Episode 15: Adam (RWBY) vs. Genji (Overwatch)
You know what? It's been too long since we had a classic, no-holds-barred swordfight. And today we've got two color-coded katana fighters who dominate their fields, gain power by deflecting things, have honed their abilities to superhuman degrees, and are only limited by the constant weight of the scars of their past. Literally. Adam Taurus, the spiteful High Leader of the White Fang, and Genji Shimada, the honor-bound cyborg ninja of Blackwatch.
I'm LittleZbot, and it's my hobby to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win a Death Battle.
Adam:
The world of Remnant holds many mysteries, many dangers, and many men and women who are capable of handling them. But even it is not immune to the age-old problem of prejudice. From the days humans first walked the world – well, the second time they walked the world, it's a long story – they were joined by another species – the faunus. Faunus are basically humans with animalistic traits – a rabbit faunus could have bunny ears, a panther faunus could have extendable claws, a shark faunus might only thrive in the ocean, and so on. Anyway, believing them to be little more than animals, humanity loathed the faunus and kept them locked in cages – it would take centuries and a full-on civil war before they were finally treated as people. Well, nearly. Despite everything, many humans still thought of the faunus as lesser beings, or outright hated them for the problems they caused, and even after the war ended in a peace treaty, there was still great prejudice towards the faunus. And so the White Fang, a peacekeeping organization with the intention of making the voices of the faunus heard, was formed.
And so Adam's path to hatred, vengeance, and spite was forged.
Four members of the White Fang burst into the throne room and stand before Adam. "High Leader!" The one in front shouts. "We received a message from Hazel. The raid on Haven's going to be more complicated than we thought."
Adam rises from his throne. "Don't worry. Nothing will stop us now." He smiles. "It's time I got what I deserve."
As a bull faunus, Adam had already experienced the cruelty of some humans, and it had left major scars on him, both mentally speaking and literally speaking. Eventually, he joined the White Fang and actively participated in its activities. But, over time, the faunus, including Adam, began to realize that just voicing their worldviews wasn't making enough of an impact. They needed to do more. Be more. If the world would not listen, then they would cut off its ears. The White Fang's High Leader stepped down, and with a new one created a massive surge in violence, vandalism, terrorism. And Adam was at the front of all of it – he even invented the whole thing the White Fang does where they wear masks based off grimm (basically demonic animals who prey on negative emotions) to invoke fear upon their victims, with Adam's very specifically hiding his scarred eye. He partnered with Blake Belladonna, the daughter of the former High Leader, and together they began tearing apart the world. Well, until she peaced out, which he never exactly forgave.
Luckily, despite initially joining as a peaceful protester, Adam quickly learned that he was…really, really good at killing. And that he enjoyed it. Adam's a spiteful individual above all, whose greatest motivation is only to make others feel the same pain he has, and even greater. He can do it, too, in large part thanks to his two-piece weapon set, Wilt and Blush.
Wilt is a one-handed four-foot chokuto, a straight, single-edged sword that served as a precursor to the katana, with a blade enhanced by Dust and Aura. Think of Dust as a crystallized form of elemental energy, and Aura as a form of spiritual pressure. We'll get into more detail there later, but for now, all you need to know is that Wilt is colored blood-red, is basically unbreakable, and is capable of slicing through almost anything. Flesh, stone, metal, and nearly all else this blade has come into contact with has been cut down as if it was thin air. And, thanks to its infusion with Fire Dust, it can leave trails of flames in its wake and melt through objects. Blush, meanwhile, is a shotgun that appears somewhat similar to a sawed-off CZ 1012, a handy little 12-Gauge semi-automatic that fires almost any shotshell in the market. However, Adam's personal designs appear to have changed this weapon for the better – not only is it smaller and easy to use one- handed, but the bullets it fires are superfied! A single one can take out a Creep, a rather durable underground grimm that's more monster than animal and, in the Grimm Eclipse video game, can tank blasts that break through metal walls! Which makes sense, considering another shot from Blush once smashed apart the steel head of a robotic Atlesian Knight! Plus, while its ammo supply is supposed to be limited to 5, he's shot plenty more than that rapid-fire with no issues. And, just because it's apparently not cool enough, it also doubles as a sheath to Wilt, and, when the sword is inside it, can shoot Wilt out like a small cannon! Most of the time, Adam will only use one or the other, but he is fully capable of duel-wielding both Wilt and Blush at once, taking out enemies close-range and mid-range with one blow each.
In addition, thanks to his faunus heritage, he's naturally better than humans in most ways. He can see in the dark, catch up to trains, kick down steel doors, sense people blocks away, and even see without seeing – somehow. It's likely tied into his status as a bull faunus, but regardless, he can fight blindfolded to the exact same degree as he does when his eyes are totally unrestrained. And yet his abilities are even further enhanced thanks to his aura.
Aura is a manifestation of the soul that forms a sort of spiritual pressure the wielder can control. Everyone has an aura, though not that many have unlocked it. Adam has. And it's made him a lot more powerful than a lot of people would have liked. It's made him stronger, faster, and given him an invisible, skintight forcefield. That forcefield is basically a video game healthbar – while it's up, Adam cannot be physically harmed, but after taking enough powerful hits, it will break, and leave him as vulnerable as any man. Er, faunus. However, it should be made clear that while the Aura Shield will block deadly blows, it doesn't block out pain unless the user has trained in that aspect. Adam can and will feel the full pain of every hit landed on him as if the aura wasn't there – it just won't actually hurt him. At all. Even better than the impregnable shield, though, is when Adam unleashes his semblance.
Adam faces a giant mechanical spider, having just absorbed its devastation beam. He chuckles and reaches for Wilt. The world turns to pure red and black as he slashes ahead, the blade, only for a moment, appearing behind the mech before returning to his hilt, as if it had never moved. In that moment, a white line breaks through the black and the robot is cleaved in two, the top half sent flying.
Semblances are basically a use of aura unique to that individual, and function as…well, a superpower. You may remember Ruby Rose's semblance – the ability to burst into rose petals. Adam's semblance is called "Moonslice," and will absolutely destroy anybody who doesn't know about it. Adam can store power into his blade, slowly by charging it himself, but far more quickly by blocking attacks, potshots, and lasers with Wilt and absorbing the energy into his blade, gathering it all up, and unleashing it in a single, deadly slice. This ability has turned fights around for him before – he's sliced a massive spider robot clean in half, broken Gambol Shroud (Blake's choice of weapon, which was nearly as durable as Wilt and had never been scratched by any other opponent), and even sliced off Yang Xiao Long's arm – an arm with aura that can match a 1400 Ton punch from a giant mech! If he doesn't feel like storing up all of his power for the end, he can even work Moonslice into his normal fighting style to unleash multiple smaller strikes at key moments, and can even manipulate the Moonslice to take the form of a sword beam! However, the ability does NOT have a constant power output – the strength of the Moonslice unleashed completely depends on how much energy it has stored up or absorbed before using that ability. And after using it once, the counter resets. Because of this, Adam has trained to become fantastic at blocking attacks. He's fantastic at most things when it comes to swords, actually.
Adam's skill with Wilt and Blush is immense. He's bested Blake, who's nearly as powerful as he is, more than once, and was even able to take on post-timeskip Yang, even though her new fighting style countered his in almost every way. Speaking of which, we might want to talk about how he fights. Adam is skilled in multiple japanese and chinese-inspired arts of swordplay, and can even fight unarmed, but particularly employs aspects of Iaijutsu, Kenjutsu, and Shinkendo (particularly the Tameshigiri, Suburi, and Battoho disciplines). However, despite clearly being versed in all of these japanese-based forms of swordplay, his fighting style most closely resembles that of the Wudang Taoist Sword style – a chinese art. Let's go through all of these one at a time. Kenjutsu is your classic intricate swordplay, parrying other blades, sliding, slicing, going for weak spots, the like. Shinkendo focuses on the mind rather than the body, repeating the same movements over and over to allow the wielder to become one with the sword in nearly every way. Iaijutsu is the art of the quick-draw, teaching students of the intricacies of how to draw quickly and deliver devastating strikes as fast as possible before cleanly returning the blade to the sheath. And, finally, the Wudang Taoist Sword style focuses on the idea that change is a part of nature and should be properly adapted into swordplay – you observe the opponent and attack and defend in kind with close-cut and intricate sword movements. You make the sword an extension of yourself, and kill the opponent with a single, devastating strike.
