The man who held back Hulk or Zod's ally who smacked Superman all over Smallville? If these two faced-off in a random encounter, who'd be left standing? That's what we asked the Comic Vine community on Monday and, since then, over 500 Viners have voted and engaged in a debate which lasted a whopping 11 pages. Do they think Faora's speed and skill is too much? Or, do they think Thor's toughness and Mjolnir would lead him to victory? The poll fluctuated a fair amount at first, but as the week progressed, it became clear one character was earning more support and would take the win: Thor.
Chris Hemsworth's character earned 51% of the votes. Faora took a respectable 44% and only 4% thought it was too close to call. Key arguments which were brought up to support Thor revolved around his durability, pain tolerance, experience, and the wealthy amount of options his signature weapons provide.
However, I have to say I disagree with the majority on this one. Yes, Thor certainly has the potential to overcome his opponent, but her skill, strength and speed are massive factors here. The dude has more than proven he can remain conscious after some serious beatings, and in due time, he could realize he needs to deploy more powerful attacks with Mjolnir or disable her helmet. Given his opponent's speed, a direct hit with a projectile or throw is unlikely, so he'd have to utilize a radial attack and then go on the offensive when she's momentarily stunned. However, this is all a moderately sized "if" in my eyes. Faora's speed is unlike anything we've seen movie Thor encounter before and her strength is quite impressive as well. She had the might to smack Kal-El around and quite literally throw him across a town. Her strikes took a momentary toll on Clark, and while he was indeed new to wearing the cape, his physicals were still incredibly high. Prior to the fight, he smashed into a mountain while flying and was able to get up mere moments later. There's nothing to imply she's stronger than Thor, but she absolutely has the strength required to have him feel the impact of her hits and, if she keeps at it, a successful and effective recovery in this fight from Odin's son just doesn't seem too probable. Her durability implies she could stand up to a direct connect from Thor's hammer to the torso, too. It's debatable how many knocks it would take to shutdown her helmet. One powerful strike or a couple moderate ones to the noggin could damage her helmet and expose her to Earth's conditions, in turn leaving he vulnerable and open to more attacks. But, seeing as it took numerous hits from Superman, projectiles from the military and then a missile to keep her down, it's more than fair to say she's one tough opponent who's very unlikely to go down so soon.
No matter which side you think would win, there's simply no denying the fact her speed and aggressiveness gives her an immediate edge and she's sure to dictate the early course of the fight. However, what follows is where we'll all see things differently. To some, Thor may be able to make a swift recovery and do what must be done to earn the victory. Although, considering his lackluster response after being struck by Kurse -- an attack similar to the time Faora threw Superman across the town -- I have to think Faora absolutely has what it takes to keep Thor down before he can properly recover land a critical attack. Her arrogance could indeed give Thor the window he needs to land a game-changing attack (a couple of wins for Thor can definitely be credited to this), but ultimately, her speed, viciousness and strength should suffice in taking the victory in a random encounter. Even if she takes a break to babble, there's just no guarantee Thor will be in a position to take full advantage of the moment. For all we know, he can be slowly getting back up after suffering a vicious combo. There's no certainty this window would let him bombard her with lightning or smash the ground. It's possible, sure, but there's nothing to imply this could happen a majority of the encounters. Thor wouldn't be easy to put down, but personally, I can see her doing it after a brutal fight. But alas, the people have spoken and they have declared Thor the winner.
Like stated above, there was a staggering debate for this one which spawned 11 pages of conversation. Debates like this are why this segment was created in the first place and it's great to see so many people chime in. Let's go ahead and take a look at a standout post that was made in favor of each character. By the way, it wasn't easy picking two this week -- some impressive augments were presented for both sides, so if you're one of those people, give yourself a pat on the back.
