Ethan (Resident Evil 7) vs Joel (The Last of Us)

• Just handguns and melee weapons
• In character
• Random encounter
• Neutral environment
• No interference

Who's tougher? Who's smarter? Who wins?

From what I've seen I doubt Ethan has the feats to compete with Joel but I haven't played RE7 myself.

Joel can actually fight and he treats every fight like his last.

He stomps.

@apocofist: Are you implying that Ethan doesn't even know how to fight? How on earth could you believe that?

@nickzambuto: Lol may have went a little overboard there but relative to Joel, Ethan doesn't offer much.

Bump

Joel.

More experienced and could probably replicate the same as Ethan every time.

Ethan can reattach his leg with medicine made from a random plant and battery acid. He totally stomps.

It's hard not to debate in your own thread.

@nickzambuto: just call it "encouraging debate"

Joel should win

@amendment50: I think I need to make Ethan a respect thread, because when I was playing that game, his feats were pure insanity for a supposedly "normal guy." He was thrown through walls, dropped from the top of a house, and could fight with a missing hand no problem. Sometimes he seemed like the least human person in that house!

He's definitely more durable than Joel as his durability was clearly superhuman, and I think he has better CQC. Their spirit and tenacity are about on par, and they're both extremely cunning. Joel has the advantage with stealth, but Ethan was taking on more powerful opponents and winning. The Bloaters which gave Joel so much hell were almost identical to the Fat Molded, but on top of that, Ethan fought the whole Baker family, then their mutated forms, his wife, and finally Eveline.

@nickzambuto: sounds like a typical RE character XD

I like Ethan even more for the fact that he contextualized the insanity of what Chris and Leon do. For a supposedly normal guy, Ethan was F'ing badass. His sheer toughness was out of this world. He fought giants, monsters, outsmarted a sadistic genius, fell off a house, kicked ass, and saved the day all while spouting terrible one liners.

...This is a "normal man" in the Resident Evil universe. Compare him to Chris or Leon, and it's pretty obvious that either of them could freaking body him. And as terrifying and overwhelming as the Baker family was, when you look at their feats, they really don't seem all that much stronger than any typical, canon fodder Ganado or Majini, the type that Chris and Leon slaughtered by the truckload.

Yet when Ethan is fighting them one-on-one it's the most intense and hype sh!t ever. He's showing close quarters combat skill, insane damage threshold, quick wit, adaptability, and just all around being a badass.

But Chris or Leon could literally take 20 Jack Bakers at once and not bat an eye. The melee moves in RE6 where Chris and Leon are able to counterattack J'avo and kill them like fodder at a moment's notice mean that if Jack were coming at one of them, they'd just disarm his shovel or axe, whack him upside the head with it, and his head would explode and that would be that. Onto the next 20 monsters.

Ethan has regenerative abilities and an absolutely absurd level of pain tolerance. He took a knife through the hand and forgot about it within a minute. His entire hand got chopped off and not only did it more or less stop bleeding after a short amount of time, with no tourniquet, he was still able to operate a firearm with 1 hand and reload it with his STUMP.

@saiyan77: Ethan wins

@apocofist: No Ethan has the better advantage

bump?

@deactivated-5a89ca5697052: Ethan Winters can win this.

Ethan.

Ethan has his crazy medicine, but Joel has way more experience in combat against humans and with weapons in general.

Ethan. Joel wouldn't have survived RE7.

@rac95: I think you should know more about Ethan before you comment.

Ethan wins. While Joel has more experience against humans and the infected in combat, Ethan on the other hand has better weapons, high pain tolerance, stealth (properly), and good at melee combat (meaning he can hold his own against Joel).

@frost-07: I may not have played the game, but watched playthroughs of it, so I am not completely without knowledge

As for your arguments:

Ethan on the other hand has better weapons

True in general, but they are restricted to melee and handguns, so unless he also has his handgun from the ending (which would be a bit OP), both sides have normal pistols/revolvers. If all handguns are used Joel would also have access to his "long-distance" revolver, which could turn the tables against Ethan, since Joel is,IMO, the better marksman, for example when he precisely shoots enemies whilst hanging upside down in a sling

high pain tolerance

Nothing to say against that, although Joel isn't a complete slouch in that area, since he was able to fight the group of cannibals with a not fully healed stomach wound. And even if this won't save Ethan from a lethal hit, it is definitely his advantage

stealth (properly)

I actually can't remember any noticable feat in that direction, so if you have an example, please give it to me. You have to remember though, that Joel can sneak up on Clickers and those things hunt after sounds.

@rac95: Ethan is more skilled with using handguns and melee weapons.

His high pain tolerance gives him the better advantage of taking any punishment Joel throws at him making Ethan more durable than him.

I think you might be right that Joel may have better stealth than Ethan.

Both Ethan and Joel are equal in strength both have taken on tougher opponents.

But still in this fight Ethan wins. While Joel is more experienced and have better stealth, Ethan is more skilled in using handguns and melee weapons, and more durable than Joel. Even they are both equal in strength during combat Ethan can still hold his own against Joel like he did with Jack Baker (who is more stronger and tougher than Joel.)

@frost-07: As mentioned fair point in the durability department, but I have two questions. First of all, why would you think Ethan, who had no prior combat experience, is more skilled than a person who knows how to fight since nearly twenty years? And on which case do you base the strength of his handguns? They are normal weapons, only the special ammunition would make a difference

@rac95: Ethan does have melee combat which he is more skilled in than Joel (just like Jack Baker) and Ethan’s strength of the handgun has better range. Also while Joel survived in the apocalypse for 20 years which makes him have more experiences Ethan is different from the people Joel fought against.

@frost-07:

Ethan’s strength of the handgun has better range

Are you talking about his normal handguns or his special handgun? If you just compare the strongest handguns, Ethan has the better one, since it can kill a building sized monster whilst Joels best handgun can "only" two-shot Bloaters.

Ethan is different from the people Joel fought against

That is a point I don't quite understand. Yes, Ethan is different, but what exactly makes him more dangerous than soldiers or the trained guards from the Fireflies in his behavior?

@rac95: Both of Ethan’s handguns, they have better firepower than Joel’s handguns.

What I meant was Ethan is different because he’s skillful of surviving and I’m not saying he’s more dangerous he’s just more skilled at using melee weapons and surviving against tougher opponents like the Baker Family who are more dangerous than Joel and the other people of Last of Us.

Ethan.

He has better weapons/equipments and has better durability than Joel.

He Stomps.

Joel got killed by a golf club so there's no way he keep with ethan who gets thrown though walls and survived getting cut by a chain saw