Thursday, January 11, 2024

Death Battle Predictions: Poseidon vs Malenia

 


“There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. 'Good pride' represents our dignity and self-respect. 'Bad pride' is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.” - John C. Maxwell


Poseidon, the God of the Seas from Record of Ragnarok

Malenia, the Blade of Miquella from Elden Ring


The Seven Deadly Sins are the worst things one can experience. Wrath, envy, greed, etc; all things that can corrupt a person and turn them into a shell of their former selves. However, the worst sin of them all is Pride. While having Pride can be a good thing at times, others it can blind one of what truly is best for them. These two warriors embody both ends of the spectrum. Will the God of Gods win this round or will the Queen of Rot decay his chances of victory. Set aside your pride to find out who would win in a DEATH BATTLE!

Before We Start…

Of course before we start we have to set what media we are using for both characters. Luckily for us, that will be pretty simple. Poseidon will be getting the manga, spin off mangas, anime, and any supplementary material like the Japanese shorts on the Warner Bros Youtube channel. Due to the questionable translation for Record of Ragnarok we will be pulling from Mangasee and Mangadex as our main two sources. Malenia will be given the game she stems from, Elden Ring, any trailers or promotional videos, and the comic/manga. 

Background

Poseidon

“We have no need for armies. No need for betrayal. No need for support. Such are the Gods. Ever since the beginning , we have been the perfect beings and yet, you have managed to defile everything we stand for.”


The gods ruled over all of creation with their divine judgment; however, they were quick to realize humanities own failures and self destructive habits made them too dangerous to be kept alive until a valkyrie named Brunhilde requested Ragnarok for humans to fight the gods for their existence to continue for another thousand years. Poseidon was a part of the greek chief gods that had the highest authority in the cosmos however, Poseidon lived a life of perfection to become the greatest representation of a god both physically and mentally, as he supposedly killed his brother Adamas(kinda) for making a mockery of gods by creating a democracy vote for higher authority between the chief gods and trying to overthrow Zeus in a civil war. Poseidon then joined ragnarok to fight for the might of the gods as he faced the greatest loser in humanity history “Sasaki Kojiro”, a fight that pushed Poseidon and Sasaki to their limit however Sasaki would prove too much by finally reading his moves completely as Poseidon takes his last breath to never acknowledge the importance of humans before his death. In the end, Poseidon truly did live and die as a God to never falter and acknowledge those lesser than you is nothing less of a God.

Malenia

“I dreamt for so long. My flesh was dull gold... and my blood, rotted. Corpse after corpse, left in my wake. As I awaited... his return. Heed my words. I am Malenia. Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat.”


Malenia was born into greatness. Born a child of Queen Marika the Eternal and Elden Lord Radagon, her and her twin brother Miquella were born to potentially replace their mother as a new god of a new age. However, this came at a cost, Miquella was born with eternal youth, never able to grow into adulthood and as for Malenia, well she was inflicted with the Scarlet Rot. The Scarlet Rot is a deadly disease which eats away at whoever or whatever is inflicted with it. Being born with disease she was ravaged from inside and most of her limbs were rotted away, causing her to get prosthetic limbs.


However, at some point in her life, she encountered a swordsman who she trained under. From this she would become an expert swordswoman, fighter, and warrior, leading her own army of knights and worshippers. Eventually, Miquella, her brother would craft a needle which kept the effects of the Scarlet Rot at bay.


Once the Elden Ring shattered, Malenia claimed a shard of the Elden Ring. This shattering caused a massive war between the demigods in which Malenia lead a powerful army who won many battles. This caused her to be two of the last demigods standing, facing off against her half brother Radahn in the final battle. However, in the middle of combat, the Scarlet Rot was unleashed by her resulting in her first bloom and turning not only the environment into a wasteland but also turning Radahn into a mindless beast searching for combat.


