tekken 7” via an update, developers had to nerf his over-the-top EX gauge.

“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition” (1995)

In most fighting games that let you unlock the final boss, their power is scaled back so that it’s fair while playing against others. Well, the developers behind this mid-90s “Power Rangers” tie-in chose not to do that with Ivan Ooze. He is just as difficult to face in the hands of a player as the computer. He can fly, meaning that throws and low attacks won’t work against him, and can even rise high enough so that most attacks in general will miss. He has a variety of fire attacks, one of which homes in on his opponent and others which block projectiles. Even if you do land an attack, he has an ability to break out of combos.

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#6: Bayonetta

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“Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U” (2014)

Fans were ecstatic to see Bayonetta get announced for the fourth “Super Smash Bros.” But for many of them, that excitement quickly turned sour when they had to fight against her. Her smash attacks, which called giant demonic appendages forth, had insane range. Her Witch Time ability could easily slow everyone around her, allowing for great follow-up potential. She was also great at juggling and had fantastic recovery. After a player won the EVO “Smash” tournament with her in 2017, players who used her the following year were booed throughout their fights. Players were likely glad to see her nerfed for the release of “Smash Ultimate,” as facing her here was usually an uphill battle.

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#5: Mega Rayquaza

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“Pokémon” Series (1998-)

While “Pokémon” is meant to seem balanced with different types and passive abilities, Mega Rayquaza is undeniably broken. As a legendary, it is already a pretty powerful Pokémon. Usually, a Mega Stone is required for a Pokémon to briefly evolve into their ultimate form. But Rayquaza is the only one who doesn’t need it, meaning a player can then give it a different item to hold and use in battle. Its base stats are also tied with Mewtwo’s Mega evolutions for the highest of any creature at 780. Even Uber tournaments, meant for the ultra-powerful banned Pokémon, couldn’t handle him, and a new ‘Anything Goes’ tier had to be created.

“Soulcalibur IV” (2008)

This fighting series has seen its fair share of broken guest characters. “Soulcalibur II” on the GameCube featured Link, whose long-range bow, boomerang, and bombs gave him an unfair advantage. But at least players could still land a hit on him, which was a lot harder with Yoda in “SoulCalibur IV.” The Jedi Master appeared in the Xbox 360 version while PS3 players got Darth Vader, though Yoda could still be purchased as DLC. He used his short height to his advantage, making it easy for those who played as him to avoid many of their opponent’s attacks. Coupled with his stature were his acrobatic flips, so you could essentially become a tiny, spinning ball of death.

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#3: Brigitte

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“Overwatch” (2016)

While many players would rather let someone else take care of the team’s healing, there’s no denying how Brigitte completely changed “Overwatch.” She dealt pretty solid damage for a support hero, and she could easily keep her team well-armored on top of their health. Her shield bash could also stun any character out of any ability, even able to go through the shields of tanks. Many fans credit her with having broken the game’s meta, and so Blizzard has nerfed her to hell and back several times over. Her shield isn’t nearly as durable anymore, nor do her Repair Packs offer as much health. And “Overwatch 2” removed stuns from most characters.

“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (2008)

Introduced in the Wii’s “Brawl,” no character in the history of “Smash” has ever been more unfairly balanced than Meta Knight. We had fast characters before, but he was faster. We had characters with great recovery, but his was better. His varied moves, including two where he essentially becomes a tornado of blades, could rack up percentages and his general mobility made him an expert edge guarder. That’s not to mention his down special, which could teleport him to either close distance or avoid damage. He has the honor of being the first “Smash” character to be banned in tournaments and we completely understand why. That doesn’t stop us from picking him all the time, though.

“GoldenEye 007” (1997)

When players think of the most unfair playable characters in video games, Oddjob is likely one of the first who comes to mind. “GoldenEye 007” revolutionized first-person shooters on consoles, and was another multiplayer giant in the N64’s library. But an unspoken rule between friends and siblings was upheld in nearly every household: no one is allowed to pick Oddjob. Despite being relatively normal sized in his movie appearance, the villain’s height is drastically decreased here. For every other character, you can shoot down the sights just fine. But for him, and because of the retro control scheme, you’d have to stop moving and manually aim. Anyone who picked him was almost guaranteed to win, leading to a legacy that will never be topped.