Death Analysis: The STRONGEST Fairy of all.

It's been a while, but Neosonic97 here, back with another analysis. This time we've got another Touhou character, in this case, Gensokyo's Ice Fairy of the Misty Lake and self-proclaimed strongest of them all, Cirno. So with that out of the way, let's get to it!

BACKSTORY AND PERSONALITY

Cirno as she appears in Touhou Hisoutensoku.

Gensokyo, the fantasy land situated across the boundary of common sense and lack of it, plus the boundary of illusion and reality. Amongst its many inhabitants, there is one who proclaims herself to be the absolute strongest of all its inhabitants. This person makes her home at the Misty Lake, a large lake situated at the foot of the Youkai mountain, and opposite of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And her name is Cirno. Despite her boasting of being the strongest... Cirno really isn't. Cirno is childish, but extremely confident and has what appears to be a superiority complex towards others. She often proclaims herself to be the absolute strongest there is, (and does so three times in Phantasmagoria of Flower view ALONE), but this rarely comes out as fruitful. She's also, uh... how do I put this...? Ah, I know. She's an idiot. In multiple manuals, ZUN labels her as an idiot (often accompanied by the number 9, giving her the nickname nine-ball), and has shown signs of it. For instance, when, in Oriental Sacred Place, she can't figure out why people did not want to buy her water-flavoured shaved ice. Despite this, however, she is smarter than many of her peers, and does realize when she is in danger, as evidenced when she fought against Yuuka in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, and, unlike most of her peers, can read and count (and has knowledge of rounding and fractions, as shown in Fairy Wars). Despite her child-like appearance, however, Cirno IS at least sixty years old, as evidence when she remembered a similar incident to Phantasmagoria of Flower View's that happened sixty years ago.

ABILITIES

Cirno as she appears in Fairy Wars.

A NOTE ON FAIRIES

Fairies in Touhou Project are, for lack of a better term, primordial aspects of nature given a physical form. They are often very weak (even weaker than humans, normally) and typically have the appearance of a humanoid child. Their lifespans are often considered extremely short due to their carefree and childlike nature combined with their low strength, but this is deceiving for a simple reason: Fairies are typically immortal. Though they can be 'killed', per se, so long as the element they represent still exists, they will continue to revive themselves infinitely. In Cirno's case, her element is Ice.

With that out of the way, let's get to what sets Cirno apart from other fairies. Cirno is actually far more powerful than the rest of her kind, and as such, dangerous too. This is outright stated by Eiki Shiki in Phantasmagoria of Flower View, and you'll see examples of this later. In fact, Eiki states that Cirno is SO powerful that she actually runs the risk of LOSING the immortality of fairies by going beyond the limits of what fairies are capable of. Cirno's unique power (because come on, EVERY named character in Gensokyo has one, even if it is something mundane like "impressive sword skills" or the like) is the ability to manipulate cold, or in other words, she's a cryokinetic. In fact, Cirno's very presence lowers the temperature of the area around her, and she is capable of freezing living beings solid in an instant (She mostly uses this for one of her favourite past-times, freezing frogs).

She's a Touhou character, and that means it's time for Spell Cards! Cirno's first and most used Spell Card is Freeze Sign- "Perfect Freeze", which can manifest itself in multiple ways, although the most used variation causes Cirno to, after a brief delay of scattering ice bullets everywhere, freeze everything around her solid. The Perfect Freeze is so potent that it can even freeze flames solid! Another well-known spell card of hers (albeit for a different reason) is Ice Sign- "Icicle Fall". While it is a reasonably difficult pattern of falling icicles to dodge at first glance, if she's going easy there is a blatant safe-spot that can be abused to freely smack Cirno while she's using this attack... AND IT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER! That spell card is one of the main reasons she's considered an idiot. When she's not dropping icicles, though, she's shooting them directly at the target via Ice Sign- "Icicle Machine Gun", which, as the name suggests, is shooting out rapid-fire icicles. There's also Ice Clump- "Great Crusher", which is well-known for a different reason: She literally makes a giant hammer out of ice and smashes the foe with it. Like here, for instance! "CIRNO CRUSH PUNY SHRINE MAIDEN WITH GLACIER MALLET!" (note: This link is a non-canon webcomic, the main reason it's linked is to demonstrate how Cirno uses Great Crusher) It's not the only weapon she can make out of ice, either. As she can also make swords, like when she uses Ice Sign- "Sword Freezer", or cause giant columns of ice to burst out of the ground with Frost Sign- "Frost Columns". Lastly, there's Cold Sign- "Insta-Freeze Beam" which shoots out three long-lasting lasers.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Cirno, as she appears in Hidden Star in Four Seasons. Note the tan and flowers, it's actually important.

Despite being a member of the weakest race in Gensokyo, Cirno's feats are truly extraordinary. Even under spell card rules, Cirno has canonically defeated some of Gensokyo's heaviest hitters. She's defeated Marisa Kirisame in Hisoutensoku and given her a hard time in Fairy Wars, and ALSO in Hisoutensoku she defeated Utsuho Reiuji. There's also her canonical smashing of Sanae Kochiya, the Shrine Maiden of the Moriya Shrine, who also happens to be Reimu's rival. In the latest game, Hidden Star in Four Seasons, she defeats Okina Matara, a god who happens to be one of the Sages of Gensokyo, alongside Yukari Yakumo and Kasen Ibaraki. However, this last feat isn't quite as impressive as it would seems since the abnormal seasons incident granted Cirno a temporary boost in power which she has since lost (with the tan and flowers in the image being the main indicator, this form is nicknamed 'Tanned Cirno'. In said form she also loses her weakness to heat!). In  Fairy Wars, she defeats all three of the Fairies of Light, Sunny Milk, Luna Child and Star Sapphire at once while they're ganging up on her. This is especially important because Sunny Milk, the leader of the group, has proven on multiple occasions that she can react to light, though most notably here in Strange and Bright Nature Deity, Chapter 24, Page 9:

Sunny Milk deflecting Yukari's light bullets in Strange and Bright Nature Deity

Here, in this scan, Yukari Yakumo (yes, THAT Yukari Yakumo) is seen shooting bullets of light at Sunny Milk, who deflects them in a panic using her power, which is the ability to refract light (Which she most often uses as a form of invisibility). Given that Sunny and Yukari both explicitly link it to her ability, these bullets are most likely moving at the speed of light, 3 million meters per second. This is likely a high-end for Sunny, as she's clearly panicking as she does this. Her two cohorts, Star Sapphire and Luna Child are also capable of reacting to these bullets and attempting to avoid (To no avail, however, they end up getting hit and KOed). While this would normally not mean much, Cirno is capable of defeating all three in a fight at once, meaning that she is fully capable of overcoming their reaction speed meaning that she must be capable of, at bare minimum, moving and fighting at speeds close to, if not at, the speed of light, and thus, anybody who scales to her is too.

Cirno's feat in defeating Utsuho is ESPECIALLY notable, however, due to the fact that Cirno was basically enclosed in her greatest weakness- high temperatures. Cirno grows stronger and more energetic when it is cold, but in turn heat causes her physical pain, to the point that, when she fought Utsuho in Hisoutensoku, literally all the factors were against her- she was facing an incredibly powerful foe, inside of a nuclear fusion reactor (for reference, nuclear fusion is the process which fuels stars like our own sun), while fighting Utsuho, the hell crow responsible for keeping it in check with her ability to manipulate Nuclear Fusion, and yes, that does mean exactly what one would expect it to mean: Cirno survived having miniature suns thrown at her. Given the temperature of the centre of the sun (Considering these suns were flying STRAIGHT AT Cirno) is 15 million degrees Celsius, this means Cirno can survive those kinds of temperatures... and that's hitting her with attacks she's weak to, while in a battlefield that's already harmful to her! Despite all these factors pointing to her getting roasted, Cirno managed to not only fight on par with Utsuho, but win by knocking out Utsuho for long enough to escape.

However, despite all these amazing feats for her kind, Cirno IS still a fairy and prone to childish and sometimes outright idiotic behaviour. She's cocky and overconfident, which oftentimes gets her into a lot of trouble, even if she is immortal. And while Hieda no Akyuu advises people to run from Cirno in a confrontation, she is easily tricked and cannot solve even basic riddles, which serve as a good way to distract Cirno. Her last weakness is that due to being easily distracted (as all fairies are), Cirno has to be motivated to focus herself on any given task, and losing this motivation can cause Cirno to give up, or even forget what she was doing. And as stated earlier, Cirno has a weakness to high temperatures, which can cause her to become weaker, although this also works in reverse: low temperatures make her stronger.

