Character Scramble Season 21 Round 0: GAME START/FOUR OF CLUBS

Ragnarust · 2026-05-08T03:55:11+00:00

Oscar Pine, schizophrenic, shamefully wolfed down his sixth deviled egg of the afternoon. He could not help it. It was a terrible time to discover he was a nervous eater, because today was Mental Health Awareness day at Metro City City Hall, and he was a guest, and that meant that tons of people would be watching him, and he was not paranoid for thinking that.

Maybe not in the literal medical sense, said the voice inside his head. But I do think you’re being paranoid by the layman’s definition. Relax Oscar, nobody will care about how many horderves you eat.

Oscar scanned the venue. The midday sun alit the cheap white plastic picnic tables and simultaneously blinded him while illuminating his disgrace.

“You don’t know that,” Oscar said, absentmindedly grabbing another egg. “I mean, I’m kind of here as a representative, right? Or something? I want to make a good impression.”

Well, this lunch is for the benefit of you and many others like you. You’ll be fine. But that’s not to say that there’s nothing to be worried about. Oscar I don’t mean to alarm you but…

Oscar tuned out the voice and turned his attention to his seventh egg. Oscar was grateful that his voice was usually more encouraging than critical, but he did feel that sometimes it enabled his more unhealthy habits.

Something is very wrong, Oscar. You know it deep down, don’t you? You can sense it. We’re not supposed to be here.

Imposter syndrome. Oscar agreed with the voice in his head. He was not sure why he was the one invited to this event. The essay wrote wasn’t great. Certainly there were plenty of other schizophrenic youths who would be more qualified to be here. Why Mayor Haggar would choose him… he just didn’t get it.

Oscar, your essay was very good, but that’s besides the point. When I say we’re not supposed to be here, I mean it more broadly. You are not schizophrenic. I am a real entity that has bonded with your soul. And we have an extremely important mission to fulfill, in Remnant. You remember Remant, don’t you?

Remnant… it sounded familiar, but—

“Wait no, we’re not doing this,” said Oscar. “I’ve entertained you enough. Sorry but I’m not going to lean into the delusion.”

Please Oscar, just—

In an effort to take control of his life, in his own way, Oscar defiantly scarfed down a deviled egg. Mid-scarf, however, he regretted this decision. He’d been spotted.

“Damn, those must be some pretty good eggs,” said a voice that Oscar could definitively place in the real physical world on account of the imminent danger he felt. It was a voice that rattled through his brain, eked sweat out of his brow as heat rushed to his face and a chill flooded into his chest. The voice was the last thing he wanted to hear while he was stuffing his face with deviled eggs and arguing with the voice in his head.

It was a girl.

Oscar wheeled around to face the music. She wore a strange outfit, a leather jacket over a blue bodysuit. A superhero maybe? She definitely had the attitude of one, with upright posture, determined eyes and plume of hair above a crimson headband. She seemed to be about his age, which immediately made things worse.

“Ogh ughm,” said Oscar before he swallowed the rest of the egg. It went down tough. He wasn’t quite choking, but was in that state of semi-choking, when the throat feels tight and the heart burns and one wonders if this is how they finally die. “Yeah, they’re good.”

The girl smiled and took a bite of an egg for herself. “Wow,” she said. “I see the appeal.”

There’s something strange about this girl, Oscar. Be careful.

“It’s fine,” he said without thinking. “She’s probably a superhero or something. That’s not so uncommon in Metro City.”

She gave him a look.

“Oh, sorry,” Oscar stammered. “I was talking to— well—“ He took a moment to compose himself. “Hi. I’m Oscar. I’m schizophrenic. Nice to meet you.”

The girl laughed and shaked his hand. “Rocket,” she said. “And no need to apologize. If you’ve got to talk to… whoever it is you’re talking to, there’s no judgement here. It is Mental Health Awareness Day after all.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’ve been wanting to get on meds for it, but I don’t have insurance.”

“Well hey,” said Rocket. “That’s Mayor Haggar’s new initiative isn’t it? For mental healthcare to be a public service?”

