Murphy

[guinnesshero]

Am I the only one that thinks Murphy is way over powered for a run on the mill human? No one out fights Murphy not even super naturals. No one out shoots Murphy. Heck in the last book she basically get torn apart and crippled has multiple surgeries, is in casts for months. She cuts hers casts off and after a hot bath is getting the better of a Valkyrie. Heck Harry is a wizard and after being messed up that bad had to take on the mantle of the winter knight to fix it all Murphy needs is a hot bath.

[Griffyn612]

Bump because somehow I missed this one.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

A hot bath administered by Harry. He just kept quiet and let Murphy think it was magic. It’s Dumbo’s magic feather.

[The_Sibelis]

It's not a matter of being overpowered, it's a matter of attitude... And that thing with the Valkyrie was probably easy to do, because she was being underestimated. That gives you a natural edge you wouldn't have otherwise.

[vultur]

She cuts hers casts off and after a hot bath is getting the better of a Valkyrie.

Well, it's not like she actually won a fight vs. a Valkyrie. In one case she acted really fast when Freydis just wasn't expecting her to be a threat, and impressed Freydis; there was no actual fight. In the other she pulled the pins on grenades and Freydis jumped away to escape.

She didn't actually go full on martial arts against Freydis in either case.

She's lost strength and flexibility from her injuries, but her tactical thinking is as good as ever. And her reaction time still seems super good.

Heck Harry is a wizard and after being messed up that bad had to take on the mantle of the winter knight to fix it

Harry had a broken back, spinal cord damage. I don't think Murphy had nerve damage.

And, more importantly, Murphy isn't back to normal capability now, months after SG. In Changes Harry had to act that day. And normal Harry might not have been enough to win anyway.

[Mira]

Am I the only one that thinks Murphy is way over powered for a run on the mill human? No one out fights Murphy not even super naturals. No one out shoots Murphy. Heck in the last book she basically get torn apart and crippled has multiple surgeries, is in casts for months. She cuts hers casts off and after a hot bath is getting the better of a Valkyrie. Heck Harry is a wizard and after being messed up that bad had to take on the mantle of the winter knight to fix it all Murphy needs is a hot bath.

1] Not quite true, Nic beat the living crap out of her, that is why she was still in casts and may only come back fifty percent at best..
2]  She got the drop on the Valkyrie, a couple of quick hand to hand moves.  We don't know whether or not the Valkyrie let her win, she didn't even try to fight back, no point in pissing Harry off.  Also if it had been a prolonged hand to hand fight I doubt Murphy would have even come close to winning. Remember the Valkyrie then slowed her pace as they moved across the park because Murphy could barely keep up at a normal walk.
3] I still say the bullet that took out Maeve was Mab aimed and fired..

[BrainFireBob]

It's the planning. Harry mentions in..Storm Front?..that wizards can handle nearly anything with enough foresight and time to prepare.

It's why Freydis and Gard both noticed her. She's Valkyrie-grade material.

[Helga Ozark]

A warm bath has "magical" restorative powers that have nothing to do with actual magic   
There are hints that she's actually in a bit of pain. She may be holding it back probably for Harry's sake or as a matter of pride.
I'm in the "she's smart, quick and underestimated" camp when it comes to her abilities against supernatural powers

[huangjimmy108]

Am I the only one that thinks Murphy is way over powered for a run on the mill human? No one out fights Murphy not even super naturals. No one out shoots Murphy. Heck in the last book she basically get torn apart and crippled has multiple surgeries, is in casts for months. She cuts hers casts off and after a hot bath is getting the better of a Valkyrie. Heck Harry is a wizard and after being messed up that bad had to take on the mantle of the winter knight to fix it all Murphy needs is a hot bath.

I think we discount the power of normal vanilla humans a bit too much when discussing the Dresden files. With all the magic, demons, angels, fallen, faeries, gods  and outsiders that has been taking up page count recently mere vanilla has been a bit underrated. The wisest supernatural beings like Vadderung however knows to fear vanilla mortals, or at least not to underestimate them.

JB's story always emphasize the importance of mind and will power over sheer muscle, magical or otherwise. Vanilla mortals, at least people like Murphy and marcone, are not lacking in both mind and will. Their physical strength and lack of magical power is indeed a limitation, but it does not reduce their danger level. Most vanilla are so much a soft target because they often panic when danger comes, not because they are truly helpless.

