Edward Elric (FMA:Brotherhood) versus Princess Azula (Avatar)

Elric for me. He may not do fire or lightning, but he can control the entire battlefield on a level beyond her.

Thanks for reading,

Floopay

@texasdeathmatch said:

@Floopay: Azula's pretty damn agile though, fast enough to dodge Aang's attacks. Also, added a second round, pure H2H with no powers.

I'd still give it to him in both rounds. She's agile, but in Brotherhood they trapped somebody in a cage using their powers, who was at least as agile as Azula (the girl with the robo-leg, forget her name). He can also do massive AoE attacks and instantly provide cover for himself.

In hand to hand, he was trained by someone who I firmly believe to be the greatest martial artist in the Brotherhood series, and proved that he is not only an extremely talented alchemist, but a very potent fighter as well.

This is all fully up for debate, but that's what I think.

Thanks for reading,

Floopay

I've only seen Brotherhood, but my buddy who has watched both said the Princess and his rationale is that she controls fire to at least to the same degree that Mustang--who always gave Elric problems during combat--did, as well as having other abilities he did not possess.

@BringnIt said:

I've only seen Brotherhood, but my buddy who has watched both said the Princess and his rationale is that she controls fire to at least to the same degree that Mustang--who always gave Elric problems during combat--did, as well as having other abilities he did not possess.

She was more versatile, but I don't think she was as powerful. Merely for the fact that he could shoot fire like a bullet, and hers was more like a flamethrower, effective, but not the same speed. Though she could also do lightning, but that took more effort.

Edward is more versatile in general, and I think he could easily trap her if he wanted to, she was nowhere near Fu and Lan Fan in terms of speed and fighting prowess. Though those two gave Ed a heck of a hard time, he was doing pretty well at keeping up with them, to say the least. So that sort of helps solidify his ability to fight with extremely skilled and fast martial artists. And yeah, she has the fire thing going for her, but again, he can manipulate metal and stone with zero to no problem, I see him trapping her almost right off the bat, or doing a large AoE stone attack and taking her out quickly.

Thanks for reading,

Floopay

Azula has allot of advantages here, I can see her pulling his strings pretty easily, she has tremendous attacking force, shes more agile than him, I'd go out on a limb and say shes a better martial artist than him even though hes no where near bad at hand to hand himself. All that being said though I still don't see how she could get past his defensive abilities or avoid all of his varied and unpredictable long ranged attacks or traps. I gotta give this to Ed simply because I can't really see Azula ever getting a chance to touch him, even though if she did she could potentially one shot him by electrocuting his metal arm but of course he could just change the composition of the arm to something else.

I know Ed was pretty fast and agile himself but I can't remember many feats like Azula's in that regard. While Ed has her on variety and defense, I think Azula's ruthlessness and simple, yet brutally smart power and her tactics are enough in this regard to eventually catch Ed for a few wins. But Ed's own skill and defenses and power should even the odds and pick up the majority.

Round 2: I'd give this one to Azula. I think her skill is a bit higher, her speed and agility would get over the metal arm and leg advantage.

@texasdeathmatch said:

@BlackArmor: Thanks for the input. What do you think about Round 2?

Probably Azula in round 2 because I think Azula is a faster, harder and more skilled h2h fighter, even though if Ed manages to get in enough hits in with his automail limbs it could be a short match and a victory for him

@Deranged Midget said:

@BlackArmor said:

@texasdeathmatch said:

@BlackArmor: Thanks for the input. What do you think about Round 2?

Probably Azula in round 2 because I think Azula is a faster, harder and more skilled h2h fighter, even though if Ed manages to get in enough hits in with his automail limbs it could be a short match and a victory for him

I'm inclined to say that she wouldn't have much difficulty avoiding attacks as she is easily one of the most agile characters in the Avatar-verse.

Yeah Azula would probably take it, still Ed is one of the best fighters in his own universe it may not be a completely clean fight for Azula

@Deranged Midget said:

@BlackArmor said:

Yeah Azula would probably take it, still Ed is one of the best fighters in his own universe it may not be a completely clean fight for Azula

I'd have to take your word for it as I know nothing about Ed.

Here is a video that gives a good measurement of his h2h skills

granted he uses his powers but you can get a good look within the first 40 or so seconds

As much as I hate to admit this, Azula would win in both rounds and stomp in the second. Full Metal has the verisitility however, Azula was able to avoid Aang and Touf(sp) while she didn't have powers. So, I think it's far to say that she could avoid full metal. Add to that, Full Metal doesn't nonrmally fight to kill, especially against humans and more so against women, so he would certainly make the mistake of going easy on her at first. Full metal has a habit of over thinking in the start. Seeing her bending would probably seriouslly mess with his head and a well placed lightning bolt with that metal arm would pretty much do him in. Round 2 is a stomp without question. Azula would probably be Master level at Shaolin Kung Fu. Full metals hands are good, but hers are WAY better. I dare say this might be a mismatch.

