Battle of the Week: Aquaman vs. She-Hulk

Arthur Curry, a.k.a. Aquaman, has been picked by the community as our latest Character of the Month! We've already taken a look at just some of his best covers and we'll have more articles praising the awesome DC hero as the month continues, but now, it's time to test his abilities as a combatant. Up first: Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk! Will her skill, durability and healing overcome Aquaman's raw might and sharp trident? How much of a role will the environment play? Even if you're 100% certain about who you think should win, do you believe it's an entertaining fight that would be well worth watching? We do, so have some fun imagining how it would play out!

Please really give this one some proper thought before voting, readers. What strengths and weaknesses do each combatant bring to the brawl? Is one more tactical than the other? How much of a factor is the setting? Read the rules, think it through and then cast your vote! If you're still not certain about the outcome, check out the comments to see what others are saying about the fight. And, if you are confident about who should win (or believe it's too close to call), get your elaboration on. Maybe -- just maybe -- it'll convince someone out there to vote a certain way in the poll. So, who's going to win this one, readers?

Match Rules

• Combatants are in character. This means their usual set of morals apply.
• This is a random encounter (no prep for either side) and both sides have standard gear. Both sides have no immediate knowledge of their opponents, either. Yes, this is New 52 Aquaman.
• The fight begins in Times Square. It's unpopulated, during the day and the 3x3 block region surrounding them is unpopulated. Assume they start roughly 20 feet apart and visible.
• If you're not familiar with Manhattan, this location means the Hudson River and East River aren't too far away, but they aren't exactly close, either. They'd have to travel across several blocks to get to either and, if so, the battle will have to travel through populated sections of the city to get there. If you're unfamiliar with New York, click here to see a map.
• Incapacitation, knockout, BFR (battlefield removal, a.k.a. knocking the enemy so far away that there's no way the fight could continue in the near future) or death all count as elimination. Making a tactical retreat counts as a loss, too. "What's a tactical retreat?" It's leaving the fight with the intention of not returning to the battle in the near future. Going to another spot in the environment to catch your breath for a moment or for a tactical advantage is not a tactical retreat.
• Hey, you know what would be really cool? Treating everyone else in the debate with respect. If you think someone's saying something that just isn't true, go ahead and stick to the facts to point out why. There's no need at all to drop insults just because you disagree with someone. Seriously, this is just talking about a fictional fight, there's no need for immaturity and mudslinging.
• If you think the poll isn't going how it should, making an informative post about why a character is being underestimated and spreading the word is far more useful than complaining. Just saying.
• One more thing: you don't need to write an essay to have your post highlighted in Friday's article. Sometimes concise posts can be way more effective than a flood of paragraphs.

If you're having trouble voting (e.g. "session expired"), refresh the page and that should fix it.

Check the homepage this Friday for an updated article with the following:

• The results of the poll.
• Thoughts from the staff.
• Viner arguments for both characters.
• If we're lucky, blurbs from industry talent.

Want to suggest a future Battle of the Week for Aquaman? Tell us below or share it via twitter.

Hehe, I remember this battle from the Marvel and DC crossover.

I'm going to give this to Shulkie. I don't think its an easy win but she can beat him.

Aquaman.

Aquaman is my favorite character, but I voted for She-Hulk. In the middle of a city means his telepathic summoning abilities have all but been neutralized. If he can make it to either of the rivers, he has a fighting chance, but he has to get through the She-Hulk to do it, and that's just not going to happen. Going in, his physical abilities are about equal with hers. Her strength, durability, reflexes and speed, however, will increase with her rage. In short order, she's going to be way more powerful than Aquaman. He just can't win this one.

She-Hulk beat Aquaman in the JLA/Avengers crossover. She'll beat him, again, here.

Arthur

Tough one I could write up a battle but my end result would have to be Aquaman. Although it would definitely have to be close there is no clear winner but there is a winner. EDIT : Remember JLA : Throne Of Alantis.

Aquaman should be able to take her. His trident is going to be his saving grace.

You summed up my arguments perfectly, except for the part about Aquaman being a favorite character :)

They fought?

I think this one is very close, Aquaman has thrown punches that hurt Superman and sent him hurtling, I also would give Arthur the edge in being a better tactician. While Arthur is very skilled but so is Jennifer. She is extremely durable and has that pesky healing factor that could swing the fight in her direction. As a hulk she is also very strong and while I do believe Aquaman is stronger (just slightly) she could go blow for blow with Aquaman due to her durability and HF. At the end of the day Arthur uses his superior tactics to win, especially since this fight is not gonna end up staying where it starts and given the location they will most likely end up by some body of water. Aquaman FTW.

