Match 20078 Manon Legrand vs. Elisabeth Blanctorche

[JohnnyChany]

On a large closed circuit screen set up in their ballroom, wealthy fight enthusiasts Karin Kanzuki and Rose Bernstein watched as earnest young Native American fighter, Lily, tried her best to keep up with the more experienced wind priestess, Talim. At the location of the fight, Lily’s father, T. Hawk, looked on with concern as his daughter was swept up by a tornado of wind conjured up by Talim and then slammed into the ground with another cyclone of wind coming from Talim.

“Don’t give up!” he called out.

Lily returned to her feet. “Of course not. I never will…”

Before she could finish that sentence she was struck by one of Talim’s tonfas as Talim leapt at her. Talim then leapfrogged over Lily and struck her in the back of the head with her tonfas again. Lilly was quick, but Talim was quicker. Talim charged her tonfa with wind energy and uppercutted Lily with all her strength. Lily flew into the air, twirling inside a large gust of wind, before crashing to the ground. Lily stayed on the ground and dropped her pogamoggans as a sign of defeat.

“Oh man. I lost.”

Talim cheerfully walked over and extended a hand. “It was a great fight. We both owe so much to the wind. It was a pleasure to meet you, Lily. I hope we can cross paths again some day.”

Lily smiled too. “I would like that.”

Back at the ballroom, Rose snickered. “It looks like your little wind girl won’t make it.”

Karin sighed. “Disappointing, but a deal is a deal. Lily is out.” Karin leaned in. “Now in her place to represent the newest generation of World Warriors I would like to nominate Manon Legrand.”

“Hey!” Rose snapped. “You can’t keep doing that, it’s not all about you. Like I said before, it's my turn now!”

Karin lifted her gloved hands up in a calming gesture. “Now, now, now, hear me out. I still haven’t even had a pick to put into our tournament other than the non-negotiables. Rouge from Power Stone wasn’t me and Lt. Linn Kurosawa wasn’t me. Besides, I really think you will love this one. She is elegant, classy, and sophisticated. She is a super model from France that kicks ass with a combination of Judo and ballet dancing.”

“Sounds intriguing,” Rose admitted.

Karin pulled out her phone to show Rose pictures of Manon.

“Isn’t she gorgeous, I think she will really bring in some crowds.”

“Is she really a good fighter?”

“Of course.”

Rose paused on the last picture of Manon and made a face. “Oh no, what is this?”

“What do you mean?” asked Karin. She grabbed the phone to look at the picture that Rose had stopped on. It was a picture of Manon with long pink ringlets in her hair as opposed to her normal short hairstyle and wearing a formal long blue coat, a white ruffled shirt, and regal white pants. “Ah yes, her most recent look. I think it really does a great job of showing off her heritage, she looks like a French noble. What is the problem? Do you not like the hair? I think she pulls off the long hair well. It looks good on her.”

Rose shook her head. “That’s not the problem. The problem is it makes her look too much like Elisabeth.”

“Who?”

“Elisabeth Blanctorche, she debuted during the 11th King of Fighters tournament, she actually IS a French noblewoman, and I wanted to include her in our tournament,” Rose explained.

Karin was confused. “Is there any reason we can’t include both?”

“I don’t want the public to confuse Elisabeth with this supermodel woman. It was bad enough that during the King of Fighters tournaments she was overshadowed by her childhood friend, Ash. I really want the world to see what she can do. She has these abilities to use light and create these constructs to battle with, it is one of the coolest things you will ever see.”

“You feel very strongly about this,” Karin observed.

“Naturally. It is important to me that we properly show with this tournament that not all of the best fighters in the world come from the streets or isolated temples. The upper class has alot to offer the world of martial arts.”

“I agree with that sentiment. I think that including both women will do a great job of reinforcing that notion,” stated Karin.

Rose shook her head. “No. The possibility that Manon would fight in that outfit makes the possibility of confusion too great in my mind. I’m not even sure if Manon is worthy enough to be confused with Miss Blanctorche.”

“Then it seems like there is only one thing we can do.”

“What’s that?”

Karin displayed a sly grin. “I think you have set a precedent for us with how you handled the suggestion of Lily, and how we dealt with Rouge, Maki, and Linn. If you aren’t  a non-negotiable member of the roster you will have to earn your invitation.”

“So you are suggesting…”

“Manon and Elisabeth have a fight. The winner will be formally invited and have the privilege of representing France in our tournament,” Karin detailed.

Rose thought it over and then agreed. “That seems fair.’

“Let’s make the calls.”

[Callisto]

Learn More About
Manon Legrand
Read more about Manon Legrand at Wikipedia
Official Site: Capcom Links: Wikipedia

Elisabeth Blanctorche
Read more about Elisabeth Blanctorche at Wikipedia
Official Site: SNK Playmore Links: Wikipedia

[RakaiThwei]

I'm gonna go with Elisabeth here!

[JohnnyChany]

Some intro videos to see what the characters can do.

 

 

[leroypowell3]

I'm actually liking Manon.

[Pizzaguy2995]

I’d put my money on Manon. Elizabeth looks elusive and quick but seems to lack the ability to attack at long range. Manon’s long legs and grappling will allow her to pull her opponent in close and punish her with brutal judo locks.

[DSkillz]

Another good set-up of similarly dressed women, Johnny. Given the arc's theme, it wouldn't surprise me much if Karin and Rose themselves came to blows before all's said and done. 

As for the match, both Manon and Elisabeth are tall, elegant Frenchwomen (in fact, Capcom seems to have gone and made Manon taller than her listed 5'9", much like Vega looks taller than 6'0"). As quick as Elisabeth is with her light attacks, she doesn't actually seem to move that fluidly (though that might be the animation's fault). I think Manon can keep Elisabeth off-balance with her reach and ballet moves, then wear her down with various judo throws. 

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
4.70 - DSkillz
4.40 - Pizzaguy2995

FPA Calculation:
2 Total Votes cast
9.10 Total Combined Score
9.10 / 2 = 4.55 Final Rating on the match

MATCH SCORE
Manon Legrand: 3
Elisabeth Blanctorche: 3

[RakaiThwei]

1 hour ago, Callisto said:

Match Final Results

MATCH SCORE
Manon Legrand: 3
Elisabeth Blanctorche: 3

Damn! A tie!

[DSkillz]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:15 PM, RakaiThwei said:

Damn! A tie!

Could be the Draft distracting from some potential voters.

Speaking of this match ... 

On 1/2/2024 at 5:23 PM, JohnnyChany said:

At the location of the fight, Lily’s father, T. Hawk, looked on with concern as his daughter ...

You know, there's always been speculation that T. Hawk was Lily's father, but nothing's been confirmed, and the timing doesn't seem to match up. 

[JohnnyChany]

On 1/9/2024 at 9:11 PM, DSkillz said:

Speaking of this match ... 

You know, there's always been speculation that T. Hawk was Lily's father, but nothing's been confirmed, and the timing doesn't seem to match up. 

Admittedly I saw an image on Google images that I thought confirmed the relation when I wrote the match. I played Lily's story mode in SF6 afterward and realized no such image actually existed.

On 1/7/2024 at 9:15 PM, RakaiThwei said:

Damn! A tie!

Always dissapointing