Round 9: Ryodan vs. Ethan Sullivan [Alpha Showdown 2013]

Things are advancing in the Alpha Showdown 2013. We’ve hit the second tier of the event. Winners will start battling winners. Expect the stakes to be raised and the smack talk to increase.

Ryodan dominated the first round of the Showdown. Taking out Mercy Thompson with the power you’d expect from one of the Nine. How will he fare against the cunning Ethan Sullivan, who already bested stellar assassin Secret McQueen?

Read the pitches, then make the call. Who should advance to the next round in the Alpha Showdown? The poll at the end of this post will be open for two days. Remember, alphas don’t share titles. Your votes decide who advances in the Alpha Showdown 2013.

New for 2013! Every (non-spam) comment on an Alpha Showdown post will enter you to win books featuring the final four alphas. So make sure to join the discussion and cheer on your favorite alphas.

ROUND 9: RYODAN

vs. ETHAN SULLIVAN

Ryodan

You know him from: The Fever Series and Iced by Karen Marie Moning
First appeared in: Vocally in Bloodfever, physically in Dreamfever
Supernatural status: We’re too scared to ask

Championed by: Krista from Vampire Book Club

Every once in a while a character comes along who terrifies you, while at the same time obsessively intrigues you. You know you shouldn’t be attracted to them, but you just can’t help be dragged under their spell. Ryodan is this and so much more. The words alpha and omega should be defined by the standard he sets. So the final outcome of the Alpha Showdown 2013 is a foregone conclusion. To paraphrase Ryodan’s own words, if they’re stupid enough to show up, they’re stupid enough to die.

Some may argue that Ryodan is a more civilized version of Barron’s or the beta to Barron’s alpha but they would be wrong. This thin veneer only makes him more dangerous.

“She thinks he’s not an animal like Barrons. That he’s more civilized. She’s right, he is more polished. But it only makes him more dangerous. With Barrons you expect to get fucked up royally. With Ryodan you don’t see it coming.”

He’s the “devil in a business suit,” perceiving everything until finally making a decision. Then everyone who “pissed him off or offended him or just breathed wrong dies.” Ryodan isn’t the person who pushes you off the cliff. Instead he “allows” you to come to the conclusion that it was your own idea to jump off the cliff. Not that he couldn’t easily throw you off said cliff. It amuses him to do it this way.

“They don’t call him the master of manipulation for nothing. Barrons breaks heads. Ryodan turns them inside out. Barrons fucks you up. Ryodan makes you fuck yourself up. He pushes buttons and rearranges things to his own private, coolly sociopathic plan.”

He has the lethal magnificence of an ancient predator. He is at the top of the food chain and he revels in it. He has the crafted, impossible beauty of Greek statue, but the scars of a violent life. He doesn’t wear underwear because it chafes (“Too small and confining”). He likes sex for breakfast, “early and often.” He is the only man who can survive a fight with Barrons. The Nine (un-killable creatures like himself) are more loyal to him, than they are to Barrons.

Barrons calls him when he needs back up. He suffers no inner conflict on his choices, his needs or his actions. He is the ocean and everyone else is the earth that he shapes to his whims. He is everything which we should idolize and demonize at the same time.

There is no question in my mind and shouldn’t be in any other sane individual’s—Ryodan is the clear-cut winner of this Alpha Showdown. The rest are just pretenders. They may as well not even show up.

Ryodan says it best, “I’m King, Liege, Lord, and Master.” The rest of you are just cannon fodder.

Ethan Sullivan

You know him from: Chicagoland Vampires Series by Chloe Neill
First appeared in: Some Girls Bite (VBC review)
Supernatural status: Master vampire

Championed by: Zee the Terrible from the Saucy Wenches Book Club | @SaucyWenchesBC

Ethan Sullivan, Master of Cadogan house, Viking vampire, and force to be reckoned with. Ethan, as far as I’m concerned, has pretty much all the qualities of an unbeatable alpha. Gorgeous as hell, sexy as sin, hard working, a loyal and fierce leader, looks great in a suit (or, some might argue, even better out of one), great sense of humor, a VERY smooth operator, has a way with words that makes your knees wobbly, can seduce a nun out of her habit, and possesses the skills to back it all up (oh my… does he ever!). But that isn’t where it ends. Sure, you’re thinking, all alphas have most of those things. Big deal, right?

I’ll tell you what the big deal is: How many alphas have you come across who have GROWN right alongside the heroine? Evolved in front of your very eyes? Ethan has. Ethan OWNS his mistakes, his insecurities. He learns from his mistakes and will do anything to put them right. He apologizes in the most wonderful, heartfelt, sincere ways possible (and for as long as possible). He is willing to see your point of view and work with it, at whatever cost necessary.

And I can guarantee you, you will never get bored in your relationship with Ethan. Just when we thought we couldn’t love+lust Ethan more, he manages to take it to a WHOLE new level. He is the stuff of freaking legend (and fantasy)! I don’t know how any woman (or man) is supposed to resist him. His charm, his sexy silvered eyes, his eagerness to learn how to win Merit’s heart, his library (100 points to Sullivan for that!), not to mention his unbelievable sparring skills (poetry in motion, according to Merit), and the fact that he is DEADLY with a katana (and without!). Fighting might be his last resort, after diplomacy and political maneuvering, but you don’t get to be a 400-year-old Master vampire because you have a way with words. Enemies would do well to remember that he was a soldier when he was human. A very good one, for a very long time, until he was turned. So, rival Alphas, don’t be fooled by the urbane vampire in the impeccable Armani suits; he can wipe the floor with your ass… and look great doing it.

Where I believe most other alphas have failed, Ethan excels. Communication, perseverance, gentleness when needed, or unyielding badassness. He even handles his crazy exes in the best possible way. And did I mention, he says the most amazing things? And means them? I know words only count for so much, but damn… when you have the heart and sincerity to back them up, it makes them all the sweeter. If you haven’t gotten to know Ethan yet, I STRONGLY suggest you do; he will pass even your first “fight” with flying colors. And you will come to admire the Alpha who puts the vampires in his House, who have entrusted him with their care for hundreds of years and pledged him their undying loyalty, before ALL his own desires. The Alpha who WILL go down with his house and vampires if need be. He leads them. From behind the desk, from the front lines, from beyond the grave. There is no contest. He will always find a way (with the help of the woman he loves and respects more than any other). He will always win. He is what our wildest dreams, sweetest and most carnal fantasies are made of. He is Ethan Sullivan.

“I am your Master and your servant. Just tell me how to please you.” *SIGH*

Need more convincing? He didn’t hesitate for even a nano second before sacrificing his life for the woman he loves. Not.Even.A.Second. NUFF F***ING SAID!

VOTE!

This poll will be open for 48 hours. Alpha with the most votes will advance.