Wizard vs Wizard

[Steerpike]

It's all relative. In books with high-powered characters, the obstacles they face are proportionate. There are plenty of very well-done books with characters having extremely high levels of power. The Black Company books are very good. Steven Erikson's Malazan books fall into this category as well. The Elric books (and the rest of the Eternal Champion books, for that matter). Roger Zelazny's books often follow characters that are godlike or close to it - like his Amber books, This Immortal, or The Lord of Light. All excellent works of fiction. It comes down to balancing the high-powered characters with obstacles that are worthy of them.

 

[Devor]

Well, sort of. All life on Charn was destroyed, but the world itself still exists (in ruins.)

After Jadis left, Aslan closed the . . . . well? Portal? Thing to Charn, implying that it was destroyed.

It'd all relative. In books with high-powered characters, the obstacles they face are proportionate. There are plenty of very well-done books with characters having extremely high levels of power.

I'm sure. And I do want to try a couple of them.

I find extremely high power levels to be a turnoff in more ways than one, though. There's something dehumanizing about it. Like nobody else really counts. And a few other things which make me lose interest. But again, I haven't read any that were any good.

 

[ThinkerX]

Maybe I have not read as many Fantasy books as others here in Mythic Scribes because, for some reason, Fantasy is so strong in the English-speaking world and relatively rare in other languages. All the Fantasy series that people talk about are English language works, while most of the books that I have read in my life are not.

Ah...

Is this still the case? Feists 'Riftwar' and Kerr's 'Deverry' series are still fairly easy to find (and the former, I believe has been widely translated, though I'm less sure about the Deverry series).

On another site, I exchanged posts with a person who grew up in India, who said the only SF/Fantasy he had access to were the works of Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlin, plus some horribly written russian stuff.

I would say that, for this fight, we should have the Lady invading Narnia so the White Witch steps forward to engage the newcomer in battle. If the Lady can fly (I understand that she can) then she can hit the Witch from above, but what if the Witch tries to transform her into stone??

The Lady would be on a flying carpet. The larger ones could hold something like six or eight people. Normally carpet flying requires a mages full attention, but the Lady is top notch. As to what offensive magics - Cook tended to be a bit vague about the details of really powerful offensive spells. Probably something along the lines of an AD&D 'Fireball' or 'Lightning Bolt'.

As to the Witch turning the Lady to stone...hmmm...the Lady does have substantial skill at defensive magics, but to manage that, combined with flying the carpet and an offensive spell...might be pushing her abilities.

 

[Mindfire]

After Jadis left, Aslan closed the . . . . well? Portal? Thing to Charn, implying that it was destroyed.

I always thought that meant Charn simply couldn't be accessed from outside, not that it was wiped from existence completely.

 

[Sheilawisz]

@Mindfire and ThinkerX: Well, maybe Charn still existed but it was so ruined that even Jadis was in a state of suspended animation there. It does not sound like a good setting for a battle, and even if the Lady entered Charn, would it be possible for the Witch to use the Deplorable Word again in the same world??

It's better to have the battle take place in Narnia or some other world.

I think that if the Lady can control the flying carpet and attack with some kind of devastating magical blast at the same time, the Witch would lose the battle because, as far as I know, she cannot fly... I wanted to support the White Witch, but it seems like it takes a more powerful character to fight the Lady.

In the Narnia movie Aslan killed the Witch with a single bite, so I guess that she was vulnerable to physical harm despite her magical abilities.

Who would be a good match for the Lady?

@Reaver and Devor: In my own Fantasy books, my Mages could be considered as over-powerful characters. However, they can be destroyed in battle (which is depicted often in the stories) and they find their limitations too, often caused by other Mages and by a variety of obstacles that are magical in nature.

They have magical troubles, so they cannot use their powers to solve everything instantly and live free of challenges.

I do agree that there is something dehumanizing about really powerful characters, but there is something fascinating about them as well =)

 

[Mindfire]

Who would be a good match for the Lady?

The Dragonborn. And failing that, the Nerevarine.

