The Contestants |
 Click to view original image source |
 Click to view original image source |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Breakdown |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Advantages
|
Advantages
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disadvantages
|
Disadvantages
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kills
Off to that giant wool sweater in…Hell |
Kills
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How we think the fight will go
Sauron didn’t want to fight.
He had said as such to his underlings. He was actually hoping to have Sarumon take his place, thinking with their names so simliar, no one would notice the difference.
Hell—how often had he gotten the wrong mail sent to him?
But the Cage Match editors were being jerks about this, and even though he smote one or two of them, if there’s one thing you can say about the folks at Suvudu, it’s that they’re survivors.
“Like roaches,” Sauron rumbled.
It wasn’t that he was frightened—the only thing that scared the Dark Lord was little men with hair feet and a penchant for dropping things into rivers of lava. Rather, he just thought it was a wasted opportunity.
The Reaper was a creature after his own black heart. A perfect killing machine, with no other desire than to hunt…and feed.
Sauron sighed.
“There’s no way around this, is there?”
“Alas, my Lord, there isn’t,” one of his orc generals said.
“Pity.” As he said this, the Reaper made its way into the vast chamber Suvudu had put aside for the match. The demon’s tall frame was obscured by a dark cloak, but it was clearly not a man. A massive uruk-hai at the door shrank back in fear—something it knew would have mean redeeming itself with the blood of others…or a few swirlies.
The Reaper paid it no mind.
“I welcome you, my brethren. It’s a shame I must destroy you.”
The Reaper said nothing—it was kind of quiet in that way.
“You must remove your hood in Lord Sauron’s—“
The orcish aide to Sauron was cut off as the Reaper demonstrated exactly how eviceration felt.
Sauron siged again, almost lustily this time.
The Reaper kept advancing, its fluid movements almost beautiful.
“Like an elf,” Sauron muttered.
Within striking distance, the Reaper didn’t hesitate to launch itself at the Dark Lord, claws extended.
The ruler of Mordor didn’t even flinch as the demon scraped and clawed at his armor. Only as the the monster’s hands reached towards his face did Sauron react.
“That’s just about enough of that…” and he grabbed the Reaper by its throat, holding it up before him.
The hood fell back, revealing a visage so horrible that a few orcs threw up, two men of the South fainted, and one Ring Wraith actually started to cry (although he would deny it at the next Ring Wraith meeting).
But again, Sauron wasn’t peturbed. If anything, he was…intrigued. Bringing the snarling face close to his, he began whispering into the demon’s ear.
Slowly, the demon stopped flailing, and, strangely, began shuddering.
Almost as if in ecstasy.
Sauron released the demon, and as the Dark Lord’s minions pressed themselves against the walls of the chamber, the Reaper flew from the room, a new prey lodged in his mind.
“What did you tell him, Lord,” the Mouth of Sauron inquired.
“I simply mentioned that Dagda Mor was a poor excuse of a master…and that I was a poor excuse for a meal.”
He smiled.
“Then I said that the Suvudu people were waiting outside…”
Predicted Winner: Sauron (Or, rather, everyone at Suvudu loses…)
NOTE: THIS MATCH ENDS ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, AT 3 PM, ET
Sauron is a character from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; The Reaper is a character from the Shannara series by Terry Brooks.
Sauron image courtesy of New Line Cinema; Reaper image courtesy of layoutsparks.com.
Would one of the three hundred people who voted for the reaper please offer an explanation as to how it could POSSIBLY have beaten Sauron? Please?
If a puny human can take down Sauron, the Reaper sure as hell can! haha
As was mentioned in the stats…without the One Ring, Sauron is weakened greatly. No armies to control at his will fighting for him. The Reaper needs no army as he is a terror and a killing machine.
The Reaper is a killing machine with the hunting prowess of the most skillful elf and is the deadliest demon in literature. He is virtually indestructible unless you happen to have Blue Elfstones around and the right elf to use them. He could cut the hand of Sauron that wears the ring with his one of his deadly claws just as easily as it was done with a sword in LOTR. Goodbye Sauron.
To be fair, though, cutting off the Ring doesn’t actually kill Sauron, either. So unless the Reaper has the One Ring and throws it into the fires of Mount Doom, it’s kind of a wash, no?
I won’t lie–it’s why I had such a hard time predicting a winner for this one.
…Claws? Someone is putting forth that really sharp *claws* are the equal of the finest elf-forged blade in Middle-Earth? And last I checked, Sauron didn’t really need an army to do his dirty work for him when he has a body, and he looks awfully corporeal in that picture up there.
