Description[]
Avatar vs. My Little Pony. They preach equality but their skills outrank most others.
Introduction[]
Wiz: Amon, the bending-taking leader of the Eqaulists.
Boomstick: Starlight Glimmer, the talent-pilfering mayor of Our Town.
Wiz: In the novel Animal Farm, a rule outlining equality between all is edited to work for those who, even in a society where all are meant to be equal, wish to subtly remain on top.
Boomstick: And if they need to take something from someone else for that goal to be realized, so be it. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor and skills to find out who would win a Death Battle.
Amon[]
Wiz: Bending, the means to manipulate a single element of the world, is a widespread phenomenon used by many people, even in their daily lives, especially with the growing industrialization of the world.
Boomstick: But wherever there are those with powers, there are those that aren't. Non-Benders to be exact, who feel oppressed by the majority of the world's ruling being done by Benders. Still, they had to put up with it, what with being at an obvious disadvantage of course. But there was one man emerging from the shadows to help them rise up in the name of Anti-Bending.
Wiz: This masked man went by the name of Amon, leading the revolutionary group the Equalists in their ambitions of ridding the world of Benders forever. And to do this, Amon had an ability he claimed the spirits themselves bestowed upon him. The power to remove Bending abilities.
Boomstick: At first, it seemed genuine because it worked! Once a Bender got into Amon's clutches, their Bending days were over. But it wasn't because Amon was a Chosen One like the Avatar. No, he had the dirty little secret of actually being a Bender himself.
- Background
- Real Name: Naotak
- Age: 40
- Leader of the Eqaulists
- Wears a fake burn scar
- Secretly a Waterbender
- He is the solution
Wiz: A Waterbender, specifically. The son of Bloodbending criminal Yakone, Naotak, as he was known back then, was trained by his father along his younger brother to become his means of revenge against the Avatar, Aang, who had removed his ability to Bend for his crimes.
Boomstick: But surprising, surprise, Naotak hated the harsh lessons Yakone drilled into him. So much so he turned on his old man and ran away from home.
Wiz: Too late to prevent any damage being done to himself however, as he was now instilled with a deep hatred of Bending for what it had done to his family. Hence the decision to put on the mask and become the Bender-vanquisher Amon, with his signature Bending-removing power.
- Skills and Abilities
- Waterbending
- Bloodbending
- Hand-to-hand fighter
- Chi blocking
- Acrobatics
- Superhuman attributes
- Waterbending
Boomstick: Amon's little trick is actually similar to the Avatar's ability of Energybending, only his is an internal process compared to Energybending's spiritual. By manipulating the blood inside of a person's body, he's able to use it to block their chi-paths, essentially blocking off their Bending.
Wiz: It is a process so severe that only a fully realized Avatar is able to undo it with Energybending. Not even Katara, who was by that point a Waterbender Master and healer, was unable to reverse the damage.
Boomstick: Bloodbending is also what enables Amon to be virtually untouchable in combat. He subtly manipulates a person's movements with Bloodbending to ensure that they'll always miss him in a fight, during which he'll flip about all over the place and score in hits with chi-blocking techniques, which render a person either motionless or unconscious. And since he can sense the blood he wants to bend, there's no real way for anyone to sneak up on him. And if he wants to, he can just yank a person around via their blood, turning them into a gruesome puppet.
Wiz: Since Bloodbending is directly derived from Waterbending, and the former skill alone needs tons of capability to use, Amon is a master Waterbender. In fact his skill with both fluids - Boomstick don't you dare comment on that - is so intense he can manipulate them without moving his body at all. This includes when he created a massive water sprout without the use of his arms, which are usually vital for a Waterbender, whether they want to control water, steam, ice or the density of all three.
Boomstick: Oh, but Amon's abilities go way further than even that. You see the original rule for Bloodbending is that the full moon had to be out, since its when Waterbenders are at their strongest. It was something that the original Bloodbender herself needed to abide by, but with Amon, he's able to Bloodbend without a full moon boosting his power. His father and brother may have been able to do the same thing but Amon was superior to even the two of them.
Wiz: It's this capability that has led to the rise of the opinion that Amon is quite possibly the strongest non-Avatar Bender who ever lived. Whilst being a Waterbender doesn't have so much of an obvious power outage as say an Earth or Firebender, the capabilities of his Bender lend credibility to this claim, since what else can you call someone who can Bend with just his mind?
Boomstick: Combustion Man?
Wiz: Well, that's probably a debate for another say. Anyways, in his quest to remove Bending from the world, Amon targeted the newest Avatar, Korra.
