Board 8 > Do you think Seph and Sonic are still the weakest Noble Niners?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Wondering if the Sonic movie and FF7 remake both being well received caused the hierarchy to shift. Feel like Seph might be out of it but Sonic might not be as relevant whenever the next character battle takes place (though Sonic vs Mega Man would still be fun)

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Seph isnt noble nine anymore though but yes to sonic

The Noble Nine is now:
Link
Cloud
Zelda
Mario
Samus
Crono
Snake
Pikachu
Mega Man
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OrangeCrush980 posted...

The Noble Nine is now:
Link
Cloud
Zelda
Mario
Samus
Crono
Snake
Pikachu
Mega Man

Tifa would like a word.

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gamer man posted...

Seph isnt noble nine anymore though but yes to sonic

That's not how the Noble Nine works.

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Sonic may have gotten a boost due to the movie

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theres a large group of characters thats so close that any could beat anyone else

Crono, Megaman, Pikachu, Tifa, Megaman X, Sonic might be there too..heck, Luigi is nearly there.

and who even knows how Snake works after all those contradicting performances.

Sharinnegan posted...

theres a large group of characters thats so close that any could beat anyone else

Crono, Megaman, Pikachu, Tifa, Megaman X, Sonic might be there too..heck, Luigi is nearly there.

and who even knows how Snake works after all those contradicting performances.

Eh, the only Snake performance that was out of whack was the Samus match. He looked pretty consistent in the others.

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Honestly, the way that members have tried to defend the sacredity of the nn has been outrageous.

swirIdude posted...

That's not how the Noble Nine works.

KokoroAkechi posted...

Honestly, the way that members have tried to defend the sacredity of the nn has been outrageous.

Agreed on both counts. The Noble Nine is just a thing. They were the top 9 characters in the X-Stats in the first Character Battle, and it was a really arbitrary cutoff, but it worked. And for one year, it truly made sense that 9 was the cutoff, no lower and no higher.

Keep that in mind. It was only one year. After the 2005 contest, Snake and Sonic still had no victories over other Noble Niners, though they certainly had beaten some of the top contenders for making it greater than 9, while Samus's only wins over a Noble Niner came against Sonic and Mega Man's had only come against Sonic and Snake; in 2007, L-Block happened and also Vincent beat Crono. The only time at which the Noble Nine had the status of "none have lost to outside competition and all of them have transitive losses to all of the others" was after the Elite Eight of 2006 when Snake beat Mega Man and Sonic beat Crono.

So why are we mythologizing them? There are plenty of other strong characters out there, some of whom weren't even in the first Character Battle. That's the part that really makes it silly; the 2002 Character Battle had a ridiculously high amount of fodder, due to the glut of fighting game characters in the field. But being in every character battle is required to be considered "elite"?

The Noble Nine are still the Noble Nine, and they always will be. It's just that their streak ended in 2007, or 2010 if you insist on only counting 1v1s, and if you're really anal and only count 24-hour 1v1s, not until 2018. But there are non-Noble Niners who are on the same level as the lower ranks of the Noble Nine. Zelda, Pikachu, and Tifa proved it in 2018, and MMX is probably right there, too.

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KokoroAkechi posted...

Honestly, the way that members have tried to defend the sacredity of the nn has been outrageous.

I mean, the membership doesn't change.
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TsunamiXXVIII posted...

Agreed on both counts. The Noble Nine is just a thing. They were the top 9 characters in the X-Stats in the first Character Battle, and it was a really arbitrary cutoff, but it worked. And for one year, it truly made sense that 9 was the cutoff, no lower and no higher.

bro it wasn't an arbitrary cut off. It was honestly the least arbitrary thing ever. Up until the NN was broken, no member of it had lost to anyone else outside of it.

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I suppose the question is how much of a boost Seph gets from FF7R

Leonhart4 posted...

