User blog:El Alamein/Dracula's Hunters vs. the Night of the Living Dead Survivors



Things are soon to get gory and bloody in this clash of undead monster slayers! Dracula's Hunters, the protagonists from Bram Stoker's Dracula, who braved all the supernatural vampire lord could throw at them in a desperate attempt to save their souls, against the Night of the Living Dead Survivors, the protagonists from George Romero's 1968 Night of the Living Dead, who had to steel their wits in combat not only against the mindless, flesh-eating zombies, but against each other too! Repeating rifles, revolvers, and a gruesome variety of bizarre close-ranged weapons will be brought to the field and critical statistics like mental health, cooperation and coordination must be examined before it can be determined who is deadliest!

Dracula's Hunters
Dracula's Hunters are the main characters from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. They are all humans of varying occupations and physicality, and have been brought together out of necessity to combat the evil vampire Count Dracula, who has preyed on members of the group. They destroy Dracula's wooden coffins in London and chase him back to his native Transylvania. The odyssey climaxes in a terrifying encounter against wolves, gypsies, and ultimately the Count himself, who is slain moments before he can rise from his coffin as the sun sets.

Members

 * Jonathan Harker: Jonathan Harker is a real estate agent sent to Transylvania to arrange Count Dracula's move to London. After having his papers finalized, the Count makes a failed attempt to kill Harker, leaving the realtor to escape diseased and delusional. Upon his return to London, Harker finds that the Count has been preying on the friend of his wife, Mina. Together with his groupmates, he destroys Dracula's coffins where he can safely rest during the daytime and deals the finishing blow to the Count himself, swinging his great Kukri knife across the vampire's neck and cutting off his head.
 * Abraham van Helsing: Professor Abraham van Helsing is nothing like popular culture makes him out to be today. He is an aging (but still physically fit) man from the Netherlands, wise in the ways of superstitions, and it is he who first makes the connection between the injuries sustained on Dracula's victims to be the work of a vampire. He is able to hypnotize Mina Harker after she is bitten by Dracula and tracks the Count's locations through Mina's trances. He personally kills Dracula's three vampire brides with a wooden stake and mallet as they are trapped in their coffins during the waning hours of the afternoon, and helps keep the gypsies at bay while Harker and several other companions try to attack Dracula's coffin.
 * Mina Harker: Mina is Jonathan Harker's wife, and she quickly becomes one of Dracula's victims after he not only bites her, but forces her to drink his blood. She is a strong-willed woman, though, and is used by Professor van Helsing to track Dracula's movements across Europe. She helps defend her camp with a revolver against the vampire's wolves who attack during the night.
 * Quincey Morris: Quincey Morris is an American adventurer with connections to Harker through van Helsing and Dr. Seward. He has ventured to nearly all of the wild, uncharted areas in the world (such as the Amazons and the Himalayas) and grew up in rough Texas as a child. He assists Harker in the killing of Dracula, stabbing the Count in the heart with his massive Bowie knife before he succumbs to wounds dealt by gypsies defending Dracula's coffin. It is mostly thanks to Morris that the group has access to firearms like the Winchester.
 * Dr. John "Jack" Seward: Jack Seward is the director of the insane asylum that sits next door to the plot of land that Dracula purchases in London. Dracula places one of the patients, Renfield, under his control and Seward attempts to investigate, calling in van Helsing for assistance. Once Lucy Westerna, friend of Mina Harker and Seward's failed love interest, is slain by Dracula, Seward joins with the group in hopes of stopping the vampire. He helps lead the charge toward Dracula's coffin at the climax of the book.

Night of the Living Dead Survivors
The Night of the Living Dead Survivors are the main characters from George Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. After a mysterious, unexplained virus breaks out across the United States, turning human beings into cannibalistic, mindless monsters (the precedent for today's modern zombie), several human survivors trapped in an abandoned house desperately plot an escape while fighting off waves after waves of the flesh-eating fiends. The survivors bicker among themselves for authority in the small group, and eventually all end up dead, whether it be at the hands of a zombie or at the hands of another human.

