User blog:SPARTAN 119/Altair Ibn La'Ahad (Assassin's Creed) vs Nanashi (Sword of the Stranger)

Altair Ibn La'Ahad, the Syrian Assassin who assassinated several high ranking members of the Knights Templar during the Crusades

VS

Nanashi, the ronin who fought against a cult of heavily armed Ming Chinese and a deadly Western mercenary to prevent the sacrifice of a child

WHO IS DEADLIEST?!

Altair Ibn La'Ahad
Raised as an assassin from birth, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad was a prominent member of the Assassins Order. He achieved the rank of Master Assassin in the Oder before failing on an assaingment allowing the Templar forces to attack the assassin stronghold of Masyaf. Due to his arrogance and failure he was reduced to the rank of novice and tasked with the deaths of nine individuals who together formed the Templar leadership in the holy land. During his quest he discovers that the leader of the Order, and his mentor, Al Mualim, was a traitor to the Assassin's cause. Altaïr was forced to battle his former mentor and upon Al Mualim's death quickly rose to the rank of Mentor in the Order. Under his leadership the Brotherhood of Assassins began to move in a more secretive direction. Using a Peice of Eden, Altaïr shaped the furture of the Order and began to discover many new technologies including a early firearm. Altaïr, along with Ezio Auditore, is an ancestor of Desmond Miles.

Altaïr is very adept in combat, making use of both common swords and daggers but also throwing knives and the signiture assassin hidden blade. He also created an early firearm and hollow blades that could contain poison without risk of shaterring. He also crafted a unique set of extremly durable armor.

Nanashi
Nanashi (literally "no name") was a samurai of a daimyo in Sengoku-era Japan, until, after one battle he was ordered to kill two children, presumably heirs to the defeated lord. Nanashi killed the children, but deeply regretted it, becoming a traveling ronin and leaving his sword tied in its sheath. After encountering a child and his dog who were hiding for an unknown party searching for them, Nanashi and the child, Kotaro were attacked by several enemies. Nanashi and Kotaro's dog, Tobimaru, defeated the attackers, Nanashi fighting them with his sword still in its sheath. The dog, Tobimaru, is wounded by a poisoned throwing knife, and Nanashi agrees to give Kotaro a ride to town. After getting medicine to help the dog, Nanashi discovers Kotaro is being hunted by a Japanese daimyo working with a group of Ming Dynasty Chinese seeking to ritually murder the child and use his blood as an ingredient in an elixer of immortality. Nanashi is separated from Kotaro and he captured by the daimyo and the Ming forces, however, Nanashi fights his way through a battle between the Ming and a rival daimyo also seeking the child, finally drawing his sword and fighting his way through anyone who gets between him and the altar where Kotaro is to be sacrificed, including a master scythe-wielder and a highly skilled Western mercenary in the employ of the Ming, before finally rescuing Kotaro.

=Weapons=

Syrian Sabre (Altair)
Altair's Syrian Sabre is a curved sword with a total length of about 90 centimeters. The weapon is generally similar in appearance to an Indian Talwar or a North African Nimcha, with its distinctive knuckleguard attached to the grip.

Katana (Nanashi)
The Katana is a curved, single edged sword originating from Japan, and are one of the nation's most iconic weapons. Originally used by the Samurai of Feudal Japan, the weapon has also come to be commonly known as a "Samurai Sword". The length of the blade is often somewhere between 60 to 73 centimeters in length. While I could not find data for the total length of the sword, the blade appears to be about three-four times longer than the grip, meaning the grip is between 17 and 23 centimeters long on a sword with a 70 cm blade, meaning a total length of between 87 and 90 centimeters. The metal of the blade is created from Tamahagane, a hard, high carbon steel for the cutting edge and sides, and the tough, low carbon steel for the core and back, giving the blade a hard edge, while allowing it to absorb blows without shattering. The gentle curvature of the blade adds to the weapons cutting power by focusing the force of the blow on a smaller area.

Short Blade (Altair)
Altair's short blade is a dagger about 12-14 inches in length. Most of the length of the blade is straight, however, there is an extremely slight curve to the blade near the tip. The weapon also has a small curve to the handle in the opposite direction to the tip, giving the weapon as very subtle "S" shape. Altair typically uses the weapon with an "icepick grip", dual wielding it with his throwing knives.

Dao (Nanashi)
The dao is a Chinese saber, sometimes translated as a "broadsword. The weapon's design varies somewhat through time, but in general, it is a short, wide-bladed sword with a moderate curve, designed for slashing and chopping, though it has a secondary thrusting capability. The dao is said to be one of the easiest swords to learn to use in combat, taking only a few days of training.

Throwing Knives (Altair)
Altair was given a set of throwing knives upon reaching the fourth rank in the Assassin Order. The weapons are short, double-edge knives properly balanced to be thrown. Altair was skillful enough to use these weapons to kill enemies such as rooftop sentries in a single throw, though they were less effective against armor.

Sword Throw (Nanashi)
At one point in the movie Sword of the Stranger, Nanashi throws his katana at an enemy in order to prevent him from killing Kotaro. Nanashi's throw had impressive range, at least 100 meters, and scored a hit directly in the neck, killing the enemy instantly. For the purposes of this match, Nanashi will be able to do this with both his katana and his dao, and will be able to retrieve the blade if he misses, will obviously no longer have a weapon until he does.

Hidden Blade (Altair)
The single most iconic weapon from the Assassin's Creed franchise, the Hidden Blade is a specially designed tool used by the Assassins in both combat and on assassination missions. It has had numerous revisions and updates to keep it a viable option in combat. Originally, during the time of Altair Ibn-La Ahad, the blade required the removal of one finger to properly use, and it was not a very effective weapon in open combat- Altair and his assassins could not simply attack with it like a normal blade, and had no ability to block or guard.

Sheath (Nanashi)
In several instance, Nanashi has proven himself capable of using the sheath or saya of his katana. A traditional saya is made of lightweight wood and painted with lacquer. Nanashi's saya, however, appears to be made of a harder wood, however, as he is able to use it as a blunt instrument, and for blocking enemy attacks (either that, or its is simply the stylization typical of anime.

119's Edge
Altair's Hidden Blade for its greater lethality. =X-Factors=

Explanations
Both Altair and Nanashi are highly trained combatants who have fought numerous dangerous enemies, the Templars in the case of Altair and a group of Ming Warriors whose strength and pain tolerance was enhanced through the use of drugs, as well as a skilled Western mercenary in the case of Nanashi. While both of them are regularly seen climbing buildings and jumping between rooftops, Altair takes a slight edge, as he seems to have more free running experience. In terms of pain tolerance, however, Nanashi reigns supreme, continuing a fight after being impaled through the arm with a sword and being shot with a musket. =Videos=