Let me clear what this versus is NOT -- it is not "Who would you want as a girlfriend" or "Who is hotter" comparison. This is no different than a regular Versus matching Superman against Batman or whatnot. Any "Rawr, catfight!" comments will be deleted without warning.
So the scenario here is, who would win in a straight-up fight between these two awesome heroines?
At one level, this is a classic battle between science and magic. Would Leia's blaster and Empire-level tech trump Hermione's extremely flexible wand and encyclopedic arcane knowledge?
On another level, any fight is about the individuals involved. Both of these women are battle-hardened veterans, used to close combat and the violence of a fight. Leia's led troops, brought down Imperial Stormtroopers, raced through dense forest on highly questionable speeders, and resisted interrogation by one of the most powerful forces in the galaxy. This is one tough cookie.
But Hermione has also resisted assault from the most powerful force in her world. She's gone toe-to-toe with Death Eaters and worse, and held up better than some of the supposedly dedicated warriors around her. And all while she was just a kid! She's also whip-smart, much more so than Leia.
So who do you think would come out the victor in a contest between these two?
I have to ask, is this strictly Movie Leia, or does it include the Star Wars Extended Universe? Because in the EU though she never raises to Jedi level she has received training in and has some Force abilities.
Good question. I’d say, answer it both ways!
If Leia had force powers I think it would be a close fight and I’m not sure who would win. I went under the assumption that she didn’t, in which case Hermione wins. All I’m going to say is both go western style high noon showdown, one expeliarmus and Leia is screwed on account of no weapons with witch to fight. Either that or Hermione just knocks her out with one shot. After all a blaster is not nearly as versatile as a wand, and also, spells can deflect other spells, not sure if that would work on blaster fire but I still think that would give her an edge.
Movie Only Leia, I am going to give the edge to Hermione. Though Leia is older she doesn’t really display much in the realm of true combat skills she is more of a seat of your pants, pure spunk fighter, and in that situation though I don’t see Hermione as any more skilled about very likely less skilled I believe her magic would give her an advantage.
EU Leia I give the edge to Leia. While not as proficient in the force as a Jedi couple its ability to Guide her actions with impressive combat and tactical training from both Luke and Chewbacca as well a massive edge in experience at this point in fighting Leia wins. Did I mention EU Leia though still showing a preference for the blaster, has her own light Saber and knows how to use it?
Hermione wins. The number of different spells she can cast, and the technical mastery with which she can pull them off, gives her a huge edge when it comes to versatility and trickery. All Leia has is a gun.
Gotta give it to Hermione on this one. One good expelliarmus takes care of Leia’s blaster, and even if she doesn’t use that Hermione can create a force field to block shots from the blaster. Not to knock Leia’s abilities, but Hermione wins.
In a fight of movie characters, I would think Hermione would have the edge. Though Leia is a skilled marksman (markswoman?), she has less tools at her disposal to win against Hermione. Leia’s only chance might be the speed at which she can bring her blaster to bare. If her shot can connect before Hermione can cast a spell to protect herself, Leia would probably win.
In a fight between book characters, I would give the edge to Leia. She has for more training and force powers (tools) at her disposal than before. And, if we are going under the impression that magic works against the Force, it would be fair to say that the Force works against magic. So, Leia would have a tool (her lightsaber) to protect her against magic attacks. Also, to win, all Leia would really need to do is take Hermoine’s wand (with a force grab) or destroy it. Leia does not have the same weakness. Taking her lighsaber does not necessarily mean a loss for Leia.
Overall, I give the point to Leia because I am a bigger Star Wars fan.
I can just see it now…
Hermoine: I magic grab your lightsaber
Leia: I force grab your wand
Hermoine: *Just stares*
Leia: I force grab my lightsaber back
Gotta go Hermione, if only for the fact that Emma Watson has done 8 films as the same character and not gone stark raving mad and become an addict. That and the fact that she didn’t need a gold bikini to be as hot as she is.
I guess it really depends on who is faster, and Hermione has trained in Wizard dueling during Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. On the other hand, as much as Leia has been deadly accurate in the Star Wars movies, she usually takes a second or two to set her shot, and is not really a quick draw artist like Han Solo is.
Really, one good Stupefy spell, and Leia’s out, whether she’s been trained in the Force or not.
