Boomstick: Alex Mercer, the Blacklight Virus Prototype from... [PROTOTYPE]! That's right, Champions! You voted for it, so we're finally doing it!... long after these characters were ever relevant. Oh hey, look what I found in the trash! An old script we wrote for this very matchup way back in 2013!
Wiz: Wait, we haven't emptied our trash in ten years?
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 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 death battle?
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, a lesson learned not just by Spider-Man 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's Historic District 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.
As a Conduit, Cole's electrokinetic abilities are highly versatile and powerful, with the added benefit of being able to manipulate the kinetic, thermal and gravitational energies associated with electromagnetism. One of these more varied applications is the Radar Pulse that allows him to sense the bioelectricity of other organisms and determine friends from foes, even if they're hidden or transformed. He would also later use the Power Transfer Device to receive Lucy Kuo's ice powers that he could similarly apply in a wide range of attacks, though his electricity was certainly his main focus. Beyond that, he's capable of levitating, grinding on rails and power lines, reading minds, accessing a Super Mode with excess Karmic energy and even producing shields that convert solid matter into pure energy for him to absorb, something that in real life is nigh-impossible and would result in an unimaginable amount of power being produced. Moreover, he can always replenish his own power reserves by draining nearby electrical appliances or even the bioelectricity of living organisms. Even in close combat, Cole is a formidable threat, wielding either his Amp, a customized tuning fork-esque club that he can channel his lightning through, or the Gigawatt Blades, blades of plasma that manifest around his arms. Cole, of course, is highly resistant to electrical attacks himself.
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, and, by the time of their final showdown in New Marais, 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, 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. By doing so, Cole MacGrath had proven that he was not defined by his irresponsible past nor his extremist future, only by the good he chose to do with all the power he was given.
One advertisement from Hello Fresh later, the hosts travel from Empire City to its real-life counterpart of Manhattan. Once again, they espouse that With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility, while unfortunately pointing out that not everyone has an Uncle Ben to teach them that, and such was the case with Alex Mercer. Having awakened in a morgue without his memories and discovering that Manhattan had been thrown into a veritable Zombie Apocalypse by a breakout of the Blacklight Virus, Alex set out to hunt down the monster that was responsible. Fortunately, the Blacklight Virus had also granted Alex extraordinary and horrific powers that he quickly began to use to their full nightmarish potential.
For one, Alex is capable of infecting anyone with the Blacklight Virus nearly instantly, affecting them down to the molecular level and allowing him to control their actions. His most prominent power is the ability to Consume others, breaking down and absorbing their biomass to fuel his superhuman strength, heightened metabolic rate, increased reaction time and regenerative healing, all factors that could only belong to an ever-evolving super being. By consuming victims, Alex is able to absorb and efficiently process entire lifetimes of memories, even from those who have lived for decades. The Blacklight Virus also enables Alex to shift his entire body at will allowing him to disguise himself as anyone, increase his muscle mass, form Instant Armor and even shape his limbs into weapons or tendrils. Alex is also surprisingly capable at coming up with fantastical martial arts moves that are complemented by his inhuman strength. Furthermore, any excess biomass that Alex has consumed can be channeled into area-wide Devastators, such as the Tendril Barrage, an explosion of tendrils capable of tearing through people and tanks alike.
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 one James Heller, who had been infected by Mercer to join his ranks and, after a protracted battle, Heller finally consumed the sentient virus, ending 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 had embraced until his violent end.
Wiz: Wow, that was... intense.
Boomstick: F[beep]k yeah, it was!
With both combatants' analyses and an advertisement for Shady Rays out of the way, Wiz and Boomstick turn the clock back one more time. Not content to state that they've considered all possibilities, they decide they have enough to end this debate once and for all: it's time for a death battle!
In the ravaged and infected Manhattan, a pair of helicopters is flying above the ruined streets when they're both brought down by inky black tendrils. The culprit, Alex Mercer, rips open the door of one of the choppers and consumes the survivor. He's interrupted by a bolt of lightning from Cole MacGrath, but gains an interest in his abilities opting to consume him as well, much to Cole's disgust.