Sauron is more than a match for the Reaper. Yes, the Reaper is a frightening thing, but let’s not forget a few things:
1) Sauron is nigh-unkillable.
2) Sauron is from a series of books of which Terry Brooks’ Shannara series is but a pale imitation. Accept no substitutes.
3) Sauron has not only his considerable might, but also a way with words and trickery. Let us not forget that he has managed to talk his way out of punishment at the hands of the Valar, the mightiest beings in all of Arda save Illuvatar himself, not once, but twice, and destroyed entire civilizations with nothing more than a few words in the right ears. The Reaper itself could just as easily be tempted by the power that Sauron could offer it.
4) Sauron’s minions are not likely to come at the Reaper one at a time, but rather all at once, and any fear they might have of the Reaper is overcome in the presence of their Dark Lord. You don’t get to be the Dark Lord by fighting fair, after all.
5) Sauron’s mastery of sorcery means that he could easily find a way to replicate the Elfstone’s magic. This is a dude who has had his mits in the fires of creation, and had his start as a Maiar of Aule, the Lord of Making. He knows his way around an artifact. If the Reaper can come after Sauron’s magical MacGuffin, Sauron can figure out a way with a magical MacGuffin of his own.
Really? 500 votes for the reaper? You people must not know your lore at all. Sauron is a god.(Lowest tier Malar if i remember correctly) He’s essentially invincible. Even after the events in the Lord of the Rings he’s still alive, he’s just unable to attain a form to cause any more harm in Tolkien’s universe. For now at least.
This is basically a popularity contest. Remember that all the godlike characters were defeated relatively early in the former cage match. If not, the cage matches would become relatively predictable and boring
The real issue here is that the Shannara fans currently outnumber the LotR-fans when it comes to voting in this cage match. Shame on the apathetic LotR fans.
Terry Brooks is utilising the power of FaceBook to drum up votes for Reaper.
Not that, I am necessarily against that – I only found out about this contest through his posts.
I just think Reaper will make for more interesting fights.
There are so many crap “villians” in this thing, how can anyone take it seriously, anyway?
I mean, Carman was in the contest in the first place, let alone won a fight?
The Reaper’s claws do not have to be equal to the sharpest and finest blade in Middle-Earth. They just have to be sharp enough and I certainly the most effective killing demon in literature would have sharp enough claws to slice Sauron’s hand off. If that son of the King can get lucky there is certainly more than a chance The Reaper can do it. Also The Reaper can easily drop the ring into the fires of Mount Doom and if a Sauron minion got in his way they would be handed their head. The Reaper does not need an army like Sauron. He is a walking army and alpha assassin. As far as Sauron having time to find fire equal to the Blue Elfstones how much time to you think he would have with The Reaper shredding him apart?
Cmon People everyone vote for Sauron seriously if Reaper wins then there is really no point to continue this cagematch tournament because all the top seeds will be out. Do you seriously want a bunch of cinderella contenders to finish up this tournament???
Acknowledging the fact that debating over a popularity contest is ultimately pointless, I still feel compelled to point out that Sauron is the clear victor in this contest, he just has every single thing going for him! He’s just as big as the Reaper, just at scary, just as deadly in personal combat (the “gigantic evil mace” is named Grond, if I recall correctly), and is the master of ancient and powerful sorcery that can only be considered a match for the power of the elfstones. I’ve read the Shannara series, and as agentofnothing mentioned, while it is a perfectly fine work, Tolkien is the original, while Shannara is merely a derivative thereof.
Say WHAT? . This…is basest heresy. If the works of TERRY BROOKS defeat those of Tolkien, without whom there would BE no Terry Brooks…well, gah.
Oh my. The deadliest demon in literature. Y’know, I’m a pompous douche myself, but even I wouldn’t dare say I’m an expert on the whole literature in the world and all the demons it contains. I mean, seriously. Get a grip.
Sauron wins unless there’s Mount Doom somewhere around the corner. Even if the Reaper cuts off Sauron’s ring wielding finger, he will be stared to death by the Eye. ‘Cause the guy clearly doesn’t like to be looked at…
I never said I was an expert on the whole of literature Vindici. It was my opinion as this is a comment section and you are right about one thing. You are a pompous douche.
I think what you Sauron supporters are failing to understand though is this, which is two-fold and the second point is the more important of the two:
1. The Ring comes off of Sauron’s hand fairly easily. Otherwise no story with Frodo at its head would exist. I mean, a wussy human removed it! It’s hard to argue with that point.
