Tempest vs Crystal

This is a DynaMic Network Podcast. 

Hi, welcome to the Dynamic Duel Podcast, a weekly show where we review superhero films and debate the superiority between Marvel and DC by comparing their characters in stat-based battle simulations. 

I'm Johnny DC and I'm his twin brother Marvelous Joe. And in this episode we are doing a duel between the characters of Tempest, formerly known as Aqualad, and the Inhuman Crystal. And this of course is in lead-up to our Wildcats vs. Inhumans team duel that we will be doing next week. Yeah, I've been dying to get to an Inhumans team duel. I'm a big fan of the Inhumans, not a big fan of the show that they put together on ABC. But don't let that piece of shit, poor excuse, attempt for a series detract you from learning just how awesome the Inhumans are. The internet never forgets. 

I neither will I. Before we get to the duel, we're going to break down the comic book movie news from the past week, of which there were two news items, one being the Peacemaker Season 2 official red band trailer, and the new one being the Marvel Zombies series release date. As always, we list our segment times in our episode description, so feel free to check out the show notes if you want to skip ahead to a particular topic. Guys, our artificially intelligent duel simulator, AJ9K, has a quick message for our listeners, so listen up. 

Thanks AJ9K, and thanks to everyone who supports the podcast, including Josh Hayward, who had a birthday this past week. Happy birthday, Josh. Also, Zachary Hepburn, two of our patrons actually had birthdays this past week, and I believe they both turned 35. Great age, you guys could both be a president, or at least Josh could, because Zach's Canadian. And because you're Canadian, Zach, for your birthday, if I could get you any gift from DC, it would be Captain Cold's cold gun, because it's cold up in Canada, and that's all I really know about it. In the winter, it's cold in Canada, right? You've been to Vancouver, haven't you? 

Yes, and it was cold. And for the Marvel guy, Josh Hayward, if I had to give you a gift from Marvel, it would be the Falcons wingsuit. Why? I don't know. 

Probably because I'm looking at an image of the Falcon right now, and that's the first thing that came to mind. Happy birthday again to both of you guys, and thanks for supporting the show. Be sure to tune into the other shows on the Dynamite Podcast Network this week, including the console Combat Podcast, where hosts John and Dean simulate battles between popular video game characters. In yesterday's episode, the two determined who would win between King K. Rool from Donkey Kong and King Hippo from Punch Out. 

Great matchup. Over on the Max Destruction Podcast, hosts Scotty and Gilly pit your favorite action heroes from film and television against each other. They are taking a hiatus during the month of August, so be sure to get caught up on their latest episodes. On the Sinjo World Podcast, birthday boy Zachary Hepburn speculates on fights between fan-favorite anime and manga characters. In his next episode, Zach is going to reveal who would win between Akuto Sai from Demon King Daimo and Amos Voldigoad from Misfit of Demon Academy. 

Visit dynamicpodcasts.com or click the link in our show notes to listen to all the shows in the Dynamite Podcast Network. Boat that out of the way. Quick to the No Prize! A No Prize is an award that Marvel used to give out to fans. 

Our version, the Dynamic Dual No Prize, is a digital award we post on Instagram for the person that we feel gave the best answer to our question of the week. Last week, or two weeks ago actually, we asked you guys, what was the best live action Spider-Man suit and the best live action Batman suit and why? We got a few answers for this one, not nearly as much as I thought we would actually, but let's go ahead and run down the honorable mentions and the No Prize winner. Our first honorable mention goes to Alex Albro, who said, 

Hey guys, I think Toby's black suit was the best. I can remember the way the action figure felt in my hand even 20 years later and seeing it come on to him in the movie with a webby black virus looking thing was a really cool visual. As for Batman, I think George Clooney suits the best. You know, it's the most anatomically correct, you could say, and it just fits the tone of that film. I never once questioned it as a kid and also it's got the best Robin suit in that film. Thanks guys. 

Yeah, the Toby McGuire Spider-Man suit is really good. Definitely like the raised webbing look and the symbiote suit that he wore from Spider-Man 3 was no exception. They basically took like the sleek shiny black webbing portion of a suit and applied that to everywhere as opposed to just the webbing. And I thought that was really cool because the symbiote, you know, is supposed to be black and shiny, at least venom is, you know. I still remember the first look we got at the black Spider-Man suit from Spider-Man 3. It was a really cool poster of Spider-Man just like kneeling at the edge of a building like a gargoyle in the rain. And it was just all black and white. For some reason, the photo was so striking. I thought it looked really cool. 

And as for George Clooney suits, what? Eww, bro. Nipples. You don't like nipples? Everybody's got nipples. Come on. No, no. I don't want nipples. You don't want nipples? No. Great answer. Alex, our next honorable mention goes to Daniel Alonso. Who said? 

Alright, the best Spider-Man suit hands down is the Toby McGuire one. I mean, the raised webbing, the best spider on the front and the back. The eyes are amazing. And then it all has this underlying checkered pattern throughout the fabric. Its colors are fantastic. It's just the best suit. And best Batman suit? Probably Batterson. I think it's the most menacing, the most realistic. He just looks like a tank. I love that one. 

Yeah, another shout out for Toby McGuire's Spider-Man suit. I really think that that was the suit that brought superhero costumes into the modern age. I mean, before that we had the X-Men, but they didn't really quite nail the suit in a way that I think was satisfying for fans. Nobody was complaining about Toby McGuire suit when that movie first came out because it was literal perfection. Everything from the material to the design, the eye design, as Daniel mentioned, it was flawless. Do you think that the Toby McGuire Spider logo was better than Andrew Garfield's though? Or maybe Tom Holland's? It's a great question. 

