Aloy
Background:
A Nora Brave, Seeker and machine hunter of unparalleled skill, Aloy is the genetic clone of 21st century roboticist and engineer Dr. Elisabet Sobeck.
She was created by GAIA, the governing artificial intelligence of Project Zero Dawn, a global terraforming system that Sobeck had designed and whose implementation she had spearheaded, which restored life to Earth after its eradication by the Faro Plague. GAIA created Aloy for the purpose of stopping HADES, a rogue AI bent on reactivating the Faro Plague in order to wipe out life again, and repair the AI itself, after it self-destructed in an attempt to destroy the rogue AI. Aloy succeeded, saving life on Earth and the humans of the new world that Zero Dawn created. In doing so, she unraveled the mysteries of why the world became as it is, and also learned the true nature of her origins.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Adept with a Bow, Spear, and Slingshot,
Stealth Mastery,
Enhanced Senses,
Extrasensory Perception,
Hacking (via Override),
Summoning (Can summon a hacked machine),
Fire Manipulation (With fire bombs, arrows, traps and Forgefire),
Ice Manipulation (With ice bombs, arrows and Icerail),
Electricity Manipulation (With arrows, her spear, traps, Stormslinger and shock bomb),
Explosion Manipulation (With explosive bombs and traps),
Forcefield Creation (An armor that creates a forcefield around the user, absorbing any damage that would have been afflicted on them. After the shields drop below 100% the armor will quickly regenerate them.)
Status Effect Inducement,
Healing (Via potions),
Statistics Amplification (Gets a boost in strength when low on health)
Weaknesses: If she is fighting a powerful opponent her resources will quickly deplete leaving her with only her spear. She can be hot-headed at times.
Nariko
Backstory:
Nariko was born to Shen and her mother 23 years prior to the events of Heavenly Sword, in the Year of the Fire-Horse. According to prophecy, a male was destined to be born that year and lead his clan into an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity. However, when a girl - Nariko - was born, and her mother died shortly thereafter, the clan believed the gods had forsaken them, and that they were cursed and doomed to impending destruction.
Nariko became a pariah among her own people, when, in her eyes, she "should have been their princess." Shen was the only person who seemed to care for her, albeit in a remote, distanced way, until Kai. Shen would tutor Nariko in the ways of the warrior. She would prove to be an excellent pupil, to the point where she is the best fighter in the clan by the events of Heavenly Sword. Several years before the game, Nariko came across Kai, the last member of a clan slaughtered by Flying Fox on orders from King Bohan.
The clan took the orphaned girl into their ranks and treated her as one of their own. It was Nariko, however, who developed a deep relationship with Kai, seeing similarities between them in that they both lost their mothers and were outcasts amongst the clan. By the time Heavenly Sword takes place, the two are as close as sisters, willing to risk their lives for one another, if necessary.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Master Swordswoman,
Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant,
Godlike magical power,
Invulnerability to human attacks, (With the full power of the sword),
Able to pass on her life force to heal others.
Song: Heavenly Horizon
Aloy traversed the environment that would have been known as Colorado Springs a thousand years ago. The Nora Seeker moved through the environment, which had been set as her own home, looking for machine scraps. The seeker was searching for such machine parts, which were presumably to be used in order to further advance her people's technology and society.
Aloy was suddenly drawn to a distant noise, as it sounded as if it was a machine involved in a fight. The seeker made her way towards the roaring machine sound in order to investigate what was happening, intent on figuring out the source of the noise that had just caught her attention.
Aloy saw quite an impressive sight as she came up to a high stone cliff, as she found a red haired woman in a confrontation with one of the most dangerous machines in the entire area: a Thunderjaw. The fact that the woman in question was fighting it alone was not the most impressive aspect, though. What really stood out was the fact that this woman was tackling the massive machine head-on, using just a sword for a weapon. Such a tactic was typically considered to be suicidal, due to the sheer power and danger that was known to be possessed by said machine.
