I just noticed the pictures color schemes match =D
Rules:
Setting:
Strode. Wesker is the biggest problem, but I see Strode beating them.
Chris is the biggest threat here. Hercules Method users can still be killed by bullets. Luther suffers extreme pain every time he's shot and it takes several seconds of focus to eject the bullets and heal, during which time he'll be open for Chris to continue pumping him. Luther is no faster than a generic Licker, after all.
This is Leon Kennedy. Unlike Luther Strode, Lickers have actually been tested against a skilled marksman, and they dodged the bullets anyway. Yet in RE5 Chris took Lickers down like canon fodder. He was able to survive against entire hordes of Lickers, with Sheva's backup, on multiple occasions in the game.
With his high levels of tactical and situational awareness, and expert use of his whole arsenal of weapons, I don't see why Chris wouldn't be able to eventually shoot Strode or anybody else here down. The only two character who he has consistently had difficulty tagging were Jill, and Wesker, which is more of a testament to their dodging ability then a mark against Chris, and both of whom he eventually ended up tagging anyway after a more prolonged battle.
Even though he had a lot of trouble tagging Wesker, Chris was always fast enough with his gun to keep up with Wesker's movements and trace him everywhere he went, making sure that there was a bullet waiting wherever Wesker would stop, which is impressive in its own right. If anything, Chris's struggles to tag Wesker just indicates that Wesker was actually faster than the bullets themselves.
Since nobody in the Luther Strode series has ever been shown to move as fast as Wesker does (as in, seemingly teleporting right before somebody's eyes, literally moving too fast for the brain to process and becoming invisible, whereas in Luther Strode the characters are more like blurs to the human eye) nor does anybody in the series have the high level training and tactical knowledge of Wesker, I don't see why any of them should be able to replicate Wesker's feats. Luther Strode characters have never faced a skilled marksman, ergo there's no proof that Chris can't tag them, it's that simple.
These scans prove that Luther Strode is not untouchable. In the first set he was caught off guard after becoming too focused on one enemy, indicating his lack of tactical and situational awareness that is later put on full display against Binder, the canon fodder soldiers have him pegged and he is only rescued by Petra. The third scan, taking place in the same scene, has Luther failing to bullet time when he is shot by surprise, by a half dead soldier who could barely aim anymore.
And yet people think he can fight Wesker? Even if they were physically equal, it would then just be a master martial artist and tactical genius vs a regular person. Sounds like a slaughter. Wesker can solo. RE is underrated and Luther Strode is overrated.
Like I said, still three issues left to go, but I feel like I have a good cap on his abilities. Can dodge bullets pretty well and move like Wesker. He's not untouchable though, he's been shot and he's been in danger of getting shot before being rescued by Petra, and more importantly he's never faced a legitimate marksman. This is not lowballing, this is the truth and establishing the extents and limits of Luther's abilities. He is not untouchable, either to bullets or fists.
He was shot once, and that was when he first started using his powers. The second time he was shot was on purpose to feign death. The Third time he was shot twice in the arm that he purposfully blocked with when the Merc leader was already dying, and not a threat. He was never shot since then among the masses of bullets he weaves threw. Also you dont consider Binder a expert marksmen when he uses guns to hunt down people like Luther and the one who caught Jack? You think dodging 10 automatic rifles in a small room is less than one bullet from say Chris? I dont.
So he's got low-level superhuman strength and speed, no training, and other characters have made it a point that he lacks experience and skill and only makes up for it by having extreme natural talent... what's the big deal here? I mean that's just being honest, Luther Strode is cool, and the artwork is cool, but come on guys if we're going by feats this character isn't anything worth mentioning next to Spider-Man, Wolverine, Deathstroke, and yet people still pit him against them?
I like how you state "no training" when the book does train you in the art of murder. That is the whole point of the book. I luagh at the no training part. Lets test this theory.
Then take account the skill of the foes he face.
Really... no skill? Again I find that bias. Add to all this his better speed and 1000 move precog.