Honestly, my favorite Spider emblem is probably Andrew Garfield's, I think. That's what I was thinking. Yeah, yeah. I would agree with that. As for Banson's suit, it's definitely the least comic book accurate, but you're right. With the steel plating, he almost looks like a knight in his armor, just wearing a cowl and a cape. He looks badass. 

I really, really want him to be part of the DCU. I'm not going to stop saying it until it's like official official. You're going to try to manifest it? 

Absolutely. Like until James Gunn announces the casting for his Batman, I'm still going to insist that it should be Robert Pattinson. If that does happen, though, I would probably insist as a fan that he get a more comic accurate bat suit. No, no, I'm fine with it. Great answer, Daniel. Our final honorable mention goes to Scott Camacho. Who said? Scott Camacho here. 

If I had to pick a Spider-Man suit, it would be Toby McGuire. He was our first introduction into live action Spider-Man and his suit was pretty much on point. And I'm a big fan of the black suit. And for Batman, it's Ben Affleck's Batman. It's everything we wanted from the Dark Knight Returns put into silver screen. It was awesome. 

Yeah, we've already spoken at length about Toby McGuire's suit, but let's talk about Ben Affleck's bat suit. I would also say that this is my favorite bat suit on screen. I'm not counting like the armored version from the Dark Knight Returns when he fought against Superman. 

Even though that was fantastic. I'm talking more about his standard Batman suit from Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice. Extended Edition. Yeah, that one is the most comic book accurate. That one was straight from the page. I loved how buff he was. It was very Frank Miller. 

It was awesome. I didn't really like Ben Affleck's bat suit in Justice League. Oh, no. Yeah, his best one was definitely in BVS. 

I would agree. And then his bat suit that was in the Flash movie fucking sucked. We don't talk about that. Shut up. All right. Great answer, Scotty. But the winner of this week's No Prize is Lorenzo Valdez. Who said? 

This is Lorenzo Valdez. You guys actually referenced my favorite Spider-Man suit, which is the Amazing Spider-Man 2 suit. It doesn't hurt that that was the suit that Spidey was wearing when Gwen died. So it has that extra emotional impact for me seeing that suit. As for my favorite Batman suit, that would be the Dark Knight slash the Dark Knight Rises suit because it improves on the texture of the begin suit and it also has a better bat symbol. Clonifer, always bye-bye. 

Yeah, this is the first guy to not mention the Toby McGuire suit as his favorite. And I may agree. I definitely think that the Spider-Man suit that was in the Amazing Spider-Man 2 worn by Andrew Garfield was the most comic book accurate. I mean, because I've never seen a version of Spidey in the comics where like this raised webbing look, it doesn't look quite as homemade as it were, even though it looked spectacular or amazing as it were. 

But Andrew Garfield's looked like something that somebody could conceivably create that wasn't, you know, a fashion designer, but it also looks very true to the comic books. It had the larger eyes. It had great color, had a great like spider emblem design. It was just perfection, in my opinion. Yeah, the only thing it really didn't have was Tom Holland's lenses, like the thick Steve Ditko lenses. 

But yeah, still really cool. Now, we will admit that the Christian Bale Batman outfits are actually my least favorite onscreen Batman suits. But of all of them, my favorite is actually from Batman Begins. I loved his cowl the way it made him look almost panther-like. When he upgraded to his new suit where he was able to turn his neck. Yeah, I get why that would be good for a crime fighter. But I also thought it kind of gave him a bobble head. I think that Robert Pansen's outfit is actually a pretty solid upgrade to the Dark Knight suits. You like the Joel Schumacher Batsuits more than Christian Bales? 

No, I guess I misspoke. Yeah, those ones are way worse. So I should say that, well, I slightly disagree with you, Lorenzo. They're not terrible suits. 

They're just not my personal favorites. I like the functionality of the Christian Bale Batsuits, especially as it was explained in universe in those films with like the special hardening cloth when you would run an electric current through it. Things like that make it better than Robert Pansen's suit, who just uses a weird ass basic squirrel suit, you know. Bale had better shit in general. Yeah, well, Bale had Lucius Fox as his cue, so he had better tech overall. What about the bat emblem, as Lorenzo Bale does mentioned? You know, I never really cared for like the straight, flat top emblem. 

I like a little bit of curves in my Batman logo, you know. Well, great answer, Lorenzo. You win this week's No Prize. 

If you're the listener, want to shot at winning your own No Prize, stay tuned to later on in the episode when we'll be asking another question of the week. And now that that's done, on to the news. OK, with the premiere of Peacemaker Season 2 coming up soon, HBO Max has released an official red band trailer for the series, which I thought would delve more into the story, but it was really just a showcase for how raunchy and violent the series is going to be. Like, I forgot how raunchy James Gunn can get until this whole trailer starts off with a friggin orgy in Peacemaker's house. 

And vigilante complaining about how he wasn't invited. I'm fine with the no story stuff, though. I don't want to know too much about the story as we go into it, but this trailer did remind me basically just how much of a good time I'm in for watching it. Because the first season was hilarious and I was laughing my ass off during this red band trailer. Yeah, after we learned that Rick Flagg Sr. is looking for Peacemaker because he has a dimensional portal similar to Lex Luthor, we just get a series of jokes, including this creepy looking alien that steps through one of Peacemaker's portals and just refuses to say hi. And Peacemaker's like, fuck you then, you cryptkeeper looking bitch. 