Viner Argument of the Week for Thor is by LB70145
"The night sky crackles with thunder as a man with Asgardian armor, golden hair, red cape, and glowing blue hammer sees his opponent. A woman stands across the street covered head to toe in a Kryptonian battle suit, a holographic display on her face mask reveals a cold piercing stare. Thor and Faora would only see each other as peculiar looking humans at first, it is only when she speeds towards Thor and strikes him that she realizes he is not what he seems. Thor then retaliates and sees that this armor is not like the red and gold suit of the Armored Avengers known as Iron Man. "You seem tougher than Asgardian Women. Let's see if you can best Thor the Thunderer," he quips. The slug fest begins. Blow after building shattering blow is exchanged. Both warriors using instinct to strike and counter. Over time, Thor realizes that this foe will not be subdued. In fact, her savagery reminds him of the Hulk. He knocks her into a building and as she is sent flying, he calls upon a whirlwind to give himself some cover. As Faora emerges from the building's rubble, all she sees is high speed winds and lightning in the sky. With all his might, Thor calls forth all the lightning he can muster. It completely devastates the area Faora was standing in. She lays unconscious in what was once a building. For good measure, Thor lays Mjolnir on her chest to keep her from escaping. He calls out to Heimdall, "Surely you have seen the devastation this warrior has wrought. I may need some assistance in vanquishing this foe." Thor is assured when he sees the familiar beams of the Bifrost create the sigil upon the ground and his allies come forth.
The reason I think that Thor will win out here is that Faora is overconfident. She has probably never encountered beings as powerful as Kryptonians before, so she would not fight with the effort needed to effectively defeat Thor. Having rewatched her scenes from Man of Steel, she clearly has a preference for using her fists. I think that she would rely on her physical prowess to defeat her enemy not her blade. The reason I feel that Thor would not be subjected to the same overconfidence is that he has already fought something more powerful than him in the past, the Hulk. Knowing this, he knows that Earth is full of surprises and that nothing should be underestimated. Heck, in all the nine realms, who knows what he has fought and killed. He has hundreds of years worth of battle prowess under his belt and that should not be taken lightly.
There is simply not enough evidence for Faora's side. It is kinda hard to say she wins when there is only one movie to draw on for her. I know people think she is bad ass but she only had a handful of screen time actually fighting. There are too many unknowns with her and the Man of Steel Universe in general. Whereas Thor has had 3 movies now and there are a lot less unknowns. His feats are more defined and I can draw from a lot of examples for why Thor would fight the way he did in my scenario. Faora just kinda speed punched everything she saw and stood there to let bullets bounce off her. Whereas Thor has fought many a beast and man in the nine realms including: Ice Giants, Loki, Iron Man, the Hulk, Chitauri, Dark Elves, Malekith, and Kurse. All of whom he had fought in varying ways. Faora is one punch fits all while Thor's style of battle depends on his enemy."
Viner Argument of the Week for Faora is by Hart7668
"I believe Faora wins this.
Thor's greatest strengths going for him are these:
- Thor, although with both arms, managed to hold up a downward strike from the Hulk in the Avengers
- Thor, with Mjolnir, destroyed the plane the Frost Giants lived on and destroyed the Bifrost, the sort of rainbow bridge between Asgard and Midguard.
- Thor, with much difficulty, conjured up a large amount of lightning which destroyed a lot of Chitauri and two of the flying Chitauri Behemoths that were fairly large if memory serves correctly. Not necessarily skyscraper sized, but still quite large.
- Thor freely headbutted Iron Man without harming himself and when the two were locked in a physical struggle, he was grabbing IM's forearms and was actually crushing the suit. Iron Man's Mk III suit from IM1 'tanked' a 'tank' shot really well, only leaving minor scratches. Unlike the Mk 42 from IM3, the Mk VI from the Avengers showed to be an actual improvement to the Mk III, so the durability should be the same.
However, some of his strengths, further analyzed, may not be quite as impressive. Also, here is a small list of the things Thor has going against him and Faora has going for her:
- Thor, in the first movie, when attempting to retrieve his hammer ran into a large guard blocking his way. When the two started fighting, it was more of a wrestling and 'strength' match than it was legitimate hand-to-hand combat. Thor had his godly powers taken from him, not his memories or whatever skill he may have had without Mjolnir. This shows that the mighty warrior from Asgard relies far more on his whelming powers than he does precision or true skill. I mean, he wields a hammer, not things like a foil, or a katana.