Despite her race canonically being boisterous weaklings, Cirno has gone above and beyond to prove that even fairies can be a threat, and while she's far from the strongest in Gensokyo, she DOES easily claim the title of strongest fairy (Clownpiece only rivalled Cirno through buffs from Junko, the main antagonist of Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom). Don't be fooled by her child-like appearance and demeanor, Cirno is very dangerous and, given the right motivation, she can accomplish things which other fairies can only DREAM of.

OVERVIEW

Cirno, as she appears in Phantasmagoria of Flower View.

+ Surpisingly strong for a Fairy, capable of matching even Utsuho, who literally embodies her greatest weakness and giving Marisa Kirisame trouble on a fairly consistent basis. Truly the strongest fairy.

+Relativistic at bare minimum via scaling to the Fairies of Light.

+ Freezing ability makes for some pretty dangerous hax. I mean, when you can freeze FIRE...

+ She's immortal. That should be an obvious plus.

- She's an idiot. She's not coming up with any genius plans any time soon.

  = Although she's at least smart enough to know when she's in trouble.

- She's weak to heat, and heat-based attacks.

  = Although the temperatures needed to actually threaten her (current) life are absurd, beyond the heat of the centre of the sun, even.

- She's overconfident. Her cockiness often gets her into trouble.

- She needs proper motivation to draw out her real power (although when she does the results are a sight to behold).

-SPELL CARD RULES. They're still a thing and it applies to Cirno as well.

So there you have it. An analysis on the idiotic little popsicle known as Cirno, who goes above and beyond her species to actually become a fairly prominent threat. Problem is, she's STILL a joke to anybody worth their salt in Gensokyo most of the time, due to her very nature as a Fairy. Still, feedback would be appreciated and feel free to comment.

Death Analysis: EM Hybrid Blue Bomber of the Stars

Hey everybody! Neosonic97 here with yet another Death Analysis post. This time I'll be covering Geo Stelar and Omega-Xis (Who together form Star Force Mega Man) from the Mega Man Star Force series.

JUST SO YOU KNOW...

I'll be covering pretty everything Geo has. It's never stated that Geo lost the power of the Star Force after the first game (And in fact, it's likely he at least kept some of it, hence why Elemental Cyclone and Atomic Blazer return in the third game), and it is OUTRIGHT STATED in the second that Mega Man kept the power of the OOParts even after it had been removed from Omega-Xis. This is why Geo can still use Thunderbolt Blade in the third game, complete with Thunder Zerker's sword. However, I will not be covering all the Noise forms (Only the Finalized forms) or Double Tribe forms. Also, as it should go without saying, not ALL Battle Cards would be used (Considering there are over... what, 100 different types? That'd take far too long!). With that out of the way, let's begin!

PERSONALITY AND BACKSTORY

A long time ago, there was a planet called Planet AM. On this planet lived the AMians, aliens with bodies made of electromagnetic waves. However, on one fateful day, Planet AM was destroyed by the planet-busting weapon Andromeda, on the orders of Cepheus, the king of the neighbouring planet, Planet FM, due to the king's paranoia. Only a few AMians survived the destruction of their home-world, one of whom was an alien called Omega-Xis, who fled to Planet FM to live, albeit in disguise. However, on another fateful day, the FMians attacked a space satellite belonging to the humans of planet earth. There, Omega-Xis had a chance encounter with a man named Kelvin Stelar. After stealing the Andromeda Key from Planet FM's forces and turning the crew of the Satellite into EM bodies in an attempt to save them, Omega-Xis fled to Earth in hopes of stopping Andromeda from being used. There, he ended up meeting Kelvin Stelar's son, Geo. Geo, having been told that his dad disappeared three years prior to this meeting, was depressed and a bit of a loner. He dropped out of school and was self-taught, but often went to Vista Point to stargaze (And this is where he met Omega-Xis). The two then worked together to stop a train that had been infected with Wave Viruses, and it was here where they first performed an EM Wave Change. Geo would later come up with the alias Mega Man when questioned by Luna Platz, who was trying to coax him to come to school. (Although she did not become aware of Geo's identity until much later). From there, they proceeded to fight off the FMian's invasion and then save the world two more times. Once from the ancient civilization of Mu, and the other from the gigantic Meteor G, which would have crashed into the planet.

Geo is generally a friendly person, and in many ways his personality is somewhat similar to that of the unsung heroes who worked to save the world two hundred years prior, Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE.  He is highly interested in astronomy, and is afraid of ghosts.

Omega-Xis on the other hand is brash, headstrong and loud-mouthed. He's quick to pick fights and very prideful. 

ABILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

Geo, being an ordinary human boy, has no real abilities... at first. He does have the pair of goggles known as the Visualiser, though. This allows him to see EM waves, albeit at the cost of obscuring his vision of the real world.

Omega-Xis, as an AMian, has the unique ability to turn living beings into wave bodies. This is how he saves the lives of the crew of the Space Satellite Peace (including Geo's dad Kelvin).

However, the primary ability that Geo and Omega-Xis rely on to solve most of their problems is the EM Wave Change. With this ability, a human and EM being fuse together to become a Wave Being, combining the properties of both the EM being and Human. In this form, Geo and Omega-Xis go by the Alias... you guessed it- Mega Man. Geo is typically the dominant personality when fused as Mega Man (a stark contrast to most of the other EM Wave Changes that have been performed in the series.), and in this state Geo possesses incredible speed, strength and durability. One of the unique abilities Geo demonstrates in the anime is the ability to alter his physical properties to act more like an EM wave or more like a physical object. Despite this, Geo is in fact completely made of EM waves while in the form of Mega Man. This, naturally, affords Geo the ability to move at the speed of light. Geo is also exceedingly versatile, due to his ability to use Battle Cards. There have been a large number of battle cards that Geo has used, but to keep things simple, we'll be sticking to the ones that are the most Iconic. Also, no cards that call in other EM beings. So on that note, we'll start with Break Saber, Geo's most-used battle card. This battle card turns Geo's arm into a powerful blade capable of breaking through the enemy's defenses. This does have limits (Like when, in the anime, Geo was unable to pierce through Andromeda's armor with it), but it also hits very hard. Geo also extensively uses the Gatling Gun/Mad Vulcan type Battle Cards, which turn his arm into a, well, Gatling gun for a rapid-fire assault. He also notably uses Paralyze Knuckle, a punching attack which stuns the opponent, allowing for an easy follow-up, Freeze Knuckle, which is like Paralyze Knuckle, only it freezes the target solid instead, Plasma Gun, a ranged paralyzing battle card, Jet Attack, a charging attack, and Barrier, which protects him from attacks. Failing this, Geo can naturally pull up a shield to block attacks and fight using his own version of the Mega Buster, which passively charges when not in use and can be rapidly fired. He can also lock onto foes and strike using the Mega Attack.

...And now we get onto the transformations. Geo has a LOT of these, so we'll be going over them by game. Firstly, we have...

STAR BREAK

Partway through the first game, Geo gets gifted the powers of one of the three Great Sages of Planet AM (or all three in the anime), and is able to transform into a more powerful form resembling the respective Satellite. Each of the three Star Break forms has different properties, and a separate Star Force Big Bang, a super move unique to that particular Star Break Form. 

Fire Leo, naturally, has an affinity of fire. His Charge Shot in this form releases a stream of flames, and Geo's Star Force Big Bang in this form has him channel his inner Goku with Atomic Blazer, releasing a devastating stream of flames towards anybody unfortunate enough to be fighting him. In this form Geo is also capable of shrugging off attacks. He still takes damage but does not flinch from them, allowing for uninterrupted assaults. However, if Geo is hit by an Aqua-based attack, he will take double damage and be forced out of the Fire Leo form.

Ice Pegasus has an Aqua affinity and grants Geo Float Shoes which allows him to ignore the negative effects of terrain. He recovers on Ice while in this form and shoots out a blade of ice for his Charge Shot, and his Star Force Big Bang in this form, Magician's Freeze, causes a massive cluster of Ice to burst from the ground, freezing anything hit solid in an instant. However, should Geo be hit by an Electric-based attack, he will take double damage and, you guessed it, be forced out of the Ice Pegasus form.

Green Dragon has a Wood affinity and grants Geo immunity to status ailments such as paralysis. He recovers on grassy panels and fires a barrage of leaves from his buster for his charge shot. His Star Force Big Bang is Elemental Cyclone, in which he encases himself within a tornado of leaves and strikes the foe in front of him. However, should Geo be hit by a Fire-based attack in this state, he'll take double damage and be forced out of the Green Dragon form.

Next...

TRIBE ON

When Omega-Xis accidentally consumed the OOParts in Mega Man Star Force 2, Geo was granted the ability to enter a special form based on the OOPart he's currently using. These forms are similar to the Star Break Forms: They each have an Elemental Affinity, a unique charge shot, weaknesses that force the user out of the form, and a unique Super Move. In this case, a Link Force Big Bang.

