Wiz: Superman.
Boomstick: It's time to answer the ultimate question, and we're taking it all into play!
With 2023 soon coming to a close, the penultimate episode for DEATH BATTLE!'s tenth season brings viewers back to the past as the show returns to answer an age-old question: who would win a fight between Goku and Superman? For years, fans have debated on which one of these two mighty warriors would triumph given their similarities; as the last of their kind - sent to Earth to avoid the destruction of their home worlds, young Kakarot and Kal-El grew up among its peoples as upstanding paragons who have saved the planet and their entire universes several times over. Their stories have inspired many in both the East and the West, with the former low-class Saiyan warrior acting as living proof that hard work can allow anyone to rise above any obstacle and the founder of the Justice League striving to be a man for others as the living embodiment of truth and justice.
DEATH BATTLE! attempted to answer that question not once but twice in the past, but now, the show - an entirely different beast from what it was back then - is set to re-examine these legendary heroes once more to see if the tenacious Z Fighter can finally break his limits to surpass his rival, or if the Last Son of Krypton's near-limitless might proof that tenacity can only delay the inevitable. With every version of Dragon Ball Super plus Dragon Ball Heroes and all of the mainline Superman comics in DC's nearly 100-year history examined to provide the most definitive take on this match-up in the show's history, Son Goku and Clark Kent have one more date with destiny waiting for them; who will win a death battle?
Episode 186 begins with a recap of our first returning combatant, the low-class Saiyan Kakarot, better known by the name his adoptive home planet granted him: Son Goku. Having escaped the destruction of his home planet Vegeta at the hands of the tyrant Frieza, the young Goku was raised on Earth by Son Gohan and trained extensively in the world of martial arts - forming the basis for one of the most iconic manga of all time: Dragon Ball. Taking inspiration from martial arts cinema and his wife's interest in Chinese culture, Goku's creator Akira Toriyama began a several decades-long story about overcoming any challenges through difficulty and tenacity, both of which are key tenets that define Goku's character.
Goku is a disciple of the Kame-Sennin Ryu style, and upon the beginning of his instruction, he took to fighting as easily as a fish takes to water. Seeking to show that hard work can overcome raw talent, the young Saiyan child became so strong in such a short period that the only other mentors who could hone his talent further (aside from one talking cat) were gods. That said, Goku's otherworldly heritage sort of helps in this respect, as Saiyans biologically gain a boost in power any time they recover from mortal damage. While most Saiyans like his future rival Vegeta abuse this trait, it overall does suit Goku himself, whose tenacity is second to none.
Through his extensive training, Goku has mastered several techniques that make use of his strong spiritual energy, or ki. Chief among them is his signature attack, the Kamehameha: a beam of pure energy that only took him 5 seconds to learn while others often took decades to do so. The Kamehameha's sheer versatility in Goku's hands allows him to fire it in different variations, like curving the shot or even firing it from his feet. Other techniques in his repertoire include the blinding Solar Flare or the restrictive God Bind, most of which require more strategy to employ. That said, while Goku would readily admit to not being book-smart, his intellect in respect to fighting is unparalleled, all thanks to a drive that pushes him to not just conquer any opponent, but himself.
Goku has also mastered other esoteric moves, like the Mafuba sealing technique that can trap foes in almost any containernote , and Kaioken, a power boost that can multiply his power anywhere from 20 times up to 100. His Genki Dama, or Spirit Bomb - an attack reliant on summoning the energy of others and the environment around him - is by far his potentially strongest attack, but it requires time to set upnote . On the other hand, he can gain a quick burst of speed through Instant Transmission, an adequately-named instant teleport wherein Goku detects the ki of another person and teleports to their location using an alternate dimension wherein time stands still, according to the Daizenshuu guidebook; this description is in direct contrast to how the English dub described it as the user's molecules being shot around instead at just lightspeed.
The dubs did more than just inaccurately translate the source material, as most early English material for Dragon Ball Z rewrote Goku's character - ironically enough - to resemble Superman himself. Look no further than his final confrontation and speech against Frieza on Namek; whereas the original English dub had Goku declare himself to be "the light in the darkness" and an ally of good, the original Japanese scene was about him coming to terms with his Saiyan heritage and using his rage and pride to ultimately avenge the Saiyans' genocide by unlocking his innermost potential as the fabled Super Saiyan of legend. Thus began the various transformations that Goku slowly unlocked over time, further tapping into his desire to fight and boosting his power further. While each of his 3 mainline Super Saiyan forms has official power multipliers, all of that changed when Goku tapped into the power of a Super Saiyan God in his battle with the God of Destruction, Beerus. Through this newer form, Goku obtained divine ki - the purest form of ki possible unspoiled by mortal hands which is undetectable and can provide him with some healing properties akin to the limb-restoring Senzu Beans.