 

[Mindfire]

Btw, Sheila, something about your Mages reminds me of the Time Lords. Not sure why.

 

[Sheilawisz]

What are the Time Lords??

Well, the Lady has already won the first battle of this thread. I would like to have a different match before the Lady fights again (Dragonborn vs Lady sounds cool to me!) what about... Voldemort vs Gandalf? That's an interesting comparison...

Where would they fight?

 

[Phietadix]

What are the Time Lords??

They're from Doctor Who.

 

[Mindfire]

They're from Doctor Who.

They're also a lot like your mages, Sheila, but less self-centered. lol

 

[Sheilawisz]

I have checked out the Wikipedia article about the Time Lords, and they are not really like the Mages of my Fantasy stories. I have never given a more detailed description of them here in Mythic Scribes, but here it goes now:

1- They are called Lallhyaks. They live in very high mountains, in two cities that are separated by a forest in a valley. Lallhyaks are culturally divided into two kinds: Lisskas and Lyflays.

2- The Lisskas live in Lisskalya city while the Lyflays live in Lyflayrel.

3- The Lallhyaks have bodies that belong to the Aylar species. The most obvious differences are that Aylars have long pointy ears, long furry tails, claws instead of hands, fangs and great colourful eyes. The common people in their world are Aylar too, and all Aylars have deadly powers fueled by radiation inside their bodies.

4- The Lallhyaks dress with simple dresses in white or gray, together with long cloaks (similar to Amanda Seyfried's character in Red Riding Hood). Lisskas wear silvery cloaks while the Lyflays wear purple.

5- They do not really need their bodies. They use bodies just to interact more directly with the world. Lallhyaks do not need to sleep, drink or eat, but they do those things for fun. It does not matter if something destroys their bodies, they can make new bodies appear out of nowhere or stay without body if they want.

6- Without a body, a Lallhyak looks like a purple spark/light thing. She may be invisible instead.

7- They have a Monarchy system of government and are passionate about their Queens and Royal Families.

8- Lallhyaks enjoy theatre, acting, skiing, candies, plum juice, red wine, burning fireworks and ice skating.

9- They are only vaguely interested in the world outside their mountains, but they sometimes visit the cities of the common people when they want to go shopping.

I was thinking that this Wizard vs Wizard thread can be open to your own characters as well, if you want to send them to battle... Maybe it would be difficult to compare my Lallhyaks to other characters, but I can give a quick description of their magical capabilities if necesary =)

 

[Sheilawisz]

Any ideas for the Gandalf vs Voldemort match??

I am not sure what are the real capabilities of Gandalf, so I have to imagine him fighting with the same Magic that he demonstrated in the books and movies... It would be unfair if Gandalf gets help from the Valar, while Voldemort would also lack of the Horcruxes in order to have a fair fight.

If one of them gets killed, that's it... No coming back.

I guess that Voldemort's first move would be the Avada Kedavra, so how would Gandalf stop it??

 

[Mindfire]

Well Avada Kedavra apparently requires line-of-sight and can be blocked if anything gets in the way. It was this simple exploit that allowed Luke Skywalker to best Harry Potter on Death Battle. (Though I don't agree with all of their conclusions. Batman beaten by Spider-Man? Please.) Gandalf could either duck behind something or, more likely, simply put up a shield of magic light. That thing stood up to a balrog wailing on it with a sword of dark fire. I'm pretty sure it can tank Avada Kedavra.

 

[Sheilawisz]

That would be a really cool scene in a movie: Voldemort casts the Avada Kedavra, and Gandalf screams: You shall not pass!! stopping the attack with a shield of that magical light =)

Voldemort would be surprised at this, maybe even more surprised when Gandalf points his staff at him and sends him flying far with that invisible force thing (from the movie... can Gandalf do that in the books as well?) then Voldemort lands on his feet, teleporting to appear right behind Gandalf at the same time that he casts a giant snake of magical fire.

I really want Gandalf to win this because he is so cool while Voldemort is stupid, but I guess that Voldemort will win thanks to all the various magical powers that he can command...