The Sword of Zerker transforms Geo into the Thunder Zerker Form. In this form, Geo has an Elec Affinity and can strike the ground with a paralyzing shockwave from his blade via his charge shot.. He can also charge non-screen dimming chips for use in a large combo without flinching. His Link Force Big Bang is Thunderbolt Blade, with which Geo uses the Sword of Zerker for a powerful three hit combo. Thunder Zerker's weakness is Wood Element.

The Star of Ninja transforms Geo into the Wood Shinobi Form. In this form, Geo has a wood affinity and can launch intangibility-piercing Ninja stars with his charge shot. He can create a body-double to counter enemy attacks. His Link Force Big Bang is Demon Flurry (Fuuma Shippujin) which barrages the enemy with a large number of Shuriken. Wood Shinobi's weakness is Fire Element.

The Rock of Saurian turns Geo into the Fire Dinosaur Form. In this form, Geo has a fire affinity and launches an explosive blast which hits everything behind the target with his charge shot. He has the same Super Armor that the Fire Leo form does (He doesn't flinch from attacks), can charge non-dimming cards for an attack boost, and his Link Force Big Bang is Genocide Blazer, with which he strafes the entire field with a turning Atomic Blazer.

However, Geo has a fourth Tribe Form, entered by combining the power of all three other Tribe Forms: Tribe King. This combines all three of the Tribe Forms' passive abilities, has NO elemental weaknesses and has a unique charge shot that unleashes three elemental waves from the sword, each representing one of the three OOParts. On top of this, it has its own unique Link Force Big Bang: Kaiser Delta Breaker, which unleashes a massive wave of energy that strikes the targets with the power of all three OOParts. The only problem is, Tribe King has a time limit and, once the time is up, Geo will be returned to his base form.

Lastly, we've got...

NOISE CHANGE

When Geo receives the Ace/Joker Program in Star Force 3, he gains the ability to absorb large amounts of Noise into his body to take on one of two incredibly powerful forms depending on the program.

Both of Geo's Finalized Noise Forms share a few common features. They each hold heavily empowered battle card folders including all five Vibrant Noise Forms' Noise Force Big Bangs (Meteorite Barrage, Atomic Blazer, Elemental Cyclone, Thunderbolt Blade, Dynamic Wave) and their own unique Noise Force Big Bangs, the Mega Buster's power is maximized, they have no elemental weaknesses and do double damage when locked on. There are only two problems. The first is that, just like with Tribe King, there is a time limit for how long Geo can stay finalized for. The second is that, while Finalized, Geo completely loses the ability to use Charge Shots.

Red Joker focuses on delivering powerful armor-piercing blows. having the Super Armor mentioned before in Fire Leo, Fire Dinosaur and Tribe King, and also having Green Dragon's Status immunity. However, what is unique to Red Joker is the Noise Force Big Bang Red Gaia Eraser, which unleashes a powerful laser barrage on the surrounding area, ending with a massive explosion.

Black Ace relies more on delivering quicker blows and preventing the foe from escaping via usage of intangibility. It has Float Shoes, much like Ice Pegasus, and Air Shoes, which allows him to walk over holes, and, unlike any other form of Geo's, automatically locks onto enemies. His Noise Force Big Bang is Black End Galaxy, which traps enemies in a Black Hole before slicing through it, causing the black hole to explode. This completely ignores intangibility.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Geo's feats are extremely impressive. He's taken down the likes of Andromeda, a planet-busting superweapon, Sirius, a being who can create black holes to easily consume planets (and has been implied to do so many times prior to targetting Planet FM) and, when Clockman went back in time to mess with the timeline and Geo followed, he ended up getting into a fight with his predecessor, Megaman.EXE. While Geo DID, in fact, lose, he DID put up a good fight. It is also highly likely that Geo was holding back, so as to avoid deleting Megaman.EXE (Which would, naturally, mess up the timeline, something which Geo was trying to PREVENT from happening).

Despite all these incredible feats of consistently taking down planet-busters and likely being the strongest Mega Man to date (You could make arguments for X being stronger? But then again, Geo's much faster...), He is not perfect. Sustaining too much damage will forcibly end the EM Wave Change and separate Mega Man back into the seperate forms Geo and Omega-Xis, which will render them completely helpless. This can also happen if too large a rift form between Geo and Omega-Xis, as the EM Wave Change is reliant on the two working in unison. In fact, this actually happened in the Star Force Anime where, when Gemini Spark accused Omega-Xis of killing Geo's father, Geo lost trust in Omega-Xis and the Wave Change ended right there. Geo's transformations either have a distinct weakness that can be abused (Like the elemental weaknesses of his Tribe [Except Tribe King] and Star Break forms), or run on a time limit (Like Tribe King and the Finalized Noise Forms).

Don't let that fool you, though. Geo is incredibly powerful, and well deserving of the 'Mega Man' title. He's saved the world on three separate occasions, two of which having the power to destroy the whole planet (And the third was still at least a continent-buster, given how the end of that whole mess was somebody trying to drop a flying continent).

OVERVIEW

+Extremely fast. Lightspeed at bare minimum due to being composed of EM waves.

+Easily a planet-buster, given an abundance of feats.

+Exceedingly versatile due to the various transformations and Battle Cards available to him.

-Star Break and Tribe On forms have elemental weaknesses.

-Black Ace, Red Joker and Tribe King have time limits.

-Sustaining enough damage in any state will forcibly end the EM Wave Change, rendering Geo and Omega-Xis helpless. This will also happen if Geo and Omega-Xis end up disagreeing too much.

Death Battle Predictions: Kirigaya "Kirito" Kazuto vs Eren Jaeger- Sword Art Online vs Attack on Titan

I know I said I would do this BEFORE the blog about Marisa but I forgot. So I'm doing this now instead. I am just going to directly copy-paste my blog about Kirito in though (Sorry for the laziness, but I did intend for it to be used so god damn it, I'm gonna use it.)

So yeah. Kirito vs Eren. Widely requested, and people claim Eren stomps. Is it as stompy as one might think, though...? Let's find out. I'm assuming Kirito is using his new ALO avatar, with SAO Sword Skills.

JUST A WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR BOTH SWORD ART ONLINE AND ATTACK ON TITAN! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

KIRITO

BACKSTORY

In the year 2022, a new VRMMORPG was introduced to save the dying MMORPG genre of games. This game was Sword Art Online (SAO), created by one Kayaba Akihiko. Using a piece of technology called the Nervegear, the user would completely immerse themselves in the game, utilizing their senses to control their ingame character. Naturally, SAO become a big hit during the Beta Test. On November 6th, 10,000 players log into SAO to find out that they are unable to log out, and that in order to escape, they must beat the boss of Floor 100 of Aincrad. There was also another, deadlier twist: If a player dies in-game or has the Nervegear forcibly removed, the Nervegear will fry their brain, killing them.

Amongst these 10,000 trapped players was one Kirigaya Kazuto, going by Kirito in-game. He was a Beta Tester for the game, and, to avoid other Beta Testers getting discriminated against for the actions of ones who hope only to benefit themselves, he isolates himself and dons the title 'Beater' (A mix between Beta Tester and Cheater). The players progress through the game and Kirito eventually ends up befriending one Asuna Yuuki, who he eventually falls in love with and marries in-game.

On Floor 75, Kirito outs the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Heathcliff, to be Kayaba in disguise, and defeats him in a duel, clearing SAO and freeing the survivors.

However, 300 players had not woken up, despite the fact that they should have, including Asuna. Upon seeing an image of someone who appeared to be Asuna in another VRMMORPG, Alfheim Online, Kirito heads there to investigate, eventually uncovering and foiling the plot of one Nobuyuki Sugou to create mind-control technology, which was being tested on the 300 trapped players, who were all freed, as well as reconciling with his adoptive sister/cousin Suguha, who he had begun to isolate himself from due to learning they weren't actually brother and sister.

Some time later, Kirito agrees to assist in the investigation of the 'Death Gun' incident, which had a player in the VRMMORPG Gun Gale Online named Death Gun shooting players in-game only for them to die in real life. Assisted by a female player called Sinon, Kirito eventually uncovers the truth about the case, and two of the three culprits are arrested. The third manages to escape.

This proves to bite Kirito back hard, as at some point after this, Kirito is attacked by that very same person, and injected with a lethal injection. Medics manage to save his life, but his memory is damaged, so he is put into the Soul Translator's new VRMMORPG, Underworld, to recover. He eventually recovers his memories and puts a stop to Johnny Black (His attacker), and PoH (One of his accomplices) who had been terrorizing Underworld.

