Recent entries

Kris

The Uncrowned timeline is all over the place, specifically about Yerin and Lindon's calls.

Will Wight

This timeline thing was interesting!I pulled up my Uncrowned timeline, and I compared it against what's in the book, and I figured out what the issue is. Well, what the issues are.1.) "five times in the last week"That was just me using "the last week" as an approximation. Of course I know every other day for a week =/= 5, but in my mind Lindon wasn't being precise.I still should have phrased that better to prevent confusion, though.2.) It hasn't been just one week, it's been months.That week he was referring to wasn't the first week, it was the latest one.I had intended to convey that BY showing that the fight against the other Underlords is the next day, so it's clearly been months, because we established already that this wasn't going to happen for months. And then I have Dross refer to the effect the calls are having on his mentality like they've been going on for a while.But!The transition between Charity handing him the construct and then cutting to him talking on the roof suggests that very little time has passed, and then the only specific amount of time I refer to IN THAT SCENE is a week.I was relying on the fight with the Akura Underlords being the next day to be that concrete anchor in time rather than saying "X months later," and then him being in a different place with different clothes while they all talk as though a lot of time has passed to be subtle details that supported that.But the quick transition followed by using the word "week" implies that it has only been a week in a way that I didn't realize.Interesting! I've learned something to look out for! Thanks!

Madeline

I would love to see more of Lindon updating the Path of Twin Stars manual, like he did in the first few books. Not having that seems so weird, given that a big part of his background is the fact that up until the last few years he was not considered worthy of being taught a Path, and now he is forging one of his own. It feels like him taking a moment to write down what he's learned is something that was cut in the editting process, but in the process, the Lindon of the last few books has gone through changes that don't make sense, as there's never a reason given for NOT having those scenes anymore. Even a throwaway couple of paragraphs of "wow the last year or so has gone by in a blur and I haven't had the opportunity to update this even though I was previously determined to add to the Path manual immediately to get my thoughts down right away, it seemed like with the later techniques I really should perfect them first" would go a long way towards explaining what otherwise makes no sense.

Will Wight

That's actually a good example of something that I don't think is necessary to explain at all.In Uncrowned, he takes notes on things several times. In Underlord, he's repeatedly referring to and studying notes. And in all the previous books, we've seen him again and again take notes on everything he learns.Why would that be shown every time?To me, this is like having a character with a beloved car, and in the first few books there are specific scenes showing him in the car. In later books, those scenes don't show up as much, because he's established as someone who loves his car.I don't see those reminders as particularly necessary.

True Ruler of None

What are the chances that in the process of writing 7 books of Cradle the conclusion and outline in Will head of OKAK changed ?

Will Wight

Tbh, the scenes with Ozriel are now a lot less elaborate than they were in the original outline.   As I originally envisioned, all the pre-chapter text in Kings was going to be excerpts from a conversation Ozriel was having with Sector 11 Control. Where they had brought him in because the Elders were loose so he was supposed to erase the Iteration, but he kept jerking them around as Sector Control became more and more panicked over the course of the book.   Until they finally appeal to another Judge who basically goes “Idk guys, we can’t control him either.”   And then only at the end does the situation become dire enough for him to actually be willing to do his job, and then the good guys resolve it right before.   I actually wrote out most of that conversation screenplay style.It’s saved on my phone from my original OKAK notes from 2015.My only reluctance for [releasing] that kind of thing is that it wouldn’t be edited at all. It’s literally off-the-cuff dialogue thoughts from 2015. And I know you might say “Oh that’s okay, we don’t care, any content is interesting!” but there will always be that guy who goes through and points out the issues in the comments.   There’s always some guy.

Kommunist Keth the Kandra

Ok so hear me out on this one. I've been noticing a trend in will's books. first we had traveller's gate. orphan main character. Then Elder Empire. Calder only has his mother. Then Cradle. Lindon has both parents. next series traveller's blade or something will likely feature both parents as well as another parental figure in simon, unless im drunk again

Will Wight

No joke, I try to switch up how many parents the main characters have to avoid the “every hero is an orphan” thing.By which I mean yes, the next main character I write will be born from the fusion of six individuals who all combined their DNA in a cloning spell gone wrong.

