Guts
Background:
As a newborn, Guts was taken into a mercenary bandit group after being noticed by them passing by, laying under corpse of a hanged woman, where he endured plenty of battles along with extreme mental and physical abuse. Later as a teen he joined Band of the Hawk to serve under Griffith as his comrade to find a purpose in his life by fighting for his dream, however, he has left after becoming dissatisfied with his dream and started to follow his own. After several tragic events in his life caused by Griffith (most notably the Eclipse, where he sacrificed the entirety of Band of the Hawk), immeasurable rage and hatred has awakened inside Guts and led him into an obsession of vengeance. Though after he realizes that his lover, Casca, is more important to him than his quest for revenge, he continues his adventure with her and his new comrades where he's struggling against the predestined flow of causality and gradually finds a new place that he belongs to, all over again.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Master Swordsman (Guts has carved his own effective sword style that mainly utilizes greatswords),
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant,
Enhanced Senses (Defended himself and several others from a professional assassin sniping them in near-total darkness, fights unimpeded despite lacking an eye post-Eclipse, could keep up with Rosine while being deafened by her sonic booms),
Acrobatics,
Supernatural Willpower (As "the Struggler", Guts' persistence and willpower is unimaginably powerful, which allows him to act through pure rage and hatred alone not caring about any wounds, which is essentially his refusal of death),
Analytical Prediction (Correctly predicted in his first fight with Nosferatu Zodd that focusing his attacks on Zodd's sword to break it was his strongest bet at survival. As the Black Swordsman, would go on to fight several duels with Serpico, one of the best fencers in the setting, and see through his tactics and predict his moves each time, even when he had territorial advantage),
Stealth Mastery (Sneaked to Julius' house without beings noticed by guards),
Immense Pain Tolerance,
Minor Multiple Selves (Type 1; His inner darkness manifests as a large, black wolf),
Limited Air Manipulation (By swinging his sword broad-side first, he can alter the air pressure in its trajectory to create gusts powerful enough to knock away Silat's whip swords),
Passive Probability Manipulation (Due to the circumstances of his birth, he has the supernatural ability to evade certain death),
Limited Resistance to Causality Manipulation and Fate Manipulation (Skull Knight states that due to Guts inhabiting the Interstice he exists "outside the logic of the physical world". This compounded with his pre-existing Probability Manipulation allows him to defy the flow of causality established by the God Hand and the Idea of Evil to a small extent, being able to survive even in situations where he is preordained to die, such as when he was sacrificed by Femto)
All previous abilities, Extrasensory Perception (Guts bears the Brand of Sacrifice which causes him to reside in the Interstice between the physical and astral worlds, and reacts in the presence of supernatural creatures, alerting him to their presence),
Non-Physical Interaction (Can attack ghosts and beings on the astral plane with the Dragon Slayer, can even interact with Abstract Beings such as Slan),
Soul Manipulation (Can damage the soul) and Limited Regeneration Negation (Severe wounds caused on the Astral Plane/dealt to the soul do not heal properly, reopening even after being healed, magically or otherwise) with the Dragon Slayer,
Minor Cyborgization (Has a detachable steel arm that has many functions, like a cannon arm that can create explosions and a repeating crossbow)
All previous abilities,
Pressure Points (Easily knocked out Farnese by lightly hitting her in the back of the neck, leaving her basically unharmed),
Minor Explosion Manipulation (Via miniature bombs),
Resistance to Possession (Was able to expel multiple spirits attempting to possess him),
Heat/Fire and Electricity (He has repeatedly tanked building and forest fires and other high-heat hazards and attacks. Withstood lightning from Ganishka, who even prior to becoming Shiva is the most powerful Apostle seen to date),
Limited Resistance to Poison Manipulation (Survived Rosine's poison) and Soul Manipulation (Has ignored severe wounds on his astral body)
All previous abilities,
Permanent Berserk Mode,
Limited Immortality (Type 2; He can take far more punishment than before, but will still die from total blood loss, destruction or stoppage of the heart, and/or a cease to critical brain functions. The Berserker Armour essentially "holds him together"),
Enhanced Acrobatics (Enhanced Condition, Hypermobility, All-Terrain Mobility. Can leap large distances even with his sword, and is not affected by high falls. Can do powerful flip attacks. Is also this swift, and could use air pressure to break a fall and depreciate damage, which was compared to Serpico's wind magic flight),
Statistics Amplification (Drastically improves the physical strength of user),
Night Vision (Can see clearly in the dark),
Resistance to Fear Manipulation, Empathic Manipulation (Incapable of feeling fear, and can resist attempts by even high-level magic practitioners like Schierke to snap him out of his Berserker state), and Telepathy (His bloodlust was so intense that Schierke couldn't use her thought transference on him),
Immunity to Pain Manipulation (Incapable of feeling pain in this armor)
Weaknesses: The Berserker Armor does not heal wounds, only delaying the effects of damage taken. The Berserker Armor also removes his subconscious limiters, causing his body to harm and eventually destroy itself. Now suffers from severe PTSD
Clare
Background
Clare is number 47 of the Organization's 78th generation, making her the lowest-ranked warrior. She also holds the distinction of becoming the only person known to have volunteered to undergo the process of becoming a Claymore warrior to exact revenge against a monster who took the life of her dear friend in the past. One day, she saved young Raki from a monster, took him under her care, and then started the journey to hunt the demons together.
