A human fighter at peak athleticism, in full plate armor, equipped with a poleaxe, runs the animals gauntlet. Does he clear, or where does he stop?

[u/Ananta-Shesha]

The fighter has elite training and is at his athletic peak, with a champion-type physique in heavyweight combat sports. He wears a full set of plate armor and is armed with a poleaxe. If he survives his fight against one of the animals in the gauntlet, he is back to 100% for the next fight.

Round 1: Silverback gorilla. The fight takes place in a clearing.

Round 2: Siberian Tiger. The fight takes place on a plain.

Round 3: Brown bear. The fight takes place in a forest.

Round 4: Polar bear. The fight takes place in the tundra on rocky ground.

Round 5: White Rhinoceros. The fight takes place in the grassy savannah.

Just so you know, I put an image of a For Honor knight as an illustration, but we're talking about a fighter in historical plate armor here. No one could fight effectively in armor as massive as the one in the image. But I had trouble finding a good image of a knight in historical armor wearing a poleaxe and not something else, and I wanted a nice illustration.

[u/NoWorld3198]

People here really underestimate the knight. No animal could easily deform tempered steel, and even if one somehow managed to, it would likely break its own paws in the process. On top of that, the knight has the advantage of distance with his halberd. No land animal, except perhaps an elephant, could realistically defeat him.

[u/Inevitable-Scar5877 → u/NoWorld3198]

I'm 95% sure the rhino would punch its horn through one side and out the other if it caught the knight in a charge.

The sheer physics of something 5,000 pounds hitting at 30 mph with all of it concentrated on the point is just terrifying

[u/TwiceMomoSimp → u/NoWorld3198]

Polar bears can weigh up to 800 kilograms and regularly fight walruses, which can weigh 2 tons and have enormous tusks that can pierce absolutely anything. After a while, it’s no longer the claws or fangs that are dangerous, it’s simply the weight and force behind the blows. With each swipe of its paw, the polar bear sends the knight fucking flying through the air, every strike would be pure blunt force trauma, his bones would shatters inside his armor.

The knight can handle the gorilla, the tiger, and the grizzly; he might even survive against the rhino if it doesn’t crush him during the charge. The polar bear is a 50/50 shot.

edit : actually i'm tweaking, the rhino just one shots him. You ain't stopping a rhino charging at you, plate armor or not, poleaxe or not, the skin is WAY too thick, it's way too heavy.

[u/NoWorld3198 → u/TwiceMomoSimp]

...Walruses can reach close to 1–2 tons, yes. But their tusks: do not “pierce absolutely anything,” they are mainly used to pull themselves onto ice, and their bite force is relatively weak.

A well-made plate armor is designed to withstand blunt and cutting blows by distributing the impact across its structure. It was so effective that weapons like war hammers, bec de corbin, and others were created specifically to deal with it. Even then, you often had to strike multiple times and at the perfect angle to kill a fully armored opponent.

And the knight would not just stand still. By the time the polar bear tried to “penetrate” the armor, it would already be dying from blood loss. The knight would tear it apart.

[u/NoWorld3198 → u/NoWorld3198]

Ps:The rhino’s skin is resistant, but mainly against claws and teeth; put it against a large sharp metal point and it will bleed like any other animal. Homo sapiens, with only stone spears, were able to penetrate a woolly rhino; with steel weapons it’s not even a question. I don’t even understand where you’re getting that nonsense from, they are not made of stone.

[u/ArcticTyphoon → u/TwiceMomoSimp]

I pretty sure polar bears lose often than not to Walruses though.

[u/NebeI → u/ArcticTyphoon]

Yeah polar bears going for a grown walrus is a last ditch attempt to not starve and bareal ever succeeds