So good. It is interesting that they are addressing the fact that Lex Luthor had his own dimensional portal and that Peacemaker's dad, the White Dragon, also has one. It's strange because it seems like White Dragon's portal is better and more stable than Lex Luthor's. Seemingly, yeah. So does that make White Dragon smarter than Lex Luthor? I don't think so. I know we'll be getting new versions of White Dragon and maybe in some other universe there was a version that was smarter than Lex Luthor. And he just happened to create portals for all of the other White Dragons and all of the other multiverses. That's just my guess though. 

But I would agree that it definitely looks more stable. It looks like there's going to be a lot of action in this season, lots of explosions, bloody explosions it looks like, including an explosion where tomatoes get flicked in the face with a nail or something like that. And eagerly rips a dude's eyeball out. 

Yeah, that was wild. Or a finger or both. Yeah, it looks like he just shreds the guy. Of course, at the end of the trailer, we get a callback to the dick alien. Not too much more to the trailer other than that. If you guys haven't watched Peacemaker Season 1, watch it now so you can get caught up in time for the show's release. It debuts this Thursday, August 21st on HBO Max. I can't wait for the show. I love the writing. I love the cast. But speaking of the cast, that brings us to our question of the week. What is your favorite supporting cast in a Marvel or DC ensemble series and why? Yeah, every television series based on a superhero usually has a cast of characters that support the main hero titular character. 

We just want to know which cast of characters is your favorite. Record your answer at dynamicduld.com by clicking on the red microphone button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, which will prompt you to leave us a voicemail. Your message could be up to 30 seconds long. And don't forget to leave your name in case we include you on the podcast. 

We'll pick our favorite answer and award that person a dynamic duel no prize that we'll post to Instagram. Be sure to answer before August 23rd. And in Marvel News, we learned this past week that Disney Plus has moved up the Marvel Zombies release date so that instead of debuting on October 3rd, it's going to now debut a week earlier on September 24th. The season is going to be four episodes that are going to be released weekly. So all the episodes will be out before Halloween, but still close enough, which is appropriate for a horror animated series. I forgot that this show was even coming out this year. How could you forget? This is going to be amazing. The What If episode that included the Marvel Zombies, which was called What If Zombies, that was back in 2021, I believe. 

That was one of the best episodes of that season. And Marvel Zombies is a really enjoyable story. It really grew some written by Robert Kirkman back in the day, but this is going to be a new version of it. I made for screen adaptation that started with that What If episode. Really excited to see where it goes. If you guys want to learn more about the Marvel Zombies universe, definitely check out our Deceased vs. Marvel Zombies Team Duel episode. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. I heard that in this upcoming Marvel Zombies season, we're going to get other characters that weren't in the previous episode, including Moon Knight and Blade and Shang-Chi's also going to be there. So yeah, it's going to be a big blast. Wait, is Blade going to be voiced by Mahershala Ali? 

That I do not know. That would be interesting. That would be fantastic. Really looking forward to it in just over a month. And I hope you guys are too. We're not going to be reviewing it for this show. I guess depending on how people react to it, we'll determine whether or not I take the time to watch. You're going to be watching. 

It's only four episodes. It's going to be a quick, easy watch, perfect for the season. I'm definitely going to be watching. You're definitely going to be watching, motherfucker. And if you don't, I'm going to make you. 

I don't know how yet, but I will find a way. Yeah, bro. You don't scare me. Why not? Your face? I don't know. 

It's too much like mine. Both all the news out of the way. Now let's get on to the main event where we find out who would win in a matchup between Aquaman's former sidekick Tempest and the inhuman princess Crystal. Okay, Tempest versus Crystal. Now both of these characters are elemental manipulators, I guess you could say. 

Yeah. Crystal controls all four of the elements, whereas Tempest controls more temperature of water, but he could generate water through Atlantean sorcery. And like Crystal, he's also royalty. 

He's a prince of Atlantis. Crystal can generate water too, through chemistry. Okay, but can't she control the temperature of that water? Yes, she can by controlling its molecular movement. 

Too shane. But we know that Tempest has some magical abilities in addition to his hydrokinesis, and Crystal also has some inhuman physiology traits going for her. So we figure the characters kind of balance each other out. It'll be interesting really to see how this matchup goes, considering they have very similar powers, especially when it comes to water. Basically, who will control the water the best is what we're asking Kare. Oh, easy. 

Tempest. Oh, you think so, huh? Okay. Yeah, I do. 

In fact, you mentioned earlier. That Crystal was in the Inhumans TV series that was gosh awful. Actually, Tempest has been in a TV series as well. If you remember, he was in the Titan show. Was he? I don't remember that. Yeah, he was blond in that though. Trying to remember him. He died in the second season in like a flashback. I see. 

Okay. Well, in the Inhuman show, Crystal was played by Isabel Cornish, and I remember she never really got to show off her powers too much, largely due to the insufficient budget for the show itself, I think. One of these days, we'll get a good Inhuman show or movie. We're moving on to the duel to explain the methodology behind our duels. Let's go to our sentient duel simulator, Alfred Jarvis 9000. AJ9K, tell our listeners how you go about determining a winner in our duel matchups. 

Yes, of course, sir. The way I determine a winner between the contestants is by running 1000 Monte Carlo simulations using the characters statistics. A Monte Carlo simulation is a probabilistic model used to determine outcomes through random sampling. In this case, I randomize the statistics along a normal distribution as a way to simulate the many variables that can occur during battle. 

