Visual Effects Of Awesome / DEATH BATTLE!

For an internet series about iconic characters fighting in a battle to the death, of course they got to look flashy and fun. Pretty much every episode has at least something to hit home about, but here are the standout examples.

General

• Wiz and Boomstick's animation has definitely improved since its debut in Season 5. Despite aspects like Wiz's hair being simplified in later seasons, the animation itself now relies much less on tweening, and simple actions like Boomstick shaking his head or playing the air-drums are smoothly animated with lots of personality.

Season 1

• Several of the Death Battles can apply, but of note is Thor vs. Raiden. Every subsequent battle ended up like this, due to their animator, Jordan Lange, who started animating the series as of Zelda vs. Peach.
• Goku vs. Superman. It's fully 3D, less polygonal than Link vs. Cloud, and the attack animations are amazing.

Season 2

• Robocop vs. Terminator. Besides the lack of lipsyncing, the animation is EXQUISITE.
• Godzilla vs Gamera tops the other ones, provided it's not in the water.
• For a sprite battle not really based in 3D, Ryu vs. Scorpion looks awesome, including one moment about half-way through the battle that looks like it was hand drawn by both Capcom and Neatherrealm Studios just for this sort of occasion.
• Deadpool vs. Deathstroke continues the trend of spectacular 3D battles. There's a lot going on at any given time, and it looks almost flawless throughout.
• Kirby vs Majin Buu shows how highpace a fight can be even without needing two Dragon Ball characters. Kirby was able to keep up with the lightning fast action making it feel like a true Dragon Battle fight scene.
• Guts vs Nightmare is almost like seeing a Berserk episode in sprite mode. Gut's brutal fighting style, mix with Nightmare's overwhelming power it's truly a clash as big as their giant swords.
• Iron Man vs. Lex Luthor is yet another gorgeous 3D battle. Even the little things like Iron Man's HUD have an incredible amount of detail to them.
• The premier spy battle: Solid Snake vs. Sam Fisher. For one the fight is a much more suspenseful affair, befitting Snake and Sam's natures. When both of them are not trying to find each other, they engage in three well-animated fistfights, with their pistols and knives added in later.
• Goku vs Superman 2 is arguably even more gorgeous than the first one, with some jaw-dropping back-and-forth action.
• Donkey Kong vs Knuckles is also worth seeing, despite DK's weirdly shape sprite it still manages to entertain adding loony-tunes like comedy between the knuckleheads, a mine cart section like in the Donkey Kong Return games, and a good showcase of the abilities of the two combatants; Knuckle's gliding and digging prowess, and DK's strength and coconut gun.
• Wolverine vs. Raiden was also quite spectacular and awesome, with the effects escalating with the battle itself.
• Hercule vs. Dan Hibiki has very fluid animation for a sprite-based battle, and pulls off several levels of zoom without looking cheap.
• Yang Xiao Long vs. Tifa Lockheart is proud to continue upholding the 3D battle tradition even if at times Tifa looks a little off, with special mention going to the climax.
• Mega Man vs. Astro Boy displays gorgeous animation all-round- from the different projectiles and weapons Mega Man uses to Astro Boy's flight and laser animations, it's often considered one of the best-animated 2D battles so far.
• Pokemon vs. Digimon has some pretty good animation for the combatants, specially the climax between Mega Charizard and Wargreymon.

