A ranking of how strong the protagonists of my favorite series were at the start of their series. So this is a blog I did a while back but with two crucial differences:
1: That was just using feats the characters had in their first episode/chapter/level without any scaling to anything outside of it. This is with all the retroactive scaling the characters had from the start of the series
2: I added a new series to the list
So yeah, this is an analysis on how I would rank the 33 protagonists from my 33 favorite series at the start of their series. I should note that for each of these it's the protagonist at the release order start rather than the chronological start. In other words, if there are prequels then it's the first appearance of the character from our chronology, not the first story to take place in the universe of the character. This doesn't change much for most characters, but for someone like Kratos from God of War for instance, this is at the end of the first level of the first God of War was to be released, God of War (2005) after the conclusion of the Hydra battle, not the first level of God of War: Ascension the earlier game chronologically.
33: Haruhi Fujioka: Haruhi is a normal human and teenage girl. She doesn't scale to any particularly notable physical feats and lacks superhuman abilities. She's quite smart, but that's her only super helpful capability in combat.
32: Watanuki Kimihiro: Watanuki only has one supernatural ability, that being his ability to see spirits, which is not particularly helpful in combat. He does have a few comical physical feats of exaggeration. In comparison between Haruhi and Watanuki, it would be somewhat like a hypothetical fight between Haruhi and Tamaki. Watanuki has comical physical feats, mostly in durability, but is characteristically high-strung and foolish, particularly at the start of the story. It's possibly Haruhi could win if she manipulated Watanuki but start of series Haruhi is stubbornly unaware of her own limitations so I think most likely Watanuki would win.
31: Wirt: Wirt doesn't have the same physical strength/durability feats that Watanuki does, but he has a weird feat of dodging the falling teardrops of a monster called "Papa" which almost immediately filled an entire clearing, a speed feat suggesting subsonic to supersonic speeds. Even with Watanuki's durability, I can't see Wirt not beating him via dodging his blows and punching him in the face when he gets the chance, maybe a couple times.
30: Dante Alighieri: Dante is an adult man and should have higher attack potency and durability than Wirt. He and Vergil travel the diameter of the Earth in 48 hours, a speed feat of 73.6 meters per second on average. That level of speed is likely similar to Wirt meaning that it would essentially be an adult man vs a teen boy, but faster.
29: Madoka Kaname: So in the first episode Madoka is just a normal girl, however, she does prior to contracting avoid and keep up with familiars and Kyubey who avoids blasts from Homura. She also follows the fight between Sayaka and Kyoko. If you think she at all speed scales to that level of speed she can definitely bring Dante before he'll ever get a hit even if she's not as strong or durable. Also she at one point survives the familiars messing with her and supernaturally stretching her, though that's probably more so just the familiars playing with her rather than a durability feat of hers.
28: Stanley: Stanley is never implied to get any stronger and can withstand these comically long falls that should give him wall level durability. Nobody prior has any real way to damage him and Madoka would probably wear herself out trying to even if she's way faster.
27: Frisk: Frisk's stats and abilities are dependent on their current level of DETERMINATION but after the Ruins, Frisk should have a pretty decent level of determination. I imagine Frisk and Stanley probably have pretty similar levels of durability at this point but Frisk has better speed, attack potency, and mental stats as well as probably abilities. Frisk has a few abilities. Stanley might depending on if you think cheats are canon as the Narrator has responses to it.
26: Cutie Honey: It's not clear if Honey get stronger overtime in the Cutie Honey Manga. That said assuming she's at least as strong as she is by the end of the first of the three canon manga, she probably has at least similar stats to Frisk. Both have scaling between wall to small building level at this point and subsonic to supersonic speeds. The difference is that Honey has far better combat skill and numerous weapons including nitroglycerin acid spit.
