4. Link (Legend of Zelda series) vs. Chrom (Fire Emblem: Awakening)
Our Fighters: Link is a character that has truly withstood the test of time, and sometimes in a literal way. The story remains the same throughout the years: the goddesses choose Link, he must find the great Master Sword, and he save Princess Zelda and the kingdom of Hyrule from the evil Ganondorf. While there are some variations on how this is achieved, it still maintains the same epic prophecy. Link has had all this time to develop his arsenal of weapons and skills. Notably, the Master Sword, a blade that defeats evil creatures and manipulates magic. Other weapons Link uses involves the Hero’s Bow, the Gale Boomerang, the Clawshot, an assortment of bombs, and the Hylian Shield for defense. Link has had over 30 years of adventures to build his skills. Having saved Hyrule 17 times, he has perfected his sword skills to the point where he can create energy slashes, can snipe a target from a long distance, can throw charging beasts with his bare hands, and alter time with the appropriately named Ocarina of Time. Link has accomplished many things, but has some weaknesses, including being a lightweight, and can be knocked of his feet easily, and his energy slashes can only occur when he is at maximum health, Link is also very susceptible to magical attacks, and is in fact quite gullible.
Chrom is the prince and Exalt of the halidom of Ylisse. He starts as a simple prince, who would spend his time sharpening his skills and defending the innocent, until he meets Robin (the game’s avatar) and progresses to defending his kingdom from other nations and even saving the world from the fell dragon, Grima. Battling aside his many comrades, including Robin, the avatar, and Lucina, Chrom’s daughter, Chrom has battled many armies and has emerged victorious. Chrom has battled against armies and kings of neighboring countries, has battled the demonic Risen, and killed the fell dragon Grima, with the aid of his comrades, and his trusty weapons. These weapons include Falchion, the Hero King Marth’s legendary sword which only Chrom and Lucina can use, being Marth’s descendants. Being a Lord class combatant, Chrom can use a wide variety of swords and lances, notably the Levin Sword, which deals magic attacks, and the Killing Edge, which deals high amounts of criticals. Chrom’s sword skills extend to being able to poke holes in brick walls while training, and learning the Aether skill, which only Lords can learn. Despite his arsenal and skills, Chrom does have weaknesses such as being a baseline human, and is still vulnerable to dying. Since Chrom is the commander of his army, he cannot die or else the game is lost. Chrom also has low resistance to magic, being affected by mage attacks. Finally, Chrom is dependent upon items to remain at full strength.
Why are they Fighting: Link and Chrom are each heroes of a respective kingdom. They fought evil in their lands, but they never have had to fight someone similar to themselves, **(save for a couple times Link has faced a dark mirror copy of himself.)**
Predicted Winner: Link is the definite victor here. Link’s weapon arsenal has more variety and allows Link to control the flow of the fight easier. Link has notably saved Hyrule 17 times by himself. Chrom relies on his army for his battles and is not used to battling alone. Link is also used to strategizing on the fly, during the heat battle, Chrom needs a tactician or outside assistance to do the same. Link can also exploit Chrom’s weakness to magic with the Master Sword and energy blasts, and while Falchion is similar to the Master Sword, it ultimately is weaker, having the same strength stats as an iron sword. Any other weapons Chrom could use can easily be compensated for by Link’s arsenal. Finally, while both fighters are even in a matter of skills, Link has a way to mitigate damage entirely with the Hylian shield. Chrom must rely on items and has to break off attacks to use them, leaving him open to be attacked by Link.
