Often when a character gets stronger in the later entries of any series, it's to highlight the character's evolution and helps players linearly understand this growth. It also shows the character strengths and the jumps they've made because all the things players have learned in the previous game will be present early on in the sequel. This allows the player to get a better idea of where the character is and their mindset. Also, when a character gets stronger in their sequel, it doesn't always mean strength. It can mean many other things, like the character becoming smarter, wiser, and a lot more humble.
This can make them stronger in different aspects, which in turn, can make them a compelling character. A lot of these characters who had massive power jumps appeared on the PlayStation consoles, but not many of them had significant jumps where players could tell the difference between the sequels since their power levels went up slowly. But, the following characters who appeared on the console have had pretty big jumps between games, and in turn, has made them pretty fun to play.
5 Aloy – Horizon Series
As mentioned before, having a massive power boost doesn't necessarily mean the character has to be really strong in their sequel. Rather, it could mean that they're growing, and understanding the tools they have makes them stronger, which in turn, gives them an edge over enemies. Aloy is a great example of this, because in Horizon: Zero Dawn, players don't really see her fullest potential till almost near the end of the game, which is night and day from how players meet her.
In Horizon: Forbidden West, she is at the fullest right when players start the game off, and with room to grow, allows them to grow with Aloy as well. While Horizon: Forbidden West can be a challenge, unless players use some help, Aloy's newfound strength makes that increase in difficulty a lot more interesting. By the time players spend time with Aloy in Horizon: Forbidden West, she's a lot more versatile, and deadlier because she has faced those issues in the first game. If players arm themselves with these tips for new game plus, which takes everything they've had in the normal save file and puts the difficulty up, showcases how strong she has become.
4 Crash Bandicoot – Crash Bandicoot Series
Probably one of the most iconic faces for the PlayStation console for many reasons, this mutated bandicoot came with a lot even in its sequels. While for a platformer, Crash Bandicoot had a limited move list, as the games went on in the original trilogy, the bigger his arsenal became. Crash had a very simple move set for his first outing, like a body slam, a spin kick move, and a few others, because that made sense for a platformer.
However, as players spent time with him during his older adventures, he'd get even more diverse with his attacks. When Crash Bandicoot: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped came out, superpowers were introduced. This made Crash a lot more of a threat to enemies, plus gameplay becomes way more high-energy with these superpowers. The best part is that the growth doesn't stop there. In Crash Bandicoot 4: About Time, Crash got the power to manipulate time, which is an added benefit and opens up a lot more ways for gameplay to be innovative.
3 Cole MacGrath – Infamous Series
Wielding electric powers is something right out of comic books, but when properly executed for a video game, it can work out really well. In this, Infamous does it right, and quite easily as well. Players assume the control of Cole MacGrath, the main protagonist of the first two Infamous games, and witness him becoming this really powerful conduit for this type of power. In the first game, he is quite overpowered, being able to leap from building to building and having electricity-based attacks, making him a threat to enemies throughout the game.
However, in Infamous 2, things get even more intense, because he's able to fully control his powers at this point. At one point during the events of the second game, he can deflect massive machinery coming his away, like missiles, and is able to control them as well. The fact that he's already strong in Infamous but gets even deadlier in the sequel showcases how fluidly and effortlessly he gets into this persona. This allows players to fully understand his power level because of how casually he's doing everything in Infamous 2.
2 Jak – Jak & Daxter Series
One of the poster boys for the PlayStation 2 has left a mark on the console since fans have been begging for a new entry in the series, and he deserves to be this high on the list. When players first meet Jak and his lovable sidekick Daxter, he's quite underpowered, for good reason. Since there's this energy in his world called Eco, he's only able to use a few elemental ones outside of Dark Eco, because that can kill him. However, when players see Jak and Daxter again in Jak 2, he's more mature, can talk, and he's able to use Dark Eco but not control it yet.
Jak 2 was a massive change, because of the serious tone as opposed to Ratchet and Clank's lighter one. The Dark Eco powers he got were all attack based, so he could do quite a large amount of damage because he could not control it. However, in Jak 3 with the introduction of Light Eco, players felt unstoppable, and they were. Now, Jak can control his dark power, plus control these new-found Light-Eco powers. As mentioned before, the Dark Eco powers were all offensive, but his Light Eco powers were utilities, he could heal himself, slow down time, and even fly. All these things made him a god-like being.
1 Kratos – God Of War Series
He is probably the strongest of all characters on the PlayStation, and for good reason, even though the latest God Of War is over-the-top hard, his strengths have always balanced out the games overall. Most of his trials and tribulation make the other characters on this list seem like a cakewalk because his enemies are gods. And when going up against these super powerful beings, the character needs to match them, but not by much.
This is why the God Of War games as a whole are fun to play. While they are hard, they make Kratos's story a lot more believable because once he's at the highest point of any single game. He gets quite powerful. But the developers, on purpose, hold him back because it's not until the next game that players will see the God Of War at the highest point of his power. Because teasing players by showing them a glimpse of what he becomes in the next game is one of the reasons why Kratos is strong throughout the series.