Even still, with his superhuman abilities and natural talent for the weapon, Adam's taken these abilities and put them to the extreme. You know that anime thing where a guy strikes so fast with his sword that you don't even see him pull out and put pack the blade before the enemy falls to pieces? Yeah, that's Adam's preferred way to kill folks. He can literally unsheathe his weapon, kill five people, and appear behind them with Wilt back inside Blush in the blink of an eye. His skills at deflecting and absorbing energy are pretty insane, too. He once had a robot transform its arms into two chainguns a mere three feet away from him, and he promptly blocked every single bullet before cleaving the robot in two. This guy is so good, he has some certain skills that venture into the superhuman – like being able to slice guys in half in the blink of an eye without moving when they're well out of slicing range, or, my favorite, throwing Wilt in such a way as to turn it into a spinning buzzsaw of death before returning to his hand like a boomerang! What the crap! Actually, his skill with Wilt is enough to get it to act like a boomerang pretty consistently – just like Captain America's shield, he can throw it, strike multiple targets, and always have it end up back in his hands.
Adam is strong enough to kick robots weighing hundreds of pounds through the steel wall of a train car, fast enough to slice a guy apart in four different wide-arc angles at speeds faster than the eye can track, and, with his Aura Shield up, capable of taking building-sized explosions and having a motorcycle crash into his face without being anything more than a little annoyed. He's appeared in multiple places at once to Yang, who can track the 9,000 MPH Ruby without much issue, taken out a veritable army on two separate occasions, and even killed High Leader Sienna Khan (before she could even notice he'd moved, might I add) and took her throne, becoming the High Leader of the White Fang. Not even Cinder, one of the high lieutenants of an immortal witch, wanted to take him on before getting the crazy elemental powers of the Fall Maiden. But for as strong as he is, Adam's greatest power is control. He's become an expert at manipulating the emotions of those around him, inciting further violence and hatred and creating false attachments between him and everything he wants. This is how he was able to easily gain control of the entirety of the White Fang. During his participation of the Fall of Beacon, he was able to get an easy win on Blake despite their nearness of skill by manipulating her emotions, rising up guilt, anger, and shame until she was a babbling mess who couldn't compete with him.
But just because he's really good at emotional manipulation doesn't mean he's immune to it himself. Actually, this guy has…many, many issues. Starting off, his fighting style is completely based on aggression and pain. He takes out his foes in as few strikes as possible, and keeps whacking away at them until they're dead. If that doesn't work…then it doesn't work. Despite his influence from a martial art that deals extensively with change, Adam doesn't really change at all when facing different opponents. In addition, his Aura Shield will break eventually, and is actually a fair bit weaker than many others. This is because you must train different aspects of your aura to enhance them, and Adam mostly just went for speed, strength, and semblance. This means several powerful blows will leave him extremely vulnerable, and his senses, while naturally superhuman, aren't something he usually pays attention to. He gets messed up by surprise attacks…quite often. But more than anything, he's a spiteful little red-haired bull, and will drop everything to murder the crap out of anyone who would dare to, say, insult or abandon him. This is, eventually, what led to his death.
So, during his days under the previous High Leader, he had a partner, who you know is Blake Belladonna. He would emotionally manipulate her into believing that everything he did was right and that she could never leave him, partly because he secretly loved her and partly because he was just that kind of horrible person. When she did eventually run away, he made it his life's mission to hunt her down and make her pay. And he did. He eventually followed her all the way to Beacon Academy, where she'd joined Team RWBY (Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang) to become a Huntress. There, he participated in the Fall of Beacon, found her, tortured her, and took off the arm of her teammate, Yang, with a powerful Moonslice. Later, he tried to do the same to Haven Academy, but was stopped…by Blake. Blake then manipulated him the same way he had manipulated her at Beacon and she got the easy win. Adam was evicted from the White Fang, went on the run from the whole world, and had been humiliated by his former love. He wanted nothing but revenge. So he stalked her across the continent of Anima, and eventually had his rematch. He nearly won – until Yang showed up with a new fighting style and a new robotic arm that was decidedly indestructible, even against the Moonslice. To his credit, Adam still took on and nearly killed the both of them, but Yang managed to disarm him and deliver a devastating punch thanks to her own semblance (adding the power of every hit she's taken to her strength) and finally knocked out his aura.
Seconds later, Adam had been impaled through the chest and the stomach, had his back broken over a massive boulder, was hurtled off a cliff, and fell into a river, where he drowned.
But when it takes all that to kill him, it's going to be almost impossible for anyone to take him down. And he's fast and strong enough to slice them in half five times over before they can try it.
Adam might be the most badass abusive ex-boyfriend in all of anime.
As he stands above a defeated Blake, Adam removes his mask, showing off his scarred and branded face. "People hurt me long before we met. All sorts of people, in all sorts of ways. But no-one hurt me quite like you."
He stares spitefully at her as she turns away in discomfort. "You didn't leave scars. You just left me alone."
He raises his sword. "So, tell me, Blake. How does it feel to be alone?"
She doesn't reply.
Adam leans forward and plunges his sword into her body.
Adam:
Name: Adam Taurus
Species: Faunus
Height: 6'4"/193 cm
Weight: 190 lb/86 kg
Age: 23
Occupation: High Leader of the White Fang
Inspired the White Fang's mask-wearing motif
Based on both the Beast and Gaston from "Beauty & the Beast"
May or may not perform synchronized dances
Abilities:
Night Vision
Enhanced Senses
Can see without seeing
Silver Tongue
Inhuman Sword Skills
~Iaijutsu
~Kenjutsu
~Shinkendo
~Wudang Taoist Sword Style
Aura
~Superhuman Strength
~Superhuman Speed
~Superhuman Jumping
~Aura Shield
~Healing Factor
~Semblance: Moonslice
Arsenal:
Wilt
~One-handed chokuto, infused with fire dust
Blush
~Sawed-off 12-Gauge Shotgun, shoots custom rounds, also a sheath to Wilt
Feats:
Sliced a robot four times in four wide arcs faster than the eye can track
Moves faster than the eye can track on a casual basis
Appeared to be in multiple places at once to Yang, who can track Ruby Rose
Sliced apart Gambol Shroud w/ Moonslice
Sliced off Yang's arm w/ Moonslice
Sliced a Spider Droid in half w/ Moonslice
Easily bested Blake due to emotional manipulation
Bested Blake when fighting fairly
Kept up with and nearly killed both Blake & Yang at the same time
Took out a large group of bandits with ease
Took out a large group of trained soldiers with ease
Took out a veritable army of robots w/ Blake
Crushed a scroll with a single step, these things are notoriously impossible to break
Blocked every bullet from two chainguns fired a three feet away
Can shoot with pinpoint accuracy dozens of feet away
Killed a Creep with a casual slice
Killed a Creep with a casual shot
Blocked a giant laser and absorbed it in his sword
Killed Sienna Khan before she even noticed he moved
Took over as high leader for the White Fang
Kept up with Blake & Sun, Blake stated they would lose to him
Nearly defeated Yang, despite her fighting style completely countering his
Sword can slice through most things (including solid steel) like melted butter
Took tons of blows, a full-powered Yang Semblance punch that used up her whole aura, and a motorcycle being thrown into him before his aura went down
Kicked a robot through a train car
Took an explosion half the size of a train car that sent him flying through a metal wall
Cinder wouldn't fight him until she had the Fall Maiden's powers
Can toss around robots weighing hundreds of pounds
Sliced through five robots faster than the eye can track
Dodged laser fire
Dodged and blocked point-blank bullets
Blew off a robot's head with one shot
Fell from a radar tower, was fine
Weaknesses:
Spiteful beyond all else
If foe can get around fighting style, he has nothing else to work with
Aura has a limit, is weaker than some others
Moonslice has to charge up every time it's used
Easily taken by surprise
Can be emotionally manipulated
Eventually killed by Blake & Yang
…
Genji:
In the future, Earth will be home to many different organizations. The group of superhumans representing hope known as Overwatch, the evolution-pushing terrorists titled Talon, and a group of outraged outback insurrectionist called the Austrailian Liberation Force. But older and wiser than all of them were the Shimada Clan.
