Monday DE: Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting

[splash_of_blue]

Gooooooooooood Monday, Milliways!

What is your character's fighting style? Do they even have one? What does the way they fight have to say about their personality and/or backstory?

Comments

[takethatnature]

Wilson's fighting style tends towards "hit them with an axe until they fall over". He has no training, since he had no interest in learning boxing or indeed any athletic hobby and avoided being drafted into the First World War; everything he knows about fighting, he learned from trying not to die in the Constant. Or from actually dying, then coming back to life with a better idea of what not to do. And most of his opponents were bestial creatures rather than other human-shaped people, although he's fought monsters with a wide enough variety of body plans that he's not completely at a loss with a humanoid opponent.

The reason why he uses axes in particular is because they do 80% as much damage as a spear but can be crafted with, like, half the materials, and can also be used to get lumber. They break after a while but they last long enough. Wilson uses other, more deadly weapons as well but most of them are much weirder; his go-to options are the spiky bit wrenched off a swamp tentacle that was trying to use it to kill him, a big chunk of semi-preserved once-edible meat with the bone sticking out for use as a handle, or a sword made out of haunted wood and condensed nightmares.

[inlovewithwords]

Lois doesn't fight much, but it's about mid-range training in some form of Earth martial arts, probably taekwondo, given that her dad is Army.

Tavi has some nonsense made-up fighting style that, these days, involves a hell of a lot of elemental magic. His sword is usually on fire and he is frequently flying, and honestly, I don't know how to summarize his fighting style at that point. When he's got his feet firmly on the ground, his fighting is actually a little peculiar. He first learned how to fight--hand-to-hand, fencing, daggers, unarmed, what have you--when he was considerably smaller and/or weaker than his opponents, to the point of being able to kill people with his now-current power level when he was far, far below that in theory.

These days he's got size, strength, and magic on top of being trained to fight people far bigger and stronger and magically gifted than he is. That's a frankly terrifying combination when added to his... uh, honestly? Pretty Jedi-like capabilities around speed and strength. That said, he's gotten a little lazy and definitely relies more on that strength than he used to--but Araris is careful to teach him a tool or two that smaller combatants use as a surprise for anyone who wouldn't expect him to use it. He's not the best in Legion combat, maybe, but Tavi is one of the better fencers in Alera for sure. He had the best teachers his family paranoia could buy, after all.

Derius is honestly pretty like his dad here, although he's still in the 'smaller and more acrobatic' phase of things. He'll never have quite Tavi's size and strength and so will always be a little quicker and a little less reliant on pure power (seriously, just read below, it's a similar contrast). He also takes a bit more after Kitai, with slightly more tendency than Tavi towards dual-wielding and fluidity rather than staying power.

R2-D2 honestly does most of his fighting by hacking, and very rarely by "prod with taser" or "set on fire lightly."

Anakin Skywalker relies primarily on Form V, both Shien and Djem So variants (although he is not pleased with certain people's fondness for the reverse grip of Shien, Snips). He also incorporates Form IV, aka Ataru (Yoda's preferred style) into his fighting (lots of acrobatics--loses that later, poor baby). Notable about his use of Form IV is that he's creative enough to have adapted it specifically for the needs of the Clone Wars, honing it to be useful in deflecting droid blaster fire. For all that he specializes, he is absolutely capable of working other forms into his own when he feels like it. He very rarely dips into Jar'Kai aka dual-wielding, mostly when he steals someone else's lightsaber.

He doesn't use Force powers too often in his fighting, sticking to lightsaber for the most part. He also has a distressing tendency to throw his lightsaber.

Vader relies far more on combat-useful Force powers in combat than Anakin, and his lightsaber technique is far more efficient, brutal, and direct. He has a lot more strength to throw behind it but not nearly the agility he did before. That said, his style is similar enough that someone deeply familiar with Anakin Skywalker's fighting style could conceivably recognize him (and does). Both Anakin and Vader have a nasty ability to ignite someone else's lightsaber and turn it on them; Vader does this more than Anakin, as much for the mental torture as for the physical pain. He still throws his lightsaber.

Honestly, it's a wonder he doesn't lose more of them.

(Endless credit to Wookieepedia, from which I got a lot of this; just read Anakin/Vader's page and the linked things, okay, it's-- it's. A Lot.)

[splash_of_blue]

Sam relies on being quick and agile and fighting dirty as hell - he once (temporarily) beat an actual God of War (hi Odin!) by kneeing him in the balls as hard as he could. He usually relies on magic, since he doesn't carry weaponry with him on a regular basis, but uses a sword and dagger when he does. He's unlikely to fight physically unless given absolutely no other option.

Molly is, as she'll tell you herself, the ultimate in blunt instrument. The only time she'll use a weapon is to extend her reach: as a rule, though, she has hands and feet and that's really all she needs. The most interesting thing about how she fights is that she doesn't block at all (unless it's to protect someone else): in a one-on-one fight with her, she relies entirely on invulnerability and just steamrollers forwards. For Security, when she's arresting civilians, she has a few leg-sweeps and similar to be able to stop someone quickly without using her powers (since she'd really prefer not to kill anyone).

[death_gone_mad]

Amascut teaches combat, and it is combat with the goal of defeating a much stronger opponent, specifically teaching humans how to slay monsters. A lot of it comes down to using the right tools for the job, exploiting weakness, and being adaptable. Overspecialization leads to weakness.

She follows her own advice but she doesn't really get into fights with gods or anything near her power. Too busy pretending to be human and sowing discord.