I heard it said once "Control the battlefield, and you control the battle." Edward does that in all kinds of ways. While Azula can use fire almost to the degree that Roy can, she can't make huge explosions, and she can't hit the same degree of accuracy that Roy can. She's like a Jack of All Trades with fire, good, quick, agile, all around control. Not great in big booms or small slices. Not to mention that while Azula HAS to launch her attacks from her body, Edward can channel his alchemy through the environment and launch an attack from an area she isn't expecting. Even if she's leaping around, Ed doesn't have the weaknesses of airbenders and earthbenders from Avatar: They have to move just like Azula, launching attacks with momentum from their bodies. In order to launch a blast of air or a chunk of rock, they have to have the time to launch a full move. With Azula's constant barrage of fire and lightning, this can be difficult. Ed? I can see him just bunkering down, making a wall around himself while she leaps around, then creating a pit right before she hits the ground and dropping her in it. Close it over her head, done.

This is all relying on the idea of Ed keeping a cool head, mind you. This is not at all what would happen.

Azula's talent for snark and general insults would immediately pinpoint Ed's height. She'd make one remark, and then she'd die in ways we scarcely want to imagine.

Ed due to versatility.

He'd also take hand to hand as if you saw the video posted on the first page he is a pretty smooth operator.

Elric both rounds. this is a guy that can separate out specific atoms from complex compounds(he used tnt to produce ammonia gas to escape chimeras). he could simply trap her in a cement box and let her suffocate her self. even in H2H he as the advantage of having Winry's automail for an arm and half a leg, those automail limbs give him limited super human strength and durability.

Ed wins here. Both rounds.

Edward Round 1.

Azula Round 2.

Azula's more agile? Really?

@joewell: Here's a couple:

Here's Ed more or less keeping up with Pride's tendrils which would be about as fast as Azula's lightning (Zuko can intercept it after it's been shot, it must not be that fast) or at least a good bit faster than her fire:

This one shows his high degree of control and precision over his environment:

The environment in Round 1 just gives him the total advantage. He can attack from virtually all directions and he has so much material to work with.

Al's the better hand-to-hand fighter, but Ed is arguably the better alchemist so you can sort of use him as a point of reference too.

@texasdeathmatch: Perhaps, but how could that logically? The creators based Fire bending around the moments and forms of Shaolin.

Maybe it was a stretch to saw "Master" level. However, clearly Azula has "mastered" most of the advanced forms of the art.

Having trained from the times she was a small child till her current age what 16. That gives her 10+ years of consistent training with masters.

While I'm sure people could disagree, I don't see how they would have the grounds to do so.

@Bossmonster: Even if that were true, that isn't really an advantage that she has on him.

Ed's the son of an immortal, inheriting his uncanny talent in alchemy, and as a small child he: performed human transmutation, trained with a foremost alchemist and martial artist, and was left with his brother to fend for themselves without the use of alchemy in woods infested with bears and other such large predators, not to mention a wild man, for a month. He also became the youngest certified state alchemist at the age of 12.

This is an interesting match but I`m leaning towards Ed for Round 1 due to the fact that he has complete environmental control and has taken on powerful individuals such as the Homunculi. Round 2 could result in a tie but maybe Azula has Ed beat on that one, I`m not too sure.

round 1 is a stomp for Ed

round 2 goes to ed too just because of his automail. though the fight might actually be close.

@gunmetalgrey: And that is important because?

I like Full metal. I would rather he take the win, but the reality is he's not her match. Azula took over a nation that hand never before been conquered with only two other people. Defeated an Avatar. Defeated Zuko. Battled evenly with Team Avatar without her powers while they had theirs. Mastered the one of the highest forms of fire bending as a child. We can both talk about how beast the other person is.

But look at it this way. If Ed's body is damage, especially his arms, his effectiveness is almost zero against someone like her. Also, She is going to have experience fighting people like him, where he will have to learn her on the fly. What I mean is, Ed could transmute the ground or surroundings. Earth Bending. Transmute his arm. Metal bending. H2H. Combat training. There really isn't anything he could do that she hasn't already experienced. The most ed has dealt with like this was Kimbly and no where near this level. She can fire bend from all for limbs and her mouth.