Questioner

Have you ever received inspiration from dreams you had, and then wrote a storybook about it?

Will Wight

Hmm.  That’s interesting.  So, I have very much received inspiration from dreams.  That absolutely, totally, happens.  So every once in a while I’ll dream something and I’ll have this vivid… not that I… of course I have this vivid memory of the dream, I generally don’t write down the whole dream, maybe just whatever part of the dream I thought was cool, if it’s an image or a character or a setting, or even a feel, and I write that down in the notes I mentioned earlier, but I don’t write down which ones came from dreams, I just kinda throw it into the pile with all the other ideas I have.  I do use those ideas later in stories.  I can’t think of anything I did that was explicitly from a dream.  I can think of ideas I wrote down that are from dreams, but I can’t think if any of them made it into books.  I’m sure they did.  I’m sure at some point I did, because I’ll dream about something, I’ll put it in the notebook, and then I start a new book and the notebook comes out.  I wish I had a specific example for you, but I don’t.

Questioner

I do a bit of writing too, but whenever I get to a part of the plot where I get stuck, I start thinking ”Oh, my characters actions don’t make sense, they don’t correspond with where the story is going.”  How do I get my characters and plot to make sense?  I don’t know how to describe it.  Does that make sense?

Will Wight

Oh yeah, that totally makes sense to me.  That’s one of the main things you have to work on in editing, is make sure your characters actions are consistent.  So, this a bit off topic, and I’m going to come back and answer this question directly, but readers expect consistency with the real world, except where noted, people expect consistency with the genre, and people expect consistency with the world.  So, what that means, is unless you have magic or aliens or something, people expect the world to act like the world does.  So, they don’t expect people to be like, “Yeah, and then I just walked on the walls for a while and then walked away.”  And people will be like, people don’t walk on walls.  So, they expect that.  Unless you note it.  If you give this person the power to walk on walls, and then they walk on walls, no problem.  Then people expect consistency within the genre.  So, people expect a sci fi book to have aliens and not magic, and they expect a fantasy book to have magic and not aliens.  And then, people expect consistency within the work, which means when you establish something within the book or the movie or the story, then that shouldn’t be violated later. 

So, a lot of times, what you’re talking about is called character consistency, and so, when a character does something or acts something that is contrary to their previously established desires, motivation or skill set, that is probably what you are talking about., I would think.  And the great part about this is, the solution to this is the same as the solution to almost any other part of the story, which is finish the manuscript.  So the funny thing is, that sounds flippant, but I’m actually very serious.  That is the solution.  The solution is you don’t fix it in the moment.  You go, “Crap, I’ve got a problem,” and let’s say your at the end of chapter 10, and you realize at the end of chapter 10, your illiterate sea captain is reading a book.  So you write that down, and you leave a note for yourself at the end of the chapter, and you go “Crap, this guy can’t read.”  And you make a little note, and you say from here on out, I’m going to say he wasn’t reading.  I’m going to forget about that; I’m going to say the book is gone.  So now you start chapter 11 and he doesn’t have a book anymore.  But later, you have a little note there.  Later, when you’re done with the book, go back with your editing, and then you’ve only got one scene to fix and not an entire book.

So what you do, if you notice your characters are acting inconsistently, you notice your characters have done something that, “Oh crap, that ruins the plot,” you then go “OK, what should they have done here?” and you make a quick little note, and from here on out, you proceed as if they have done that.  So, he shouldn’t have killed this girl here.  So now I’m going to proceed as if she’s alive, even though I have already written the scene in which he murders this person.  So then for the rest of the book, you are proceeding as if this girl is alive.  Later, you have to go back and change it so that he doesn’t kill the girl.  Or, a couple of chapters later, you go “Nope, he should have killed her,” so then you do it again.  You make another note.  And you go yup, he killed her after all.

(responding to a comment in chat) Yes, it is violent.  I’m sorry.  This is a murder mystery and she was alive the whole time.

