Seiko Kimura VS The Lizard [Danganronpa Survivor VS Spider-Man/Marvel Comics]
Hifumi: Dr. Seiko Kimura; the Ultimate Pharmacist!
Leona: Dr. Curtis Connors; The Lizard!
Hifumi: Part-human...Part-monster...ALL SAVAGE!
Leona: But when their backs are against the wall who's the most savage of them all!? He's Hifumi and I'm Leona!
Hifumi: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, talents and skills, to see who will win a DEATH BATTLE!
Leona: So for our combatant in Mikan Vs Fluttershy, we talked about a medical girl who's life just fucking sucked. THIS TIME however, we're going to talk about a medical girl who's life just fucking sucked! ...Wait a second.
Hifumi: We've talked many times already about the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. Also known simply as the Tragedy, it's origins lied in Hope's Peak Academy; a coed, private, city center high school with boarding facilities that was approved by the government and established several decades before the events that are known to us.
Leona: Before it was known as that though, it all started as The Tragedy of Hope's Peak Academy, the chronologically first mutual killing game to occur in our world, despite it's brevity.
Hifumi: Many have characterized the Tragedy as a remarkable instance of social unrest that swiftly descended into meaningless chaos, violence, and fatalities. What began as the "anti-talent" movement quickly spread throughout the world and became more violent by the day, with the Masterminds, Junko Enoshima and the Ultimate Despair, working to fan the flames of unrest. Soon, chaos and death became the norm in society, and the initial reasons for the protests were forgotten. Before long, the majority of people had descended into chaos and hopelessness, and a significant global phenomenon had emerged.
Leona: But when things were at their bleakest, that was when a certain organization slotted themselves in to quell the Despair and return the world to how it always has been - The FUTURE FOUNDATION! Wow...We're 10 episodes in and only now we're really going into the history of the Foundation? I mean, it's basically our job.
Hifumi: That's simply because it hasn't been COMPLETELY relevant to our other combatants backstories thus far. For this particular character, it's quite an integral part of her tale. Alumni of Hope's Peak Academy founded the Future Foundation at some point during or after The Tragedy drove the world to the verge of destruction in an effort to defeat Ultimate Despair and repair the harm their actions had caused to the world. While initially founded by Kyosuke Munakata and Kazuo Tengan, it's unclear when they started operating, but they were clearly well-established during the events of the first killing game because they were able to support the Hope's Peak Academy survivors after they defeated Junko Enoshima and Monokuma.
Leona: And one of the founding members of this organization was a very interesting individual who served as a lead medical expert and the Branch Chief of the Fourth Division...Dr. Seiko Kimura.
Hifumi: Technically speaking, Seiko Kimura didn't OFFICIALLY get her doctorate until AFTER the events of the Tragedy and the Final Killing Game, and there's a rather tragic reason as to why. Not an awful lot is known about her backstory or her family life as a child, but what we DO know is that even as a youth, she had a terribly sick complexion and a chronic illness, hence her pale skin and grey hair. In order to stay alive, she had to submit to taking the same sample of medicine every single day of her life, otherwise, she could potentially die.
Leona: Because of her weak constitution, she didn't have many friends, except for two rather notable childhood companions in two other eventual Foundation leaders: Ruruka Ando and Sonosuke Izayoi. Though she hated being closed off, Seiko naturally learned a lot about the medication she was taking and the happenings of the medical industry. And it was thanks to this that she decided to make use of her pitiful life and do some good with it.
Hifumi: Though a younger Dr. Kimura had a tendency to undergo emotional spikes and snap at people for minor inconviniences, she was naturally quite humble and compassionate, and realized that there were many people in the world who were suffering like her, perhaps even moreso, because of sicknesses and illness beyond their control.
Leona: So she studied hard to become a doctor, and went on to develop her own brand of special medicines with never before seen special effects, some of which she made when she was in Elementary School!
Hifumi: This was what initially drew Ando and Izayoi to her. When Dr. Kimura was unable to save a dog from a car accident, the three of them first got together. They were surprised by how effective her medication was, and Ando warmed up to her, giving her some of her best-made candies.
Leona: Sadly, Seiko was unable to eat them because of the harmful side effects that sugar has when combined with her medication; otherwise, she might not survive.
Hifumi: Ando called Kimura a friend as a result, and Kimura promised to assist Ando in any other way she could to make up for this slight. She had gone to the same school as Ando and Izayoi all through elementary, middle, and high school, and eventually, all three of them got accepted into Hope's Peak Academy. Izayoi as the Ultimate Blacksmith, Ando as the Ultimate Confectioner, and Kimura as the Ultimate Pharmacist. Unfortunately, there was one other thing about Ruruka Ando that we need to mention...
Leona: She's a bitch! ~♪
Hifumi: I would not have put it so aptly but...Yeah, I suppose we can say that...
Leona: Though she kind of is so naturally, Ruruka Ando is probably the most toxic as fuck best friend you could ever hate to have, and I'm friends with Maya Canzanilla, so you know I mean that! Most of her relationships, ESPECIALLY the one she had with Seiko, was manipulative at it's core, with a "Get them to love you, and they'll do anything for you." kind of mindset. Mainly when it came to their practical exams at Hope's Peak, she made Seiko create sweet tasting drugs to put in her food to kind of...cheat-code her way through the exams.
Hifumi: And this HEAVILY came back to bite her in their second year. All thanks to the actions of one particular individual - Nagito Komaeda: the Ultimate Lucky Student of Class 77
Leona: Ugh THIS GUY again...!
Hifumi: After witnessing his classmates' depressing behavior all day due to the loss of Hiyori Sato and Natsumi Kuzuryu, Komaeda felt compelled to take action. He devised a plan after failing to get the exams postponed and went to see Dr. Kimura in her research lab. His plan was to lace laxatives in the judge's food, and should that fail, set off a bomb underneath the exam hall to disrupt the proceedings.
