Cú Chulainn vs Achilles (Celtic Mythology vs Greek Mythology)
Cú Chulainn VS Achilles
“Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse.”
- Willard Francis Motley
Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster and demigod Son of Lugh in the Ulster Cycle
Achilles, the greatest of the Greeks and the demigod son of Thetis.
When gods intervene in pointless wars and the other side absolutely dwarfs what might your country can muster, the people need a hero. A one-man army imbued with divine powers to take on armies of men on their own. However, this massive strength will always come at a cost. These heroes of war would know glory, but also a short life and a tragic death of a close ally on their hands in exchange for their fame. They would know nothing but rage and death before their times as soldiers ended, but they’d be celebrated and remembered by their people for centuries to come. If two warriors of this level of power clash, how much blood will be spilled? Who will reign as the greatest hero, Achilles or Cú Chulainn? Who will meet their premature end first? Let’s find out! DISCLAIMER: We are only using the versions found in the original mythology, and not any additional versions. This mean no Fate, Troy, or Smite versions of them are factored into this. They're only used for some gifs and images here and there, and not the research itself.
Background
Cú Chulainn
Thrice born to the mortal woman, Deichtine, as the incarnation and son of the god, Lugh, Sétanta was brought into the world as nephew to Conchobar mac Nessa, King of Ulster. Ever since he was a child, Sétanta was trained by his foster father and noble warrior, Fergus mac Róich, though he still tried to socialize with boys his age. Keyword: “tried”. He entered their playing field without permission or protection, and they all ganged up on him by hurling things at him. To their surprise, not only did he block or tank every object thrown, his body began to morph into a hulking, monstrous form and attacked them in return. This natural talent in violence kept on proving him a ferocious fighter, such as when he was invited to the home of the smith, Culann, and ran into his guard dog. Sétanta ended up killing the hound in self-defense and offered to get Culann a replacement when he found out. In the meantime, Culann told him to guard his home in his dog’s stead, earning him a nickname from the druid Cathbad: Cú Chulainn, which translates as “Hound of Culann”.
Later one day, a young Cú Chulainn overhears Cathbad announce a prophecy, that anyone who was to take up arms on that day will have everlasting fame! Immediately, Cú took up arms with Conchobar, which Cathbad later grieved, telling the boy that the prophecy also doomed Cú to die young. Ever since that fateful day, the demigod grew to be a warrior so overwhelmingly strong that he was feared by entire armies. As a teenager, he later took up a brutal training regimen under the warrior woman, Scathach, sent there to die after the father of a girl named Emer told him this was his trial if he wished to wed his daughter. There, he learned numerous feats and earned his signature weapon, the spear Gae Bolga which can instantly kill any man with barbs so long as it wounds them once. During his stay, he trained alongside a boy named Ferdiad and grew incredibly close. He later bested Scathach’s rival and sister, Aífe, and conceived a child with her under dubious “consent”, to say the least. His training under Scathach completed at 16, it would only take one more year for him to undergo his most famous story: the Cattle Raid of Cooley.
Queen Medb of Connacht was an interesting woman, considering she started a war over a cow. When her husband, King Ailill, compared riches with her, she found that he had a really cool bull when she had no bull to speak of. Her soldiers were sent to find a better cow and eventually found one in Ulster. They successfully negotiated with the owner to rent the bull out for a year, but after overhearing the soldiers say they would have taken it regardless of what he said, he refused on principle. Naturally, Medb went to war. What she didn’t count on, however, was the overwhelming might of Cú Chulainn. He was fighting hundreds of men at once in the stead of his fellow Ulstermen after they came under the curse of the Morrigan, forced to endure the pain of childbirth for several months while Cú was the only one unaffected. No matter what Medb threw at him, be it armies or assassins or ambushes, he wouldn’t falter or go down, leaving them all sniped, beheaded, or obliterated instantly like an Irish Saitama. His might even caught the attention of the Morrigan, the Goddess of War, but Cú spurned her advances and earned her wrath in the form of shapeshifted attempts to interrupt his battles. In response, he even managed to wound her so terribly, she had to trick him to bless her so she could heal.
That’s when Medb pulled the dirtiest trick in the book, bribing and forcing Cú Chulainn to face his former best friend, Ferdiad, whose horn skin couldn’t be pierced by any blade. After three days of tragic battling to bloody stalemates, the battle was finally finished by a decisively deceptive shot by Cú’s Gae Bolga, rendering the normally bloodlusted, rage-filled warrior to grieve terribly for his friend. Eventually, the war came to an end with the Ulstermen coming out on top, but that wasn’t the end of the demigod’s tragedies.
