(Personal Article) Top 10 Death Battle Episode Ideas

Rooster Teeth’s (formerly ScrewAttack's) web series Death Battle is one of my favorite shows on the Internet. Not only does it show action-packed fights between different characters from popular series by matching their canon stats against each other, it also shows how different story or character elements are used in different series, how power can be implemented in different contexts, and in some cases, introduces viewers to series they haven’t looked into before. In that way, if you look at it a certain way, it can even serve as an unexpected source for story inspiration, showing what direction to tone down or turn up certain characters in a story in progress.

Several people have ideas about what characters might make a good match-up in the show, with comments on Youtube and Twitter and even an official submission form. While I have my own ideas for battles I'd like to see, I figured I would do something more involved and write out a Top Ten article for it.

This list is purely about the Death Battle episode ideas that I personally would like to see happen, though I’ve tried to have a variety of series in my choices. Are all of these series currently relevant and popular? I don’t care. Are they the most requested battle ideas among other fans of the series? I don't care. Are Ben & Chad (a.k.a. Wiz & Boomstick) likely to actually read these ideas and take them into account? I at least hope so. I probably wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t at least partially think that was the case.

Here are my PERSONAL Top 10 Death Battle Episode Ideas.

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10. The Lizard (Spider-Man) vs. Killer Croc (Batman)

Yes, this is another Batman vs. Spider-Man style fight, but I can't help it if two of my favorite supervillains happen to share more than one theme. In fact, that may even strengthen the case here. Killer Croc and the Lizard are both mutant reptilian antagonists towards the aforementioned heroes and have fought against them several times. While they both have some similarities, including durable scaled hides, sharp claws and fangs, and (depending on the version for Croc) powerful tails, both still have a difference in skills, with Killer Croc’s better mobility in the water and the Lizard’s keen intellect and connection to other reptiles (which may or may not be a big problem for Croc). With one being a street thug and the other being a mad scientist, there is sure to be a difference in tactics as well.

9. Skull Kid (The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask) vs. Midna (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)

While Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf are the three staple characters of the Legend of Zelda franchise, there are several side characters that fans have grown attached to, with fans jumping for joy whenever they resurface. Two of them are Skull Kid from Majora’s Mask and Midna from Twilight Princess. Both of them are powerful users of magic with Skull Kid using the power of the mask and Midna using her Twili abilities. Hyrule Warriors even shows how both of them can fight in a battlefield setting.

8. Splinter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) vs. Twitch (League of Legends)

With all four of the Turtles having entered the arena, followed by Shredder some time later, people are probably wondering when the Turtles’ sensei, Master Splinter will get his chance to shine. A good opponent for him might be another prominent rat character from one of the most popular current media franchsies online, Twitch from the MOBA League of Legends. Putting Splinter’s ninja skills against Twitch’s chemical knowledge could make for a potentially tense battle. What's more LoL has over a hundred characters, many of whom have powerful abilities and wide fanbases to where it could be easy to justify pitting them against some of media's best brawlers.

7. D.Va (Overwatch) vs. Tron Bonne (Mega Man Legends)

Looking at these two, the similarities and differences are already apparent. They are both young women who pilot small mecha into battle, but one is a celebrated hero while the other is a despised villain. In their main games, their mechs both have multiple weapons, they both were included in crossover games that gave them additions to their move-sets (Marvel vs. Capcom for Tron and Heroes of the Storm for D.Va), Tron has an army of small robots at her beck and call, while D.Va fights large robots regularly, and they both have pistols they can use independently from their mechs.

6. Ridley (Metroid) vs. Davros (Doctor Who)

Taking to the stars, we have two leaders of villainous factions who are the main antagonsits of popular and powerful space-faring heroes. While they both have their armies of space pirates and Daleks respectively, Ridley and Davros can both fight on their own with Ridley’s physical attributes like claws, fangs, and fire breath, and Davros’s array of high-tech weapons. Both of them have also survived multiple battles that should have been fatal for them, courtesy of Samus Aran and The Doctor.

