2012 CBM FightClub SUNDAY SUPERBATTLE CCXXIX (229)

Sauron, Piccolo -- not comic characters, don't matter to me. Sorry, pollmaster. Nothing personal. You know I dig Fight Club. :)

But this Cap/Thor fight. I thought this was going to be an easy vote but as my cursor hovered over the Thor vote, I got to thinking: this is a prep-time fight. With prep, Cap has taken down the Hulk. THE FRIGGIN' HULK. And The Hulk has taken down Thor. So, by transfer of property, if Cap can beat Hulk with prep time, then he should be able to beat Thor with prep time, right? But to be sure, I broke it down and figured that for all Thor's powers and might, Cap has one trait that Thor doesn't...

Cap does his homework. He's the Joey Votto of superheroes. Like Votto studies every pitcher he's ever faced or will potentially face, Cap studies everyone he's ever fought with or against. Whereas Thor is more brash and impulsive in combat, Cap's always thinking ten steps ahead and is going to know Thor's first move before he makes it. And since Cap is one of the very, very few people worthy enough to lift Mjolnir (and he has) I think we'd have to count out Thor keeping it for the duration of the fight.

So, yeah. Call me what you will, but I'm voting Cap. It's the prep-time thing that's going to be the deciding factor here, I think. And as has been established many, many times in the MU -- and I'm not trying to pull a Batman, here -- with prep-time there ain't nobody Cap can't take down, short of an all-powerful being (such as Thanos, when he had the Infinity Gauntlet).

I think that's a reasonable conclusion. Yes? No? I'd like to hear others' opinions.

Sauron isn't a man, nor does he feel fear, Parallax would just become one of his slaves...

Darkseid is way too powerful for Piccolo, although I like his character more...

I have to go with Thor on this since I've had him from the beginning...however, I don't think he would be able to use Mjolnir on Cap...Odin wouldn't allow it...this would be a straight up fist fight, and I don't see Thor losing to the steroid-pumped science-freak...

Well, when it comes to a comparison between Bats and Cap (warning: this is going to be lengthy LOL), folks tend to confuse "peak condition" with "peak human condition".

Batman is peak condition. He's as strong, fast and agile as a man of his height, weight and build can be.

Cap, on the other hand, is peak human condition. He's as strong, fast and agile as ANY human can be without being considered superhuman. Say, for instance, you're a seven foot tall human weightlifter, like Big Show from the WWE. As strong as he is, Cap's stronger. Say Carl Lewis is the fastest human alive. Cap's faster. Say...well, I was going to use a male gymnast but I don't know any of their names LOL...oh! Tony Jaa, there we go. Say Tony Jaa is the most agile human alive. Cap is more agile.

As such, Batman, as tough as he is, cannot and never will be as strong, fast and agile as Cap is.

Now, add to that the fact that the Super Soldier Serum coarsing through Cap's veins gives him the maximum amount of human endurance. No human being can last as long in a fight as Cap can. And SSS also affects his thought processes; that's why he's able to envision dozens of strategies at once and change them up at the drop of a hat as combat conditions change. That heightened through process is also why he's been able to legitimately master so many martial arts forms. He learns faster than any human. So when he studies a fighter, his brain records their every move, and gives him insight into what they will do before they do it.

Batman is a master detective, highly intelligent, and a highly trained fighter -- but he's completely unenhanced. As such, be it mentally, physically or tactically, he's inferior to Cap in every way. That's why I disagree so much when folks have Bats beating someone like Thor. Even with prep, though he might last longer than the average Joe, I cannot envision a scenario where Batman could beat someone like Thor. He's beaten Superman, yes, but he did so with a Kryptonite ring -- but Thor doesn't have a Kryptonite weakness, y'know?

I'm a Cap fan, yes. He's actually my favorite superhero, always has been. But I've voted for him to lose in these fights before. I try to look at every fight objectively, pitting skill against skill, power against power, ability against ability. In a no-prep fight, a random, spur of the moment encounter, I don't think Cap could hold up against Thor. But with prep -- meaning Cap has time to study the terrain, formulate plans (which for him is the simple part), take into consideration the complete environment and everything at his disposal -- yeah, I think he could take Thor.

Like the tactical fighter he is, with prep time he would envision and plan every move of the fight before it occurs. Manipulate Thor into ducking this way, or manipulate him into channelling the lightning at this point, or make him take a swing at this precise second...all the while knowing exactly what counter-attack he was going to follow it up with.

Remember his alley fight with Spider-Man? Spidey thinks he's evading Cap's shield toss, only to realize Cap threw it SO that Spider-Man would have to jump, leaving him airborn and exposed, and that's when Cap hit him with a shot to his nerve center and knocked the wind out of him. That's how Cap rolls, man LOL And that's why so many far more powerful opponents have had their asses handed to them by Cap.

So now that my fingers are tired from all that typing, I guess I'll end it there lol