Our latest match was between two deadly and formidable characters: Lady Shiva and X-23. Lady Shiva's one of the top hand-to-hand combatants on her planet and she has no problem taking a life. X-23 is healer with very, very pointy adamantium claws (keep in mind, only her claws are adamantium). What would happen if these two faced off in a dojo like the one we saw in The Matrix? Would the Marvel heroine's physical advantages allow her to outlast Shiva and dish out some major punishment? Would the villain from DC be able to take down her opponent with her bare hands or one of the weapons lining the walls of the dojo? The community has been talking about this fight since Monday and they've reached a conclusion. Ladies and gentlemen, X-23 wins!
Lady Shvia was able to gather support from 36% of the voters and 58% sided with X-23. Only 6% thought this was too close to call. So, why'd X-23 take the victory? Despite being less skilled than Lady Shiva, she isn't exactly a sloppy fighter. She was trained to be a highly effective killer. She knows how to put those blades to proper use and she can take a whole lot of punishment before going down for the count. Most voters think she'll simply outlast Lady Shiva. She may take a beating, but eventually, they believe she'll be able to land one good claw attack and that's all she'll need to turn the tide. Shiva may land more hits, but X-23's healing factor is not to be underestimated.
As for why we picked X-23 instead of Elektra, it's because we wanted to avoid the obvious and sincerely believe this is a way more interesting match. There's blatantly obvious parallels between Elektra and Lady Shiva, but they bring the very same advantages to the table. In that debate, you're weighing their skill and how quickly they'd be willing to go for more damaging attacks. It has the potential to be an entertaining fight, but the debate? I just think that's boring because it doesn't have much range. It just doesn't have the same kind of potential. This one required you to analyze several different factors that each bring to the table. One is way more skilled, has more experience, and has a more villainous mentality. The other has greater endurance, 6 blades attached to her (2 of which can be used as a surprise), the ability to withstand what most cannot, and her own level of skill. X-23 has more advantages, but do you think they're more significant? Obviously, many of you believe the answer is "yes" and a fair amount of you do not. Hopefully that made things more interesting to think about because it's not just "who's more skilled? Okay, that pretty much means they would win." Now, let's take a look at what some Viners had to say about the fight. Oh, and I couldn't help but include my thoughts, too.
TheAmazingImmortalMan
OK, Let's start with Shiva. Obviously she has the Skill advantage, she was able to best Batman and in h2h and Bats stated that "she may very well be the best fighter alive". She is regarded as the most skilled fighter and assassin in DC. So if this were strictly h2h I would give this to Shiva. One thing that might help her is the assortment of weapons on the wall, to keep distance and help damage Laura and even out the advantage of Laura's claws. It's worth noting that Shiva has a high pain tolerance.
However I do not see her getting past Laura's healing factor and durability. The speed between the two is most likely even so this fight just might take a while. Laura's pain tolerance and damage soak is up there with Logan's and I think that is what is gonna win this fight. Also even though Shiva has the skill advantage does not mean Laura is lacking in that department. Laura has went toe to toe with Daken and Lady Deathstrike in the past. Also being that there is no prior knowledge the claws coming out of her feet might come as a surprise later in the fight. Think Laua throws a kick to her head Shiva blocks and grabs her leg and footsnikt! in the face. At the end of the day no matter what Shiva dishes out X-23 will come back from it. Shiva breaks her ribs, healed. Shiva stabs her with a sword in the dojo, healed. Shiva cuts her face off, healed. Shiva snaps her neck, healed. X-23 stabs Shiva in the throat/head/lungs, Shiva is dead. While it won't be an easy fight vote goes X-23 any day of the week.
jashro44
I'm going to say lady shiva for now. She's arguably in the top 3-5 (the only fighters I think are above her for a fact are Cass, Karate Kid, and Sensei, Batman is debatable) best fighters in DC but what separates her from everyone besides sensei (who doesn't have good stamina) is her ruthlessness. X-23's healing factor is good but its not enough by itself to counter shiva. I can be convinced when I see proof X-23 can hang with someone in shivas weight class.
HigorM
Really tough call, but IMHO Laura would win in a very bloody fight.
Now, there's no question that Shiva is the top notch martial artist here, surpassing the majority of the fighters in overall skill, but sometimes that's not enough, which for me applies to this case.
