Jump to content

Marvel's Best Martial Artists


Enforcer84

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 218
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Yeah, in at least some versions of Marvel continuity that I've read, Stick was part of a monastic martial order that trained Daredevil after he was blinded. Also featured was Stone, a swordsman. I have no idea what their current status in continuity is, much less how they stack up with other MAs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Here's a good short bio of Mantis, at least before events in Marvel comics in recent years (which have left the character a confusing mess):

 

http://marvelite.prohosting.com/surfer/profiles/mantis.html

 

 

I remember running into her in an Avengers when I was a kid. I didn't like her then either. :(

 

The whole Celestial Madonna thing...

 

Not to mention the history as a Prostitute, the bad art...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Let's see. Based on martial arts ability only (skills) :

 

1. Shang Chi

2. Iron Fist

3. Ronin (New Avengers)

4. Captain America

5. Daredevil

6. Black Panther

7. Elektra

8. Batroc

9. Black Widow

10. Wolverine

 

Like I said, I based that on skill levels. I still think Cap would win against any of the first three because of superior strength and stamina.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Well, this is not as close as the DC thread.

Captain America is losing ground to Shang Chi each ballot it seems (sorry Hermit)

Iron Fist however is gaining on Cap and leaving Black Panther behind.

 

Here are the Current Results:

 

Shang Chi

Captain America

Iron Fist

Black Panther

Daredevil

Elektra

Moon Knight

Mantis

Black Widow

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Well, this is not as close as the DC thread.

Captain America is losing ground to Shang Chi each ballot it seems (sorry Hermit)

Iron Fist however is gaining on Cap and leaving Black Panther behind.

 

Here are the Current Results:

 

Shang Chi

Captain America

Iron Fist

Black Panther

Daredevil

Elektra

Moon Knight

Mantis

Black Widow

 

 

It'd be interesting to do a matchup based on the current top 10s between DC and Marvel.

 

Lady Shiva vs Shang-Chi

Richard Dragon vs Captain America

Batgirl III vs Iron Fist

Batman vs Black Panther

Bronze Tiger vs Daredevil

Black Canary vs Elektra

Conner Hawke vs Moon Knight

Nightwing vs Mantis

Wildcat vs Black Widow

 

I like a lot of these matchups. :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Some have remembered Mandarin; no one yet remembered his kid, Temujin. He punched chunks out of Iron Man's armor! Yowza!

 

Someone else mentioned Gamora also, who should be included. Isn't Mantis plant life now, like a cosmic Poison Ivy?

 

Thus the list:

 

1) Gamora, the deadliest woman in the universe (and her sidekick Sodom too)

2) Stick, eyeball corner socket

3) Karnak, who unfortunately gets head shot on 3-9 on 3d6

4) Temujin, who declined to use the Mandarin's rings in a fight with Iron Man

5) Mantis, unless she's being all cosmic and doesn't get to play anymore

6) Captain America, because nothing motivates you to learn to fight like Nazis

7) Elektra, seeing your parents gunned down motivates almost as well as Nazis

8) Iron Fist, parents gunned down then fed to wolves, learned martial arts

9) Shang Chi, whose father is so evil they named a mustache after him

10) Daredevil, sometimes a ninja, sometimes a pugilist, maybe he's a puja.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Some have remembered Mandarin; no one yet remembered his kid, Temujin. He punched chunks out of Iron Man's armor! Yowza!

 

Someone else mentioned Gamora also, who should be included. Isn't Mantis plant life now, like a cosmic Poison Ivy?

 

Thus the list:

 

1) Gamora, the deadliest woman in the universe (and her sidekick Sodom too)

2) Stick, eyeball corner socket

3) Karnak, who unfortunately gets head shot on 3-9 on 3d6

4) Temujin, who declined to use the Mandarin's rings in a fight with Iron Man

5) Mantis, unless she's being all cosmic and doesn't get to play anymore

6) Captain America, because nothing motivates you to learn to fight like Nazis

7) Elektra, seeing your parents gunned down motivates almost as well as Nazis

8) Iron Fist, parents gunned down then fed to wolves, learned martial arts

9) Shang Chi, whose father is so evil they named a mustache after him

10) Daredevil, sometimes a ninja, sometimes a pugilist, maybe he's a puja.