But yeah, that is the idea.  Leave a note for yourself, and fix it when you are done.

Questioner

I have a quick questions about your childhood (inaudible).  Did you always want to be a writer, or did you want to be something else when you were younger?

Will Wight

I… it’s hard to say, right?  ‘Cause on the one hand, I have always, always, always been into reading.  I was into reading, I was into books, that was my whole thing.  I just read books all the time.  I got into trouble constantly for reading books.  My parents would have to come into my room and make sure I wasn’t reading books under the covers.  So books were always something I was really interested in.  But I didn’t necessarily… what I remember is in middle school, really starting to think, “People write these.  Maybe I could write these.” 

I was in the national spelling bee as a kid, so in 7th and 8th grade I earned my way to the national spelling bee.  So, I was really good at spelling and grammar and words and just English in general, so I was just always good at that.  I generally, I just write clean first drafts; a lot of writers don’t but I generally do.  So, I knew I had that skill set, then in middle school I started thinking maybe I wanted to write some books.  And I wrote a few little stories, for class and stuff like that, and I liked that, but it was embarrassing, and I didn’t want anyone to read it.  And then in high school, that’s when I really started saying, “Yeah, I want to be a writer,” but I didn’t… I was just really scared of letting anyone read anything I’d written.  That was just something, I didn’t want anyone to read it, because I knew it was bad.  So, it wasn’t until college that I was really faced with the reality of, I have got to actually write something if I want to do this for a living. 

So, what I was doing until then, even in high school, is I was mowing lawns.  I started, initially I borrowed my dad’s lawn mower and I went door to door in my neighborhood and looked for lawn mowing jobs, and then I ended up borrowing money and buying a better lawn mower, so I ended up having a real lawn mowing business that I paid for college with.  So, I didn’t take out any loans for college.  I mowed my way through college; cut some grass.  And so, I was doing that for money, and just to support myself.  I didn’t have any passion about lawn mowing (I don’t know who does really) so that was just hard work to get myself through college.  So, the whole time I became, I just learned on my own more and more about writing and what it takes to become a writer.  And then in college that’s what they talked about, and the more I learned, I thought yeah, this is what I want.  I’m passionate about stories and I’m passionate about words.  That’s where I want to be. 

So, I kinda just sorta… slipped into it I guess?  It wasn’t, it was always my area of giftedness and it was always my area of interest, but it’s not like as kid I was like, “I’m definitely going to write a book.”  I was still just very scared to show anybody anything I had written, so I could always not quite picture giving it, handing a manuscript to somebody and seeing “read this” because I knew it was going to suck because I wrote, so of course it’s going to suck.  So that was always my feeling, until eventually I did take the plunge, and write some stuff for school.  So that was my journey.

Questioner

How do you make original characters?  How do you design them?

Will Wight

That’s a really good question.  I like questions about character design a lot, because that is one of the things people don’t talk about very often.  They talk about character development, but they don’t talk about character design.  So the distinction here, as I’m going to talk to everybody is character development is how the character grows and changes over the course of the story;  it’s how the story affects the character, whereas character design is how you decide how to create the character in the first place, so there’s a lot of aspects to that and I could talk about all afternoon.  The bottom line is there is a trick I picked up from an author called Jim Butcher, who wrote Dresden Files; he did a ___ journal years ago where he talked about some of his writing tips, and one of his writing tips were tags and traits.  What these are, are things about the character that they come back to throughout the story in order to make the characters memorable and vivid on the readers mind, both visually and in terms of their personality. 

So, tags are words that are used in association with the character, and traits are aspects about the character.  The best example of this is Harry Potter; J.K. Rowling is really good at this.  So, with Hermione brown frizzy hair is one of her tags.  Every time you hear about someone with brown frizzy hair it’s Hermione.  And one of her traits is bookishness, this teacher’s pet sort of thing. So, her trait is, so they don’t say ‘teacher’s pet’ every time Hermione is introduced, but she is always the teacher’s pet.  She always the one with her hand in the air, and she is always the one answering the questions.  So that is one of her tags and one of her traits.

