Batman vs Taskmaster

[MichaelC]

Batman vs Taskmaster

[Shellhead]

Batman was soundly defeated by Prometheus, who had a computer disc in his helmet that somehow imparted the skills of the top 50 martial artists in the world, including Batman. Taskmaster does the same, more or less, only with a mutant ability. Batman has high quality gear and extensive training with it, while Taskmaster is using imitation gear of several people he studied. Assuming the usual Khazan defaults, Batman is going to throw a batarang or maybe a smoke grenade or tear gas or a flashbang, while Taskmaster is going to do something similar with a specialty arrow unless he throws his shield instead. But Batman will have a gas mask handy while Taskmaster hasn't shown quite that level of standard gear. It's probably a decent fight with an edge to Batman.

This falls outside of normal Rumbles considerations, but I feel that Batman extensive combat training and experience will always be better than Taskmaster's second-hand skills. At a high level of ability, HTH is more about putting together effective combinations of moves together and staying one step ahead of your opponent. Taskmaster's various memorized moves will lack that sort of smooth sequencing and should leave him occasionally with his guard down.

[Alan2099]

Batman was soundly defeated by Prometheus, who had a computer disc in his helmet that somehow imparted the skills of the top 50 martial artists in the world, including Batman. Taskmaster does the same, more or less, only with a mutant ability. Batman has high quality gear and extensive training with it, while Taskmaster is using imitation gear of several people he studied. Assuming the usual Khazan defaults, Batman is going to throw a batarang or maybe a smoke grenade or tear gas or a flashbang, while Taskmaster is going to do something similar with a specialty arrow unless he throws his shield instead. But Batman will have a gas mask handy while Taskmaster hasn't shown quite that level of standard gear. It's probably a decent fight with an edge to Batman.

This falls outside of normal Rumbles considerations, but I feel that Batman extensive combat training and experience will always be better than Taskmaster's second-hand skills. At a high level of ability, HTH is more about putting together effective combinations of moves together and staying one step ahead of your opponent. Taskmaster's various memorized moves will lack that sort of smooth sequencing and should leave him occasionally with his guard down.

You're over looking Taskmaster's double time technique that he gained from watching movies in fastforward.

It's not something he can keep up for long, but it should be enough to allow him to blitz Batman.

[Sharpandpointies]

Regarding Taskmaster:

1. His gear is generally considered to be on par with the gear of the people he studied, with the sole exception of Cap's Shield. In that case, it isn't indestructible;
2. His skills are pretty much integrated. He uses them when needed, as needed, and has demonstrated the use of skills and techniques from everyone he has studied, pretty much perfectly;
3. Since Batman is explicitly not like Cass and Shiva - who have effectively left fighting styles (even their 'own style') behind - every second that Taskmaster studies Batman gives him more and more ability to predict Bruce's moves. This includes mid-fight - this has been remarked on before, that he's adjusting and insta-learning mid-fight;
4. There's the double-time thing which, while not really putting him on bullet-time level, should be enough to gain a significant speed advantage over Bruce;
5. There's fact that Bruce is going into this leading with gasses, stun-stuff, and his fists, and Taskmaster - physically on a par with Bruce, at least as skilled as him, and with the capacity to enhance his own speed - is going into it with high explosives, blades, and a big-ass shield that he uses extremely well.

Outside of the arena, I could totally buy Bruce getting the drop on Tasky, or breaking away and stealthing back, or coming up with a clever plan, or whatever. In the arena? Odds are not looking so good, unless these days Bruce is again using some kind of powered armor or the like.

I don't feel this to be a one-sided fight or anything, but my money is on Taskmaster given the circumstances.

[Alan2099]

2. His skills are pretty much integrated. He uses them when needed, as needed, and has demonstrated the use of skills and techniques from everyone he has studied, pretty much perfectly;

Amazingly enough, this has also included Spider-man. It makes me wonder if he wakes up the next day going "I am sore in placed I didn't know where possible. The human body was not designed to move like that."

Outside of the arena, I could totally buy Bruce getting the drop on Tasky, or breaking away and stealthing back, or coming up with a clever plan, or whatever.

