
Wizard: And, it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle!
DEATH BATTLE! is a web series hosted by Rooster Teeth (previously ScrewAttack until 2019), and presented by "Wizard" (Ben Singer) and "Boomstick" (Chad James). The point of the show is to take two similar characters from different universes and pit them against each other, analyzing their respective strengths and weaknesses to see who would win, similar to Deadliest Warrior.
The series began releasing in 2010. The first 18 episodes were featured exclusively on ScrewAttack's YouTube account, and starting with episode 19 the series was posted to the redesigned screwattack.com, and now, roosterteeth.com, with a subscription allowing viewers to see it before it premieres on YouTube. Episodes 20-29 were animated by Mr. Lange, aka Short Factor (Jordan Lange), with episodes 29-onwards were done by a wide variety of animators such as 3-D animator Torrian Crawford
(though since Season 7 he occasionally animated 3-D episodes), sprite and hand-drawn animator Luis Cruz
(currently the animation director for the show), a group of SFM animators (DevilArtemis, Daitomodachi, Doovad Hohdan), and a variety of others including some guests.
There is a character sheet for the combatants and hosts, as well as a recap page that lists the episodes.
The official Twitter can be found here and the official Facebook can be found here.
Have an idea for a matchup? You can suggest it here
.
Rules:
The Rules (unwritten and official) of a Death Battle are:- The warriors can only know of each other if they do know each other in canon in both official universes* * * * . Otherwise, they cannot know each other's moves. Even if they do know of each other in canon, no one is allowed to prepare for the fight * * .
- A battle is to the Death, and the victor is the last combattant standing, regardless of who slayed the most combatants or whose matchups are otherwise favourable.* note
- B. In cases where death is impossible or a single death is not sufficient to put a combatant out of commission for good, they must be rendered unable to continue the fight in the relevant planes of battle for the opponent to be declared the victor.* * *
- C. If a fighter ends up suffering Death of Personality, this will count as a loss for them even if their body is still intact.* * *
- D. If a character possesses a means to come Back from the Dead - whether by means of Resurrective Immortality, Expendable Clone, Me's a Crowd, Paradox Person, or other abilities - this will be treated as an exceedingly powerful Healing Factor, necessitating their opponent(s) find ways to counter these abilities within the rules of the battle itself - but this only applies if their method of cheating death is expedient enough for the one with the ability to conceivably return to the fight after their death(s).* * * Otherwise, they may essentially lose the battle per point B of this rule since they are unable to continue the battle. *
- E. If neither combatant possesses a means to kill their opponent(s) per this rule and its addendums, the battle can be declared a draw. * *
- Pacifist warriors will not have their peaceful nature interrupt the fight, and both combatants will have any personality restraints from killing removed * . However, if their traditional arsenal uses nonlethal weapons, they cannot change it unless they can summon it at a moment's notice per rule 6-B, and will have to fight using this nonlethal arsenal.
- The warriors of the battle will be used at their prime.* * *
- B. Career Ending Injuries and depowering are ignored for the battle* * * * *
- C. "Future canon" will be avoided if it unbalances the fight, because while some characters will gain more power* , other characters will grow old and weak* .
- All consistent and canon sources available during the time of the episode's release will be examined by the hosts, Non-canon sources will be allowed only insofar as they do not conflict with canon* * . Characters with multiple incarnations, such as Link, Spider-Man, Deadpool, and Godzilla, will be composites combining the best aspects of their various incarnations, unless said incarnation is drastically different from other incarnations. If a specific incarnation of a character is chosen, the canon used will most likely be the most popular depiction* . The research will avoid biases.
- B. If one warrior is allowed abilities from a non-canon source, the other warrior must be allowed to use their own non-canon sources as well.
- C. Also, if a certain depiction of the warrior has them ridiculously overpowered or inconsistent* , or powers that would be difficult to examine logically* , then it will not be used.
