Update: This was a close one, which is the best kind of finale. With 58 percent of the vote our 2017 Alpha Showdown Champion is Kate Daniels!
It’s finally time to decide who will be the Alpha Showdown 2017 Champion. Every year this is the favorite match, and I love seeing how many readers love these characters.
This time is extra special, though. For the first time in the seven years I’ve been hosting the Alpha Showdown, there are women in the finale. We’ve never had a female contender make it this far, and this year we have two.
A female alpha will win the Alpha Showdown this year.
Will it be Mercy Thompson or Kate Daniels? They both had to defeat significant others to make it here. They both are utterly badass and beloved.
Who gets crowned champion is up to VBC readers. So, let’s do this thing.
This round is open for 48 hours.
You know her from: The Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs
First appeared in: Moon Called (VBC Review | Amazon)
Supernatural status: walker/coyote shifter, daughter of the trickster god Coyote
Championed by: Margaret from VBC
In Patricia Briggs’s latest Mercy Thompson novel, Fire Touched, Mercy describes herself as, “as vulnerable as any human. My superpower consisted of transforming into a thirty-five pound coyote.” Why do we think she deserves to be an Alpha Showdown champion then?
Right after she said that, Mercy went off to battle a troll. She rescued an injured woman and her baby, shot the troll in the eye, and stabbed it in its big, green troll junk. She defended her unconscious husband with nothing but a stick and a bottle of essential oil. Mercy’s faced vampires, river monsters, and Fairy Queens and come out on top.
Mercy has a unique relationship with magic. She can see ghosts, where most supernaturals in her world can’t. She can tap into pack magic, even though she’s not a werewolf. And she can wield weapons meant for only the Fae. Her god-forged walking stick always appears when she needs it. She’s kind of a special snowflake, but it also makes her unpredictable.
I would also argue that shapeshifting is not Mercy’s only superpower. She’s also incredibly stubborn. Mercy never gives up, even though she winds up nearly dead at the end of so many of her books. She doesn’t do what’s expected. I mean, she’s an auto mechanic. She defies authority, mostly the Marrok’s, by knowing the rules and finding the loopholes. So she’s not only smart, but sneaky. She has to be to survive in a world where everyone else is bigger and stronger. That’s why she also carries a gun.
Mercy’s got a werewolf pack at her back and allies in every corner of the supernatural world—vampires, witches, and Fae. She stands up against evil, even when it’s kicking her ass. So while she may be the underdog, don’t count Mercy out. This coyote’s still got plenty of tricks up her sleeve.
You know her from: the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
First appeared in: Magic Bites (VBC review | Amazon)
Supernatural Status: It’s complicated.
Championed by: Margaret from VBC
It’s about time a woman won Alpha Showdown. I know I said that last year, but I’m going to keep saying it every year until it happens. And there is no one more qualified to take the title than Kate Daniels. I mean she’s a half-witch demigod, even though she doesn’t see herself that way. She’s just beginning to admit how powerful she truly is.
Yes, that’s Kate’s picture next to the Wikipedia entry for “badass.” (No I don’t know which of the 27 different cover models they used.) Just look at all the adversaries she’s defeated. Vampires, rakshasa, ancient gods, a bone dragon, a djinn. Sure, she gets beat up a lot. But that’s okay because even Kate’s blood is a weapon. She can turn it into blades to attack an opponent or form it into armor for defense.
Kate’s earned the respect of everyone in the supernatural community first by defeating 22 shifters to secure her place at Curran’s side and then by cleaning up all of their magical messes. She’s claimed the city of Atlanta as her territory and has powerful allies to help her defend it. The Pack, the Guild, the Witches and Volvs, the People, and even a few gods fight by her side.
Kate’s a perennial Showdown favorite. She even made the championship round last year. Her hubby’s already won the title—he took the crown in 2012—but why should Curran get all the glory? Kate’s the one who brings all of those groups together. She’s the one they all look to lead them into battle. She’s the ultimate alpha and she deserves to be recognized for it.