PERSONALITY

Kirito is not good with words. He's blunt and not afraid to speak his mind, and sometimes enjoys teasing others and being somewhat rude. He is also susceptible to the occasional bout of overconfidence. He's most often calm and collected, but he is a fierce opponent in battle- sometimes fierce enough that he doesn't remember what he did in battle, once the battle ends. Kirito, however, is a kind person and refuses to abandon those in need, only strengthened with the demise of the Moonlit Black Cats, his first guild. Kirito is also prone to letting his emotions control him. Most notably, the deaths of Moonlit Black Cats haunted Kirito until he married Asuna, and this worries his friends, as Kirito is someone who would let their life be ruined by guilt if not comforted.

Above all else though, Kirito has an incredibly strong resolve, and will work to do anything he sets his mind to, even if it's impossible. Most notably when Yui, his in-game adoptive daughter (who's also an AI) with Asuna, confirmed that Asuna was at the top of the World Tree, Kirito just rushed in and attempted to reach the top, despite finding the task to be impossible.

ABILITIES

Due to the nature of Kirito's abilities, and him being inside video games for most of his feats, The best way to look at his abilities is by game, but first the constants should be what he carries in between games. Most notably his Outside System Skills, which are techniques performed outside the usual means of the games. Kirito's first Outside System Skill is Arms Blast, with which he can break an opponent's weapon by striking its weak point. Next, there's Spell Blast, which allows Kirito to cut through magic. Bullet Deflect allows Kirito to stop Bullets with his sword, Distinguish allows Kirito to isolate sounds in a VR space, focusing only irregular sounds. Hypersense is a skill which allows Kirito to sense peoples' presence through their killing intent. Lastly, in order to make up for the fact that the <Dual Blades> skill doesn't exist in ALO, he created Skill Connect, which allows him to chain multiple One-Handed Sword Skills together while wielding two swords. Kirito is also capable of using Sword Skill Imitation to recreate Sword Skills from SAO and ALO without assistance from the system, as he demonstrated in GGO with <Horizontal Square>.

Next, let's look at his Sword Skills from SAO. Kirito has a wide variety of Sword Skills,

Kirito, having a complete mastery over 1-Handed Straight Sword skills, likely knows any and all known Skills of said Category. He also has some skill in Martial Arts, Battle Healing, Stealth, Tracking and... Fishing? 

In SAO, he also has the Extra Skill Dual Blades, with which he can use dual-wielding Sword techniques.

Here is a list of  the skills that Kirito should know, although he has not demonstrated all of them:

Vertical, Horizontal and Slant: A simple vertical, horizontal or diagonal slash respectively.

Uppercut: An upwards slash meant to sent foes skywards.

Vertical Arc: A two-hit combo of slashes in a V-Shape. Kirito uses this to defeat Illfang the Kobold Lord. There is also Horizontal Arc, which is the horizontal variant of it.

Serration Wave: An AoE Sword Skill meant to hinder movement. It does very little damage. 

Lightning Fall: An AoE Sword Skill where the user backflips before thrusting their sword into the ground, creating a wave of electricity to stun foes.

Rage Spike: A swift Sword Skill where the user leaps at the foe and performs an upwards strike.

Sonic Leap: A Sword Skill similar to Rage Spike where the user leaps at the foe. This one performs a downwards strike and has a shorter range, but it can be aimed upwards.

Snake Bite: A two-hit combo going from right to left then back again, which is effective at shattering weapons.

Savage Fulcrum: A three hit combo which looks somewhat like the number 4.

Vorpal Strike: Another Charge-type Sword Skill, in this case a single high-speed thrust with a range over twice the length of the blade used.

Sharp Nail: A three-hit combo going right-to left diagonally upwards, then left-to-right, then right-to-left diagonally downwards.

Howling Octave: An eight-hit combo starting with five thrusts, then a downwards swing, then an upwards swing, then a final overhead swing.

Horizontal Square and Vertical Square: Four-hit comboes that trace the look of a square.

Embracer: A simple martial arts technique performing a thrust with the user's hand. Kirito uses this to kill Kuradeel.

Senda: A swift, single-strike uppercut, given by the Martial Arts skill. Kirito uses this in Progressive.

Meteor Fall: A two-hit combo making use of both a One-Handed Sword and Martial Arts skills. The user throws their sword up in the air, then delivers a terribly fast punch to the target's chest, knocking them backwards, before jumping, catching their sword and slashing with it. Kirito uses this in Versus, in a battle against Accel World's Silver Crow.

Meteor Break: A seven-hit combo making usage of One-Handed Sword and Martial Arts skills.

Deadly Sins: A seven-hit One-handed Sword combo making featuring various directional slashes and backwards flips. Kirito uses this in the Caliber Arc in conjunction with Spell Blast to protect Asuna and the Sleeping Knights.

Battle Healing: A passive skill that Kirito has, which regenerates his HP during battle. He demonstrates this when protecting Silica from the Titan's Hand guild, regenerating off any damage they inflicted on him.

Flight: In ALO, Kirito is capable of flying. This used to have a time limit, but this was removed after the Fairy Dance Arc.

Illusion Magic: As a Spriggan, Kirito can create illusions using his magic. Most notably, he used an advanced form of Illusion Magic to temporarily become the Gleam Eyes to take down a group of Salamanders who were previously stonewalling him.

Armament Full Control Art: In Underworld, Divine Intstrument Type Weapons can have their full power released by this ritual, which comes in two phases: Strengthening and Releasing. The second part is the part Kirito uses most often, as it comes out very quickly (The way to trigger it is to say "Release Recollection".).

These last two deserve links of their own.

Starburst Stream: A 16-hit Dual Blades combo. Kirito most famously uses this against the Gleam Eyes to defeat it in a single go.

The Eclipse (Timestamp 0:57): The ultimate Dual Blades Combo, clocking in at 27 hits. Kirito used this against Heathcliff, but due to Heathcliff being Kayaba, perfectly predicts and blocks every last one of Kirito's attacks.

EQUIPMENT

Kirito's equipment varies with what game he's in. In Sword Art Online, Kirito Dual-Wields the Elucidator, a Demonic Boss Drop from the 50th Floor, and the Dark Repulser, which was made by Lizbeth, one of Kirito's friends. Both the Elucidator and Dark Repulser boost Kirito's Strength and Agility. He also wears the Blackwyrm Coat, which enhances his Stealth Skill.

In ALO (Which we will be using in this matchup), he wields a Black Iron Long Sword (Again made by Lizbeth) and the Holy Sword Excaliber (The strongest weapon in ALO). 

In GGO, He wields a Kagemitsu G4 Photon Sword (Basically a Lightsaber, except a bit weaker) and a FN Five-Seven Pistol.

In Underworld, He has wielded multiple swords, but his main weapon is the Night Sky Sword, a weapon crafted from a branch of the Gigas Cedar tree. While it has a variety of abilities credited to it, he has two main powers from it, the first is to fire off an energy blast from it, via a Armament Full Control Art, But it also allowed Kirito to, in the climax of the Alicization Arc, turn PoH into a tree, imprisoning him in Underworld for eternity. Ouch.

His other weapon in Alicization is the Blue Rose Sword of his dead buddy Eugeo. Its Armament Full Control Art allows Kirito to freeze foes nearby while also draining their HP over time. Kirito can also absorb the energy drained from his enemies into his Night Sky Sword.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Kirito's got some pretty damn impressive feats inside the games. Even without the prediction lines of GGO being effective, he's capable of stopping bullets, and sniper rounds at that. Most notably, in his fight with Sinon. He's powerful enough to one-shot the Gleam Eyes with Starburst Stream, tough enough to survive being impaled, or even better, withstand Yuuki's OSS, Mother's Rosario. For reference, Mother's Rosario can do this. can move at supersonic speeds, and his fight with Alice in Alicization was so intense it blew a hole in the battlefield which Kirito and Alice were promptly sucked out of. And of course, with the Blue Rose Sword and Night Sky Sword, Kirito can immobilize most anyone (As 30,000+ Korean and Chinese players found out the hard way) or of course, just turn 'em into a tree (As PoH learned the hard way. He's still trapped as a tree). He's also capable of dodging a sniper round from merely a few feet away, no prediction lines needed! Said sniper round was travelling at mach 2.6. This easily places him beyond supersonic speeds. He's skilled enough with a sword that, even in real life, he's capable of giving his cousin Suguha trouble in a Kendo match despite severe muscle atrophy due to not partaking in any real life physical activity for over two years.

However, Kirito is not perfect. As stated, he is controlled by his emotions a lot. If he's angry, he'll rush in blindly swords swinging. If he's upset, he might completely lose the will to fight and become sloppy. While Kirito, without a doubt, has the highest DPS of the entirety of Sword Art Online, he's also kind of frail compared to tanks- although this may or may not be the case. He was capable of blocking the attacks of the Skull Reaper when dedicated tanks weren't. On top of this, he's kind of helpless without his weapons. He does have Martial Arts skills, but he doesn't use them much. He's best using a sword. Also, a lot of his best combat feats rely on his teammates' help, although he usually does the most damage out of all of them.

