David Xanatos vs Iron Monger (Gargoyles vs Marvel)


(Br3ndan5)

(Studio)

"The object is not to see the creative spirit as a savior, but as a destroyer of values… He uses mankind as material for his own higher creation." - Friedrich Nietzsche

David Xanatos, the man who built the new age of Gargoyles!

Obadiah Stane, the Iron Monger of the Stark family legacy!

Power. Wealth. Respect. These are not just the currency of business, but of society. Shed a little blood, sweat, and tears to attain all three, and you can control not just a company, but a world of your own. But you can’t simply just get lucky, you have to make sure that every move you make is the right one, with every piece on the board in mind. You must know your enemy like you know yourself. And when the time comes, you must be ruthless enough to strike. No one embodies that quite like these two, and as the saying goes, you either take out the market… or you get taken out.


Before we begin

Why this match?

This is going to be one of the most obvious questions that comes up. People may naturally wonder why Xanatos is fighting another evil comic book supervillain who uses his vast arsenal of wealth and intellect to obsessively find ways to exploit, control, and destroy his most hated enemy on the terms of his choosing. We hear the cries, and we have to sincerely apologize for the fact that Xanatos is not going up against--[insert the long list of Big Two supervillains known for being rich].

Okay, let’s not beat around the bush. Most people would put Xanatos up against Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. Even setting aside the many character discussions people get into when it comes to matchups that do and don’t serve Norman’s character, we found a unique opportunity with someone else here. Plus, G1 covered Green Goblin quite extensively, and while we could cover him again on our own, we’ve also covered plenty of Spider-Man stats and arguments in previous blogs.

So the better question becomes… really? The guy people only know for being Jeff Bridges in the first MCU film? What’s he got that the others don’t? And hasn’t Iron Man been researched aplenty as well?

While Iron Man has been covered aplenty, none of his dedicated villains have gotten the same coverage to our knowledge… as of writing this, ever. We hope to change that and encourage more to follow. Tony’s rogues gallery is an important part of what made him such a Marvel staple back in the day, even before the MCU made him a household name. And while some are more famous (Mandarin), bizarre (M.O.D.O.K.), or were never really an Iron Man villain to begin with (Doctor Doom… and M.O.D.O.K., come to think of it), even a few years of buildup for a single drag-down fight can leave a major impact, which is exactly what the Iron Monger did. Think of Stane much like Joe Chill or Harold Meachum or the Marquis of Death or wait who’s Harold Meachum why do I know that name did I actually watch the Iron Fist show on Netflix!?!?

Staying on track, this particular matchup gives us a chance to focus on how Tony operated back in his early days, with his longest-running armor and a vastly different status quo to what he has become in the 21st century. (Not to mention the fact that due to its iconography, the material covered from this era is used in time travel stories aplenty!)

Media

For Xanatos, we’ll be covering all three seasons of Gargoyles (even though the comics made the Goliath Chronicles non canon), the tie-in and sequel comics, and the various Disney games he and the rest of the cast have been in as supporting evidence for existing abilities or equipment. Iron Monger will be getting his appearances in the mainline 616 universe.

Credit to the following for some of the links and calcs:

Background

David Xanatos


Long ago, it was a time of darkness. It was a world of fear. It was the age of gargoyles. These warriors-by-night protected the human race until, one day, it finally destroyed them. Many were slaughtered by the cowardice of humanity and the manipulations of their worst. Only a few survived, via a spell that ensured that they would remain stone until the day their home, Castle Wyvern, rose above the clouds.

One young New Englander learned about this, a man named David Xanatos. Merely a fisherman, he was inspired by a Scottish coin sent to him in a letter. Seizing on the opportunity, he sold the coin and rose from rags to riches through skill and cunning. Defying his father’s notion that his wealth wasn’t earned and worked for honestly, he would prove himself to be a self-made man, ruthlessly building a better future.

And then, he learned of Castle Wyvern from a mysterious woman with knowledge of the past. If the only way to restore an ancient race that defied human understanding was to bring the castle above the clouds, then he’d do it himself. Brick by brick, the castle was transported from Scotland to New York City, rebuilt exactly as it was atop his very own skyscraper--his own castle, so to speak. The spell was broken, and the gargoyles lived again.

The Wyvern Clan, led by the wise Goliath, were wary of the new era they had been awoken to. And for as initially welcoming as Xanatos was, he initially exploited them, getting them used to modernity and turning them into his own soldiers. Even as they defied him, he was already plotting their replacements, using the very technology he had tricked them into stealing for him. His plot was exposed, and he was sent to prison for the crimes.

This would not stop Xanatos’ ambition, not by a long shot. Whether in his luxurious office or a prison cell--one he wouldn’t stay in for long--he was a ruthless manipulator meddling with forces no man should. He orchestrated the creation of mutant gargoyles and a clone of Goliath. He learned more about magic than most humans alive. He ensured he received the very coin that started his journey via a time loop, a “self-made man” indeed. And he would not shy away from the battlefield himself, creating an armor in the image of his greatest rival.

But there is always a worse fiend out there, including the woman who informed him of the legend. Said woman was Demona, a sadistic gargoyle whose self-interest gave Xanatos a run for his money. As the destruction of the human race is bad for business and personal ambitions alike, Xanatos called a truce with Goliath and his clan, and aided him in stopping Demona while they in turn saved his newborn child. The feud between him and the gargoyles would end…but the enemy of your enemy will always have his eye on the next path to greatness.

Iron Monger


Anthony Edward Stark. The futurist who saw how destructive his family legacy of weapons manufacturing was firsthand. Then, it blew up in his face, forcing him to rebuild his company, his livelihood, his view of his own late father Howard, and most importantly, himself. And so, from the heart of terrorist territory to the skies above his penthouse suites and Avengers mansions, that’s exactly what Tony did.

But when someone builds himself up that tall, shining golden with the purest of intentions, there will always be someone who tries to tear him down. Many people have turned Tony’s already fractured life into a living hell that spreads into a destructive force, himself included. But none seem to have left quite the same wound as Obadiah Stane, whose legacy remained as strong a grip on Tony as Howard’s.

Stane was everything Tony was not. While Tony used his wealth to help advance his intellect to improve the world from its visibly broken state, Stane grew up poor and traumatized by the deaths of his parents; his mother to an illness, and his father ending a degenerate gambling streak with Russian Roulette gone horribly wrong. Tony would tinker with his machines to keep his playboy lifestyle; Stane would kill the pets of his chess opponents to ensure they were off their game and he could advance. Tony would be forced to reevaluate the means of gaining his wealth, Stane would amass his wealth because his means were so ruthless.

As a wealthy financier, Stane would go into business with Howard, seeing him as soft and easily manipulated. But as much as they seemed to be friends, not a tear was shed on Howard’s death. In fact, it was his opportunity to take everything he had from his undeserving son Tony. That he was the Invincible Armored Iron Man did not deter him, it simply changed the nature of the game.

Stane orchestrated several attacks on him without Tony realizing; everything from his business to superheroics to close relationships. He forces Tony back into alcoholism, causing self-destruction so big that even S.H.I.E.L.D. does his bidding to take Tony’s company away from him. It’s enough that Tony forces himself to give up the mantle of Iron Man at will. It is only due to Tony’s strongest friendship, James “Rhodey” Rhodes, that Stane did not take the entirety of Iron Man for himself as well.