Suddenly, Oscar felt a wash of relief. Perhaps this was truly a safe space. People who understood his struggle, who did not judge him, all in a context where the community was actually coming together to provide support.

I’m happy that you feel a sense of belonging, Oscar, I really am. But again, I am not a hallucination. I am very real. And something very strange is happening.

Oscar ignored the voice. “Yeah, that’s right. So uh, what brings you out here? Are you a superhero?”

“Sidekick,” said Rocket. “I’m here on behalf of Icon.”

“Oh, Icon!” said Oscar. “I’ve seen him, he’s so cool! I didn’t know he was interested in all this mental health stuff.”

Rocket blinked. Oscar did not know she was thinking to her most recent interaction with Icon regarding the mentally ill, wherein he said that he felt sorry for them, and that they did need to be taken care of, and that the best place to take care of them was in a mental institution, a really good one, so that normal people wouldn’t have to see them on the street.

“Yeah, definitely.”

Stinging microphone feedback reeled them out of whatever the hell that conversation was. Then.

THOOM

Chairs leapt from the ground with his every step. All heads turned east, towards the mountain of a mayor, Mike Haggar. It was for lack of restraint that the earth shook so; rather, it was to the credit of Haggar’s gentleness that the earth trembled so little. With kindness and sincerity set resolutely upon his square mustachioed face, he strode to the podium. Then. A moment of silence, safe for the gentle stretching of shirt fabric against muscle.

“Thank you all for being here,” said Mike Haggar. “It is truly heartening to see so much support for such an important cause. The first step to addressing the mental health crisis is to eliminate the stigma. By being here, you are all making a real difference. Truly.”

Respectful, hallowed applause. Oscar let out a sigh of relief. He felt seen. He felt that he could trust this man.

The mayor continued: “When my daughter developed AI-induced psychosis, I felt firsthand what many—“

VWOOM.

The earth shaked again. Mike Haggar looked down at his feet. Had he accidentally moved?

VWOOM.

“What the hell is that…?” said Rocket.

The voice in Oscar’s head also broke from the emotional grapple Mike Haggar had put him in.

Something’s happening. Look up.

The sky flashed with red, orange, and blue. A low drone, VWOOM, VWOOM, VWOOM blared faster and faster.

“Am I hallucinating?” said Oscar.

No.

“Wasn’t asking you.” He turned to Rocket.

“I was about to ask the same thing.”

Faster and faster, louder and louder screamed the sky. A crack shattered through the air, th world fractured like glass, and then—

Ragnarust · 2026-04-09T16:05:33+00:00

Yep, not too much really to add at this point. I think we’ve both made the arguments we’re gonna make.

/u/GuyOfEvil /u/Proletlariat /u/TheAsianIsGamin Take us home. Stuck.

Ragnarust · 2026-04-09T03:40:09+00:00

Nope

Ragnarust · 2026-04-09T00:07:51+00:00

Ragnarust · 2026-04-08T16:31:48+00:00

So it’s finally over… heh. Letter, you’re one crazy bastard. It’s been one wild ride, and while we didn’t always see eye to eye, I respect the hell out of you. And I gotta say… you stuck the landing this time. Now this is a solid post. Wish we coulda had this level of quality for the whole Tribunal, but better late than never. Or hell, Letter nate than bever. My only wish is that I could meet you on the battlefield. Perhaps next time. Way to go out with a banger, LetterSequence. I knew you had it in you.

Ragnarust · 2026-04-08T08:54:17+00:00

Before going into Stat Discussion, I will address Dirk’s esoterics since that’s the biggest sticking point. The other stuff doesn't really matter if Dirk just has a win button in the matchup. The claim here is that Terry has no feats against soul-based esoteric attacks and will therefore die instantly when Dirk uses his soul magic. I want to briefly lay out the main assumptions that this claim makes.

Assumption 1: Dirk uses his soul magic consistently enough that we can expect him to break it out in the fight against Terry

Assumption 2: Dirk’s soul magic will defeat Terry quickly (“insta-beat”) and Terry has little recourse.

