DEATH ANALYSIS: Sabrewulf (Killer Instinct) vs Jon Talbain (Darkstalkers)

Introduction:

“I heard a howling in the woods,freezing me right where I stood. That sound: it turned my blood to ice.I knew they would hunt me this full moon night”. The Gaming News Guy here and for this Halloween Special i am taking a look at two of the most well known Werewolves to see who is truly the Best Werewolf in Gaming - Sabrewulf from the Killer Instinct Series and Jon Talbain from the Darkstalkers series - which one of these werewolves can be called the greatest in fighting games - well let’s find out. I am The Gaming News Guy and i am going to be looking

at their abilities, skills and feats to see who wins this DEATH BATTLE.Also huge thanks to Arachnid-le-Spider as he inspired me to make this blog also thank you to King of Dinosaurs for helping out with the feats.

Bio:

Sabrewulf:

Born into a very rich German family, Baron Konrad von Sabrewulf  lived a lavishly rich lifestyle but due to the amount of riches he became addicted to alcohol  and would often sleep with women including prostitutes. Konrad managed to inherit his family’s castle from his parents but it was then that everything changed. He found a secret area that holded the relics of the Night Guard which was an order dedicating to the killing of monsters. Turns out that his own family - the Sabrewulf clan wiped out most of the werewolves from Europe - which is ironic considering what happened next.

After fumbling through the hidden archives one day (while he was drunk), he accidentally cut himself on just one of his family's trophies: A mounted claw of a giant wolf. Turns out that this claw had a nasty curse - the Claw can transform people into werewolves.  After the next full moon - Konrad transformed into the thing that his family hated the most - a werewolf. Konrad was already an unstable individual since he was addicted to drugs but plus with the feral beast now inside him, let’s just say things didn’t turn out so well for him - he went on a rampage - destroying most of his own castle, forcing his servants to run and isolating himself. When he returned back to humanity - Konrad discovered that his own drug fueled rampage destroyed any change had of regaining humanity but that wouldn’t stop Konrad as he decided to experiment on himself to find a cure.

Due to increasing despair of being a werewolf he drove himself further into heavy opiate use. It was then where he became a true wolf - filled with an unbeatable rage and forcing him to give in to his own Killer Instinct. He would later become an enemy of Ultratech as well as clash with other KI fighters such as Glacius and Thunder all while trying to regain his own humanity - but the werewolf side keeps calling to him like a drug and currently he has not been able to escape the darkness.

Jon Talbain

Jon is certainly one of the most interesting Darkstalkers - Jon Talbain was born to a human mother and his father was a werewolf.Due to his half werewolf nature - his mother died after giving birth to him and he didn’t know about his father - having left him and his mother His mother died shortly after giving birth to him, and Jon had no contact with his father.He lived peacefully alone as a human but then one-night everything changed.One full-moon night, the beast within him awoke and he turned into a werewolf. Due to his nature as a werewolf  he was treated with disrespect and anger.

Talbain cursed his fate, but was a good soul at heart and thus didn’t want his primal instincts forcing him to give into his dark side. He decided to dedicate himself to fighting and pushing himself to his limits in order to keep his inner humanity. After the death of Pyron was defeated, Talbain was cursed of his curse and he regained his human form. Even after becoming a human again they still hated him for being part werewolf and part human (jerks). Though he find some friends in the children who cared for him and treated him with kindness and respect despite his appearance.

One day he regained his werewolf form and discovered and those who get inflicted with a curse - stay cursed. Eventually he came face to face with his own darkness.After defeating Dark Talbain, Jon was finally able to accept his "curse" and resolved to live his life as a wolf. He would eventually look after two orphans who had cared for him.

Fighting Style:

Sabrewulf

If there is is one word to describe Sabrewulf’s fighting style it would be rushdown - Sabrewulf fights by rushing town his foe - getting it and doing the highest amount of damage possible. He is extremely ruthless able to mix up claw attacks and teeth attacks and keep in mind that these claws and teeth that are meant to rip through flesh and bone. If Sabrewulf is able to get and do some damage then it’s very difficult to get him away due to his close range combos. While fighting Sabrewulf it is best if you keep your distance and use ranged attacks because he has very little ranged options. Sabrewulf fights by his own Killer Instinct so when fighting him you need to be careful. His Instinct Mode - The Claw boosts his own Speed and Strength while forcing him to give into his wolf side which leads to him become a lot more aggressive in combat so don’t let the dog bite.

