GT25's Versus Series: Lin Kuei vs. Firebender
Hello, and welcome to the Versus Series. In this series, we will compare warriors from across the many universes of all forms of fiction and analyze their weapons, armor, and x-factors to see who would win in a hypothetical battle. In this installment, we will compare two warriors with some inspiration from Chinese warriors in a battle of elements with the Lin Kuei from Mortal Kombat and the Firebender from Avatar: The Last Airbender. For this installment, we will take the Lin Kuei after their restoration and the Firebender by the end of the Hundred Year War. While these two are more well known than most warriors, I will still provide a brief summary of their histories for those who are unfamiliar with them.
History of the Warriors
While when exactly they were formed is unknown, the clan of assassins known as the Lin Kuei would form in the country of China with them gaining a reputation for their skills as assassins. Long after one of their members returned to Japan and formed the Shirai-Ryu, both clans would go to war before the son of the grandmaster, Sektor, would have the sorcerer Quan Chi wipe out the clan. As the grandmaster devised to cybernize the Lin Kuei, the clan was hired by the Outworld sorcerer Shang Tsung to help him defeat the warriors of Earthrealm in the Mortal Kombat tournament. However, these plans would be the clan's undoing as the Lin Kuei warriors would fall in the tournament and Sektor would kill his father after becoming a cyborg. After the death of Sektor and of the cyborg warriors, the Lin Kuei would be reformed and restored by the warrior Kuai Liang, better known as Sub-Zero. Changing the Lin Kuei to being allies of the warriors of Earthrealm, Kuai Liang would meet with Hanzo Hasashi where he would reveal to the Shirai-Ryu ninja the truth of his clan's demise thanks to the remains of Sektor.
One of the world's four nation, the Fire Nation would be formed of several islands on the Western hemisphere along the planet's equator. With their history from its inception documented extensively, the Fire Nation would be governed by a monarch known as the Fire Lord with one of these lords being the man known as Sozin. After being at peace for two centuries, the Fire Nation under Sozin would start to militarize with some of these soldiers being those who could use bending arts to control fire known as Firebenders. After the death of Sozin's friend Avatar Roku, Sozin would continue his policies before starting the Hundred Year War with the Air Nomad Genocide in an attempt to kill the next Avatar. Fighting against both the Earth Kingdom and Northern Water Tribe, the Fire Nation would continue the war as they progressed technology further to accomplish their goals. However, they would be defeated by the return of Avatar Aang in the final years of the war and would lose the war after the defeat of Princess Azula by her brother Zuko and the Avatar defeating the current Fire Lord.
Close Range
Dao (Lin Kuei): The Dao is a type of sword which has a single-edge blade that could thrust and slash and are used by the members of the Lin Kuei. Due to the appearance of the swords used, they are most likely similar to the real-life Liuyedao swords of the Ming Dynasty. As such, this sword most likely has a 29 inch folded steel blade with a total length of 36.38 inches and weighs 1.99 pounds.
Dao (Firebender): The Dao is a common weapon in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom which have single-edge blades and were common infantry weapons. Due to the appearance of these swords, they are most similar to the real-life Yanmaodao swords of the Ming Dynasty. As such, this sword most likely has a 28 inch folded steel blade with a total length of 36.13 inches and weighs 2.27 pounds.
Verdict: Neither weapon gets the edge. Both are basically the same weapon with the only difference other than length and weight being the sword that they seem to be based off of and the difference between the two variants.
Medium Range
Ice Daggers (Lin Kuei): The Ice Dagger is a type of weapon created by freezing water vapor in the air to manipulate it so that it takes the shape of a dagger with spikes on the back for use in combat. While fragile due to being made of ice, the weapon can be conjured in an instant and was often used as a pair rather than as on their own. This weapon most likely has a length of 16 inches and possibly weighs about 10 ounces.
Guan Dao (Firebender): The Guan Dao is a type of polearm that has a heavy blade similar to a sword blade that has a small spike on the back of it and was commonly used by soldiers of the Fire Nation. This polearm most likely has a 23.62 inch folded steel blade with a total length of 85.75 inches and weighs 13.29 pounds.
Verdict: The Guan Dao gets the edge. While the Ice Dagger is much lighter and can be thrown along with being used in melee combat, the Guan Dao has a longer reach and is much stronger than the daggers since it's made of various materials and not just ice.