Leona: The fuck is wrong with this guy!? Ahem...Anyway, it's a pretty long and stupid story, but basically this led to a whole bunch of mixups, like Nagito swapping around similarly named medicines and then accidentally swapping bags with Seiko, that led to the judges ended up eating Ruruka's pastries laced with laxative, and Seiko accidentally switching on the bomb along with Ruruka.
Hifumi: Due to the mixup, Ando believed Kimura had purposefully given her the incorrect medication, which was why she failed her exams. Ruruka's comments hurt Seiko as well, and the two of them lashed out, releasing years' worth of pent-up resentment. Furthermore, the bomb incident resulted in the expulsion of all three of them, including Izayoi, whilst Komaeda, thanks to his talent, got off with a suspension. Due to these incidents, Seiko and Ruruka developed a deep dislike and mistrust for one another and thought the other was a traitor.
Leona: But to be branded a failure by Hope's Peak is to be branded a failure by ALL of Japanese Society. Seiko had NOTHING LEFT, and was implied to have been homeless and without a place to go when Munakata, Chisa Yukizome, and Juzo Sakakura stepped in to offer her help. Thus she became one of the Future Foundation's first members, and currently it's longest running.
Hifumi: Dr. Kimura's pharmalogical skills earn her the natural envy of even the most potent medical practitioners in the Danganronpa universe, like Mikan Tsumiki and Kanata Inori. As the Ultimate Pharmacist, the medical industry took a keen interest in Dr. Kimura due to her ability to discover novel applications for pre-existing medications in addition to developing her own. Many pharmaceutical companies had approached her, vying for her talent, saying they wanted to offer her their full support, but she took only minimal assistance with her research.
Leona: Seiko can create just about any kind of medicine, even with little resources, ranging from something common like laxatives and cold medication to more ludicrous concoctions such as strength enhancers and super-healing medication. Like the Doping Corn Soup that Akane Owari uses in some her battles that we covered in her episode.
Hifumi: Or the healing fluids that Mikan Tsumiki employed in hers. The Future Foundation trusted her to provide medication to the Tragedy victims, and she delivered. And Dr. Kimura carries a supply of these medicines on her person so that she's always ready to heal herself or her companions. The healing medicine she carries is so potent, it can regenerate even broken bones in a matter of seconds.
Leona: Though she unfortunately still suffers from her own affliction, she's been able to cure, repress and counter some of the most powerful afflictions and illnesses. She repressed Nagito Komaeda's cancer and frontemporal dementia, cured Nekomaru Nidai's heart virus, and balanced out Kuripa Kurafto's CIPA's disease by creating a drug that through ingestion, speeds up his already naturally slow healing process...Though this does have some nasty side effects if a person who DOESN'T have CIPA's takes it...As seen with Kaede.
Leona: And these medicines have helped herself and her friends survive the most powerful afflictions and adversaries they've ever come across, especially when she, Ruruka and the other Foundation leaders would be swept up in the Final Killing Game, secretly hosted and created by Kazuo Tengan as a weird as fuck attempt to save the world. For real though, I don't GET ANYTHING with that plan!
Hifumi: Don't think about it then. It's not worth your stress. But this came in clutch in the Final Killing Game, even after meeting her very unfortunate demise. Instead of executions, the Final Killing Game employed NG Code Poisoning in their place. The Monokuma bangles strapped to the participants wrists recognizes when a player transgresses their NG Code or Forbidden Action and instantly injects a deadly poison into their bloodstream, which almost claimed the lives of Daisaku Bandai, Koichi Kizakura and Kyoko Kirigiri.
Leona: Emphasis on that ALMOST. You have a deadly poison! WE have a Seiko!
Hifumi: Though it was only thanks to her research and Mikan Tsumiki's equal medical knowledge, Seiko Kimura developed a COUNTER-MEDICINE to the NG poisoning. A person would go into a comatose state rather than pass away from the poison injection if they took the medication prior to the bracelet activating. Taking the drug before her NG Code activated allowed Kyoko Kirigiri to survive. Even though she looked dead to her friends, the physical effects were significantly less severe, and after Mikan Tsumiki revived her, she had no lasting side effects. And she achieved this UNDER FOUR HOURS after Daisaku Bandai was first induced with it.
Leona: That's not even mentioning that she eventually developed a CURE! Even though she confirmed Bandai's almost instant death with the NG Code Poison, she was able to resuscitate both him and Koichi Kizakura hours after everyone believed they had died. But I know what you're all wondering. "MeH, thiS is A DeAth BaTTlE, HOw's she gUnNA uSe tHIs To FIGHT, mEh!?" Which is fair, since what's the point of being so smart if she can't hit hard? Fortunately, she can, with her most powerful and notable drug...
Hifumi: Dr Kimura was developing a "Reanimator" just before she was expelled from Hope's Peak, which had the added benefit of enhancing the user's physical condition. No matter how worn out someone was, she claimed that one ingestion of the pill she was developing would revitalize them completely when it was believed to have been added to Ando's confections. A small dog that was consuming some of the reanimator during Komaeda's antics soon transformed into a GIANT, which enabled it to completely breach a wall.
Leona: In the Final Killing Game era, it takes the form of these little green pills that Seiko takes by popping a handful of them in her mouth. And taking these little babies transforms Seiko into her BEAST MODEtm!
Hifumi: Dr. Kimura specifically enters a berserk-like state, exhibiting glowing purple eyes, longer hair, claw-like fingernails, and a more muscular body. When she was attacked by Ando and Izayoi, she used this transformation, and as soon as she transformed, Izayoi threw a knife at her, which she caught in her mouth and broke with her teeth!
Leona: The transformation gave Seiko the strength and immunity to power through all of the traps that Ando and Izayoi set for her. Given that Izayoi has previously shown to be on a similar fighting level as Remnants Akane and Nekomaru, Seiko being able to wrangle with him shows just how powerful she really is.
Hifumi: And it's not just Izayoi that Kimura was able to "wrangle" with. She also took Juzo Sakakura, the Ultimate Boxer, head on, and even fought and almost beat Kanade Otonokoji, who was able to defeat Kuripa Kurafto by catching him off-guard.
