Suvudu Cage Matches [now with more fitz!]

[Mervi]

I was actually thinking about this too. The "problem" with Hobb's characters is that they are all so real and flawed: I can't think of any character that is a super-skilled fighter with magical powers that fears nothing and kills everyone without hesitation (as those are the kind of characters that seemed to do well in the contest). Even the dragons aren't completely invincible. Well, there's always the Pale Woman, or Regal. They wouldn't hesitate a second to use everything in their power to crush an enemy. But then they don't really do magic in the traditional sense that casts spells on the opponent. Hmm. Properly motivated, one of the old Skill-coteries could probably destroy an opponent's mind completely. Maybe even Fitz would do that if it would be to save Nighteyes or Molly or the Fool.

This is a "flaw" that I actually think is Hobb's strength as a writer - nothing is more boring than a protagonist that can't even get a papercut if he's careless.

Bw, I think many of the matches went horribly wrong. Jaime killed Hermione because she'd stop to think about whether it's right or wrong to kill, or she's a little girl and a bookworm or she would fall in love with Jaime at first sight? Err, and here I was thinking people had actually read the HP books because they're so popular. Hermione is the one who can think and act at the same time, who is much more clever than Harry (who is mostly prone to just raging and getting things wrong because of his ~righteous anger). She's the one who masters non-verbal spells before anyone else and who is quite capable of fighting and defeating Death Eaters. And then Jaime went on to beat Ctulhu by reading books himself? Umm. I get that GRRM's books are the hottest thing out there right now, but I smell bias. Also - Gandalf is a maia, an angelic being that comes back from death as a sort of 2.0 version. A simple bullet would kill him? I don't think so.
The one match that was the hardest for me to decide on was Aragorn vs Ged, because I simply couldn't see them fighting each other or how it would end (which one of his many names is Aragorn's true name that Ged would try to use? )
I think the best thing to come out of the Suvudu matches was Naomi Novik's Temeraire vs. Jaime crackfic: "A Dragon and A Swordsman Walk Into A Bar".

I think the idea of the cage matches is a very good one, but they should have defined the rules better, for example which "version" or age of the characters is fighting (first year Hermione or post-Hogwarts? Gandalf the Grey or Gandalf the White? Temeraire alone or with her crew?) and WHY they are fighting: just to defend themselves, defend someone/something that is important to them, or just for the sake of fighting/glory - these things would have greatly improved the motivation to fight for some of the characters.