Eventually, though, Tony would return to the armor, and Stane would be ready. In one final chess game, he would prepare himself as the Black King on the board, with all of his assets in support. As once Tony got through all of them, he would have a far superior armor wielded by a far superior opponent: Stane himself, the Iron Monger. And their battle would not just be one of the mech, but of the mind. At every turn, a trap; be it one of technology or a civilian or even a baby; one that Tony would need to weigh saving against the pursuit of his greatest nightmare.

Did Stane ultimately emerge victorious? Not exactly. Did Tony? Again… not exactly. Despite being the only one to walk away, Stane was the one who decided what would happen, the precision of chess rather than the uncertainty of gambling. Yet it seemed to result in the same thing, and the anguish would haunt him for years to come. Furthermore, Stane had more in store for Tony even after his own death: his company in the hands of Justin Hammer, his prior machinations to the women in Tony’s life, and even a son who would carry on much of what his father did. Along with that ever present demon in a bottle haunting Tony’s memories.

Experience

Xanatos

Across the three years Gargoyles takes place, Xanatos has participated in battles both on and off the field, whether he’s directly engaging or manipulating them with a hands off approach. He and his Steel Clan have battled the likes of Goliath and Angela, and he’s gone into combat solo while tracking Fox after she was turned into a werefox. While this is the extent of his combat experience, his intellect and strategic mind have shown that he’s capable of manipulating others into helping or trusting him whether or not they want to.

Iron Monger

Despite only appearing in three years worth of Iron Man comics and having one milestone issue’s worth of formal combat, Stane has spent all of that time and beyond preparing for the final confrontation and successfully manipulating the rest of Tony’s life along the way. He makes up for his lack of combat experience with strategic brilliance, being able to manipulate people from a distance or to their face; ranging from Tony, other heroes, supervillains, or even S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.


Skills

Xanatos

Genius Intellect and Strategist


By far, Xanatos’ most impressive attribute is his intelligence, or more aptly, his cunning. Throughout the series this man regularly comes up with extremely precise plans and strategies all to give him the advantage no matter what. Even when he fails in his main goal, he’ll still ensure that somehow, some way, there will be a silver lining that benefits him.

Just to list some examples of his strategies and manipulations:

Martial Arts


Xanatos has been known to practice martial arts in his spare time and has sparred with Goliath and Fox in the past. He’s also used it to disarm an agent with a palm strike and judo throw him.

Iron Monger

Genius Intellect and Strategist


Like any true chessmaster, Stane is an expert when it comes to thinking ahead and a ruthless businessman who will do whatever it takes for him to win. It doesn’t matter how sadistic or depraved his actions are. If it gives him a win, he’ll do it.

Even at an early age, when chess champion Bernie Devlin defeated him in the penultimate match of a school tournament, he tracked down Bernie’s dog Ruffer, slit his throat, and stuffed the corpse in his locker, leaving Bernie so traumatized and unable to concentrate that Stane easily bested him in the finale.

By the time he was out of his teens he took over his boss’s company within one month by demoralizing him with fake photos of his best friend having sex with his wife. And in his attempt to seize control of Stark Industries and ruin Tony’s life he employed the trained and surgically modified seductress Indries Moomji to seduce Tony and break up with him so he’d relapse into alcoholism. When he had no longer had a use for her, he tried to kill two birds with one stone by manipulating Rhodey into thinking she’d been kidnapped and could help Tony out of his alcoholism, leading the new Iron Man into a base filled with flamethrowers, land mines, missiles, and a hologram floor that leads to a lava pit. Shortly after this he deduced that Tony was Iron Man and that someone else had replaced him, narrowing it down to James Rhodes, Clytemnestra Erwin or Morley Erwin.

He then had the last of Tony’s funds frozen via a court order to further his alcoholism, and when Tony overcame it, Stane had his explosives expert rig a package bomb that blew up Circuits Maximus, which killed Morley Erwin and injured Clyemnestra Erwin and Rhodey, deliberately sparing Tony so he could know who defeated him and be driven back into alcoholism due to his guilt. The only reason this failed was because Stark had already pushed past the guilt by accepting his duty as Iron Man.

When it came time to face Iron Man in their final battle he began using alternative tactics where if one fails, he’ll use another and another until he wins. He deliberately targeted civilians to distract Iron Man, led him into an exploding skyscraper, placed Tony in a no-win situation where the slightest movement would fatally electrocute his closest friends, and when that failed he took a baby hostage and threatened to kill him unless Tony revealed himself. This didn’t work either, but that was mainly because the Silver Centurion was too new for him to glean any information in the heat of the moment.

Equipment

Xanatos

Exo-Frame


Whenever he has to go into battle Xanatos dons this red and black armor modeled after the gargoyle Goliath. Its frame is completely bulletproof, and the armor is equipped with multiple features.

It has a targeting system that can zoom in and check the status of his robots, use a GPS map, or track a specific target, jet boots and a jet pack for flight or slowing descents, and razor sharp claws. Its wrist-mounted particle accelerator cannon can fire a laser strong enough to tear through a bridge’s suspension cords or a sonic pulse that disables energy walls. The shoulder contains a launcher that fires a disc capable of piercing metal and electrocuting robots to the point of exploding.

Even if its armor is destroyed or damaged, Xanatos can wear the claws, jumpsuit, and jetpack under his coat and use the claws offensively.

Iron Exo-Frame


A black and gray version of the Exo-Frame armor made to counter the third race’s ruler Oberon by exploiting his species’ weakness to iron.

Gold Exo-Frame


In Marvel’s Gargoyles comic, Xanatos gained a new gold armor that gives him a direct comm line to his butler Owen, who acts as his mission control. But its most impressive feature is its headset: the Medusa Device, an eye piece that reacts to his own eye movements and fires lasers that turn anything they hit to stone. It can fire as a concentrated blast or a continuous beam.

While easily one of Xanatos’ most dangerous weapons in any continuity, he only has the Medusa Device for four pages before it’s removed, and it was stolen by Demona before she lost it by dropping it in the ocean.

Remote


On the off chance he doesn’t have them nearby, Xanatos can summon or dismiss his robot minions with the press of a button. Alternatively, he can do this with a switch.

The Steel Clan


Xanatos’ personal steel robots that are modeled after Goliath. They come with wrist-mounted particle accelerator cannons that can be rapidly fired, jet-powered flight, razor sharp wings and claws, and a targeting system that can track others by voice (0:44-0:31). While most of the time they attack using fists, claws, or wings, they can sometimes surround themselves with electricity to stun any would-be attackers.

They can also be equipped with packs of hypergolic gas. This gas is harmless on its own, but when spread across Manhattan’s upper atmosphere for 25 minutes and ignited by the clan’s self-destruction, it creates a massive explosion that sets the sky ablaze for 10 seconds. While that may sound like a one-time deal, it was so iconic for Xanatos that it became one of his powers in Disney: Sorcerer’s Arena.

Their ability to sacrifice themselves doesn’t end there. Xanatos can detonate them with a disc that will electrocute their target before they self-destruct, incapacitating them.

The Iron Clan

 

To protect his son Alexander from Oberon, Xanatos created a bulkier, upgraded version of the Steel Clan that would exploit Oberon’s weakness to iron. They share the same features as before with the only difference being their composition. According to the comics, he still uses them occasionally after season 2.


Mini Taser

Another Marvel exclusive device, Xanatos has a taser hidden in his jacket that he used to stun Demona.


Laser Rifle

Hidden in the walls of Castle Wyvern, Xanatos used this when it was invaded by a group of commandos. It can carve through solid stone to bury his target in rubble or blow up a castle’s battlement and tear through part of the castle.

