>P I love you too, dammit, making me do the hard decisions. A few years ago, this would’ve been a cinch, but it’s a lot harder now that I’ve seriously explored and developed both characters in various ways.
First, let me talk about the various AUs I have with these characters.
Babylon: Equal. Why? Because I combined them into the same person. Neither of them can beat out the other.
Svarga: Quint never happened in this universe, but R-Shadow exists. Yes, that is present-tense, I haven’t revealed how he’s still alive in the X-era yet. R-Shadow is obviously the winner, then.
Tartarus: Only has R-Shadow (Reuben) alive, so he’s the clear winner.
Asphodel: My ‘canon’ universe. Or the closest thing to it. I have multiple versions of both, so subdividing them…
-Classic: Lordie. Quint is the clear winner here, he was way more mature than R-Shadow and I just, in general, like him a lot better here.
-ZX: R-Shadow is the winner, because he actually knows what the flying hell is going on in the ZX era compared to poor Quint, who is fragmented into two Biometals and has amnesia in both halves.
-Battle Network: Baryl’s son (Quint/Quinton) versus Chaud’s son (R-Shadow/Reuben). Yikes. This is a tough one. Quint ends up actually having Iris as a NetNavi after the events of BN6 and her backup is revived, but he’s shy and in the background. Reuben’s a merc with Spider as a NetNavi, and plays a role in a lot of events in my post-BN stuff. At the same time, I also consider Sean Obihiro an R-Shadow expy (young, leads a group, ultimately a result of Wily’s shenanigans, final boss, beaten in the end). So I think R-Shadow is the winner for this round when it comes to faves.
Yomi: Pardra’s universe with Fallen. Considering R-Shadow is dead in this one, and Quint (Kage) is not, I think Quint is the winner. This is also considering that Quint managed to get past his trauma (of not just being Quint, but of an elderly Dr. Light suffering from mild dementia refusing to take him back) enough to become a (later) Reploid psychologist that psychoanalyzes his own brother and several other people. Wily also turned him into a Devil-hybrid, and he wasn’t too happy about that, but he’s super stable and mature.
Midgard: Oh gods. Quint jumped into the MMZ era and pretty much because X’s (Ixion) nanny because X was so unstable after the modified MMZ events and needed help. He’s also a tiny badass that practically runs Neo Arcadia with Harpuia and Leviathan’s help, and also took on and nearly beat Omega (he only lost because someone distracted him). R-Shadow was dead for a long time, but he’s interesting to explore in this era because humans and Reploids get along and he’s just… so fucking confused by it all and is happy to just stay cooped up. However, I love Quint in this world, he’s the stability that Neo Arcadia needs, and therefore he’s the winner.
Overall Winner: I’m going to say Quint, and he just barely beats out R-Shadow by a narrow margin, now.
CONGRATULATIONS IAN FLYNN YOU'VE FINALFUCKINGLY KILLED ME MY GRAVE WILL READ Cause of Death: Archie Comics' Mega Man issue 20 (More Specifically, … … R-Shadow)
