History Recap / DeathBattleS10E10ColeMacGrathVSAlexMercer

The second winner of the 2022 Champions' Poll has ''finally'' come after a decade-plus of demand, as Wiz and Boomstick unearth an older script from 2013 about this very match-up and wind back the clock in turn. Ever since both fighters made their debuts months apart during [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames the seventh generation of gaming]], many have compared the merits of their respective games given their similar roots in the open-world "superhero" genre, and it didn't hurt that both men were birds of the same feather. Once no more than ordinary men, massive biological attacks that quite literally changed their lives led to their destinies being rewritten alongside their very bodies, granting them incredible power and with it, a choice: to either save the world as benevolent protectors of mankind or to tyrannically rule over it as the next step of human evolution. The Demon of Empire City and Codename ZEUS are ready to settle this score once and for all; between Cole [=MacGrath=]'s mighty electrokinesis and Alex Mercer's unbridled carnage, which one of these two will prove themselves the superior superhuman in this long-awaited [[TitleDrop death battle?]]

The second winner of the 2022 Champions' Poll has ''finally'' come after a decade-plus of demand, as Wiz and Boomstick unearth an older script from 2013 about this very match-up and wind back the clock in turn. Ever since both fighters made their debuts months apart during [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames the seventh generation of gaming]], many have compared the merits of their respective games given their similar roots in the open-world "superhero" genre, and it didn't hurt that both men were birds of the same feather. Once bystanders living mundane lives, massive biological attacks that rocked their worlds caused them to have their destinies rewritten alongside their very bodies, granting them incredible power and with it, a choice: to either save the world as benevolent protectors of mankind or to tyrannically rule over it as the next step of human evolution. The Demon of Empire City and Codename ZEUS are ready to settle this score once and for all; between Cole [=MacGrath=]'s mighty electrokinesis and Alex Mercer's unbridled carnage, which one of these two will prove themselves the superior superhuman in this long-awaited [[TitleDrop death battle?]]

The skies of Manhattan clear up ever so slightly as the Patron Saint of New Marais can lay claim to having saved the day once more by eradicating the last remnants of the Blacklight Virus for good. True enough, while the battle seemed close at first given their respective talents in fighting at all ranges and such diverse powersets to go along with them, Cole had the more definitive edges to give which led to his victory. For one, the Conduit's unique physiology made him likely to resist infection from the Blacklight Virus; while it affects its targets on a molecular level, Cole survived the initial Ray Sphere explosion that granted him his powers in addition to attacks from the Beast, both of which affected him on the atomic level. As such, he would be able to avoid falling under his opponent's control, especially as Alex often needs to beat his targets down sufficiently enough to even attempt an infection. Cole also notably resisted and even cured people of Sasha's black tar, which controls minds and physically transforms people in a similar manner to Blacklight itself. While Alex could steal some of Cole's biomass to at least regenerate faster, Cole could empower himself the same way by leeching Alex's neuro-electricity, which has the potential added benefit of shutting down his Infected foe's regeneration entirely.

Cole was also much more powerful than Alex; not only does the Conduit's Polarity Wall and Frost Shield output enough power to defend against almost anything Alex can throw at him, but scaling their potentials to their respective nemeses shows that the Beast's destruction of Empire City far eclipses the nuclear explosion the Supreme Hunter would have survived. In addition, Cole's electricity is capable of harming the Beast in spite of its atomic-level regeneration and even damaging Kessler despite him being a future version of Cole himself that would thus have his alternate counterpart's resistance to electricity. This would mean that it would most certainly be enough to damage Alex at a far deeper level than what his regeneration could save him from. As the cherry on top, due to the analysis focusing on Cole's canonical Good Karma persona, bringing the non-canon Evil Cole into this fight would further serve as overkill given that he becomes the Beast itself and with it, even more power and far less restraint with which to smite the Blacklight bioterror with. Ultimately, Cole [=MacGrath=] met a very game foe whose twisted mentality and powerset very easily echo what he could have been in another lifetime, but his unrivaled strength and skillset were enough to end this long-standing rivalry with a decisive win.

* BaitAndSwitch: The battle ends with one of these: having impaled him on his Blade, Alex is about to consume Cole, his tendrils wrapping around him... [[HeroicSecondWind and then Cole activates]] [[SuperMode Karmic Overload]], knocking Alex away and out of his Evolved Form before going in for the kill.

* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: How Cole clinches the win. Alex tries to absorb Cole into himself, which leads the latter to do the same using Bio-Leech, which negates Alex's HealingFactor and leaves the latter open for the coup de grace.

** After every "hero VS villain" matchup since ''[[Recap/DeathBattleS07E05GrayVSEsdeath Gray VS Esdeath]]'' [[TheBadGuyWins had the hero die]][[labelnote:*]]The previous episode doesn't count since not only was Discord ''formerly'' a villain, Bill Cipher ''technically'' won the Death Battle.[[/labelnote]], Cole's victory officially puts that streak to an end.

* CurbStompBattle: According to Boomstick, Alex would have been on the receiving end of this if ''DEATH BATTLE!'' opted to use Evil Cole instead, and for good reason; as previously stated, Cole's powers are atomic in nature, but Good Karma results in his powers being refined to cause him to be more calculating in his attacks, opting for non-lethal capture and precision. Evil Cole's powers are far more powerful and explosive, not helped by lacking the restraint his good counterpart has. Add this to the fact that he is empowered by the Beast in the Evil Karma ending, and the Beast is capable of causing what are essentially atomic explosions, and Alex would likely have lost much faster.

The second winner of the 2022 Champions' Poll has ''finally'' come after a decade-plus of demand, as Wiz and Boomstick unearth an older script from 2013 about this very match-up and wind back the clock in turn. Since both fighters made their debuts months apart during [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames the seventh generation of gaming]], many have compared the merits of their respective games given their similar roots in the open-world "superhero" genre, and it didn't hurt that both men were birds of the same feather. Once bystanders living mundane lives, massive biological attacks that rocked their worlds caused them to have their destines rewritten alongside their very bodies, granting them incredible power and with it, a choice: to either save the world as benevolent protectors of mankind or to tyrannically rule over it as the next step of human evolution. The Demon of Empire City and Codename ZEUS are ready to settle this score once and for all; between Cole [=MacGrath=]'s mighty electrokinesis and Alex Mercer's unbridled carnage, which one of these two will prove themselves the superior superhuman in this long-awaited [[TitleDrop death battle?]]

WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility, a lesson learned not just by Film/SpiderMan1 but by this episode's first combatant, Cole [=MacGrath=], as well. Once an ordinary courier living in Empire City, Cole's life was changed forever when he opened a package containing the Ray Sphere, a device that annihilated most of the city in an explosion and also granted Cole inhuman electrical powers by tearing through him at the atomic level. Now a supernatural electricity-wielding Conduit, Cole took to the ravaged city in an effort to save it from the consequences of his actions, a task that he was now well equipped for. With his new powers, Cole fought against the many other rogue Conduits running amok in the city, including the mastermind responsible for the blast, Kessler.

All of this power would be necessary to taking on the evil Conduits of Empire City, such as Sasha, whose Black Tar could control bodies and minds, and Kessler himself, who turned out to be a future version of Cole from an alternate timeline. Kessler had secretly been training his younger counterpart to become a hero strong enough and noble enough to take on the Beast, an apocalyptically powerful Conduit with all the power of the Ray Sphere itself. By the end of his "training", Cole certainly had the might to do so, being strong enough to summon thunderstorms and move at 90% the speed of light. When the showdown finally came, Cole was capable of matching the Beast's city annihilating power and destroying him despite the Beast being able to regenerate at the atomic level. In the end though, Cole solidified himself as a hero by activating the Ray Field Inhibitor and sacrificing the lives of himself and many other Conduits worldwide to end a virulent Plague started by the Ray Sphere explosion, saving humanity and becoming the Patron Saint of New Marais. In doing so, Cole [=MacGrath=] proved that he was not defined by his irresponsible past or his extremist future, only by the good he chose to do with all the power he was given.

