As Comic-Con fast approaches, I thought of making a comic book-style battle between B-list characters from Marvel and DC. It's the age-old debate of which of these two companies... I mean characters... are deadliest!
Death Adder: The monstrous snake-themed bionically enhanced assassin!
vs
Boogieman: The rat-mutated gangster-slash-vigilante!
Only one can be crowned... the DEADLIEST WARRIOR!
Death Adder[]
Death Adder was born Roland Burroughs in Rochester, New York. He started his life of crime as a small-time thug under the Roxxon Oil Company, participating in a covert operation to retrieve the powerful Serpent Crown from the Atlantic Ocean. At Roxxon's Mutagenic Laboratory, Roland was surgically given gills and a bionic tail, as well as poison-tipped claws, to help him in his endeavors. An accident happened during this process which rendered Death Adder mute. During that time, he would become a member of a snake-themed gang called the Serpent Squad (later renamed Serpent Society). As one of the deadliest members of the Society, the mute Death Adder excelled as an assassin. Feared by even his own teammates, the silent killer carried out his missions with fierce dedication, gaining their admiration. He died at least four times during his career, only to be ressurected constantly by those who wanted to hire him.
Weapons, Powers, and Abilities[]
- Poison-tipped Talons: Death Adder's signature weapon. All of his five fingers have claws that are half-a-ruler in length, and are tipped with poison strong enough to kill the mutagen-enhanced supervillain MODOK and the superheroine Tigra. These talons are strong enough to pierce through armor and slice an M16 rifle in half. However, do note that some strong characters have powered through and survived his poison, namely the Punisher. (Fun fact: I have no idea why a snake-themed character even have claws, but go figure).
- Fangs: After being resurrected by the Hood, Death Adder's mouth became lined with fangs. It's not known how powerful it is, although he once almost bit through Frank Castle's face with it.
- Bionic Tail: Death Adder is also armed with a biomechanical tail that is flexible and powerful. One swing was enough to send the SHIELD Agent G. W. Bridge flying.
- Armored Skin: Like a snake, Death Adder is covered by strong keratin armor that can withstand a lot of punishment. During his fight with G.W. Bridge, he took a full burst of M16 fire to the back, and a small laser to the eye (courtesy of Bridge's laser pen). That being said, he's not invulnerable. The Scourge still managed to kill him with a custom-made submachine gun and the Punisher most notably stabbed his knife right through his arm.
- Underwater Capabilities: Death Adder can slither and swim through water with ease, further amplified by his ability to breath underwater with his gills (and yes, I know, snakes don't have gills, but yeah comics).
X-Factors[]
- Superhuman Physicality: Death Adder is very strong, fast, and durable. He can survive gunfire, toss an adult male like a toy, and being bashed through a wall. Writer Rick Remender even remarked that he could be strong enough to hold his own against Wolverine in a street fight... if "Wolverine even heard him coming".
- Brutality: Death Adder is one cold monster. He had no qualms of targeting the family of his enemies, and is willing to even hurt and kill children (as seen during his fight with G.W. Bridge). This kind of brutality made him a sought-after assassin feared by even those whom considered him a comrade.
- Experience: As an assassin and thug, Death Adder has been hired by many to take out various foes. He fought alongside both the Serpent Society and The Hood's Gang. He has fought the likes of MODOK, Tigra, and the Punisher. Together with his team, he faced against Iron Man and Captain America, though these fights ended in stomps for Death Adder.
Weaknesses[]
- Hollow Bones: Like a snake, Death Adder's skeletal system is hollow, which means his bones are easy to break. This is a big nuisance to Death Adder since, although bulletproof, normal people like the Punisher has been able to break his arm with a simple submission hold. Agent Venom once also killed him by easily breaking his neck.