Though one, I'm giving this to Jennifer, she had hard times but still had the upperhand with combatants equal or more skilled/stronger (Physically) than Aquaman, and if Aquaman reaches the water, she can just use her "Ovoid" powers to change her powers with his (But that would be dangerous for her too, I only see she using them if Aquaman is outclassing her too much)

Aquaman got this. Too much ways to win.

She Hulks wins, but only because Aquaman was sick of seeing those NoMore.org commericals during NFL games.

Doesn't arthur have continent level durability?

It's really close, but I see Aquaman edging out the victory ever so slightly more often than not.

Jen is no joke. She's smart, but I think in battle, Arthur is a better-versed, but I think Jen is the better hand-to-hand fighter and if she's not his match yet, I think she eventually will be. However, I think Arthur will see that and either make a run for a river or end he'll step it up and go for the kill even quicker than he normally would.

She-Hulk is a tough one, but that trident...

It's way close. I honestly don't think it's going to get much closer this month for AC, but I think The King of Atlantis reigns supreme in his first outing, but I'm going to call it right now and say match of the month for Aquaman. Win or loss, I wouldn't be shocked either way.

My vote is for Aquaman. She-Hulk's strength will increase the angrier she gets, but Aquaman is smart, so if he can tactically maneuver her to one of the rivers (and I think he can), then I believe he can take this.

Yes.

she-hulk, she-hulk, she-hulk (the theme to the she-hulk tv show :))

@chalkshark: couldn't he just smack a fire hydrant?

@frozen: then how is this a fair match? That combined with his trident and comparable strength should make this a stomp.

Probably Aquaman

@chalkshark: Exactly what i was thinking except for Aquaman being favorite character and She Hulk beating him once before cause i didnt know that

Arthur should take this. He's physically superior by a good degree with her being a more skilled fighter, but I doubt it would make much of a difference.

Aquaman. He's got the speed, strength, and tactics to beat She-Hulk in just about any location, except maybe Space. Not saying Jen won't get good hits on him, but she needs to get incredibly lucky and hit very hard, VERY fast in order to keep him off his feet.

For those saying water is too far away to be relevant to the fight, New York has ridiculous sewage systems and accessible water is less than 10 feet below him just about anywhere on the street. Even inside buildings and on rooftops you have to deal with any source of Water from sinks, toilets, water towers, and the like.

Aquaman has too many advantages in the middle of a city. Neither of them would willingly put civilians in danger, but will use every part of their environment to their advantage. Again, Aquaman's speed here puts him in a position to get to cover first, utilize any type of thrown object faster, and hit harder with anything he wants to use in combat.

Another big game-changer for Aquaman is his trident. That gives him a much larger attack range than She-Hulk has without throwing objects at him which he can easily deflect or dodge.

8/10 Aquaman.

She - Hulk. Trained with Gamora to fight the Champion of the Universe, and won. Champion>>>>>Aquaman. Just my opinion.

Aquaman more times than not. His durability is on par with her, if not exceeds it by a good margin, and he has the speed and strength to contend with She Hulk. I also doubt she has any answer for his trident or what it's capable of, so I see Arthur being able to end the fight quickly enough.

@rybackstun: New 52 Aquaman hasn't shown the ability to manipulate sewage.

She-Hulk is pretty much superior in every other way, only way Arthur can win is if he sticks he with the trident.

She can also always use her body switch if he began to overpower her

@jonny_anonymous: He absolutely could. Or he could jump into the sewer. Hell, it could even be raining. It won't be enough. All of Aquman's physical abilities would be boosted, to their maximum. There's a ceiling there, though, that She-Hulk, theoretically doesn't have. Or, at least, hers is a lot higher up. Her rage has the potential to give her city leveling power, not unlike her famous cousin's. Aquaman is one tough mother, but he's not tough enough to beat her in a strictly physical confrontation.

I get that people think the trident gives him the edge, but She-Hulk is going to be strong enough, and fast enough, to yank that weapon out of his hand, and throw it several miles away.