The Shimada Clan was a crime syndicate based in Japan that had existed for centuries. They trained ninjas, and that naturally meant they were the most powerful crime syndicate in the country. Obviously. They dealt in all kinds of things – assassination, drug trades, kidnapping, all the typical crime syndicate stuff. But recently, tensions had been running high. Overwatch, having run out of sentient robots to pretend to care about and then kill, was focusing its gaze on these criminal activities, and actively began attempting to hunt down and kill off clan members. Meanwhile, the terrorist organization called Talon had been pressuring the clan and its members to join their side in their secret war against humanity. Feeling pressed on both ends, things weren't looking too good for the mafia-like ninja clan. Then their leader died, and things just amped up from there.
See, the leader of the Shimada Clan, Sojiro, had two sons, both of which had been trained by the clan and were highly skilled in combat. The eldest, Hanzo, naturally preferred silent takedowns with a bow and arrow, and the younger, Genji, preferred the feel of a katana. There was one more difference between the two, though. Hm, what was it, I don't remember…oh yeah! Genji wasn't a cold-blooded murderer and didn't exactly appreciate what his clan did for the world. Instead, he spent his time indulging himself on his wealth, and, despite being one of their best, didn't carry out a single mission for the Shimada Clan. When Hanzo took up the throne and insisted Genji fulfill his duty to the clan, he refused pretty thoroughly. So thoroughly that the two brothers ended up in a duel to the death. Weapons drawn, stakes raised, this would be the conflict that would force the event that would change Genji's life forever.
His death.
Hanzo "killed" his brother, and ended up leaving the Shimada Clan in disgust and sorrow. But Genji's story doesn't end here. Despite having most of his body torn to pieces and literally seconds away from death, he was picked up by Overwatch and saved by Angela Zieger, who you might know as Mercy. The organization gave him an ultimatum – be left to rot in the wilderness without limbs, or join them and become better than he ever had been before. I mean, what would you do?! Genji agreed, and his body was rebuilt, faster, stronger, and much more deadly. He was no ordinary ninja any longer. He was…a cyborg ninja. Yup. He was quickly put to work inside Blackwatch, the covert special ops subdivision of Overwatch, where he joined on missions across the world alongside legends such as Moira, Reaper, and McCree. Before long, he became one of Blackwatch's deadliest members.
As he looks on at the monster tearing up his former home, Genji muses to himself. "I have learned many lessons in my struggles with doubt and fear." He puts three shurikens in his hand. "Balance and harmony are not easily attained. They must be fought for!"
He jumps off the roof and charges the beast, stars and sword glowing.
But what would an awesome cyborg ninja be without weapons? Genji carries two swords with him at all times and a near-endless supply of ninja stars that he stores in his arms. These shurikens can cut right though many kinds of armor, and are even sharp enough to pierce metal walls. He's an expert at using them, too – he's skilled enough to tag people flying through the air hundreds of feet away with multiple shurikens at once. He can also pour smoke from his body for distractions or a quick getaway. But neither of those are his favorite tools. Let's talk about his legendary sword, Ryu-Ichimonji. Ryu is a four-foot katana, a curved single-edged sword meant for thin, deadly slices with maximum speed and minimum pain. Genji treats this particular blade as an extension of himself, and won't let anybody else even examine it. Its green blade isn't just cool, but also ridiculously sharp. It cuts through flesh, bone, armor, and even solid steel with minimal effort – it can even slice right through a car! Plus, the sword is ridiculously tough, having been in dozens, if not hundreds, of conflicts without a scratch. But it does have a rather…obvious issue. Genji is a ninja, and no ninja's going to be going around unseen with a four-foot curved green sword of death that glows in the dark. For that reason, Genji also holds a wakizashi, a shorter companion sword, which he uses whenever he wants to be sneaky. This blade may be smaller and not nearly as sharp, but it can still cut through many armors, and is nearly unbreakable. He uses it to deflect blows constantly without it ever being damaged. But when the fighting gets serious, out comes the Ryu-Ichimonji. And that's a good thing, too, because we have yet to mention one dragon-sized elephant in the room.
As he sees two massive blue spirit dragons charging towards him, Genji remains calm. He pulls out Ryu-Ichimonji and begins twirling it. Green energy surrounds the blade. He shouts out "Ryūjin no ken wo kurae!" and an equally massive green dragon made up of chi bursts from his blade, wraps around Genji, then charges at the opposing spirits.
Yeah. See, direct descendants of the Shimadas can manipulate chi to wield the power of the ancient dragons in their attacks, directly forming spirit dragons, as it were. While Hanzo summons these spirit dragons directly to burn through foes, Genji's take on this ability is a little more unique. He pulls out his katana and actually enhances his blade with the chi using the Dragonblade techinque. This gives his sword a massive boost in power. For six seconds, he can reach foes far normally out of striking distance, and kill even the toughest opponents in just a couple of hits – even the mech suits Wrecking Ball and Tokki crumble under this strike. Once, Hanzo was able to use this ability to bring down an actual dragon, and Genji's is even more powerful than his! But it does have its downsides – again, it only lasts for six seconds, and requires to be charged up first. Normally he has to charge this attack by landing hits on his enemies, but in the Overwatch Short "Dragons," he was able to charge it up similarly by deflecting hits. It does take quite a few to charge, but once he activates it, he can take out whole squadrons with no problems. Actually, with his skill, he could do that already.
Having trained his entire life with a katana, Genji is naturally incredibly skilled in Kendo. This sword-based Japanese martial art is an alternative to Kenjutsu, and rather than going for the direct points and murdering his opponent as quickly as possible, it's a little more defense-based, teaching tranquility, honor, and how to use those aspects of yourself in the way of the sword. Mental balance comes first, and with that naturally brings skill. Thanks to his extensive training, Genji is able to analyze most battle scenarios without emotional attachment and take advantage of enemy openings. He's also clearly studied at least some forms of Battodo. This alternative to Iajutsu focuses on silent draws, quick blows, and close-quarters swordplay rather than a strike-and-sheath style. What's particularly interesting is that both of these arts were typically practiced by samurai, the enemy of the ninja. So while he utilizes these arts extensively, it's probable that he's had his fair share of training in Kenjutsu, as well. And, of course, we'd be remiss in not mentioning the fact that he's a ninja, so, yeah, Ninjutsu. There are 18 separate disciplines of Ninjutsu, and Genji has extensive skill in quite a few, including Kenjutsu (swordfighting), Shurikenjutsu (killing with projectiles), Kayakujutsu (firearms, explosives, distractions), Shinobi-Iri (absolute silence, stealth, and infiltration), and Choho No Jutsu (espionage). But skill alone isn't all he brings to the table.
Genji is strong enough to break stone, tough enough to take a punch from Doomfist's Gauntlet, and fast enough to dodge and deflect arrows moving faster than the eye can track. He can scale up walls and buildings like a robot Spiderman, and even run on them to get the jump on his opponent. He can jump over twenty feet high, destroy a turret with a single shuriken, and send someone's own grenade flying back at him, have it blow up in their face, sending them flying dozens of feet into the air, and still strike all their vital areas with ninja stars, killing them in mid-air! He's also become really good at deflecting things - he can deflect just about anything you can throw at him, including every bullet from a turret gun, grenades, dozens of rockets, a tank missile, black hole bombs, McCree's one-shot-skill bullets, and by channeling chi into his shortsword, he can even deflect his own Dragonblade technique! He can even somehow jump off of thin air, basically granting him a classic video game double-jump. His skill is great enough to throw a pumpkin into the air, and carve an intricate jack-o-lantern face in it before it hits the ground! He's so fast, he can even keep up with Tracer, who can react to sniper fire and is faster than Soldier: 76, who can outrun the 6,000 MPH explosion of a grenade! He moves fast enough to appear invisible to the untrained eye, putting him at well over 7,000 MPH, and can even take on and somewhat match the strength of Winston, who can slap his way through a marble floor, which has a compression strength of 20,000 PSI!
