10 Video Game NPCs Who Were Totally Overpowered

In certain genres of video games, the whole experience amounts to one big, glorious powertrip. PlatinumGames, in particular, seem to have mastered this concept. From the Bayonetta series to Astral Chain and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Platinum's output is all about visually stunning and stylish hack and slash action.

This, sometimes, is all players crave: fun, visceral combat, perhaps a skill tree or several to develop, and an outlandish plot that ultimately provides little more than context for the over-the-top action. What's perhaps most important about such titles is that the combat feels satisfying, that each blow has the appropriate weight behind it.

The more powerful we feel, the more fun we have.

This feeling, of course, extends to the campaigns of FPS titles and elsewhere in gaming too. In this specific case, the idea of being wildly outnumbered - but still more powerful than your many opponents - is the standard state of being. Again, being the most powerful person/other being in the room is key.

In lots of other situations, this just isn't the case. Sometimes, NPCs are much stronger than us. This can be because an ally is fighting alongside us and they can't die (at least, not yet) for story reasons, because they're our mentor and they're saving us from a deadly predicament, or something else entirely.

Whatever the reason, these NPCs are absurdly overpowered.

Yes, it’s certainly true that Beatrix is a playable character for a very short while. She joins forces with Zidane and co. After Queen Brahne reveals her plot to execute Princess Garnet, and defends the streets of Alexandria alongside Steiner when Kuja unleashes his attack on the town. For the most part, though, General Beatrix is just an NPC, and a formidable one at that.

The Alexandrian general appears to be known around much of the Mist Continent (and possibly beyond) for her martial prowess.

During her attack on Burmecia, one of the Burmecian soldiers challenges her, then trembles in fright on realizing that he has stepped up to the infamous Beatrix. She is also the party’s opponent in multiple unconventional boss battles, in which she seems to decide to destroy the party (automatically in a scripted way, without a game over) with a different flashy move after a certain number of turns has passed.

Prior to these battles, she delights in reminding the party what a powerhouse she is. “I once killed a hundred knights single-handedly,” she tells Zidane and Freya in Burmecia. “To me, you two are nothing more than insects.”

Beatrix is armed with Sword Arts that Steiner won’t learn until much later in the game, such as Climhazzard and the fearsome Shock. While briefly playable, she is also equipped with a suite of white magic. One of the series’ most powerful paladins.