Leona: Not to mention that at the time they fought, Kanade was coked up herself! On HOPE SERUM! The same drug that was developed to gift Ayumu Fujimori and Nagito Komaeda the Ultimate Hope powers that Hajime Hinata recieved through the Kamukura Project, becoming an unstoppable being who's existence is talent and power itself.
Hifumi: ...Sort of. When Kanade Otonokoji took the Hope Serum, her body was not pre-prepared for it's effects. So instead of giving her Ultimate levels of capability, it instead boosted her strength by a fair margin, but not as much as it would have done if she had the right body type for it. Even still, with how ferocious she fights, it's still impressive that Dr. Kimura was able to fight with her on an equal level. It implies the effects of her drugs have the potential to keep up with Fujimori and Komaeda if they're developed further.
Leona: Seiko also broke down several metal doors and structures with relative ease, jumped great distances through and up into the air, and was even able to smell the scent of Ruruka while she was a great distance away, even through solid glass, giving her bloodhound-like senses. And this isn't even the full power that the form can reach!
Hifumi: The number of Reanimators that Dr. Kimura consumes at once determines how her form changes; consuming more of them lengthens the transformation and boosts her power. During her transformation into the advanced state, she bent a metal rail, sent Sakakura skidding away with a single blow, repeatedly punched through reinforced glass, leaped around a large room breaking lights along the walls, and then embedded her feet in a wall above the window of an observation booth, and tanked several missiles fired at her by Miaya Gekkogahara, causing a massive explosion.
Leona: But one interesting thing about her berserk state, is that even though her senses and bloodlust rise exponentially, it seems that her intelligence and consciousness remains...mostly intact.
Hifumi: Indeed. While she does undoubtedly go crazy in this form, she has always demonstrated that she is still capable of thinking when she uses it, as evidenced by the suggestion that she wanted to mend Aoi Asahina's injured arm or the fact that she was still capable of taunting communication during her fight with Otonokoji. And even though she is a beast, she still knows how to use her medical knowledge and equipment, like how she used her medicine to heal her arm when Izayoi damaged it.
Leona: Alas, as incredible as she is, she is far from indestructible. As a regular human without the use of the medicine enhancers, Seiko is just a normal human with normal human weaknesses.
Hifumi: And even though she poses a serious threat as a monster, her metamorphosis is only temporary and ends when the effects of the drugs wear off. And sadly, even the beastial form did not save Seiko Kimura from her demise in the Final Killing Game. In her last moments as her transformation started to wear off, she began to reflect on how all she really wanted was to be friends with Ando once more. She was also sorry that she was unable to stop her allies from dying. She fell asleep for the last time when the timer on her bracelet rang. She was brainwashed into taking her own life while she was asleep.
Leona: Until the Future Foundation's resurrections devices brought her back to life! Which by the way, she was kind of in on all THAT stuff as well!
Hifumi: Well, she didn't MAKE the machines, but she helped to study and improve them, which led to the ones who died in the first killing game, including yours truly, to be brought back to life. I really owe her a lot now that I think about it...I should show my appreciation more often...
Leona: Just get her some valentines chocolates or something.
Hifumi: I would if I didn't risk invoking Mr Komaeda's wrath. During the same time as her resurrection, the Remnant's of Despair, now reformed and back to their old selves, were beginning to work with the Future Foundation, and came initially under Dr Kimura's care; something that she personally did not like at first. Though this also had to do with her past experiences of being manipulated and not wanting to increase her social circle too much. But still, when she discovered that the prior terrorists had changed their tune, she changed hers, and went on to help them with lots of their long-standing issues and by this point in time, basically became one of them.
Leona: So you're telling me that after he got her and her friends expelled, ruined her life, became a Remnant, destroyed the world and then betrayed the Future Foundation for the sake of petty revenge, she hooked up with that weirdo? I'd judge her standards, but I'm about the same.
Hifumi: Well, Mr Komaeda became a very different person following the events of the Jabberwock Island Killing Game, and it's mainly thanks to Dr. Kimura. Though remaining an idealist, Komaeda was eternally grateful for the things that Seiko had done for him in spite of their rough history, and regretted what he had inadvertedly done to her and her friends. He committed a lot of his time to helping her out and getting whatever she needed for her, eventually falling in love with her. Genuine affection, that is.
Leona: I.e. NOT the creepy hope obsession affection that he usually displays. but yeah, Nagito's care for her allowed Seiko to keep going even when Zetsubou kidnapped her and forced her to develop their powerful Hope Serum, and boy did she style on them once she got her edge back.
Hifumi: Seiko Kimura will always remain despite all that she has endured and witnessed, and will regretfully always be confronted with from her traumatic past. And among the many powerhouses of our universe, she will continue to be among the most astute and formidable women in history.
Leona: Ok, but seriously though, are there any medical people in our universe who's lives DIDN'T fucking suck?
Hifumi: Um...Dr. Inori?
Leona: Lost her parents in a car crash
Hifumi: Your friend Mr Ito?
Leona: Struggled with transphobia when he was a kid.
Hifumi: Mr Porosen?
Leona: Barely counts and you know full well how damaged that baby boy is.
Hifumi: Fair...
Leona and Hifumi continue their back and forth
Leona: The strange case of Curt Connors is one of the most tragic in Spider-man's career. Over the years, he has watched helplessly as his close friend has slowly devolved from human into animal. But the road to reptilian hell was once paved with good intentions.
Hifumi: Dr. Curtis Connors, known by his family and peers as Curt, started out life as a very good man. Born in Coral Gables, Florida, he studied a doctorate and became a gifted and talented surgeon, eventually joining the US Army as a combat medic, operating on injured soldiers in combat emergencies. He had many friends despite his introverted nature, and was a family man with a loving wife, Martha, and son, Billy.
Leona: Why does every superhero comic have a loving wife named Martha...Ahem, never mind! But then one day, tragedy struck...His arm went KABOOM!
Hifumi: While serving the force, Connors was caught in an horrific explosion that, miraculously, he survived, but his right arm was damaged beyond repair, and he had no choice but to have it amputated. Unable to serve the force anymore, Connors was discharged and went back to civilian life as a research technologist. His medical and scientific wisdom landed him a job at Oscorp, or S.H.I.E.L.D depending on the iteration.
