Zitz VS Leonardo

Zitz VS Leonardo is the seventh episode of DEATH BATTLE! It takes place immediately after the TMNT Battle Royale. This episode was sponsored by Go Daddy. After winning the previous episode, Leonardo goes up against Zitz of the Rare beat-em-up series Battletoads.

Screwattack
''Episode 7 - Battletoads VS TMNT! The deadliest ninja turtle faces his ultimate rival: the leader of the mighty Battletoads!''

YouTube
''Episode 7 - Battletoads VS TMNT! The deadliest ninja turtle faces his ultimate rival: Zitz, the leader of the mighty Battletoads! Can the 'Toad's brute force overpower the brawl, or will Leonardo's strategic style prevail once again?''

Interlude
(*Cues: Invader - Jim Johnston*)

Boomstick: Last time on Death Battle, the Ninja Turtles battled to find the deadliest of the team, and good old Leo used cunning strategy and swordplay to come out on top.

Wiz: But the fight isn't over yet. Leonardo must face his most powerful imitator, Zitz, the leader of the mighty Battletoads.

Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win a death battle.

Zitz
(*Cues: Battletoads & Double Dragon - Main Title*)

Wiz: Zitz was computer engineered as one of three ultimate amphibian warriors in a gladitorial video game reality show called Battletoads. This accidentally opened a dimensional gateway to another galaxy. Every time the game began, the galaxy became the battletoad arena for their superhero war against the Dark Queen and they...

Boomstick: Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?

Wiz: Three nerds made a video game, got sucked through it into another galaxy, and became toad superheroes.

Boomstick: Yeah, got it!

Wiz: Zitz was originally colored yellow, to differentiate him from Rash, but he is now officially a blue-green hue. He leads the Battletoad team with a laid back yet strategic attitude.

Boomstick: He chooses to go with my personal favorite battle strategy:

(*Cues: Battletoads in Battlemaniacs - Ragnarok Canyon*)

'''Boomstick: beat the shit out of everything that moves! And as a Battletoad, Zitz can shape shift his body into various weaponry: Giant fists, heavy weights, ram horns, you name it.'''

Wiz: Unlike his teammates, Zitz has used his inventive genius to mechanically advance his weaponry far beyond those of his fellow toads. By combining technology and brawn, Zitz has added blades, saws and drills to his arsenal.

Boomstick: This guy could be the world's best handyman, if he always wasn't getting sucked into an alternate dimension every time someone turned on a video game.

Wiz: Despite almost having no actual combat training, Zitz has proved strong enough to power through some of the toughest games ever made. And yes, the games excruciating difficulty is canon as it was specifically programmed by the Battletoads themselves.

Boomstick: Yeah, try and wrap your brain around that one.

Zitz: I'm a big bad mother of all toads!

Leonardo
(*Cues: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) - Main Theme (Rock/Metal Cover)*)

Wiz: We briefly covered his abilities last episode, but there's plenty more to Leonardo. He's trained in Ninjitsu and Bushido all his life, shaping his body and mind to master close combat, swordsmanship, honor and the art of invisibility.

'''Boomstick: He's also the strategist of the turtle team, who are now all dead. Sooo... yeah.'''

Wiz: Leonardo is especially skilled in use of environment to outsmart and outmaneuver an opponnent. He is also the only Ninja Turtle in any timeline who has studied under two masters, Splinter the rat, and the Ancient one.

'''Boomstick: Hey Wiz, look! It's an Asian Yoda! What? Leo wields two Ninjaken swords, which are best for swift deadly strikes and are designed with the idea that a good offense, is the best defense. They're usually mistaken as katana in the shows and comics, even though they are obviously straight, rather than curved.'''

Wiz: The Ninjaken is, in fact, an invention of Hollywood, as there is no historical evidence of the weapon's existence.

Boomstick: Like the moon landing!

Wiz: Shut up! While he usually relies on his brothers' solid teamwork, he has proven to be a very effective warrior on his own too, defeating all sorts of enemies like ninja robots, giant monsters, war-torn aliens and even The Shredder.

Leonardo: (swiping his sword at a foot ninja) Gotcha. (then kicks the foot ninja)

Death Battle
Zitz jumps over a wire fence and walks forward as Leonardo jumps out of the sewer. Zitz turns to face his opponent.

FIGHT!

Zitz uses his ram horns to knock Leonardo into the fence and, as Leo bounces off, Zitz kicks him with an iron boot and then punches him away with a giant fist. Leo recovers just in time to avoid Zitz' drill attack and kicks him twice, only to get countered by a giant fist and a spiked wall. After pummeling Leo some more, Zitz throws him towards the wire fence,

(*Cues: I Beam Fight - TMNT*)

only for Leo to flip onto his feet and defend himself from Zitz' giant fist. Leo hits Zitz twice and stabs him once, but Zitz turns into a weight to defend himself from Leo's swords. Eventually, Leo jumps into the sewer as Zitz returns to his normal form and jumps into the sewer.

