@comicstooge: Sorry for the wait bro-cookie, here it is.
Backstory
For those of you who have seen The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (you're sick and twisted if you haven't at least seen one of these films), you'll notice there was a lack of Talion in either film. This is partly due to the fact his story takes place in between those two stories, and partly because he isn't even canon to the main Tolkien universe. Anyway, he was a Ranger of Gondor who guarded the Black Gate, in case Sauron (black armor, huge mace, ring, you know the deal) ever returned to Mordor. However, it was a good few centuries since anything was stirring past the Black Gate, so security was pretty lax at the time. Little did Talion know, the orcs (or, "Uruks" as they're called in this game) were spawning and forming an army that would reach devastating numbers later on. So the Black Gate got f*cked up, Talion's family was murdered before his eyes, and he had his throat slit in a blood sacrifice. Except, the dude doing the blood sacrifice kind of shot himself in the foot.
He was trying to attach a "Wraith" (super powerful spirit) to himself to gain power, but the Wraith instead chose Talion. So Talion is now immortal and can't join his family in the afterworld because this Wraith is like "no, I'm keeping you. We need revenge and sh*t". Talion was like "well they clobbered my fam so cool".
So, bestowed with awesome Wraith powers including but not limited to, a ghostly bow with unlimited ammo, the ability of mind control, Wraith vision which allows Talion to see through walls and sh*t, some teleportation ect, Talion combined his new superhuman abilities with his already formidable swordsmanship and stealth skill in order to become the ultimate badass.
Why Batman is screwed.
First of all, Talion will give Batman a very hard time up close. His overall abilities, most notably his skill and speed, have been enhanced by the Wraith's presence within him.
Talion's swordsmanship, speed, resistance and training have all been augmented by the Wraith's presence within him as though he himself possessed the power of one of the great Rings.
--Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Appendices
This above quote will be my main reference point for any feats relating to the Wraith itself. Which brings me onto my next point- the Wraith. The Wraith is a former Elven warrior and blacksmith called Celebrimbor. Who is a complete badass.
- 2:23 - Wrecks two Orcs with a double headshot, proceeds to slaughter ten more with his sword in skilled fashion.
Then skip forward a bit.
- 5:49 - Speedblitzes ten Orcs in five seconds while invisible with the One Ring, then launches the last one several feet through the air casually. Shows teleportation and the One Ring's equivalent of a Wraith blast.
So, seriously impressive accuracy, combat speed, invisibility provided by the One Ring, slight superhuman strength, and an energy blast. This is all available to Talion to a similar degree, as the Wraith provides him with powers equivalent to having a ring of power (quote above). The cutscenes above present a solid view of how Talion himself is able to use these powers himself.
As for Talion's own ability in melee combat, I would direct you towards one of his impressive displays in a launch trailer which shows how he chooses to conduct himself in the presence of dozens of rampaging Uruks:
Slashing, stabbing, Wraith-stunning (energy punch thing), and then a blast at the end which dispatched the rest of the Uruks. Pretty impressive display of general combat ability.
To round off this post, hopefully leaving both my opponent and viewers with a good general idea of what Talion can do, here is the first story mission and the abilities displayed within:
- 1:44 - 2:37 - Talion spars with his son, Dirhael, teaching him the art of swordfighting.
- 2:37 - 4:21 - Talion and Dirhael killseveral groups of Uruks, showing how effective Talion's training was. Talion also incapacitates an Uruk with a single strike.
- 6:15 - 7:05 - Silently silently kills three Uruks without alerting them.
- 7:05 - 7:36 - Withstands severe physical trauma from a mace and stays concious until a direct strike to the head, and even then he wasn't severely injured upon waking up.
- 11:42 - 11:49 - Leaps from a huge tower in his wraith form, landing without any damage.
- 11:50 - Celebrimbor uses his bow, Azkar.
- 12:16 - 12:48 - Talion/Celebrimbor display Wraith Stun and Flurry Attack.
- 12:50 - 15:00 - Talion is ambushed by an Uruk but beats him up, then incapacitates him with Wraith Stun. Celebrimbor then interrogates the Uruk to gain intel. The Uruk was forced into saying what he was thinking, meaning there was no way he could lie. "Trust has nothing to do with it. His thoughts cannot lie."
So, some swordsmanship, some stealth, some nice durability, a demonstration of his bow, Wraith-melee abilities, and finally his ability to mind control targets by grabbing their face. Admittedly Talion has only mind controlled weaker minded beings like Uruk's and non-sentients, opposed to Batman, so I doubt it's a viable tactic for this fight. Everything else, though, should be more than enough to secure the win.
Sword vs Martial arts, cloak and dagger vs cape and smoke bombs, Wraith powers vs gadgets. Bound to be a tough fight, but I believe Talion has this.
Log in to comment