FIGHT!
Tendrils emerge from the Blacklight Virus' body and strike at Cole, who dodges all but one that wraps around his foot. Mercer capitalizes by slamming him into rubble and hurling him into the sky. He immediately follows up with a Tendril Barrage Devastator, but Cole stabilizes himself with an ice platform and Induction Grinds down one of the tendrils. He shoots an electrical blast at Mercer, who blocks it with a shield. The resulting explosion kicks up a cloud of dust and as Cole touches down, the virus launches out of the cloud and knocks the Conduit into a brick wall. Mercer quickly presses the offensive, shooting a tendril at the recovering Cole, who evades that and the Prototype's follow-up Blade stab by clambering up a nearby building.
The former courier takes a reprieve but can't rest for long as Mercer sprints up and hacks at him. Cole blocks it with his Amp and the two engage in a vicious close quarters fight before eventually locking weapons. The stalemate is broken when Cole channels lightning directly into Mercer's body and throws him off. The virus recovers and uses an Airdash to close the distance between them, slashing at the Electric Man once more who blocks it with the Amp. Cole changes strategies, lobbing an Ice Grenade at Mercer whose attempts to block it are in vain, as he finds himself encased in ice. Cole finds his footing and boosts himself back at Mercer with an ice platform, wrapping his opponent's neck between the prongs of the Amp and, with a sickening crunch, hurling the sentient virus into a building.
Cole follows his foe into the darkened, abandoned office into which he was thrown. When he notices Mercer, he plays it safe by launching a barrage of ice spikes that tear the Blacklight apart. To Cole's horror, Mercer quickly regenerates and his stature increases, having apparently consumed any survivors who were hiding. The virus charges at the Conduit and grabs him by the face before throwing him out of the building onto a nearby roof. He continues his attack, diving at the Empire City savior with his Hammerfists and following up by knocking him through the air. Two military helicopters unfortunately draw Mercer's attention and are grabbed by his tendrils before quickly being lobbed at Cole. The Conduit is able to recover in time to dodge both thrown choppers and in response to a truck having been hurled at him, creates a massive Ionic Vortex to divert it. Mercer takes advantage of the confusion to latch onto the truck, hiding until he sees an opportunity to tackle the levitating Conduit onto skyscraper.
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 his restraints and his foe's Armor, 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.
KO!
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 plausibly 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 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.
Wiz: The winner is Cole MacGrath!
"Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer" contains examples of:
- Always Someone Better: In terms of power "nature", Alex has Cole beat by virtue of having a deadly arsenal of shapeshifting weapons. When it comes to "pure" power, however, Cole is the stronger of the two. As Wiz points out, Cole's power affects beings on the atomic level whereas Alex's only affects things molecularly. Not only does this give Cole plausible immunity against Alex's ability to infect him, but as pointed out earlier in the analysis, Cole can absorb bio-electricity; between this and affecting things on the atomic level, not even Alex's ability to come back From a Single Cell was going to save him. At the end of the episode, Boomstick states that if Alex fought an Evil Cole, he would have been subjected to a Curb-Stomp Battle of epic proportions.
- Back for the Dead: In his home series, Alex Mercer died at the hands of James Heller. In this episode, he dies at Cole's hands.
- Bait-and-Switch: The battle ends with one of these: having impaled him on his Blade, Alex is about to consume Cole, his tendrils wrapping around him... and then Cole activates Karmic Overload, knocking Alex away and out of his Armor before going in for the kill.
- Batman Grabs a Gun: In his home series, Bio Leech is an ability that's technically available to Good Cole, but gives him evil karma if he uses it. When Alex announces his intention to consume Cole, Cole decides to use Bio Leech to put Alex down for good, obviously not wanting Alex to use his powers against innocent people.
- Beat Them at Their Own Game: 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 Healing Factor and leaves the latter open for the coup de grace.
