Recap / Epic Rap Battles Of History Rasputin Vs Stalin

The Season 2 finale features a shakeup in the show’s usual format: what starts out as a normal battle between Grigori Rasputin (Peter Shukoff) and Joseph Stalin (Lloyd Ahlquist) becomes a battle royale when Vladimir Lenin (Peter Shukoff), Mikhail Gorbachev (Lloyd Ahlquist), and Vladimir Putin (Peter Shukoff) jump into the fray.

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TROPES

• Abusive Parents: Stalin’s father beat him like a dog, as Rasputin can attest to. He's also one himself.
• Abusive Precursors: Gorbachev claims that Russia was put on the road to ruin because of the faults of the previous leaders.
• Actually Quite Catchy: If you watch Rasputin during Gorbachev's and Putin's verses, he's half-heartedly dancing to the beat.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Lenin's opinion of Stalin sounds like something out of Star Wars:
  Lenin: You let your heart grow dark, and stopped the greatest revolution since the birth of Marx!
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Stalin threatens to shoot Rasputin's family, friends, and pierogi sellers.
• Ax-Crazy: Stalin is just as crazily sadistic here as he was in real life.
  I'll leave your neck in a noose in a trench and shot!
  Your whole family, shot!
  All your wizard friends, shot!
  Anyone who sold you pierogi, shot!
• Badass Boast:
  • Courtesy of Stalin:
    See the soul of the man who made Mother Russia his bitch!
    Dropped a hammer on you harder than I bitch-slapped Hitler!
  • A few from Putin:
    "Doing judo moves and schooling every communist сука."
    "The last man who attacked me has a half-life so comrade, come at me!"
    "You'll find the ex-KGB is the best MC in the ex-CCCP!"
• Berserk Button: Lenin believes that Stalin completely ruined his revolution and is extremely angry about it. In particular, Stalin calling himself "pride of Lenin" after dismantling his life's work makes Lenin pissed enough to drop in.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Gorbachev opened up relations with the West, and a can of whoop-ass too.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Gorbachev may seem like a goofball, but he's got great raps.
• Big Entrance: Putin's introduced by his face on a jumboscreen that bursts to reveal him.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Gorbachev "Tore down that wall like the Kool-Aid man, Oh yeah!"
• The Cameo: Ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov (played by PewDiePie) appears in the background of Gorbachev’s verse. Also, Gorbachev is seen shaking hands with Ronald Reagan and Ronald McDonald as he describes doing so, but only their hands are visible.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Like Hitler, Stalin enjoys his reputation as one of the most evil men to ever live.
• Chest of Medals: Stalin wears two Hero of the Soviet Union medals, three Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, and an Order of Victory. He's actually missing his Marshal's Star, a second Order of Victory, and an Order of Suvorov, not to mention several lesser medals and foreign awards. Oh, and one of his Gold Stars should be a Hero of Socialist Labour (also a gold star, but thinner and with hammer and sicle in the center). That's despite the fact that in real life Stalin usually wore only his Hero of Socialist Labour medal.
• Chummy Commies: Unlike Stalin and Lenin, Gorbachev "shook hands with both Ronalds: Reagan and McDonald”.
• The Comically Serious: Putin’s stone-faced mug adds some silliness to his verses.
• Commissar Cap: Stalin wears one, but he is technically a government clerk. He's still tough and commanding like the trope.
• Deadpan Snarker: Putin is incredibly deadpan and incredibly snarky.
• Death Glare: Quoth Stalin:
  "Look into my eyes, you perverted witch."
• Deliberately Monochrome: Lenin is depicted in red and white, meant to represent his portrayal in Soviet banners. He lampshades it, naturally.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Stalin taunts Rasputin, the infamous hypnotist, with his eyes.
• Dirty Communists:
  • Stalin’s the filthiest of them all. Even other communists think he's dirty.
  • Lenin gets lots of talk about fighting the bourgouisie and such, but compared to Stalin, he looks downright spotless.
  • Gorbachev is not presented as cruel like Stalin or even intense like Lenin, since he's much more mellow than them, here. He insists that he's one of the Chummy Commies instead.
• Distinguishing Mark: Gorbachev’s birthmark. Was almost an "ERB" but it didn't work out.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Ronald McDonald makes a tiny cameo appearance in this battle, a decent 6 years before his official debut in the series.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Defied Trope. Stalin flat out denies this when he scoffs at Rasputin's boast that he can get at him through his wife and brags about not saving his own son's life. See Lack of Empathy below.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Rasputin belonged to a sect that believed sin was finite, so sinning in abundance meant others couldn't. Even he thinks Stalin's an unforgivable bastard.