With his status as a Super Saiyan God, Goku became so strong that the following battle between him and Beerus led to their universe nearly being destroyed in a single-punch clash, which is made more impressive due to the uniqueness of Dragon Ball cosmology. When Majin Buu originally wiped out humanity, Goku's soon-to-be daughter-in-law Videl noted that Heaven was about as large as a universe - a statement backed up by the Daizenshuu. Thus, comparing Heaven to Earth can provide an estimated size for Universe 7, making it about 1500 times larger than our own real-world universe.note Beyond that, Goku had only continued to get stronger, keeping his deific power and stacking both his Super Saiyan transformation and Kaioken on top of that thanks to training with Beerus' advisor Whis. As such, his even further levels of power allow him to perform such awesome feats as breaking the timestop of Hit by forcing himself into the future, defeating the sentient timeline Infinite Zamasu and triumphing over Jiren, who can make the entire World of Void shake with his mere footsteps.note Goku even managed to test out a simple form of Hakai, the energy wielded by the Destruction Gods capable of wiping out one's energy from time and space.
This all led to Goku's current peak of power: Ultra Instinct. Less a transformation and more a state of mind, Ultra Instinct represents the peak of martial arts where the user simply does without thinking. At its highest level, Autonomous Ultra Instinct makes Goku untouchable, making his body automatically defend to the best of his ability even if it puts a tremendous strain on his body. In the event Goku can't physically push himself further, it will go so far as to manifest a gigantic spiritual avatar to defend him instead. As such, Goku has only tapped into smaller versions of it due to the full power of Ultra Instinct being hard to maintain...
...until we shift on over to Dragon Ball Heroes, an entirely different set of continuities meant to explore other parts of the Dragon Ball multiverse. One such incarnation of Goku present here is CC (Capsule Corporation) Goku, an alternate version of the character who has similarly experienced many of the events that define the main variant's own history.note This particular Goku can use Instant Transmission to teleport through space, time and other dimensions. His speed overcame Aeos, who is capable of seeing the future, and he even defeated Dark King Fu, who sought to rewrite the entire multiverse.note
Given how all of this was accomplished by someone whom fans witnessed grow up tremendously in their eyes from being a kid who solved local problems to a man who can overcome gods through nothing but sheer determination, it's of little wonder as to how all of these inform just how much Son Goku has served as an inspiration to others.
- Wiz: Looking back at that goofy monkey boy chopping wood and punching dinosaurs, it's almost overwhelming to think about how far Goku has come. How much he's had to face.Boomstick: But no matter the challenge, he takes it head-on and pushes through.Wiz: Showing everyone, everywhere, how to go even further beyond.
As for the second returning combatant, we've likely heard his famous descriptors. "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! No, it's a plane!" No, it's none other than the Man of Steel himself, Superman. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1930's America, the infant Kal-El was sent to Earth to avoid the destruction of his homeworld Krypton, crash-landed in the middle of the Kansas farm town Smallville, and was then raised by the simple yet loving farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent as their son, Clark. Superman's core being is tied to this very simple origin story, wherein he is defined by his status as an orphan raised by alien people who taught him to help others simply because it was the right thing to do.
True enough, this reflects his creators' own story as well; Siegel and Shuster both faced persecution for being the sons of Jewish immigrants, and when World War II started due to the whims of a certain world leader who possessed a deep hatred of their people, Superman was created as a means to understandably escape from very horrifying real-world problems they were facing at the time, with the idea that this figure could be a hero that solved such issues by simply punching them. It is this story that helped make Superman the first superhero to truly take off, informing the stories of not just his home publisher DC Comics, but that of others like their chief rival Marvel Comics, and in turn kickstarting an entire genre of fiction that has continued to persist over the last 90 years.
