(ramonzer0)
(VampyreNVRmore)
What defines a hero? As we’ve discussed earlier in the year, it does not necessarily have to do with the powers they have, the circumstances they were born into or even the physical state they are in, helpful as those may be. For the likes of these inner-city orphans-turned-costumed crime-fighters, their heroism is defined by their unwavering resolve in the face of fear and their ability to defy death itself and their score against each other will look to be settled for the first ever live-action Death Battle and the next chapter in Marvel and DC’s long-running rivalry.
Nightwing, the azure guardian knight of Bludhaven. Daredevil, the crimson defender of Hell’s Kitchen. Respected and feared in equal measure by the innocents they protect and the criminals they beat down on a daily basis, their names have been etched into the annals of comic book lore as two of the greatest masked vigilantes to ever exist as their accomplishments can attest. When their fates collide in combat, will the Caped Crusader’s first disciple be able to summon enough grit and wit to surpass the raw and unmatched intensity of the Man Without Fear?
Background
Nightwing
As a child, Richard “Dick” Grayson grew up in a family of acrobats who made their living travelling alongside a travelling circus. Having inherited his parents’ own natural talent for showmanship and flashy aerial maneuvers, he joined their performances at the age of eight after years of training as they continued to tour the rest of the country. His childhood would prematurely end not long after; when the circus was being extorted by a Gotham-based mob boss for protection money and refused to pay, Dick’s parents were killed after the rigged wire they hung from snapped, causing them to fall in in the middle of their act. Dick himself was consumed with grief, believing that he was too late to warn his family and prevent their ends.
After years of jumping around various foster homes and orphanages, Dick was eventually adopted as the ward of Gotham’s own resident playboy philanthropist, Bruce Wayne - Batman himself. Having seen much of himself in Dick and his circumstances, Bruce later gave him the opportunity to ensure that others like themselves would not suffer at the hands of the criminal element - an offer the young boy accepted. This led to the creation of Batman’s sidekick - Robin, the Boy Wonder, a role which Dick would hold while Bruce continued to train him in everything he knew and more. Eventually, the differences in ideologies that Bruce and Dick had caused them to amicably sever their partnership as the younger man opted to carve his own path.
With the advice of Superman, Dick adopted the moniker of Nightwing, named after a Kryptonian god the Man of Steel was familiar with in his younger years, and proceeded to set up shop as a masked vigilante in Gotham’s sister city of Bludhaven and eventually New York, financed by a trust fund raised for him by Lucius Fox while under Bruce’s care. While grateful for his upbringing, Nightwing believes that the time has come for him to establish his own legacy and fight the forces of evil on his own terms. Those who mistake this wisecracking crime-fighter as a pale imitation of the Dark Knight underestimate his potential, as he has displayed time after time to possess the skill set and willpower that matches, if not exceeds, his legendary mentor’s.
Daredevil
Matt Murdock was raised alone in Hell’s Kitchen by his father, Jonathan “Battling Jack” Murdock, who had claimed that his mother had passed away. While a successful underground boxer, Jack hoped that his son would not follow in his footsteps and wanted a better life for him, encouraging Matt to focus more on his academics over sports and violence. Things would soon change for the Murdock family when Matt attempted to protect a blind man from a traffic accident. In the heat of the moment, a truck containing a radioactive isotope spilled its contents onto the streets, with some of it getting onto Matt’s face and blinding him. Despite the loss of his sight, he soon learned that all of his other senses have been enhanced to near-superhuman levels.
As the years went by, Jack continued to fight in order to ensure Matt would be taken care of, even if it meant doing business with unsavory characters. His later refusal to throw a rigged bout in order to retain his pride soon led to his death, which Matt did not take lightly. While revenge lingered on his mind, he remembered the vow of nonviolence he swore to uphold for his father. He soon convinced himself that he can still uphold the spirit of his promise by adopting a separate identity - one which would not be restricted by such rules and can be used to exact his revenge. With a costume forged from the remains of Jack’s old boxing robes, Matt set out to seek out those responsible; on that day, Daredevil - the Man Without Fear - was born.
Eventually, Matt obtained his law degree from Columbia and began running his own private practice within Hell’s Kitchen as a lawyer who represented those wrought by societal injustices at the hands of the corrupt and the depraved who littered the streets. When his words and legal acumen were not enough, he donned the mask of Daredevil at night to deliver retribution where the system would not enter or leave off. Having lived his life aware of the many hardships and wrongdoings many innocents were victim to, not to mention his own first-hand experiences, Daredevil has since dedicated his dual lives to prove that he can use his knowledge and power for their benefit against any odds, giving a new spin to the old adage that “justice is blind.”
Abilities
Shared - Fighting Styles
Because Nightwing and Daredevil are insanely similar in terms of martial arts proficiency, we’ve chosen to list almost every major discipline they’ve been known to utilize so far in this here common section.
Eskrima
Alternatively known as Kali and Arnis, Eskrima is an umbrella term that refers to any martial art originating from the Philippines. Most have traced its inception from the lower-class villagers and commoners of the country before its colonization at the hands of the Spanish, who later influenced it with their own weapon-based fighting styles. Early travellers from China, Indonesia, India and Malaysia have also played in a role in refining it as well.
Eskrima primarily covers the use of impact-based and bladed weapons as well as improvised ones, in addition to hand-to-hand and grappling techniques, such as how Nightwing and Daredevil’s use of twin sticks can be seen as similar to the use of the Baston, the most common weapon used by practitioners.
Boxing
Boxing is a sport that has existed for thousands of years dating back to Ancient Greece when the sport was first established as an Olympic game in 688 B.C. and possibly even occurring in Ancient Egypt. Since then, boxing has been evolving until becoming the very sport that it is right now in the modern era.
Boxing is primary a type of hand to hand combat as two fighters will usually throw forceful, repetitive punches at each other. However, boxing is more than that. For one thing, the sport is known to be a great form of aerobic exercise. In other words, it helps a boxer by involving large groups of muscles, stresses their cardiovascular system, and increase their rate of breathing. Fatigue has been known to affect a boxer both mentally and physically. Secondly, boxing is a sport of discipline as boxers would find themselves experiencing primary emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety, and frustrations. Therefore, discipline from boxing helps fighters control these emotions during a fight. Finally, boxing is a sport of creating opportunities, capitalizing on mistakes, and taking advantage of situations. All of these are traits that Nightwing and Daredevil have displayed during their crime-fighting career.
Ninjutsu
Ninjutsu is commonly known as the art of the shinobi, or ninja, and originated sometime before 6th century Japan. However, the first open usage of the martial art was during the Genpei War in the late 12th century. Since then, ninjutsus has been popularized by the media as many fictional characters have at least trained in the art or gifted with it, including Nightwing and Daredevil.
Ninjutsu is a strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerilla warfare, and espionage. Back in Feudal Japan, ninjutsu began to develop as a collection of fundamental survival techniques. It uses methods of gathering information as well as techniques of non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection. Ninjutsu also involves training in hand to hand combat, weaponry, free running, disguise, escape, concealment, and medicine.
Kung Fu
Alternatively known as Wushu and Quanfa, Kung Fu is a term used for Chinese martial arts. However, it is also refers to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete. Kung Fu as a martial art originated in China in 1,111-255 B.C. during the Zhou Dynasty.
It’s a form of exercise with a spiritual dimension stemming from concentration and self-discipline as well as primarily using an unarmed mode of personal combat. Stances and actions of kung fu are based on keen observations of human skeletal and muscular anatomy and physiology, employing great muscular coordination. Movements involve the use of more circular techniques, giving kung fu forms a more visually graceful as techniques seem to flow from one to another.
Karate
According to ancient Okinawan legend, Karate had its beginnings in India with a Buddhist monk named Daruma. Tradition says that Daruma traveled across the Himalayan Mountains from India to the Shaolin Temple in Honan Province of China. There he began teaching the other monks his philosophies of physical and mental conditioning. Legend has it that his teachings included exercises for maintaining physical strength and self defense.This same monk known as Bodhidharma in India and as Ta Mo in China, is credited with founding the school of Buddhist philosophy known as "Ch´an" in China and as "Zen" in Japan.The Okinawans believe that the art known as Karate today came from those original teachings of Daruma through an Okinawan who visited or lived for some time in China at the Shaolin Temple. Whether or not this is true, it is obvious that there are similarities in the Okinawan art of Karate and the language and martial arts of China.Further, we must assume that the Karate of Okinawa developed from trial and error of fighting experiences into a different and unique martial art.
Karate (空手)is a martial art developed in the in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called te (手, literally "hand"; Tii in Okinawan) and Chinese kenpō.Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks, restraints, throws, and vital point strikes are taught in some styles.A karate practitioner is called a karateka (空手家).
Judo
Judo (柔道 jūdō, meaning "gentle way") was created as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy in Japan, in 1882, by Jigoro Kano (嘉納治五郎). It is generally categorized as a modern martial art which later evolved into a combat and Olympic sport. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defenses are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata, 形)
Techniques are generally intended to turn an opponent’s force to one’s own advantage rather than to oppose it directly.
Techniques are generally intended to turn an opponent’s force to one’s own advantage rather than to oppose it directly.
Savate
Savate is a French combat style that uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of English boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Savate takes its name from the French for "old shoe" (heavy footwear, especially the boots used by French military and sailors) (cf. French-English loanwords sabot and sabotage and Spanish cognate zapato). The modern formalized form is mainly an amalgam of French street fighting techniques from the beginning of the 19th century. Savate was then a type of street fighting common in Paris and northern France.
In the south, especially in the port of Marseille, sailors developed a fighting style involving high kicks and open-handed slaps. It is conjectured that this kicking style was developed in this way to allow the fighter to use a hand to hold onto something for balance on a rocking ship's deck, and that the kicks and slaps were used on land to avoid the legal penalties for using a closed fist, which was considered a deadly weapon under the law. It was known as the jeu marseillais (game from Marseille), and was later renamed chausson (slipper, after the type of shoes the sailors wore). In contrast, at this time in England (the home of boxing and the Queensberry rules), kicking was seen as unsportsmanlike.
Traditional savate was a northern French development, especially in Paris' slums, and always used heavy shoes and boots derived from its potential military origins. Street fighting savate, unlike chausson, kept the kicks low, almost never targeted above the groin, and they were delivered with vicious, bone-breaking intent. Parisian savate also featured open hand blows, in thrusting or smashing palm strikes (la baffe) or in stunning slaps targeted to facial nerves. Techniques of savate or chausson were at this time also developed in the ports of northwest Italy and northeastern Spain—hence one savate kick named the "Italian hunt" (chasse italiane).
Aikido
"Aikido" is a modern martial art founded by Morihei Ueshiba early in the Showa period. It's a comprehensive martial art centered on taijutsu (a method of using the body for self-defense), based on the ancient Japanese jujutsu (classical Japanese martial art of samurai, usually referring to fighting without a weapon), kenjutsu (samurai swordplay), Jojutsu (martial art using a cane staff), etc. It is characterized by the belief that 'small can beat big' regardless of body build or strength, through the rational use of the body. Harmony with nature, world peace, etc., are its main principles.
Through the rational use of the body, it is believed that 'small can beat big' regardless of body build or strength, and that with throwing techniques and grappling one's opponent can be controlled without being hurt. It is centered on kata (a form) training in pairs. It generally consists of throwing techniques and joint-locking techniques, and training in striking techniques is scarce.
Through the rational use of the body, it is believed that 'small can beat big' regardless of body build or strength, and that with throwing techniques and grappling one's opponent can be controlled without being hurt. It is centered on kata (a form) training in pairs. It generally consists of throwing techniques and joint-locking techniques, and training in striking techniques is scarce.
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a combination of martial arts, most of which originated in Korea. Among the oldest disciplines, some of which are over 2,000 years old, that influenced the development of Taekwondo are Taek Kyon, Tae Kwonpup, Tae Kwon, T’ang-su, and Kwonpup. Use of circular hand movements influenced by Chinese martial arts can also be clearly seen in Taekwondo. It has also drawn inspiration from popular martial arts like Kung-fu (kicking techniques), Judo, and Karate (linear, abrupt movements). The art was most characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques
The earliest mention of Taekwondo on record dates back to the time when Korea was divided into three kingdoms – Silla, Koguryo, and Paekche, around 50 B.C. Paintings of unarmed people from this period following modern day Taekwondo techniques are evidence of the originof Taekwondo. The earliest known form of Taekwondo, Tae Kyon, is a self-defense art that uses kicks, hand strikes, throws, and joint locks.
Though Taekwondo was first practiced in the Koguryo kingdom, the credit of spreading the art form all over Korea goes to the Hwarang warriors belonging to Silla. From 668 A.D. To 935 A.D., Taek Kyon (which was later renamed as Subak) served as a system to promote fitness among the soldiers. However, it was later developed into a fighting art. Though the defense form was allowed to be taught to the public during the rule of Yi dynasty, it failed to generate enough interest and was practiced only in a few parts of the country.
Jujutsu
a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses either a short weapon or none.
"Jū" can be translated to mean "gentle, soft, supple, flexible, pliable, or yielding". "Jutsu" can be translated to mean "art" or "technique" and represents manipulating the opponent's force against themselves rather than confronting it with one's own force. Jujutsu was developed to combat the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon. Because striking against an armored opponent proved ineffective, practitioners learned that the most efficient methods for neutralizing an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it.
There are many variations of the art, which leads to a diversity of approaches. Jujutsu schools (ryū) may utilize all forms of grappling techniques to some degree (i.e. throwing, trapping, joint locks, holds, gouging, biting, disengagements, striking, and kicking). In addition to jujutsu, many schools teach the use of weapons.
Capoeira
Capoeira's history begins with the beginning of African slavery in Brazil. Since the 16th century, Portuguese colonists began exporting slaves to their colonies, coming mainly from Angola. Brazil, with its vast territory, received most of the slaves, almost 40% of all slaves sent through the Atlantic Ocean. The early history of capoeira is recorded by Historians such as Dr desch-Obi, who provides historical context for Capoeira in Brazil. Originally, the ancestor tradition originated from Angola and was called N'golo/Engolo; a type of ritual dance that used several elements of kicking, headbutting, slap boxing, walking on one's feet, deception, evasion etc. The purpose was also religious as it both provided a link to the afterlife (which was the opposite of the living world) and enabled a person to channel their ancestors into their dance. For example, during the dance, a person might become possessed by an ancestor in the past who was talented at N'golo. This could be applied to a Martial setting in both combat and warfare which was called N'singa/ensinga; the difference to N'golo being that it included weapon use and grappling. During the Atlantic Slave trade, this tradition transferred around the Americas; Brazil (Capoeira), the Caribbean (Damnye) and the United States (knocking and kicking). A large amount of Angolans were sent to Madagascar during the slave trade and it still survives today as Moringue/ Moring.
It should be noted that many of the movements used in Capoeira involve a stance where the wrists are close together. This, and the fact that Capoeira is based largely on kicks, head-butts and evasions, is due to the fact that slaves often had their hands bound. It's believed that the main reason that music became a component part of the game was so that slaves, who were not allowed to fight or learn self-defence, could desguise it as a dance.
Capoeira is a fast and versatile martial art that is historically focused on fighting outnumbered enemies or in technological disadvantage. The style emphasizes using the lower body to kick, sweep and take down and the upper body to assist those movements and occasionally attack as well. It features a series of complex positions and body postures that are meant to get chained in an uninterrupted flow, in order to strike, dodge and move without breaking motion, conferring the style with a characteristic of unpredictability and versatility.
The ginga (literally: rocking back and forth; to swing) is the fundamental movement in capoeira, important both for attack and defense purposes. It has two main objectives. One is to keep the capoeirista in a state of constant motion, preventing him or her from being a still and easy target. The other, using also fakes and feints, is to mislead, fool, trick the opponent, leaving them open for an attack or a counter-attack.
The attacks in the capoeira should be done when opportunity arises, and though they can be preceded by feints or pokes, they must be precise and decisive, like a direct kick to the head, face or a vital body part, or a strong takedown. Most capoeira attacks are made with the legs, like direct or swirling kicks, rasteiras (leg sweeps), tesouras or knee strikes. Elbow strikes, punches and other forms of takedowns complete the main list. The head strike is a very important counter-attack move.
