User blog:SPARTAN 119/Berserkergang vs Juramentado

The Berserkergang, the bearskin-clad Viking warriors who were known for their violent, frenzied attacks

VS

The Juramentado, the Moro warriors who hacked through hordes of invading American, Spanish, or Japanese soldiers in the name of Allah.

WHO IS DEADLIEST?!

=Combatants=

Berserkergang
The regular Vikings warriors of old where formidable hit-and-run raiders, yet their prowess in battle and savagery was nothing compared to those whom all feared, those whom the Vikings used effectively as bestial shock troops, those who had the strength of wild beasts: the Berserkers. The Berserkers where bear-skin clad warriors who fought with no armor and in a crazed frenzy brought about by their rituals and chants. Some wore these skins over most of their body, with the head and jaw skins over their heads and faces, while others wore the skins like a cape, with the upper head and ear skins covering the tops of their heads and exposing their faces. The latter went into battle otherwise naked. A similar group fo warriors, the wolf-skin clad Ulfhednar (pronounced Ulf-heth-nar), where just as powerful and mad as the Beserkers, and eventually where absorbed by them.

When Berserkers fought they where said to be immune to arrows, swords and fire, to be s strong as bears or bulls, and immune to pain. It seems that, whatever the rituals and chants that brought about their inner, bestial natures, also brought about major adrenaline surges, increasing their strength and speed to superhuman levels (upwards of 10 times their normal strength: beyond this and ligaments and joints will tear), rendering them immune to pain, and lessening their blood flow. Many of the ideas we have of Vikings stem from the Berserkers. The Ulfehdnar, in particular, due to their powers in battle and dress, was a major influence of European Werewolf Legends.

The "Wendol" of Michael Crighton's "The 13th Warrior/Eaters of the Dead", which where neanderthals in bearskins, where inspired by Berserkers.

Juramentado
Juramentado, in Philippine history, refers to a male Moro swordsman who attacked and killed targeted Christian police and soldiers, expecting to be killed himself, the martyrdom undertaken as an unorthodox form of personal jihad. Unlike an amok, who commits acts of random violence against Muslims and non-Muslims alike, a juramentado was a dedicated, premeditated, and sometimes highly-skilled killer who prepared himself through a ritual of binding, shaving, and prayer in order to accomplish brazen public religious murder armed only with edged weapons.

For generations warlike Moro tribes had successfully prevented Spain from fully controlling the areas around Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, developing a well-earned reputation as notorious seafaring raiders, adept naval tacticians, and ferocious warriors who frequently demonstrated extraordinary personal bravery in combat. While Moro forces could never match opponents' firepower or armor, such bands used intelligence, audacity and mobility to raid strongly defended targets and quickly defeat more vulnerable ones. One extreme asymmetric warfare tactic was the Moro juramentado.

Candidates, known as mag-sabil, "who endure the pangs of death," were selected from Muslim youth inspired to martyrdom by the teaching of Imams. Parents were consulted before the young men were permitted by the sultan to undergo training and preparation for Parang-sabil (the path to Paradise). After an oath taken, hand on the Qur'an, the chosen took a ritual bath, all body hair was shaved, and the eyebrows trimmed to resemble "a moon two days old." A strong band was wrapped firmly around the waist, and cords wrapped tightly around the genitals, ankles, knees, upper thighs, wrists, elbows, and shoulders, restricting blood flow and preventing the mag-sabil from losing too much blood from injury before accomplishing his gruesome task. Clad in white robe and turban, the chosen youth would polish and sharpen his weapons before action.

At the moment of attack, the mag-sabil would approach a large group of Christians, shout "La ilaha il-la'l-lahu" ("There is no god but Allah"), draw kris or barong and then rush into the group swinging his sword. The attack was not a suicide as such, for the Qur'an forbids such action, but an attempt to enter Paradise with the spilled blood of numerous enemies of the faith, knowing certain death was a consequence of the act. After death, the mag-sabil's body was washed and again wrapped in white for burial. In the unlikely event the mag-sabil survived his attack, it was believed his body would ascend to Paradise after forty years had passed.

(From Wikipedia)

=Weapons=

Saex (Berserker)
A saex or sax is a type of dagger or short sword used by a number of different Germanic peoples, including the Vikings, Franks, Germans and, most notably, the Saxons during the early Middle Ages from about the 7th to 11th centuries. The weapon had a heavy blade up to fifty centimeters long, allowing it to be used as a chopping weapon, like a machete or falchion.

Barong (Juramentado)
A Barong is a short, but wide leaf-shaped blade Filipino knife or short sword, with a length of up to about 56 centimeters. The weapon was widely used by the Moro people, including Juramentados, primarily as a slashing weapons.