So, in terms of Ron, the Weasley family is the only ones in the book ever described with red hair and freckles.  So, everyone in the books who is on the Weasley family, red hair and freckles.  So, whenever you see somebody in the books with red hair and freckles, it’s the Weasley family.  Whereas you know they are not the only ones in the world with red hair and freckles, but they’re the ones, that’s how you remember and recognize the Weasley family.  And one of their traits is they are poor, but they are happy and they get by.  I don’t know what to call that trait, but their poverty, or their lack of resources, especially in contrast to Harry, is how they stand out. So, they are making the best with what they have, because their finances are stretched and they have a bunch of kids, where as Harry is alone and has a ton of money. So, they are using hand-me-down wands, and patching up their stuff so these are all traits, …, these are very memorable traits and tags to attach to your characters.

So, what you are trying to do when you are creating a character, is come up with tags and traits that make them stand out from the other characters in your story, and that whenever you reference them, the reader remembers, “Oh right, that’s that guy.”  So, every time they talk about Ron’s red… every time you see red hair moving through the forest, you go “Oh, right, I remember what Ron looks like.”  And you don’t just remember the red hair, you remember your whole mental picture of Ron.  So, every time you refer back to one of these unique traits or tags, you remember the whole character.  It’s a really great tip.  So, I recommend looking that up.  Tags and traits.

Questioner

I didn’t read the book.

Will Wight

Me either, tbh.

True Ruler of None

Will you make a Patreon?

Will Wight

I would make a Patreon if I figured out a good way to provide some extra content to people without slowing the books down.

The books are profitable already, so I’m not doing a Patreon just to produce the books, because I don’t need it. But I know people enjoy and engage with Patreon, so if I had some other content I could give to patrons that they would like, I’d do that...as long as it didn’t slow down book production.

All the ideas I have for fun, regular content updates would take me book-writing time to produce, and I don’t want to delay books for everybody in order to produce short stories or whatever for patrons.

Which is why I don’t have a Patreon.

Lashann

I feel Patreon treats fans unfairly and separates us into groups of have $$ and have not$$. For many teens in college it is hard to buy ramen noodles - forget Patreon. I think selling a book with goodies for slightly higher price is a good way for folks with $$ to support Will. I always read on KU and a week later buy the book. Hope it helps some.

Will Wight

It absolutely does help; thanks a lot!

I don’t think Patreon is inherently unfair. In theory, it’s about supporting artists who otherwise couldn’t afford to create art (or not do it full-time). It makes sense for the people who pay to receive some kind of reward for their support.

bamfious

Mercy's 4th Technique is called "Dream of Darkness"

Will Wight

Funny story about that: I immediately regretted naming that technique in Uncrowned.

I don't like technique names that also contain the name of the aura, because then you end up with weird phrases like "She wove dream madra into the Dream of Darkness, which projected dreams into the darkness using dream aura and darkness aura and dark dreams of Dreamdark, the dreamiest darkest dream that ever dreamed a dark dream."

So when I was actually writing this technique in Wintersteel, I came up with a way cooler name for it: World of Night. And then I remembered I already revealed its name in Uncrowned (taken straight from the character sheet I made for Mercy's Path like three years ago), and I tore out my hair and burned all my clothes in regret.

EDIT: Also yes, the Book manages the extra aspects. She harvests only shadow aura, and her Book has a limited supply of other aspects that she can use initially, but she’ll eventually use that up and have to cycle more from the environment. Everything other than pure shadow is stored in the Book, not her core.

bamfious

Damn. It’s just one single line from one simple Sage....

Can’t Mercy alter it herself and make it different ?

World of Night is cooler.

Will Wight

Oh man, you’re right, I might do that.

It’s Charity’s technique, too, so that could add extra weight to Mercy going “Yeah, but...no.”

Kandra

So, mechanically, could you say that each page of the book acts as a second core, almost (but not quite)?

Will Wight

I have a technical answer and a meme answer.