Add to that Lightning. Powers on, he really doesn't stand a chance.

He could win in H2H, but who has he ever actually beat in a stand up fight. Not Scar, not the Armor, Not Greed, Not Pride, Not his brother and not his teacher. I honestly can't remember a single victory for hims in this area.

Azula has Aang, Zuko. Touf, Earth nation soldiers, Water nation warriors. The Kyoshi warriors ect. She almost never suffered a single lose.

This is just not in Eds favor. I might win the H2H, but that's extremely doubtful. Powers on, stomp.

@Bossmonster: Show me any feat of any earth bender that shows anywhere near the degree of control and precision that Ed has when he transmutes his surroundings and I will concede that Azula has the experience to defeat him in that regard.

You talk as if any of those opponents Azula has beaten are comparable to the guys that Ed has had to face. None of them would last a couple of minutes against Pride or many of the other homunculi. Ed could have well defeated Greed on his own once he figured out all he needed to do was transmute his skin. The only time he was really defeated by Scar is when no one, not even the military, had any intelligence on what exactly his abilities are and he was caught unaware.

azula's h2h isn't that impressive in a vacuum. she always has to gain the upper hand through that mouth of hers or tactical plan. she couldn't defeat suki in a one on one fight where she couldn't talk or plan her way out or bait the opponent into a disadvantage.

that auto mail arm is insanely strong. edward gets one clean hit at full strength and azula will crumple.

Ed in both rounds. Ive read the entire FMA manga and watched the entire Brotherhood series, as well as watch Avatar: TLA in it's entirety.

Ed has a massive edge in both versaility and unpredicatbility. He can control the battlefield through alchemy to an extent of precision that no Earth Bender in The Last Airbender ever displayed.

I'd certainly rank him as the faster, more agile h2h fighter as well. Being able to keep up with Scar, who was dodging bullets fired by Riza at close range, deflecting/ dodging Pride's shadow spikes/tentacles, being stated to be faster than Scar once he gets his automail upgraded when he reaches the Northern regions of Amestris, keeping up with Lan Fan, Fu, and Ling Yao in combat.

I could go on, but it's better that you watch the anime. It's a fantastic series, with a whole plethora of feats that support Ed being the more deadly combatant, especially when he is bloodlusted. He nearly beat someone to death in a few strikes with his automail arm. One hit from that arm tags Azula, it's game over. She will be at least staggered, if not knocked out (Avatar characters are glass cannons, whereas FMA characters have remarkable feats of durability for humans)

@gunmetalgrey: I wasn't trying to get you to concede. I didn't even know I was debating you. But now that it's been made clear. Sure thing. Bending is much faster than Eds transmutations. Simple hand moments and sometimes none at all. The King Boomy was able to bend by flexing his face. So to @steelhound56:, I think benders are far more versatile. Never the less.

There is your link for earth bending. Multiple instances of complete area attacks. The ability to stick to walls. Using it as a mode of faster transportation. Three things I don't recall Ed doing. Also, in regard to the bit about greed. Aang bends crystals with ability. This leads me to believe he could bend greed if needed. However that is besides the point.

Here is a great point. Many people have exploited Ed's weakness in that he has to place his hands together to transmute. Azula can attack from range instantly and constantly with the only lag being that between the punch, kick or other body movement. Ed on the other hand(to attack) has to go through all three steps of transmutation which are much slower than just a punch that shoots fire. Azula has been shown to cause large explosions with single blast.

Also, Pride was the fast threat Ed had to face, but how would Ed defend against Lightning? While, oddly her slowest start move, it's the fastest traveling and most deadly. One shoot would most likely kill Ed and if not, ruin both his leg and arm making him dead anyway.

What does Ed have that poses a threat to Azula?

@steelhound56 said:

(Avatar characters are glass cannons, whereas FMA characters have remarkable feats of durability for humans)

Ok, so how many characters in FMA got hit with Boulders or near tidal waves? The Humonculi feared Mustang. He was stated as their biggest threat on multiple occasions. Azula's powers are not as precise as Roys. However, they are just as raw powerful. She's been capable of near flight on several occasion.

You statement is false in that you don't take in to account the reality of what happens. ED has been dropped dozens of times. However, he has a hell of a defense against physical attack in that parts of his body aren't real. He goes out of his way to take damage in those areas. However, both Fire and Lightning would by pass this instantly and just kill him out right.

@Bossmonster: We're not debating on which is more versatile between earth bending or transmutation, we're talking about the extent of Azula's experience in fighting earth benders making her an efficient opponent against Ed, which I find to be a stretch. King Bumi's feats are irrelevant since they never fought, he surrendered almost instantly. There would be no experience from fighting him.