- D. Not every weapon owned by the warriors in every canon will be used. Instead, only the ones they are commonly using or their best or most iconic weapons* * will be used.
- E. If a warrior originated from non-English language media, the English dub will not be used if it contradicts the original source in any way* .
- F. A piece of media that claims to be canon but clearly isn't will be avoided* . Also alternate forms of media might be avoided if they are inconsistent with the main media series* .
- G. Because the warriors are examined by their prime per rule 4, they cannot use abilities that they canonically lost in their past before reaching said prime* .
- H. Claims made by fans will only be considered canon if the official franchise or character from an official source recognizes it as such.
- All sides of the Death Battle are expected to fight without the assistance of allies they might posses outside the context of the battle.* * The context of the battle itself may allow for outside support.* *
- B. While fighters start out only with their standard kit, as defined by rule 5-D, if they possess a means to obtain, or summon, additional equipment at a moment's notice and without outside preparatory time or aid, then it is fair game for them to use it* * * , opponents may interfere with this if they are capable of doing so* .
- C. The above also goes for summoning additional fighters to the battle, but these fighters must be directly at the control of the summoner and cannot act on their own accord.* * * * * * * .
- D. Empathic Weapons and sentient suits of armor that are likewise part of a fighter's usual toolkit are likewise allowed* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . In these situations, the ally cannot fight independently unless the nature of the battle calls for it per the main rule.
- The terrain chosen for the fight will be neutral territory. This is not a flat location with no distractions, but rather a location both fighters have experience fighting in. This becomes important if a character's skills use it.* * *
- B. If the fight can't take place in neutral territory because it would render one of the combatants unable to exists in a fight-capable form there, it won't be* .
- C. If a fighter has the ability (usually via teleportation) to change the environment into one specifically favorable to them, they'll be able to do so normally* * * * .
- The winners are determined before the animation through quasi-scientific analysis of their abilities, and the character who is found to have the higher probability of defeating their opponent will win.
- B The animation at the end of the episode is nothing more than a fun little dramatization showcasing the fighters' abilities and does not influence the verdict, nor is it necessarily an accurate representation of how the fight would go if the combatants actually met. Because the animation is inconsequential to the analysis, it is thus allowed to show events that break any of the above rules for the simple reason of Rule of Cool.
Episodes:
The fights so far, in order of airing. Please consult the Recap Pages for more in-depth analysis.
- "Boba Fett vs. Samus Aran (2010)" Result
- "Akuma vs. Shang Tsung" Result