• Evil Cripple: Lenin points out that Stalin has a withered arm in the same breath as his betrayal.
• Eyes Never Lie: Stalin seems to believe this:
  "Look into my eyes, you perverted witch.
  See the soul of the man who made Mother Russia his bitch!"
• Fate Worse than Death: Stalin claims that the trope namer for Rasputinian Death got off easy (whether he means the embellished account of Rasputin's death or the more realistic one is unclear), and threatens to hang him, shoot him, starve him for days until he wasted away (either as a preparation for the execution or as a contingency if Rasputin survived both the hanging and the shooting), and leave him for dead in a trench, before moving on to killing everyone Rasputin ever knew, loved, or bought pierogies from.
• Flanderization:
  • Needless to say, Stalin wasn't a Card-Carrying Villain in real life, unlike his ERB portrayal. In the battle, he threaten Rasputin with execution of his family, his "wizard friends", and anyone who ever sold pierogi to him. In real life he specifically noted that "the son is not responsible for the father", and, while he did order to arrest families of some of high-ranking "enemies of the people" purely by association, they were not executed, and some later had successful careers. Stalin also wears full Chest of Medals here, while in real life he, as noted by contemporaries, preferred to wear only the Hero of Socialist Labour medal, parade portraits notwithstanding.
  • Putin is a Walking Shirtless Scene here, referencing his famous horseback photo. The thing is, the photo was already 4 years old at the time the battle came out, and beyond this photo report he's almost never seen shirtless, or even in anything else than a business suit.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: This episode had an unprecedented 5 rappers, each getting one verse.
• Freudian Excuse: As Rasputin put it to Stalin, "Your daddy beat you like a dog and now you're evil".
• Fun Personified: Gorbachev is the only one who looks like he's having a good time, is generally lighthearted and seems to have a permanent smile.
• Gag Penis: Rasputin claims that he is a "big dick mystic", and Stalin makes reference to his "moose cock".
• Gratuitous Russian: Putin punctuates his Big Entrance with a random "да" (yes), and later does This Is for Emphasis, Bitch! in Russian.
• Hitler Cam: Putin’s appearance on the jumboscreen.
• Hypnotic Eyes: Rasputin’s superpower, according to legend, was a form of hypnosis, and he threatens to use it to control Stalin's wife.
• Hypnotize the Captive: Rasputin brags of his history with this, but Lenin doesn't care.
  Lenin: "The Czar's wife can't do shit tonight!"
• Ignored Enemy: Rasputin becomes increasingly disregarded by his opponents as the battle goes on. Lenin throws a verse his way but otherwise focuses entirely on chewing out Stalin, Gorbachev gives him one line about needing a shower, and Putin pretty much ignores him completely.
• It's All About Me: Putin never directly disses or even really addresses any of his opponents, spending his entire verse boasting about himself.
• It's Personal: While Lenin claims that he's there to beat both Rasputin and Stalin, he has a lot more to say to Stalin than he does Rasputin. The reasons for this should be obvious.
• Jerkass: Stalin raps in a way that would indicate that his atrocities are something to be proud of.
  Stalin: You think I give a fuck about my wife? My own son got locked up in prison and I didn't save his life!
• Knight of Cerebus: Inverted. Gorbachev’s predecessors were still pretty silly, but they rapped about parental abuse, tyranny, murder, and betrayal. The darkest Gorbachev gets is blaming them for the Cold War.
• Kryptonite Factor: In reference to Stalin's Name to Run Away from Really Fast, Rasputin brags:
  "You're the Man of Steel, I spit Kryptonite."
• Kubrick Stare: Rasputin’s creepy stare is part of his 'creepy mystic' vibe.
• Lack of Empathy: Stalin just doesn't care how many people died because of him. Even his family wasn't safe.
• Large Ham: Lenin is ham served Russian style: powerful and grim.
• Lethal Joke Character: Gorbachev seems like just a friendly, goofy guy at first, but he spits very hot raps.
• The Man Behind the Man: Rasputin points out that he controlled Czar Nicholas II by hypnotizing his wife, and threatens to do the same to Stalin.
• Nice Guy: Comparatively speaking, Gorbachev's the contestant with the fewest skeletons in his closet. Most of his rhymes are good-natured and focused on his accomplishments instead of putting the other guys down.
• No Eye in Magic: Much of Rasputin’s performance is in the eyes, between Kubrick Stares and Death Glares, as befitting his character. However, when your opponent is Josef Stalin, even the infamous Evil Sorcerer is powerless.