Dart Gun

A gun filled with tranq darts that Xanatos has hidden in his jacket. He used it on Fox after she was transformed by the Eye of Odin, but as you can see, it didn’t really affect her.

Dart Rifle

While tracking Fox’s werefox form, Xanatos wielded a rifle filled with tranq darts. It’s also got a flashlight for a scope to brighten his surroundings

Staple Guns

Xanatos has a handgun that fires staples which clamp into the ground and restrain whoever catches them. If he wants some heavier firepower, he can use an assault rifle model that rapidly fires them.


Laser Pistol

Kept hidden in his bed frame and desk, Xanatos has occasionally used these to defend himself or deescalate situations. One was able to knock Oberon back while defending Fox and Alexander, though Oberon melted it shortly after.

Tracker

Once planted one of these on Goliath without him knowing so he could track him down later.

Trough of Acid


During his first real stab at cliche villainy, Xanatos set up a trap involving a time-delayed trough of acid that would melt Goliath and Angela

Helicopter


On occasion Xanatos has used his own personal helicopter for travel and rescuing the Manhattan clan out of a sticky situation. There’s not much else to say about it besides that it’s seemingly laser proof.


Iron Monger

Mark I Armor


Developed over several years, the Iron Monger MK-I armor was designed specifically to fight and surpass Stark’s own Iron Man Model 4. It ended up tangling with the Silver Centurion armor instead, holding its own in several areas but not surpassing it.

At over 7 feet tall and weighing over four tons, the Iron Monger armor is made of omnium steel and amplifies its user’s strength, letting him lift up to 50 tons. And like the Iron Man suits it’s based on, the Iron Monger is equipped with repulsors, particle beam emitters that fire streams of subatomic particles moving at the speed of light. Its chestpiece can fire a massive laser called the Unibeam that can vaporize metal in seconds, its jet boots can be used as an impromptu attack, and the left shoulder has an antenna that connects the suit to an external computer.

While Stane and its other wearers have never shown this, the Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe #5 says the suit is designed to be able to survive in a vacuum, whether underwater or in space, for up to two hours.

Strangely enough, even though people on Earth have taken up the Iron Monger armor, Stane still has the suit in the Underworld, though it’s never made clear if this is something he built or just some weird manifestation of his soul.

Computer


An external computer housed in a nearby building to help Stane control his armor due to his lack of experience. While it’s useful in this regard, it’s unable to handle multiple opponents at once, and if he’s fighting more than two people, it will hinder his fighting ability. He’s so dependent on this computer that if it’s destroyed, the armor will be temporarily paralyzed and leave him immobile until he can regain manual control.

Forehead Gem


Aside from being one of the main accessories in his hideous casual wear, this gem on his forehead can fire energy beams. He used this bizarre jewelry to punish his son Ezekiel for being unable to write his name in Hebrew as a child.

(Disclaimer: Morkez Marihser here. As someone who can actually read and write Hebrew, Ezekiel in Hebrew is “יחזקאל”. But given what appears to be an English capital “E” on the page that is both too large AND completely diagonal, I have no idea what the artist was trying to convey. Maybe it’s some symbol in a far more ancient language invoking how demonically ugly Obadiah’s outfit is.)


Robot Tanks


During his first head-on attack against Tony, Stane employed an army of automated tanks equipped with homing missiles and lasers capable of melting through the Model IV’s frame.

Circuits Breaker


Two machines known as the Circuits Breaker were created, flying battle tanks armed to the teeth. The first one was unmanned, and was sent to attack Stark’s then recent tech start-up, Circuits Maximus (hence the name), and kill many of its workers, thinking one of them was Iron Man at the time. (He was right, though they survived the incident.) Rhodey in the Model 4 and Tony in a back-to-basics Model 1 armor took it out.

The Circuits Breaker is equipped with air-to-surface missiles, homing rockets, thermal projectors (described by Tony as much hotter than lasers), and high maneuverability. Just by colliding with each other these missiles were able to cause a strong shock wave that temporarily stunned the Model 4 in the air. Its thermal projectors were capable of melting the Model 1 armor’s outermost coating, with Tony remarking that they would have melted him to slag if he was hit a few seconds longer before Rhodey finally destroyed it with its own parts.

Circuits Breaker Mk-II (Prototype)

 

A prototype of a second more helicopter-like Circuits Breaker was sent after Silver Centurion Iron Man by Stane as one of the earliest moves in their final battle, featuring most of the same weaponry. While able to use the missiles to easily destroy walls, the Silver Centurion armor was easily able to fire a disruptor wave to confuse the machine, absorb its thermal rays’ heat, and destroy it with brute force.


Resistances

Xanatos

Electricity:
While earlier exposure knocked him out, he and Goliath later endured electrocution long enough to remove the Eye of Odin from Fox.

Iron Monger

Extreme temperatures, radiation, energy attacks, and acid:
The Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe #5 lists the Iron Monger armor as providing monstrous protection against all of these.


Technically Stane has never shown the following resistances himself, but the armor should be comparable to past Iron Man armors.

Electricity:
Weaker Iron Man armors have protected Tony from getting hit by 100,000 volts of electricity, falling into a pool with a live wire, and was only briefly stunned after getting hit with enough electricity to fry a man.


Lasers:
Model III was unaffected by beams calibrated to melt through newer Iron Man armors and had Tony personally test its durability by firing lasers of various intensities.


Support

Xanatos

Owen Burnett


Xanatos’s butler and recurring assistant in his plans. While he seems to be nothing more than an ordinary butler, there are two things that stand out: first is his left arm, which was permanently turned into a stone fist after being dipped in the Cauldron of Life and can be used in combat. The second, bigger twist is his true identity of Puck, a trickster and one of the Children of Oberon.

As Owen, Puck joined Xanatos after becoming bored with his previous employers, the queen Titania/her human form Anastasia and her husband Renard, and based his identity off her assistant Preston Vogel (2:09-2:31). However, thanks to Oberon limiting his powers, he can only use his magic while training Xanatos’ son Alexander to harness his own magic, or to protect Alexander from harm. Being a trickster, Puck has exploited loopholes in this to still use his magic and mess with others while simultaneously training Alexander.

Coyote


A robot in gold armor designed in Xanatos’ image and based on his personality. Originally Coyote was created to mimic him and act as a decoy to manipulate the Pack, but after being destroyed, Xanatos had him repaired and occasionally dispatches him to aid in his plans.

While the first model was slim and designed to fit in with the wild animal theme of the Pack, each upgrade has made Coyote bulkier and heavier to match his new weaponry. By the latest point in the series, Xanatos is on Coyote 5.0 (until it got destroyed), but this version should possess similar (if not improved) AI and equipment to the previous versions. This would include:Coyote can still function even if his head is severed, and he possesses the same mindset as Xanatos, letting him manipulate others with his silver tongue. Previous models’ mech bodies have also retained their programming after Coyote’s head was destroyed, albeit in a more mindless state. These bodies are tough enough that Coyote can electrocute himself without any negative side effects.

While this model was later destroyed, Coyote 4.0’s body was unique since it was made after Xanatos melted and reconstructed the Cauldron of Life. The magic inherent in its iron allows Coyote to cancel out the power of any magic user as long as he holds or surrounds them.

Employees…?

…well, he has them, doesn’t he? They really don’t factor into combat. (Bringing them up for contrast…)

Iron Monger

The Chessmen


Stane has assembled several personal assassins in order to act as his Chessmen, carrying out his will and fighting his enemies at the super, corporate, and civilian level alike. These are all of his Chessmen and what they are capable of doing. (Stane as the Iron Monger is also the Chessmen’s “King” and will be omitted.)

