MARTIAL ARTS
Over the course of his life, Rahm Kota served many different causes, be it the Republic, Rebellion or Jedi. However, there is one consistent: his skill with the blade. Unlike most Jedi, Rahm Kota was an extremely aggressive and proactive Jedi, creating his own militia movement and practicing the seventh Form of Lightsaber combat. Naturally, Rahm Kota was mostly on the offensive, although he could erect a defense if need be. Compensating for his chosen forms weakness, Rahm Kota's skill was such that he could slice through waves of storm-troopers and even stalemate the exceedingly powerful Galen Marek, only being defeated through a combination of exhaustion and Marek's superior power in the Force. Skilled with a variety of other weapons and unarmed combat, Rahm Kota proved himself to be skilled in the gladiator arena, as well as more traditional combat fields. As the Jedi Order of Rahm Kota's time required that any Jedi mastering form seven have a good grasp on at least three other Forms, it is reasonable to believe that Rahm kota was experienced in multiple forms, if not all seven.
Unlike Anakin Skywalker, Savage Opress is deserving of the reputation of a brutish straightforwards warrior and little else. That being said, Savage Opress (Surprisingly) remained one of the most powerful darksiders of his age. Almost certainly a practitioner of Form seven. Juyo, Savage was always on the offense, his sheer size, brutality and power making up for his lack of refinement and defense. Although Count Dooku attempted to instruct him in the finer points of Form two, this rather obviously failed. Although other duelists, such as Ventress and Master Plo Koon, largely got the better of Savage Opress in combat, he has Driven Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker back at once, Killing the exceptionally skilled Jedi master Adi Gallia. as well as even holding his own (at least briefly) against the Dark Lord himself Darth Sidious. However, Count Dooku and Savage's own brother were capable of easily defeating him, the later can be explained with Dooku's established ability to easily defeat any of his apprentices, thanks to his familiarity with there fighting styles.
To be honest, there is really only one option against Savage Opress: Fighting defensively just prolongs the inevitable and when Darth Sidious himself falls back into the aforementioned defensive you can definitely count fighting offensively out. This really only leaves one option: be outright more skilled then him. Refinement and skill is really whats required to beat warriors of Savage's ilk. The problem here is that Rahm Kota has not displayed that kind of skill. Yes, he was capable of stalemating the extremely skilled Galen Marek, but thats basicly where his track record begins and ends. Savage has much more experience and proven capability, and since he has proven himself against even more powerful warriors. add to this Kota's preference for offensive style of attacks, basically the worst choice against Savage, and the Nightbrother gets the martial arts edge.
FORCE POWERS
Most of the time, when an edge is minor enough that it does not bear a more thorough look it is Weapons and armament, as Jedi and Sith alike generally wield very standard weapons. However, this time around it is the Force Powers category that receives this treatment. Neither warrior really has anything but basic telekinesis at there command, the only exception being Rahm Kota's Force sight, although this ability does nothing but compensate for his physical limitations. Now, since Savage opress has just as much refinement as Kota and, unsurprisingly, much MUCH more brute power, the Nightbrother secures this edge.
PHYSICAL SKILLS
Rahm Kota was a middle aged human male in extremely good condition, at least for a man of his years. Although he was an experienced war veteran with the many scars to prove it, Kota remained in the extreme physical condition that the Jedi were known for, surviving in a brutal arena battle for days on end without rest, which indicates an insane level of endurance. Due to wounds sustained during his battle against Vaders secret apprentice, Galen Marek, Kota was blinded when his eyes where seared by his own Lightsaber. However, although this temporarily caused him to fall to alcoholism and lose his connection to the Force, Kota eventually recovered and compensated for his lose of vision with Force Sight.
To put it bluntly, Savage Opress is in the running for the most physically powerful (without Force augmentation that is) warrior of the age, the moniker of "monster being given to him for a reason. Even before being transformed by Nightsister magic, Savage was a skilled unarmed fighter and strong acrobatic warrior. After his transformation, Savage was a nearly unstoppable beast of a duelist, who could power through waves of Clones, Droids and Jedi alike. All of this being said, Savage was not unbeatable physically speaking: he couldn't outright physically overwhelm his enemies like Grievous did and most warriors, such as Kenobi and Ventress, were able to overcome his strength advantage and get there own strikes in. Savage also had a cybernetic left arm.
It may not seem like it, but the physical edge is actually quite close. Yes, Savage Opress has a clear strength advantage and was fast enough to hold his own against Darth Sidious, but Rahm Kota survived three straight days in a gladiator arena (Which would indicate more than enough endurance to hold the Monster off) and stalemated Galen Marek in terms of speed. Although Kota is blind, I assume he was skilled in Force sight or a simmaller power as he was still capable of taking part in full scale combat situations. However, it should come as no surprise when Savage still gets the physical edge: I merely thought it important to point out that the difference between these two is not as great as the one between Savage and, say, Adi Gallia.
WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
Rahm Kota, despite most defiantly not being a Jedi consular, was equipped with a emerald bladed Lightsaber, generally held in his back scabbard. Despite it's ornate design, it was a weapon of standard make. Kota also wore a suit of battle armor, although it did not offer any protection whatsoever against Lightsabers.
Although he originally wielded what amounted to a big stick, Savage Opress later replaced this with a much more practical saberstaff, although said weapon was of standard make. Savage also sported Dark Side armor that protected him from dozens of blaster hits, although Lightsaber could slice through it with ease.
Savage Opress's armor may not protect him from Lightsabers, but it is a lot tougher than Kota's more standard protective wear. This leaves the ever lasting debate about which weapon is inherently more practical: A standard Lightsaber of a Saberstaff? Here however, the point is moot, as Kota has no known experience against Saberstaffs, giving the weapon it's infamous shock value, which is a major advantage. Savage Opress gets the edge in weapons and Equipment.
THE VERDICT
This, quite honestly, is my favorite kind of versus match up. The characters aren't well known enough that the idea has been used a dozen times already, but there is still enough details on them to draw up a comprehensive set of statistics. With that being said, lets get on to the verdict itself: Although Savage Opress has been given literally every edge here, do not interpret this as a curb stomp. For all we know, Kota could have experience with staff weapons, and even if he doesn't, it has been established that Saberstaffs can be defended from by people with no prior experience with the weapons. Although Savage towers over Kota, the later (again) has proven himself a warrior of a high enough caliber that he won't simply fall instantly to the Nightbrothers strikes. Similarly, Savage's advantage with the Force won't do much here, as neither of these are dedicated users of the supernatural. What really dose the Jedi general in here is the disparity in martial skill: Kota was proven to be on par with Galen Marek in the dueling arena, but Savage took on and held his own against even more impressive masters of the blade, with the Dark Lord himself beginning included in that number. Anyone who drove Kenobi and Skywalker back at the same time has earned my respect. To sum up, Kota is an esteemed warrior for a very good reason, but Savage is a straight up MONSTER. I declare Nightbrother Savage Opress the winner.
No comments:
Post a Comment