Being able to benchpress 10 tons is not as important as knowing when, where, how and why to use that force. An. If you lack power, you can always borrow, ask for help or in Marcone's case simply hire them with lots of money or by trading favors. In other words, power can be aquired. Wisdom, experience, courage and perceverence however is something innate to each person.

[Mira]

Being able to benchpress 10 tons is not as important as knowing when, where, how and why to use that force. An. If you lack power, you can always borrow, ask for help or in Marcone's case simply hire them with lots of money or by trading favors. In other words, power can be aquired. Wisdom, experience, courage and perceverence however is something innate to each person.

  Or sheer will power, the force advantage Harry seems to have over most of his opponents.  In Murphy's case, she did a ten second power move, surprised her opponent, who really didn't fight back and won.  However the rest of the time she was mostly moving on gut power, in a fight, especially hand to hand to the death, gut power and skill will only take her so far, her unhealed body will fail at some point.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The advantage for vanilla mortals is free will, the strength of that will is another matter. Someone like Marcone is an outlier.

[Mira]

The advantage for vanilla mortals is free will, the strength of that will is another matter. Someone like Marcone is an outlier.

  Marcone is a natural leader, he has a level of charisma, people will follow him.  He is also ruthless, and ambitious, along with a keen intelligence has allowed him to take over the crime territory in Chicago and made him a valued member of the Accords.  Strength of will carries him a long way because he motivates others by that will.

 Murphy is none of those things, at best she is a so so leader, her time trying to head the Justice League was proof of that.  Murphy is a good and cunning fighter, but she doesn't inspire or do much to motivate others, she is a soldier, not a general.  She exercises her free will to the full extent, she is very strong in that aspect, however her physical strength has always had limits.  She has always seemingly comes out on top physically because she has used her intelligence and bravery to best advantage.  But when she makes a mistake, like she did up against Nic, she was toast. 

[huangjimmy108]

  Or sheer will power, the force advantage Harry seems to have over most of his opponents.  In Murphy's case, she did a ten second power move, surprised her opponent, who really didn't fight back and won.  However the rest of the time she was mostly moving on gut power, in a fight, especially hand to hand to the death, gut power and skill will only take her so far, her unhealed body will fail at some point.

In my opinion, if Murphy does not know what she is doing, it really does not matter whether she is injured or not. Most if not all of her future opponents would have so much power advantage over her making any decrease or increase cause by her injury irrelevant if it really come to a fair fight. The keyword here being "Fair"

But it is different if she know what she is doing. She is the one who shoot Maeve dead. How could she do it? Because Mab help to untie her. The Question is: why Murphy? Why not untie another person?

There is a time and place for everything and for anyone. In my opinion, , Murphy's  main advantage is her seemingly unthreatening nature. She is a vanilla. She is tiny and now she is injured to boot. In the eyes of most supernatural powers, she is no more remarkable than a pebble on the road. The more powerful the being is, the more they would likely to ignore someone like Murphy.

In gaming terms, Murphy most likely have some kind of stealth bonus.

Probably why Mab choose to free her in CD, because Maeve probably would have notice if Mab try to free someone else, like fix for example. Murphy are likely to be dismissed out of hand, because in the mind of the powerful she couldn't have done anything even if she is freed.

[Mira]

 
Probably why Mab choose to free her in CD, because Maeve probably would have notice if Mab try to free someone else, like fix for example. Murphy are likely to be dismissed out of hand, because in the mind of the powerful she couldn't have done anything even if she is freed.
 

All of that, plus Murphy still had a gun on her, and she is trained in "shoot to kill."   However none of it would have been possible if Mab hadn't freed her in the first place.

In my opinion, if Murphy does not know what she is doing, it really does not matter whether she is injured or not. Most if not all of her future opponents would have so much power advantage over her making any decrease or increase cause by her injury irrelevant if it really come to a fair fight. The keyword here being "Fair"

I doubt the fights in the next book are going to be fair. 

There is a time and place for everything and for anyone. In my opinion, , Murphy's  main advantage is her seemingly unthreatening nature. She is a vanilla. She is tiny and now she is injured to boot. In the eyes of most supernatural powers, she is no more remarkable than a pebble on the road. The more powerful the being is, the more they would likely to ignore someone like Murphy.

But in the mayhem of the battle field? 

[TheCuriousFan]

But in the mayhem of the battle field?

Martin got a whole bit in Changes about how looking like you're not threatening in the middle of a big fight with obvious threats running around is it's own form of armour, so yes the non-threatening bit still applies.