The defense is based on the principle of non-resistance, meaning avoiding an attack using evasive moves instead of blocking it. Avoids are called esquivas, which depend on the direction of the attack and intention of the defender, and can be done standing or with a hand leaning on the floor. A block should only be made when the esquiva is completely non-viable. This fighting strategy allows quick and unpredictable counterattacks, the ability to focus on more than one adversary and to face empty-handed an armed adversary
A series of rolls and acrobatics (like the cartwheels called aú or the transitional position called negativa) allows the capoeirista to quickly overcome a takedown or a loss of balance, and to position themselves around the aggressor in order to lay up for an attack. It is this combination of attacks, defense and mobility that gives capoeira its perceived "fluidity" and choreography-like style.
Unshared - Fighting Styles
Nightwing
Hapkido
Hapkido is a highly eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, and throwing techniques similar to those of other martial arts, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. It also teaches the use of traditional weapons, including knife, sword, rope, ssang juhl bong (nunchaku), cane, short stick, and middle-length staff, which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.
The fighting style employs both long-range and close-range fighting techniques, utilizing jumping kicks and percussive hand strikes at longer ranges, and pressure point strikes, joint locks, and throws at closer fighting distances. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, redirection of force, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage over their opponents through footwork and body positioning to incorporate the use of leverage, avoiding the use of brute strength against brute strength.
The fighting style employs both long-range and close-range fighting techniques, utilizing jumping kicks and percussive hand strikes at longer ranges, and pressure point strikes, joint locks, and throws at closer fighting distances. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, redirection of force, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage over their opponents through footwork and body positioning to incorporate the use of leverage, avoiding the use of brute strength against brute strength.
Jeet Kune Do
Jeet Kune Do, abbreviated JKD, is a hybrid philosophy of martial arts heavily influenced by the personal philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee. Lee, who founded the system on July 9, 1967, referred to it as "non-classical", suggesting that JKD is a form of Chinese Kung Fu, yet without form. Unlike more traditional martial arts, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned, and is a philosophy with guiding thoughts. It was named for the Wing Chun concept of interception or attacking while one's opponent is about to attack. Jeet Kune Do practitioners believe in minimal movement with maximum effect. On January 10, 1996, the Bruce Lee Foundation decided to use the name Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do (振藩截拳道) to refer to the martial arts system which Lee founded; "Jun Fan" being Lee's Chinese given name.
In the screenplay of the 1973 Warner Brothers film, Enter the Dragon, when Lee is asked, "What's your style?" Lee replied, "My style?...You can call it the art of fighting without fighting."
Bruce Lee believed that kata forms and martial art tournament matches alike (like Karate) were simply "organised despair". He believed that in order to "fully express oneself, one must" "have no limitations" (kata and rigid and non-flowing movements being the limitation). His system was revolutionary, and included all possible forms of strikes: attacks to the groin, finger jab to the eye.
The name Jeet Kune Do was often said by Lee to be just a name, and he often referred to it as "the art of expressing the human body" in his writings and in interviews. Through his studies Lee came to believe that styles had become too rigid and unrealistic. He called martial art competitions of the day "dry land swimming". He believed real combat was spontaneous, and a martial artist cannot predict it, but only react to it, and a good martial artist should "be like water"—move fluidly without hesitation.
Jeet Kune Do adopts the principles of Wing Chun and Fencing’s “interception or attacking while one's opponent is about to attack” philosophy and method of tactics all while also encouraging it’s students to mix and match various martial arts techniques that is useful to them and personalize it as to their own style. In Bruce Lee’s case, he employs Boxing, Kali, Savate, Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, and Kickboxing techniques into his style of Jeet Kune Do.
Sambo
Sambo's early development stemmed from the independent efforts of Vasili Oshchepkov and Viktor Spiridonov, to integrate the techniques of Catch wrestling, Judo, Jujutsu, and other foreign martial arts into native Turkic wrestling styles. Oschepkov taught Judo to elite Red Army forces at the Central Red Army House. Vasili Oschepkov was one of the first foreigners to learn Judo in Japan and had earned his nidan (second degree black belt, out of then five) from Judo's founder, Kano Jigoro. Spiridonov's background involved indigenous martial arts from various Soviet regions as well as an interest in Japanese jujutsu (though he never formally trained it). His reliance on movement over strength was in part based on the fact that he received a bayonet wound during World War I which left his left arm lame. Both Oschepkov and Spiridonov independently hoped that Soviet military hand-to-hand combat techniques could be improved with an infusion of the techniques distilled from other foreign martial arts. Contrary to common lore, Oschepkov and Spiridonov did not cooperate on the development of their hand-to-hand systems. Rather, their independent notions of hand-to-hand combat merged through cross-training between students and formulative efforts by their students and military staff. While Oschepkov and Spiridonov did have occasion to collaborate, their efforts were not completely united.
Each technique was carefully dissected and considered for its merits, and if found acceptable in unarmed combat, refined to reach sambo's ultimate goal: to stop an armed or unarmed adversary in the least time possible. Thus, many techniques from jujutsu, judo, and other martial systems joined with the indigenous fighting styles to form the sambo repertoire. When the techniques were perfected, they were woven into sambo applications for personal self-defense, police, crowd control, border guards, secret police, dignitary protection, psychiatric hospital staff military, and commandos.
Daredevil
Silat
It is not easy tracing the history of silat because written documentation was limited and oral information was handed down from the gurus or masters. Each region in the archipelago has its own version of its origin which is largely based on oral tradition. Malay myths concur that pencak silat was originally developed by tribal groups in the archipelago through the observation of animal movements and other natural phenomena, in an effort to defend themselves from wild creatures and other environmental dangers. In the course of time, Silat eventually become instrumental in attaining social status when fighting among tribal groups, clans, communities and later kingdoms. Because of his/her skills a person could be feared and respected by the surrounding society, and secure prestige and political power.
It is a full-body fighting form incorporating strikes, grappling, and throwing in addition to weaponry. Every part of the body is used and subject to attack. Silat was practiced not only for physical defense but also for psychological ends.
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is a military self-defence and fighting system developed for the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli security forces that derived from a combination of techniques sourced from boxing, wrestling, aikido, judo and karate, along with realistic fight training. It has a philosophy of emphasizing aggression, and simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers. Like most martial arts, Krav Maga encourages students to avoid physical confrontation. If this is impossible or unsafe, it promotes finishing a fight as quickly and aggressively as possible. Attacks are aimed at the most vulnerable parts of the body, and training is not limited to techniques that avoid severe injury; some even permanently injure or cause death to the opponent.
Students learn to defend against all variety of attacks and are taught to counter in the quickest and most efficient way. Ideas in Krav Maga include:
- Simultaneous attack and defense
- Developing physical aggression (not to be confused with emotional aggression or anger), with the view that physical aggression is the most important component in a fight
- Continuing to strike the opponent until they are completely incapacitated
- Attacking preemptively or counterattacking as soon as possible
- Using any objects at hand that could be used to hit an opponent
- Targeting attacks to the body's most vulnerable points, such as: the eyes, neck or throat, face, solar plexus, groin, ribs, knee, foot, fingers, liver, etc
- Using simple and easily repeatable strikes
- Maintaining awareness of surroundings while dealing with the threat in order to look for escape routes, further attackers, objects that could be used to strike an opponent
- Recognizing the importance of and expanding on instinctive response under stress
Training can also cover the study and development of situational awareness to develop an understanding of one's surroundings, learning to understand the psychology of a confrontation, and identifying potential threats before an attack occurs. It may also cover ways to deal with physical and verbal methods to avoid violence whenever possible. It also teaches mental toughness, using controlled scenarios to strengthen mental fortitude in order for students to control the impulse and not do something rash, but instead attack only when necessary and as a last resort.
Muay Thai
The history of Muay Thai can be traced to the middle of the 18th century. During the battles between the Burmese of the Konbaung Dynasty and Siam, the famous fighter Nai Khanomtom was captured in the year 1767. The Burmese knew of his expertise in hand-to-hand combat and gave him an opportunity to fight for his freedom. Nai Khanomtom managed to knock out ten consecutive Burmese contenders. Impressed by his boxing skill, he was freed by his captors and allowed to return to Siam. He was acknowledged as a hero, and his fighting style became known as Siamese-Style boxing, later to be known as Muay Thai. This fighting style was soon to be recognized as a national sport.
Muay boran, and therefore Muay Thai, was originally called by more generic names such as Toi muay or simply muay. As well as being a practical fighting technique for use in actual warfare, muay became a sport in which the opponents fought in front of spectators who went to watch for entertainment. These muay contests gradually became an integral part of local festivals and celebrations, especially those held at temples. Eventually, the previously bare-fisted fighters started wearing lengths of hemp rope around their hands and forearms. This type of match was called muay khat chueak (มวยคาดเชือก). Kickboxing was also a component of military training and gained prominence during the reign of King Naresuan in 1560 CE.
Muay Thai is referred to as the "Art of Eight Limbs", because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows, knee strikes and shins, thus using eight "points of contact", as opposed to "two points" (fists) in boxing and "four points" (hands and feet) used in other more regulated combat sports, such as kickboxing and savate. Each strike and movement is meant to deliver a deliberate and crushing blow, and enable the fighter to continue brutal aggression or move on to the next opponent quickly without leaving themselves exposed to an attack.
In essence, Muay Thai uses the body to mimic the weapons of war. The hands become the sword and dagger; the shins and forearms were hardened in training to act as armor against blows, and the elbow to fell opponents like a heavy mace or hammer; the legs and knees became the axe and staff. The body operated as one unit. The knees and elbows constantly searching and testing for an opening while grappling and trying to spin an enemy to the ground for the kill.
In essence, Muay Thai uses the body to mimic the weapons of war. The hands become the sword and dagger; the shins and forearms were hardened in training to act as armor against blows, and the elbow to fell opponents like a heavy mace or hammer; the legs and knees became the axe and staff. The body operated as one unit. The knees and elbows constantly searching and testing for an opening while grappling and trying to spin an enemy to the ground for the kill.
Greco-Roman Wrestling
Greco-Roman Wrestling although named so, is likely to be a combination of many European styles and not quite as the original Greek Wrestling (Pale) carried out during the ancient Olympics of Greece. Wrestling was originally formed mainly as a form of physical preparation/training of warriors. A lot of work is directed to training of strength, flexibility, agility, stamina and conditioning. Important areas for Greco-Roman Wrestling are training of your core and back muscles.
In Greco-Roman wrestling, the wrestlers use only their arms and upper bodies to attack, and can only hold those same parts of their opponents. As the name suggests, freestyle is a much more open form in which wrestlers also use their legs and may hold opponents above or below the waist. Practitioners utilize throws, such as bear hugs, headlocks or arm drags which can be found in Freestyle, have even greater prominence in Greco-Roman. In particular, a throw known as a suplex is used, in which the offensive wrestler lifts his opponent in a high arch while falling backward on his own neck to a bridge in order to bring his opponent's shoulders down.
In Greco-Roman wrestling, the wrestlers use only their arms and upper bodies to attack, and can only hold those same parts of their opponents. As the name suggests, freestyle is a much more open form in which wrestlers also use their legs and may hold opponents above or below the waist. Practitioners utilize throws, such as bear hugs, headlocks or arm drags which can be found in Freestyle, have even greater prominence in Greco-Roman. In particular, a throw known as a suplex is used, in which the offensive wrestler lifts his opponent in a high arch while falling backward on his own neck to a bridge in order to bring his opponent's shoulders down.
Aiki-Jujutsu
Originating from the Samurai period of Japan. Aiki-Jujutsu refers to a form of jujutsu that emphasizes timing and strategic use of angles and circles to neutralize an attack, and control the attacker. Its movements are somewhat more circular than many of those found in the older jujutsu systems, but still include strikes, joint locks, throws, and pins. It’s concept and basic techniques would go on to influence the likes of Aikido, but unlike the nature of Aikido’s harmonious philosophy, this style could be implemented both reactively and proactively, passively and aggressively, making it far more suited and versatile in a direct confrontation.
Nightwing
Genius-Level Intellect
While he was trained by Batman in different forms of martial arts, Dick Grayson was also tutored in different fields to be just as knowledgeable as the Caped Crusader. As such, he became intelligent in different academic subjects such as Science and became fluent in different languages (English, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, German, French, Swahili, Mandarin, Cantonese, Italian, Persian, Kikuyu, American Sign Language, Tamaran, etc).
He often shows this whenever he’s solving crimes by using his detective skills. During his days as Robin, he was able to solve a riddle from the Riddler before Batman was able to solve it. Batgirl even stated that Nightwing was able to solve 4 cases in “America’s Most Wanted” within a single morning. He even once solved a 14 year old unsolved murder case.
He was intelligent enough to build his own "Night-Car", which was built with an aluminum alloy and a McLaren engine at 640 horsepower and can to up 100 mph in 9 seconds. Nightwing has also built and program a Tech Glider, which can keep up with the Batmobile. He also mentioned that he can fool a polygraph test.
Expert Marksman
As part of his training by Batman, Dick Grayson learned how to be an expert marksman just like his partner. He is skilled in mostly all forms of ranged weaponry from modified shurikens (Wing-Dings) to his escrima batons to firearms with excellent aiming and accuracy, even with his eyes closed. His Wing-Dings are usually his go to weapons in marksmanship, being able to hit objects such as a coin or a button or hit people from a long distance. With his escrima batons, he can accurately hit his opponents by bouncing the weapons off of walls. However, there has been other times when Dick uses unconventional items as makeshift long range weapons, including nunchucks, doorknobs, crutches, and pool balls. Lots and lots of pool balls.
Weapon Proficiency
Due to his training with Batman, Richard is well versed in many varieties of weapons. Dick became skilled in melee weapons such as staffs and escrima sticks, which can also combine into a staff, and serve as his primary weapons. He’s also skilled with bladed weapons such as swords, knives, sai, shurikens, daggers. Lastly, during his brief careers as a police officer in Bludhaven and as Agent 37, Dick became proficient with guns and is skilled to use them lethally and non-lethally.
Stealth Mastery
Another important lesson taught to Dick Grayson by Batman was the art of stealth. Being a vigilante in Gotham City, it was going to be a much needed tool in crime fighting. Eventually, Dick became skilled at stealth, being capable of breaching very high-security facilities without being detected. His suit made it easier for him since it can darken itself, allowing him to lend in the shadows better as well as his boots being able to not make a single sound. Dick became so skilled at being stealthy, he can sneak up on Batgirl and even on Batman himself on occasion. He’s even able to sneak up on metahumans such as the Justice League in their own headquarters and the speedster Jessie Quick. Since Dick is such a master of stealth, he can even detect other people sneaking up on him such as the Huntress and Batman.
Daredevil
Gifted Intellect
Matt Murdock is a skilled lawyer and has encyclopedic knowledge of law and New York statutes. He has a Juris Doctor (doctorate of law) from Columbia University and also possesses the equivalent of a self-taught masters of applied sciences in mechanical engineering. He is an accomplished strategist, as well as an expert in interrogation, disguise, medicine, science, and detective work. He has also demonstrated other high levels education and acts of intelligence the following being: capable of speaking many languages including French, deducing Bruiser's true power set, designing the billy club and creating a bio-mimetic battle armor.
Master Marksman
He is very skilled marksman, which makes him capable of throwing his billy clubs with great accuracy. Murdock is also skilled with most projectile-like weaponry such as throwing knives, shurikens, and darts, as well as archery, and has been shown utilizing military-grade weaponry such as sniper rifles in extreme situations.
Weapons Proficiency
Matt is highly proficient in wielding various martial art weapons through his ninjutsu training, such as swords (katana), sai, chain weapons, stick and staff weapons, combat knives of all types, both ancient and modern military style, and projectiles such as shurikens, throwing knives, bows, and even firearms (continued).
