Day: June 1, 2011

Deano’s answer to: “Does Luke Skywalker have a middle name?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

You would initially think, as an attempted assassin of the Emperor, he would need to follow the standard “three names” rule, at least for the intergalactic evening news. Especially given the vast number of inhabited planets in the galaxy, you’d think there’d be hundreds, if not thousands of people with the same first-last combination among the stars.

But you’d be wrong, for two simple reasons:

  • It is Darth Vader who actually kills the Emperor, though it’s fair to assume no one but Luke actually knows this and lives to tell the tale.
  • This all happened a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Before the three name rule went into effect.

This answer originally appeared on Quora: Does Luke Skywalker have a middle name?

Deano’s answer to: “If John Rambo fought the Predator in the jungle, who wins?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Considering that John Rambo’s fighting prowess is based on “higher than average human musculature”, combined with a deep ingrained tactical and strategic knowledge of the dynamics of both organized and guerilla military forces based solely on Earth, that he might have a very hard time dealing with the Predator.

Given a scenario as depicted in the original film Predator (1987 Movie), it is likely that John Rambo would’ve most closely resembled the decision-making processes and final outcomes of either Billy Sole (Sonny Landham), or Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Essentially, winning the battle would be dependent on how much intelligence he can gather before a final showdown, since the Predator behaves unlike any earthbound enemy he’s ever faced.

Still… “in the jungle” provides us with a lot of flexibility… What if, instead of the Predator visiting Earth, we view things from a scenario like that of the more recent movie Predators – John Rambo is abducted from Earth, to battle on an alien world with/against other humans and predator factions.

In that scenario, Rambo would have a greater chance of understanding his “fish out of water” status, and switching to a primarily survival-based evasion tactic long enough to allow for a greater reconnoiter of the situation. While it’s highly unlikely that such a scenario even has a true “victory” condition – how do you get back home to Earth, for one thing – it’s probable that he would last longer, and possibly take out a greater number of Predators before being brought down.

The summary is simple: despite appearances, John Rambo is a seasoned soldier who depends on good military intelligence and tactical support to conduct a successful campaign. Getting either of those during an encounter in which a Predator set the rules of the game is highly unlikely…

But he wouldn’t be (in his younger days, anyway) a bad choice to put on a team of humans who knew what they were facing from the very start. In fact, mightn’t that be the perfect “epic win” solution for the plot to Expendables II? Not all of the badass action icons of the 80s were actors, after all… 🙂

This answer originally appeared on Quora: If John Rambo fought the Predator in the jungle, who wins?

Deano’s answer to: “Who is stronger: The Hulk or The Thing?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

It depends on the Hulk. Kinda.

At various times, the Hulk has had:

  • A fairly “stable” power level, affected only slightly to moderately by his anger level
  • A power level (and even physical body) that increased in direct proportion to anger level
  • A power level (and physical body) that decreased in direct proportion to anger level (‘Smart Hulk, Savage Banner’ – some of the most interesting modern Hulk stories in the modern era)
  • Many, many other permutations of the above (The Maestro, various Banner/Hulk splits, Grey Hulk, etc etc).

The Thing, honestly, would have a hard time beating down any of these (Savage Banner excluded)… Nevertheless, The Thing tends to be depicted as being “Stronger than a Hulk at rest”, that is, having a more consistent strength that can beat a “barely transformed classic Hulk”, and able to stand toe-to-toe against a moderately angry one.

The only problem is... There appears to be no limit to the rage potential of the Hulk, and fighting tends to make him more angry (he just wants to be left alone, after all).

Thus, whether they are fighting each other, or even working together, even if the Thing starts out stronger than the Hulk, that advantage will inevitably give way to the ever-increasing power level of the Hulk, at least until whatever conflict/issue is resolved that allows Big Green to calm down again.

This answer originally appeared on Quora: Who is stronger: The Hulk or The Thing?