As Aloy was watching from the cliff above, her eyes soon went wide with disbelief once it was clear that the woman in question, which was named Nariko, had managed to defeat the Thunderjaw all on her own. The woman, Nariko, then proceeded to run up the machine's back, use her Heavenly Sword to slice through its neck, and jump off its head. Soon, the woman landed gracefully on her feet, in what seemed to be a rather cool and impressive manner, as the Thunderjaw collapsed to the ground, lifelessly.
Nariko was left panting and sweating a little when she had managed to finish off the Thunderjaw. She would pause for a moment, attempting to make sense of what she had just encountered, as she tried to understand what the machine was exactly. The machine being sentient and rather advanced, made it all the more confusing. With no such answers being found, the woman would ultimately ask herself a question:
"What was this beast of metal?"
Nariko suddenly began to dash towards Aloy's location as the two of them entered a tense situation. As soon as this started, the Nora Seeker reacted and reflexively fired an arrow, which was then deflected back into her direction by Nariko after the red-haired woman began to dash. The resulting deflection caused her to roll back to avoid being hit, as she reflexively cursed to herself. Aloy had also realized she had struck the wrong person, as she was now about to come face-to-face with Nariko herself.
Nariko was quick to get up to where Aloy was hiding, as she then used her incredible athleticism to run and jump across the entire cliff. The red-haired woman quickly reached the top, where she then saw the same person that had accidentally shot her was trying to hide in the semi-arid mountainous environment, causing her to become somewhat annoyed. In an attempt to deescalate the situation, Aloy then called out to the other woman, trying to explain that the entire event had been merely an accident.
"I swear, that was an accident!"
"I've heard that one before…"
Nariko clearly did not trust the explanation that Aloy had just provided. Instead, the woman in question charged over towards where the former was still located. Nariko ran over to the spot where she heard Aloy's voice coming from, looking to go and find out where the Nora Seeker was. However, she ran into a trap set up for her. She barely had time to notice the tripwire as it went off, causing a fiery explosion to burst out near her, causing damage to her body with minor burns.
"Well, I tried."
Aloy then proceeded to shrug her shoulders in response to the fact that her attempt to de-escalate the situation completely failed. With nothing left to do, the Nora seeker prepared another arrow into her hunter's bow, ready to fire it on sight of her new opponent and perceived threat.
Despite being hurt and burned from the previous explosion, Nariko would not be deterred from going after Aloy. The red haired woman would charge forward towards the other individual at full speed, refusing to back down despite her injuries. Meanwhile, Aloy would attempt to fire arrow after arrow at the swordswoman, who would manage to efficiently deflect them away with her own blade, the Heavenly Sword. The two of them began engaging in close quarters combat at last.
Aloy would come to the realization that she would be unable to simply shoot down Nariko and would thus be forced to switch to her spear. With that in mind, the Nora seeker then rolled out of the way of the incoming swordswoman, who was moving in with lightning fast speed and ferocity.
The two women engaged in a fierce, close quarters conflict as they clashed their respective weapons together with each other. Aloy would come to match Nariko's Heavenly Sword with her own spear, which had provided her with some measure of offense. Soon, she would attempt to jump over the swordswoman and land a downward slash with her spear, but this would only end up being parried, forcing her to back off once again.
Aloy would start to find herself at a slight disadvantage when she was unable to properly keep up with the other woman's swift strikes, consistently being forced to block or parry them before being kicked away by the powerful kicks that were sent her way. This forced her at times to fall to the ground, only to be able to stand up again and keep up with her rival.
Aloy would attempt to attempt a wide sweep with her spear, which Nariko was able to easily jump over, landing behind the Nora Seeker. The red-haired woman would proceed to try and land a vicious, deadly strike on her opponent's back while she had the chance, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. Aloy would end up shifting her feet to sidestep the attack, allowing her to counter with an unexpected uppercut right under her chin, catching the other woman off guard.
Nariko staggered back after taking the unexpected hit to her jaw, and proceeded to massage it for a second before she charged in again, attacking her opponent with a series of powerful, three consecutive blows with the Heavenly Sword. Unfortunately, Aloy managed to avoid them each time, dodging out of their way effectively.
