Apollo, Half-underrated powerhouse. (Long fighter Essay)
Welp, after my analysis on underrated fighters like Raiden, Heracles, Jack, Leonidas and Shiva, I've figu-- what? you think Apollo isn't underrated? well, my dear reader, you are half-right.... okay, yeah, you are *mostly* right, actually, but i do still believe people need to understand exactly the kind of stuff Apollo brings to the table, because, oh, boy, he is a VERY troublesome opponent even without the bow.
Actually, that is mainly the issue when talking about Apollo, is that a lot of people reduce everything he is capable of to his bow... when that, while a massively dangerous technique, is not all there is to him. It would be kinda like reducing Beelzebub to chaos (huh!? what do you mean people do that too?!.... anyway).
Let's start from the biggest issue: you are not touching Apollo.
No, I am serious, unless you have massive speed you are not touching Apollo, his footwork and reaction speed makes him probably the second greatest non-hax dodger in all of the series right after Adam.
Buddha, Sasaki, Shiva... all of them depend on something to be able to dodge: Buddha needs his Future sight, Sasaki his hax, Shiva needs the dance... Apollo? he needs only to keep guard up, and that he does, because he is not getting surprised at all by probably the fastest starting attack in the series:
He didn't even sweat, we can rule out the attack being slow, it is not, Leonidas closed the distance from the starting point so fast Apollo couldn't even get a word out.. and yet here he is, not just dodging, but getting pretty far from Leonidas in less than a second.
This is the most troublesome aspect when fighting Apollo. Even the faster-side opponents would have trouble hitting him due to how much he moves around... I've seen people trying to pin this on Leonidas being a slow attacker... which is not at all how the manga portrays him, actually his attack succession is displayed as pretty dang fast, to the point where even other gods commentate on how dangerous it is. Apollo is simply that troublesome to hit... actually, to hit Apollo you need to truly catch him by surprise, and that means to give him an attack he believes he can block with the theats but actually can't.
which brings me to the second point pro-Apollo... Blades are practially useless.
No, I am 100% serious, sending an opponent based on bladed weaponry is the dumbest thing you can do against Apollo.
Because that's exactly where his threats shine the most:
And that's exactly why Leonidas turns off the buzzsaw and refrains from using blades for the rest of the match, because with Apollo this is a bad idea: he is difficult enough to hit normally, but on top of that, a bladed attack will never be at full power against him, you won't be able to pull a blade on him without Apollo getting the threats ready.
This combo, on its own (dodge and threats) is an issue on itself, how do you bring down an opponent that you can't hit, and even if you manage to hit with a bladed attack, your strike will be severly nerfed? welp... if ONLY it was just that... because it's not. On top of that Apollo is...
The god of boxing.
"But Azrael"-You might say- "Apollo couldn't bring Leonidas down with the punches, why is it relevant?"..... repeat that, slowly.... "couldn't bring..... LEONIDAS down.": Leonidas, the meat shield, Leonidas who is probably alongside Raiden the tankiest human in the tournament so far.
"But if not Leonidas who do we take as reference?" Glad you ask... Meet Python.
Processing img aou7h24st1hf1...
Python is a distinguished gentleman who just so happened to solo the whole execution squad without any effort.... now... let's compare Python to Apollo in hand to hand combat. An Apollo without the gloves and who was not yet in his prime, by the way:
... not gonna lie, while I don't think a single punch will knock out and Einherjar, I will defend that Leonidas probably took a whole lot more punches than the average Einherjar could take before being knocked out... and if that wasn't enough...
So far Apollo hasn't even powered up.
Because if you manage to taunt Apollo enough for him to try to play on your field and he powers up through that...
Not only Hitting Apollo becomes even tougher, now him being able to dodge without effort melee attacks right in front of him:
Also not only his punches are visibly even stronger:
But also, if he so wishes to bind you with the threats, a move most fighters wouldn't even notice, and incapacitates you, rendeing you unable to move anymore**...**
He can now re-inforce his punches EVEN MORE to the point where even Leonidas is left shaken up:
(this would likely knock out most Einherjar if he manages to pull this off)
Also we need to keep one thing in mind too, beyond all of this... Apollo doesn't take chances, because the binding came right after this:
Leonidas blocked ONE punch, and for Apollo that was enough for him to say "not risking it, you are getting tied." THIS IS EXTREMELY RELEVANT.
Apollo may be cocky, might play too much, but the moment he senses something is wrong and the opponent is catching up, he is not taking the W for granted, he will pull something new right away. The moment an opponent proves they can react to his punches is the moment Apollo pulls up a new problem to the opponent IMMIDIATELY.
This, in the Ragnarok, where a lot of fighters allow for the opponent to adapt to them, is huge... Apollo has not come this far for just keep trying the same thing that failed once before twice, even if it worked forty times before that one... this is top warrior mentality.
Welp, so far we have stablished: He is tricky to touch, blades might not be a great idea to use against him, his punches are somewhat dengerous when normal and absolutely a problem when he is buffed by expectations, he can bind you and keep you unable to move if he notices you are capable to react to him, and he has access to a punch with a little set-up that might knock some fighters of the Ragnarok out cold...
welp... that's not all he can do...
We all know Moonlight of Artemis, I don't need to put on the picture... but I will put in what the bow do:
for starters we have that the arrows are less than a flash to shoot, pierce through walls, are the fastest attack of the heavens, and probably it doesn't need to even pierce a vital point for it to kill some lesser opponents... but also... he can spam them constantly and even shoot several at the same time:
(also nice of Apollo to re-inforce the notion that the arrows could kill with a touch to fighters with not enough durablity/endurance with the "this isn't something you should be able to simply say "it hurts"... i doubt ANY Einherjar dies from it anyway, but it is a neat detail).
Welp.... now we have covered Apollo's arsenal, let me tell you, he is a pretty dange- huh? what do you mean there is something else?!
What the heck is he do-!?
Aaand he destroyed a volund and killed the opponent.
This, my friends, is one out of Four Instances we see total volund destruction in the whole series: sasaki's sword being split by Poseidon, Lu Bu's Halbert being destroyed by Thor and Qin's armor being pierced by Hades are the only other instances where this happens... actually, Silver arrow is, alongsie Thor's hammer, the ONLY technique that completely destroys the volund to the point where a revolund is impossible.
Contrary to most, I don't think the state of Apollo's arm is relevant for the clash, the strike power comes from Artemis, not the arm of Apollo itself, the just needs to be held forward...Also, i don't think this is an attack that "ignores defense" as many try to sell, the "soul-piercing" part i think is merely a cool name...
but dang, this is brutal: A fast, direct, puncture that uses Apollo himself as a giant arrow and with enough power to shatter completely a volund with enough left-over force to force a gaping hole into the torso of the opponent is nothing short of one of the most powerful strikes we've seen in the series in sheer power.
With this, I am not saying Apollo is a top of the verse fig--- actually yeah, he actually might be one of the most troublesome opponents to fight in the series.
Hopefully though, this essay is enough to hammer an aspect home; Apollo is a very dangerous opponent, even before the bow comes up... and he might just be on of the most versatile fighters in the series. Thanks for reading.
(hopefully next up for my fighter analysis comes a two-parter.... Zerofuku and Hajun)
Posted Aug 4, 2025, 7:22 PM UTC