User blog:Killermoves/Billy the Kid vs Henry Lightfoot



P.S. Sorry if I have not been finishing some of my matchups becuase I have been busy with personal dilemmas.  Ah yes... youth. There is just something so interesting and romantic about young dashing rogues who rise up and fight the authority of the old men. Young guns who are fresh, strong and fast, and has that feeling of invicibility and recklessness in the face of danger. And today on Deadliest Fiction, we'll be travelling back to the late 19th century to pit two of the most well-known young outlaws to a battle to the death. 

Billy the Kid, the infamous gunfighter who shot numerous lawmen in the American Old West! 

vs 

Henry Lightfoot, the raging Peaky Blinder who terrorized Victorian Birmingham! 

So grab your sombrerors and peaked caps and decide...Who is the DEADLEIST WARRIOR! 

Billy the Kid
Henry McCarty, also known as William H. Bonney, and known popularly as Billy the Kid, was born in New York City in 1859. His family would continuously move from place to place before eventually ending up at Silver City, New Mexico. Shortly after his mother died McCarty turned to a life of crime. His first misdeed was stealing food. Ten days after committing his first crime McCarty robbed a Chinese laundry but was caught and sentenced to jail, though escaped and became a fugitive.

Having made his way to the Arizona Territory, he was hired as a ranch hand and became acquainted with John R. Mackie, a Scottish-born criminal and former U.S. Cavalry private with whom he soon began to steal horses from local soldiers. After getting into an argument with a blacksmith which soon turned violent ending in McCarty shooting and mortally wounding him. He was apprehended, but stole a horse and escaped the law once again.

After losing his horse to a group of Apaches. Almost near death due to starvation, McCarty ended up at the home of his friend and fellow criminal John Jones whose mother nursed him back to health. After regaining his health, McCarty went to Apache Tejo, a former army post, where he joined a band of rustlers who raided herds. Around this time he began to use the name William Bonney.

Bonney would continue to be involved in crime, even joining the Lincoln County War, a conflict between rival gangs. Bonney would continuously evade death, though he was captured and imprisoned several times. On July 14, 1881, Bonney finally met his end by Sheriff Pat Garrett who shot him two times in the chest, killing him.

Melee=Bowie Knife
 * A 9-inch blade with clip point that can also be thrown. While designed as a fighting/utility knife, the design of the bowie later influenced the creation of later military knives used in the U.S. such as the bowie hunter and the Ka-Bar.
 * Billy probably used one since bowie knives were common tools for cowboys and ranch hands like him at the time.


 * -|Short= Colt Peacemaker
 * A 6-shot revolver chambered for the .44-40 Winchester. It has a muzzle velocity of 379 m/s and a range between 25-50 yards. It is a fixed cylinder revolver.
 * It is the most famous weapon used by cowboys and gunslingers in the Old West. Billy himself probably used one to kill Henry Cahill and James Bell. Although he is not a quickdraw artist like what old films make him out to be.


 * -|Mid= Coach Gun
 * A very powerful 2-barrel shotgun chambered for 12 gauge shells. The shorten barrel (though not as short as a lupara) were used for maneuverability in gunfights. Shooting two barrels at once was enough to cut a man in half.


 * Known as a "scattergun" in the Old West, the coach gun was used by Billy the Kid to kill Bob Olinger (the gun itself actually belonged to Bob and Billy stole it during his escape).


 * -|Long= Winchester Model 1873
 * The Model 1873 was one of the most successful Winchester rifles of its day, with Winchester marketing it as "The Gun that Won the West". It is chambered for the .44-40 Winchester and has a 14+1 -round tubular magazine. It has a range of 200 yards and a muzzle velocity of 470 m/s. The lever action makes it a very fast gun to cock and shoot, and while you have to insert the rounds individually, many gunmen at that time used tubular speedloaders to quickly slide 10 rounds down the tube.


 * This was Billy's favorite gun and one which he is photographed with.

Henry Lightfoot
Henry Lightfoot was a young street thug and criminal who lived in Garrison Lane, Birmingham, England in the late 19th century to the early 20th century. A well known ruffian and member of various street gangs in his youth, Lightfoot became known in history as the first person to be named as a Peaky Blinder by the police and the press.

Little is known about Henry Lightfoot's life than what is recorded in the police and newpapers as well as stories passed on by his family. Poverty, alcohol and the sheer effort to survive the drudgery of late Victorian Birmingham led to the thrill of being part of a gang. He went from stealing racing pigeons off a neighbour in Small Heath at 12 years old, to a spell in Prison in Devon in the early 1900s for assault. He worked as a metal roller in his slums, and before that he joined the British army three times in his life, being a veteran of a few colonial wars.

Lightfoot would later become embroiled in slogging gangs and the peaky blinders, the latter of the two being the most notorious street gang in Birmingham at that time. The Peaky Blinders were young street thugs who assaulted, stole, mugged and maimed people and constables, but they also participated in small organized crime-like activities such as protection rackets, taking control of land and buildings for businesses, and illegal bookmaking in racecourses.