Queen: Indries Moomji

Indries Moomji was trained by the Sisterhood as Ishtar and acts as a siren. She uses everything from cosmetic surgery to enhanced natural pheromones to make men do her bidding. Being the Queen, she was one of the most instrumental parts of Stane driving Tony to his alcoholism, and was so potent that she could not use her wiles to undo the damage she had done.

Knights: Heggs, Halward, and Thorpe

Fletcher Heggs (shown), Raleigh Howard, and Basil Thorpe were the Knights of the group, riding a mechanical antigravity horse and wielding an energy lance; provided by Stane.

Heggs and Howard operated as the Knights initially, Heggs as the Black Knight and Howard as the White Knight; however, Heggs was killed for his humiliating defeat at the hands of Tony, and would later be replaced by Thorpe as a new Black Knight who fought against both Rhodey and Tony, both under Stane’s employ and following his death. (None of them have any relationship to the Black Knights of Marvel that people typically think of, nor the even earlier Iron Man villain Dreadknight.)

Bishops: Emond and Rallison

Alban Emond (pictured) and Orrick Rallison were the Bishops of the group, and were something of techno-mages who could use a miter to manipulate opponents’ actions via a low-wave electromagnetic brain wave. They also had electro-staffs that allowed them to fly and generate high amounts of electricity. All of this technology was provided by Stane.

Emond was the one who killed Heggs for his failure to kill Tony, and gave Tony quite a lot of difficulty in fighting him because of his miter. He was only defeated after Tony realized the miter’s waves could be diffused in the presence of sheep wool and water.

Rooks: Towers and Kinlock


Sebastian Towers and Barnabus Kinlock (pictured) were two diminutive engineers who served as the Rooks, operating mind control technology that hypnotizes all present. The two are apparently connected, though whether this is by technology or just simple “contact the other one” is unclear.

Pawn: Napier Sutton

Napier Sutton, the Pawn… is just a lackey, no powers or combat to speak of. Guess someone has to do the gruntwork.

The last notable thing to mention about the Chessmen is that in 2014, in the A+X anthology series that spun out of AvX and AXIS, the penultimate issue featured a story where Iron Man (in his Model 42 armor) teamed up with Broo (a Broodling of the Brood) to face the Chessmen again. These were Bishop (Emond), Rook (Kinlock), and Knight (Thorpe). While Bishop actually managed to severely wound Stark’s armor until Broo repaired it, the technology they used was likely improved between their time in Stane’s employ and a comic published about thirty years later, and would therefore not be considered standard as part of their support for Stane.

Termite: Neil Davidson


Unrelated to Stane’s Chessmen, Neil Davidson was a sculptor who one day discovered he could dissolve whatever he touched. To fund his new dream of buying and sculpting a mountain, he became an industrial saboteur and was eventually hired to destroy the Fetison Electronics plant. With a suit of protective armor, an oxygen mask that lasts up to an hour and a touch that tears through molecular bonds, the Termite can disintegrate dirt, stone, metal, and Iron Man armors with the briefest contact. He can use this to go through walls, burrow through or underground, and completely negate fall damage.

The only problem with Termite is he explicitly isn’t a fighter and will get overpowered easily if someone comes at him with intent to kill. And after he was depowered by Forge’s anti-mutant gun, Stane tried to arrange his assassination, but he apparently survived.

Henchmen


Costumed criminals assigned to kidnap the people closest to Tony in his final scheme to break Iron Man. All of them are armed with swords and pistols, and they’re all packed inside a helicopter armed with a gun in front that shoots fireballs and a mounted machine gun stored inside


Feats

Xanatos

Overall

  • Made his own fortune thanks to time travel
  • Resurrected the Wyvern Clan into the modern day
  • Has regularly manipulated situations to benefit him even when he loses
  • Married Fox and had a son with her
  • Helped the Manhattan Clan stop Demona from permanently turning all of Manhattan to stone by setting its skies ablaze
  • Buried the hatchet with the Manhattan Clan and became their (sometimes shady and self-serving) ally
  • One of the most memorable Disney TV villains

Strength

Robots (and Owen)

Speed

Robots


Iron Monger

Overall

  • Won a chess game as a child after killing his opponent’s dog to distract him
  • Successfully tore down and ruined Tony Stark’s life to take over Stark Industries
  • Battled Iron Man in the Iron Monger armor’s first run
  • Somehow had a son that he molded to carry on his rivalry with Tony
  • Became the first villain of the MCU

Strength


Support

Speed

Durability


Support

Scaling

Xanatos

The Manhattan Clan


Xanatos and his robots have had multiple battles with the Manhattan clan and have regularly harmed, kept up with, or taken hits from them, so it stands to reason they should be at a similar level of strength and speed.

This would include Coldstone (pictured in the middle of the top row), an undead amalgamation created using Xanatos’ own technology that has been an enemy to both him and the Manhattan clan (often reluctantly). Given this, Xanatos and Coldstone’s fights with Goliath, and the Steel Clan’s ability to press him, Xanatos and his bots should scale to Coldstone as well.


Duo/Group Feats
GoliathBrooklynBroadway
Lexington

Allies and Enemies


Everyone listed here is either a recurring enemy Xanatos has harmed with his weaponry (Demona and Talon) or someone the Manhattan clan has fought multiple times (Thailog, Demona, Proteus, Xanatos’ mutates, and anyone with an animal name).

Thailog and Demona
Others

Magic Users (debatable)


While Xanatos has only had one true encounter with these magic users, he has managed to harm and defend himself against the king of the third race, Oberon. Xanatos’ laser pistol was able to harm Oberon, and he was later forced to overexert his magic when dealing with Xanatos’ tower defenses and the Iron Clan exploiting his species’ inherent weakness to iron. See “Before the Verdict” for if this scaling is legitimate.

Oberon

Others

The first and pretty much only character one might expect, Iron Man scaling is entirely fair game, provided there is a limiting factor. (We restate a lot of this in Before the Verdict, but bear with us for a moment.) That limit is the Model 4, which was Tony’s longest-running armor in history. Being inherently superior to the three models before it, those come along as well. 

The Iron Monger armor was built specifically to combat the Model 4, which both Tony and Rhodey used from Stane’s introduction all the way through the creation of the Monger. Tony donned a new suit, the Silver Centurion, to fight and defeat the Monger; which still gave him a run for his money but did not prove itself inherently superior to the Centurion. Therefore it is reasonable to presume that the Monger is more than a match for the Model 4, but nothing after it. 

Time travel stories and flashback stories do give the Model 4 and earlier more material and will be considered, but chain scaling (or any potential lack thereof) will be covered in Before the Verdict.

Model I

Model II

Model IV

Silver Centurion

Pluto (debatable)


After his death, Stane was among the many villains sent to the pits of Tartarus ruled over by the god Pluto. For some reason that’s never explained, Stane still has the Iron Monger armor in the Underworld, and after Zeus was forced to reincarnate, Pluto lost his control over the dead, with Obadiah being the first to land a blow on him in their urge to get revenge. This is their only interaction, so see “Before the Verdict” for if this scaling checks out.

Weaknesses

Xanatos


Xanatos is many things: an accomplished billionaire, a brilliant strategist, and a forward thinker, but even he isn’t without his flaws.

