Season 3: Gimli (The Lord of The Rings) vs Gilius (Golden Axe)

Greetings and welcome to a another edition of my "Who Would Win" Series and it is going to be Gimli from the Lord of the Rings vs Gilius from the Golden Axe Games.


For this match up, I will cover the base stats, weapons, abilities, skills, feats and weaknesses.

Gimli will be composited for this match up as he has more power in the Lord of the Rings video games compared to his Movie and Book versions. Since I put characters at their best, I will indeed give Gimli the highest level of power he can possibly have. That said I also will use images from the films for Gimli's information.


As for Gilius, I will mainly focus on the first two Golden Axe games, as they are the only games of the series that Gilius truly shined. Yes, he has appeared in numerous games, even appeared in multiple Sonic and All Stars Games. But, since they are non canon to his own world, they won't be a factor into the match up.


Finally, I will determine on who will win this match up.



So, without further ado, let's begin







Gimli

Gimli, Son of Gloin, nephew of Oin and cousin of Dwalin and Balin, all four of them were members of Bilbo Baggins' fellowship during the events of the Hobbit.


Family stuff aside, Gimli is a dwarf from the Blue Mountains during the Third Age of Middle Earth.

At one time, Gimli was informed of the presence of the One Ring, which caused a chain reaction across Middle Earth. The bearer of the One Ring arrived at Rivendell, where Gimli and his dwarven folk arrived at the Council of Elrond. After a brief argument between Elves, Men, Dwarves and a Wizard, the Ring Bearer, known as Frodo Baggins, volunteered to take the Ring to Mordor and caste it into the fires of Mount Doom. This in turn inspired numerous volunteers from all races to join Frodo on his epic quest, and Gimli pledged his loyalty to the brave Hobbit.


Afterwards, Gimli and his companions journeyed across Middle Earth, encountering dangerous creatures such as Goblins, Orcs, The Watcher in the Water, Trolls, The Balrog and an Army of Uruk Hai.

Unfortunately, the Fellowship broke apart after Frodo decided that he should go to Mordor without the aid of his friends.... (even though he allowed Samwise Gamgee to come along anyway XD!!!) 

However, Gimli became part of a trio in hopes to aid Middle Earth from constant threats such as royal corruption, warfare and of course, competing against Legolas Greenleaf in a beer drinking contest.


Eventually, the War for the Ring ended in victory for the Free Peoples of Middle Earth thanks to the diversion of Gimli and his friends and the armies of Men to give Frodo an open window of opportunity to destroy the Ring. Which, of course it is succeeded.


Since then, Gimli, after the war ended, was tasked to help rebuild Dwarven kingdoms across Middle Earth and enjoy a life long era of peace



That is a straightforward background of Gimli, now let's see what this Dwarf is capable of.









Strength


Gimli, despite his size, is actually much stronger than even a regular human. What's more, Gimli has quite a few feats for strength that make him a powerful foe. Here is a handful of feats for Strength

• Can slice through Uruk Hai plate armour, which is much thicker than a Gondorian Soldier's Armour
• Can throw his axe at a Cave Troll with such force, it made it flinch for a second. A Cave Troll can weigh at around 8-9 tons 
• Can break the neck of an Orc
• In the games, Gimli can kill a Troll in a few hits with just his Axe. 
• If Gimli is played at in the  Two Towers Game against Lurtz, the Uruk Hai Lieutenant, Gimli can use two charge up attacks to end the boss fight in just 8 seconds. This is significant, because Legolas and Aragorn, who are also playable characters in the game, can only use 4-5 charge up attacks on Lurtz to defeat him. Yet Gimli can do so in a quarter of the time.
• Can break shield using heavy attacks. Some shields are made of Steel.
• Can throw his axe with such force, it can destroy towers. Even Gimli can destroy Towers at close range. 
• Was trapped underneath Two Wargs and a Orc.... Somehow, Gimli lifted himself from the pile and escaped

Speed

Gimli dodging a Cave Troll's Mace swing.

  











Unfortunately, Gimli's Speed is left to be desired, especially in terms of travel. However, this Dwarf is not completely helpless. Here is a handful of Speed feats.

