I like the mention of Xander rescuing Superman. Man, would that ever be a defining thematic moment.

UnpluggedCrazy | February 14, 11:57 CET

As a comic book nerd he would love that!

SmileTime | February 14, 12:54 CET

Little known fact but Yellow Crayons are actually worse than Kryptonite where Big Blue's concerned - they turn him into one of those crap drawings that kids do whereupon he can be easily torn.

(course, he's always been vulnerable to magic though if he knew what he was up against he might have a chance at least against Dark Willow and Harry Potter - both of their magics seem to rely on the spoken word and Supes is much, much faster than sound)

Saje | February 14, 13:39 CET

eh, how did we get here?

Madhatter | February 14, 14:37 CET

Well, that's the eternal question 'Hatter, along with "And what do we do now that we've arrived ?".

Saje | February 14, 16:42 CET

I thought the eternal question was "What did I do with my car keys?".

And Saje, you would SO fail Defense Against the Dark Arts, at least when taught by a competent teacher (such as Snape). Remember, your spells can always be blocked by a counter-spell, when you have to take the time to verbalize them! You have to learn to cast them nonvocally! (And how come they put Supes up against Harry Potter, but not Dumbledore who would make mincemeat of him - or for that matter, why only the good guys, Voldemort, would have him screaming in cruciating agony before Supes had a chance to blink?)

And Xander is NOT the most useless member of the gang! I think that prize goes to Amy the rat.

barboo | February 14, 19:27 CET

Amy's not in the gang though.

Superalien vs. superalien is far more interesting of a match. Superman vs. Karolina?

Sunfire | February 14, 20:07 CET

Superman vs Illyria (pre-power-drain,) anyone?

Rowan Hawthorn | February 14, 20:12 CET

Could she jump forwards in time quicker than he could spin the Earth backwards ?

That could be the deciding factor. It's a close match though, didn't Spike once even call Illyria 'Big Blue' ?

Saje | February 14, 20:19 CET

Gandalf can too shoot fireballs! He holds one of the three Elvish rings--the one that controls fire--and used it to fight off a warg (i think) attack using fire in Fellowship. It just would not have been useful against the Balrog because it's already on fire.

Why yes, I do carry a nerd card in my wallet, why do you ask?

rufustfyrfly | February 14, 20:26 CET

Actually, when Gandalf confronts the Balrog, he lists two reasons why the Balrog cannot pass: he, Gandalf, is servant of the Secret Flame and wielder of the Flame of Anor -- referring both to his role as servant of Iluvatar and, secondarily, as the wielder of the Ring of Fire. The Balrog, in contrast, is merely a Flame of Udun. In other words, Gandalf is saying that he's holier-fire-than-thou.

*trumps rufustfyrfly's nerd card with a nerd full house*

Incidentally, rufus, awesome nick there.

ManEnoughToAdmitIt | February 14, 22:02 CET

Ok, if we want to get picky, Gandalf set pine cones on fire and threw them at wargs in the Hobbit. He also used his staff to make a branch explode fire at wargs in the Fellowship, as rufustfyrfly remembered. So yes, he fights with fire quite well. I do not recall that he ever throws fireballs though. His skill seems to be sparking a fire that burns when it physically shouldn't, but with real fuel.

It is correct that his statements to the Balrog weren't about his skills with fire, bur rather his own status. But I wouldn't call the Balrog "mere." It was a roughly even match.

And the Maiar are more minor deities than demigods.

Sunfire | February 14, 22:29 CET

What's the difference? (Seriously, I don't know in this context).

barboo | February 15, 00:56 CET

Demigod usually refers to beings who are half-divine, half-human. Like Hercules. In Tolkien's mythology, or what I remember of it, the Maiar are just lesser divine beings. They serve the Valar, and are less powerful, but they're still fully divine. The closest parallel I can come up with is angels.

Sunfire | February 15, 01:06 CET