Heck here there is clear martial art poses and amazing agility unlike skill less thugs.
So far I see nothing which separates Luther from the canon fodder B.O.W.s that Chris and Leon face, things like Lickers and Hunters, let alone Tyrants, LET ALONE Wesker!!! I mean seriously, Luther is no faster than any of those creatures. He might be strong, but they have claws and such that make them just as dangerous, and he isn't anywhere near as strong as Tyrants or Wesker anyway.
Im glad your enjoying the comic, but you clearly are reading with blinders on. Also why mention slow a$$, unskilled Tyrants in this? Most of them are jokes in the games, taking time to slowly walk up to you. none of them possess Luther skill, speed, agility, nor his move reading precog like ability. Other than healing factor, and strength, Luther and Tyrants have nothing in common. Also comparing Lickers, and Hunters is laughable as they have none of the feats Luther does.
Somebody please tell me what separates Luther Strode from Jack Krauser? Both enhanced humans, regularly leave after-images if not outright disappear from sheer speed, can crush metal with sheer strength, powerful healing factors... as far as I can see, the only real difference between them is that Krauser was a highly skilled spec ops agent and mercenary who could take on creatures of similar power before even being enhanced, through sheer skill. And Leon beat his ass to the floor.
Luther is again, superior.
So anyone saying that Jack or Strode or Librarian can solo is just uninformed or biased. The RE team takes a clean majority due to actually having skill, either that or Wesker solos.
I think regardless of readingt he good series, your underestimating the abilities of team Strode. Jack is even faster than Strode if by a bit.
@jashro44: @nickzambuto I just assume Binder is good with guns. Giving he uses them to capture people with Luther's powers.
However on those accuracy feats.
Honestly I am not seeing Chris or Leon winning a raw range fight with Luther.
Team 1, no one is soloing
Wesker is. It's the equivalent of a master martial artist and tactical genius battling three regular people. I don't see how the Luther Strode team even stands a chance, unless someone is prepared to make the argument that they're actually much more powerful than Wesker, to the extent that fighting skills don't change anything.
Quite the silliness :) as my feats above, severely disprove that notion.
I can't look at those scans because it seems that they all come from the final three issues I have yet to read. I'll reply to your arguments once I read those issues, but for now, all I'm saying is that after reading about 80% of all Luther Strode material, I am less than impressed with his abilities.
@nickzambuto: I think your underestamating Luther and putting a bit to much enthuses on feats. Its true Luther hasn't faced a skilled marksmen (well @sirfizzwhizz says binder is a skilled marksmen, I don't know his feats so I will just leave that to cadence) but he can dodge bullets after they are fired and his move reading is very advanced to the point he can see many moves ahead. There is no reaosn he shouldn't have very impressive anticipation skills which is what one needs to avoid a good marksmen due to his move reading. And at the very least since luther can dodge bullets after they are fired we know he is dodging at least some of there bullets, unless they find a way to trick Luther. In addition his healing factor is still pretty impressive even if bullets can put Luther down. I mean him and librarian were ripping out each others guts and still fighting. Jack blitzed the shit out of him and Luther tanked his knife slashes. Just because Luther was surprised once due to lack of multi-tasking doesn't mean his awareness is bad either. IIRC he also caught some sticks that were thrown at him without looking. Plus with Jack and the libaraian giving luther some support Luther doesn't need to fight the whole team at once.
Really I think what makes Luther so dangerous is his balance of stats. Not only does he have high damage soak, but he is also really fast, and with his move reading he can anticipate moves pretty easily. He's also really strong and has high damage soak. And due to his ability to grab things with his muscles this makes him dangerous in a melee fight. And because of his speed, move reading, and healing factor, he will close the gap more often than not with a few exceptions among street levellers. Even if he doesn't close the gap I remember him showing some impressive accuracy by tossing sticks down the barrel of guns. So depending on what is inside the apartment luther could very well have range options making him even deadlier. And he may not even be the MVP here with Jack around.