Eight years after his training with Scathach, a boy showed up at his doorstep after humiliating his cousin, Conall, who would not say his name and would accept his challenge to duel Cú Chulainn. Unbeknownst to him, this boy was Connla, his own son by Aífe, who wore a gold thumb-ring and had 3 geas imposed on him: to never speak his name to anyone, to never turn back whenever he started his journey, and to never turn down a challenge. Unfortunately for Cú, after a surprisingly even fight, he had used Gae Bolga on Connla and fatally wounded him, only then seeing the ring and realizing that he had just slain his son. Later on in life, however, Cú Chulainn would soon join him as his enemies conspired to finally have him killed the only way they knew how: to break Cú Chulainn’s own geas.
He was to never eat dog meat, for if he did, he would lose all his strength. Due to a general taboo against turning down hospitality, an old woman who had offered him dog meat had, effectively, doomed him as he ate of the meat. Around then, he also spotted an old woman, the Morrigan in disguise, washing blood off of armor in some water, an omen of incoming death. He realized the prophecy that foretold of his early death was soon to come true, and Cú watched as his charioteer, Laég, and horse, Liath Macha, fell to magical spears made specifically for him as a third struck him aw well. Realizing his death was imminent, Cú Chulainn tied himself to a standing stone so he’d die at his feet, just to intimidate his enemies as one last middle finger to them in death. Once the Morrigan’s raven landed on him, Lugaid, his killer, approached and tried to behead him, only to witness a beam of light emit from the demigod’s body, allowing his lifeless arm to swing down his sword to chop off Lugaid’s hand. Even in his death, his enemies found that the demigod Cú Chulainn was a warrior to be feared. Would he regret choosing to die young in the glory of battle? Probably not.
Achilles
The story of Achilles begins the same way most Greek myths tend to begin…with Zeus attempting to sleep with someone. In this case, it was a sea nymph by the name of Thetis. Thetis was especially beautiful, leading to both Zeus and his brother Poseidon trying to wed her. Despite this, she rejected both repeatedly. Both would soon give up, however, as a prophecy would be read out that the son born to Thetis would end up being superior to that of his father. Poseidon and Zeus, both having a…complicated relationship with overthrowing one’s own father, stopped pursuing her. Free from the pursuit of the two gods, Thetis would end up marrying a human man by the name of Peleus. Peleus was an Argonaut and the king of the Myrmidons, meaning this boy would end up surpassing an incredibly impressive man.
And thus was born Achilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis. As a young baby, Thetis dumped him into the River Styx and fortified him, turning him into an indestructible demigod by human standards. She and Peleus even gave him access to great teachers, such as letting him train under the likes of Chiron the Centaur in all sorts of forms of combat. Even as an infant, the sword wielding prodigy known as Achilles was already showing that he will one day surpass his father. Despite this, Thetis had discovered a horrifying fate for her son. He was to either die young in glorious battle or live a long and boring life without his name ever being recorded in the history books…
Thetis did not want Achilles to have a choice in the matter. Hoping to keep him as far away from the war front as she possibly could, the sea nymph sent Achilles off to the island of Skyros to live as a girl. There, he lived among the daughters of the King of Skyros, and eventually fell in love with Princess Deidamia. An…ambiguously consensual relationship began between the two of them, and Achilles and Deidamia ended up having multiple children. It seemed like Thetis had succeeded, and Achilles was destined to die after a long and quiet life.
Unfortunately for her, the Greeks had other plans. After being sought out by Odysseus due to a prophecy that Achilles would help beat the Trojans, the wise king uncovered Achilles and convinced him to join the Greek war against the Trojans. Taking an army of Myrmidons he had inherited from his father and his close friend Patroclus, Achilles had found himself on a path to an early death.
Achilles battled the Trojans with incredible strength, quickly becoming known as the strongest amongst his allies and receiving all sorts of fame and glory. Despite having a mother to his kids back at home, Achilles decided to take a woman named Briseis as his “prize” after a battle. Achilles loved her, while simultaneously viewing her as a sign of his own glory. This would cause problems when Agamemnon, the leader of the combined Greek forces, decided to take her from Achilles after losing his own prize and plunder due to his prize having been the daughter of one of Apollo’s prophets. Enraged, Achilles refused to partake in any further battles. This proved to be a problem, as the Trojans led by Hector proved to be a formidable force. Eventually softening up a bit, Achilles sent his friend Patroclus to fight in his stead…who promptly died to Hector. Enraged, Achilles rejoined the war and went on a murderous rampage that left the Trojans running. Achilles avenged Patroclus and slaughtered Hector, and eventually smashed the gate of the Trojan city of Troy right off of its hinges in pursuit of more glory.
