Who would win in a fight? Gandalf, or Emperor Palpatine

[JCMach1]

My family had a very long argument over this tonight, though we came to what we thought was the correct answer..,

What say you DUers and state your reasons why

[Brickbat]

1. Gandalf.

Good always triumphs in the end.

[Dappleganger]

3. Gandalf the Grey or Gandalf the White?

[Brickbat]

4. White.

[Dappleganger]

6. Gandalf the White...

because he should have some regenerations left over.

[pokerfan]

24. Evil will always triumph because Good is dumb - Dark Helmet

[rcrush]

2. Arthritis.

[Richardo]

5. Triangle Man

[edhopper]

7. The Emperor

got thrown down a hole by an asthmatic with prosthetics.
Gandalf survived falling into eternity after defeating the Balroc.
Who do you think.
Now Gandalf vs Magneto would be cool.

[Posteritatis]

8. Gandalf's plunge into the abyss was vastly cooler

And he's got more experience at shrugging off being killed.

[Flipper999]

18. *Cough*, *cough*... Let me morph into my nerd form now...

Actually, Palpatine has died and been reborn numerous times. And he's wiped out entire fleets of ships with the force.

Source: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Palpatine

I like Gandalf more since Tolkien built a richer world for his characters, but Palpatine is basically the over powered "devil" of the Star Wars universe.

[JTG of the PRB]

9. Gandalf the Grey defeated a Balrog.

And that was when he was Gandalf the GREY. Gandalf the White would have no problems with the Emperor.

[jobycom]

10. Pshh. Gandalf couldn't even destroy a ring and needed little half-people to save the world.

Palpatine would destroy Gandalf while Darth Woowoo wiped out his semi-magical but amazingly impotent entourage.

Unless... now if Darth Woowoo (Who I think is a Force-encrusted Wookie) were to hurt Frodo before killing Samwise, Sam would bring his shit down early. Then Palpatine would be screwed. So the Emp needs to be sure to save Frodo for last.

[blue_roses_lib]

35. "Sam would bring his shit down early"

Agreed. :rofl: Don't mess with Samwise.

[NewJeffCT]

37. Gandalf couldn't even open the door to Moria

I mean, Knock is a friggin' second level spell!

[jobycom]

41. I'm sayin'.

right?

[Shell Beau]

11. Harry Potter.

Oh, he's not an option. Not a big Star Wars or LOTR fan. I liked the first 3 Star Wars or the last 3, however it goes. :crazy:

[JCMach1]

14. We had the Emperor beating Gandalf only if there are no Eagles around

because of the levitation thing. However, we had Potter beating the Emperor with the killing curse and maybe a cruciatus as the emperor seems to have to move to activate the force.

However Vader owned Harry Potter because of his life-support and mechanical parts.

[Dr Morbius]

12. Recall in the extended version of the third movie, Return of the King...

Gandalf went head to head with the Witch-King of Angmar? Gandalf's staff was broken, which in wizard-lore means absolute emasculation.

Whereas the Emperor shoots lightning out of his fingers.

Now, the Witch-King, sometimes called the Black Captain or Lord of the Nazgul, was taken out because he apparently didn't think women were capable of using swords. Whereas the Emperor was only defeated because Vader turned on him. Gandalf shouldn't have had to even fight that balrog; had he not turned away until certain the danger was long passed, the fiery whip would not have grabbed his ankle.

Also, Gandalf was some two thousand years old ("Three hundred lives of men I have walked this Middle-Earth, and now I have no time!" LotR-TTT), so there's definitely an age-advantage for Palpatine.

[JCMach1]

15. Agreed, also the Emperor can levitate. Gandalf can only compete with that

if an eagle is around.

[eyepaddle]

20. Has anybody else noticed that Jedi/Sith can levitate, and yet somehow manage to

regularly fall to their deaths? What is up with that?

[JCMach1]

21. Maybe their heads have to be pointed up- LOL

[Lilith Velkor]

17. That was the most epic adaptation fail of that godsawful film

Gandalf's staff was never broken in the book.

Gandalf from the book could take out Palpatine and Voldemort at the same time.