That said, "taking off" isn't exactly a fitting metaphor for how the young Clark came to use his superpowers, as mental blocks created by his reluctance to accept his Kryptonian heritage restricted how much he could go all out if he needed to. It's during this phase of his growing up that he learns to overcome these self-inflicted barriers, culminating when he moved to the city of Metropolis and began his double life: acting as a reporter for the Daily Planet on one end and leading the DC universe's greatest superhero team on the other. Even with such restrictions, Superman proved just how crazy his power set was with a variety of absurd feats. His super strength allows him to bench press Earth for five days straight, or even somehow crush coal into perfectly cut diamonds. His super speed and flight allow him to fly out to the edge of the universe and back within 5 seconds, and can even break the bonds of infinity itself. While it may seem difficult to accept that characters far less powerful than him like Batman can beat him in a straight fight, Superman's power level has fluctuated over time, with Elseworlds comic stories and other media adaptations often being pointed to for this very reason. However, as DEATH BATTLE! wants to take the characters at their best, they will be looking at the original incarnation of Superman himself as seen in the comics.
Of course, this begs the question of which incarnation of the Man of Steel is the "main" one given the various reboots and retcons, but Wiz and Boomstick point out that the latest reboots to DC's history in DC Infinite Frontier have made every era of Superman canon despite retcons like Crisis on Infinite Earths making these distinct from each other. As such, all of his appearances from before and after Crisis and even further reboots like New 52 and DC Rebirth fall under this umbrella. note When viewed under these circumstances, Superman's full absurdity is on display for all to see. For example, he can move an entire solar system simply by sneezing, or blow air cold enough to freeze intangible ghosts. His x-ray vision can see past almost anything, even allowing him to see past one's body and mind to see their soul. Even if lead is inexplicably one of the only materials this would not work on, Superman can just tear it apart with brute strength alone or cut through it with his heat vision, which burns about as hot as a star. This power stems from Superman's Kryptonian biology, wherein the radiation of a yellow sun grants him these abilities; exposure to hotter stars like blue and white ones can boost his power to further levels. He can expel this solar energy not just with heat vision, but with his Super Flare as well - a gigantic area-of-effect explosion that used to drain all of his energy in a single attack, but is now controllable due to diligent training.
All of this is to simply say that Superman himself defies the laws of physics, like how he can rebuild the reality-warping Miracle Machine from memory alone or can punch Brainiac so hard every version of him throughout timelines and universes felt it, or how he is so intelligent he can perform advanced medical procedures through 5 minutes of reading when most doctors require decades of study and practice. Despite his brute strength being enough to get him through most battles, Superman is well-versed in the smaller intricacies of fighting. He's been trained in almost every Earth-based martial art, and knows Kryptonian fighting styles as well that harness ki. He's even fought an entire thousand-year war with Wonder Woman and the DC universe's Thor in Asgard. If it sounds near impossible to kill him, erasing him from existence is even more so; he's survived attacks from Darkseid's Omega Beams, and beings that can alter entire timelines can't remove him from them simply because Superman himself is such a constant presence, entire universes in the overarching DC multiverse revolve around him - to say nothing about how his defenses against mental attacks and incredibly potent healing factor could also play a factor.
Superman and other Kryptonians are also capable of traveling through time in a near-instantnote ; of note, Lex Luthor tried teleporting Superman to another galaxy, only for him to return about as quick as he left. As a further reminder as to how the Man of Steel defies physics itself, he once restarted the universe with a big bang caused by his heat vision, only made crazier thanks to DC's cosmology. Due to DC's Prime-Earth being 15 billion years old and constantly expanding at 60 trillion lightyears per second, this would make its universe's radius to be over 50 nonillionnote lightyears across.note As another example of multiversal power, Golden Age Superman survived being hit with by the Anti-Monitor and the full might of the Antimatter Universe... and then promptly hit it so hard, another reboot was created.
Even with all this godlike strength, Superman still has his fair share of weaknesses. Kryptonite - radioactive fragments of Krypton itself - can rob him of his strength, while exposure to red sunlight can cause his powers to fade over time, albeit with the caveat that he's still capable of a fraction of them like being capable of moving entire planets while exposed to it. He also has no noted resistance to magic, but this is often misattributed to being a crippling vulnerability on par with Kryptonite when he simply has no known special resistance to it, as he has beaten magic users like Shazam before.
Overall, Superman is the prime example of a hero who challenges the idea that "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Despite having the might of a god who could easily take anything for himself if he so wanted, he chooses to still lay down his life for others in any way he can and holds himself to a high standard in such a way that he can hopefully inspire others to follow his example if possible. Such was the case when he clashed with the World Forger, a multiversal entity that was about to destroy the existing multiverse Superman calls his home and replace it with a new one. Even when trapped on a planet with a sun so distant he could never escape, Superman found himself empowered by the memories of his friends, family and loved ones to once again defy reality itself by flying up to said sun, going through it and several nearby stars, and then punch out the World Forger to not only restore his home universe but destroy the new multiverse the Forger was about to create; in turn, reiterating what his creators meant for him to be: a simple solution to overwhelming problems.
