Asha Greyjoy vs. Brienne of Tarth vs. Dacey Mormont vs. Obara Sand

[Oakhearts head]

So, most would agree these four are the best (or at least the most well known) female warriors alive at the beginning of A Game of Thrones. In a neutral setting, who would come out on top in a fight?

For the sake of fairness, all four are on foot and the fight takes place in Daznaks Pit :

- Asha is in chainmail hauberk with boiled leather, armed with her trademark Axe and Dirk.

- Brienne is in full plate armour with a Longsword and dagger.

- Dacey is dressed in ringmail armour and armed with a spiked mace.

- Obara is dressed in light armour and armed with her Spear, Whip and steel/copper Shield (almost identical garb to Oberyn).


Who wins and why? Give reasoning.

[PrinceHenryris]

Brienne is too big and powerful for the other ladies.

[Oakhearts head]

16 minutes ago, PrinceHenryris said:

Brienne is too big and powerful for the other ladies.

I could see this being the case for Asha and Dacey, but you couldn't see Brienne vs. Obara playing out in a similar fashion to Gregor vs. Oberyn? The larger fighter in heavy armor against the lighter foe with the longer reach.

Granted, Brienne is smarter and more skilled than Gregor.

[Knight of Onions]

I think in single combat, Brienne is the strongest. She was good enough to secure herself a place on Renly's rainbow guard, which puts her among the best fighters of the Stormlands and the Reach.

Obara as Oberyn's daughter should not be underestimated either. She is probably among Dorne's best fighters, but we can't quite judge her yet, as we have not seen her in combat yet.

Asha is a fierce fighter, but she is not as strong as Brienne, and she has not faced nearly as skilled opponents as Brienne and won. Admittedly, she and her men were massively outnumbered by Stannis' forces at Deepwood Motte. I don't think she could beat Brienne in direct combat, but out of the four mentioned, I think she has the most experience at leading men into battle out of the four you mentioned.

Dacey Mormont was one of Robb's personal guards at the Whispering Wood, fighting directly beside him. She was certainly good, but since Robb's battles are seldomly directly shown in the books, it's hard to tell how good she actually was.

[Lord Vance II]

Brienne has the most real training and better size. I'd take her over any of them hands down. 

Asha is probably second. 

Can't really decide between the last two...probably Dacey because I just don't like the Sand Snakes. 

[Ser Something]

The advantages of full plate armour cannot be underestimated.

It's a bit of a myth that it's really heavy and slows people down massively. If she has her visor down it will impair her vision quite a bit, which her opponent could take advantage of if they are clever, but she can always fight with visor up. Depends on the helmet design as well.

Full plate and two hands free to wield a longsword is a pretty damn good combo. (There is often a lot of confusion over what a longsword is in fantasy literature - in the really world at least, longswords were around in the late middle ages, and were, surprise surprise, longer than other swords. They were designed to be used with two hands, but weren't massive heavy things, and could easily be used one-handed too. Hand-and-a-half swords really.)

Assuming two warriors have equal skill, a longsword will give you huge advantages over a shorter axe or mace. In fact a mace is a pretty useless weapon for foot combat - really short reach, MUCH shorter than the longsword. They were used more for mounted combat - imagine you have ridden your horse right up next to another mounted, armoured knight in battle. You haven't got room to be swinging swords around - you need a short weapon to just smash him round the head with as you control your horse with the other hand! That's what maces and warhammers were for.

If Dacey really does fight on foot with a mace, she would surely have a shield as well. Shields are VERY useful. Instantly will give her a massive boost versus Brienne with her longsword.

Same goes for Asha. Axe and dirk? Axe and shield would be much more useful.

A whip... Well that really is a stupid weapon to be honest. Sure, a skilled user might potentially be able to disarm someone with it... I guess? Bit of a party trick though. But generally it's not gonna do much. It's sure not gonna bother Brienne in her full plate. Why hit someone in the face with a whip when you can do the same with a bladed weapon? However, a spear and shield is a good combo, giving good reach and defense. Obara should just chuck the whip and stick with spear and shield.

Chainmail and ringmail are the same thing. Let's just call it mail. It's great for stopping cuts, but not so much against well-placed thrusts from Brienne's longsword. And we can probably assume the characters you mentioned aren't clad head-to-toe in it - they probably have weak spots which will be very vulnerably to the longsword. Meanwhile Brienne is only really vulnerable in the gaps between plates and if she has her visor up, but I think she is skilled enough to keep her enemy's weapons away from her face.

Brienne wins!

[naseridrl]

I think Dacey shouldn't be underestimated, she has seen a lot of real fighting in war. She's surely been trained in her life considering the women of Bear Island seem to have quite a combat culture embodied by the Mormont women, and she was on Robb's personal guard. She's also big at 6ft, not as big as Brienne granted but likely bigger than Asha.  Obara I'm not sure about she's described as big boned and tall.  We don't really know enough about any of them when it come to fighting beyond Brienne who's fought multiple people across many POV chapter.

I'd go Brienne then Dacey, then Asha, and Obara last simply because she's the one where there is the least information to go on.  

[Lord of Raventree Hall]

Not only does Brienne win because she is bigger and stronger, but she is also better trained. As well, Brienne doesn't need to be up against these women, as she would take out most of the men (except perhaps Gregor Clegane) in a one-on-one fight. Also, and finally, why does it matter. I think if any of these women were real and were asked, they would want to be compared to everyone (men and women) and not just other women. 

[Oakhearts head]

Raven Tree, that's like saying Ronda Rousey should be fighting men. It doesn't matter that she could kick a lot of grown men's asses, it's just interesting seeing her fight other women.

Don't be that guy.

[Lord Corlys Velaryon]

Interesting ... As others have said, it's hard to bet against Brienne in full plate (which she can bear fine) & with a longsword. Still, Asha's chances would improve with a few of her husbands (throwing axes) & she's one to carry extra blades on her. Dacey would probably do ok. Obara, though she likely is, would have to be very good with her weapons to have a decent chance.

[Ser Arthur Hightower]

Brienne is the only one of those listed who has shown any serious fighting prowess, so Brienne.

[Lion of the West]

My money is also on Brienne, in particular since she could unlike the others also be using a Valyrian steel sword.