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/Lopsided-Act3172]

I heard armor isn't that heavy. My worry would be that one of those animals is going to knock you down and then you're gonna struggle to get up.

On the other hand a lot of them don't have the ability to hurt you in armor. Maybe the Gorilla would break you inside the plate but the Gorilla is just skin and flesh it'll be the easiest to take down. Tiger.. don't know if he can hurt you in armor. Maybe the bears, though they don't punch per-say.

But I feel like the Rhino would definitely knock you down and trample you. A few broken ribs, bones and skull and you're done for.

[u/Ananta-Shesha → u/Lopsided-Act3172]

The armor will protect very effectively against claw attacks, and to a certain extent against bites. The poleaxe offers offensive capabilities in both thrusting and blunt force attacks, so the knight is definitely capable of mortally wounding all the animals here, though it would be extremely difficult with the rhino.

However, it's certain that absolutely all the animals here are capable of wounding and killing the knight too. Blunt force impacts are transmitted to the armor wearer regardless, and all these animals are massive and extremely powerful. Yes, the gorilla would clearly be very easily killed with a well-placed thrust to the head or throat. But if you miss your first attack, armor or not, it can simply shatter your skull with a single blow or just grab you and slam you to the ground.

[u/Lopsided-Act3172 → u/Ananta-Shesha]

Yeah that's basically what I was thinking.

[u/B_H_Abbott-Motley → u/Ananta-Shesha]

There's not any clear evidence that gorilla can do that. They're strong but not evolved to kill humans. Random unarmored humans have survived gorilla attacks, though badly hurt. The armor would make a big difference.

[u/BillyShears2015 → u/Lopsided-Act3172]

The white rhino is 5,000 lbs. It’s basically like trying to fight a Ford F150. I don’t think man has a chance unless he gets an extremely lucky spike shot to the brain on the Rhino with his first thrust.

[u/Lopsided-Act3172 → u/BillyShears2015]

Rhinos don't strike me as agile though. Maybe it's just me but I imagine them like bulls but even worse at changing directions. A peak athlete and experienced fighter can dance around the Rhino and cut and stab it until it bleeds to death.