Even in the darkest of days, one can always count on Superman to be the embodiment of a true hero - one who will never stop fighting for what is right. Whether it's something as simple as stopping to check in on someone's day or overcoming villains that threaten the universe, his near-century-long legacy has made him an everlasting icon and an ideal to strive towards to make the world a better place.
- Wiz: He's the kind of person to save a cat from a tree, answer Christmas cards from strangers, and tow hundreds of planets to a new galaxy, all in the same day. What's not to like?Boomstick: Truth and justice has no better champion than the Man of Steel!
After an advertisement for the episode's sponsor of Better Help online therapy, these two superhuman warriors are ready to tangle for a third time, and it's time for a death battle!
FIGHT!
As we open up to the fight, it has already begun with two blurs clashing against each other in a large forest, a closer look revealing the blurs to be Goku and Superman, the former already in the golden form of Super Saiyan 1. During a brief lull in the fight, Goku states that this match would finally settle the question on who's stronger before the battle resumes as both alien heroes exchange blows, eventually leading to the Saiyan realising his Kryptonian foe is holding back and attempting to get him to go all out, though Clark refuses on the grounds that he's doing fine as is. After a punch from the Man of Tomorrow sends him flying across a lake, Goku decides to take things up a notch and enters his divine form of Super Saiyan Blue before countering an attempt at a follow-up by kicking Superman towards the lake and sending him even further down with his signature technique, the Kamehameha. This is short lived as Superman proceeds to punch him up through the atmosphere, the two proceeding to clash once more until they reach the outer atmosphere, of which Kakarot manages to evade and counter an oncoming punch with Super God Shock Flash.
After reeling from the blow, Superman is greeted by a barrage of Ki blasts from Goku that he manages to mostly destroy with his heat vision before deflecting a few by hand... and accidentally send one into the moon, destroying it. Once Goku reassures Clark that they can undo the damage later, the Man of Steel finally decides to go all out, his first punch showing a reality where GT Goku, currently in his scarlet-furred form of Super Saiyan 4, is fighting Superman Blue in Metropolis, a second strike showing a reality where his and Goku's evil selves, Goku Black and Ultraman, are in a beam struggle in Snake Way and a final sledgehammer shows a reality of Xeno Goku charging a Kamehameha against the titanic Thought Robot as the main Goku is sent back to Earth into a familiar deserted canyon before being tossed into a cliff, the impact forcing Goku out of his divine form and into his base form.
As Goku recovers, he compliments Clark on the fight and his suit, using the opening from his opponent's response to get some free hits in, to no avail as the Man of Steel prepares a punch to end things. Time slows down as Goku's hair turns a silver-white before he evades the attack, now in the shining form of Ultra Instinct, and proceeds to counter and evade Superman's attacks and putting him on the backfoot. Backed into a corner, Clark proceeds to unleash the Super Flare to gain some distance before flying off into the Sun and through as many yellow stars in the galaxy as he can, while Goku realises much to his excitement that Superman's giving this everything now and, giving him the same courtesy, prepares one final Kamehameha as the Kryptonian returns to Earth. As the continent-sized beam approaches, Superman uses his heat vision to blast through it and forcing Goku to stack Kaioken on top of Ultra Instinct, the resulting boost causing Earth to detonate from the recoil. As Clark continues to push though, Goku's ki manifests into an avatar to meet the Man of Steel in a punch clash that proceeds to destroy the universe.
Once the light fades, Goku wakes up and checks his body before noticing to his chagrin a halo he's more than familiar with, bemoaning that he lost but the still living Superman does compliment his tenacity and admitted that the fight was pretty fun for him. As the two examine the many rifts showing their alternate selves, both agree to an eventual rematch, exchanging a mutual fist bump out of respect.
KO!
In the infinite rift that is the multiverse, the two alien guardians of Earth can finally relax after such a thrilling conclusion to their long-awaited rematch, content that they've held nothing back. With both combatants showing no true hard feelings, it's now time to break down how the Last Son of Krypton triumphed once more over his Saiyan rival, even if Wiz and Boomstick express their doubts that somehow this debate would end if at all. Given the wide array of continuities throughout Dragon Ball and DC's history, there were certainly some incarnations of Superman that Goku would most likely have bested, but DEATH BATTLE! focusing on their mainline versions meant that he'd have tough luck fighting the original Man of Steel. As such, the hosts decided to break their verdict into 5 categories to compare and contrast each combatant.