Offensively, she can use magic, bladed weapons, and projectile weaponry very well. She leans more into fire based magic and death and decay based magic if she wants to increase the seriousness of the fight. She favors the guandao-like staff of light and staff of darkness as magic staves since they double as excellent polearms in the right hands.

On the defense side I think she likes the concept of turning a room into a bullet hell, but if it comes down to hand to hand combat, I think I remember saying she likes using a sped up taiji to frustrate her opponent's attacks until the opponent does something rash and exploitable. But she is more likely to leave a fight before it becomes defensive because the fight no longer interests her or for some other made up reason.

[oldmancreed]

Tess is an ex-spy for the government, so she's been trained in several forms of martial arts, her favourite being bōjutsu. But sometimes, nothing works better than a good 'ol punch in the face.

Kylo uses more of his physical power than he probably should, but don't let that fool you into thinking his lighsaber technique is lacking. It's actually an odd combo considering how much training he's had.

Creed is a brawler who doesn't fight fair. You just didn't learn fancy fighting in 1800s northern Canada, when you were on the run with a little brother in tow.

[holdingacat]

Cecil and Jonathan are talkers - they basically manage to engage their enemies in convo until something happens to save them. Though there's canon suggestion that Cecil is stupid levels of strong, and may have some power to change reality with what he's saying.

(But then, he says, so does everyone.)

Klaus would really rather run away, but i suspect he is very well versed in domething like Krav Maga. Thanks, daddio.

[bjornwilde]

Jessica uses whatever style works. She has a lot of kicks and punches and will block when best or dodge if the case calls for it. She has a lot of muscle memory built up, so she reacts more instinctively than consciously in a fight. Her venom blasts are always deliberate though.

Ben hates fights cause more often than not that means he'll have to use his power and he's not a fan of that. I'm on the fence as to if Hargreeves would have taught him any actual fighting skills cause then he might not use his powers.

Viv fights with her powers, shifting her density to intangible to avoid being hit or increasing it when she hits. Or firing her solar beams. She is not an accomplished close-quarter fighter yet but is quite effective in using her powers.

Sabine has a mix of marksmanship and parkour which she uses in fights. She's not much for fisticuffs though. Why punch when you have a blaster?

Ahsoka uses A LOT of acrobatics in her fighting style. She also fights with her whole body, using her two arms for attacks primarily. I'll look into her lightsaber styles later, but she does want me to say her reverse grip works well for her and not everyone has to do things your way Skyguy.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

If it's sparring or a sports match, Yamato is a somewhat defensive, very agile kickboxer, who tends to bait and pressure his opponents into making mistakes and then uses counter-punches and kicks to take them down. He relies on his speed, strength and reflexes to overwhelm people more than anything, and he tends to be less effective if someone traps him in place or gets him off his feet somehow.

If it's a serious fight for survival, then the same as the above, except he'll fight incredibly dirty if he can. Sand in the eyes, headbutting, biting, punching people in the throat, taking advantage of distractions. Just capitalising on any trick or advantage available to him.

In either case, he also tends to be pretty analytical. He can pick up on someone's weaknesses or mistakes fast, and he can be fairly brutal about exploiting them.

Gabumon fights in much the same way -- in all his forms, he's by far the fastest of the Chosen's Digimon, and with Yamato his preferred tactic is to either pressure someone with sheer speed or force them into a disadvantageous situation. This is, apparently, how Garurumon hunt, as well: In lore, they lure larger Digimon out into snowdrifts, and then tear them apart while they're trapped in waist-deep snow.

MetalGarurumon is this tactic personified, since his whole Thing is that his actual attack power is fairly mediocre for an Ultimate-level, but he's absurdly fast with ridiculous range and the ability to use cold to slow down his enemies, so he just wears them down until they make more and more mistakes and then goes in for the kill.

[thebattycakes]

Cisco - At this point Cisco definitely does not have a fighting style. Calling for help and running away are Plans A & B, when those fail he relies on his brain. All bravado aside Cisco is in fact a genius and going through canon he gets himself out of a few tough situations using his mind.

Barry - Thanks to Milliways Barry is becoming a much better fighter than he is in canon, still his first strategy is almost always speed. After that it's his fists. He's starting to learn throws and kicks, but he's far from those coming naturally so when he fights it's with punches.

He also fights very fair and is reluctant to take advantage of an opponent, which definitely bites him in the ass sometimes. Sometimes though, you gotta Super Sonic Punch somebody in the face and if the situation calls for it, Barry will go there.

Matt - Matt is an amazing fighter. He's a skilled martial artist in many styles including Judo, Capoeira and Muay Thai, but his fallback is boxing and that's always there in the mix whether he's fresh in a fight and just adding it in with all the kicks and flips, or if he's on his last legs and just staying upright by throwing haymakers.

Matt's style varies on a sliding scale and at both ends is brutality. When he's lost control and is fighting with anger Matt goes for maximum damage, raining down hard blows beyond the point of them being necessary. On the other end, when he's completely focused and in control he also tends to fight angry and he uses his skills to break opponents; only on this end of his spectrum instead of power he uses precision.

In the middle Matt is an effective fighter who can tackle gangs of bad guys and depending on the night and his mood he can be quick and efficient about it, or he can actually have fun with it. When he's not spiraling thanks to whatever latest shitstorm has hit his life, Matt is a showoff. He'll throw in all the acrobatics just because he can.

He's also pretty damn good with fighting sticks.

Logan - Logan's default style is usually brawler. But, he's also a trained martial artist so in with all the punches he'll launch kicks and throws. He's a lot faster than he looks, and even more solid than he appears.

He likes to fight, whether it's a friendly spar or free-for-all bar fight, or if he's going up against an enemy with the intent to gut them as messily as possible.