When the media’s two most powerful cybernetic marvels are at loggerheads, a blood-sodden outcome is inevitable.

Deus Ex’s working class leading hero Adam Jensen and Marvel’s iconic, suave Iron Man are one of pop-culture’s most renown cyborgs with an intransient influence that has permeated movies, novelizations, comic books and video games.

Adam Jensen is a mechanically augmented ex-SWAT commander, chief of security and covert double-agent who embarks on a perilous undertaking to oust the world’s clandestine Orwellian forces, the Illuminati, and stem the tide of an unconquerable hatred between augmented and ‘natural’ citizens.  Following an accident at the company where he was head of security, Jensen was subjected to an extensive cybernetic surgery where 50% of his body was interred with perilous augmentations, both internal and external, which made him a dangerous and potential harbinger of bedlam.

Tony Stark is a billionaire playboy, business magnate, and ingenious engineer, having graduated with two master’s degrees by age 19 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At the age of 21, Tony became the CEO of Stark Enterprises when his parents were killed in an obscure car accident. Tony experienced a lethal chest injury during a kidnapping when he was tortured into building a weapon of mass destruction. In order to escape his captors, Tony built a powered suit of armor which he later augments with state-of-the-art destructive gadgets and attains the mien of Iron Man.

Adam Jensen and Tony Stark at their beginnings.

It is indeed a food for thought what would be the outcome if these two hazardous human weapons butted heads. Several possible scenarios come to mind, depending on their equipment and surroundings:

1. No gadget fist fight.

It is universally known that Tony’s chief strength derives from his powerful armor, beneath which resides a malleable human being prone to mortal wounds. While Tony is intellectually versatile and independent, physically he is left wanting.  

Adam on the other hand, is both a genetic and physical marvel, rising to the rank of SWAT commander before the age of 30 and has managed to sustain life-threatening injuries from other cyborgs even prior to receiving his augmentations. If these two ever interlocked in close-ranged combat, it is a no brainer who would emerge unscathed.

2. Standard armory/gadget open fight.

Now this is where things get dense. Both cyborgs have a lengthy caliber of augmentations at their disposal which can prove highly effective depending on their preparation and physical surroundings.  Iron Man focuses more on offensive combat, integrating and utilizing all of his suit’s faculties and in an open area his gadgets could easily cause a plethora of pandemonium which not even Jensen can run away from.

Jensen may come equipped with a handful of close and open-combat augmentations, but without any adequate architecture to shield himself and a lack of opportunities to strike his foe, the chances are slim that he can oust Iron Man, let alone reach him if he’s hovering in the air.

3. Standard armory/gadget closed fight.

Whilst Iron Man stoutly relies on his suit to counter his adversaries, Adam’s masterful stratagem and reliance on different paths to evict his foe will be an impending aid to him in a closeted area. Jensen’s requisite of augmentations are a mingle of offensive and defensive augmentations, as Adam frequently relies on stealth and hacking to effortlessly dispose his foe. An indoors scuffle would allow Jensen to easily ambush Iron Man, made more plausible with the nanoceramic blades on both his arms and an armor-piercing handgun that can permanently destabilize Iron Man’s armor.

Nevertheless, Adam runs the risk of exposing himself to severe impairment even at a close-range encounter, as his dermal armor and Titan Shield are only temporary and tractable, leaving Jensen the majority of the fight exposed to a coup de grâce from Iron Man once his shields are down.

Adam Jensen’s and Iron Man’s current character design.

The scenarios, deviations and consequences of a fight between Adam Jensen and Iron Man are just as divergent as their suite of cybernetic enhancements, which leaves us with an open-mind regarding the true victor of this crossover, multi-universe quarrel.

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