Nariko's annoyance at her opponent's continued dodging only seemed to grow, as she would proceed to switch from power to speed. The speed of the swordswoman's subsequent strikes and maneuvers quickly overwhelmed the Nora Seeker, who was starting to get a taste of just how skilled the other woman was. The skill shown by Nariko was nothing less than a sight to behold.
Following a particularly strong blow, Nariko's Heavenly Sword would manage to slash through Aloy's spear, breaking through the close ranged weapon. The Nora seeker would instinctively utter an expletive in response to her weapon being destroyed.
"Fuck."
Aloy then quickly threw down a smoke bomb, which successfully obfuscated the entire area as she tried to obscure the fight from view of the enemy swordswoman.
While fighting Nariko, Aloy would run towards the cliff that she and her enemy had been previously standing on, jumping off of it in order to get a few minutes to herself. To ensure that she would not be in free fall for any of the time that they were separated, the Nora seeker would use her bow to launch a line that she had shot from her own weapon. Soon, she landed safely down on the ground at the bottom of the cliff, using the aforementioned line to climb down safely, allowing the seeker a moment to plan her next move.
Upon finding herself at the bottom of the cliff, Nariko went about trying see if she could find her opponent. With the environment around her having plenty of cover, it did not take her long before she came to the conclusion that she would need to look even more closely. Nariko would proceed to utter out a simple, quiet question, as she wondered out loud:
"Where are you?"
The red-haired woman would go about following the sound of a shifted rock around a corner. Nariko would move with utmost care and precision, sneaking along to not activate any potential trigger, which could result in the setting off of another tripwire from the trap-savvy hunter.
Once Nariko rounded the corner, what she came to find was something that she could find quite strange at first. The red-haired warrior would approach the thing cautiously, still keeping her distance as to avoid anything that was potentially harmful. The specific item in question was a balloon that resembled an air sac.
The red-haired woman was left wondering what the actual purpose behind a balloon such as the one she had spotted was. Her curiosity was suddenly cut short when a stray fire imbued arrow flew from out behind a rock and collided with the balloon. The balloon, then, had its flammable gas go up into flames, causing a sudden explosion, which blasted the woman backwards.
Nariko was blasted back several feet by the explosion, causing her to cry out as well for a moment. Yet, before she could fully recover from this, yet another arrow fired from the midst of the smoke, this time around successfully striking her in the side.
The swordswoman would let out another cry of pain when she was struck by the arrow, coming to realize just how much damage she was taking. Noticing another arrow coming her way, she was quick to use the Heavenly Sword in order to deflect it back at Aloy, ultimately causing the arrow to strike the Nora seeker in some spot, given she also let out a cry of pain.
Once Nariko had stood up and ripped the arrow out, she proceeded to walk over towards Aloy, the deflected arrow having managed to strike the other woman perfectly between her shoulder and neck. The strike itself was rather lucky, especially as it thankfully missed her artery and thus caused little, if still painful damage.
Upon finding the young woman, Nariko would proceed to ask Aloy a question. The swordswoman would immediately move her blade in the direction of the Nora seeker, aiming its blade straight at her, as she proceeded to speak.
"Finally. Now, who are you? Are you an assassin sent by Bohan?"
Aloy would proceed to smirk and answer her question, before she began to deliver her own. A response that showed her confidence in her own abilities, which she was certain that she was quite deadly as well.
"I've never heard of… a Bohan. And I'm no assassin. But… I'm just as deadly."
Once the statement had finally been delivered, the Nora seeker would inflict yet another attack upon the red-haired warrior. Namely, a plasma-imbued arrow that was earlier shot directly into her side, as the wound ruptured with purple energy.
Upon getting hit in the side by the plasma arrow, Nariko was left reeling from the intense pain, which forced her to the ground and down on one knee. At this time, the Nora seeker would seize the opportunity, and proceeded to take out a shock bomb from her pouch, throwing it towards the injured woman. This rendered the lady temporarily paralyzed, allowing Aloy to make another move.
Having taken advantage of the momentarily paralyzed and immobilized state of her opponent, the young woman would get up from her knees, as she was now ready to lay a beating down upon the injured Nariko. Aloy would proceed to crack her knuckles, making sure that her fists were properly prepared for the physical conflict ahead. She then proceeded to start beating down upon the swordswoman, delivering powerful blows with her bare fists.
