Expert: Justin Case - 2/10/2009

Question
QUESTION: Wolverine vs. Data

Phoenix vs. Mr. Mxptslsvjl (Wikipedia says that Mr. has Q-like abilities).

Nomad vs. Wolverine

Nomad vs. Mr. Mxslkjflsdf

ANSWER: Hi John -

Wolverine and Data could potentially fight nearly forever.  Even with his healing factor and natural strength and resilience, Wolvie would eventually tire and Data would not.  Whether Data could seize the advantage with that I could only guess.

Phoenix vs. Mxyzptlk - Another fight that could go on forever! Mr. M does have nigh-omnipotent powers as does Phoenix.  A battle between the two would come down to who could outsmart the other, and even if one managed to trap or contain their opponent, they should be able to come up with a means to escape.

With Nomad's ability to completely wipe out all but human (or in Wolvie's case human mutant) conscious thought, I would think he could strike Wolvie from a distance and erase most of his cognitive functions.  As messed about as his memories have been, he might actually be an easier target for Nomad's mind erasing beam.

Nomad vs. Mr. M. - Well as powerful as Nomad is he has his limits whereas Mr. M can alter the fabric of reality.  I'd say he would be able to take the probe.

Hope that helps

Deran



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: You said that Data and Wolverine could fight forever. But wouldn't Wolverine eventually die of old age?

If Data hit Wolverine as hard as he could in the chest, would he fall down?

Are Phoenix and Mr. M mortal (able to die by murder or accident)?

Are there any physical beings that Nomad's mind-erasure weapon probably wouldn't work on? (Perhaps the Sheliak, which are very unlike humans.) Also, I'm assuming the beam would be hardly ineffective on energy creatures. Would you say so?

ANSWER: Hi John -

It's hard to say.  In various 'future depictions' of the X-Men Wolverine has lived to be centuries old.  Exactly where the upper limits of his life span and healing abilities are has never definitively been established.  

I believe that, at some point, they would stop fighting as intelligent beings could see that doing so was getting them nowhere.  If, say they were controlled by an outside force, they could fight for decades with no clear victor.  Data might have an advantage with his speed, but he can't cause Wolverine the major physiological trauma that would incapacitate most any other foe he went up against.

I suppose he could blind Wolverine by poking out his eyes, but we've seen evidence that, with enough time, he can even regenerate lost tissue like that, and his other senses would allow him to continue fighting, even with a devastating physical loss like that.  

So, ultimately it would come down to whoever 'got lucky' that day!

Phoenix (as originally depicted in the John Byrne era) was mortal and did die through suicide.  In X-Men #137 she raised an energy canon during a battle on the moon and lowered her defenses and killed herself.  At that time the readers were told that she was definitively dead and it had been Jean Grey's choice to sacrifice herself rather than give into the power of the Phoenix.

This has since been 'retconned' and Jean has turned up alive, only to die again.  From what we've been told the Phoenix Force itself can die, but only does so to be reborn again.  The host of the Phoenix Force can chose to end its own life by rejecting portions of its power that effectively result in it being immortal.

Don't sweat it if that sounds confusing!  I've been reading comics for thirty years and X-Men #137 was my first X-Men comic and it confuses me!

Phoenix has been portrayed very inconsistently but the general consensus at this point in time is that the Force itself is immortal, but the various hosts are not necessarily immortal as well.

Mr. M could die through accident and has been tricked by Superman and other heroes many times into saying his name backwards. (The thing that sends him back to his home dimension). That indicates that, while his abilities may be omnipotent, his mind isn't.

Yeah, I doubt the weapon would be 100% effective on non-humanoid life forms like the Sheliak or the Horta.  The chemical processes in their 'brains' and how they receive and process sensory input has got to be radically different than the humanoid norm.  He might have trouble with the Excalbians as well and the creatures depicted in Catspaw.

With energy creatures I doubt the weapon could work at all.

Thanks!

Deran

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: If Data hit Wolverine as hard as he could in the chest, would he fall down? I'm not sure how strong Wolverine is, whether he can withstand a hit from an android.

I'm asking about Nomad because you recently stated that the mind weapon might work on Armus and the Darmok creature, so I was just hoping for clarity.

As powerful as the Douwd is, do you think he could put music in the following minds?

A) Sheliak
B) Excalbian
C) Horta
D) Species 8472
E) Borg
F) Data

Answer
Hi John -

Most likely he would.  One interesting thing about Wolverine is that he weighs a lot and has near superhuman strength because of his metal skeleton.  He can also withstand greater amounts of pain and fatigue because of his healing abilities so, if he braced himself, Data might be able to knock him back and stagger, him, but not necessarily knock him down.

I think Data barreling at him would be a bit much for him to withstand, but he'd have a greater chance than a regular human because his bones give him greater (stronger) stability.

The sticking point with Armus is I don't know the physiology of the creatures that created him.  If they were humanoid, and he is an amalgamated force of their thought patterns (somehow, and we know that Nomad can affect humanoid minds, then I suppose its possible that he might be able to affect Armus at some level.

Nomad didn't seem to have any doubt that it could affect Mr. Spock, or any other race in the Federation if it needed to, so my assumption is that his weapon is pretty effective against humanoid creatures.  

The Darmok creature had humanoid drives (hunger) and seemed to have some level of tactical ability which indicated at least some similarities to humanoid thinking.  So, if its thought patterns are similar to humanoids its possible Nomad might be able to affect in some way.

A) Sheliak - Yes I think he could

B)  Excalbian - I think so.

C)  Horta - Hmmmm, probably could, but whether or not the Horta understand music.

D)  8472 - Probably not, their system would attempt to fight off the foreign influence.

E)  Borg - I think he could infect an individual drone, or several drones, but would have trouble with the overall Collective.

F) Data - Probably not as his brain doesn't operate at all like a humanoids.

Thanks!

Deran