Leona: However, coping with the loss of his arm turned out to be a NIGHTMARE for Curt, and he struggled to live with his lack of it. Using his wealth of knowledge and research, he and a few close friends set out to try and find a cure, or a way to help him regrow his lost limb. But his path towards a solution came from a rather interesting place...Herpetology! Wait...he got his solution from HERPES!?
Hifumi: NO! Ugh...Herpetology refers to the area of zoology which is dedicated to the study of reptiles and amphibians. What Connors was specifically interested in was a reptiles unique genetic "recipe," that provided creatures like axolotls or lizards their enhanced regenerative abilities of musculoskeletal tissues,
Leona: ...Come again?
Uchui [off-screen]: They can regrow their limbs!
Leona: Ooooh! Ok, so by understanding the secret of how lizards regenerate their limbs, Connors set out to develop a potential way to simulate the regeneration of limbs in humans, helping them regrow amputated or damaged limbs. Not just for himself, bare in mind, but he figured if he could use his medication on himself, he could use it to provide revolutionary healthcare to the rest of humanity who were suffering like he was. What a SWELL GUY!
Hifumi: And it honestly wasn't that far-fetched of an idea, at least not on paper! Despite being cold-blooded reptiles, lizards essentially have the same genetic toolkit as mammals. In fact, lizards are the most closely-related animals to humans that can regenerate entire appendages. Researchers have found that in particular areas of a regenerating limb, such as the tail, they activate at least 326 genes, including those involved in wound healing, hormonal signaling response, and embryonic development.
Leona: Curt became obsessed with learning about reptilian limb regeneration. He finally developed an experimental serum derived from reptilian DNA while working from his home in the Florida Everglades with the assistance of war buddy, Ted Sallis, and in a few iterations, the one and only Peter Parker, the son of Richard Parker, an old friend of Curt's who attempted to help him before he mysteeeeeriously disappeeeaaared~
Hifumi: As it turns out, the experiment worked out pretty well at first! Connors put this serum to the test on an amputated rabbit, and it worked! To take this experiment to the next level, he discovered an even better test subject: Himself.
Leona: Despite his wife's desperate pleas, Curt used himself as a Guinee Pig and ingested his own experimental serum. Thus "Experiment-that-can-only-go-wrong No.342" occurred...Le sigh...THIS is why we LISTEN to our wives, people!
Hifumi: Once Connors took his serum, his amputated arm regrew within MINUTES, something that reptile regeneration actually doesn't do, since it takes a lot more time than that. The results of his experiment were frankly miraculous, and for a brief time, the Doctor believed he had revolutionized modern medicine...But then reptilian green scales started to spread over his body, and he spouted a long, lizard-like tail...!
Leona: Similar to a letter-day Jekyll and Hyde, Dr. Curt Connors had gone from being a mild-mannered scientist into a BLOODTHIRSTY villain...! The LIZARD! Because superhero comics...HATE DOCTORS!
Hifumi: When Connors is the Lizard, his altruistic personality takes a backseat to the reptilian rampagers brutal behavior. He is unable to control his transformations very well, and he is constantly in a state of rage and fury. Warranting him an unmatched destructive power, as well as MULTIPLE encounters with the web-slinging hero; even the X-Men at times.
Leona: Lizard is a ruthless beast who possesses incredible strength and inhuman powers. While he may walk like a man...sometimes...and is even capable of speech...sometimes...his behavior is anything BUT civilized. And he has only one goal and desire...to WIPE HUMANITY THE FUCK OUT!
Hifumi: To put it another way, his goal is to eradicate all mammal life from the planet. To his animalistic mind, the only way to restore reptiles to their rightful place as the planet's masters is to wipe out all warm-blooded species, including humans. Despite the fact that Dr. Conners and Spider-Man have grown dependent on one another over time, the Lizard despises the webslinger for impeding his efforts to wage war on humanity. And with his own unique powers, as well as how he can handle Spider-Man multiple times and quite easily at that, it's all the more important for Spidey that he needs to be stopped.
Leona: Let's talk stats. To start with, Lizzie's leg muscles are so powerful that he can leap nearly 12 feet into the air, and cover an average distance of about 18 feet with a single bound, which more than helps him keep up with Spider-Man, even though he's not as fast AS the hero. He's also used his incredible speed to keep up with characters like Morbius and Doctor Octopus.
Hifumi: He can whip his tail at speeds of up to 70 mph, and his top running speed is close to at least 45 mph. That's comparable to a Greyhound's speed. And thanks to the Lizard's natural ability to regenerate from wounds and fatigue, his stamina is almost immeasurable. The bio-regenerative serum gave him an enhanced, hybrid physiology that allows him to fight almost endlessly without fear of fatigue. He can withstand severe bleeding and brutal wounds thanks to his healing factor, and he has lost limbs several times without so much as blinking.
Leona: So he's got speed and stamina in the bag, but what about power? Well, if the big-ass teeth, fuck-off claws and hulking beastbody don't sell it...Yeah, yeah, he's REALLY strong.
Hifumi: The Lizard has fought and matched Morbius the Living Vampire in battle, who in Spider-Man's own words, "hits like an h-bomb," and while this is obviously exaggeration, Morbius' actual attack potency is indeed above and beyond that of most Marvel heroes, much more than Spider-Man's.
Leona: And over the years that Lizzie and Spidey have been fighting, he's just gotten more powerful every time. Kind of like if Goku was a large angry reptile and also very evil! Evidence of the Lizard's passing is "a steel door torn off its hinges like it was cardboard," and he often causes mass environmental damage. In Insomniac's Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man's fight with Lizard infamously took them across most of New York, and whatever infrastructure the two came across was basically totalled.