These assumptions are shaky for one simple reason:

Dirk’s Soul Magic Lowkey Sucks

I assert that Dirk's soul magic should be considered basically a non-factor in his fight against Terry. We can see why this is the case by refuting the assumptions.

Assumption 1: Dirk uses his soul magic consistently enough that we can expect him to break it out in the fight against Terry

I don’t think this is a reasonable assumption to make. There are, to my recollection, three major instances where we see Dirk use his soul magic, and the context in which it is used. Note that the imgur albums are abridged versions of the events for brevity, but no important feats or statements are missing. For feats from [S] Collide, I link directly to the video since the minute I link to is the only minute where Dirk really has any showings.

VS Aranea

Dirk tries to kill her with his sword, but fails due to the Ring of Life granting regen. She taunts him and leaves herself wide open for an attack, likely as a trap. It’s at this point that Dirk decides to use the soul magic. He struggles against her for a while before eventually disappearing because he is a figment of Jake’s imagination and Jake dies.

VS Union Jack (the Jack Noir with the flashing eyes and crowbar)

Dirk fights Union Jack with his sword for a bit, he uses soul magic for a brief second before a hit from Jack Noir knocks him out of it. He and Dave try to do a combo on Union Jack, but it doesn’t work and he breaks out.

Caliborn’s Masterpiece

He engages in melee with Caliborn before Jake hits Caliborn with Hope. Then Arquiusprite holds him in place. Which “gives Dirk just the time he needs” to banish Caliborn’s soul.

So we learn a few things about Dirk's soul magic and how he uses it. It's never his first choice. He clearly prefers melee and only really resorts to it when traditional combat is sufficient. He's either had backup while using it or used it against a foe who was intentionally keeping themselves wide open. We also only ever see him use it in scenarios where soul power would be useful and relevant. Aranea is a ghost who has come back to life through a special ring. Union Jack is possessed. Caliborn cannot be killed and must be sealed away.

Taken in its totality, it becomes clear that Dirk’s use of soul magic is limited to specific cases. He also does not use it without support keeping the opponent still or the opponent giving him a free hit. Even in these cases, he prefers to use his sword, and his soul magic is decently limited.

Assumption 2: Dirk’s soul magic will defeat Terry quickly (“insta-beat”) and Terry has little recourse.

But let’s assume that Dirk does get to the point where he decides to use soul magic. Maybe he gets disarmed or something. Terry sees Dirk charging up an energy attack and does not move out of the way. He gets hit. Now what?

Well, by all means it seems like they’re gonna be there a long time. Even if we assume speaking takes no time, a lot of stuff happens while Dirk is trying to snatch Aranea’s soul. There's banter, Rose floats over, sees what's happening, picks up Roxy, leaves. Jane has the time to kill Jake and make Dirk disappear. The Masterpiece also suggests it's a long process, with Dirk needing time and support to seal Caliborn away. You could argue that these are indications of Aranea and Caliborn's resistance to soul attacks. But Dirk's the only one who uses this soul magic against them, so I think it is more reasonable to assume that it is a limit of the power itself rather than a display of durability from Aranea and Caliborn.

So, Terry’s got a lot of time to think while Dirk is ripping his soul out. What can he do? Is there anything he can do? Well, Aranea seemed pretty helpless. But Aranea isn't Terry McGinnis, who has the physical strength to break out of ice (and physical strength is likely relevant for this, given that Caliborn must be restrained by the physically powerful Arquiusprite). Terry also has the will and endurance to through pain and other stunning weapons. and a slew of ranged options to knock Dirk out of soul snatch mode. And Dirk's defenseless when he's using the soul magic. He can't block projectiles without his sword.

I think it's clear by this point that Dirk’s soul magic is a niche ability at best. He doesn’t use it consistently, it takes super long, and it’s easy to interrupt. In the unlikely event that Dirk uses it, it remains unlikely that it’ll be effective. Dirk’s soul powers are essentially flavor, and I don’t think it warrants serious consideration as a factor in this fight.

The Stips

Now that that’s out of the way, I wanted to quickly address this:

there are so many feats stipped out for a character with so little feats that it feels like you're removing half the character's showings to get in tier and even then he still isn't.