During his time at Overwatch, he's taken on Doomfist, carried out dozens of top-secret espionage missions, and took down the ENTIRE Shimada Clan by himself! He even ended up having to fight off Diablo, the ancient Prime Evil. This particular version of Diablo wasn't quite the same as the one we all know, but he was still strong enough to lift and throw a massive bronze bell dozens of feet. This bell is large enough to be compared to the famous "Big Joe," the largest swinging bell in the world, which has a weight of nearly one and a half tons. To throw a bell the big that far that fast would take over 550 Tons of Force! And later in the fight, Genji takes a hit from him and gets right back up, fighting! In fact, he's able to dodge most of Diablo's blows here. We don't know much about this Diablo, but he is supposed to be similar to the one from his game series, but is clearly cut off from his hellish magic and power gained from his dimension and human fear. Under the same conditions in his own games, he was able to fight and defeat a de-powered Imperius, in the process proving to be AT LEAST 50% faster than him. This Imperius, even without his magic, was capable of flying across the entire kingdom of Khanduras in less than an hour. Now, Khanduras is never given a good size throughout the Diablo series, but if we compare the Tamoe Mountain Range to the Andes, the largest mountain range in the world, and scale appropriately, that would put the distance Imperius flew over 8400 kilometers – reaching over 5,200 MPH! This puts Diablo's de-powered speed at around 7,800 MPH, and given how Genji is able to dodge his blows before they reach 75% of the way there, it's possible that his speed in this instance is reaching almost 9,800 MPH! That's fast enough to become invisible to any mortal eye – which makes sense, since he actually did once go fast enough to become invisible to Tracer during a sparring match, one of the fastest humans on the planet! Though it should be noted that he couldn't…exactly…beat Diablo. In fact, he couldn't even damage him – even the Dragonblade technique just bounced off his skin. But hey, YOU try slicing up a giant devil monster that can walk out of nuclear explosions unscathed! You'd have a tough time, too!
However, Diablo isn't the only enemy Genji's had a tough time against. He's lost his fair share of battles, and for multiple reasons. For example, his fighting style is definitely advanced, but is still somewhat predictable against experienced fighters. He focuses primarily on defense, and so leaves a few openings when striking and not counter-attacking. And despite his defending, the required movements of his blade and fighting style means that an aggressive enough opponent can definitely get in a good hit. This is particularly bad because Genji is a glass cannon. He's fast and dangerous, but it doesn't take a whole lot to put him down. Doomfist, for example, was able to completely incapacitate him with a single blow. This is why he focuses on stealth and speed – but his stealth isn't perfect. Almost no normal person would ever notice him, but he has been noticed by others – particularly those trained in stealth themselves. Plus, he can't deflect any non-solid projectile, and while he's great at taking on groups, he's not super experienced in 1v1 fights. And, while his speed advantage is massive (with the only person normally able to keep pace with him being Tracer), he has little to no experience fighting foes faster or deadlier than him. His weapons can't cut through all materials (Diablo's skin, for example) and if they don't work…then they don't work. Genji never has a backup plan. Finally, Genji's entire life and purpose is bound to his honor. He's a deadly silent killer, but if he chooses to duel an opponent, he will not utilize any cheap moves or tricks against them. Half the time, he'll actually announce his presence just so his foe can have a fair fight!
Which didn't exactly mesh well with his role in Blackwatch. See, Overwatch may have made its name by being a beacon of hope, the symbol of humanity, and a massive force of good to fight off a robot army, but after all was said and done, it began to…take a turn. Now focused on bettering humanity by…killing off the not-so-great parts of the world, they formed Blackwatch to perform wars from the shadows that Overwatch would never be caught fighting in public. Stuff like taking out drug lords, kidnapping and torturing people for information, and murdering/dismantling an entire clan of mafia ninjas. Genji performed all of these tasks, and while they were what kept him alive, he cursed them. He actively hated his cyborg body, believing that he was more machine than man, and no longer had the soul he once did. Then there was a bit of an incident with Blackwatch. So, it turns out that the head of the terrorist group Talon was a major political figure named Antonio, and when a strike team consisting of Blackwatch's best went to take him out, he was expecting them. He informed them that kidnapping him would only make Overwatch look worse than it already was, and that he'd be out within a week anyway. Reaper, another member of the team, realized he was right – and shot him dead.
The result? Overwatch's name being ruined, the organization being dismantled, and, before all of that, Genji taking out a small army of highly-trained operatives in an effort to escape. Before Blackwatch was permanently dismantled, Genji abandoned them, and wandered for years, trying to learn who he was and what he was meant for. Eventually, he crossed paths with a robot Ghandi who began teaching Genji spiritual enlightenment. Genji studied and listened, and eventually achieved inner peace. He once again viewed himself as a whole being, far removed from the murderer he once was. Finally at rest, there was only one thing left for him to do.
So he tracked down his brother, Hanzo, and the two had a rematch. At this point, Hanzo had become one of the most dangerous men on earth, with archery skills that surpassed any other mortal and special techniques that enabled him to take down dozens of foes at once and shoot his arrows faster than bullets. The two dueled once more, now in their ascended states, and finally, Genji claimed victory.
But unlike his brother, he spared Hanzo's life, informing him that the world was changing, and there was hope for him yet.
Genji now wanders the world, ready to protect it whenever the need arises. He might have a secret heart of gold, but there isn't any badass cyborg ninja you'd want to cross less.
Genji puts his mask back on after his battle with Hanzo as his brother looks on in disbelief. "What have you become?"
Genji moves forward and puts a hand on Hanzo's shoulder. "I have accepted where I am. And I have forgiven you. Now you must forgive yourself." He lifts his hand and walks behind Hanzo. "The world is changing once again, Hanzo, and it's time to pick a side."
He leaps out into the night sky, landing on the roof of building several yards away shortly before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Genji:
Name: Genji Shimada
Species: Cyborg
Height: 5'7"/170 cm
Weight: Likely 100 lb/45 kg
Age: 35
Occupation: Adventurer, former Blackwatch Agent
Nicknamed "Sparrow"
Apparently has a great sense of humor, but never shows it
Looks like if Xbox sponsored Ultron
Abilities:
Superhuman Strength
Superhuman Speed
Superhuman Durability
Superhuman Stamina
Superhuman Senses
Superhuman Agility
Superhuman Jumping
Can climb walls w/ bare hands
Can run on walls
Extensive deflecting abilities
Double-Jumps
Inhuman Sword Skills
~Kendo
~Battodo
~Kenjutsu
~Shurikenjutsu
~Kayakujutsu
~Shinobi-Iri
~Choho No Jutsu
Arsenal:
Smoke Bombs
Ninja Stars
~Can be thrown or directly launched
~Can load 24 at a time
~Infinite supply
Ryu-Ichimonji
~Two-handed katana, infused with chi
~Genji wields it with one hand
~Dragonblade
Wakizashi
~Practically unbreakable
Feats:
Wields a two-handed katana with one hand easily
Faster than Soldier 76, who outran a 6,000 MPH grenade explosion
Moved faster than Tracer can track
Survived a punch from Doomfist's Guantlet
Sliced clean through a car
Deflected dozens of rockets
Deflected a tank missile
Blocked punches from Winston without flinching
Blocked punches from Primal Rage Winston but was sent flying
Deflected a point-blank superbullet from McCree,
Destroyed a turret with a single ninja star
Killed many tough fighters w/ Dragonblade
Destroyed mech suits w/ Dragonblade
Hanzo, who Genji is more powerful than, took down a real dragon w/ a technique somewhat similar to Dragonblade
Jumped over twenty feet through the air
Over time, took down his entire clan
Able to deflect Reaper's ultimate, which is basically a hundred bullets rapid-fire
Strength once matched Winston, who can break 20,000 PSI Marble
Tanked a blow from Diablo that sent him flying over 150 feet away
Faster than the 7,839 MPH Diablo
Carved a jack-o-lantern out of a normal pumpkin before it hit the ground
Can kill falling people dozens of feet away w/ ninja stars
Was able to deflect the bullets of ten foes at once and murder all of them
Enters warzones and dodges everything all the time
Took out a veritable army during his last Blackwatch mission
Can dodge arrows that move faster than bullets, and ricochet arrows that move faster than the eye can track
Handedly defeated Hanzo
Spars against Tracer consistently
Achieved inner peace
Weaknesses:
Fighting style is exploitable
Honor-bound beyond almost all else
Stealth isn't perfect – Hanzo could sense him
Dragonblade couldn't hurt Diablo
Just like any mortal man, one well-placed shot will kill him
Can die from a self-destructing mech suit
Dragonblade has to charge up every time it's used
Not experienced with faster opponents
Not experienced in 1v1 fights
One-shotted by Doomfist
…
All right, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all. It's time for a Death Battle!