Gallery[]
Boogieman[]
Martin "Boogie" Berger was born to a relatively privileged upbringing under his mother, Nurse Berger. However, he would be embroiled in trouble at a young age, before his life was forever changed by the event known as the "Big Bang". On that night, Boogie was present in the largest gang war ever seen in Dakota City, presumably as a member or an affiliate of one of the white gangs (probably the white supremacist "Sons of Odin"). Unknown to them, the war was a set-up, and the police launched an experimental tear gas in the hopes of capturing all of the criminals present. The tear gas unexpectedly started mutating those who were present. The event had given Berger superpowers and a new view of life. Wanting to make a change, he would join the multicultural vigilante gang known as the Blood Syndicate, becoming its first and only Caucasian member. At first, he tried to hide his race for fear of prejudice, but eventually the Syndicate accepted him as their own. Berger took the name of Boogieman and fought with his new comrades against criminal organizations, law enforcement, and other superhumans.
Weapons, Powers, and Abilities[]
- Biological Claws: Boogieman's fingers and toes are packed with long sharp claws. Combined with his superhuman strength, these claws are strong enough to rip away opponents with steel cybernetic armor. His claws are further reinforced with steel bracers also lined with long spikes he can use as weapons. Although strong, the claws do have some limitations against specific superhumans. They surely were not able to penetrate the superhero Icon (who's basically like Superman).
- Razor-Sharp Teeth: Boogieman's jaws contain sharp strong teeth that can crunch through steel. He used this to great effect during the Blood Syndicate's wars against Mom's group and Demon Fox.
- Superhuman Senses: As a rat, Boogieman is gifted with ears (which seem to change lengths and sizes according to different artists), eyes, and a nose. They can gather more sensory information than a normal human and sense danger far better as well. These allow him to navigate through the darkness of the sewers even with zero visibility.
- Regeneration: Boogieman has a healing factor that quickly heals almost any wounds. This has allowed him to survive varying degrees of punishment, such as getting his head smashed by a robotic steel arm, and getting chewed on by the People Eaters. His healing factor is fast enough to let him him keep fighting for long periods of time.
- Animal Control: Although a humanoid rat, Boogieman can communicate with all kinds of vermin from mice, large house rats, to super-intelligent mutated ones. He could summon all the rats living in a city that could number in the thousands. He could then use them to gather information of his enemies, or use them as his own army in battle. His army of vermin is pretty strong, capable of pinning down cybernetic enemies, fight off the monstrous People Eaters, and even strong enough to flip a car. Boogieman is a talented leader too who could lead his army of rats in battles throughout the city.
X-Factors[]
- Superhuman Physicality: With his new powers, Boogieman is capable of lifting, running, and tanking damage far beyond a normal human. He's strong enough to rip apart cybernetic enemies, tank damage from superhumans, and leap above houses with ease. During his team-up with Static, he could hold off a large mutated dog who was strong enough to swat away a group of humans.
- Training: Although not a soldier, he is nonetheless a trained and experienced gang affiliate who could hold his own in a street fight. His training in shootouts and street fights would be further enhanced with his membership on the Blood Syndicate.
- Experience: Boogieman is an experienced combatant and leader. He's fought many wacky and dangerous enemies, from a large mutated dog to the cybernetic enforcers in hulking armor known as SYSTEMatics. He helped clean the nest of the People Eaters together with Xombi and Catholic Girl. Together with the Blood Syndicate, they went up against Icon, Rocket, and even against the Man of Steel himself, Superman.
Weaknesses[]
- Human Form: Although unknown if he still retains his superhuman physicality in his human form, Boogieman nonetheless loses his claws and teeth when he transforms back to Martin Berger. However, he only transforms back to his human form if he thinks the battle has been won.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- Battle takes place in a neutral urban city, with a river running through it, and sewers underground. Both have been tasked to find and kill each other, but will have no knowledge of each other's identity or capability.
Battle[]
"You going down, homie! Do you understand?!" a large yellow humanoid rat by the name of the Boogieman yelled. "You come in here to our territory and try to take out one of my friends?! I don't know if you're brave or just stupid!"