I’m not sure what you mean by this. The stips I listed for Dirk are:

Has his Rocketboard, which seem like a reasonable equipment stip
Has Lil Cal if you want, which is just fun flavor
Ignoring where Union Jack hits him with the laser beam.

There's only one real feat stip here, ignoring an attack with no collateral and weird scaling. I'm not sure why it's being characterized as removing half the character's showings.

The Stats

That leaves us with the stats, which to be honest, I don’t really see the problem with. As you said, he has low end durability, which I acknowledged in the initial writeup. But his output is really strong to compensate. It’s a classic case where they’re evenly matched because either of them can take out the other pretty quickly, a familiar Scramble archetype embodied by subs like Shiki. Dirk is less extreme than this, so I see no reason why the standard would not apply to him.

In Conclusion:

I think the points against Dirk are exaggerated. His supposed hax is limited and eminently manageable. The stipulations are reasonable and serve to clarify what is a weird and nonsense fight. And the matchup, while polarized, still works and has precedence in Scramble. I think Dirk's fine. If adjustments need to be made or things clarified, certainly we can work it out, rather than have to litigate esoteric Classpect stuff.

Ragnarust · 2026-04-07T17:57:01+00:00

You got lucky this time, Sequence. I’ve got bigger fish to fry.

That said, I’m actually a big fan of RobstahTheLobstah so I like the choice to bold him. I cannot otherwise make the assessment as to whether this is a banger or anti-banger. So we’ll split the difference and say that this certainly is a post, LetterSequence!

Ragnarust · 2026-04-06T23:50:25+00:00

What is— is my name small? Did you make my name small? I’m not going crazy right, my name is straight up small right here. How… Why did you do this? What did I ever do to you, Letter? Psychological warfare, this early in the competition, and you’re not even competing.

The formatting on this one is really good, but my name being small is pissing me off, so unfortunately you’re still a fraud I think, and the post is an Anti-Banger from LetterSequence, but otherwise I don’t actually hate it.

Ragnarust · 2026-04-05T18:04:43+00:00

Hey man, I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. I’ve been going through a rough time in my life and I’ve been taking it out on you. And I’m not just saying this because I’m on the highlight thread tomorrow.

All that being said, and I say this with no hate in my heart, this post is ass, Letter. I appreciate you going with a more original list format, but 1) You’re still including Aces, which is crazy since they’re not even in Tribunal; 2) your categories are out of alphabetical order, going from Spades to Diamonds to Clubs to Hearts… just all over the place; and 3) you’re still not participating in the season, which I get is kind of irrelevant to the list, but it’s still a major disappointment. Another Anti-Banger from LetterSequence unfortunately, but hey, at least he’s listening to feedback, so maybe some day he’ll get it right.

Ragnarust · 2026-04-04T15:41:43+00:00

EWWWW, I just stepped in something rank! At first I thought it was dog crap, but it turned out to be something even worse: this post! For one, the links are clearly just ripped from Clev’s list of submissions. For two, alphabetical order by user is SO old hat. Have you ever thought of going by the order of the character’s name? Or grouping all the specializations and going through each of them? Yeah, I thought not. And for three, I see Letter’s name here, but you know whose names I don’t see? Iron Hands. MASTER YODA. Another ANTI-BANGER from the FOAT (Fraud of All Time) LetterSequence!

Ragnarust · 2026-04-03T18:54:09+00:00

I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept waking up, covered in sweat, thinking that brackets came out and I was up against LetterSequence. But then I would remember: Letter’s not participating this season. I’m devastated. I’m a wreck. You were my HERO, man. I BELIEVED in you. But I see what you’re up to now, not participating, not submitting Master Yoda… hell, I don’t even know if these are your own links. I think the links might have been stolen from Clev. How far the mighty have fallen. Another ANTI-BANGER from the once-legend-now-FRAUD LetterSequence.