The stat parameters are based on the official Marvel power grid from which the DC characters statistics are extrapolated. Additional stat categories are included such as range, damage potential, versatility and perception in order to create a more detailed and accurate simulation. The results of the 1000 simulations provide a percentage of wins for each character. The contestant with the higher percentage is declared the victor as they have a higher probability to win any given battle. In an equitable pairing, neither character should win 100% of the matches. The comic book stories have shown that there's even a way for Batman to defeat Superman, so the confidence rate of my method falls in line with the precedents that have been established in the source material. My mathematical simulations are without subjectivity or bias. Feats are not the sole consideration, nor are fan votes tabulated for determination of the winner. 

Thanks, AJ9K. Before we run the simulations though, we like to break down each character's histories and abilities before improvising a scenario on how we imagine one of the 1000 simulations would play out beat for beat. And I believe it's my turn to go first with the Marvel characters backstory, so let me tell you all about Crystal. Crystallia Immaculinn was born in the hidden city of Adolan to Cwelyn in Amber, members of the Inhumans race, a people whose ancestors were genetically altered by the alien Kree. As the younger sister of Medusa-Lith Immaculinn, later Queen Medusa, Crystal belonged to the Inhuman Royal Family. Like many Inhuman children, she was exposed as an infant to the Tarogen Mist, a substance for people used to unlock powers. And she gained control over the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. 

You can learn more about the Inhumans and Tarogenesis in our Shazam vs Black Bolt dual episode. When Crystal was young, her cousin Maximus seized power and forced the Royal Family out of the Great Refuge. During exile, they searched across Asia, Europe, and America for her missing sister Medusa, living in hiding along the way. They found her in New York City, where she had joined the villainous Frightful Four while suffering from memory loss. 

You can learn more about Medusa in her duel against elongated man. In New York, Crystal met Johnny Storm, the human torch of the Fantastic Four, and the two began a romance. Maximus later trapped Adolan inside an impenetrable barrier, separating Crystal from Johnny. 

When the barrier finally fell, the Royal Family explored the outside world. Crystal helped the Fantastic Four rescue Mr. Fantastic from the negative zone dimension and fought beside them against the invader Blastar. She left Adolan for an extended stay in New York and became part of the Fantastic Four's daily life, running communications and supporting the pregnant Sue Richards. When Sue went on maternity leave, Crystal earned a place on missions as her stand-in proved herself by defeating their villain, the Wizard, on her own, then battling foes such as Dr. Doom, the Mole Man, and the Alien Scrolls. 

You can learn more about the Fantastic Four in their duel against the Justice Society. Over time, Earth's pollution, which is toxic to many inhumans, began to harm Crystal's health, and she set out to return to Adolan. On her journey back, the alchemist Diablo captured her and tricked her into believing she was the Mayan goddess Ishal. After the Fantastic Four freed her, Crystal encountered the mutant Quicksilver, wounded from battle, and she nursed him back to health. Choosing him over Johnny, she married Quicksilver in the first recorded union between an inhuman and a human mutate. 

You can learn more about Quicksilver in his duel against the Flash. When Adolan was later moved to the Moon, the couple lived there and welcomed a daughter, Luna, who showed no special abilities. Quicksilver wanted to expose Luna to the Tarjan Mist to grant her powers, but Crystal refused. 

Life in Adolan strained their marriage. Quicksilver's temper and his effort to prove himself as a commander in the Inhuman Militia kept him away from home. Lonely, Crystal began an affair with a human real estate agent, subtly mentally influenced by Maximus, who sought to increase the marriage's tensions. 

When Quicksilver discovered the affair, he fled Adolan and the marriage fractured. Crystal rejoined the Fantastic Four, though her lingering feelings for Johnny made life in New York tense, especially since Johnny was then married to a woman later revealed to be the Skrull Imposter, Lygia. Duty soon called Crystal back to Adolan to help with a crisis involving Medusa and Black Bolt's child, and there she and Quicksilver tried again to make peace. 

Their troubles soon expanded beyond Adolan when Luna was kidnapped by Magneto's acolytes. Crystal called on the Avengers to rescue her and soon joined the team herself. She moved with Luna into the Avengers mansion. 

With the team, she fought the alien brethren, villainous alternate universe Avengers, and the Kree Star Force during a war between the Kree and the Shiar empires. During this period, Crystal developed feelings for her teammate, Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, especially after he saved Luna from the Star Jammer's and later saved Quicksilver's life. Crystal and Dane shared a single late night kiss, but she would not pursue it while still married. Fellow Avengers Cersei of the Eternals also saw a relationship with Dane, and Cersei and Dane later vanished to another dimension altogether, ending the possibility of a love triangle. 

You can learn more about Cersei in her duel against Firestorm. While battling the Bloodcursed Warrior called the Bloodraith, Crystal was transported into caverns beneath Adolan where many Alpha Primitives, who were mindless slaves, dwelt. Recovering the Black Knight's Ebony Blade, she was briefly hailed by the Alpha Primitives as ruler before returning to the Avengers. Soon after, many heroes, including Crystal, sacrificed themselves to stop Onslaught, a world-threatening psychic entity you can learn more about in his duel against Parallax. Crystal and the others were not truly killed, but reborn in a pocket universe with no memories. There, Crystal again drew close to Johnny Storm until they all returned to their original reality. Back on Earth, she reunited with Quicksilver, and a brief attempt by Maximus to control Pietro's mind was exposed and stopped, though he and the Black Knight still quarreled over Crystal's affections. 

A later reality shift by the Scarlet Witch depowered most of Earth's mutants, including Quicksilver. Desperate he stole the Tarogen crystals from Adolan, kidnapped his daughter Luna, and exposed her to the Mists, which granted her empathic abilities. The Inhuman Genetics Council annulled Crystal's marriage at that point, changed Luna's last name from Maximoff to Immaculin, and returned the child back to Crystal. When human authority seized the crystals and refused to return them, the Inhumans declared war on the United States. 