Season 3

• Dante vs. Bayonetta has been rightfully praised for its visual flair, doing the Hot-Blooded action of both combatants' series justice. Even those who disagreed with the results praised Torrian's skill as an animator.
• Ratchet and Clank vs Jak and Daxter has colorful and amazing visuals with hilarious gags to complement the fast-paced action in the style of both games.
• Joker vs Sweet Tooth has fluid animation with an intense vehicular battle at the start and the combatants looking well-animated with nearly every little action they do.
• Regardless of feelings on whether the fight should have happened in the first place, The Meta vs. Agent Carolina has stunning animation throughout, particularly when the two start using their various armor enhancements.
• Cammy vs Sonya's dynamic camera angles and special effects (with the exception of the close-ups on the sprite animations) have caused many viewers to declare it one of the best animated 2D fights of the series.
• Ken vs Terry has fast pacing where you can feel every punch the fighter throws, cinematics integrated smoothly with the animation and awesome visual effects. Many have declared it a huge improvement with respects the other sprite death battles this season, and some says that this was one the best 2D death battles ever.
• Amy vs Ramona is a wacky visual experience, with a fast-paced fight complimented with a beautiful background. This episode along with the last one restore fans faith in the 2D battles.
• Hulk vs Doomsday does both characters justice in a awesome way. No fancies choreographies, no hiding, no backflips, only a powerful brawl with plenty of collateral destruction. No wonder why the team have problems with the render farms. These two fighters are just too strong that they break everything.
• Zoro vs Erza is regarded by many as the best 2D fight in the season. The battle shows in a glorious way all the abilities the fighters are famous for, including Erza's magic armors and Zoro's abilities with his swords.

Season 4

• The animation of Lara vs Nathan is spectacular. It has everything: gun shooting, melee fighting, an awesome background, vehicles race. It feels like you're seeing a movie that makes justice both characters and franchises.
• Scrooge McDuck vs Shovel Knight proves that you don't need some fancy 3D models or detailed sprites to make a very entertaining battle. With only 8bit sprites (and a good animator), you can make an awesome (and gory) show.
• Venom vs Bane adds tension and cinematography along with a fitting dark environment has made this battle one worth seeing not for flashiness, but well-built setups and memorable dissonance. Doesn't hurt to also see both Bane and Venom's villanous persona coming out.
• The long-waited Megazord vs Voltron is a huge milestone in the series. Torrian manages to put a fantastic fight with a beautiful choreography, more impressive if you take in account that neither character (including the individual Zords or humans) had detailed 3D models. They had to create them from scratch. And yet, it's been cited as one of the best animated fights in the entire series.
• Natsu vs Ace was also a very well-done battle. Mixing together the sprite and anime style of the fight, along with the heated atmosphere between the two fire-wielders it's one where it'll keep you on the edge of your seat. The death should also be worth mentioning for how graphic and detailed it was.
• The return of Zack to Screwattack was impressive. Android 18 vs Captain Marvel was a quick and splendid display of all the powers of both characters. It's feel like the fight was ripped from Dragon Ball Z (appropriate for one of the combatants)
• Metal Sonic vs Zero is a high-speed battle with several impressive visual effects, and even incorporates both 2D and rendered 3D models of both combatants, the latter of which are animated every bit as fluid as the 2D effects.
• After a series of fights with lasers, guns, swords, magic, and city-breaking hits, Balrog vs. TJ Combo gives us a good ol' boxing match that replaces all of that with tight choreography, intense impact, and close camera angles to make it feel real.
• Shredder vs Silver Samurai isn't just fluid, but also uses comic book-style cinematics that look awesome and do justice to the origins of both characters.
• Smokey vs McGruff was the first hand-drawn episode and it was praised for its originality and quality of the animation, with some people calling it like something straight out of the best times of Cartoon Network.
• Thor vs Wonder Woman is an awesome fight with an beautiful animation, intense choreography and nice changes in the background. It has perfect equilibrium between the destructive power of the Asgardian prince and the graceful in close combat of the Amazonian princess.
• In a battle between two of Shonen Jump's most famous protagonists, Naruto vs. Ichigo delivers with fantastic usage of both combatants and their arsenal in a fast-paced fight that gives it a look and feel to the fights of both anime.
• Sephiroth vs Vergil. We have fast-paced action, an intense choreography and an awesome representation of the skills and power of these powerful villains.

