Taken as a youth by Thanos and trained to be the ultimate assassin, Gamora has earned the reputation as the most dangerous woman in the universe. Her body was augmented and enhanced for battle and her skill honed unarmed or armed with blades or firearms. Eventually turning away from her “father,” Gamora teamed with Adam Warlock and later joined the Infinity Watch. She would then become a long time member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
If you only know MCU Gamora, then you know but a shadow of the true Gamora. Expect no meekness or compassion from the ultimate warrior.
Powers/Abilities
Super Speed and Agility
Enhanced Strength
Enhanced Durability
Enhanced Senses
Healing Factor
Unarmed and Armed Combat Master
Round 1: Speed of the Sword
For the first part of the debate, I will focus on Gamora’s advantages at the beginning of the fight and work my way to the ‘what ifs’ as counters go by.
Speed
To open this battle up, Gamora easily has the speed to evade Hela’s blades and cover the distance to melee range.
Scan 1) Dodges machine gun fire from several gunmen who have the high ground. (Gamora #5)
Scans 2-4) Moves as a blur and kills multiple opponents. (Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers)
Scans 5-8) Blitzes a Badoon in the open while dodging his fire. (Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers)
Gallery
Hela isn’t as fast as automatic weapon fire so at any vantage point Gamora should be able to evade Hela’s blades at will.
Agility
While Hela may be pretty agile, Gamora Is known for using her speed and power to perform astounding acrobatic leaps and somersaults. She regularly uses her speed to evade and maneuver around opponents, typically before finishing them off.
Scans 1-2) Acrobatics over a giant Badoon warrior (Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers #1)
Scan 3) Leaps a massive distance to a flying vessel (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 #9)
Scan 4) Disarms both of Death’s Head II’s weapons in a blur (Guardians of the Galaxy: Dream On #1)
Scans 5-6) Dances around the Venom symbiote (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 #21)
Gallery
More specific to this fight, see below that she can easily weave her way through blaster fire and has precision long range weapons of her own to use in defense.
Scan 1) Flips and leaps through the air over great distances over falling rocks (Gamora #3)
Scan 2) Uses agility to dodge fire from multiple SHIELD mechs (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 #13)
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Swordsmanship
As fate would have it, Gamora wields a sword named Godslayerthat was made for the exact purpose of this debate. Even Gamora's typical weaponry consistently kill the most durable and resistant of foes (such as this Disir) and even block adamantium.
Scan 1) Kills Nova Centurion Ko-Rel who at minimum is bulletproof(Nova Vol. 4 #6)
Scan 2) Effortlessly cuts down Cancerverse Valkyrie, who should be an equal counterpart to her 616 version (Thanos Imperative #2)
Scans 3-4) Makes short work of Phyla-Vell, who possesses a blade of death-magic (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 #17)
Gallery
These all seem to be perfect examples to counter Hela.
Summary
Gamora definitely has the speed and agility to close the gap on Hela and even get off a shot of her own at range. When she does she will use her masterful skill at swordplay with a weapon capable of chopping Hela to ribbons faster than she can recover.
In my next post, I will detail Gamora’s physicals in the case that swordplay proves to not be enough. This will include her strength and striking power, her martial arts prowess and her unstoppable durability and stamina as well as a healing ability. Hela might be better off sticking to swords…
@majinblackheart: Dearest apologies for the long wait. Between schoolwork and loss of motivation, this post was kept way overdue. But, I finally found the time and drive to deliver an opener that I hope will meet your expectations:
Opener | The Goddess of Death
Bio
Hela Odinsdottir was the Asgardian Goddess of Death and former Executioner of Asgard. Imprisoned in Hel for millennia by her father Odin, Hela was released from her prison in the wake of his death and went to restore her power over Asgard, while simultaneously engaging in a series of encounters with her younger brothers Thor and Loki. Gaining her power from Asgard, Hela planned to rule Asgard and create an Asgardian Empire. When all the people of Asgard refused to bow to her, Hela set about massacring Odin's armies and enslaving the people, while recruiting Skurge to be her own Executioner in the process. Eventually however, Thor returned with the newly formed Revengers and then reengaged Hela, which had then resulted in Loki unleashing Surtur, who then destroyed Asgard by finally causing Ragnarök and killed Hela as a result.
Theme Song
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Blade Summoning
One of Hela's biggest assets in this fight is her ability to summon weapons out of thin air, particularly of the bladed variety. She uses these blades as mid to long range projectiles or as melee range weapons. Whatever the application, she is fierce in combat and not one to be taken lightly by any stretch. That said, Hela's goto style of combat is spamming these bladed weapons at a range, and in this particular battle, this strategy will prove to be most effective.
