Deadliest Warrior - S01E03 - Spartan vs. Ninja

This week on Deadliest Warrior, we're pushing stealth and strength to their theoretical limits when a Spartan squares off against a ninja. This is a hell of a matchup, and surprisingly enough, it was the first show we ever did. Ninja vs. Spartan started life as our pilot way back in March of 2008. But we're not here to talk about making TV, we're here to talk about bringing the pain. Our Spartan hoplite was the tank of ancient Greece the most heavily armed and armored warrior of his place and time. However, the ninja's reputation is almost mythical at this point -- and he's playing with a higher level of technology. So let's break down our fighters: For starters, you can throw out most of what you learned from 300 right out the window. We're dealing with real Spartan gear, not bare-chested dudes prancing around the battlefield in a leather diaper and a cape. We're looking at a much heavier armor situation. First, our Spartan will have his aspis, the hoplite's legendary shield to hunker down behind. But to back it up, he's bringing a helmet, a cuirass (that's a breast plate with a back piece), and his greaves. Properly aligned, the only vulnerable points on his body are his eyes, his fingers, and his toes -- which may be the only targets of opportunity our ninja will need. If the ninja wants to win this fight, he'll have to play to his strong suit: he needs to distract, evade, flank, or otherwise outmaneuver the Spartan. Once he gets around the shield, perhaps behind the Spartan, then more vulnerabilities start to open up -- the entire back of the Spartan's legs, his neck, and his arms. However, he'll still have the back of that cuirass to contend with, and the Spartan's core, his vital organs and life functions, are well protected. Let's get philosophical for a minute: There's an old Greek saying about the foxes and hedgehogs. Coined by the poet and mercenary Archilochus, it goes like this: "the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." I don't need to tell you who's who, but if you stop and think about it, this saying is the key to everything you need to know about this fight. How to turn that key, however, I leave up to you.

udp://tracker.openbittorrent.com:80
udp://open.demonii.com:1337
udp://tracker.coppersurfer.tk:6969
udp://exodus.desync.com:6969

ZZp4l (2010-07-06)

That was a sucky ending. of course the ninja would've win. the spartan wasn't able to see with his eyes filled with glass so he should've just stand there slashing in the wind while the ninja cut his head of.

CoffeeStained (2010-10-24)

I agree that this was a retarded episode, no matter how strong and immune to pain you are, blindness is blindness. Also, the ninja yelling as he attacks!?
The ninja would poison the Spartan in his sleep.

Titanosaurus (2011-01-25)

HAHA! you guys are taking the show's dramatic recreation of the "final battle" waaaaaay too critically! it's merely a dramatized reenactment of what MIGHT happen in a scenario where a Spartan and a Ninja meet in combat. the final score that determines the victor is based on the DATA that is taken from all the weapons and armor specs throughout the show and then tallied against each other for a final SCORE! the Spartan got a total of 653 kills to the Ninja's overall 347 kills out of a total 1,000 battles simulated. In no way should the final "fight scene" be considered the end all, be all outcome of such an encounter. that's juts silly.

woodwalk (2011-05-01)

They do have a point, though. The ninja would have taken the Spartan in his sleep, but at the very least, he wouldn't have yelled when he made his first attack. And the rating system was biased no EQUIPMENT, not tactics. For instance, the ninja is sneaky, and the Spartans kinda suck as a solitary fighter. This episode really pissed me off because of the bias towards equipment.