- Bond One-Liner:Cole: This world sure isn't perfect, but it's a lot better without you in it, asshole. [vaporizes the last scrap of Alex's biomass in his hand]
- Brains Versus Brawn: An interesting case. Alex is the viral duplicate of an accomplished scientist who possesses the knowledge and skills of thousands of people he's absorbed into his being, while Cole is a college dropout who went toe to toe with the Beast, who caused an explosion huger than anything even Alex survived. However, their actual fighting styles are the opposite of what you'd expect of this trope, as Alex relies more on brute force and various natural weapons while Cole mostly uses long-range projectiles and a few man-made tools.
- Broken Win/Loss Streak:
- After every "hero VS villain" matchup since Gray VS Esdeath had the hero die* , Cole's victory officially puts that streak to an end.
- After 10 seasons, Cole is the first Sony character to win a Death Battle (excluding Ratchet and Clank VS Jak and Daxter, where both pairs were Sony characters).
- Call-Back: In keeping with the script of this episode being presented as one written in 2013, Wiz and Boomstick temporarily revert back to stating that they will "end this debate once and for all" rather than the modern ending of "running the data through all possibilities".
- Color Contrast: As Good Cole is used, his icy and electric blue coloration contrasts the blood red secondary color associated with Alex. Fittingly, Cole is the benevolent hero facing off with the now Fallen Hero Alex.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: 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 of inFAMOUS 2, and the Beast is capable of causing what are essentially atomic explosions, and Alex would likely have lost much faster.
- Cutting Off the Branches: This Death Battle uses a Good Cole with ice powers, which is the canon version of the character as it stands. This also contrasts Cole with Alex more strongly, as Alex canonically becomes a Fallen Hero by the events of the second game and that characterization is used here, since that's when Alex was at his strongest.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: After spending a period of time trying to see whether humans are worth protecting and deciding they are not, Alex doesn't understand why Cole would want to protect humans.
- Evil Doppelgänger: In the analysis portion, an evil version of Boomstick and Wiz show up. While the former shows up totally out of nowhere, the latter is the Blacklight Virus recreated by Wiz and takes on his form.
- Foil: Cole and Alex are basically on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Cole has been using his newfound powers to save as many people as he possibly can, with said powers ranging from healing, reading memories, and restraining opponents. The one who gave him his powers hoped to mold Cole into a hero capable of stopping the Beast, which Cole eventually accomplished at the cost of his life. Alex could not give a damn who he has to kill or who gets caught in the crossfire (except for his sister) to find out who was responsible for the outbreak, with his powers being deadly and revolving around consuming and infecting others. In truth, "Alex Mercer" is the Blacklight virus who took on the original's form (who, it should be noted, caused the outbreak in the first place) and wanted to see if humanity was worth protecting or understanding, only to later decide Humans Are Bastards and opted to infect them all, leading to the events that would end in his death and consumption.
- Force and Finesse: Alex is the "Force" and Cole is the "Finesse". Alex's viral abilities are entirely destructive and lethal while often requiring him to be at mid-to-close-range. Cole's are more refined in that he limits collateral damage and focuses more on taking down his foes with precision.
- Free-Fall Fight: The climax of the fight sees Alex grab Cole and launch them high into the sky. The two proceed to duke it out as they plummet to the ground. Cole manages to win out, draining Alex and forcing him underneath him as he uses the Thunder Drop directly on top of him to kill him.
- From a Single Cell: Alex's regenerative abilities allow him to do this, which is how he managed to survive the nuclear explosion at the end of his home game. Unfortunately for him, Cole's powers effectively destroy that single cell, ensuring he stays dead for good.
- Hero vs. Villain Duet: Much like the last episode, "inHuman
", the music track for this episode, depicts a rap battle between the heroic Cole and the villainous Alex. - Hoist by His Own Petard: 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 Bio Leech Alex and shut down his healing before the final blow.
- The Immune: Cole in regards to the Blacklight Virus. As mentioned during the analysis, Cole survived an explosion that ripped him apart at the atomic level and awakened his Conduit gene, and in the second game, survived a point-blank explosion similar to the Ray Sphere blast that earned him his powers in the first. Since the virus only affects the target at the molecular level, Cole is believed to be one of the few, if not the only person immune to its infection.
