Dalinar Kholin

"I have been treating the other highprinces and their lighteyes like adults. An adult can take a principle and adapt it to his needs. But we're not ready for that yet. We're children. And when you're teaching a child, you require him to do what is right until he grows old enough to make his own choices."

- Dalinar Kholin

Dalinar Kholin is a Highprince of Alethkar and the de facto leader of the reformed Knights Radiant. In his youth, he was known and feared as the Blackthorn due to his prowess in battle. After his brother, King Gavilar, died, he honored the man's life by dedicating himself to The Way of Kings, a book of parables his late brother patterned his life by. He was a leading figure in the war against the Parshendi, his abilities in combat and as a leader serving as a core part of the Alethi combat strength.

He was later instrumental in re-founding the Knights Radiant, an ancient order of knights who were able to use Surgebinding to perform superhuman feats. Dalinar became a Bondsmith, one of the few able to bond the Stormfather, a godlike spren.

Battle vs Dalinar Kholin (by Leolab)
Dalinar and Marsh both enter the Arena, exiting from opposite doors. Dalinar draws his warhammer, and looks at his opponent. He quickly takes another couple steps back, somewhat terrified of the spikes visage in front of him.

Marsh smiles and draws his axe, and rushes forward to fight. Dalinar recovers and gives a solid blow to Marsh's chest - on a normal man, it would be a kill, but Marsh is compounding gold. Marsh takes the opportunity to try a strike to Dalinar's chest, but it gets deflected by the Shardplate. The warriors disengage, and circle each other for a couple seconds.

Dalinar starts to feel the Thrill, the hereditarty bloodlust in his family.

He leads off the attack in the second clash, charging forward with his warhammer. He puts all his strength behind it, aiming to break the obsidian blade of Marsh's axe. Marsh burns iron and Pulls the warhammer, causing the head to slam into his chest rather than the axe. Still compounding gold, he doesn't suffer a scratch. He lashes out with his axe at Dalinar's unprotected head. Dalinar moves out of the way in time, and the axe leaves a gash in his helmet. He breaks off and tries again to break the axe, and succeeds in snapping the comparative4ly brittle obsidian head. Marsh, having noticed the glowing spheres in Dalinar's armor, tries to use the wood handle as a battering ram to break it.

Dalinar responds by grabbing the handle and crushing it in his gauntlet.

Marsh quickly Pulls the Warhammer out of Dalinar's grip, compounding iron to give his Pull some extra weight. As the Warhammer flies out of a startled Dalinar's hands, Marsh rushes in with his fists. Dalinar barely has the time to make the summoning gesture for his Shardblade and block with his free hand. He knows that he will win after ten heartbeats, when Oathbringer will materialize.

One.

Dalinar has taken several hits already on his Gauntlet, and some have gotten through on his Chestplate.

Two.

Marsh starts compounding pewter, steel, and bendalloy, giving him increased speed, strength, and energy.

Three.

Dalinar has managed to get a punch or two in, but they barely effected Marsh. Several punches have gone through, and his Shardplate is cracking on his arm. The adrenaline pounds through his veins harder then ever.

Four. Five. Six.

The plate on his arm appears to be turning liquid.

Seven. Eight.

The Shardplate on his arm breaks.

Nine.

Marsh draws a spike form his robe, and starts stabbing towards Dalinar's now unprotected arm.

Ten!

Oathbringer shines in Dalinar's hand, and he cuts the spike in half. He starts pushing Marsh back, keeping the blade moving constantly. Marsh, burning Atium, is just fast enough to evade Dalinar's strikes. In a sudden burst of inspiration, he stops Atium, and burns Duralumin and Zinc.

Dalinar is stopped in his tracks be the mental blow. Not only was the Thrill gone, no longer egging him on to fight, but all his emotions were just... gone. Marsh uses the opportunity to land a powerful roundhouse kick, and Dalinar is sent flying, and drops his Shardblade. He gets up, recovers, and starts summoning his Shardblade again while Marsh charges him.

One.

Marshi is getting closer. Dalinar aims a kick at him.

Two.

The kick connects, stalling Marsh.

Three.

Marsh sees the fallen warhammer and smiles.

Four.

Marsh Pulls himself towards the warhammer.

Five. Six. Seven.

Marsh reaches the warhammer, and Dalinar starts to run towards him.

Eight.

Marsh karate chops the warhammer's head off, while Dalinar charges at him.

Nine.

Marsh holds the warhammer's head at chest level.

Ten.

Oathbringer springs into Dalinar's hands.

Marsh Pushes the the Warhammer's head towards Dalinar, burning steel and compounding iron. Dalinar blocks with Oathbringer, but the chunks of the head keep flying at him. Thanks to his enhanced weight, the two pieces of weighted metal push Dalinar into the wall, impacting with enough force to break the Shardplate on Dalinar's chest and impaling him, holing him to the wall. Marsh walks up, and takes out a spare spike - one without a Hemalurgic charge. He stabs Dalinar in the heart with it, and removes it. After examining it confusedly, he walks away, leaving a bloody, broken body behind him.

Expert's Opinion
Marsh won almost entirely due to his Hemalurgy. Both warriors had one weapon that was overwhelmingly powerful; Oathbringer for Dalinar and Hemalurgy for Marsh. Hemalurgy just gave him more combat advantages than Oathbringer did for Dalinar. Save those, they are very evenly matched.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.