The Ogre’s gauntlet · City to planet
Yujiro Hanma vs Kratos
Yujiro once claimed he could defeat a god. Kratos has killed a whole pantheon of them.
Tale of the tape
| Baki | Universe | God of War |
|---|---|---|
| Superhuman | Tier | City to planet |
| Raw, terrifying strength and a back muscle that forms a demon’s face | Strength | The Leviathan Axe, the Blades of Chaos and a god’s strength |
| Arrogance: he toys with every opponent | Weakness | The rage he spends his life trying to cage |
| 13–11–1 | Record on Versus | 2–3 |
The Arena
In his own world, Yujiro Hanma had been called a man who could fight God. When he learned of a Spartan who had actually done it, who had climbed Olympus and killed every god on it, he went to find him. He found Kratos on a frozen mountain in Midgard, chopping wood with an axe that glowed with frost.
Kratos looked up at the huge man with the demon face on his back and frowned. “You are not a god.” Yujiro grinned. “No. I am the strongest creature on Earth. They say I could defeat a god.” Kratos set down his axe. “Boy,” he said, “I have heard that before. From gods.”
Yujiro’s grin grew wider. Nobody had called him boy since he was a child.
Round One
Yujiro struck first, and his punch hit Kratos in the chest with enough force to shatter a mountain. Kratos slid back across the ice, his feet carving grooves, and stopped. He looked down at his chest, then up at Yujiro. “Hm,” he said. That was all.
Then he hit back, and Yujiro learned what it feels like to be struck by a god-killer. They brawled across the frozen mountain, fist against fist, and it was an even fight at first, two monsters of pure strength and fighting instinct. Yujiro was the better martial artist. Kratos had centuries of war.
Kratos grabbed the Leviathan Axe and threw it. Yujiro caught it, laughing, and the frost spread up his arm.
The Turn
Yujiro hit Kratos with a blow that drove him to one knee, and for a moment, it seemed the Ogre might win. Then Kratos roared, and his eyes turned red. Spartan Rage. The rage that had carried him up Olympus. His strength doubled. His pain disappeared. He rose and hit Yujiro with a flurry of blows that nobody in Yujiro’s world could ever have survived.
Yujiro was driven back across the mountain, his body breaking, his blood staining the snow. He grinned through it all. He had wanted to fight a god-killer. This was what that meant.
Kratos drew the Blades of Chaos, and they burst into flame on their chains.
The Finish
Yujiro fought the Blades of Chaos with his bare hands, catching the burning chains, tearing at them, refusing to fall. It was the most extraordinary display of courage Kratos had seen in a mortal in centuries. But the blades had killed gods, and Yujiro, for all his strength, was not one.
Kratos finished it with his bare fist, a single blow that dropped the Ogre into the snow. Yujiro lay on his back, burned and broken, staring up at the frozen sky, and laughed. “So that is what a god-killer feels like.” Kratos stood over him. “You are not a god,” he said again. “But you fight like one.”
He picked up his axe and walked back to his cabin. Atreus, watching from the trees, asked who the strange man was. Kratos was quiet for a long moment. “A warrior,” he said finally. “One who has never had to learn what losing teaches.” He looked back at the snow, where Yujiro was still lying there, laughing. “He is learning now.”
The verdict
Kratos wins
Yujiro is the better martial artist and pushes Kratos to his knees, but Kratos has killed gods, Spartan Rage doubles his strength, and the Blades of Chaos were forged for opponents beyond any mortal.
- Spartan RageIt doubles Kratos’s strength at the decisive moment.
- Divine weaponsThe Blades of Chaos were made to kill gods.
- ExperienceKratos has fought for centuries against beings far beyond human.
How the rematch could go differently: A Yujiro who never let Kratos reach his rage, ending it in the first exchanges, could win on pure martial skill.
Who do you think wins?
Who would win in a fight between Yujiro Hanma and Kratos?
Kratos wins. Yujiro is the better martial artist and pushes Kratos to his knees, but Kratos has killed gods, Spartan Rage doubles his strength, and the Blades of Chaos were forged for opponents beyond any mortal.