Thanos vs. the Night King: Who’s the more formidable villain?

Night King. Game of Thrones episode 66 (season 7, episode 6): Vladimir Furdik. Photo: courtesy of HBO

The Night King’s advantage

In Westeros, winter has come and brought with it a great villain: the Night King. Rumors about White Walkers have been in Westeros legend for years, but none believed such creatures could actually be real. And while we knew they were real from the series’ first episode, it takes time for the people of Westeros to believe — usually only from seeing them up close, and that usually doesn’t end well.

The Night King, unlike Thanos, has supernatural abilities. A creation of the magical Children of the Forest, this king has lived for thousands of years and fought and lived through the War for the Dawn — proving he’s a worthy opponent and leader.

But he didn’t survive the war on pure luck. Of his abilities, we know that he can raise people from the dead, adding them to his army of undead wights. The Night King can also perform a wight conversion on animals —  like the zombified bear Jon Snow and the others encountered in season 7, as well as Daenerys’ fallen dragon, Viserion. In addition to reanimating corpses, we’ve also seen he has the ability to turn male, human babies into full-on White Walkers.

And if it wasn’t enough to possess supernatural abilities, the Night King still has “inhuman strength,” which will definitely be a challenge for the defenders of Westeros when the time comes.