Deadliest Warrior

For those who don't know, Deadliest Warrior is a show on Spike similar to shows like Jurassic Fight club. The difference is instead of Dinosaurs, they pit two warriors against each other, most often from totally different time periods. When I say time periods, I don't mean like 100 years, I mean like centuries apart. Each episode they talk about various weapons they used and test the effect these weapons would have on the human body using ballistic gel, fake blood, organs, and pig carcasses (pig skin is fairly similar to human skin in it's make up). However, while the show is good fun, it at times relies on stereotyping the various warriors, which I will explain later.

The show is all in good fun, and not to be taken seriously at all, but some valid criticisms have arisen about the fighters pitted against each other and the over use of stereotypes. The most controversial of these I think, along with several others, is the Viking v.s Samurai episode. I have to be honest, this is probably one of the most nonsensical match ups I've seen, with only Pirate v.s Knight (that's right a guy in armor with melee weapons against a guy with gun power weapons) rivaling it for sheer weirdness. For the Viking v.s Samurai episode, the Viking was mercilessly stereotyped as a barbaric and moronic savage, while the Samurai was, of course portrayed as intelligent, and highly skilled. Another big criticism was the choice of long range weapon for the Viking and the special weapon for the Samurai respectively. The Viking was given a spear, which was thrown instead of using it as a melee weapon, and even an instant where they tested throwing two at once. Now, I for one don't understand why they didn't give the Viking a bow, as combat archery was HIGHLY valued in Viking culture. The Samurai was also given the Kanabo as it's special weapon. The Kanabo is a large wooden club with metal studs on it, and while it was used as a weapon by Samurai as well as Monks, it was not an everyday weapon that Samurai used. In addition to that, it was more of a mythical weapon used by the Oni (Japanese Demons) than a practical one.

Another match up that has a fair amount of Criticism is Spartan v.s Ninja. This was another lopsided match up. The Ninja is a stealthy fighter, and the Spartan was a wall of muscle and armor. Several people pointed out the choice of weapons for the two fighters as incorrect. For the Ninja it's short range weapon was the straight bladed Ninjato, which is a sword hotly debated to as weather or not it actually existed. The Ninjato is often found in movies, and video games as the typical sword of a Ninja. They tend to be straight, single edge blades with a square hand guard, which is incorrect. The Spartan also had incorrect weaponry as well. The short range weapon for the Spartan was the Xipos, which is correct except it wasn't made of steel, but bronze.

The latest episode was Pirate v.s Knight, and well we all know how that ended up. Once again the match ups are totally one sided as the Pirate has Gun Powder weapons and bombs. The next episode actually makes since though. It's Mafia v.s Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) and the episode after that is Green Berets and Spetsnaz, both are elite military unit from the U.S and Russia. Episode 7 is another odd one, it's Shaolin Monk v.s Maori Warrior (indigenous people of New Zealand). Episode 9 however is wacky as all hell as it's William Wallace v.s Shaka Zulu (African tribal leader). I honestly hope they make another season, the show is a lot of fun even if it's beyond crazy and weird most of the time.