Radar Sense
A form of echolocation via low radio wave projection, according to one theory; an energy wave within certain portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The signal emanates radio waves from regions of his brain, after which it travels outward, bounces off objects around him, and returns to receiving regions of his brain. With this ability, Murdock can synthesize a very close analogue of three-dimensional three hundred and sixty degree human sight.The Radar Sense also grants Daredevil a degree of superhuman senses of hearing, smell, and touch, allowing him to achieve feats such as:
Superhuman Senses:
- Further explanation of how Daredevil’s Radar Sense works and how it compares to other characters with Superhuman Senses
- Capable of being utilized as combat precognition (Many more examples shown here)
- Even without radar, his heightened senses are enough
- Detects the air's density shifting
- Uses senses to detect weak points in objects
- Detects that something is off in the air molecules around him
- Able to feel the presence of a person standing five feet away from him simply by their body heat and disturbance of air
- Can sense an atmospheric change to sense teleporters
- He does not require sight, sound nor scent to detect where his enemy intends to attack
Superhuman Hearing:
- Detects Karen's talking (not yelling) in an entire city
- Able to recognize the differences in heartbeats so well he knows by the sound if it's someone new
- It is not required for him to focus in order to dodge gunshots, can identify firearms in the midst of combat
- His hearing is specially tuned to key words
- Capable of listening to heartbeats to tell if someone is telling the truth or lying, this is what enables him to be able to pinpoint the location of his opponents
Superhuman Smell:
- Able to smell and identify chalk
- Smells blood pressure rising
- Detects tellurium-meth in sweat
- Smells car exhausts and street pretzels even while he’s far away from the city
- Can identify any person he has spent five minutes with by smell alone, no matter how they might try to camouflage their natural odor
- Smelling a sniper from two blocks away via gunpowder
Superhuman Touch:
- Recognizes a gun just by being in the same room as the corpse and by placing his hand above the bullet hole
- With it, he can read by feeling the faint ink on a printed page
- The rest of his skin is equally sensitive, enabling him by concentration to feel minute temperature and pressure changes in the atmosphere around him
- A side effect of his sense of touch grants Daredevil the ability to manipulate his muscles and internal organs, gives him total control over his body and central nervous system, allowing him to exert his strength, speed, agility, and reflexes to a degree past peak human to superhuman levels as well as numb himself to pain
Equipment
Nightwing
Nightwing Suit
Over the course of this crime-fighting career, Dick Grayson wore numerous costumes. As Nightwing, we'll be going with his iconic black and blue suit. This suit is made from a version of the Nomex fire resistant, triple weave Kevlar-lined material, providing the suit excellent protection against damage and making it electrically insulated. For example, it should be noted that the Nightwing suit is indeed bulletproof, though he can still feel the pain. However, the suit is also serves as a giant taser, able to give off 1 Megavolt of electricity (which is 1,000,000 volts of electricity). While the suit doesn't have a black cape for stealth, it is light sensitive and darkens when there's more light in the area. Dick also has supplemental body armor overlays in which he can attach to his gauntlets, mask, shoulders, and boots in case of damage from opponents stronger and faster than him.
His mask, which also acts as his symbol, contains a built-in radio transmitter/receiver (which is capable of reversing radio waves), and starlight night vision goggles. It also contains a built-in self-destruct feature in it using a small explosive. The mask is also capable of tracking heat signatures and scanning people for equipment that they might be carrying.
Nightwing Gauntlets
The gauntlets contains eight compartments that Nightwing uses to store items such as weapons or gadgets, making them similar to Batman’s utility belt. Also just like it, these gauntlets has a built-in self-destruct feature and a one-use-only taser charge that automatically emits a high-voltage electrical shock whenever someone tries to tamper with them. Nightwing's gauntlets contain the following:
- Sonic Pellets
- Gas/Smoke Pellets
- Stun Grenades
- Explosives
- Finger Taser
- Laser
- Foam
- Disruptor Grenade
- Magnesium Flare
- “Wing-Dings”: Modified Batarangs (It also has a varient called the Electrorang)
- Knockout Gas Capsules
- Throwing Tracers
- 100,000-volt Stun Gun
- Bolas
- Sonic Disruptors
- Electrified Gauntlets
Nightwing Boots
Just like his gauntlets, Nightwing’s boots have eight compartments to store weapons and gadgets similar to Batman’s utility belt. Not only that, they also have the built-in self-destruct feature and the one-use-only taser charge if tampered. Nightwing's boots contain the following:
- Signal Flares
- Rebreather
- Mini-Computer equipped with fax, modem, GPS, and a mini-disk rewritable drive
- Lock Picks
- First Aid Kit
- Mini-Cell Phone
- Flexi-Cuffs
- Antitoxin Assortment
- Wireless Listening Devices
- Small Halogen Flashlight
Escrima Sticks
Made from a shatter-proof, unbreakable polymer, these escrima sticks serve as Nightwing's main choice of weapons for both offensive and defensive purposes. The weapons also serve as useful projectiles, being able to ricochet off of walls and hit enemies afterwards. They possess various features which Nightwing used multiple times throughout his crime-fighting career. One feature is that the escrima sticks contain a mechanism to shoot a grappling hook attached to a swing line, similar to Batman's grappling gun. The weapons are also wired with tasers, making them electrical and being able to give off bursts of electricity capable up to AoE (Area of Effect) electrical attacks. Finally, Nightwing can connect the two escrima sticks together to form into a long bo staff for combat.
Wing-Dings
As you all know, one of Batman's most well known weapons is the Batarang. Modified from that iconic weapon, the “Wing-Ding” is Nightwing's personal projectile tool that he uses in his crime-fighting career. Just like the original Batarangs, Wing-Dings come in different varieties.
- Knockout
- Explosive
- Electric (Electrorang): Mini ones carry a 6,000 volt charge each
- De-Cel Cable
- Sleeping Gas
- Freezing
However, just because the Wing-Ding are primarily projectile weapons, doesn’t mean they don’t have other uses. They can be used as blades such as combining two of them into a sword (TT).
Daredevil
Suit
The horns on Daredevil’s costume are antennae that can pick up radio waves, allowing him to tap into police scanners everywhere. Matt's current suit is also fully bulletproof, fireproof, and fully insulated from electrical attacks. In addition, his current red mask now has a built-in dampener which will help protect him and reduce the pain of his weakness against Sonic/Sound-based attacks and technology.
Billy Club
A multi-purpose weapon that has many different modes. It's initial form is two billy clubs held together by an extendable cable. It can shift from a nunchaku-like weapon to a manrikigusari (a long rope/chain weapon with two weights on its ends), dual billy clubs which can be wielded in an Eskrima-like fashion, bo staff, or a cable with a grappling hook. The weapon can also be adjusted to combine both sticks into an Eskrima stick. Most notably, the billy club can be disguised as a blind man's cane, for use by DD's alter ego, Matthew Murdock. The weapon is held by a holster on the side of Daredevil's Suit on his left leg.
Feats
Nightwing
Overall
- Officially the world’s greatest acrobat
- Performed acrobatics in Haly’s Circus as part of the Flying Graysons with his parents
- One of the few on Earth capable of performing a quadruple flip
- Trained by Batman to be his first sidekick Robin and taught all forms of martial arts by him
- Is second only to Batman in terms of fighting and detective skills
- Even before he was trained by Batman, Dick was already capable at fighting.
- Trained under Richard Dragon
- One of the founders of the Teen Titans and served as its leader
- Served as leader of the Outsiders
- Claims that he can hit a bull’s-eye from 100ft (TT)
- Defeated Ra’s al Ghul in a swordfight
- Stalemates Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley) in a swordfight
- Defeated Jason Todd to become Bruce’s successor as Batman in the “Battle for the Cowl” storyline
- Became a member of the Justice League and served as its leader during a period of time
- Fought Batman in a match that displayed good showings of durability, strength, endurance, and overall skill and won
- Skilled at pressure point fighting via nerve strikes
- Knows lethal forms of combat
- Knows the Death Touch, which was demonstrated
- Possesses the ability to “read” people, allowing him to predict moves and find weak links
- Defeated Jason Todd, Talon, William Cobb, Zsasz, Midnighter, Grifter, Paragon (who had all the powers of the Justice League), Otto Netz, David Cain, Mother, Raptor (broke his arms and legs as well), Deathwing, Cheshire, Shrike, Arsenal, Damien Wayne, and a boat filled with metahumans and supervillains
- Fights Deathstroke to a stalemate
- Took down a warehouse full of Deathstroke robots (TT)
- Fought an army of fire/lava demons with Deathstroke (TT)
- Took down Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg in seconds (TT)
- Defeated Trigon with the rest of the Teen Titans
Strength/Power
- Should be comparable to Deathstroke (Read RavenSupreme’s comment below in the comment section for the other result of the feat)
- Comparable to Cyborg (TT)
- Broke Bane’s spine (scan above)
- OHKOs Cassandra Cain
- Wrecked Powerpunch
- Throws stuff really hard
- Throws an Escrima hard enough to shatter a rock monster
- Cut steel supports with a thrown weapon
- Slams Torque hard enough to punch a hole through concrete
- Punched Barry Pierce through a brick wall
- Bent a newspaper stand
- OHKOs Pteradon
- Stopped and flipped a motorcycle
- Launched 3 guys at once, sending them all through wooden boards
- Escaped being buried alive
- Overpowered Jason Todd
- Soloed Parademons
- Ripped a car’s windshield off
- Threw a guy through a wooden door
- Held up a giant boulder that’s nearly twice his size
- Can break through 4 bricks straight during his training as Robin
- Punched a thug in the stomach hard enough to cause him to throw up
- Pushed a giant penny while injured
- Snaps metal restraining cords and easily overpowers a demon in golden armor
- Able to place Man-Bat into a Full-Nelson
- OHKOs a giant cobra monster
- Breaks out from a glass cage while running out of air and having his suit hacked
- Uses his strength to prevent an orca from eating him while underwater. An orca has a bite force of 19,000+ PSI (pounds for square inch)
- Broke through a layer of ice using one hand while swimming in arctic water
- Breaks free from being frozen in ice
- Catches a punch from a guy on Mega-Flex; In DC Comics, Mega-Flex is an anabolic compound that increases the user’s muscle mass and muscle definition to the point of giving them superhuman strength and allows them to destroy most ordinary objects with their bare hands.
- Snaps a Talon’s knee tendon with a single kick
- Strong enough to hurt the demon Acheron
- Threw a Wing-Ding hard enough to slice a tree trunk into logs (TT)
- Threw a Wing-Ding hard enough to cut through robotic spider legs (TT)
- Sliced through the cannon of a gatling gun by using his Wing-Ding as a melee weapon (TT)
- Blew up the top half of Plasmus with three explosive Wing-Dings, despite the villain regenerating (TT)
- Strong enough to knock Cinderblock down and slide crashing into a rock wall with a single flying kick (TT)
- Sent back dozens of Slade-Bots flying after they dogpiled him (TT)
- Hits Speedy’s bow with a downward swing of his staff with enough force to create a shockwave underneath them (TT)
- Slams the Master of Games (who had stolen the powers, weapons, and abilities of other characters) into a wall with a double kick, creating a crater as a result (TT)
- Strong enough to bury a giant mechanical dog into pavement (TT)
- Catches a giant grizzly bear warrior from performing a body slam on him, holds him up with both arms, and threw him over his head (TT)
- Can easily punch and kick through stone stalagmites (TT)
- Easily pushes over a piece of concrete larger than himself with one hand despite being injured (TT)
- Threw his staff hard enough to be embedded in a rock wall (TT)
- Shoves a man through a metal railing (TT)
- Throws Madame Rouge (disguised as himself) through a stone wall (TT)
- Hits Starfire hard enough with his staff that sends her crashing into a car and crumpling it despite the staff shattering on impact (TT)
- Tackles a man into a billboard hard enough to knock it off of a roof (TT)
- Sends Cyborg (who at one point picked up a large building and used it as a baseball bat) flying back with a single punch (TT)
- Sends rubble upward after striking the ground hard enough with his staff (TT)
Speed
Should be comparable to Katana, Geo-Force, and Cassandra Cain-Katana can consistently react to, deflect, and cut bullets
-Cassandra is fast enough to dodge a bullet at the last second by ducking down before it could hit her in the stomach
-Geo-Force has shown to be able to fly at interplanetary travel speed and Deathstroke, whom Nightwing is comparable to can tag him
Keeps pace with Deathstroke in a fight
Has been stated to have better combat speed than Batman
Outpaced Catwoman
Moved faster than Tresser could see
As fast if not faster than Cassandra Cain
Grabbed a gun at speeds faster than the eye can see
Has an encyclopedia worth of bullet timing feats
Avoided a Starbolt from Starfire
Outreacts Batman
Disappeared in front of a guy who was looking right at him
Dodged a shot from Mr. Freeze
Dodged attacks from an amped Joker
Outran a thrown knife
Too fast for the thugs to adjust
Outruns an explosion
Dodges a near point blank Crossbow fire
Covers a Chicago city block in 3 panels
Avoids tentacles and sprays that were able to catch the rest of the Teen Titans, including Donna Troy
Dodges homing batarangs from Batman 1 Million
Able to move through a laser field
Dodges p90 fire (a p90 has a cyclic rate of fire of 900 RPM (rounds per minute)) while in the air
Saves a woman from a sniper
Flips around and dodges energy blasts
Evades hits from Metallo
Flips around shots from a grenade launcher
Dodged concussive, sonic thunder blasts and lightning bolts from Thunder and Lightning (TT)
Fast enough to dodge energy beam fire, especially at point blank range, as well as deflect/block them with his staff (TT)
Can dodge arrows fired from Speedy at point blank range (TT)
Fast enough to catch arrows and deflect them (TT)
Dodges hits and strikes from Cyborg (TT)
Dodges a close punch from behind at the last second (TT)
Dodges a monster’s scream (TT)
Fast enough to run along a rock wall (TT)
Acrobats through a hall full of lasers (TT)
Escapes a landslide of clockworks (TT)
Fights while balancing on bamboo sticks (TT)
"I'm not fixing this mess of a section. It is literally impossible for me to fix it due to Blogger lacking the tools for it. Fuck this composer." - GB
Durability
- Should be comparable to Deathstroke. Deathstroke’s Staff is capable of blowing up a helicopter in which a lesser-known DC street leveler, Gunfire is able to tank the damage it could output, since most of the DC Street Levelers are superior to Gunfire, this should apply to their DC and Durability (calc here)
- Comparable to Cyborg (TT)
- Took a lot of punishment from Raptor’s blows (scan above)
- Survived getting shot by a .32 pellet
- Fell several feet with another person
- Got hit by Deathstroke so hard, he dented a metal rail
- Survived a hit from Blockbuster
- Survived for 10 days in the desert with minimal food and water
- Walked off getting stabbed in 5 different places
- Survived the close ranged explosion of a plane
- Stabbed through the side
- Man breaks hand from punching his chest
- Resistant to fire/smoke
- Tanks a hit from this enormous ice monster
- Tanks hits from Paragon's plasma cutter, which was shredding people
- Took a plane blowing up in his face at point blank range, and seems visibly undamaged back at the BatCave
- Relatively unfazed after taking a hit from one of Bluebird’s tasers
- Survives 3 massive explosions and still musters up the energy to beat down on Joker
- Tanked a hit from Garth, damaging a pillar in the process
- Tanks multiple hits from Orca
- Got electrocuted and hit with tranquilizers and fear toxin but was still able to defeat Jason Todd
- Took a hit from Osiris
- Withstood and reversed a telepathic assault
- Got sent back flying after tanking an explosion to the face and got back up fine (TT)
- Tanks a beam blast from Dr. Light that sent him to the rooftop of a nearby building (TT)
- Airdrops onto a skyscraper (TT)
- Got thrown into a goal post and rebounds off of it (TT)
- Crashes his motorcycle headfirst into a wall on a bridge and creates an explosion upon impact, but survives with only an injured arm (TT)
- Tanks a blast from Terra that launches him to the rooftop of another building (TT)
- Survives getting crushed by a giant rock (TT)
- Takes a punch from Cyborg that sent him back flying (TT)
- Survived long falls, especially one that had him landing on his face (TT)
- Took a hit that sent him crashing into a ceiling and fell on desk with enough force to crumple it (TT)
- Takes a hit from a flaming pipe that melted through his staff with a single swing (TT)
- Gets hit by a blast of fire that knocks a car down a street (TT)
- Tanks getting smacked by a tree being used as a baseball bat (TT)
- Tanks a powerful explosion from one of his explosives and was fine minutes later (TT)
- Survives falling down the side of a mountain while wrestling an alien bug monster (TT)
- Survives a long fall into a straddle that created a crater on a rooftop beneath him and a villain (TT)
- Survived lethal amounts of stress (TT)
NOTE: As you all may have noticed, a good chunk of Dick Grayson’s feats have the letters “TT” bolded in parentheses. The reason why is because these feats are taken from the original Teen Titans animated series (the good one). They were included because Death Battle has been known to composite characters with versions from differents forms of media. One recent example is Raven, who had her comic book counterpart and Teen Titans counterpart composited for her fight against Twilight Sparkle. We believe the same might happen to Nightwing. For any of you who don’t know, Robin from the original Teen Titans cartoon is indeed Dick Grayson (especially considering his memories as a member of the Flying Graysons was shown in the cartoon). Therefore, Teen Titans Robin is eligible to be composited with comic book Nightwing considering there’s no significant difference between the two. Plus, we have taken feats from Dick Grayson’s time as both Robin and Batman in his comic book history.
