Julias vs Rishocky Blog

 

Julias VS Rishocky (Final Final vs Rishocky)

I often feel as if I'm moving about as a double in my own skin, a Doppelganger walking a divergent path of my life's choices. — Lindsay Smith

Julias Alden; the 6th knight from Final Final. 

Rishocky Balvin; the washed up boxer from Rishocky. 

Halfway through 2023, A friend of mine was casted as the lead role in two short films; Final Final and Rishocky. These films were meant to be the final project for the video-production class in my high school and were made entirely by the same group of students, only difference being varying roles in development. Over time these two films have developed a rivalry with many debating over which of one of my friend's characters would win a fight (okay maybe the rivalry and debate was only me). 

Before We Start…

Both series are fairly straightforward in what we will be using considering their franchises consist of only one installment. That being said, we will also be taking account of any statements made by their respective creators in interviews, given that it is consistent with the source material. So without further ado, let’s get on with the show.

Background

Julias Alden

In a mysterious kingdom whose name has since been lost to time, there was an order of knights. Thirteen knights, all loyal to the king. One of these knights was Sir Alden, who was the head of the Alden family with two potential heirs. However, the kingdom wasn’t free from sin as Lord Fuego, driven by jealousy, murdered Sir Alden and his family. The only survivor was 6-year old Julias Alden. Young Alden was discovered by Master Wuugway, who took the role of Julias’ mentor. After training for many years, the now 17-year old Julias was finally ready for the first part of his quest: Challenging and becoming one of the thirteen knights. He would later duel and defeat Sir Gerod, the sixth knight, contributing the Alden bloodline to the order once again. Now with his family’s honor restored, Sir Julias Alden will travel the land to search for Lord Fuego and avenge his family. 

Rishocky Balvin

Few boxers have had a career as extraordinary as Rishocky Balvin. While his background is unknown (rumor has it he was molested by firefighters as a kid), his legacy is in fact well known. Rishocky was famous for never being defeated while in the ring. However, Rishocky’s career and personal life took a nosedive when he finally lost. Rishocky retired and his wife left him soon after, after an admirable career, he finally hit rock bottom. Years later, Rishocky was brought out of retirement for one final fight against the rookie Jakepollo Creed. Knowing that the odds were stacked against him, Rishocky put everything towards winning one final match. When the day finally came ended up beating Jakepollo Creed, giving him a seizure with a single punch, proving that the champ still has what it takes.

Experience & Skill

Julias Alden

Julias has been training since he was six years old, honing his sword skills, becoming a master sword fighter. However, it is worth noting that until his duel with Sir Gerod, Julias hadn’t been in an actual fight before.

Rishocky Balvin

Rishocky was once the most famous boxer in the world, amounting to years of experience. Even after retiring, Rishocky continued to train, keeping his body in shape.

Equipment

Julias Alden

Sword

Julias’ signature weapon that, despite the uncanny resemblance to a lightsaber, is just an ordinary sword. Given the shape of the sword, it makes sense that the only sharp part of it is the tip.

Sir Gerod’s Sword

After killing Sir Gerod, Julias is briefly seen wielding both of these swords. It’s unknown if he still possesses it though.

Rishocky Balvin

Boxing Gloves

Even though they don’t make an appearance in the film, it is safe to assume that given he’s a boxer he should have access to them. They wouldn’t really affect the fight anyway.

Abilities

Rishocky Balvin

Seizure Punch

Rishocky seemingly gives Jakepollo Creed a seizure with a single punch, albeit it is unknown whether or not this is truly the case, what circumstances Rishocky needs to perform this, or whether or not Rishocky was the cause of this.

Feats

Julias Alden

Overall

• Trained his entire childhood to regain his family’s honor

• Defeated Sir Gerod in one on one combat

Power

• Should be as strong as a normal person, able to punch with the equivalent of 130-150 joules

• Sword was able to easily pierce Sir Gerod

Speed

• Swords swings should be as fast as a typical athletic person’s sword swing so around 19.44 m/s slashing speed and a 35.76m/s stabbing speed

Durability

(yeah, there’s not a single gif of him I could use for this so this is close enough)

• Should be comparable to a normal person, I mean he never gets hit in the movie so this is all we got.

