Board 8 > How would they do in a contest? Day 495 ft Joseph Stalin, Hammer Bro, Lolo

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This is a topic to rate the contest strength of potential newcomers in the current contest environment.

I will pick the characters to rate and discuss for each day from user nominations - whoever the 3 most nominated characters are at that time. If there are more than 3 I will pick randomly. You can nominate any number of characters at any time, but you cannot nominate the same character twice.

All characters who were present in the 2018 Character Battle will NOT be eligible. Otherwise you can nominate any character that has appeared in video games; even comic book characters. This will exclude real-life athletes who have only appeared in long running sports series, however I will accept those who have their own games such as Shaq. I will accept nominations for iconic gaming duos too, if there is a compelling reason for both characters to be linked (either co-starring in a game ala Banjo & Kazooie, or always appearing together like Callie & Marie from Splatoon).

Each day will have a separate topic, and nominations will carry over. As far as actually rating the character's contest strength; I ask that users rank a characters potential strength with one of the following qualifiers - LAW Fodder, Low Fodder, Mid Fodder, High Fodder, Fodder Line, Low Midcarder, Midcarder, High Midcarder, Near Elite, Elite, LAW Tier (capable of beating Link). I will average all the ratings given to a character to come up with their final ranking. I have included a highlighted entrant from Character Battle X on each tier of the strength rankings below, to provide a baseline for each.

Note that LAW Fodder is meant to be a tier reserved for the weakest possible characters to put into a contest. A character will only be placed there if at least 3/4ths of the voters for that day agree on the LAW Fodder rating, and no ratings above Low Fodder are given. If either of those conditions are not met, the character will not be eligible for the LAW Fodder tier.

Current Character Strength Rankings: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P1AIhHywBiLd6VAMZMNEGX-HW2td8u1D0Iw_tzHsORw/edit?usp=sharing

Nomination List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-KnSBDzppzPK5Ug1zmx8_x0bG4tqFDMPPH2k8J3s8sk/edit?usp=sharing

If you feel that a character has been over or under-ranked, or if a new development has come up that would affect their contest strength, you may nominate them for a re-ranking. You may nominate one character per day for this, and 3 votes are needed to get them on the slate. One character with 3 votes will come up for re-ranking today.

Re-ranking Nomination List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V6dx-tu-FD1rCxbX69eQwEzE7x1F6nNRNFochYHu1dc/edit?usp=sharing

Results from Day 494:

Rean Schwarzer (Trails of Cold Steel) is Low Fodder
Sami (Advance Wars) is Low Fodder
Garchomp (Pokmon) is Low Fodder

Re-Ranking Results:

Carl "C.J." Johnson (GTA: San Andreas) is now Low Fodder

Here is today's trio to rank:

Joseph Stalin (Civilization series)
Hammer Bro (Mario series)
Lolo (Adventures of Lolo)

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Thank you for getting Hornet up so quickly. I didn't see it until now. Admittedly, I don't follow the threads in this series too vigilantly, but for obvious reasons, I am invested in the results. I suppose low fodder makes sense for Hornet for now, but she'll be the protagonist of Hollow Knight: Silksong, which didn't seem to be taken into account. That will significantly raise her profile...perhaps to mid fodder.

Anyway, since, I'm posting, I might as well weigh in on today.

MF - Joseph Stalin (Civilization series)
MF - Hammer Bro (Mario series)
LF - Lolo (Adventures of Lolo)

I guess there's some haha factor to having Joseph Stalin in a contest, but certainly no more than Hitler. I'm being generous with mid. Hammer Brother has Mario series long-term recognition; won't be strong, but will be able to beat unknowns. And speaking of unknowns, I suspect that not enough people will remember Lolo.

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Hornet could potentially get stronger with a sequel but it's not out yet and doesn't even have a release date. If it actually comes out and is popular, she can be re-ranked.

Agreed with your rankings for the three this topic. Stalin probably can't get rallied like Hitler has been in the past so mid fodder should be his ceiling. He could conceivably be low, too.

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Agree with ratings on Hammer Bro and Lolo. I will say Low Fodder for Stalin since he has not had nearly the presence in media that Hitler and well-known American historical icons have had. I also think he will be viewed more negatively than Hitler, since Hitler has had a lot of comical portrayals over the years that diluted his being a murderous monster. Stalin is mostly relying on his distinctive appearance to offset his misdeeds.

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AxemRedRanger posted...

Hornet could potentially get stronger with a sequel but it's not out yet and doesn't even have a release date. If it actually comes out and is popular, she can be re-ranked.

Yeah, this aligns with how I've always treated rankings for this series, which is to say I've been basing them on how strong I think they'd be if they appeared in a contest today.

I'm personally going to venture Low Fodder for all three of today's characters. As HWTDIAC's other veterans know, I'm not a believer in the power of the Mario enemy apathy vote, though I don't doubt Hammer Bro would at least be a respectable Low Fodder capable of beating plenty of characters we've seen in past contests.

As for Stalin, I think it's not precise enough to say he'd be viewed more negatively than Hitler here, at least from the average voter's perspective. The problem is that Hitler would certainly be fueled by one or more rallies if he were to recur today, whereas I can't see Stalin reaping the same benefits.

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I'll change my Hammer Bro rating to Low Fodder. I was thinking he'd be decent since he looks similar to a Koopa, but I realized he might get some anti-votes due to being an annoying enemy to deal with in several Mario games, and hasn't had a lot of playable appearances in spin-offs compared to more popular enemies.

Day 496 is up: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79059249

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