Long Range
Short Bow (Lin Kuei): The Short Bow is a type of bow used by the Lin Kuei which is much like a recurve bow and most likely made of wood and horn. When using a bow, the Lin Kuei make use of several types of arrows which include poison arrows, explosive arrows, and arrows that can be set on fire. This bow most likely has a length of 36 inches and weighs 1.45 pounds.
Composite Bow (Firebender): The Composite Bow is a type of bow used by the Fire Nation which is composed of various material such as horn, wood, and sinew. This type of bow most likely has a length of 46 inches and weighs about 1.58 pounds.
Verdict: The Short Bow gets the edge, though not by much. While both bows most likely have a similar shape and make, the Lin Kuei do make use of various arrows along with their normal arrows unlike the Firebender.
Special Weapons
Cryomancy (Lin Kuei): While many of their members don't have this ability, a few members of the Lin Kuei are able to use the ability of cryomancy which allows them to control the moisture in the air around their bodies and cool it into ice. Using this ability in combat, those gifted with this ability are able to use ice based powers such as ice blasts which can be powerful enough to freeze a target to the point of making them brittle and can even form weapons shaped out of ice such as the Ice Daggers. While there are more abilities used by those with cryomancy, most are very similar to each other and some may be used by those who have more experience with the ability.
Firebending (Firebender): One of the four elemental bending arts, many people are able to use their chi to perform firebending which is the pyrokinetic ability to control fire and generate the element unlike the other bending arts. Using moves based off the Northern Shaolin style of kung fu in real life, a Firebender is able to use spinning kicks or sweeping arm motions to create ring and arcs of fire, shoot continuous streams of fire from their fingertips, fists, palms, or legs, and use jabs and punches to produce miniature fireballs and missiles of flames.
Due to its more offensive nature, this bending art allows the user to create a flame at the end of a limb and create an explosive burst upon hitting a target or the ground and small jets like those of a blowtorch called Fire Daggers from the fists and fingertips for melee combat. However, there are a few defensive abilities such as redirecting and changing the course of an incoming flame blast or creating a protective shield of fire in front of or around the bender that can deflect attacks and explosives. There are other techniques and more advanced uses of this bending art, but what has been listed is often the basic abilities of a Firebender in the Fire Nation military.
Verdict: Firebending gets the edge. While both abilities are deadly in their own right and Cryomancy can get a one-hit kill with powerful ice blasts, Firebending offers the user more in terms of attack and does have at least one form of defense with a shield of fire. Plus, Firebending does offer more offensive options which do vary from standard fire blasts such as fire arcs and streams.
Armor
Leather Armor with Iron Lamellar and Steel Shoulder Plates (Lin Kuei): When going into battle, the Lin Kuei typically made use of a cuirass with lamellar on it over their tunics. This cuirass, most likely made from harden leather, would cover the entire chest and part of the waist with it having small, iron rectangular plates laced together into horizontal rows with these plates most likely being thin to keep the cuirass light for the user. This lamellar armor covers the lower half of the cuirass with some in a semi circular pattern just below the breast of the user with large, squared metal plates which warp around the shoulders of the wearer.
These squared metal plates, most likely made of steel, cover the shoulders and offers protection from slashing strikes as well as being able to stop hits from striking the user's shoulders. The rest of the armor provides the user moderate protection from slashing attacks though the leather could fail to strong slashes and both the leather and lamellar can fail to thrusting attacks should the small plates spread apart due to the lacing failing.
Steel Cuirass with Spaulders, Leather Tunic, and Steel Helmet with Faceplate (Firebender): When going into battle, the Firebender typically made use of a steel cuirass with spaulders over a leather tunic for their primary armor. This cuirass, made of steel, covered the user's chest and back though it does stop at the user's stomach and would make use of steel spaulders connected at their shoulders which helped protect the user's neck and upper arms. This armor provided the user excellent protection from slashing attacks and most thrusting attacks, through a dedicated thrust from a polearm to the cuirass could be capable of piercing it and blunt force trauma can damage it. While this does leave the user's lower arms and lower body exposed, this is made up for with a tunic underneath it.
