[Mithfanion]

Bump

[ObsoleteResolve]

Maybe it's just because I've just read these books:

The Keep, when Glaeken confronts Rasalom. (F. Paul Wilson)

I really enjoy the craziness that Sandersons' system of magic in Mistborn: The Final Empire has for battles-- Kelsier vs the Hazekillers was pretty sweet. It's definitely got a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon geekgasm going on in there.

I can't remember which book of the Kushiel series (Jaqueline Carey) it occurred in, but I remember a scene where Jocelyn throws himself off a ledge into a group of enemies.

[polishgenius]

Uther Doul letting rip in the Scar.

[amphibian]

Drizzt Do'Urden versus eleventy billion orcs. Face.



I'll post a real one tomorrow when I think of it/them.

[fan_83]

obselete: thats the first book.. kushiels' dart i think

[amphibian]

Beowulf against Grendel and Grendel's Mother.

[Keruli]

I love the duel between Rallick and Turban Orr in Gardens of the Moon. Also, the duel between Trotts and that Bargast (?) youth in MoI, Trotts fighting in the Malazan way with shield and shortsword, and the youth with just a knife, the way they duel. So that's a couple of MBotF duels, I hope those counts.

[Falco]

polishgenius;146856 said:

Uther Doul letting rip in the Scar.

Yeah, that was good. :folken:

[The .303 bookworm]

The Matrix had some amazing fight, especially:
Neo vs Smith
Neo vs Morpheus
Neo and the Many man Brawl
Lobby Scene

LOTR:
Gandalf vs the Balrog. Awesome .
The Battle of Pellenor fields.
Last charge of the Rohirrim.
Helms Deep.

SW:
Anakin vs Obi-Wan
Luke vs Vader (ESB, ROTJ)
Vader vs Obi-Wan
Yoda vs Count Doku
Yoda vs Sidious
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jin vs Darth Maul
The Battle of Endor
The Death Star Trench Run
The Battle of Coruscant (EP3)
Order 66 (EP3)


Warcraft:
Thrall and Grom Hellscream vs Manoroth
Sargeras's fall
The Dragonflights vs Deathwing The Black
Arthas vs Illidan

Hyperion Cantos:
Kassad vs the Shrike
Kassad with surgical tools taking down an Ouster boarding team

Ilium/Olympos Cantos:
Achilles against the Gods (All of the fights)
Achilles vs Zeus (Second fight)
The fight against Calliban on the Space station
the first time we see a hero getting pumped up on Nano-bots by Athena in Ilium (Whatsisname - D or H something).

[Mithfanion]

Quote

I really enjoy the craziness that Sandersons' system of magic in Mistborn: The Final Empire has for battles-- Kelsier vs the Hazekillers was pretty sweet. It's definitely got a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon geekgasm going on in there.

Are the Hazekillers the same as the Steel Inquisitor? Because I heard he fights one mano-e-mano in the book as well.

[amphibian]

Quote

the first time we see a hero getting pumped up on Nano-bots by Athena in Ilium (Whatsisname - D or H something).

Diomedes.

The thread concept of excellent one-on-one combat seems to preclude things like The Last Charge of the Rohirrim which involved thousands of people.

I believe the single greatest aristea that we never got to read/see would have been Darth Maul battling Darth Vader for Sidious' favor.

Damn George Lucas to the worst recesses of hell for being an overindulgent idiot.

The Mahabharata is full of ridiculous feats of warfare - Arjuna obliterating an army of over 100,000 to avenge his son's death and so on.

But for my money, the best struggle between two individuals is the cerebral battle between Gautama Buddha and Mara, Lord of Temptation.

[Aneirin]

Inigo Montoya vs The Man in Black, The Princess Bride by William Goldman

[Keruli]

The .303 bookworm;147039 said:

The Matrix had some amazing fight,
SW:
Anakin vs Obi-Wan
Luke vs Vader (ESB, ROTJ)
Vader vs Obi-Wan
Yoda vs Count Doku
Yoda vs Sidious
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jin vs Darth Maul
The Battle of Endor
The Death Star Trench Run
The Battle of Coruscant (EP3)
Order 66 (EP3)

You forgot this one:
http://vidsearch.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus...eoid=1274373052
Beats any one of Lucas' dreary duels.

[Sol Invictus]

* Kellhus against the Scylvendi in The Darkness That Comes Before. Warrior monks kick so much ass.

* All of Uther Doul's combat scenes in The Scar. This guy is serious business.

* All of Karsa Orlong's combat scenes. I won't mention them because they're spoilery.

* Cotillion and Apsalar making short work of the the bad guys on Drift Avalii in House of Chains.

* Takeshi Kovacs versus the Wei Clinic in Altered Carbon. Damage.

That the chapter is prefaced by the words of Quellcrist Falconer is an extremely nice touch. Make it personal.

[amphibian]

The Naruto-Sasuke duel before the anime went into filler arcs was absolutely spectacular.

Disclaimer - I do not watch anime, as a general rule. The only ones I've ever truly enjoyed were Cowboy Bebop and some parts of Gundam Wing. The rest, I found to be excessively childish Japanese tripe. Anyone who knocks Teenage Ninja Turtles or He-Man will receive a digital beatdown though.

Naruto is tolerable, due to the coolness of the ninja stuff, but the constant reaffirmation and covert homosexuality gets a bit much for me. I don't care if y'all gay or not, just stop making the teacher-student relationship so weirdly intimate.

[Sol Invictus]

There's really no need to say you don't watch anime. Those who do watch anime can tell the difference between the good, plot and character driven stuff (e.g. GunGrave, Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, Ergo Proxy, Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Wolf's Rain) and the bad childish stuff. (Naruto filler crap, Bleach, Dragonball, Pokemon etc)

You just need recommendations is all. Standalone Complex is particularly impressive with its strong characters, fluid direction, and grasp of politics, philosophy and psychology. Ergo Proxy is likewise excellent with its strong, fleshed out characters and philosophy.

Anime in general isn't bad. It's the stuff that makes it to American TV stations that are bad, because the people who select the shows have this biased idea that animated series are 'cartoons' meant for children and as such they prefer to pick the unintelligent stuff to broadcast to American audiences, even on Adult Swim. They consider the rest to contain content 'too mature' for their viewers, so very little of it ever gets aired. Most of the stuff that makes it on air is meant for children in Japan.

[Mordain]

Matt Stover's books. All his fights are spot on as he's a skilled martial artist himself.

Hero's Die: The whole book, especially the end scenes.

Shatterpoint: Mace Windu done right!

[ObsoleteResolve]

I liked the Serial Experiment Laine anime. Even if I should probably watch it again, because it... It's crazy. Very much kicking the serious crazy. (Apologies for a partial threadjack)

[caladanbrood]

I third the vote for Doul.

Oh, and Kallor vs WJ...