EREN

BACKSTORY

Born in Shiganshina District in the year 835, Eren lead a mostly peaceful life for the first few years of his life, admiring the Survey Corps, people who ventured outside of the Walls to explore the world, despite the threat of the Titans, giant, man-eating monsters who forced Humanity to hide within the walls in the first place. At age 9, Eren scored his first blood not against a Titan, but a group of human traffickers who had kidnapped one Mikasa Ackerman, killing two of them before being blindsided by the third (whom Misaka then killed).

However, in the year 845, when Eren was just ten years old, disaster struck. Wall Maria was breached by the Colossal Titan, and the Shiganshina District destroyed. Eren and co. are saved, but Eren loses his mother in the crisis. Enraged and distraught, Eren vowed to kill all the Titans. After this, Eren was brought to the Reiss Chapel, and met up with his father, Grisha, who murders the entire Reiss Family except for two, steals the Coordinate and finally lets Eren devour him, granting Eren the powers of a Titan Shifter and the Coordinate. After this, Eren and co. spend a few years working on a farm before reaching the legal age to join the military. After gruelling training, at the age of 15, Eren graduates in the top 10 of his class, and is ordered to clean the cannons atop Wall Rose. At this point, the Colossal Titan returns and Eren is forced to face it alone. He tries and fails to kill the titan, though. After sacrificing himself to save Armin, Eren finally awakens his Titan Shifting Powers: With his Alias being the Rogue Titan. After saving Trost from the Titan threat using his powers, Eren taken into the Survey Corps and brought on an expidition outside of the Walls. However, he was defeated and almost captured by the Female Titan, another special titan, until Levi and Mikasa intervened and rescued him. The Female Titan later turned out to be Annie Leonhart, one of Eren's classmates, who Eren eventually assisted in capturing. 

However, the problems did not stop there. Shortly after the Female Titan's defeat, Reiner and Bertolt reveal their identities as the Armored and Colossal Titans respectively, and attempt to capture Eren, and they eventually succeeded after overwhelming Eren in his titan form. He was eventually rescued by his allies at the Survey corps, but at the cost of Hannes, the man who saved Eren in the first place. It was here where Eren unknowingly used his powers as Coordinate for the first time. After this, under Levi's guidance, the group comes up with a plan to retake Wall Maria by using the hardening ability that Annie used. However, testing ground to a halt as Eren's Titan Form deteriorated over repeated use.Unfortunately, after this Eren is captured alongside one Historia Reiss (Formerly known as Krista) and revealed the truth about his powers. Eren then fights off Rod Reiss who artificially transformed into a titan using a special Serum, and Eren uses a serum to gain the hardening ability to combat this. Eventually, with the assistance of the Survey Corps, Rod Reiss is eventually killed. After this, the Survey Corps takes on the mission to retake Wall Maria and, using his newfound hardening powers, Eren sealed the breach that the Colossal Titan had made. The team then battle Bertolt and Reiner. The two titans are eventually defeated, although Erwin ends up dead and Armin ends up becoming a Titan Shifter.

PERSONALITY

Eren is best described as impulsive, hardheaded, strong-willed and passionate. He has a lack of self-restraint which also extends to his temper: Eren gets angry VERY easily and at worst flies into a murderous rage, leading to Eren getting very, VERY violent, as best evidenced by his gruesome murder of human traffickers. His biggest trait is his hatred towards Titans: He has vowed to kill every single titan in existence. When confronted with the truth that his old friends Reiner and Bertolt were the Armored and Colossal Titans, Eren immediately vowed to kill them brutally, despite their past together. However, if he finds himself in a situation where he cannot do anything, he will quickly lose confidence. In his Titan Form, Eren becomes even MORE bloodthirsty and savage.

ABILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

Eren, being a Titan Shifter, naturally possesses incredibly potent regenerative qualities, enough to easily repair lost limbs. And of course, he also has the ability to transform into a Titan. Eren's Titan Form typically takes on the form of a muscular 15 meter tall Titan (like what you see in the image for this section!), granting him incredible strength, enhancing his speed to easily superhuman levels, and his durability. He also possesses a hardening ability, allowing him to harden his skin to increase resistance to damage and to allow him to hit harder- however he can become overwhelmed if he uses the hardening too much, which will weaken him. His other ability is as the Coordinate, which allows him to command Titans. In the 1v1 situation of a Death Battle, however, this ability will not be useful at all.

EQUIPMENT

Eren wields the Vertical Maneuver Equipment, otherwise known as the 3D Maneuver Gear, designed for moving around in a 3D plane to fight Titans. This comes with three main parts: A gas-powered booster, twin grappling hooks and blades made from ultrahard steel designed for slicing through the flesh of Titans. The gas-powered booster is powerful enough that, even without the grappling hooks, it can allow temporary hovering, albeit for a very limited time. Typically, usage of the 3DMG's grappling hooks is to utilise the momentum of the user to deliver devastating blows and make sharp turns throughout rough terrain, as well as moving faster than Titans, obviously.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Eren has some excellent displays of strength, although his absolute best would be carrying the 700 ton boulder with which he sealed the hole in Wall Rose. When hardened, his punches can break through the armor of the Armored Titan. He can tank being slammed through buildings by the Armored Titan. Eren is fast enough to keep pace with the Female Titan, who can move faster than Survey Corps Horses. This means Eren can move at least 70/80 km/h or about 20 m/s.

However, Eren has his weaknesses. Repeated and prolonged use of his Titan Form risks him being permanently fused to the Titan Body, as well as his Titan Form weakening over time in both power and intelligence. On top of this, Eren is INCREDIBLY reckless. He often charges into battle head-first, relying on nothing but his ferocity and brute strength to win. This has gotten Eren into trouble more than it has gotten him out of it. His Titan Form only exaggerates these issues. On top of this, Eren's Titan Form has a weak point at the nape of his neck, and, if the nape is cut open, the Titan Form essentially loses its power, and the human body within becomes visible and vulnerable. ON TOP OF THAT, despite being ultrahard steel, the blades used by the Survey Corps more often than not shatter upon contact with a hard substance like a hardened titan's skin.

OVERVIEW

Eren

+Titan Eren is stronger and more durable than Kirito is.

+His healing factor should keep him in the fight for longer.

+Hardening proves to be an effective defense.

       =However, overuse will leave him vulnerable.

-Hopelessly outclassed by Kirito in human form.

-Even in Titan Form, is MANY times slower than Kirito is.

-Weapons will more likely than not be destroyed by Kirito's due to a combination of their frailty and Kirito's Arms Blast skill.

-Titan Form has a time limit if Eren does not want to become permanently fused to the Titan Body.

-Recklessness proves to be a massive disadvantage against the more level-headed and clever Kirito. He won't be smart enough to manipulate Kirito's emotions, either.

Kirito

+Hopelessly outclasses Eren's base form.

+Even against Titan Eren, is far faster than Eren is. At least thirty times so.

+Can shatter Eren's weapons via Arms Blast, more effective thanks to said weapons' general frailty.

+Even if he can't pinpoint the Titan Form's weakness, he can effectively stall out the form to the point where Eren is forced to eject so he doesn't fuse with the body, and is smart enough to do so. Eren is not clever enough to manipulate Kirito's emotion, while Kirito CAN take advantage of Eren's recklessness.

-Weaker and more frail than Titan Eren.

-Healing Factor is inferior to Eren's.

-Fewer defensive options outside of just dodging.

THE VERDICT

The verdict here is that, while Eren has the strength and durability advantage in his Titan Form, it's not by so much that Kirito cannot compensate with other advantages: and BOY, DOES KIRITO COMPENSATE. Namely his speed advantage: In a realistic fight, Eren is never going to hit Kirito, with his incredible speed. Again, Titan Eren going top speed is only about 20 m/s, whereas Kirito's reaction speed tops out at things moving at 780 m/s, over thirty times faster. This, compounded with the fact that, since Eren does not want to fuse with the Titan Body permanently (That would end in him becoming the very thing he hates the most forever, which is a fate WORSE than death), he's stuck on a time limit, means that even though Eren has the advantage in his Titan Form, his time in the form is limited, thus the impact it has on the battle is negligble due to Kirito's speed and intelligence advantage. Speaking of, Kirito only becomes reckless if he becomes angry or upset. Eren is not smart enough to try to manipulate Kirito's emotions, meaning Eren cannot goad Kirito into making a mistake. Realistically speaking, there's just no way for Eren to take Kirito down before all his options are exhausted, at which point he's easy pickings for Kirito. That's not even taking into account the mobility advantage Kirito gains from his flight, nor his magic's ability to blind Eren- Kirito honestly doesn't need it. Human Eren is no threat to him and he's fast and smart enough to avoid Titan Eren.