Let me rephrase: Luther HAS faced a skilled marksman. He faced Binder, and what makes Binder such a skilled marksman is that he was able to tag Luther. So what I SHOULD have said was that "Luther has never been able to dodge bullets from a skilled marksman." Because Binder was able to tag Luther pretty easily with simple kunai, not very flattering for Luther.
This might very well change within the next three issues, which again I have not read yet, I'm just saying up till this point in the series, Luther hasn't proven his dodging abilities to be superior to several of Resident Evil's BOWs.
I mean just off the top of my head, the character gets shot almost as often as he doesn't. Let's take a look at every instance where Luther was shot at and examine how her performed in order to decide what the character is actually capable of, because I feel like he gets wayy too much hype on here.
The Strange Talents of Luther Strode #2: Dodges pistol fire from two thugs. Okay, I mean that's barely peak human, but at least he didn't get tagged. Although it isn't anything to brag about.
The Strange Talents of Luther Strode #5: Fails to dodge gunfire from one thug, the bullets were automatic this time so it's consistent, perhaps Luther isn't able to keep up with automatic gunfire, the dialogue seems to imply as much. Luther was then dead to rights for like, 10 straight seconds and needed the thugs to brag and stall and Petra to distract them long enough to heal, if it was Chris in this situation Luther wouldn't have survived. Although Luther was still learning at this point, so whatever, we can let it slide.
The Strange Talents of Luther Strode #6: Luther allows himself to be 'killed' by a squad of policeman. He states himself that he could dance between their shots if he wanted, but his previous showings in the book don't support that, and considering he didn't dance between their bullets, this scene doesn't say much either way.
So that's the end of the first miniseries. So far, we have equal evidence for and against Luther being a bullet timer. Personally I would call him a very low-level superhuman at this point, since he has a few showings of moving at blur speeds and normal men being unable to react to him, but he's also been tagged in h2h by fodder.
So at this point, Luther is probably comparable to a Cerberus dog. They too have been portrayed as moving at close to imperceptible speeds, and can even speedblitz trained special forces agents like Joseph Frost from a distance away. They can also dodge bullets from special forces members; in the opening of RE1 the entire Alpha team was shooting at a pack, including Jill and Barry, but between the fog, dark, and Cerberus' speed, the only people who actually managed to make their marks were Chris and Wesker. Basically, to surmise, Luther Strode was not a solid bullet timer in his first miniseries.
Moving onto Legend;
The Legend of Luther Strode #1: Luther blitzes through pistol fire from a bunch of scared hookers and only one guy who knew what he was doing. This is pretty impressive since there was basically a wall of bullets, but I don't see why it should make Luther any faster than a single Licker.
The Legend of Luther Strode #2: Luther avoids a bullet at point blank from Petra, but it seems like easy aim dodging. Still impressive but not really mind blowing like some users make him out to be.
The Legend of Luther Strode #2: Alright now THIS is a fantastic feat now that I take another look at it, and it's almost making me reconsider my position. But I'm not sure if this is really Luther's average capabilities, given the copious amount of low showings he has. Not only when it comes to bullets, but also being tagged by fodder in H2H.
The Legend of Luther Strode #2: For example, only a couple pages later, for some reason Luther is now dead to rights when the same guys ambush him. Talk about a huge inconsistency.
The Legend of Luther Strode #2: Then Luther immediately fails to bullet time on the next page when shot at by surprise. This indicates to me that his super speed makes it difficult for shooters to keep up with his movements, but his reflexes aren't actually advanced enough to dodge a bullet after it is fired. This would make him an easy target for Chris, given the aforementioned fact that Chris was always able to keep up with Wesker's movements and had another shot ready for him by the time Wesker reached his next position.
The Legend of Luther Strode #3: Binder tags Luther with mere kunai. Not very flattering for Luther. Afterwards Binder gets his hands on an assault rifle but we don't see what happens, the scene cuts to Petra's perspective for a little while and Luther and Binder battle off screen, until eventually Binder gets thrown out a window.
