Gemmell's most dangerous/deadliest character

Most dangerous i'd have to go with Druss, his complete lack of defence plus preternatural instincts when in combat make him Gemmells most lethal warrior.
Would put Waylander as the deadliest, who knows how many there were whos last sight was the point of a black crossbow bolt piercing their eye?

My distinction is because the wimpiest bloke in the world might not be able to fight his way out of a paperbag, but could still be deadly with a rifle from half a mile away.
 
Note: Have read all of Gemmell's stuff but only the Drenai ones recently so all my examples will come from there.

Hi, this is my first post here.
Couple things - the description of dangerous is kinda vague. If you're actually going for dangerous I'd actually vote for Jianna as the eternal. She's got that whole complete control over people thing going on.
Best fighter? Excluding non-human characters (Anharat, Emsharas, Three-Swords, Etc) I would go with Decado the Ice-Killer, anyone who is just so good that he can even kill someone who knows every move they're going to make is gonna take some beating.
Other characters needing mention? Antikas Karios - Dealt with quite of those Kraayakin (sp?) on the bridge. Waylander - great assassin but, along with people like Druss, Skilgannon and Tenaka, his conscience gets in the way of being the most deadly. Hewla - pretty dangerous. Any other mystic characters. Boranius is said to be inhuman when he fights and he was completely insane by the time he fought Skilgannon, perhaps if he was sane it would have turned out different.

Ps. I think Bane was more dangerous than Connovar.
Pps. When Ustarte said that Waylander was the deadliest thing walking Druss hadn't been born. When Druss encounters Ustarte she has been in that world for a long time. Waylander's final death came just after she crossed over from that other place.

Much love, peace out
 
Best swordsman is Culain, from the "Ghost King".

Totally agree and I am very surprised that he hasn't been thrown into the mix earlier. Though, technically, he is probably head and shoulders above all mentioned.

Druss is class. As much as I like waylander druss would have him in seconds. But the deadliest and the best swordsman is the same man. It's culain. He lived for thousands of years and killed the best warriors of every generation. He spent thousands of years honing his skills and sipstrassi kept him young and strong. All the other guys in this thread were the best of their generation. Culain was the best of every generation. Men against boys.

Well put.

Hector, Achilles, Aeneas, Argurios, Kalliades, Banokles etc. are all walking with Ares in the Elysian fields. Dining with one another every night in the Hall of Heroes. Herakles is there with them too.

"But where is Druss, Skilgannon, Waylander, Decado, Culain n Co.?" one asks Achilles.

"Don't know," says Achilles. "Aint seen them around here yet."

That's lovely, but Culain was actually Ares and Aeneas...

Not to mention...

Culain Lach Feragh :- Culain the Immortal, Ares, Apollo, Revelation, Lancelot, Cunobellin (king of the Trinovantes) the original Brittanorum Rex (the King of all Britain), Aeneas (the man who killed Achilles.) Lance Lord, Lancelot.

tee hee :D

Edit I just now wonder if anyone bothered to mention Rage since he was easily the most deadly character in the Rigante series.

A taste (possible spoiler):
Rage moved across the arena, his sword sheathed, his helm tucked under his arm, his red scarf bright as blood in the sunlight. From the other side of the arena came Vorkas. Bane stood, hands gripping the front rail, and watched as the two men came together before Persis and his guests. They saluted and drew back. Rage donned his helm and took up his position. Vorkas faced him. The trumpets sounded... A heartbeat later Vorkas lay dead upon the sand. Rage sheathed his sword and walked back to the Sword Room
 
Last edited:
If we're talking about swordfighting i think Boranius (iron mask) would have to come first. the only times he has ever been beaten are because of interferance during the duel (a spear thrown at him, a joining biting him) otherwise he would have won both times. Just my opinion :)
 
Totally agree and I am very surprised that he hasn't been thrown into the mix earlier. Though, technically, he is probably head and shoulders above all mentioned.



Well put.



That's lovely, but Culain was actually Ares and Aeneas...

Not to mention...

Culain Lach Feragh :- Culain the Immortal, Ares, Apollo, Revelation, Lancelot, Cunobellin (king of the Trinovantes) the original Brittanorum Rex (the King of all Britain), Aeneas (the man who killed Achilles.) Lance Lord, Lancelot.

tee hee :D

Edit I just now wonder if anyone bothered to mention Rage since he was easily the most deadly character in the Rigante series.