Achilles was out of time, however. He would never see the fall of Troy, as a divinely guided arrow would soon make its way to his heel. Unbeknownst to Achilles, it seemed that there was a part of his body that wasn’t so invincible after all…
And thus, the Greek hero Achilles had fallen. Having a choice between glory and a young death and a long yet quiet life, he had chosen the former and paid the ultimate price.
Equipment
Cú Chulainn
Sling
Cú's killed hundreds of men with a sling in battle. He’s managed to land shots on pets perched on the shoulders of people an implied far distance away. His sling also usually managed to "break the heads" of men whenever it struck them or perform impossible ricochet shots. Stones shot from this sling have broken the heads of men in one shot and are nearly always lethal.
Hurley and Sliotar
The hurley is a wooden stick primarily used to play the Irish sports of hurling and camogie. A sliotar is a hard, solid ball slightly larger than a tennis ball used in those same sports. Cú Chulainn used these in his early days when going up against mobs of children around the same age and to defend himself against Culann’s guard hound with a well hurled shot.
Gae Bolga
Cú Chulainn’s signature weapon, the spear gifted to him by his mentor, Scathach, made of the bones of a sea monster. Translated as “belly spear”, it opens up into thirty barbs and fills every nook and cranny of a man's body with barbs when it draws blood. These barbs are impossible to take out without cutting into the body itself, and the spear can be flung with the fork of Cú's foot. Normally, this weapon is used as a last resort.
Horses, the Scythed-Chariot, and Láeg’s Cloaking Spell
Cú Chulainn's chariot is bristled with blades at several angles and corners at the front and back. His horses were also decked out in armor that was steel plated and spiked with blades and spear-points. Láeg, his charioteer, has a plated helmet and access to an invisibility spell. Liath Macha (aka the "Gray Horse of Macha") and Dub Sainglend (aka the "Black Horse of Saingliu") are Cú Chulainn's two chariot-horses.
Invisibility Cloak
Cú Chulainn owns an invisibility cloak made of cloth from Tir Tairngire, the Land of Promise, which was a gift from his foster father, Fergus mac Róich.
Spears, Short Swords, Javelins, Darts, Double-Dealing Shields
Cú Chulainn also carried normal spears with him. It’s unclear whether one of them was Gae Bolga, but he carried 8 little spears. He also carried 8 light javelins with bone hilts. 8 short swords and a gleaming bone-hilted sword. 8 small darts and a special barbed dart known as the Riddling-Rod. 8 double-dealing shields that are said to be razor sharp enough to cut a hair, capable of slicing like a sword or spear.
Leather Battle-Girdle and War-Helmet
Cú Chulainn's battle-girdle covers him from his waist to his armpits, which blocks spears, pikes, lances, darts and arrows as if they had struck rock. He also has a war-helmet, which doesn't really do anything, but it looks nice.
Magical Fake Beard
When Cú Chulainn entered battle, he would be mocked for having no beard and his foes would sometimes refuse to fight a teenager. Angered by this, he cast a spell on a clump of grass and placed it on his face to make it magically seem like a real beard so the enemy will actually fight him, which somehow meant it was now proper for a warrior to face him.
Achilles
Spear of Pelian Ash
The primary weapon of Achilles. The spear once belonged to his father, Peleus, and Achilles is seen wielding it all throughout the end of the Iliad when he goes on his rampage. The spear has no noticeable qualities, aside from the ability to seemingly heal wounds. It is somewhat ambiguous as to whether or not this is only limited to being able to heal wounds dished out by the spear itself.
Silver Studded Sword
Although not his preferred weapon in comparison to his spear, Achilles does carry a silver studded sword on him. He shows great skill, however, in using this sword in conjunction with his spear. One such example is when he used it to disembowel a demigod he was fighting after distracting him with his spear.
Shield
Achilles’ heavily described shield (over 150 lines just to describe what it looked like!) was crafted by the Greek God Hephaestus as a gift to Achilles after Patroclus had managed to die with all of Achilles’ armor on him. The shield was incredibly powerful as a result of its divine creation, with the gold on it specifically being referenced as “god-given” and “impenetrable”.
