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Wands at the Ready! Harry Potter vs. Merlin

Posted on 28 April 2009

Tags: Harry Potter, Merlin, Wands at the Ready, wizards

One of my favorite scenes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the first time Harry duels with Malfoy in a wizards’ duel. Like a deadly game of chess, wand meets wand, spell counters spell, and cunning eventually wins the day. Of course, like any other fantasy fanatic, I immediately started pitting my favorite wizards and witches against each other.

Forget Deadliest Warrior, the new Spike TV series that pits famous warriors from history against each other — spell battles are the fights I’d rather see!

Just imagine. The spells! The power! I get fairy dust leaking out of my ears just thinking about.

The first two sorcerers I would give anything to see get into the ring are the ubiquitous Mr. Potter and the eponymous hero of the new BBC series, Merlin.

Who would win? That’s exactly what this article is determined to find out.

Before we go into the fight proper, a brief introduction of the two contenders is in order (although perhaps hardly necessary).

In one corner, we have Harry Potter, the hero in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series and a child wizarding prodigy. The books follow his journey to a young adult with his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasly, mastering spell-casting and eventually leading to a confrontation with the dark wizard Voldemort, who is so powerful adult wizards dare not speak his name.

In the other corner, we have Merlin from the new BBC UK TV series, a re-imagination of the archetypal British myth. In the series we observe young Merlin who arrives fresh at Camelot only to discover he must protect young Prince Arthur while hiding his mystical nature because Arthur’s father has outlawed all magic in the kingdom!

Introductions aside let’s see who would win in a duel between these magical prodigies:

Category	Harry Potter	Merlin
Wizarding Pedigree	Born to James and Lily Potter, both talented wizards, Harry Potter is remarkably adapt at producing powerful versions of spell.	Born of the Old Religion, Merlin has an instinctive knowledge of sorcery and uses it as naturally as breathing.
Great Destiny	Harry Potter is destined to be the wizard who will face and defeat the dark mage Voldemort who once threatened to rule the wizarding world with his dark arts.	Merlin is destined to be the architect of the Golden Age of Camelot, protector of King Arthur and the most powerful mage in Albion.
Illustrious Mentors	Harry is backed by Albus Dumbledore, foremost wizard, headmaster of Hogwarts school of wizardry and the mage second most feared in all the realm after Voldemort (and I’d wager would have been first but for his goodness).	Gaius, the royal physician. Non-magical but full of sage wisdom, fatherly protectiveness and craftiness. Of course, Merlin is also tutored in secret by …
Mystical Allies	Fawkes, Dumbledore’s pet Phoenix. Able to resurrect itself, heal its allies with its tears and teleport through flames, Fawkes has also proven itself a worthy adversary in combat against the dreaded Basilisk.	… The Great Dragon. So powerful Uther fears it and has it chained beneath the castle. A master of magic, he is several times Merlin’s and has a fearsome physique. He also willingly tutors Merlin in mastering his magical powers. A formidable foe if freed.
Arcane Tools of Might	A special wand destined to be used by Harry made of holly wood with a phoenix feather at its core.	A Sidhe staff and a book of spells carefully smuggled to Merlin by Gaius.
Specialty Spells	Harry is famous for his stunning spell Stupefy and the disarming Expelliarmus. His most famous spell is a powerful protective charm proof against dark powers called Patronus, and his version is the most powerful ever seen. Harry has also stooped to using dark magic such as the Cruciatus curse, so he fights dirty too.	Merlin is capable of using the Sidhe staff to accomplish great feats of telekinesis and also seems to be able to dilate time, slowing down a fight thus giving him an edge in countering his foes. While not a master of more potent and flashy spells the Great Dragon is willing to arm him with potent enchanted swords… like one named Exacalibur!
Combat Strategies	Harry relies on courage, gumption, and sheer willpower to face down the toughest opponents. By the end of the series, Harry is an accomplished duelist, trains a group of students to fight dark wizards, and defeats the greatest evil his world has known.	Merlin is not quite a toe to toe combatant. He tends to fight subtly, having been forced to live by cunning while sorcery is outlawed. Thus he works through his environment, whilst invisible or by proxy through Prince Arthur. He has faced some tough customers and trained assassins with many more years of experience.
Verdict: Merlin wins by a hair Harry certainly has many things going in his favor. Aside from having direct combat experience, he has shown tenacity in overwhelming odds and is willing to delve into forbidden magics when the situation warrants it. However, Merlin has the advantage of cunning and practiced sneakiness – he could certainly surprise Harry with his knowledge of enchantment, and his telekinesis should be a match for Harry’s standby Expelliarmus move. In the end, four words make me favor Merlin as the winner: Great Dragon and Excalibur!