25: Hikaru Shidou: Early MKR scaling can be tricky because the characters get vaguely stronger with their willpower due to the rules of Cephiro and the different pace of the anime and manga. If you're going by the first episode of just the anime, Hikaru doesn't even have a sword, just the fire magic Clef awoke, but this magic was able to fend of Alcyone, and should scale her at least to various large building type feats from the monsters in the anime. If you use just the manga, that scaling isn't there but the chapter does go longer and Hikaru gets her sword and armor. With just the Manga Hikaru would be slower than Honey but still able to react, while with the Anime she'd be faster and still have the reaction speed feats. Manga Only Hikaru has physical stats in the small building range from vaporizing a several meters tall monster. Using Anime timeframe she doesn't have those same physical stats but does have the Large Building Level Flame Arrow. Manga only Hikaru vs Early Honey might be a good fight. Hikaru might have better durability (since Honey in the first manga only might not scale to small bulding level durability) while Honey would have better abilities (fire arrows and speaking to animals vs acid spit and transformation.) Anime Only Hikaru would either melt Honey with Flame Arrow or die to a strike from Honey. If Hikaru has both (and both are written by Clamp), she should win fairly confidently.
24: Princess Tutu: Tutu fighting is kind of weird as she never actually fights someone so how she would fight is not clear. She scales above Heart Shards with greater power feats than Flame Arrow. She's not as fast as Hikaru if anime feats are allowed for Hikaru but Hikaru would have to wear down Princess Tutu a lot, while Duck can probably hit Hikaru eventually with her reality-warping dance. I don't think her dancing would be an instant win against Hikaru as Willpower in MKR seems to grant some resistance to reality-warping, but it should give her the area of effect to hit Hikaru who usually fights at melee range.
23: Luz Noceda: So at the start of the series Luz lacks magic and is a physically inept nerd with "weak nerd arms." That said she does have some oddly high physical stats scaling due mostly to being a cartoon character. In the first episode she knocks out a Boiling Isle Prison Warden with a staff, showing that she should at least scale to Boiling Isle Civilians who have a ton of feats and developed differently surviving on the treacherous Boiling Isles. She is likely strong enough to knock out Princess Tutu with a couple blows at most based on Boiling Isles School Children able to slightly impact Kikkimora's mech and is way, way faster based on Piniet able to react to a Light Glyph. Granted Episode 1 Luz is absolutely the type to be entranced and purified in heart by Princess Tutu so it feels like Tutu should win going by their "characters", but that's because Tutu doesn't really "fight" normally and in a fight scenario, Luz should win.
22: Yusuke Urameshi: Yusuke in the first chapter or episode is a ghost. He would be mutually intangible with everyone prior. He can possess some of them including Luz and have them beat themselves, though some people before can likely resist and it's unlikely he could possess an android like Honey. That said anyone prior would never be able to hit Yusuke and eventually wear themselves out.
21: Yugi Muto: Yugi has the magical powers of the Millennium Puzzle and I think would probably be able to affect a ghost like Yusuke. The Games of Darkness can affect the minds of people and in the ancient past he sealed Ka and Ba spirits in tablets, though it's not clear if he could do that without his memories. Yugi also has defensive abilities that would presumably protect him against most of the characters prior. It's stated the Pharaoh's power protected his entire palace, and there's a page where he seems, at least to me, to phase intangible. Some people interpret it differently though so YMMV. Even without that, if Yugi has his forcefield power and the games of darkness he should be able to beat MOST people here. The only questionable one is Luz, but I think Luz at the start of the series would probably accept a request to play a game instead of fight to win.
20: Danny Phantom: So Episode 1 Danny would sometimes accidentally switch between human and ghost form, and his power was somewhat inconsistent with his emotional state. Danny's power is relatively high, in the same tier as someone like Princess Tutu and with speed somewhat similar to Luz, so I think he could probably get through Yugi's forcefield and he can obviously get past intangibility. Even if Danny does revert, he does get the benefits of Danny Phantom-verse human feats. If Danny gets into a Game of Darkness with Yugi, Yugi almost certainly wins but I think Danny can probably overwhelm Yugi's defenses. He's basically like Luz against Yugi but with the ability to get around intangibility, and more aggressive as a fighter.
19: Tiara: Tiara's got higher physical strength and durability than Danny unless he gets into an emotional state as she scales to kiloton level dimension maintaining feats. Danny at this point doesn't even know he can possess people and Tiara can arguably affect ghosts as the demons in Shamanic Princess show ghostlike properties. Danny is definitely faster and he could maybe wear down Tiara, but if he doesn't win fast enough, Danny will eventually revert and Tiara can one-shot him. It really just depends on if you think Tiara gets a solid hit on him and I don't think Danny at this point is skilled enough to avoid any hits from Tiara.