Tifa would like a word.

uhh did you not notice he just posted the top 9 from your 2018 x-stats?
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Mac Arrowny posted...

uhh did you not notice he just posted the top 9 from your 2018 x-stats?

sure but it doesn't mean Tifa doesn't belong in the discussion!
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LeonhartFour posted...

I mean, the membership doesn't change.

If it's not meant to change then we need to retire it forever - it's just a part of history and is no longer relevant

Link
Cloud/Mario/Samus
Snake
Mega Man/Crono/Seph
Sonic

So Sonic yes, Seph debatable

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gamer man posted...

If it's not meant to change then we need to retire it forever - it's just a part of history and is no longer relevant

I mean that's what the Noble Nine been for a long time now

when people say the phrase you know which nine characters it refers to and beating one of them is still a big deal, so it's definitely still relevant
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Yeah people arguing that are stupid. Whether you think it was killed by L-Block, Vincent, Missingno or Pikachu, it's functionally dead at this point, but traditionally alive.

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Underleveled posted...

Yeah people arguing that are stupid. Whether you think it was killed by L-Block, Vincent, Missingno or Pikachu, it's functionally dead at this point, but traditionally alive.

B-but the Noble Nine was really killed by Zelda!

Link
Cloud
Mario
Samus
Snake
Crono
Mega Man
Sonic
Sephiroth

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It boggles my mind how people can't accept that the Noble Nine and the 9 strongest characters in the contest can be a different list. No (reasonable) person is suggesting that these two lists cannot co-exist.

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swirIdude posted...

It boggles my mind how people can't accept that the Noble Nine and the 9 strongest characters in the contest can be a different list. No (reasonable) person is suggesting that these two lists cannot co-exist.

Exactly this.

The noble nine was the noble nine. It doesn't change.

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Megaman at the bottom. then probably Crono.
Seph has FF7R, Sonic has occasionally good games and a movie franchise to help.

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ExThaNemesis posted...

Exactly this.

The noble nine was the noble nine. It doesn't change.

Okay but that's just it - it was the noble nine.

It's been irrelevant for a decade now. It should realistically be an ever changing list.

gamer man posted...

Okay but that's just it - it was the noble nine.

It's been irrelevant for a decade now. It should realistically be an ever changing list.

No, it shouldn't. We would never be able to agree on it. The Noble Nine has always been a consensus and should stay that way so people actually know who you mean when you say it.

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Leonhart4 posted...

No, it shouldn't.

So Bart Starr is the one and only Superbowl MVP? He won the first one so theres no point in giving the award out every year and updating with the new seasons. When people say "whos the superbowl MVP again?" In 2020 they are clearly talking about the superbowl played in 1968.

Its just silly, the noble nine was not some phenomenon that's never been repeated. It was a list of 9 characters never defeated by anyone but someone within the group.... until that shit the bed then it became defunct and useless.

You gotta update your resume, you're not worth what you did in the past you are worth what you've done lately

Irrelevant comparison.

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KokoroAkechi posted...

Honestly, the way that members have tried to defend the sacredity of the nn has been outrageous.

It has nothing to do with "sacristy", the NN is a concept which includes those 9 characters. There's no dropping or joining as the list begins and ends with those 9 characters.

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I'm more interested in who the Negative Nine would be. Like characters that always show up, but consistently crap the bed.

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BetrayedTangy posted...

I'm more interested in who the Negative Nine would be. Like characters that always show up, but consistently crap the bed.

We do have a list of winless characters on the Wiki, but I'm not sure when the last time was it was updated.

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Think of the Noble Nine like the Elite 4 in Pokemon.

They're still the Elite 4 no matter how many times they get beaten by other trainers.

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gamer man posted...

Its just silly, the noble nine was not some phenomenon that's never been repeated.

Name a group of nine characters that have repeated it.

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Kenri posted...

Name a group of nine characters that have repeated it.

We cant because apparently the list is in stone and cannot be updated.