So what exactly does all this tell us? Luther is very inconsistent, and I can't figure out what Justin Jordan was actually intending for the extents of his abilities to be. It's clear that Luther isn't an invincible, effortless, untouchable bullet timer like other users make him out to be, but he's also above peak human. Whizz said that Luther was only ever shot three times, but what he neglected to mention was that Luther was only ever shot at a total of eight times, not to mention there was another time where he would have been shot had Petra not interfered, meaning half the time Luther can't dodge bullets. Luther has other low showings in terms of speed like failing to outrun a van, so I really can't put him on par with such characters as Wesker or Deathstroke like other users try to. Luther is a low-level superhuman with some versatility, but not enough versatility to put him out of Leon or Chris's league.
Luther's move reading will aid him? What, the move reading that barely worked in the first miniseries and appears to have been completely voided out in the second? Luther's move reading was a very minor ability that users on Comic Vine overrate with their only evidence being extremely vague statements. Believe me, it isn't a factor. You say that Luther can dodge bullets after they are fired, but this simply isn't true, as I illustrated above Luther has only ever dodged bullets with the help of aim dodging. When put in situations where he doesn't see the shooter and can't anticipate him, he isn't able to react. This is a simple fact in the story, users on Comic Vine really overrate Luther's dodging ability.
Really I don't see what makes Luther any faster than the numerous superhuman BOWs Leon and Chris face regularly. Lickers are just as good at dodging bullets as Luther and they rely entirely on their sense of smell and sound, they lack eyes. Hunters are known to be just as fast as Lickers and can leave after-images in their wake, and Cerberus dogs too can blitz a spec ops soldier from a distance before he can react, and are all around portrayed as far faster than normal dogs. Even the lumbering Uroboros monster was actually fast enough to kill off a whole 12-man BSAA squad in under 20 seconds, and the BSAA are far more elite and highly trained than any real world special forces unit. The canon fodder members can make impossible shots and are peak human enough to kick down a steel door, even dodge bullets to an extent. Yet Chris Redfield is a legend among the BSAA. You know who can slaughter all these monsters and more by the truck load? Chris Redfield.
So in Resident Evil, Luther Strode really isn't anything more than a mid-game boss. His healing factor isn't anything special, his speed isn't special, his strength isn't special. Luther Strode literally has nothing on a Tyrant, nothing at all. At best I can picture him stealing Leon's knife by grabbing it with his muscles, but it's not like Leon doesn't have a billion other weapons to compensate.
Chris and Leon are more versatile, more intelligent, and more skilled. Luther Strode is a low-level superhuman, his combat abilities are overrated.
Didn't Librarian dodge a bullet after it was fired?
Yes he did.
Unfortunately this single page among the 200+ or so pages that make up the Luther Strode series completely contradicts everything else about the abilities of a Hercules Method user. This feat is the exception, not the rule. People always try to play off Luther Strode as an untouchable bullet timer, when in reality the only bullet timing feat in the entire series, was performed by a different character.
Now if you look at every other feat the characters have performed, every statement that was made about the Hercules Method, and the interpretation of the actual creator himself... this page is very much the exception and not the rule.
Not that this feat would even change anything anyway. I mean, okay, so Librarian is a bullet timer. So what? Why does that change anything when Chris and Leon can react to handgun bullets, or in Leon's case even outrace a bullet to the other side of a room to knock the target out of the way, assault rifle bullets, gatling gun rounds, cruise missiles, and Alexia's blood splatter which was much faster than any firearm and had even Wesker on the ropes, with some of these projectiles being fired by trained marksman and not Luther Strode's mom.
And much more importantly then that, they've both been able to tag, block, dodge, and keep up with super speedsters like Wesker, Krauser, and Tyrants.
So okay, saying Luther is faster is one thing. But please somebody let me know how they expect Luther to magically move SOO fast that Chris and Leon won't even be able to REACT to him.
I'll go with Strode
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