Gender: Unspecified Location: Under Spidey's Fist.
Skill?
I'll make this short as I don't really have time for interwebz anymore.
So, I took a look at some of the threads in the vs. section and in the comic book section (Mainly the agility thread, it's great btw)
So, I've often seen that people assume that skill = lots of different martial art styles, but IMO it's more like how effective fighter you are. Let's take some examples shall we.
Luke Cage & Captain America. Captain America doesn't know THAT many martial arts (*Takes a look at Batman*), but he's very effective fighters, I'd say one of the top 3 (in Marvel) He uses lots of different moves, such as pressurepoint attacks, grabs etc etc
He fights people lot stronger than he is, and makes up for their strenght/durability with his skill on weak spots and similiar.
Now, Luke Cage is a street fighter, I don't think he really has any belts or anything. He has picked up some training from his buddy IronFist, but he's still a street fighter. Now, he's probably one of the top strong guys when it comes to fighting. He has pretty much one efficient style which he utilizes.
Luke Cage has better stats than Captain America (Some might disagree though) Who would win in a fight? (Note, this is not a vs. topic)
Another example, Blade and Wolverine. We'll remove their powersets (both are peak human at this instance) And we'll give them swords. Blade's skill level is said to be lower, but would it matter in a sword confortation? Both of the characters rely on different things, Wolverine relies on his claws and ocasionally on his martial art skills. Blade uses mainly sword, throwables and at times his martial art skills.
I'm asking you guys. How do you define skill in the comic books? and how much does it matter in a fight? (I've had this image in my head that the more skilled fighter of the 2 fighters is able to position the other fighter in a bad position and we'll be able to counter attack easily. Now I've realised that that image is false, unless the losing character is really shitty compared to the other character, isn't fast enough, or is too confident or something)
How much does this skill matter in fights like "Ares vs Wolverine" or "Captain America vs Thing"
Wolvie, and Cappy are exeptional good fighters, but Ares & Thing aren't THAT bad in comparision (At least when comparing to some of the bad guys these good fighters fight)
Maybe I'm thinking battle smarts (Ie, Wolverine has claws, I'll have to be careful when attacking him etc)
So.. Umm, discuss "1337 skillz"
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Scorpion had NO hand to hand skills, which made up for the power gap between them. When facing an opponent who's 70 classes above you, martial arts won't matter at all.
Characters like Mantis and Gamora are exceptions, because their skill allows them to injure cosmic beings (I think that's bull*hit). This isn't the case with Wolverine and Cap, their martial arts skills won't let them injure Hulk, Thing, Colossus and so on with just skill.
So no, I don't think skill should make such a big difference when The Thing is facing off against Cap.
Skill allows Cap to hold his own against guys like the Hulk, Thing, Namor etc etc.
But even he admits hes not beating the Hulk, thats the difference maker imo, a normal guy with peak human abilities and no skill would go down in a panel against Grimm or Banner.
Skill is also inconsitently written in the case of say Wolverine, for instance in the Ares vs Wolverine thread it was pointed out that Ares didn't show much skill when he lept at Ultron.
However, I've been reading the fist ten issues of Astonishing X men and in almost every fight, Logan's first move is to leap at his opponent claws out, more often then not resulting in him getting b!tch slapped.
So skill in comics is swings and roundabouts with certain characters who are meant to be very skilled, twice now BP has made karnak look like a bumbling fool despite his high level of hand to hand skill.
Anyway, I fail to see how rushing into attacks equates to less skill. Of course it doesn't sound like a solid strategy but in the case of characters like Ares and Wolverine where they can get up from practically anything why would they have to worry about being careful? Also its in their personality to be hotheaded so its more of a character trait than lack of skill.
In all fairness it could be argued that they do have it, they just dont need to use it all the time because of their durability.
It could be also argued that since people like Wolverine tend not to use skill as much as other MAs then this would lessen their skill because they use it less frequently.
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It shows the character not only to be hot headed and rash but also not to be thinking tactically, a controled and skilled fighter would never leave themselves open like that.
I was also using it as an example of inconsistent writing, it only really came to mind when SC posted the scan of Ares jumping at Ultron to illustrate a lack of skill on Ares's part.
But it was a hotheaded act, spurred on by Ultron, which I addressed in that thread.
I agree Logan is hot headed and rash at times, that is part of his personality but when its his first tactic regardless of his level of anger, he goes from being hotheaded to just plain sloppy.
But as you have already addressed in the case of Astonishing,Wheldon is at fault.
And my post was not to insult Logan's skill but to illustrate how bad writing can effect how we see a characters skill level (which is seems we are in agreement on! )
A lot of comic book writers do kind of mess up on skills. They often says that number of combat forms equals ability which is totally false. In reality Combat Skill is based on your ability to optimize your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses compared to the other combatant.
That why people like Wolverine are really not that good. Wolverine isn't smart enough or a good enough tactician to be one of the best MA guys in comics. Seriously in straight up hand to hand skills Cap, Slade, Deadpool, Dare Devil should all pawn Wolverine in H2H.
But yeah people like Karate Kid Gamora and Mantis are totally unrealistic in the feats they have.
Yup thats true. Writers don't seem to realise that once you get past half a dozen different styles, everything else is pretty redundant.
Not only does this make little sense but it also contradicts what you just said. Mainly the "skill is based on your ability to optimize your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses compared to the other combatant." part.
While other fighters are using self defence oriented styles Wolverine's healing factor affords him the the luxury of an almost purely offencive fighting style. He is a death dealer, there are no sport elements to his fighting style, nothing flashy, just practical and the efficient honed to near perfection. How is that not optimizing your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses compared to the other combatant. He isn't fighting to fight, he is fighting to win... why would he needlessly prolong a fight by hopping around like jackass trying to emulate Bruce Lee?
I don't think the majority of people have any idea of what fighting skill actually is. Speed, accuracy, coordination and most of all efficiency, are what make someone a skilled fighter... Wolverine has that in spades. Martial artist speed years of their lives training their bodies to do what Wolverine does natural, operate on instinct that has been honed to pinnacle of perfection
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Gender: Unspecified Location: Under Spidey's Fist.
I'll give experience to Logan, but Blade is also very old and he has been training with swords for a lifetime. (He's like 80 isn't he?)
Training with swords? How do you decide this? Has Blade lost to anyone in a sword fight? What makes you think Wolverine is >>>>>> to Blade? Other than your twisted opinion? In comic universe it doesn't matter who has trained you, or if he's a self proclaimed god of sword fighting. I assume you're talking about Ogun, Ogun doesn't have feats to back up his superiority as a swordsman. Not AFAIK.
And, yet again you complitely miss the point. (It's like you're only reading "Blade....Wolverine.... Skills..") I wasn't asking who's the better swordman, they are both obviously masters at the art, but how much difference would it make if both are masters. Wouldn't other factors start to play a different role eventually?
I couldn't care less who was the better swordsman, if they clashed their swords, I'd even point out Wolverine as the better of the 2, but that's not what I'm asking here.
I'm sorry, but your post is off topic and fanboyish.
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Back to the topic. Can someone be am effective fighter with just one style? And, let's take an example. We'll have Wolverine & Captain America. (They both are powerless, weaponless, physically equal in this match up) Who would do better in a h2h fight? Cap basicly uses a one style, while I'm not entirely sure on what kind of style(s) Wolverine uses.
It's really hard to say who would win if you base it only on skill, or is it?
How much do skills count in comics?
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May 25th, 2007 09:28 AM
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