Samurai Jack vs Benedict of Amber

[Shellhead]

Samurai Jack versus Benedict of Amber. Usual Khazan defaults.

[Sharpandpointies]

Jack murders Benedict. He's vastly stronger and, more importantly, easily fast enough to blitz Benedict.

Put another way, while Benedict does kill his way through armies (eventually), he doesn't do what Ashi does to them (basically bulldozes the entire army like it's grass and she's a mower), and Ashi is not on the same level as Jack.

[Muadib]

Thats a good analysis Sharp.

It's a real pity, because this is another case IMO of the feats not matching the presentation. In their multiverse, the Blood of Amber are the most powerful beings that exist. No matter what Shadow they are in, they are superior to the locals inside the Shadow. Benedict is the best warrior, soldier and general in their entire multiverse. Dropping him into Samurai Jack's shadow should be a fair fight as Benedict's Amber nature asserts itself, alas, the great Zelazny never wrote his characters with anime esque feats in mind.

[Sharpandpointies]

Zelazny did a better job of 'postulate infinity and anything is possible' in Creatures. Certainly the Amberites weren't written in a way that gives the idea that somewhere in their infinity there are comic book/anime-level beings.

I suppose Roger was fine writing that kind of thing in Creatures, Lord of Light, and some of his short stories, and wanted to keep things more sane in the Amber Chronicles (partly due to Corwin being essentially an author-insert...in an infinite multiverse where there is already, in-canon, a Roger Zelazny).

[Captain Smith]

The Lord of Light characters really weren't cosmics. They were the crew of a starship that used tech to enhance themselves with tech and self-modifications. They took on the aspects of subcontinent deities to control their population. They had resurrection tech to aid in their 'immortality'. That being said, they did have powers that could mess you up - Yama's death stare was unpleasant it seems and Sam's electro-gravitational control wasn't trivial. However, they wouldn't last long in a real cosmic environment.

That being said - Lord of Light, IMHO, is Roger's best book.

[Sharpandpointies]

Absolutely. It was all space-opera tech. They were certainly more comic book level, especially with their special equipment atop their modifications/psychic powers, but not cosmic, and far less powerful than the characters in Creatures.

However, in personal, one-on-one confrontations, they were also certainly far more powerful than the Amber characters, even as of the Merlin cycle. Agni, Sam with his belt, Shiva, etc, these characters had absolutely solid feats that would allow them to simply obliterate the Princes of Amber in an arena battle, even against sorcerers using lynchpins (but not against Spikard-users who actually have an idea how to use them).

I would place Lord of Light quite high for me on my list of 'favorite Zelazny books'. Not quite number one, but I understand why it might be for others. ^_^