Also, there's a decent chance Taskmaster could go "I am not getting paid enough to fight Batman. I'm outta here." Taskmaster has always been practical about these sort of things.

[Sharpandpointies]

Amazingly enough, this has also included Spider-man. It makes me wonder if he wakes up the next day going "I am sore in placed I didn't know where possible. The human body was not designed to move like that."

Yeah, I would suspect that as well. There's some 'Bullseye just throws gud' levels of BS to Taskmaster's copying ability. ^_^

Also, there's a decent chance Taskmaster could go "I am not getting paid enough to fight Batman. I'm outta here." Taskmaster has always been practical about these sort of things.

Rather like that about the character. ^_^

[Muadib]

Batman was soundly defeated by Prometheus, who had a computer disc in his helmet that somehow imparted the skills of the top 50 martial artists in the world, including Batman.

Batman did fight Prometheus to a draw their next fight imo(JLA #38) , before Batman cheated and formatted Prometheus helmet hard drive. Prometheus would have lost the fight outright when Batman broke his jaw except Prom's suit flooded his system with painkillers and speed heal drugs.

But i must concur with the consensus, the double time thing is a huge advantage, combined with Tasky's skill memorization, Batman is in trouble. Batman has faced someone with a cybernetic equivalent of this ability(The forgettable enforcer called Zeiss), but defeated him with shenanigans.

Batman is waaaay smarter and stealthier and could turn a scenario to his favour, but in a straight arena brawl, this is Taskmaster's fight to lose.

[Sharpandpointies]

Batman did fight Prometheus to a draw their next fight imo(JLA #38) , before Batman cheated and formatted Prometheus helmet hard drive. Prometheus would have lost the fight outright when Batman broke his jaw except Prom's suit flooded his system with painkillers and speed heal drugs.

As a villain, Prommie was pretty sad, really. ^_^ So much so that there were multiple attempts by different writers to make him into a serious contender again...all of which ended up being somewhat sad as well.

[Beadle]

Amazingly enough, this has also included Spider-man. It makes me wonder if he wakes up the next day going "I am sore in placed I didn't know where possible. The human body was not designed to move like that."

I’ve referenced it before but never found it in print (so it may actually be apocryphal), but I remember someone telling me (or possibly even showing me) of Taskmaster talking about how he has to specifically work at not copying Wolverine’s fighting style, because the guy has an unbreakable skeleton and ridiculous healing factor, which Tasky definitively doesn’t, so the last thing he wants to do is instinctively leap face-and-fists first through a hail of bullets to get to someone.

[Shellhead]

As a villain, Prommie was pretty sad, really. ^_^ So much so that there were multiple attempts by different writers to make him into a serious contender again...all of which ended up being somewhat sad as well.

Everybody lost respect for Prometheus after he got literally whipped in the junk by Catwoman.

I didn't know about Taskmaster's double time power, but it sounds sufficient to blitz Batman.

[Sharpandpointies]

I’ve referenced it before but never found it in print (so it may actually be apocryphal), but I remember someone telling me (or possibly even showing me) of Taskmaster talking about how he has to specifically work at not copying Wolverine’s fighting style, because the guy has an unbreakable skeleton and ridiculous healing factor, which Tasky definitively doesn’t, so the last thing he wants to do is instinctively leap face-and-fists first through a hail of bullets to get to someone.

Yeah, that works for me as well. Logan is a hell of a fighter when he remembers his skill...it's just that most of the time he's kind of 'Why bother?' and charges in flailing with adamantium claws.

Everybody lost respect for Prometheus after he got literally whipped in the junk by Catwoman.

It was something of a low point, yes, and repeated later on ([Huntress] Diiiiirrrrteeee Fiiiiiightiiiing!). Like, dude keeps getting taken out by B-listers hitting him in the nuts (I know, second guy supposedly wasn't him, something they wrote in later to explain all of his embarrassing failures, but still).

I didn't know about Taskmaster's double time power, but it sounds sufficient to blitz Batman.

I wouldn't say sufficient to blitz, myself. Dude did get shot while using it, after all - it doesn't make him a bullet-timer. But it's a big advantage.