Powers and Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Characteristics,
Analytical Prediction via Extrasensory Perception,
Excellent swordsmanship,
Martial Arts (After absorbing Rafaela, Clare became good at fighting using kicks),
Yoki manipulation, Able to enhance her stats with Yoki, Can suppress her Yoki(basically chi manipulation),
Regeneration (The ability to regenerate lost limbs, limited brain damage, and even severe organ damage or destruction, including traditionally fatal wounds and disembowelment or horizontal bisection. However, this process seems to take a few minutes at minimum, and will not be considered a major factor in the fight.),
Longevity,
Berserk Mode,
Transformation (Able to partially transform into her Awakened Form to become more powerful),
Can soul-link with Teresa allowing her to awaken Teresa inside of her,
Resistance to Poison Manipulation (Like all Claymores, Clare can dispel poisons and toxins from her body with precise control over what goes in) thanks to Body Control (Claymores can control and eliminate poisons and toxins that are already in their bloodstream.)
Weaknesses: Excessive use of her Yoki places her at risk of awakening, where she could lose her sanity and transform into a monstrous being. Nevertheless, Clare often manages to regain her composure after pushing herself beyond her limits. Although she possesses immense untapped potential, her emotional instability hinders her ability to maintain consistent combat prowess. The Quicksword technique has a limited duration, necessitating a recovery period for her arm before it can be employed again.
Song: Awakened Sacrifice (Brandon Yates)
Clare and Raki continued their journey under the silver glow of the half-moon. Even though Priscilla was slain, and Clare had found a bittersweet catharsis through Teresa's presence within her, The former 47th warrior remained unwavering in her determination to exterminate Yoma. Her mission continued, as she and Raki made their way down the lonely, moonlit road.
Clare halted suddenly as her Yoki senses picked up the presence of Yoma nearby. She turned to Raki, instructing him with a firm tone.
"I sense Yoma nearby. Make camp here. I'll handle the threat. I should be done by the time you finish."
Raki nodded in understanding, trusting Clare's capabilities as he witnessed her disappearing into the nearby forest to confront the Yoma. He had no doubts that she would be able to handle the situation, assuming the threat wasn't too significant.
Clare, honing in on the location of the Yoma, experienced a puzzling feeling. Something didn't seem right; the Yoma were somehow being picked off one by one, yet she couldn't sense the presence of another Claymore nearby. Confused by the unusual situation, she wondered what or who could be responsible for the extermination of the Yoma.
As Clare reached the top of the hills and looked out over the clearing, she was taken aback by the scene before her. Standing amidst a sea of about a hundred Yoma corpses was a mysterious figure: a man known as Guts, the Black Swordsman. Guts had just vanquished the last Yoma with a powerful, precise vertical slash, leaving a trail of carnage in his wake. Clare, though not recognizing him, watched the scene unfold in front of her, her senses still on high alert.
Clare observed several noteworthy aspects about Guts as she observed him from a distance. The first striking detail was the absence of Yoki within his body, indicating that he was purely human. This observation puzzled her, considering that the strongest human she had known was Raki, and she knew he would struggle to defeat that many Yoma simultaneously.
Her gaze then shifted to Guts' colossal broadsword, which dwarfed her own claymore sword. The sheer scale and weight of his weapon seemed far beyond that of a typical Claymore's, leaving her thoroughly stumped.
Guts was getting ready to move on to his next destination when Clare's graceful leap brought her before him, blocking his path. Her direct yet questioning demeanor caught his attention. She stated firmly,
"You. No human should be capable of slaying a hundred Yoma alone like this. Who are you?"
Guts, unfazed by Clare's attempt to block his path, merely scoffs and walks past her, clearly not interested in engaging in conversation. His mind is focused on other matters, and he isn't willing to spend any more time on this female warrior. The sound of a sword being drawn made Guts halt in his tracks. The sharp edge of Clare's claymore was now leveled directly at his neck, mere millimeters from the ominous mark on his skin. She spoke with a chilling tone.
