Grand Finale! Samus vs Raziel

I have a question. When Raziel returns to the material realm, can he choose where to return, or is it preditermined by his former location based upon (or not) his movement in the spectral realm?

If he has the ability to choose where he returns, then he is at a major advantage, as he has the ability to teleport for all practical purposes. If he does not have the ability, then he either returns where he shifted or to a translation of where he shifted based upon his movement. In either situation, I would have to question whether or not his phyical location would be the same.

Example:
They are fighting on a tower. Raziel shifts to heal. He comes back without the ability to choose where he goes. (Either he is in the same place, or he is say... 10 feet forward, as he decided to walk 10 feet forward in the spectral realm.) Is he still on top of the tower, or does he have the same X,Y,Z coordinates as before? If the setting has shifted to a moon of Saturn, is Raziel 30 feet from Samus as he was before?

I would find it hard to believe that he would still be standing on the tower that may have never existed in the first place, but these are not my laws of physics...

No, Bob, Raziel requires the use of a "shift point" in the Spectral Realm in order to shift back into the Material Realm. He can shift into Spectral whenever and wherever he wants, but shifting out of the Spectral Realm requires a shift point.

So, he can essentially teleport, it's just that he'll always teleport to the same place.

Oh, and considering that time doesn't exist in the Spectral Realm, no, the arena could not shift while he was in Spectral. To his opponent, his shift to and from Spectral is instantaneous.

Ah! I forgot about that. Okay, thanks for clearing that up for me.

Well, I'm going to put my vote on Raziel. I don't have a lot of time to explain why now, but I'll put some thought into it if I have time today and get back to it later.

(I wish Magus were still here. He would pwn Samus.)

Well, being that Raziel is a mainly melee based fighter, he would have an extremely hard time winning against a mainly long-range attacking foe, as Samus is considered with her arsenal of firepower. Raziel can shift all he wants, but it will only take Samus 2 or 3 times max to realize that when he comes back, he will always be in the same place. Bang bang, dead.

Raziel's glyphs are way too weak to do any real damage to Samus, and as stated in earlier fights it would merely stun her, if it actually landed... Even so, Samus could always screw attack when they are approaching, hence neglecting their entire premise since only extreme power attacks can halt a screw attack, as was established many a times in earlier rounds.

I honestly don't see how Samus could possibly lose this one. Raziel is strong, but his constraints will prove too insurmountable in this battle. He needs broader attacking abilities to pull out a win, which from what little I know about him, he simply doesn't have.

Well, the whole Screw Attack could possibly be negated by Raziel's TK abilities. Remember, enemies are more susceptible to TK when they're already airborne. If she tries to stay in Screw Attack, all he has to do is pull her back down towards him.

On top of that, I have a genuine concern as to whether or not Samus' Power Armor would absorb the damage from Raziel's Wraith Blade at all. Her ability to take damage is not based on the strength of the metal, but on the strength of her energy shields that surround the armor. When her shields run out of power, she's dead. The actual metallic composition of the armor can't withstand attacks after the shields dissipate. With that said, Raziel has shown the ability to attack through energy-based barriers in both Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance, and as such, the wraith blade might be capable of cutting through her shields.

But, then again, that's entirely speculative, and only based on a few examples from the games. Either way, it's a possible flaw in Samus' defenses.

Arg, I can't stop myself... It could be argued that Samus' armor is semi-magical in nature because of the creatures that built it. The Chozo were the most highly advanced species in the universe, and that includes both magical and technological aspects. They were famous for having learned how to impeccably meld together super-advanced technologies and super-intricate magic. The Power Armor that Samus wears was considered to be their greatest single achievement by many. The theory is supported by the fact that she has an unlimited supply of power for the suit, never needing to recharge and never needing to re-supply her arm cannon's beam weapons. She also has the ability to recharge her shields, missile ammo and Power Bomb count by absorbing the life-energy left behind by fallen enemies, which could only really be magical in function. Either way, if you asked me, I'd say her armor is half-magic, half-tech.

I think your exact quote should suffice enough to show she can with stand attacks from Raziel's Wraithe Blade. Again, I still think this comes down to fighting styles, and IMO, Samus has Raziel outmatched.

Yes, Samus recharges her shields and missile ammo through life-energy left behind by fallen enemies. The wraith blade isn't the same thing. It's still attached to Raziel, therefore the soul-energy that makes up the wraith blade is still "in use".

Personally, I'm not sure Samus' Power Armor could withstand attacks from Raziel's wraith blade at all. Raziel's Reaver has shown the ability to destroy energy barriers and cut through energy barriers. Her energy shield may be magical in nature (again, that original quote of mine was complete speculation), but all that means is that the Reaver might not be able to cut right through her shields. The Reaver will still do damage, just maybe not critical damage on every hit.

Samus' best advantage is the fact that her shields will most likely downgrade the Soul Reaver's effect from "ungodly killing machine" to "moderately harmful weapon". She still has very little in the way of melee attacks, and if she tries to distance herself too much, she could find herself in trouble if locked up in Raziel's TK.

Then again, it's entirely possible that she's got him outclassed. While she's not a melee specialist, she does have melee capabilities, ala Smash Bros. Melee. She's more than capable of putting up a moderate melee fight, but in comparison with Raziel's melee abilities, she doesn't have much to offer.

Her ranged attacks are her advantage, and considering how much she weighs (the suit is fucking heavy) if she stays on the ground, it might be tough for Raz to toss her around with TK. However, if she finds herself airborne, she might be in a pickle. There's no real way to know if Samus' Screw Attack would defend her from a TK attack in the air. Yeah, it defends her from outside interferecne, but Raziel isn't tossing projectiles at her, he's manipulating her entire physical form. So, TK in the air is a toss up. Either the Screw Attack would defend her against it, or it would do nothing to help her.

This is a tough call for me, personally. I honestly don't know who I think would win. They're both very evenly matched. Samus' defenses could possibly cut the effectiveness of the Wraith Blade down substantially, then again, her defenses could do nothing. Her Screw attack may defend her completely from aerial TK manipulation, but then again it might not do anything at all. Raziel is great at melee combat, but aside from his TK, his ranged abilities are lacking. Samus is a master of ranged combat, but her melee abilities aren't much compared to Raz.

I honestly don't know who would win this. Considering the nature of the arena as well, this fight could go on literally forever. Both combatants can revitalize themselves by fedding on the leftover life force of a dead creature, and considering that this arena shifts constantly between different locations and different time periods, they have a nearly limitless number of hosts upon which to feed.

I suppose the deciding factor is who would be willing to use innocent people to further their own goals, and frankly, I'm not sure either would be willing to. Samus isn't a murderer, and Raziel's personality has changed drastically since he was a bloodthristy vampire.

It's a tough call. I'm glad that I am not judging this one.