Laura is no slouch combat-wise, considering the amount of training she received to become the perfect weapon, but for me what really makes the difference here is the others attributes she brings to the fight. Enhanced senses, adamantium claws from both hands and feet, healing factor and pain resistance, whoa, it's too much. Shiva may be the most skilled fighter between the two but X-23 more than compensates with her stats, powers and own personal abilities. She's fast enough to keep up with Shiva and might only need one single strike to win the fight
Perfect 10
finally some shiva love. i love x-23 too but she doesnt stand a chance. for those who dont know shiva studies a different martial art EVERY YEAR from the master of that form, then challenges and DEFEATS them, making her the new master. x-23 has only really had ONE master, yeah she has trained with a few x-men but that is mostly to hone her skills not to give her new ones. shiva is the number one martial artist in the dc universe, as much as you batboys like to argue that bruce is oh so great and unstoppable NO. we also have black canary and tim drake who were trained by her not to mention her daughter cassandra cain who is the only one who has ever been able to fairly defeat her without aid from shiva being drugged or brain controlled.
shiva wins plain and simple. laura would hold back if she has no reason to kill her, shiva wouldnt, that and skill level would defeat laura
Wardog2alpha
This is an incredibly tough call. Shiva definitely has more skill, discipline and experience than Laura. As an assassin Shiva is used to going into a fight that she has been able to prepare for against an opponent she has studied. But Shiva is going into this fight knowing nothing about X-23's capabilities and assuming that Laura is as vulnerable as any other human she would face. Attacks that Shiva would use to incapacitate or kill an opponent will affect X-23 differently. I can see Shiva going for a killing or incapacitating blow and assuming X-23 is out of the fight Shiva will leave herself wide open for a kill shot from X-23. But X-23 is momentarily weakened by a serious injury and could leave herself open for decapitation. It's my understanding that X-23's claws are adamantium laced but her skeleton is not. We don't know if X-23 can grow back a head (or body?) but regardless no head would mean that X-23 would not be able to continue the fight.
Also, Shiva will need to depend on her hand to hand expertise unless she has an adamantium or DC equivalent metal blade that will hold up against X-23 strikes. Although the same could be said for X-23 if Shiva just ends up cutting off her hands once she realizes they have knives coming out of them.
I'll hold off on my vote but honestly I feel like this one is to close to call for now.
Gregg Katzman
Sorry, majority, but I'm baaaaaaarely siding with Lady Shiva on this one. I understand why X-23 earned most of the votes (healing, claws, style which focuses on effectiveness) and she absolutely has what it takes to give Lady Shiva all kinds of hell, but I'm siding with Shiva's insanely talented hand-to-hand abilities and her lethal mentality. It's a ridiculously close conflict, though. Now, factors like how X-23 utilizes her foot claw could play a biiiiig role -- that's a dangerous surprise right there -- but I don't think Shiva would underestimate X-23, especially when she immediately sees the hand claws come out and just how quickly her opponent is able to close the gap.
If Wolverine could counter and dodge X's attacks (that's not a jab at him; he's VERY skilled... when he wants to be), I'm confident Shiva could do the same while dishing out attacks of her own. Unlike him, she won't hold back at all. Of course many of her attacks will just faze Laura and they're things the Marvel character can quickly recover from, but Shiva isn't stupid and it won't take long at all for her to see standard strikes aren't going to cut it. She's not unfamiliar with non-humans, after all. She'll have no hesitation going for fatal attacks -- attacks which could lead to an incapacitation. What's stopping her from snapping Laura's neck or savagely using the leopard blow? Or grabbing a bladed weapon off the wall and using that to stab X-23 in the head? If Lady Shiva thinks a stab to the gut will suffice, that'll let Laura get in close and dish out a stab of her own. I don't see that as being a mistake Shiva would make at that point in the fight, though. I see her going for fatal strikes only. Even if it isn't something that immediately put X-23 down (e.g. damage to the throat), it still has the potential to stun her and that gives Lady Shiva the window she'd need to dish out something more effective.
I think her skill edge and lack of morals will allow her to eventually win via incapacitation. It'll be brutal and rough, but I think she has what it takes. It won't be an easy victory and she's going to probably walk away with some cuts and maybe even a stab wound or two, but I'm giving the edge to the fighter with greater skill and experience. Plus, I can't help but wonder how Lady Shiva's barrage of attacks and possible insults will potentially fluster and aggravate X-23. Letting her anger begin to take over will only give Lady Shiva's fluid movements and skill an even greater advantage, I think. But hey, that's just my opinion.
As always, you're welcome to continue the debate below. Next week, we're going to throw a different Batman villain into the Battle of the Week. Who do YOU want to see and who would you like to see them battle? (Just a heads-up, we're trying to avoid the cliche. So, odds are we're not going to go with something like Deadshot vs. Bullseye.) Share your ideas below or reach out via Twitter. Have a good weekend, everyone, and don't forget to check back on Monday to see what the next battle will be!
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