Moon Knight Month is coming to an end! The Fist of Khonshu has been put to the test in several fights over the past few weeks. He defeated Green Arrow and Ra's al Ghul, but Black Canary put an end to his winning streak. Now, Marc Spector faces his final challenger: Batwoman. Was Kate Kane able to best the Marvel anti-hero or will the guy's month conclude with another victory under his belt? Voting has been open since Monday and now a clear winner has been picked. It looks like Moon Knight Month is wrapping up on a positive note for the character because he's been voted as the winner!
A total of 228 Viners voted in this battle and 64% of them sided with the Fist of Khonshu. 30% supported Batwoman and only 5% believe this fight is too close to call.
So, why did Moon Knight take such a strong lead in the poll? First and foremost, a key element that seemed to sway many voters was experience and skill. Batwoman is covered in truly impressive and formidable technology and she's by no means a bad hand-to-hand combatant, but Spector's years of fighting assorted villains and his own effective methods of close combat is worth taking into account. If this comes down to just fisticuffs, it's difficult to support Batwoman taking a majority of wins in that scenario. On top of Marc's commendable abilities as a melee combatant, his armor will help him stand up against a variety attacks. Even if they hit the unprotected areas, he has a history of superb pain tolerance. It's not easy to keep this dude down for the count.
Moon Knight's victory won't be easily earned, though. Kate's body armor can shrug off bullets and she has a variety of equipment which can serve as immediate game changers. They've allowed her to incapacitate Bane and drop Killer Croc, after all. It's just a matter of whether she'll resort to using these options before Moon Knight is up close and personal.
Let's see what a few Viners have to say about the latest battle.
Saren
"Gear-wise Moon Knight is probably completely screwed; he's packing darts and a flechette gun, she's packing python-wire that Bane couldn't break and tranq darts designed to knock out elephants. Moon Knight's physique matches up to neither Bane nor elephants, so there's always the possibility that getting tagged even once by one of her weapons finishes him then and there. Her lower jaw is the only part of her that's really vulnerable to his projectiles, because her suit is completely bullet-proof:
That is, unless his current weapons are carbonadium, and I don't recall them being so but maybe someone knows better.
At close combat, I'd say Moon Knight is good enough to take a 7/10, maybe even 8/10 majority, but if he doesn't make it close combat soon enough Kate is packing something like a dozen different one hit KO devices on her. She's got that tiny dart built from alien tech that can pretty much do whatever it wants, it could probably solo Spector by itself if he lets it go that far.
Victory probably depends on what kind of fight it becomes."
SupBatz
"I'd say Kate takes the match. She doesn't get nearly enough credit for just how capable she is as a fighter. She's often just written off for:
a.) Being an extension of the Bat-Family, and therefore decried as a weaker version of Batman
b.) Being a relatively new character, which some translate as lacking in meaningful development or combative ability
Starting with the basics, she has the drive. Kidnapped by terrorists who killed her mother and (presumably) her sister, Kate grew up with a major need to help people and fight injustice - one comparable to the crime that drove Batman's training. She trained throughout most of her adolescence at West Point Military Academy, giving her combative, weapons, and discipline training. And her father, Black Ops operative and Colonel Jacob Kane, most likely had a huge impact on her upbringing. Then we have Kate's rigorous training upon being discharged from West Point. Two years (if I remember correctly) of brutal Black Ops missions around the world, facing some of the most disgusting and despicable criminals in the world.
As Batwoman, Kate has access to state-of-the-art weaponry - both from her own family fortune and from technologies provided by the DEO during her stint with them. That combined with her already impressive combative abilities makes her a powerful force to be reckoned with.
She's also proven herself capable of taking down massively stronger opponents (Bane, Killer Croc), the paranormal (the Weeping Woman, Bloody Mary), giant monsters and Greek deities (Medusa and her monster army), magic users (Maro, Falchion), and some pretty depraved and disturbing psychopaths (Alice and the Religion of Crime, Cutter). Additionally, Batwoman has held her own against Batman in a fight, and displayed a variety of skills that parallel Bruce's own abilities.
Moon Knight may take the win in some encounters, but I truly think that Kate can give him a run for his money."
Owie
"Here's how I see it going down:
They start 20 apart. It would take about 1 second for them to come together and clash. That's not a lot of time to attack from a distance. I'm guessing that this time may be spent throwing batarangs and crescents at each other. Both are good dodgers, and both have protective suits, and Moon Knight in addition can deflect projectiles with his gauntlets, so probably neither of them is going to score any major hits. I'm agnostic about whether his darts can penetrate her suit; they do have some good penetration/cutting feats but let's assume not. There is the possibility that she throws the python wire at him (or tranquilizer darts); he could dodge it; he's much more agile and likely to dodge than Bane. But if it hits, MK is done. On the other hand there is the possibility that Marc throws a crescent at her lower face, in which case she's done too; the crescent can cut through metal and could cut through a skull as well. I kind of doubt that either of them is going to go for this kind of attack (python wire/crescent to the face) right away, I think it's more likely they'd go to melee.
When they clash in combat, it should be a great fight. They both have efficient, military-style training plus more esoteric martial arts, and are perfectly willing to go for a maiming attack. Moon Knight may have somewhat of a skill edge but not huge. They're both agile. He is stronger, although she can hit pretty hard--look at that kick she gave Bane. Parts of his suit should be very protective against H2H blows, but the kevlar less so. But, he has his famous pain tolerance. Her suit is more complicated; it's very bullet proof, but is it punch-proof? On the one hand she took a punch in the side of the face from a venomed-up Bane, and seemed to mostly tank it; on the other hand she took a punch in the side of the face from Batman, and remarked on how hard he hit and had to work hard to stay conscious. And when she falls from a height, or hits against something, she makes sounds like "ooof" and "ugh" so I'm going to go with impact-resistant, and not impact-proof. I'm going to argue that they're about equal in the damage resistance category. When it comes to weapons, he's got his truncheon/bo staff, and she's got her taser glove. It's possible he would have his spiked knuckles, but we haven't seen that with the current armor. He has the advantage of reach with the bo staff; given his pain tolerance her glove is not likely to KO him on one touch, but it could stun him a decent amount, and if she was able to get a hold of Batman with it, she can probably get a hold of MK. In a way she is luckier because he has weapons to disarm but she doesn't. I am ignoring her tracker arrow device since it seems like an auto-win scenario, honestly. If she goes for the python wire after they've been fighting a while, she could still use it pretty effectively, but on the other hand again I think he has a reasonable chance of dodging it.
In the end, I would call for a very slight margin of victory for Moon Knight, let's say 55/100. His strength, weapon's reach, and somewhat more extensive track record of being able to fight foes with superhuman stats (Werewolf by Night, Mr. Hyde, Infinity Crusade doppelgangers, Venom, Hobgoblin) and skilled fighters (Deadpool, Taskmaster, Black Knight, Daredevil, despite the various asterisks in those fights) give me a little more confidence that he can deal out a little more damage and win out over the long haul; I think her tech is very formidable and gives her a lot of the wins that she takes."
Agree? Disagree? Let us know below. If you want to make a match suggestion, speak up in the comments section or reach out via Twitter!
Want to continue celebrating Moon Knight? We've posted his Best Covers, Best Battles, and his Must Read Stories.