Top 20 most dangerous Fighters

[Stevros]

Ok so this is a subjective list. Open for wild debate and likely to involve a number of duels being challenged.

 

Rules are no channelling allowed fighters are allowed to be selected at peak skills (e.g. Rand pre KoD). (Also due to them not dueling per say and the fact I've no idea where to fit them in I'm leaving the Aiel out... but if you want add them in to any conters)

 

1. Lan - got to be!

2. Demandred - close 2nd probably if he concentrated could have been 1st but you lose concentration against Lan and you die.

3. Mat rarely seen in a fair fight he could be no. 1 possibly but I'm putting him in at 3 as he can't be lower.

4. Rand pretty sure he peaked this high but no higher...

5. Galad like Lan singlemindedness in dueling gets him higher than others

6. Ryne controversial to put him this high but Lan judges him to be the better swordsman than him but fell into the same trap as Demandred. Only reason he's not higher is I judge Lan to have improved with the sword since then. Just remember he was already an awesome fighter then so that's why he ranks highly

7. Jearom supposedly the best ever but tell me he beats any of the above?!?

8. Sleete bested Lan 2 out of 7 gets him a top 10 spot

9. Sammael World Champion of a bloodless sword sport.

10. Eamon Valda another that should be higher had the capability to best Galad but arrogance was his failing.

 

Was going to just be a top 10 but there's too many not mentioned.

 

11. Gawyn the guy killed 2 blademasters in the tower coup so gets a pretty high position.

12. Tam to become 2nd captain as an outlander has to be pretty special along with the fact he earnt a power wrought sword. Plus he's pretty badass even when he's past his prime.

13. Be'lal pretty useless Forsaken but for a short space of time proved a decent swordsman

14. Perrin pretty low for him but he's never quite had the same impact for me as Mat and Rand his skills are more in the wolf dream

15. Toram Riatin ok Rand is better but he knows how to press an advantage and he's certainly not bad

16. Rodel Ituralde just another high quality blademasters

17. Ishamael yet another Forsaken blademaster but book 2 Rand bested him.

18. Turan needed a bit of Seanchan influence here.

19. Hammar swordmaster of the White Tower is going to be pretty good

20. Turak another Seanchan needs to be in the list but probably given he loses to book 2 Rand he isn't getting higher.

 

Honourable mentions...

All Aiel too tough to put them in they don't duel much.

Gareth Bryne is a blademaster but can't crack the list.

Coulin master of arms and a Warder

Laman had a Heron Marked blade.

Artur Hawkwing quite possibly higher but minimal references to fighting abilities .

Birgitte possibly not suited to curling

All other hero's of the horn.

Jain Charin

Ingtar....

 

Ok ok I'll stop there's too many to count reminds me how many badass fighters there are

[solarz]

Mat definitely ranks above Demandred.

 

Demandred got wounded fighting Galad, while Mat took out both Galad and Gawyn at the same time while he could barely stay on his feet.

 

Mat fought the frickin' gholam to a standstill!

[Stevros]

44 minutes ago, solarz said:

Mat definitely ranks above Demandred.

 

Demandred got wounded fighting Galad, while Mat took out both Galad and Gawyn at the same time while he could barely stay on his feet.

 

Mat fought the frickin' gholam to a standstill!

Very true but Demandred is also able to poke a hole in Lan in a one on one duel which is pretty darn impressive. Plus Demandred probably isn't completely focused on the duels he is fighting man on man but rather more the duel he fights with Mat on with their armies.

 

That said Mat is pretty darn badass and ok I'll put him up to no. 1 cus I genuinely think Lan and Demanded need to be together on the list

 

[Sabio]

Demamdred was basicly regarded as the best swordsman of his age.  he should be a close second to Lan.  Galad and Gawyn lost in large part due to overconfidence that Mat with a staff was no match for them.   I would defiantly say Tam is better then Gawyn.  We known too little about Gawyn's fights in the tower to know his skill.  For instance maybe Hammer had been fighting most the day, maybe lucky hit etc...  All we know for sure is even with the rings he was no where near a match for Dem and that BS even said Gawyn was not as good as he thought he was.

 

What about LTT who bested Samm and gave him that scar?  You also left Aiel off the list.

 

Matt is hard to judge, he beat Coaludin (spelling) but he even admits he got lucky in that fight.  Galad and Gawyn went into the fight worried they were going to hurt Mat.  I think Mat could take Gawyn, but one on one in a serious fight to the death I give it to Galad.

 

Perrin should be at the bottom of the list honestly.  Most his fights are in battle and he really doesn't seem to train much.  His only real duel was against Slayer.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Sabio

[solarz]

On 9/15/2018 at 6:47 PM, Sabio said:

Demamdred was basicly regarded as the best swordsman of his age.  he should be a close second to Lan.