…
Adam sat on his throne, head in one hand, sheathed sword in the other. Strewn around him lay the hewn and bloodied corpses of other members of the White Fang – his former followers. They had refused to acknowledge his position as High Leader after his defeat at Haven, and had paid the price. They said he was weak. He was controlled. That the Belladonna girl had bested him
"The Belladonna girl..." he muttered. She was the one to blame for all of this. She'd ruined his life, set him up, foiled his plans, and caused him to not only become a well-known criminal, but even a reject among his own followers. He would have everything in the world right now. He would have already led and won the war against the humans – if it weren't for her. He stood up
"Blake."
He turned and sliced, carving his throne in two. He looked up and let out a guttural cry towards the heavens. She wouldn't get away with this. He would find her. He would kill her.
As he looked up at the ceiling, he saw something strange. A figure moving through the darkness. It would have been invisible to a human, but as a faunus, the dark held no meaning to him. He saw the moving figure clearly as it hopped across beams, ran along the walls, and got into a kneeling position. A position that would be perfect for a sniper kill.
Adam smiled.
The moment he saw the man's hand move, Adam whipped out Wilt, slicing ahead of himself and carving the shuriken in two. The two pieces left over struck the ground at his feet.
Adam pointed Wilt at the mercenary. "Do you honestly think you're the only assassin that's tried to kill me?"
The assassin dropped from the rafters, landing perfectly with his knees spread apart. He stood up as a green glow began to pour from orifices around his body. He appeared to be a cyborg of some kind – a man mixed with robotic technology. He spoke with a heavy accent.
"I am no hired assassin, Adam Taurus. You are a madman, a terrorist who would destroy all before him rather than find peace."
Adam never dropped his guard. His aura went up around him. "Ironwood sent you, didn't he? His newest experiment trying to take down the leader of the greatest revolutionary force on the planet. He treats all his projects like they were dogs." He put Wilt back inside Blush and turned away, still keeping tabs on this creature. "Just like he treated us. Well, you run back to your boss and tell him that I've scrapped or stolen everything he's thrown at me! When I'm done with the traitor, I'll be coming for him!"
"I was not sent here by anyone but myself, and I was built in ways you could only dream of." He pulled his sword out of its sheath behind his back. "I am Genji. I travel the world in search of balance, and in search of honor. I find neither within you. Your spite clouds your every step. Your hatred blinds you to the true nature of your actions. You do not fight for your people. You will slaughter them if they stand in your way. I saw it with my own eyes. You only fight for yourself, and your blind arrogance and spite will cause destruction to all – the humans, the faunus, and your brothers and sisters. I may be a mere human, but I will end you before that can happen."
Adam, still facing away, chuckled. He whirled around with a whoosh of air and stared the masked ninja in the eyeholes. He hoped this man, Genji, was staring back through the slits of his mask. There he would see the eyes of the man who had spat in the face of death countless times, and who would do the same today. "You idiot. You just made five mistakes. First, you invaded my home, second, you tried to kill me, third, you mocked my morals, fourth, you pretended to know what I'm fighting for, and finally, you told me you were human." He popped out Wilt slightly. "You're going to die for each and every one of those reasons."
Genji sheathed Ryu-Ichimonji. The green glow around him died as he backed up, fading away into the pitch-black darkness. "We shall see which of us remains standing by the end of this."
Adam never lost track of him. "Yes. We shall."
-FIGHT!-
Genji crawled up the wall with ease and silence. He knew his foe was a highly-skilled fighter who had killed dozens before him. He needed to be on his guard. Keep moving. Never let him know where you are. Attack from all sides, and make sure he doesn't know where the next attack will come from. Stay silent, stay stealthy, and wear him down.
He climbed across the walls, grabbed onto a rafter, and swung himself up. He pulled out his wakizashi and three ninja stars. Adam was facing him, but seemed to be looking around, unsure of where he was. Genji held his breath and dove out into the open, at the same time launching all three shurikens at once. Adam instantly noticed them and blocked each one with his sword, providing Genji with the perfect opening. Genji dashed ahead with a green trail, swiftly striking him with the wakizashi, jabbing right up through the ribcage and into the heart. This fight was over already.
Or it would have been if the blade hadn't skidded across his cloak as if it were solid steel and stabbed the open air.
Adam kicked his foot out behind Genji's and tripped him over. He stabbed down with Wilt, narrowly missing when Genji rolled underneath him. Adam instantly turned and clamped his foot down on Genji's. Genji took the opportunity to stab Adam in the forehead with the wakizashi, but it just stopped at his skin.
Adam ignored the stabbing pain and chuckled. "Did you really think that the leader of the greatest revolutionary force in history didn't know how to put up an aura?" He shoved his knee up into Genji's crotch and pushed forward, shoving the cybernetic ninja backward several feet. Genji didn't seem to be harmed at all by the nut check, indicating he was either great at blocking out pain, or cybernetic from the waist down. Adam looked down, seeing small pieces of metal laying on the ground from where he knew he had hit. Wait…
Genji threw out three more ninja stars, which Adam absentmindedly blocked. When one struck the ground at his feet, he picked it up. He got an idea. Adam plunged Wilt into the ground, pulled up Blush, and shot three bullets at Genji, who quickly defended himself by deflecting each with his wakizashi. Adam leaped at him, landing a mere two feet away, and pointed his gun right at Genji's head. He fired, but Genji had already ducked out of the way of the bullet. Adam immediately threw his other hand up, slicing into Genji slightly with his own ninja star. Genji gasped and leaped into the air, but Adam caught him with Blush's barrel, knocking him to the ground and stabbing the shuriken into his hand. Genji muffles the cry of pain that wanted to escape him.
Adam pointed Blush at Genji's head. "You can't produce an aura. Actually, if I were a betting man, I'd wager you've never even seen an aura. Now," he leaned Blush's barrel closer, "where did you come from, and who sent you?"
"I was sent by none-"
"You know, I've dealt with liars and thieves hundreds of times. I can tell when somebody isn't telling me everything. I have ways of making that different. And you, my friend, are looking like a nice little story for the next liar I encounter right now."
"I am no liar, no thief, and I am not a story for your amusement." Genji jabbed his wakizashi into Adam's foot, and while he wasn't hurt by it, Adam felt the burning pain of a stab wound and stepped back quickly, nearly tripping over himself. Genji stood up. "I am a man of honor. I am the enemy of those who claim power over others through fear and brutality. I must end-"
Adam pulled Wilt out of the ground and shot a bullet at Genji, who deflected it right away. Adam snarled, interrupting him. "Don't talk about honor to me! I will kill those who dare to defy us – who call us animals, murder us, and treat us like dogs! They will learn to fear the faunus, and when we crush them as they would crush us, they will respect us, too." He sheathed Wilt. The red marks of his mask began to glow and the world darkened around him. "Your honor is worthless. It will carry you to nothing but your grave."
Wilt flew out of its sheath, glowing bright red through the sudden darkness, and stretching ahead. There was a red streak through the air, and Adam had managed to cross the distance between him and Genji in the blink of an eye.