119's Edge
While both are mainly slashing weapons, I'll give my edge to the saex as it at least gives the option of thrusting with its narrower blade, making it more versatile.

Knifr
The knifr was a Viking age knife (as it's name obviously implies) with a normal point, similar to a modern hunting knife. The blade was carried by practically everyone in Viking society, being found in the burials of men, women, and even children.

Kalis
A kalis is a Filipino dagger or short sword with a trademark wavy, double-edged blade, similar to the Indonesian kris. The wavy blade was designed to make it less likely to get stuck in an enemies bones when making slashing attacks, however, the weapon could also be used to thrust. The weapon has a length of 46-66 cm on average.

119's Edge
The Juramentado's kalis for its greater length and cutting ability.

Viking Sword (Berserker)
The term "Viking Sword" actually refers to a style of sword used by many Dark-Age northern European cultures, not just the vikings. These swords typically have a blade of about one meter, or a little less, and a triangular, elliptical, or hat-shaped pommel, as well as a crossguard between the blade and the hilt.

Kampilan (Juramentado)
The Kampilan was Filipino sword about 90-100 centimeters in length. The blade was had a single edge, with truncated point featuring a characteristic spikelet, or second smaller point below the main point. Sword has a Y-shaped pommel, often decorated like the open mouth of a crocodile, monitor lizard, or mythical creature. The kampilan is mostly used as a two-handed sword, though it can be used one-handed as well.

Dane Axe (Berserker)
A commonly used type of Viking battle axe was the Dane Axe, a long handled, two handed axe with a handle of at least three feet long, though some could have been up to six feet long. The blade was "horned", with it widening out to width of up to a foot from the much narrower back end of the blade. The blade itself was very thin compared to a woodcutting axe, in order to reduce weight. The Dane Axe was used no only by the Vikings, but also by the Huskarls, the elite soldiers and royal guards of Saxon England, and later evolved into a polearm, called a sparth, which may have formed the basis of later axe-based polearms such as the halberd and poleaxe. Dane Axes were in use long after the end of the Viking Age, into the 1400s and 1500s in some places. One famous post-Viking era user of the Dane Axe was Richard the Lionheart, who is often depicted as using a Dane Axe at Jaffa.

Panabas (Juramentado)
A Panabas is a sword originating the southern Phillipines. The weapon's is characterized by a length of two to four feet, with a heavy curved blade designed for chopping in and hacking. The blade was designed like a machete or a meat cleaver- designed to cut through a target with the sheer weight of the blade.

119's Edge
The Berserker's Dane Axe takes this for it greater striking power, as it likely has a heavier blade better suited to cutting through armor, as well as its possible greater length.

Berserkergang
The term "berserkergang" can refer both the berserkers themselves, as well as the frenzied, violent state they enter in battle. This state was achieved through some sort of ritual, possibly involving the consumption of some form of drug, or even some sort of self-induced mental disorder. In addition to violent, frenzied, animalistic behavior, berserkers were known to display superhuman strength, said to be ten times that of a normal man, an immunity to pain, and less bleeding when injured. This is possibly caused by inducing increased levels of adrenaline.

Juramentado
Juramentados were inspired by the martyrdom teachings of imams, and genuinely believed that they would go to heaven upon death. As such, they had no fear of death, in fact, they expected to die, and would charge forward with no regard for their personal safety. Part of the ritual prior to a juramentado attack, the juramentado would, after ritually bathing and shaving, would tie a tight-fitting band around their waist and numerous tight cords on their limbs, restricting blood flow. This decreased the speed at which they would bleed out of shot or bayoneted. Because of this, it was not uncommon for juramentados to keep attacking after being shot or bayoneted several times- a headshot was one of the few real ways to bring them down reliably in one shot.

=X-Factors=

Explanations
Note that all edges for the berserkergang refer to the berserker in the "berserk" state. The berserkergang take strength as their rituals resulted in increased strength. Both are at the top tier as far as fearlessness is concern, neither having any regard for their survival, the berserkers being in a trance-like state and the juramentado expecting to die and go to paradise after death. Both also are even for brutality, the berserkers being unable to show any mercy in their berserk state, while the Juramentados view their actions as the will of God. The juramentados had an extreme tolerance for pain and injury, thanks to their faith and their bindings, which slowed bleeding. Finally, the juramentados take mental health, as, while they were highly indoctrinated with the fundamentalist Islamic faith, they were still more focused in their killings, whereas the berserkers would kill anyone who got in their way in an animalistic rage. Some sources even state that a berserker in their berserk state would even attack allies if they got in their way.