Marvel and DC are world-renowned for their endless stream of superhero characters, but if we're being honest, the more supernatural and horror sides of both comic book companies aren't as well-loved or even well-known by mainstream audiences, which just shouldn't be!
Two characters in particular should be counted among some of the best characters within each of their respective companies, and they are the macabre Man-Thing from Marvel and the muck-encrusted mockery of a man, Swamp Thing from DC! Both characters are alike in their own way, but they also have their own traits that make them uniquely formidable. Their similarities mean that DC and Marvel fans have compared them over the years, wondering which of the two entities would win.
Let's veg out together to see who between these two guardians of the swamp would come out on top!
Man-Thing and Swamp Thing's origins, explained
Before they were supernatural entities, both Man-Thing and Swamp Thing were scientists working on secret projects for the government until their work was sought after by evil organizations. The former was Ted Sallis who, after being betrayed by his wife to A.I.M., escaped into his car, only to inject himself with the untested formula of super soldier serum he was working on in a moment of desperation. He crashed the car into the swamp waters, where the formula in his system combined with mystical forces of the swamp to create Man-Thing.
Over on the DC side of things, before his transformation Swamp Thing was Alec Holland who, with his wife Linda, were surrounded by members of a criminal organization known as the Conclave, who wanted his bio restorative formula (which could make plants grow in any environment). The Conclave rigged an explosive in Holland's lad, but before he or Linda could escape the bomb went off. Alec ran afire into the nearby swamp, where he would be resurrected as Swamp Thing.
You guys get the gist? Great! Let's break down both characters' powers respectively, and from there decide on a winner.
Their powers and abilities
At this point you might be asking yourself, "How come I'm not breaking down Man-Thing and Swamp Thing in their own powers and abilities categories?". To put it simply, both characters have many of the same abilities that it would be redundant to put them in their own categories. The powers and abilities they share are but not limited to: super strength, super stamina, durability, ability to reconstitute themselves if physical body is destroyed, and control of plant matter across the planet (which they can use to alter their size and regenerate lost limbs and such).
While they share many similarities, both characters have powers that the other doesn't have. In Man-Thing's case, he's attuned to the emotions that people and creatures alike emit, such as love, hate, and the one emotion he can't stand above all, fear. Fear releases chemicals within Man-Thing that if he were to touch someone or something in the grip of fear, he could burn them, thus the famous tag line, "Whoever knows fear, burns at the Man-Thing's touch"!
Another unique power that Man-Thing possesses is his ability to control the Nexus of All Realities. The Nexus is a gateway to the multiverse located in Man-Thing's home in the Florida Everglades that he protects from evil entities, but he can just as easily use it to travel across time and space.
Swamp Thing, on the other hand, has two unique powers from Man-Thing; one being the ability to make copies of himself that he can control along with his original form. This power was used to great effect when he fought Batman in Alan Moore's seminal run on the character, where he actually defeated the Caped Crusader in that story. Another interesting thing about Swamp Thing's duplicating power is that each copy could, over time, develop it's own consciousness free from the original Swamp Thing.
During Nancy Collins' run of the character, Swamp Thing left a copy of himself behind to protect his wife and child while out on missions to protect the world, but his absence becomes longer than anyone anticipated, and the copy of Swamp Thing becomes his own being. And thus, when the original Swamp Thing returns, the two fight for control of Swamp Thing's life and family. This was a unique instance that hasn't happened since, but there's always the possibility.
The other power that Swamp Thing has is his connection to The Green, the metaphysical plane where all plant life in the world stems from, as well as from where Swamp Thing receives his vast powers. While The Green isn't as extensive as Man-Thing's Nexus, it's still an ability that makes the two characters distinct from each other.
Who would win: Swamp Thing or Man-Thing?
This is a tough one because both Man-Thing and Swamp Thing have so many similar abilities that it was hard to choose a definitive winner. However, after much deliberation, we have decided to go with: The Guardian of the Nexus of All Realities himself, Man-Thing!
Why Man-Thing? Let's explain.
One of the things about Man-Thing that made me at first think he would lose the fight with Swamp Thing was his lack of intelligence. Once Ted Sallis became Man-Thing, Sallis' identity was no more, and Man-Thing was just a mindless animal acting on the emotions of other creatures near and far from him. Swamp Thing, however, retained the mind and intellect of Alec Holland, so I initially thought that this would be the downfall of Man-Thing, as without a mind to formulate plans of attack and defense, he would fall to Swamp Thing.
However, as I thought about it more, I overlooked one thing about Man-Thing; his lack of human intellect. Man-Thing's lack of identity and intellect is actually an advantage over most opponents he comes face to face with, including Swamp Thing. When Man-Thing has a goal or senses the strong emotions of another being, there's literally nothing that can stop him because he doesn't know how. Sure, there'll be obstacles in his path, but he's capable of batting them away without giving them another moment of his time, returning to his objective and eventually succeeding.
Before wrapping up, there's one more thing we should talk about regarding this fight. Both Man-Thing and Swamp Thing are very powerful characters, and if you looked at the current versions of the characters, their battle would probably result in a tie. However, if I were asked this same question early in both character's existence in the comics world, the victor would definitively be Man-Thing. Why? Well, because it wouldn't have been a fair fight.
Very early on in Man-Thing's comic run, he was given all the powers mentioned above, while the early version of Swamp Thing didn't have most of the powers he has today; those powers, such as his connection to The Green and being able to duplicate himself at will, came over a decade later during Alan Moore's run in the 80's. The early years of Swamp Thing saw him face people and creatures of low level power, whereas if he faced those same opponents in his modern incarnation, he'd wipe the floor with them without breaking a sweat.
Taking all of that into account, we'd give the win to Man-Thing only in a fight with pre-Moore Swamp Thing. Post-Moore Swamp Thing versus Man-Thing would likely be a tie.
What do you think? Who do you think would win in a fight between Man-Thing and Swamp Thing?