In terms of pure power, Goku and Superman have shown to be capable of multiversal levels of strength, whether on the giving or receiving end. Universe 7 and Prime-Earth are both much larger than our observable universe, but Prime-Earth's expansion throughout DC's history put it as being 1 novemdecillion* times larger than Universe 7. While Goku has gotten stronger since his initial clash with Beerus and has defeated far stronger foes like Broly and Fu, the gap would still be too much for him to overcome even if Goku were high-balled millions of times over, especially factoring in Superman's defeat of the World Forger existing on a level of power that nothing in Dragon Ball can compare to.note Speed was a slightly different story, as while Superman can be considered faster than Goku through quantifiable feats alone, both have shown instances of near-incalculable speeds, like how Superman can keep pace with the Flash or how Goku defeated the timeline-merged Zamasu.note To play this area safely, the hosts rule both sides' speeds to be a tie.
Goku was certainly the better martial artist, pushing himself through training daily to improve, whereas Superman's innate strength meant that he only viewed training and combat as a last resort even if he had extensive knowledge of Kryptonian martial arts. That said, he's no mindless brute; Superman is ruled to be far more experienced given his vastly longer lifespan and genius-level intellect. He's even managed to defeat some of DC's greatest martial artists without his powers backing him up, so he'd have no issues keeping pace with Goku's mastery.
Both sides' powers were tricky to define fully, but Superman had the decisive edge here to take the overall debate. Goku boasted some great variety, but all of them could be countered since his ki is reliant on physical strength and not necessarily magic; god ki is simply ki in its purest form - even if it were considered magical, Superman has defeated magic users in the past. As such, Superman could easily break out of things like the God Bind with his strength alone, and more potent techniques like the Spirit Bomb would take too long to set up. Hakai was something Goku could fall back on, but even ignoring how he hasn't mastered it, Superman is outright immune from being wiped out of existence. Much like their earlier debates, the hosts also point out that Goku could not just use Instant Transmission to teleport Superman to a red star, as while Goku would be likely to survive being in the vacuum of space, Superman could still easily fly to another yellow star or hotter to regain his lost power; this is to say nothing of how Goku needs another person to teleport to rather than him being to take Superman anywhere he wanted to. Superman could also time travel to counter Instant Transmission's similar ability in Heroes or just outright phase through any of Goku's attacks.note
That said, while the hosts conclude that Superman has all the advantages needed to secure his well-fought win, Wiz can't help but still wax philosophy behind why the idea of this match-up persists until now, and theorizes that it's about what each fighter represented. Since the 1990's, Western comic book superheroes like those from DC and Marvel have taken the world by storm, but most found dissatisfaction with how they represented an unyielding status quo since characters like Spider-Man, Batman, Captain America and Superman himself - stated to be the icon for the medium - often do not undergo any radical changes but stick to their core tenets, for better and for worse. Conversely, the rise of Japanese anime and manga in the West with the likes of Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, Ranma ½ and Dragon Ball in that same decade saw a brand new batch of stories that often evolved and broke their worlds' status quo, with Goku viewed as the icon for that in turn. As such, when viewed less as a debate between characters and more so as a fight of ideologies and cultures, Wiz can't fault anyone who wanted Goku to win as a way of vindicating what he represented for his fans... only for it to turn into a brief existential episode about how DEATH BATTLE! may have accidentally gone too far in representing the characters they have on the show as just numbers and figures instead of capturing why people like them in the first place, even if they don't intend to. Luckily, Boomstick brings him back to reality, confident that they're simply having fun and celebrating these characters' legacies in the way they best know how to. The hosts begin to bicker again over Boomstick's pun while leaving the victor of this dream match unsaid save for one final triumphant image of the Man of Tomorrow...
Wiz: That's the worst pun!
Boomstick: What, it fits them both!
Wiz: It's so lame!
Boomstick: I don't see you doing any better!
Wiz: I do the math; the pun's your job.
Boomstick: Well maybe, if you math-ed as good as I punned, then Goku would've won!
Wiz: What is wrong with you?!
Next time on the Season 10 finale...
- Adaptational Distillation: This round gets straight to the battle itself and, unlike the previous ones, acts less like an episode of Dragon Ball Z Abridged.