- Faora, on the other hand, prior to the events of MoS never had powers, so she doesn't know what it's like to rely on them. She has shown sufficient and efficient H2H maneuvers that her newfound powers only serve to amp.
- She has also shown superhuman strength as well by chokeholding Superman (who is taller than her btw) a few feet off the ground easily and then subsequently throwing him nearly across Smallville into a bank vault door with enough force to severely dent and break the thick metal door. She also showed the ability to leap
tall buildings in a single boundgreat distances quite easily with no rabbit hops to build the momentum.- Thor has yet to deal with someone of similar operating and fighting speed Faora brings to the table.
It's not all candy and rainbows for Faora though. She has problems of her own:
- Faora, with her powers, is incredibly cocky. She was smirking almost her entire time on Earth, as if thinking, "These petty humans couldn't hope to scratch me, much less defeat me." That first battle, she may just saunter her way up to Thor thinking he looks pretty silly with his armor and cape and then gets whacked up side the head with Mjolnir, thus breaking her mask rendering her incapacitated. Which leads into the next, almost identical point:
- Faora cannot handle her new senses. Yes, given time, she probably could being a trained soldier in the Kryptonian military council. But, in the movie, after she had her mask destroyed by Superman, instead of opting to get used to the environment like Zod did, she chose to have her mask fixed, meaning it may be too much to bear for her. This is the most glaring weakness for Thor to exploit. Those first few matches Thor would manage to get off at least one clean hit on Faora's mask (again, probably due to her arrogance) and then overload her senses.
Overall though, I believe Faora takes between 7-8 fights out of ten. Considering that the only real weakness Faora has is her sensory-overload due to a ruptured mask, she doesn't have too much to worry about. Maybe Thor hits that mask once, after which case, Faora will stop playing around and actually use her superior training and speed (all coupled with comparable super strength) to put Thor through his paces."
Viners, There's no teaser for next week's battle because, to be totally honest here, I'm still weighing the options. I'm trying my best to avoid generic fights you've seen a gazillion times before, so coming up with balanced and fun fights is a time consuming task! Anyhow, check the homepage Monday for an all-new CV Battle of the Week.
Previous 'Comic Vine Battle of the Week' results
- Daredevil vs. Nightwing (Winner: Daredevil)
- Ultimate Captain America vs. Deathstroke (Winner: Deathstroke)
- Arkillo vs. Hulk (Winner: Hulk)
- Snake Eyes vs. X-23 (Winner: X-23)
- Moon Knight vs. Red Hood (Winner: Moon Knight)
- Catman/Deadshot vs. Bullseye/Punisher (Winner: Bullseye/Punisher)
- Aquaman vs. Thing (Winner: Aquaman)
- Deadpool vs. TMNT (Winner: Too close to call)
- Movie Black Widow vs. TV Green Arrow (Winner: TV Green Arrow)
- Movie Batman vs. Movie Dredd (Winner: Movie Dredd)
- Predator vs. Boba Fett (Winner: Predator)
- Luke Cage/Iron Fist vs. Scarlet Spider/Venom (Winner: Scarlet Spider/Venom)
- Cardiac vs. Hobgoblin (Winner: Hobgoblin)
- Gambit vs. Nightcrawler (Winner: Nightcrawler)
- Sinestro vs. Wonder Woman (Winner: Wonder Woman)
- Zombie Apocalypse Scenario (Winner: Deathstroke)
- Superior Spider-Man/Hobgoblin vs. Wolverine/Omega Red (Winner: Wolverine/Omega Red)
- Marvel vs. DC Dodgeball Scenario (Winner: Marvel)
- Bloodshot vs. Daredevil (Winner: Bloodshot)
Want to suggest a Battle of the Week? Feel free to comment below or send it to Gregg via Twitter. It doesn't have to be Marvel or DC!