#MakeThisBattle Feedback - Jan 25th

Good evening and welcome to another exciting edition of #MakeThisBattle. Pete has looked through some of the submissions and here is what he had to say. [Don't forget to vote for your personal favourite in the corresponding poll]

=======

I’ve got a good feeling about this one, mostly because I see the first name and have no idea who it is. So, let's dive in - np

Giacomo Casanova vs Hugh Hefner [submitted by TP_Sway]

Wait a second, I think I can do a little deductive reasoning here. I’ve seen that Casanova word before, I didn’t know it was based on a real person, but that would make sense. And I see Hugh Hefner and I’m familiar with his… work… so I think I’ve got a handle on this. I’m guessing Giacomo is an Italian dude from 1700's who was a hit with the ladies. Google? Mmm that feels good. I even got the century right. But, I don’t know if it’s fair to call him Italian. I think Venice around that time was its own thing. The Republic of Venice. Anyway… I like this, I actually like this match-up a lot. Hugh Hefner has always been floating around out there, this Casanova character brings some element of real history and learning to it, could be really funny. A+ ERB suggestion.

Louis XIV vs Sun Wukong [submitted by Alanomaly]

This MakeThisBattle is going to be long. And it’s almost rhyming enough to be a … The Sun King vs what I’m assuming is another Sun King. Google? Oh wait, they’re calling him the “Monkey King”. Sun King vs Monkey King whose name is Sun? This connection just got pretty thin. I’ll learn more about this Monkey King, because he looks pretty awesome, so thanks for bringing his name up. But, I gotta be honest, Louis XIV has never truly appealed to me for some reason; he just feels like the bad kind of ponce. But featuring someone from that whole French era whether it be a Louis, Marie Antoinette, Robespierre or someone does seem like something we should explore.

Pablo Escobar vs Ronald Reagan [submitted by Eoghan]

Haha, this made me chuckle. I like where it’s going, some nice conflict over South American destiny there. The whole 'war on drugs' thing. Actually the more I think about this the more I like it. Lots of scope here to have fun with the characters. Two big personas with solid name recognition. Damn, MakeThisBattle crowd, y’all really have some rock solid ideas.  A+

Zorro vs Robin Hood [submitted by dee]

Fun, but too same samey I think. They’re both men in tighter trousers being swashbuckly. I would rather see either of them up against another type of thief, a Billy the Kid or something. Do we really need Zorro AND Robin Hood in ERB? I am just not feeling it. That said, this sure has some potential to be fun to watch, and I’m dying to make some "Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves" references. That might be the best awful movie ever made.  

George W. Bush vs Captain America [submitted by Level100Charmander]

I keep seeing George W Bush and I keep thinking it’s a good idea. I think Lloyd would do a fantastic job rapping as him, I think it would be really funny to watch. Captain America does not strike me as the right match-up, and really it’s too on the nose with a different Josh Brolin character against Captain America. A+ for Georgie, Meh+ for the Cap matching.  Maybe W Bush could go against Louis XIV? Or Napoleon III? 

Bobby Fischer vs Hannibal Barca [submitted by GoodGhost]

And so, on this glorious episode of MakeThisBattle, we begin and end with Google. Who the heck is Hannibal Barca? I want to guess first…. Inventor of chess? No, I don’t think we have that information. Is this the last name of Hannibal the I-Fought-Rome guy? That doesn’t sound familiar, but maybe. Maybe the match-up is master tactician in battle vs master tactician in chess? Or was Mr Barca also a child prodigy who fell from grace and ended up hollering about Jews living in his TV set trying to murder him? Not sure if you knew that about Bobby Fischer, but it did not end well for him. Okay Google… who is Hannibal Barca. Sweet, the Carthaginian! That’s the I-Fought-Rome guy. Famously went through the mountains, I think with Elephants. Can you imagine never having seen an Elephant before, and then the first one you see is angry and running at you with an angry guy on it’s back holding a spear? That’s really gotta be intense. I’m not sure why these two would be in a match-up, but I really like it. I want it to be possible to make because I’d love writing it and making it. Hannibal is awesome (I’d probably leave his last name off the title, it’s more confusing than anything) and Bobby Fischer is a giant and interesting person who was top of his game. There could be Elephants, and giant chess pieces. What’s not to like? A+

=======

The next round of submissions for #makethisbattle is now open. The theme this time is '2020 to 2021'. We are looking for some match-ups that feature at least one character (historical or fictional) that has some strong relevance to 2020 or 2021. 

It might be an anniversary of the birth, death, major achievement etc of someone. It might be an upcoming film, tv show or game or book etc featuring the character. Or anything that makes their relevance particularly suited for being in an ERB released in the next two years. [As ever you can ignore this theme completely if you wish]

We'll select at least 2 or more match-up ideas that suit that theme. Same rules apply as normal. Three suggestions per person. You can post them in the comments below, email them to erbpatreon@gmail.com or post them on the Discord server in the dedicated '#make-this-battle' channel.

Deadline for submissions is... 9am PT on Wednesday February 5th.