While this may seem like a win, she was also greatly affected. Unleashing this disease left her in a coma. She was brought to the Hailgtree, the tree Miquella was supposed to be encased in to reverse his curse. He ended up getting stolen from the tree unknowingly to Malenia. The Scarlet Rot seeped into the tree which began infecting the environment. However, her rest would finally be broken by a legendary warrior known as The Tarnished would defeat her and put her out of her misery. Her final words apologizing to her brother, Miquella.


Experience & Skill

Poseidon

If it’s one thing Poseidon has, it is experience and skill. Poseidon has plenty of experience, likely being around since the Big Bang due to being the older brother of Zeus and Zeus was there for the Big Bang. Poseidon has fought in many wars and tournaments ranging from Titanomachy and Gigantomachy. His skill is even comparable to that of Sasaki Kojiro who basically perfected the art of swordsmanship. In short, Poseidon has many many years of experience and skill up his sleeve.


Malenia

Malenia had countless years of experience and skill. She was taught and mentored in swordsmanship and very quickly became one of the strongest warriors of all the Demigods. She was amazing leader too, leading an army to take down many different Demigods, rivaling that of even Rahdan, possibly the strongest Demigod. Malenia is so strong and skilled she even had Godrick the Grafted begging for mercy.


Equipment

Poseidon

Trident

Poseidon’s trident is his handy weapon he always carries with him. Being a master at using his trident, he can use it to attack people with powerful strikes and jabs which can take a chunk out of someone with ease. Poseidon mainly uses the trident with his many swift barrage attacks making it seem like he’s attacking with it from all angles.

Malenia

Hand of Malenia

The Hand of Malenia is a katana that is built into Malenia’s prosthetic arm. This sword is resistant to the effects of the Scarlet Rot and comes with a special ability to cause increased blood loss on whoever it strikes.

Gold Unalloyed Needle

The Gold Unalloyed Needle is merely a needle which was inserted into Malenia which halted the effects of the Scarlet Rot.


Abilities

Poseidon

Godly Physiology

Throughout the series it is shown that Gods cannot be harmed or hurt by normal human weaponry. Instead, in order to harm a god one must need divine weaponry. However, it has been shown before that a God can be killed without the use of a divine weapon.

Afterimage Creation

Afterimage creation is a pretty simple ability. Poseidon is capable of moving so fast that he creates after images of himself, making it look like he’s in multiple places at once.

Water Manipulation

While Poseidon only uses this ability once, he still has shown to use it. Poseidon is capable of manipulating water which he shows to part the water around him so he could enter the arena.


Techniques

Amphitrite

A simple technique in which Poseidon thrusts his trident in a circular manner at high enough speeds to create after images.

Divine Lightning

Divine lighting is a technique in which Poseidon leaps above his opponent while unleashing an array of thrusts with his trident. These trusts are so fast that they create afterimages.

40 Day Flood

40 Day Flood may be Poseidon’s strongest attack. Poseidon creates a massive dome of afterimages and thrusts from his trident which is extremely hard to counter.


Malenia

Enhanced Senses

While it may not seem like it at first, Malenia has amazing senses. This is due to the fact that while Malenia is blind, she can still fight and react like she still has eyes. Her having enhanced senses is further strengthened by the fact she can still fight under the Crepus’ Vail which removes any sound from movement.

Regeneration

While it’s not conventional regeneration, Malenia has a way to keep herself healed. Anytime Malenia lands an attack on an opponent, she heals herself. This healing activates even if the opponent blocks or parry’s the attack making them forced to dodge.

Techniques

Waterfowl Dance

A technique in which Malenia leaps into the air and dives at her opponent, unleashing a flurry of slashes. She slashes two more times after that then begins unleashing a flurry of more slashes while standing still.

Kick

A technique in which Malenia rushes at her opponent, sweeping at them with her leg. This is could be followed by 4 different attacks: A slightly delayed stabbing dash attack, a sword swipe followed up by an overhead slam on the ground, two quick slices followed by another slice or a grab attack

Thrust

A technique in which Malenia jumps slightly into the air before releasing a very quick thrust attack which does massive damage.