Daredevil
Overall
- Officially ranked as the 8th best martial arts fighter on Marvel's official site
- One of the few characters in Marvel Comics history to be handicapped
- At a young age, Matt was a self-taught boxer both due to watching his father compete and helping him train to prepare for his fights before being very heavily and extensively trained in the ninja arts by Stick immediately after his accident occurred, teaching and training Matt how to control his powers and valuable fighting techniques along with stealth, vanishing, to even life-energy (chi/ki) control which he can use to accelerate his healing or telepathically communicate with others
- Fought some of the best martial artists in the Marvel Universe to a stalemate, the list includes Black Panther, Iron Fist (Non-Chi Powered), Captain America, Psylocke, and Shuri
- Notably defeated or contended with formidably skilled fighters such as Deadpool (twice), Wolverine (twice), Punisher, Taskmaster, Winter Soldier, Bullseye, Elektra, Dominic Destine, Lady Bullseye, Ikari, Black Widow, and Karnak
- Lord Darkwind regards Wolverine and Daredevil as equals in martial arts skills (Demonstration of Wolverine’s martial arts skills here and his mastery of pressure point fighting--- He also outskilled Daredevil at one point even after the latter had physically staggered him earlier, making them comparable in skill and physicality)
- Exceptionally disciplined in the art of pressure point fighting via nerve strikes and pinches
- He can inflict nerve strikes that causes people to go blind or inflict pain that is equal to or worse than being burned
- Knows lethal martial arts techniques such as a kill move involving nerve clusters in the solar plexus
- At one point became a leader of the ninja clan organization known as the Hand during the events of Shadowland
- Became a member of the New Avengers
- Is a leader of the Defenders
- Became the mentor of a young Chinese immigrant named, Samuel Chung who went on to become the superhero crime-fighter known as Blindspot
- Through ninja techniques, Daredevil can become unnoticeable, the group was talking for about over an hour--- He did so again by inconspicuously sneaking into Turk's car unnoticed
- Takes on Electro, Gladiator, and Matador at the same time
- Effortlessly defeats hordes of the Hand's finest elite assassins several times
- Stands up to three foes at once, one of them including Taskmaster and Stilt-Man all while preventing an all out bloodshed between the criminals and villains
- Holds off White Tiger, Black Tarantula, Lady Bullseye, and several Hand assassins before being knocked out
- Beats Matador and Tombstone at the same time
- Through sheer willpower and indomitable will, he can resist Purple Man’s Mind Manipulation powers
- Defeated Ulysses Klaw twice, even though the latter’s Sonic Canon was the perfect counter to weakening his Radar Sense
- Managed to live through the experience of being imprisoned (upon the reveal of his identity as Daredevil to the public) on Ryker’s Island where almost every criminal and supervillain there tries to kill him during the events of Civil War
- In the story of Born Again, Kingpin finds out that Matt Murdock and Daredevil are one of the same thus uses that information to systematically destroy his life, but through trials and tribulations--- Matt still rises up from the lowest point in his career and keeps on fighting
- In the Last Rites storyline, he once systematically destroyed Kingpin's entire criminal empire, reputation, and worldly possessions (in Daredevil (1964) Issue #297-300)
Power
- Consistently traded blows with and physically harmed the likes of Captain America, Deadpool, Wolverine, and several other Marvel Street Levelers.
- Tipped over a limo without too much effort (second scan above)
- Capable of physically staggering Doctor Octopus. Doc Ock has been shown to be durable enough to a tank nuclear explosion (calc here)
- Easily shatters two swords in half
- Throws his baton hard enough to break through concrete
- Even when weakened, he easily breaks down a brick chimney
- Easily snaps a man's arm
- Sends a door flying with a single kick
- Kicks Kingpin several feet hard enough to dent the metal door behind him
- Cracks concrete walls with his punches
- Sends Izo flying
- Tears demons apart with his bare hands
- Rips off a metal arm
- Lifted Foggy’s weights with one arm
- Used a 400 lb weight as a weapon before throwing it several feet
- Beat up Mr. Hyde, a guy who can chuck vans, with the help of Spider-Man
- Breaks free of his metal bindings
- Chokes out Bullseye
- Broke through Stilt-Man’s upgraded armor
- Severed the head of a older Ultron model with a stick
- Cracks concrete walls with his punches
- Sends three men flying with a single swing of a cue stick
- One-shots Typhoid Mary, Punisher, and Black Widow
- Tosses a cop like a softball
- Completely wrecks a Yakuza on MGH (Mutant Growth Hormone grants any human enhanced strength, speed, and durability)
- Snaps a shotgun in half
- OHKOs Daken (Daken can physically go toe to toe with his father, Wolverine on multiple occasions consistently)
- Tears apart a mook's paddled armor
- Overpowers Saberetooth (Sabertooth is physically comparable to Wolverine and can lift 2-10 tons)
- Absolutely decimated the Owl many times (who is shown to be strong enough to rip off human heads)
- Brutally breaks Bruiser’s knee
Speed
- Comparable in speed to the likes of Hawkeye, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Iron Fist
- Constantly deflects bullets
- Evaded gunfire purely through hearing (he's temporarily missing his radar)
- Avoids a point blank shot from behind
- Described to have lightning fast reflexes, thus he can effortlessly glide out of the pathways of the bullets that he senses are coming towards him and blitzing all the goons at once
- Can dodge bullets in a microsecond (calc here)
- Dodged Electro’s lightning several times (calc here). Electro has shown to be capable of manipulating natural lightning
- Outreacts Captain America. Same Captain America who is fast enough to react to a spaceship crashing into orbit {as you can see he was completely fine afterwards} and deflect Electro’s lightning with his shield (calc here and here)
- Senses a sniper on top of a building and immediately runs, closing the distance of 2 blocks within seconds to a minute most
- Capable of keeping up with Spider-Man consistently (According to Stan Lee himself, Daredevil’s Radar Sense is arguably superior to Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense)
- Catches arrows
- He was described by one of the thugs to be moving too fast that they could hardly see him
- Completely vanishes right in front of two guys who saw him on their security camera
- Disappears from a sniper's line of sight and reappears at the shooter's location in a matter of seconds, to make short work of him
- Fast enough to catch Bullseye’s projectile card from hitting Elektra in the throat
- Disarms a mind-controlled kid before he shoots himself
- Ghost vanishes from the cop’s field of vision, avoiding his gunfire before reappearing behind him and disarming him with a nerve strike
- Has a striking speed of 122.7 feet per second
- Disposes three guards before they had a moment of notice to comprehend what just happened
- In his early days he blitzed a room full of armed men
- Intercepts Jubula Pride’s speed-blitz from killing a thug, she has shown to be capable of moving fast enough to go FTE
- Twists and turns moving himself out of the path of the bullets
- Blocks all of Bullseye's incoming shurikens and quickly disarms him of his pistol
- He stealthily disposes four Hydra agents before they could even react
- Took out a prison guard faster than the eye could see
- His hand was described to be moving at blur speeds and throws his baton at FTE speeds at a security camera to make his escape from the interrogation room
- Made short work of one thug and a crooked cop that when their ally turned around to shoot him, he was already gone resulting in the latter shooting his nearby companion dead instead
- Takes down 107 Yakuza members in under three minutes, most of them were armed with swords, guns, and baseball bats and some were even enhanced by the Mutant Growth Hormones (was even said to be maneuvering too swiftly in the crowd of the fight that eyewitnesses had difficulty trying to identify him)
Durability
- Should be comparable to Captain America, Wolverine, Deadpool, and other Marvel Street Levelers
- Fell multiple stories and landed on a car (scan above)
- Withstood the flames of Pyro
- Survived a nitroglycerin explosion
- Tanked a napalm explosion
- Fought off the effects of a tranquilizer dart
- Tanked a blow from Electro and withstands more of his attacks from him, as he fights the latter in hand to hand combat
- Within the span of minutes, he was sprayed with hallucinatory gas, falls a large distance, is hit by a car, beaten by baseball bats, and is caught in an explosion, but is still fine
- Was electrocuted by Wakandan technology and hit with sound wave guns It's worth noting that he's not knocked out by the sound assault at the end of that scan, he merely faked it, Shuri was the only one that knew he was still awake this whole time
- Survived being burned alive by Typhoid Mary
- Takes a punch to the face from Doctor Octopus’s Mechanical Arms
- Takes multiple blows from someone hopped up on MGH, the same guy could easily punch a hole through someone
- Took two punches from a bloodlust Captain America (A morals off Cap has shown to be capable of punching someone in the face so hard that their neck twists 180 degrees and his striking strength being strong enough to trigger a bullet to shoot)
- For six straight weeks, aside from eating, sleeping, etc. all Daredevil does is fight crime
- Withstands the explosion of a grenade
- Miraculously survives being shot in the head by a bullet
- Takes a direct kick from Bruiser ({Note: that he was not knocked out after this} this is the same Bruiser who can easily beat on Ox, send people flying just by landing, and create shockwaves by stomping)
- Can take punishment from many of Elektra's physical blows (This is the same Elektra whose physical blows are strong enough to punch through human bodies even if they’re wearing body armor)
- While sufficient sound can render him unconscious, Daredevil has shown the ability to fight through it; even after being electrocuted, being struck by Klaw's sound blast, struck by a bus, he defeats Klaw. However, in the process, his radar is temporarily knocked out
Weaknesses
Nightwing
Much like others from the Batfamily, Nightwing - by the end of the day - is still human and is as vulnerable to the same weaknesses any man his age would have in spite of all the crazy things he’s survived. Even with the advantages his training and gadgets has gifted him, there is an argument to be made that he has yet to fully and truly surpass his mentor in every aspect, even more so considering Batman’s continued presence as an active hero in his own right.
Daredevil
Daredevil’s movements and fighting style defy his supposed handicap, but although he is no longer as susceptible to anything that could blind him (for obvious reasons), his other senses do come with caveats. Extremely loud sounds or strong odors could be used to overwhelm the Radar Sense and mess with his ability to detect others around him. Other than that, he also lacks traditional superpowers in the same way other street-level superheroes do.
Summary
Nightwing
Advantages:
- If composited with Teen Titans, Nightwing likely gets the stat advantage over Daredevil
- Wider range of equipment and weaponry
- Certain gadgets could be used to target Daredevil’s heightened senses and incapacitate him.
- Arguably the more skilled combatant between the two.
- Overall has the better armor of the two
- Having relationships with both Starfire and Barbara Gordon along with several other women in the DC Universe
Disadvantages:
- Outclassed in the stat trinity (if Teen Titans feats are not used)
- Gadgets meant to blind Daredevil will have no effect.
- Likely unable to pick up any signs that Daredevil is actually blind.
- Daredevil’s Radar Sense completely renders Nightwing’s stealth and surprise tactics useless
- Sometimes being screwed over by DC Comics (originally intended to die in Infinite Crisis, dying in Injustice, Teen Titans Go - the movie’s actually pretty good tho, Titans)
- “Fuck Batman.” - Dick Grayson, 2018.
Daredevil
Advantages:
- Physically outclasses Nightwing in the stat trinity
- Daredevil’s suit provides him protection against projectiles, fire, and electrical attacks that Nightwing may throw at him
- Radar Sense efficiently counters Nightwing’s stealth and surprise tactics
- His martial arts skills should be comparable to Nightwing’s
- Made out with Felicia Hardy
Disadvantages:
- Certain gadgets in Nightwing’s arsenal could effectively disorient his Radar Sense or incapacitate him
- Less variety of equipment and weapons than Nightwing
- If Teen Titans is included, Daredevil likely gets outclassed by Nightwing in stats
- Spider-Man was watching, you fucking dick
Verdicts
Malcolm Belmont
Now i know what you are wondering, Malcolm - why did you change your Avatar? - i don’t have a reason expect Teruya is best boy and you can’t tell me otherwise
Anyway what’s next for DEATH BATTLE. Sees that my second favourite comic book character of all time is making his way to DEATH BATTLE “YAY”.
Sees that he is fighting Daredevil “Oh”.
Don’t get me wrong – I am still really looking forward to this fight despite Daredevil not being the character I would have chosen to fight Dick in a DEATH BATTLE but ah well though it is the first ever live action DEATH BATTLE which is going to be pretty damn interesting.
Anyway, this fight – this fight is one of the closest in recent memory and I have seen fairly good arguments either way in terms of who would win this battle though I have seen a considerable amount of people say that DD wins because of his superior stats and while I do somewhat agree – stats are very important in determining a fight’s outcome – for this fight in particular when both sides are so close to each other I do not think it matters that much. If Daredevil’s stats were wayyyy out of Nightwing’s league I would say that Daredevil would win for sure but since they aren’t there are also several factors that we should consider outsides of stats including equipment, training, intelligence especially considering this fight which is a battle between two of the best martial artists in their respective universes and honestly I think Nightwing wins in most if not all of these categories. Allow me to explain.
First of all there is Weaponry – When it comes to a fight – Daredevil usually keeps things light – in that he pretty much only exclusively uses his Billy Club which while an extremely useful weapon in its own right (it can turn into a Bo Staff and be used as a grappling hook) I just don’t think it compares to Nightwing’s almost Batman levels of gadgets including the likes of Sonic Pellets,Gas/Smoke Pellets,Stun Grenades,Explosives,Finger Taser, Disruptor Grenade,Magnesium Flare, “Wing-Dings”: Modified Batarangs Knockout Gas Capsules,Throwing Tracers,100,000-volt Stun Gun,Bolas,Sonic Disruptors and many more.
While having the clear weapon advantage isn’t always going to give you the win – for example Frank West but when you have multiple gadgets that are able to completely neuter Daredevil including the Stun Grenades and most especially the Sonic Grenades which are by far Daredevil’s biggest weaknesses in this fight because Daredevil’s main weakness is Sound and guess what the Sonic Grenades do – they make a very large noise and I know what you are thinking -how would Nightwing be able to figure out that Daredevil’s main weakness is sound – well Nightwing is one of if not the most analytical fighters in the DC Universe who can easily determine the strengths and weaknesses of a person just by how they fight, Dick should be able to figure out what Daredevil’s weaknesses is and exploit it (though the issue is that Daredevil won’t make his weaknesses too obvious to Nightwing but if he figures he out) Simply Nightwing compared to Daredevil has so weapons that can neutralise and counter Daredevil’s that he outclasses Daredevil in the weaponry edge hardheartedly.
What about Armor – When it comes to martial artists – you need to have some level of protection and this is another category where Nightwing wins. Daredevil’s Armor is Bulletproof and while it allows him to tank a good amount of hits – it doesn’t nearly compared to Nightwing’s Kevlar-lined material armour that is padded in every area making it very difficult for Daredevil to a good amount of damage in especially with a blunt force weapon like Daredevil’s Sticks. I would say Nightwing definitely has the advantage in that area.
What about intelligence then – while Daredevil is indeed extremely smart having Juris Doctor (doctorate of law) from Columbia University and also possesses the equivalent of a self-taught masters of applied sciences in mechanical engineering as well as being skilled in interrogation, disguise, medicine, science, and detective work he still isn’t nearly as smart as Dick who was trained by some of the most intelligent humans in the DC Universe (aka Bruce Wayne) and is extremely intelligent in his own right –having solved 4 cases in “America’s Most Wanted” within a single morning as well as being a master of applied sciences in mechanic engineering as well as disguise, detective work and interrogation. While both are definitely intelligent I would say that Dick also edges out in this category.
While i do believe that outside of Teen Titans - Matt definitely has the Stats edge - i think that ultimately experience,weaponry and skill will be the key factors in this fight at the Stat difference is not that different between each other (it’s nowhere near a Stat Stomp) and i think ultimately it comes down to - does Nightwing have more ways of exploiting Daredevil’s weaknesses and taking him out then Daredevil has for Nightwing (besides from being human,Nightwing doesn’t have any serious weaknesses unlike Daredevil) and from research i have done - i would say yes.While i would say that Daredevil wins in stats - i would say that Nightwing has the weapons,experience,skill needed to get a win in but honestly i could see this fight going either way so while i think Nightwing should win this fight - i could very much see Daredevil winning it. Nightwing’s going to show Daredevil who the true Devil of Martial Arts is.
As for what the next fight will be - i am thinking it will be between a certain mouse and a certain rabbit.
Yes Please (Art is by Kapalsy)
ramonzer0
No joke, the Playstation Classic is unironically one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen by (possibly) having everything that defined my childhood. It is also a damning reminder that this console and I are 23 years old. Fuck. Either way, can’t wait to hear my new Smash main Richter Belmont to tell Dracula to perish thusly, call him a being of inhuman and unspeakable terrors and evils and say that one such as him should not taint the Earth with an obtuse presence that does obviously not belong for the millionth time, or try out old King chain throws, or drift to 90s techno that has actually aged pretty well with all things considered, or witness Sephiroth ki--
….so I was just told that apparently it’s still a social faux pas to talk about that. Okay, then.