Without his armor, Xanatos is only as strong and durable as the average man, meaning he can be easily overpowered or knocked out by a wide variety of things. This includes debris, getting electrocuted and knocked into some boxes, getting electrocuted from his armor short circuiting, being telekinetically thrown into a merlon, or getting shot in the chest and knocked into a wall. Being a normal dude also means that he can take some time to escape ordinary traps like nets, and he’s vulnerable to magic users like Oberon and Demona freezing him solid or brainwashing him.

The armor does help alleviate the durability weakness a little, but not by much. Its wrist laser has been casually torn off by Goliath and damaged to the point of backfiring just by Bronx biting it, the chestplate and helmet have been damaged so extensively by a werefox that it would take 2-3 days to repair, and the entire armor started malfunctioning and smoking from a crash landing after Lexington kicked him,

All of his support is easily outsmarted and not too durable either. Goliath has destroyed Steel Clans by slamming them against walls or stomping on their heads (0:11), Hudson destroyed one by cutting it in half with a sword, their arms can be severed by brute force and electricity, and the Iron Clan have instantly died from being thrown against a building. Both clans also have a consistently one-track programming against aerial opponents where they fly straight ahead in pursuit of the target and won’t adjust mid-flight. This means that if their target steers out of the way at the last second, the robots will destroy themselves by crashing into their surroundings, the ground, or each other.

Coyote isn’t much better. Regardless of model, he’s easily tricked to the point he can kill himself if you get him to blindly destroy his surroundings, can be critically wounded by spears, or destroyed by punching him really hard or hitting him with a train.


Iron Monger


For as deadly and persistent Stane is as an adversary, he’s not unstoppable. Because of his lack of experience using the Iron Monger armor, he has to rely on a computer to guide his movements, and if the computer’s destroyed he’ll lose most of his control over it.

The Chessmen are not directly guided by the computer, but they are nowhere near as well armed, and their weaponry in turn is also rather simplistic. Multiple bearers of multiple Iron Man suits were able to defeat them time and time again, and only the Knights and Bishops are even combatants to begin with. The Queen is entirely useless in combat unless she is influencing Xanatos directly, and the Pawn is the most useless person discussed in this blog.

Like his opponent, without his armor, Stane is just an ordinary man, but there’s a major difference: Stane is extremely narcissistic and egotistical. He’s obsessed with winning no matter the cost, to the point of turning every social or business interaction into a competition where he either wins or dies. If he’s placed in a situation where he can’t win, he’ll kill himself to ensure his opponent won’t have the satisfaction of rubbing their victory in his face. Which, despite being on his own terms… would still be a loss.

Stane also primarily operates on long-term planning to exploit every weakness of his opponent. To his credit, he is very analytical in the moment, like any good chess player should be. But pattern recognition is something that only works if the fight prolongs itself, and having only rudimentary information on who he is facing gives him a very limited starting point.

Before the Verdict

Both

Where are Fox and Madame Masque?

Each side has a potential femme fatale that we have chosen not to include in the support staff. We will start with Janine “Fox” Renard, AKA Xanatos’ wife. She has a history with David, so where is she on the support list?

To sum Fox’s story up, she was the leader of the criminal organization, the Pack, which was orchestrated by Xanatos but not run by him. After Coyote was sent to break the Pack from prison, she chose to stay and pay her debt to society, later being married by the real Xanatos. Her affiliation to Xanatos Enterprises is, to put it as coldly as possible, as a consort rather than a formal employee or member.

The equivalent to this would be including Whitney Frost, AKA Madame Masque, as a part of Iron Monger’s forces. Masque was absolutely involved, including having her mind swapped with Stark’s other lover at the time Bethany Cabe. But this was a machination laid entirely on the side by Obadiah, an attempt to destabilize Stark in the long game rather than to actively combat Iron Man in any given moment. The mind swap was only even revealed after Stane was dead, to boot, and since then Masque has been her own villainess. (And for the record, Whitney is only Stane’s daughter in the Armored Adventures cartoon. In the comics, she is the daughter of Count Nefaria.)

Simply put, while they are both a part of the stories, we cannot count them as a part of what each would have as conscripted forces. They’re instead supervillain team-ups; one far more likely to happen in the first place, and the other hard to imagine happening at all. Thus we are considering them to be outside help.

(To be blunt, they also would not change much going forward, considering Fox would have the same physical scaling as any unarmored Xanatos without any outside mystical contributions, and Masque’s endpoint would be too hard to figure out but NOT end up at the later point in life where she grabbed an armor and fought Mary Jane “Venom” Watson to a standstill. Comics are kind of ridiculous sometimes.)

Xanatos

Does Xanatos scale to the magic users in Gargoyles?

During the two parter “The Gathering,” the king of the third race, Oberon, attempts to kidnap Xanatos’ son Alexander, which forces the Manhattan Clan and Xanatos into an alliance that leads to them eventually battling Oberon himself. Though this sounds like it could be grounds for scaling to Oberon and other members of the third race, there are a few small issues that crop up.

For starters, the only instance of Xanatos being able to harm Oberon directly was with his laser gun, but he’s quickly disarmed and his gun is destroyed. When Xanatos tries going up against him, he’s frozen solid until Oberon leaves. And during their next encounter, despite Xanatos repelling him with his tower’s defenses and the Iron Clan’s assistance, this also isn’t really enough for Xanatos to scale to Oberon or his children.

The reason for this is simple. Both of these instances required Xanatos to exploit Oberon and his children having an inherent weakness to iron, something he previously did when kidnapping the trickster god Coyote. And even though prolonged exposure to iron will eventually kill Oberon, you can’t kill him by just stabbing him with it, even in an area that should mortally wound him. All that does is weaken him, and it isn’t permanent, either.

You’d think there might be some other avenue toward scaling the main cast to magic users like the Archmage, Oberon, or his children like the Weird Sisters and Odin, but any attempts you can make are highly questionable. 


In other words, no, Xanatos doesn’t scale to any of the series’ magic users.

Wouldn’t Owen Burnett, as Puck, be able to use his powers to assist Xanatos?

Ah yes, the Brent Spiner imp. Given that his secret identity is Puck, and he’s literally part of Xanatos’ staff, would he be able to use those fae powers to fight Stane?

First off, for the rules of a typical VS debate, this would almost assuredly count as outside help. But for the sake of argument (which is what we’re here for), how about treating him like a “man in the chair” a la Bruce Wayne for Terry McGinnis, or Otacon for Solid Snake?

Simply put, this would not give Xanatos access to Puck’s powers as an ally. The strict limitation placed upon Puck by Oberon reduces him to merely Owen while in Xanatos’ service. Preferably, this fight would place both Xanatos and Stane in as self-sufficient or automated a mode as possible when it comes to their arsenal, as Owen does have his own machinations as many a fairy do. But opening up whoever in their employ to simply push a button from a desk, that is all Owen would be allowed to do by Oberon’s decree. (Granted, he is very good at the button-pushing.)

Iron Monger

Could Stane get herald scaling?

It’s a Marvel character, so you knew this question was coming in one way or another. And it’s not like there’s no reason why this’d be asked. Stane’s canonical death, Iron Man #200, was published in 1985, the same year as the original Secret Wars’ conclusion. Early Hulk and Thor could do some crazy things. And that’s to say nothing of stories like Ultron Forever, where Rhodey (taking the Iron Man mantle for two years prior) was brought along to team up with 2015 Vision and Black Widow, 1987 Thor, 2016 Jane Foster Thor, 1963 Hulk, and future Danielle Cage Captain America to fight All-Father Ultron.