Rishocky Balvin

Overall

• Was one of the top boxers, undefeated for years

• Successfully managed to win his match against Jakepollo Creed after being retired for years

• Does bare knuckle boxing

• The flashback where his wife left him took place several years ago, but he looks the same, implying that he ages pretty damn well

• Took being dumped like a champ

Power

• Being a trained boxer, his punches should at least be as strong as an average boxer’s punch which yields 1100-1200 joules

• Able to knock out Jakepollo Creed in two punches

• Able to lift weights

• Weights in question are rather lightweight but this should imply that he is regularly athletic

Speed

• Able to react to and dish out punches that move at around 11.176-14.305 m/s

• Should scale to Jakepollo Creed who is able to perceive Rishocky’s punches in slow motion 

• Rishocky also perceives time at this rate

• Time was moving at 1/8th speed making their perception speed 8x faster than a normal person

• Fast enough to avoid copyright claims for using X Gon’ Give it To Ya

Durability

• Should scale to his own strength as per Newton’s Third Law

• Able to tank a hit from Jakepollo Creed

Weaknesses

Julias Alden

Despite his training, Julias has never actually been in more than one fight. As seen in his fight with Sir Gerod, swordsmen like him can be stunned for several seconds after being punched. He also can be disarmed which severely limits his fighting style. Julias’ fighting style is also predictable, something that gave the experienced Sir Gerod a strategy that allowed him to disarm Julias.

Rishocky Balvin

Despite his immense experience, Rishocky unfortunately is a little rusty from his extended retirement. He also doesn’t have any experience with fighting people like Julias. 

Rishocky vs Julias artwork by Patrick Brady

Verdicts

Team Julias

Stats

The stats between Julias and Rishocky are relatively the same, albeit that is mostly due to them being normal people. That being said, it is clear who takes the advantages in raw stats. In terms of strength, we have to admit that Rishocky takes the cake here. Rishocky is at least able to punch at 1100-1200 joules in comparison to Julias’ 135-150 joule punching strength making Rishocky approximately 7-9 times as strong as Julias. However, this shouldn’t matter as Julias is tanky enough to take anything Rishocky dishes out.

Similar to durability, Julias is as strong as a normal human whereas Rishocky is slightly stronger. Julias has no durability feats while Rishocky scales to 1100-1200 joules. But that actually isn’t that impressive, as a regular person already can tank 1100-1200 joules, just not as well as someone that can dish it out.

In terms of speed, this is where Julias begins to have advantages. An average sword swing is around 19-36 m/s whereas Rishocky’s punching speed (at its best) is 14 m/s. Julias has a clear advantage in speed. Given how much of a glass cannon both of them are, this honestly seems like it’s the only aspect of stats that are truly important. What does it matter if Rishocky is stronger if Julias can just cut off his arms before he even gets hit?

In conclusion, while Rishocky takes the advantage in strength and durability, Julias clearly takes the speed advantage which is the only relevant part of the debate making him take the stats portion of the argument.

Abilities and Arsenal

This is extraordinarily simple: One has two swords, the other has soft boxing gloves. Sword beats gloves GG.

Okay, we’ll talk about the “Seizure Punch”. So in the movie, it appears as if Rishocky gives Jakepollo Creed a seizure just from punching him. There have been arguments that this means that Rishocky can give people seizures through his punches. For all we know, Jakepollo Creed could’ve had prior health issues leading up to the fight. Not only is this hypothetical, it also isn’t a viable strategy for Rishocky.

 

Rishocky doesn’t appear to be causing the seizures intentionally, so it is wrong to assume he really could use that ability reliably or use a strategy based around it. It also appears that Rishocky needs to hit Julias at least twice which isn’t a viable strategy as that would require Rishocky to have to get close to Julias where he will be at risk of being stabbed.

Tertiary Factors

In terms of experience, it’s impossible to deny that Rishocky has more years under his belt, however comparing their respective combat experiences is comparing apples to oranges. While Rishocky has been fighting for years, he’s only really fought in organized matches with careful regulations to ensure no boxer gets seriously injured. Julias on the other hand has spent years training for more deadly combat situations. In Julias’ world, duels are a life or death matter. While Rishocky would be fighting to win, Julias would be fighting with the intention to kill. Julias is also trained to avoid every hit whereas Rishocky is less experienced in that regard since getting hit in a boxing match doesn’t necessarily spell death for him. Julias also would have a farther reach, able to hit Rishocky from a farther distance. Rishocky also would have to get close to Julias to hit him, something that Sir Gerod did that resulted in his death. So overall while Rishocky may have more fighting experience, Julias’ superior training does give him the edge overall.