I hate the fact that I'm arguing against my favorite character winning a fight. I will say, that if Aquaman can get her into the water, it's over, he wins. He has all of the advantages in an aquatic environment, and can literally attack her with millions of fish. Those fish will all be smashed into pulp before it's all over, but She-Hulk will, eventually, succumb.

When has she ever shown this level of power? Or anywhere close to it? Not that it matters considering Arthur's tanked a continent leveling attack.

Shulkie' for the win as Arthur will be "BFR" aka Punched into Space! :)

A DC vs Marvel battle of the week were the debates are, for the most part, civil and open minded??? I might actually be able to vote this time. Usually the arguments boil down to DC fan vs Marvel fan. Which makes it nearly impossible for me to discern truth from bias.

I know She Hulk better than Aquaman, but how strong is he compared to Marvel people? above she hulk?

She-Hulk "threw" a Arm-Wrestling Match VS. Hercules, so Aquamans' in for a long bout'.

@juiceboks: Avengers, volume 3, issue numbers 71-75.

Aquaman isn't going to level the island of Manhattan just to win a brawl. The parameters of the fight stated that both heroes' morality was in play.

She hulk has been far more impressive on land in combat.

We hear about Arthur knocking back superman as if there were not a LOT of context behind it.

1. Standing in the surf of a beach in Gotham.

2. Superman was talking to him, not trying to fight.

3. It was raining.

4. Being meta here, but Johns was wanking Arthur hard to make Throne of Atlantis a strong competitor after Death of the Family and Rotworld.

New 52 has the Continent level durability feat that sounds more questionable than the punch.

The dead king used a strident weapon to sink Atlantis, not raw power. The magic material was stolen from a family of alchemists.

This makes cobtinet busting a ritual magic attack.

1. Dead king wants to sink a continent.

2. Dead king uses strident by STRIKING THE GROUND WITH THE TRIDENT.

3. The powers of the trident sink or bust continents.

Which makes the feat of Arthur stopping the Continent busting a matter of overpowering the DEAD KING BEFORE the strident can strike the ground and sink the Continent.

Arthur in the ocean is more powerful than the DEAD KING. Not the Continent busting attack that he needed his strident to do.

With that said, She Hulk takes this because She has twenty years of fighting opponents with better Speed, strength, skills, and durability.

Arthur is Iron Man level on land, she hulk is high tier when pissed.

Besides, she tanked PUNCHED that sent her from New York to New Jersey and just kept fighting.

Never been a big Aquaman fan - back in the days he was not really a character you could align with. I know recently in the New 52 he has been given substantial upgrades. In this upgraded stance can he beat She-Hulk in the middle of a city? I would place my vote on She Hulk. This is her type of fight, she is a hulk with a crazy healing factor and he is out of his element (on land). I have seen arguments that he could get into the sewer and get some of the creatures down there, but I am not buying it and I will side with Jennifer on this one.

BTW - Funny how most DC vs Marvel has the DC characters in their PRE-52 incarnations and this one is his current New-52 Character.

All Jen has to do, is throw out the "restraining order" at him, and make him leave the area of the battlefield, thus making him lose. She Hulk wins!!!

But seriously though, She-Hulk has Aquaman beat IMO.

That was a small town, and she was just rampaging around. She got K.Oed by Iron Man in that same instance..

When did I say he would level Manhattan? I said he tanked a continent level attack, meaning Jen's punches won't hurt him.

Aquaman stabs her in the face.

Can I get some feats for Jen?

From what I know of her, Arthur should be taking the victory here.

He seems to be a fair bit stronger, at least on par in durability if not exceeding Jen in that category, seems to be faster, rocking a good weapon, and a better tactician.

Skill is very arguable, though I think I give it to Jen. Jen also clearly has the healing advantage, but seeing as Jen's been knocked out multiple times, I'd say Arthur could do it too.

As it stands, I see Arthur taking the victory via KO, but I'll wait until I see some more feats from Jen to vote.

@chaos_burn said:

Gallery

Hmm. I was going to say Aquaman. But it seems that She Hulk's powers are somewhat different from when I last checked in with her. I didn't think her strength increased with her anger.

Anyone has scans of this Hercules arm wrestling thing?

@owie: Here, but her powers were out of control at that time (That's the reason of the suit), she is probably stronger now.

She hulk Ftw

How is this even remotely fair?

The trident is a huge wild card for me here. She has him out skilled but if he lands a couple hits with that it might be too much.

I'm voting She-Hulk. This is actually a good match up. Bout time ;)

Aquaman stomps....