Let’s investigate. When fighting Stane, Tony has just debuted the Silver Centurion armor. This armor is considered directly superior to the Model 4, Tony’s longest-running armor overall, but to what degree is not clear. Rhodey used the Mark 4 during his tenure as Iron Man, for the prior two years as well as Ultron Forever. The Iron Monger is not shown to be inherently superior to the Silver Centurion, as Stane keeps Tony on the backfoot through traps and tactics. It is likely on even footing with the Mark 4 if not superior, as Stane had prepared it specifically to face Tony with that armor in mind. So the Mark 4 is our focus.

During Ultron Forever, this Rhodey is among many to attack the heroic Doombot (from Avengers A.I. and Runaways) who is not resisting, and seems relatively unharmed. His Unibeam takes out a couple of future Ultron drones out with a surprise attack, though he’s downed by a more advanced Ultron Avenger Hawkeye.

He then takes out the Captain America Ultron Avenger, mainly because his armor is too old-school to be hacked so he gets to unibeam him in the face, using that surprise to take out the Hawkeye as well. He is able to fly through Vision, disrupting his phase with another future Vision, and fly away in a rush with the main Vision. More guard drones go down with ease, and when teleported away by Doombot to another time, he finds most of the future Asgard trapped in a mirror where speech is reversed, using his armor to decode and communicate within. Noticing that light gets through, he creates a high intensity laser that Beta Ray Bill is able to absorb with Stormbreaker in order to empower himself enough to break free. (Bill comments his hammer can drink the energies of the stars.) All this, and come the big battle with at least one blast that partially damages one of Doombot’s airships, he’s down to 15% before the team goes to Doombot and resolves this situation peacefully.

In other words, he never interacts with All-Father Ultron, nor does he interact in combat with Doombot taking his powers. At best, one can say he is able to destroy future Ultron drones with a powerful repulsor blast, though it is power consuming and has relied more than once on the element of surprise.

So how does that translate back to Stane?

From what we already explained, it’s clear the Model IV, and by extension Stane, could scale to things like Doombots and Ultron drones, but it would be with high difficulty. 

However, Stane does have a weird post mortem feat where he punches Hades/Pluto in the Underworld while in the Iron Monger armor, the same god who in the classic Marvel days could defeat Hela and Thor, knock out Hercules, and harm Ghost Rider. Since even the early Iron Man models could contend with some of Marvel’s heavy hitters, as weird as it is to say, you could argue this one showing is sort of consistent for Stane’s scaling.

Does this mean that the Iron Monger, the guy with only one fight to his name, gets universal or multiversal scaling? Absolutely! All he has to do is die in order to get it. And so does Xanatos. And they have to go to the same afterlife, naturally. (For those without the ability to decode sarcasm, we'll only be scaling Stane, the Iron Monger, and the Iron Man models to more casual herald feats done while the wielders are alive. That seems much more reasonable.)

Verdict

(yes, both images are official)


To figure this out, we’ll be dividing it into five categories: speed, strength, equipment, support, and strategy.

Speed

Living in an age of marvels means you need to be fast to not lose a limb or worse. With or without the armors. This category, however, is not so clear cut. Speed comes in many different forms, and both have certain advantages.

For firing speed, their weapons come out close to even since both are described as using particle beams, though Iron Monger barely edges out with the speed of light repulsor statement, which would make the difference 90% the speed of light vs full-on light speed. At this point, it hardly even matters.

For movement speed, Xanatos does not give us enough to go with, and there aren’t exactly any characters in Gargoyles known for their crazy, non-mystical feats of agility that Xanatos would scale to. Compare this to Stane, who actually has the bare minimum, being able to fly away from a pursuing Iron Man. As well as the various flight speed feats of the preceding Iron Man armors. This would give him a range of 275 mph for the Iron Monger suit to feats that would most likely be over the speed of sound with Iron Man scaling versus Xanatos’... we don’t have anything concrete. Giving Stane the edge in movement.

The reverse can be stated for reaction speed, though, where Goliath, Broadway, and Hudson dodging or deflecting shots from particle accelerator cannons gives Xanatos potential relativistic calcs. What can possibly be argued as a scaling to Doombots and Ultron Drones though, is far shakier. The most Rhodey did in the Model 4, speed-wise, is fly away from them before they could pursue, which they hardly needed to do as more were waiting for him. And if we were to consider other characters in the early Marvel years, the scaling gets really shaky and unreliable when trying to transfer them to the Monger. Therefore, Xanatos’ reaction speed is far more reliable for our purposes.

With Stane having two kinds of speed which he takes a slight lead, and Xanatos having a potential notable lead in a third provided we don’t use too much chain scaling for Stane, the speed category is best declared inconclusive. The specific examples will be called upon in order to solve other categories if need be, and one could argue Xanatos’ speed would be more useful if we could put more of a pin in it. But striking first would need to be paired with striking harder and smarter. So, on to the next categories.

Strength

In terms of the raw power afforded to their main armors, Xanatos is fighting one of the most uphill battles we’ve seen. On his own he has some pretty grounded feats like crushing a pistol, kicking through merlons, and blowing through walls with his wrist gun, and scaling makes it… a bit better. Since he’s able to fight Goliath on even ground, we can easily scale Xanatos to Goliath and the Manhattan clan, who have multiple feats that would consistently place them at wall level, but their best feat would be Goliath shrugging off Coldstone’s laser hitting him in the chest. This same laser blasted through a metal door earlier that same episode, which comes out to 0.18 tons of TNT. Since this gun is made from Xanatos’ tech and he has similar models in his armor, Xanatos by extension would also be small building level.

But that can’t be it, right? Surely Gargoyles can get higher! And you’d be right! There are higher feats in the series that get 11 to 20 tons of TNT, 206 kilotons, and over 2 megatons… but as we already explained, they all come from magic users, amps from artifacts nobody scales to, or both.

The only feat of those three that you could possibly argue scaling to the cast is Oberon’s 206 kiloton storm feat, and we already explained the problems with that. Even if you want to argue Xanatos somehow downscaling because he was hurting Oberon with his species’ equivalent of Kryptonite, this is barely an improvement. It’s still outclassed thousands or even billions of times by weaker Iron Man suits than what Stane’s fought, and with that same leeway we could argue Stane scaling to classic herald feats. That would leave us with a minimum of nearly 87 yottatons of TNT, or over 420 quintillion times stronger! Big surprise, but the magical god weak to iron falls short against an Iron Man.

Or in other words, the Monger is stronger.

Equipment

Besides their primary armors, both do have equipment they utilize in battle from a distance, or is operated by their support systems. (The support will be judged separately.)

Firstly, the non-armor equipment. Xanatos having handheld weapons would be useful in a 1v1 scenario, but for the most part they are entirely useless against Stane’s weapons and would only really be good against his support. Even the trough of acid would be a nuisance at most since the Iron Monger suit has a high ranking of protection against acid in the tabletop RPG. And that’s putting aside how Stark’s armors already resisted acid to that point. The tracking device could have its uses, but would need to be followed up with more effective damage.

As far as vehicles go, one laser-resistant/proof helicopter does not mean much against either version of the Circuits Breaker, which uses thermal rays directly stated by Tony to be far hotter than lasers and can slag the Model 1 in less than a minute. Not to mention that unlike the helicopter, they are armed with far more weapons that are strong enough to stun the Model 4, and that’s simply from the missiles hitting each other close to him, rather than making direct impact. Stane’s drones are superior to anything Xanatos has that can fly…

…but does that include the Exo-Frames? Xanatos’ own armor is certainly more versatile than the Iron Monger, though it’s more suited to facing gargoyles and other organic threats, mutations and cyborgs included, than fully armored foes. This is where the Steel/Iron Clan comes in with sheer numbers. As discussed above, Stane is way beyond Xanatos and his clan in terms of raw firepower, but not only do they have better reactions, the clan provides a strength in numbers that could really mess with Stane.