Hifumi: Spider-Man even claims in the comics that unlike most of his recurring foes, Lizard is one that he can't afford to pull his punches with as he usually does. Though many forget it, Spider-Man's punches are ordinarily LETHAL in potency; especially since he's able to one-shot Tombstone, who can't ordinarily feel pain, and halt the charge of the Rhino with a single kick. If he struggles to fight Connors without holding back, that's certainly saying something!
Leona: But there's MORE to it! A few times in their early fights, Spider-Man outright states that the Lizard's reptilian skin is so thick and hard that's what she said...that he almost FRACTURED HIS KNUCKLE just punching him! And this is coming from the same guy during one of their fights, punched through a three-inch thick steel door!
Hifumi: This would take about 150 tons, or 300,000 pounds of force, for a mild steel door. The force for a HARDENED steel door could increase significantly but would likely remain below 1,000 tons, particularly if the door is composed of an exotic alloy like maraging steel. Either way, to know that the Lizard's skin is somehow DENSER than that makes you wonder how Peter is even able to HURT the Lizard in the first place.
Leona: Sometimes it feels like he CAN'T! Lizard's skin HAS proven to be bulletproof and explosionproof, and even when Spider-Man goes all out, it's very hard to keep the beast down! He's also taken hits from Stregon, another reptilian villain who put his fist directly through concrete with a punch, and he's taken hits from opponents that are just as strong, if not stronger than that, including, but not limited to, Wolverine, White Tiger, Man-Thing and the Last Son of Kraven.
Hifumi: It's a little bit complicated in lore terms, but the Last Son is a Kraven clone raised on an accelerated life cycle and trained from birth, who went on to hunt and kill 86 other Kraven clones raised in the same manner. Additionally, Kraven's Last Son has the ability to punch Kraven through walls while he is wearing the black Spider-Man suit, and Connors was hit repeatedly by the Last Son even when unable to retaliate because of an adamantium inhibitor chip in the back of his neck.
Leona: Even aside from his natural strength, durability and speed feats, the Lizard is more than just some movie monster. He's got some weird, wacky and FUCKING TERRIFYING powers under his scaly belt! Like Hifumi already said, for one, he can easily regenerate.
Hifumi: As I already said, ACTUAL reptile regeneration is not a quick process. The injured stump where the lost body part was originally located forms a "blastema" in reptiles with the ability to regenerate body parts, such as newts and salamanders. This is a mass of cells that will regenerate the damaged body part, including stem cells. The genetic program that initially formed the body part before birth or hatching will be activated by the blastema. If the creature LIVES for that long, this process could take a month or up to fifteen months.
Leona: Ok, I get it, it's slow, stop using big words!
Hifumi: But the Lizard on the other hand has a regeneration process that is just inhuman or...in-reptile I suppose; not just because it's much faster, but because it's far greater than just regenerating limbs. Not only has his tail and arms grown back, but so have his eyeballs. He has quickly healed from multiple gunshot wounds and made a full recovery from impalement. He swiftly healed his broken neck, avoided having the Man-Thing burn his head, healed after receiving a knife wound to the head and regurgitated his spinal cord after it was severed!
Leona: He ALSO adopts characteristics from other reptiles like Alligators, and by which I mean those bastards stealth skills. Though he as the power to tear down buildings at his leisure, Lizard typically relies on catching his prey by surprise, and he's damn good at it despite his large size and beastly aura. He uses his stealth skills to stalk his prey at the night, and is perfectly capable of causing distractions, like how he was able to sneak under a couple's car without them noticing. Wait, how the fuck does he fit under there!? He's like 3 times the size of me!
Hifumi: Lizard's hands and feet are also covered with tiny claws that create adhesive pads, like those of a gecko. The pads allow him to scale and slither even sheer surfaces, with naturally faster speed than a real lizard and ever greater ability than Spider-Man himself.
Leona: But among Curt's many abilities, what to me is his most interesting one is his telepathy. Yeah, among all the other insane bullshit, this guy can CONTROL MINDS! WOOOOO!
Hifumi: Well, sort of. As long as they're close by, Lizard's special ability allows him to control and manipulate the minds of all other ranges of reptiles, including snakes, crocodiles, and lizards. When it comes to Spider-Man, Lizard is more than happy to use the reptiles as his foot soldiers. This power is robust as well. He's even used it to control the mind of Man-Thing, and once, he summoned an entire swamp of creatures to attack Ben Reilly Spider-Man.
Leona: But surprise surprise, he can use this power on HUMANS too. Spider-Man explained that the telepathy is like an aura around Lizard that "makes the Id take over the Superego". What that fucking means, I don't know, but based on the dialogue I'm going to assume it means it makes everyone around him stupid. Considering it made Doc Ock act like an animal who talks like the Lizard, I'm gonna assume I'm right.
Hifumi: Sorry to hit you with more science and calculations, but the way the Lizard does this relates to the Triune Brain structure; a hypothesis put forth in the 1960s by American physician and neuroscientist Paul D. MacLean regarding the evolution of the vertebrate forebrain and behavior. One aspect of the diagram is the Reptilian Complex, or R-Complex. The word comes from the belief held by comparative neuroanatomists that these structures dominated the forebrains of birds and reptiles. According to MacLean, instinctive behaviors typical of a species such as aggression, dominance, territoriality, and ritualistic displays are caused by the reptilian complex.
Leona: So in summary, it's LITERALLY every man's inner beast. In order to employ this, Lizard's body gives off a noxious fume that can fuck with someone's mind in a DEVASTATING way if it's inhaled. He forces the animal instinct to be released, and to make human beings act mindlessly and destructively, which he's employed against and ON Spider-Man, employing the web-slingers lizard brain to induce fear in him and make him run away in terror.
Hifumi: As for any other abilities he might have, it has also been demonstrated that he has poisonous clawtips that cause excruciating pain, disorientation, and sensory impairment to those who are slashed by them. Additionally, he's resistant to heat and diseases. He was unaffected by boiling water, merely startled by a Bunsen Burner's flame, and had no trouble biting into flaming objects.
Leona: Damn...We sure covered a lot of crazy as fuck feats. And I bet you all thought he was just some big green scaly monster. So the question is this...if the Lizard is such a terrifying foe, how is Spidey able to beat him?