- Always Someone Better:
- As showcased in the post-battle analysis, Goku has an advantage over Superman in terms of technique due to having a better understanding of ki. In every other category, however, Goku either barely matches up to Superman, such as speed, or is otherwise far outclassed, especially in terms of strength. Not even Ultra Instinct plus any of his Super Saiyan forms are capable of closing the gap in power.
- In a meta sense, Goku is the first participant to lose to the same opponent on three separate occasions putting to bed once and for all who's the better of the two, at least in the DEATH BATTLE! continuity.
- And the Adventure Continues: The end of the fight makes it clear that Goku's gonna keep crossing fists with Superman no matter who wins.
- Bait-and-Switch: At the end of the battle, after the duo's final clash, Goku is seen waking up. Normally, the first fighter seen after a massive, battle-ending explosion is the winner, so did Goku finally triumph? Nope. There's a halo floating above him, meaning that Superman killed him once again. Though Superman does admit that Goku almost had him there.
- Broad Strokes: Both combatants are familiar with one another, which implies that the two previous "Goku VS Superman" fights are canon to this one. However, shots from both episodes appear in multiveral rifts at the end of this episode's fight.
- Broken Base: Boomstick lampshades this In-Universe, noting how in spite of the matchup's results, people will be arguing about who should have won for years to come.
- Broken Win/Loss Streak: Of sorts. This episode takes more after the re-evaluations done for "Mario VS Sonic" and "Link VS Cloud" rather than the second Goku VS Superman episode, in that this newer episode is not meant to be a direct continuation of the previous one but is meant to take a look at both characters under the modern-day methodology DEATH BATTLE! employs now. Despite both Mario and Cloud winning their rematches after losing their original episodes, Goku's loss here breaks that trend.
- Breaking Old Trends: Well, breaking trends further in this case. Goku VS Superman is the only matchup to date to have the fighters come back and beat the crap out of each other more than once, with this episode in particular being their third bout. The only times DEATH BATTLE! has had combatants come back for Round 2 are Mario VS Sonic, (seasons 1 and 5), Link VS Cloud (seasons 1 and 8) and Samus Aran VS Boba Fett (seasons 1 and 2)note .
- Of note is that taking into account how recent modern-day rematches have occurred with the research being done over and the result of the previous fight being mostly ignored, both Mario VS Sonic and Link VS Cloud resulted in the loser of the first match avenging their loss for the rematch. This episode breaks that trend with Superman claiming victory once more.
- Clothing Damage:
- Both Goku's gi top and undershirt end up being destroyed, and his pants get pretty roughed up too, once Superman stops holding back and pummels Super Saiyan Blue to the point he loses the transformation.
- Superman gets his Badass Cape torn up something fierce once Goku manages to activate Ultra Instinct and get some momentum back.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Downplayed. Unlike the last two instances of this fight, the overall debate was much more even. Goku was at least ruled to be Superman's equal in speed as well as being a superior martial artist, but Superman took decisive leads in strength, experience and how their powers countered each other.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: It's still practically a curb stomp, as Superman has much better and more accessible maximum feats than Goku... but contrary to the first two matches, Superman can't stomp Goku just by trying a little harder at his baseline Earth level of power. Goku's Ultra Instinct puts in a very good performance against Superman's full strength, and Superman admits afterwards that Goku almost had him this time, showing that the gap is narrow now. But Supes doesn't need to stay at his baseline Earth level of power, and can very easily power himself up so much that almost nothing in multi-dimensional creation can withstand him, far eclipsing Goku again.
- Cameo Cluster: Amidst the fragmented reality at the end of the fight, several other Gokus and Supermen can be seen having fights of their own with varying levels of intensity. Two of the shots are stills from the preceding Goku VS Superman episodes, depicting the former in his Super Saiyan 4 and Super Saiyan God modes. Another fragment shows previous combatants Scooby-Doo and Courage clashing as Superman and Goku, respectively.
- Death Is Cheap: Goku is only mildly annoyed when he figures out he's dead. Makes sense, given how often he's died and returned to Earth in his own series.
- Detonation Moon: While deflecting Goku's energy blasts, Superman accidentally knocks one of them into the moon, obliterating it. Goku laughs and points out that they can wish it back.
