Best hand-to-hand combatants in Marvel?

[Tien Long]

Ah yes, another "best fighter/martial artist in the Marvel Universe" thread. It's always cool to see how people rank and formulate their lists. As for me, it goes:

Shang-Chi
Iron Fist
Captain America
Black Panther
Daredevil
Gamora
Mantis
Wolverine
Taskmaster
Karnak

Variant Comics made a list of Marvel's top martial artists. Proud that a certain master of Kung Fu is at the top:



I find it pretty cool that posters consider individuals like Spider-Man to be the best. Indeed, we are looking at the subject from different angles, which keeps things fresh. At the same time, are we factoring in powers and abilities or pure skill? More importantly, how do we really know who are the top fighters in the Marvel Universe? Does it come from guide books and Marvel rankings or were there real comics which stated them as such? For instance, I've been catching up on old issues of Shang-Chi's "Master of Kung Fu" title. He does a lot of cool stuff, taking down bad guys and what have you, but no one has come out and said he's the greatest martial artist on the planet (at least not yet anyway).

Me, I've definitely hope that there's some martial arts tournament arc in the future that finally sets in stone these debates.

[dkrook]

Not including Black Panther as up there as either the top or #2 is just plain disrespectful and dumb

[kevlon]

Moon dragon, mantis, night thrasher, silhouette

[XPac]

Not including Black Panther as up there as either the top or #2 is just plain disrespectful and dumb

My personal belief on that (and I know some will disagree) is that the people that are basically great at EVERYTHING like Batman and Black Panther shouldn't be THE BEST at any one thing. So while I think guys like Batman and Black Panther should be in the top 10 list of fighters, they shouldn't be at the very top of it.

A Batman or a T'Challa have to divide their time between training in martial arts and a million other skills... engineering, computers, etc. But a Shang Chi or a Richard Dragon can basically spend all their time training to perfect their one specific trade. If a Batman or a Black Panther focued PURELY on fighting they could be the best at that one aspect... but because they have to master so many other disciplines it drops them down a notch or two from where they theoretically COULD be otherwise.

But like I said, I'm sure Batman and Black Panther fans would disagree with me on that.

[From The Shadows]

When Nightcrawler is written with more imagination he can be great if not one of the best at full potential. He uses his speed and agility to knock Sage off balance and confuse her while he uses his tail to steal her weapons while using s few "ninja" move with all his appendages. I don't have all the scans but what I have here is pretty impressive itself. I remember reading score cards where Kurt was said to be some of the most impressive fighting Logan's ever seen. We need more things like this for NC rather than the usual punch-teleport. I do remember an old X-Men issue where Fury said he would probably make a good Sheild Agent.

[Wind Rider]

Agreed on Nightcrawler. His skills, reaction time, and acrobatics combined with his agility definitely puts him up there with the bedt imho.

The best h2h fighters (just based on what they’ve done on panel) that tend to spring to mind is Black Panther, Shang Chi, Iron Fist, Wolverine, Steve Rogers, Mantis, Daredevil, Taskmaster, Psylocke and Maybe Black Widow.

[classicgmer]

Melee from Avengers the initative.


https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Melee_(Earth-616)



According to her and her bio she's a master of all types of martial arts....She hasn't had much of an opportunity to show it but i say we take her word for it

[Steel Inquisitor]

Elektra
Taskmaster
Shang-Chi
Mandarin
Psylocke
Wolverine
Black Widow
Gamora
Daredevil

[Husk]

I would throw Finesse in there too.

[thjan]

I can't believe Gambit hasn't been mentioned. He is incredibly agile and a very skilled fighter who has held his own against some of Marvel's best. I mean when I think of the best hand to hand fighters in the X-Men, him, Wolverine, and Psylocke are always the first ones to spring to mind.

[Hybrid]

Honestly, I feel bad for forgetting Wolverine. I think it might have to do with how his master martial arts status is forgotten half the time, instead having him get by on his healing factor. Wolverine should be a melee master, not just in raw power with his claws, but his ability to use use his skills to his advantage. It's kind of embarrassing when Cyclops knocks him on his ass with no effort, when you remember this.

[Hybrid]

To be honest, I'm kind of disappointed that only one person besides me mentioned Cable. I'm guessing this was missed, mainly because Cable is known as a cyborg gunman who solves his problems from a distance as opposed to up close and personal.

However, just because he can shoot you from a distance doesn't mean that's his only option. He is a master hand-to-hand combatant who knows both normal martial arts and the futuristic ones taught by the Askani, and has dominated tons of people in close quarters from goons to established characters. It also helps that he has his cybernetic arm, which gives gives him that extra strength that he can leverage with his skill. I guess it's like Nightcrawler with teleportation, using an advantage in parity with ones own skill to be a unique force in battle.

[Chris0013]

Honestly...while Wolverine is trained and experienced...if it wasn't for his healing factor how many times would he be dead? Let's face it...Shingen nearly cut him in half with a sword.

[Vishop]

Honestly, I feel bad for forgetting Wolverine. I think it might have to do with how his master martial arts status is forgotten half the time, instead having him get by on his healing factor. Wolverine should be a melee master, not just in raw power with his claws, but his ability to use use his skills to his advantage. It's kind of embarrassing when Cyclops knocks him on his ass with no effort, when you remember this.

You know a LOT of things happened after those encounters during earlier times. Logan trained and trained from several fighters. Starting from Ogun, then Elektra, Manifest Destiny, Master Po etc, etc. Logan almost stomped Cap even though Logan was exhausted. Overwhelmed Shang Chi, Iron Fist, Mr. X, even tagged a speedster.

It's just that Logan wasnt a popular character back during then and now he is arguably the most popular X-character. There are a lot of mixed interpretations due to his oversaturation after 2000's. Some highlighted his healing factor and some highlighted his prowess but Marvel considers one of the best fighters of Marvel Universe.

[Shinglepants]

No mention of Gorgon/Toni Shishido yet? IIRC he’s bested Shang-Chi, Wolverine and Elektra.