Conclusion

Advantages:

+ Is physically faster

+ Sword can easily hurt Rishocky regardless of durability

+ Can easily figure out Rishocky’s predictably fighting style

+ Has a longer reach

+ Rishocky has to get close to hit Julias

+ He literally is the Batman

+ Movie is actually well shot

+ Resolution actually allows me to see what’s going on

Disadvantages:

-  Is physically weaker

-  Less experienced in an actual fight

-  Also has a predictable fighting style

-  Absolutely dead if he gets disarmed

- Rishocky’s perception speed is potentially faster than Julias

- Would likely underestimate Rishocky

- Movie drags on a bit (you know it’s bad when people skip through an 8 minute movie)

- No plans for a sequel means he’ll never get revenge

To no surprise this matchup isn't close at all. Rishocky just has no real advantages in a fight against Julias. While Rishocky may be stronger and more durable than Julias, Julias’ sword easily cuts through Rishocky regardless of his durability. Julias also is clearly faster as his fastest attack is more than twice as fast as Rishocky. Julias also doesn’t have to worry about any seizures as the Seizure Punch ability's debatable existence makes it not applicable in a debate like this, even then there is no guarantee that Rishocky can reliably utilize the ability. When it comes to experience, while Julias has minimal experience in actual fights, his training still makes him a competent fighter and Rishocky’s years of experience aren’t applicable as Julias is vastly different from the fighters Rishocky has fought in the past. Julias is also trained more effectively in a fight like this as only one of them was taught that any hit meant instant death. In the end Rishocky will face more than just a rocky start and will end up hitting rishock bottom. The winner is Julias.

Team Rishocky

Stats

First let’s start off with raw strength. Unsurprisingly, the boxer who works out regularly is more fit than the teenager who’s never been in a fight. Rishocky can deal out punches of up to 1200 Joules, which is around 9 times stronger than Julias’ 150 Joule punches. So Rishocky, unsurprisingly, takes the edge in strength. In terms of durability, it’s more of a debate of whether or not it is relevant in the first place. Julias’ sword can easily hurt Rishocky regardless of his durability while Rishocky’s strength vastly overshadows Julias’ durability. Even then Rishocky should be more durable given he can scale to his own punches via Newton’s Third Law. The only part of the stats debate that actually is a debate is speed. Who can land the killing blow first?

While physically Julias’ attacks are faster, it’s not by much. If we take Rishocky at his lowest possible punching speed of 11.18 m/s and compare it to Julias’ swinging speed of 19.44 m/s, we’ll find that Julias is only 1.74X faster than Rishocky. He’s not even twice as fast as Rishocky. However when we compare Julias’ stabbing speed of 35.76m/s to Rishocky’s punching speed, we find that Julias is around 3.20X faster. Assuming that you buy the high ends of Rishocky’s speed, putting him at around 14.31 m/s, it won’t be that different. Julias’ swinging speed would still be 1.36X faster and his stabbing speed would be around 2.50X faster. Julias still has a slight speed advantage. So it should be obvious then, Julias’ most lethal attack is over three times faster than Rishocky so he should win easily, right?.

 Well it would if not for one thing: perception speed. As shown in several moments in Rishocky, boxers are able to perceive events happening in slow motion. Jakepollo Creed and Rishocky are shown to be able to react to punches in slow motion, their eyes and emotions changing. The scene was playing at ⅛ speed and so Julias and Jakepollo Creed’s perception speed would be around 8X as much as a normal person. So Rishocky would be able to perceive information over 8 times faster than Julias, allowing him (the more experienced fighter) to think up strategies quicker.

This isn't even accounting for the Achilles Heel of Julias’ argument: the wind up. Before every attack, Julias needs to get ready to strike, this will definitely serve as a clear indicator of whenever Julias is about to attack. Rishocky, given his superior perception, would be able to act accordingly and get out of the way of the attack before Julias goes through with it. 