Uppercut + Slam OR Charge + Spin

A technique in which Malenia will hold her sword back and do one of two things depending on her opponent’s location. If one is in close range she will do an uppercut then leap in the air to slam down and if one in in long range she will charge towards the player, spin her sword, and then slam.

Rapid Prosthesis Slices

A technique in which Malenia shortens her blade before rushing her opponent and doing three quick attacks, followed by a final delayed horizontal slice.

Lunging Grab

A technique in which Malenia raises her hand and lunges at her opponent. If she successfully grabs them, the opponent will be tossed into the air and impaled by her sword.

Resistances

Forms

Poseidon

None.

Malenia

Goddess of Rot

After defeating Malenia, she goes into this form as the Scarlet Rot in her body blooms. In this state she loses all of her armor and grows wings from her back made from seemingly the Scarlet Rot which gives her the ability of flight. However, that’s not the only ability she gains. She is capable of creating multiple avatars of herself with the Scarlet Rot to help attack her opponents and all her attacks are imbued with the Scarlet Rot. The Scarlet Rot is a disease which causes the body to rot and decay as it grows inside and destroys one's body, it’s basically a stronger poison in the game. It is even capable of making people infected go crazy. With the Scarlet Rot she can perform a plethora of different moves such as:


Scarlet Aeonia

Malenia lunges at her opponent and summons a giant flower which explodes, leaving mist in the area which can infection one with the Scarlet Rot.

Scarlet Explosion

This is a follow up technique to the techniques in her base form in which she flies up into the air and slams down her sword which creates a small vortex of rot which explodes after a brief delay and builds up Scarlet Rot. 

Counter Kick

While not common, Malenia will occasionally counter an opponents attack by kicking them.

Flying Sweep + Thrust

Malenia flies up into the air and glides down from her opponent’s left before doing a very quick thrust attack.

Phantom Spirits

Malenia will fly into the air, creating a pool of scarlet rot on the ground below her, and consecutively fire out four phantom versions of herself that will do two horizontal sweeps, a vertical slam, a third horizontal sweep followed by a quick thrust, one final thrust, before Malenia herself comes down with a high speed flying thrust to player, dealing high damage. The first and last phantom will stay longer in order to do a single thrust attack each, occurring after the fourth's sweep attack..


Feats

Poseidon

Overall

  • One of the most feared gods in Valhalla

  • One of the 12 main Olympian gods

  • One of the 3 strongest Olympian brothers

  • Fought in Gigantomachy and Titanomachy

  • “Erased” his brother, Adamas, from history when he tried to overthrow Zeus

  • Was chosen to fight in the Ragnarok event

Power

Speed

Durability

Malenia

Overall

  • Defeated countless enemies and Demigods including Godrick the Grafted

  • Went undefeated until she fought Rahdan 

  • Is stated to be one of the strongest Demigods next to Rahdan

  • Stalemated the legendary Rahdan

  • Made countless players rage quit

Power

Speed

Durability

Weaknesses

Poseidon

His very own hubris of Gods being perfect beings prevents him from going all out from the get go allowing his opponent some time to grow against him. This arrogance also causes him to not to use some of his abilities and resort to only hand to hand combat even if he is about to die.

Malenia

Malenia is one of the few characters nowadays with an actual weakness as Malenia is prone to fire based attacks. She also has the Scarlet Rot inside her body which is slowly decaying her however, it’s unlikely that weakness is applicable in a combat setting.

Before the Verdict

Elden Ring Stars

Before we get into the idea of if Rahdan was holding up real stars and or not, we would like to preface that not every agrees on if Elden Rings stars are real stars or not. Due to this, this will be reflected upon more in the verdict section and in the voting.