- "Rogue vs. Wonder Woman" Result
- "Goomba vs. Koopa" Result
- "Mike Haggar vs. Zangief" Result
- "Leonardo vs. Donatello vs. Raphael vs. Michelangelo TMNT Battle Royale" Result
- "Zitz vs. Leonardo" Result
- "Yoshi vs. Riptor" Result
- "Felicia vs. Taokaka" Result
- "Kratos vs. Spawn" Result
- "White Bomberman vs. Taizo Hori" Result
- "Vegeta vs. Shadow the Hedgehog" Result
- "Mario vs. Sonic the Hedgehog (2011)" Result
- "Justin Bieber vs. Rebecca Black" Result
- "Luke Skywalker vs. Harry Potter" Result
- "Chun-Li vs. Mai Shiranui" Result
- "Starscream vs. Rainbow Dash" Result
- "Master Chief vs. Doomguynote " Result
- "Doctor Eggman note vs. Doctor Wily note " Result
- "Princess Zelda vs. Princess Peach " Result
- "Thor vs. Raiden" Result
- "Link vs. Cloud Strife (2012)" Result
- "Batman vs. Spider-Man" Result
- "Ash's Pikachu vs. Blanka" Result
- "Goku vs. Superman (2013)" Result
- "He-Man vs. Lion-O" Result
- "Shao Kahn vs. M. Bison" Result
- "Ryu Hayabusa vs. Strider Hiryu" Result
- "Ivy Valentine vs. Black Orchid" Result
- "Fox McCloud vs. Bucky O'Hare" Result
- "Terminator vs. RoboCop" Result
- "Luigi vs. Tails" Result
- "Venusaur vs. Charizard vs. Blastoise Pokémon Battle Royale" Result
- "Fulgore vs. Sektor" Result
- "Godzilla vs. Gamera" Result
- "Batman vs. Captain America" Result
- "White Tigerzord note vs. Gundam Epyon note " Result
- "Ryu vs. Scorpion" Result
- "Deadpool vs. Deathstroke" Result
- "Kirby vs. Majin Buu" Result
- "Ragna the Bloodedge vs. Sol Badguy" Result
- "Gaara vs. Toph Beifong" Result
- "Boba Fett vs. Samus Aran REMASTERED" Result
- "Chuck Norris vs. Segata Sanshiro" Result
- "Guts vs. Nightmare" Result
- "Iron Man vs. Lex Luthor" Result
- "Beast vs. Goliath" Result
- "Solid Snake vs. Sam Fisher" Result
- "Darth Vader vs. Doctor Doom"Result
- "Goku vs. Superman 2" ** Result
- "Donkey Kong vs. Knuckles the Echidna" Result
- "Wolverine vs. Raiden" Result
- "Hercule Satan vs. Dan Hibiki" Result
- "Yang Xiao Long vs. Tifa Lockhart" Result
- "Mega Man vs. Astro Boy" Result
- "Green Arrow vs. Hawkeye" Result
- "Red and Charizard vs. Tai and Agumon" (Titled as "Pokemon VS Digimon") Result
- "Dante vs. Bayonetta" Result
- "Bowser vs. Ganon" Result
- "Ratchet & Clank vs. Jak and Daxter" Result
- "The Flash (Barry Allen) vs. Quicksilver" Result
- "The Joker vs. Sweet Tooth (Needles Kane)" Result
- "Mewtwo vs. Shadow the Hedgehog" Result
- "The Meta vs. Agent Carolina" Result
- "Cammy White vs. Sonya Blade" Result
- "Tracer vs. Scout" Result
- "Ken Masters vs. Terry Bogard" Result
- "Amy Rose vs. Ramona Flowers" Result
- "Hulk vs. Doomsday" Result
- "Roronoa Zoro vs. Erza Scarlet" Result
- "Deadpool vs. Pinkie Pie" Result
- "Lara Croft vs. Nathan Drake" Result
- "Scrooge McDuck vs. Shovel Knight" Result
- "Venom (Eddie Brock) vs. Bane" Result
- "Mighty Morphin' Megazordnote vs. Voltronnote " (Titled as "Power Rangers VS Voltron") Result
- "Natsu Dragneel vs. Portgas D. Ace" Result
- "Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang) vs. Glacius" Result
- "Android 18 vs. Captain Marvel" Result
- "Metal Sonic vs. Zero" Result
- "Lucario vs. Renamon" Result
- "Balrog vs. TJ Combo" Result
- "The Shredder vs. Silver Samurai" Result
