With hundreds of new Hollywood movies produced each and every year, viewers really are spoiled for choice these days. For many, there's nothing better than a movie with a strong narrative, while others will naturally gravitate towards those with exhilarating action scenes and copious amounts of conflict.
When it comes to the latter, having intimidatingly powerful characters can make a huge difference to how enjoyable a movie is. The strongest movie characters are able to leave a lasting impression with viewers too, which, in turn, ensures that their respective movies also live long in the memory.
Updated December 11, 2022, by Tom Bowen: There's something intriguing about a character with near limitless power, regardless of whether they're one of the good guys or a movie's main vilain. It can really help to cement the idea that anything is possible, with the most powerful movie characters able to flip the script on its head in the blink of an eye. Their peerless powers allow them to take on the toughest foes, with buildings or even entire planets often being destroyed in the process. Many of them balance out their brawn with brains, but there are some who are driven only by their primal instincts, which arguably makes them a lot less predictible, and, in turn, a lot more enjoyable to watch.
This list will not consider characters from comic book or anime movies due to the god-like powers that many of them possess. Likewise, deities from regular movies will also be discounted for this reason.
12 King Kong (King Kong)
When it comes to strength alone, King Kong just might be the most powerful movie character of all time. The way that he towers over New York city and swats away the best efforts of those trying to stop him as if they were little more than some annoying mosquitos is really quite scary considering the context and makes for an incredibly intriguing character and movie.
Sadly, Kong has been done dirty over the years, with Kong: Skull Island and Peter Jackson's much maligned 2005 movie King Kong both flattering to deceive. However, those who delve a little deeper into the great ape's fiomography will find some truly fantastic flicks and a movie character whose sheer strength is both fascinating and terrifying all at the same time.
11 Megatron (Transformers)
The Decepticons serve as the main antagonists in the Transformers universe and have some of the most powerful Autobots ever known to man among their ranks. Their leader is the mighty Megatron, whose cruelty and desire for war are matched only by the immense power that he has at his disposal and his willingness to use that power to cause chaos wherever he goes.
There's perhaps an argument to be made that Optimus Prime is the best Autobot, and while there's certainly some merrit to this line of thinking, most are in agreement that Megatron's willingness to do whatever it takes to get the win just about gives him the edge. He has a wide array of high-tech weaponry at his disposal too, and, after being struck down, comes back even stronger as the terrifyingly powerful Galvatron.
10 Stanley Ipkiss (The Mask)
When The Mask first begins, Stanley Ipkiss is shown to be a pathetic loser, lacking strength on both the inside and out. Upon finding and putting on the movie's titular face covering, however, he becomes more or less unstoppable, with his newfound strength resulting in an overabundance of confidence.
Like many other fictional characters, Stanley struggles to control his new powers and his impulsive new persona gets both him and his loved ones in an awful lot of trouble. Even so, given that it allows its wearer to dodge bullets and fabricate weapons out of thin air, there can be no denying the mask's effectiveness in combat
9 Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars)
There are a lot of powerful characters in the Star Wars universe, with the Skywalker family all boasting an impressive mastery of the force. However, it's Darth Sidious, or Sheev Palpatine, as he's better known to some, who reigns supreme over all those in the galaxy far, far away.
Not only is the emperor able to conjure lightning from his fingertips, but he's also a master manipulator, helping him to build an army of followers by exploiting their inner fears and desires. He's even able to defeat death, which few believed was possible prior to Palpatine doing so.
8 Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
There have been plenty of terrifying horror movie villains over the years, with the likes of Leatherface, Pinhead, and Jason Voorhees causing their fair share of nightmares since making their debuts back in the late twentieth century. However, they all pale into insignificance when compared to A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger.
This seemingly-unstoppable slasher has killed countless kids, often in the most violent and shocking ways imaginable. Freddy's razor-sharp claws make him an incredibly effective killer, but it's his ability to invade people's dreams that grants him much of his power. Everybody needs to sleep at some point, ensuring that there's no way to hide from the mass murdering dream demon.