:lol:

Puja

:rofl:

 

ooh and Karnak's Head Shot joke was good too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Honestly, I don't know how to answer this question. In the sense of pure technique, Mantis, Shang-chi, Iron Fist and White Tiger would lead the list easily. However, when you include enhanced characters like Captain America, and Black Panther it gets a little murky. Characters like that have above human strength, endurance, reaction timing, agility, physical resistance along with superb fighting skills. I don't think Cap can even get winded. Its like pitting a highly trained fighter unarmed against a grizzly bear. It's just not a fair fight or a fair comparison. So I need a little more clarification on what we are judging on. Is it technique or who would win in a fight?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Three's the Beauty of it, it's not science it's a poll! Simply put down your 10 favorites and I'll tally them! To tell the truth I'm looking for overall score. This would be "If they had a single elimination tournament how would you place them"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Captain America is getting short-changed here on "style" points. I know he wears a flag-suit but he's still depicted as the master of martial arts, just not any East Asian philosophy that some folks would lump in with it.

 

Shang Chi is getting lots of points for "looking the part" but he just simply doesn't rate over Captain America if you've read the stories - unless things have changed in the last ten years or so.

 

Iron Fist is losing points for having a gimmick and for being white but he's trained just as hard and long as Shang Chi and has been exposed to just as much and likely more East Asian mysticism.

 

Karnak is losing points for evidently being more obscure than I realized he was. The guy abstained from the Terrigen Mists and chose to hone his martial arts to the point that he can sense weaknesses in just about anything. He can tussle with the Thing with the kind of martial arts he has without an Iron Fist OR a one-of-a-kind Shield.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Mantis, whom I remember better from the 2nd run of the Silver Surfer series.

 

Elektra's level of ability is inconsistent. Sometimes she's just on par with Daredevil, other times she's pulling ninja mind control tricks and toying with the Punisher.

 

Shang Chi should make it into the top 3, since he's fairly consistently shown to be one of the best if not the best.

 

Moondragon's skill level is just a shade below Mantis.

 

White Tiger

Iron Fist

Captain America--I know he studied judo, boxing and wrestling during WW2, I'm not really aware when he found the time to study the other dozen arts he seems to know.

Taskmaster

Ronin

Daredevil

Silver Samurai

 

there are lots of "experts", a bunch of "masters" and a handful of "grandmasters" in the MU--my definitions would be expert=1st to 5th degree black belt or equivalent; master= 6th to 9th degree or equivalent; grandmaster=10th to 12th degree or equivalent(as good as it can get)

 

It gets very subjective, because I think a lot of the best guys have never really been matched up against each other--would love to see an Elektra/Mantis story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

One of the real problems with the Marvel stuff is how many awesome martial artists are dead. Therefore, I shall give two lists. One for the living and one for the dead and/or theoretically alive.

 

The Living Masters of Butt-whoop

1: Captain America, he's got that awesome track record, after all

2: Shang Chi, 'cause he's gotta be tough with a dad like Fu Manchu

Iron Fist, 'cause K'un L'un is THE place for traditional Chinese wire-fu skills

The Cat, 'cause Shang Chi says he's just that good. Heck, Deadpool is a drooling fanboy of his. Oh, and he's a kung fu-using thief, which is vastly amusing to me

3: Daredevil, Crossbones, Electra, Wolverine, Black Panther -all real good, none of these guys can consistently beat Cap, though and Iron Fist beat the Panther like a drum a few years ago.

4: Black Widow,Batroc, Nick Fury, Red Skull, Nomad, Night Thrasher, Baron Zemo II (he got pretty darn good during his Citizen V days)- all can be worn down by mooks faster than those higher on the list, all have a good showing against those higher on the list but just don't seem to pull out the win.

5: Punisher -he's really good at HTH but likes to shoot people a lot more

6: Silver Samurai, most of the Chaste (the not-dead ones), Mandarin, (he's just not whipping out the HTH anymore, so he's probably gone to seed, needs to spend 6 months in the woods training)

7: Zaran, Black Widow (blond replacement one) -she's pretty good but just doesn't impress me

8: Machete, Kitty Pryde -she's always seemed kinda sloppy in her butt-kicking, relies on her phasing, depower her and she'd probably improve greatly, and yeah, I know how little that makes sense

9: The Bengal -he was pretty good but he seems to be less of a threat after you fight him once & the Vietnam origin is pretty played out these days

10: Razorfist -of course he's dangerous, and yeah, he knows kung fu, but he loses major points for being crazy enough to replace his hands with swords and he's always getting punked

lesser stuff

11: any supervillain who's shtick is HTH and wears spandex, also those martial arts lieutenants that litter the pages of Masters of Kung Fu & Deadly Hands of Kung Fu

12: Hand ninja -these guys are like Pringles, crunch all you want, they'll make more, often most deadly when encountered in groups of less than 4

 

There's no ranking for these guys as they are all talked up a lot but only showed up a few times before dying on us or worse, only seem to smack around the main character and yell at them for being screw-ups (yeah I'm looking at you, Stick)

