In Season 1 of Netflix's Record of Ragnarok, gods from many cultures began brawling with warriors from different periods of history as part of a tournament to save Earth. Should the gods reach seven wins in the thirteen carded bouts, they'd get to raze the planet, which is why the Valkyrie in Brunhilde is looking for the best humans to fight on her side.

Admittedly, there weren't too many scraps in Season 1, with Zeus fighting Adam (from the Bible) and Poseidon tackling Kojiro Sasaki, one of Japan's finest. However, it's the first one that really resonated as Thor clashed with China's best warlord, Lü Bu. Interestingly, this opener set up a key arc that could have given the anime its own version of Naruto's Rock Lee, but Record of Ragnarok sadly botched it.

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Naruto's Rock Lee Had Immense Resolve

Rock Lee injured after his fight with Gaara in the Chunin Exams arc of Naruto.

In Naruto, Rock Lee is the Konoha shinobi who doesn't use ninjutsu like Naruto, or genjutsu like Sasuke and Mirai; he's based in taijutsu, aka hand-to-hand combat. This is why he's considered the underdog, evidenced in the Chunin Exams when he fought Gaara of the Sand -- one of the most powerful ninjas around. Rock Lee, though, used his chakra to augment his techniques and become a super-soldier in terms of how fast and hard he hit -- something passed to his son, Metal Lee.

This all came to a head when Rock Lee stunned fans, removing ankle weights that weighed tons, to fight Gaara. It happened after he was bloodied up, which left viewers worried how he'd cope. But as his master Might Guy said, Rock Lee's true power would be unleashed, and make no mistake, he came off like a Superman. Even with broken bones, he beat Gaara up, but the latter still ended up with the win.

It was a technical victory, though, as the doctors stopped the fight to keep Rock Lee's body in one piece. Notably, his frame was still in fighting mode even though he was unconscious, proving how resolute he was -- something that inspired all the competitors and made Rock Lee a legend in the decades after.

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Record of Ragnarok's Lü Bun Squandered His Broken Potential

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In Record of Ragnarok, Thor used his hammer to swing down on Lü Bu. Thankfully, Lü Bu blocked the blow with his halberd, but his ankles were broken akin to Rock Lee's bones. However, his horse, the Red Hare, came out, placed him on its back and charged at Thor, with Lü Bu ready to unleash a blow called the Sky Eater. This move was said to cut through anything, leaving viewers anticipating some sort of innovation or evolution that'd make the move super, possibly shattering Mjolnir.

Sadly, despite harnessing the energy of nature, Lü Bu's swipe failed and Thor decapitated him with a baseball swing. The fight swiftly ended, which was so anticlimactic. The stage was all set for Lü Bu to test the Thunder god, but he was snuffed out in underwhelming fashion. It was tremendously disappointing as it could have offered more hope to humanity. But ultimately, Lü Bu jobbed to Thor to make the gods look more powerful when he could have frightened and worried Thor, making him respect mankind a tad more.