Marvel’s Stan Lee is the co-creator of some of the most iconic superheroes of all time. From the Fantastic Four to the Hulk to Iron Man, Lee specialized in bombastic characters with amazing abilities. However, he also created several of Marvel’s most notable and most skilled martial artists.
Here are Marvel’s ten greatest hand-to-hand fighters created by Stan Lee, with some surprising inclusions you may not have considered.
10
Batroc the Leaper, aka Georges Batroc
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
While his name often leads to him being treated like a joke, Batroc might be the greatest non-superpowered combatant in the world. The planet’s greatest practitioner of savate, Batroc has trained himself to peak human condition and has honed his reflexes to the point that he can evade gunfire and even pluck Captain America’s shield out of the air.
A mercenary and thief, Batroc is a recurring enemy of Captain America, and is pretty much the sole proof that non-powered people can successfully fight Super-Soldiers. Batroc engages in constant training, rarely using weapons so as to keep his hand-to-hand skills as sharp as possible. In the MCU, Batroc is depicted by MMA champion Georges St-Pierre.
9
The Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanova
Created by Stan Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck
One of the greatest hand-to-hand combatants in the world, Black Widow’s training in the Red Room included the mastery of karate, savate, judo and more, and she’s traded punches with everyone from Elektra to the Punisher without coming off the worst.
Enhanced by a Russian Super-Soldier Serum, Natasha possesses peak human strength and speed, with abilities in excess of an Olympic athlete. Her extended lifespan (another result of the serum) has allowed her to pursue more than a lifetime’s worth of training and experience, building on skills that were already lethal during adolescence.
8
Daredevil, aka Matt Murdock
Created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett
A master martial artist trained by Stick (himself a grandmaster of multiple combat disciplines), Daredevil also has the advantage of enhanced senses and a 360° radar sense. Matt’s skills verge on precognition, as listening to the heartbeat of his opponents helps him predict how and when they will strike.
With total awareness of all points around him, he can react to otherwise hidden strikes and weapons. Having taken on some of the world’s greatest fighters – including Iron Fist, Bullseye and Elektra – Daredevil has proved himself their equal, with his only disadvantage being his human-level strength.
7
Kraven the Hunter, aka Sergei Kravinoff
Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
A world-class fighter, Kraven spends every day training to hunt his superhuman prey. However, thanks to his use of various potions, he also possesses superhuman strength, stamina, agility and reflexes. Kraven is also an expert at targeting pressure points and utilizing the environment to his advantage, generally baiting his opponents into conditions that favor his abilities.
His enhanced strength and tactical thinking have allowed him to beat both Spider-Man and Daredevil in the past. Despite all these skills, Kraven prefers to use knives and spears rather than opting for hand-to-hand.
6
The Destroyer, aka Kevin Marlow
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Binder
A journalist who adopted a vigilante identity to fight in WWII, the Destroyer’s physical abilities were vastly enhanced by an imperfect Super-Soldier Serum. Destroyer has enhanced strength and durability strong enough to tear a human body to pieces, and refuses to use weapons when his hands will do.
Thanks to his history at war, the Destroyer is more experienced at taking on entire battalions of enemies than one-on-one fights. The character holds the honor of being the first superhero ever created by Stan Lee.
5
Thor and the Warriors Three
Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby
One of the most experienced fighters in the Marvel Universe, Thor has punched out the likes of Galactus and Thanos in the past. While he prefers to use his hammer Mjolnir or axe Jarnbjorn against godly foes, Thor has a long history of fighting mortals during his forays to Earth, and was tutored by the greatest Viking warriors in hand-to-hand combat.
Alongside Thor, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby also created the Warriors Three – Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Dashing and boastful Volstagg the Voluminous. Like Thor, the Warriors Three have had lifetimes of training to become some of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the world. While Fandral prefers to use a sword (and is the most skilled Asgardian to do so) and Hogun prefers a heavy mace, both are universe-class martial artists.
Even Volstagg – who has largely gone to seed as a warrior – was originally as skilled as his two allies, and held his own against the Thor clone Ragnarok as recently as the Siege event.