Jon Talbain:

Jon Talbain like Sabrewulf is a extremely good rushdown character using kicks,claws and teeth in combat like most werewolves but there is a twist - Jon Taliban actually decided to keep his humanity through martial arts training more importantly kung fu training. He eventually became a martial arts master easily able to keep up with the stronger Darkstalkers - while he trained in Kung Fu Training - he uses a style based on Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's signature fighting style.

Jeet Kune Do revolves around moving little, but making every move have maximum effectiveness. This style of fighting helps compliments Jon’s Werewolf nature and created a style based on quick/strong blows. Sometimes he even uses a nunchucks which he has become quite proficient in. He can even chance his own attacks through the use of Chi which is the manipulation of physical energy in the body. Using Chi he can even summon a...you know what - how about i put that one off for a bit.

Moveset:

Sabrewulf:

Combo Trait - Rapid Doubles: Sabrewulf can follow up a double with the same double of the exact same strength which is great for combos.

Flaming Bat - Sabrewulf sends out a Flaming Bat to attack his enemy, it it his only ranged projectile.

Sabre-Pounce - Sabrewulf pounces on the foe, is good for clearing distance

Saber-Roll - Sabrewulf does a roll, it is great for closing the distance.

Saber-Spin - Sabrewulf does a Spin slashing at his enemy while he does it - is a great move for combos

Sabre-Wheel - Sabrewulf does a Wheel Attack, it is multi hitting and can be used to continue combos

Sabre-Flip - Sabrewulf does a flip, is great for anti-airs

Sabre-Hop - Sabrewulf can perform a hop that will close the distance

Howl/Sabre-Howl - In KI1 Sabrewulf can use Howl in order to increase his attack and in KI2 he can create lighting attacks from the ground.

Parry Move - Sabrewulf can parry attacks and then counter

Overpower - Sabrewulf has his hands back and lunges forward to crush his two palms together onto the opponent. This move is great for combo starting

Ragged Edge - Sabrewulf claw swipes his opponent twice.This move is great for performing

Run - This is one of the new tools that Sabrewulf has that makes him even more deadly than before. He can run at the enemy and close distance extremely fast. He can follow this up in three different ways:

Hamstring: Slides below an enemy swiping at his foe's legs.Sabrewulf can pass under projectiles

Jumping Slash: Jumps over the foe and does an overhead swipe. This move also goes over projectiles

Running Uppercut: Performs an uppercut slash to an opponent to catch them out of the air or put them up into the air

Eclipse: Sabrewulf claw slashes a crescent above his head. This is used as an anti-air.

Dash - Sabrewulf is able to dash through enemies. This move is great for mix-ups

Jon Talbain:

Beast Cannon - Using his skills in KI Manipulation. Jon engulfs his body with ki and rockets in a single direction. This move is extremely versatile and allows for offensive and defensive options as it can be fired forward, upward, or downward and can even change direction in mid-flight

Climb Laser - Does a flip kick while concentrating ki to his leg

Million Flicker - Using his skills in Nunchucks he swings his nunchucks at the foe. This is a great close range move.

Quick Hop - Jon dashes forward quickly to get behind his opponent to set himself up for a quick attack

Wild Circular - Jon grabs his foe and does a rolling backflip before bringing them to the ground

Dash - Jon can Dash in order to get close to his prey - he can even cancel that same dash in order to stop.

Jon Taliban also has a bunch of command normal which are basically improved normal attacks such as:

Rapid Crunch

Canyon Rounder

Canyon Flyer (Which is an Air Command Normal)

Sadness Wind

Super Moves:

Sabrewulf:

Instinct Mode - Feral Rage:  This is Sabrewulf’s Instinct Mode. Feral Rage increases Saberwulf’s damage (a 25% damage increase to be precise) as well as forces Sabrewulf to become more violent and instinct prone. It is more powerful against blocking foes. All Saberwulf’s normal attacks cause chip damage. In which will cause a normals to chip damage his/her health.It also gives him a blue afterflow. Thanks to S2 Sabrewulf has a mechanic called Feral Cancel - by pressing Heavies he can cancel any move on the ground.

Shadow Ragged Edge: Sabrewulf does a series of five slashes to his opponent.

Shadow Jumping Slash: Sabrewulf does a leaping overhead slash that low crushes and goes through projectiles.

Shadow Eclipse: Sabrewulf does a large crescent slash over his head and has start up invincibility.

