Notes From the Nerd's Notebook: Super Power Breakdown: Assailant

Good evening nerds, gamers, and geeks.

Today's power we will be discussing is the power of Assailant, which is a fate placed on those whom are known to steal, capture, conquer or destroy the world. Other names for Assailants are Corrupted Ones, Dark Ones, Destroyers or even Chaos Bringers. Well known assailants are Apep (Egyptian Mythology), Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda), Satan, Surtr the Fire Giant (Nordic Mythology), and Nyralathotep (Chthulu Mythos) as seen in the photograph above.

Powers that come with being an Assailant are Dark Heart, Enhanced Combat, Supernatural Condition and Enhanced Senses, Evil Embodiment, Fear Masking, Indomitable Will, and sometimes Magic.

Such as with all powers and abilities, Assailant has a few limitations and weaknesses. Evil nature tends to be the downfall, as good always triumphs. Assailants are often times narrow-minded, as they only think about destruction and domination. And depending on their level of power, they may grow insane and unstable, dangerous to all as well as themselves.

DC Versus Marvel: Nightwing (DC) versus The Winter Soldier (Marvel)

 

For tonight's versus, we have the two best and most dangerous former sidekicks in the history of comics. The most talented and loved protégé of the Dark Knight himself, the former boy wonder, Nightwing, facing off against the only protégé of Captain America, Bucky Barnes, a.k.a, the Winter Soldier.

Powers:

Nightwing: Nightwing's childhood experiences as a circus acrobat and trapeze artist make him extremely agile. He is a superior fighter and has been trained by Batman and the Teen Titans in many forms of self-defense. Nightwing is a keen detective, and is driven to seek out adventure in the name of justice. Nightwing uses Escrima sticks to defend himself, and can be put together to form a bo staff. Also, his wrist and boot gauntlets contain smoke pellets, flares, and other items.

Winter Soldier: An Olympic level athlete with extraordinary skills, the Winter Soldier is also a superb marksman. His cybernetic arm also gives him super strength.

Showdown:

Let me start by saying, wow. This match-up was one that I thought up while trying to fight a medicine-induced haze of sleep. Two of the most talented protégé in the world of comics engaged in battle. Diving right into it, I'm going to say flat out, I think that this match will end in a draw. Sure, the Winter Soldier has super strength in his cybernetic arm, but Nightwing is extremely agile, able to dodge and evade most things the average human couldn't. Strangely enough, if it came down to direct hand-to-hand combat, it wouldn't stop until one of them dropped from exhaustion, Winter Soldier managed to actually shoot and kill Nightwing, or unless Nightwing broke a couple of bones in his normal limbs.

Notes From the Nerd's Notebook: Top 10 DC Power Couples

As an otaku and an active member in the anime community, I hear a lot about characters being "shipped", which means matching characters based on personalities, powers, and et cetera. So I figured, if people can do it in anime, why can't I do it amongst comic book characters. And so, I created this list... Let us begin.

10. Superman & Wonder Woman: Hilariously, I thought about this after playing Injustice: Gods Among Us. During this story line, Louis Lane is dead, and Wonder Woman is the rebound girl. Funnily enough, this is canon in DC's New 52. I just find this couple interesting because of the fact that they are so powerful, and the fact that they complete each other in a way that Louis Lane never could complete him.

9. Superboy & Power Girl: Both are super powered beings, and while many people would say that he should get with Wonder Girl (just like his "biological father", Superman), but I feel like he wouldn't be a good match with her. Like Superman, the Earth's yellow sun grants her power, leading many to believe that she is a clone of  Kara Zor-El, a.k.a Supergirl.

8. Batman & Talia Al Ghul: In DC's comic continuity, they have already had a child, the newest Robin--Damian Wayne. With Batman's genius level intellect, and martial arts prowess,Talia's charm and deadly skills as an assassin, pulled together my young Damian's combination of his mother's and father's training regiments and fighting styles, you have one force that even Superman and Wonder Woman wouldn't be able to stop.

7. Animal Man & Vixen: Both heroes with animal based super powers, I think that it would personally make, not only an interesting teamwork mechanic, but also an interesting relationship mechanic. Animal Man is connected to the Lifeweb, and Vixen's powers come from an totem. But relationship wise, I wonder how two animal based super heroes would function, since in the Justice League Unlimited television show, it was Green Lantern and Hawkgirl.

6. Shazam & Zatanna: I find that both of their powers are spawned from magic; Zatanna having magic as the Family Heirloom, so to speak, and Shazam being gifted with the powers of the Gods via magic.

5. Aqualad & Supergirl: The pupil of the king of Atlantis and the cousin of the Man of Steel. This seems like a good combination to me, because if they were to have children, they would be half Atlantean and half Kryptonian. In all honestly, they would be as dangerous a couple as Superman and Wonder Woman.

4. Red Robin & Oracle: The third Robin and the original Batgirl. After losing mobility of her legs, Red Robin and Oracle became closer and at one point were engaged. Both are genius detectives, though not as good as the Dark Knight, whom they've trained under.

3. Nightwing & Wonder Girl: A "bat brat" and the demi-God. I would find the team and relationship dynamic the two strange and fascinating. The boy wonder and the daughter of Zeus. Honestly, they need to make this canon.

2. Batwoman & Catwoman: Strangely enough, I just think this would be interesting to see in either the Batwoman or the Catwoman comic continuity, even it were just a one time fling between the two.

1. Batman & Harley Quinn: Hold on...what? Don't you mean The Joker? Nope. I mean Batman. Why? Because she's certifiably insane, and he's a freaking genius. Imagine how badly that would throw off each and every villain. That would be freaking amazing...not to mention...romantically, it would fun, to say the least.

Are there any couples you think should be on this list? Leave a comment below.