The Ultimate Good Wiki:The Ultimate Good Criteria

The criteria for what make a character The Ultimate Good (TUG for short).

Overview

Three important aspects that makes this character The Ultimate Good are:

The Most Powerful – This hero is one of the most powerful among the heroes in their respective franchise.
The Most Defensive – This hero has the potential to defend against the most dangerous threats. These heroes have powers that can rival said threats.
The Most Noble – They are one of the most selfless and benevolent heroes in their franchise who is capable of doing good things for many people.

Criteria

The character stands among most heroes in the story as the most noble and selfless. These characters are always Pure Good, Near Pure Good, or Inconsistently Admirable.
The Ultimate title goes to the most influential and powerful hero among the hero cast. In plenty cases, this would overlap with the Bigger Good of the franchise.
The hero has large access to resources such as an army. They may even be as powerful as an army, having them qualify for the One Man Armies category.
The hero has saved many lives or committed many notable heroic deeds. They may have prevented a major catastrophe in the past.
A single story can only have one "The Ultimate Good" as it is for the most powerful, most defensive, and most noble hero. Exceptions exists if there are two heroes who are at the same level of power and influence within the story.
The Ultimate Good applies to single individuals than groups.
They are highly competent in protecting and saving many lives on a global, galactic, universal, multiversal, or omniversal scale. Rarely would they be on a local or regional level, unless the story is confined to this level.
The character has a level of symbolism to them. They may symbolize something greater than themselves. This may not always be the case with every The Ultimate Good hero.

Differences

While these categories and concepts may overlap with The Ultimate Good, these are not the same exact concepts.

The Ultimate Good ≠ Big Good: While it is common for a TUG character to be a Big Good, they may not qualify if there happens to be a Bigger Good who is likely to be more influential, powerful, noble, and defensive than the Big Good. If the Big Good simply fail to meet the criteria, such showing multiple traits that they are not meant to be TUG, then they cannot qualify.
The Ultimate Good ≠ Bigger Good: While this overlap greatly with being the most powerful and most defensive, if they are not the most noble, then they may not qualify. Bigger Goods may display corrupting qualities enough to not be considered TUG.
The Ultimate Good ≠ Pure Good: While Pure Good heroes already cover 'The Most Noble' and 'The Most Defensive' aspects to The Ultimate Good, if they are not the most powerful and they don't have widespread influence, then some of these characters cannot count.
The Ultimate Good ≠ Virtue Incarnate: While a character that is the incarnate of virtue and goodness can share plenty traits to show that they can be TUG, if they are not the most noble, most defensive, or most powerful, then they cannot qualify.
The Ultimate Good ≠ Protagonists: If a main character is not a hero who is one of the most noble, powerful, and defensive in the story, then they cannot qualify.
The Ultimate Good ≠ Supreme Beings: This is not always the case as a Supreme Being may be morally gray.

Would Not Qualify Under Most Circumstances

Right-Hands: Under most cases, these types of characters may not count if they only follow the lead of another hero or leader. Exceptions exists if they are shown to be meet the criteria for TUG that surpasses their leader or if the character was once a right-hand.
Sidekicks: Similarly, to right-hands, these characters may not count if they are only subservient to another hero. Exceptions exists if they show that are more powerful, noble, and defensive than the hero they follow or if they grow past being a sidekick to being a leading hero.
Anti-Heroes: Under most cases, anti-heroes cannot be TUG because their motives are mostly self-serving and may be motivated by personal gain and meeting pragmatic needs. In addition, they may be too heinous to be considered TUG. Exceptions exists if they meet few of the criteria below:
1. Their motives are not completely self-serving, and they do have genuine interest in doing good for the setting overall. Their interest to do good for the setting is more prevalent than their own personal goals and desires.
2. They stand out in the setting for the good deeds they have done and are exceptionally admirable.
3. They are not too heinous to be considered a villain.
4. The character undergoes character growth where they were once an anti-hero but evolved from that archetype.
Extremists: Under most circumstances, these characters cannot count since their acts can be too heinous. Exceptions exists if their extreme acts do not directly lead to harming innocents. In addition, if they are the most noble, powerful, and defensive in their setting, they could qualify.
Inconsistently Heinous: These characters doesn't count depending on the work they're involved, due to their heinousness leaving a huge impact and how it potentially harms others, however if they're proven to eventually undo their heinousness and do enough heroic acts for their screen time, they could qualify.

Would Not Qualify Under Any Circumstances

Insufficiently Admirable: A TUG hero cannot fail the admirable standards. If they fail the admirable standards, it goes against them being considered one of the most noble in the story they appear in.
Fallen Heroes: While a character can experience development throughout the story, if a hero has fallen, then they have chosen to be evil than to do good and have committed acts that are unfit for a character to be TUG.
On & Off: A character cannot be on & off. If they are on & off, it goes against them being considered the most noble character in the setting.
Grey Zone: A TUG character cannot be morally gray. The character must be unambiguously noble and fall under a good alignment.

Notes

If a franchise has a TUG character (that is PG) along with other Pure Good heroes, it does not mean that the TUG is the most noble hero among the PG heroes. A pure good hero cannot be more noble than another pure good hero. It means the TUG hero have the most resources and power compared to the other pure good heroes.