Mario is better than Sonic

Before we can proceed with this debate, we must ask -- what exactly is meant by "better"? I'm not sure why Con implied last round that "better" means something along the lines of "popular" or "famous", because he actually agrees that Sonic loses to Mario under that standard. I will instead advocate the standard which Con seemed to point towards in his opening round -- the characters' abilities. I propose that we evaluate whose abilities are superior through the lens of a battle between the two. Con's only points are that Sonic is fast, can perform the move known as Spin Dash, and apparently has a cool "gang". I will prove that Mario's abilities allow him to overcome these things and beat Sonic in a fight. == Speed == I will readily concede that Sonic is faster than Mario. In fact, it is by far Sonic's biggest advantage over Mario. However, Mario has plenty of ways to counter this, the most effective of which is his aerial abilities. According to MarioWiki: "Mario's most notable ability is his Jump, which is his basic move he relies on to defeat enemies, avoid obstacles, and activate helpful items such as ? Blocks and P-Switches... He is also capable of several acrobatic maneuvers, including the Long Jump, Back Flip, Spin Jump, and Wall Jump" [1]. More importantly, "Mario has fourteen power-ups that allow him to fly: the Wing, the Super Leaf, the Tanooki Suit, the P-Wing, the Cape Feather, the Power Balloon, the Wing Cap, the Power Flower, the Bee Mushroom, the Boo Mushroom, the Red Star, the Propeller Mushroom, the Invincibility Leaf, and the Super Acorn" [1]. Sonic only has his speed where there is ground to run on, so Mario's aerial abilities alone are enough to undermine Sonic's speed advantage. By flying and jumping around, Mario could easily avoid all of Sonic's speed-based battle tactics. In addition to flying power-ups, Mario also has power-ups like the Star and the Mega-Mushroom, which would be helpful against speed for obvious reasons [2]. The former temporarily grants Mario a state of God-like invincibility in which everything he touches dies and his speed is increased to the point that he could potentially rival Sonic's average speed. The latter temporarily grants Mario enormous size, which entails massive destructive power, virtually infinite durability, and the ability to stomp hedgehogs into the ground. Sonic's speed is rendered useless in face of either of these power-ups. Another important counter-measure which Mario has against Sonic's speed is his literally infinite stamina. Video [3] is just one example among many where Mario sprints through an entire level without breaking a sweat; he often travels through entire *worlds* in a single sitting, demonstrating that it simply isn't possible to tire him out. His infinite stamina is further evidenced by his similarly infinite lung capacity -- Video [4] shows how during aquatic levels, Mario is able to stay submerged underwater for unlimited periods of time. Infinite stamina is obviously very advantageous in battle -- no matter how fast Sonic may run, Mario will never get tired of chasing after him and trying to pin him down. Lastly, Video [3] also shows that Mario possesses an incredible amount of *natural* speed and agility. It's obviously not on par with Sonic's, but it is sufficient to ensure that even if none of Mario's other counter-measures work out, Sonic's speed alone will not be enough to dominate the fight. Taken together, Mario's natural speed/agility, aerial ability, infinite stamina, and unbeatable power-ups easily outweigh the speed differential between him and Sonic. == Spin Dash == The Spin Dash is, indeed, a powerful move, but Mario could definitely defeat it. Observe Video [5] from approximately 6:00 onwards -- Mario is capable of grabbing Bowser (who weighs at least a couple tons) by the tail, spinning him around several times at a relatively high speed, and then throwing him a long distance away. This denotes an *enormous* amount of brute strength on Mario's part. If we consider that in conjunction with the exceptional martial arts talent he demonstrates in Video [6], then we have more than enough reason to believe that Mario could stop a Spin Dash in its tracks. Furthermore, many of Mario's power-ups [2] could come in handy, including the Fire Flower, Ice Flower, and Blue Shell (which is literally the Mario-Universe equivalent of a Spin Dash). The Spin Dash simply does not pose a threat to Mario. == Cooler Gang == This doesn't matter, because we are debating the merits of Mario and Sonic as *individuals*. I can be the best person ever yet still be friends with a bunch of losers, and similarly, someone can be a complete idiot but still somehow manage to get in with the cool kids. The coolness of your "gang" is irrelevant to your individual qualities. And even if it IS relevant, Con has not put forth any substantive argument to show that Sonic's gang is objectively better than Mario's -- all he has done is given his subjective opinion on the issue. I can easily match this level of analysis: "Amy and Tails are annoying af. Toad and Yoshi are cute, and Luigi is a boss. Therefore Mario's gang is better." - In conclusion, we have clearly seen that Mario has superior abilities to Sonic, and is therefore the better character. Thank you. - 1. http://www.mariowiki.com... 2. http://www.mariowiki.com... 3. 4. 5. 6.