Besides these, the peaky blinders also fought rival gangs, the police and other militia. Numerous gang wars were recorded in Birmingham for control over parts of the city. The Peaky Blinders also deliberately attacked the police in street fights and shootouts which was known as "constable baiting" at that time, and Lightfoot himself was also guilty of this like the time he fought a detective, and the time he and some boys surprised a group of constables where they captured and tied one of them at gunpoint to a tree in Haybarns Wreak. During the end of the 19th century, three policemen were killed, hundreds more injured and many more left due to violece of these street gangs.

Henry Lightfoot's criminal career later ended when he was captured in 1904, and lived the remained of his life raising his family in the slums. His military background, short temper and violent escapade became an inspiration for the character of Arthur Shelby Jr. in the award-winning television series Peaky Blinders.

Melee=Improvised Clothing
 * As a peaky blinder, Henry used whatever he can get his hands on as a weapon which included his fashion sense. Blinders used the metal part of a belt to crack skulls, metal tip boots to kick and stomp enemies, canes, and stones wrapped in handkerchief to maim.


 * While the popular belief that peaky blinders sew razor blades in their peaked caps to blind their opponents is considered by historians as a myth, real blinders did use the hardened top of the peaked caps to headbutt and stun their victims.


 * -|Short= Webley RIC
 * A double action revolver by Webley chambered for .442 Webley. It has a range of 25 yards and a muzzle velocity of 210-218 m/s. Unlike the Webley Revolver, the RIC is a fixed-cylinder revolver.


 * It was one of the most common sidearms in the streets of Victorian, England and many blinders probably owned one. Peaky Blinder David Taylor was once caught carrying a loaded revolver at the age of 13.


 * -|Mid= Howdah Pistol
 * Another common firearm in many British households. The howdah pistols were hunting sidearms built by literally sawing off elephant guns into pistol.


 * For the purpose of this matchup, the howdah that will be used will be a sawn-off double-barrel Holland rifle chambered with .476 Nitro Express nitro round. Nothing much is known about this round besides the fact it can kill a tiger with one shot. Although the recoil would have been dreadful and its a very close range weapon.


 * -|Long= Lee Metford Carbine
 * The precursor to the famous Lee-Enfield rifle, the Lee Metford carbine is a shorter version of the Lee-Metford rifle. It is chambered for the .303 Mk I in an 8-round detachable magazine. It has a muzzle velocity of 621.8 m/s, and due to its poor rifling design, is only accurate as far as 400 yards.


 * Being a former soldier, Henry would have undoubtedly used one.

X-Factors
Training= Billy the Kid: 78

Henry Lightfoot: 90

This is a clear cut edge for Henry Lightfoot. While Billy the Kid is no doubt a trained cowboy and a knowledgeable bandit, Henry joined the army 3 times, giving him actual military training. Billy for the most part, lacks a military backgrund and is mostly self-taught.

Billy the Kid: 97
 * -|Experience=

Henry Lightfoot: 82

While both have their own shares of fighting and shooting, Billy the Kid seems to have been in more dangerous scenarios than Henry. The Kid has been through over seven to nine very well-recorded shootouts, while Henry's were nothing more than just small street gang wars. The Kid too seems to be more talented in killing, since that dude literally escaped jail by killing two armed guards by himself.

Billy the Kid: 90
 * -|Intelligence and Leadership=

Henry Lightfoot: 85

Again this one goes to Billy. While he's not really a leader of a gang, he was a prominent member of the Regulators. During the Battle of Lincoln, while the Regulators were fighting posses and the U.S. Army soldiers, Billy led his men during the retreat, effectively saving their lives. Although its not to say that Henry Lightfoot himself probably has some time experience leading his gang, since he himself was a prominent member and the peaky blinders themseves were engaged in organized crime activities which needed someone smart enough to lead (though they are not as large as the Mafia). In fact, the Peaky Blinders were really led by a man named Thomas Gilbert, and not Henry Lightfoot.

Billy the Kid: 70
 * -|Brutality=

Henry Lightfoot: 90

No contest, Henry takes this hands down. Contrary to his legend, Billy the Kid was not the murderous gunslinger outlaw as he is depicted. He was just a young kid who got caught up in business and politics, and based on his biographers, was just a guy trying to escape his life of crime (although he was a bit bloodthirsty when he killed Bob Olinger who bullied him). Henry on the other hand? That dude loved fighting for fun. He fought the police face to face without compunction. He was a vile man who even beat his family (he once threw his through a windown when she was nagging him, so yeah, he was an asshole).

Read First

 * For neutrality sake, the battlefield will take place in a small Canadian town. Billy and 4 of his Regulators arrived to escape lawmen who were chasing them in New Mexico. The same goes for Henry Lightfoot and 4 other Peaky Blinders who's taking refuge after the Irish Police and the Birmingham Boys chased them from their turf.


 * This will be strictly an infantry battle. None of these two will be using horses etc.


 * I'm not that strict with voting but please use at least decent English grammar, and mention why you chose the winner in terms of weapons and x-factors. Votes which has only 2-3 sentences will not be counted.