2. The Reaper isn’t a Hobbit. It can withstand every single assault Sauron could throw at it once the Ring is gone. So Sauron stares at the Reaper from distance and sends Ringwraiths at it. Big deal. The Reaper survived the Forbidding, a place filled with more hellish and powerful creatures than the Nine.
As a student of both Tolkien’s work as well as the expert on Terry Brooks, I think there is some validity to these comments.
Sorry guys, Sauron can’t replicate the power of the elfstones. The elfstones are powered by the heart and nature of the elf wielding them and the essence of the woven people. If Sauron understood such concepts the hobbits would have disappeared ages ago. Also though Sauron may be a master of martial skills, he can be bested, as Isuldar proved. Sauron uses the minds of the weak, selfish and greedy to get what he desires, the reaper only wishes to kill. That’s it, there is no conniving, debating, or trickery that would defeat him. He cannot be controlled, or negotiated with. This is a physical battle, and Sauron is great at killing elves and humans, but has been defeat plenty. the reaper is great at killing everything.
I love how the Sauron supporters are all upset that this is turning into a popularity contest. LotR as you have all pointed out has one of the largest fanbases of any book series in history, normally you wouldn’t have a problem with a popularity contest, but it seems that when you lose it becoming a popularity contest is a big deal.
It is a wonder Sauron made it this far. Everyone that has read the Silmarillion knows, Sauron has lost ALL battles he physically took part in… Hence my vote goes to the Reaper.
Bahahaha! I think the battle with Dr. Horrible has affected The Reaper, since apparently his weakness is that he breaks into heartfelt song to express his innermost feelings at any moment. I think all future battles should be expressed as musical numbers.
Anyway, seriously, I like how people keep putting that Shannara was inspires by Lord of the Rings as reasons for why Sauron should beat The Reaper. If that’s the logic we go by, then Sauron just automatically wins, because everything afterwards was either inspires by Lord of the Rings, or inspired by something else that has inspiration that can be traced back to it.
Now, truly serious this time. Defeating your opponent does not necessarily mean killing them. Even in the write-up above, the combatants don’t actually die. So I would say that Sauron is easier to incapacitate than The Reaper, due to the weak point known as The Ring.
Dudes…
First of all, this is a CAGE MATCH. Have u seen one before? No army, no Mountains, no time to recall \how-can-i-replace-elfstones\ thinking. You go, and kick ass. The winner is, who stand in the end. Well, lemme see… Without the Ring, Sauron is… hmm… what does it called? Ah, i got it! A fuking pile of ASH!
The Reaper make a pile of chunk out of the so-called Badass. Slice-and-dice. In the end: a pile of superbadass ASH, and a Reaper with a WTF?! head.
BTW: if u cut of Sauron’s head, will it mean that its not connected to the Ring, so its… hmm… ASH again? Or if u cut out the heart (if he has any) then the same? Or is it a rule, that u have to massacre the finger-hand-arm-whatever?
Oh, my bad. There’s a Mountain in a cage match. But that’s Riding. And kicks ass
And to connect to the prev comment… What keeps back The Reaper, to put on the ring? Will he fear? xD Will he become insane? More? Truly? Thats sooooo bad… I mean, really. U get an even more deadly killing machine. No way, that Sauron could win. Never. Ever.
This has got to be the most ridiculous arguments I have ever heard…….Ok, yeah I voted for the Reaper. Screw LOTR!!!!
“This has got to be the most ridiculous arguments I have ever heard…….Ok, yeah I voted for the Reaper. Screw LOTR!!!!”
I second that… Sauron sucks!!
An he talks too much.
This is just ridiculous. Poor Tolkien. His characters are constantly underestimated simply because he wasn’t concerned with his penis size, and thus didn’t feel the need to have them showing off SUPER DEATH MAGIC every five minutes.
Sauron is a low-level god. He was capable of darkening the sky for hundreds of miles, and of (dumbing this down) putting an entire city under a spell of fear. The full force of Sauron’s regard alone is supposed to be enough to shatter the will of all but the most strong-hearted. The ring was not chopped off his hand by one guy. Those are the movies. Two kings, both of them superhuman and likely capable of sorcery themselves, fought with him and eventually defeated him, but both died in the act. Isildur took the Ring only after Sauron was defeated, when the danger was past.
This is a being who destroyed entire civilizations, dominated the minds of kings and wizards, and was once overlord of nearly all the world.
Whereas the mighty Reaper, in person, can be stopped by cutting a bridge. Scary.
