Board 8 > How would they do in a contest? Day 154 ft Zant, Mace Windu, Saruman the White

(+) 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 154:

Revali (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) is High Fodder
Adolf Hitler (Wolfenstein, Persona 2, etc) is High Fodder
Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Marvel) is High Fodder

Here is today's trio to rank:

Zant (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
Saruman the White (Lord of the Rings)
Mace Windu (Star Wars)
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High Fodder for Zant. I don't think he is an overly popular character, but he is recognizable as the main antagonist of a very popular Zelda game, so he should be able to beat low and mid fodder.

Saruman is a major antagonist in the first 2 LotR movies and his portrayal by Christopher Lee was memorable. He should be helped by his resemblance to Gandalf and the fact that his name is similar to Sauron. However the fact that he was almost entirely absent from Return of the King; the best-remembered of the trilogy, hurts quite a bit. He doesn't have any relevant game appearances either. High Fodder for him.

Mace Windu - most of Gfaqs is going to know him and probably like him. He's played by Sam Motherf**king Jackson and has a purple lightsaber. He was also a bad enough dude to beat Palpatine. I think those factors, plus his many game appearances and role in the Clone Wars series, get him to Fodder Line.
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Nominate:

Aquaman (DC Comics)
The Flash (DC Comics)
Cyborg (DC Comics)
Killer Croc (DC Comics)
Shazam (DC Comics)
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Zant: Mid Fodder - Midna has a persistent fanbase, yet she's barely at the Fodder Line. I doubt most people care about Zelda villains in general, and Zant in particular, so I see him being rather weaker than Midna.

Saruman: Mid Fodder

Mace Windu: High Fodder - I have a hard time believing he's stronger than the more prominent and meme-supported Palpatine, not to mention reasonably popular OT characters like Lando and Boba Fett.
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nominate:

Shazam (DC Comics)
Admiral Gial Ackbar (Star Wars)

edit - nominate Killer Croc as well
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Zant should be stronger than Groose, no? Honestly Zant is basically Kylo Ren with even less nuance.

I nominated those DC characters because I'm kind of excited for Birds of Prey.
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Zant - Mid fodder
saruman - Low fodder
Mace windu - High fodder

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LinkMarioSamus posted...

Zant should be stronger than Groose, no?

Sure. But did you see Groose's 2013 match?
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LinkMarioSamus posted...

I nominated those DC characters because I'm kind of excited for Birds of Prey.

strange you didn't nominate any ladies then:

nominate Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (DC Comics), Black Canary/Dinah Drake (DC Comics), The Huntress/Helena Bertinelli (DC Comics)
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Day 155 is up: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/78130373
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