Why I Disregard Hit Points
Hit points are simply your "health" in various video games. Not all hit points are the same. In role-playing games like Final Fantasy, you're likely capable of acquiring 9,999 HP. If not, well, you at least end up in the four digit range. The Pokémon series is different. It never exceeds to four digits, and the highest HP in the game belongs to Blissey, who can have up to 714 HP. The same is with the EarthBound series. Hit points are often found in role-playing games, and we can all thank the original Dungeons & Dragons for this. (D&D is an RPG, by the way.) So, often times in role-playing games, you'll see hit points. These do not exist in every game, however. The Zelda, Metroid, and Sonic series, for example, keep no track of hit points. They have their own kind of health, these being Heart Containers, Energy Tanks, and Rings.
Other games, such as Dead Space, Call of Duty, and Resident Evil really ignore hit points. In Dead Space, Isaac is wearing powered armor, so the armor takes damage. This, like Samus' Energy Tanks, acts as defense, rather than health. Once the defense is gone, the wearer is no longer protected and is capable of dying. Call of Duty gives you a certain amount of hits. I believe it's two hits, but if you get hit and then avoid getting hit again, you miraculously heal. Resident Evil gives you certain herbs and items to heal your wounds. There's really no hit points involved in these games. So, what is the point of me talking about all of this? Well, first, hit points are nothing more a game mechanic, and when you have two games with different amount of health, you have problems.
1. 1 HP is Equivalent to 10 HP
This simply means that in a particular role-playing game like Pokémon, Blissey's 714 HP may actually be 3,125 HP if Blissey fought a protagonist from Final Fantasy. Or should we switch this around and reduce Cloud's HP while leaving Blissey's HP? At the same time, if Blissey was to fight someone from the EarthBound series, we may have to change Blissey's HP from 714 HP to perhaps 508 HP. Or, again, should we change Ness' HP? Let's consider this for a moment. This changes the HP for certain opponents Blissey is fighting, which makes the battles inconsistent, which screws up the tier list. Not only that, but you must also consider attack, defense, speed, and whatever else. Not to mention, some games will have "Luck," and others "IQ," but not every role-playing game has these.
2. My Weapon Malfunctioned
Let's consider the attack and defense information. Games like Zelda or Metroid do not tell you how much your opponent can take, and it does not tell you how much damage your weapons do to your opponents. Even if it did, let's consider the following. Let's say the Plasma Beam does 200 damage. Now, let's say Samus used the Plasma Beam on Mewtwo. Mewtwo has 416 HP, or he may have more. I don't know. (See 1 HP is Equivalent to 10 HP.) Anyway, 416 - 200 is 216. It should take three hits for Mewtwo to die from the Plasma Beam. But wait! Is the Plasma Beam really causing 200 damage? What if it just got more powerful, or perhaps it became weaker?
3. Converting Miles Into Meters
As I stated before, if we must convert stats to overcome the problem hit points gives us, then to whom should we convert the stats? Should we leave Mewtwo at 416 HP, while giving Ness 500 HP? Or should we give Mewtwo more HP, since Ness has 999? Or maybe we give both of them an equal amount of damage, and the hit points work the same way? Or perhaps we just avoid the hit points altogether? The latter is far easier. If the former, then where does it begin, and who is correct? But if we did this, we would also have to include stats. I mean, Link does not level up, so where do we begin with hit points, attack, defense, speed, luck, IQ, and so on?