Actually, this depends on the extent to which Leia has been trained and if the Force can work against magic. There are methods using the Force that negate things like this.
Let me clear what this versus is NOT — it is not “Who would you want as a girlfriend” or “Who is hotter” comparison. This is no different than a regular Versus matching Superman against Batman or whatnot. Any “Rawr, catfight!” comments will be deleted without warning.
You have no idea, as a female geek, how grateful I am that you included this.
IMO, it’s Hermione all the way.
I agree completely.
Leia. She’d get a shot in before Hermione even finished saying expelliarmus.
This is about what i thought a first too, but after researching a little, i found Hermoine can cast spells both non-verbally and without a wand, so her main weaknesses, aren’t actually there.
A powerfull ally, the Force is; and Leia certainly is proficient in it, but Hermoine started showing talent in magic long before Leia started realizing she was Force sensitive, and that’s something that’s normally detected at a very young age, so i’m giving the edge to the child prodigy.
I found this later as well. However, casting without a wand is still very difficult to perform, being very eratic. From what I found, Hermoine only displayed this once… and that was in the film (which might make it invalid in book character vs book character). Though to be honest, I cannot say with complete certainty that Hermoine did not display this ability in the book.
So, if Hermoine lost her wand she could fight back. But, it would be to a much lesser degree and at that point Leia should have no problem with her.
Forgot I wanted to address this as well.
It is totally possible that Leia might have been noticed as force sensitive as well. At least part of the problem was that most of the Jedi were killed before she was born… her father saw to that.
However, as evidence counter to your argument that Leia might be weak in the force. Her brother is one of the strongest if not the strongest force user to ever exist. Her father is also incredibly strong. So, the force is strong in her family. Even if she is weak when looked at side-by-side to her relatives, she is still probably stronger then many other force users.
The outcome of this battle would be largely dependent upon which point in the Star Wars sage we choose to pluck Leia out and pit her against Hermione. If we pulled her at any point during the movies, then i give it to Hermione, albeit after Leia has run her ragged. I believe Leia would still make Hermione use FAR more tricks from her “bag” than she would’ve expected to need against a “muggle”.
If we decided to pit a Force-wielding Leia against Hermione (even at her best), I believe Leia would take her out rather handily. After all, Leia was extremely resourceful and capable against opponents who could basically wield “magic”. She concentrates her energies and weapons against the point that she observes to be most vulnerable, just as she would do against Hermione.
Hermione’s parents were muggles, so she didn’t have any help discovering her power either, but that does mean Leia definitely has the advantage in bloodline, though so did many of Hermione’s opponents.
I lol’d at that one. But I say Leia wins because the force trumps all this wand-based hooey.
Belated agreement from over here.
To paraphrase Brad’s comment: “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”
oo–case by case: H, wand – L, blaster nonEU–no cover–H!
with cover, Leia dives or rolls and keeps blaster, see LE below.
For EU, Mashlagoo covers one possible outcome very well. . .but the Force is as erratic as wandless magic, abandoning the user at the worst possible moment. In this sense, holding a light saber in ‘off’ position is like a wand you don’t point, adding focus. So considering experience with using the environment, no cover to Hermione, with cover to Leia.
LE–absolutely regardless of framework, if it does not end quickly: Leia hesitates for first strike, does not go for kill as first choice and that makes an impression on Hermione. Hermione stupefies Leia, ties her up, wakes her up, and demands to know why Leia is against her. Leia makes a reference to something Hermione knows nothing about. Hermione, intrigued and confused to know what a Wookiee or a Deathstar, etc, is, and drops her guard. Leia tries to use the force twice to lift a rock over H’s head for the surprise knockout, fails, rolls her eyes, pretends to begin to lose her voice. When H leans in to hear, Leia headbutts her twice, kicks her in the solar plexus to complete the knockout (though that might take three tries while tied up) then snaps her wand, leaves a note in the sand: NEXT TIME JUST LET ME PASS! And leaves her there–she’s learned a lot from Han by that time.
Was Leia ever a fighter? I don’t think she was, and while the same could apply to Hermione (as both received mostly rudimentary training) I believe Hermione was in the heart of more action, so I’d have to go with her. I may be wrong on “who had more action” because my memory of the original SW trilogy is kinda rusty by this point.