Super Attacks - Sabrewulf also has more powerful versions of his Sabre-Spin,Sabre-Wheel and Saber-Flip

Super Fireball - Sabrewulf can perform a powerful fireball attack

Super Stomp - Sabrewulf stomps on his foe for a considerable amount of damage.

No Mercies - These are Sabrewulf’s finishing movies (basically KI’s version of Fatalities):

Claw Stab: Stabs his defeat foe and then slices at them with his claws. Causing his foe to fall down dead

Screen Punch: Backhands the foe towards the screen causing them to crash into them Able to backhand fully grown adults towards the screen

Bat Finisher - Sabrewulf calls an army of bats to maul at his foes.

Ultra Combo - Sabrewulf performs a 28 Hit attack combo combining his special moves and his normal moves into one brutal Ultra Combo.

Jon Talbain:

Dragon Cannon - Remember when i talked about the fact that Jon can channel something using his Ki. Well here it is - Jon has the ability to channel his inner Hanzo and send out two giant twin ki dragons using the power of his nunchucks. There is even a variant of this move where he fires wolfs not dragons which makes more sense considering Werewolf.

Moment Slice - You know how Bruce Lee’s fighting style was about patient and waiting for the right moment to strike, well Jon can wait a couple of seconds for his foe to come close to his range before performing a very powerful and deadly claw slash to the foe’s stomach once they try and hit him. This move is a counter but still i would not want to go anywhere near those claws.

Mirage Body - Jon can embrace inner Wolverine and create afterimages of himself. This is easily his most deadly attack for combos as due to the fact his afterimages is an actual thing he can hit twice with each attack.

Feats:

Sabrewulf:

• Survived getting his arms cut off by Glacius in KI1 and killed Glacius both in one of his own endings and in a bad ending in KI2 as revenge after obtaining his cybernetic arms: 

• Nearly killed Jago in the comics and infected him, nearly turning him into a werewolf

• Once ripped out his own cybernetic arms using his own strength

• Destroyed most of his own castle in a rage

• Outran a group of people looking to chase him down: 

• Had enough willpower to survive 7 years as a werewolf without completely losing his sanity

• Kept up with Mira

• Is comparable to Cinder, who can melt human beings (making him building level) and fly across volcanoes at supersonic speeds

• On the same level as Tusk, who can TK and react to meteors  which makes him hypersonic and multi-city block level: 

Jon Talbain:

• Defeated Dark Talbain who is a mirror version of himself complete with the same abilities:
• Is classified as a B+ class demon in the games, making him on the same level as Anakaris and Q-Bee, as well as above Felicia
• On par with Q-Bee who can push a giant hive and disperse several clouds, which is building level
• On par with Anakaris who can sink three pyramids at once, which is town level: 
• Faster than Felicia, who can dodge lighting
• -Harmed BB Hood with his charges and kept up with her before being defeated, the same BB Hood who regularly fights B+ class Darkstalkers and was able to toss Sasquatch at supersonic speeds
• In the anime Jon is able to keep up with Morrigan.Morrigan in this series is above Donovan Baine and comparable to Demitri.
• Jon can lift and throw Huitzil, a robot weighing in at 2.27 tons and then he tore it to shreds. Huitzil units are strong enough to destory towns
• Is stated in game to be as fast as the wind
• In the anime, not even 100 soldiers can kill any Darkstalker
• In the anime, Jon is comparable to Donovan Baine who can block bullets, fly to space in seconds and destroy temples. Donovan (and by proxy Jon) is massively hypersonic in the anime:
• In the anime, Jon is comparable to Demitri who can cover the planet in clouds, effectively killing plantlife and blocking out the sun. The energy required of Demitri would be in the small country range at the least, making Jon small country level in anime continuity
• Once outran a speeding train
• Managed to retain his humanity without letting his primal instincts consume him

Weaknesses:

Sabrewulf:

Due to his use of drugs and alcohol along with his werewolf nature and bloodlust - Sabrewulf is not the most mentally questionable individual as he gives into his own madness frequently and in some endings of Killer Instinct he gives up on his humanity completely. Due to this he is not much of a strategist - always going on claws ready and not thinking much about planning or out thinking his foes.  Sabrewulf is also a glass cannon as while he has a monster when it comes to offense he is not strong at defense so it’s best that Sabrewulf attack at all times. Sabrewulf must also go close combat because he lacks good projectile moves meaning he will be stuck if foes can keep him out but thanks to his run that is very difficult.His Trump Card - Feral Rage also has a time limit meaning he can’t spam it.

