Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-50.183.170.2-20140710192227/@comment-73.160.113.156-20160309014630

To start this off, this will contain some spoilers. To those of you not yet caught up, please finish the series before reading. This will include events up to Season 13, Episode 19: The End is Near. The information in the Season 13 finale is irrelevant to the discussion.

Lets establish some ground rules here for a sec. We need to establish what timeframes we are putting against each other. For this, I have chosen two specific points as each character's "peak". For Felix, this is Season 12, Episode 18: Fed vs New. For Agent North Dakota, this is Season 20, Episode 19: Party Crashers. This means that North has the Theta A.I., which is an important fact in determining the results. Meanwhile, Felix has not yet obtained the Chorus Great Key, another important part of this.

First, let's review their known weapons and equipment. For Felix, he is usually equipped with three weapons; the UNSC Designated Marksman Rifle(DMR), a Sticky Detonator, capable of launching and detonating explosive ordinance, and a Combat Knife. He also carries a Hardlight Shield, which is projected out of his right forearm, and only protects the majority of his front. As seen in Season 12, Episode 18: Fed vs New and Season 13, Episode 18: The Great Destroyers, Felix can weaponize the Hardlight Shield, using it to buffet Washington and Carolina both. It is also not a stationary shield, meaning it can be used at multiple angles.

Freelancer North Dakota is known to use two UNSC Sniper Rifles(which he was seen dual wielding effectively, a near impossible feat), an SMG, and is shown in Season 9, Episode 2: The Twins, to be proficient with a shotgun. He also carries the Domed Energy Shield(DES) into combat, and has been known to use it offensively(Season 10, Episode 9: Fall from Heaven) as a projectile. He is also able to shoot out of it, despite it being a two-way barrier, because of his A.I. program, Theta. Even if Theta is unavailable, North has shown to be able to activate the DES on his own, though he was nearly killed in the process.

Next, the combat experience. Throughout Seasons 9 and 10, North is shown to be one of the most skilled Freelancers. Coming from the squad that housed both Agents Carolina and Texas, this is a pretty impressive title. North has been on many missions, including the raid on the Charon Oil Platform, the Junkyard assault, and the Longshore Shipyards battle, where his DES took out the Insurrectionist Sniper. In Recovery One: Part 3, North is revealed to have died at the hands of the Meta, though Delta later states that Agent South Dakota, North's twin sister, sacrificed him for her own safety. If not for that, it is implied that he and South could have defeated the Meta. North was shown to have some skill in hand-to-hand combat in Season 9, Episode 3: Number One, while fighting at the Charon Oil Platform. So far as we know, he has never defeated another skilled opponent in one-on-one combat, but he was able to fight off Agent South in order to provide Texas with a chance to escape, shooting South's missiles out of the air with his Sniper Rifles.

Felix has only been shown fighting against the poorly trained and poorly equipped armies of Chorus during the series, though Kimball states that he participated in one of the UNSC's worst battles, surviving it when most of his squad was killed. He has fought against Agents Washington and Carolina multiple times, with no clear winner in any except the last battle, where the Freelancers' goal was to stall Felix and Locus until Crash Site Alpha could be taken by the Lieutenants. He has been seen as a relatively good shot, though not as good as Locus, Wyoming or North, and seemingly a worse shot than Washington or Florida too, though we don't have as much to go off of with those two characters. However, he is seen to be extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and demonstrates a high level of proficiency with knives, making him a slightly more dangerous foe at close range.

Finally, let's assess some of the flaws that might lead to these characters' downfalls. Felix is a coldhearted and greedy individual, who only thinks about himself. He is extremely arrogant, choosing to taunt his foes in Season 12, Episode 10: Cloak and Dagger and Season 12, Episode 18: Fed vs New, even though he had a chance to finish off the Reds and Blues in both scenarios. Without Locus on his side in a fight against a truly skilled opponent, Felix would likely blow his opportunity for a victory by talking too much, as he did in the aforementioned episodes. Also, his Hardlight Shield only blocks projectiles from one direction. This is a major flaw, especially since it is the one that got him killed in Season 13, Episode 19: The End is Near. He cannot move as well when using it, and seems to rely on it too much when it comes to defending himself. Though a highly skilled fighter offensively, he lacks the defensive qualities needed to win a long-lasting match. As seen in Season 13, Episode 18: The Great Destroyers, Felix tires easily during a tough fight, suggesting that he is not used to fighting experienced opponents in single combat.

Agent North is shown to be the best Freelancer defensively, having superior skill with the DES and the Sniper Rifle. However, he is never shown to be particularly good at close quarters, especially since he is only shown to use a non-marksman weapon in the beginning of Season 9. After the first 3 episodes, no further mention of him using anything but a rifle is made. We also have no good examples of him in an extended close-quarters situation. He, South and Carolina fought well at the Oil Platform, but there are no real ways to assess his individual performance during the battle. This means that, against a soldier like Felix, he would have the disadvantage close up, and the DES would only incite Felix to move closer. North is also shown to be a very trusting, honest and caring individual, which is why he was assigned the Theta A.I., and fought against Project Freelancer when he felt what they were doing was wrong. Against a treacherous and murdering liar like Felix, he wouldn't be a good match when it comes to fighting dirty.

Now it's time to determine the results. Who will be the winner of this fight?

The winner is Freelancer Agent North Dakota!

Now, why did North win? It's simple.

At long range, North has a clear advantage. I don't think that anyone could dispute that. Felix has been shown to be skilled at assessing opponents' actions, such as when he predicted that Washington would attempt to ambush him in Season 12, Episode 18: Fed vs New, or how he knew he could stall the Blues long enough to escape by taunting Tucker in Season 13: Episode 12: Off-Key. Most likely, Felix would immediately recognize that he was facing a master marksman. At this point, he would attempt to close the distance. Assuming he could do that(and there are no guarantees), he would be put at the advantage. However, when he realized how outmatched North would be in this situation, he would take the opportunity to torment him a little bit, with a speech on how he had failed as a Freelancer or something like that. North would then either activate a DES around Felix, trapping and frustrating the mercenary, or pull out his SMG and fire it. In the second scenario, Felix would have a chance to dodge the bullets, pull his knife, and stab North. This is the only possible outcome where Felix wins. In the former option, however, Felix becomes enraged and attempts to break the shield. He would either hit it, breaking it and exposing him to North's Sniper Rifle immediately; shoot it, causing the bullet to bounce around until it hit him(as seen in Season 10, Episode 8: Fall from Heaven); or fire his Sticky Detonator, blowing himself up. Felix is not patient enough to simply wait it out, and would kill himself in the process of trying to free himself.

Though there is a small chance that Felix would win in a battle against North, it is unlikely, with North being a very intuitive fighter and skilled marksman. Other scenarios may provide different ratios of outcomes, but the majority of battles would go to North.

And yes, I am a complete nerd for having done this much research to simply debate which character from an online Machinima series would win in a fight.

-KMR