Despite the gruesome nature of his abilities, Alex actually saved Manhattan from both the Blacklight Virus and the military's nuclear response before finally being confronted with the truth: he was not the real Alex Mercer, but rather the sentient Blacklight Virus that had absorbed the original's memories and form after his death at Penn Station. A death that was earned after he had not only developed the Blacklight Virus but broke open the vial containing it out of spite towards his murderers. In the aftermath of this revelation, the sentient virus left Manhattan and tried living as a human, only for one betrayal too many to destroy his view on humanity and decide that they needed to be wiped out in favor of a superior species of Blacklight Infected. Few beings could oppose Mercer and his plans, seeing as how he's strong enough to collapse buildings, fast enough to dodge tank shots and could defeat the Supreme Hunter, who would have been able to survive the planned Manhattan nuclear detonation. Mercer himself survived that same explosion shortly after killing him, only requiring a crow's biomass to kickstart his own cellular regeneration. Fortunately for humanity, his plans incurred the wrath of James Heller, who had been infected by Mercer to join his ranks and, after a protracted battle, Heller consumed him to end his threat for good. Yet, perhaps Alex had been more human than he believed. Perhaps absolute power corrupting absolutely is simply an immutable part of human nature, an ideal that Alex Mercer embraced until his end.

With Cole impaled on his Claws, Mercer berates him for choosing to defend humanity and offers him the chance to join him. The Conduit rebukes his offer and his viewpoint, channeling a massive surge of lightning through the skyscraper's electrical tower that both heals him and knocks Mercer away. Cole forms electrical Gigawatt Blades around his arms, while Mercer responds by forming his Armor. The two engage in another brutal melee with Cole managing to impale the Prototype, who's barely phased and uses the opportunity to grasp his foe in a bear hug and leap into the skies. Cole is able to free himself and stabs at Mercer repeatedly but is restrained before being run through by the virus' Blade. Maddened and enraged, Mercer decides to consume him completely and take his power, wrapping the Conduit in his tendrils. However, Cole initiates a Karmic Overload, breaks free of his restraint and with inspiration from his opponent, absorbs the agonized Blacklight Virus' bioelectricity. As the two plummet to the ground, the savior of Empire City manages to get on top, smashing the Prototype into the ground with a thunderous drop and obliterating the majority of his body. The victorious Cole muses on the state of the world, satisfied at having stopped Mercer's plans before finally vaporizing the last bit of biomass that once was Alex Mercer.

* CurbStompBattle: According to Boomstick, Alex would have been on the receiving end of this if ''DEATH BATTLE!'' opted to use Evil Cole instead, and for good reason; as previously stated, Cole's powers are atomic in nature, but Good Karma results in his powers being refined to cause him to be more calculating in his attacks, opting for capture and precision. Evil Cole's powers are far more powerful and explosive, not helped by lacking the restraint his good counterpart has. Add this to the fact that he is empowered by the Beast in the Evil Karma ending, and the Beast is capable of causing what are essentially atomic explosions, and Alex would likely have lost much faster.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Alex launches himself and Cole high into the air. Cole uses this against him to kill him with a Thunder Drop, which increases in power the longer Cole falls. In addition, Alex attempts to end the fight by devouring Cole, which only serves to inspire Cole to drain all of Alex's bio-electricity and shut down his healing before the final blow.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: Both are capable of destroying legions of enemies and killing entire cities. However, while both are relatively even in terms of physical attributes and weapon generation, Cole's big advantage is that, being scaled to the Beast, he can wipe out a city in ''one shot'', something Alex can't do and was too much for him to survive.

''[Cole activates [[SuperMode Karmic Overload]], knocking Alex off before grabbing him]''\\

** After every "hero VS villain" matchup since ''[[Recap/DeathBattleS07E05GrayVSEsdeath Gray VS Esdeath]]'' [[TheBadGuyWins had the hero die]], Cole's victory officially puts that streak to an end.

The second winner of the 2022 Champions' Poll has ''finally'' come after a decade-plus of demand, as Wiz and Boomstick unearth an older script from 2013 about this very match-up and wind back the clock in turn. Since both fighters made their respective debuts months apart during [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames the seventh generation of gaming]], many have compared the merits of their respective games given their similar roots in the open-world "superhero" genre, and it didn't hurt that both men were birds of the same feather. Once bystanders living mundane lives, massive biological attacks that rocked their worlds caused them to have their destines rewritten alongside their very bodies, granting them incredible power and with it, a choice: to either save the world as benevolent protectors of mankind or to tyrannically rule over it as the next step of human evolution. The Demon of Empire City and Codename ZEUS are ready to settle this score once and for all; between Cole [=MacGrath=]'s mighty electrokinesis and Alex Mercer's unbridled carnage, which one of these two will prove themselves the superior superhuman in this long-awaited [[TitleDrop death battle?]]

