The Versus Debate
Comparison is an instinct woven into the very fabric of life.
It is done to pass on superior genes, to seize greater advantage, or simply to survive. In human beings, gifted with higher-order thought, the metrics of that comparison become dizzyingly complex.
Environment, beasts, length, size, density, weight, power, speed, heat, moisture, wealth, numbers, flavor, distance, height, depth, breadth, radiance, scent, sound, hardness, quantity, quality, value, efficiency, utility, time, peril, probability, knowledge, talent, authority, honor, status, pleasure, agony, beauty, morality, and on and on...
The list is truly endless. People inevitably drag even the most nebulous, emotional intangibles onto the scales.
“So if those two fought, who would win?”
Naturally, that endless compulsion to compare extended to fictional characters as well.
Fundamentally, even if two figures seem evenly matched to an outside observer, pitting them against each other without an actual duel is nothing more than playing with hypotheticals and stat sheets. And if the characters hail from entirely different works, the comparison becomes completely meaningless.
It was a self-evident truth.
Regarding this very topic, a certain legendary creator once remarked that who wins between fictional characters simply depends on whoever the author writing the story wants to win. No matter how close to invincible a character is purported to be in the lore, they can be handed a swift defeat whenever the writer desires. Though, of course, doing so requires at least a veneer of plausibility and narrative cause.
Yet, what if?
What if the figures of a story were to break free from their assigned roles?
What if they stepped beyond the boundaries of their fictional worlds and came face-to-face in reality?
And what if, driven by circumstances beyond their control, they were forced to fight?
In the end, who would be the one left standing?