Black Panther vs Batman: Death Battle
Predators, hiding and biding their times. These are the things that go bump in the dark, that scare the living daylights off of other animals. They are nature’s personification of fear. Two of our most beloved characters use the natural fear of these predators to enhance their combat power by not only physically overpowering their enemy but also breaking their spirit.
“Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly bunch”
A quote that echoes throughout the Batman bibliography. Although Batman is older of the two characters and T’Challa is arguably just a rip off of the Batman formulae it still begs the question that if it comes down to it who wins in a fight T’Challa or Wayne.
Before we can determine the combat prowess and the outcome of a simulated cross-franchise battle there are some things we need to get out of the way. The first one is, what is the extent of the abilities of these characters, so let’s individually cover the basic stats and origin stories of both of these iconic vigilantes.
BLACK PANTHER
Born the prince of an isolated nation (Wakanda), the king has lived his life in anything but isolation. Considered to be an intellectual equal of Reed Richards and Doctor Doom, T’Challa holds numerous doctorates from Berkeley and other Ivy League schools. His affinity to learning and sharp senses make for a formidable enemy. An enemy who can not only read and predict your movements but who also has the strength to wipe you out as soon as you give him an opening. T’Challa is revered as both a scientist and a warrior
The basic stats of Black Panther are
Full name: T’Challa
Height: 6 ft
Weight : 200lbs / 90.7 kg
Homeland: Wakanda
Net worth: $90.7 trillion
King of Wakanda
Married to storm
Has several doctorates
Vibranium suit and miscellaneous tech
Enhanced speed/strength/sight
Cat-like reflexes
Exceptional detective skills
Accelerated healing
Psychic resistance
Trained 160+ martial arts
BATMAN
Born Bruce Wayne, the child to Gotham’s wealthiest family, Batman lost both of his parents at young age. In a crime inflicted Gotham, Thomas and Martha Wayne were gunned down by a lowly thug in crime alley looking to get his hands on Martha’s pearls and Thomas’s purse. This. Incident left a young Bruce Wayne traumatized and set up his journey to overcome fear. To make sure that Gotham sees the day where no child had to be as helpless or as angry as he was. To Bruce the criminal on that night does not represent a man , the man who gunned down Thomas and Martha Wayne is the personification of his city’s filth. Bruce would later roam the world to hone his body and mind to peak human performance. Batman took the fight to Gotham’s filth and swore to clean his city with his own two hands.
The basic stats of Batman considered in this fight are :
Full name: Bruce Wayne
Height : 6’2”
Weight : 210 lbs
Hometown : Gotham City
Net Worth : $9.2 Billion
Has twelve masters degrees
World’s greatest detective and tactician
Micro sleep
Mastered 127+ martial arts
Peak human physical and mental condition
Bat-suit equipped with shock gloves
Utility belt and miscellaneous gadgets
Remote controlled battle-ready batwing and Batmobile
Master of stealth and deception
Arsenal (Black Panther Vs Batman)
The chain is as strong as it’s the weakest link. This statement holds true for armies and for individuals. In the case of master combatants like T’Challa and Bruce, they are perhaps as good as their weapons. For the very reason that they both have achieved the peak of mental and physical conditioning that the only advantage one might have over the other is superior technology, but who is superior? It is assumed that both combatants will use standard gear, something that they have on their person every time that they go into battle. All special tech created for specific battles like the hellbat suit and the iron panther suit are considered a breach of this because special equipment is created by both individuals. Both Bruce and T’Challa hold enough intellect that given enough time they will create technological marvels to completely wipe out their for. This is a test of their everyday preparedness. We must examine the man who’s prepared for the unknown (T’Challa) and the man who has a contingency for everything (Bruce) without giving them any time to gauge their opponent. The standard arsenal used by each fighter in this fight is iterated below
BLACK PANTHER
T’Challa dons his Black Panther habit bestowed to their clan by the Panther God Bast, with a Vibranium mesh interwoven into the fiber. This mesh gives T’Challa incredible defense and Vibranium mesh absorbs all kinetic energy directed at the suit rendering all projectiles and brute force attacks useless. The panther habit has an absolute defense that not only protects the user but also stores the force from the attacks received, this force can be redirected by the user into his own offense making the panther habit both a reliable armor and a deadly cannon. The panther habit is capable of absorbing whole clips of 100 caliber shots from a machine gun without a hitch. The suit may seem invulnerable but does possess a force threshold and if subjected to an extremely high amount of force without being allowed an opportunity to release it, the panther habit with a burst in a glow of white light (an explosion of energy) that will level everything in the immediate vicinity. Apart from the Vibranium mesh the panther habit is also equipped with anti-metal claws. The substance that forms the retractable claws of the panther habit are not only sharp they have the capability to cut through any metal including vibranium itself. This suit of Black Panther is his ultimate Ally in this battle
BATMAN
When you think armour, you rarely think of the bat-suit. There are far better armours in the DC comic continuity (anti monitor, Luthor’s power suit, Kryptonian battle armour just to state a few) and even deadlier weapons. The beauty of the bat-suit does not lie in it’s tactical ability, but in the fact that how deadly Bruce Wayne can be when he’s wearing it. The plating of bat-suit is a variation on tactical kevlar mesh (rather several layers of thinly layered kevlar, sort of like what happens with bulletproof glass). The bat-suit provides protection from projectiles like bullets but is weak against piercing weapons. Even though the suit is able to fend off a couple of shots from a handgun/rifle, it will not sustain itself under high volume of rabid projectiles. Bat-suit can stop combat knives and machetes but the protection is not absolute and unlike T’Challa’s Vibranium mesh, the bat-suit has weak points (most notably the abdominal cavity) .