• Can dodge attacks from Goblins, Orcs, Uruk Hai and a Cave Troll
• Has outran the crumbling rocks while escaping from the Dwimorberg, also, where The Path's of the Dead takes place
• Can run across vast distances in a couple of hours. 
• Has outran the Balrog, which can travel at great distance with long strides without flying
• Can attack Warg Riders going at full speed
• Can block arrows and crossbow bolts swung at him using only his axe

Durability


Gimli's durability is where he shines. Of course, wearing armor is what Gimli is known for, and he himself is quite a durable Dwarf. Here is a list of feats for Durability

• Using the games, Gimli has the highest level of both health and armor out of all the playable characters from the Fellowship. Even more so than Gandalf, who is an Istari wizard
• Can take an Armored Troll mace swipe and get back up
• Took swipes from Nazgul, who wield Morgul Blades, which are poisonous, since one of them once stabbed Frodo, inflicting poison in the process.
• Has taken multiple arrows and crossbow bolts..... Which puts Boromir to shame XD!!!!
• Can take multiple swipes from Uruk Hai Berserkers, who are strong enough to cleave through groups of Men and Elves
• Can take a catapult projectile and get up like it was nothing
• In the Battle for Middle Earth games, Gimli is durable enough to survive Gandalf's Word of Power blast, which can decimate armies
• Gimli can also withstand Tornadoes in The Battle for Middle Earth 2 game, which can be the size of a town.

Weaponry

  

















Gimli is armed with Axes....  and, if using the games.... Lots of Axes. Here is a list of Axe types and other weapons used by Gimli

Double Bladed Axe

Double Bladed Axe: Gimli's signature weapon and in terms of overall capabilities, is the most powerful melee weapon out of all the weapons in the Fellowship's arsenal. The Double Bladed Axe is a monster, capable of delivering devastating damage and can be swung at fast speeds, making it an intimidating weapon

Bearded Axe

Bearded Axe: Another signature weapon of Gimli. The Bearded Axe is another monster in terms of capabilities, though it doesn't have the double edge capabilities of the Double Bladed Axe, it is still a nice alternative for Gimli to cleave through his foes.

Throwing  Axes

Throwing Axes: Gimli's main method of Ranged combat, the throwing axes are surprisingly accurate. Especially considering that Gimli very rarely misses a throw. The Axes themselves also pack tremendous power, and are capable of breaking through armor easily.

Throwing Spear

Throwing Spears: (Hey, it is not an axe after all XD) While not used by Gimli in the films, Gimli did throw spears in the Return of the King video Game. A single throw of these spears can one shot a Troll.

















Skills

As one of the most well respected Dwarves, and a member of the Fellowship, Gimli is also very well known for his battle prowess. Of course, in terms of Skills, Gimli is extremely skilled in melee combat. However, that said, Gimli is also a superb marksman. Yes, surprisingly, Gimli has equal co-ordination as Legolas and Aragorn. 

Also, Gimli is a very smart fighter, though at times he can be tenacious and somewhat straightforward, by no means is Gimli below average in terms of intelligence. Gimli is clever enough to use anything in the environment to his advantage such as kicking cauldrons of oil at armies of Orcs, even closing up gaps to stop enemies from getting past him.




Feats for Gimli

 

 








As one of the Lord of the Rings most well known characters, Gimli does have quite alot of feats for himself. Here is a list of feats achieved by Gimli

Gimli and Aragorn buying time for the door to be reinforced

• Has officially, and cleanly, killed a Warg while dismounted
• Killed multiple Goblins, Orcs and Uruk Hai like it is a Tuesday
• In the games, Gimli can kill Mumakil, which are as tall as an apartment building
• Defeated the Nazgul at the Battle of Mordor
• Helped successfully defend Helms Deep from Saruman's Forces
• Supposedly beat Legolas in a kill count contest.
• Helped Aragorn buy time for the Rohirrim to reinforce the door..... which ended up being a pointless process since the Door was broken 12 seconds later XD!!!
• Portrayed by John Rhys Davis

Weaknesses

 














Gimli, while a powerful melee combatant, is unfortunately littered with weaknesses.

In terms of overall Speed, Gimli is actually the slowest member of the Fellowship, even the Hobbits can sometimes outpace Gimli.

This weakness is especially exploited during battle, since Gimli did struggle to take down foes who are vastly superior to him in terms of Speed.

