Death Battle is a show that I have a lot of history with. I've been watching it since it started all those years ago in 2010 with tons of memories of the days of ScrewAttack. With this top ten I wanted to express why Death Battle has not only become a favorite among shows I’ve watched, but overtime has become a cultural zeitgeist for the internet as a whole. I’m not gonna waste anymore time, let’s get into my personal favorite Death Battle episodes.
10. Balrog Vs. TJ Combo
We start this list with what is probably the second best hand to hand fight of the entire series, not to mention a rivalry episode between two iconic video game fighting franchises. While Street Fighter has one of the worst records in the show’s history (4-9), the episodes range from decent to great, and this is easily the best episode any Street Fighter character has had. Killer Instinct is better off with a 3-3 record overall, but like with Street Fighter, this is easily the best episode. A good old fashioned boxing match between two heavy hitters, one who’s basically one of M. Bison’s right hand man fights to satisfy his greed and desire for power, the other has a backstory that would make Rocky proud. The analysis does a good job hyping up both boxers, but it’s the fight, and the music, itself that makes this an all time great. By the way, go listen to the song in this episode, Mick Gordon and Omega Sparx did such a good job with this.
9. Frieza Vs. Megatron
In hindsight I should have known this matchup would be badass. For years I’ve heard very negative opinions on this matchup, but it’s two very iconic villains, and having two villains fight is one of my favorite types of matchups just so both can trash talk to each other. This matchup is also a reminder that just because a matchup is a stomp, doesn’t mean that it is automatically bad. Not much to say on Frieza, he’s THE villain of Dragon Ball for a reason, but Megatron’s analysis is what surprised me, especially the end of it. Devilartemis shows why he’s one of the very best animators, but my personal favorite moment is at the end, when Megatron verbally demolishes Frieza even though he’s pretty much lost. And of course Cybertron blows up, because it’s Cybertron, LOL.
8. Bill Cipher Vs. Discord
To say that this matchup has history would be an understatement. I remember when this matchup got straight up banned in the discord server just because of how toxic the discussions got, it made me wonder how an actual episode would be. As it turns out, one of craziest, yet best episodes in the shows history. Besides watching Gravity Falls, I was fairly neutral on this episode, but the reality warping that was displayed here is the very best we’ve gotten on the show, and I understand why people were underwhelmed with Strange Vs. Fate. This also has without a doubt the best pyrrhic victory in the show, I won’t spoil it, but I will say it was an awesome way to conclude this battle.
7. Galactus Vs. Unicron
When Death Battle started people requested many matchups to be made for future episodes, out of all of them, this matchup has been THE most requested in the show’s history. So it makes sense that not only would this be the finale to what is the show’s best season, but literally the biggest battle in the show’s history. This is an episode that benefits from the analysis, because these two are stupid overpowered, even for comics. Of course my favorite part was them talking about drunk Orson Welles, as a drama/theater major that got a laugh out of me. As far as finales go, this will be really hard to top.
6. Megazord Vs. Voltron
This battle is pretty infamous for a few reasons. For one, this is where I noticed that views would start to decrease a bit, partly because the popular one lost. But really, this episode is infamous because of all the stuff that happened trying to get this episode made. If you don’t know, just go watch the Death Battle Cast episodes where they talk about it, but making the models for the Megazord and Voltron were a pain in the ass that took lots of time and money, hell I remember Ben saying they lost money because of this episode. With all the crazy shit this episode went through, this is still one of the very best episodes. The fact that Megazord and Voltron look great is a big factor, but the fight is just an awesome, simple fight from beginning to end. This is one of those episodes that I point to when people ask what Death Battle is about.
5. Scooby-Doo Vs. Courage
When this was announced I had a good laugh, but like everyone else I didn’t want either one to die. Thankfully this is one of the only times where a draw was a good thing. They are not just good boys, they are the goodest of boys, no I don’t care if that’s not a word! I’ve noticed that in the last few years people have developed a negative attitude towards toon force and cartoon characters, go look at Saitama Vs. Popeye on why. But you honestly couldn’t have had a better episode for these two loveable cowards, it really felt like another cartoon made just for them. And Eustace totally got what he deserved.
4. Flash Vs. Archie Sonic
Ah yes, the infamous Speed Force episode, or another example of how stupidly overpowered comics, DC in particular, can truly be. When this was announced I remember both sides at each other’s throats saying why their pick wins this fight, basically was at the level of Bill Vs. Discord long before that matchup was a thing. And right up until the episode came out, it really seemed like Archie Sonic was gonna pull off the impossible, but that damn Speed Force changed everything. As for the episode itself, it was very interesting learning about what Wally could do and his history while remembering how crazy Archie Sonic was at the time. The analysis and the end to the fight are the best parts of the episode, it’s always fun learning about characters you don’t know or have forgotten. As far as deaths go, punching Sonic so hard every version of him gets erased has to be one of the best ways to beat an opponent in the series.
3. Trunks Vs. Silver
At first I didn’t think much of this matchup, I know Dragon Ball and Sonic episodes will be good, however Trunks and Silver aren’t my favorite characters from either series, especially Silver given how he debuted in Sonic 06. However this wasn’t the canon versions, it was Xeno Trunks and Archie Silver, and that right there made for a way more interesting matchup. What we got was possibly the best Dragon Ball episode that didn’t have a certain Saiyan in it. Everything was on point, the analysis, the fight, the freaking song! Seriously Hedge of Tomorrow is a banger and a must listen. But I think the best thing this did was make Silver really cool for the very first time, that final one line he gives is up there with Death Battle’s very best.
2. Goku Vs. Superman
THE Death Battle. The fight to end all fights. If there is one matchup that not only defines Death Battle, but Vs Debating in general, it's this. Goku Vs. Superman has become such an iconic matchup that it has become part of internet culture and history. Believe it or not, I didn’t know this was a thing before Death Battle brought it up. Goku Vs. Superman 2013 is the ageless classic, no matter how outdated the analysis and animation is, it's still the longest fight in the show’s history for a reason. I know Goku Vs. Superman 2 isn’t looked at fondly but I still have fun memories of the match and SGC, watching it all go down on Twitch as we watch a live action Goku Vs. Superman fight at SGC is stuff we g1s still fondly talk about to this day. As for Goku Vs. Superman 2023, it’s easily the best of the three analysis and animation wise there’s no doubt there. If there’s a matchup that I point to when people want to watch Death Battle, it’s always this matchup, but for me there’s one matchup that in my opinion truly defines these debates…
1. Mario Vs. Sonic
If you were around for ScrewAttack, you know how huge this matchup was. This not only the big matchup that defined Death Battle before Goku Vs. Superman, but this is the rivalry that defined my childhood since I started playing video games, so pretty much my whole life lol. I think it’s pretty self explanatory why this is my top matchup, it’s the only one where the two had an actual real life battle because of the SNES/Genesis console wars. It’s been a roller coaster watching these two characters as the years pass, being mortal enemies, having Sega putting Sonic games on Nintendo consoles, Smash Brawl, pretty much leading to these two episodes. The first is a no doubt classic, not much else to say honestly. Mario Vs. Sonic 2018 is so vastly superior, it’s also the 100th episode and when Death Battle adopted the rules that they implement today. Yeah I don’t care what people say about the verdict being wrong due to only using the games or “getting their characterizations wrong”, which is a bunch of bullshit by the way, this is not only the definitive Mario Vs. Sonic episode, it was the turning point for Death Battle and a celebration of why we love doing stuff like this. Until the next one is announced and the debating can start all over again.
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