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Entertainment & Media
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Who Would Win? An Introduction to the Surprisingly Complex World of Battleboarding
Ever argued if Superman could beat Goku? You've touched on battleboarding, a hobby where fans use evidence from source material ('feats') and logical analysis to debate hypothetical fights between fictional characters. It's a surprisingly deep and structured form of online debate.
It’s a question as old as fiction itself: who would win in a fight? Could Sherlock Holmes outwit Batman? Could the USS Enterprise survive an encounter with an Imperial Star Destroyer? For most, these are fleeting playground arguments. But for a dedicated online community, it’s a serious hobby known as “battleboarding” or “versus debating.” It’s an activity that transforms simple speculation into a structured analysis of fictional characters' abilities, backed by evidence and a unique set of rules.
What Exactly is Battleboarding?
At its core, battleboarding is the practice of pitting characters—usually from different fictional universes—against each other in a hypothetical fight and debating the most likely outcome. Far from being a simple shouting match of personal preferences, the goal is to use objective evidence from the source material (known as “canon”) to build a logical case. Participants analyze everything from a character's strength and speed to their intelligence, strategic acumen, and specific powers to determine a victor.
The Rules of Engagement
To prevent debates from devolving into chaos, the battleboarding community has developed a standard methodology. The entire system is built on a foundation of evidence and specific terminology.
The most crucial piece of evidence is the "feat." A feat is a concrete, demonstrable accomplishment from a character's canon history. If Superman is shown lifting an entire island in a comic book, that’s a feat of strength. If a character is stated to be a planet-buster but has never actually destroyed one, their claim is considered less valuable than another character who has a proven feat of planetary destruction.
When direct feats are unavailable, debaters often turn to "powerscaling." This involves gauging a character's power by comparing them to others in their universe. For example, if Character A defeats Character B, and Character B is known to be able to move faster than light, then through powerscaling, one can argue that Character A can also fight at superluminal speeds.
A Language of Its Own
Like any dedicated subculture, battleboarding has its own lexicon. A fight might be declared "bloodlusted," meaning both combatants are stripped of their usual morals and personality to fight at their absolute peak efficiency. Debaters might dismiss an inconsistent event as "PIS" (Plot-Induced Stupidity), where a character makes a foolish decision simply because the plot demanded it. As one commenter on the topic described the hobby, it’s like a different kind of puzzle:
It's essentially a logic puzzle using fictional characters and their established abilities as the variables. You're trying to solve an equation of 'who would win' using only the evidence provided by the source material.
This approach forces participants to engage deeply with their favorite media, analyzing scenes and statements with a critical eye. It's less about who you *want* to win and more about who *should* win based on the presented facts.
The Digital Arenas
This hobby found its footing in the early days of the internet on Usenet groups and has since flourished on dedicated forums like SpaceBattles and Comic Vine, as well as massive communities like the Reddit subreddit, r/whowouldwin. These platforms provide a space for users to post scenarios, set the conditions of the fight (e.g., location, preparation time, whether characters are in-character or bloodlusted), and let the debate unfold.
While the infamous "Goku vs. Superman" debate might be the most well-known example, these communities tackle every conceivable matchup, from a street-level brawl between John Wick and The Punisher to a cosmic clash between Galactus and the Anti-Monitor. The dedication is immense, with some users compiling massive respect threads that catalog every single feat a character has ever accomplished.
Ultimately, battleboarding is a testament to fan passion. It's a unique fusion of fandom and forensics, where loving a story means being able to break it down, analyze its components, and use that knowledge to argue your case in the ultimate fictional showdowns.