Also, Gimli's arsenal is very basic and has very little versatility. While Gimli can be both a close range and long range combatant, there is a turnaround. His throwing axes run on a supply limit, and should Gimli use up all his Throwing axes, he will have to resort to finding more axes or simply continue the fight up close and personal.


Speaking of Close Quarters combat. Gimli is fast, but consistently, he is also slower compared to the likes of Legolas and Aragorn. And Gimli himself isn't the best in terms of reflexes.





Overall however, Gimli is a force to be reckoned with.









Gilius Thunderhead

 





















Gilius Thunderhead is one of the main characters of the Golden Axe series. A dwarf of great pride and bravery, Gilius has a reputation as a feared Dwarf.


The backstory of Gilius is pretty straightforward, he once had a loyal brother named Gari, both of whom once became part of an army regime for the Firewood Kingdom in the land of Yuria. Unfortunately, the Forces of Death Adder attacked the kingdom during Tyris Flare's birthday, which resulted in Gilius getting knocked out, his brother slain by the evil warlord. The Firewood Kingdom was nothing more than a crumbled ruin, And only Ax, Tyris and Gilius were the sole survivors.


Six years later, their friend Alex told them that Death Adder just kidnapped the Southwood Kingdom's King and Princess. Unfortunately, Alex died after giving them the news due to severe injuries inflicted by Death Adder's Forces.


Of course, this eventually provoked a revenge arc for Gilius and his friends Tyris and Ax Battler to rescue the King and the Princess of the Southwood Kingdom, and take down Death Adder once and for all. Which, of course they succeeded.


After that another evil warlord known as Dark Guld came into the scene after escaping imprisonment. His ambitions to take over the land of Yuria however, were cut very shortly after Gilius and his friends took him down. Saving Yuria once again in the process


A couple of years later, Gilius became a mentor to a new breed of heroes, after becoming too old, and getting injured after a storm destroyed the ship that he was in. Oh well, at least Gilius did succeed with his hopes of saving Yuria for the third time :D!!!


Since then, Gilius has been remembered as one of the legendary heroes of  Yuria.


That is a straightforward background of Gilius Thunderhead. Now, let's see what this badass Dwarf is capable of.




Strength

Gilius throwing a Giant, one of the Bad Brothers

In terms of Strength, Gilius is an absolute badass. While shorter than a human, Gilius is actually far stronger than a human athlete. Even wrestlers would be put to shame by this Dwarf. Here is a list of outstanding feats for Strength.

Gilius shoulder charging at a Knight

• Can lift his enemies on top of his shoulders and throw them at over 10 feet across. 
• Lifted Giants very easily and throw them across large distances.
• Has lifted Knights wearing plate/golden armor and even throw them across large distances..... Okay, Throwing stuff is what Gilius likes XD!!!!
• Can slice through Knight's Armor like butter using his Broad Axe
• Can shoulder charge at a Knight and Giant with such force, they fly backwards at great distances. Gilius can even shoulder charge multiple enemies at once.

Speed

Gilius' Attack speed in one screenshot!!! :D!!

 















In terms of Speed, Gilius is also incredible. His speed is so good, it would be foolish to underestimate him just because he is a dwarf... ha, this is where things get interesting. Here is a list of Speed feats for Gilius

• Can swing his broad axe at faster than the eye can track speeds
• Can outrun Cockatrice and Ridable Dragons at full speed. 
• Can run across great distances in a very short time period. In the games, Gilius can run from one side of the screen to the next in 2 seconds......
• Can dodge or Jump over charging enemies.
• Can chase down Blue and Green Thieves, who carry magic bottles and meat. Golden Axe 2 replaces the thieves with sorcerers.

Durability


Durability is a particularly high stat for Gilius. Here is a handful of durability feats for the Great Dwarf

• Can take blows from Giants, Minotaurs, Knights, Dragons and Cockatrice. All of which are more than capable of inflicting heavy damage.
• Took spell blasts from sorcerers.
• Can tank multiple spell attacks from Death Adder, whose most powerful spell can summon a huge Dragon to use its fire breath to engulf the entire area with flames. Also, Death Adder uses spells from all of the Heroes with unlimited usage
• Can survive multiple strikes from both sides at once.
• Took strikes from Skeletons, who are much stronger than the regular grunts in Golden Axe.
• Can take multiple strikes from Dark Guld. It is also worth noting that Dark Guld can use spells without any fear of losing magic reserves. Some spells in particular can destroy entire armies at once

Broad Axe

  





















Gilius  wields his iconic Broad Axe. A weapon that is also not just deadly, it is extremely lightweight for Axe standards, as it can be swung at faster than the eye can track speeds (as mentioned before :D!!!)