- Earth-Shattering Kaboom: The recoil of Goku using Kaioken to empower his Kamehameha causes the Earth to explode. This isn't dwelt upon much, as their clash proceeds to shatter the entire universe immediately afterwards.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Ultra Instinct Goku and Superman clash to destroy the universe they're in, it takes a while to confirm that Superman emerged victorious as noted above in Bait-and-Switch. However, observant viewers will note that the universe is destroyed with the same purple shattering glass effect done when Superman stops holding back and hits Goku so hard the multiverse opens up rifts into other Goku/Superman matches throughout time and space, hinting that Superman landed the final blow.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: For a split secondnote , while Superman and Ultra Instinct Goku are doing aerial clashes, you can see the result of their very quick rock, paper, scissors game. They both drew "scissors" in a tie.
- Friendly Rivalry: While they were already friendly with each other before, this episode establishes Goku sees Superman as a full-on rival who he wants to surpass. Superman's amused by this but nonetheless indulges. Throughout the fight, the two are smiling and encouraging each other. Even when Goku loses, he takes his loss in stride and vows to beat Superman before asking for another fight, to which Superman obliges.
- Graceful Loser: Goku is disappointed that he lost, but brushes it off as he enjoyed the battle. He vows to continue training and hopes for a rematch, which Superman looks forward to.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: Goku's all about training to get stronger. Through years of Dragon Ball content since the first two Death Battles came out, he's continued to get more powerful, enough so that the previously insurmountable gap between him and Superman now looks like it might just be surmountable. But there's the problem: Goku got strong enough to truly challenge Superman after fighting and training for years. Superman can get stronger too... but his strength isn't directly dependent on long training, rather on how much sunlight be absorbs. Even though Goku has massively narrowed the gap, Superman can, and in the battle does, widen it back up again with a short detour to charge up.
- Hiroshima as a Unit of Measure: The main measurement for strength used this time, specifically the size of their respective universes and how hard the respective combatant would have to be able to hit to destroy them, or how fast they'd have to move to cross them.
- Hypothetical Fight Debate: Wiz goes off on a tangent about the ideological nature of Goku vs. Superman, by stating how many nerds and geeks who grew up in The '80s and The '90s mainly only knew of Western comic superheroes, who very rarely changed who they were, what they represented, and how they approached it - an "unyielding status quo", as he puts it. The introduction of Japanese Anime to Western audiences also brought new introspective and ideas to storytelling and characterization. The video uses footage of "Superman vs. Goku" from Epic Rap Battles of History to highlight how hotly debated the matchup is. If differences in approach to storytelling from Western and Eastern perspectives are at stake, then who would ever want Goku to lose? Wiz begins to question those who take the show's "results" at face value by reminding them that everything is supposed to be up to interpretation. Boomstick has to snap Wiz out of it by reminding him and the audience the whole purpose of the DEATH BATTLE! series.Boomstick: Uhh... you sure you're not overthinking this?
Wiz: It's not our intent, but it does call into question what we're doing. How can people agree with what we take as fact when fiction relies on interpretation? Are we stripping characters of their importance by simplifying them to contestants in a vacuum of violence? And if so, then what's the point?
(Boomstick smacks Wiz out of it)
Boomstick: BECAUSE IT'S FUN, WIZ! Dammit man, there's more than one way to appreciate something. We're having a great time talking about awesome characters and slamming action figures together, and that's okay. - I Am Not Left-Handed: Naturally, Superman still doesn't need to push himself to keep up with Goku's stronger and stronger transformations... at first. After the two blow up the moon with their battle, and Goku laughs it off saying they can just wish it back when they're done, Superman realizes he doesn't need to hold back for fear of collateral damage (even referencing his famous speech about how the world is "made of cardboard") and unleashes his full strength, represented by the blue lightning coursing his body. This proves enough to stomp Super Saiyan Blue... but then Goku stops holding back himself, enters Ultra Instinct, and matches him. This is the first time in any of the three matches that Superman can't guarantee a victory over Goku just with this tropenote , and he charges himself up far above his baseline to regain the advantage.
- Internal Homage: The ending of the fight invokes the first time this matchup was handled, with Superman supercharged on solar energy plowing through Goku's Kamehameha and the final clash being between both fighter's fists (Goku's Dragon Fist in the original, his Ultra Instinct Guardian Entity here) as massive destruction occurs (an Earth-Shattering Kaboom in the original, a reality-breaking clash here) and a fade to white before returning to focus on the aftermath. It also combines elements of the penultimate clash of that episode with Goku supercharging his Kamehameha with Kaioken and Superman using his heat vision to fight it.