Season 5

• Raven vs Twilight Sparkle shows all the magical power these two characters have. Props to the animator for all the additional edits needed for the battle that have to be added manually, like Twilight's wings and Raven's Soul-Self. Even these don't affect the fluidity of the animation.
• When you think that the clash between the ORAORAORA vs ATATATATA was enough, you receive an dedicated team with original animation for the characters and the display of all the crazy powers of Kenshiro and Jotaro's stand, Star Platinum, in a fluid and quick display of manliness.
• Crash vs Spyro was the first CG fight of Season 5, and does a great job of showing Crash's bouncy insanity, as well as Spyro's elemental attacks.
• Sora vs Pit ended up being a high-octane battle, starting on the ground and quickly taking to the skies, complete with fluid animation and sprite work. Bonus points for when Sora uses Stopaga.
• Leon Kennedy vs. Frank West mixes smooth melee combat with fast-paced action by integrating zombies into the fight, and has been overall received by many in the fanbase to be the best looking fight of Season 5 thus far.
• Doctor Strange vs. Doctor Fate has very slick animation, made even better by how the early stages of the fight take the combatants to a wide variety of backgrounds without looking out of place in any of them. Extra credit to the water effects during the underwater segment.
• Ryu vs. Jin complements its strong choreography with a mix of 2D effects and massively destructive attacks from both opponents to bring one of the best 3D fights in the series.
• Samurai Jack vs. Afro Samurai is one of the series' few hand-drawn fights, and creates a great fight with fluid and fast-paced choreography with switches between camera angles that make it cinematic, intense, and even surprising between the two samurai.
• Carnage vs Lucy is a fight that looks like it belongs in a Marvel movie. The choreography and pacing manage to up the atmosphere and the spectacular voice acting and hand drawn animations manage to make this a fight worth watching.
• The new 3D animating team really did a great job on the Unreal Engine with Optimus Prime vs. Gundam. They create a great fight, changing between space and land, showing both combatant's expertise in long range and close combat, and including elements like hand-drawing for Amuro and Optimus's truck form. Many have called it the best fight of the season until now.
• Nightwing vs Daredevil was the series' first live-action battle. The choreography and effects were surprisingly well made and realistic.
• Mario vs Sonic 2018 was animated by the same people who did Smokey vs Mcgruff, and the quality certainly shows. It has already received praise for its stellar animation as well as being a fast paced yet impactful fight , yet at the same time showing due respect to each combatants's showcased abilities and Power-ups throughout the years. Many agree that it is of even superior quality compared to Smokey vs Mcgruff.
• Thanos vs. Darkseid is simply beautiful. The episode does both of these godly supervillains justice, starting their titanic showdown in New York before it eventually reaches universal levels. Not to mention the work that went into the effects for both the Infinity Gauntlet and the Omega Force.

Season 6

• Black Widow vs. Widowmaker features a beautifully cinematic fight, giving each characters' arsenal plenty of tricks across a city chase, and climaxing with a tightly choreographed hand to hand fight.
• Ben 10 vs. Green Lantern is an excellently fast-paced fight, even featuring fluid traditional animation for Ben's transformations and Hal's constructs.
• Weiss vs. Mitsuru is an impressive, fast-paced 3D fight incorporating beautiful effects and fluid motion from both combatants and their summons/Persona. RWBY fans though still perhaps disappointed at Weiss' loss have said the quality of the fight scene bodes well for Season 7.
• The animation for Gannondorf vs Dracula is amazing, properly showing off Dracula's full abilities, with many believing it to be one of Death Battle's best animated episodes.
• The animation for Deadpool vs Mask is nothing short of beautifully fluid and absolutely gorgeous to look at, looking like something that could pass for an [adult swim] show. The Art Shifts to storyboard panels and live-action cosplay most definitely allowed the crew to pour more money into the main animation, and it shows.

Season 7

• Goro vs. Machamp is some full-on anime-style craziness, with kinetic, action-packed choreography, cinematography that maximizes the impact of each mighty swing, and some hilariously on-point expressions. The quality is such that it's a contender for the best-looking fight in Death Battle history, which is really saying something.
• It's genuinely surprising to watch Ismahawk's behind the scenes video for Winter Soldier vs. Red Hood and learn Bucky's metal arm is entirely CG, as the modelling, animation, and compositing are all so well done it's easy to mistake it for a physical costume piece.
• Hulk vs. Broly starts off nice to begin with, but once Broly enters Super Saiyan it really goes all out with the animation. From the planet destruction all the way to reality shattering from the combatants power, it truly deserves the title of the Death Battle Season finale.

