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I believe it's incorrect to rank Wednesday Addams (Netflix iteration) as having "possibly Subsonic combat and reaction speed," so I'm proposing a downgrade revision in this thread.
Here is the footage of the feats:
Source: Wednesday (2022), Season 1, Chapter Ⅷ: A Murder of Woes.
The VS Battles Wiki's current justification for the rank: "Moved quick enough to intercept an arrow aimed at Xavier and can likewise keep up in combat with Joseph Crackstone, who was telekinetically able to react to and stop a flying arrow in midair."
The VS Battles Wiki's justification for the rank is inaccurate for several reasons:
I guess the reason Wednesday is considered as "possibly" having subsonic speed right now is because it was concluded that the characters could have reacted to the aim of the arrow, but it was also concluded that there is some degree of reliability that the characters could have reacted to the speed of the arrow. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) However, based on my analysis, it's clear to me how the logic of aim dodging and more was involved, not just that it "could have" been. My analysis explains how it's the more consistent conclusion to deem this occurrence as not proving characters have subsonic reaction and combat speed. I hope you'll accept my proposal to remove the rank from Wednesday's profile entirely.
Here is the footage of the feats:
Source: Wednesday (2022), Season 1, Chapter Ⅷ: A Murder of Woes.
The VS Battles Wiki's current justification for the rank: "Moved quick enough to intercept an arrow aimed at Xavier and can likewise keep up in combat with Joseph Crackstone, who was telekinetically able to react to and stop a flying arrow in midair."
The VS Battles Wiki's justification for the rank is inaccurate for several reasons:
- Xavier yelled "stay away from her" at Joseph Crackstone before shooting the arrow. Crackstone already saw the aim and intention to attack before the arrow was shot, giving him enough time to ready telekinesis in front of him without the need to have great reflexes.
- Even disregarding how Xavier's attack was telegraphed, it was still in front of Joseph Crackstone for him to witness. At the distance Crackstone was from Xavier, a person could dodge an arrow by reacting to the fact that someone is utilizing a bow to launch the arrow in a few moments, circumventing the need to react to the speed of the arrow itself. (It's the logic of aim dodging, except instead of moving out of the way, Crackstone used telekinesis.)
- After Xavier shot the arrow and the screen showed Joseph Crackstone's counter, Crackstone already had his hand up, which is what he was doing to use telekinesis, signifying the telekinesis was already in use before the arrow even reached him. For all we know, Crackstone could've had his hand up and telekinesis block activated before Xavier even shot the arrow. It's unlikely this feat required tight timing on Crackstone's part.
- By the time Wednesday realized Joseph Crackstone used telekinesis against the arrow, Crackstone was about to rotate the arrow. Crackstone had kept the arrow steady for a few seconds, and then he rotated the arrow along with his hand gesture, as well as shooting it back with a hand gesture. Wednesday had ample time to react to the fact that such a telegraphed attack was upcoming. (It's the logic of aim dodging again, though in reverse as Wednesday was out of harm's way but moved in the way to get hit intentionally.) Wednesday is a skilled combatant, she was positioned just a step or two to the side from the arrow's trajectory, and she was already moving by the time the screen showed her after the screen showed the arrow getting launched by Crackstone. It's most likely that Wednesday was just able to realize the arrow's trajectory so she could move in the way in time to get hit.
- There is technically no concrete evidence that Joseph Crackstone's telekinesis can shoot an arrow at the same speed as a skilled bow and arrow wielder can shoot an arrow. We can conclude so based on probability, like "he uses magic, whereas a bow and arrow is a realistic weapon. There is a decent likelihood a supernatural force is stronger than a natural force." That justification isn't concrete because something surpassing what is natural doesn't necessarily have to do with speed specifically nor any particular stat, and there are cases where something having a certain stat relies on physics operating normally (which isn't always the case with supernatural forces). Crackstone did launch the arrow well enough for it to injure Wednesday and for it to feel like it was actually shot from a bow, but beyond that it's unclear.
I guess the reason Wednesday is considered as "possibly" having subsonic speed right now is because it was concluded that the characters could have reacted to the aim of the arrow, but it was also concluded that there is some degree of reliability that the characters could have reacted to the speed of the arrow. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) However, based on my analysis, it's clear to me how the logic of aim dodging and more was involved, not just that it "could have" been. My analysis explains how it's the more consistent conclusion to deem this occurrence as not proving characters have subsonic reaction and combat speed. I hope you'll accept my proposal to remove the rank from Wednesday's profile entirely.
I think I'll need one more staff member who has evaluation power to approve before I can apply the revision though.