 

Midnight- trained alongside Shang Chi, dies in first appearance but seems to be really good at HTH. should have avoided fighting way up off the ground , cause he falls and breaks his neck when his cape catches on something, later revived by Kree as cyborg clone called Midnight Sun who whomps on Silver Surfer a while before losing, I think he's supposed to be in Attilan currently, along with Star Thief III (who we never saw again, either)

Kirigi- repeatedly resurrected master ninja of the Hand, currently incinerated, I think

Stick- I know he dies at least once during that whole dead Electra/reborn Electra thing, but he's like some wierd martial arts hobo or something and crawls outa the gutter when you aren't expecting him

The Chaste (Stone , Shaft, Wing, Claw, Star, Hammer , Flame and all those students they go through when they show up)

Challenger- old Timely guy, a little like Mr Terrific IIRC, he popped up in second most recent She-Hulk comic, the one that ran 12 issues

Mantis- she's awesome in HTH except when she isn't and I don't like her 'cause she's a pet character of Englehart

Yoshida Shingen- he was badass, he stabbed a bokken through Wolverine and later got stabbed by him in that 80's Miller miniseries

Ogun- supernatural ninja master who popped up in that execrable Kitty Pryde & Wolverine miniseries. Oddly, he's not a member of the Hand. He is mostly dead though, but sometimes pops up as a ghost long enough to cause bad miniseries to happen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Captain America--I know he studied judo, boxing and wrestling during WW2, I'm not really aware when he found the time to study the other dozen arts he seems to know.

It always seemed to me that when he wasn't practicing on his own, fighting supervillains in hand to hand, he was training the Avengers. A lot of times it was off panel, but the running gag seemed to be Cap saw a good work out and practice like Scotty from ST:toS saw Technical manuals. :D

 

From a Champions perspective, Cap probably would be seen as a bit of a nightmare character to motivate sometimes..

 

GM: "It's a slow day at the Avenger's HQ. Crime has been low and..."

 

Player of Cap: "My character works out. He'll study those tapes of that guy we fought last week then work out on his Akido. That turned out to be useful."

 

GM: "Err... fine. Now, the next day, you?"

 

Player of Cap: "Is there an emergency?"

 

GM: "No. Perhaps you should patrol?"

 

Player of Cap: "Nah. That's more Spidey's gig. Everyone comes to cap with their problems eventually, and my DNPCs haven't rolled up. I know, he'll work out."

 

GM: *grumbling* "You ARE on a team, you know? You might want to have your character do something... I don't know, social?"

 

Player of Cap: "You're totally right. I'm sorry."

 

GM: *Smiling* "Good. Now what?"

 

Player of Cap: "I make -them- work out with me. Don't want the team to get soft..."

 

*Sound of GM thumping head against table*

 

:D

 

(I exagerate... but let's face it, the man is dedicated to a fault)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Indeed. Part of the reason the GM liked Hawkeye so much - he got Cap out into the world on occaision.

Clint: Steve, you gotta come with me there's this crazy new invention I think you'd be interested in.

 

Steve: ? Really? A new chainmail? Perhaps, some new fighting technique?

 

Clint *Takes Steve to a bar*: They're called 'Women' Steve; go introduce yourself, you might like it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

There are so many to include, but I hate ties. I probably should have included more villains but no one else sprang to mind. Crossbones is a sneaky bastich, but I don't think he would make the top 10 in an arena match. I don't know The Cat; where's he from? I wanted to include She-Hulk, because she went through Gamora-training and has maintained it. I left out the feral family (Wolverine, Sabertooth, X-23) for the same reason I didn't include the Griffin; aggressiveness and agility don't make you a martial artist. I probably should have made room for Black Panther, cuz' he's a bad mother****** (hush your mouth!) Until recently I didn't even know what genitalia Ronin had, let alone fighting ability. I would have liked to have included the Daughters of the Dragon, but that would have been a blatant feminist ploy. They are good but not top 10 good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Marvel's Best Martial Artists

 

Don't let the hype fool you - she got punked' date=' in hand-to-hand combat, by none other than Dr. Strange.[/quote']

 

Not so much...Dr. Strange got in one hit but then had to make with the magic to take down Mantis. This happened in Defenders vol. 1 #9 during the Avengers/Defenders War.

 

1. Mantis/Moondragon (they had the same training)

2. Cap

3. Shang Chi

4. Iron Fist

5. Black Panther

6. Daredevil

7. Black Widow/Falcon/Moon Knight

8. Nick Fury/Red Skull/Electra

9. Mockingbird/Night Thrasher

10.Punisher

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...