Now as for the arguments against them being real stars. There are two main points and both are fairly simple. The first point is that at the end of the Rahdan boss fight we see one of these “stars” crash into the planet. Of course this “star” that crashes into the planet creates a massive crater on the map in Limgrave. The issue with this is that for one, the “star” we see crash into the planet is very obviously not the size of a star and two, the resulting impact of said “star” is not nearly as big enough for it to be a star. If it were a star, it would have caused a bigger impact and crater than what is shown. The second point is that stats in Elden Ring have such a broad wording. This is especially proven as multiple enemies in the games are described as stars. For example, Astel, is literally described as a “star of ill omen”. Astel isn’t the only example, we also see Fallingstar beasts literally have the name Fallingstar and are located near craters, we also see a creature the same race to Astel called, Malformed Stars. So it’s very likely Rahdan was holding up meteors or creatures instead of real stars in the sky.

Light Speed Elden Ring

The only point of the 3 which everyone basically agrees with. The question here is, is light speed Elden Ring valid? Well the answer to that simply put is no. There are a few issues with lightspeed Elden Ring which contradicts them being light speed or even relativistic. First issue is that most of the attacks which are stated to be light are one frame attacks meaning that can’t be dodged, avoided, or have any real tandem movement. The second issue is that light magic shouldn’t be light speed. Not only does it not move in one frame like most light speed attacks, which contradicts moving at the same speed, it also curves midair contradicting the fact that light can’t bend unless off of reflective surfaces. Due to the factors we decided that Elden Ring and Malenia shouldn’t be relativistic to faster than light.

Universal Record of Ragnarok

As stated in Poseidon’s stats, there are a few feats which should be universal which Poseidon could potentially scale to. 


Before we get into how he could scale to these feats let us address some simple cosmology first. To begin with we know there are three realms: Valhalla, Midgard, and Helheim. These realms are consistently shown to be equal in size to one another through the diagrams shown. It would make sense for them to be in separate universe sized realms given the fact we see that Valhalla has its own stars and even its own planets through Titanomachy. While they are stated to be “worlds”, this doesn’t contradict the idea they are universe sized as one of the definitions of world is the whole physical universe. Even the Japanese scan uses the Kanji δΈ–η•Œ or shijie which could mean the universe, backing the idea they could still each be their own universe or at least universe sized realms.


Now onto the important stuff, how does Poseidon scale to any of this. Well for starters, there are multiple feats listed of Zeus being capable or stated to be capable of destroying the universe. Even with this, Poseidon is stated to be the most fearsome god and the fiercest of the 12 Olympus gods. The idea that he’s one of the top Olympus gods is only further reiterated when Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon are regarded as the three strongest brothers of Greece. This only further proves that Poseidon should scale to his brother. While it doesn’t reference Poseidon, it doesn’t make sense for Poseidon to me compared to Zeus and Hades, two chief gods, and not be comparable. Furthermore, Heracles, who should be a weaker god to Poseidon, was directly stated to have the strength of Zeus. Ares even saw Zeus when looking at Heracles. Lastly, even from a story or narrative perspective, the humans and gods should all be relatively comparable to each other given the fact they could be picked to fight any of the fighters on the opposite end. If the characters weren’t anywhere near comparable then there would have been no reason to add them to the roster.

Verdicts

Stats

Stats is a pretty important thing for this matchup which makes things a little complicated due to the nature of both series and the contention behind their respective series stats. This contention mostly comes from the characters AP and Durability so to make things easier we will start with speed.


To begin with let us start with Poseidon as we have calculations and numbers for him. Poseidon’s best direct feat, which is him performing his 40 Day Flood technique, gets 3.135c or 3.135 times faster than the speed of light. While this is certainly impressive, he can actually get even higher through scaling to Leonidas, a human fighter which was capable of moving in tandem with an arrow that moved at the speed of light. This in tandem movement was calculated at 8 to 14 times the speed of light, solidly placing Poseidon at FTL - FTL+ speeds. While we have no calculations for Malenia’s speed, we do know she scales to characters who can catch lightning. We know this is natural light because well, the lightning comes from a cloud in the sky. If we were to say this is 2x the speed of lightning, we would get Mach 709.5. While this is only an estimated guess on what the speed would get, Poseidon would at least be 9855 times faster than Malenia at 8c and 17246 times faster at 14c. Speed easily goes to Poseidon.