Technically, it stores madra in the same way that any construct stores madra. Each page’s store of energy is used to power the binding on that page and that’s it.

Meme-ly, yes Mercy has eight cores.

Questioner

No, not the Simon from Travelers GateI'm talking about apprently the strongst animne character, stronger than Saitama and Goku.Its Simon the Digger from Gurren Lagoon.Here is a link explaining himhttp://aminoapps.com/page/anime/4368923/simon-the-strongest-character-in-anime

Will Wight

First of all, I'm a little insulted that you thought I needed a link to know who Simon from Gurren Lagann was.

Why do you think the son of Kalman is named Simon?

However, I do have an answer to this matchup.

1.) Simon the Digger vs. Suriel

Personally, I don't subscribe to the theory that Simon and his various Gurrens are actually growing big enough to hurl galaxies like Frisbees. Having that literally happen would break way more rules than the series accounts for, most notably gravity. An existence that enormous would measurably affect every object in every galaxy, destroying most if not all life.

There's evidence to suggest that Simon and the Anti-Spirals have actually ascended to another dimension superimposed over their own, and it just happens to look like a colorful version of the universe speckled with galaxies. So they're fighting in their own sealed-off space, so to speak, and they're visible in Earth's atmosphere because of a plot-convenient rift overlooking their battle.

In that case, Suriel banishes him beyond time and space.

However, if we go with the explanation that everything in Gurren Lagann is literally happening, we have to explain HOW. How are they battling on a universal scale and using galaxies as individual, solid objects instead of the vast collection of gravity-caught particles they effectively are?

There's only one answer: Spiral Energy. Which means that Spiral Energy is in effect the power to break the laws and rules of existence. The power of chaos. The power that defies the Way, which is the source of Suriel's authority.

In other words, dealing with entities like that one is literally Suriel's job.

Someone else would fight Simon and destroy him--Razael probably, Ozriel if the damage was too bad and they needed to burn everything to the ground. Then Suriel would come into the world and fix what could be fixed. That's her role.

The problem with Suriel fighting him directly is that everyone ELSE would die. The first thing she would do is re-establish the logic of the Way, which means gravity would have its usual effect again, and then the galactic combatants would instantly collapse into singularities and all inhabited planets would lose alignment and be destroyed.

Questioner

When reading TG Chronicles, The first Queen died as the Hanging Tree sucked her dry when trying to seal Rhalia.

How come when Leah tries to seal Zakereth she isnt sucked dr?

Will Wight

During the Chronicles, the first queen is using her blood to feed the Hanging Tree a sacrifice.

Leah doesn't get to that point. The Tree would have needed a blood sacrifice to power it very soon. In seconds, in fact, or Zakareth would have just broken free.

But Simon decapitates him before that becomes necessary.

Questioner

Goku vs Elders and Emperor. If Goku loses, then Beerus comes in

Will Wight

Based on what we've seen from Dragon Ball Super recently, even the creators of the show have no idea what power levels mean. We have Super Saiyan Trunks fighting evenly with Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta, which makes NO sense. Plus Goku gets pricked by a poison needle during his fight with alt-universe Freeza, which seems to violate canon in like three different ways.

This effectively means that recent events have suggested that Goku isn't really THAT strong.

Anyway, disregarding recent events that retcon Goku's strength and using our own reasonable standard of his power level...

1.) Goku vs. the Emperor and the Elders

Let's assume, first of all, that Goku doesn't just blow up the planet and cause everyone to lose.

...although, now that I'm thinking about it, that would be the worst thing he could do. Without the existence of Intent-wielding humans, the Elders would be free of their confines, and they would escape into their true forms. At which point they would unmake Goku at a conceptual level. The Emperor would still die, but his team would win the battle.

However, assuming Goku doesn't destroy the planet, he would tear apart the Emperor and about half the Great Elders. Any of them that work physically: Nakothi, Othaghor, Kthanikahr. He'd blow up their minions, fly in, and tear them to pieces.

But against the more metaphysical Great Elders--Urg'naut, Tharlos, Ach'magut--I suspect he'd have his mind devoured or his soul ripped out or something. As far as I can tell, he has no ability to resist powers like that.