Boomstick: You know, the poster child for Bending itself. He also turned his sights onto Republic City, launching plots and schemes to turn it into the Anti-Bending capital. With rallies and speeches that sounded rather familiar to another policy about equality...
- Feats
- Conquered Republic City
- Withstood being struck by lightning
- Superior to his father's Bloodbending
- Resisted his brother's Bloodbending
- Avoided lightning
- Defeated Zolt, Lin Beifong, Korra
Wiz: Amon isn't just clever or a good fighter. He's also fairly tough, having survived a lightning bolt straight to the chest. A normal lightning bolt carries enough of a charge to level a small building and Amon was able to shrug it off in no time.
Boomstick: The only reason he got hit by it in the first place was because it was a surprise attack. Another time a lightning bolt was fired at him, he dodged it with no trouble at all, further cementing just how slippery he can be.
Wiz: Amon has also put the abilities of other Bloodbenders to shame. His father was able to restrain an entire courtroom of people, including the likes of Toph and Avatar Aang. When he was just a youth, Aang was strong enough to push a massive chunk of rock, which would need an energy yield of 35 tons of TNT (TheRustyOne). And when his brother attempted to Bloodbend him into submission, he simply countered it with his own Bending, walking right through it with no issue.
Boomstick: He's de-Bended dozens of Benders, including the daughter of Toph Beifong and a gangster who's specialty is shooting lightning. The game breaking power of Bloodbending even proved too much for Avatar Korra to begin with and he didn't even need to use it to knock her unconscious. Really, the only thing that enabled her to beat him was by doing something nobody ever suspected; Bending after being de-Bended. Although to be fair, it was with an element she didn't have access to beforehand, so I guess it makes sense.
Wiz: With a well-placed blast of air, Korra sent Amon out the window and into the river that revealed his deception to his followers. With no path left as Amon, he offered his brother the chance to escape with him and start a new life together.
Boomstick: But since Tarrlok knew what they had both done was to severe to ignore, he decided he had to...well, you know.
Wiz: Even after his death, the impact was Amon was still felt, having introduced a core theme in the new age; was the Avatar now obsolete? Something that would plague Korra for years to come.
Starlight Glimmer[]
Wiz: Throughout Equestria, home to all three species of pony, there is nothing emphasized more than the importance of friendship.
Boomstick: With it being the keystone in using a set of powerful relics and there even being an actual Princess of Friendship on the same tier as the ones who control the Sun and the Moon, it's clear that friendship is a massive deal. Right Wiz?
Wiz: Oh don't tell me your mad because I told you a bar of soap was actually a foreign sugar confectionary.
Boomstick: Yes I am! I'm still finding flakes of it on my toothbrush.
Wiz: Well, people have different definitions of what friendship involves. Including the mayor of a certain town which is pretty far out of the way.
Boomstick: The only reason our Mane Six found it was because of a magical map. And a good thing too, because under the leadership of Starlight Glimmer, there was something very odd about that Town.
Wiz: Especially with it's name; Our Town.
Boomstick: Wait, that's actually it's name?
Wiz: Uh yeah. I thought you knew that, you used it to introduce Starlight Glimmer.
Boomstick: I thought I was just making a communist joke. Cause that's what Starlight was preaching. And like communism, it had a decent following.
- Background
- Height: 4'
- Former mayor of Our Town
- Student of Twilight Sparkle
- New Headmistress of School of Friendship
- Got a hairstyle that made her look younger
Wiz: Heaven knows how she was able to convince them though, considering that the whole process of becoming a part of her community involved them having to give up what made them unique. Probably had something to do with the promise of one person never outshining someone else. Except one was exempt from this rule; Starlight herself.
Boomstick: She had made some cock-and-pony story about possessing a legendary staff that could remove Cutie Marks, the embodiment of one's talent, in order to make them all equal. But as it turns out, it was just a stick she found in the desert, using it as cover for her to keep her own Cutie Mark and thus her magical power.
Wiz: This is the truth to how she removes a Cutie Mark, a feat that, even with magic, is considered extraordinary. In fact Twilight Sparkle, the honed student of Princess Celestia and the Princess of Friendship, described her magical abilities as surpassing her own.
Boomstick: And you just know that translates to possessing some awesome magical tricks.
- Unicorn Magic
- Blasts
- Telekinesis
- Teleportation
- Levitation
- Mind Control
- Crystal creation
- Force Fields
- Transmutation
- Invisibility
- Accelero
- Cutie Mark Removal
Wiz: To start with, Starlight has the usual unicorn abilities of transmutation, teleportation and telekinesis. In fact, her telekinesis is so potent, she can use it to levitate herself, mimicking flight.