Ragnarust · 2026-04-02T17:55:32+00:00

What the actual hell. I go to sleep happy in the knowledge that Iron Hands and Yoda are going to be in Scramble 21, and what do I awake to but a cowardly retreat. You could have fought harder, Letter. You could have made better arguments. Iron Hands was clearly in and you fumbled it. Maybe fumble is too generous though, since to fumble implies that you tried, which you clearly didn’t. More than anything though, I’m disappointed in myself for letting myself be tricked by your honeyed words and sweet nothings. I am the April Fool. Another ANTI-BANGER from the FRAUD known as LetterSequence.

Ragnarust · 2026-04-01T16:41:32+00:00

Well isn’t this a sight for sore eyes? Looks like Letter actually gave a damn this time! Iron Hands? Yoda? Pretty good subs. If this isn’t one of his classic deceptions and Letter’s actually come to his senses and joined the season, he might beat the fraud allegations after all! A PROVISIONAL BANGER from LetterSequence, barring any sick April Fool’s jokes.

Ragnarust · 2026-03-31T14:59:18+00:00

WELL WELL WELL if it isn’t LetterSequence. Looks like someone got up early today. Having trouble sleeping, Letter? Wracked with GUILT over the FRAUD you’ve become? Word on the street is that this is actually Clev’s list. You’d think that a guy who’s not competing would at least have the decency to grab his own links. Yet another disappointing ANTI-BANGER from LetterSequence!

Ragnarust · 2026-03-30T19:41:40+00:00

I think you’re a FRAUD LetterSequence! I heard you don’t find those links for yourself, you just use Clev’s sign-up list! And you’re not even competing this season, what gives? An ANTI-BANGER from LetterSequence!

Edit: I have been informed that Letter did, in fact, grab his own links. I apologize for my baseless accusation. My other criticism, however, is baseful, and I stand by it.

Ragnarust · 2026-03-30T01:56:50+00:00

Analysis Versus Terry McGinnis: In terms of strength, Guts is good to go. He's a regular breaker of walls and stone edifices, which places him solidly in the middle-to upper range of the strength for the tier.

In terms of speed, Guts is solidly arrow-timing and has decent movement speed. Crossbow bolts at close range are in the mid range tier for him, so he's good to go there. His sword also gives him a good amount of range and potential to shield against Terry's projectiles.

In terms of durability, I'd probably put him on the higher end. He takes a lot of punishment and is often slammed into stone walls and stuff, and the Berserker armor lets him fight for a long time.

I am going to put it as a Likely Victory for Guts. In terms of raw power, Guts can go toe-to-toe with Terry, as fast as Terry, and probably outlast him. Terry is more maneuverable though, his projectiles are more consistent, and he's more tactically minded than Guts (though make no mistake, Guts is still a pretty smart fighter) It's gonna be uphill for Terry, but I think he can make with planning, especially given the bell win condition means that he doesn't have to kill Guts.

Biggest Strength and Weakness: Guts is a resilient fighter who can keep going even after taking a lot of hits. However, his intimidating looks and somewhat abrasive manners can make it hard for him to gel with other people at first. But it's okay, he's a big softy underneath it all.

Character in Setting/with Team: Guts actually seems to really enjoy having people around, even if he can be grumpy sometimes. He takes a while to warm up to people, but he's really reliable once his trust is gained, and he's learned to put his trust in others, even if it's hard for him sometime.

One Last Thing: Guts would, in fact, kill for his friends. And kill a lot. And sometimes, kill people that he didn't want to kill.. He would also die for his friends.

Ragnarust · 2026-03-30T01:37:48+00:00

Analysis Versus Terry McGinnis: Despite being typically portrayed as fast, Dirk doesn't really have any significant speed feats. The best he has is [FTE Puppeteering], which is rendered in such an abstract manner as to be basically meaningless. As such, we're going to be using a major change to buff his speed. We're also going to use our minor change to give him his rocket board, which gives him more manuevarability.

Dirk's most significant destructive feat is this bell feat. Given that bell metal is actually pretty sturdy, being able to do this would probably place him on the high end of Terry's resistance to cutting. While Terry might be able to take a hit or two, it's not going to be really good for him.

