Aloy vs. Kate Bishop: Who Wins?

credit: Horizon: Zero Dawn

There are a lot of great fighters in pop culture, but there are only a handful of great archers by comparison, and only several of those could be said to be the absolute best. One might wonder why I don’t try to pit Aloy against someone like Hawkeye or Green Arrow, but the truth is that either one of those archers would likely give Aloy more than she could handle. It might be a good fight depending on the terrain and the situation, but in this case, a fight between Aloy and Kate Bishop would be much more even and likely produce a winner that might be a lot more decisive, depending on who could make the most of their surroundings. One has to look at the combatants first and their capabilities, and then look at how adaptable both of them are. There’s nothing to take away from either woman since both Aloy and Kate can think on the fly and can adapt to their situation. They’re both skilled at hand-to-hand tactics, and their ranged combat is what’s helped to keep both of them alive in their respective worlds. But who can prevail in a head-to-head matchup?

credit: MCU

Aloy is a hunter living in a dystopian future where machines are the enemy sometimes. 

Not only are machines extremely dangerous in the far-flung future, but they’re everywhere, and their sensitive targets are usually rather tough to hit, especially since the machines aren’t always willing to sit still. Aloy has lived in isolation for much of her life, and even as an adult, she has to work to be accepted by the rest of the Nora, the tribe that she and her mentor were exiled from during her younger years. As a hunter, she’s capable of fashioning her own weapons, replenishing her own ammunition, and modifying it with various materials that she finds along the way. Her arrows might not pack as much of a punch most times, but her ability to run and gun is adapt to a situation is what’s kept her alive for so long. On top of that, she has to make do with very little in the way of supplies at times, which means she’s exceptionally skilled at thinking on her feet. 

Kate Bishop isn’t without means, but she does know how to improvise. 

Having trained with Hawkeye, which is recommendation enough, and possessing a will that keeps her set to excel, Kate is without any doubt one of the more tenacious characters in the Marvel Universe, but she does lack a bit when it comes to overall experience. Just going off of her representation in the MCU it’s fair to say that she’s a little too headstrong at times and doesn’t think things through that often. The fact that Yelena doesn’t see her as much of a challenge, no matter the fact that Kate wouldn’t quit, means that she’s not at the elite level despite her training. In a very big way, it’s easy to state that Kate is a bit vain in her thinking and is out to prove herself more often than she’s out to survive one battle or another. 

credit: Horizon: Forbidden West

Setting the landscape would be important. 

It feels as though setting this fight up in the wild would be advantageous to both archers, but it also feels as though it would work well in Aloy’s favor since this is the type of terrain that she’s comfortable in and the type that would play to her skill set. Kate would no doubt adapt and attempt to outfox her opponent using various trick arrows and whatever other abilities she has at her disposal, but in terms of fighting skills and overall knowledge of the area, it’s easy to think that she would be a little overwhelmed. The same could be said of Aloy if this fight were to be taken into a more urban setting, but it does feel as though the Nora hunter would be able to adapt a little quicker to her surroundings and situation since her ability to work with raw materials and create a weapon feels as though it surpasses Kate’s. 

Their archery skills would be put to a serious test. 

Let’s put it this way; Kate has arrows that can kill in a simple or loud and explosive manner, while Aloy’s arrows range from simple to debilitating and, in some cases, explosive. It would likely come down to who is the better shot and who can use the environment to their advantage. In this, Aloy would likely have the upper hand since anyone who has played the Horizon games knows that with her gear and her skills, she’s capable of taking down mechanical monsters that outweigh her by a few tons and are more than a little bit quicker than she is. Kate is a skilled archer and fighter, but at the same time, her lack of experience does tend to show through at the worst possible moments. 

More often than not, Aloy would take this fight simply because she’s quicker on her feet than Kate.