In my WIP (well...its on hiatus for now, but that's a different story), my MC is fighting this assassin whose main ability is super speed. The MC figures the only way to beat this guy is to damage his legs, so he manages to stab the assassin in the knee with a hidden dagger. How much would that wound affect the assassin's speed? Just for reference the assassin's speed without the wound is supersonic (assisted by magic of course). So with the wound how much would he slow down by do you guys think?
What does the magic overcome, bone strength, reflex, muscle cycle time? Or is your fantasy a soft fantasy? Running at supersonic speeds, even by magic would do far more damage to bone and muscle than a knife would. In my mind, the would would remove the magic effect, and he'd be a normal guy, bleeding from the knee. Depends on where the knife actually goes as to how much it will affect his unaided speed.
I'm not sure how your hero will be able to move fast enough to stick a knife in the assassin's leg fast enoough. The assassin's reflexes would allow him to react as quickly as the tip of the blade begins to penetrate the skin. That aside, if your hero is able to damage the ligaments or tendons, it would make the assassin virtually unable to put any weight on that leg. Even with only one good leg, a hyperspeed assassin would have no difficulty killing your hero before he can even let go of the knife.
Gammer has yet to tell us how good the assassin is or what skills the hero himself has. My experience when I was doing Judo and with my Fedenkrais practice people generally rely on their strengths. Most humans when deprived of their 'super' or better than average powers struggle. Also when someone gets the persons superpowers they tend to garner hope and up their game. All is not lost - and hope is an important giver of strength and ability. We don't even know if both players are human.
Yes both characters are human. The basics are as follows: Assassin: Human male. With the help of magic can reach supersonic speeds, but can only use that maximum only three times a day. Anymore and his body would break down. When using his maximum speed his reflexes and perception speeds up as well, but any other time his reflexes are only slightly faster than average. He's been trained by the villain since he was eight and has notable kills under his belt. Main weapon the katana Hero: Human male also. Has been training for only six months. Makes up for that by being very pragmatic in his fighting, what some would call "underhanded" tactics that catch even the most experienced off guard. (Throwing dirt in the eyes, wearing armor to duels, kicks to the groin, biting, hidden knives etc...) Battlefield is a narrow mountain pass (chosen by the hero) Is that enough info?
Yup that is better - I get the impression arrogance would play a part in your assasin - you get cocky little people with early martial arts training who think they know everything then someone punches them in the right spot on the face and they go running to Mummy lol (speaking from experience would be even better if your MC was a girl) - Similar idea could happen with your assassin. Removing his super powers could actually affect him and make him vulnerable if he has been arrogant and cocky about his previous kills. I know with my characters which I based on my brothers and other boys I knew growing up - get them wrong kind of mad and any martial arts training tends to out the window and they start throwing punches lol I can see that is what happens here it is your story but I would tell it like your assassin has been caught off guard the powers he rely on have gone and he panics just long enough for your MC to get in there and if you want finish him off.
In a real world context, if I could move faster than the speed of sound and had you targeted as my mark, you'd be dead before you ever knew I was there. To put it into a relative context, a sniper's bullet moves faster than the speed of sound and strikes the target before the sound of the gunshot ever reaches the victim's ears. The only way to combat such speed would be to know that he is coming and have a trap set up for him. Better yet, the best way to take down such an assassin would be to go after him, without him knowing you were coming, shoot him in the back, while he is facing away from you, preferably while he's engaged in some other task that has his attention focused (such as reading). Shooting him in the back, while he is asleep would be even better, even if less heroic. I'm not sure if "fighting dirty" would allow your hero to engage, intercept and stab an adversary moving faster than the speed of sound, unless your hero attacked the assassin by surprise, before he was able to call upon his magical speed.
That's true, but a snipers bullet has a rounded tip which is ideal for penetrating the air. A human body is a flat surface so if you were travelling at supersonic speeds (or 768 MPH to be precise) then the effect would be like running through a hurricane. I don't like this whole idea of stabbing the villian in the leg, because if he was travelling at 768 MPH then you would be dead before you even knew what was coming and it wouldn't be like a traditional fight. Maybe the hero catches the villian out of the corner of his eye and stumbles tripping up the villian and sending the villian falling to the ground and breaking his leg in the process.
Surely there would be bone-crushing consequences for both parties if there's any kind of contact between them, with the assassin moving at supersonic speeds?
Stubeard has it absolutely correct. The kinetic energy alone would be horrendous. Your eyes can't track anything close to you that moves more than about 35 - 40 miles per hour. The attacker would be a blur, without distinguishing features of any kind, and even a glancing blow with a handheld weapon would be crippling at that speed. The assassin could quite literally use a drinking straw to destroy his target, assuming the magic the assassin uses to speed up protects the structural integrity of weapons and clothing as well as bones and tendons. (To see what I mean, take a peach or a potato and stab it with a drinking straw. If you are careful to stab "straight" into the flesh, the cylinder is strong enough not to break, and you can go a fair distance in before the straw comes to a stop. Now add superspeed and the accompanying surge in kinetic energy transferred, and your assassin's target is screwed.)
I agree, from the physics angle, but this supersonic speed isn't enabled by any sort of mechanical technology that is subject to physical laws. It is achieved by supernatural means, which implies that such movement is achieved by magic altering the nature of the universe to allow such impossible things in the first place.