The bat-suit is not an armor, it’s Bruce Wayne’s battle dress, the cowl is equipped with sonar, x-ray, a bad computer uplink, heat vision, night vision, and communication capabilities. Batman also has access to all the information in the public domain. If you’re in the system then you’re in Batman’s database. Bat-suit is further equipped with projectiles, shock gloves, smoke grenades, cape and grappler for maneuverability, detonation liquid, Sonic and remote-controlled batarangs, so on and so forth. The two most essential parts of Batman’s arsenal are his combat vehicles, the Batmobile, and the batwing. Both capable of high-speed chase and prolonged firefights. The readers should remember that the bat-suit is an infiltration suit not a combat armor and Bruce is the master of stealth.
Death battle
I would like to remind the readers at this point that this death battle will take place in the streets of New York City so that neither opponent has any home field advantage, but it will give them familiarity with the terrain. It is also an off the cuff battle vis-a-vis neither party had any knowledge of this encounter and they must fight to the death. Neither party is blood lusted and this means the condition for victory is incapacitation of T’Challa for Batman and the death of Bruce for T’Challa(because if not dead then Bruce will just keep on coming, we all know how tenacious Bruce can be. BATMAN IS NEVER DOWN). We eliminate prep time for a single reason, the intellect of these two is so high that given enough time they can perfectly anticipate each other’s movement and there’s not enough computing power in the world to analyze all the contingencies that exist in a fight like this.
ONWARD TO BATTLE
So what happens? Well, T’Challa and Bruce meet on the streets of New York in the dead of the night chasing down the same lead and the same suspect when they come across each other and enter a battle to secure evidence vital to their investigations. They gauge the strength of their opponent in this dimly lit room with only a small light to illuminate it. As T’Challa looks at Bruce from head to toe the bulb flickers and Bruce disappears, before T’Challa can make sense of this a smoke grenades lands at his feet and shock punches come at him from every direction. The Vibranium is not for show and of course, T’Challa takes measures against electricity. He grabs the next punch and throws Bruce through the neighboring wall and out onto the streets. A disgruntled Bruce slowly rises from the debris and wipes the blood off his lips. T’Challa commends his opponent’s tenacity and takes out his claws, ready to battle.
From here on out it’s a battle of endurance, Bruce refuses to quit no matter how tired or desperate he gets, his gadgets fail one after another, projectiles have no use against this enemy and punch barely faze him. The shock gloves do not work either and the explosion gel just angers him. “Those claws cut right through the bat-suit and whoever is in that armor is at least as good a fighter as Deathstroke or Shiva,” Bruce thinks to himself. Batman hides behind cover and accesses the remote control of the Batmobile. He has already gauged that the suit is no ordinary fabric and can withstand considerable projectile force, but the Gatling gun from the Batmobile might be too much. It is, however, Bruce’s last resort.
Black panther examines the surrounding area for a sign of life, “whoever this man is he is good at hiding, nay, he is good at fighting too and if not for the Vibranium protecting me he would have given even me a run for my money” T’Challa thinks to himself. He further wonders how anyone can evade him for so long after such injuries. As T’Challa narrows down all the possible hiding spots around him he sees a black vehicle approached, ahh so the bat guy is running, is he ?, running from battle is not allowed. T’Challa takes a mighty leap aiming for the Batmobile but before he can land he is met with the arsenal of the Batmobile. “It’s not an escape, it’s an assault!” T’Challa exclaims! Black Panther is pushed back with the immense power of the Batmobile; he has to overcome this , and soon, the suit can’t take much more. In spite of the sheer force of the high caliber rounds, T’Challa charges at the Batmobile and releases all the kinetic energy stored in his suit over the long battle. The Batmobile is shoved back by the sheer force, cracking under pressure and halts to a stop. Crushed like a can. Just as T’Challa turns to look for Batman he feels the Vibranium crack, the pressure was too much, the suit tears and mesh breaks. T’Challa is exposed, vulnerable to damage and this is when an injured Batman steps out, ready to rumble.
The king and the dark Knight exchange a fury of blows. The punches Batman throws connect for the first time just as day breaks, but black panther is unscathed, he uses his enhanced strength and senses to battle through Batman’s strength and one cut is all it takes.The anti-metal claws make short work of the bat-suit. T’Challa skewers Bruce and bathes in his blood. The lifeless body of Gotham’s protector hangs loosely on T’Challa arms. He lays down the Dark Knight and says a prayer to the Panther God Bast, asking for the salvation of this warrior. Panther wins.
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