#3: Winter Soldier vs Nightwing

One of the most interesting matchups ever… It is one sidekick vs another. They also shared a similar history and in the future both take up the position of their hero after the original characters die or are presumed to be dead.

Name : James Buchanan Barnes

Affiliated To : The Avengers

Background : Formerly known as Bucky Barnes, he was the sidekick of Captain America. He was believed to be dead after The Captain’s face off with the Red Skull, but later returned as Winter Soldier. He shared the same fate as the captain and was frozen in the ice only to be discovered by the Russian instead of the American forces. Removing his lost arm they replaced him with a new bionic arm and became a lethal assassin under the Russians. He remained in stasis in between the Russian assigned missions and so hasn’t aged much. After meeting Capt. America he came back to senses and joined Avengers.

Name : Richard Grayson

Affiliated To: The Justice League

Background : Formerly known as Robin, he assisted Batman in many of the missions. After coming of age when he could no longer be Robin he emerged as Nightwing and tested his detective skills by taking unsolvable cases.  He too follows Batman’s policy of not killing people, be it friends or foes. He uses a utility belt like his trainer and knocks out his foes with his agility and power.

LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!!!!

Skill :

The Winter Soldier was trained by the Captain himself for 2 years during the World War II and by the Russians after he was recovered from ice. The Captain induced the martial arts skills of evading and blocking while the Russians were responsible for the cold-hearted ruthless nature of his. Being a soldier he is not afraid to kill and is proficient in using almost all firearms and bombs.

Winter Soldier’s bionic arm is his biggest advantage in the fight, being continuously upgraded by Tony Stark with the latest tech. Aside from giving his left hand superhuman strength and reflexes it also can be used to emit EMP waves and electric discharges.

Nightwing on the other hand fights with Escrima sticks, 100,000 volt stun gun, wing-dings and smoke and tear gas pellets. Being trained by Batman, Nightwing is more of a stealth hero than a soldier. He is very skilled in hand-hand combat and often dodges attacks by jumping over the foe’s head and then reacting with a quick blow with the Escrima stick.

In a close hand-hand combat the edge would go to Nightwing due to more agility and better training although the bionic arm of Winter Soldier does pack a punch. But the main question lies in whether the Winter Soldier can spot the stealthy Nightwing. If he does, he can take the Nightwing out but if he doesn’t, he is in for a tough competition in melee fighting.

Winter Soldier – 80/100

Nightwing – 90/100

Nightwing just whizzes past Winter Soldier in this round.

Intellect :

As we have seen the Winter Soldier is all about ruthlessness and killing whereas Nightwing would break a bone or too but as he follows Batman’s guidance, he does all this with the element of surprise.  I believe anyone can charge head first but to remain undetected and take out villains at the right time and place is something which taxes the brain far more.

Plus the fact that Nightwing investigates crimes gives him the bigger edge over the cold-hearted assassin Winter Soldier.

Winter Soldier – 70/100

Nightwing – 80/100

This round goes to Nightwing for his ability to surprise villains in the most unexpected manner.

Armour :

Winter Soldier wears a bullet proof suit and a mask. His bionic arm too goes changes every year and is capable of withstanding huge amounts of pressure and burns before it became corrupt.

The Nightwing dresses lightly like Batman to enforce speed and agility enabling him to make quick and sharp takedowns. Carries a variety of weapons in his utility belt.

Winter Soldier – 65/100

Nightwing -45/100

While both of the superheroes wear lackluster armour as compared to main heroes, Winter Soldier takes the round as bulletproof suit and a bionic arm is at least something effective when compared to the plain outfit of Nightwing.

Special:

As both are human heroes, no heroic powers are possessed by them.

RESULT

Winter Soldier – 215/300

Nightwing – 215/300 

Woah!! We have a tie here. I knew that the matchup would be tight but to actually result in a tie is something I had not previously foreseen. Cheers for both the players as after all the 4 rounds neither Nightwing nor Winter Soldier have given up.