5. Jinx (League of Legends) vs. Harley Quinn (Batman)

Here we have two crazy and colorful female anti-villains who are mostly just out for a good time, but it’s how they have a good time that everyone has a problem with. Jinx is best known for her arsenal of weapons and her beyond-willingness to use them, but Harley is no slouch in the weapons department either, having wielded heavy artillery in the past. One could even argue, hinted by her inclusion in the Injustice games, that Harley may be better at close-combat than Jinx, which could give her the advantage if she can get around Jinx’s weapons and close the gap.

4. Simon Belmont (Castlevania) vs. Sir Arthur (Ghosts N Goblins)

Both are icons of the classic NES-era of gaming, as well as heroic monster hunters out to defeat vast hordes of the forces of darkness to accomplish their goals in a dark gothic landscape. They both have large arsenals of weapons, which if needed, can be narrowed down to their “favorites” by looking at their inclusions in crossover fighters, like Super Smash Bros. or Marvel vs. Capcom. They both also seems to have access to powerful magic, as hinted at in Arthur’s Level 3 Hyper Move in MvC3 and Simon’s Final Smash in Smash Ultimate.

3. Jon Talbain (Darkstalkers) vs. Sabrewulf (Killer Instinct)

Some ideas sound just right for a spooky battle episode in October, around Halloween; vampire vs. vampire, demon vs. demon, werewolf vs. werewolf. It’s that last one we’re focusing on here with two werewolf characters from beloved fighting game series. (Also, bonus points for both of them being blue.) Both Talbain and Sabrewulf are ferocious fighters, but while Sabrewulf seems to rely on his feral instincts, Talbain has martial arts training to aid his technique in a fight and help him remain in control of his mind.

2. Inuyasha (Inuyasha) vs. Rin Okumura (Blue Exorcist)

Here we have two heroic, demon-slaying, anime swordsmen, who just happen to be half-demons themselves. Inuyasha comes in with his claws and his sword Tessaiga, along with all the upgrades and powers it’s received, while Rin enters with his demon slaying sword Kurikara and his control over the Blue Flames of Satan. They have both fought and defeated large numbers of demons and developed many techniques they can use.

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Before revealing the number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions, with characters that I think would make for a good match in an episode, but I couldn’t come up with a good opponent for them. I'm sure someone can probably think of a good match-up for them a second after seeing this.

Gabumon & Matt Ishida (Digimon) – As the lancer/rival to the main anime hero pair of Agumon and Tai, there are probably a few characters who could fulfill that role of secondary character in a group of protagonists, and possibly stand up to a giant wolf monster with ice attacks.

Meta Knight (Kirby) – Another rival and frequent adventure partner for Kirby, he has a sharp sword, a cape that can turn into wings, and moves so swift, he’s become infamous in the Smash Bros. community.

Maxxor (Chaotic) – This tribal-looking beastman may be a more obscure character, but Death Battle has done obscure series before. He has powerful elemental attacks, strong magic, and he is one of the main characters of the story of this card game-connected TV show. Other card game themed series like Yu-Gi-Oh or Duel Masters might produce a good match-up.

Galeem (Super Smash Bros.) – He may have only been in one recent game, but he is still a powerful entity; powerful enough to control Master Hand. That’s got to count for something, possibly enough to match him against another powerful entity of light.

Liu Kang (Mortal Kombat) – From chosen warrior of the Shaolin to emperor of the Netherrealm to deity of fire and thunder and protector of time, Liu Kang has come a long way since the start of the series. He would make a good match against a martial arts main character or a character who has gone on a similar path of character development.

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1. Ness (Earthbound) vs. Crono (Chrono Trigger)

I'm not sure how others would feel about sending kids into a fight to the death, but I'm mostly thinking of which series have prominent characters who can put up a good fight. In this match-up, we have two heroes of cult classic Super Nintendo RPGs, two young boys who fought incredible odds and several tough opponents to save the world. Crono is armed with a sword and several magical spells and sword techniques, while Ness uses items like a baseball bat or yo-yo and has several psychic powers at his disposal (possibly even some of his attack moves from Super Smash Brothers like PK Fire or PK Thunder). Other characters that could fit here include Geno from Super Mario RPG or one of the heroes from Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy.

(P.S.: The last of the original 12 Smash Bros. fighters left that haven't been in a DB episode are Ness and Jigglypuff, and I don't see Jigglypuff making it in.)

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What did you think of this list? What match-ups do you want to see in Death Battle? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

Thanks for coming!