Also another important factor to consider is how Julias’ speed isn't that impressive. Julias’ speed is far from superhuman, it’s not even peak human, Julias is actually as fast as a normal person. Julias’ swinging speed is the same as that of an average person, sword swings just happen to be faster than punches, Julias isn't any different than an average joe in terms of speed he just happens to be skilled at sword fighting. Rishocky on the other hand is borderline superhuman with his incredible perception speed. Rishocky would easily be able to react to Julias’ attacks given how average people are also able to react to sword swings that fast. Rishocky’s perception speed advantage just makes Rishocky a more powerful opponent than anyone in Julias’ world.

So when it comes to physical speed, Julias edges out Rishocky when only taking their feats at face value. However when you look into their reaction speed, Rishocky vastly outclasses Julias, being able to react quickly enough to Julias’ attacks faster than Julias can actually attack him. And Julias’ speed advantage is minimal to the point that you can barely argue it’s an advantage, not to mention how regular people are able to react to it. Rishocky’s perception speed is also vastly faster than anyone in Julias’ world and would make him able to adapt to Julias’ attacks quicker than Julias can carry them out. To add onto how Rishocky is stronger than Julias and durability being a nonfactor, this makes Rishocky have the advantage in stats.

Abilities and Arsenal

When it comes to their arsenals, Julias does hold a clear advantage. Rishocky, being a boxer, of course won’t have any weapons or anything that can help him in a fight. While Rishocky only has a pair of boxing gloves (which he never uses), Julias has two swords. However it is important to note the unique qualities of the sword. The sword doesn’t appear to have any sharp edges, implying that the sword only injures through the tip (think a rapier). 

In terms of abilities, Julias has none and you would think Rishocky also had none, but this is false. Rishocky’s Seizure Punch is a debated ability of Rishocky, a punch that seemingly gives his opponents a seizure. Some claim there’s no evidence to prove Rishocky did give Jakepollo Creed a seizure and that Creed just happened to have his eyes open. This is false, as according to various medical sites, the only time an unconscious person has his eyes open is when they are having a seizure. You could argue that Jakepollo Creed had underlying conditions, but this doesn’t make sense. Creed was a young athlete at the top of his game. If he had any medical conditions he wouldn’t be allowed to enter the ring. So Rishocky’s Seizure Punch does seem like a viable ability he has, but can it even help him? YES. If Rishocky has the Seizure Punch, then he only really needs to hit his opponent once to incapacitate him. JUlias has no resistance to this so the Seizure Punch would be an instant win. In terms of abilities it’s obvious that Rishocky takes the cake.

Tertiary Factors

Rishocky of course is vastly superior to Julias in terms of experience, being an undefeated boxer for many years. In comparison, Julias is a teenager who’s never actually been in a fight, training from age 6 to 17. That’s still an impressive 11 years of training, but unfortunately for Julias, his training will ultimately be useless. Julias has been training to hone his skills in a specific style of fighting, against an opponent of a rather unorthodox fighting style, his training will be effectively useless. Rishocky however has been fighting for several years, making it so that he will probably be able to adapt to his opponents unique fighting style eventually. It’s also worth noting that Julias’ fighting style is repetitive and Rishocky would certainly be able to figure out his gimmick and predict his next moves as Julias’ fighting style heavily telegraphs his attacks before they commence. 

In Final Final we see that swordsmen don’t really do well when it comes to being punched. Sir Gerod, who was shown to have equal if not superior strength to Julias, was stunned for a couple of seconds after Julias hit him. Rishocky is far stronger than Julias so his punches would likely have a greater effect, stunning Julias for a longer period of time, allowing Rishocky to continue punching Julias. Given this potentially infinite punch loop, Rishocky could very easily pull off a Seizure Punch on Julias, ending any chances he had.

Rishocky could also theoretically disarm Julias as that is a tactic that has been used against him effectively before. Julias was able to be disarmed by Sir Gerod by a single sword strike that overpowered him. Rishocky could also do this, maybe hitting Julias in the hand or the arm, causing him to drop the sword. This would result in this rather close bout turning into an one-sided execution on the same level of Coughing Baby vs Hydrogen Bomb, as Julias has no chance of beating Rishocky in an one-on-one h2h fight.