Jon Talbain:

Surprisingly Jon has many of the same weaknesses as his foe Sabrewulf - He is a glass cannon and has one of the lowest defenses out of the entire cast and relies mainly on close range foes as he only has one long range move that being Dragon Cannon.But he doesn’t have the madness of Sabrewulf so that’s a plus.

Overall:

Jon Talbain:

Name: Jon Talbain/Gallon

Race: Werewolf

Origin: England

Birth Year: 1940
Height: 6'1" (186 cm)
Weight:154 lbs (70 kg)
Powers and Abilities: Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Speed, Superhuman Durability,Werewolf Physiology,KI Manipulation, Expert Martial Artist

Attack Potency: Game - Town Level (scaling from Anakaris) Anime - Small Country Level (Scales to Anime Demitri)

Speed: Massively Hypersonic Speed (Scaling from Donovan Baine)
Durability: Town Level (Has attacks from Anakaris)

        Strengths:

• Is Faster than Sabrewulf
• Is Smarter than Sabrewulf
• Has more experience than Sabrewulf
• His KI Attacks allow for greater control of the battlefield and are more powerful than any of Sabrewulf’s Attacks
• Is a better strategist and while he can be savage in combat he always plans ahead and never embraces his inner werewolf like Sabrewulf does
  

Weaknesses:

• Lacks good projectiles expect Dragon Canon (Sabrewulf does have a few projectiles)
• Is not as ruthless nor as savage as Sabrewulf
• In terms of the Darkstalkers cast he is a glass cannon (though he is more durable than Sabrewulf)

Sabrewulf:

Name: Baron Konrad von Sabrewulf

Race: Lycanthrope/Werewolf

Origin: Germany

Age: 50
Height:5'11"
Weight:415 lbs
Powers and Abilities: Superhuman Strength, Superhuman Speed, Superhuman Durability,Werewolf Physiology,Animal Telepathy

Attack Potency: Multi City Block Level (Scales to the likes of Thunder and Glacius)

Speed: Hypersonic Speed (Is as fast as Thunder,Glacius)
Durability: Multi City Block (Scales to Thunder,Glacius)

Strengths:

• Physically stronger than Jon Talbain
• Has better projectiles then Jon Talbain
• Is much more ruthless and savage then Jon Talbain
• Feral Rage is his trump card

Weaknesses:

• Frequently gives into his own madness
• Is less durable than Jon Talbain
• Is slower than Jon Talbain
• Has less experience than Talbain
• He usually just rushes in and tries to overpower his foes
• 
  

Verdict:

The Gaming News Guy:

So who wins in this battle between werewolves, well if you have been paying attention you have probably figured who the true victor of this fight is - as much as i do like Sabrewulf he just can’t compete with the Werewolf of Darkstalkers. True there are some aspects that Sabrewulf surpasses Jon - for example overall Sabrewulf is the much more savage/ruthless fighter and is physically stronger and has similar combat experience (though Jon Talbain has more combat experience). While in combat Sabrewulf in terms of combat is a very simple fighter as while in battle Sabrewulf relies on his werewolf side as well as his strength in order to win a fight - he is not much of a strategist preferring to go in claws open and ready to tear someone’s throat. While this may a good plan in theory - if you are someone like Jon who have had to deal with very strong monsters of all kinds. Jon through his use of KI Manipulation and his Jeet Kun Do fighting styles which revolves around using every move to maximum effectiveness has created a fighting style that effective deals with physically stronger foes that would eat Sabrewulf for breakfast. - Sabrewulf is the bruiser rushing in to get the most hits while Jon is the tactician - always planning ahead, always keeping one step ahead - never giving in to his animal urges and always keeping a cool head.. Even without taking into consideration fighting styles - Jon simply has the better stats - He is faster,more experienced, has beaten stronger foes then Sabrewulf. He has taken on A Class Darkstalkers who are Planet Level at least as well as taking on the likes of Felcia,His own Dark Doppelganger and Huztil who destroyed most of civilization and are responsible for wiping out the planet and Jon kicked one in half. While Sabrewulf does have some pretty impressive accomplishments like beating Thunder and stalemating Mira it is simply not on Jon’s Level. Sabrewulf is the ravaging beast - a man who never was entirely good and gave into his own primal insistence whether it’s Lycanthrophy, Alcohol or Drugs while Jon has trained himself to be better than the werewolves and the monsters he fights. In this fight to see who wins in a DEATH BATTLE and who is the better character - i believe that Jon Taliban wins both.

Looks like Jon Talbain is the True Werwolf of the Night:

The Winner is Jon Talbain