A Garlic-Wielding Old Man, a Notebook-Toting Child: 5 Powerful Video Game Characters Who Defy How They Look

Poe Ratcho’s unlikely strength

In Vampire Survivors, Poe Ratcho is a frail old man who begins with below-baseline Max Health and a single garlic bulb. His name plays on “poraccio,” Roman slang for a poor or unfortunate person, and his initial stats make him seem like an easy target.

Players unlock Poe through a secret code in the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane: “strongestcharacter.” His garlic damages nearby enemies and helps make them easier to knock back and freeze, while his Magnet bonus draws in experience more quickly. When garlic evolves into Soul Eater, it creates a larger damaging field that also heals Poe. Combined with five other weapons, the article says, the seemingly weak character can become an exceptionally powerful fighter.

Ness’s psychic potential

EarthBound’s Ness appears to be an ordinary child in street clothes, carrying a baseball bat. He can even become homesick during a fight, with a phone call to his mother offered as the cure.

Ness’s PSI abilities include attacks and healing. After absorbing energy from eight Your Sanctuary locations, he confronts his dark side in Magicant, a dreamscape formed from his mind, and awakens his full strength.

At his peak, Ness can use PSI Rockin, PSI Flash and PSI Shield. The article says he eventually binds his soul to a mechanical body, travels back in time and defeats Giygas, described as a universal cosmic destroyer.

Maxwell’s reality-changing notebook

Maxwell is the young star of Scribblenauts, a vocabulary-driven puzzle game that debuted on Nintendo DS in 2009. He has no special powers or physical abilities of his own, and carries a notebook rather than a weapon.

The notebook lets Maxwell bring written words into existence, with a few restrictions. He can summon people, animals, vehicles, weapons and mythical creatures; the text also says he can summon God. The supplied account cuts off while describing Maxwell’s abilities, so it does not finish its explanation or name the remaining two characters in the five-character list.