- "Smokey Bear vs. McGruff the Crime Dog" Result
- "Thor vs. Wonder Woman" Result
- "Naruto Uzumaki vs. Ichigo Kurosaki" Result
- "Batman Beyond vs. Spider-Man 2099" Result
- "Sephiroth vs. Vergil" Result
- "Black Panther vs. Batman" Result
- "Raven vs. Twilight Sparkle" Result
- "Jotaro Kujo vs. Kenshiro" Result
- "Crash Bandicoot vs. Spyro the Dragon" Result
- "Sora vs. Pit" Result
- "Leon S. Kennedy vs. Frank West" Result
- "Doctor Strange vs. Doctor Fate" Result
- "Ryu vs. Jin Kazama" Result
- "Samurai Jack vs. Afro Samurai" Result
- "Carnage vs. Lucy" Result
- "Optimus Prime vs. RX-78-2 Gundamnote " Result
- "Nightwing vs. Daredevil" Result
- "Mario vs. Sonic the Hedgehog (2018) ** Result
- "Ultron vs. Sigma" Result
- "Master Roshi vs. Jiraiya" Result
- "Thanos vs. Darkseid" Result
- "Aquaman vs. Namor" Result
- "Mega Man Battle Royale List of fighters " Result
- "Black Widow vs. Widowmaker" Result
- "Captain Marvel vs. Shazam!" Result
- "Wario vs. King Dedede" Result
- "Ben 10 vs. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)" Result
- "Weiss Schnee vs. Mitsuru Kirijo" Result
- "Johnny Cage vs. Captain Falcon" Result
- "Aang vs. Edward Elric" Result
- "Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) vs. Lobo" Result
- "Dragonzordnote vs. Mechagodzilla (Kiryu)note " Result
- "Sasuke Uchiha vs. Hiei" Result
- "Ganondorf vs. Dracula" Result
- "Mob vs. Tatsumaki" Result
- "Deadpool vs. The Mask"Result
- "All Might vs. Might Guy"Result
- "Miles Morales vs. Static" Result
- "Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance) vs. Sindel" Result
- "Leonardo vs. Red Ranger (Jason Lee Scott)" Result
- "Genos vs. War Machine" Result
- "Gray Fullbuster vs. Esdeath" Result
- "Goro vs. Machamp" Result
- "Cable vs. Booster Gold" Result
- "Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Kakashi Hatake" Result
- "Danny Phantom vs. Jake Long" Result
- "She-Ra vs. Wonder Woman" Result
- "Beerus vs. Sailor Galaxia" Result
- "Zuko vs. Shoto Todoroki" Result
- "Wally West vs. Archie Sonic" Result
- "Winter Soldier vs. Red Hood" Result
- "Venom (Eddie Brock) vs. Crona" Result
- "Sabrewulf vs. Jon Talbain" Result
- "Red Team vs. Blue Team" Result
- "Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) vs. Spider-Gwen" Result
- "Vinsmoke Sanji vs. Rock Lee" Result
- "Hulk vs. Broly" Result
- "Yoda vs. King Mickey" Result
- "Shadow the Hedgehog vs. Ryūko Matoi" Result
- "Lex Luthor vs. Doctor Doom" Result
- "Heihachi Mishima vs. Geese Howard" Result
- "Blake Belladonna vs. Mikasa Ackerman" Result
- "Iron Fist vs. Po" Result
- "Steven Universe vs. Star Butterfly" Result
- "Link vs. Cloud Strife (2021)" Result
- "Batman vs. Iron Man" Result
- "Goku Black vs. Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne)" Result
- "Macho Man vs. The Kool-Aid Man" Result
- "Dio Brando vs. Alucard" Result
- "Akuma vs. Shao Kahn" Result
- "Korra vs. Storm" Result
- "Madara Uchiha vs. Sosuke Aizen" Result
- "Saitama vs. Popeye" Result
- "Harley Quinn vs. Jinx" Result
- "Scarlet Witch vs. Zatanna" Result
- "Tanjiro Kamado vs. Jonathan Joestar" Result
- "Thor vs. Vegeta" Result
- "Omni-Man vs. Homelander" Result
- "Magneto vs. Tetsuo Shima" Result
- "Hercules vs. Sun Wukong" Result