Worn under the cuirass, the Firebender would make use of a tunic most likely made of leather which covers their torso and lower body. If this tunic is made of hardened leather, this tunic would provide some protection from slashing attacks with stronger slashes getting through and being weak to thrusting attacks. However, with the cuirass, it does provide the user with some protection and adds more protection underneath the steel cuirass.
In addition to this armor, the Firebender would make use of a steel helmet which appears similar to the real-life Cervelliere helmet of Europe with a flame like crest and a faceplate shaped like an abstract skull. This helmet is possibly a hemispherical and close fitting helmet made of steel with the sides and back extended down like the real-life Sallet which also likely has a harden leather skirt attached to the sides and back of the helmet as added protection. This helmet is able to protect the user's head, though the eye holes of the faceplate are vulnerable and the harden leather skirt could fail to strong slashes and thrusts.
Verdict: The Firebender gets the edge. When looking at their body armor, both sets make use of leather armor with metal shoulder guards and body armor over it. However, the steel cuirass with spaulders is stronger and protects more vital areas than the iron lamellar along with being the main piece of body armor. Since the leather tunic underneath is secondary armor, it allows the user to have armor even under the cuirass while the leather cuirass is the main armor on the other set. In addition, the Firebender is the only one with a helmet which gives them more protection for their head compared to not having any. So, despite both sets of body armor being similar, the Steel Cuirass with Spaulders along with the Leather Tunic provide more protection than the Leather Armor with Iron Lamellar and Steel Shoulder Plates with the helmet of the Firebender helping secure the edge.
X-Factors
Experience: After being reformed under Kuai Liang, the Lin Kuei would becomes allies of the defenders of Earthrealm and would battle against the invasions lead by Shinnok and Kotal Kahn along with Sub-Zero and the other warriors of the realm. During the final years of the Hundred Year War, the Firebender had battled against the warriors of the Northern Water Tribe and soldiers of the Earth Kingdom which would include those who can bend water and earth with ease.
Killer Instinct: The Firebender gets the edge. Having to protect Earthrealm from those who wish to invade, the Lin Kuei are willing to battle along with the defenders of the realm against the forces of Outworld and slay those who wished to invade the realm. During their war against the Northern Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom, the Firebender was willing to use their weapons and firebending to take down and even kill their enemies to secure victory for the Fire Nation.
Ferocity: Being trained as assassins and now under the guidance of Kuai Liang, the Lin Kuei are ready to battle against any invading force from Outworld and are willing to battle alongside the warriors of Earthrealm to ensure its protection. Thanks in part to the offensive nature of their bending art, the Firebender was willing to battle against any opponent of the Fire Nation and are willing to burn down villages and towns of those who stand against them.
Tenacity: This is rather close for both warriors. Due to their dedication to their clan, the Lin Kuei are willing to battle against any opponent in the defense of Earthrealm including those from Outworld and help ensure the safety of their realm from any invading force. By the end of the Hundred Year War, the Firebender was willing to battle against the warriors of the Northern Water Tribe and the soldiers of the Earth Kingdom along with burning down villages and towns that oppose the rule of the Fire Nation.
Match Information: This is a one on one match with nothing else being taken into account.
The Set Up: In an area of forest, a Firebender is walking through the area as he scouts ahead while a Lin Kuei assassin surveys the area from the foliage of the trees.
BATTLE
In an area of a forest close to the edge which borders on a grassland, a man wearing a red and black steel cuirass with spaulders over a leather tunic and having a steel helmet with a faceplate on his head is walking through the woods. In the right hand of the man is a Guan Dao with a quiver on his back along with having a Composite Bow slung over his left shoulder. At the man's left side is a scabbard for a Dao which is held against his side thanks to a belt he has on. This man is a Firebender and one of the soldiers of the Fire Nation whose scouting ahead of the army for any possible threats in this new world.
Close by in the foliage of one of the trees, a man wearing leather armor with iron lamellar on his lower torso and steel plates on his shoulders over a black and blue tunic and having a cowl over his head is on a branch as he looks around. He has a Short Bow slung over his left shoulder while on his back is a quiver full of arrows below a scabbard for his Dao with the hilt just over his left shoulder. This man is a Lin Kuei assassin whose been tasked with surveying the area for any signs of an army from another realm.