And I can't imagine Kelarac wouldn't be able to outwit Goku.

2.) Beerus vs. Elder Empire

It depends on how Beerus' powers as the God of Destruction work in a universe that isn't his own.

If he can still unmake entities the way that he unmade Zamasu, then he would certainly win. The Great Elders actually can't be unmade this way, so they would re-form in the void and attack some other, random world, but that's not enough to invalidate Beerus' victory.

However, if he's relying on sheer strength and not his authority as the Destroyer, then he has the same result as Goku. He might be able to resist one or two of the metaphysical Elders, because presumably gods have some kind of spiritual/mental fortitude, but all of them working together could probably defeat him.

Whis, on the other hand, likely just wins. I can't see the Elders beating him physically or metaphysically.

Questioner

Woah. I thought you would say Goku would lose immediately.

How about Naruto. Him vs Emperor.

And vs physical Elders, not metaphysical.

Use Sage of Six Paths Naruto

Will Wight

I've seen nothing in the series to suggest that Naruto could ever compete on Goku's level, so I'd think Naruto loses to everybody.

Now, that's assuming he walks in and tries to fight Nakothi (or whoever) on his own. As part of a team, like for instance one of the Emperor's teams that actually went against the Great Elders, I think he'd be a huge asset. And a big threat to the Elders.

Naruto vs. the Emperor would be the closest fight. Naruto's powers are more physically threatening than the Emperor's, since he can use blasts of destruction and the Emperor can't. However, the Emperor's powers of Intent can also counter a lot of what Naruto's capable of doing--the Emperor would have superior elemental control to Naruto, for instance, and he could likely make Naruto's clothes shrivel up and start strangling him. He effectively controls the whole world around him.

So the incompatibility of powers makes this a little bit of an awkward matchup, but I'd PROBABLY give it slightly to Naruto. 51-49. The Emperor is smarter and older and wiser, but Naruto has many crazy powers in one body.

Questioner

Have you read Hard Magic by Larry Correia? Jake Sullivan only has one talent (mainly) but I'm curious how Simon would match up against someone who can control gravity pretty much completely.

How about Alcatraz Smedry with his talent to Break things that often acts in his own self-defense (let's go with him at the end of book 4, not the end of book 5) vs. Simon and vs. Lindon. I think Lindon might have the edge here because he's developed a sneakier, trickier mind than Simon.

Eithan vs. Alex Verus could be fun, to see how far ahead each of them could read to trap & counter-trap each other.

C.B. Wright's Curveball (whose power, admittedly, is explicitly not clearly defined) vs. Simon and vs. Eithan would make for entertaining fights regardless of the outcome.

Will Wight

1.) Simon vs. Jake

I think this would likely be settled very quickly.

If Jake goes all-out before Simon does, then Simon doesn't have the strength to resist and gets crushed/immobilized immediately.

That said, Simon has superhuman speed and Caela. So he's likely to get the first move, and if he does, I suspect he could push through Jake's magic long enough to score a lethal hit.

2.) Alcatraz vs. Simon / Lindon

This is kind of cool, because I think you're right: this is the first matchup in which Lindon actually has an advantage over someone with more superpowers. What do you know?

While Simon is going to rush in and find out about Alcatraz's powers the hard way, Lindon would gather information, experiment, and adapt.

That said, this still boils down to that classic case of someone WITH superhuman strength and speed against someone WITHOUT. Eventually, Alcatraz is probably overwhelmed by either one.

Though I think Lindon has the easier time.

3.) Eithan vs. Alex Verus

Boy, this would give me a headache.

Eithan is stronger and faster, but he can't actually see the future. I suspect he could keep the pressure on as Alex is desperately scanning possible outcomes until eventually Alex makes a mistake/gets exhausted...

...however, that doesn't account for what you mentioned: traps. Alex would be not only looking for the future that allows him to survive, but the one that lets him lure Eithan closer to a trap.

But Eithan is aware of anything in the area, so is he going to leave a possibility of actually landing in a trap?