Kirito was certainly the sharper combatant in this fight.

The winner is Kirito.

Thank you for reading! I would appreciate it if you gave me feedback, regardless of what the feedback is (As long as it's, y'know, constructive).

Death Analysis: The Ordinary Magician- Marisa Kirisame.

Hey there, everybody! Neosonic97 here! You may remember that I did a Death Analysis for Reimu Hakurei a while back. Well, this time, I'm going over her closest friend and biggest rival: The Ordinary Magician with a penchant for burglary, Marisa Kirisame!

A NOTE

Just like with Reimu, PC-98 things will not be used for feats unless it's a comparison to one of the three PC-98 characters that currently exist within the Windows Touhou Timeline (Namely Yuuka, Alice and Reimu).

With that out of the way, let's begin!

BACKSTORY AND PERSONALITY

Gensokyo. A realm across the boundary of common sense and lack of it, full of Youkai, Gods and other such beings, who all have powers beyond imagination, such as the ability to float away from reality, invoke death in others with just a thought, or manipulate boundaries. Marisa Kirisame is NOT one of these beings. Born to a merchant family who run a shop in the Human Village, Marisa, for reasons unknown, broke off relations with her family and ran away into the Forest of Magic. There, under unknown tutelage (Likely an Evil Spirit named Mima if PC-98 is to be believed), she learned how to use Magic. The conditions for her first meeting with Reimu Hakurei, the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, is unclear, but the two have become best friends over time. 

In contrast to Reimu, Marisa is straightforward and informal with everyone. She's a habitual liar, to the point where she even lies to Eiki Shiki, the yama who judges the dead. However, her lies are obvious as she makes no effort to deceive the people she lies to- but she is fairly intelligent and charismatic (If the fact that she's friends with members of the Scarlet Devil Mansion is any indication). As stated earlier, Marisa is a kleptomanic (Much to the misfortune of Patchouli Knowledge, as Marisa is constantly trying to steal her books), and a compulsive hoarder. She's also unyielding and un-cooperative. However, Marisa is diligent and a very hard worker, although she tries to hide this from everyone. 

ABILITIES & EQUIPMENT

Despite being a resident of Gensokyo, Marisa, being an ordinary human, was not born with any natural talent, and thus had to work extremely hard to reach the level of power she's at. If there is any talent she has, though, it's at using magic. Marisa is an exceptionally skilled magician, mostly specialising in blowing things up, but she does have some equipment with her. Her first piece of equipment is her Broom, which is mostly there to fit the Witch aesthetic (She can fly without it), but it DOES come in handy for smacking someone in the face with. She also holds a few magical brews made from mushrooms in the Forest of Magic which explode when thrown. But of course, her best piece of equipment is her Mini-Hakkero. Given to her by Rinnosuke Morichika after she left her family, the Mini-Hakkero is absolutely tiny (enough for Marisa to hold it in one hand), but extremely powerful. It is a potent source of heat and magical energy, 

Now onto her spell cards! Marisa's got quite a few over the years, but like Reimu, she has her favourites. Her first main Spell Card is Magic Sign "Stardust Reverie", which typically releases a barrage of star-shaped projectiles all around her in a wide area. Another of her more commonly-used spell cards is Comet "Blazing Star" where Marisa rockets forwards at blinding speeds on her broom. But her most famous spell card is perhaps one of the most well-known Spell Cards in the entire Touhou Series. I gave it a passing mention in the Reimu blog, but here, Love Sign "Master Spark" pops up once again. In Imperishable Night's spell card collection, the Master Spark is described as a 'freaking huge magical laser'. And honestly? That's an accurate description. Huge, rainbow-coloured and thus flashy, but devastatingly powerful, The Master Spark is quite easily Marisa's strongest (and most-used) spell card. It also has a number of variations, ranging from the more powerful Magicannon "Final Spark" which is just a much larger and much stronger Master Spark, to the more accurate Perverse Love "Easy-Harvest Master Spark", which fires a smaller beam as a conductor to the Spark, which also serves to stun foes to guarantee a hit with the actual huge laser, to Loving Heart "Double Spark", which, as the name suggests, is just two Master Sparks fired simultaneously. She's also a master at copying other characters' moves. She copies Mima's Ritualistic Space "Orreries Solar System", which creates a number of danmaku-shooting options around her, and one of Patchouli's Non-Spell attacks is adapted by Marisa into Love Sign "Non-Directional Laser", which is a laser attack that hits in all directions... obviously.

She has a few non-spell card techniques from the fighting games, most of which are just lesser versions of her Spell Cards, like the Narrow Spark and Witch's Leyline, but she also has an anti-air attack called the Misama Sweep, where she essentially does a Shoryuken with her broom. Marisa is actually the Shotoclone of Immaterial and Missing Power and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, now that I think about it. She can also do a Princess Peach impression and smack into people with her butt. This actually nullifies projectiles while doing so, for some reason, leading to the joke that Marisa wears bulletproof bloomers.

FEATS AND WEAKNESSES

Marisa's known as one of Gensokyo's two premier incident resolvers (alongside Reimu of course), and for good reason. As stated in Reimu's analysis, Marisa's Hakkero is capable of reducing a mountain to Ash, according to Rinnosuke Morichika in Curiosities of Lotus Asia, Chapter 6. She's capable of going toe-to-toe with some of Gensokyo's heaviest hitters, like Reimu Hakurei, Suika Ibuki, Utsuho Reiuji, Flandre Scarlet and Yukari Yakumo. While obviously not on the same level as an Oni, she is more than capable of taking them on in physical combat. Again, Suika and Yuugi come to mind. However, she is considered one of the fastest, if not THE fastest being in Gensokyo. No comparison has been drawn between her and Aya yet, but she is faster than pretty much everybody else. She is also capable of withstanding the force of her own Master Sparks, as they do not cause her to move unless she explicitly allows it to (Like when she uses the Last Word version of her Blazing Star in Imperishable Night, where she fires a Master Spark behind her as propulsion).

However, Marisa is not perfect. Like Reimu, she fights under Spell Card rules, meaning her attacks are typically non-lethal unless she stops obeying spell card rules for whatever reason. Other than that, Marisa lacks any kind of hax whatsoever, instead relying on brute force and overwhelming speed to defeat her enemies. Comparatively speaking, most of her attacks have a relatively poor spread compared to Reimu's, too, typically focusing on power more than accuracy (Although certain spells like her Master Spark and Non-Directional Laser have such a wide range that Marisa only needs to be aiming in the foe's general direction to land a hit). Don't let this fool you, though; Marisa is not a foe you'll have an easy time defeating. She is anything BUT ordinary.

OVERVIEW

+Extremely powerful and Extremely fast. Marisa hits hard and hits fast, and is tough to hit. "Shoot and I'll move. In a flash."

+For a magic-user, surprising physically adept, given that she can withstand the force of her own Master Sparks and face Onis in hand-to-hand combat.

+The only part of Imperishable Night that really matters. She mouths off to FREAKING REIMU and gets away with it. "Okay, okay, I give up. You're right. The endless night, and stealing the full moon, and hiding the human village, and putting funny hats on stone statues. It's all Alice's fault. Now, bitch, get out of the way!"

-Spell Card Rules inhibit killing potential.

      =Until she stops obeying them, that is.

-Not so great on the accuracy department.

     =But some spells like the Master Spark and Non-Directional Laser hit wide enough that this doesn't matter.

And there we have Marisa's analysis! Thank you for reading, and feel free to comment to give criticism on whether I missed anything or if there are any problems with the formatting or stuff like that. You get the idea. Until next time!

Death Analysis: Ash Ketchum, Trainer from Pallet Town, with his Ultimate Team.

Hey there, everyone! Neosonic97 here with yet another Death Analysis Blog. This time, we're doing Ash Ketchum from the Pokemon Anime, with what is arguably his ultimate team, consisting of his best Pokemon throughout the series, from the original series to details from the Sun and Moon anime, and everything in between.

JUST SO YOU KNOW...

There will be spoilers for the XY&Z and Sun & Moon animes here, so if you're watching them right now, DO NOT READ THIS BLOG! It will spoil plot points for you.

BACKSTORY AND TRAINER NOTES

You all know how the story goes: Ash Ketchum woke up late on the day he was to start his journey in the world of Pokemon, starting with getting a Pokemon from Professor Oak. Unfortunately, all three of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle were taken, so Oak, responding to Ash's desperation to get a Pokemon, gave him a fourth option- a rebellious Pikachu which he had recently caught. The trainer and Pokemon didn't really get along at first until the fateful moment where Ash and Pikachu protected each other from a flock of Spearow, and from then on they became best friends and almost inseperable.

