Comic Vine Battle of the Week: Aquaman vs. Thing

Welcome back! This week, we have a Justice Leaguer taking on a member of the Fantastic Four. Both are powerhouses who have what it takes to hang with the true heavy hitters of their respective universes, but neither should logically take a majority over the top tier characters. That said, that's no reason to discredit either because both are incredibly brutal, effective and durable fighters. So, do you think New 52Aquaman has what it takes to defeat Thing... or will he eventually get clobbered?

Comic Vine Battle of the Week Rules

• Combatants are in character (again, this is New 52 Aquaman).
• This is a random encounter.
• They're fighting in our version of Manhattan (this way there's no Baxter Building for a potential advantage but both do indeed recognize where they are). It's unpopulated and at night. Assume they start roughly 20 feet apart and visible in Times Square. TS is littered with parked cars and other standard items. This means the Hudson is about 5 avenues over and the East River is a bit farther away.
• Thing is unarmed and Arthur has his trident.
• Incapacitation, knockout or death all count as elimination.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!!

Voting will remain open until this Friday morning (ET) and a new article will go on the homepage shortly after. Please keep in mind voting remains open for 5 days so you can research the characters and read the debates presented for both sides. I know it's easy to immediately vote for the character you like more, but please try to have adequate information on both sides before casting your vote!

Friday's update will include one Viner's argument for the winning character (only posts in the poll thread will be considered and it can't be a scan fest!), the staff's thoughts and if we're extra lucky, thoughts from writers, artists and others in the industry! Viners, it's understandable that debates over "who would win?" can get heated, but please try to keep the conversations informative and not personal. Now, go on and prove why you think Arthur or Ben wins!

Feel free to make future match suggestions in the comments below or via Gregg's Twitter page.

First and Aquaman

The thing just cause.

I want enchanted water hand aquaman back...

Thing, the trident gives Aquaman an unfair advantage but I think Ben could get around it. Thing's strength, durability and combat skills are underrated and alot of people tend to overrate Arthur's abilities here lately.

aquaman

If the fight take place in water, Aquaman would stomp, but since is not, I may have to give it to the Thing, but I wait to see the arguement since I barely read FF and Aquaman

Will this be anything like Thing vs Namor during AVX

Aquaman

Thing. I can see him tanking AM's attacks and beating AM down steady. If this gets to the water its an entirely different story.

Aquaman definitely. I'm gonna assume that Arthur just got out of the water so dehydration isn't a problem and with his indestructible trident that can reportedly penetrate anything I don't thing our ever lovin brute stands much of a chance today. But before I vote ill take a look at Mr. Tall Orange and Rocky' character page.

Aquaman is just too fast and agile for Ben IMO, also his trident gives him better melee reach along with magical powers. Aquaman has also tanked punches from Wonder Woman (one could argue it was pis though), I think he could stand a jab or two from Thing. Aquaman's trident has penetrated Darkseid's armor in Justice League: Origin and I believe Thing isn't more durable than Darkseid's armor, hence Aquaman can hurt him pretty bad too.

Things only chance is to dehydrate Aquaman. I can see this fight lasting long enough for somebody of Ben's intellect to figure out 'why the fish guy needs the water', but the odds are against him as to whether he can actually do this.

From my limited Aquaman knowledge I think the trident could cause Ben some pretty bad injuries. Add to that Aquamans far superior speed, and only slightly inferior strength and durability, and this doesn't look good for Ben.

Aquaman wins 6-7/10 (but I may change my mind after more research.....Aquaman still dehydrates, right?).

I say Aquaman.

aquaman pounds the thing , but thing isn't going down easy , since he isnt mindless like the hulk he will drag out the fight as long as possible , i give it to aquaman due to being faster and more agile , but thing makes this fight close due to his resilience and refusal to give up no matter how outmatched he might be

aquaman easy

Aquafresh wins this imo. He's pretty badass in his own series and the JL book, so i'd vote him... + he's been doing some cool feats with his super strength. Throwing Submarines, lifting cruise ships...

Being a DC guy, I know Aquaman's power levels, and in the New 52, he is pretty bad ass. So question for Marvel guys. Is Thing indestructible?

@jonez120: Adding this to your comment

Aquaman wins easily

I hate this. I love both these guys. I grew up on Hulk, Thing, and Superman as my main strong guys. But Aquaman is a beast son!! Dude has so far solidly punched and hurt Superman and Wonder Woman, And would have impaled Martian Manhunter If not for MMS ability to manipulate his body. But on the other hand you have the thing. A guy who has survived against and has even hurt some of the strongest in his universe. Namor, Hercules, The Champion of the Universe, and Terrax. And has possibly fought the Hulk more then anyone, save Thor, Doc Samson, and Wolverine. Oh and Abomination. He even managed to rock WWH, and took a blows from him. I am having trouble here.

@optimuspalm: Since the beginning of New 52 Aquaman moved to the surface, where he lived for years, he stay for months without going to the ocean.

@jv: No, he isn't, but he's very very durable. Aquaman's trident should make the cut IMO.

the thing is at least as strong if not stronger and more durable

@trevel8182:

@k4tzm4n: I have a question, why the separate voting thread?

Aquaman, faster, arguably stronger, mire agile.

This could really go either way.

I'll just make a case for the Thing for shiggles.