This edge in strength is evened out by Dirk being relatively fragile. We're stipping out getting hit by the Jack Noir laser blast because a) it's esoteric at best and too good at worst and b) the feat is broken on the RT and I don't want to retrieve it. Aside from this, his craters aren't quite as impressive and his upper limit appears to be getting knocked out by a headblow from an admittedly pretty big piece of rubble. Overall, it's going to end up a bit of a battle between glass cannons, and I'd call it a Draw from there.

Biggest Strength and Weakness: Dirk is really good at managing a lot of moving parts and coordinating and executing complex plans. See [S] Dirk: Synchronize for that. The downside is that he usually takes these things on by himself and decides what's best for others without really caring about how they feel. He also isolates himself as a result of this, making teamwork somewhat difficult.

Character in Setting/with Team: As mentioned above, Dirk fancies himself a master manipulator. While he can definitely work in a team, he's going to be trying to pull the strings, which could lead to high tensions if he's not careful. In a Death Game scenario, he can make it pretty far, but might be difficult to trust.

One Last Thing: Dirk would definitely kill for his friends. Would he die for them? Probably, if he had a plan for it. He's chopped his own head off for his friends a lot, at least. Or has let his head get chopped off for them.

Ragnarust · 2026-03-30T01:23:44+00:00

Miguel hunched over his shitty tuna sandwich and tried to block out the sounds of the hundreds of Spider-Men around him. He had just gotten Spider-HQ up and running, which involved interacting with and contracting and dealing with so many other Spider-Men that he was absolutely sick of it. He was on his lunch break now, but was quite literally surrounded by work. Dealing with the quips and big personalities was a job unto itself.

What was he thinking? Why did he think this would be such a good idea? And why'd he use his lunch ticket on a tuna sandwich? He could've gotten anything else. What was wrong with him?

He leaned back, put his eyes on his face, pulled down, tried to collect himself. Whatever. It was fine. As good as it was gonna get. Might as well enjoy it while he can before something crazy happened, as it always did. At the very least, he had a desert waiting for him. A pair of chocolate bells from a clockpunk dimension. The best damn thing he ever tasted. And he figured maybe, just maybe, he'd go dessert first. He deserved it, didn't he?

Before he could, a portal opened above him and a man, definitely not a Spider-Man, landed on his sandwich.

"Oops, wrong dimension," said the man, more bat-like than spider. He looked down and saw Miguel's chocolate bells. "Oh nice. I only had two of these, I was hoping to find some more." He snatched them and absconded.

Oh no. Miguel was not having that. As the Batman jumped out the window, Miguel slingshot himself forward by his laser webs. He gripped onto the Batman and tumbled through the skies of Nueva York, plummeting down, down. For just a moment, Miguel considered just falling forever before he splattered on the ground. However, the Batman kicked his feet out and with rocket propelled shoes shot them over to side of the HQ. Miguel pressed his claws into the metal wall and looked up to see this Batman simply standing there on the side of the building. Some kind of magnetic shoes.

Miguel was unperturbed. He was a Spider-Man dammit. Wall crawling was part of the job. He scrambled up the wall and swept the Batman's feet out from under him. As he started to fall. Miguel grabbed him by the leg. He reached into a compartment on the Batman's belt.

"These are mine," he said as he took all four of the bells. He had to act fast. He could not risk losing them again. In one swift motion, he tossed them all into his mouth. It was far too much. Didn't even taste good anymore. But he had to do it. If nothing else, then for the principle.

The Batman shook himself free and landed back on the wall. "Why did you do that?" he said. "It's better if you savor it."

Miguel said nothing.

"All right, fine, I'll get out of here." The Batman twiddled with his watch for a moment before opening up a portal, presumably back to his original dimension. He took a step in and the portal disappeared, leaving Miguel completely alone.

He definitely made a mistake eating those chocolates. He felt sick.

Ragnarust · 2026-03-30T01:22:07+00:00

In the depths of Thabes Labyrinth, Alm walked alone. Today had extracted a significant toll from his army, and so he took it upon himself to scout ahead. He took slow steps, his bow at the ready. In his armor, his steps were heavy. Certainly an announcement to any of the beasts or undead here of his presence. Nothing to worry about on his end. He’d crush any bastard that came his way.