First non-sequitur aside, am I the only one who’s getting possible Def Jam: Fight for New York vibes from that garage or whatever they’re fighting at? Pretty sure it could just be me.
I’m not exactly sure who I’m supposed to root for here. I’ve always leaned towards Marvel in times like this and that would normally bring me to say Daredevil, but I like Nightwing’s character a lot more. Adding the fact that this is one of the closer fights we’ve had this season, and I feel confident in saying that I can call this down the middle. For those of y’all who remember our Doctor fight blog, I’ve spoken about how the majority of Marvel vs. DC matches work, but here’s a quick reminder: DC god-tiers > Marvel characters > DC street-levelers. Under this model, it’d be easy for me to say that Matt takes this fight, but I’m still going to be breaking down the finer points the match has in store.
The most common arguments I’ve heard for the past few years here boil down to how each side’s key advantages are going to play out. Daredevil has the obvious edge in powers by virtue of actually having them to begin with; enhanced senses are going to definitely throw Nightwing for a loop and shut down most if not all attempts at stealth if you factor in Matt’s own training in the area. Dick benefits from the arsenal edge by - once again - having one to begin with. Barring his billy clubs and a suit which protects him well enough against his usual rogues’ gallery, Daredevil’s practically naked while Nightwing has more combat options with his electric sticks, wingdings, grappling hook and more.
How they affect each other does seem to favor Daredevil a bit more, at least in my opinion. For the most part, it can be argued that Nightwing can go after Matt’s enhanced senses via gadget spam - loud sounds could disrupt his ability to sense his surroundings and leaves him open for Dick to fall back on stealth if he needs to recover or to relentlessly attack Daredevil with everything he’s got. On the other hand though, Daredevil has managed to work around his supposed weaknesses in the past with victories over opponents heavily reliant on powers that should cripple his senses, so even if Nightwing were able to deduce those weak points - which is fair game given his smarts, it isn’t going to be the end-all be-all for him. The fact that he’s blind already does make using smoke bombs and flashbangs all but useless for Nightwing to effectively make use of.
What sort of drives me to give the edge to Daredevil’s powers over Nightwing’s gadgets at this point comes down to what his enhanced senses do for him. Sure, Nightwing could exploit it, but in the event that he can’t for any reason, he has to deal with someone whose spatial awareness is still miles beyond his own. Daredevil would be able to see where he’d be and where he’ll attack from, so retaliating should be relatively quick and easy. Both have managed to prove their high levels of intelligence and fighting skill against guys like Deathstroke, Deadpool, Batman and Captain America, so I can’t confidently claim that either one of them has an edge in these areas, or at least one which would make a big difference in the end.
Now this is where things get dicey, if only because this is still by far pretty contested. We’ve given Daredevil the edge in stats, but I myself can’t really call that to be a surefire lock. With feats and scaling taken into account, the argument can be made that it should be Nightwing who takes it instead depending on the sources you look into, especially if you factor in his time as Robin in the Teen Titans cartoon - a decision I can’t personally support myself if only because we’ve still gone with sticking to mainline comic canon for situations like this. I still personally think that the stuff Matt’s been through is more impressive than Dick’s if by a fairly slim margin, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see otherwise in the final product.
Overall, I think Daredevil could be taking this, but it isn’t something I can say for sure. Nightwing’s gadgets are still going to be a thorn in his side, and there’s still the argument on stats; I’d recommend looking into the writings of everyone else here since they’ve clearly done their homework more than I have. Otherwise…. ummm, okay -- how do I find a way to end this?
Ummm… got it.
Calling this as number 100, along with the millions of ruined childhoods it’ll spawn.
HeroicDefender97
First up, I’d like to thank the prediction blog team for allowing me to be the guest of honor on here for this Death Battle Prediction Blog and I couldn't anymore grateful than that... Now lets gets started with talking about Nightwing vs Daredevil shall we?
So Nightwing vs Daredevil yeah... I expected this Death Battle to happen sometime soon, but not the way I imagined. The fact that it's going to be in live action will be quite intriguing, it also features two of my all time favorite characters of Marvel and DC respectively so who am I to complain right?... However in a Death Battle, only one could unfortunately walk out as the victor. So lets start breaking down who I think will ultimately win this fight.
Strength: Both Dick and Matt have trained and pushed their physical bodies to their absolute limits that they can, allowing them to achieve Strength feats such as being able to lift things twice their size, shattering solid objects, snap bones with ease, one-shotting non-metahumans and metahumans/superhumans alike with one physical blow, wrestling with physical powerhouses on a daily basis, and so on. Out of the two, Daredevil undoubtedly gets the edge in this category not just based on his strength feats alone I dare say, but also via scaling to Captain America, Wolverine, Deadpool, Doctor Octopus, and several other Marvel Street Levelers.
While Nightwing is easily comparable to Deathstroke in physicality, the same Deathstroke who used his staff’s energy blast to blow up a helicopter which came out at 192 tons of TNT, putting it at Multi-City Block Level and this was easily tanked by Gunfire (most DC street levelers are superior to Gunfire) than he proceeds to trade blows with Deathstroke.
But one notable person by the name of RavenSupreme made a pretty valid comment on how Deathstroke’s MCB Level feat has no visible confirmation that the helicopter was completely vaporized or pulverized which downgrades the feat to 15 tons at most and Captain America and Deadpool’s 104-173 tons of TNT Multi-City Block Level feats are far higher than that. However one good friend of mines makes a rather excellent case that it could still be legit, that it exploded in general, had it been pulverized wouldn't explode on impact. But even then, Wolverine and Doctor Octopus’s MCB Level feats which came out at 338-498 tons of TNT, is enough for Daredevil to eclipse Nightwing in strength/destructive capacity.
While Nightwing is easily comparable to Deathstroke in physicality, the same Deathstroke who used his staff’s energy blast to blow up a helicopter which came out at 192 tons of TNT, putting it at Multi-City Block Level and this was easily tanked by Gunfire (most DC street levelers are superior to Gunfire) than he proceeds to trade blows with Deathstroke.
But one notable person by the name of RavenSupreme made a pretty valid comment on how Deathstroke’s MCB Level feat has no visible confirmation that the helicopter was completely vaporized or pulverized which downgrades the feat to 15 tons at most and Captain America and Deadpool’s 104-173 tons of TNT Multi-City Block Level feats are far higher than that. However one good friend of mines makes a rather excellent case that it could still be legit, that it exploded in general, had it been pulverized wouldn't explode on impact. But even then, Wolverine and Doctor Octopus’s MCB Level feats which came out at 338-498 tons of TNT, is enough for Daredevil to eclipse Nightwing in strength/destructive capacity.
Speed: This is no contest on who should take this category. While both Nightwing and Daredevil have an incredible amounts of bullet timing and faster than the eye could see feats, unlike Nightwing however Daredevil can not only dodge bullets, but also deflect them as well (even occasionally swatting them right back at the shooter) which makes Nightwing's bullet timing feats look almost like child's play. But that’s not all, while Nightwing has shown to be able to walk through laser fields, outrun an explosion, and dodge various projectiles even at point blank range, Daredevil continues to outshine Nightwing in the speed department with a plethora of other speed feats that he has under his belt such as having a striking speed of 122.7 feet per second, fast enough to vanish from the human eye only to reappear a second later, intercepting a speed-blitz from Jubula Pride, and taking down 107 Yakuza members in under 3 minutes… UNDER 3 F*%KING MINUTES all of whom were armed with swords, guns, and baseball bats as well as being enhanced by the Mutant Growth Hormone which grants them superhuman levels of enhanced strength, speed, and durability. Yeahhh I’m sorry Dick, but Matt is already looking to have you beat here, and while Nightwing has shown to fast enough to vanish from the human eye, Matt does it on a more consistent basis.
Furthermore Nightwing should be comparable to the likes of Cassandra Cain, Katana, and Geo-Force. Cassandra can avoid a bullet at the last second before it hits her stomach-- putting her reaction speed at Mach 452, Katana is fast enough to cut down bullets within a specified timeframe putting at her feats around Mach 114-1k, and Geo-Force is capable of flying around at interplanetary travel speed putting him at Mach 1k. Nightwing was repeatedly shown to be able outmatch, outpace, and even fight Cassandra to a stand still and keep up with Deathstroke as the latter can tag Geo-Force on a number of occasions. This easily puts Nightwing’s speed at Massively Hypersonic+, Mach 1k at its highest.
Furthermore Nightwing should be comparable to the likes of Cassandra Cain, Katana, and Geo-Force. Cassandra can avoid a bullet at the last second before it hits her stomach-- putting her reaction speed at Mach 452, Katana is fast enough to cut down bullets within a specified timeframe putting at her feats around Mach 114-1k, and Geo-Force is capable of flying around at interplanetary travel speed putting him at Mach 1k. Nightwing was repeatedly shown to be able outmatch, outpace, and even fight Cassandra to a stand still and keep up with Deathstroke as the latter can tag Geo-Force on a number of occasions. This easily puts Nightwing’s speed at Massively Hypersonic+, Mach 1k at its highest.
On the other hand however Daredevil’s own Massively Hypersonic and Massively Hypersonic+ feats respectively far exceeds anything that Nightwing ever scales to in speed. He can dodge a bullet within a microsecond, placing the feat at Mach 827 and consistently keeps pace with street levelers like Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Iron Fist followed up by dodging Electro’s Lightning (he has shown to be capable of manipulating natural lightning) on more than one occasion, clocking his speed at Mach 7k. Very consistent with Beast’s Mach 3k Nanoseconds feat, Hawkeye & Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Iron Fist’s Mach 6k-8k microseconds feats, and encyclopedia of MHS-MHS+ lightning dodging/reacting feats. So with all this taken into account, Daredevil holds the speed advantage over Nightwing by a landslide.
Durability: Looking into their Durability feats. Dick and Matt can take a ridiculous amount of punishment despite being being classified as street levelers. With that being said when it comes to scaling, it is the same as the Strength/Destructive Capacity section-- not only can Nightwing and Daredevil consistently physically damage or stagger those who are around the Multi-City Block Level range, but also are capable of tanking blows from them as well. But once again Daredevil edges out Nightwing yet again in stats because the people that Daredevil has withstood punches from hit much harder than the ones Nightwing has tanked punches from. Granted Nightwing does still possess armor that would that would lessen the impact of Daredevil’s physical striking strength, But considering that this is the same Daredevil that is strong enough to plunge his billy club straight through Stilt-Man’s upgraded armor and crack concrete walls with his fists, the armor will likely not protect Nightwing for very long. And after all Daredevil has tanked punches from Captain America and Elektra, a morals off Captain America has shown that he can punch a man hard enough to twist his neck 180 degrees (which speaking of Cap there is something I like to address later on) and Elektra has been shown to be physically strong enough to punch through human bodies even if they are wearing body armor which makes you wonder how did the man even manage to survive up until this point. But this is comics so who cares right?--- anyways yeah I give the durability advantage to Daredevil.
Although if feats from the 2003 Teen Titans animated show are allowed for Nightwing then everything I just argued for Daredevil becomes almost completely irrelevant because TT Dick is far out of Matt’s league.
Now stats is definitely a must if one is to win against their opponent, but in a match like this. There is also other factors to consider for this fight such as equipment and skills/experience. So let's dive into it, mates.
Equipment: Nightwing and Daredevil’s suits are both bulletproof, fireproof, and electric proof, which means any projectile, fire attacks, and electrical attacks that they throw at each other is utterly useless. However as an added bonus, Nightwing’s suit could become a living taser, this would already puts his suit well above Daredevil’s automatically coupled by the fact Nightwing’s suit is made of kevlar which grants him extra protection against attacks from those who are stronger and faster than he is. When it comes to weapons Nightwing brings arsenal of Wing Dings, Smoke Pellets, Flash Bangs, Stun Grenades, Sonic Weaponry, Wrist Laser, Electrified Gauntlets as well as a Electrical Escrima Sticks that can changed into a grappling hook or bo staff etc he is coming already coming jam packed compared to Daredevil who is stripped to bare-bones with just only his Billy Club, which to be fair is quite a versatile weapon in its own right as as it can change into a grappling hook to a nunchuck, bo-staff, and eskrima sticks, but still pales in comparison to what Nightwing has offer as the whole package and the fact that certain gadgets in his arsenal could disorient Daredevil’s Radar Sense would be a huge threat to the Man Without Fear. That said though, Daredevil’s mask is also has a built-in dampener to protect and reduce the pain of his weakness to sound/sonic-based weapons and attacks, but that still doesn’t change the fact that Nightwing boasts a much more larger arsenal of gadgets and equipment. So I give this category to Nightwing.
Intelligence: Dick and Matt are both men of gifted intelligence as they have masters of applied sciences in mechanical engineering as well as being very talented in interrogation, disguise, medicine, science, and detective work. They are also remarkable strategists capable of improvising on the fly and thinking quick on their feet to outsmart their opponents. For how much of an accomplished lawyer Murdock is and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of law and New York statutes followed by having a Juris Doctor (doctorate of law) from Columbia University however. I honestly do not think that it holds the candle to what Dick has achieved in this category.
There is a very good reason why the first Boy Wonder has always been considered the second best only to Bruce, during his time as Robin, it was stated that he was able to solve crimes and riddles that even Batman had an impossible time figuring as well as being able to solve crimes that remained unresolved for years. And while Matt is now slouch in this department ether. I still have to slightly give the Intelligence advantage to Dick.
There is a very good reason why the first Boy Wonder has always been considered the second best only to Bruce, during his time as Robin, it was stated that he was able to solve crimes and riddles that even Batman had an impossible time figuring as well as being able to solve crimes that remained unresolved for years. And while Matt is now slouch in this department ether. I still have to slightly give the Intelligence advantage to Dick.
Skills/Experience: Now here is where things start to get tricky and very close at least in my opinion. By combining Frank Miller and Stan Lee & Bill Everette’s version of Daredevil’s backstory into seamless continuity. This outta mean that Dick and Matt have been trained at a young age to be the top of their class in martial arts skills, the best of the best by their mentors, Bruce (Batman) and Stick. In addition Batman taught Nightwing the fundamentals of stealth, espionage, disguise, and tracking whereas Stick teaches Daredevil how to fully control the power of his Radar Sense’s powers along with training in the shinobi (ninja) arts of stealth, vanishing, to even life-energy(chi/ki)control to ether communicate with others telepathically or to mediate and accelerate the healing of his wounds. Under their guidance, it gave the two men the much needed training and experience to take on a wide variety of opponents over the course of their crime-fighting careers. And in Daredevil’s case, that also included being able to take on opponents who utilize sound and sonic weaponry to abuse his weakness.
With each of their personal chosen fighting disciplines, Aikido and Eskrima for Nightwing and Boxing, Judo, Aiki-Jutsu, and Eskrima for Daredevil, in conjunction with various techniques found in other martial arts styles has allowed them to effectively contend with and even defeat some of the very best fighters in their own respective universes.
Nightwing has at the very least has fought on par against or defeated the likes of Shrike, Lady Shiva, Midnighter, David Cain, Arsenal, Red Hood, Damien Wayne, and Cheshire etc. On the other hand, Daredevil has contended with or defeated the likes of Wolverine, Deadpool, Elektra, Psylocke, Winter Soldier, Taskmaster, Bullseye, Lady Bullseye, and Ikari, the list goes on. Reminder that Ikari is an assassin who possesses enhanced senses in a similar vein to the Scarlet Swashbuckler’s, but unlike Hornead, the latter has an immense advantage over him is due to the fact that he is not blind as one would believe and note that Dominic Destine is a master martial artist and has hypersenses that can predict an opponent’s almost every single move yet Daredevil defeats nearly with ease.
NOTE: The source mentions that Daredevil practices Ninjutsu however historically-speaking, Ninjutsu is NOT a centralized modernized Japanese martial art like say Karate and Judo. I find it to be a much more realistic estimate that he practices Eskrima as one of his primary fighting disciplines cause many of his hand to hand combat and grappling techniques he uses throughout his appearances in various mediums resemble Eskrima, especially due to the fact he wields his dual Billy Clubs in Kali Sticks-like fashion along being capable of using improvised weapons as Eskrima practitioners are often taught do. But when he does combine his two Billy Clubs together to form a bo-staff, there is no doubt in my mind that he is disciplined in Bojutsu, the art of Japanese staff fighting which is actually one of the 18 disciplines of Ninjutsu.