As far as the Original Trilogy goes, Leia was captured and interrogated by Darth Vader, stole the schematics for the Death Star, Infiltrated Jaba’s palace to rescue Han, and was instrumental in the Battle of Endor. Not to mention all the times she escaped form danger (The Death Star, Hroth, Cloud City, Jaba’s Palace). In the Extended Universe she spent her whole life fighting a war against the remnants of the Empire and resurgent Sith. So in the EU, she’s seen way more action than Hermione, whose war ended while she was still in her teens. That’s where much of Leia’s support is coming from. Within the history of their universes’ they come out much the same, as one of the greatest witches/Jedi to ever live, but still mainly recognized as a supporter to the hero who defeated the powerful Dark Lord. Naturally, that’s why they were a perfect choice for a verses match.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Especially the part about it being a perfect versus match. Because that makes me look good.
I went with Hermione… Yes, Leia’s done some incredible things, but usually with back-up (Luke, Han, a Rebel army or two), and not so much on her own. Now, if you pit Hermione versus ‘Amelia’ (Leia’s granddaughter), the precocious kid with the Force going for her wins the day… 😉
I agree, but I think possibly even more important is when we pluck Hermione out of her saga.
If we take the Hermione from the first few books/movies and Leia at the beginning of her movies, Leia wins pretty easily. In this scenario, Leia is by far the more experienced fighter, and even if she’s not quite as quick on the draw as Han, she’s still got some well-trained instincts. Hermione doesn’t really get much combat experience or training until a few books in. So even if Hermione does manage to get the edge early on, Leia’s experience and quick wits should compensate just fine.
If we take them both near the end of their core sagas (the end of 7th book for Hermione and the end of Return of the Jedi for Leia), the advantage is probably Hermione’s. Leia’s fighting skills haven’t changed much over the course of the movies, but by this point Hermione’s gained a good deal of fighting experience. And as others have mentioned, a wand is more versatile than a blaster. In this scenario, it’s Leia who would have to get lucky early on.
If we go with the pictures of our heroines that are at the top of this page, I’d say that looks like early-movie Leia and late-HP series Hermione, which would probably go about the same as the 7th book/Return of the Jedi scenario.
I haven’t read the EU books, but from what I’m hearing, I think a fight between EU Leia and Book 7 Hermione would definitely be the most interesting matchup. This would be a fight between to very skilled and talented warriors who are each capable in both natural and supernatural combat. While this would probably be a fairly even match, I’d give the advantage to Leia here. For one thing, she’s still better than Hermione in non-magic/force combat. And as others have mentioned, the force is easier to use well without a focus than magic is, and Leia’s had a more focused combat training. Not to mention Leia’s gone up against people with powers that look a lot like Hermione’s, whereas Hermione won’t know what to expect. Unless she’s seen the Star Wars movies. 😉
So I’m voting for Leia. Not so much because I think she’d win hands-down any fight she went up against Hermione, but because I don’t think such a fight would be quite so one-sided as the poll’s seeming to indicate at present.
Can blaster fire penetrate a shield spell? Can Leia aim and fire faster than Hermione can apparate(teleport)? If the first move Leia makes in the battle is to force pull away Hermione’s wand, she might have a chance. However, as Hermione is capable of somewhat advanced feats of magic without it, it is far from a guarantee. I suspect with Leia not sensing any force abilities from Hermione and seeming only to wield a stick, Leia would likely severely underestimate Hermione and get taken out because of it.
I’m much more attached to Star Wars then Harry Potter, but it’s got to be Hermione. Quite frankly, Leia is the narrative opposite of Hermione: Leia has every genetic reason to be Luke’s equal, but she is not even close. Hermione, on the other hand, has two Muggle parents but has made herself into a very powerful witch by hard work and study. It’s really a shame that Leia is the only significant female character in the original trilogy, but Lucas never develops her. BTW, I’d love to see Hermione vs. Harry–that would be a fair fight (albeit with the same result). Then Padme and Leia could have a bland-off.
Hermione =mystical force called magic
Leia= seldom understood mystical force called the FORCE
Hermione = wand
Leia=Blaster
Hermione = Muggle raised- has understanding of GUNS, thus pulls a “Han shot first” move!
The win in 1 shot= Hermione
You forget that the Force provides a Jedi / Force Wielder a “Spidey Sense” that is why Luke is able to block blaster fire with his Lightsaber, because he knows where they will be before they are fired.