User blog:Laquearius/Astolfo vs Bellerophon



Astolfo, the loyal paladin of Charlemagne who fought for his lord in lands all over the globe...

Bellerophon, the Greek demigod who commanded the winged horse Pegasus and become a renowned hero...

Which of these heroes, famed for their magical mounts, is DEADLIEST?

Astolfo


Hailing from Britain, Astolfo is t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶p̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶i̶m̶ one the twelve paladins of King Charlemagne of the Frankish Empire and a major character in the Matter of France. Although usually overshadowed by his more famous cousin Roland, Astolfo has had his fair share of adventures, mainly in Orlando Furioso. Upon learning that Roland had gone mad due to his requited love for a pagan princess, and was rampaging throughout Africa in a blind fury, Astolfo traveled to Ethiopia in search of cure. After numerous detours and distractions, involving battles with a giant, a wound-regenerating bandit, and a swarm of harpies, Astolfo encountered John the Apostle, who instructed him on how to recover Roland's sanity. Astolfo located Roland's wits, which had been sealed in a bottle and brought to the moon (don't ask questions), and cured Roland of his madness. Together, they returned to Paris in time to lead Charlemagne's men against a Saracen invasion.

Carolingian Sword
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Like all Frankish paladins, Astolfo carries the weapon of a nobleman: the sword. His is an ordinary Carolingian sword, the most common kind in the early Medieval period. It is a double-edged steel blade, about ninety centimeters in length.

Golden Lance

Astolfo's most famous piece of equipment is his enchanted golden lance. It is outwardly a typical Carolingian lance, a winged spear about four meters in length. However, it is unique in the fact that even the slightest contact with the lance can send Astolfo's opponents flying backward, easily unhorsing anyone he strikes with it. It also possesses above-average durability, like most enchanted weapons from Medieval epics.

Magic Horn

It's not really a weapon, but it's definitively worth mentioning. Astolfo is in possession of a magical horn, similar to his comrade Roland's Oliphant. When blown, the horn's resulting blast is so terrifyingly loud that it causes most men and beasts to flee in terror.

Frankish Paladin Armor
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As a paladin, Astolfo is clad in the finest armor available at his time. He wears a hauberk, a shirt of steel riveted mail that reaches down to the thighs and upper arms, with a padded gambeson of cloth underneath. His helmet is one of the spangenhelm style, made of four steel plates and equipped with cheek and nose guards. Lastly, he has a round, wooden Frankish shield, about eighty centimeters in diameter, in the off hand. The shield also has a steel boss.

Hippogriff
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The hippogriff is an odd beast, said to be the offspring of a griffon and its natural rival, the horse. As such, it is a monster with the front half of an eagle, with a beak, talons, and wings, and the rear half of a horse. The hippogriff is not owned by Astolfo, but rather by the knight Ruggiero, but Ruggiero is glad to lend use of it to Astolfo whenever he sets off on an adventure.

Bellerophon


Bellerophon is a demigod hero from Greek mythology, the son of Poseidon, and the slayer of the Chimera. When an argument got out of hand and resulted in the death of his brother, Bellerophon was exiled from his homeland of Corinth. He found refuge with the king of Argos, but misfortune continued to plague him. When he rejected the adulterous advances of the king's wife, she accused Bellerophon of raping her. Furious, the king sent Bellerophon to Iobates, king of Lycia, bearing a sealed message instructing him to kill Bellerophon. Not wanting to violate the law of sacred hospitality, Iobates sent Bellerophon on a suicidal mission to kill the Chimera, which was a fire-breathing monster with three heads: one of a lion, one of a goat, and one of a snake. The goddess Athena, who favored Bellerophon, aided him by granting him command of Pegasus, a winged horse. Bellerophon shot arrows at the beast, but they had little effect. Bellerophon then tipped his spear with a block of lead, which he thrust down the the monster's throat. The lead was melted by the Chimera's fire, suffocating it. Shocked by Bellerophon's survival, Iobates continued to send him on such quests, but Bellerophon completed them all. Eventually learning of Iobates's goal, Bellerophon, with some help from Poseidon, stormed the palace. Convinced that his guest was the son of a god, Iobates begged for forgiveness and granted Bellerophon co-rulership of his kingdom.

Xiphos
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Bellerophon's sidearm is his xiphos, a leaf-shaped shortsword. It is made of bronze and is about sixty centimeters in length. It is usually a last-resort weapon, as Bellerophon is much more comfortable with his spear or his bow.

Dory

Bellerophon's primary weapon is his dory spear. It is a two and a half meter long ashwood spear with a bronze head and a counterbalance point on the rear. Bellerophon used a dory during his legendary fight against the Chimera.

Composite Bow

When up against foes that Bellerophon would rather keep out of range of, he uses a Mycenaean composite bow, a recurve bow made of multiple pieces of wood and reinforced with horn and sinew. Even when firing from long distances while atop a moving winged horse, Bellerophon is deadly accurate with his bow.

Light Mycenaean Panoply
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Despite his great fame and his status as the co-ruler of a kingdom, Bellerophon forgoes the heavy bronze armor of other Greek nobles, instead opting for a lighter variant. It is composed of the breastplate component of a full set of panoply made of bronze lamellar, a helmet made of leather and boars' tusks, and a small round shield made of wood, leather, and a light layer of bronze.

Pegasus
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Pegasus was a winged horse, and the son of Medusa and Poseidon, who was born from Medusa's neck stump after she was decapitated by Perseus. Pegasus wandered the Earth without purpose after his birth, until the goddess Athena led Bellerophon to him, and gave the hero a magical bridle that he could use to tame the beast. After that, Pegasus became his loyal companion, and accompanied him on all of his adventures.

Statistics
Experience

Bellerophon has battled the Chimera, the Amazons, and the Solymi tribe during his quests for Iobates, and fought with Lycian soldiers during his storming of Iobates's palace, but he has no other combat experience. Astolfo fares much better in this category, having quested around the world and seen harpies, giants, and other monsters, and he also fought in Charlemagne's wars against the numerous Saracen nations that opposed him, which there were quite a few of.

Intelligence

Neither hero has proved himself to be the pinnacle of intelligence. It took Bellerophon a while to figure out that Iobates was trying to get him killed, and he also had quite the ego, which, when faced with gods who deplore human hubris, proved to be his downfall. Despite this, Bellerophon can be a cunning and quick thinker at times, such as when he figured out how he could kill the Chimera. Astolfo isn't an idiot, but he sometimes lacks common sense and is easily tricked, such as during his encounter with the witch Alcina.

Physicality

Bellerophon was the son of a god, Poseidon no less, and as a result, his strength, agility, and endurance are much greater than that of a normal human. Astolfo, through his frequent training, would've been in excellent physical condition, but nowhere near the level of a demigod.

Training

Bellerophon likely only had basic weapons training prior to his exile from Corinth, as he never participated in any combat outside of his own quests. However, it did not burden him, as he proved to be a capable warrior nonetheless, able to fight off multiple trained opponents single-handedly, even when dismounted. As a paladin, Astolfo would have frequently practiced with his peers, and would have trained with the best combatants in all of Frankia, including the other paladins like Roland, who are mighty warriors in their own right.