- "Boba Fett vs. Predator" Result
- "James Bond vs. John Wick" Result
- "Black Adam vs. Apocalypse" Result
- “Trunks vs. Silver the Hedgehog” Result
- "Spongebob vs. Aquaman"Result
- "Jason Voorhees vs. Michael Myers"Result
- "Sauron vs. The Lich King"Result
- "Deku vs. Asta"Result
- "Gogeta vs. Vegito"Result
- "Ant-Man (Hank Pym) vs. The Atom (Ray Palmer)"Result
- "Chosen Undead vs. Dragonborn" (Titled as "Skyrim VS Dark Souls")Result
- "Killua Zoldyck vs. Mikoto Misaka"Result
- "Stitch vs. Rocket Raccoon"Result
- "Darth Vader vs. Obito Uchiha"Result
- "Phoenix vs. Raven"Result
- "Guts vs. Dimitri"Result
- "Martian Manhunter vs. Silver Surfer" Result
- "Bill Cipher vs. Discord" Result
- "Cole MacGrath vs. Alex Mercer"Result
- "Frieza vs. Megatron"Result
- "Satoru Gojo vs. Makima"Result
- "Scooby-Doo vs. Courage the Cowardly Dog"Result
- "Rick Sanchez vs. The Doctor"Result
- "Goku vs. Superman (2023)" ** Result
- "Galactus vs. Unicron"
- "Wile E. Coyote VS Tom Cat"
- "Death Battle vs. The World" Result
- "Vegeta vs. Mewtwo" Result
- "ScrewAttack Steam Sale vs. Your Wallet" Result
- "The Seven Battle Royale"List of fighters " Result
- "Excalibur vs. Raiden"Result
Spin-offs:
The show has several spin-offs. The first one was 1 Minute Melee, envisioned as just the fight animations with no research (thus the winner decided purely through Author Appeal). Due to "undisclosed mismanagement", One Minute Melee has split off to its own publisher (Hyun's Dojo); as such Screwattack revived the concept under the title DBX (short for "Death Battle Exhibitions"), which aired a pilot alongside Death Battle's season 3 premiere. The Desk of Death Battle, on the other hand, doesn't involve two characters engaged in battle, but covers bits of trivia about characters discovered by the Death Battle researchers that wasn't presented in their episode.In Season 4 of DBX, the spinoff was revamped. It introduced Ringmaster, who would host the fights by announcing the fighters and providing quick info on them. The fights themselves were each given two different endings that had each fighter victorious. The week before each fight, the viewers can vote on which fighter they would like to win. The fighter who has the highest percentage of votes has their ending released on Rooster Teeth and YouTube. The fighter with the least votes has their ending exclusive to Rooster Teeth.
- "Trish vs. Jeanne" Result
- "Jango Fett vs. Master Chief" Result
- "Ronald McDonald vs. Colonel Sanders" Result
- "Amy Rose vs. King Dedede" Result
- "Saitama vs. Kenshiro" Result
- "Sakura Haruno vs. Rin Tohsaka" Result
- "Trunks vs. Silver the Hedgehog" Result
- "Ryu vs. Lucario" Result
- "Sasuke Uchiha vs. Hiei" Result
- "Bruce Lee vs. The WorldCharacters " Result
- "Spider-Man vs. Mikasa Ackerman" Result
- "Jotaro Kujo vs. Yu Narukami" Result
- "Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton" Result note
- "Terry Bogard vs. Jon Talbain" Result
- "Spawn vs. Alucard" Result
- "Predator vs. Prophet" Result
- "Iron Man vs. Mega Man X" Result
- "Kenshin Himura vs. Roronoa Zoro" Result
- "Greninja vs. Espio the Chameleon" Result
- "Link vs. Meta Knight" Result
- "Genji Shimada vs. Raiden" Result
