Recently, a debate has sparked in many corners of the internet, and it has even spread to Woodmore’s students. The question is simple: Who would win, one gorilla or one hundred men? What initially seems like a simple question actually has a high degree of nuance and complexity to it. Who are these one hundred men? Is the fight occurring all at once or is it a series of one vs ones? This article will examine why; and how, 100 people will easily best a single gorilla in combat.
The average male gorilla weighs 350 pounds and can lift 1700 pounds, while the average male weight in the US is 200 pounds and can lift 215 pounds. These numbers initially seem to favor the gorilla, but the fact remains that gorillas are not typically known for their stamina in the way humans are; they are more focused on bursts of strength and power. While gorillas are incredibly strong, they are not endurance athletes. The combined stamina of 100 people, whether fighting one at a time or all together would make it so after a certain amount of fatalities, the gorilla would be unable to continue fighting and could be defeated with relative ease.
100 men would also have an advantage because of their numbers. They could potentially overwhelm the gorilla through a coordinated attack, such as by creating a “human straightjacket” to prevent the gorilla from breathing or using its limbs. This means that a sacrifice of 5-10 people at the beginning of the fight would mean the remaining 90 people could take the opportunity to take down the gorilla.
Some may argue that humans would be scared when they get into the arena with the gorilla. This may be true for some humans, but with 100 men staring down a gorilla, knowing they have to kill him to survive, the gorilla would be more scared of the humans because there are just so many more humans.
In conclusion the humans would be able to take out the gorilla because they would be able to outnumber the gorilla. By outnumbering the gorilla, they could use tactics such as restraining him with 20 people and attacking him with the rest of the people. Or trying to suffocate the gorilla underneath all of the human bodies. Yes, not all humans would be able to make it out alive; some will die. But in the end, the sheer amount of humans would outmatch the gorilla and eventually take him out.
