Most Broken Video Game Characters: Ivan Ooze
The Search for the Most Broken Video Game Character
The search is over. There is no comparison. Ivan Ooze is, by far, the most broken character in video game history. Whatever argument you want to make for any other character, you're wrong.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition came out in 1995 as a tie-in to the first film, and just like the movie, Ivan Ooze was featured as the final boss. If players managed to beat the Story Mode on Hard difficulty, they would gain the ability to play as Ivan Ooze in the games versus mode.
"The Boogeyman is taking over."
Right from the beginning, Ivan Ooze ignores the basic laws of movement that the rest of game must abide by. In a game where everyone else is grounded, Ivan flies... all the time. He never touches the ground and can easily go to any corner of the screen where most other fighters can't reach and stay there as long as he pleases. His floating nature also means he can't be hit by low attacks or be thrown by other fighters. This character is already broken, and we haven't even gotten into his attacks, which are equally ridiculous compared to the rest of the game.
Energy Ball is one of Ivan's basic attacks, emphasis on basic, it is not a command move, which would require a sequence of button presses in order to execute, it's just one button. It's a homing projectile that can also absorb incoming opponent projectiles, and hits multiple times, meaning it can stun the opponent long enough to lead to a combo. This, combined with his ability to ignore gravity, means he can just float up to his untouchable corner and endlessly spam this move to completely shut down any opponent. By the way, he can also create giant columns of fire to appear out of nowhere, which can also absorb opponent projectiles coming his way, while also moving forward to push the opponent into the corner.
Ivan has too many problematic moves at his disposal to go into detail on all of them, but there is one in particular that has no place in this world.
"Zords-Schmords. I'll crush them like roaches."
As rule breaking as he already is, Invulnerable Strike is where the problem with Ivan Ooze truly lies. A move that creates a field around Ivan that will damage any foe near him while simultaneously unleashing a barrage of fireballs at them. Moreso, it makes him invulnerable for two seconds, and has no startup lag.
But wait, we haven't even gotten to the bad part yet.
What makes Ivan Ooze so unequivocally broken is that he can execute Invulnerable Strike while in hit stun. For the uninitiated, hit stun is the period of time in which a character is unable to do anything except for directional influence and teching after being hit by an attack. The amount of time it takes to recover from being stunned depends on the attack. But this is yet another fundamental video game law that Ivan Ooze can simply choose to ignore.
Ivan's only drawback is the fact that he does not have the ability to block, but with all the game-breaking moves he has at his disposal, he has no reason to block. The best defense is an overwhelming offense, and overkill is the best kill.