I have no idea how I'd write this.

I think it comes down to what kind of destructive magic Alex has access to / what artifacts he has prepared, versus how seriously Eithan takes this from the start. Because he might actually be able to overwhelm Alex before Alex has a chance to scan and select the future.

But I don't know. It might even just be this mental chess game where they're both standing there trying to out-predict the opponent as they read subtle cues in the enemy's body language and act on those, thus changing the future, thus changing the enemy's action, thus changing their own intended action...

4.) Curveball

I don't know who this is. Google tells me it's a comic, but not what kind of powers he has.

Questioner

Simon vs Steelheart (it comes down to is Simon afraid of him)

Actually, anything in that series vs anything in any of yours that you think might make for an interesting match.

Questioner

This is a GREAT idea!! I would wager that the "Mega" supers like Steelheart and Limelight are around Underlord level in strength. What Eithan does seems to be a weakness free version of the guy Daniel and Megan kill at the start of the first book. But Eithan ALSO has incredible strength that we haven't directly seen yet. Still I am pretty sure that means that Steelheart and Limelight would both beat Simon.

Most other supers wouldn't stand a chance against him. Oblivion, however, is too hard to kill. Simon MIGHT be able to get him by traveling that mile in less than 24 seconds before Oblivion can teleport away again.

Fire Fight also is too hard to kill, as true resurrection on the next dawn is kind of hard to deal with. Obviously Suriel would just banish them all to another dimension.

Will Wight

Yeah, the specific weaknesses would give my guys headaches.

Honestly, the most suited to adapt might be Lindon, who would be the only one of the bunch likely to start by watching and gathering information. Shera would too, actually.

So, I can list some of my characters who would most likely be able to kill the bigger Epics:

1.) Shera vs. Steelheart

Shera's not afraid of him, or anyone else, and Syphren's powers get stronger based on the strength of the opponent. She tears out his soul.

2.) Firefight vs. Lindon

At the end of Blackflame, Lindon wins.

At the end of Soulsmith, it depends on how much time he's given to prepare. And how many resources. He could come up with a way to break illusions and burn her to death, IF he could gather enough accurate information to know that's what he needs to do. Maybe Eithan could tell him.

3.) Obliteration vs. Simon

Depends on how his teleportation power works. How does it identify danger? How fast does it activate?

Otherwise, Obliteration vs. Eithan. Eithan gets close to him quickly and either kills him before his powers activate, or follows him post-teleportation and kills him then.

Questioner

Drizzt vs. Kai or Simon?

Garth of Lords of Dus vs. Simon or Kai (or someone who'd be better matched)?

Josef from Rachel Aarons Eli Monpress series vs (drawing a blank on who'd be interesting)

Will Wight

1.) Drizzt vs. a Valinhall Traveler

The hard part of this matchup is that Drizzt doesn't actually have superhuman strength or speed. He can conjure darkness and faerie fire and summon a panther companion, but there are Valinhall answers to all of that.

However, in a pure swordfight, Drizzt would certainly beat Simon. And probably Kai as well, given that Drizzt has had hundreds of years to refine his craft, and is known as one of the most gifted fighters ever to come out of Menzoberranzan.

2.) Garth vs. Simon

I don't know who this is. If you mean Lords of Dust, the DnD campaign, I don't remember there being a Garth.

3.) Josef vs. Anybody

You know, it's been a while since I've read Eli Monpress, and I don't remember the details of Josef's powers. I mostly remember his sword, which would be difficult for most of my characters to deal with.

(Heart of Stone, I want to say? Heart of the Mountain? It was a mountain-sword, I remember that.)

Going down the power scale:

Yerin's master wins. He's fought against weapons with similar powers before.

The Emperor wins because it becomes a fight about manipulating the properties of ancient weapons, and that's his thing.

Eithan wins because he kills Josef without ever being hit by the sword.

Simon...this could go either way, depending on specifics. Here's where my lack of memory about Josef's particular powers hurts me, because I don't know mechanically how his attacks work. I'll call it 50-50, but it might be in Josef's favor.