As for the argument that Rishocky’s wouldn’t know how to fight against a person with a sword, it’s dumb. Rishocky will undoubtedly recognize what a sword is and what Julias can do, he won’t underestimate Julias and knows he has to avoid the sword at all costs. Rishocky’s fighting style is also a perfect counter to Julias as Rishocky normally tries to avoid being hit by his opponent whereas Julias tries to rush down his opponent, attacking recklessly, a tactic that Sir Gerod (a more experienced and level headed fighter) took advantage of to disarm Julias and almost killed him. Sir Gerod was only defeated by his failure to counteract Julias’ more dirty tactics of punching and grabbing his opponent’s arm. Rishocky wouldn’t be phased by any of this, hell it’s easy to see him grabbing the sword out of Rishocky’s hand and just choking him out. Rishocky also works out more than Julias, making him likely more physically fit than Julias. This is important as it means that Rishocky would have greater stamina, meaning that Rishocky could always outlast Julias, waiting for his opponent to exhaust himself. This would be a viable strategy as between the two of them, one of them is a teenager with less stamina, swinging around a heavy object, Julias would eventually exhaust himself. Rishocky is the combatant that is more well suited for a longer battle given how his fighting style counteracts Julias’ perfectly and how he could keep up a defensive game longer.

Julias also would likely underestimate Rishocky. It’s likely that Julias wouldn’t view Rishocky as a real threat considering how he would appear as an unarmed older opponent with a reputation of being washed up. And as stated earlier, Rishocky wouldn’t underestimate Julias, knowing how dangerous his opponent would be. These different mindsets at the start of the fight would be the deciding factor as the fight really is decided by who lands the first hit and it’s more likely that Rishocky would go for the kill first as opposed Julias.

Conclusion

“I am … Rishocky”

Advantages:

+ More experienced in fights

+ His Julias’ speed advantage isn't as substantial as one would expect …

+ Can predict Julias’ moves

+ Physically stronger

+ Physically more durable

+ His defensive fighting style could counter Julias’ more offensive fighting style

+ Once up close, he could easily disarm Julias

+ Better endurance could allow him to outlast Julias

+ Perception Speed is way faster

+ Wouldn’t underestimate his opponent, making him go for the kill first

+ Seizure Punch would be an instant win

+ Even without Seizure Punch, can endlessly combo Julias after hitting him once

+ Movie provides the most ironic enjoyment out of the two

+ Most likely to get a sequel

Disadvantages:

- Julias’ sword can cut through him like he’s wet paper

- Julias is still physically faster

- His offensive fighting style requires him to get close to Julias

- Also has a predictable fighting style

- Has a shorter reach

- Movie is objectively worse in like every way possible

- The resolution makes it near impossible to analyze anything

In the end this matchup is surprisingly far from one sided. In terms of stats, Rishocky dominates every category outside of speed. Speed is more debatable with Julias on paper being faster. However the “speed advantage” Julias possess is barely that much of an advantage and can be countered by Rishocky having a way more substantial perception speed advantage that gives the more experienced fighter many opportunities to think of counter plans. Julias’ speed also is around that of a normal person, speed that has been shown to be countered by regular people, something that a guy with superhuman perception speed would definitely be able to avoid. In terms of how their arsenals and abilities bounce off each other, both only need one hit to really take out their opponent, but unlike Rishocky, Julias can actually be separated from his wincon. In terms of experience, Rishocky of course triumphs over Julias and his fighting style is a perfect counter to Julias. Sword Fighters like Julias have also been shown to have their weapons easily disarmed and also be easily stunned by punches, making Rishocky have a viable strategy that would almost ensure his win once he gets a hit in. Rishocky also would be able to outlast Julias in a fight, avoiding his attacks until Julias exhausts himself. The final advantage Rishocky has is biases. Julias would have every reason to underestimate Rishocky whereas Rishocky would be fighting for his life from the get go. In a battle where both opponents only really need one hit to win, the one who will actually take the fight seriously from the start is bound to get that first hit. Julias may be a brave swordsman, but in the ring he just couldn’t Caesar his victory. The winner is Rishocky.

Final Tally

Team Julias (0): Just like any plans for a sequel

Team Rishocky (5): My friend who never talks, The other one who never talks, Crimgon (me), Tertiary Friend, and the guy who played the characters in this blog