Remember, Obadiah has to use a computer to help compensate for his lack of direct combat experience, and that computer can be overwhelmed if he’s in a fight against multiple opponents. The RPG book that establishes this says that in the presence of more than two opponents, his fighting ability, agility, and intuition (basically his wits and battle reflexes) will go down. 

The problem is that when it comes down to it, whether Xanatos deploys the Steel Clan or the bulkier Iron Clan, none of them really have the firepower to take down the Iron Monger. The razor sharp claws, the particle accelerator wrist guns, the electric discharge, all of it is something that basic, weaker armors have put up with and worse.

Meanwhile, Stane’s got an arsenal of robotic tanks and both Circuits Breakers to unleash a devastation of missiles and thermal rays. And it’s only made worse with how fragile both clans are. These things have died from smacking into walls, buildings, and hitting the ground too hard. The shock waves from the Circuit Breakers’ missiles could probably clear through them.

Though there is one thing Xanatos has that would be a massive game changer: the Medusa Device. Except… does he have it? The canonicity of the comic it came from is difficult to consider, it would take an extended opening for him to don the device even so, and the Bishops could either fry the device or attempt to fry the brains of the one using it. So even if it would be a potential wincon, its inclusion and its success rate are unreliable.

All of this means that Obadiah is far better armed and equipped for battle than Xanatos. Counting only the reliable ones, this category is not even close.

Support

Neither combatant would be foolish enough to come to a fight without at least some form of backup or support to orchestrate things along. That said, in terms of those who would aid in any combat scenario, even against the other, we can’t include the entirety of their corporate staff, simply the highlights.

For Xanatos, this would be mainly two things: the most up-to-date Coyote android, and Owen Mercer. For Stane, this would include his henchmen, the Termite, and the Chessmen: his Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights, and a Pawn.

This immediately puts Stane at a numbers advantage, as even with the latest Coyote model having an overwhelming size and possible backing from the Steel Clan, Xanatos’ men are outnumbered both by the regular grunts and team players. But you can bring an army of ants to a flamethrower, and the flamethrower will still win. (“My turn.”) So does that logic apply here?

Starting with the basic grunts, uh… yeah. Xanatos’ regular employees are going to get manhandled by the masked criminals sporting swords, guns, and a helicopter with even bigger guns. Xanatos better provide good life insurance…

Far as the ones that we should probably be focusing on more, Owen is a more competent human than most. He’s also just… human since he isn’t allowed to be Puck. This means his skills are ill-defined at worst and “I spend time with my boss” at best. Admittedly, his stone fist and sparring with Xanatos do give him an edge in direct combat (heck, Owen even beat David once) which is far more than you can say for the Chessmen’s Pawn and Queen. The former legit has nothing and the latter is more focused on toying with emotions and manipulating men than physical combat. And whether she’d succeed at manipulating Owen is far too specific an event to discuss, though a better utilization of her than literally anything else Stane could order her to do.

The other Chessmen flip this entirely, being good enough combatants (when well-placed by Stane) to threaten even Iron Man. Hell, in 2014, three of them even came back to menace Iron Man in the post-AvX era… well, him and Broo. (It didn’t last long, but Bishop still depleted the power of the Iron Man Mark 42 armor, and Stark even required outside help to restart his suit. But as the tech may have been upgraded long since Stane’s death, we can’t use that here.) The Rooks work on disrupting minds, and the Knights have too much solid force. Either one overwhelms Owen.

But then you have the Coyote, which may flip that back on its head yet again, being a robot copy of Xanatos immune to anything the Queen or Rooks could do and pretty much always dressed in one of Xanatos’ spare armors. Though as discussed above, being able to threaten any known Iron Man places them above even the strongest of Xanatos’ arsenal, so Coyote’s utility is more of a question of strategy, covered presently.

But in truth, we can set the Rooks and Knights mostly aside, making way for the true MVPs of Stane’s support: the Bishops.

These guys have just the right gear needed to truly tip the scales in the Iron Monger’s favor. Their electrified staves can easily damage Coyote, the Exo-Frame, and all of Xanatos’ drones, if not completely disable them considering what they’ve done to the more advanced Iron Man armors. And thanks to the miters, it’s going to be insanely difficult for Xanatos to so much as keep a steady aim on Stane or his men. And it’s unlikely Xanatos is going to come across any sheep wool or water to cancel it out considering there aren’t that many sheep in Manhattan last I checked.

Oh, and we suppose Termite is there too. Technically, you could make the argument that he’d also be a game changer with the whole molecular bond tearing, but he’s a complete pushover physically. Coyote can take him out, or something.

For hiring more people who like to kill, and for actually giving them weapons capable of damaging a superhero, Obadiah takes support very solidly.

Strategy

For two chessmasters like this, the most important category to cover is absolutely strategy. All the aspects of the above are simply pieces on a board, tools to utilize in the proper manner. This also folds in aspects like skill, which in its various forms would likely end up simply means of executing the former when the chips are down.

Let’s get straight to their mindsets. When it comes to their strategies, Xanatos and Stane like to play the long con when manipulating others, but they go about it in the exact opposite ways. Xanatos’ actions seem much more lax, prioritizing biding his time to further his goals over causing physical or emotional harm to others. And even if he doesn’t succeed in his main goal, he’s still set up events in a way where he can get something out of them in the long run. This is the exact opposite for Stane, whose moves are far more ruthless with the intent of humiliating or demoralizing the competition, and if they don’t work, he views it as a complete failure and moves onto a different strategy.

This difference can be seen with the few times where they actually had to rely on their strategies during a fight. Xanatos’ scheme against Oberon was to trick him into overexerting himself by attacking with iron weapons, but Stane’s fight against Tony had more direct actions, targeting civilians, tricking him into entering locations that could cause physical damage (the exploding skyscraper) or emotional stress (the stasis trap with his friends), and going as far as to threaten a baby to get Stark to do what he wanted. He did fail with each of these plans, but it still shows that Stane is more likely to get his hands dirty.

(Not to say Stane never plays the long game, far from it, but the long game he plays is entirely different from the actions we typically see of him, and his anger at the short-term failures is absolute.)

But what does this mean about their active strategies in a no-prep-time setting like this? Well, while Xanatos has certainly had more victories, he also knew his opponent in advance. And while Stane’s only fight was a loss, he still drove Tony with far superior armor to his strategic limits until recognizing when he was done. This is technically a showcase that Obadiah had more to worry about against an opponent he was physically unprepared for and still managed to keep up, while Xanatos cannot say the same, having to lick his wounds for a later fight. Which is not an option that this setting, let alone Monger’s support team, would allow.

Backed up by all that, Stane’s strategic style is more likely to bear immediate fruit, though it should also be noted that if Xanatos ever does back Stane into a corner, harakiri is not entirely off the table. But that requires us to assume possibilities within possibilities. The far likelier event is that Xanatos simply cannot get away from everything Stane has.

But take all of their support and arsenals away for the sake of argument. Without the armor, what is Stane? Well, uh… genius is mostly apt… billionaire is correct… playboy, we hope not… and philanthropist is doubtful. While Xanatos is… well, about the same, but there’s just something about Jonathan Frakes being a playboy that’s more believable than Jeff Bridges.

