The Ogre’s gauntlet · Superhuman
Yujiro Hanma vs Batman
Batman has a plan for everyone. Yujiro Hanma has never needed a plan in his life.
Tale of the tape
| Baki | Universe | DC |
|---|---|---|
| Superhuman | Tier | Street level |
| Raw, terrifying strength and a back muscle that forms a demon’s face | Strength | Planning, gadgets and mastery of dozens of fighting styles |
| Arrogance: he toys with every opponent | Weakness | Still a human body that can be outmuscled |
| 13–11–1 | Record on Versus | 4–5 |
The Arena
Yujiro Hanma came to Gotham because he heard there was a man there who had trained his body to the absolute peak of human ability and fought monsters every night with nothing but his fists and his mind. Yujiro wanted to taste that. He stood on top of a gargoyle at midnight and waited.
Batman had seen him coming three days earlier. He had studied every scrap of information he could find about the Ogre: the fights, the broken soldiers, the American president who had signed a treaty with a single man. He arrived on the rooftop with a utility belt full of answers. “You’re in my city,” he said.
Yujiro turned, and his grin was the widest thing in Gotham. “Show me your preparation, detective. I want to see it fail.”
Round One
Batman struck first with a flurry of batarangs, each one aimed at a nerve cluster. Yujiro did not dodge them. He let them hit, and they bounced off his skin like pebbles off a wall. Batman followed with a combination drawn from a dozen martial arts, perfect technique, every blow landing where it should. Yujiro laughed.
Then he hit back, once, an open-handed slap, and Batman flew across the rooftop and through a water tower. He rose, his ribs cracked, and adjusted. He had expected the strength. He had not expected the speed.
He fired a grapple and swung away into the dark. Yujiro watched him go, delighted. “Run, then. Make it interesting.”
The Turn
Batman led him into an alley he had spent a day preparing: high-voltage cables in the walls, a net of reinforced polymer, sonic emitters tuned to disorient. Yujiro walked in, and the trap closed on him perfectly. The net wrapped him. The electricity surged. The sonic emitters screamed.
Yujiro stood in the middle of it, his hair standing on end, smoke rising from his shoulders, and began to flex. The polymer net, rated to hold a tank, stretched, strained and tore apart. He walked out of the alley with sparks dancing across his skin, and the demon face on his back twisted into a smile.
“Good,” he said. “That actually tickled.” Batman, on the rooftop above, quietly crossed out the next three plans on his list.
The Finish
Batman came down for the final plan: close quarters, everything he had, every pressure point and every joint lock. He was magnificent. He landed blows that would have stopped any human alive, and Yujiro took them, studied them, and enjoyed every one.
Then the Ogre caught Batman’s fist in his hand and simply held it, and Batman could not pull free. Yujiro lifted him off the ground by one arm and looked him in the eye. “You trained to the limit of a human body,” he said. “That is admirable. But I was born past it.” He dropped Batman onto the street, gently by his standards, which still cracked the pavement.
Batman lay there, unable to rise, and Yujiro crouched beside him. “Most men run from me,” he said. “You planned. That makes you worth remembering.” He walked off into the Gotham night, laughing. Batman spent the next six months designing a plan for Yujiro Hanma. He never felt it was finished.
The verdict
Yujiro Hanma wins
Batman is the most prepared human alive and his traps would stop almost anyone, but Yujiro was born beyond human limits: the traps only tickle him, and up close, technique cannot overcome a gap that large.
- Superhuman bodyYujiro shrugs off blows and traps that would stop any human.
- SpeedHe is faster than Batman expected.
- InstinctYujiro reads Batman’s technique as easily as Batman reads clues.
How the rematch could go differently: With months of preparation and the Justice League’s resources, Batman might finally find the plan that works.
Who do you think wins?
Who would win in a fight between Yujiro Hanma and Batman?
Yujiro Hanma wins. Batman is the most prepared human alive and his traps would stop almost anyone, but Yujiro was born beyond human limits: the traps only tickle him, and up close, technique cannot overcome a gap that large.