Members

 * Ben: Ben is a headstrong black man who appears to be the dominant leader of the group (his being black is notable considering the time period that the film was made in), physically strong and intimidating. He fights off the zombies successfully at both a close range and at a long range, and leads several failed escape attempts, some ending in the deaths of the survivors. He manages to survive the final zombie onslaught by hiding in the basement of the house, but when he cautiously emerges, he is shot dead by members of a roving posse, mistaken for a zombie.
 * Barbara: Barbara is all but broken mentally, having just witnessed her brother get killed by an attacking zombie at the cemetary. Upon reaching the house where Ben is hiding, she helps him board up but quickly grows hysterical. Not much of a use in defense, she is quickly overwhelmed once the zombies begin their final, concentrated assault.
 * Harry Cooper: Harry is a balding, middle-aged man who resents Ben's authority and is always at odds with him. Along with the other survivors listed below, he hid in the basement until he was aware of Ben's presence above. He did assist in one escape attempt, throwing molotov cocktails out the upper window in an attempt to keep the zombies at bay. He was killed after attacking Ben, who was forced to shoot him with the Winchester.
 * Tom: Tom is an older teenager, big and muscular, who got along well with Ben and tried to keep the peace between him and Harry. Tom was killed early in the film, as during an escape attempt spilled gasoline exploded around his truck while he was driving it. His body was consumed by the zombies and it is implied that he became one of the flesh eaters too.
 * Judy: Tom's girlfriend, Judy made attempts to comfort the distraught Barbara, but was killed along with Tom in the gasoline explosion outside the house.

X-Factors
Just like when giving edges, you have to give explanations behind your ratings of the warriors.

Physicality: Dracula's Hunters are a mix of civilians and adventurers from the late 19th century. The Night of the Living Dead group are comprised of civilians from the mid-20th century. Both groups have women who are portrayed as physically inferior, but Mina is much more mentally strong than Judy or Barbara.

Mental Health: This is going to be interesting, because both groups will likely score relatively low. Dracula's Hunters have been shaken by the loss of Lucy Westerna, their good friend, and are facing the loss of Mina, who has been bitten by Dracula. The Night of the Living Dead group, meanwhile, has no idea who or what the zombies are or how they came to be. Barbara will likely be the weakest mentally of the group, as she seems to be in a state of catatonic shock over the loss of her brother.

Teamwork: Here is where the Dracula Hunters have a major advantage. They are good friends with a history of working together (Seward has saved van Helsing's life before and has worked with Morris in many places around the world; Jonathan is married to Mina) and are very cooperative and coordinated when hunting Dracula. The Night of the Living Dead group will work together when the zombies are attacking, but constantly bicker and argue about when and where to attack, who's in charge, etc.

Logistics: Dracula's Hunters have prepared to fight the Count and his minions, and likely have enough ammunition to fight a foe comfortably without worrying about munitions. The Night of the Living Dead group will probably be more strained logistics-wise, as they are limited to the weapons and ammo they have with them in the house.

Creativity: Dracula's Hunters cannot afford to be creative, as they are limited by time before Mina succumbs to Dracula's disease. The Night of the Living Dead group has had to fashion their own defenses and make crazy "it-just-might-work" plans in desperation to escape. While the plans might not always be efficient, the Living Dead group certainly is flexible when it comes to planning for combat.

Intelligence: Dracula's Hunters have a learned realtor and a professor on their team. The Night of the Living Dead group is just civilians.

Combat Experience: Quincey Morris has been all over the world with Dr. Seward, and van Helsing is an experienced vampire slayer. The Night of the Living Dead group have been fighting against zombies for an unspecified but likely shorter period of time.

Endurance/Fatigue: Dracula's Hunters have the ability to rest and recuperate when need be. The Living Dead group, alternately, is very tough as far as endurance is concerned, because they are going up against an enemy that will not stop going, and they must always be prepared to fight.

Disease: Mina is affected by Dracula's bite and suffers accordingly. The Living Dead group members have a mentally unstable member (Barbara) and the others are likely exhausted from constant fighting.

Killer Instinct: The Living Dead group are ruthless and ready to kill at the drop of a dime - they've even fought and attacked each other. They simply have to be emotionally detached from the prospect of killing to survive. Dracula's Hunters are primarily concerned with killing Dracula, and may not attack first if all they see are other humans.

Battle:
5-on-5

Where should it take place?
 * Carpathian mountains
 * Abandoned house in field

Expert's Opinion
To be determined