Armor
Across the course of his life, Achilles has had two different sets of armor. The first set of armor, which he famously lent to Patroclus, had the following pieces: the corselet of Aiacides, greaves with silver anklets, and a helmet. It was such an impressive set of armor that it was coveted by the likes of Hector, even.
However, upon losing his armor, Achilles was gifted a new set of armor by Hephaestus. It was described as having a corselet that shone brighter than fire, a strong helmet with a golden crest, and flexible tin greaves. Despite how heavy an armor like this might sound, Achilles himself noted that the armor felt so light on him that it was as if he could fly.
Immortal Horses, Chariot, and Charioteer
Alongside all of his weapons and armor, Achilles also has a chariot driven by his charioteer, Automedon. The interesting part of his chariot are the horses who drive it, Balios and Xanthos. Both horses are an immortal gift from Poseidon, and are described as being as swift as the winds themselves. There’s also a mortal horse there as well named Pedasos, who can seemingly keep up with the immortal horses in speed and stamina.
Abilities
Cú Chulainn
Ríastrad / Warp Spasm / The Torque
Often described as a sort of “distortion”, when enraged to a sufficient degree, Cú Chulainn is capable of having his form morph and distort terribly. This often involves one eye being larger than the other which shrinks, and his maw appears to grow wider and larger, enough that you’re able to see his insides. His hair stands at ends and his legs face the rear, becoming an abomination of rage. He effectively “Hulks out”, the form is described in different terms, such as Ríastrad, Warp Spasm, or the Torque. There’s no indication that this changes his strength or judgment in any way, however. This form is often interpreted as having come from Cú Chulainn’s divine influence from Lugh as his avatar/incarnation.
The Thunder-Feat and Other Taught Feats
Cú Chulainn was said to have killed 500 men with one use of his thunder-feat in battle. It’s never described what the thunder-feat actually is, but it kills hundreds of men with one use of it, which could be interpreted as an area of effect attack. He learned this, along with various other feats that aren’t described beyond name, from his mentor, Scathach.
Heat Manipulation
Cú Chulainn is capable of manipulating the heat around him enough to boil water. He first used this when distracted by… naked women and looking away, which led to him getting dunked into various barrels full of cold water, which he either blew up or boiled the water from the inside. Water begins to boil at 212 degrees Fahrenheit/100 degrees Celsius, meaning this is his minimum heat output.
Warrior’s Roar
Cú Chulainn can kill 100 warriors from fright by shouting a war cry so intimidating that their hearts fail or burst. However, Nemain, another name for Morrigan, the Goddess of War, likely assisted with this.
Hero’s Salmon-Leap
Without ever taking his eyes off of birds he was focusing on hunting, Cú Chulainn made a trick jump onto 9 stakes that were thrown at him, jumping from stake to stake as they were flying through the air. These stakes are equivalent to darts, landing this feat at least around 62 mph. His salmon-leap has been used various times to jump great distances or used in combat, although none of these feats mentioned a specific height. One salmon-leap helped him jump over three ramparts.
The Ball-Feat / Ricochet Stun Shot
One of many ricochet attacks. Cú Chulainn can ricochet a ball off of a shield and through the enemy’s head for a lethal blow. He can also ricochet his sling between at least 12 targets, which he proved upon slaying 8 and 12 birds at once with a single shot.
Post-Mortem Defenses
As Cú Chulainn was struck down by Lugaid's spear, while dying he used his own entrails to tie himself to a standing rock and raised his sword to the heavens. When one of his enemies, Lugaid, tried to approach his body to claim his head, where he was proven dead by the Morrigan's raven landing on him, a light flashed/a beam of light shot from his headless body and caused his blade to fall, cutting Lugaid's hand off. This only happened because Lugaid tried to tamper with his body, and this was invoked because his soul was still with him and a "hero's light" was still emitting from his forehead.
Resistance to Sleep Manipulation
A sleeping potion was once given to him by Scathach to save him from losing his life in battle with Princess Aife, but it would be processed through his system in only an hour, whereas an ordinary man would be asleep for a day.