With their current skill set and mental fortitude at hand, they have been able to fight notably one of the top three greatest martial artists to ever walk the earth into a stalemate, the following being: Captain America, Deathstroke, Iron Fist, Cassandra Cain, Black Panther, and Batman. The fact they can compete with these three widely-known established fighters in raw skill goes to show how talented of a martial artist, Nightwing and Daredevil are.
With each of their personal chosen fighting disciplines, Aikido and Eskrima for Nightwing and Boxing, Judo, Aiki-Jutsu, and Eskrima for Daredevil, in conjunction with various techniques found in other martial arts styles has allowed them to effectively contend with and even defeat some of the very best fighters in their own respective universes.
Nightwing has at the very least has fought on par against or defeated the likes of Shrike, Lady Shiva, Midnighter, David Cain, Arsenal, Red Hood, Damien Wayne, and Cheshire etc. On the other hand, Daredevil has contended with or defeated the likes of Wolverine, Deadpool, Elektra, Psylocke, Winter Soldier, Taskmaster, Bullseye, Lady Bullseye, and Ikari, the list goes on. Reminder that Ikari is an assassin who possesses enhanced senses in a similar vein to the Scarlet Swashbuckler’s, but unlike Hornead, the latter has an immense advantage over him is due to the fact that he is not blind as one would believe and note that Dominic Destine is a master martial artist and has hypersenses that can predict an opponent’s almost every single move yet Daredevil defeats nearly with ease.
NOTE: The source mentions that Daredevil practices Ninjutsu however historically-speaking, Ninjutsu is NOT a centralized modernized Japanese martial art like say Karate and Judo. I find it to be a much more realistic estimate that he practices Eskrima as one of his primary fighting disciplines cause many of his hand to hand combat and grappling techniques he uses throughout his appearances in various mediums resemble Eskrima, especially due to the fact he wields his dual Billy Clubs in Kali Sticks-like fashion along being capable of using improvised weapons as Eskrima practitioners are often taught do. But when he does combine his two Billy Clubs together to form a bo-staff, there is no doubt in my mind that he is disciplined in Bojutsu, the art of Japanese staff fighting which is actually one of the 18 disciplines of Ninjutsu.
With their current skill set and mental fortitude at hand, they have been able to fight notably one of the top three greatest martial artists to ever walk the earth into a stalemate, the following being: Captain America, Deathstroke, Iron Fist, Cassandra Cain, Black Panther, and Batman. The fact they can compete with these three widely-known established fighters in raw skill goes to show how talented of a martial artist, Nightwing and Daredevil are.
Which makes it quite difficult to argue for me decide who legitimately takes this category considering the odds that they’ve both gone up against despite being constantly beaten down. If you were to completely leave out the Frank Miller aspect of Daredevil’s origin story, you could make the argument that Nightwing has been training and taking on dangerous threats much longer than Daredevil has as Matt did not begin his career as Daredevil until he was an adult. But when you take Frank Miller’s version of Daredevil’s backstory into account, you could possibly make the case that Matt is the more experienced of the two as right after the accident. He was trained by Stick, the grandmaster of the ninja organization known as the Chaste and judging by his age, you can infer that Stick has had years of more seasoned combat experience then Bruce has than what he taught Dick. One could also argue that Matt had began his solo outing as Daredevil right around the same time Dick had became Robin, long before he eventually stepped out of Bruce’s shadow and beginning his solo outing as Nightwing plus adding to the fact that he is the oldest of the two combatants.
Over at the martial arts skills department, I won’t be talking about how one combatant is skilled over the other, but instead analyze their personalized chosen fighting disciplines that they use as the foundation to their overall fighting skill set to gauge how effective and efficient of a fighter they may be in most scenarios. Aikido and Eskrima are two of the main go-to fighting styles of Nightwing, so let's discuss about Aikido first. While Aikido by no means a worthless martial art and can actually be effective in its own right, it’s generally passive techniques offer very little options for a practitioner to defend themselves effectively in a direct confrontation, leaving Nightwing with only Eskrima as his only proficient fighting style in situations like these. Meanwhile Daredevil’s choices of fighting styles that he chooses to specialize in, Boxing, Judo, Aiki-Jutsu, and Eskrima theoretically offers much greater practicality and efficiency in combat as it solidly covers all of his bases on the defensive and offensive front. Not to mention with Aiki-Jutsu being the founding father of Aikido’s initial conception and unlike Aikido, Aiki-Jutsu itself provides practitioners a far wider range of options to use it’s style both passively or aggressively. Making it much more viable in direct confrontations. We also can’t forget the fact that these two are also adept with pressure point fighting and both of them also possess a vast knowledge of deadly martial arts techniques that could kill their opponents, but Daredevil makes much more frequent use of it with via nerve strikes and pinches more or so than Nightwing so it’s very possible at any moment, Hornhead could throw out a strike that completely blinds the First Boy Wonder, robbing him of his sight or inflict pain on him that feels far worse than being burned or pinching one of his soft tissues in the body to render him unconscious. However still in spite of everything I said which is seemingly favoring Daredevil as the overall better fighter and mentioning of Aikido’s shortcomings, Nightwing still learns to work around this and continues to remain as one of the top tier fighters in the DC Universe.
That being said, I still cannot comfortably give the edge to any of these two combatants considering what they have accomplished and how incredibly skilled of a fighter they’ve been showcased to be. So I call this round a draw.
Things I like address for a moment: Now that I’ve covered both combatant’s bases, there is one point I’ve been meaning to address and that is the argument that Daredevil can’t scale to any of Captain America’s or any of the good Marvel Street Leveler’s MCB Level feats or any of the MHS+ feats for that matter.
I’ve seen some folks try use this particular second encounter between Steve and Matt to argue that Daredevil is not in same physicality department as Captain America, Wolverine, and Deadpool. What they fail to realize however is that in the same context of this scan, Daredevil legitimately says “I’m really off my game.”, meaning he was completely out of practice with his physical and martial arts training due to taking his time off crime-fighting for a good while, the major contributing reason as to why he lost in this particular encounter.
Otherwise, Daredevil and Captain America’s fights before and after this one. Both of them are shown to be even when it comes to physicality and skills, you can clearly see that Daredevil was taking full physical blows to the face and body from Captain America’s attacks and doesn’t even get KOed here and in the Dead on Arrival storyline, Daredevil’s takes another punch to the face from Captain America and still doesn’t get KOed. More evidence to the contrary that DD is on the same physical level as Cap and most of the other street levelers.
Also keep in mind that this is a bloodlusted Cap whose punches that he tanked and suffered no broken bones whatsoever, this was during the Streets of Poison storyline where a drug got mixed in with Steve’s Super Serum which causes him to act irrationally and more aggressive thus he pulled none of his punches plus if Daredevil was really that weak in physicality, he would never have survived this punch from Captain America resulting in his neck being twisted 180 degrees by a morals off Steve. This pretty much comes across as cherry-picking without fully reading the context of what is taking place in the scan, that’s like me pulling out random scans showing Deathstroke beating Nightwing then try to argue that Dick can’t scale to Slade’s MCB Level feats even though for the majority of their encounters, Nightwing has been shown to be able to hang with Deathstroke for an extended period of time even if he doesn’t exactly beat him.
To add further consistency to all this. Guess who also able to tank punches from a serious Captain America? Motherf**king Punisher more than once. And Daredevil wrecks Punisher on more than one occasion. The important thing to take from all this is that Punisher can also take a beating from a bloodlust/morals off Captain America and suffers no broken bones, another reason that Frank was getting beaten a lot by Steve for most of their encounters was because he absolutely refuses to raise up his fist against the man he looked up to as his role model. Captain Steve Rogers was the reason why Frank was inspired to join the army to fight in the Vietnam War before he became the Punisher, he wanted to serve his country proudly and protect it from injustice just as Rogers did.
Which speaking of Punisher, just like Daredevil. He has shown to be able to regularly go toe to toe with Deadpool and Wolverine multiple times physically harm/stagger them and withstand attacks from them on a number of occasions.
I’ve seen some folks try use this particular second encounter between Steve and Matt to argue that Daredevil is not in same physicality department as Captain America, Wolverine, and Deadpool. What they fail to realize however is that in the same context of this scan, Daredevil legitimately says “I’m really off my game.”, meaning he was completely out of practice with his physical and martial arts training due to taking his time off crime-fighting for a good while, the major contributing reason as to why he lost in this particular encounter.
Otherwise, Daredevil and Captain America’s fights before and after this one. Both of them are shown to be even when it comes to physicality and skills, you can clearly see that Daredevil was taking full physical blows to the face and body from Captain America’s attacks and doesn’t even get KOed here and in the Dead on Arrival storyline, Daredevil’s takes another punch to the face from Captain America and still doesn’t get KOed. More evidence to the contrary that DD is on the same physical level as Cap and most of the other street levelers.
Also keep in mind that this is a bloodlusted Cap whose punches that he tanked and suffered no broken bones whatsoever, this was during the Streets of Poison storyline where a drug got mixed in with Steve’s Super Serum which causes him to act irrationally and more aggressive thus he pulled none of his punches plus if Daredevil was really that weak in physicality, he would never have survived this punch from Captain America resulting in his neck being twisted 180 degrees by a morals off Steve. This pretty much comes across as cherry-picking without fully reading the context of what is taking place in the scan, that’s like me pulling out random scans showing Deathstroke beating Nightwing then try to argue that Dick can’t scale to Slade’s MCB Level feats even though for the majority of their encounters, Nightwing has been shown to be able to hang with Deathstroke for an extended period of time even if he doesn’t exactly beat him.
To add further consistency to all this. Guess who also able to tank punches from a serious Captain America? Motherf**king Punisher more than once. And Daredevil wrecks Punisher on more than one occasion. The important thing to take from all this is that Punisher can also take a beating from a bloodlust/morals off Captain America and suffers no broken bones, another reason that Frank was getting beaten a lot by Steve for most of their encounters was because he absolutely refuses to raise up his fist against the man he looked up to as his role model. Captain Steve Rogers was the reason why Frank was inspired to join the army to fight in the Vietnam War before he became the Punisher, he wanted to serve his country proudly and protect it from injustice just as Rogers did.
Which speaking of Punisher, just like Daredevil. He has shown to be able to regularly go toe to toe with Deadpool and Wolverine multiple times physically harm/stagger them and withstand attacks from them on a number of occasions.
I think it’s worth pointing out in Daredevil and Deadpool’s first fight, it was very clear that Matt had the upper hand against him and Wade only won this round because he took advantage of Matt’s selfless nature, so he created a fake decoy baby to create a prolonged distraction so that he could get the jump on him. Without any of that, Daredevil beats Deadpool via pure skill as seen here in their second fight.
May I also mention that he is able to overpower Sabretooth and one-shot Daken? Two X-Men villains that are physically comparable to Wolverine and also have gone toe to toe with Deadpool.
Than there is also Taskmaster and Winter Soldier, both of whom are easily equal to Captain America in physicality and skill. Besides their first fight, in their second encounter Daredevil had to fend off Taskmaster all while dealing with multiple supervillains that were in the same room as them. In regards to Winter Soldier before someone starts bringing up “Oh Daredevil had help from Wolverine, Hawkeye, and Captain America to bring down Winter Soldier, so that doesn’t count!” he did, but that doesn’t devalue the individual talent of how well he performed against the said opponent and if you took a closer inspection on their fight, you’d notice that Matt was doing most of the fighting against Bucky the entire time and he was embarrassing him too… So in other words, Daredevil is far from being a weak street leveler who gets foddernized around.
I could keep going on as there is even scans that exist which shows that two of Daredevil’s greatest villains, Kingpin and Bullseye are also able to go up against half of these same guys as well.
Kingpin has beaten the crap out of Red Skull who was in the body of a cloned Captain America and even outmuscle Captain America himself as well.
And Bullseye can also physically stagger Deadpool several times followed by fighting Moon Knight to a inconclusive stalemate (who is also said to be comparable to Captain America in physicality, MK can even fight Daredevil and Punisher to a stalemate) and so on... But that’s a story for another time. Let's get down to my closing thoughts.
May I also mention that he is able to overpower Sabretooth and one-shot Daken? Two X-Men villains that are physically comparable to Wolverine and also have gone toe to toe with Deadpool.
Than there is also Taskmaster and Winter Soldier, both of whom are easily equal to Captain America in physicality and skill. Besides their first fight, in their second encounter Daredevil had to fend off Taskmaster all while dealing with multiple supervillains that were in the same room as them. In regards to Winter Soldier before someone starts bringing up “Oh Daredevil had help from Wolverine, Hawkeye, and Captain America to bring down Winter Soldier, so that doesn’t count!” he did, but that doesn’t devalue the individual talent of how well he performed against the said opponent and if you took a closer inspection on their fight, you’d notice that Matt was doing most of the fighting against Bucky the entire time and he was embarrassing him too… So in other words, Daredevil is far from being a weak street leveler who gets foddernized around.
I could keep going on as there is even scans that exist which shows that two of Daredevil’s greatest villains, Kingpin and Bullseye are also able to go up against half of these same guys as well.
Kingpin has beaten the crap out of Red Skull who was in the body of a cloned Captain America and even outmuscle Captain America himself as well.
And Bullseye can also physically stagger Deadpool several times followed by fighting Moon Knight to a inconclusive stalemate (who is also said to be comparable to Captain America in physicality, MK can even fight Daredevil and Punisher to a stalemate) and so on... But that’s a story for another time. Let's get down to my closing thoughts.
Closing Thoughts: We are finally at the end of the road now. So which of these two acrobatic vigilantes of the night do I believe will win this? First allow me to take a look at what these two bring to the fight and how that stacks up against one another.
Daredevil comes into this fight with his Superior Stats and Radar Sense meanwhile Nightwing brings in his Diverse Weaponry/Equipment and arguably Better Intelligence. With their equally comparable martial arts skills, this is undoubtedly going to be a long, hard-fought, and brutally-intense fight between of two of the finest combatants in the Marvel and DC universe each having an answer to almost every one of their strengths and weaknesses.
Daredevil comes into this fight with his Superior Stats and Radar Sense meanwhile Nightwing brings in his Diverse Weaponry/Equipment and arguably Better Intelligence. With their equally comparable martial arts skills, this is undoubtedly going to be a long, hard-fought, and brutally-intense fight between of two of the finest combatants in the Marvel and DC universe each having an answer to almost every one of their strengths and weaknesses.
One of Nightwing’s trademark go-to tactics before leaping into a full on engagement is stealth and surprise almost much like Batman, so that he could catch his enemies with the element of surprise and gain the upperhand, but the problem is… None of it is going to work on Daredevil thanks to his Radar Sense.
Daredevil’s Radar Sense is what really is gonna be the huge game changer of this match… With it, Daredevil can see in complete darkness, so no matter how many lights Nightwing may take out to try and hide in the shadows or even throwing out smoke pellets in hopes of creating a diversion to mask himself in the fog, the Scarlet Swashbuckler will still able to see him regardless as if he were not in the shadows or smoke at all. Not only that, but Daredevil has a multitude of ways to smoking out Nightwing from his hiding place, whether it’s the smell of his blood pressure rising, a drop of sweat, hearing a heartbeat , and detecting subtle shifts and atmospheric changes to the environment, even if it was a half decibel in the acoustics --- If the world’s greatest covert assassins and spies such as Winter Soldier and Black Widow could not hide or sneak up on him, chances are good ol’ Bird Boy here isn’t gonna fare any better.
Best part of it all though?, it’s not required for Dick to make a damn sound ether in order for Matt to detect him.
Best part of it all though?, it’s not required for Dick to make a damn sound ether in order for Matt to detect him.
Lastly, the Radar Sense grants Daredevil the ability to hear a person’s muscles tensing up before they throw an attack at him, a heartbeat acceleration to predict what they may do next, smell an individual’s adrenaline as soon as they’re enraged etc. Essentially Daredevil will be able to effectively tell what course of action will Nightwing take next even before they happen, leaving him with very few little options to retaliate with a counterattack or use underhanded tactics to gain the upperhand without the latter always being fully prepared to counter or dodge nearly everything that is being thrown at him.