"I don't appreciate being ignored. Answer my questions, or I'll have to extract the answers by force."
Guts, growing increasingly annoyed, tightened his hold on the Dragon Slayer. With a swift strike, he knocked away Clare's claymore, forcing her to retreat momentarily and take an offensive stance upon regaining her footing.
Clare, displaying her quick reflexes, darts in for the opening attack, pushing back her opponent with a powerful strike. However, Guts swiftly evades her swing and attempts a counterattack with the Dragon Slayer, only for Clare to duck and deliver a series of powerful punches and kicks that send him hurtling into a nearby tree. Guts muttered to himself in annoyance,
"I seriously don't need this right now."
He grips the Dragon Slayer firmly, charging toward Clare at surprising speed. He swings his sword multiple times, battering her with a barrage of swift and powerful strikes. Despite her best efforts to block and parry, Clare finds herself gradually pushed back, surprised by the sheer weight behind each swing. Clare, grappling with the incredible strength of her opponent, ponders to herself, her mind racing with confusion and astonishment.
"How is this possible? His strikes possess the power of an Awakened Being, yet he is undeniably human. What extraordinary force lies behind this male's strength?"
Realizing that direct confrontation is not an easy path to victory, she renews her determination, realizing she must approach the fight with strategic finesse rather than raw power. Clare leaps backward, creating distance between herself and Guts. With a fierce determination, she channels her Yoki energy into her sword arm, causing the claymore blade to blur and vibrate intensely. Clare prepares to execute her Quicksword technique, fully focused on the task at hand.
Seeing Clare withdraw, Guts swiftly readies his mechanical arm's repeating crossbow and fires a barrage of arrows. However, he is taken aback as Clare swiftly slices the arrows into splinters with incredible speed, so quickly that it appears as if she didn't move at all. Guts expresses his astonishment, exclaiming,
"What the hell-ah!"
However, his words are abruptly cut short as he finds himself on the receiving end of several cuts caused by Clare's Quicksword technique. Though the cuts are not severely debilitating, they still cause considerable discomfort and pain. Clare, in an attempt to incapacitate Guts, stabs the tip of her claymore into his body below the ribs and pushes him back into a tree, impaling him. She demands,
"Now, do you want to keep going the hard way, or will you surrender-ah!"
However, her demand is interrupted as Guts counters with a powerful headbutt, connecting his forehead with Clare's nose and breaking it. Stunned and dazed, Clare staggers back with blood dripping out. Guts raises his Dragon Slayer for an overhead strike, but Clare gracefully rolls back to avoid the blow as the sword cleaves deep into the ground. Clare retaliates with a lunging jump, swinging her own sword overhead in a powerful blow. Guts evades the attack, but the blade grazes his shoulder plate, sending sparks flying upon impact. The pair continues to exchange rapid blows, their swords clashing against each other with each strike. However, Guts gains the upper hand by swiftly kicking Clare away, creating distance and allowing him to utilize his throwing knives.
Clare raises her claymore in an attempt to block the incoming knives, but she is caught off guard when Guts transforms his mechanical arm into a miniature cannon and detonates an explosion at her feet. The blast propels her backward, and she crashes into a rocky cliffside, falling to the ground. Although her body starts to heal, the recovery process is slow, leaving her with a still damaged nose and new burns.
She sees Guts approaching with his Dragon Slayer in hand, and swiftly leaps over the incoming horizontal slash. As Guts follows through with another sword slash, their weapons clash with a loud clang, and sparks fly, causing Clare to be pushed back a significant distance. Despite the force of the impact, she manages to land on her feet, demonstrating her agility.
Clare, determined to end the fight with her Windcutter technique, performs a lightning-fast draw, aiming to land a decisive blow. However, to her disbelief, Guts withstands the attack, gritting his teeth against the pain, and responds with a mighty slash of his own using the Dragon Slayer. The force of the strike inflicts a deep and bleeding gash on Clare, causing her to stumble backward, and her mouth fills with blood as she coughs. Clare utters with determination, her voice filled with defiance.
"No. Not after everything..."
As her will and resilience reach their peak, Clare's silver irises turn golden, her pupils narrowing into slits. Her teeth grow sharper, transforming into fangs, and her body's muscles harden, revealing prominent veins. She begins to enter a half-awakened state, her body transforming to unlock a surge of power to match her opponent. Clare's legs become hock-jointed and hooved, similar to a horse's, accelerating her speed. Sharp blades emerge from her right arm, while her left arm grows large and claw-like, transforming her physique. Guts observes the transformation stoically, tightening his grip on the Dragon Slayer. To him, this transformation represents the revelation of her true nature: an Apostle, a being he loathes with every fiber of his being.