Achilles
Invulnerability
The most popular ability of that of Achilles is his famous invincibility. There are two potential origins for his invulnerable body, either coming from his mother Thetis burning his mortality off of his body with flames or by repeatedly dipping into the River Styx. Regardless, his skin was made so super humanly durable as to the point of being completely impenetrable to steel and for parts of his body like his hands to be considered invincible. In spite of this, his heel was famously unaffected by this invincibility, as this was where his mother Thetis had held him during both versions of him becoming invincible.
Training
Achilles is an incredibly well trained individual. From an incredibly young age, he was already wielding weapons and not long after that he was trained in a multitude of weapons such as spears, darts, javelins, bows, swords, and pliant thongs. He’s also very well knowledgeable on armor, being capable of identifying a weak point in Hector’s armor at a quick glance and then immediately taking advantage of it.
His knowledge of combat goes beyond weapons and armor, however. Achilles is also well trained in forms of hand to hand combat, such as wrestling and boxing.
Feats
Cú Chulainn
Overall
Defeated the guard hound of Culann in self-defense, which earned him his new name: Cú Chulainn, translated as “Hound of Culann”.
Trained since he was a child by his foster father and noble warrior, Fergus mac Róich.
Studied under Scathach’s brutal training regimen and passed.
Was explicitly sent to Scathach with the intention of not making it out alive.
Defeated Princess Aífe, Scathach’s sister and rival.
Defeated most of Queen Medb's army and assassination attempts single handedly and with ease, sometimes with some assistance from other Ulstermen.
Heavily wounded the Morrigan, the Goddess of War, after she tried to disrupt his battles while shapeshifted into an eel, wolf, and heifer.
Killed his former best friend Ferdiad, who was stated to be Connla’s equal and covered in horn skin which “no weapon or blade could pierce”, after 3 days of stalemate combat, ending with an instant kill from a precise shot with Gae Bolga, which Ferdiad feared.
Killed Connla, his son by Aífe, who matched him in combat until the use of Gae Bolga.
Was able to shave hair from a man's head with a sword so precisely that it looked like it was done with a razor without leaving a scratch on his scalp.
Once tossed 50 needles into the air one by one and pierced each needle into the eye of the previous one without missing a single shot.
Power
As a child, defeated 50 children around his age after the Torque seized him.
Once chopped down an oak tree in one slice.
Sliced the fork of a tree at the trunk and planted it into the ground with nothing but his own strength.
Once punched a man's forehead so hard he crushed the man's skull into his brain.
Lifted a bed with 30 grown men on top of it.
Broke a stone plinth simply by stretching when he was waking up.
Killed 9 men with just his hurley stick and sling.
Fired his spear at two men, going clean through and breaking the back of one and tearing the other to pieces where he stood.
Killed 6 armed men that ganged up on him while unarmed.
Killed 100 warriors in battle, and then another 100 while sniping with his sling.
Encircled the four provinces of Ireland with rock that he dug up from the ground with his chariot. 15.25 Tons of TNT.
The holes were large enough that it could fit an outer rampart of an armed camp.
He then encircled their camp six times with walls of fallen enemy corpses.
Heavily injured the Morrigan, who once cast a storm of fire and blood on the battlefield of the First Battle of Mag Tuired, which lasted for three days.
Sometimes described as a trinity of goddesses (Badb, Macha, and Nemain), the Morrigan had to trick Cú Chulainn into blessing her to heal from those wounds.
23.98 Tons of TNT overall, or 7.99 Tons of TNT if only a third of the power is counted due to the trinity interpretation.
Demolished an entire house himself out of revenge to kill numerous women inside after they brutally killed Princess Derbforgaill out of jealousy.
Scales to Conall Cernach, his older cousin, who once ate most of a pig that was at least 40 oxen long, and weighed around the same. 1.32 Tons of TNT.
Connla bested Cú Chulainn’s older cousin, Conall Cernach, which allows Cú Chulainn to scale to Conall as well.
Destroyed the Lia Fáil after it refused to cry out to decree his friend, Lugaid, king.
Speed
Beheaded four experienced warriors in quick succession.
As a kid, blocked 150 javelins with his toy shield and 150 hurleys with his hurley.
Without taking his eyes off birds he was hunting, he trick jumped onto 9 stakes/darts that were thrown at him, jumping from them as they were flying through the air. At least 62 mph.
Can outspeed and capture two running deer. 40-50 mph.
His chariot can catch up to the wind and birds in flight, along with catching a stone he'd fired from his sling before it hit the ground.
Scales to Conall Cernach, whose pig feast that was 40 oxen long and weighed the same was consumed quickly enough to fight the men who were angry at their portion size soon after.