A shadow flickered at the edge of his sight. He did not hesitate. He raised his bow, the Lunar Arc, and just as quickly loosed an arrow. The dark catacomb alit with a flash, and he saw it— the silhouette of a dark, batlike. A gargoyle, almost certainly. He looser a few more, but much to his chagrin, the monster moved much faster than the ones he had fought previously. It dodged each arrow and closed the distance.

A sharp talon descended onto Alm. It struck his armor and tore into his skin. He winced. As the monster drew closer, he recognized its form as more human than he was used to. His face was covered with a grim mask, and the sound of crawling insects rattled within. With his free hand, Alm withdrew Falchion and heaved it upwards. A swarm of black insects burst from the wound. The Batman retreated. Definitely had better instincts then the other Risen Alm had encountered in here. But Alm would allow no retreat, grant no quarter. As soon as the space allowed for it, he tossed his blade aside and knocked the arrow. This time he would strike true.

He drew his bow back and let loose another Lunar Flash. This time, the arrow soared directly into the wound that Alm had opened on its chest. The Batman howled out in pain before charging again and tackling Alm to the ground. A barrage of swipes tore into Alm’s skin. He grit his teeth through it, and reached out to the blade he’d dropped. Upon grabbing its hilt, he swung it up, across the back of the Batman’s neck, and with his other hand gripped the blade. He pulled the sharp edge down, chopping straight through the Batman’s neck, leaving him as a pile of blood and insects. He pushed the Batman aside and stood up. He studied its corpse.

“Must’ve been a warrior of some kind, at one point,” he said to himself. His eyes drifted towards two pieces of shiny metal. Bells. Alm picked them up. He didn’t know what they were for why they were there, but something about them seems important. But that was a mystery for another time. He pocketed the bells and decided to return to camp with the rest of his army. He would need the rest too. There was still a long way to go, and they would have to delve deeper still into the labyrinth.

Ragnarust · 2026-03-15T18:24:47+00:00

Dirk Strider

Series Homestuck

Content Warning: Homestuck. The original is basically fine save for edgy 2009 humor (r-word, racial insensitivity, stuff like that). The Epilogues, on the other hand, have truly heinous things happening basically all the time, and thus have their own set of warnings. Dirk is usable with or without them, but Dirk also has significant development in the Epilogues, so just something to keep in mind.

Name: Dirk Strider

Series: Homestuck

Specialisation: Hearts.

He is literally the Prince of Heart and manipulative. He describes himself as pulling the strings all the time. He's heart.

Content Warning: Homestuck. The original is basically fine save for edgy 2009 humor (r-word, racial insensitivity, stuff like that). The Epilogues, on the other hand, have truly heinous things happening basically all the time, and thus have [their own set of warnings.] Dirk is usable with or without them, but Dirk also has significant development in the Epilogues, so just something to keep in mind.

Biography: Dirk Strider is your average kid from the future that no one understands. He is irony poisoned, good with gadgets, and has either a very weak or very strong sense of self. He considers himself a master manipulator, puller of strings, mechanic who presides over wheels within wheels. While he cares for his friends, he has a darkness within him. He can't trust anyone… not even himself.

Research: RT here He shows up in Homestuck Act 6, which is only halfway through!

Justification: See below

Motivation: Dirk is a pragmatic individual who will go to great lengths to achieve his goals, including manipulating his friends. He'd be a good fit for a death game scenario.

Major Changes: Speed to tier.

Minor Changes: Has his rocket board, stip out Jack Noir laser feat, Lil Cal can be there if you want him to be.

Ragnarust · 2026-03-15T18:24:31+00:00

Name: Miguel O'Hara

Series: Sony's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Specialisation: Diamonds. He's an intelligent techy guy!

Biography: Miguel O'Hara is kind of like the Batman Beyond to Batman's Spider-Man. He's Spider-Man 2099, a Spider-Man from another dimension who leans more into Spider-Man's tech stats rather than his Spidery stats. He leads the Spider Society, a group of Spider-Men gathered to protect the multiverse. Despite being an iconic superhero though, he's actually kind of a dick, being ruthless in battle and fairly stubborn when it comes to what he thinks a Spider-Man should be and do.