- "Guile vs. Paul Phoenix" Result
- "Raphael vs. Wolverine" Result
- "Broly vs. Doomsday" Result
- "Aigis vs. Noel Vermillion" Result
- "Cloud Strife vs. Guts" Result
- "Sasuke Uchiha vs. Killua Zoldyck" Result
- "Mega Man vs. Bomberman" Result
- "Mario vs. Luigi" Result
- "Zero vs. Strider Hiryu" Result
- "Iron Fist vs. Akuma" Result
- "Ken Masters vs. Blaziken" Result
- "Samus Aran vs. Master Chief" Result
- "Wii Fit Trainer vs. Dhalsim" Result
- "Magneto vs. Darth Vader" Result
- "Vegeta vs. General Zod" Result
- "Demitri Maximoff vs. Alucard" Result
- "Noctis Lucis Caelum vs. 2B" Result
- "Kratos vs. Dante" Result
- "Captain Falcon vs. Viewtiful Joe" Result
- "Goku Black vs. Black Adam" Result
- "Gambit vs. Taskmaster" Result
- "Lara Croft vs. Jill Valentine" Result
- "Krillin vs. Tien Shinhan vs. Yamcha" Result
- "Chun-Li vs. Tifa Lockhart" Result
- "Thor vs. 100 Pikachu" Result
- "The Incredible Hulk vs. Juggernaut" Result
- "Blade vs. Hellboy" Result
- "Monkey D. Luffy vs. Mr. Fantastic" Result
- "Daredevil vs. Kenshi Takahashi" Result
- "Harley Quinn vs. Domino" Result
- "Akame vs. Killua Zoldyck" Result
- "Yoshi vs. Pac-Man" Result
- "Natsu Dragneel vs. Iceman" Result
- "Sakura Haruno vs. Amy Rose" Result
- "Juri Han vs. Mileena" Result
- "Vergil vs. Hakumen" Result
- "Chie Satonaka vs. Karin Kanzuki" Result
- "Burning Gundam vs. Thunder Megazord" Result
- "Batman vs. Scorpion" Result
- "Sasuke Uchiha vs. Ichigo Kurosaki" Result
- "Wolverine vs. 100 Baraka" Result
- "Alucard vs. DIO" Result
- "Catwoman vs. Black Cat" Result
- "Ruby Rose vs Ragna the Bloodedge" Result
- "Ryu vs Liu Kang" Result
- "Bendy vs Cuphead" Result
- "Gohan vs. Superboy" Result
- "D.Va vs. Tron Bonne" Result
- "Metal Sonic vs. Mega Man" Result
- "Boa Hancock vs. Rider Medusa" Result
- "Venom vs. Spawn" Result
- "Link vs. Trunks" Result
- "Ezio Auditore vs. The Prince of Persia" Result
- "Blake Belladonna vs. Inuyasha" Result
- "Frieza vs. Mewtwo" Result
- "Batman vs. Iron Man" Result
- "Thor vs. Vegeta" Result
- "Mulan vs. Lucina" Result
- "Shantae vs. Shovel Knight" Result
- "Lucario* vs. Blaziken* " Result
- "Kid Goku vs. Gon Freecss" Result
- "Ben Tennyson vs. Danny Phantom" Result
- "Trafalgar Law vs. Himura Kenshin" Result
- "Yang Xiao Long vs. Katsuki Bakugo" Result
- "X-Wing vs. Arwing" Result
- "Superman vs. Saitama" Result
- “Gogeta vs. Vegito” Result
- "Ness vs Sans" Result
- "Naruto Uzumaki vs. Ryu Hayabusa" Result
- "Apocalypse vs. Black Adam" Result
- "Donald Duck vs. Daffy Duck" Result
- "Roy Mustang vs. Prince Zuko" Result
- "Sailor Mercury vs. The Blue Ranger" Result
- "Emperor Palpatine vs. Master Xehanort" Result
- "Goomba vs. Koopa - Round 2" Result
There's also another spin-off, Death Race* , that started during the break between episodes 10 and 11 of Season 7. Animated by Devil Artemis, the show is similar to DBX, where the racers try to get to the finish line by any means necessary. The rundown is done by DBX's Ringmaster, with commentary from Wiz and Boomstick.
- Batmobile Battle! List of Racers Result
- Optimus Prime VS Thomas the Tank Engine? List of Racers Result
- BATTLE CARS! List of Racers Result
- Sonic vs. Mario vs. Star Wars vs. Initial D List of Racers Result