There are times when the idea of ‘anything you can do I can do better’ are kind of obvious in the comics since dealing with such individuals as Raven from DC comics and the Dark Phoenix from Marvel leads to a battle in which many people make a lot of assumptions without really comparing the two. The fact is that Raven was brought forth in 1980 from DC, while despite Jean Grey being created in 1963, or released to the public at least, Dark Phoenix didn’t make her debut until just a little over two decades had passed in 1984. One could say that the Phoenix force was a serious upgrade for Jean since the cosmic entity saw her as a worthy host, but ever since the two came together there have been massive problems dealing with the morality that comes with such power. Raven has definitely had her moral issues as well over the years, as being the daughter of a demon lord will do that, especially when she’s been seen to be susceptible to her father’s will. But pitting these two against one another would be an interesting fight.
There are plenty of fans that think that the Dark Phoenix would stomp Raven in a heartbeat since, to be honest, Phoenix is a cosmic-level threat that’s a little closer to omnipotence than Raven will ever be. But being the daughter of a demon lord isn’t something to take for granted since Raven is a heavy hitter as well, and there are factors that need to be taken into account before calling it a day and handing the win to Dark Phoenix. For one, Raven has apparently been said to be a universal threat since the power that she wields, thanks to her father and her training, is absolutely immense given that such arcane power is no joke. But as impressive as that is, one still has to remember that Raven relies heavily on her magic, while Jean, or Hope, or whoever has the Phoenix force at the moment, merely has to think about something to make it happen. Raven isn’t exactly hampered when using her magic as characters like Zatanna or Doctor Fate might be, meaning she doesn’t have to recite a spell or rely on artifacts, but it is a matter of how quickly she can bring to mind the attack or defense she has in mind.
In other words, in a deathmatch, it’s likely that the only advantage that Raven would have against Dark Phoenix relies heavily on the latter’s host and her ability to keep their more violent tendencies in check. Just for the sake of argument, we’ll use Jean Grey, the most popular host, as the example. Jean isn’t the type of person that enjoys hurting people for the heck of it, but taking all the restraints off and letting the Phoenix take control means that Raven will put up a good fight, but she’ll eventually go down since like it or not, the Dark Phoenix is the type of character that can consume worlds and warp/destroy galaxies with terrifying ease if left unchecked. The Phoenix can also create life, as it’s a cosmic entity that’s capable of just about anything, and is only ever limited by the host it inhabits at any given moment. But again, this is a deathmatch, so assuming that Raven is going to put up a good fight isn’t hard at all, it’s the fact that as much as she tries, she won’t be coming out on top.
DC fans might want to argue this point and a lot of their arguments would be valid in anything other than a match to the death since even if the moment did happen that Raven managed to get one up on the Dark Phoenix, the fight wouldn’t end there. This is an entity that can absorb any type of energy, meaning ANY type, and use it as necessary to fuel itself or redirect it back at the user. Plus, in the event of the Dark Phoenix’s ‘death’ it retreats back into a type of cosmic egg and is reborn when it’s ready. So even if it happens that Raven gets the upper hand, it’s likely that the Phoenix would remember this defeat, and might return for another round at a later date if it could still find Raven.
In a no holds barred match, however, this fight has to go to Dark Phoenix for the win since, despite the fact that Raven is insanely tough and definitely skilled and can be a galactic threat, the Dark Phoenix IS a galactic threat without any question, and has consumed far more worlds in its time than Raven could hope to compete with. In a fight to the death between these two there are few advantages that Raven could press, and to be fair, the fight might not have any witnesses since the destruction caused would hopefully end with the destruction of a planet, not a galaxy.
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