 

Demandred was second to LTT. Besides, being the best swordsman in the AOL means nothing. Swordsmanship was only rediscovered a hundred years before the War of Power. Compare that to the 3rd Age, where swordsmanship was refined over 3000 years.

 

On 9/15/2018 at 6:47 PM, Sabio said:

Matt is hard to judge, he beat Coaludin (spelling) but he even admits he got lucky in that fight.  Galad and Gawyn went into the fight worried they were going to hurt Mat.  I think Mat could take Gawyn, but one on one in a serious fight to the death I give it to Galad.

 

No, Mat took out Gawyn before he could even react. He then pressed attack against Galad, who was only able to hold out for a short while before being overwhelmed.

 

Gawyn defeated Hammar, Coulin, and Sleete. Galad barely defeated Eamon Valda. Galad is objectively better than Gawyn.

 

Mat's best martial feat is being able to stand against the gholam one-on-one. The gholam is faster than a myrdraal, likely as strong as an ogier, and immune to both physical and magical attacks. This thing would probably slaughter a dozen warders without second thought, and makes Eamon Valda look like a toddler with a foam sword.

 

On 9/15/2018 at 6:47 PM, Sabio said:

Perrin should be at the bottom of the list honestly.  Most his fights are in battle and he really doesn't seem to train much.  His only real duel was against Slayer.

 

See above about Galad being a better fighter than Gawyn. Gawyn never figured out the whole "being one with the sword" part (aka the Void).

 

Yet, Galad was getting his ass kicked by Trollocs when Perrin rode up slaughtering Trollocs left and right with Mjolnir Mahalleinir.

 

Perrin is not a finesse fighter, but he can lift a 7-foot, 200+ lbs Aielman off his feet with a single blow from an ordinary blacksmith hammer. In the throes of battle lust, he can ignore a spear stabbed through his thigh.

 

Even in terms of generalship, he was able to wipe out a force of 100,000 Aiel with a force of only 20k through meticulous planning and flawless execution. Even Mat would not have been able to do better.

 

Perrin is every bit as amazing as Rand and Mat.

[Sabio]

But the biggest knock against Gawyn is we never got to see his fight.  Yes he beat Hammer, but we know too little of the fight to truly judge his skill.  Where as we know all of Galad's fight with Valda.  Bur it's clear his victory over Hammer made Gawyn over estimate his ability.

 

The Gholam also had to be wary when fighting Mat because of the amulet.  No one else had that advantage.   Mat had skill but I just don't think we can count his fight in the WT since both his opponents really didn't take the fight as serious as they should of.  

[jdizzy001]

I was surprised to see Tam so low on the list. Maybe I missed something, but my understanding of Tam's skill is that he rivaled Lan ranking second best in his era.

[solarz]

1 hour ago, jdizzy001 said:

I was surprised to see Tam so low on the list. Maybe I missed something, but my understanding of Tam's skill is that he rivaled Lan ranking second best in his era.

 

Tam does not have the warder bond, so his strength and reflexes are slowed by old age. It was mentioned that Aram was able to press him hard.

 

Tam has a lot of wisdom, so he's a great teacher, but in actual combat, he would probably be bested by Gawyn (aka Slayer of Aging Blademasters).

[TheSociopath]

The one major issue that I saw is that you put Sleete above Gawyn...

Gawyn repeatedly destroyed Sleete in a 2 on 1 duel.

[Wulf]

Fain probably deserves a mention.

 

Not for being the most skilled, but the topic says dangerous.

[Wulf]

And Shadar Haran, who was completely unutilized in anything that mattered, but surely deserves a mention for his "potential" danger.

[TheSociopath]

I don't think I would put Jearom in at all. We just don't have any base of comparison for him with everyone else.

 

Also, I think that Rand is better than Mat. 

At the very least, in book 5, where I happen to be in my re-read, he is. 

Rand is able to disable several Darkhounds with his sword, while Mat simply tries to hide in his room. 

 

As for Ishamael, he more of tied book 2 Rand, and really, Rand got good with the Sword very fast. he was able to kill multiple Darkfriends at once, in book 3, with no additional training. he was also insane during this period.

 

As for Laman, Rand mocks his sword when he gets it, for being overly gaudy. He probably got it because he was King of Cairhein

Edited October 3, 2018 by TheSociopath

[Talmanes]

I agree Gawyn should definitely be higher as he is shown to be exceptional and beat others like Sleeve as mentioned.

 

We also know that Galad is objectively better than Gawyn (stated many times) and also that Valda is objectively better than Galad (Galad admits this and really only wins because he feigns sluggishness and Valda was over confident). Even though Galad kills him, Valda is the objectively better fighter, but that doesn't always mean surviving (aka the story of Jearom looked at as the best ever killed by a farmer).