With both combatants' analyses and an advertisement for Shady Rays out of the way, Wiz and Boomstick wind the clock back one more time. Not content to state that they've considered all possibilities, they decide they have enough to [[CallBack end this debate once and for all: it's time for a death battle!]]

The second winner of the 2022 Champions' Poll has ''finally'' come after a decade-plus of demand, as Wiz and Boomstick unearth an older script from 2013 about this very match-up and wind back the clock in turn. Since both fighters made their respective debuts months apart during [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames the seventh generation of gaming]], many have compared the merits of their respective games given their similar roots in the open-world "superhero" genre, and it didn't hurt that both men were birds of the same feather. Once bystanders living mundane lives, massive biological attacks that rocked their worlds caused tto have their destines rewritten alongside their very bodies, granting them incredible power and with it, a choice: to either save the world as benevolent protectors of mankind, or to tyrannically rule over it as the next step of human evolution. The Demon of Empire City and Codename ZEUS are ready to settle this score once and for all; between Cole [=MacGrath=]'s mighty electrokinesis and Alex Mercer's unbridled carnage, which one of these two will prove themselves the superior superhuman in this long-awaited [[TitleDrop death battle?]]

The second winner of the 2022 Champions' Poll has ''finally'' come after a decade-plus of demand, as Wiz and Boomstick unearth an older script from 2013 about this very match-up and wind back the clock in turn. Since they made their respective debuts months apart during [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames the seventh generation of gaming]], many have compared the merits of both titles given their similar roots in open-world "superhero" games, and it didn't hurt that their respective protagonists were birds of the same feather. Once bystanders living mundane lives, massive biological attacks that rocked their worlds caused both to have their destines rewritten alongside their very bodies, granting them incredible power and with it, a choice: to either save the world as benevolent protectors of mankind, or to tyrannically rule over it as the next step of human evolution. The Demon of Empire City and Codename ZEUS are ready to settle this score once and for all; between Cole [=MacGrath=]'s mighty electrokinesis and Alex Mercer's unbridled carnage, which one of these two will prove themselves the superior superhuman in this long-awaited [[TitleDrop death battle?]]

The skies of Manhattan clear up ever so slightly as the Patron Saint of New Marais can lay claim to having saved the day once more by eradicating the last remnants of the Blacklight Virus. True enough, while the battle seemed close at first given their respective talents in fighting at all ranges, Cole had the more definitive edges to give which led to his victory. For one, the Conduit's unique physiology made him likely to resist infection from the Blacklight Virus; while it affects its targets on a molecular level, Cole survived the initial Ray Sphere explosion that granted him his powers in addition to attacks from the Beast, both of which affected him on the atomic level. As such, he would be able to avoid falling under his opponent's control, especially as Alex often needs to beat his targets down sufficiently enough to even attempt an infection. Cole also notably resisted and even cured people of Sasha's black tar, which controls minds and physically transforms people in a similar manner to Blacklight itself. While Alex could steal some of Cole's biomass to at least regenerate faster, Cole could empower himself the same way by leeching Alex's neuro-electricity, which has the potential added benefit of shutting down his Infected foe's regeneration entirely.

Cole was also much more powerful than Alex; not only does the Conduit's Polarity Wall and Frost Shield output enough power to defend against almost anything Alex can throw at him, but scaling their potentials to their respective nemeses shows that the Beast's destruction of Empire City far eclipses the nuclear explosion the Supreme Hunter would have survived. In addition, Cole's electricity is capable of harming the Beast in spite of its atomic-level regeneration and even damaging Kessler despite him being a future version of Cole himself that would thus have his alternate counterpart's resistance to electricity. This would mean that it would most certainly be enough to damage Alex at a far deeper level than what his regeneration could save him from. As the cherry on top, due to the analysis focusing on Cole's canonical Good Karma persona, bringing the non-canon Evil Cole into this fight would further serve as overkill given that he becomes the Beast itself by the end of ''VideoGame/InFamous2'' and with it, even more power and far less restraint with which to smite the Blacklight bioterror with. Ultimately, Cole [=MacGrath=] met a very game foe whose twisted mentality and powerset very easily echo what he could have been in another lifetime, but his unrivaled strength and skillset were enough to end this long-standing rivalry with a decisive win.

[[Recap/DeathBattleS10E11FreizaVSMegatron Next time on Death Battle...]]