And when the darkness was raised, Adam's Moonslice had been stopped against Genji's wakizashi. The two blades were locked, all the energy of the Moonslice wasted.
Genji flipped backward. "You know nothing of respect! It does not come from fear, it does not come from anger. Did you respect those who put you under their boot? Respect comes from understanding, mercy, and strength of will, and you lack all of these. You will never be respected." He leaped up into the shadows of the rafters, throwing more ninja stars down at Adam as he did.
Adam deflected the first three with ease, but another one surprised him and managed to skid across the shielded cheek. "No. Respect comes from power. It comes from strength. It comes from conviction. It comes from justice. Before today ends, you will respect me." He turned and grabbed his broken throne, throwing it right at where Genji was hiding, no longer pretending not to see him.
Genji dove from his perch right as the throne burst through the rafters and the roof. He loaded his shurikens and began rapidly throwing them all along the walls of the room and several into the roof above Adam's head.
Adam didn't stop to consider what Genji was planning. He ran up to the ninja and struck diagonally with his sword, which Genji quickly blocked with his wakizashi. Adam grimaced angrily. "So stop holding back, and take out that sword!"
Genji kicked Adam in the knee and raced to where Adam was previously standing in a blur of green. "You say respect comes from power, strength, and justice. Yet I see none here!"
"I WILL SHOW YOU MY POWER!" Adam jumped up, rolled, and slammed his sword down in a trail of fire, right where Genji just was. Genji had zoomed backward at the last second, as reverberations from Adam's strike began to shake the whole building. Adam looked up, suddenly realizing what Genji had been planning. Those ninja stars – there were all in structurally unsound spots of the building. It was about to collapse on top of him.
Genji backed up further as smoke poured out of his body. "Your power has only ever led to death. Now, you will know its taste."
Adam looked at him, mouth curled into a frenzied grimace. He pulled Wilt out, jumped up, and threw it at him. The red sword twirled in a fiery circle in the air, forming a sort of buzzsaw, but Genji was able to pull out the wakizashi in time to block the attack. The buzzsaw reversed direction and went right back to the smoke-covered Adam. Losing no more time, Genji leaped out of a window, landing in the street and rolling, coming to a stop on his feet, where he turned and watched the entire White Fang headquarters collapse on top of Adam.
Then he dove to the ground to avoid a bullet from the wreckage.
A huge chunk of plaster was thrown off the wreck and into the Mistral street. Genji had to roll out of the way the moment he saw it coming right before it shattered on the ground. He rose to his feet and saw a mass of black and red rising out of the wreckage. Suddenly he had to block the hilt of a sword – the red sword Adam had been using this whole time. In an instant, Adam was in front of him, grabbing the hilt in mid-air and delivering a slice that Genji narrowly blocked. Adam swung, and Genji ran away, into the treeline. Adam gave chase right away – he wasn't losing this man to a simple forest.
The two kept running, occasionally meeting, with Genji always barely blocking a blow from Adam. Adam wasn't really sure how long they ran or when they stopped - only that it was in the middle of a street in some nearby town. Adam pulled out Blush and shot Genji's wakizashi. As Genji moved to block the bullet, Adam instantly dashed behind him, grabbed Genji's wrist, and threw the cyborg over his shoulder, kicking the wakizashi out of his hands as he fell.
Adam seemed in pain, but his body was undamaged. He sheathed a glowing Wilt. "Now, will you let me kill you, or are you going to fight with a real weapon?"
Genji stood up ."Your mouth will one day lead you into a fight you cannot win."
Adam smiled. "Prove it."
Genji reached behind his back. "You don't know the power of that you have challenged." He whipped out Ryu-Ichimonji, the blade glowing brightly in the night sky. He held it back in a classic kendo pose before suddenly flipping it through his hands dramatically. "Ryūjin no ken wo kurae!"
A green spirit dragon rose up and out of the blade. Adam pulled out Wilt right away to kill it, but it had already turned from him and entered back inside Ryu-Ichimonji. The katana shone brightly, green coming from even the gray portions of the sword.
Without warning, Genji lunged at Adam, sword trailing green the whole way. Adam bent over backward instantly, the katana only barely missing him. As it passed over his head, it hit one of his bull horns and sliced the tip clean off.
Adam grit his teeth.
Genji sliced forward again as Adam stood up, but Adam quickly blocked the sword with Wilt. The two traded blows, both only bouncing off the other's swords. In only four seconds, they'd clashed over a dozen times in a blur of red and green. Genji attacked from above, but Adam blocked the shining Dragonblade attack as his own red sword began to glow. Suddenly, Genji stepped on Adam's foot and spun around, hitting Adam in the side with his leg. This forced Adam to stumble slightly, giving Genji an opportunity to stab forward without being blocked. He hit Adam square in the stomach right before his Dragonblade ran out, the impact sending Adam flying through the street, tearing up the stone and tar as he went, skidding to a painful stop nearly forty feet away.
Adam lay there for a moment, shocked and in pain. With that singular blow, his Aura had been nearly completely depleted. It hadn't suffered too much in the fight before this, but with one hit from the dragon energy…
Adam picked himself up, holding one of his shoulders as it ached.
Well, if one could do that to him, he could only imagine the pain Genji would have when the several Wilt had absorbed were sent back at him.
Two ninja stars came flying at him from behind, but in one move Adam had sliced right through them. "Attacking an enemy from the back? Where's all your honor now?"
"My duty transcends my honor, and my honor transcends you!" a voice shouted from seemingly everywhere. Adam turned around in a circle, scanning his surroundings. There was no sign of him. What there were signs of, however, was the town he was in waking up. Lights were coming on all around him as more and more people heard their exchange. Some were even beginning to come out of their houses.
Perfect.
Adam ran up to a random human who had just stepped onto his porch, grabbed him, and dragged him back onto the street. As the man gasped and gurgled, eyes full of shock and fear, Adam held up Wilt against his throat.
"Come out now, or this filthy human will pay the price of your cowardice!"
There were a dreadful five seconds of absolute silence, the only thing preventing total stillness being people waking up and walking out to see what was happening.
Then Genji dropped in from a tree and stood up before Adam. "Let. Him. Go."
Adam grinned maliciously. "See? This is what happens when you rely on honor. One wrench gets thrown at you and everything falls apart. Now you get to watch what you've caused."
"NO!" Genji swiftly struck ahead of him in a burst of green, but Adam was faster. The tip of Genji's katana poked right over Adam's heart, unable to pierce it, as the hostage fell, throat slit. The crowd that was forming began to scramble, scared, confused, and shocked.
"Don't feel so bad," Adam told Genji, sheathing Wilt. "Killing him was a mercy. He doesn't have to watch me burn this little village to the ground. It will be a message. A message of fear. Of order. Of righteousness."
"How…how can you kill with such ease, such want, and still believe yourself the hero?!"
"After all these creatures did to me, do you really think they deserve anything better? The faunus are the superior race. We're destined to take control of the planet eventually. I'm just speeding up the process."
"Or perhaps after all they did to you, all you want is for them to feel the same way."
Adam's eyes darkened through his mask. "You're clever. But that mouth won't save you from me!"
He lunged ahead, and Genji deflected the slice. The two sparred, Adam's aggressive nature getting the better of Genji's skill at defending himself. Slowly, but surely, Genji was pushed back.
Genji thought quickly. He dashed behind a telephone pole, sliced through its bottom, and picked it up by its fallen base easily. As Adam came swinging, Genji threw the pole with all his might at the rampaging bull.
But Adam simply held out his red blade in front of him and the steel parted. Within a second, there were two perfectly carved halves of a telephone pole without any of it hitting Adam.
But Genji wasn't so dumb as to rely on the pole exclusively.
As the bright light blocked Adam's eyes, Genji struck, diving ahead and slamming into Adam's face with his knees. Adam spun and collapsed, and Genji slashed along his neck and head, his blade simply bouncing off Adam's skin. Adam recovered quickly, throwing off Genji and slashing ahead. Genji blocked the slash and spun his foot under it, tripping Adam over and providing another slashing opportunity.