During this conflict, Quicksilver submitted himself to Black Bolt's judgment for his betrayal, and Crystal took part in clashes with Shield and the mighty Avengers. The royal family soon took Adaline into space and turned against the alien Skrulls, who had abducted Black Bolt. Seeking support, the Inhuman Royal Family approached the Kree Empire. Ronin the Accuser, the Kree ruler at the time, welcomed an alliance with the Inhumans if Crystal would marry him. 

Although the match began as a political bargain, Crystal came to respect Ronin and the stability their union could bring. The wedding was interrupted when the Shiar Imperial Guard attacked, with the Inhumans being killed. During Vulcan's invasion of Kree space, Ronan was beaten nearly to death in the assaults, and while Crystal visited him in recovery, she helped rally the Kree by showing public compassion to injured commoners. 

The scenes broadcast across the empire earned her the nickname, The People's Princess. Black Bolt later sought to spread pterogen across the galaxy using a bomb, believing it would make all beings equal. Crystal judged the plan dangerous, and with the inhuman teleporting dog, Lockjaw, she reached the bomb and neutralized the pterogen qualities inside the device. A final battle between Black Bolt and Vulcan caused the bomb, now just a normal explosive to detonate, and both rulers were believed dead, making Crystal's sister Medusa queen. 

In time, Black Bolt returned, and the inhumans and the Kree supreme intelligence agreed to a truce that separated Crystal and Ronan's marriage for the arranged marriage had grown into a genuine bond. Back on Earth, Medusa appointed Crystal as an ambassador. She commanded the royal inhuman vessel with a team that included her cousin Gorgon, the stealthy Naja, the geokinetic Flint, and the technopathic Grid. Crystal worked to protect nations touched by the drifting pterogen cloud that was released by Black Bolt, which could awaken powers in latent inhumans. 

The cloud however was harmful to mutants, and she secretly coordinated with them to help those who were threatened by the cloud. Crystal's crew then carried out relief missions around the world. In Sydney, Australia, she confronted protesters who had captured a newly formed inhuman. 

She used measured force to disperse the mob, freed the captive, and added new recruits to her ship. Crystal remained involved in wider disputes among Earth's heroes, like when the inhuman named Ulysses gained the ability to foresee potential futures. Crystal and Medusa introduced him to leading heroes to debate whether his visions should guide crime-biting actions, and a clash followed with Iron Man over Ulysses' custody as tensions later rose between heroes debating the ethics of preemptive justice. And that's Crystal's backstory. Powers-wise, Crystal has the enhanced physiology of an inhuman granted to her through pterogenesis. 

This includes greater strength, speed, and durability than any normal human. She also has the psionic ability to manipulate the four elements of air, water, fire, and earth. Crystal's like the Avatar, the last airbender, and that she can control the size, shape, intensity, and molecular motion of these elements. She can use her power over air to fly, create tornado-level gusts, and create force barriers. She can also control and generate lightning by manipulating the electrical charge of the air. Crystal can combine oxygen and hydrogen gases in the air to create water, which she can also control, even dropping its temperature to form ice and freeze things. She can also compress the oxygen in the air to ignite existing hydrogen, or dust, and create a spontaneous combustion of fire, which she can also control. Lastly, she can control the ground and rock beneath her for various effects, including creating seismic tremors. 

Crystal can combine elemental effects to also control things like dust storms, typhoons, steam clouds, firestorms, and lava. She also has limited hand combat training. And that's Crystal. So were her powers initially just like the four Hellenistic elements that later evolved to basically the whole periodic table? No, she can't control the periodic table. She can control the gases in the air, some of which are oxygen and hydrogen, which she can then manipulate further to create elements that she can also control. But she can't control something like xenon or something like that, you know, that's not naturally found in the air. The electricity thing is a little weird, because even since her inception, she was able to like throw lightning bolts, which didn't make sense considering electricity is a part of the four classic elements. And they kind of kept it in more modern iterations, rationalizing it as her ability to control the electrical charge of the molecules she's manipulating. I get it. I mean, if you think about it in avatar terms, lightning is just kind of like another version of fire. Not really, but sure. I mean, once you said she's like the avatar, I was like, okay, I got it. 

A good matchup would actually be between Ang, Inc., however you pronounce it, and Crystal, Inc., yeah, whatever. I never watched the show. Okay, we're going to stop recording right now, so you can watch the whole show because you need to do that. I'll watch it eventually, maybe after the podcast ends in January. 

Yeah, that should be the first thing you do with your newfound free time. But it's been a while, I feel like since we've found some interesting connections between the characters that we paint in duels against each other, there are definitely some similarities between Tempest and Crystal beyond just their power set and the fact that they're royalty. But let me go into that in Tempest's origin. Garth was born to Queen Bera and King Thar of the Idolists, a mystical offshoot of Atlanteans who dwelled in the Hidden Valley for over 4,000 years. His birth marked by the rare sign of violet eyes considered a symbol of great magical potential came during a time of political turmoil. Fearing that Garth's birthright ritual could inadvertently free King Thar's banished brother, the Necromancer Slyzath, Idolist radicals executed King Thar, exiled Queen Bera, and condemned Garth to death. Labeled genetically inferior by Atlanteans unaware of his true heritage, Garth was abandoned on a remote seabed to die. 