Season 8

• Shadow vs Ryuko is a high-speed battle that makes excellent work of their sprites, with several elements heavily inspired by Ryuko's home company, Studio TRIGGER.
• Link vs Cloud (2021) shows how far the show has come from the first time these two characters went against each other. The fight scenes are far more fluid and the action is fast paced.
• Goku Black vs Reverse-Flash. The animation is absolutely insane, with such a high-speed and time shenanigan battle that just shows how absurdly powerful the two are.
• DIO vs Alucard. Holy shit. The animation goes above and beyond showing everything these two vampires are capable of, with a literal ocean of blood in the fight flooding the streets, look ripped straight out of Hellsing Ultimate's CGI.
• Korra vs. Storm is widely agreed to have some of the best-looking elemental effects in the show's history, with Korra's custom sprite also being among the best in the series.
• Saitama vs. Popeye shifts between three different animation styles during the fight (from animated, to sprites, back to animation, then to 3D models, then back to animation), all of which use their medium to their fullest.

Season 9

• After Harley gasses Jinx, the scene suddenly becomes something that looks exactly like some of Jinx's fantasies in Arcane or like some scenes from Suicide Squad (2016), blending the hand drawn elements with the 3D models masterfully.
• Scarlet Witch vs Zatanna has some of the most fluid looking magic ever seen in the show's history, complete with an extremely convincing fourth wall break.
• The battle in Omni-Man vs Homelander is done entirely in 2D animation, which is beautifully rendered and delightfully smooth, making every attack feel like it has some serious weight behind it, alongside well done explosions and fire for the style that was used. The facial expressions, especially with the detail on the eyes, also make any damage and emotion feel that much more visceral. However, special mention must be made of the finale, which takes the gore synonymous with Invincible and the Boys and turns it Up To Eleven.
• Hercules vs. Sun Wukong seamlessly blends both art from Greek Mythology, Chinese Mythology, and sprites of both combatants, placing the setting and characters within a tale scroll. It's by far one of the most unique presentations that Death Battle has done.
• Excalibur vs. Raiden is a spectacular 3D fight animated by DevilArtemis himself, packing some incredibly fast-paced ninja like action and choreography that would fit perfectly in both Warframe and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
• Trunks vs Silver manages to combine a fast-paced fight with some very impressive sprite work that really gets across just how insane the universes that the two fighters hail from are.
• Jason vs Michael perfectly matches the creepy theme of the series that the two fighters hail from, and the models are fluid enough that one could mistake the fight for live-action. As for the innocent bystanders... not so much.
• The 3D visuals of Sauron vs Lich King is amazing to look at, from Lich King's blizzard, Sauron erupting a nearby volcano, Eye of Sauron vs Eye of Acherus, and lastly the scenery turning from blue to red as fire falls while Sauron takes over Lich King's throne.