It is worth noting that Gilius can use both sides of the axe with great efficiency, even the handle is used as a weapon. This makes it that the Broad Axe can be use from all sides.... How badass is that!!!!


Oh, and the Broad Axe is used to create lightning.... Which means.....




Magic

Gilius summoning lightning.

  














 Gilius may be a powerful warrior, but, he has a surprising ability that makes him extremely powerul: Magic.




Gilius is an elemental user, and he primarily uses Lightning for his magic. However, in Golden Axe 2, Gilius uses Earth Based Magic to summon meteors, even a ring of Rocks that crush all enemies in the surrounding area.

Gilius summoning Meteors from the sky

 


Bizzarians/ Mounts

Gilius Riding a Cockatrice

 














Gilius can also ride certain creatures known as Bizzarians. Here is a full list of Bizzarians that Gilius rode.


Cockatrice: The Cockatrice, also known as "Chicken Leg" is a chicken like creature that is used for travel and even combat. The beast itself is able to swing it's tail to deliver powerful damage. It can also charge towards it's enemies for knockback 

Gilius riding a Red Dragon

Dragons: Dragons in Golden Axe have numerous abilities depending on the type they are. Blue Dragons breath fire, Red Dragons project fireballs at great distances and Green Dragons attack at close range combat. Like the Cockatrice, all dragons can charge for knockback damage.

Blue Dragon breathing Fire

Red Dragon shooting out a Fireball

Green Dragon Karate Kicks XD!!!

What about the Giant Turtle and Eagle?

Ahhh, these creatures were indeed ridden by Gilius and his friends. However, they are mainly used for transport and not for combat. So, unfortunately, as cool as they both are, they are not relevant to the match up XD!!!! 





Skills 

  














Gilius, by logic, is one of the most skilled warriors in Golden Axe. This is exceptionally true because this dwarf has surpassed the likes of even Knights and foes who are over hundreds of years old. Gilius himself is stated to be at least 150 years old, which is by all means quite amazing. 

Amazingly, Gilius is also a superb acrobat, as his special attack is actually a roll up that allows him to dodge attacks and sometimes attack enemies from behind. Oh and he can jump 15 feet into the air.

Gilius jumping and attacking at the same time!!!!

Feats by Gilius

Of course, Gilius has a couple of feats, since he is one of the playable heroes in the Golden Axe series. Here is a list of feats for Gilius

• Has officially, and cleanly, defeated Death Adder and Dark Guld
• Successfully rescued the Southwood Kingdom's King and Princess from Death Adder.
• Took on armies of Death Adder's and Dark Guld's forces on a regular basis
• Avenged his brother and the Kingdom of Firewood
• Saved the land of Yuria multiple times.
• Mentored a new breed of heroes very well, since they succeeded in their quest
• Non canon, but Gilius is the only Golden Axe character to join Sonic and his friends in other games. Even Gilius became a tennis player and a racer!!!! XD!!!!
• Is part of the ending of the Arcade version of Golden Axe....................... XD!!!!!  

Weaknesses

 










Despite Gilius being a total beast in combat. He is not without weaknesses 

In terms of magic, Gilius prefers to fight up close and personal to deal results. However, in the case of magic, Gilius is efficient but there is a huge drawback: His magic run on reserves in order to be used.


Unfortunately, Gilius also has the distinction for having the lowest magical reserves out of all the playable characters. And, his spells are not close to the likes of Tyris Flare's Phoenix blast or Dragon Summoning in terms of power. 


What's more, should Gilius use up all of his magic, he will no longer be able to use magic again until he finds a blue thief  or sorcerer to attack and take their magic bottles/spell books.


With regards to combat, Gilius is also very easy to knock down. Even worse, Gilius, while durable, cannot exactly take too much damage, or he will die. Even regular strikes are more than enough to remove a life bar from Gilius, making him almost like a glass cannon. 