Hifumi: For one thing, Lizard has a rather potent weakness to the cold. The main thing that separates reptiles from mammals is the formers cold blood, and in the case of Connors, severe cold severely impairs him and may even stop him entirely. It also drives him, on occasion, into hibernation.
Leona: Plus, as I said before, Lizard is only KIND of able to communicate and strategize beyond that of his animal instinct. The longer Curt Connors remains AS the Lizard, the more his abilities to talk and think slip away, and his hunger for violence and destruction only grows.
Hifumi: When they first clashed, using Connors' notes, Spider-Man created an antidote to return the Lizard to his human form and mentality. The family man was back, and even though his mentality regressed over time due to the battle with the beast inside him, he went on to remain one of the webslingers most trustworthy allies, even going as far as to save May Parker's life when she was accidentally exposed to Peter's radioactive DNA.
Leona: But how long do you think THAT'S gonna last?
Hifumi: Good question. And the truth is I can't tell you for sure. It later became clear that the success of Connors' apparent cure from the Lizard persona was short-lived. A cycle began of Connors' transformation into the Lizard continually caused by stress or a chemical reaction; Spider-Man fighting him, forcing him to swallow the antidote to stop the transformation until the next time, rinse and repeat
Leona: At any time, be it due to reactions with chemicals or overexertion of stress, Dr. Curt Connors can at any point relapse into the reptilian beast. Until the day comes that someone finds a true cure for the monster, The Lizard will stay one deadly predator and one of Spider-Man strongest and deadliest rogues.
Hifumi: Alright, the combatants are set! We've run the data through all possibilities!
Leona: IT'S TIME FOR A DEEAAATH BAAATTLLLLLLEEE!
The scene opens to a dark, damp and grimy sewer, as Dr. Seiko Kimura, the Ultimate Pharmacist, carefully trudges through the sewage. With a worried look on her face, she sees multiple slash marks and the traces of what appear to be mutilated animal corpses lying in the grime. Her goal is to track down the perpetrator.
*hisss...!*
Seiko: ...!?
She suddenly senses a presence nearby, and barely spots a shadow as it lurks around a corner. Instinctively, she grabs a bottle of pills and equips a bag full of medicines to her side.
Seiko: Doctor Connors? If you're trying to scare me...It's working...!
Seiko suddenly breaks out into a run as the pressure gets to her. With her feet splashing along the damp pavement of the sewer, the Lizard finally crawls out from it's hiding place and scales the ceiling to catch up to her. It pounces and knocks both of them down a large drop where the sewage water falls.
Seiko cries out and very quickly shoves a handful of green pills in her mouth, as she and her reptilian adversary splash down into a pool of dirty water, with Lizard being the first to emerge by swimming through the
Lizard: Hrrrgh...!?
To the reptilian ravagers surprise though, Seiko Kimura's hand, now more beastly and with claw-like fingernails, bursts out of the murky water. It slams on the concrete, cracking it, as she hoists herself out. The rest of her body then rises, with her hair now longer, her eyes a bright glowing purple like the Lizard's glowing green pupils, and her fangs as sharp as a staple remover. The Lizard however, is not threatened.
Lizard: You...think you can sssstop the LIZARD!?
Seiko: Whether I have to currree you orrr kill you...! One way or anotherrr...I'm taking you down!
With a growl, Seiko charges the creature that used to be Doctor Connors, but the Lizard's reflexes are quick, and he smacks her back with his powerful tail.
Seiko rebounds swiftly from the severe blow, and the Ultimate Pharmacist attempts another claw slash, but her opponent shrugs off the attack, lands a kick, then a second blow with the tail and finally a claw swipe.
Seiko: GRRAAARRRGH!
Lizard: GAAGGH!? RRAAGH!
Seiko scrapes the sewer's concrete wall, chipping away at a sizable portion of it before slamming Connors back into his obstruction.
Lizard: HYAAAARRGGGGH!!!
Seiko: USE YOURRR WORRRRDS CONORRRS! With SYLLABLLLES!
Without any delay, she grabs the head of the reptile and violently bashes it against the sewer wall. Even though the Lizard doesn't seem to be affected much by this, the attacks are so strong that they indent and eventually shatter the wall, sending the two Devasting Doctors flying through it.
Seiko tosses her battered opponent to the ground below as they find themselves in a new, open area with rushing water behind them. The Lizard lands hard, but Connors rolls over onto all fours, his victims' blood streaming from his mouth as he snarls.
The vicious Pharmacist lunges in at full speed and runs along the ground to intensify her attack. In return, Connors roars and rushes in her direction.
Seiko: GRRAAARRRGH!
*BANG!* *BASH!*
Lizard: YOU'RE SSSSSOO PITIFFFUL!
*SHUNK!* *SMASH!* *BAM!*
Because of her agility and smaller stature, Seiko gains the upper hand and tackles Connors, hitting him twice with outright vicious punches. Connors then returns fire, cutting Seiko with his claws and hitting her again just as hard.
When the lizard tries to bite his opponent, she dodges and then tries to bite back, which gives the monster the opportunity to whip her severely with his tail.
After being knocked back, Seiko uses her claws to climb the adjacent wall and escape Connors's follow-up bite. Connors however, does the same, scaling the wall with the tiny claws on the pads of his hands.
Lizard: RRRRAAGGH!
*CHOMP!*
Seiko: GRRRAAGGGH!
*CRAASSH!*
As the two monstrous scientists grapple against the wall, the Lizard is able to bite Seiko and launch himself off, driving her into the ground in a manner akin to a German suplex, except with his mouth. Lizard keeps a tight hold of Seiko's arm, which starts bleeding profusely.
Lizard: You're ssssoo weak...! You're not even worttthh keeping alive in my empire...!
Seiko: You arrren't the scarrrriest thing I've seen...! RRRGH! Good luck getting out of these sewerrrrs ALIVE!
Lizard: HYAAUUGH!