Yerin almost certainly loses, unless Josef makes some stupid mistake.

Lindon gets his butt kicked, but he would know that, so he'd try to cheat somehow. Maybe poison.

Questioner

1) Bliss vs Gavin Guile ( in black prism before he starts going blind)

2) Alin vs Kip

Will Wight

1.) Bliss vs. Prism Gavin

It's a little hard to say, because Gavin is so powerful and versatile. I lean toward Bliss, simply because she can counter Gavin's powers while Gavin can't counter hers, so it could easily come down to a physical fight. Which she would win, Gavin being no stronger than any athletic man in his forties and her wielding an ancient weapon crafted from the bone of a Great Elder.

However, it wouldn't be EASY for her to counter Gavin's powers, because it would require her to use her powers precisely. Which her powers specifically resist. So there's certainly a scenario in which Gavin wins.

Maybe Bliss 60-40?

2.) Alin vs. Kip

Barring any Lightbringer shenanigans, I don't see a scenario in which Kip wins.

Kip is drafting colors as physical materials, but for Alin, each color in his arsenal is a new superpower. Mostly powers that Kip doesn't have.

Plus he can fly.

Questioner

Indirial pre-incarnation VS Vaelin Al Sorna at the end of book one, fully in tune with his Blood Song.

Initially I give the edge to Indirial, who is faster and stronger.

Vaelin's Blood Song MIGHT be enough to give him a chance though. He is naturally gifted with the sword- much like Kai- and the advantage the Blood Song gives him could be similar to the knowledge of the Iron Scroll.

As for weapons, we know that Vasha is nigh-indestructible and since we also know that Vaelin's star-silver edged blade can also cut through armor and break other swords, I'm going to assume that they are on par.

As it is, I say Indirial wins IF he kills Vaelin before Nye runs out. Thoughts?

Will Wight

That's pretty much exactly what I would have said.

If the Blood Song is enough of an advantage to keep him alive longer than the Nye essence lasts, then Vaelin has a chance to win. However, even without the Nye essence, Indirial is still a big threat; he has super-strength, and Vaelin doesn't.

But the Blood Song doesn't have a time limit, and it could conceivably be used to dodge Indirial and deal wounds in return.

If the fight lasts three minutes or less, Indirial wins.

More than that, and it depends on how the Blood Song works. I'd say Vaelin takes it if he rolls high, and loses if he rolls too low.

Now, if it's Tower Lord Vaelin, he probably kills himself before Indirial even enters the ring

Questioner

Lindon vs BATMAN?

Suriel vs Matthew Malloy(X-men)

Simon vs Godzilla(from the newer movie)

Will Wight

1.) Lindon vs. Batman

I'm forced to answer in the same way that I would in the case of anyone versus Batman: Batman wins, because he's Batman.

However, this is a death match, and he can't kill. If he did, he would give up being Batman.

So either Lindon would live because Batman would let him, or Lindon would die and Batman would hang up the cape. Either a draw or mutual defeat.

2.) Suriel vs. Matthew Malloy

This is the first comics reference that I actually didn't know.

Based on his Marvel Wiki article, it looks like he would be able to actually have a fight with Suriel, but I'd suspect she would win. She has training in her power and knows how to control it, and has regularly fought with and against beings on a similar scale. She also has weapons and devices designed to harness, control, focus, and enhance her power, while Matthew Malloy does not.

3.) Simon vs. Godzilla

This would be a cool one, actually.

I think Simon would win, because he can damage Godzilla more easily than Godzilla can damage him (it being hard to hit something small and quickly moving). That said, a single hit from Godzilla would cripple Simon or seriously inhibit his ability to keep fighting, while Simon would have to injure Godzilla hundreds of times to make a difference.

In the end, I think they probably couldn't kill each other. Simon would cut Godzilla a bunch and Godzilla, realizing that he can't hit Simon, would retreat into the sea where Simon couldn't follow.

Of course, then there's the possibility that Godzilla turns from a safe distance and fire-blasts the city, which has a decent chance of killing Simon.