 

[Mindfire]

That would be a really cool scene in a movie: Voldemort casts the Avada Kedavra, and Gandalf screams: You shall not pass!! stopping the attack with a shield of that magical light =)

Voldemort would be surprised at this, maybe even more surprised when Gandalf points his staff at him and sends him flying far with that invisible force thing (from the movie... can Gandalf do that in the books as well?) then Voldemort lands on his feet, teleporting to appear right behind Gandalf at the same time that he casts a giant snake of magical fire.

I really want Gandalf to win this because he is so cool while Voldemort is stupid, but I guess that Voldemort will win thanks to all the various magical powers that he can command...

I don't think you can necessarily call a victory for Voldemort here. Compared to the powers present in the LOTR trilogy, Voldemort is pretty weaksauce. Can you imagine him staring down the balrog? I doubt it. Honestly, I think the Witch-King could easily take Voldemort, and he's just a human shade while Gandalf is a Maia. (Of course, the Witch-King also has that whole "cannot be killed by a man" thing going for him.)

As for Gandalf, I actually think he could best Voldemort quite quickly. He managed to reflexively deflect an arrow from Legolas. He disintegrated Gimli's throwing axe, and he made Aragorn's sword so hot he couldn't hold it, defeating them all in the span of about 10 seconds, all while blinding them with intense white light. How is Voldemort going to cast spells if he can't hold his wand?

 

[Steerpike]

Yeah, I don't think Voldemort would prevail either. I'd give that one to Gandalf. A direct comparison is again difficult.

 

[Sheilawisz]

Well, Voldemort would conjure a magical shield to protect himself from Gandalf's dazzling light and heat attacks. Still, you did not answer how would Gandalf react to the tactical Apparition and a huge snake of fire attacking from behind!!

Anyway, Voldemort is so dumb that he would use Avada Kedavra again, and then Gandalf would learn how to send the curse straight back at Voldemort and that would be the end of the fight, so I agree: Gandalf wins after all...

Can you suggest another battle?

 

[Mindfire]

Well, Voldemort would conjure a magical shield to protect himself from Gandalf's dazzling light and heat attacks. Still, you did not answer how would Gandalf react to the tactical Apparition and a huge snake of fire attacking from behind!!

Anyway, Voldemort is so dumb that he would use Avada Kedavra again, and then Gandalf would learn how to send the curse straight back at Voldemort and that would be the end of the fight, so I agree: Gandalf wins after all...

Can you suggest another battle?

Fire snake? Fire snake?

“You cannot pass," he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.”

Tactical apparition is something I'm not sure the LOTR universe has an equivalent to. But being able to teleport will only get you so far.

Next battle? Merlin (TV show) vs Eragon (before godmode was switched on).

 

[Sheilawisz]

The fire snake is cool!!

I do not know much about the powers of Merlin and Eragon, but I'll research and then I'll try to post something. I know that Eragon as a character is kind of hated, but what is the extent of his powers??

Anyone interested in bringing your own characters to battle?

 

[Ireth]

I don't think you can necessarily call a victory for Voldemort here. Compared to the powers present in the LOTR trilogy, Voldemort is pretty weaksauce. Can you imagine him staring down the balrog? I doubt it. Honestly, I think the Witch-King could easily take Voldemort, and he's just a human shade while Gandalf is a Maia. (Of course, the Witch-King also has that whole "cannot be killed by a man" thing going for him.)

As for Gandalf, I actually think he could best Voldemort quite quickly. He managed to reflexively deflect an arrow from Legolas. He disintegrated Gimli's throwing axe, and he made Aragorn's sword so hot he couldn't hold it, defeating them all in the span of about 10 seconds, all while blinding them with intense white light. How is Voldemort going to cast spells if he can't hold his wand?

Re: Witch-king vs. Voldemort, I think Voldemort might win -- the WK can't be killed by a man (he was killed by a woman), but Voldemort explicitly says that "I am not a man... I am much, much more than a man." Also Hagrid says in the first book, "Dunno if there was enough human left in him to die."