Now the real question comes down to if Nightwing can exploit Daredevil’s weakness to sound/sound sonic weaponry to overload his Radar Sense and give him the decisive victory. The answer? Quite possibly, but here is the catch… When it comes to fighting the likes of Bane or metahumans having fire/ice powers for example, Grayson would have an obvious visual cue and idea as to how he can negate their advantages. But in the case of Murdock’s, it will prove to be extremely difficult to exploit, not as easy as one would think. Especially when Matt himself leaves very little to no obvious telegraphed patterns to his opponents that he is a blind ninja in red with superhuman senses, making it an unlikely scenario for it to even have it be a food for thought that he is facing against a guy who is just as good as him in martial arts and comes equipped with an amazing sense of hearing, smell, touch, taste. If anything Dick will more likely or not hypothetically realistically assume that the reason Matt is so good at being able to shut down his every offense is because he is a body reader like Cassandra Cain, which he couldn’t be any more wrong than that. Don’t get me wrong, there is no denying that Nightwing is a tactical genius, a brilliant one if you will, but he is no super computer who can simply solve every problem or develop a countermeasure towards his foes just by looking at them. Not even a super genius scientist like Doctor Doom wasn’t fully aware of the fact that he was blind when the two of them switched bodies in this instance (believing that the secret to Daredevil's powers was that his mask partially blinded him, sharpening his other senses) so don’t expect Nightwing to pick up on something that difficult to notice to ether. And this wasn’t even PIS, goes to show how good Daredevil is when it came to keeping the knowledge of his blindness and powers inconspicuous (there is even an in-universe explanation how he does it) unless he tells his friends out of trust or if his enemies do proper research on how his powers work.
There is also other factors to consider as well. Murdock’s Radar Sense is capable of sensing if something is off in the air molecules around him , basically allowing him to smell what material each of Grayson's weapons are made off, giving the Scarlet Swashbuckler not only another way of detecting him, but also discover that the latter is carrying sonic weaponry on him. With prior knowledge beforehand he’ll be able to tune down deafening noises that would normally be harmful if he expects it. But should the unexpected happen, Daredevil has shown time and time again that he is able to completely ignore the pain of loud noises and sonic weapons from his experience with his first two fights with Ulysses Klaw, pretending to be unconscious after being hit by a Wakandan Sound Wave Gun, and when an NYPD helicopter blasted up their sonic canon at full power, yet he was still able to move freely and this had them shook and confused (the reason they know his weakness is because Kingpin gave them the confidential files of how his Radar Sense works), there is also the fact that as of recent comics, Matt now has a built-in dampener into his mask which now help protect him and reduce the pain to his weakness towards sound/sonic-based weapons and attacks, sure it may not nullify the pain completely, but it will help further increase his resistance against Dick’s sonic weapons. Plus Sonic Weaponry will not really help secure a solid victory for Nightwing ether because even when he is bombarded with sound, he has shown to still be able to detect heartbeat changes, now even if said Sonic weapons were to take out Matt’s Radar Sense out of the equation temporarily. Good ol’ Hornhead has already proven the he is still a highly masterclass fighter even without his superhuman senses as Captain America has attempted a similar tactic on Daredevil before by shooting out a device from an anti-raft gun which in turn screwed his Radar Sense, in hopes that it will provide him an advantage over his opponent, but instead Murdock ends up fighting Rogers to a stand still. The man (Steve) could still barely touch him (Matt) in the long run, this is all done without the Radar Senses coming into play mind you (nevermind that Captain America once defeated Cache, a supercomputer AI villain who has catalogued every fighting style in the world and was using multiple different ones mixed together at the same time and is equal in hand to hand combat with Black Panther) which speaks volume of Daredevil’s sheer skill and discipline. Not the only time he has showcased his skills with being able to fight without his Radar Sense ether as in his fight with Karnak, a master martial artist who can detect weak points--- the man tried to slow his heartbeat down and often held his breath at the last second so that it would make it difficult for Daredevil to predict what he is going to do next, but the Man Without Fear was still able to best one of the Inhuman’s greatest champions in hand to hand combat, another showcasing of him being able to fight another competently skilled martial artist without the use of his Radar Sense.
There is also other factors to consider as well. Murdock’s Radar Sense is capable of sensing if something is off in the air molecules around him , basically allowing him to smell what material each of Grayson's weapons are made off, giving the Scarlet Swashbuckler not only another way of detecting him, but also discover that the latter is carrying sonic weaponry on him. With prior knowledge beforehand he’ll be able to tune down deafening noises that would normally be harmful if he expects it. But should the unexpected happen, Daredevil has shown time and time again that he is able to completely ignore the pain of loud noises and sonic weapons from his experience with his first two fights with Ulysses Klaw, pretending to be unconscious after being hit by a Wakandan Sound Wave Gun, and when an NYPD helicopter blasted up their sonic canon at full power, yet he was still able to move freely and this had them shook and confused (the reason they know his weakness is because Kingpin gave them the confidential files of how his Radar Sense works), there is also the fact that as of recent comics, Matt now has a built-in dampener into his mask which now help protect him and reduce the pain to his weakness towards sound/sonic-based weapons and attacks, sure it may not nullify the pain completely, but it will help further increase his resistance against Dick’s sonic weapons. Plus Sonic Weaponry will not really help secure a solid victory for Nightwing ether because even when he is bombarded with sound, he has shown to still be able to detect heartbeat changes, now even if said Sonic weapons were to take out Matt’s Radar Sense out of the equation temporarily. Good ol’ Hornhead has already proven the he is still a highly masterclass fighter even without his superhuman senses as Captain America has attempted a similar tactic on Daredevil before by shooting out a device from an anti-raft gun which in turn screwed his Radar Sense, in hopes that it will provide him an advantage over his opponent, but instead Murdock ends up fighting Rogers to a stand still. The man (Steve) could still barely touch him (Matt) in the long run, this is all done without the Radar Senses coming into play mind you (nevermind that Captain America once defeated Cache, a supercomputer AI villain who has catalogued every fighting style in the world and was using multiple different ones mixed together at the same time and is equal in hand to hand combat with Black Panther) which speaks volume of Daredevil’s sheer skill and discipline. Not the only time he has showcased his skills with being able to fight without his Radar Sense ether as in his fight with Karnak, a master martial artist who can detect weak points--- the man tried to slow his heartbeat down and often held his breath at the last second so that it would make it difficult for Daredevil to predict what he is going to do next, but the Man Without Fear was still able to best one of the Inhuman’s greatest champions in hand to hand combat, another showcasing of him being able to fight another competently skilled martial artist without the use of his Radar Sense.
And since Nightwing obviously does not carry an unlimited supply of Sonic Weaponry, he most likely won’t have anymore of them after one or two uses. So it’s worth taking into account of other gadgets he has at his disposal and how will they fare in comparison. Quite frankly, I have to say--- most of them would do jack against Daredevil and are nowhere near strong as his sonic weaponry.
9/10 majority of Nightwing’s Wing Dings and Bolas would hardly ever be able to touch Daredevil thanks to his overall superior speed, reflexes, and Radar Senses allowing him to predict the direction of where each and every projectile is coming from to avoid it. There is the sleeping gas Wing Ding, but Bird Boy would have to be careful on when to use it without knocking himself out in the process from the gas, and it also wouldn’t help too much in this situation since Daredevil has already been shown to be capable of recovering from sleep-inducing drug affects like when he quickly recovered from a tranquilizer being shot at him by the Punisher. While it might be possible that it could overload his sense of smell for awhile, Hornhead would still have access to his superhuman senses and hearing.
Now the Stun Grenade could potentially prove beneficial cause it would stun Murdock for a short period of time for Grayson to get in a good hits on his opponents, but that is the most he will get because Matt has already shown to be capable of recovering from a most flashbangs/bombs almost instantly, it helps that he is blind in which his field of vision will not be affected by the flash of light. The Foam would likely be a non-factor due to that it requires him to remain up close in order to use it plus an opponent as swift and agile as Daredevil would prove difficult to use it on.
Now the Stun Grenade could potentially prove beneficial cause it would stun Murdock for a short period of time for Grayson to get in a good hits on his opponents, but that is the most he will get because Matt has already shown to be capable of recovering from a most flashbangs/bombs almost instantly, it helps that he is blind in which his field of vision will not be affected by the flash of light. The Foam would likely be a non-factor due to that it requires him to remain up close in order to use it plus an opponent as swift and agile as Daredevil would prove difficult to use it on.
So what about explosives? Possible, as it has decent AOE, but I’m afraid it won’t too useful in the long run because most likely Daredevil will be able to dodge away them and even if he got caught in one, his suit is fireproof thus provides him protection against explosives.
Tasers, Electric Gauntlets, and Electrical Eskrima Sticks?? While highly useful and versatile, it would do very little to help Dick in the long run as Matt’s suit has also demonstrated to be electric proof as it is able to tank lightning blasts from Electro and shrugged off the electricity of a Wakandan electrical staff.
Which will eventually exhaust all of Nightwing’s gadgets and tactics, making him a fish out of the water. Leading this fight to ultimately coming down to a hand to hand combat scenario. It is at this point, all Nightwing can do is delay the inevitable until Daredevil breaks every bone in his body or rendering it useless by way of pressure points.
All these reason are why I predict that The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen will show the Protector of Bludhaven that he is the one and only true Man Without Fear.
VampyreNVRmore
Here I am! Didn’t expect me to be here so soon, did ya? It’s been what? 3 Death Battles since my last appearance here? Yup. That’s what happens when there’s a member of the Bat-Family chosen as a new combatant in Death Battle. Dick Grayson, who was Batman’s first Robin, will now be fighting Daredevil as Nightwing in a fight to the death. And to make things exciting, it’ll be ScrewAttack’s first ever live action Death Battle. Now then, let’s get this verdict started, shall we?
Let’s address an issue first since I know people will point it out. Both combatants have fought heavy hitters quite a number of times to the point that they scale to them, contributing to their stats. This happens, especially with comic book characters who had decades worth of stories written by different writers. Let me say this. There’s nothing wrong with scaling being used in a VS debate. It can be a useful tool that can’t be ignored. However, I will point out that scaling can’t always be used all the time because at some point, ridiculous stuff happens that makes no sense. So to me, scaling should only be used when feats are consistent and makes sense. That is all.
Now then, time to start the actual verdict.
Both Dick Grayson and Matt Murdock have shown extraordinary feats of strength. They’re each able to break people’s bones and sent opponents hard enough to break through wood and walls. They’ve also wrecked different opponents and OHKOs certain characters. Despite having some similar strength feats though, both combatants also have their own unique ones. Nightwing was strong enough stop and flip over a speeding motorcycle, break Bane’s spine, and throw one of his escrima batons hard enough to shatter a rock monster. However, his most notable ones include pushing over a giant penny (similar to Batman’s) despite being injured, keeping an orca from chomping its jaws on him, and holding up a stone statue that’s about over twice his size. Daredevil is no slouch either as he’s strong enough to shatter swords in half, rip off metal arms, and break free from metal bindings. However, his most notable strength feats do include tipping over a limousine without much effort and using a 400 lb object as a weapon before throwing it.
Next up is speed, which is a factor both combatants are known for using in their agility and acrobatics. Nightwing and Daredevil dodged and deflected bullets, moved faster than the eye could see, and can outreact Batman and Captain America respectively. Same thing with the strength category, each combatant has feats of their own despite sharing some with each other. For Nightwing, his notable speed feats include avoiding starbolts from Starfire, laser attacks and energy beams, moving through a laser field, dodging shots from a grenade launcher, and outrunning an explosion. For Daredevil, his notable speed feats including dodging Electro’s lightning, having a striking speed of 122.7 feet per second, and taking down 107 Yakuza members armed with weapons and were enhanced with Mutant Growth Hormones in under 3 minutes.
Now in terms of durability, both have their own crazy feats for the category. Both survived getting shot and stabbed, but those are their only shared durability feats. On his side, Nightwing has taken hits from heavy hitters such as Orca, Blockbuster, Garth, and Osiris. It should also be noted that Nightwing tanked plasma cutters that were able to previously slice people apart, hits from giant ice monsters, and tasers from Bluebird. His suit is also fire and smoke proof as well as punch proof as a guy once broke his hand trying to punch Nightwing. Dick Grayson also tanked an exploding plane to the face as Robin and was fine later on as well as tanking 3 continuous explosions caused by the Joker as Nightwing. Finally, he continued fighting after getting electrocuted and hit with tranquilizers of fear toxin. On the other hand, Daredevil has taken hits from the likes of Electro, Pyro, Doc Ock, Bruiser, Captain America, and Elektra yet still kept on fighting. He has also tanked and survived blasts from grenades, a napalm explosion, and a nitroglycerin explosion. And one time, Matt Murdock defeated an opponent after getting electrocuted, hit by a sound blast, and struck by bus. Itust goes to show you how much punishment these two are willing to take while pursuing their careers of crime-fighting.
Now, you may have wondered why I didn’t take who has the advantage for each category. The answer is tricky. Taking into account scaling both fighters consistently have and their feats, Daredevil has the upper advantage in all 3. However, there an important piece of information that also has to be taken into account. Death Battle has been known to composite combatants, and it’s more than likely they will composite comic book Dick Grayson with Dick Grayson as Robin from the original Teen Titans animated series. I haven’t mentioned Grayson’s feats from the show because we here at the blog are still not 100% sure. However, should Nightwing be composited, then feats from Teen Titans will give Dick Grayson the advantage in all 3 stat categories.
However, it’s time for me to state which combatant I’m going with and why.
I’m going with Batman’s best son, Nightwing.
The reason why I’m choosing Dick Grayson over Matt Murdock is because of three categories I haven’t spoke about yet: Training/Experience, Intelligence, and Weaponry/Gadgets/Armor. I believe that these are the key factors that will give Nightwing the win for this Death Battle.
For training, both of them started their own form of training at a young age. Before he became blind, Matt self-taught himself in the art of boxing. Some point after his training, he was trained by Stick in the art of ninjutsu, his training in using his other senses, and Chi/Ki control. However, those were his only training until becoming Daredevil in which he received more. Dick, on the other hand, had received acrobatics training when he was a very young boy and was already a skilled acrobatic by the time of his parents’ death. And since then, Batman trained him in every form of martial art, stealth, detective work, and other types of lessons before accepting him as his sidekick Robin. Therefore, Nightwing has had more training than Daredevil.
This leads to experience. Matt Murdock started his crime fighting career when he was an adult after his father was murdered. At that age, Nightwing has already had years of training since he became Robin as a pre-teen. He had already fought numerous villains and foes as well as being part of the Teen Titans.
In terms of intelligence, Nightwing has the advantage due to the education he received as Dick Grayson and as Batman’s protege Robin. While both do have similar education, Nightwing was taught by some of the smartest people in the DC Universe (including Batman of course) and showcases more feats of intelligence than Daredevil. Heck, his feats include solving 4 cases from “America’s Most Wanted” in a single morning, solving a 14 year old case, and answered one of the Riddler’s riddles before even Batman can answer himself. And while Daredevil has been been known to predict what people are going to do by listening to muscle movements, Nightwing’s intelligent enough to do the same as he’s able to predict people’s by reading their bodies.
Now when it comes to weapons, armor, and gadgets, Daredevil is easily outclassed by Nightwing. Matt’s only weapons are his billy clubs, which acts as melee weapons and contains a grappling hook. As for his suit, it is bulletproof, fireproof, and electric-proof with the mask containing an antenna and a dampener to reduce pain from sonic/sound weapons. However, Dick has a lot more. His main weapons are escrima sticks that can generate electric charges for electrical attacks and be combined into a staff, matching Matt’s billy clubs. However, it doesn’t stop there. Thanks to campartments in his gauntlets and boots, Dick can carry a lot more weapons for him to carry in this fight. While some of his weapons and gadgets used for stealth such as smoke bombs won’t work against Daredevil due to his blindness and radar sense, that doesn’t mean Nightwing is helpless. First of all, Dick carries powerful explosives, whether in the form of his Wing-Dings or as bombs. Secondly, he carries sonar and sound weapons that can overload Daredevil’s senses. And while Matt’s dampeners reduces the pain caused by them, it doesn’t mean they’re nullified. The pain still exists and can still affect and hinder Daredevil. Plus, hearing isn’t the only sense of Matt’s that can be exploited. Nightwing can overload Daredevil’s enhanced sense of smell with knockout/sleeping gas that he carries in capsules and Wing-Dings. It doesn’t help Matt that Dick also has other useful weapons such as lasers and foam that can stop him from moving. When it comes to Nightwing’s suit, it’s bulletproof, fireproof, and electrically insulated like Matt’s. However, it also acts as a living taser as it gives off 1 Megavolt (or 1,000,000 volts) of electricity. The suit is lined and padded with Kevlar, making it stronger and more durable than Daredevil’s suit. Adding to that is supplemental body armor used against damage caused by opponents who are stronger and faster than Nightwing. There’s nothing else left to explain why Dick has this advantage.