As he keeps looking around, the Lin Kuei assassin sees the Firebender soldier walking away from the tree he's in. Seeing the man's armor and weapons, the assassin takes the Short Bow off his shoulder and takes his bow into his right hand. Taking a regular arrow out of his quiver, the Lin Kuei puts the arrow onto his bow and pulls the bowstring back. As the Firebender keeps walking through the area, he suddenly feels something hit the back of his steel cuirass and quickly turns around.
The soldier doesn't see anyone behind him, but a quick glance to the ground causes him to spot an arrow before he gets ready for another attack. Staying in place, the Firebender quickly spots another arrow coming towards him and uses his Guan Dao to knock it away. Quickly getting behind a tree, he places his Guan Dao against it before taking his Composite Bow off his shoulder as the assassin places another arrow onto his bowstring. Waiting for his newest adversary, the Lin Kuei spots the Firebender as he launches an arrow from his Composite Bow.
However, the arrow misses the assassin who fires his own arrow which strikes the leather tunic close to the man's hip. Seeing his foe pull the arrow out with ease, the assassin draws an explosive arrow from his quiver as the soldier pulls back the bowstring of his Composite Bow. His opponent launches his second arrow which gets deflected off the right shoulder plate of his armor before the assassin fires his explosive arrow at a tree close to his foe.
Upon hitting the tree, the arrow explodes with some of the force taking bark off and sending the Firebender to the ground only for him to quickly roll onto his feet. Seeing his Composite Bow not far away, the Firebender is about to get it when an orange light catches his eyes. As he aims his fourth arrow, the Lin Kuei launches the flaming arrow at his opponent who stays in place. Upon his foe taking a step to his side to avoid it, the assassin watches in surprise as the flame from the arrow suddenly jumps from it and shoots back towards him.
Quickly jumping down, he looks back up in time to see the foliage and tree branches catching fire before hearing someone moving. Looking in front of him, he sees the soldier about twenty feet from him as he takes his Guan Dao into his hands. The Lin Kuei quickly tosses his Short Bow away before using his cryomancy to form two Ice Daggers in his hands.
Seeing his adversary throwing his daggers at him, the Firebender quickly brings his Guan Dao up and breaks the daggers before seeing the Lin Kuei running up with two new daggers in his hands. Seeing him slashing at him, the soldier uses the shaft of the weapon to block the strikes before pushing the assassin back. The Firebender spins his Guan Dao to perform an upward slash, but the Lin Kuei easily sidesteps the strike and gets behind him as he attempts to back stab him. However, the Ice Dagger breaks against the cuirass and the assassin quickly back flips away from his opponent to avoid a swing of the polearm.
Getting eight feet from his foe, the assassin uses his cryomancy to create a blast of ice which strikes the head of the Guan Dao before throwing his Ice Dagger. The dagger makes contact with the head of the polearm with both breaking and shocking the Firebender who backs up. Seeing his foe conjuring more ice, he tosses the shaft of his now broken weapon away before the ice blast is sent to him. However, he summons a dome of fire around him which quickly melts the ice and sets fire to the trees and ground around them.
Shocked and surprised by his foe's pyrokinetic abilities, the Lin Kuei is unable to react in time as the man performs a spinning kick which sends an arc of fire to him and sends him to the ground. Despite some of his armor burning, the assassin rolls onto the ground and manages to put the flames out before getting to his feet. Grabbing the hilt of his Dao, the Lin Kuei pulls his sword out before the Firebender draws his own Dao and uses his Firebending to surround both men in a circle of flames.
As the fire starts to spread through the forest, the assassin sends out another ice blast which the soldier sidesteps before both men charge at each other. They attempt to slash their foe, but both men end up in a blade lock before the Firebender pushes his foe back. Performing a high kick to his foe's face, the assassin attempts to perform a thrust with his Dao only for the soldier to use his sword to block it and redirect the blade away. Going on the offense, the Firebender slashes his foe across the abdomen which only hits the iron scales before stepping back to dodge a slash from his adversary.
