DEATH BATTLE

I've only gotten into Death Battle recently, and so far I've found the videos to be very enjoyable. However, I'll confess I'm a little torn by Short Factor's involvement. On one hand, he's an amazing spriter who's still talented in the art despite the fact that most of the internet seemed to have abandoned it years ago, so I'm glad that he's there making the fights more dynamic. However, in the episodes before SF took over DB's fights actually crawled out of the standard "fight kill win" rut, and unfortunately SF's kicked the fights right back in. Some of my favorite moments were character-oriented stuff like Vegeta calling Super Shadow a rip-off and Starscream getting frustrated at Rainbow Dash, and unfortunately SF's fights, while being cleaner and more energetic, don't have that life to them.

Anyway, about the next fight: My vote's on Pikachu. Judging from prior game experience it's clear to me that Pikachu's got more skills under his belt and more electricity that it can charge. Blanka's gonna be crying back to Dan when Pikachu's done.

edited 27th Aug '12 4:20:29 PM by Watchtower

Thats the only problem I see in Death Battle is how some matchups are too unfair. Thor vs Raiden is a prime example; as someone who loves fighting games and study the hell out of their lore, I knew Raiden was boned but loved how they made him seem to have a fighting chance. Blanka vs Pikachu would be the same seeing how if they use the anime version of Pikachu; its obvious Blanka would get destroyed. However, Blanka's smarter (living in the jungle for years from a young age to learning how to fight from wildlife and enough speech of a young child and the intelligence of a young boy yet the scent thats better than a wolf as seen in Street Fighter X Tekken).

Other than that, I always prefered Street Fighter over Pokemon, but Blanka hasn't got a chance in hell except in size and unpredictability.

edited 27th Aug '12 8:45:46 PM by Silverfan

Which is inaccurate, 'cause Raiden's an Elder God, he should be beyond even footing with Thor.

Ignore.

edited 29th Aug '12 3:54:07 AM by Blurring

He WAS an Elder God. The Death Battle crew made an explicit note that he gave up being one in order to better protect Earthrealm.

Growing up alone in the forest actually tends to wreck havoc with one's IQ scores, so I don't see how Blanka could be smarter than Pikachu,

While I'm also going to throw in my lot for Pikachu, I can't help but remember one little detail.

Pikachu (and, by extension, all Pokemon) generally require a trainer to command them in battle before they can fight to the best of their ability. If Red (or Ash, or whoever) isn't telling Pikachu what to do during the battle, that may be a weakness Blanka can exploit (and even if he is, Blanka could probably simply attack the trainer).

edited 30th Aug '12 7:06:47 AM by IrishZombie

Or it's an independent Pikachu like the one in Smash Bros.

@Arawn If I remember correctly, then Blanka survived in the jungle near a settlement that gave him his current name. He probably picked up a few things from them. Also, IQ doesn't really matter in an all-out brawl. What matters is short-term tactics combined with being better than the opponent.

Smash Bros. is explicitly non-canon. Besides, that Pikachu was originally a toy, complete with imperfections. Regular, wild Pikachu are normally easy to defeat.

I think that if Blanka can either force Pikachu to fight at close range or wear him out, he'd probably win. If Blanka wins this bout, he would probably do it by wearing Pikachu out, as Blanka is currently one of the best defensive characters in the Street Fighter metagame, while Pikachu is always a Glass Cannon, who aren't exactly known for long-term perservation.

I have a feeling the Pikachu used is gonna be an amalgam based on Ash's Pikachu from the anime and the Pikachu from SSB. Plucking a wild Pikachu outta the ground would be too much of a stomp in favor of Blanka. Plus "Ash's Pikachu" (for lack of a better name) is the one everyone knows and loves, which would make it more unique and more sensible to use.

Did they use Smash Bros as evidence during one of their previous duels? I can't remember if they did.

They used it for Samus and again for Yoshi (saying he could hold his own against Samus), if I remember correctly. And if Yoshi gets browny points for being able to take out everyone's favourite Power Armored sex symbol, then the little electric rodent should get browny points for going toe-to-toe with the likes of Bowser, Ridley, Ganondorf, and Luigi. But then, Blanka should get browny points for being able to fight against the likes of M. Bison and Akuma.