Overall, this match has actually been closer than you think. And while Daredevil might have the stat trinity advantage (if Teen Titan feats aren’t going to be used), the gap between the combatants in terms of those stats are actually pretty close. However, Dick Grayson’s advantages in training and experience, intelligence, and weapons, gadgetry, and armor is what allows him to overcome and win this fight. This is an outcome Daredevil couldn’t see coming.
Brobuscus
Oh, this’ll be fun.
Ok, before I talk about the actually important topic for today, I need to express one thing:
HE’S GOT THE TOUCH! HE’S GOT THE POWER!!
Alright, now that I got my brief gushing over the last DB out of the way, let’s do this.
So, this one’s interesting. Nightwing VS Daredevil is not the matchup I expected to kick off the idea of live action fights, but hey, if it does well, then maybe we’ll get more of them down the line that could work in that style(just don’t make them frequent. Once every season/two seasons is enough).
As far as my prediction goes, I could sound like a broken record here and be like “Oh Daredevil wins because he’s got the stats and senses to win” and all that jazz, but even though I believe that to be true, the people above me have kinda gone over that better than I can, so I’m not gonna bother.
Instead, I’m gonna look at arguments I’ve seen for Nightwing that I would like to discuss and go over how they’re either illegitimate or they don’t truly matter in the long run.
Does Nightwing have any way of overloading Daredevil’s sense?
I mean, maybe? He probably has something up his sleeve, but here’s the thing: Daredevil’s actually not as susceptible to something like sound blasts as some make it out to be. If he was, then Ulysses Klawe would’ve taken him out easily, and that didn’t go so well for him. Also, considering Daredevil’s durability advantage, I don’t think Nightwing has the strength or power to finish the job.
Isn’t Nightwing able to keep up with foes like Batman or Deathstroke?
Yes, but Daredevil can keep up with foes like Black Panther, so.........yeah
Can’t Nightwing try to stealth his way to victory?
I mean, he can try, but Daredevil’s Radar Sense should definitely be able to find him pretty quickly.
Isn’t there some feats in Teen Titans that could give Nightwing the win?
You mean feats that he can’t accomplish in the comics?
Ok, yes, Nightwing wins with high tier Teen Titans feats, but said feats contradict what he’s capable of in the comics, which are obviously the main source of canon, so they shouldn’t be included.
Isn’t Nightwing the better fighter of the two?
Yeah? So?
Well, I think I’ve covered it all, and the rest is pretty straightforward. Nightwing may have the better weaponry and fighting skills than Daredevil, but Daredevil’s strength, speed, durability, and echolocation are enough for me to say that he’s got this
In the end, this is what happens when you dare to go up against Matt Murdock.
Ok, before I talk about the actually important topic for today, I need to express one thing:
HE’S GOT THE TOUCH! HE’S GOT THE POWER!!
Alright, now that I got my brief gushing over the last DB out of the way, let’s do this.
So, this one’s interesting. Nightwing VS Daredevil is not the matchup I expected to kick off the idea of live action fights, but hey, if it does well, then maybe we’ll get more of them down the line that could work in that style(just don’t make them frequent. Once every season/two seasons is enough).
As far as my prediction goes, I could sound like a broken record here and be like “Oh Daredevil wins because he’s got the stats and senses to win” and all that jazz, but even though I believe that to be true, the people above me have kinda gone over that better than I can, so I’m not gonna bother.
Instead, I’m gonna look at arguments I’ve seen for Nightwing that I would like to discuss and go over how they’re either illegitimate or they don’t truly matter in the long run.
Does Nightwing have any way of overloading Daredevil’s sense?
I mean, maybe? He probably has something up his sleeve, but here’s the thing: Daredevil’s actually not as susceptible to something like sound blasts as some make it out to be. If he was, then Ulysses Klawe would’ve taken him out easily, and that didn’t go so well for him. Also, considering Daredevil’s durability advantage, I don’t think Nightwing has the strength or power to finish the job.
Isn’t Nightwing able to keep up with foes like Batman or Deathstroke?
Yes, but Daredevil can keep up with foes like Black Panther, so.........yeah
Can’t Nightwing try to stealth his way to victory?
I mean, he can try, but Daredevil’s Radar Sense should definitely be able to find him pretty quickly.
Isn’t there some feats in Teen Titans that could give Nightwing the win?
You mean feats that he can’t accomplish in the comics?
Ok, yes, Nightwing wins with high tier Teen Titans feats, but said feats contradict what he’s capable of in the comics, which are obviously the main source of canon, so they shouldn’t be included.
Isn’t Nightwing the better fighter of the two?
Yeah? So?
Well, I think I’ve covered it all, and the rest is pretty straightforward. Nightwing may have the better weaponry and fighting skills than Daredevil, but Daredevil’s strength, speed, durability, and echolocation are enough for me to say that he’s got this
In the end, this is what happens when you dare to go up against Matt Murdock.
Guardianangel1911
First, I want to thank the blog for asking me to help with predictions again. It’s a pleasure to discuss the ins and outs of these fights with them and I enjoy learning more about these characters than I used to know, and an excuse to go reading through stories I may have skipped over in the past is always fun, anyway on to the fight. These gentlemen are extremely skilled martial artists, acrobats, and more. They’ve spent most of their lives since childhood honing their bodies into efficient athletic machines that even Olympians would be jealous of. While experience is a tricky thing to measure and depending on where you look it varies who really has more, though Daredevil started out the gate as a young solo hero rather than someone’s protégé so at the least there is that.
Stat wise everyone I think has put this through the wringer, the two are incredibly close physically with bodies built with leans towards incredible acrobatic feats as opposed to more bruiser builds. Which is also why they don’t wear capes, or at least I feel like I recall something like that for a version of Nightwing, and Daredevil also doesn’t like them since they always show up in his radar sense fluttering and well, no one likes having something constantly dangling in their vision. Can’t blame the guy there. Though from what I’ve seen Matt has at the least a slight edge in strength, casually tossing around 400 pounds and in one instance picking up an engine block (around 300-400 pounds from what I’ve found) putting it in a tire, pulling it back in the tire like a rock in a slingshot using his feet as the posts and fired it at a truck. Speed is trickier, both have dodged bullets but Matt himself has deflected bullets on several occasions. Durability is also a crazy one because both have survived stuff I’m pretty sure would kill a normal man several times over. Using just their own feats for their comic versions makes them insanely strong fast and durable bordering on being effectively superhuman.
On the other hand both of them can also scale to street level heroes like themselves like Cassandra Cain and Katana for Dick and Elektra and Iron Fist (note all comparisons to Iron Fist are omitting uses of glowy super fist and kick powers only normal mundanely “human” attacks for comparison) for Matt as well as others mentioned by the others, I’m going to focus on Matt because I feel like Nightwings scaling has been covered well enough by his supporters here. As far as bullet timing Elektra has cut bullets in close quarters and blocked machine gun fire with her sais before, and also kicked a sniper round with a back flip kick while Danny has blocked automatic flechette gun fire which depending on calcs you believe and what weapons you want to compare the one in question with ranges from a few hundred feet per second velocity or less, all the way up to over 4000 feet per second while he was 6 feet away from the weapon, ducked under machine gun fire in a microsecond, caught sniper rounds in his hand, rushed over and caught a bullet a woman was shooting herself with when he was a few feet away and she had pulled the trigger, and is also able to match Elektra in close quarters much like Matt does (till he busted out Chi to end the fight). Matt is also able to match Danny until the Chi comes out.
But on the more interesting note is strength, earlier we mentioned the guy on Mutant Growth Hormone that Matt fought, one notable feat of a normal man on MGH was punching through another normal humans’ torso. So, one on the durability side that guy was repeatedly trying to beat Daredevil to death. Two it’s an interesting thing I bring up because he needed MGH to do this. Elektra who is physically comparable to Matt has done this multiple times over the years, punching through men’s chests, punching through walls through their chests, punching through body armor and their chests, throwing her Sai into a mans gun hard enough to tear his arm off, and have it the gun and her sai go through his bullet proof vest, through his torso, and out his back and the back of his bullet proof vest while knocking him backwards off his feet. No MGH required for her, or for Matt to fight evenly with her which goes double for Danny fighting Elektra and then back to Matt fighting Danny, a nice little triangle. All three of these martial artists can fight each other evenly in serious and in the case of Danny and Elektra’s case brutal fights. Moving on Elektra was also able to take down three SHIELD Hulkbusters without any of her weapons, just her bare hands and kicks, and she also threw her sai through a bulletproof robot. On Danny’s side he’s, and again these are instances where the strike had no Chi coating the appendage in question, kicked Dan Ketch Ghostrider’s Hell Motorcycle hard enough to explode it and shattered a large statue with a kick, kicked Titania hard enough to draw blood, and punched Colossus hard enough to knock him back into a table though the Titania and Colossus thing could be outliers or high ends. Even ignoring those two though there’s the motorcycle and statue the latter of which was during a moment in the crossover where Danny had no access to his Chi. Again, these are people Matt compares himself to and has shown the ability to compete with. And on the subject of comparison of strength, looking at Elektra’s sai throws I mentioned, Matt recently threw his billy club with enough force to hurt Diamondback, who at the time was on super drugs that made him comparable to Luke Cage and Jessica Jones in strength and durability. Considering Daredevil wouldn’t have been throwing to kill the feat is likely relatively in line with those two throws.
Gadgetry is where Nightwing can theoretically truly take the edge as even in modern times he carries a wider variety of gadgets. Though like Batman they are mostly of the nonlethal variety, but they can still hurt like hell. That said Matt in the past has had gadgets in his billy clubs like gas pellets to make smokescreens and tape recorders among others. Though I can’t say if these will be included in the Death Battle so I’m not going to talk on them. The biggest potential edge here is if Dick can discern Matt’s handicap, and further make the leap in logic that Matt must have super senses. I say leap because Dick is friends with telepathic shapeshifting aliens, a kid who uses magic to turn into a Supermanesque adult, and people who can read the slightest muscle movements. Characters that use telepathy or other means besides senses to read moves aren’t an alien concept to Dick, so “this man must have super hearing smell taste touch and a sixth sense giving him a 360 picture of his surroundings” may not be the first automatic assumption especially if Dick doesn’t realize he’s blind before noticing the ability to read moves and possibly even then. A blind telepath isn’t impossible after all for example.
But giving Dick the benefit of the doubt due to his intellect and saying he deduces Matt’s blindness, and further that he has a variety of superhuman sensory abilities allowing him to have a 360 view of his world without sight. Smoke Pellets, besides maybe knockout, are useless because Matt doesn’t need to see anyway and in CQC they’d be a hindrance rather than boon. Flash Bangs and sonics can disorient Matt to a point, but he’s fought through having his radar sense mucked with before. He has dampeners in his hood now to well, dampen sonic attacks. There’re the previously mentioned incidents with Klaw. For an incident not mentioned, we have Nitro exploding at Matt twice, once as Matt was getting in his car which disoriented Matt’s hearing and radar sense but even with that he as Daredevil tracked down Nitro, who then blasted Daredevil through a window with a smaller blast which further disoriented Matts senses. Matt still re-tracked down and successfully took Nitro down and afterwards was able to avoid a close-range bullet and asses the full situation around him despite the hindrance. For Dick to really take advantage of Matt’s senses he would need a sonic device powerful enough to cause him problems as much as it causes Matt problems and depends on Matt not disabling the device allowing himself to recover relatively quickly, especially if he uses his ability to meditate and speed up the process for a few seconds. If his sensory ability comes back before Dick can mount an attack on the recovering Matt, Matt will be able to calculate and dodge on the fly as he often does to calculate where to throw or position himself or his billy club in fights. Perhaps more narrowly than he would’ve otherwise but he still has the potential to do so. Or like in many instances where he couldn’t dodge he’ll roll with the strike avoiding the brunt of the damage like in his early fight with Spider-Man in volume 1 where Spidey couldn’t get clean hits on Matt and thus couldn’t really damage him the way he could normal thugs, among other fights throughout the years and allowing himself some breathing room to counter.
Dick can get some amount of aid out of sonics and flashbangs but not enough I’d say to really guarantee the win against a man who has seen sonic weaponry before used on him, can recover fairly quickly, has a device in his hood to counter, and can fight through the disabled radar sense. As for other gadgets, bolos Matt can use his ridiculous control over his own body to flex his muscles and slip out of the binds, wingdings can be dodged and deflected, as already mentioned smoke pellets hinder Dick more than they help him and using them just to flee to stealth won’t help. Matt will either track Dick via scent of his hair product or adrenaline or sweat or blood sugar or even the ionized air around the taser sticks, feel his body heat moving close from behind, hearing heartbeat or breathing, or just his radar sense outright detecting him as part of the 3D picture of the world around him. Unless Dick can actively make himself appear to be a corpse in every way to every degree there’s no real logical way for him to hide from Matt when Matt can pick out a woman singing from several blocks away while facing the opposite direction.At the end of the day, it’s difficult for me to think of a good argument for comic Nightwing.
For the most part the two are very close, with Daredevil edging out in physicals to a degree. While the gadgetry argument is there its somewhat hollow in light of the fact that Matt has ignored Wakandan sonic weaponry faking being knocked out to get into the throne room, surviving two sonic explosions by Klaw and resisting even with his radar sense damaged, surviving two explosions by Nitro and tracking him down in spite of the explosions messing with his radar sense and hearing even dodging a bullet in spite of that. Add in a dampener in his hood to lessen the impact of sonic weaponry which he did not have in either of those incidents and it just makes it worse. Take sonic and gas weaponry from Dick and he’s left with a relatively average ninja kit weaponry wise for the most part which is nothing Matt hasn’t encountered before and won against. He’s fought armies of ninjas before, while no single Hand Ninja is on Dicks level to be fair the point is that ironically, Dick has nothing Matt hasn’t seen in some way shape or form before. Throwing stars, alien freeze rays, gas weapons, glue guns, taser weaponry, cables/ropes/bolos/various similar tech gadgets, antigravity disks, body changing machines, hypnosis rays, fear gas guns, nerve gas guns, hydraulic limbs, shrink rays, Antarctic vibranium powered guns, Matt has seen a wide variety of gadgets get used against him over his years of crime fighting. Not to say Dick hasn’t of course, but toys aren’t going to be a final deciding factor here.
No, the deciding factor is going to be who is better able to beat down their opponent and avoid being beat down. Dick and Matt have incredible showings of will, durability, and determination to go alongside the best of them. They’ve survived explosions, they’ve had their bodies battered and broken, they’ve gone days, even weeks without sleep, and they keep going. There’s no easy way to put these men down for another comic book peak human. And both these men are great examples of comic book peak humans who are capable of insane feats and in theory this really could go either way. But this is a prediction blog, so I have to make a choice. So, assuming animated Nightwing from Teen Titans isn’t brought up (for reasons the others have pointed out) I have to say that I believe Daredevil, the Man Without Fear will be the victor. As I said the fight is incredibly close, Daredevil has stat advantages but not necessarily to a massive degree. And I don’t really think weaponry will be the deciding factor, these guys can push through wounds and injuries that would kill lesser men and they both have mostly nonlethal kits or weaponry that the other can avoid at a distance. So, likely this isn’t going to be a fight decided at a distance. The sensory weakness isn’t a serious enough issue for Daredevil between examples of him resisting it and having a device in his hood to defend against sound attacks. Stealth isn’t an option, Nightwing can’t avoid Daredevil’s senses, and Nightwing is a capable enough warrior to at least be able to recover from stealth attacks if he is surprised. This is going to come down not to the suits and the toys but the men. Skill isn’t something I’m comfortable gauging to give an edge to either especially with as much as both these men know, but at the end of the day Matt is just that little bit better physically in each stat. And at worst he can activate his Man Without Fear personality to power through things normal Matt Murdock Daredevil just couldn’t get through. Matt’s spirit and belief in justice is powerful and tangible enough that he unknowingly channeled it into a sword to kill (or at least banish/exorcise) The Beast, the high tier demon The Hand worships, I cannot think of any more defining and visible way outside of the feats provided for his durability and endurance to demonstrate Matt’s indomitable spirit than said spirit literally being channeled into a normal ass steel sword allowing him to slay a high tier demon.
Nightwing can hurt Daredevil’s body, but Daredevil’s spirit will not break. Daredevil’s body and desire to win edge out Nightwing’s, both are determinators, but Matt will rush at the belly of The Beast, literally, and not blink, not hesitate, not even flinch even if he is certain he won’t survive what’s to come. Matt doesn’t fear death, and that more than anything is why he won’t fall in this battle to the death. The winner in my opinion is The Man Without Fear.