I've been pretty busy these past few days, but I still wanted to make this quick sketch to congratulate everyone who recently finished their studies, graduated, or completed their finals.
I'm proud of all of you, and I wish you nothing but the best on whatever comes next! đź’ś
Starting with this bum, which tier does he deserve to be in?
Death is predicted to win against Enma. now vote for who you think is going to win, Belial or Leviathan? (1 comment equals 1 vote. replies do not count)
I managed to make new drawings and full drawing pieces during my breaks from thesis, for the first time after a while. For the drawing of Jack the Ripper, I used acrylic markers, and for drawing of Heracles, I used alcohol-based markers.
Also, this is a Round 4 appreciation, sort of (Round 4 is one of my favourite fights as well). I remember that Heracles' death made me cried when I read the climax of Round 4, literally. :")
(Jack being the cat and Heracles as the Nemean lion)
Backstory revolves around Angra Mainyu and I think Spenta Mainyu fighting each other alongside their pantheons (super weird designs) to which a giant tentacle monster pulls up and they combine on some power ranger shi and one shot it (Also sliming out their entire pantheon for saying the wrong names).
Skip to the fight he’s aura farming and takes his sweat time to attack and gets one shot after all that build up.. Dudes opponent looked like he got picked up from the street and he got slimed that easily
It’s been quite a while I had my beautiful battle with Leonidas, and I am getting bored so the Sun-Hod of yours right here is at your service for your questions!
Today I'll carefully analyze this matchup and who was the best win conditions, safe-guards and reasonings (and explain why it's Hades). It's Staff Buddha, so no Nirvana Sword!
To start off, throughout the entirety of R6 Hades was shown to read through Buddha - anticipating his actions, understanding his abilities, comprehending his attitude. Even with no prior knowledge, he was the first to correctly infer Pure Enlightenment would start working again. This is something even other characters with high IQ/BIQ like Zeus, Hermes and Brunhilde couldn't tell. And they had already seen it in action, unlike Hades.
All of R7 is, basically, Qin coming up with a new OP hax and Hades overcoming it through adaptation, experience and sharp rationality (in other words, BIQ). Hades is a pragmatical and precise fighter that doesn't make any action he doesn't explicitly need to. He's faced with an obstacle, breaks it down logically, comes up with a counter strategy and goes for the kill.
So we already know Hades:
Now we have the theory, but what could Hades do against Buddha in practice?
Well, there are multiple tactics and moves Hades could employ. Although his arsenal may seem straightforward at first, he is always shown to play his cards wisely and use them in unorthodox ways.
I'll now list some of his options:
A more detailed breakdown on Hades' wind-blade and AoE can be found here
Fun fact: in the series' official game, Kallichoron has the unique ability to nerf the enemy's evasion.
Narratively, the author wouldn't make Hades fight like an incompetent idiot if he battled Buddha, and these are some methods he could use to avoid that.
What about the shield?
Ahimsa's best feat is withstanding a blow from Zerofuku. Hades casually went relative with Palmyra and his named techniques are massively stronger than that. He only needs to hit the shield once with a powerful attack and it's already out of comission.
Buddha's win conditions
Buddha has 3 win-cons: FS counter, scythe and the final after-image. Let's go through each of them.
Countering with future sight
FS counter, although really troublesome in general, does not guarantee hits. We have the likes of Sasaki - who at the time could see even further into the future - aiming where Poseidon would go and still not being able to land a blow. This happens because FS counters still stem from the character's natural speed and travels space normally. If a fighter has high reflexes he can still block, parry or even dodge it.
Does Hades have high reflexes?
Yes, without a doubt. He has some of the best reaction speed feats and narratives in the verse.
When Hades coated himself in blood to notice Tortoise Ripple, he charged towards Qin who then shot bubble. Since it's invisible, Hades could only notice it when it was at point-blank and bypassing the thin blood layer. Like aforementioned, Hades was charging towards Qin, and he has great travel-speed. Not only he perceived it in that instant but simultaneously reacted to it, changing his stance to shift his star before bubble reached it. He could even do that during Ichor Eos' charge, that is even faster, hence why Qin didn't use TR against it.
This feat is supported by Hades' portrayal and statements. Brunhilde believes only Qin stands a chance against Hades, and even if you don't think this is definitive proof he beats every human, it at least proves he wouldn't be instantly dominated by any Einherjar. So Hades could react to Okita, for example, who is terrifyingly fast.
Thanks to the bubble feat we also know Hades' reaction time scales to his perception time. And funnily enough, Hades was the only one able to keep up with Buddha on the end of R6, not being tricked by the after-image and remaining unimpressed by Mahapari Nirvana. That's Buddha's fastest strike, that he doesn't even have access to in this fight.
Due to all of this, it's safe to say Hades wouldn't get tagged or blitzed by Buddha.
Salakayas Scythe
To preface, I don't think the scythe has any context to be summoned here. It only popped up when Hajun (a demonic evil monster) told Buddha he had just eaten the friend that begged him for help. Hades is an incredibly respectful, honored and dignified fighter. I actually see them getting along quite well if anything. I can't fathom Buddha feeling pure hatred towards him.
But anyways, even if he somehow does, it's still not a definitive win-con. I already went through Hades reaction time, so all that's left is a way of defending it. Does he have that? Yes. Although many don't know it, Bident is an incredibly durable weapon, and is constantly praised for its toughness and durability. Hades also has better reflexes and strength than Hajun.
A more detailed breakdown on Bident's durability can be found here
The Final After-Image
I've basically answered this one already. Hades was the only one that didn't fall for it, even when the likes of Okita, Zeus, Hermes, Sasaki and Brunhilde did.
Some people might say he was just "acting nonchalant", but that's simply untrue. He expressively reacted to the scythe being destroyed and was pretty invested in the fight. Hades isn't an apathetic person. Even in Beelzebub's flashback he was completely shocked by Lilith's curse. Why would he notably react when Salakayas lost the clash but remain entirely neutral when Buddha was sliced in half? That makes 0 sense.
The author was trying to hype up Hades for the next fight, and that's one of the ways he did it.
Conclusion
I could use multiple other narrative arguments; name other feats, scalings, statements, but I think this is enough. I've showed how Hades has better chances of winning, more solid win-cons and reliable safe-guards to Buddha's.
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked!
Simo, Loki and Jack have been given their own tier Alongside Okita Souji and Shiva going up and some troll ranks.
Nominate any folk hero.
Rules:
No fighters from the actual series
Don’t downvote
If you write an intro I’ll upvote your comment
vote for who you think is going to win, Enma or Death (1 comment equals 1 vote. replies do not count)