Originally posted by HarbingerThis is kinda what I'm getting at. With the rings, there really is NO reason that Iron Man should EVER beat Mandarin (without assistance).
If you take the high end showings for the rings, the IG comparison isn't too far off, IMO; they've operated like an IG-lite in a sense.
Originally posted by BentleyI know I'll catch hell for saying this, but not really. Mandarin has at least some good showings, whereas Apocalypse has very few. Even in his own series, AoA, He jobbed to Magneto at the end.
Are you saying Mandarin fights like Apocalypse?
Originally posted by CPT Space Bomb
I think it is due to the mere limitless potential those rings have. It's kind of like how the Elders were powerful, but they never really knew how to tap into the Infinity Gems. Thanos, however, did. And no, I'm not comparing Mandarin's rings to the Infinity Gauntlet, but I'm using that as an example.
I don't think it's so much him not knowing how to tap into the rings power, so much as the Mandarin is ruled by machismo. He likes to prove how badass he is as a warrior, so he mostly just uses the rings to put people off-balance. Like, using a tornado to suck Iron Man down out of the air and go hand-to-hand. Or using illusions to make Iron Man fight the wrong thing so he can get in sucker-punches and sucker-kicks while Iron Man doesn't know who to dodge.
It's like in his mind the rings can't be allowed to steal the limelight away from his personal abilities. Maybe he even sees them as competition to a degree.