- LOL, 69: Boomstick can't resist remarking "nice" upon hearing the age of one Peter Randall, whom Alex had consumed.
- Mythology Gag:
- The manner in which Cole throws an immobilized Alex into a building, stabbing him with his Amp and swinging around him, recreates one of his melee Finishing Moves from inFAMOUS 2.
- Alex's death when his opponent "consumes" him is reminiscent of his canon death in [PROTOTYPE 2] when James Heller consumed and killed him.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Cole inadvertently dooms some Blacklight survivors hiding in a nearby building when he throws Mercer into it during the course of their battle. This results in those survivors being consumed by Mercer and used as fuel for his Evolved form.
- No Body Left Behind: This is Alex's ultimate fate, as Cole Bio Leeches him before vaporizing him with a Thunder Drop, destroying the last scrap of his biomass in his hand.
- No-Sell: When Alex dons his Armor form toward the end of the fight, Cole's Gigawatt Blades can't cut through it no matter how hard he hits Alex. It's not until he activates his Karmic Overload that he destroys it and goes for the kill.
- Old Shame: Boomstick feels this way about the 10 year old script for this matchup that he recovered. It is filled with cliches and nonsense that has him asking Who Writes This Crap?!, and he throws it away again as soon as the episode is over.
- Person of Mass Destruction: 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 could potentially wipe out a city in one shot, something Alex can't do and was too much for him to survive.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: As Alex attempts to consume Cole, only for Cole to turn the tables on him:Alex: If you don't want to give me your power... [laughs] Fine, I'll just take it!
[Cole activates Karmic Overload, knocking Alex off and destroying his Armor before grabbing him]
Cole: Good idea! - Shout-Out:
- Wiz humorously likens Cole's Touch Telepathy ability to Goku's Muffin Button.
- When discussing Alex's ability to consume others, Boomstick compares it to Kirby if he listened to Linkin Park.
- When Boomstick cracks a LOL, 69 joke about Paul Randall's age, "Toasty!" can be heard as he appears.
- At the start of the fight, Alex manifests four whipfist-like tentacles from his back to attack Cole with, à la Ken Kaneki.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: When Alex has Cole impaled, he attempts to invoke We Can Rule Together, but...Alex: So much power, and yet you waste it on these vermin! You and I can change this world for the better!
Cole: The only vermin I see here... is you! - Stylistic Suck: The script for the analysis section is styled as a rejected script from early on in DEATH BATTLE!'s history filled with an overabundance of references, cliched jokes, and heavy uses of slang and memes that have mostly died off in usage.
- Take That!: Cole's animated segment ends with Boomstick saying "Well, that just happened!", while Alex's ends with Wiz asking "He's right behind me, isn't he?" Both are lines made to mock the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its style of writing.
- Unintentional Period Piece: Invoked. Since both combatants were most relevant in the late 2000's/early 2010's, the episode is presented as a revisited script that was written back in 2013, complete with outdated slang.
- We Can Rule Together: Alex offers to turn Cole into an Evolved and help him lead humanity into a new age under his rule. When Cole refuses, Alex tries to infect and absorb him to take his Conduit powers for himself. It ultimately fails.
- Who Writes This Crap?!: By Boomstick's own admission, this episode was actually written ten years ago and was thrown in the trash for unexplained reasons (save that included in the script was "awesomesauce"). He's utterly flabbergasted why it was written in the first place, especially since it involves an evil version of Boomstick showing up out of nowhere with no explanation about his existence before he just explodes into nothing, along with numerous writing cliches of the time period that he's not too fond of ("Well that just happened." being one of the cliche lines he reads, much to his annoyance).Boomstick: Who wrote this shit...?
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: This phrase is uttered at the beginning of both combatants' analyses, and while Cole came to accept the responsibility that came with his powers, Alex ultimately decided that it wasn't worth the effort.