[dawg]

19. To me, the most epic fail from the movie was ...

several pages of discussion and debate with Denethor reduced to smacking him in the head with said staff.

[Lilith Velkor]

31. It's difficult to choose.

Usually, I just consider Peter Jackson an agent of Melkor and have done with it.

[jobycom]

27. And THAT answer is so right in every way

Book Gandalf was way more awesome than pompous-yet-insipid-movie Gandalf.

[pokerfan]

25. That was prophecy

by Glorfindel no less.

Then the Witch-king laughed, and none that heard it ever forgot the horror of that cry. But Glorfindel rode up then on his white horse, and in the midst of his laughter the Witch-king turned to flight and passed into the shadows. For night came down on the battlefield, and he was lost, and none saw whither he went. 'Eärnur now rode back, but Glorfindel, looking into the gathering dark, said: "Do not pursue him! He will not return to this land. Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall."

This is just Tolkien playing with the English. 'Man' as mankind or 'man' as in gender. It took both a woman and a hobbit (also not a man) to bring down the Witch King because I don't think that we can discount the effect of Merry's blow:

No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.

[Glorfindel]

33. You got it just right!

And Gandalf, by the way, would have made short work of Palpatine. O8)

[pokerfan]

38. and you would know!

Of course, there was no room for the barrow-wights in the Jackson film, no blades of Westernesse, no Tom Bombadil. It's more than a little galling how much Jackson left out of an almost 12 hour trilogy, esp. considering the stuff he added that was pure invention.

[jobycom]

26. While I approve of your reasoning, did you just say the words

"extended version of the third movie?"

[pokerfan]

32. There exist extended versions of all three films

Fellowship of the Ring: 178 min | 208 min (extended edition)
The Two Towers: 179 min | 223 min (extended edition)
The Return of the King: 201 min | 251 min (extended edition)

Bringing the entire trilogy to over eleven hours.

[jobycom]

34. Those times have to be understated.

Each movie lasted at least 36 hours. Had to have. They felt longer, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe the time keeper fell asleep and didn't realize his watch had stopped?

[pokerfan]

39. time is relative

I have the http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Trilogy-Gift-Set/dp/1402516274">unabridged reading (highly recommended!) and even that only takes fifty-five hours.

[jobycom]

40. I'd love that.

It would seem shorter.

[RandomThoughts]

13. Would depend what they fight for, how they fight, and why.

The easiest answer is both were popular stories, and Gandalf won and Palpatine lost. So that poll answers that question.

In more technical terms, they did fight, since both were based on other concepts.


So Luke defeating Palatine, Is the same as Gandalf defeating Sauron.

But most importantly, neither Luke nor Gandalf did it alone.

[HopeHoops]

16. Gandalf won against a balrog. Palpatine just LOOKED like a balrog.

And that's BEFORE he put on the hooded robe.

[Rabrrrrrr]

22. If Gandalf can get close to Palpatine, he'd have a chance. Otherwise, Palpatine gets the win.

[DerekG]

23. Did Gandalf fuck up the Galactic Senate? NO.

n/t

[sarge43]

28. Gandalf has the Flame of Anor. No contest.

Palpatine is dead meat.

[cemaphonic]

29. In a straight-up fight, Gandalf

He is his settings equivalent of a demigod, whereas Palpy is just a jumped-up politician who knows a few flashy magic tricks.

Total war with all the resources at their disposal? Palpatine easily. Orbital bombardment by a few Star Destroyers = All of Middle Earth is like Mordor.

[Ikonoklast]

30. Palpatine *uses* the Force; albeit the Dark Side.

Wizards like Gandalf ARE the Force...Gandalf in a no-hitter shutout.

[NewJeffCT]

36. About all Gandalf does is swing his sword,

ride Shadowfax and shine a bright light at the Nazgul to save some of Gondor's finest. I mean, he couldn't even escape the grasp of the Balrog's whip.

The Emperor took over a whole galaxy and ruled it for 20 years, while crushing the Jedi who had kept the peace for a thousand generations.

[flying rabbit]

42. Nothing but a bunch of geeks in this thread

I must be home. :toast: BTW- Gandalf FTW