Moon Knight Vs Taskmaster: Who Would Win In A Fight?
Moon Knight and Taskmaster are skilled assassins/mercenaries whose main attributes are mainly physical fighting skills. Moon Knight is recruited by a Moon-god to do his bidding, while Taskmaster spends most of his time as a super villain trainer. So, if the Moon-god tasked his Knight to fight the Taskmaster, who would win that deadly duel?
In a straight duel between the two, with Moon Knight in full control of his mental state and Taskmaster’s memory not playing tricks on him, Taskmaster would win because he has memorized all of Captain America, Spider-Man and other fighters who are far superior compared to Moon Knight.
Of course, there are many who would disagree since Moon Knight not only beat Taskmaster in the comics, but he also frightened him to death. However, there is a case to be had for why Taskmaster would win this fight, so read this article first before you close it. Beware of spoilers.
Who Is Moon Knight?
Moon Knight is a high priest and a fighter for the Moon-god Khonshu. He was appointed after being revived, having been left for dead in the desert. He served as a mercenary (gun for hire) before his appointment.
Moon Knight’s real identity is Marc Spector. He was born in Chicago and developed a fighting fortitude when he was forced to defend his brother on several occasions against discriminating bullies. He once escaped a family friend, Perlman (a secret Nazi deserter who killed Jews) and when Perlman disappeared, he left Marc with a traumatic disorder which caused him to develop a dissociative identity disorder.
His first separate identities were Steven Grant and Jake Lockley. Marc enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps where he served for three years but was dishonorably discharged after they learned of his past. He joined the C.I.A., and it was during this time that he fought his brother when his brother killed Marc’s girlfriend Lisa to hide his arms while running the business.
After living in the C.I.A. Marc got involved in illegal fights and met a guy, Frenchie and both later became mercenaries. It is in one of his missions as a mercenary that he ended up in Egypt and got betrayed and mortally wounded, and ended up trading his service to the Moon-god for his life being saved. He got revenge on his betrayers and moved to New York, where he started his life as Moon Knight.
He faced enemies like the Conquer Lord, Hatchet Man the Slasher, Morpheus, the Fly, and the Black Spectre. Furthermore, he has also teamed up with a group called the Defenders, Spider-Man, the West Coast Avengers (which he later left) and formed a splinter group with some other former members and also the Secret Avengers (created by Captain America).
Moon Knight passed away again but was resurrected by Khonshu to fight Seth who was in collusion with Marc’s old foes Bushman (who had betrayed him in the desert), the Black Spectre, and Morpheus. Moon Knight exists as an agent of Khonshu, but his mental illness sometimes makes him question the existence of Khonshu.
Who Is Taskmaster?
Taskmaster is an operative who possesses photographic reflexes. This means he can imitate and replicate superhero skill moves. Taskmaster was born Anthony “Tony” Masters and discovered his abilities after watching a cowboy television show and being able to replicate the rope tricks.
Psychiatrists, called in by his mother, refer to his unusual abilities as photographic reflexes. He proceeds to become his school’s quarterback after watching a single professional football game. Afterward, he decides to use his skills for criminal expeditions instead of heroism due to the former’s lucrative opportunities.
His direct involvement in criminal undertakings is short-lived, as he prefers a career as a super villain trainer to avoid confrontations with lawmen. He establishes an institution (Solomon Institute for the criminally insane) which is just one of his training schools. He acquires his skills from observing Captain America, Daredevil, Spider-Man, and other avengers and battles them when he has to.
Taskmaster is unable to copy moves that involve superhuman abilities. Other than that, he is very good at studying and retaining other people’s moves and even predicts them when fighting them. This also comes with the ability to mimic voices and learn new languages.
He does several for-hire jobs, like joining the Frightful Four to battle The Fantastic Four. He fights Deadpool, but often works for him for money. Taskmaster does a stint in S.H.I.E.L.D. where he takes a serum that enhances his absorption ability but messes with his memory.
Taskmaster mostly works as a trainer for various organizations, governments, and villains combined, teaching them skills belonging to superheroes. He occasionally gets involved in actual fights, either as part of a team or solo. The memory lapses due to the serum he took make him forget things like his wife and even that he works for Shield, and he ends up seeing himself as a super villain in those moments or periods.
Moon Knight Vs. Taskmaster
Moon Knight is a trained mercenary who was resurrected by the Moon-god and his abilities include:
- Boxing Skills: Marc Spector gained some boxing skills in his time as a mercenary and a C.I.A. operative.
- A high degree of tactical and strategic skills: These were also gained by doing missions as a mercenary and operative.
- Weapons expertise: Marc has encountered many types of weapons in his line of work, hence no surprise that he is very skilled in a variety of weapons.
- Martial Arts: He has professional martial arts training.
- A talented athlete and gymnast. He has high energy levels, speed, and flexibility from his many training exercises and field activities.
- Enhanced strength: He has been known to possess super-strength in his time as a moon knight during full moons.
- Prophetic visions and dreams: He sometimes experiences dreams and visions that help him foresee the future.
- Drain a person’s life energy: He achieves this through physical contact.
Taskmaster is a skilled and paid assassin who possesses the following abilities:
- Gifted athlete: He achieved this through training.
- Photographic reflexes: Taskmaster can duplicate moves, no matter how complex and challenging.
- Martial Arts: He is skilled in martial arts both modern and traditional, which he gained by studying different martial artists.
- Professional sports excellence: He became his high school football team’s quarterback just by watching one football game.
- Weapons Training: Taskmaster often duplicates weapons owned by the heroes he mimics and can use them as observed or studied.
Based on this, it is clear that although Moon Knight can often have enhanced strength on a full moon night, the ability of Taskmaster to observe, learn, duplicate and predict a person’s moves would come out on top.
Taskmaster has also been known to duplicate superpowers or superhuman abilities for short bouts of time, which would seem enough to put down Moon Knight.
Verdict: Taskmaster 1 Moon Knight 0
