2012 Suvudu Literary Character Cage Match

Every Year, Random House&Del Ray Hold the Suvudu "Cage Match" which is essentially a fight-off between literary characters from different books, the result decided by viewer votes.

Last year's final match was between QuickBen and Vin which was won by QuickBen

Here is last year's overall match brackets: http://www.scribd.com/doc/50463363/Suvudu-Cage-Match-2011-Bracket

They have announced this year's list, which includes 64 characters from Harry Potter to Granny Weatherwax to Zaphod Beeblebrox

Who would you vote for? But more importantly, how many of these characters do you even know?

edited 26th Dec '11 11:30:33 PM by ryzvonusef

Herald of the Literature Sub-Forum. Share me your favourite book/series/author!

Of the characters I've heard of, I think Richard Rahl would win. I haven't read the books, but he's supposed to be an absurd Mary Sue.

Strange is the one I'd consider the most powerful in the abstract, but he's pretty reliant on Prep Time.

It's kind of a weird mix of characters. I don't remember Lady Jessica ever actually fighting, but she has superhuman control of her own body, which probably has some combat applications. I'm surprised The Escapist was included, as he's from a Show Within a Show and the main story isn't fantasy.

Tyrion and Zaphod aren't really fighters either. They both get into fights occasionally, but pretty reluctantly, although Tyrion at least has his armor and acrobatic ability to protect him. Does Zaphod get the time-stopping grenade he used that one time?

Really, a lot of these fights depend on what equipment the character is allowed.

The lack of characters from The Dresden Files disappoints me.

Would making a post about this in the OBD be a good idea?

edited 9th Dec '11 6:41:22 PM by silver2195

Currently taking a break from the site. See my user page for more information.

I know a good portion of characters on the list. Kind of a strange selection though in some cases. Tyrion is an odd choice. He's a lot better fighter than you'd expect him to be, but he's pretty much exclusively fought average soldiers.

Hodor

Oh hey, there's Paksenarrion! I remember reading the first book about her years ago...I should read the others some time.

Putting my trust in Granny Weatherwax, personally, though Anomander Rake and Mr. Wednesday also look very dangerous. But Granny is a real fighter and far too proud to lose just because she's up against someone far stronger than her. I'm sure she'll find a way.

She usually does.

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

To be fair, they've used up some characters in the previous years' matches.

Currently taking a break from the site. See my user page for more information.

Looking at last year's bracket, there seems to be some Popularity Power at work. Jon Snow really shouldn't be beating all these people.

Currently taking a break from the site. See my user page for more information.

ooooh Kelsier's on the list! Couple of other awesome characters there too.

I read the imagined situation where he won in a fight against Vin from Mistborn (haven't read that series yet). His use of the direwolf in fighting is probably believable enough- while Jon hasn't done that much, Robb was well known for it. The body snatching though is totally unbelievable. One of the most talented skinchangers couldn't successfully possess someone, and Jon, whose abilities are dormant, certainly couldn't.

/ASOIAF wank

Hodor

To be fair, that was the one where Jon lost the actual vote. I'm mostly talking about Jon beating a Super-Soldier with a gun, an epic hero, and a borderline Reality Warper.

Martin the Warrior was probably worse than Jon Snow with the Popularity Power, though. Even if you make the argument that Redwallverse mice are human-sized (Jacques was never really consistent on this point), he still doesn't really do anything superhuman while alive.

edited 9th Dec '11 11:14:26 PM by silver2195

Currently taking a break from the site. See my user page for more information.

I'm probably the only one here who knows Anasûrimbor Kellhus. He won't be popular enough to do well, unfortunately. Hope I'm wrong.

This contest is just like the Gamefaqs contests—it's based on popularity, not which character would beat the other in a fight, no matter what the write ups say. Again, unfortunate.

That complaint lodged, I do like these contests because sometimes the writers write fanfiction for them. George RR Martin's work from the first year was a thing of beauty.