Ash is a very good-natured character, quick to trust others, and willing to go far to gain the trust of people or Pokemon. He has a strong sense of justice and is very determined and he often strives to learn from both his victories and defeats. He loves to battle other Pokemon trainers, but he's also very rash, often jumping head-first into danger to help someone in need, be it a person or Pokemon. Best exemplified in the second Episode of the XY series, where Ash, trying to save Pikachu, just straight-up leapt off the top of Lumiose Tower, which is basically a skyscraper.

He's also known for making completely off-the-wall strategies and actually having them work, throwing the opponent for a loop to take the upper hand.

Ash himself is cleanly superhuman, if the fact that he can pick up and run with a 1000lb log, before THROWING the damn thing is any indication. To say nothing about repeatedly being blasted by all sorts of Pokemon attacks, most notably getting roasted by Charizard or Infernape, or being electrified by Pikachu (Often when it's being mind controlled or is confused).

Ash has caught many Pokemon over the years, but we're going over six of his best, starting with, of course...

PIKACHU

Pokedex Number: 025

Type: Electric

Classification: Mouse Pokemon

...His very first Pokemon, his trusty old Pikachu. Pikachu was the very first Pokemon that Ash ever owned, and was the one he was given by Professor Oak. Their relationship started off fairly rocky as Pikachu didn't particularly like Ash until he tried to defend Pikachu from a flock of Spearow. Since then, the two have been almost inseperable, and Pikachu has been the only Pokemon that has never left Ash's team. The two have absolute trust in each other, and their personalities are almost identical- Pikachu shares many of the same traits that Ash himself does- a strong sense of justice, quick to trust others and a love for battle. 

Pikachu has used a fair few moves over the years, but right now, he has four moves currently. The first of these moves he learned, and the most used move of the entire series, plus Ash's favourite move, is the ever-so-iconic Thunderbolt, which is basically Pikachu shooting lightning at his foe. It also has a chance to paralyze the enemy. This is Pikachu's most-often used move and oft known as the signature move of Ash's Pikachu. It's powerful enough to bring down powerful Pseudo-legendary Pokemon, such as Alain's Metagross and Tyranitar. If Ash uses the Electrium Z he obtained from Hala (It was originally going to be a Fightinium Z, but Tapu Koko was having none of that), he can upgrade this into the Electric-Type Z-Move Gigavolt Havoc, which is enough to startle the guardian of Melemele Island, Tapu Koko, while leaving a giant crater in the area around where Tapu Koko was. Tapu Koko was just fine but it was clearly surprised by how much power Pikachu actually had. The second move and also amongst Pikachu's most notable is Quick Attack, a high-speed tackle which can pre-empt the opponent's attack. It's also very handy for avoiding attacks, as best demonstrated when Ash battled Hala, the Island Kahuna of Melemele Island, and had Pikachu use Quick Attack to avoid most of Hariyama's All-Out Pummeling. Using the Normalium Z he obtained from Totem Gumshoos, Ash can upgrade Pikachu's Quick Attack into the Normal-Type Z-Move, Breakneck Blitz. With this, Pikachu performs an extremely fast and extremely powerful charging tackle, enough to send Hala's Hariyama flying (Hariyama weighs 559 lbs, by the way) and tear up the ground beneath it just by moving fast enough. The third of Pikachu's moves is Iron Tail, a Steel-type move where Pikachu slams the target with its tail, which Pikachu learned in response to Ash learning that the Rustboro Gym Leader, Roxanne, used Rock-types. It can shatter boulders and clash with a Mega Lucario's Bone Rush. It also has a chance of weakening the foe's defenses, though this has yet to play into the anime. The last of Pikachu's moves is Electro Ball, where Pikachu condenses Electricity into a ball and hurls it at the foe, dealing greater damage the faster Pikachu is than the target. It can clash with an Aura Sphere from a Mega Lucario. Ash can also upgrade this move, like Thunderbolt, into Gigavolt Havoc, using the Electrium Z.

Pikachu's ability is confirmed to be Static, where foes have a chance to be paralyzed upon making contact with Pikachu. This has proven to affect the outcome of multiple battles by shutting down an otherwise dangerous threat.

Pikachu's got some pretty impressive feats under its belt, like taking down two Legendary Pokemon (Brandon's Regice and Tobias' Latios, the latter being more impressive due to type disadvantage) and three Pseudo-Legendaries (Drake's Dragonite in the Orange League, and Alain's Tyranitar and Metagross in the Kalos League) on top of numerous other foes.

However, Pikachu does have its weaknesses. Despite Pikachu being amongst the strongest of its kind and WAY stronger than an ordinary Pikachu, it is still limited by Pikachu's general frailty and it doesn't have the greatest coverage ever. Ground-types especially mess Pikachu up as it can't really do much to them, especially if they resist Iron Tail, too.

Next, let's go over his second Pokemon...

ASH-GRENINJA

Pokedex Number: 658

Type: Water/Dark

Classification: Ninja Pokemon

...His Greninja. Ash's Greninja is a bit of a strange case, as unlike other Greninja, it has a unique form that he and Ash can trigger at will, dubbed Ash-Greninja, due to the visual similarities between the form and Ash, and the fact that Ash and Greninja's thoughts synchronize. Originally a Froakie residing at Sycamore's Lab, Ash befriended Froakie during his first day in Kalos, and it joined him the following day, becoming his first catch in Kalos. Upon evolving to Greninja, he and Ash triggered something called the Bond Phenomenon, where, upon the bond between Ash and Greninja reaching its peak, the two synchronize their thoughts and Greninja transforms into this state. In this state, Greninja's speed and power skyrocket, allowing it to hold its own against Mega Evolutions and Legendary Pokemon. Impressive as, even before transforming, Greninja is capable of moving faster than the human eye can see, and taking on powerhouses like Alain's Charizard. Once Greninja transforms, though, it reaches a whole new level of power, easily taking on Pokemon like Diantha's Mega Gardevoir, slicing through Sawyer's Mega Sceptile's Frenzy Plant, and even blocking the Hyper Beam of Lysandre's Mega Gyarados.

Greninja knows four moves. His first move is the signature move of Greninja: Water Shuriken. How this move is used depends on whether Greninja is transformed or not. As regular Greninja, it condenses shuriken made out of water and throws them at the enemy, while as Ash-Greninja, it takes the Fuuma Shuriken from its back and hurls that at the enemy instead (It then regenerates). As a priority move, this move is likely to strike before the foe has a chance to react. The second move Greninja has is Double Team, with which Greninja creates a horde of illusory doppelgangers to throw off the opponent. He can also somehow combine the clones' Water Shurikens to empower his own into a Giant Water Shuriken. Don't ask. The Water Shuriken even has a third, super-powered version, where the Shuriken turns red and becomes absolutely enormous... although it completely failed to accomplish anything due to plot demanding that Ash lose the Kalos League. The third move it has is Cut, where it manifests twin Kunai blades out of Water and uses them to slash at the target. Theoretically, Ash could turn this move into Breakneck Blitz with the Normalium Z. This move is powerful enough to slash through a Mega Sceptile's Frenzy Plant with ease, and clash with a Mega Charizard X's Dragon Claw. The same Dragon Claw which could cut through Primal Groudon's Precipice Blades. The fourth and final move is Aerial Ace, a swift, highly-accurate physical blow often manifesting as a dive kick of sorts, often used to get swift hits in. It can daze a Mega Sceptile.

Greninja's ability has not been confirmed, but it is presumably Battle Bond, the ability which enables the Greninja to transform into Ash-Greninja in the games.

Aside from the typical Pokemon typing weaknesses (Those being Fighting, Grass, Fairy, Electric and Bug-types), Ash-Greninja does have one key flaw to the transformation: Any pain that Greninja feels while in the form is also felt by Ash. If Ash and Greninja over-exert themselves in the form, it can (and has, multiple times) lead to Ash and Greninja completely passing out. While Ash and Greninja have trained to minimize this, the form does still put strain on Ash.

For his third Pokemon...

CHARIZARD

Pokedex Number: 006

Type: Fire/Flying

Classification: Flame Pokemon

...another of his most famous 'mons and perhaps his third most famous behind Greninja and Pikachu. Originally a Charmander abandoned by its trainer, Ash eventually caught the Charmander himself and raised it as his own. Charmander was a loyal and relatively powerful Pokemon of Ash's, and it put in a lot of work for Ash's progress through the Kanto Region... until it evolved, at which point, it started disobeying Ash, becoming far too prideful and sometimes even burning Ash with Flamethrower. These obedience issues were what ultimately cost Ash the Kanto League, and continued up until partway through the journey through the Orange Islands where, after being nursed back to health by Ash after it got frozen, it regained its respect for Ash and begun to obey him again... although it still occasionally roasted the poor trainer.