For the final round, we had to up the prize. Vote in this round of the Alpha Showdown, and you’ll be entered to win three urban fantasy books: Cormorant Run by Lilith Saintcrow (just released!), Borrowed Souls by Chelsea Mueller (signed copy!), and Staked by Kevin Hearne.
Go Mercy!
Kate!
I love both of these kick-ass alphas, but it has to be Kate. She’s a god, for god’s sake. Mercy is amazing, but I can’t see a Coyote beating on a god.
Kate is not a god, her father is a god. Mercy’s father is also a god. Granted, Kate did inherited her father’s godly powers, while Mercy inherited the ability to shift to coyote form, control ghosts, and a resistance to magic. BTW, Mercy has already killed a god.
They are both daughters of Gods, so technically they are both demigods. 🙂 And technically, again, Roland is a near-immortal human with god-like abilities powered by peoples’ belief in him , while Coyote is a trickster god in native american mythology. Having said all that – you are absolutely right – they are both kick-ass alphas. 🙂
Kate!!!
I Love them both but I think Kate is the true alpha
So hard. I love Kate and Mercy, but I’ll go with Kate.
KATE!!!
Kate
How am I supposed to choose between my two favorites?!
my problem exactly!!!
Gotta be Kate!
Both my favs, and so hard to choose! I have to go with Mercy. Kate is super amazing, and part god, and did I mention amazing! But Mercy does it without super powers. She’s awesome!
Mercy is also part god. If i weren’t for her partial magic immunity, anility to control ghosts, and shifting, she would have died long before now. Kate was doing it without super powers for most of her life, both growing up with Voron and working for the Mercenary Guild. They’re both awesome ladies.
Kate. I love Mercy too but she is not an alpha.
Mercy
Mercy! She’s my favorite.
Oh Kate so much!
This is the first time I had to think about who to vote for. But, in the end, I decided on Kate. I love the humanity of Mercy, but fundamentally, I really feel that Kate is way more badass.
I love both these characters but I think my vote would have to be for Mercy.
Mercy
Kaaaaaaaaaate!!! She’s got magic, massive sword skills and Curran 🙂 I love Mercy too, but she’s more… wily then skilled. Thanks for sharing!
These are my 2 favs for female alphas, so this is a very hard choice. I think I have to go with Kate though. While Mercy is amazing & has managed to survive against better foes, Kate has been doing it longer & didn’t really start realizing her magic capacity until recently.
Kate!
Kate by a nose. Just by the hair on Curran’s chin. Mercy killed a God but Kate’s tears formed magic flowers. Her blood can be used to forge weapons. Plus the power words which just might not work on Mercy but would on her pack.
kate
Mercy
Kate rocks!!!!!
Bleh, neither. Vlad should have won
Mercy
KATE
Kate! Kate!
Kate for the win!
I love both of them . They are my fav that I reread all the time. But to me Kate is the alpha. Mercy does what she does but to me Kate is the Mega Alpha of the two.
I hate having to choose but I chose Kate because she’s the soon to be mama:)
My house is split!!!!
Kate Daniels is Alpha supreme!!!!! However my son, who though is fond of Kate is voting for MERCY ARGHHHHH!!!!! I told him I would put him over my knee if he voted for Kate. He just snickered.
Kate all the way.
It’s Mercy, really. Kate’s incredible, but she’s a half-witch demi-god who carries a sword! Mercy carried no weapons at all except a rather small knife until recently, when a walking stick with a mind of its own started following her. She never knows if it will show or not…and should she use it? She will fight to the death for you. Then she’ll bake you brownies. What more could you possibly want? ❣✋
Mercy!!
Kate, she is my favorite heroine.
Holly smokes this was tough. I LOVE both Kate and Mercy equally, but I had to pick one, so Kate won out.
A really hard choice, between my 2 favourite bad ass heroines, but, much as I like Mercy, I have to go with Kate…..
Kate Daniels!
This is so hard, They are both awesome!
Kate Kate KATE!
MERCY
Mercy!
Mercy
Mercy
Mercy
Kate
MERCY for the win!
Kate!
What the HELL! How am I going to pick between two of my favorites!! It was a difficult decision but went with Kate.