[AgileSiamang7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GWolf

Couldn't sleep last night and entertained myself by organising the Gaim riders into tiers. I'll be curious as to peoples opinions

Sengoku - Base - Kurokage Troopers
- So Far the troopers have yet to win a fight against anyone, Inves or otherwise.

Sengoku - Tier One "The Mook" - Gridon
- Gridon has beaten a couple of Inves before but he's been consistently shown as the least skilled fighter.

Sengoku - Tier Two "The Trier" - Kurokage and Knuckle
- Both of these riders are shown to be decent fighters but Kurokage never matched any of the main riders one on one, and Knuckle has the greatest difficulty against normal Inves.

Sengoku - Tier Three "The Soldier" - Ryugen Budo and Kiwi
Ryugen has consistently been portrayed as less skilled then either Gaim or Baron in fights, compensating with precision gun fighting. As a warrior, he's less of a threat.

Sengoku - Tier Four"The Warrior" - Gaim Orange and Ichigo, Baron Banana
More skilled than the lower tiers in hand to hand, regardless of the weapons they use. Generally the most evenly matched when they fight.

Sengoku - Tier Five "The Powerhouse" - Gaim Pine, Baron Mango, Bravo
While there's some variety in skill and ability, these are the strongest of the normal riders, with Gaim and Baron compensating with raw power for Bravo's experience.

Sengoku - Tier Six "The Dreaded" - Zangetsu
Zangetsu never lost a fight, or even had an even fight. In his few appearances so far, he completely dominated every battle, surpassing the others in power and speed.

Genesis - Tier Seven "The Prick" - Sigurd, Zangetsu Shin II
Sigurd appears to be the weakest of the Genesis riders, with his only victories being against weaker opponents. Zangetsu Shin II is considerably weaker than the first, and thus far has been on the losing side of every fight he's been in. He stumbled away in his first fight and was thrashed in his second.

Genesis/Sengoku - Tier Eight "The Tank" - Baron Lemon Energy, Gaim Jimba
Seems to be the safest "base state" power level for Genesis riders. Much stronger than the the lower tiers. Marika might fit in here but see below.

Genesis/Sengoku - Tier Nine "The Shogun" - Gaim Kachidoki, Zangetsu Shin I
Thus far appears to be the strongest confirmed rider tier. Both of these riders have dominated all their battles, with Kachidoki showing the greatest defensive abilities so far, defeating several powerful enemies including Marika and three Suika arms with little effort. Zangetsu Shin is strong enough to fight squarely with two Genesis riders, perhaps even edging them out. Most impressively, he is the only character in the show to confront Kachidoki arms and not only not get defeated but fight on a seemingly even playing field, his skill compensating for Kachidoki's defence and visa versa.

Indeterminate - Suika Arms, Bujin Gaim, Marika, Duke
Suika Arms proved effective against Sigurd, but its not clear whether or not it could defeat the other Genesis riders. Buijin Gaim is a little difficult to place given the generally nebulous nature of power levels in the movies. Zangetsu seemed well matched against him. On the other hand Wizard Infinity didn't exactly crush him, and in show Infinity should have been able to drop him solo easily. You see the same issue arise with Fourze Cosmic States, Cyclone Joker Extreme, PuToTyra (all post show media for both) and Rising Kuuga. Marika appears to be a Tier 8, but the point has been made that for various reasons she has not shown us her full potential and she may be more powerful than she appears. Duke is clearly a powerhouse, seemingly unphased by anything Gaim Jimba used but whether he could have defeated Zangetsu Shin I one on one is currently unclear.

Yeah, movies are a pain in this regard, in this and in anime (looking at you, Meta-Cooler and Broly). Still though, thank you for taking to the time to think up this list. I mostly agree with everything you say, the only point I'm unsure about is Zangetsu Shin I. Kouta wasn't concentrating on fighting him then, just taking out the towers. Though you have a point, if Gaim could just take him no problem in that form, he probably would have been knocked off onto that floating Dandilier.