7 Sauron (Lord of the Rings)
Even in his weakened form, Sauron proves to be an incredibly powerful adversary throughout the Lord of the Rings books and movies. His control over the Ring Wraiths allows him to target pretty much anybody in middle earth, while his terrifying lidless eye helps him to constantly survey his surroundings in search of his precious ring.
In many ways, it's a shame that so little time is spent focused on the pre-War of the Ring period, with Tolkein never really going into too much detail about why Sauron was feared throughout Middle Earth. Even so, it's clear that he was a near-unstoppable force, whose long reign of terror was only brought to an end by a lucky swing of Isildur's blade.
6 Imhotep (The Mummy)
Like Sauron, Imhotep's true powers are never really fully-explored on screen during the first Mummy movie. After being awakened from his long slumber, viewers do get a chance to see him gradually regaining his powers, though he ends up getting killed before getting a chance to show what he's really capable of.
Despite this, what little is shown of Imhotep paints a truly terrifying picture, with each subsequent kill and absorption granting the former high priest more and more power. He can control the sands of the desert, bring about terrifying plagues, and is also immortal, at least until Evelyn reads from the Book of Amun-Ra, anyway.
5 The T-1000 (Terminator 2)
While Arnie's T-800 may be the more badass of the two Terminators, most would probably agree that the T-1000 is vastly superior when it comes to out and out strength and power. His liquid-metal body makes destroying him almost impossible, while also allowing him to turn his limbs into weapons in the blink of an eye.
At several points throughout Terminator 2, the T-1000 goes toe-to-toe with the T-800 and is shown to be the stronger of the pair. Granted, it does have a pretty glaring Achilles' heel in the form of molten steel, though, like Superman with Kryptonite, this doesn't change the fact that he's one of the most powerful movie characters of all time.
4 Genie (Aladin)
Most of the strongest movie characters tend to be villains, but that's not the case with Genie from Aladin. Despite his good intentions though, he's not exactly a hero either, with the big blue funny man ultimately beholden to whoever's in possession of his magic lamp for the majority of the first Aladin movie.
Although there are one or two limitations to his powers, Genie can make just about any wish come true. Upon being set free by Aladin, he effectively gains the ability to turn all of his own wishes and desires into reality with a click of his big blue fingers, thus becoming one of the most powerful movie characters of all time.
3 Godzilla (Godzilla)
Sometimes, the most powerful movie characters are those who rely on nothing but their own brute strength to succeed. This is very much the case with Godzilla, with Japan's perpetual tormentor able to both dish out and withstand unimaginable levels of damage thanks to its unmatchable bulk.
Depending on the movie, Godzilla's powers vary from unstoppable strength to deadly laser beams and atomic breath that can take down the very deadliest of Kaiju foes. Even in its base form, it's difficult to think of too many movie characters who are stronger than Godzilla, though that's not to say that there aren't a few of them out there.
2 Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Some will perhaps argue that Albus Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard of all time, and there's certainly plenty of evidence to back this claim up. However, the fact that Lord Voldemort is willing to do whatever is necessary in his pursuit of power just about gives him the edge over his gray-haired nemesis.
That Voldemort is ultimately brought down by love is a bit of a cop-out, really, though perhaps no less so than Dumbledore dying as a result of the guilt that he felt for his role in his sister's death. Even so, it's Voldemort who demonstrates the most impressive magic throughout the movies, including his (temporary) mastery of death.
1 Neo (The Matrix)
When it comes to the strongest movie characters of all time, Neo from The Matrix will likely be near the top of most people's lists. Not only is he able to manipulate matter inside the Matrix, but he eventually learns to channel these same powers while completely unplugged from the high-tech computer program.
It's this latter point that tips the scales in Neo's favor when it comes to his bitter rivalry with Agent Smith, who is eventually shown to be every bit as powerful as Neo inside the simulation, if not more so. Both men are unfathomably powerful, and their many high-octane showdowns throughout the influential sci-fi movies demonstrate this fact to a tee.