 

I also honestly think Demandred should be a bit lower, and since he's the best of the Forsaken, them by extension. In his fight he has to use the OP to distract his foes before he even gets to the best, and then Lan pretty much annihilates him instantly. We've also seen Lan get beat, but several of those who beat him are dead, so that makes it hard (plus he's probably better than he was in New Spring).

[Sabio]

Lan annihilated Dem instantly?  Lan sacrificed himself to get Dem to open his defense.  We know Dem is better then Galad and Gawyn.  if you fight a channeler you should expect tricks to be used.

[Maedelin]

On 10/3/2018 at 6:55 PM, TheSociopath said:

Also, I think that Rand is better than Mat. 

At the very least, in book 5, where I happen to be in my re-read, he is. 

Rand is able to disable several Darkhounds with his sword, while Mat simply tries to hide in his room. 

 

I have to counter this point with another: Rand was warned (by saidin or however channelers and their Warders sense the Shadowspawn) and left his room to pick his ground to fight those Darkhounds.  Mat was in bed with Melindhra and only happened to get up to go get a drink of water.  It was mentioned that he was also naked or in his smallclothes when this occured.  I imagine that he indeed would have spent the time to hold the door instead of doing anything else.  He was in a vulnerable moment, unarmed and underdressed, when a huge bunch of dogs try to come into his room.

 

Further, at that time, Mat was still getting used to his memories and more importantly his place in the world as a great mover and shaker.  It is not until the next book that Mat even starts to begin to feel responsible for his destiny and the lives of others.

[TheSociopath]

On 10/19/2018 at 7:08 AM, Maedelin said:

 

I have to counter this point with another: Rand was warned (by saidin or however channelers and their Warders sense the Shadowspawn) and left his room to pick his ground to fight those Darkhounds.  Mat was in bed with Melindhra and only happened to get up to go get a drink of water.  It was mentioned that he was also naked or in his smallclothes when this occured.  I imagine that he indeed would have spent the time to hold the door instead of doing anything else.  He was in a vulnerable moment, unarmed and underdressed, when a huge bunch of dogs try to come into his room.

 

Further, at that time, Mat was still getting used to his memories and more importantly his place in the world as a great mover and shaker.  It is not until the next book that Mat even starts to begin to feel responsible for his destiny and the lives of others.

thats a fair enough point, but I still think that I would put rand over mat, even if I can't think of any of moments where they both fought they same thing and in the same quantity.

[Maedelin]

5 minutes ago, TheSociopath said:

thats a fair enough point, but I still think that I would put rand over mat, even if I can't think of any of moments where they both fought they same thing and in the same quantity.

 

I can definitely understand that. :)  I'm not exactly certain which Two Rivers lad I lean towards just yet, but I am glad to hear your opinions.  Rand is indeed very skilled.

[Illian Tear]

Well Rand did lose a hand which affected his fighting abilities while Mat losing an eye didn't affect him much.

[Sabio]

Still at that time, I am not sure Mat would of been capable of taking down all the darkhounds like Rand did.  At that time Rand was practicing a lot where we never really see Mat train.

[Talmanes]

@Sabio actually just finished my reread and yeah I remembered that scene a little differently

 

I think based on how the battle went though, with Lan holding his own despite being clearly exhausted, I think he would have won if the footing was even.

[Sabio]

I agree, I think on equal footing, Lan would be the better man.

[CrystallineTart]

RJ really designed Galad to be the guy... that much I figured.

[solarz]

On 10/13/2018 at 12:02 PM, Talmanes said:

I agree Gawyn should definitely be higher as he is shown to be exceptional and beat others like Sleeve as mentioned.

 

We also know that Galad is objectively better than Gawyn (stated many times) and also that Valda is objectively better than Galad (Galad admits this and really only wins because he feigns sluggishness and Valda was over confident). Even though Galad kills him, Valda is the objectively better fighter, but that doesn't always mean surviving (aka the story of Jearom looked at as the best ever killed by a farmer).

 

I also honestly think Demandred should be a bit lower, and since he's the best of the Forsaken, them by extension. In his fight he has to use the OP to distract his foes before he even gets to the best, and then Lan pretty much annihilates him instantly. We've also seen Lan get beat, but several of those who beat him are dead, so that makes it hard (plus he's probably better than he was in New Spring).

 

Jearom was beaten by a farmer with a quarterstaff. Very unlikely that he was killed.

 

Valda certainly had more experience than Galad, but his mindset led him to underestimate his opponent. It's telling that Valda was awarded the title of Blademaster by judgement, not by dueling another blademaster. Swordsmanship is a complete package, and the right mindset is a big part of that. I would say Galad is objectively a better swordsman than Valda: he didn't win by chance, he read Valda correctly and lured him into a fatal trap.