Durability
Survived 50 wounds, whatever that means.
Wounds during his battle with Ferdiad that were large enough for “birds to fly through”.
During his three days of battle with Ferdiad, both he and Cú Chulainn needed to be healed after each day of battle from terrible injuries that needed magic to heal.
Barely survived after his body was covered in so many wounds that the tip of a rush plant was the minimum measurement to see a spot of his body that wasn't wounded.
While mortally wounded in his weakened state after breaking his geas, he took the time to visit a lake to have a sip and wash himself up before heading to his death voluntarily.
Scales to Conall, who survived taking in those calories from that massive pig as mentioned in the Power section.
Scales to Cethern, who:
Achilles
Overall
Became one of the greatest known Greek heroes in all of Greek Mythology
Managed to take entire towns and cities from the Trojans.
Managed to surpass his father, the Argonaut Peleus.
Defeated the demigod Asteropaeus while only suffering from a single blow.
Was instrumental in helping the Achaeans defeat the Trojans.
Avenged Patroclus by defeating Hector, the mightiest of the Trojans.
Power
Was considered to be the mightiest of the Greeks.
Killed a lioness as a small child.
Threw a discus so high into the sky that it vanished out of sight. (981.2 Kilojoules)
Impaled the demigoddess daughter of Ares through her breastplate.
Beat a man’s head into dust. (18 Kilojoules)
Ripped an entire tree out of the ground. Said tree was so big that it managed to completely dam up Scamander’s river.
Scales above the rest of his Achaean allies.
Speed
Spent the entirety of the Trojan War dodging the likes of javelins, spears, and flung rocks.
Even as a child he was faster than that of horses and centaurs.
Hector, another Trojan who Achilles matched in battle, was stated to move as fast as a swooping eagle. Eagles can move up to 200mph.
Was described as being able to move as fast as a swooping falcon while chasing Hector around Troy, which can reach speeds of up to 200mph.
Capable of fighting while on his chariot, which is governed by horses that are described as “fast as the winds”. Average wind speed in Greece is about 12 miles per hour.
Capable of throwing a discus at such speeds that it travels far enough away to disappear from sight.
Durability
As a baby, survived flames hot enough to burn off his own mortality.
Constantly referred to as physically “invincible”.
Early in his training, Achilles was strong enough to struggle against a river current.
Achilles’ divine shield completely stops an attack from a spear with the gold portions on it. This shield is also stated to be impenetrable.
Similarly made shields by Hephaestus could stand up under the assault of gods. Heracles used a shield like this while fighting Ares and his son, and Ares is capable of moving planets. (44.47 Zettatons of TNT)
Achilles’ armor from Hephaestus is reasonably on a similar level to his shield.
Took a complete beating from the currents of the river god Scamander.
Weaknesses
Cú Chulainn
Despite his immense strength, Cú Chulainn’s main strategy during combat is usually brute force, with his most strategic moves usually just ending up being ricochets, sniping, or precise shots, so he’s not necessarily one to use complex tactics nor is he level headed in any sense. His impulsive personality has also led to severe consequences several times. After attacking two women, Fand and Lí Ban in bird form, which he was unaware were not just simple birds, the two otherworldly women cast an illness curse on Cú Chulainn, debilitating him for an entire year to his bed. Cú Chulainn was also explicitly warned against doing so previously. He then forgot the entire affair of this story after being subjected to druidic incantations and a forgetfulness potion so that he'll never meet Fand again, meaning he’s susceptible to memory erasure magic.
However, his most damning weakness is his geas, a taboo that he shouldn’t break unless he wants to lose his incredible strength. This rule was that he was never to eat dog meat. It was generally a taboo to refuse hospitality, so despite trying to refuse to eat hound meat offered to him by a woman, Cú ate the meat. This led to him losing all strength around where the food touched him, severely weakening him and leading to his death by spear.
Achilles
Despite the impressiveness of Achilles’ immortal body, there are some very explicit limitations on it. Famously, Achilles’ heel is not as invulnerable as the rest of him is, and was famously pierced by a shot from Paris, which was guided by Apollo. Despite this seeming like a difficult to discover and exploit weakness, it is worth mentioning that the absolute invulnerability of the rest of Achilles is also somewhat inconsistent. While he is repeatedly stated to be invincible and incapable of harm from steel weapons, a fellow demigod once managed to draw blood from Achilles by hitting his arm with a spear, calling into question the limitations of Achilles’ complete invulnerability.