The Thing has been a class 100 for awhile now and has lifted tens of thousands of tons, and for decades has tangoed with opponents that are stronger like the Hulk multiple times, Namor a few times in the past and in their latest encounter, he recentlyvirtually stalemated a freshly hydrated Namor. And the Thing has even stood up to Juggernaut Colossus for an extended battle and got some solid shots on him. Ben is by no means a top tier fighter, but he is a trained boxer, has his army training, was a collegiate wrestler, and knows some Judo and Jujutsu. This has allowed Ben to create his own style of brawling and it has effectively helped him in many a fights as to me, the Thing has always seemed like the underdog in comparison to Marvel top tiers but it has never stopped him. The Thing has also grown highly durable. As I said, a freshly hydrated Namor was stalemating him, he's taken multiple hits from Juggalossus and Hulk level characters. The Thing even managed to redirect a celestial afterwave. Arthur on the other hand has had his armor wrecked before, he's been cut by AK-47 fire, and I don't find him having much of any strength edge, durability edge, or even a skill edge over the Thing to the point he outclasses him either character to where it makes a difference. And I haven't seen him do any massive combat speed feat to where he will consistently dance around Ben and shred him to pieces.

What Arthur does have is the trident and that is what will give him his wins. He is faster and can soak some hits and we've seen the likes of Wolverine drop the Thing with one well placed stab before (got him in the shoulder with his claws, but Logan knows pressure points so I chalked it up to a nerve strike). Arthur will get some wins because he can get around Ben and the trident will do some damage. But I find the Thing's durability and most importantly, his determination and will, should enable to tank some of what Arthur will dish out and even get his hand on the trident, and once that happens, the Thing has the window to rid him of the trident, keep Arthur in position and reel him in for a face pounding or choke hold. The Thing should win after a long and brutal fight, but it is his determination that will allow him to do what he does best and that is clobber.

@matchesmalone21:

Based on what we know of Aquaman's strength he can lift a cruise liner out of the water. which on average is 141,000 gross tonnage. in metric tons that would be 157,920. So we know he can do up to almost 200,000 tons (roughly) of focused repeated blows against the thing.

for those who says he has to be in the water for this to happen. well last time I checked the city of new york still has fire hydrons and water mains. MAKE IT RAIN!

Ben Grimm, from what I know has lifted a multiple level building weighing in at roughly 30,000 tons. now I don't know the circumstances of that but it is safe to assume that he could use 50,000 tons (roughly)of focused repeated blows.

to me it seems strength wise Aquaman out classes the thing.

@jonez120@matchesmalone21@the_stegman@god_spawn@trevel8182

Aquaman. Easy.

Aquaman would take this one. His powers are more versatile whereas the Thing only has brute strength and some agility

Aquaman. Granted Ben could probably make the fight last quite a while Aquaman would still end up on top. I mean I don't see how dehydration is a viable means wherein The Thing could win, aside from the fact that there would be fire hydrants around to give him water in case dehydration does take its toll I still cannot see how the fight will last long enough for Arthur to be dehydrated given New 52 Aquaman has survived being in the middle of the Desert. Aquaman having the trident gives him a reach advantage and given his experience with using it I find it hard to imagine him allowing his opponent to grab it as a means of pulling him in. Though I do not deny that specific possibility I just view it as somewhat improbable.

I admit I may be underrating The Things durability and skills in terms of fighting but I still give it to AM.

Initially, I thought Aquaman would win, but I think Thing is more durable and can match his strength. Also, Thing is trained in some martial arts, so while Aquaman may seem superior, I think that Thing can clobber once he closes the distance on land of course. I'll give it to Thing barely.

Aquaman wins; you shouldn't have given him his trident for this. Too strong without it, with it he's beastly.

@trevel8182: Classic and Crossover scans aren't canon...Thanks for knowing.

Arthur wins after a moderately lengthy fight.

I'm a Marvel fan, but Aquaman (new 52) appears to outclass Thing in strength and Agility, plus, as soon as this fight gets to the water (which it will eventually because of they'll be throwing each other around like ragdolls), Aquaman will stomp.

As for Thing beating Namor underwater in AvX - that was an atrocious piece of writing I believe I heard was non-canon (c'mon, that series had Iron Man beating Magneto too)

The Thing.

Aquaman wins this battle.

His seems stronger than the Thing having lifted a cruise ship (around 160000 tons), tossed a sub from the bottom of the ocean to several feet above the air, sent Superman flying with a punch and managed to overpower Wonder Woman briefly.

He is also faster (again shown against Wonder Woman, Ocean Master and some Talons), can leap like the Hulk, durable enough to tank bullets, explosions, energy blasts, airplane free falls and hits from Wonder Woman and Darkseid.

He also has super senses that will come handy at a night fight and is a very skilled warrior (with more experience in the Nu DCU than most heroes, having been the leader of the Others before the Justice League was even created) and good strategist having come up with the Atlantean War plans, the way to distract Darkseid and the plan to capture the Cheetah.

And finally he is extremely skilled with the Trident the second most powerful of the Atlantean artifacts, which is indestructible and able to hurt Darkseid, break the shields from Graves and cause a volcanic reaction among other things.

Aquaman is above Thing in all categories by a fair margin. The only stat that might be somewhat close is durability.

IMO

I truly love The Thing, definitely more than Aquaman. But I just don't see him taking out Aquaman in his currently buffed state. If we were talking pre New 52 Aquaman (bearded Arthur), I'd probably still give it to Aquaman in a closer battle.

I gotta give it to Aquaman but to be honest, I'm not too great with either of these guys, so I dunno

@trevel8182: ABC logic at its finest. Super solid. Impenetrable. You win the internet -_-

Why are people debating here and not the forum that was created specifically to debate this fight -_-

@jonez120: the old Aquaman lifting the cruise liner feat that didn't happen bit again. That is the most overused false feat used this year. He didn't lift it he was searching it AFTER it already scuttled. The throwing the Submarine feat is way more legit.

@wavemotioncannon: You can see the damage on the ship where it connected with the rocks and the water that's falling because Aquaman is lifting it.

The Thing because "LOL Aquaman!"

Seriously though, if Benji can take down Namor, he can take down Aquaman.

@comic_book_fan: Classic scans again....aren't canon