Boomstick: In the area of offense, Starlight can shoot out concussive blasts of magic or ones that encase those hit in a super tough crystal. And for defense, conjure up a domed shield about herself.
Wiz: He can even cloak herself or others with an invisibility spell, or make herself go faster with the Accelero spell. And since she's pretty adept at spells, she's managed to combine the Fiducia Compelus, Cogeria and Persuadere to create a legitimate Mind Control spell. Anyone afflicted by it will follow her orders to the most literal way possible, making it far more practical than the Want It, Need It spell that Twilight uses. And Twilight herself also knows gravity manipulation and by the logic of Glimmer possessing greater magical talent, she should be capable of the same thing.
Boomstick: But of course, we can't forget the effects of her most infamous ability, removing Cutie Marks. It literally turns them into a physical thing that is peeled off their butt - I mean flank, to be stored in a jar.
Wiz: With it, the afflicted pony loses the very thing that makes them unique. Not just becoming duller in colour, they also lose their talents and strengths. For example, Fluttershy is unable to communicate with animals and Applejack loses her strength. In fact anyone who is afflicted is unable to exert much more effort than a light trot.
Boomstick: No wonder the magical map decided she had to be looked into. I'm amazed that with that much magical talent, she wasn't scouted out to be a magic student like Twilight or her best friend, Sunburst. Although she probably didn't want to be considering that's what tore her and Sunburst apart. With him shipped off to an illustrious school for magic, Sunset felt abandoned and fell into a spiral of blaming special talents for all the bad things in the world.
Wiz: And when Twilight Sparkle and her friends exposed the problems and hypocrisy of her communist ideals to the rest of Our Town, she decided to try and get even with an Endgame scenario; completing an ancient spell for time travel and altering the past to create several nightmarish futures.
- Feats
- Superior in skill to Twilight
- Completed a time travel spell
- Removed the Cutie Marks of the Mane 6
- Saved the Mane 6, Ponyville and Princesses from Chrysalis
- Fought Bell-powered Chrysalis
- Spied on Twilight without her noticing
Boomstick: The only way Twilight was able to get her to stand down was by using, whatever else, a speech about real friendship. Too bad it didn't work the first time she tried it because Starlight shut it down no problem.
Wiz: It was fortunate that the second one worked, since Twilight was able to talk her down and help her find alternative and ultimately far healthier means to find true friendship. If she hadn't been able to, the future would have been terrifying and I'm not just talking about those she made with time travel.
Boomstick: Being comparable to Twilight in magical skill, Glimmer is also superior to Rarity, who was able to manipulate a massive patchwork storm over Ponyville. Plus, her crystals are strong enough to restrain a young Rainbow Dash, who can withstand being launched by her own Sonic Rainboom which is powerful enough to spread across vast regions of land. And get this; in the past, normal ponies used their own magic to move the sun and moon, their magic travelling to the celestial bodies is no time at all.
Wiz: It's been said that the majority of Starlight Glimmer's overwhelming power came from the sheer rage from the hoof life dealt her. Once Twilight gave her another chance, this source of power dulled but not entirely enough to be a true liability. Even when it had been nullified by the throne of the Changeling Queen, she led a noble effort to save those taken by the Changelings and was insurmountable in reclaiming Equestria from their own Legion of Doom. And her graduation led to an even greater position for herself; as the headmistress of the School of Friendship.
Boomstick: Not too bad I must say for someone with a view of friendship once so horribly warped.
Interlude[]
Wiz: Alright the combatants are set, time to end this debate once and for all.
Boomstick: It's time for a Death Battle!
The Battle[]
Setting: Our Town
The pony inhabitants of Our Town were going about their business as usual, smiling with big forced grins, until they all suddenly came to a stop. Only their eyes were free to swivel around in shock before they were all yanked around like puppets to stand in a row before Amon, who was standing in front of the village with his hands behind his back. He titled his head to look at the symbol stamped on their flanks.
Amon: What does this sign mean?
Starlight Glimmer: It is a sign of true friendship! A symbol of Equality!
This was announced as Starlight Glimmer trotted forwards, none to pleased about her citizens being abnormally manhandled.
Amon: Equality you say?
With a flex of Bloodbending, he sent the ponies flying to crash in unconscious piles before bringing his arms out from behind his back.
Amon: I am equality.
FIGHT!