On top of this, Achilles has a weakness in that he does not firmly understand just how powerful the divine armor he wears is. As stated by the narrator, it is incredibly hard to master armor like that if one is a mortal, and Achilles himself even demonstrates this when he pulls his shield away from a hit, not understanding that it would not break from the attack he refused to block.
Summary
Cú Chulainn
Advantages:
Way stronger
More durable than Achilles can output
Has more stamina and endurance
Better range and possible AOE
Gae Bolga is an instant kill if he draws a single wound
More versatile abilities and arsenal
Resists any attempts at putting him to sleep
SMT and Fate designs look badass despite looking nothing like him.
Allowed into heaven by Saint Patrick despite the mass murder
Disadvantages:
Way slower regardless of highballed or lowballed speed
Cannot pierce the armor and shield of Achilles
Impulsive and not nearly as tactical
Normally a big fish in a small pond aside from two opponents
Achilles
Advantages:
Faster
Armor and Shield are more durable than Cú can output.
Smarter and more tactical
Has experience fighting enemies he can’t hurt physically
Resists Cú’s heat manipulation
Probably a better dad on account of not killing his own kid
Disadvantages:
Massively weaker
Could be killed in one blow if an attack hits his bare skin
Less versatile
Has no answer for Cú’s invisibility or potential AOE attacks
Inferior stamina and endurance
Any attempt at putting Cú to sleep would fail
Verdict
Stats
In this debate, stats are the easiest part to talk about. The two are very clear in where they scale and how powerful they are, so comparing this part of the debate is fairly simple. Starting with Cú Chulainn, he has demonstrated multiple feats and scaling from the building to the city block range. Starting off with scaling to Connal, who ate an absolutely ludicrously sized pig, Cú Chulainn is already in the building range of attack potency. From his own feats alone, he’s even dug up enough rock around the provinces of Ireland that he could build a wall with them. Even with a low end estimate, that’s putting him at around 15 tons of TNT for his attack potency. Similar scaling to the Morrigan, who he harmed and took hits from, further put Cú Chulainn solidly in the city block range of AP. His durability should naturally be in the same ballpark, otherwise he’d break his arms after stabbing with that kind of strength.
Speed is a little bit less impressive for the Celtic hero. He has done plenty of superhuman showings, but nothing getting over one hundred miles per hour. He’s dodged and even lept from stakes being thrown at him, and can even outrun deer…but he has nothing breaking past either of those feats. Definitely beyond human, but Cú Chulainn is up against someone who’s just as superhuman as he is. Could he be faster than Achilles?
Before we get to that, let’s take a peek at Achilles. His attack potency is fairly solidly wall level, with none of his definable feats such as throwing that discus or pulverizing heads getting out of the kilojoule range. Impressive, but completely dwarfed by what we have seen from Cú. Luckily for Achilles, his durability is much more impressive. Having a shield from Hephaestus, which is described as being impenetrable and divine, should be comparable to other works Hephaestus has made. Based on this, Achilles’ shield and armor being comparable to gods like Ares should not be out of the question. With Ares having planet moving power, it’s safe to say that the armored parts of Achilles’ body are packing some serious defenses. Speed is even more clearly in his favor, as he’s been compared to swooping falcons which can travel over 200mph and has battled boars stated to have the speed of lightning. Achilles is on a low end about three times faster than Cú, and over four THOUSAND times faster at most.
Taking these stats together, it’s a very interesting comparison. Cú Chulainn has the power to pound Achilles into dust, but only if he manages to hit him in a part of his body that is not armored. Meanwhile, Achilles has no means of physically harming Cú with physical strength, but has the speed and defenses to keep fighting with his Irish foe without being instantly plastered against the nearest wall. So, the question remains: Can Achilles use this speed and durable to overcome Cú Chulainn?
Abilities / Equipment
In terms of versatility, it’s clear which warrior takes that edge. Cú Chulainn’s sheer amount of abilities, techniques, and number of weapons outnumbers how much Achilles is capable of or has on his person. It could also overwhelm Achilles and surprise him, because there’s no possible way he’ll be able to predict Cú Chulainn hulking out into a monster, turning invisible, or ricocheting shots from his sling into 12 possible angles. On the flipside, there’s no way that Cù Chulainn would be able to figure out the vulnerability at Achilles’s heel. Plus, Achilles’s armor and shield are far too durable on their own for Cù to come even close to denting.