(*Cues: Battletoads & Double Dragon - Next Level (Remix)*)

As Zitz scouts around for Leo, the turtle jumps out of a hole in the wall, stabs Zitz with his sword and jumps away. Leo tries this again, but Zitz grows a chainsaw tail, which Leo dodges. Zitz gives chase and finds that Leo has disappeared. Leo jumps out of the wall and hurts Zitz. Enraged, Zitz attacks the wall that Leo jumps back into through the hole. This distraction allows Leo to swim through the water and then slice Zitz in half.

K.O.!

Results
(*Cues: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) - Season 8-10 Closing Credits Theme*)

Boomstick: Damn.

Wiz: Zitz was more than a match for Leonardo in a simple brawl, using his brutal arsenal to overpower him; But when it came to using the environment, Zitz couldn't handle Leonardo's ninja skills and his lack of training left him frustrated and unsure of what to do.

'''Boomstick: While Zitz is a strategist, he always relies on his brute force and once Leo went in stealth mode and turned the tides, Zitz decided to just bring the whole sewer down. Hey, c'mon, Leo fights all kinds of mutants and monsters at least once a week.'''

Wiz: Of all the toads, Zitz certainly stood the best chance with his technologically advanced weaponry, but while the Battletoads are known for accomplishing impossible odds, so are the Ninja Turtles. Leonardo made quick work of Zitz as soon as he had the chance.

Boomstick: In the end, Zitz just needed to pull himself together.

Wiz: The Winner is Leonardo.

Boomstick: Again.

Trivia

 * The connection between Zitz and Leonardo are that both are mutant heroes and team leaders.
 * This is the first Death Battle episode in which a video game character (like Zitz) and a comic book character (like Leonardo) were pitted to fight against each other, the other seven were Kratos VS Spawn, Thor VS Raiden, Fox McCloud VS Bucky O'Hare, Wolverine VS Raiden, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers, and Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight.
 * This is also the first Death Battle episode in which a comic book character (like Leonardo) kills a video game character (like Zitz); the last four are Kratos VS Spawn, Thor VS Raiden, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, and Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight.
 * This is the second Death Battle to pit 2 or more characters who are all animals against each other; the first was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battle Royale, and the last 9 are Yoshi VS Riptor, Fox McCloud VS Bucky O'Hare, Pokémon Battle Royale, Godzilla VS Gamera, Donkey Kong VS Knuckles, Pokémon VS Digimon, Mewtwo VS Shadow, Lucario VS Renamon and Smokey VS McGruff.
 * This is the first episode were both main combatants are a different animal type from each other (in this case, an amphibian like Zitz and a reptile like Leonardo).
 * This is the first Death Battle to have a returning combatant, the other seven being Batman VS Captain America, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (Remastered), Goku VS Superman 2, Pokémon VS Digimon, Mewtwo VS Shadow, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie and Metal Sonic VS Zero.
 * In terms of franchise, this is the first America VS Britain Death Battle, the next 3 were Luke Skywalker VS Harry Potter, Fulgore VS Sektor and Sub-Zero VS Glacius.
 * This is the second shortest Death Battle at 56 seconds, just one second longer than Yoshi VS Riptor
 * While developing the TMNT Death Battle, Ben put out a poll asking people whether they want to see the winning turtle go against the White Ranger or Zitz in the next episode. Zitz won the poll thanks to the fans who wanted a TMNT vs Battletoads Death Battle, but the White Ranger was featured in a later episode, though against a different opponent.
 * This is the first battle Wiz tells someone to shut up, the other time was in Deadpool VS Deathstroke.
 * This is the second Death Battle where the opponents are rivals, the first being Haggar VS Zangief and the following being Mario VS Sonic, Chun-Li VS Mai Shiranui, Link VS Cloud, Goku VS Superman, Terminator VS RoboCop, Luigi VS Tails, Godzilla VS Gamera, Ryu VS Scorpion, Deadpool VS Deathstroke, Ragna VS Sol Badguy, Solid Snake VS Sam Fisher , Goku VS Superman 2 , Donkey Kong VS Knuckles , Mega Man VS Astro Boy , Green Arrow VS Hawkeye , and Pokémon VS Digimon.
 * This is the second episode of Death Battle where two or more protagonists are set against one-another, in this case just two protagonists from their own respectful franchises.
 * This is the only Death Battle so far that features a back-to-back victory for a single character, in this case Leonardo.