A 900-pound mountain of muscle, fur, and fury, the grizzly bear can sprint at 35 mph and decapitate a moose with a single swipe. Its claws measure four inches long and its bite can crush a bowling ball. Equally comfortable fishing for salmon or mauling anything foolish enough to wander near its cubs.

The largest and most powerful of the big cats, the Bengal tiger is a 600-pound ambush specialist that strikes from the shadows with surgical precision. Its jaws deliver a bite force of 1,050 PSI—enough to crush bone like chalk—and it hunts entirely alone, needing neither pack nor pride. Where the lion rules through reputation, the tiger earns its crown through sheer, solitary violence.