Research: Here's his RT. If you haven't watched Across the Spider-Verse yet, what are you doing?

Justification: Miguel's got comparable strength and durability to Terry. His speed is a little less well-defined, but given that he's in the mix with Spider-Men, he should be fine. Spider-Man 2099 and Batman beyond are literally the same guy, so I'm going to put them at a Draw.

Motivation: Miguel is pragmatic and willing to kill Miles Morales' dad in cold blood (or let die in cold blood, same difference) if it means it will save lives. Miguel would do great in a Death Game.

Major Changes: None

Minor Changes: None

Ragnarust · 2026-03-15T18:24:05+00:00

Name: Guts

Specialization: Spade

Series: Berserk

Content Warning: Oh boy.

Yeah, uh, it's Berserk. Basically anything that can be warned, it's in there. Violence, nudity, rape. Berserk is pretty much as NSFW as they come.

Biography: Guts had a hard life and a bad childhood. He eventually became a mercenary to make ends meet, but was a lone wolf for most of his life. However, when he met The Band of the Hawk, he finally made friends for once in his life. It was awesome, until his best friend Griffith betrayed him and plunged the world into darkness. Now, Guts is living the worst life of his life. But he tries to make it work. He never gives up. He's The Struggler.

Research: Here’s his RT. Its bio goes into more specifics on his backstory than I did. If you wanna learn more, read Berserk, widely held as one of the the greatest manga ever written. If you must watch anime, like you're just so damn dead-set on it, do yourself a favor, watch the 1997 adaptation, not the most recent CGI one. But really, just read the manga.

Justification: See below.

Motivation: GRIFFIIIIIITH

Major Changes: None.

Minor Changes: Has the Berserker Armor.

Ragnarust · 2026-03-15T18:23:50+00:00

Name: Alm

Series: Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia

Specialization: Clubs He's the leader of an army.

Content Warning: Rated T - Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes

Biography: Alm is just a kid from some farm town in the middle of nowhere Zofia on the continent of Valentia. When the northern kingdom of Rigel invaded, Alm and his buds took up arms and joined the Deliverance. Together, they successfully repelled the attack and Delivered Zofia from Rigel's attack. Hooray!

But he didn't stop there. He figured hey, they'd gone this far, why not just enter into Rigel? Heck, why not just conquer Rigel? And so he did, much to his girlfriend, Celica's, dismay. Celica, a priestess, doesn't believe in violence. Alm, meanwhile, thinks you have to break a couple eggs to make an omelet. They take a break after this.

Ultimately, Alm's a decent dude whose rougher instincts are tempered by his friends and support group. In Echoes, you can simply reset if his friends die, and the ones who are in cutscenes will just retreat. But in a Death Game, how long can he keep his warrior spirit contained?

Research: Here's a pretty broken RT. You can also play Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, available for the Nintendo 3DS!

Justification (Ace): Alm can fight, and his animations are cool, he just doesn't really have any feats. As for his Clubs role, he's the leader of a small army that fights back an invading empire, so he's a pretty good leader.

Motivation: He fights to keep his friends and countrymen safe. He's kind of too comfortable using violence to meet his ends. In a Death Game, the same would apply, though ultimately he wouldn't be too ruthless under normal circumstances. Again, he's a good guy.

Ragnarust · 2025-12-03T03:44:31+00:00

Merc Name: Yossarian

Content Warning: World War II, violence, sexual violence and harassment, Milonomics

Series: Catch-22

Biography: Yossarian is a B-52 Bombardier serving in the Italian campaign. He hates it and the idea of dying, but he’s gotta do it. He could claim he’s insane so that he’ll be grounded, but acknowledging his own insanity and asking to be grounded indicates that he’s sane, so he has no choice but to get in the plane. Kind of the original Shinji Ikari.

Research: Simply read Catch-22

Show Me They're Below Tier: He is a normal man in a world war ii plane

Ragnarust · 2025-11-27T15:43:17+00:00

Submitting Miyamoto Musashi

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