Adam wouldn't go down without a fight, though. As he fell, he kicked out and got Genji in the leg, too. As Genji attempted to recover, Adam took the chance to shoot him in the leg.
Genji fell back down in pain.
Adam got up and stood over him, taking a quick moment to speak before his kill.
"You fought well. But well wasn't good enough. So when your spirit goes to whatever stupid afterlife you want to believe, remember that this village burned and these people died because you weren't good enough." He held up Blush for a final headshot as Genji breathed heavily, eyes wide-set.
Then a bullet from out of nowhere struck Adam's forehead and shattered his mask.
Adam bounced back quickly, head throbbing not just in pain, but in anger. He turned – and got a bullet in the back. And then a bullet in the side. Then bullets in his head, legs, arms, chest – everywhere. They all bounced off his aura, but it was depleting way too rapidly. Before long, one of these bullets would actually kill him.
Adam turned in a circle and scanned the area with his one good, piercing blue eye and found out what was happening. Apparently, this village hadn't appreciated him killing one of them and threatening to burn down everything, and had all collectively elected to kill him. At every door, there was at least one person holding at least one gun, all trained on him.
Adam glared.
They all fired.
And Adam blocked.
From every angle at every second at every point, Adam turned and blocked every single bullet fired at him, charging up his Moonslice the whole way. Nobody could get a hit in. Nobody could take him down. And nobody could stop him.
The clicks of an empty barrel were scattered at first, a minor inconvenience before the wielders changed clips and kept firing. But over time, they were more numerous, and before even two full minutes had passed, every barrel was empty, Adam was unharmed…and Wilt was glowing brighter than the moon.
Genji watched helplessly from the ground, pain seeping through his leg, as this all unfolded. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't warn them. He couldn't stop them.
He couldn't even stop him.
But, when the rain of fire ceased, and he saw Adam smirk and hold up his gun at the man who had shot his mask off, none of that mattered.
He could save them.
As the bullet left Blush's barrel, Genji was somehow already moving. He managed to get in front of the man, pull out Ryu-Ichimonji, and bounce the bullet back.
It hit Adam in the forehead, and a red shimmer appeared around him before fading away.
Adam's aura was down.
Genji held out his glowing katana with a renewed sense of determination.
Adam sheathed Wilt. "You can't protect them."
Genji crossed his blade over his chest. "I can try."
Adam stared into his eyes and spoke. "No. You can't."
He pulled out Wilt.
The world went red and black.
And the power of a dozen Dragonblade strikes and a hundred bullets came out in the form of a sword beam.
Genji held his ground and activated Dragonblade. He held out the infused blade to catch the red wave of energy.
The two collided.
And the Moonslice tore right through Ryu-Ichimonji.
Genji wasn't even given time to notice his blade shatter before the beam sliced his right arm off and passed behind him, tearing apart several buildings before dispelling.
Genji fell to his knees, in shock, in pain, and bleeding out.
There were gasps, murmurs, and outcries from the village.
Adam ignored all of them and strolled up to Genji. On his way, the man Genji had just jumped in front of pulled out his handgun and shot at Adam, who deflected the bullet right into his skull.
When Adam reached Genji, he dropped to one knee.
"This is what honor has brought you. In the end, honor, justice, vengeance, strength, and respect – none of it matters. All that matters is who lives, who dies, and by whose hand. That's what I understood that you didn't. That's why I won."
Genji gasped as more blood poured out from his arm. "You…" he spoke weakly, "You really talk far too much."
His left arm reached out in a surprise move and, in complete shock to Adam, used the broken hilt of Ryu-Ichimonji's remains to slice through his working eye.
Adam fell backward, screaming in pain, letting go of Wilt as blood splattered out and cheers erupted from the crowd. He heard his sword clatter to the ground, but he didn't know where.
Adam shouted and cried out. The pain – it burned. He couldn't see. He couldn't see. He rolled away from Genji, out into the middle of the street, gasping and crying out. If he waited long enough, his aura's regeneration might heal it – but he was going to die well before that.
Genji pulled himself up, barely able to stand, blood still falling from the stump where his arm was. Then, for his own satisfaction, he put his hands to his head, and lifted off his helmet.
His whole face was scarred, but he saw, with his own eyes, what he had done to this monster.
Far less than it deserved.
He picked up Wilt and walked slowly up to the heap of black and red right as it was beginning to calm down.
"You were right. I wasn't stronger than you. But I was smarter."
The cheers rose in volume.
Adam breathed in and out. He'd done this before. He just needed to focus.
Then, even without eyes, he saw.
He saw Genji standing over him. He saw his own weapon in the ninja's hands. He saw the crowds cheering the cyborg on.
And he saw the wakizashi still lying on the street.
Adam rolled away, and Genji gave chase. They both stopped, and Genji plunged the red blade down. At the same time, Adam grabbed hold of the wakizashi and stabbed up.
Genji stabbed Adam in the stomach.
And Adam stabbed Genji in the throat.
The crowd was silenced instantly as Genji fell. Adam stood up and ripped Wilt out of his stomach and put it back into its sheath. That would leave a nasty scar. But it would heal.
Genji choked on the pavement, blood seeping out everywhere.
Adam stood over him. "Even blind, I see more clearly than you ever did." He pulled Wilt out and stabbed down through Genji's spinal cord. "For honor." He stabbed again, through his kidney. "For justice." And again, in the shoulder. "For respect."
He bent down, grasped Genji by the throat, and lifted him up. Blood poured over his gloves, but he didn't care.
They matched eyes, both scarred, both unmasked, for the first time this fight.
Adam smirked.
"For the faunus."
And he stabbed up into Genji's mouth and through his brain.
-KO!-
Adam flung the dead ninja's body up into the air and sliced through it several times on its way down. When it hit the ground, it burst into a hundred, neat pieces. He sheathed Wilt and strolled away, muttering "No mercy for humans."
He paused for a moment, and ripped off a piece of his cloak, then wrapped the black material around his eyes. His eye would regenerate in time – the cut wasn't so deep that he'd be blind forever, but this would do until then.
As he walked through the village, everyone was silent. They were waiting for their execution. How poetic.
Adam ignored them, as he always had. He walked straight out of the village, and out of its lights. He felt the weight on the villagers' shoulders vanish. But they'd forgotten how much fear, anger, shock, sadness, and rage had occurred in that town that night.
As hundreds of creatures with red eyes passed by him, rushing towards the village, he smiled.
…
Wow. That ending was seriously grimm.
Genji definitely put up a solid fight, but he was simply outmatched in the places it mattered most. You'd think Genji's superhuman agility would be something Adam couldn't normally compete with, but no, Adam's handled his fair share of agile foes, like Blake, who actually has some very similar fighting styles to Genji, definitely matches him in ninja-like agility, and also commonly double-jumps through usage of her semblance. And Adam's defeated her more than once. It wouldn't be long before his experience and skill was able to pull through when it came to Genji trying to dodge or deflect. Speaking of which, Adam's skill in deflection may actually surpass Genji's. Sure, Genji can deflect plenty of bullets, but he's never performed a feat like Adam's deflection of every bullet from two point-blank chainguns! His ninja stealth would also be fairly worthless. Not only does Genji like to face his opponents fairly, but even if he tried to hide, Adam could find him easily. Hanzo, a normal human, was able to sense him several feet away while he was hiding in the darkness behind his back. Meanwhile, Adam has superhuman senses, can see through the dark, and can tell everything that's going on around him while blindfolded. Sure, he gets roughed up by surprise attacks sometimes – when he's actively distracted or fighting another enemy. I'm sure his superhuman senses can probably pick up a swordsman who hides in darkness (which, again, would be useless against a faunus) a lot better than it can pick up a surprise jump attack from a fighter he thought he'd already taken out while he was in the midst of battling another superhuman who had just gained the upper hand.