Charizard is a prideful, stubborn Pokemon and, despite being a runt amongst Charizards (At least according to its time in the Charicific Valley), its power is undeniable. Ash's Charizard's current moves are as follows: First off, it knows Flamethrower, as is the norm for Fire-type Pokemon. It's a stream of flame exhaled from the mouth. The Pokedex states that a Charizard's Flamethrower can melt boulders. Charizard's second move is Wing Attack, with which Charizard rams into the foe, hitting them with its wings. In the BW series, Charizard used this to stop the Thunderpunch of Iris' Dragonite. Its third move is Slash, a powerful cutting attack. Like other 'mons with Normal Moves, Ash could theoretically use Normalium Z to have Charizard use Breakneck Blitz. While Ash's Charizard has very few feats using the move, in the Pokemon Origins show, Red's Charizard, a much weaker Pokemon, was capable of harming a Mewtwo fairly heavily with the move, but only after Mega Evolving. Charizard's fourth and final move is Dragon Tail, where Charizard, well, smacks the foe with its tail.

Charizard's ability has not been confirmed.

Charizard's got some pretty crazy feats under its belt, including being the first Pokemon he owned to ever defeat a Legendary, namely Noland's Articuno. While yes, Charizard DID have Type Advantage, it was still a fairly impressive feat. Charizard can lift a Golem into the air, and Golem weighs about 660 lbs. And indeed, true to the dex entry, Charizard's Flamethrower HAS been shown to be able to melt solid rock. Charizard flew from being completely submerged in Lava to the cloud layer in less than a minute, while also carrying Blaine's Magmar for most of the trip up. It also held its own against an Entei in Movie 3.

However, Charizard does have a few notable weaknesses, the most notable being that it often gets hit by the Worf Effect or is subject to silly decisions on Ash's behalf (Seriously Ash, Seismic Toss on a GHOST-TYPE?). It also really doesn't like taking Rock, Water and Electric-type attacks and its tail flame is a weak point- if an attack is sufficiently powerful to put it out, that poses a threat to Charizard's life. However, considering Charizards have been completely submerged and their tail flame has been completely fine, it's very hard to abuse this weakness.

Next up...

SCEPTILE

Pokedex Number: 254

Type: Grass

Classification: Forest Pokemon (No, seriously)

Ash's second Pokemon from the Hoenn Region. Originally a Treecko he caught early on, it quickly grew into one of Ash's more powerful Pokemon, not in terms of raw strength (Greninja, Charizard and the next listed 'mon all beat it there), but in terms of toughness and speed. 

Sceptile's ability is Overgrow. This boosts the power of its Grass-Type Moves when it's in a pinch.

As far as Sceptile's moves go, the moves it is confirmed to know are Leaf Blade, where it uses the leaves on its arms as blades, Leaf Storm, where it fires a concentrated torrent of leaves at the enemy, and the previously mentioned Quick Attack. (And yes, Ash can turn this into Breakneck Blitz too, at least in theory) Its last remaining move is either Solar Beam, where energy from the sun is concentrated into a massive laser, or Bullet Seed, where Sceptile rapidly shoots seeds from its mouth to pelt the enemy. 

Sceptile has some pretty ridiculous feats. Amongst Ash's Pokemon, Sceptile has the best track record at dealing with Legendary Pokemon, having defeated three compared to Pikachu's two and Charizard's one. Namely Brandon's Regirock, a Deoxys, and Tobias' Darkrai. Regarding that Deoxys, it was not only able to keep pace with its Speed Forme, but when it grabbed said Deoxys, Deoxys was unable to shake Sceptile off, and eventually got forced back into its normal forme by Sceptile's Solar Beam. Against Darkrai, it took a barrage of Super-Effective Ice Beams, and was still capable of waking up almost instantly after being hit by a Dark Void. It also fought May's Blaziken evenly despite the type disadvantage, resulting in a Double KO.

Sceptile's disadvantages mostly come in the form of lacking coverage. All of its moves are Grass-type aside from Quick Attack, and of those, only Leaf Blade is reliable. Overgrow only activates in a pinch, so it won't trigger until Sceptile is already on its last legs. And there are the typing weaknesses of Bug, Poison, Flying, Fire and Ice

For his fifth Pokemon...

INFERNAPE

Pokedex Number: 392

Type: Fire/Fighting

Classification: Flame Pokemon (Same as Charizard)

People can never agree whether this guy or Charizard is stronger, but regardless. Originally a Chimchar under the ownership of Ash's rival in the Sinnoh Region, Paul, but it was eventually released by the trainer for not living up to his expectations, and then joined Ash. It quickly grew into one of Ash's greatest powerhouses.

Infernape's ability is Blaze, which increases its Fire-Type moves' power in a pinch. However, Infernape's Blaze appears to be MUCH more powerful than most other Pokemon's, but in return, for a while, Infernape had trouble actually controlling its power, often running rampant and even attacking Ash on multiple occasions during its Blaze-fuelled Rampages. However, it eventually learned how to control its power, and it serves as a powerful trump card in a pinch.

Infernape's moves are as follows: Its first move is Dig. With this, Infernape burrows underground before striking the opponent from below. This also serves as a useful evasive maneuver, as most attacks will be unable to hit Infernape while it's underground. Its second move is Flamethrower. We've already covered that one with Charizard. Its third move is Mach Punch, a swift-striking move in the same vein as Quick Attack. Its fourth move is Flare Blitz, an extremely powerful flaming tackle that comes at the cost of recoil damage to Infernape itself.

One of the key arguments in favour of Charizard being stronger than Infernape is lack of feats, but it does have a few feats that stand out. It can send an Aggron, which weighs 793lbs, flying with Mach Punch, Keep pace with Ninjask, who can move faster than the eye can see, and its Flare Blitz set said Aggron on fire.

However, Infernape does have a few weaknesses. Flare Blitz, as stated before, causes self-inflicted recoil. Blaze will only trigger in a pinch, and certain attacks like Earthquake will inflict more damage on Infernape while it's using dig. There are also the obvious type weaknesses to Water, Flying, Psychic, and Ground.

And last but most certainly not least...

KROOKODILE

Pokedex Number: 553

Type: Ground/Dark

Classification: Intimidation Pokemon.

...his best Pokemon from Unova. Krookodile was originally a Sandile that kept pestering Ash and Co. throughout their adventures in Unova, and he eventually caught it as a Krokorok, with it evolving into Krookodile shortly afterwards. It quickly became Ash's Unova powerhouse and served him well throughout the remainder of his journey throughout Unova and the Decolora Islands.

We have no confirmation on Krookodile's ability.

Krookodile has one of the more well-rounded and powerful movesets of Ash's Pokemon. Its first move is Dig. We've already covered that with Infernape. Next is Stone Edge, where Krookodile creates sharp rock shards around itself before launching them at the enemy. It can also use them as daggers in a similar vein to Ash-Greninja's water kunai with Cut. Its third move is Dragon Claw, where it channels energy into its claws to slash at the target, and its final move is Aerial Ace, which we've already covered with Ash-Greninja, although in Krookodile's case it's more a flying slash than a dive kick.

Krookodile has some fairly impressive feats. It clashed with a Sawk at speeds faster than the human eyes can process, sent Iris' Dragonite (Which weighs 463 lbs) flying with Dragon Claw, tanked a Liepard's Hyper Beam, and can practically glide while using Aerial Ace.

However, Krookodile does have some fairly nasty weaknesses, namely in the form of Fighting, Bug, Water, Grass, Ice and Fairy-type moves.

OVERALL

+Well-rounded coverage and good feats overall for his entire team.

+Z-Moves, Blaze and Ash-Greninja are all excellent trump cards.

+Ash himself is quite physically adept

+Off-the-wall battle style can throw opponents for a loop.

-Ash-Greninja risks exhaustion at best, passing out at worst.

-Z-Moves can only be used once per battle.

-Individual Pokemon flaws: Pikachu's frail, Sceptile lacks coverage, Infernape is prone to damaging itself, Ash-Greninja's strain on Ash himself.

-Prone to reckless behaviour, gets him into trouble as much as (if not more than) it gets him out of trouble.

-Type Overlaps: Charizard overlaps with Infernape for the Fire-Type, Ash-Greninja overlaps with Krookodile for the Dark-Type, and his team members share type weaknesses- Infernape and Pikachu are weak to Ground. Krookodile and Sceptile are weak to Ice. Krookodile, Charizard and Infernape are weak to Water. Greninja and Krookodile are weak to Grass and Fairy. Charizard and Greninja are weak to Electricity.
-Even with Ash-Greninja's overwhelming power, was ultimately unable to win the Kalos League, to the anger of many fans, myself included.

And here we have Ash's ultimate team, including feats from Ash himself. Feedback would be appreciated, if I missed anything feel free to let me know.