A new take on the Vs Thread

[bibliophile]

"I'm the best there is at what I do"
-Wolverine

Verses thread; we've all seen them, in all their infinite variety. Here I propose a new kind of verses thread. Who is best at what they do? This is difficult to explain, so I shall illustrate with an example.

River Tam, from the TV show Serenity, beats people up with the deadly combination of kung-fu and psionics. Paul Maud'dib Aterides from the book Dune also kicks butt with this combination. Who would win in single combat?

Who would win at an archery contest, Robin Hood or William Tell?

Who would win in a gunfight, the Lone Ranger or Roland Deschaine?

[Neon Knight]

... and this is different from a normal versus thread how?

Also, Paul. Hood. Roland. Without any need for discussion.

[tribble]

actually I think Robin hood might not win, all he did was putz about in the woods robbing caravans for a few years, william tell's story hinges on a magnificent feat of archery.

[Tirian]

actually I think Robin hood might not win, all he did was putz about in the woods robbing caravans for a few years, william tell's story hinges on a magnificent feat of archery.

Please. William Tell's signature archery feat is hitting an apple, which is roughly the size of a bullseye. Robin Hood's (using tech from several centuries earlier, mind you) is splitting a previously fired arrow that hit the precise center of the bullseye. There are any number of archers in the world who can do the first confidently, but only the supreme archers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzssL3VNwAo&feature=related) can do the second as well.

Also, yeah, this versus thread is "new" in the sense that it doesn't follow the rules for versus threads, and is therefore pretty well-explored ground.

[Eldan]

Tell? Well, since he as much didn't exist as hood, I can attribute almost anything to him. But, apart from apparently being a hunter, Wilhelm tell did two things: hit an apple, judging from the image from a quite close distance,

http://www.efodon.de/html/archiv/chrono/pfister/jesusmoerder-dateien/image007.jpg

and shooting a minor noble in the forest from behind a tree. Not too magnificient, actually. He didn't even do much in the revolution itself. Which probably didn't take place.

[UltraDude]

Don't care enough about the archers and don't know Deschaine.

However, I can say with great confidence that Paul probably beats a lot of people at a lot of things aside from beating up River. Then probably training her or something, thus making her infinitely more deadly.

[Fri]

I prefer Alia Attreides vs River Tam. Hot chicks with deadly kungfu and psionic catfight, yes please.

(remember that scene where alia fought naked against the training bots? hmm...)

[Z-dan]

Living in the next city along from Hood's home, I like to think I know quite a bit about Hood... Like the fact he probably did exist (at least, it's highly probable there was a person called Robin Hood who would have fallen foul of the law and conducted banditry in Sherwood forest), but he definitely wasn't the lovable rogue we all think of him as- he did indeed steal from the rich but would much prefer to keep it all for himself and his 'merry men'. It is also irrelevant as to whether he split the arrow (which is a much greater feat then splitting an apple, especially when done with a longbow rather than a crossbow) because the whole point of ballads is that they are exaggerated tales. In short, Tell would have had more power with a crossbow, but Hood has a much faster reload time. Tell needs to be lucky with his first shot, whilst Hood can get off several- and if all else fails he can get friar tuck to jump on him :smallbiggrin:

[Tengu_temp]

I prefer Alia Attreides vs River Tam. Hot chicks with deadly kungfu and psionic catfight, yes please.


Am I the only person in the world who thinks that River's waif-fu was unnecessary, tacked on, neither realistic nor fun to look at, cheapened her character, and in general was among the weakest scenes in Serenity? When she gunned down three of Nishka's men without looking, now that was cool. I wouldn't watch River Tam Beats Up Everyone (http://xkcd.com/311/).

[Neon Knight]

Am I the only person in the world who thinks that River's waif-fu was unnecessary, tacked on, neither realistic nor fun to look at, cheapened her character, and in general was among the weakest scenes in Serenity? When she gunned down three of Nishka's men without looking, now that was cool. I wouldn't watch River Tam Beats Up Everyone (http://xkcd.com/311/).

*raises hand*

But then again, I don't like Firefly or Joss Whedon works in general, so that's not much comfort.

[TRM]

Am I the only person in the world who thinks that River's waif-fu was unnecessary, tacked on, neither realistic nor fun to look at, cheapened her character, and in general was among the weakest scenes in Serenity? When she gunned down three of Nishka's men without looking, now that was cool. I wouldn't watch River Tam Beats Up Everyone (http://xkcd.com/311/).
I think the problem was that, being in the movie, it was rushed, abrupt, and slightly noncontinuous with the TV show. It would have been fine if it had been built in slowly over four seasons of subtler building.

[/off topic]

[Nerd-o-rama]

I watched the movie first, so I just thought it was freakin' sweet.

[Rogue 7]

I saw the show first and I still thought it was sweet. But then, really, I didn't care about River that much besides "Summer Glau's hot."

And Joe, that you?