But truly, none of that is what makes this match. That comes down to their stats. And Adam is just…better than Genji in those areas. Genji was able to take a hit from Diablo, whose giant bell feat puts his strength at around 556 Tons of Force. But this scaling is kind of generous. Not only is that feat technically non-canon, but Genji has never been a guy to take heavy hits, and other characters tougher than him have been taken out by weaker blows than that. In fact, he was one-shotted by Doomfist, who's most impressive feat was punching a crater into a bunch of rock, which would have taken about 610 Tons of Force. However, Adam's Aura Shield puts him significantly above Genji in this regard. Adam has lost his aura rarely, but most notably, after fighting both Blake and Yang for a significant amount of time, falling off a radio tower, taking bullets and superhuman punches, and a motorcycle to the face, his shield only broke after Yang hit him with a devastating punch powered by her semblance that used up all that was left of her aura. This is significant because we know how her semblance works. She takes hits and, after activating it, uses the full power of those hits plus her own against her opponent. So striking someone with a semblance on the verge of a collapsing aura means that she was striking with every possible bit of extra power her semblance could grant her at the time. And, since we know that the Atlesian Paladin mech from Volume 2 can punch with over 1,400 Tons of Force and that, after activating her semblance, she matched and surpassed its strength, that means that her semblance can give her at least that much strength. And her semblance-based blow to Adam was far more powerful than even that, since it actually reached the limits of her aura and she'd trained extensively since her fight with the mech, so her aura was likely even more durable. So Genji breaks after a 610 Ton blow, while Adam's aura broke after a blow that was, AT BARE MINIMUM, 1,400 Tons. It was likely far more. And that was after a long battle with both her and Blake!
"But wait," you say, "what about how he can block punches from Primal Rage Winston, who's as strong or stronger than Doomfist? What about Doomfist being able to level a skyscraper?!" Regarding the first question, I say to you two things: that first, lore matters over gameplay, so if the lore says he can't take a punch from Primal Rage Winston (which it does) but he can as a part of a certain game mechanic, then we're going with the lore. Second, Genji is only ever able to block one punch, and even that sends him flying halfway across a town. That's hardly coming out without a scratch. As for the Doomfist skyscraper thing, I mean, the only time we ever heard that was when a little kid randomly said it while entranced by how cool his gauntlet was. We have absolutely no evidence whatsoever to back it up. And Primal Rage Winston was able to match his strength, and that version of Winston has NEVER displayed capabilities like that! So it's a random statement by a random citizen with no supporting evidence and its fair share of counter-evidence. Not something I'm going to take into account.
Still, Genji could block punches from normal Winston without much trouble, roughly matching his strength. Winston can crush marble floors that'd have a compression strength of about 20,000 PSI. That's nice. Adam can tear through solid steel without a weapon! That has a tensile strength of over 80,000 PSI! And Adam had the speed advantage, too. At maximum, Genji could fight at 9,800 MPH. Even that scaling is a little capricious, since not only does it come from a non-canon scene, but the Diablo he's fighting is clearly different from the Diablo we scaled from, and that scaling by itself made a few too many assumptions for me to be truly comfortable with. Honestly, Genji's 7,400 MPH faster-than-the-untrained-eye feat is probably the highest canonical feat he has, though we can probably still scale him to past 9,000 MPH because of that scene with Tracer. Adam's a bit simpler. He once cut up a robot in four completely different wide-set bisections both faster than the eye can track and faster than gravity could enact on the first portion to cause it to move before everything else was sliced up, and then appeared behind it like it was nothing! A highly-trained eye is capable of detecting event happening within 1/220th of a second, so this event must have taken place in less time than that. Measuring out everything in real life, it would have taken a normal fighter approximately 3.75 seconds to perform this feat, indicating a combat speed several hundred times greater than the average fighter. Considering the average combat speed is 15 MPH, we can directly compare these events in order to place Adam's speed at 12,375 MPH – 26% higher than our maximum speed findings for Genji. This is backed up by his being faster than many of the show's characters can detect, and appearing in multiple places to a 9,000 MPH-tracking Yang. And Adam's likely faster still, being able to turn five robots into scrap and appear behind them faster than the eye can track. We just can't measure it, since he's doing the whole "I'm too fast for even the camera to see me move" thing.
"But wait," you say again, "what about Genji being faster than Soldier: 76? That guy outran a grenade explosion, and was able to save a little girl before the explosion reached her! According to an online calculation I found, that puts him at over Mach 90!" To that, I say that there were a lot of questionable things about that scene. The whole point was 76 making a specific decision, not him being able to reach her in time, cinematic timing was clearly abused at various points throughout the short, and neither 76 nor ANY OTHER Overwatch character EVER shows speeds anywhere NEAR this level before or after. And if we're going to be taking extremely questionable and situational outlier speed-feat scaling into account, then we'd have to scale Adam to Mercury's lightning dodging. That feat suffers from the same issues Soldier: 76's feat does – it's not the point of the scene or emphasized, may very well have been a victim of cinematic timing, and no character at any point ever shows anywhere near that level of speed before or after. But if we include one, we have to include the other. And lightning travels at Mach 294. That's a little more than Mach 90.
That speed difference plays a bigger factor than you might think. Now, both are certainly skilled in swordplay, but Adam clearly has studied more forms of swordfighting than Genji, and his abilities stretch beyond what Genji can do. I mean, Genji's a good swordfighter, yeah, but I haven't yet seen him throw his sword in such a way as to become a buzzsaw then return back to his hand in a manner that is physically impossible. Adam's style focuses mainly on powerful hits, and with a speed advantage, he's able to land those more often. However, more importantly, it grants him a huge advantage in the deflection department. Both Adam and Genji are able to block and deflect almost any conceivable blow if they can react quickly enough, and that's a big deal, because whenever one blocks or deflects a hit, it charges a move than might be able to one-hit-kill their opponent. Genji's deflection abilities are great enough to block projectiles moving faster than an untrained eye can track, but Adam can block tons of blows from hypersonic fighters like Yang and Blake, and, of course, bullet after bullet after bullet from a chaingun. Add to that his sword's length over the wakizashi Genji uses to block, his superior skill, and his better speed, and that means Moonslice is going to charge up significantly faster than Dragonblade. And while Genji could probably block a regular Moonslice, he can't block the non-physical sword beam version, and Adam's skill, experience against other swordfighters, and superior speed means he'll know when to launch that hit to maximize his chances of landing it. And even if Genji gets his Dragonblade charged up, there's not much stopping Adam from blocking it. It's been blocked before, and Adam has both the experience and speed to do so, especially since the Dragonblade technique is a literal few sword slices without much in the way of range. If Genji can block a Moonslice, Adam can certainly block the Dragonblade. And he can even charge up his Moonslice further with it! And if one of those swords is going to break (which is highly unlikely), it'd be Genji's, since Adam's Moonslice has broken another seemingly impossible-to-damage blade before.
When it all comes down to it, Adam just had the advantage overall. He's stronger, faster, tougher, his skill is likely superior, his deflecting game is well above Genji's, his abilities naturally counter Genji's stealth, the Moonslice is more powerful than the Dragonblade, and he's willing to fight dirty while Genji isn't. And Genji's been emotionally fragile most of his entire life, only finding inner peace recently, and one of Adam's strongest traits is his ability to manipulate others' emotions. There simply weren't enough advantages that Genji had to make this fight turn around.
Genji just couldn't pull through when the High Leader of the White Fang came Adam.
The winner is Adam Taurus.
Next time, on Death Battle…
An armored alchemist with a red stone unleashes a massive blast that coats a huge area and leaves his opponents helpless.
VS.
An armored magician with a giant, eyeballed sword unleashes a massive blast that coats a huge area and captures the souls of all of his opponents.
(Alphonse vs. Nightmare)
Hey everyone! This was a super fun one to write – I haven't written a battle between characters this simple since Dust vs. Kirito. Not that figuring this out was simple, oh, no! Tons of research and tons of debating went on here. In fact, it was during research for this that I found out that the manga has officially replaced the canonicity of the trailers and Volume 1, so if you're wondering where a certain feat came from (e.g. the slicing the guy four times and the giant spider robot being sliced in half and NOT being turned to rose petals) it's probably from there. The manga is actually really good. Surprising.
Have fun, ask questions, request matchups, and I'll see you next time for Alphonse vs. Nightmare! Bye!