Clare readies her legs, coiled like a spring, and springs forward at incredible speed. Guts barely dodges in time, narrowly escaping the brunt of the attack. He hits the ground and rolls onto his feet, pain wracking his right side from the strike. As he regains his balance, Guts braces himself for Clare's follow-up attack, matching her clawed arm with a firm grip on his Dragon Slayer. The two clash relentlessly, locked in a fierce stalemate.
The two warriors exchange a barrage of attacks, their blades clashing furiously. Despite Guts initially appearing to possess superior strength, pushing Clare back with each blow, he is unable to match her exceptional speed, a skill that is less emphasized in his arsenal. Clare, with her heightened agility, dances around him with lightning-fast strikes, her blades constantly finding their mark against his Dragon Slayer.
Guts refuses to yield, his determination unyielding. He has been through countless struggles before, facing adversity and rising above it each time. As they fought, he can sense the presence of the Black Beast within him, urging him to surrender to his darker instincts and unleash his full power to emerge victorious in this fight.
"You may have taken the form of an Apostle, but I've beaten your kind down before! I will kill you all, down to the last one!"
With a fierce kick, Guts sends Clare crashing to the ground, the impact forcing her to momentarily lose her footing. Clare watches in shock as Guts activates his Berserker Armor, transforming his helmet into the shape of a wolf's head and unleashing an unholy roar filled with raw anger and vengeance. Clare rises to her feet, ready to continue the battle. However, a thought crosses her mind as she observes Guts in his transformed state:
"Did this male become an Awakened Being? Yet, I still can't detect any Yoki inside him. Could it be possible that something else is at play here, rather than him alone? But what could it be?"
As the fight resumes, Clare begins to notice a striking change in Guts' approach. The armor appears to have heightened his strength and speed, but at a cost: he now attacks ferociously, seemingly indifferent to self-preservation. Instead of dodging her attacks, his movements appear reckless and overexerted, as if he has been consumed entirely by fury and the desire to eliminate her. The fight rages on, with Clare managing to land a few blows on Guts, but to her astonishment, the armor seems to have a regenerative property. Wounds inflicted on him, such as a slash to his gut or broken limbs, are automatically closed and healed by the armor, with barbs stitching the wounds shut. The armor also forces his body to function despite the immense damage he is taking. Even broken limbs seem to heal rapidly, snapping back into place on their own. Clare quickly assesses the situation, her thoughts racing as she fights.
"I've got it now. It's not just him. It's the armor. It's got to be some cursed armor that shuts off any limits and heals the damage he takes. He isn't an Awakened Being, he's just an incredibly powerful human, and the armor makes him even more formidable."
Clare continues battling ferociously, but she also acknowledges Guts' skill and determination. Despite him being human, he poses a challenge that few others have managed to match in her experience. While he lacks the speed and agility that she possesses, his raw strength, endurance, and sheer willpower are remarkable given his human status and absence of Yoki to heighten his abilities. She finds herself reluctantly awed by the incredible capabilities of the Black Swordsman.
Despite Clare's agility and ability to land more debilitating blows, she realizes that this fight is quickly becoming a war of attrition. With Guts' superior strength and remarkable resilience, she understands that she won't be able to withstand the onslaught indefinitely, even if she avoids more hits. Desperately, she comes to the realization that she cannot emerge victorious alone and needs assistance urgently.
Fueled by a sudden burst of energy, Clare moves with lightning speed, appearing behind Guts. A few seconds later, all of his joints, from the ankles to the neck, erupt with large gushes of blood, causing Guts to bellow in anger as the Berserk Armor struggles to patch and pull together the injuries simultaneously. Clare recognizes this momentary respite as her opportunity, and reverts back to her normal form, taking advantage of the situation to gain an upper hand. Clare concentrates, delving deep within herself in search of the psychological projection of her mentor and maternal figure, Teresa, inside her heart. With a sense of desperation, she calls out,
"Teresa, I need you. I implore your aid once more."
Clare's soul resonates with Teresa's essence, their connection manifesting as a brilliant light. By the time Guts manages to recover and rise, he witnesses the appearance of Teresa, the most powerful and renowned Claymore to have ever existed. However, the mindless berserker is undeterred, his rage indiscriminately targeting anyone who stands in his way, and Teresa is no exception. Teresa looks around, a gentle smile gracing her lips as she remarks,
"Looks like I've been brought back again. Let's see what this menace is that has Clare concerned."