Right…for some reason my comment didn’t appear. Apologies if this appears as a double post.
Main point:
Nope. “One guy” didn’t beat Sauron. Those were the movies. Two kings, both superhuman, both likely capable of sorcery, beat him. They both died doing it.
Sauron’s regard alone is generally considered capable of shattering the will of all but the most strong-hearted individuals.
Don’t underestimate Tolkien’s creations because they aren’t as flashy.
Hm…and another high seed leaves the tournament. Sadness.
On the other hand…
The Mountain rides closer to an actual, legit victory.
I read the Lord of the Rings and I based my vote on one thing.
Sauron never scared me, he was a shadow a ghost story to tell kids about, the “Boogie Man” under the bed even as Frodo enters Mordor it’s his armies that brought that fear, his minions would have killed Frodo and returned his “Precious Ring”.
When you think of the reaper hunting you or anyone else down there’s a sense of dread even thinking about it.
End of “The Reaper” gets my vote
You know, I was on the fence on this one. Sauron needs the ring to be destroyed so he’s destroyed. (still think that’s lame) and the Reaper is well, the Reaper. But then I got to agentofnothing’s post, specifically him or her calling Shannara a “pale imitation”. Uninformed and idiotic my friend. Two different worlds. If you could get yourself to a library and check out some of the other books you’d see that. So because of your douchery, I call Reaper to take that one ring and shove it up Sauron’s tushie.
Yeah, Sauron, a giant EYE is going to be the Reaper, the most lethal of the Demons.
I have to admit reading all these comments was awesome. This is what a real cage match should be, people bickering and supporting who they think should win. This has certainly made this match-up the most interesting to follow.
All in all, I’m happy with either of these guys winning since they are both awesome (and yes I have read both series).
Well, reading both LoTR and Terry Brook’s novels, it was hard to come to a conclusion.
Sauron has the ability to shapeshift too! And he commands werewolves. He conquered the elvish isle of Tol Sirion. But then, Lúthien and Huan the Wolfhound defeated Sauron(as Huan was blessed by the Valar to never die until he met the mightiest wolf to ever live)… but Luthien was equally masterful in illusion as Sauron was, and Huan the Wolfhound combated his chief werewolf Draugluin. Sauron was described as one of the strongest, if not the mightiest, of the Maiar. Sauron’s weapon is a black mace used against the Last Alliance to kill both Gil-galad and Elendil. The mace is extremely powerful (or Sauron uses magic to strengthen his might), as it can blast back and kill entire battalions in one hit. Against powerful foes like Aragorn in Battle for Middle-earth II, Sauron only needs a few hits (2 or 3) to defeat them. The extent, nature, and specifics of Sauron’s power are largely left to the imagination. It is known that his mere presence can drive all but the greatest of Middle-Earth to madness. Like his master Morgoth, he is capable of altering the physical substance of the world around him by mere effort of will. Although he was utterly defeated because the One Ring was cast into the fires or Orodruin, Sauron will arise during the Dagor Dagorath when Morgoth returns to Arda at the end of times, as he is with Morgoth in the Void.
Now for the Reaper. As said in the Elfstones
“If the Changeling was to be judged dangerous, the Reaper was ten times more so. The Reaper was a killer. Killing was the sole function of its existence. … [It] feared nothing. It was a monster who cared nothing for life, even its own. It did not even kill because it enjoyed killing, though in truth it did enjoy killing. It killed because killing was instinctive. It killed because it found killing necessary.”
The Elfstones were pointed at the Reaper’s face and he was ultimately killed. In the Terry Brooks novels, the Elfstones are powerful elven artifacts that could only be used by people with Elven blood(people who have less than full elf blood will recieve side effects–just like Wil Ohmsford who killed the Reaper), to kill any but the most strongest of Magical beings. But that doesn’t mean that the Elfstones are the only way to defeat a demon such as the Reaper. As far as we know, the Reaper just kills. And it seems about as powerful to me, as Bane in the Forgotten Realms series, that’s how I see him…
As far as I know, depending on the circumstances of this fight, Sauron would win. He controls the elements of the Earth(and also fire) and his power is unmeasurable when he uses his mace(also has the ability to shapeshift, although he is not shown to use it since he became the Dark Lord of Mordor). I have little doubt that Sauron would defeat the Reaper in a battle… The Reapers claws would not be able to cut the Ring from Sauron’s fingers if he did not have leeway to do so, as Isildur probably did(as shown in the movie).
I thought the Reaper was already dead? Can he die again? I wonder if he can teleport?