Now onto the most convoluted part for both characters, their AP/Durability. To begin with let us start off with what Malenia’s side buys. To begin with going off what Malenia’s side believes the characters scale to, Poseidon should be planetary from scaling to characters like Shiva who have been stated to create worlds/planets and Thor who was stated to be able to shatter the Earth. While impressive, Malenia would actually get higher scaling to Rahdan who held up stars in the sky which gets 3.6 Foe. If you use the bottom of Planet level for Poseidon, Malenia would be (hopefully I didn’t butcher this math) 1,447,510,100,000 times stronger than Poseidon. 


However, if you are on Poseidon’s side you would actually believe the opposite. While Malenia does scale to Rahdan who holds up stars, as explained above, it’s very unlikely Rahdan was holding up real stars and were most likely meteors and or creatures. Due to this, the feat should actually be worth about 118 Megatons of TNT. On the flip side, Poseidon should get much higher than Planet level, as explained above, he should scale to characters like Zeus, Heracles, and Shiva which all have universal feats or statements that compare one another. This would be Poseidon many many times stronger than Malenia.


If we were to lowball both characters and give them their most reasonable lowball, we would put Malenia at 118 Megatons of TNT while we would put Poseidon at vaguely Planet level. Using the bottom of Planet level, Poseidon would be 503,728,810,000,000 times stronger than Malenia.


Lastly, if we were to highball both characters, Malenia would be placed at 3.6 Foe while Poseidon would be placed at Universal. This again, would put Poseidon at many many times stronger than Malenia. In almost every way you slice it, Poseidon should be faster and stronger than Malenia. Stats should go to Poseidon.

Arsenal & Abilities

Now onto a more interesting part of the debate, abilities. Neither character really has anything crazy in their arsenal so we will focus on their abilities, how they can affect this fight, and their possible interactions. To begin with let us start with Poseidon’s abilities and their importance to the fight. Let us get the useless information out of the way first, water manipulation is likely not going to be a factor in this fight for 2 reasons; we have no clue if he can use it in a combat setting and even if he can he’s unlikely to do so due to his arrogance and pride. However, Poseidon’s passive ability is not one he has to actively use. This passive ability is in fact his own godly physiology which basically means he can’t be harmed by mortal weapons and can only be harmed by divine weapons. While this could potentially creep into a NLF, it’s very unlikely that it will, given the fact Poseidon should be stronger anyways. However, while he can’t be hurt by mortal weapons, there have been plenty of times in the series a non amplified human has hurt and god WITHOUT the use of divine weaponry and has only used their strength and skill. For example, Qin Shi Huang defeated a god to become a king. So this is just simply proof strength and technique can work, even if mortal weaponry doesn’t. Now how does this play into the fight? Well it means that if Malenia tries to use her blade, Hand of Malenia, it will most likely just shatter on impact, leaving Malenia defenseless and open to attacks. The only way she could defend herself would be in her second form, Goddess of Rot.


Now how could she defend herself in Goddess of Rot with no sword you may ask. Well simply put, the Scarlet Rot would very likely work on Poseidon. If Malenia would be able to enter this form, use Scarlet Aoenia, and have Poseidon enter the mist, he would be infected with the Scarlet Rot. This would basically all but secure her a win as Poseidon would quickly rot and decay from this, killing him. However, there is one major reason why this is unlikely, the stats. If you read above, Poseidon is so much faster and so much stronger it’s likely he one shots her and speed blitzes her before she could even go into her second form. And even if she does, she’s definitely not going to be able to stay alive long enough to use Scarlet Aoenia. 


That’s the biggest issue for Malenia. While she has a good amount of abilities which could keep her in the game like regeneration, durability negation through Scalet Rot, blood loss, it’s all basically meaningless as she can never hit Poseidon due to the speed advantage. This coupled with the fact that Poseidon’s afterimages could keep Malenia in a constant state of confusion, trying to not only keep up with his speed but where he is at with the afterimages would make her life a nightmare.