Surviving against all odds, Garth was secretly nurtured by the Atlantean sorcerer Atlan who taught him basic survival and language skills. Eventually he was discovered by Aquaman who took him in as a ward. Adopting the name Aqualad, Garth became Aquaman's sidekick and served Atlantis faithfully. When Aquaman ascended to the throne, Garth was acknowledged as a prince by adoption, though his presence remained controversial due to lingering superstitions. Seeking companionship and purpose beyond Aquaman's shadow, Garth became a founding member of the Teen Titans, working alongside other young heroes such as Robin, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl. 

You can learn more about the Teen Titans in our Titans vs X-Men Teen Duel episode. Over time, he began to grow apart from his mentor, especially following the birth of Aquaman's son. The death of Garth's longtime partner Tula, known as Aqua during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, devastated him, pushing him to sever ties with Atlantis and rejoin the Titans, where he continued to forge his own path as a hero. After years of service as Aqualad, Garth's life changed forever when he encountered a tribe of shark-like merpeople and was drawn into another dimension by Atlan. There, Atlan revealed Garth's royal lineage and trained him in the arcane disciplines of his idolist ancestors. Garth learned to control the temperatures of water, unleash mystical energy blasts from his eyes, and tap into elemental forces beyond traditional Atlantean science. To unlock his full magical potential, Garth was required to complete a ritual in the Hidden Valley, a rite leaked to the prison of Slyzath. 

Returning to the capital, the idolists, he found it overrun by undead creatures and was confronted by a resurrected Tula, whose form had been twisted into a trap by Slyzath. Betrayed mid-ritual, Garth overcame the deception, destroyed the false aquagirl, and re-emprisoned his uncle. Emerging victorious, Garth shed the Aqualad identity and claimed a new title, Tempest. 

As Tempest, Garth assumed greater leadership in Atlantean affairs. He served as Atlantis' ambassador to the United Nations and stood at Aquaman's side during global and interdimensional conflicts. Their bond was once again tested when Dolphin, Aquaman's former partner, fell in love with Garth. She and Garth eventually married and had a son, Sirdian. Seeking stability, Garth stepped back from frontline heroics to focus on diplomacy and family, although he briefly rejoined the Titans to assist in critical missions. During a cosmic upheaval, Garth attempted to use Atlantean magic to undo a spell that had altered the Atlantean Queen Mera's biology. The spell attracted the wrath of the Spectre, who attacked Atlantis. The city was nearly annihilated and Garth was presumed dead. 

You can learn more about Mera in her duel against Invisible Woman. Garth was later found alive but a Misiak in Sub Diego, the sunken San Diego, having lost his powers and abilities to breathe underwater. Those magical and physical abilities eventually returned, his wife and son were lost in the destruction of Atlantis, both presumed dead. Haunted by grief and guilt, Garth crowned himself King of Atlantis in the absence of Aquaman, believing it was time for new leadership. Though his reign was short-lived, while attempting to relocate Arthur Curry's remains with Mera, he was ambushed by reanimated Black Lanterns, Dolphin, Tula, and Aquaman himself. Garth was killed and reanimated as a Black Lantern, though ultimately destroyed when the emotional spectrum was restored. 

Following the Flashpoint reset of DC's continuity, Garth's timeline was restructured. Once again, he was depicted as an exiled Atlantean child, cast out for his violet eyes. Rescued and raised by Aquaman, he became Aqualad and helped form the Teen Titans alongside Robin, Dona Troy, and others. Though he once forgot these events due to mystical interference, the return of Wally West helped restore his memories and reawaken his bonds with his teammates. 

You can learn more about Wally West in our Flash vs. Speedball duel episode. During this time, Garth enrolled in the Silent School, Atlantis' elite College of Sorcery. There, he studied advanced magical disciplines and fell in love with a fellow student named Sira. 

When a magical experiment caused her death, Garth blamed the school's leadership, particularly the headmaster, Locke, for encouraging unsafe magical practices. Disillusioned, he swore off magic and joined the Drift, a Black Ops Atlantean unit specializing in covert aquatic missions. When Aquaman was declared a traitor and hunted by Atlantean forces, Garth was enlisted to capture his former mentor. Though loyal to Atlantis, Garth retained his sense of honor and justice, ultimately siding with Aquaman when he became clear that the true threat came from another dimension. He fought alongside Mara, a new Tula, and Aquaman to repel the invading realm of Thule and helped stabilize Atlantis in the aftermath. His connection to the Titans was rekindled during an alien invasion. Joining the new roster alongside Donutroy, Beast Boy, Raven, and Miss Martian, each of whom you can learn more about in their respective Duel episodes, Garth helped lead a strike against alien warships, poisoning Earth's oceans and mutating its people. In the climactic battle, he sacrificed himself to hold off the alien god, Drogue, allowing the others to escape. 

Though presumed lost, Garth later returned, having survived the encounter. He eventually supported the formation of Titans Academy, mentoring young heroes and protecting them during times of crisis. When Red Axe attacked the Titans Tower in San Francisco and magical forces threatened Earth, Tempest defended the students and battled alongside his former teammates. 

Recently, he stood with Earth's remaining defenders against Deathstroke's corrupted army, reaffirming his role as a steadfast protector of both Atlantis and the surface world. The powers-wise, as an Atlantean, Tempest possesses a range of superhuman traits, including enhanced strength, durability, and speed, optimized for survival at extreme ocean depths. He can breathe underwater indefinitely through microscopic pores in the skin and sees clearly in darkness and murky environments. His hearing and sense of smell are also heightened to adapt to aquatic conditions. 