But, that’s about where Achilles’s advantages start to fall off. He has no counter against Cù Chulainn, simply targeting the parts of his body which are exposed (which includes his heel). His sleep medicine would also be resisted by Cú Chulainn, and Achilles doesn’t have much in the way of ranged attacks, so he could theoretically be kept at a distance.
Of course, none of this matters if Cù Chulainn’s weapons can’t pierce through Achilles’s famous invincibility. However, an argument can be made that allows for his skin to be pierced specifically in this battle. During his fight with Asteropaios, Achilles was actually directly wounded for the first time in his mythos. See, Asteropaios was actually the son of a demigod (which still makes him at least one fourth demigod), Peladon who was the son of the river god Axios, and his strike on his arm with his spear was enough to actually draw blood despite the invincibility from the River Styx. This suggests that this invulnerability actually has limits aside from the famous weak point. And, surprisingly, Cú Chulainn fits every factor at play during that scenario and more. He’s the direct descendant of a god, Lugh and a mortal woman, plus he’s adept at spears and his strength is far greater than Achilles. This means that he can use his signature weapon, the Gae Bolga spear, to, likely, draw blood at least once with a strike that uses enough force. Considering Gae Bolga only requires one wound before the barbs kill men instantly from the inside, this would meet all the requirements needed to actually one shot Achilles with a lucky hit. However, would he be able to land this lucky hit?
Note: Some consider Achilles’ invincibility to be something that was tacked on by myths AFTER the Iliad. That may be the case, but even factoring that in, said invincibility has never taken a blow from someone as powerful as Cù before, so the point is moot.
Tertiary Factors
Both of these warriors are impressive fighters, but Achilles is the smarter one when you compare the two. He’s been formally trained since he was an infant, and led a much more disciplined life as a soldier fighting during the Trojan war. He’s been praised by geniuses like Odysseus for his fighting ability, and has shown quick thinking in combat before, such as taking advantage of Astereopaios’ attempts to pluck his spear from the ground to disembowel him. His only downside is his lack of understanding in his own gear, as it is noted by the narrator that Achilles does not understand just how busted his armor truly is. He is prone to rage, but as Patroclus won’t be on the battlefield to be killed by Cù, this is a moot point.
Cù Chulainn on the other hand is much more of a reckless brute, and has not demonstrated intelligence on Achilles’ level. He’s gotten into dangerous situations by being a brute, and his only example of tactics tend to be him either sniping people from a distance or planning out and executing crazy ricochet shots. Impressive, but he’s not as trained and experienced as Achilles is.
Achilles is the runner up in the stamina department. Cù has managed to keep fighting with wounds so large birds can fly through it, and has even fought for a day straight. While Achilles encircling Troy while chasing Hector is impressive, Cù has him rather obviously beat in this category as well.
In terms of weaknesses, neither can really exploit the others. Achilles would have no idea about Cù’s specific weakness with dog meat, and Achilles having a normal durability heel is not a rational guess anyone would come to. So, neither really need to worry about their specific weaknesses in this fight. With this out of the way, who comes out on top?
Conclusion
Despite the advantages he has going for him, Achilles simply does not have the means necessary to overcome the massive strength advantage that Cù Chulainn has on the Greek warrior. Nothing in Achilles’ arsenal can harm Cù at any point, and all Cù needs is a single drop of spilled blood to leave the warrior filled up from head to toe with barbs. Even assuming the high end for Achilles’ speed and giving him that massive speed blitz would only be delaying the inevitable. Achilles does not have the stamina to outlast Cù at all, and Cù has multiple ways of hitting Achilles that he cannot really counter. Stuff like the Thunder-Feat might provide such massive AOE to the point Achilles cannot dodge at all, and a surprise ricochet shot could take the Greek out of the fight before he even realizes what is going on. Or, he could simply become invisible and stab him without him realizing where his opponent was.
Achilles simply has too many ways to die, and Cù is pretty much able to shut down any attempt that Achilles might have at trying to kill him. Achilles could fight him to exhaustion and try to suffocate him like he did Cycnus, but Cù’s superior stamina and endurance would mean that Achilles gets exhausted before Cù does.
In the end, Cù simply had all of the advantages that matter. Achilles may have been swift and had the armor of the gods, but the Hound of Chulainn had what he needed to send the Greek to an early grave.
The winner is Cù Chulainn.
(Art by Rei Ann Vincent)
All important calculations can be found here.
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