One issue with "gladiator style fight" is if the men are just an unorganized mess or if they are being lead by Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the armies of the north, general of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor: Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife.

@AlexanderTheGreater or say, Titus Pullo of the 13th, shoulder to shoulder with Lucius Vorenus with 68 of the 13th and 30 collegiati from the Aventine.

men run long, gorilla run short, gorilla tired, men win.

@Ersagun otoh short attention span. Gorilla makes a few feints. Doesn't reach any men, loses interest and just waits for the men to come to IT.

@JussiVilleHeiskanen men smart, gorilla big dumb. men leave gorilla. gorilla run, men win. OR dumb men poke gorilla, dumb men die. gorilla tired, men win.

@Ersagun BTW It's exhausting to do this Tarzan language. But I like it.

What size arena? Given a large enough arena, just be a bunch of rodeo clowns. Not sure if there is enough strategy in a gorilla to concentrate on one target at a time. Wear it out. I'll check what the land speed of a gorilla is. No trees, right?

@JussiVilleHeiskanen

This even specifically considers our scenario, even though I was only looking for it's speed

https://enviroliteracy.org/animals/can-an-average-human-outrun-a-gorilla/

@JussiVilleHeiskanen The area is about 4,000 square meters

Some relevant videos:

the battlefield is neutral

Does this mean like an endless flat grassy meadow? A concrete floored walled room? Switzerland? A neutron star?

@TheAllMemeingEye The surface is compacted dirt. The fighting area circular and is surrounded by a high concrete wall.

@MrNoodles Thanks 👍

A couple more relevant questions I thought of:

• Are all the men identical copies of a man who is as average as possible in every regard, or are they a randomly selected group of all men globally, or something else?

• When you say it is a gladiator fight with both sides fighting for their life, does that mean that the men have been told that they must kill the gorilla or they will be killed by the game-runners, but the gorilla as a nonhuman animal isn't capable of understanding the instructions and thus is just trying to survive, or has it been injected with some kind of bloodlust-inducing drug?

• Do the men have any opportunity to get to know each other and strategise or are they just suddenly thrown into the fight?

@MrNoodles don't think it is that neutral without trees. Or are there plains gorillas?

@JussiVilleHeiskanen if there's trees then there's sticks and humans roflstomp the gorilla

@TheAllMemeingEye you're very right. Didn't think it through. There may not be neutral territory. Though it could be gorilla gorilla might fashion the biggest cudgel

@JussiVilleHeiskanen

Though it could be gorilla gorilla might fashion the biggest cudgel

Get that fancy pants latin outta here! /s

@TheAllMemeingEye someone pointed out that once the hirsute ape flattens a few humans, their long bones can be made into force multipliers and their heads into projectiles, if evasive action can buy time to accomplish it.

@JussiVilleHeiskanen good point haha

@JussiVilleHeiskanen There are no trees.

@TheAllMemeingEye

1. They are as average as possible in every regard.

2. The gorilla is enraged because the people are attacking it.

3. The men are suddenly thrown into the fight.

I think gorillas are slightly over-exaggerated, since 1v1 they absolutely would, but they're nothing like a lion, which are massive

@atmidnight What do you mean they're nothing like a lion? Lions have claws but aren't gorillas way stronger and still have huge sharp teeth?

@atmidnight interesting. I would have thought the gorilla had a better chance against 100 men than the lion. I expected the lion to be better 1v1 because the mauling is strong there whereas the gorilla swing it's arms would be better 1v100

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