While capable of functioning on land, he does require periodic exposure to water to maintain peak condition. Garth's magical abilities surpass those of most Atlanteans, stemming from his royal idolist lineage. Trained by the sorcerer Atlan and educated at the Silent School, he can project destructive eldritch energy from his hands or eyes, summon and manipulate water and rapidly heat or freeze large volumes of liquid. He can construct mystical barriers, perform astral projection, and open dimensional portals. His hydrokinesis allows him to shape whirlpools, geysers, and title surges at will. He shares a telepathic link with marine life, enabling him to communicate and command sea creatures, like his mentor Aquaman. Lastly, he is also a seasoned combatant trained in Atlantean martial arts and armed combat. And that's Tempest. If he could speak to marine life like Aquaman can, then he just seems way better than Aquaman considering he can do everything his mentor can do and more. I think there would be more inclined to honor the king of Atlantis over Garth, but yeah, that's probably the only person they would listen to over him. 

Seems like the trainee has become the master. I like that. Oh, that's more than Aquaman now. Considering I always thought like Aquaman's ability to speak to fish was his like unique defining characteristic. Well, it is in a way. 

It's sort of like his metahuman ability, whereas Tempest has to do it through magic. And six one way, half a dozen the other. I don't know what that means, but yes. 

In a world where fantasies collide and heroes clash, one podcast network rises above the rest. Prepare yourself for the ultimate showdowns in comic books, video games, movies, and anime. The Dynamite Podcast Network presents Console Combat, where video game legends brawl every Monday. Dynamic Duel, where comic book titans smash every Tuesday. Max Destruction, where TV and action heroes battle every Wednesday. 

And Sendro World, where anime champions clash every Thursday. Join us as we speculate on the matches and armed with the power of mathematical simulations, discover who will emerge victorious. Visit dynamicpodcast.com where we settle the debate and settle the score. 

Well, now that we've got their histories and abilities out of the way, let's speculate on how one of the 1000 simulated matches will go. The winner is determined by simulations, not the speculation, but it's fun to imagine how the fight could play out. AJ9K, what are the rules over speculation? 

Well, I should say there are no rules, other than the characters have no prior knowledge of the other going into the fight. All they are aware of starting out is that the other character is a threat that needs to be eliminated. For the speculation, the contestants will begin approximately 50 meters apart in a nondescript environment that will have no bearing on the match itself, as no environmental statistics are considered in my simulations. The contestants must earn victory on their own merit. 

Alright then, let's get into it. Tempest and Crystal meet on the battlefield? Who goes first? I'm gonna say that Crystal starts off by igniting some fireballs in her hands and she just hurls them at Tempest, she throws like six of them and they just melt his face right off. Yeah, except that those fireballs are blocked by magic, you know, this glowing energy shield that he puts up, which is then going to shoot out like a handful of purple magic energy shards right at Crystal piercing her under vital organs. These shards are magic and they come from his magic shield? 

Sure, yeah. Okay, Crystal dodges the shards, she's gonna lift into the air with a gust of wind and while she's hovering in the air, she is gonna form the wind into this like mini cyclone and she feeds it with boulders from the ground that's below them and she sends the tornado over at Tempest and it just envelops him and he gets smashed among all the flying boulders within the mini cyclone, just knocked around like he's in a clothes dryer. Okay, well as the tornado is coming at Tempest though, he's gonna open a magic portal at its base and that's gonna cause it just to fill with water. So this water's gonna quickly spread throughout the tornado and Tempest is gonna freeze it. Okay, so you have this like frozen tornado and he's gonna shatter it into a million pieces and send those hurtling right at Crystal just like this hail storm directed right at her like a wall of bullets. Crystal doesn't give a shit about that, she's the avatar, okay, she just lands back on the ground and she neos that shit like Neo from the Matrix holds up her hand and all the hail just stops right in front of her freezing midair and then she's just gonna vaporize all of that water into a thick fog that covers the battlefield so that Tempest can't see shit and he's looking around for Crystal when all of a sudden he gets sucked into the ground like he just stepped into quicksand and sure he can breathe underwater but like we can't breathe that well in a dust storm so he suffocates in the earth and dies. But you've forgotten that Tempest has enhanced senses. He can see at the bottom of the ocean so he could definitely see Crystal through this fog this whole damn time and I mean I guess that wouldn't necessarily help him from the quicksand but that's fine because Tempest is just gonna use his magic to flood the quicksand with water turning it into like a whirlpool portal which he's just gonna fall into and he's gonna drop through that portal down through another one that he formed right behind Crystal right like a badass assassin and he's going to grab her from behind conjure this magical energy dagger and just assassinate her right there. Okay so he teleports out of the quicksand? 