She then shifts her focus to the charging Black Swordsman, calmly observing his approach. Guts unleashed a powerful sideways strike aimed at splitting her in half, but she gracefully avoided it by arching backward. Deftly dodging the subsequent blows, Teresa moved with effortless elegance, leaving the Black Swordsman's attempts to harm her unfruitful.
Internally, she remarked to herself,
"I must admit, I'm surprised to see Clare struggling against such a sluggish adversary. But with this cursed armor at hand, vanquishing him does seem challenging."
Teresa chose to assess Guts' strength by allowing him to attack, blocking his Dragon Slayer with her claymore. Despite not being completely overwhelmed, her faint smile grew more keenly interested as she witnessed his sheer power.
"Impressive. Such tremendous strength. Even with 100% of my power, I doubt I could subdue him through sheer force alone. And he's just a regular human. What an extraordinary man indeed."
Despite Guts' furious roar and increasing frustration at his inability to kill her, Teresa remained elusive, vanishing from sight before Guts had a chance to react. Then, in a sudden surprise attack, Teresa exploited his blind spot, cleanly slicing off his right arm from behind, eliciting a loud scream from the Black Swordsman. Undaunted by the loss of his right arm, Guts gripped his Dragon Slayer tightly, aiming a wide swipe to catch Teresa behind him. But Teresa ducked effortlessly, and swiftly sliced through both his legs at the knees, causing the Black Swordsman to crumple onto the ground, immobilized.
Teresa took a few steps back, amused as she observed Guts struggling to crawl towards her, his one remaining limb propelling his body forward while his bleeding stumps were being forcibly mended. The burning fury in his eyes remained unaltered.
"He's extremely tenacious. Quite remarkable, isn't it? Rest easy now. Your suffering will be over soon."
With a display of lightning-fast speed, Teresa employed the Quicksword technique to swiftly and repeatedly slice through the Black Swordsman. The armor on his body couldn't heal swiftly enough to keep pace, leaving him vulnerable to the onslaught. Guts' anguished cries cut short as he exploded into a cloud of blood, along with scattered fragments of his armor.
With a soft sigh, Teresa sheathed her sword, retaining a faint smile. Internally, she addressed Clare,
"I cherish our moments together, Clare. But trust that this illusion you project from deep inside your heart mustn't be your crutch after the one time. You must lean on your companions. They are your true strength. But know that I will always be with you."
The Soul-Link concluded with a mild glow as Teresa's projection retreated into Clare's heart. Clare remained in her standing position, her hand clutching her chest, with a single tear tracing down her face. She spoke softly, her voice filled with sadness,
"I will try, Teresa. I'll do everything I can with my friends, and not rely on you too much."
Strength: Both fighters are extraordinarily powerful individuals. But either surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, Guts was much stronger than Clare, and only a little stronger than Teresa summoned through Clare's heart via the Soul-Link. Guts was able to survive a shout from a sea god, the yield of which Death Battle has calculated to be 687 KT of TNT. As for how Clare herself stacks up to, is a bit unclear, but Teresa, when she killed five Priscilla clones within the blink of an eye, is calculated to have used a force output of only 134 KT of TNT. Even if Teresa as a projection was 100X stronger than Clare, that still makes Guts 5.13X stronger.
Speed: However, it's that same feat of chopping five of the same person into fine dust that gives them a solid win. Guts may be able to dodge lightning up to Mach 146, but cutting five people around you so quickly would have to involve moving at speeds around 7.5% the speed of light. This makes Teresa almost 400X faster. At least Clare herself likely would've been around 4X faster, likely.
Skill: Guts was, just by pure, simple swordsplay, the better fighter. Sure, Clare started young too, but she wasn't raised to fight with a sword since six, and was probably around nine when she witnessed the whole Priscilla massacre, and joined the Organization to learn how to fight when Guts was already on the battlefield by then.
Experience: I deem them both to be equal in experience, because while Clare's age is unknown, the two seem somewhat close in age, and have faced against a wide variety of foes. Though Guts's enemies would likely be a few times stronger, but not too much.
Powers: Guts's mechanical arm would provide a few unexpected tricks, his Berserker Armor would make trying to kill him tougher, and the Dragon Slayer undoing any attempts of healing to be a nuisance, but Clare did have the superior sword skills with Quicksword and Windcutter. Guts would be strong enough to tank those two techniques, but they'd at least still be doing some damage. While they're not guaranteed to net Clare the win by themselves, it would be akin to be killed by a thousand cuts. And even if Guts were to nullify Clare's healing factor wherever she was hit, it's still overall more useful than the Berseker Armor merely pulling you together and delaying the consequences down to the last drop of blood.
The winner is Clare.