In front of him was an armored snake-like man with a white monstrous break, long talons, and a green tail. This assassin, known only as Death Adder, said nothing as he continued to stare unfazed at the wannabe superhero. They were both inside a dark sewer; the smell of it putrid and a green river of soapy water running through.
"You think you're tough because you stay silent. Well, listen here freak! You ain't so tough! I ain't scared of you!" Boogieman added, appearing a bit desperate. But the snakeman continued to stay silent and immobile; his chest forward and arms down, unconcerned and uncaring of this small threat.
"Y-You do understand me, right?" asked the Boogieman. But before he could get an answer, Death Adder suddenly disappeared from his sight. He just vanished in thin air, becoming a blur, all of it happening in a miniscule of a second. A green scale limb then wrapped around Boogieman's neck, lifting him up and smashing him on the ground. It then began to squeeze his neck with superhuman strength. As Boogieman struggled, he saw Death Adder's sinister eyes, his tail wrapped around his throat.
"You wanna -- gaaaaah! Fight?! Then let's (gasp)... boogie!" said Boogieman as he tried to get his words out.
The humanoid rat's claws then shredded Death Adder's tail, making the latter throw the former away like a ragdoll. Enraged, Death Adder then charged towards the downed Boogieman, his claws drawn like sabers. He swiped, slashing the Boogieman in the chest. The Boogieman yelled in pain before scratching Death Adder in the face, though his claws made little damage against the villain's armored hide. Undeterred, Boogieman followed up by biting Death Adder's shoulder with all his might, crunching armor and bone. Death Adder then replied by grabbing Boogieman and chucking him away again.
The Boogieman spat and jeered, "You ain't so tough!"
Without a second thought, Death Adder charged again. As Boogieman swiped at him with his claws, Death Adder slid to the ground and tripped the humanoid rat with his tail. As the two laid down, Death Adder raised his talons and plunged it to Boogieman's stomach, making him yell in pain. Boogieman retaliated by kicking Death Adder in the face, sending him away.
Strange. Death Adder could swear this was the second time he had tagged his prey. Yet his poison seemed to do little; his quarry still continued to breath and fight. Boogieman, on the other hand, could feel the burning sensation in his wounds, though he knew that with time he would get through. However, this snake guy was getting really annoying.
"Let's get this over with, asshole! Come on! I still got some video games I need to play!"
As Boogieman lunged at Death Adder, the snake man then dived into the water. Boogieman landed and looked around, trying to find where his opponent went. He dipped his feet into the water, trying to sense where his opponent was. Suddenly, like a crocodile out of a National Geographic documentary, Death Adder burst out of the water, his jaws and claws open. Boogieman managed to sense his attack, and thus dropped to the ground on his back, before catching Death Adder's shoulders with his feet. He then kicked Death Adder to the ceiling before the body of the snake fell heavily on the ground.
Death Adder remained disoriented by the attack. As his vision slowly came back and his head stopped spinning, he saw a rat staring at him. He ignored it at first to search for Boogieman but he noticed that he was now surrounded with more vermin. Boogieman dropped in front of him and laughed, saying, "Welcome to the family!"
The vermin, numbering in the hundreds, threw themselves at Death Adder. Although the assassin managed to swipe a few away, soon the tidal wave of rats began to drown him. Boogieman controlled the rats very well; the gang affiliate making sure his enemy would not be escaping this one. Death Adder squirmed and squealed, desperately trying to get the rats off as they began to munch on his flesh.
To put Death Adder out of his misery, the rat-themed superhero did a coup de grace, snapping Death Adder's neck with a stomp. "Damn..." Boogieman remarked after feeling how easily breakable his bones were. The guy really was not that tough, and the superhero walked away triumphant.
Expert's Opinion[]
Boogieman won because he was more accustomed to fighting tougher enemies that him, as well as having the better set of powers. Although deadly, Death Adder's inconsistent ability to poison, combined with his losing streak against non-super powered hero, led to his defeat.