Yes. Okay now if he even lays his hands on the Crystal he's gonna just combust into flame okay so he tries to assassinate her but he's too busy burning alive screaming like a maniac and that fire is gonna like desiccate all the moisture in his body so he's just gonna be a dried out husk. Oh shit okay um as Tempest is probably on the ground gasping for water he's going to inscribe atlantian magic runes into the ground and suddenly a tidal wave just comes out of nowhere and crashes onto the battlefield Crystal's gonna be smashed into the ground and the whole environment is going to be flooded with water and as she's bruised and broken underwater that's when she's gonna see Tempest's glowing purple eyes and his right hand glowing with red energy as he boils the water around her. Alright yeah she's battered from the wave but to keep from burning she creates an air pocket for herself in the water so she doesn't get touched by the boiling heat and from her bubble air bubble she ionizes a portion of that air and shoots a lightning bolt into the water that just electrocutes Tempest. Oh shit okay Tempest he's probably gonna be stunned by that or or actually Tempest's body magically converts the electricity into his own magic what he's going to use to fuel an attack he's gonna swirl the water around them into a massive just devastating hurricane like the biggest one on record a Tempest and that's going to overwhelm Crystal and as she's trying to like make heads or tails of the environment that's when she's gonna get blasted with this massive beam of magical eldritch energy just completely disintegrating her so the match is over. Can he do that can he convert electricity that's running through his body into magic dude he's learned all kinds of magic tricks studying with atlan and the silent school if an electric eel can do it i bet he could an electric eel can convert electricity into magic i'm calling bullshit on that and you're made up magic it's magic bitch i do what i want. Magic is stupid okay say Tempest creates a hurricane that doesn't matter to Crystal okay she's the master of these elements he can try to disintegrate her with a magic beam or whatever but before he can even do that Crystal is gonna raise a small volcano out of the ground beneath Tempest okay and it's gonna shoot out this geyser of liquid hot magma all over him and he can't get out because she forms the lava into a sphere around him and she hardens the outside of the sphere into obsidian so he's trapped in this stone prison that's burning him alive and he like no marine animal like an electric eel or whatever can survive that so he's dead yeah Crystal wins well i say none of that happened because Crystal's dead for magic all right we'll go ahead and leave the scenario there one of those two things happens either Tempest gets burned alive in a lava prison or Crystal gets disintegrated by magic energy blast let's go ahead and input the character stats run the simulations and come back with a winner a g9k hit it 

inputting data running calculations processing results simulations complete 

all right that was a really fun match i really like these two characters they're pretty cool yeah for some reason i thought that crystal would have the physiological edge here considering that she's inhuman and so she has enhanced physicals but then you reminded me that Tempest is atlantic and so his physicals are even more enhanced like crystal is durable Tempest is more durable than that crystal is fast like Olympian fast or maybe even faster than that considering she can carry herself on gusts of wind but Tempest is known for teleporting and for being super speedy in the water also Crystal's just not physically as strong as Tempest and she's not as good of a fighter as he is because he's been trained in the atlantic and military well crystal has been trained but you hardly ever see her fight in hand to hand combat i will say that her damage potential is off the charts sources say that she can control air around her in a 30 mile radius that's massive that's on the level of a city and if she can do the same with other elements like create a massive earthquake on that level then she can easily topple a city if she wanted to i have seen her raise atlant from the ground just using her powers so Tempest i don't think he can really match that also we have to consider that crystal can control the element that is Tempest's weakness as it were you know heat that can dry him out and burn him alive so she definitely got the edge there yeah we also downgraded Tempest's damage level somewhat considering there was nothing besides magic really that he was able to do to hurt her like conjuring any kind of water whether it was boiling or freezing she was just going to be able to counteract that yeah it might hurt her for a time but she would be able to defend herself like if he put her in a boiling pool or something like that she'd get boiled for a second before she cooled it right magic was his only leg up they were matched when it came to evasiveness range and perception the letter of which actually surprised me because you know Tempest has enhanced senses just by nature of being an atlantian but i guess she has full like spatial sense of all of the elements yeah she has elemental awareness basically another thing that surprised me was that she ended up being more versatile than Tempest which i guess really shouldn't have surprised me because well he controls water she controls all of the elements yeah although we did say that Tempest was more intelligent considering he's one of the most learned sorcerers and all of atlantian history and crystal is smart you know she's she's fine she's okay she's not as studied as Tempest with all that said Jonathan who's taken the win here pretty sure it's Tempest i'm not 100% on that but instagram agrees with me as of this recording 60% of people voted for Tempest to win they don't know you don't know the only person that knows right now is AJ9K who has the results so AJ9K the results please here you are sir all right the winner in the duel between Tempest and Crystal is Tempest yes that does it for this episode i want to thank our executive producers Nana what's the one percentage out of 1000 simulated matches Tempest won a lot of them he actually won 752 matches whereas crystal only won 248 so it was 75.2% over 24.8% that is wild i did not think he was gonna get a win rate that high it was the physicals and it was the intelligence Tempest is actually pretty impressive statistically uh whereas crystal you know she has a lot of potential she's very powerful but she just can't match the overallness of Tempest that is awesome i love that freaking go Tempest and suck it in humans no the inhumans are gonna be pissed about this result and they're gonna come out with a fury like the wild cats have never seen in our next episode because of this loss they're not fucking around clearly you don't know the wild cats i don't know anything about the wild cats no actually neither do i um i'm gonna learn all about them this upcoming week in preparation for this team duel yeah definitely can't wait for that but that does it for this episode h a9k close us out 

thanks for listening to dynamic duel visit the show's website at dynamic duel dot com and follow us on instagram at dynamic duel podcast you can support the show on patreon at patreon dot com slash dynamic duel and joining a tier that works for you or by rating and reviewing dynamic duel on apple podcasts spotify podchaser or on our website don't forget to listen to the other shows in the dynamite podcast network including max destruction senjo world and console combat all 

right as we just said our next episode is going to be the wild cats versus the inhumans this is a team duel determined by our executive producers and hopefully it's good and by good i mean hopefully the inhumans win because i'm kind of pissed right now but that does it for this episode we want to give a big thanks to our executive producers john steroski zackary heppern destin belcom miggy mattengian nithaniel wagner levi yatan austin wisalaski aji dunkely nikobanto scott kamacho gil kamacho adam spes dean meliski devin davis joseph curseding josh liner mike williams oscar galvez and paul graves for helping make this podcast possible we'll talk to you guys next week up up and away true believers 

well i control the fifth element love