- The final shot of Goku and Superman hanging out in the multiversal void also evokes the ending of the sequel, where the deceased Goku interacts with someone in the afterlife.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Goku and Superman seem pretty nonplussed about destroying an entire universe during their battle, almost as if they know all the damage is purely there for the spectacle and doesn't affect either of their canons. It does help that they can use the Dragon Balls to wish everything back into place, as Goku brings up.
- Mythology Gag:
- The opening aerial clashes are naturally fashioned after Dragon Ball's depiction with rapid, consecutive shock waves. Fittingly akin to a video game, this is how Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi opens its matches, transitioning to Goku and Supes clashing arms to reset their fighting positions, much like in Dragon Ball Fighterz. Goku's clashing arm pose is even lifted directly from that game. Similarly, Superman's animations in responding to the clash reference the Combo Breaker mechanic (fittingly titled "Clashes") from both Injustice: Gods Among Us and its sequel.
- Goku reassures Superman that they can wish back the destroyed the moon, which Supes accidentally caused while deflecting Goku's ki blasts. Supes reminds himself how "the world is made of cardboard", before he stops holding back and shows Goku "what he's really made of."
- When Superman stops holding back, he slugs three multiverse-reverberating consecutive strikes at Goku. These open holes into parallel fights with other Supermen and Gokus.
- The first strike pierces into Super Saiyan 4 Goku from Dragon Ball GT versus Superman Blue. They're both big debut forms from The '90s that were temporary reinventions of their character's superpowered forms.
- The second strikes shows Goku Black from Dragon Ball Super versus Ultraman from Earth-3. Both characters are evil counterparts of the originals.
- The third and final strike shows Cosmic Armor Superman vs Xeno Goku from Super Dragon Ball Heroes, often stated to be the strongest incarnations of both fighters.
- For a brief second in their areial clashes, Ultra Instinct Goku and Superman tie a game of rock, paper, scisssors. Not only is it a humorous Visual Pun, but references Goku's weaponized version
from his childhood adventures.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Midway through the fight, Superman knocks away one of Goku's energy blasts, which winds up hitting the Moon. Superman's dismayed by this, but Goku assures him they can fix it with the Dragon Balls.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Superman wins! But the universe has been destroyed...But then again, Goku assures him that they can undo the damage using the Dragon Balls.
- Reconstruction: Of the Let's You and Him Fight way that DEATH BATTLE! works, after "Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer" deconstructed it. At the end of the battle, Wiz has a crisis about simplifying characters into nothing but how good they are in combat. Boomstick in response slaps him back into reality and reminds him why the show exists in the first place: because it's fun.
- Rule of Fun: Discussed at the end of the episode. Wiz is having a bit of an existential crisis about the Let's You and Him Fight nature of their show, wondering if things are really going to be reduced to just pure numbers instead of appreciating the impact, design, or stories of the characters. Boomstick snaps Wiz out of it by reminding Wiz that DEATH BATTLE! exists because watching characters duke it out is just fun to watch.
- Rule of Three: This is the third time these characters are fighting each other, and the third time Superman takes home the victory.
- Sequel Escalation: In the first "Goku VS Superman", the Earth was destroyed as part of the fighters' final Punch Parry. Here, it's destroyed as a byproduct of Goku using the Kaioken, and the final clash results in the destruction of the universe.
- Super Mode: Both of them run the gauntlet with this. Goku outright starts the fight animation in Super Saiyan 1, then transforms into Super Saiyan Blue to keep pace with Superman. He's depowered after taking too much damage, but eventually taps into Ultra Instinct to get back into the game, and finally resorts to combining it with Kaioken in a final attempt to overwhelm Superman. On the other hand, Superman's body starts emitting blue lightning when he stops holding back, and upon flying through several suns, emerges completely covered in a golden aura.
- Take That, Audience!:
- Wiz and Boomstick's musing at the end about the point of their show is a blatant jab at the people who take Hypothetical Fight Debates way too seriously. Wiz notes that one character being stronger than the other does not make that character or their series better than the other, and Boomstick states outright that the reason they do what they do is for fun first and foremost.
- The last bullet point in Goku's background slide states "Not a bad dad, you guys are just mean."
- Triumphant Reprise: The main soundtrack of the fight, Super, is this to Alive, from the last time the two crossed fists on Death Battle. Alive was outright angry, competitive, and serious - a mixed perspective of their fans and the fighters themselves about who's stronger and killing. By comparison, the more celebratory Super is simply about the joy of the fight, complete with a chorus chanting the word "Fight!" over and over bridging sections, in addition to displaying more of the respect shared between both fighters.