Seiko bounces back swiftly from the hard landing, using her superpowers to deliver a vicious uppercut to the Lizard's jaw that tears it apart and frees him from her. She hurriedly digs through her medicine bag for a green syringe, sticks it in her arm, and instantly seals the wound on the her arm, quickly wiping it of blood.
Lizard: Hisss...That'ssss MY ssscchchtick!
With a growl of frustration, Lizard watches as Seiko tends to her wound before roaring and rushing back at her. In an attempt to evade the attack, Seiko leaps multiple feet into the air and bounces off the wall to get some distance. However, the Lizard simply makes an equally high jump, sending their fight into the air, at least 14 feet above the ground.
With the lack of footing, Seiko finds herself at the initial disadvantage, thanks to the Lizard's autonomous tail, but eventually she seizes an opening by grabbing the tail and jumping on the Lizard's back!
*SSSHUUNK!* *CRAACK!*
Lizard: REEEEEEEEAGGH!
Lizard cries out in pain as Seiko suddenly takes the syringe that her healing serum was in earlier and stabs him in the eye with the needle! Not only that, but while the pain shoots through his face, Seiko grabs both sides of his jaw and pries it open as they crash back down to the ground!
The Lizard's body breaks Seiko's fall, but Connors bears the full force. Even though he throws Seiko off of him by grabbing her with his tail, the Lizard breaks his jaw when he lands face-first on his pried-open mouth.
However, this does not have the long-lasting effect that Seiko aims for. Though in immense pain from the impact, the Lizard's jaw muscles and bones naturally regenerate very quickly, and within seconds, it's like the injury never happened.
Lizard: I'm not about to losssee my mouth when I sssstill have yet to feasssst on you...!
Seiko: You'rrre not eating me today, Connorrrrs...!
Lizard: Don't missssunderssstand...! Mealsssss are meant to be SSSSHAAARED!
To Seiko's horror, the scaley scientist summons several sharp-toothed reptiles to attack her, and they suddenly emerge from the sewer's dark crevices. She struggles to fend them off as they start jumping her and trying to sink their fangs into her, not helped when the Lizard makes follow up attacks with his own powerful claws.
However, Seiko is still able to fling the reptiles off of her with a powerful spin, and quickly starts pulling medicines out of her pouch. She quickly kicks Connors in the face to get him to back off, then starts combining medicines on the fly while avoiding his reptile minions.
Once she's created a concoction, Seiko bottles it up and smashes it on the floor in front of her, clouding the sewers with a pungent aroma that repels the reptiles from her, including the Lizard, to an extent.
However, something then happens that she doesn't expect. Lizard starts releasing his OWN gas from his body that overpowers hers. Not powerful enough to bring back his reptile army, but enough to allow him to push back towards Seiko, who is not taking to his fumes well.
Seiko: What...arrrre...you...doing...to...me...!?
Lizard: HRRRAASASSAAAGGGH!
Connors however, has given in to the beast, and cannot respond with words anymore. However, his scent starts to activate the R-complex in her brain, and what little sanity and stability she has left starts to slip away...!
Seiko: GGRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!!!
Seiko also succumbs to her feral inclinations, roaring and spilling some of the contents of her medicine pouch onto the wet floor as she drops it. With each punch, slash, chomp and smack, the two ravenous monsters continue to pour blood as they trade several lethal blows.
Seiko's technique, though now sloppier thanks to giving into her monstrous instincts, is still potent enough to overwhelm Connors quickly, and the Lizard counters by pushing her back with several powerful whips of his tail!
Before Seiko can react, Lizard suddenly wraps his tail around her neck and starts to strangle her, but Seiko is able to pry herself free. Seeing this, Connors instead opts to send her crashing into the wall, which she is cratered into. He himself, needing to take a second to catch his breath, pauses, clutching his head as he feels his human side try and retake control.
Seiko: Haaagh...Ngh...gagh...
But then, in the brief moment of silence, Seiko Kimura starts to slip into unconsciousness...The effects of her enhancing medication start to wear off, and with the R-complex in her brain still active, she feels overwhelming exhaustion in what little senses she still has left.
Lizard: CONNORSSSSS ISSSSS DEAD! AND SSSSSSO ARE YOOOOOOOUUUU!!
With his sanity only barely intact, Lizard is just able to choke out these words before the Reptile consumes all! The Lizard lunges forward, slashing his claws at the now-defenseless Seiko, then bites into her leg, tossing her around like a rag doll until her leg is severed from her body, and her corpse once again impacts the wall!
In a desperate attempt to escape despite the loss of limb, Seiko claws at the wet ground, her vision blurring and her consciousness slipping. However, the Lizard pulls her back and, in an instant, slams his big mouth down on her head and bites it off, utterly DECAPITATING her.
With his opponents dead body at his feet and an army of small reptiles surrounding him. The Lizard lets out one last roar...A roar of victory...!
Leona: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLYYYYYYY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! That was...! I think that was our most brutal death yet! That was fucking awesome and yet...yet I can't help but feel really sick that it had to be such a kind girl who suffered it!
Hifumi: Although Seiko Kimura was an undoubtedly fierce opponent, the Lizard had most things going for him in this bloody brawl of jaws and claws.
Leona: Which is not to say that this was completely one sided. In fact, there are quite a few aspects that Seiko actually outclasses the Lizard in. First of all, considering Seiko was able to keep up with the likes of Izayoi, who has contended with the likes of the supersonic Akane Owari, and Lizard has managed to tag Spider-Man several times, it's safe to say that they tie when it comes to speed. And their transformations gave them very similar abilities, like their heightened senses and incredible strength.
Hifumi: And both are potentially as athletic and acrobatic as the other. Lizard is able to fight in midair, jump over buildings, execute drop kicks, and break falls by clinging to a ledge in quick succession, and he has also been known to backflip to avoid Spider-Man's attack and slap him with his tail in the process. Additionally, Dr. Kimura has caught knives with her teeth, and jumped across a sizable room, shattering lights along the walls, before sinking her feet into a wall and remaining perched there.
Leona: But the BIG ADVANTAGE Seiko has over Doc Connors is bleedingly obvious. Her INTELLIGENCE.