I myself only recognise like 15 of them, and even then, I have only read like 12 of the books, the rest are just names I recognise.

One of them is Rake from Malazan, one of the biggest disappointments I have ever had. That book made me cry. I had to FORCE my self to read the first book, it was so bad! Oh the core story was golden, it just that it was such a literary mush that I couldn't bear it. I never picked up book two.

That said, If I recall book one well (*shudder*) Rake was one BAMF, and he will reach the quaterfinal with no trouble.

edited 26th Dec '11 11:34:31 PM by ryzvonusef

Herald of the Literature Sub-Forum. Share me your favourite book/series/author!

The only Malazan I've read so far are the first 3 Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novellas, which were pretty fun reads. The main Malazan series is really divisive among fantasy fans, a real love it or hate it thing. At some point I plan to read at least the 1st book and make up my own mind.

Brackets have been revealed!

Cage Match 2012 starts Monday, March 5th, around 10 am EST (3 pm GMT)

So what do you think of the brackets? And who are you going to vote for?

My problem is that in most brackets, I only recognise on of the two characters, so I have no clue who the opponent is (I mean, Harry Potter vs The Horned King? Who the eff is the Horned King?)

But let me say this outright: I pity the foo' who brackets Mr. Wednesday.

There are only two pair I recognise: Moraine vs....Tarzan? Like the jungle swinging dude? My Good God, what a joke.

Secondly, Kelsier vs Gale from The Hunger Games. Gale, you are cool, dude, but you got haven't even got Hunger games exp, much less super powers. Bye Bye kiddo.

But an interesting question, are you even going to vote or ignore the whole thing? What's your take on the whole thing?

edited 11th Mar '12 10:01:16 AM by ryzvonusef

Herald of the Literature Sub-Forum. Share me your favourite book/series/author!

They favor this "Bram" (Whatever that is) above Granny. I pity the fools.

"You can reply to this Message!"

I'm gonna vote on this when I remember it's a thing. Like with the Game FA Qs Character Battles and Saimoe. Gonna help my favourites (go Paks!) as much as I can.

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

Zaphod beating Sparhawk is hilarious. I'm looking forward to seeing the Fool against Granny Weatherwax, though I'm not sure who I'd vote for.

"Doctor Who means never having to say you're kidding." - Bocaj

Lemurian, that's the second time you have endorsed this Paks-what's-his-name dude(dudette?). I must admit, I am intrigued. Which book series is this character from? Tell us a bit more.

edited 11th Mar '12 11:16:58 PM by ryzvonusef

Herald of the Literature Sub-Forum. Share me your favourite book/series/author!

Well, okay. Her name is Paksenarrion, and she's the main character of The Deed Of Paksenarrion, an epic fantasy series that was recently revived after 20 years in obscurity. It takes place in a very D&D-like world, with what we have come to regard as standard fantasy elements.

Paksenarrion grew up as a sheepfarmer's daughter, but ran away from home when her father wanted to marry her away. She joins a band of mercenaries and with time becomes a great heroine. She is a strong and independent woman, who showed extraordinary strength and willpower already in the first book, and that was before what I understand is the main plot kicked in.

Now, the main reason I'm rooting for her is because I many years ago read the first book about her while in Middle School. Unfortunately, I could not find the others in the school library, and in time I honestly forgot what the book was even called. But seeing her name in the competition awoke dormant memories in my mind, and I have dedicated myself to trying to track down the remaining books and finally find out exactly what adventures she experienced.

So, I'm rooting for a strong, memorable character whose story Needs More Love.

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

I never liked Paks enough to make it past the first book, but I liked the basic concept, at least. The author strongly disliked the standard portrayal of the "paladin" character type, and wanted to explore how she thought such a character could actually function.

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

Thank you very much, I shall try to hunt down this series.