However, despite this, Gilius is a badass in every way possible. Gilius is cool, funny, and above all, a very likable character in his own right.






Summary

Gimli

 









Advantages

• Using the games, Gimli is more durable than Gilius
• More weapons
• Has far better range weapons than Gilius
• Could survive at least one full blast of Gilius' spell attacks

Disadvantages

• Outright crushed in terms of Strength and Speed
• Far less experienced than Gilius
• Not as skilled as Gilius
• While Gimli could survive Gilius' spell attacks, there hax capabilities such as stun, or even immobilizing the opponent means Gimli would be stunned from the spells anyway, opening Gilius an opportunity to finish off Gimli
• Should Gilius ride a dragon or a cockatrice, Gimli is totally screwed in terms of mobility

Gilius Thunderhead

 












Advantages

• Superior Strength and Speed
• Spells, while they can be tanked by Gimli, do help Gilius by stunning Gimli or immobilizing him, giving Gilius a easy win in the process 
• More experienced
• More skilled
• Can ride a Dragon or a Cockatrice, which boosts Gilius' advantage in terms of mobility

Disadvantages

• Using Game versions of the Lord of the Rings, Gimli is more durable than Gilius
• Less weapons
• No range capabilities aside from his spells
• While his spells are powerful, Gimli will survive at least one full blast of his most powerful spell attacks

The Verdict

  














Gimli vs Gilius is an interesting match up. At first, I thought this was a close fight. Unfortunately, after researching it further, it is more one sided than I anticipated. However, before I cut it short, let's look at the stats first.


Strength wise, this is not close. While Gimli is strong enough to one shot trolls with charge up strikes, Gilius is strong enough to lift giants and throw them backwards. That alone is more impressive than anything that Gimli has achieved. Even better, Gilius can slice through plate armor like butter. While Gimli did this in the films and games as well, Gilius actually sliced Golden Armor..... Which is far stronger than even Uruk Hai Armor.


So, with a huge Strength gap, we now look at Speed.


Speed wise, This is also a huge win for Gilius. Remember, Gilius is a superb athlete, can run across great distances very quickly, and wields his broad axe at Faster than the eye can track speeds. Unfortunately, Gimli is a turtle in comparison. Gimli's speed is likely at least peak human level. But Gilius is "Superhuman". So Gilius takes the edge in Speed by a landslide. 



Now that Gilius has two edges over Gimli, we now look at Durability


Ironically, Gimli takes Durability here. While Gilius is tough, he is not quite as durable as Gimli. Since regular attacks do damage Gilius substantially, I am reasonable to assume that Gimli's durability would surpass Gilius, as he did tank Troll attacks and got back up, and once took a town sized tornado. So Gimli does edge out Gilius for Durability.


 Skills and Experience wise, Gilius wins again. Yes, despite Gimli achieving more feats, Gilius is actually older and more experienced than Gimli. Not to mention, Gilius is more skilled with his broad axe, as he is also able to use tricky maneuvers such as jumping into the air and attacking at once, shoulder charging, even throwing his opponents around. So experience and Skills go to Gilius


So, with that said, we now look at the trump cards: Weapons and Abilities


Weapons wise, Gimli does bring more weapons with his Axes. Gimli also has Throwing axes, giving him a huge Range advantage over Gilius........ but, those pale in comparison to Gilius' ultimate trump card: Magic.


With his magic, Gilius can summon lightning storms or Earth based magic to destroy Gimli. However, I am convinced that Gimli would survive at least one full blast of Gilius' most powerful spells........ But Gimli will be stunned in the process. This in turn already opens Gilius to a kill shot, giving Gilius the opportunity to finish off Gimli and take the victory.





So, with all that considered, I believe that Gilius is simply too much for Gimli to handle. Even if Gilius had his mounts, the situation gets worse for Gimli because the mobility edge for Gilius means that Gimli would have an impossible time to catch up to Gilius.



So, thanks to his Strength, Speed, Mobility, Magic, Mounts, Skills and Experience, I believe that Gilius Thunderhead will win this match up.

The Winner is Gilius Thunderhead

Next time on Who Would Win.........

 The Altered Beast (Altered Beast) vs Kid Chameleon (Kid Chameleon)