Before he could react, the Lin Kuei gets a stab to his left side that only goes in a few inches thanks to the leather armor before he backs up. Quickly ducking under another strike, the assassin quickly gets back up and performs a thrust that hits the faceplate though fails to puncture it. As his foe backs away, the assassin uses his Dao to performs a follow up slash to his foe's stomach with just barely cuts past the leather tunic and sends his foe to the ground. Getting ready to perform a thrust, the Lin Kuei attempts to kill his adversary only for him to see a small jet of fire from the bottom of his foe's left fist.
Getting to his knees, the Firebender slashes his adversary across his shins with the Fire Dagger searing into his greaves and legs. Backing up with an unsteady posture, the Lin Kuei cries out as the Firebender quickly slashes his upper legs with his Dao and backs away to avoid a slash before doing another spinning kick. As the blazing arc sends his opponent to the ground, the soldier brings his left arm back before it shoot forward with his palm facing his foe.
In seconds, a stream of fire is sent from his palm at the assassin who cries out in agony as the stream continues without mercy. Keeping up the attack, the Firebender continues launching the fire stream even when the only thing he can hear is the roar of the flames. Ceasing his attack after about thirty seconds, the Firebender looks upon the burning and still corpse of the Lin Kuei before looking to the sky and raising his Dao into the air with a cry of victory.
Final Verdict: These two warriors of ice and fire based off Chinese warriors were able to go toe to toe with each other, but in the end the Firebender was the one who took the victory with a possible outcome of 5.5 out of 10 battles. This is a battle where the x-factors really helped decide this match with most of the weapons and the armor playing more of a small role in this fight. Starting with the weapons, both were even in close range with almost the same weapon with the Lin Kuei getting a slight edge in long range and the Firebender getting both medium range and special weapons. In fact, the special weapons did play a factor in this fight since Firebending would be the most deadly weapon used between these two warriors. Moving onto their armor, both warriors have metal and leather armor though the Firebender took this thanks to their steel cuirass with spaulders and having a helmet with a faceplate which does give them an edge which could protect them from most of the weapons of their foe. However, when looking at x-factors, it's rather obvious who would win in this battle. While both were even in tenacity, the Firebender took a slight edge in ferocity and took the solid edge in both killer instinct and experience. Just the experience x-factor alone really helped tip things in favor of the Firebender as they have fought those who could bend both water and Earth while the Lin Kuei don't have any similar experience against opponents who could perform fire based attacks. In the end, the Firebender with his better experience along with his better killer instinct, armor, and more lethal special weapon was able to defeat the just as tenacious Lin Kuei with his edge in long range.
Got a battle that you want to see? Tell me and I'll see if I can get it into the series! Next time, we will pit those who live in the forest of Mirkwood and the protectors of Hyrule.
Ray Tanaka: Hey, everyone! This is really late due to many factors and I'm sorry that it wasn't uploaded sooner. I would have gotten it up last night, but since I was behind I had to start the next chapter for the Historical Series first and I ended up having to go to bed not long after I got all the weapons for that done. That said, this was a fun battle for me to write and both warriors ended up getting different armor and weapons when I finished. Originally I had the Lin Kuei with the Kori Blade and a Mail Hauberk with Cuisses, but I changed those over to the Dao since that's what they're shown having (or a sword that is similar to the Katana, but those would work more for the Shirai-Ryu) and the armor I have them in this since it matches what they were wearing in Mortal Kombat X. Also, I know that those who use Cryomancy in the Lin Kuei are a small minority and that they're are more uses of the ability, but there's a reason why I included what I did.
From the start, I used the weapons from Zivon96's Deadliest Warrior story where they faced off with the Blades since that was the only real match they were in. However, Metal Harbinger used them in his Fictional Deadliest Warrior story where they had weapons similar to the Firebender and causes a bit of a problem since he didn't include Cryomancy. However, since the average Firebender in the Fire Nation Army wouldn't have much experience with Firebending, I figured I'd compromise between the two and keep Cryomancy just at what an average user of the ability would have rather than go full Sub-Zero. As for next time, we head back to the world of fantasy in the form of book warriors and video games. Finally, I currently still have the poll up for this series for possible matches after chapter 25 which would be helpful for those who want to see a match happen. We're closing in on that chapter and I do really need some more votes to see what battles will get into the series after chapter 25. There's ten choices, five general warriors and five named warriors, with anyone being able to vote for up to four of the matches. If you like this series, please consider voting since I would like input from my readers. Hope you all enjoyed!