Starlight snorted in anger and unleashed a shot of magic from her horn. Amon stepped to the side, letting it whiz by his masked face, before jumping in the other direction to avoid another blast. Trying something new, Starlight unleashed a continuous stream of concussive magic, which Amon ran ahead of to avoid getting hit, circling around Starlight in the process. Even as the unicorn turned her head, she found that for some reason she couldn't do so fast enough to fully catch up with Amon. Unbeknownst to her, Amon was using subtle Bloodbending to slow her movements down, giving him the chance to dart towards the unicorn without her beam clipping him. Starlight's eyes went wide as Amon closed the distance and jumped into the air to deliver a kick to her face, stunning her. When Amon dropped back down, he went low before shooting back up and upper-cutting her in the face, sending her reeling backwards onto her hind legs. With her now involuntarily in this position, Amon maneuvered himself around her and yanked her head back via her mane as he lifted his other hand up.
Amon: Let us see if you can be equalized.
He shot his hand down to plant his thumb on her forehead, only for her to vanish with a burst of light, leaving Amon to strike thin air.
Amon: What?
He was suddenly struck in the back by a concussive blast, sending him stumbling forwards. He turned, his back steaming slightly, to see Starlight standing among several crates and items, which she levitated up into the air. With a flick of her head, she sent them shooting towards Amon. Although he was able to dodge a few, there was nothing Bloodbending could do to alter their trajectory and so he got clipped in the leg by a small box before a full crate was able to smash into his chest. It splintered and the impact send him flying onto his back. Just as he hit the ground, Starlight teleported into the air above him, bearing a massive wagon with her telekinesis which she swung down at him. It was only because he rolled backwards that Amon avoided being flattened. Upon completing the role, he launched himself forwards at Starlight, lashing out with a kick before she could land on the ground. It struck her directly in one of her front legs and when she landed she discovered it was completely limp.
Starlight: Hey, what the...?
Amon circled around the unicorn, shooting out his fists to strike Starlight on her different limbs, rendering them limp and wobbly and her collapsed on her stomach. As she thrashed best she could in her paralyzed state, Amon attempted another strike at her forehead but at the last second she was once again able to avoid his attack, this time by using her telekinesis on herself to mimic flight. Amon growled in annoyance as he watched her climb higher into the air before shooting down towards him, her horn glowing. With a force field formed around her, Starlight shot down to collide with Amon with the shield used a battering ram. The Equalist was sent flying backwards to crash against the wall of a house as Starlight hovered in front of him, sighing in relief as the feeling returned to her limbs.
Starlight: Right, I'm blasting you right out of my town before you cause any more damage!
Just before she could fire off magic from her horn, a geyser of water smashed into her from the side, sending her tumbling away. Gagging and getting back to her feet, Glimmer watched the geyser hover as it extended from the town well, which Amon walked up to. Mentally bringing it in front of himself, he tapped areas of the water body with his hand to sent icicles shooting towards Starlight, who conjured up her shield to block some before telekinetically catching others to send them shooting towards Amon. With a bob of his head, the redirected icicles turned to vapor before he sent the geyser shooting towards Starlight, the front of it freezing into a jagged battering ram of ice. Although Starlight was able to keep her force field up against it, it still pushed her backwards. The unicorn gritted her teeth as she tried to keep her footing but little by little the ice daggers cracked her shield. With frustration bubbling inside her, Starlight's magic increased in strength and with a yell she was able to shoot a magic beam through the geyser and straight at Amon. Before the Equalist could react, the beam hit him in the chest and he was encased in a crystal.
The geyser went limp and collapsed to the ground, freeing up Starlight, who breathed in relief. She turned her muzzle up at the trapped Amon and turned to leave him to his fate. However, his psychic Bloodbending took a hold of her and she froze. As her eyes darted around in shock, she was yanked backwards with a yell to smash against her own crystal. One, twice and then a third time she was smashed against the crystal, resulting in it smashing and freeing Amon. With the unicorn dazed, Amon grabbed her face and smashed her head against the ground, grinding her against it as he ran forwards. After doing so, he tossed Glimmer away before yanking her back with Bloodbending and sending her flying away with a kick to the midriff. He then froze her in the air with Bloodbending, starting to contort her with the ability. Even as she was twisted, Starlight was able to trap Amon in a telekinetic grip, lifting him up in the air to squeeze him. Amon grunted but didn't let up on his grip on Starlight's blood. The two crushed each other in their respective grips until they both let up at the same time, demonstrated by the two of them tossing each other in opposite directions.