And this is why I like this Su Vu Du thing, it introduces me to new book series that I never even knew existed. Anybody else got a recommendation from the list, some lost gem? Or anybody intrigued about an entry, like I was? We could help!

---

Btw, I just realised the match of awesomeness! How could we miss this!

I am, of course talking about Saphira [Inheritance Cycle] vs Napoleon (on a {very awesome} dragon)[Temeraire]! Dragon fight, yay! It MUST happen!

Is it fair Saphira doesn't have her rider, while Lien has hers? Though Napoleon is an ordinary mortal, while Eragon is a super hax Elf-thingie so, yeah...wouldn't be fair.

But draco-o-draco, what wins, Saphira's fire or Lien's divine wind? In universe, Lien's wind is supposedly overcomes a fire breather... but not sure.

Pitch in people!

edited 12th Mar '12 7:38:15 AM by ryzvonusef

Herald of the Literature Sub-Forum. Share me your favourite book/series/author!

Well, never having read Temeraire, couldn't make a good judgement. But Ergaon-Style dragons have an inbuilt magic based reality-warping ability.

"You can reply to this Message!"

Iorek vs Napoleon (on a dragon) is definitely my favourite match so far - and it's going to be pretty difficult to top. The addition of Sir David Attenborough makes everything beautiful.

Erevis Cale vs Jean Tannen is the best depiction of a kerb-stomp battle so far. I like that it's respectful to Jean's character.

"Doctor Who means never having to say you're kidding." - Bocaj

http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2012/03/cage-match-2012-round-2-jonathan-strange-versus-rachel-morgan.html

Kim Harrison has called in her social media army. I predict a backlash against Rachel in future matches. (Incidentally, the Suvudu people really need to stop referring to characters as having generic "magic" with no specifics. There's a difference between the large-scale and prep-based stuff Jonathan Strange does, the flashy and combat-relevant but fairly limited magic Harry Dresden uses, and the vaguely-defined powers used in bad D&D-style fantasy.)

http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2012/03/cage-match-2012-round-2-tyrion-lannister-versus-ray-lilly.html

Harry Connolly skillfully defuses Tyrion's Popularity Power while denying that that's what he's doing.

http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2012/03/cage-match-2012-round-2-kelsier-versus-chess-putnam.html

Perhaps I've spent too much time in Internet culture, but I think Stacia Kane's fans are overreacting to some fairly mild criticism. It's possible there were some really nasty comments that got deleted, though.

I predict Granny Weatherwax as the eventual winner. She has a powerful combination of raw magical power, intelligence, and toonforce. She also has Popularity Power.

Other characters with a good shot at winning:

• Moiraine: Based largely on first-round vote totals. Also seems to have strong offensive and defensive magical abilities.
• Kelsier: Again, high first-round vote total. Can move at superhuman speeds, which I'm pretty sure most of the other wizard-types in this tournament can't.
• Revan: Based largely on his OBD wiki profile, although the Suvudu writeups don't mention his more ridiculous powers.

Predicted division winners:

• Miskatonic University: Anomander Rake. He has lolmagic combined with enough swordsmanship to beat people with Anti-Magic, and no one in the division has that much Popularity Power.
• Starfleet Academy: probably Kelsier, although Moiraine also has a shot.
• Xavier's School: Granny Weatherwax. Interestingly, she has a much better chance against Mr. Wednesday than against Revan, since Wednesday's powers seem to be fate-based.
• Hogwarts: Erevis Cale, based on a combination of legitimate power and the inevitable anti-Rachel Morgan backlash.

edited 12th Mar '12 7:56:31 PM by silver2195

Currently taking a break from the site. See my user page for more information.

That's hilarious. Tyrion literally has Plot Armor.

Hodor

CHRIST ON A CRACKER! We are on Round *two* already???

Damnation! Gotta go Voteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Moraine, if you fell to Tarzan, I will commit Internet-cide!

Herald of the Literature Sub-Forum. Share me your favourite book/series/author!