this is a toughie... i'll do ranks
speed/agility: 1.dante 2. sephiroth 3. cloud 4. kratos
strength: 1.cloud 2.kratos/dante 3. sephiroth
defense: 1.dante/kratos 2. cloud 3. sephiroth
skill: 1.dante/sephiroth 2. cloud 3. kratos
determination: 1.cloud 2. kratos 3. dante 4. sephiroth
heres who would beat one another-
cloud would beat sephiroth
sephiroth would beat kratos
kratos would tie with cloud
dante would beat cloud and kratos and tie with sephiroth.
so i personally think dante and kratos would win only becuase of dante. but it'd probably be a tie...
i did this hurridly so it's half-assed
^Kratos is stronger physically than every other character here, possibly combined in his prime. By God of War III, the 1600 foot titan king wasn't strong enough to squash Kratos in between his hands, not counting how he was able to toss a roughly 300 foot Colossus of Rhodes on its ass a game earlier. Cloud's the WEAKEST in terms of physical strength if anything. In addition, Kratos' skill comes from training from the literal God of War, who he fought on even terms in that regard (greater in fact) when the playing field was leveled in terms of power. CLoud only ever beat Sephiroth at all based on luck more than outright outfighting him (in fact, he never could, Advent Children had Sephiroth taken by surprise).
Cloud is the weakest link here, and either character at max between Dante and Kratos could singlehandedly take the other team if they were at their maximum levels.
i'm sorry about the last post, i was in a hurry and i stuffed it up. But dante is the overall strongest here, his speed and agility is insane and he is just as good a fighter as kratos. in his devil form dante would dominate all of the other fighters becuase devil dante is essentially invincible and much faster than normal. also dante, so far has never really sustained injuries becuase of his healing. also dantes guns give him much more of an advantage.
please disregard my previous post.
Again, no Dante is not strongest physically. The most he's ever done is with augmentations in equipment in ways that someone like Kratos shows to do naturally. And if you're gonna argue Dante's devil trigger, then you should account Kratos's Rage of the Gods/Titans/Sparta, all forms in which he becomes virtually invincible in addition to other specific enhancements. No one in Devil May Cry or Final Fantasy VII had ever shown to be able to decimate an entire army by varyingly gruesome means with a single gesture ala Ares, who not only wasn't even the most powerful God, but who Kratos, as the God of War in his place, was stated to be more powerful and ruthless than.