4
Hercules Panhellenios, the God of Heroes
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
A former demi-god and the current God of Heroes, Hercules doesn’t have all of Thor’s powers, but the two agree he’s the superior combatant. Hercules is most skilled at boxing and wrestling, and is considered the greatest grappler in the Marvel Universe, multiplying the effectiveness of his godly strength dozens of times over with expert skill.
Hercules knows exactly how to use his strength, and is so highly trained he was able to beat Thor even while drunk. He’s also beaten the Hulk and the Sentry in one-on-one unarmed combat. However, despite being the strongest Olympian, he’s not the last of the Greek gods on our list…
3
Karnak of the Inhumans, aka Karnak Mander-Azur
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
A member of the Inhuman Royal Family, Karnak has the ability to sense the weakness in anything – people, objects or even ideas. By detecting stress points, he’s able to smash concrete and utterly destroy the human body with his bare hands, helped by enhanced speed and strength thanks to his Inhuman genes.
Karnak’s physiology is more advanced than any superhuman alive, and his spatial understanding may be the best in the world. He’s so skilled that he’s able to redirect projectiles mid-air using just his hands. He can also exert total control over his body to force his heartbeat, breathing and pain receptors to react however he wants.
This makes it all the more impressive that technically, Karnak doesn’t have an Inhuman power. Due to the harmful transformation of his brother, Karnak’s parents refused to expose him to Terrigenesis. His abilities are canonically a result of intensive training from childhood, though at the height of his power, it’s been implied that he may have somehow unlocked extra-human abilities via his dedication.
2
The Black Panther, aka T’Challa
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
The greatest human fighter on the face of the Earth, T’Challa was trained from birth to become Wakanda’s greatest warrior and later enhanced by consumption of the Heart-Shaped Herb. Using his resources as Wakanda’s ruler, Black Panther has mastered every known form of combat on Earth, as well as training in multiple alien combat styles. As a result, he’s beaten Iron Fist, Daredevil, Captain America and even Karnak in one-on-one combat – the latter with a single, carefully aimed strike.
Black Panther boasts enhanced speed, strength, agility and stamina, as well as enhanced senses and a connection to the spirit realm which can aid him in discovering a foe’s weaknesses. A genius physicist, tactician and inventor, Black Panther also wears force-dispersing Vibranium armor that makes his strikes more powerful while protecting him from even superhuman blows.
Ultimately, it’s Black Panther’s sheer will that has earned him the nickname ‘the Most Dangerous Man Alive.’ Unlike many other Marvel heroes, T’Challa possesses a killer instinct, and doesn’t hesitate to embrace lethality against foes who threaten Wakanda.
1
Ares, the God of War
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
A one-time Avenger and Dark Avenger, Ares is a master combatant with godly strength and stamina, able to fight for literal years without rest. While Ares is weaker than Hercules and Zeus, he’s still one of Marvel’s strongest gods, and as the embodiment of conflict, he possesses total mastery over every form of combat and every weapon ever developed.
However, what makes Ares the undeniable #1 on this list is his godly control over combat itself. As the God of War, Ares can control all forms of violence. Ares boasts command over all soldiers, and is physically strengthened when in the presence of combat. He’s also immune to many superpowers such as telepathic control (considered a kind of combat, and thus under his control) and even stopping time.
In his base state, Ares’ skills make him the equal of anyone on Earth, however he’s also prone to using mystical artifacts to enhance his abilities, such as the strength-increasing Gauntlets of Ares. As basically the god of fighting, Ares’ superhuman abilities literally allow him to control hand-to-hand combat itself, meaning that while he’s not totally unbeatable, he is the greatest fighter Stan Lee ever created mostly by dint of being the embodiment of combat itself.
Those are the 10 greatest fighters Stan Lee introduced to Marvel lore – let us know below what you think of our ranking, and which other characters should appear on this list.
- Birthdate
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December 28, 1922
- Birthplace
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New York, New York, USA
- Professions
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Writer, Editor, Publisher, Producer, Actor
- Height
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5 feet 11 inches