18: Mew Ichigo: Ichigo's base form doesn't seem to get stronger over the course of the series so she scales to similar kiloton level feats and lightning timing. Ichigo vs Tiara would basically be Ichigo's greater speed vs Tiara's greater skill and teleportation. Personally I think the speed gap is too large, especially given Ichigo can heal herself with Mew Power.
17: Sakura Kinomoto: Sakura is really not a fighter and her physical strength and durability are way below Ichigo's. That she is able to lightning-time naturally and so should be able to keep up and even in the first chapter/episode she has the Windy, which is an underratedly powerful card. The Windy is one of the elemental cards, equal to the Earthy which can create city-threatening earthquakes. The Windy would probably try to bind Ichigo which I think would probably work. In the manga she also has Wood and Jump in Chapter 1, the latter being able to help her keep up with Ichigo in agility and the former being enough strong card that could hurt or bind Ichigo. Granted if Ichigo gets any hit on Sakura, she would one-shot, but I think Sakura probably wins.
16: Player Wizard: The Player Wizard of Magicka is the finest student of Castle Aldreheim and is a far more experienced and skilled spellcaster. While The Player Wizard's stats are notably weaker than the Windy, they can easily protect themselves with shield while summoning down a meteor shower that will eventually beat Sakura and/or just outlast her as Sakura early on has very limited stamina while the Wizards went through an entire mountain range without stop destroying the goblin civilization.
15: Minute Man: So I'm not sure what the stats of early Minute Man are as it's an RPG where the characters get stronger mechanically. Freedom Force, even early on, does fight Nuclear Winter so if you think he scales to any level of the power he has at his peak he should be here. Nuclear Winter froze Patriot Park with his power, lowered the temperature of a Cuban Village in Summer to the point there was snow, and likely scales to some fraction of Pan's power which levitated and moved Pan's flying island. If that's the case the Player Wizard doesn't really have attacks in his arsenal that can hurt Minute Man unless you think Death Mana ignores durability cause it's pure entropy.
14: Feliciano Vargas: Feliciano is the personification of Northern Italy. I don't think Minute Man has the area of effect to do significant damage to Northern Italy before collapsing in exhaustion.
13: Pegasus Seiya: Seiya's got similar stats to Minute Man but higher in both power and speed as he atomized a section of the ground, calced into the upper gigatons and reached the speed of sound as a Bronze Saint before getting faster as well as having better abilities and combat skill. Against Feliciano he may or may not have the ability to actually destroy the nation but Cosmo has the ability to affect abstract concepts so Seiya should be able to just... punch Feliciano.
12: Panty Anarchy: I'm not sure if Panty's guns can be used against most of the characters here, but she is fast enough to blitz Seiya at the start of SS based on scaling to Stocking who ran around the world for exercise. Her attack potency may or may not be able to overcome Seiya's natural durability but I think if she hits him somewhere like the eye, it probably would work, especially as she has a good luck aura that can counteract the good fortune given by his constellation. Seiya vs Panty really depends on if you think Panty can hurt Seiya at all as either Seiya tanks Panty's attacks and eventually hits her or Panty blitz and overwhelms him with dozens of attacks or accidentally knocks him into space.
11: Omi: Omi vs Panty is a pretty clearcut one. The two should be similarly powerful if not favoring Omi based on him positively scaling to Jack's digger bots that can "reduce a mountain to rubble", have similar speed based on Omi being much faster than early Clay who can lightning time and keeping up with the Serpent's Tail which quickly travels the radius of the Earth. Omi has much more skill to the point of having precognition from it, and besides that the two don't have many other abilities. Panty's Good Luck Aura might cause Omi problems, but if the two stalemate for a bit due to Omi's Precognition Based Skill and Panty's Good Luck, Omi's definitely got the better stamina with the Dragons even in Season 1 able to search for a Wu nonstop for days with Omi being the only one not tired.
10: Sailor Moon: Sailor Moon in Chapter 1 has her ultrasonic crying which can threaten a dimension, her tiara throw which can turn people to dust and has retroactive scaling to many FTL feats. Granted in Chapter 1 she's a crybaby and cowardly, but in most scenarios if Sailor Moon sees Omi or anyone prior moving in super slow motion she probably won't be as intimidated and her crying which can hit ghosts or her tiara throw should let her beat anyone here. Omi's Skill and Tiger Instincts might let him get a hit on her, but even if he does the Silver Crystal will automatically act to protect Usagi either teleporting her or forming a barrier around her.
