Record of Ragnarok is all about a tournament held to determine the fate of mankind. The gods wanted to exterminate humans from existence, but the Valkyries wanted to save humanity, and that was why Brunhilde proposed a Ragnarok tournament between the gods and humans. In that regard,13 fighters from each side would be selected to take part in a 13-round tournament to determine whether or not humanity gets to live.
Of course, we have already seen a few rounds of the tournament, as the manga is already more than halfway through the storyline, all while the anime is still entering the sixth round. With that said, let’s look at all of the winners of each round in Record of Ragnarok so that we would get an idea of how well humanity has been doing in its battle against the different gods of different pantheons and mythologies.
First Round: Thor vs. Lu Bu
In the first round, the gods sent out the Norse god of thunder, Thor, to battle against the legendary Chinese general, Lu Bu. This was a battle between two of the fiercest warriors on both sides, as Thor is said to be the mightiest among the gods. Meanwhile, Lu Bu, the Flying General, is said to be the mightiest fighter humanity has ever seen. And this was also the battle where humanity showcased its trump card—divine weapons.
Using Volundr, which allowed the Valkyries to fuse their souls with humans to produce divine weapons, Lu Bu was able to trim the gap between him and Thor with his powerful spear. Thor, meanwhile, used his mighty hammer, Mjolnir, which is a divine weapon as well. While Lu Bu put up a good fight against the god of thunder, Thor was simply too powerful. When he unleashed his strongest attack, Lu Bu crumbled at the might of Thor as the gods were able to showcase just how strong they are compared to humans.
Gods 1, Humanity 0
Second Round: Zeus vs. Adam
The second round of the Ragnarok tournament allowed Brunhilde to field Adam, the first man. He was supposedly her trump card in that tournament because of a special ability that he had. However, because of his excitement, Zeus took Shiva’s place in round 2 because he couldn’t wait until the later rounds to battle. As such, the father of the gods took on the father of men.
Adam, however, had a power called Divine Reflection, which was the result of his status as a copy of the gods. As such, he was able to copy the abilities of the gods, and that was what allowed him to put up a good fight against Zeus, who was one of the mightiest gods of all time. But while Adam was able to put Zeus in a bind, the chief of the Olympian gods was able to defeat the first man using his full strength. This gave the gods a commanding 2-0 lead over humanity.
Gods 2, Humanity 0
Third Round: Poseidon vs. Kojiro Sasaki
Round 3 of the Ragnarok tournament was an important one for humanity because a win was required for the humans to actually prove to the gods that they could defeat them. In that regard, Kojiro Sasaki, history’s greatest loser, was the one that the Valkyries chose to fight despite the fact that he was always second behind some of the strongest samurai in history. On the side of the gods fought Poseidon, who was almost just as strong as Zeus.
Poseidon was able to showcase his power by using his commanding speed in the fight against Sasaki. However, thanks to the power of his divine weapon, which was capable of splitting itself into two due to his Valkyrie’s split personality, Kojiro was able to overwhelm Poseidon using a combination of the different techniques that he learned from all of the samurai that he fought and lost to in the past. As such, history’s greatest loser gave humanity a fighting chance with a win over the gods.
Gods 2, Humanity 1
Fourth Round: Hercules vs. Jack the Ripper
With one win on the side of the humans, the gods fielded one of the strongest heroes in history by going with Hercules, who was known as a demigod due to his status as a human that turned into a god because of his heroism. On the other hand, Brunhilde thought of a brilliant move of using Jack the Ripper, the most malicious human in history, to fight the most heroic god. This was a battle between good and evil, as even some of the humans rooted for Hercules in this battle.
While Jack had no chance of beating Hercules in a fair fight, he used trickery and deceit to his advantage. He tricked Hercules about the true nature of his divine weapon twice before revealing that his gloves could turn anything into a divine weapon. Hercules was forced to use his 12th Labor to overwhelm Jack, who was seemingly about to lose. But the murderer had one more trick up his sleeve when he used his own blood as a divine weapon to kill Hercules and tie the tournament two wins apiece.
Gods 2, Humanity 2
Fifth Round: Shiva vs. Raiden Tameemon
With the score tied two wins apiece, both sides needed a win for morale purposes. Brunhilde chose Raiden Tameemon, the strongest sumo wrestler in history, to represent humanity in round 5. Meanwhile, the gods chose Shiva, who is the greatest brawler among them. This was a pure brawl between two fighters that used their bodies as weapons.
Raiden, however, showed that he also had a trick up his sleeve when it was revealed that he suffered from a condition called hypertrophy, which caused his muscles to become overgrown. However, he learned how to control these muscles during his lifetime, as he would have died if he had allowed them to grow out of control. But thanks to his divine weapon, he was able to control his muscles to overwhelm Shiva, as the god of destruction was forced to use his Dance of Destruction against Raiden. In the end, Shiva’s dance proved to be more than a math for Raiden’s muscles, as the greatest sumo wrestler in history was decapitated and killed.
Gods 3, Humanity 2
Sixth Round: Zerofuku vs. Buddha
The most surprising part of the tournament so far was round 6 when Buddha was announced as a participant. However, he announced that he wasn’t fighting for the gods but was actually representing humanity out of his disdain for the gods. Of course, Buddha was originally a human that reached enlightenment. In that regard, the gods chose to send out Bishamonten, the leader of the Shinto gods of fortune.
However, Bishamonten that he and the other Shinto gods were originally one god called Zerofuku, and that was what allowed them to fuse to return to their original form. While Buddha was able to overwhelm Zerofuku, Beelzebub revealed that he had experimented on him to turn him into the Demon Lord of the Sixth Heaven, Hajun. Despite that, Buddha overcame Zerofuku/Hajun using his own Volundr as he tied the tournament up three wins apiece.
Gods 3, Humanity 3
Seventh Round: Hades vs. Qin Shi Huang
Round 7 involved a battle between another one of the most powerful gods of the Greek pantheon as Hades stepped up to take Buddha’s place among the 13 gods that Zeus chose to compete in the tournament. Meanwhile, Brunhilde chose to go with Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. The Chinese Emperor utilized Valkyrie Alvitr as shoulder pauldrons that he was able to use to push Hades into a corner.
However, Hades revealed his secret weapon, Ichor: Desmos, to overwhelm Qin Shi Huang. However, the emperor showed another trick up his sleeve when his divine weapon transformed into a powerful sword that he sued to destroy Desmos and defeat Hades. Qin Shi Huang’s victory over Hades gave humanity a 4-3 lead over the gods, as this was the first time that the gods felt that they were actually in a tough position against humans.
Gods 3, Humanity 4