But to be real, Xanatos has more to be said when he isn’t wearing his suit. For as ruthless as Stane is, he’s also a bit too stubborn to get into the fight himself with anything less than his full armor. And while he did likely practice many different scenarios, defeating Iron Man is rarely a case of using martial arts, and he only ever engaged in physical combat the one time that we can confirm. Xanatos, on the other hand, has performed judo throws and trained with Fox aplenty, so David’s superior martial arts are a decent last resort. Of course, with a fight like this, that will only matter against the weaker of the Chessmen. Even Termite is likely to get a one-up on an unarmored Xanatos, provided Stane puts him in the right position. (And we really cannot count the time Stane punched Pluto for this. As funny as that would be.)

Overall, even if David is more accomplished, Obadiah’s options and style are too overwhelming in an even setting. It’s not a guarantee, no chess game ever is, but the Black King Monger will lead Xanatos to checkmate more often than not.

(A side note, but with even basic knowledge osmosis provided by a world where the two existed long enough to choose to fight one another, David’s son Alexander would absolutely be targeted for kidnapping and used as a meat shield much like the baby Iron Monger threatened just before Stark beat him. Though, this would likely bring Fox into the fray; and as discussed in Before the Verdict, Fox is not considered a member of Xanatos’ forces.)

Conclusion

Xanatos

“Nothing terrifies me because nothing is beyond my ability to change.”

Advantages:
  • Better reaction speed
  • Similar weapon speed, possibly slower but close enough
  • The Steel and Iron clans could potentially overwhelm the Iron Monger armor’s computer control…
  • Coyote is the most useful support unit…
  • Could potentially turn Stane to stone with the Medusa Device…
  • Had a kid who did NOT turn into a psycho... yet
  • Jonathan Frakes

Disadvantages:
  • …But they lack any way of harming it, are too fragile to survive its attacks, and heavily outnumbered by Stane’s support
  • …were it not entirely vulnerable to Bishops and overpowered by Knights
  • …But it’s too situational and countered by the Bishops’ weapons
    • …if it’s even canon to begin with
  • Lacks any showings of travel speed
  • Utterly outclassed in AP and raw firepower
  • All of his weapons and robots are countered hard by the Bishops
  • Completely lacking in any notable travel speed feats
  • Despite being the more accomplished strategist, he is nowhere NEAR prepared for how ruthless Stane is
  • Is completely sidelined after season 2 in both continuities

Iron Monger

“Do you hear that sound? That is the sound of your legacy grinding into dust.”

Advantages:
  • Way better movement speed by virtue of actually having anything
  • Similar weapon speed, possibly faster by a slight margin
  • Completely wipes the floor with Xanatos in AP
  • Armor resists almost everything in Xanatos’ arsenal, and the only thing it doesn’t is non-standard
  • Armor and Circuits Breaker have enough firepower to destroy Xanatos and his robots
  • Even if Xanatos’ numbers overwhelm his armor’s computer, they’re too weak to exploit it and Stane’s own numbers are greater
  • The Bishops are completely broken against guys that only rely on tech
  • The Knights are stronger than Xanatos and the Clans
  • His ruthlessness is something Xanatos has never dealt with

Disadvantages:
  • Worse reaction speed
  • Pawn is entirely useless
  • Queen, Rooks, and Termite are likely also to be completely useless (except against Owen or an unarmored Xanatos)
  • No combat skills to speak of himself…
    • …if he’s even needed outside the armor
  • His pre-takeover clothes are hideous
  • Jeff Bridges (kidding, KIDDING, but…man, what a downgrade from the comic)
  • His son showed up in Ironheart and was the villain of Rise of Technovore
    • We don’t know which version is worse

The consistent human villain of a beloved franchise VS a Marvel guy most famous for killing himself at the end of his first fight should not be this close, but it really was a tough fight for us to figure out. In the end though, while Xanatos may have had superior speed and everything outside the armor going in his favor, this is not a gentleman’s duel. Stane Industries produced too much support, too much firepower, and overall far too many options for David to overcome when using their resources against one another. Xanatos is simply nowhere near equipped enough to keep up with Stane. Unlike his canonical death, Iron Monger would absolutely be able to beat this billionaire gamesman in red and silver more successfully than he did Tony Stark. He simply has too many gambits to play and enough sheer might off the assembly line to back it all up.

Black Bishop takes Iron Gargoyle. Check and Mate. And now David is Xana-toast, bothering Obadiah no Monger.

The winner is the Iron Monger.




Special thanks to Morkez Marihser and Stationsearcher for their aid in researching this blog. Thanks to Studio for helping with scaling images. Thanks to Morkez again for coming up with the matchup and solving the verdict.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morrigan Aensland vs Arcueid Brunestud (Darkstalkers vs Tsukihime)

Image
(Br3ndan5)   (T0m)     (T0m)   (Kaiser)   (Kaiser) (Scarat)     (Hilda)       (Mikha’el/Migue79)   (Minato) Morrigan Aensland , the Queen of the Night from Darkstalkers . Arcueid Brunestud , the Moon Princess from Tsukihime . The bloodline of a royal family is a special one. It means that every successor is destined for greatness, as well as a massive responsibility to uphold, whether human or supernatural. But for these two, they care not for such massive undertakings and are more interested in the pleasures their worlds have to offer. However, should the situation call for it, these two powerful beings of royalty are more than ready to combat the most threatening of evils in the name of their families. When these two all-powerful demonic heroines clash, only one of them will be left standing in a DEATH BATTLE! Before we begin For Morrigan, most Darkstalkers related material will be focused on here. Games, manga, the UDO...
Read more

Venom vs Jackie Estacado (Marvel vs The Darkness)

Image
(Br3ndan5)   (Sentinel_Devil)  (Lod) Venom , the King in Black. Jackie Estacado , the host of The Darkness. Light and dark. Black and white. Yin and Yang. Whatever you call them, they’re direct opposites, and their existence together creates balance. But what happens when one tries to tip the balance? The lines between both sides start to blur, and a man that was once the worst scum of the earth can strive to do good, even when their powers come from the darkness itself! When it comes down to it, these two anti-heroes will do whatever it takes to protect their families, even if it means using their dark powers against the very beings responsible for them! But in a battle between two wielders of darkness, only one can have their light snuffed out! Will the King in Black be dethroned, or will darkness fall upon Jackie Estacado? Let’s dive headfirst into the dark as we find out who would win a DEATH BATTLE! Before We Begin For this blog, we’ll be analyzing the feats and abilitie...
Read more

Ragna the Bloodedge vs Velvet Crowe (Blazblue vs Tales of Berseria)

Image
(Br3ndan5) (Scarat) (NathanTheManTheMHFan) Ragna the Bloodedge , the Grim Reaper from Blazblue ! Velvet Crowe , the Lord of Calamity from Tales of Berseria ! Vengeance can drive one to do many things and commit to any extreme to satisfy their grudge. And nobody knows it better than these two. With the loss of their arm and the mysterious disappearance of their siblings, these two have ventured the world on a quest for vengeance against the one man that ruined their lives. But what happens when these two harbingers of destruction cross paths? Will the Grim Reaper claim another victim, or will the Lord of Calamity devour yet another monster? Let’s find out as we dive deep into both series to determine who would win a DEATH BATTLE! Before we begin Given Blazblue’s status as a multimedia franchise with multiple canon games, manga, and novels, for the sake of making things fair, we’ll also be including any feats or abilities found in the spin-offs and adaptations for Tales of Berseria. This...
Read more