9: Samus Aran: Even Samus from the start of Metroid 1 scales to Base Ridley who has similar to greater power and speed feats to Sailor Moon. Samus is either equal or a tier above Usagi in both power and speed at the start of their series and even if they are equal has obviously way better mental capabilities and better armaments.
8: Cure Black: Nagisa doesn't have many abilities and even less without her partner Cure White. That said she is probably similar skilled to Samus and likely even beginning of series scales to Cure Blossom who is stated to be the Weakest Cure in history who has planetary and light-timing feats. Samus might still be faster but Beginning of Series Samus lacks any durability ignoring hax and Cure Black Should be able to tank any of Samus attacks and eventually get a hit in.
7: Kratos: So I don't think Hydra Fight Kratos has power and durability on par with Start of Futari Wa Nagisa's, though I don't think he's that far behind. Beyond that, he has probably even higher skill being superhumanly skilled, was able to beat an FTL opponent 10 years prior despite them using time manipulation to slow Kratos, and has the Blades of Chaos that drain the lifeforce from the people he hits. To be fair Nagisa's lifeforce is probably quite high as the Monochrome Cures get the power from the Power of Light that exists in all life, but I think Kratos can probably wear Nagisa down with the Blades of Chaos. Granted this is one I went back and forth on.
6: Yuki Yuna: Yuna herself is much weaker than the last several characters physically speaking. But her fairies create a barrier that can withstand supernova and blackholes. The Blades of Chaos could bypass this by draining Yuna's lifeforce...except I think the Blades have to make contact in order to do so, and beyond that Yuna's lifeforce is maintained by her fairy which is part of the Shinju, a universal divine tree god. There are some people here that hypothetically could do something to Yuna, Yugi could maybe beat Yuna in a Game of Darkness for instance, but this is broadly where I think the Fairy Barrier would most consistently get Yuna.
5: Bayonetta: Early in Bayonetta, Bayo is still rusty and lacking memories but she still scales to First Sphere Angels that would put her in the same physical range as Kratos and Nagisa but with Kratos' level of skill, time hax, and numerous other hax besides. Now she still wouldn't normally have a way around Yuna's Fairy Barriers, except Bayonetta can move into Purgatory and attack people from another dimension which I think would get around the forcefield in the same way a three-dimensional attack would get around a forcefield facing just in front of someone.
4: Superman: It's implied that while his feats get much more impressive that Golden Age Superman doesn't get stronger during the Golden Age as when he fights the Kryptonian Criminals Kizo, Mala, and U-Ban despite them reaching Earth that day, they are treated as equal in powers to him. If that's the case he has speeds fast enough to travel into deep space quickly, probably millions of times the speed of light, can time travel, and has multiple stellar feats. I can see Bayo keeping up with Superman via Witch Time and can avoid attacks from him via moving into another dimension, but start of game Bayo doesn't have any weapons that would hurt Kal-L and if he gets a single strike in he wins.
3: Amaterasu: Amaterasu at the start of the game is much more casually stellar than Kal-L in the Golden Age as she can create a new star or multiple with a dip of the celestial brush which can reach other star systems instantly. Granted if Kal-L time travels she doesn't have a way to counter that, but that's an unusual strategy for him and I don't see him being able to take more then a couple blows from the Celestial Brush.
2: Blossom: It's not clear whether the PPG get significantly stronger across seasons but the entire show happens with a year and they're able to beat up Mojo Jojo even in Season 1, Mojo not being implied to get stronger or anything and able to fight the PPG in later seasons, so they should at least downscale from their later feats. Blossom should be in the same stellar range as Superman and Amaterasu from scaling to HIM and being at least somewhat in the same tier as Monkey due to Justice Friends scaling, and has speeds far higher from nanobot, Justice Friends, and Super Friends scaling meaning she would probably blitz.
1: Wander: It's not implied Wanders get any stronger over WOY. Wander has speed feats in the same tier or higher then the characters prior, and plugged a galaxy-threatening black hole with his finger. He wins.
There are a few cases of rock paper scissors here but this was my best attempt to rank them based on who has the best overall matchups against the other characters here.
