Originally posted by Rage.Of.Olympus
I can think of like two different instances where Thor has come out looking more impressive then Hercules in a physical encounter. Three if you count their battle with the First Man but I give Hercules some slack there because he wasn't at 100% due to moving Manhattan the day before but the sheer difference in performance was as if Thor was twice as strong. That's not counting the times Thor's gone above and beyond his limitations and showed strength greater then what Hercules could seemingly accomplish. Anyways, my point is that as rare as the case may be, it's happened and yet here you are arguing that Hercules would beat Thor/Bill because he once got the edge once in a fight.He was in every way, in both courage and power. He was also the greatest warrior of his people before the augmentations. Yes, the environment was necessary so that Bill could WIN.
I mean contrived in that Hercules got the edge for absolutely no reason other then the writer believing he should (Because Thor had so many other powers) despite all history and canon saying otherwise.
You know what the irony is? In their past fights, THOR has actually used skillful maneuvers more often then Hercules has. It being their second meeting also doesn't make any sense as Hercules has never showed any edge again. I guess Thor must have done some training or something.
I think Bill and Hercules would be a stalemate in hand to hand. Anything else is about as likely as Thor overpowering Hercules in a hand to hand fight.
how many times have they fought purely h2h, no weapons. i base things in THAT fight, because THAT is the type of fight this would be...hence, it's the most appropriate.
not sure what you're getting at with the contrived portion of your argument. they're not the same, at all. the writer wrote herc as the winner? and that's contrived? when they've stalemated many times over in the past, and they are fighting purely h2h? my as well say spidey beating ock is contrived, batman beating joker, ad infinitum. ODIN contrived thor's loss to bill. the 2 things aren't anything at all alike.
anyway, herc has plenty of feats to suggest he is at least as strong thor, (for example, in none of their matches did classic hulk ever beat herc down the way he beat thor down--never even came close) and we have seen he is at least as skilled, and by one writer's estimate, more skilled. hence, again, i give herc a slight edge. since it took plot help for bill to beat thor, i say thor beats bill for a slight majority, so following that imo bill<thor, i give herc another win over bill.
as for your other post--there are definitely instances of the mace blocking energy, but i'd need to dig them up. the mace doesn't have all that many appearances though. i absolutely do NOT see rain taking herc out. ever. blinding him? sure. his best bet is still lightning though unless it can be blocked, which is probably doubtful. he could use wind to left herc i guess and attack from the air. one of the drawbacks to being one-dimensional. the fights would go almost exactly as thor's fights with hulk would go though. staying in character, this would be a weapon slugfest, and it wouldn't be easy though obviously bill and thor have a versatility edge over herc and have many more ways to take him out. remove weapons to even it up and the pendulum shifts slightly imo. that's about the best we'll agree on so i'll just say merry christmas and be on my way.