A taste (possible spoiler):
Rage moved across the arena, his sword sheathed, his helm tucked under his arm, his red scarf bright as blood in the sunlight. From the other side of the arena came Vorkas. Bane stood, hands gripping the front rail, and watched as the two men came together before Persis and his guests. They saluted and drew back. Rage donned his helm and took up his position. Vorkas faced him. The trumpets sounded... A heartbeat later Vorkas lay dead upon the sand. Rage sheathed his sword and walked back to the Sword Room


Sorry, the most deadly in the rigante series was Connovar. Intelegance and ruthlessness. Rage was good, but spent too long in combat governed by rules. Connovar was a killing machine when the bloodlust came upon him, yet except one occasion he maintained all his metal faculties.

But in the end, n-one was as deadly as shannow. PLace him in an earlier era where he was trained with a bow or sword in place of his guns and he'd still be as deasly. Lightning reflexes, almost telepathic intuition and the fact he ddn't care if he died made him the deadliest by far.
 
Who, in your opinion, was Gemmels most dangerous/deadliest character in any of his books and why? Is it Waylander...Druss...Decado...Tarantio...Skillgannon...Connovar...???

And who was the best swordsman?

Dace! :)
 
Most deadly - Waylander. No question. Druss may be the greatest warrior
but if Waylander wanted him dead then he would be, dead.

Too many great swordsman to say who's the best but my personal favourite would be Dace. He goes one on one with a Daroth (who can read his mind) and owns him. He'd certainly take some beating :)
 
Who, in your opinion, was Gemmels most dangerous/deadliest character in any of his books and why? Is it Waylander...Druss...Decado...Tarantio...Skillgannon...Connovar...???

And who was the best swordsman?

Great Question - Having discovered Gemmell books recently, there's so many skilled, deadly and downright stubborn, hard-to-kill characters.
Druss, Waylander, Tenaka and even Pagan who took on 9 Joinings - singlehanded !!!
But Decado stands out for me, in terms of facing a direct enemy or opponent. No one seemed to be able take him on. Remember the scene when he took on the Dark Templar, the Thirty merged their souls and even though the dude could read Dec's mind, he was still killed. Or Dec reminiscing about leaving a battlefield unscathed, when bodies lay strewn around him. And that final showdown between him and Skilgannon. Could Druss have handled the speed of Dec? Dunno. Something odd and sinister about him. Maybe Dace could give him a run for his money (not Tarantio).
 
Oh! And just to add Viruk from Echoes of the Great Song. So colourful, yet grey - equally dislikable and likable. A very striking - and dangerous - character. :)
 
Jon Shannow. He was easily the most deadly. The guy was simply ruthless, focused, unemotional and worse of all, totally unafraid.
 
Druss is without doubt the deadliest close quarters combatant in DG books. His fighting style of constant motion would make it impossible to get close enough to land a blow without being hit by snaga, and unlike a sword any blow from snaga would be a lethal one. Noone could survive going against him, it would only be a matter of whether they could take out druss as well. Very honourable mention to Pagan, who is one of the few DG chatacters who could match druss physically, and who in his short appearance seemed equally cold-blooded in combat.
Waylander is the deadliest character, but would not be in the same ballpark in close quarters combat as druss, decado etc.
As for swordsmen, depends if we are talking human or enhanced.
For human decado is the most celebrated, but kysumu holds his own in battle against kriaznor. Hard to separate. Non human Qin Jong would have to take the title. To be the best amongst an army of supernatural fighters would make him the best in any company.
 
I hear all of your arguments Zed (welcome, by the way) and I agree with you on each point. My argument, however, is that in any one on one conflict each and every one of your candidates would get shot by Waylander before getting close enough to swing their blade. It's a case of bringing a knife to a crossbow fight...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zed
Absolutely agree, which is why I said Waylander is the deadliest DG character. But if it came down to it, I doubt Waylander would take the chance of facing him and giving a sermon before killing him. I think it would be a clean kill from cover. If Druss saw it coming it would be a tie as he would get to Waylander and cut him down before dying.
 
Welcome to the chronicles forums @Zed!

I struggle to imagine Waylander even wanting to attack Druss - his moral compass seemed to be against that.

Besides -
as we saw in Legend, even death isn't enough to stop Druss. :)
 

Similar threads


Back
Top