Literally take the most recent character battle and go by top 9 there you have it the current noble 9

Seemed that Crono would become less and less relevant over the years, but the dwindling voter base has pushed him to mid-tier NN, dare say beating Snake? 2002 was def when they were all closest aside from Link.

And Cecil is the Link of the Negative Nine that's for sure.

gamer man posted...

Literally take the most recent character battle and go by top 9 there you have it the current noble 9

Not what it means.

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Kenri posted...

Not what it means.

Okay then call it the Noble Nine *

gamer man posted...

So Bart Starr is the one and only Superbowl MVP? He won the first one so theres no point in giving the award out every year and updating with the new seasons. When people say "whos the superbowl MVP again?" In 2020 they are clearly talking about the superbowl played in 1968.

Its just silly, the noble nine was not some phenomenon that's never been repeated. It was a list of 9 characters never defeated by anyone but someone within the group.... until that shit the bed then it became defunct and useless.

You gotta update your resume, you're not worth what you did in the past you are worth what you've done lately

The Fab Five were the Fab Five. There werent new members
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Jakyl25 posted...

The Fab Five were the Fab Five. There werent new members

That was kinda my point about a phenomenon. If we want to remember the noble nine as the group for that era until the first downfall then sure but we still have people comparing them to current characters and matches and it's kinda pointless.

It's like the millionth hot take on who's the goat Lebron or MJ

Edit - anyways I said my opinion. I'm not in the majority but that's fine

gamer man posted...

Okay then call it the Noble Nine *

If you're talking about something completely different, why not give it a name that's completely different? Why are you so attached to a label that's not even appropriate for what you're talking about?

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gamer man posted...

still have people comparing them to current characters and matches and it's kinda pointless.

See:
Underleveled posted...

, it's functionally dead at this point, but traditionally alive.

and
swirIdude posted...

It boggles my mind how people can't accept that the Noble Nine and the 9 strongest characters in the contest can be a different list. No (reasonable) person is suggesting that these two lists cannot co-exist.

NN isn't about comparing their power now, it's about who the NN were when the list was made. Go ahead and make a list of who the current 9 would be, but it's not the NN. Come up with a new catchy name
I'm typing NN too much.

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bullhogderbaxer posted...

And Cecil is the Link of the Negative Nine that's for sure.

I was actually thinking that would be Guybrush

EDIT: Looks like CATS is 0-9, so yeah I'm not sure if anyone can beat that.

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Tidus is the weakest of the every contest club by quite a bit if that makes sense

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Oh wait I forgot Gordon Freeman

yeah I think that match would be Tiduss favor but you never know with how much he flops

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Gordon got quadrupled by Bowser in 2018
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Gordon had good faith for a while after he beat Phoenix and won the Gamespot Contest. Tidus is in that fraud group of Magus/Shadow/Vincent/Mewtwo/whoever else was labeled as strong at one point. CATS nobody expects to do well anyway, though he at least placed ahead of Nathan Drake.

If we're doing a Negative Nine, we might as well go all-out with the memes.

Yes, Gordon's won a few matches, but his legacy of losing lives on.

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gamer man posted...

It's like the millionth hot take on who's the goat Lebron or MJ

But the noble nine do actually still play against the new blood

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After FF7 Remake. Sonic is no way near the N9.

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My take on the members of the Negative Nine:

• CATS (the winless character who's lost the most matches)
• Chester (the weakest character we've ever seen)
• Tanner (he'll never die as a benchmark for futility)
• Gordon Freeman (GFNW is once again alive and well)
• Cecil Harvey (the modern equivalent of GFNW because he keeps getting snakebitten in close matches, some of which he never should have lost to begin with)
• Tidus (the biggest choker of these contests)
• Draven (the ultimate hero to zero story)
• Jay Solano (the character who's such a loser that he circled back to become the ultimate winner)

The only problem is deciding who the last character should be, because no one else particularly jumps out at me as deserving of such a lofty designation.

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Jilly V and her 27 votes

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