Amon went left and Starlight went right, the two crashing against opposing buildings. A sign over Amon's head swung loose and fell towards Amon. Starlight took notice and sent out a zap of magic that transmuted the sign into an anvil, which struck Amon in his back just as he was climbing to his feet. He was pushed into his front and blood flew from his mask's mouth gap. When he was able to roll it off himself and look up, Amon saw that Starlight had vanished. He touched the blood on his mask, getting it on his fingers as he tapped into his Bloodbending, sensing Glimmer even with her invisibility up.
Amon: There you are.
He flicked his fingers, sending out the blood as dart-like projectiles which pierced Starlight in her chest and leg, causing her to try out and reappear. Before she could recuperate, she was once again in Amon's Bloodbending grip. This time it was far more intense, her back bending to the near-point of breaking. Keeping her in it, Amon marched forwards to stand in front of her, extending his hand towards the unicorn.
Amon: Looks like I will need to take more than I usually would from you.
Starlight swiveled her eyes around to look at Amon, and the hand coming towards her forehead. With a muffled snarl, her horn glowed and a beam shot out to nail Amon in the chest. The Equalist yelled in pain as the magic coursed through his body until it reached a boiling point and he was blown to powder. Freed from his Bloodbending, Starlight sagged down in relief and Amon's mask chose that moment to fall from the sky and hook onto her horn, much to her displeasure.
KO!
Outcome[]
Boomstick: I think we've just seen more blood in this battle than we have in the entirety of FIM.
Wiz: This was a fairly unique fight. First of all, let's discuss the elephant in the room and focus on Amon's Bending removing and Starlight's Talent taking. You see, magic in My Little Pony is described as being connected to a pony's life force and Bending is determinate on Chi flows, which are also based on natural spirit energy. So, if the benefit of the doubt was given, it's entirely possible they could afflict the other with their depowering techniques.
Boomstick: But what even more possible was that, for as broken an ability Bloodbending was, Starlight had her own collection of game breakers to work around it. For example, she could teleport out of his grasp, fight back using telekinesis or conjure up shields to protect herself.
Wiz: What's more, casting magic has never been something movement was needed for. Take for example how Twilight ignited a pyre whilst remaining completely still in her seat, only using her hoof to cover the magical aura. This means Starlight could use her spells to keep one step ahead of Amon and even fight back in the event he Bloodbends her into a tight spot. Really, the only spell of Starlight's that Amon could really counter was her invisibility due being able to sense blood.
Boomstick: Plus, she had several ways to pretty much end the fight instantly, like her transmutation.
Wiz: Not to mention her own form of non-physical attack, her telekinesis, packed enough power to easily pulp Amon. Rarity, a unicorn of not-too-advanced magical ability, was able to control the weather over the whole of Ponyville, which obviously needs a massive amount of telekinetic power to pull off.
Boomstick: No Waterbender, let alone Amon, has ever demonstrated that spread of power before.
Wiz: To be far, with the speed advantage either one of them could have gotten the win first, what with Amon's method of internal manipulation and Starlight's hax-based magic. But whilst Amon could dodge lightning, unicorns like Starlight could fire magic at the moon at 3 times the speed of light (Lightbuster30). And Starlight has dodged magic blasts from Twilight during their battles.
Boomstick: So yeah, Starlight had what it took to not only act faster than Amon but to attack faster as well. And hey, what's to say Starlight couldn't just pull a "Time Huh? Thanks for the Tip", and travel back in time to better get the drop on Amon or erase his current self.
Wiz: As deadly a Bloodbender Amon was, Starlight's powerful, quick and versatile magic was perfect for taking him down.
Boomstick: You could say it was part of the equation that Equaled Amon's death.
Wiz: The winner is Starlight Glimmer.
Next Time[]
Masters of sport
Now monsters of slaughter
Trivia[]
- Connections: Both are cartoon villains who seek to establish an equal society in their worlds, although in order to do so, they hypocritically use exceptional versions the abilities they campaign against (Bending, as Amon uses Bloodbending, and Cutie Marks, as Starlight uses the magic from hers to remove them) whilst disguising them as alternate means (the Spirit's blessing and the Staff of Sameness, respectively), all due to these factors costing them those closest to them (Amon's brother Tarrlok due to their father's domineering and Starlight's friend Sunburst when his talent separated them). Both also covered their deceptions with paint, which ironically were washed off with water to expose their lies, and planned to spread their equality messages with political movements (Amon hosted rallies and invasions whilst Starlight planned to bring a princess to her cause). Both also decided to abandon these aspirations in time, the difference being Amon was killed before he could whilst Starlight lived on to these new goals fulfilled.
- Animation Style: 2D.
- OST Idea: 'Our Equalities', referring to Starlight's song Our Town and referring in entirety to their equality goals.