Most, if not all, attacks earth benders have ever been shown to do were direct and straightforward. Once you see where it's coming from, anyone with a little speed and some acrobatics can avoid it. Tell me, if this is what Azula assumes is the extent of Ed's transmutation, what's she gonna do once she avoids a giant fist that he transmutes at her and suddenly the fist turns around from behind and grabs her? Ed can literally, not in the Avatar sense, bend and curve the ground/rock in any which way he wants and in any form he wants.

You also forget that Ed does more with alchemy than just move earth/rock/steel/etc. What's Azula gonna do when Ed creates a dome around her and transmutes the air inside into propane (just needs carbon and hydrogen)?

@gunmetalgrey: I referenced Boomy as an example of the fact that benders have attacks methods that are faster and more useful than the way Ed does it.

I dig what you are saying about the hands that change paths. I would think she would respond with the same methods she used to avoid water whips, tidal waves and blast of air, All of which change paths and faster than the stone hands Ed creates. Scar has been shown to to just tear though these. A concentrated blast of fire would do the same. Also, Azula only needs to make Ed break contact to render his major attacks harmless. Chain fire blast will make it near impossible for him to remain in contact with the grounds or walls so that he can transmute them to change paths. So, it would be even easier for her to just attach him, then dodge.

I didn't forget that. It's possible, but unlikely. Ed has never been shown to transmute from long distances. EVER. She would have to be close enough to him to effect the area around her, but far enough to avoid being burned by a blast of fire. But lets say he manages to trap her. Again the speed is the biggest difference. By the time his dome finished, she could pull off a lightning bolt break the wall down or create a whole. Her running speed his been shown that she can fun walls for several steps. So, dome is counter by lightning bolt before she can transmute the air.

Ed could barely keep up with The armor in a sword fight. What is his defense against her fire bending h2h?

Also, here is one of the biggest point of why I don't see Ed winning this. He lost to Mustang who has almost the exacts same powers. Azula is going to be the faster of the two as she doesn't have to snap/ transmute (and will have the better stamina in this area) They probably have the same destructive power. However, where Roy specializer in precise explosions, Azual shows far more versatility with fire wheels that follow the opponent. Waves of the hands that cut through building. Flight. Shields. Blowing up buildings. and Lightning.

Azual is certainly the faster of the two combatants in movement speed and h2h combat. If Full Metal didn't beat Roy, he seems very unlikely to defeat Azula

@gunmetalgrey: I referenced Boomy as an example of the fact that benders have attacks methods that are faster and more useful than the way Ed does it.

I dig what you are saying about the hands that change paths. I would think she would respond with the same methods she used to avoid water whips, tidal waves and blast of air, All of which change paths and faster than the stone hands Ed creates. Scar has been shown to to just tear though these. A concentrated blast of fire would do the same. Also, Azula only needs to make Ed break contact to render his major attacks harmless. Chain fire blast will make it near impossible for him to remain in contact with the grounds or walls so that he can transmute them to change paths. So, it would be even easier for her to just attach him, then dodge.

I didn't forget that. It's possible, but unlikely. Ed has never been shown to transmute from long distances. EVER. She would have to be close enough to him to effect the area around her, but far enough to avoid being burned by a blast of fire. But lets say he manages to trap her. Again the speed is the biggest difference. By the time his dome finished, she could pull off a lightning bolt break the wall down or create a whole. Her running speed his been shown that she can fun walls for several steps. So, dome is counter by lightning bolt before she can transmute the air.

Ed could barely keep up with The armor in a sword fight. What is his defense against her fire bending h2h?

Also, here is one of the biggest point of why I don't see Ed winning this. He lost to Mustang who has almost the exacts same powers. Azula is going to be the faster of the two as she doesn't have to snap/ transmute (and will have the better stamina in this area) They probably have the same destructive power. However, where Roy specializer in precise explosions, Azual shows far more versatility with fire wheels that follow the opponent. Waves of the hands that cut through building. Flight. Shields. Blowing up buildings. and Lightning.

Azual is certainly the faster of the two combatants in movement speed and h2h combat. If Full Metal didn't beat Roy, he seems very unlikely to defeat Azula

Ed could just get her mad and while she's raving and throwing fire at his wall he will transmute the ground beneath her to spikes,she may have good reflexes and all but you get her mad and she'll make mistakes.

Also, Mustang needs a special glove to create a spark so he can use his flames(mind you it doesn't work when it's raining)he still has better precison and control than her,not to mention he can make some pretty big explosions.