Season 10

• Considering Raven's last stint on the show had her Soul-Self provide a spectacle for her brawl with Twilight Sparkle, Phoenix VS Raven manages to one-up this by showing off both the Phoenix Force and Raven's Soul-Self, both rendered with beautiful hand-drawn and special effects well beyond the battle from the show's halfway point to the tenth season.
• Martian Manhunter vs Silver Surfer starts off in a Film Noir before it shows a title-screen akin to a old Sci-fi film. It also has a hand-drawn moment where Martian Manhunter turns into a fire-breathing dragon, as well as an incredibly well-animated turning shot as Silver Surfer blocks one of Martian Manhunter's lasers before throwing him into the sun.
• Bill Cipher VS Discord in its entirety is one of these, effectively being a love letter to animation itself. Ranging from the extremely well-detailed 3D render of Canterlot the fight takes place in, to the special effects of Bill and Discord's absurd powers and the sprites of the fighters themselves, with some shots capturing them in lovingly hand-drawn shots that genuinely look like they belong in their own shows (Especially with Bill's various forms), and that's not to mention the Art Shift going to claymation, 1930s inkblot cartoon (Even featuring Cuphead and Bendy whose DBX emulated a similar style), and even hand puppets, all in quick succession.
• Being one of the winners of the Champions' ballot, Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer couldn't not have excellent animation. Both put the parkour elements their games shared on full display, jumping between buildings and vehicles like the city setting is one massive playground. Alex's transformations, tendril attacks, and consumption of his victims are fittingly grotesque and brutal, while every single one of Cole's attacks looks and feels like a full-force lightning strike. Special mention to Cole's Shut Up, Hannibal! moment, where his Heroic Second Wind is perfectly timed to a violin riff and the song's vocals kicking into full gear before he blasts Alex away with lightning called down from the sky.
• Frieza VS Megatron, being DevilArtemis' first Death Battle animation using Blender, proves to be one of the best 3D animated Dragon Ball fights, perfectly capturing the incredibly fast paced, super hard-hitting action the series is known for while also capturing the sheer power of Transformers. There's also the sheer beauty that is Golden Frieza's transformation as well as the effects of Megatron's antimatter, and the explosive effects throughout the fight are quite a spectacle, fitting for a fight with a being who can nuke a planet by accident.
• Gojo VS Makima mixes together the usual pixelated artstyle with various impeccably hand-drawn scenes, especially concerning the characters close-up expressions (fitting for this anime-themed fight), and the 3D mall being greatly rendered as well.
• Scooby vs Courage takes the 2D canines in a 3D render of a haunted house with fluid animation from the claymation monster, the Medium-Shift Gag of the doors Courage opens, to the impeccable sight of Planet-Size Scooby trying to punch Courage.
• Rick Sanchez vs The Doctor is for the most part, fairly well animated, with a similar blend of 2D and 3D to Scooby vs Courage. However, when The Doctor gets shot and is forced to regenerate, that already solid animation is cranked to an even higher level, culminating in one of the most gorgeous effects displays of the season as The Doctor starts spewing out light.
• The crew spared no expense for the season 10 finale, which sees the #1 requested matchup of Galactus vs. Unicron rendered in a spectacular fashion. Not once do any of the giants of evil feel inappropriately small, and the sense of scale and power between the combatants is carried just as well as in the Monsterverse film series. Add in some of the most elaborately detailed computer graphics the series has ever used and you get a fight that truly lives up to the hype of the demand.

DBX

• In general, the updated animation for Ringmaster announcing the fighters is very well done and pleasing to the eye with the clean art style, movement and colors.
• Cuphead vs. Bendy is extremely fluid and looks like a 1930s cartoon, and even becomes more and more modern as the fight drags on.
• Lucario vs. Blaziken, where Lucario (and his friend Butterfree) battle against Blaziken (along with Weavile and Nidoking, all of whom are fighting for their trainer Serena) in an amazing 3D fight. It is a fast-moving fight with fluid animation that allows all five combatants to show off during the fight. It also manages to tell a complete story without a word uttered, from Serena showing up to catch Lucario to the finale.
• Emperor Palpatine vs. Master Xehanort is an extremely fluid and intense fight, to the point where it's easy to mistake some of the shots for Live-Action.
• Goomba vs. Koopa II takes the over-the-top nature of the original animation and basically cranks it up to 11. From Goomba challenging the Koopa with a JoJo reference, to the two flying around in a DBZ-style sky battle. Then the lead-up to the finale, in which the Goomba, in the Kuribo Shoe, kicks the Koopa to the moon, bounces off, beginning an Earth-to-Moon Tennis battle. and in the main ending, the Koopa ends up going so fast that he breaks through the time barrier and goes back in time, passing by Sonic and Flash, Green Lantern, and Booster Gold also travelling through time, before returning to the beginning of the battle to kill the Goomba.

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