I concur. Ash/Red's Pikachu and the one from Brawl are the best-known versions of Pikachu, and are likely the ones that most of the stats and info will be taken from.

EDIT: Yes, they're using Ash's Pikachu.

edited 4th Sep '12 1:44:49 PM by Arawn444

Welp, Blanka's screwed. Unless...

How well does anime Pikachu fight without a trainer? The no outside interference thing that removed the summons and fairies in the Cloud vs Link fight might lead to that situation here.

1.) I'm not sure about who will win this one. Pikachu is a powerhouse, as well as being leaps and bounds faster than Blanka, but takes hits about as well as wet toilet paper.
1a.) The Static ability will save Pikachu's bacon

2.) Either way, I'm looking forward to it.

3.) Who would be good opponents for Banjo and Kazooie? A 2-on-2 Death Battle would be pretty interesting.

edited 1st Sep '12 3:23:55 AM by Slouch

I thought anime Pikachu was independent enough to be able to handle itself. Besides, like I said, it will mostly like be an mix between the anime version and the Smash Bros. version, and the Smash Bros. version can definitely handle itself.

Jak and Daxter from the first game maybe? I'm not too familiar with them, but I know later on they get guns, so that wouldn't work, and that's also the reason Ratchet and Clank wouldn't work. Can't really think of any other iconic duos that would work in this case.

edited 1st Sep '12 7:06:59 AM by Alfric

Ash's Pikachu has handled himself on his own on multiple occasions (yes, Ash's Pikachu is a male) and even managed to take down Pokemon with electrical attacks he should never have been able to defeat in that manner (Blaine's Rhydon and a Golem from the opening of one of the movies). The Pikachu in Smash Bros. was based on the anime Pikachu, and even has Red/Ash's hat as one of its alt. costumes. Seeing how both Red's Pikachu and Ash's Pikachu that was available via a special event are holding a Light Ball, which would only amplify his Glass Cannon nature by doubling his attack and special attack stats.

I was gonna suggest Spyro and Cynder, but that wouldn't work well at all. Crash and Coco, maybe?

edited 1st Sep '12 1:00:36 PM by Arawn444

@Irish Zombie: They have used Smash Bros. as a source before, but there are a few notable exceptions in Link and Mario.

@Slouch: I'd suggest Sonic and Tails to fight Banjo and Kazooie, but we all know what happened to Mario...

And if we're letting Ash's Pikachu have Smash Bros. credentials, then it should be fair to assume that Blanka has Street Fighter X Tekken credentials as well.

edited 2nd Sep '12 8:29:00 AM by DragonGeyser

. They might use it as a footage source, but I dunno whether they'll cite it for Blanka's fighting abilities or powers.

Pikachu was has duelled Zapdos and tanked a hit from Zekrom with minimal damage, so nothing Blanka throws at him should make much difference in the outcome.

edited 6th Sep '12 10:38:18 PM by Arawn444

On-Topic: One week to go~
I already had no idea who would win, but now I have no idea who to root for either. Yay, confusion. ._.

Off-Topic: Ness vs. Razputin is a good matchup: Psychic youngsters from quirky cult classics. What do you think?

edited 8th Sep '12 11:50:12 PM by Slouch

Well, Raz could invade Ness' mind and leave him a quivering wreck, couldn't he? (Never played Psychonauts) As for Ness... "PK STARSTORM!!!!"

So, while the episode itself isn't posted yet, they've already posted videos of their analysis on the fighters. It looks like they're pretty exclusively using Ash's Pikachu for this battle, based on their analysis.

Yes, which was more-or-less to be expected, seeing how Ash's Pikachu is the one most people think/know about. It appears they're also assuming that the one in Brawl is Ash's Pikachu.

If it's Ash's Pikachu, then it's going to be a tough fight. There's a reason he has the nickname "Godchu". Unless it's "beginning of new region" Pikachu where his power has reset.

They've made him a Glass Cannon, giving him extremely high speed, slightly above-average attack stats, and below-average defence stats.