• No Indoor Voice: Lenin's voice is Lincolnesque in its volume.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Lenin has this red and white rotoscope effect that makes him look like an animated propaganda poster.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent:
  • Rasputin’s voice is impressively deep, but there's only the tiniest hint of an accent in there.
  • Lenin’s the same deal as Rasputin, just switch "deep" for "loud".
• Odd Name Out: Gorbachev's the only contestant in the battle that doesn't have an "in" attached to the end of his name (or nickname, in the case of Stalin and Lenin).
  "If your name end with "in", time to get out!"
• One-Steve Limit: Averted— there are two Vladimirs in this battle: Lenin and Putin.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Putin starts somewhere vaguely Russian, ends up somewhere vaguely Sylvester Stallone.
• Perpetual Frowner: Frowns and snarls are Stalin’s only expressions.
• Perpetual Smiler: Gorbachev's got a giant smirk on his face the whole time.
• Pet the Dog: Gorbachev references his reforms, attempts to open the Soviet Union and its people to the West, and bringing down the Berlin Wall.
• The Pigpen: Gorbachev says Rasputin needs a shower.
• Rasputinian Death: Stalin says that his opponent’s trope-naming demise was getting off easy. It's also subverted — Stalin threatens Rasputinian Death, but otherwise it's not even referenced — because Rasputin didn't die that way, contrary to his legend.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Gorbachev insists that he's the only one in the Russian Five to use authority on an even heel.
  "You all need to learn how to handle real power!"
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lenin is very pissed about how the Russian Revolution was ruined by Stalin. In fact, his first line is to debunk Stalin's "pride of Lenin" remark.
• Red Right Hand:
  • Lenin compares Stalin's loyalty to his withered right hand... which confuses Stalin, because it's actually his left hand that was stunted due to a childhood accident.
  • Inverted with Gorbachev, who has a birthmark on his forehead, but is the nicest of the Russian Five.
• Religious Bruiser: Rasputin proudly mentions his status as a monk, and looks like he'd be more than happy to wring Stalin's neck.
• The Sociopath: Stalin clearly feels no regret for his evil actions, even being proud of them.
• Speak of the Devil: Lenin pops in after Stalin claims to be "The pride of Lenin" to refute that remark. It also sets a precedent for Gorbachev and Putin to find an excuse so they can get in on the action as well.
• The Stoic: Putin seems relatively calm for the most part and expresses less emotion on his face than the others.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Putin's "schooling every communist сука" is not actually a direct insult, as "сука" (bitch) is not declensed, meaning it's just here for emphasis
• Token Good Teammate: Gorbachev plays himself up as the most moral of the Soviet leaders, claiming the others were too aggressive.
• To the Pain: Stalin threatens Rasputin with pickled moose cock, hanging, shooting, and then laying in a trench. See Fate Worse than Death.
• Trrrilling Rrrs:
  • Stalin makes a conjoined one in his second verse:
    "See the soul of the man who made MotheRRR RRRussia his bitch!"
  • Lenin rolls his R’s when he gets real emotional.
    "You were supposed to be my RRRIGHT HAND MAN, but your loyalty shriveled up like your RRRIGHT HAND, MAN!"
  • Even Gorbatchev uses some to scare the previous communist leaders:
    "Shook hands with both Rrrronalds, Rrrreagan and McDonalds, no doubt!"
• Unperson: Stalin’s tendency to do this, specifically with Trotsky whom he literally "took out of the picture", is mentioned.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Putin doesn't wear a shirt, referencing his 2009 horseback photo.
• Was It Really Worth It?: Basically, Rasputin’s thesis regarding the history of the Soviet Union, from the revolution against the Tsarist empire to the "union of ruinous states" it eventually became, thanks to Stalin's dictatorial methods and We Have Reserves mentality.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Lenin is presented as somebody who really did believe he was doing the right thing.
• We Used to Be Friends: Lenin calls Stalin out for betraying his trust, but it's an historical imprecision, as Lenin and Stalin never saw eye to eye, despite what Stalin's propaganda said.
• Wham Line:
  • Gorbachev's unexpected presence is heralded with a "Knock-knock-knock... did somebody say birthmarks?"
  • Similarly, Putin's surprise appearance starts with an abrupt "Did somebody say real power?"
• Wham Shot: Lenin abruptly dropping into the battle out of nowhere, Gorbachev's entrance through a door in the background, and Putin's sudden appearance on a jumbo screen all signify an unexpected shift in what was otherwise a normal battle.
• Wizard Beard: Naturally, being a hypno mystic, Rasputin has the long beard for it.
• Your Mom: Rasputin refers to how he gained influence over Tsar Nicholas through Nicholas' wife, and threatens to do the same to Stalin.