Amongst the series of punches that Aloy would bring down upon the immobilized Nariko, the former proceeded to deliver one particular strike towards the latter, only for the red-haired fighter to catch said punch with her hand. Looking up towards the Nora seeker, the wounded warrior had an intimidating glare, as if to let her opponent know that she was made a big mistake.
Once she had gained a grip on her opponent's forearm with her injured hand, Nariko would proceed to then use just the strength of her arms and her body to perform an impressive and swift flip of her opponent, in order to throw Aloy into the ground and to the rock wall. With her opponent momentarily stunned, the red-haired warrior could then proceed to readying the Heavenly Sword, which she attacked with a powerful strike that delivered a horizontal slash across her body.
The horizontal slice that was unleashed upon her came with incredible power, cutting through the armor without any issues at all. Said slash did manage to strike the young Nora seeker in her body, causing her to fall down upon her knees in pain, and then all the way down to the ground shortly after. The red-haired warrior would then get flipped over onto her back, as the swordswoman planted a foot upon her chest, pressing down upon the lady. The lady would feel Nariko firmly pressing down upon her chest, as the other woman looked down at her.
Nariko would remain with her foot upon the girl's chest, holding the tip of her sword down firmly within reach of striking the killer blow. As Aloy stared at the victorious swordswoman standing over her, she was seemingly expecting to die. However, the red-haired fighter seemed rather silent, which only seemed to confuse the young woman.
"What are you waiting for? Do it."
"I have no personal beef with you. If you don't know who Bohan or his empire is, then this has just been a waste of time. Farewell." With no intention of delivering the fatal blow or to strike down the young lady upon her back, the red-haired woman proceeded to put her sword back into its sheath, before turning away completely. This left Aloy alone as she stared in shock and bewilderment, as to why the other woman was simply leaving. After a brief moment, the powerful swordswoman would begin to walk away, while still grasping hold of her injured side.
Following the sudden departure of the red-haired warrior, Aloy would simply lay back for a moment, laying her head upon the ground. The young woman managed to find some healing potion from her pouch, which she proceeded to consume. After taking the potion in, the Nora seeker would just lay back, before passing out from the sheer exhaustion that was caused by the fight.
Strength: Now, admittedly, Nariko was more powerful in terms of strength and athleticism. Both were strong women in their own right, but while Aloy is capable of winning against foes stronger than her, it's not without sufficient difficulty. When it comes to Nariko, she can fight evenly, and even better than Bohan's son, Roach, who can shatter a large gladiator stage floor, which would require over ten tons of force. Not to mention that Nariko can transverse her environment much more easily and impressively.
Speed: Now, when it comes go Nariko's speed, the idea of the swordswoman being, "Lightning speed", to be a bit much to take at face value. She's never depicted fighting at literal lightning speed, whether it's literal or just outside perception. If anything, at best, Nariko seems to be only able to react as fast as the speed of sound in order to evade cannon fire. Given that Aloy could regularly dodge gunfire, she could be around two to four times faster than Nariko. Besides, even if the lightning feat was taken at face value, the same would have to go to Aloy since she could dodge lightning and plasma bolts from the machines she fights against.
Skill: While they're both highly skilled fighters in their own right, Nariko seems to be the much more capable fighter. While Aloy winning against Erik, an enforcer with 1000 years of combat experience, means that Aloy certainly can keep up, being able to fight 500 enemies at once and win, along with having a reliable method of countering the hunter's main means of attack gives the swordswoman a distinct advantage.
Experience: This is certainly where Aloy shines. Her ability to analyze for weaknesses, use her smarts to utilize the environment and traps to her advantage, and fight against robots the size of dinosaurs along with the Far Zenith means that the Nora Seeker is the more well rounded.
Powers: Aloy may have the more versatile arsenal, having multiple weapons that can utilize elemental damage, none of it compares to the Heavenly Sword, as it's hailed as the ultimate weapon, even if it's at the expense of the user's life... eventually.
The winner is Nariko.
Next time:
"Hanzō Style: Blooming Slash!"
"In the name of Mugen Tenshin."