Hifumi: Neither Kimura nor Connors are fighters, and they rely on their animal instinct more than anything to win their fights in their beastly forms. But as regular humans, it's pretty clear to tell who the smarter one is. Connors studied enough to the point where he was on the verge of revolutionizing medicine, but Seiko Kimura has been doing that since she was SIX! Creating extremely powerful healing medicines and concoctions with varying helpful effects and basically NO side effects! Much less turning you into a giant green scaly monster.
Leona: So, here's a question I bet some of us are wondering. We talked extensively about Seiko's knowledge with medicine, so is it at all possible that she could fashion up her own brand of the lizard antiserum, use it on Connors to repress the Lizard, and then kill him in his weakened human state? Well, the answer to that is...Yes!
Hifumi: Within the span of four hours after seeing Daisaku Bandai's "death", Seiko Kimura was easily able to create a counter medicine that saved Kyoko Kirigiri's life, and then made a structure for a cure that saved Daisaku Bandai and Koichi Kizakura. It isn't THAT hard to assume that with her genius level knowledge as a pharmacist, that she could quite quickly fashion a cure for the Lizard Serum and turn Connors back into a human.
Leona: It's helped a lot by the fact that unlike Connors, Seiko actually retains her sanity throughout her transformation. Connors mind is basically turned to mush, but Seiko is still aware enough to avoid and counter traps, administer her serum and retain her empathy and humanity. So...what's the problem?
Hifumi: The PROBLEM is how she's going to actually ADMINISTER a potential serum. In order to properly apply the medication to Connors, she'd first have to either overpower him, or somehow incapacitate or restrain him. Neither of which was possible for her.
Leona: Curt has rather effortlessly torn through Spider-Man's webs, which have been stated to be as strong as steel. Curt has also easily broken through ACTUAL steel, and is generally shown to be much stronger and beastlier than Seiko. He'd overpower her pretty easily in a wrestling match, even if his opponent can outsmart and outmaneuver him in many ways.
Hifumi: Dr. Kimura didn't really have anything she could use to trap Connors either; no notable tools or anything that would really work. In addition to this, while she IS more aware and less of a mindless beast than Connors, the Lizard could easily reprimand this by taking hold of her R-complex, taking away what little insight she has left and turning her into a TRUE beast!
Leona: When it comes to that, Seiko's one big strength over Curt is just GONE, and she's basically at a complete disadvantage. But wait...Sonosuke Izayoi fought the likes of Akane and Nekomaru, who are SUPER strong. And Seiko was able to fight him and opponents beyond his level, like Sakakura and Otonokoji. With scaling, doesn't that mean that Seiko is technically the stronger one here?
Hifumi: That's actually not a bad assumption to make. Both Dr. Connors and Dr. Kimura have ripped through hard substances like steel like they're toilet paper, so even if the latter isn't STRONGER, she's at least on a similar, if not equal level. However, Spider-Man implied that Morbius' punch was tantamount to that of a Hydrogen Bomb. And the Lizard is just as strong as he is, so if we take this literally, his damage output is tantamount to at least 1000 Kilotons of TNT.
Leona: And we estimated in a previous video that Nekomaru Nidai's strongest attacking feats, like his superpowered shit, is tantamount to about 94 Tons. Ah, I getcha. That would realistically make the Lizard at least over 10,000 times stronger than Seiko.
Hifumi: Well, Spider-Man was obviously gravely exaggerating Morbius' power, even if the living vampires strength warranted such a comparison. But even in the case that it is, it doesn't really matter. Regardless of how strong she actually is, Dr. Kimura didn't have the attack potency to breach the Lizard's thick hide. Spider-Man is far stronger than she is, there's no doubt about that, and the web-slinging hero himself stated that punching the Lizard almost fractured his knuckles due to how hard his reptilian skin is.
Leona: So basically, if Seiko tried swiping at the Lizard with her claws, she'd chip a nail and then some. And even assuming that she somehow WAS able to get through his hide and damage him...what does it even matter? Connors can just regenerate the damage in seconds!
Hifumi: Both doctors possess healing and regenerative powers as part of their arsenal, but the difference is that the Lizard's is a NATURAL healing factor due to his reptilian genes, while Dr. Kimura's is provided to her by her medicine; a resource that is FINITE. If this were a battle of attrition, Dr. Connors would come out on top every single time.
Leona: Speaking of things that are finite, the same is true for Seiko's transformation. It only lasts a limited amount of time, and she turns back to her basic, measly strength when the effects of the medicine wear off. Meanwhile, Connors can retain his reptilian form basically indefinitely, and even if he regresses back into his human form through means like the serum, even the most minor interaction with a stressful situation or medical reaction can bring it back out in no time.
Hifumi: Lizard's regeneration factor also provided him almost unlimited stamina, so even if Dr. Kimura had enough pills to keep her transformation up, Lizard could still wear her down before she had the chance to do the same to him. Although, it's more likely he'd casually rip her to shreds before then, since her defensive capabilities are NOTHING compared to his.
Leona: Seiko has tanked missiles from the robotic Miaya Gekkogahara, but Connors has done the same thing against Gray Garrison, AKA Warrant; a bounty-hunter who first surfaced when he was hired to capture, or kill him. Lizard took a missile fired straight at him by Warrant, which knocked him back, but did not injure him even slightly. And that's without mentioning that Seiko's defense feats are wholly inconsistent. Despite the missile feat, when compelled to commit suicide, she repeatedly hit a concrete wall to embed herself in it, which ultimately killed her.
Hifumi: Seiko Kimura was relentless and vicious, but the Lizard had the strength, the skills, and the overwhelming bestiality to win brutally against her.
Leona: Such a shame that Seiko couldn't get through to him. She could have really helped Connors with his "a reptile dysfunction~"
THE WINNER IS DR. CURT CONNORS! THE LIZARD!
Next Time...
The masses need a savior when the world is in danger. In a society that consistently held them back, these incredible heroes began life with nothing and developed the charm, fortitude, compassion, and drive to defend the people they care about. However, which one of them will prevail when everything is on the line?
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