Tertiary Factors

Finally we are on their tertiary factors. This will be a fairly simple section because Poseidon once again, should take this fairly easily. While Malenia is a master swordsman and has stalemated even some of the strongest and most skilled characters from her verse that is nothing in comparison to Poseidon. Poseidon has fought in not just 1 war but two in Gigantomachy and Titanomachy, solidifying the fact he has experience fighting. He has been alive for many many years longer than Malenia has been solidifying experience even more. And to make matters even worse, he was beating a master swordsman who had been training hundreds of years after his death, many years longer than Malenia and shows that Poseidon can match characters of similar if not greater skill to Malenia. 


While Malenia could possibly exploit Poseidon's personality, she would have to be in her second form in order to do that due to the strength and durability gap. This would be extremely hard to do because she would have to survive long enough to do so. It would be a big jump to assume that Poseidon would go easy on her for long enough to do and then would have to assume Poseidon does nothing while she activates her ability. This even contradicts Poseidon’s personality as while he’s cocky, if Malenia continues to dodge his attacks, he’s only going to attack faster and faster due to his annoyance similarly to what he did against Sasaki. Due to being faster, it would get to a point in which Malenia wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Conclusion

"Supporters? We have no need for the herd... no need for scheming... and no need for support. Such are the Gods. Supporters are entirely unnecessary to those who have already attained perfection."


Advantages:

  • Significantly faster

  • Afterimage creation could make it hard for Poseidon to track

  • Possibly stronger depending on what’s bought but…

  • Malenia might not be able to damage or hurt Poseidon due to not having divine weaponry

  • Far more experience and likely more skill

  • Record of Ragnarok Manga is peak fiction


Disadvantages:

  • … is possibly weaker depending on what’s bought as well

  • Scarlet Rot could dura neg Poseidon if Malenia lands a hit

  • His arrogance could make him go easy on her, giving her a possible advantage at the start

  • Record of Ragnarok Anime

  • Sasaki Kojiro


"The scarlet bloom flowers once more. You will witness true horror. Now, rot!”


Advantages:

  • Possibly stronger depending on what’s bought but…

  • Malenia can possibly stay alive with regen if she lands a hit

  • Malenia can possibly win Scarlet Rot if she can land a hit

  • Malenia could possibly use Poseidon’s arrogance as an advantage

  • Elden Ring is peak fiction (Awarded Game of the Year)

  • One of the hardest bosses in the game


Disadvantages:

  • Significantly slower

  • … is possibly weaker depending on what’s bought as well

  • Needs to go into her second form in order to win, likely loses in base form

  • Afterimage creation could make it hard for her to keep up and keep track of Poseidon

  • Not as much experience and likely not as much skill

  • Let Me Solo Her

  • One of the hardest bosses in the game


While this fight is interesting, it’s likely the God of the Seas, Poseidon takes this match. While stats are contentious, more times than not he is stronger and more durable. Even without the contentious AP/Dura, Poseidon will always be faster as well. Due to this Malenia won’t be able to capitalize on her Hax as she wouldn’t be fast enough to keep up and would eventually be taken out by Poseidon. While Malenia held her own but Poseidon had a Record to settle in the Ring. 


The winner is Poseidon.

Final Tally

Poseidon (4) - 𝓐𝓼𝓾𝓻π“ͺ, Brokenlimit, Birb, Phoenix Wright


Malenia (1) - ZombieOfTheWest


(Credits to miyumi)


Before the Next Time

First of all, I want to thank everyone for participating and submitting a vote. I’m extremely happy with the turnout and number of votes. The poll was crazy with 205 participants and 615 votes. This means a lot for someone who just wanted to make some blogs with friends for fun. So as I said, thanks for participating. Secondly, as you know there can only be 3 winners. Because of this, most of the MU’s won’t make it into Wave 2 because well they lost. But, do not be discouraged. Given one of us staff can still pick one of these MU’s to do Wave 3, so it’s not like they have been banished from ever happening here. Anyways, enough with the rambling on to the placements and winners…



Next Time…


Henry Stickmin vs The Second Coming


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