Her fight against the Asgardian Army highlights the range, speed, and versatility of this power. We see Hela lay waste to these poor Asgardians, oneshotting each and every one of them with her blades. Her blades are projected with such speed and velocity that they are not only able to pierce straight through Asgardian armor and oneshot the soldier inside, but also send said soldier violently flying a considerable distance backwards. These blades even oneshot Asgardian warships, highlighting both their ranged and power. The last thing to take not of is how seamlessly she integrates this into her fighting style, accounting for opponents at all ranges and positions on the battlefield, adapting her ability to meet whatever scenario the soldiers put her in.
The speed and range of these blades along with Hela's seamless fighting style would be enough to give anyone trouble. However, the precision and timing of these projectiles are what really cement this as a dangerous ability. The gif below highlights this as a consistent and effective tactic Hela employs. In both clips, Hela throws two blades in rapid succession, both aimed at slightly different parts of the body. In the first clip we see Thor catch a blade with his lightning before being being tagged by another in the opposite shoulder while he was trying to catch the first blade. In the second clip, Thor dodges a blade from behind and even deflects one with a bracelet. However, like with the first clip, just as he finishes deflecting a blade, he is tagged in the chest by another.
Gamora is a bona fide bullet timer, this has been made very apparent by my opponent. However, the speed of Hela's projectiles should not be underestimated, knocking armored Asgardians a sizable different backwards and oneshotting warships. What makes things worst is that Hela can spam these projectiles with flawless timing and precision, as can be seen during her fight with Thor. If you want to create a visual picture for yourself of how this looks practically, imagine Hela spamming a couple of blades at Gamora. Gamora makes use of her agility, doing flips and acrobatic maneuvers in the air. While Gamora is in mid air, in the middle of her manuever, Hela spams even more blades aimed at her exact position. Even someone with Gamora's speed would be hardpressed to evade these blades if put into such a vulnerable position. And Hela is not one so kind to look this opportunity over.
Physicals
In all honesty, given how proficient Hela is with her blade summoning abilities, I don't see Gamora closing the distance before it is too late. However, on the off chance she does get into melee range, Hela is more than capable of holding her own. The first clip I showed highlights Hela's ability as melee fighter. She can casually cut Asgardian soldiers down with her blades, completely outmaneuvering them. It also showed her insane pain tolerance. She shrugged off getting hit square in the face by an Asgardian mace, wielded by an elite Asgardian warrior and was not at all hindered by being impaled from behind. This level of piercing resistance will be a big hurdle for Gamora to overcome. What makes this obstacle even more imposing is Hela's piercing durability on top of that.
Here, Hela no sells Thor throwing Gungir at her before slashing her with it. Gungir being Odin's weapon, and one of the most powerful weapons on Asgard. And yet, not a scratch was left on Hela after having it thrown at her chest by a superhuman. That alone speaks volume for her piercing durability. Yes she was impaled by lesser weapons in her fight scene with the Asgardian army, but remember that Hela gets more powerful the longer she is on Asgard, so she had to have gotten stronger between the Asgardian army fight and the throne room fight.
In terms of her offensive melee capabilities, she of course has her blades. However, she isn't a one trick pony. Far from it. In CQC scenarios, she has consistently abused her strength, using it to her advantage. This can be seen with her fight on the Bifrost Bridge and on the Rainbow Bridge. In the first instance, she casually restrains Thor with one hand, setting up for an attack with her blades. Thor was able to kick Hela away, sure, but you would have to argue Gamora at Thor's strength level if you want to say she could do the same before she gets stabbed or gets her neck crushed (which is something Hela has done before as well). In the second instance, she ragdolls Valkyrie, throwing her away, thereby increasing the distance between them. She can pull this same stunt with Gamora should she get too close for comfort. Hela's pain tolerance and durability should allow her to take Gamora's attacks and force her into a grappling scenario, a scenario where Hela will definitely win. If you aren't fully convinced by Hela's strength for some reason, then I will just show you her first appearance. Where, like the badass she is, she casually catches and breaks Mjolnir with one hand.
Initial Thoughts
At all ranges, Hela should come out the victor in this battle. The most likely scenario, in my opinion, is Hela spamming her blades at a range, using her precision and timing to pressure and even tag Gamora, despite her speed and agility. I am aware that Gamora has a healing factor, but from what I've seen, it is possible to tax. Being put of of commission by a stab from Wolverine, even if temporarily, is still not enough to justify Gamora not being put down by Hela. If Gamora some how manages to close the distance on Hela, she has her durability and pain tolerance to fall back on, eating Gamora's attacks and then retaliating with her strength, She can either attempt to crush her neck, restrain her and set up for a stab from her blade, or just throw her away and continue playing the ranged game. Regardless, I see Hela winning this fight handily.
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