Board 8 > How would they do in a contest? Day 129 ft Frodo, Black Panther, Trainer Ethan

(+) Yeah! (+)

This is a topic to rate the contest strength of potential newcomers in the current contest environment.

I will pick the characters to rate and discuss for each day from user nominations - whoever the 3 most nominated characters are at that time. If there are more than 3 I will pick randomly. You can nominate any number of characters at any time, but you cannot nominate the same character twice.

All characters who were present in the 2018 Character Battle will NOT be eligible. Otherwise you can nominate any character that has appeared in video games; even comic book characters. This will exclude real-life athletes who have only appeared in long running sports series, however I will accept those who have their own games such as Shaq. I will accept nominations for iconic gaming duos too, if there is a compelling reason for both characters to be linked (either co-starring in a game ala Banjo & Kazooie, or always appearing together like Callie & Marie from Splatoon).

Each day will have a separate topic, and nominations will carry over. As far as actually rating the character's contest strength; I ask that users rank a characters potential strength with one of the following qualifiers - LAW Fodder, Low Fodder, Mid Fodder, High Fodder, Fodder Line, Low Midcarder, Midcarder, High Midcarder, Near Elite, Elite, LAW Tier (capable of beating Link). I will average all the ratings given to a character to come up with their final ranking. I have included a highlighted entrant from Character Battle X on each tier of the strength rankings below, to provide a baseline for each.

Note that LAW Fodder is meant to be a tier reserved for the weakest possible characters to put into a contest. A character will only be placed there if at least 3/4ths of the voters for that day agree on the LAW Fodder rating, and no ratings above Low Fodder are given. If either of those conditions are not met, the character will not be eligible for the LAW Fodder tier.

Current Character Strength Rankings: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P1AIhHywBiLd6VAMZMNEGX-HW2td8u1D0Iw_tzHsORw/edit?usp=sharing

Nomination List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-KnSBDzppzPK5Ug1zmx8_x0bG4tqFDMPPH2k8J3s8sk/edit?usp=sharing

Results from Day 128:

Sin (Final Fantasy X) is Fodder Line
Mai Valentine (Yugioh) is Mid Fodder
Prinny (Disgaea series) is High Fodder

Here is today's trio to rank:

Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings)
Black Panther (Marvel)
Pokmon Trainer Ethan (Pokmon Gold and Silver)
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Frodo: Mid Fodder. No impact on video games. Movies are 15 y/o now. Don't see why anyone would care, unless he's up against someone they don't recognize.

Black Panther: High Fodder. Hasn't been in Marvel long enough. Minimal impact on video games. Recency bias, sure, and nerds love the MCU, so I see him beating up on quite a lot of peoples.

Ethan aka Gold: Low Midcarder. His pic will help. People have nostalgia for GSC so I see him doing well, but he's not going to put up anywhere near Red's numbers (I mean, Red is a High Midcarder) because of all the Genwunners. He will advance against lesser opponents with ease, but I don't see him getting past round 3.
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Just a vote for Scarecrow.

Also nominate: The Mask (The Mask)
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Okay, I messed up and thought Carmine Falcone IS Scarecrow, when it's actually Jonathan Crane. Whoops.

I had some more nominees in mind but I forgot.
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Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings) - Mid fodder

https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-characters-from-the-lord-of-the-rings-universe
https://www.thetoptens.com/best-lord-of-the-rings-characters/

He just doesn't appear to be a favorite and I don't think he dominates the movies/books' screentime in a way some main characters might to let him sneak into being the strongest or close to it regardless.

Black Panther (Marvel) - High fodder

I guess? Instantly goes down to mid fodder if Marvel Universe doesn't stay strong though.

Pokmon Trainer Ethan (Pokmon Gold and Silver) - Mid fodder

GSC is well-remembered and iconic. The characters? Not so much. Lugia was fodder-line at best in 2013, the starters would have probably done worse, and in general I'd expect any GSC equivalent to be a pretty pale reflection of their RBY counterpart, to a much greater extent than the RBY-GSC difference. The original is an icon, the sequel's version isn't far from being just another dude. The most well-remembered character moment in GSC is almost certainly the final fight against Red? And Ethan never got anything significant like that in later games and it wouldn't have had the same impact if he had.

He's also not in Smash and doesn't have Red's design links to Ash (or anyone significant in the early anime seasons). I think those who care about the humans in post-RBY Pokemon are largely confined to the fanbase itself; I haven't seen much appreciation for them outside of it.

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Axem makes good points, but that's still underrating Ethan. It's post-GSC humans that are typically High or Mid Fodder. I will lower my vote to Fodder Line for him.
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Nominate:

Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
Douglas Quaid (Total Recall)
Amanda Ripley (Alien: Isolation)
Dick Tracy (Dick Tracy)
Sonic Man (Sonic '06)
Unagi (Super Mario 64)
Mad Piano (Super Mario 64)
Osmund Saddler (Resident Evil 4)
Kraid (Metroid)
Phantoon (Metroid)
Crocomire (Super Metroid)
Helmasaur King (The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past)
Helmaroc King (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker)
Zant (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
Ghirahim (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Professor Charles Xavier (Marvel)
Daredevil (Marvel)
Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle)
Mace Windu (Star Wars)
Lucius Best/Frozone (The Incredibles)
Nick Fury (Marvel)
Commissioner James Gordon (DC Comics)
J. Jonah Jameson (Marvel)
Severus Snape (Harry Potter)
Sirius Black (Harry Potter)
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BlueCrystalTear posted...

It's post-GSC humans that are typically High or Mid Fodder.

The only post-RBY human we've ever seen in action is N (who looked awful); one case isn't enough to generalize like that.

I'll compromise with High Fodder for Ethan. Otherwise, I agree with both of you.
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Nominate: Barry B. Benson (Bee Movie)
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Agree with Mid Fodder for Frodo and High Fodder for BP.

My vote on Ethan will be High Fodder. Most of his votes will be nostalgia-based, and he does not have the advantage of his design appearing in the anime. And Red's single appearance in GSC is arguably more memorable than Ethan himself.

nominations:

The Mask (The Mask)
Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
Amanda Ripley (Alien: Isolation)
Dick Tracy (Dick Tracy)
Sonic Man (Sonic The Hedgehog 2006)
Maw-Ray/Unagi (Super Mario 64)
Mad Piano (Super Mario 64)
Osmund Saddler (Resident Evil 4)
Kraid (Metroid)
Phantoon (Metroid)
Crocomire (Super Metroid)
Helmaroc King (Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker)
Ghirahim (Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword)
Professor Charles Xavier (Marvel)
Daredevil (Marvel)
Eragon (Eragon)
Mace Windu (Star Wars)
Frozone (The Incredibles)
Nick Fury (Marvel)
Commissioner James Gordon (DC Comics)
J. Jonah Jameson (Marvel)
Severus Snape (Harry Potter)
Barry B. Benson (Bee Movie Game)
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half_silver28 posted...

Red's single appearance in GSC

I mean, he is the final boss, and it's a "holy shit" moment that you're going off against your trainer from Yellow - so yeah, that's incredibly memorable.
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Day 130 is up: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/78073342
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Ethan would be like 5 times weaker if he was called Ethan and not Gold