Gaara VS Toph

Gaara VS Toph is the forty-second episode of Death Battle. It features two earth manipulators: Gaara from Naruto and Toph Beifong from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Gaara is voiced by Chris Guerrero and Toph is voiced by Kira Buckland.

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Get ready for an earthquake...

Interlude
(*Cues: Invader - Jim Johnston*)

Wiz: Throughout Death Battle, we've seen all manner of weapons and abilities, but these two combatants command the Very Earth around them.

Boomstick: Gaara of the Desert.

Wiz: And Toph Beifong, the Blind Bandit.

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.

Gaara
(*Cues: Akatsuki - Naruto Shippuden*)

Wiz: Gaara of the Desert is a short, skinny, pale, stick of a kid, but he's also one of the deadliest shinobi in the world.

Boomstick: He looks like a member of Green Day.

(*Cues: Unknown Theme*)

Wiz: Gaara is the son of the Fourth Kazekage, leader of the village hidden in the sand. Born prematurely at the cost of his mother's life, Gaara was destined for a childhood of depression and loneliness from the get-go.

'''Boomstick: Not even a minute old and already has a kill under his belt. Though, technically he had a little help. Because... You see... '''

(*Cues: Eerie - Naruto*)

Boomstick: As he was being born, his father was like, "Hey! You know what would be awesome? Using ninja magic to seal a horrible monster in my son's belly to turn him into an ultimate weapon!"

Gaara: *screams in pain and agony*

Wiz: The process was successful and Gaara became a jinchūriki: human beings who have powerful tailed beasts trapped within them. Gaara's beast was Shukaku, a giant tanuki with power over sand.

'''Boomstick: Aww, I want a tanuki as a pet. They're so fluffy and adorable, you just wanna hu-- (Shukaku appears) HOLY SHIT, WHAT IS THAT!?'''

(*Cues:  Akatsuki - Naruto Shippuden

Wiz: Shukaku loathed humanity and at first, Gaara had difficulties controlling the monster's rage, accidentally hurting others. As such, he was shunned by his own people, forced to live a secluded life.

'''Boomstick: Well, yeah, I mean, he's got a goddamn tummy monster. It's not like Pepto-Bismol's solving that.'''

(*Cues: Loneliness Theme - Naruto*)

Wiz: Convinced his only option was to fight and care for only himself, Gaara became a ruthless killing machine.

'''Boomstick: But it's not all bad. Having a digestive desert demon gives him control over all things sand. '''

(*Cues: Gaara's Theme - Naruto*)

Boomstick: He can wield it as a weapon using his mind to trap and crush his foes, Oh and he can also use it to freaking fly, how the hell does that work?

Wiz: He can mentally adjust the density of his sand, whether it needs to be lighter than air or stronger than steel, He can even use it to stop bombs powerful enough to wipe out an entire village. He can control any sand in his vicinity using his Chakra, a spiritual energy Shinobi access for Superhuman abilities, such as walking up a tree.

'''Boomstick: This guy's like the ultimate emo kid, but I'm not gonna give him too much crap, because he can use existing sand to crush the ground around him for even more sand, so he's never without easy access to ammo. Despite this, he still carries a gigantic gourd of sand on his back.'''

Wiz: It's huge! You'd think that'd be hard on his spine. Interestingly enough, its unique shape and size is a reference to how in Japanese folklore, Tanuki's were considered to be so well endowed they'd have to sling their testicles over their shoulders...

Boomstick: Awesome...

Wiz: But the thing is, Gaara's gourd is not carrying any ordinary testicles, I mean sand! Gaara has infused his own Chakra into the gourd sand.

'''Boomstick: This directly links it to Gaara, making it much easier for him to control. He's so skilled with it, he can even forge weapons from it, bury people underground or send it into another person's bloodstream and control them like some sort of puppet, talk about an itch you're not gonna scratch.'''

(*Cues:  Akatsuki - Naruto Shippuden

Wiz: Also, Gaara eventually battled and defeated his own father who happened to be a zombie at the time, His father used a Magnetic Release ability to control gold dust, much like Gaara does sand.

Boomstick: Even though he can't do the Zombie Dad Magnet thing, Gaara added Gold Dust to his gourd sand anyway, giving him more control over it's weight.

Wiz: But wait, there's more, with her dying breath, Gaara's mother somehow imparted her own power into this sand. It became living sand, an extension of her will determined to follow and protect Gaara. It will spring from the gourd to defend him from any danger, regardless of risk and without command.

'''Boomstick: This absolute defensive technique is called... The Absolute Defense, pretty good name really, Gaara sand is so dense and fast, only someone who can move nearly the speed of sound can pass it.'''

Wiz: Gaara can also use everyday sand to create defences such as his Sand Armor, which encases him in a shell to soften blows, unlike his automatic Absolute Defense, the Sand Armor is self-created, and requires a large amount of his Chakra to maintain.

Boomstick: Gaara's skill with sand is only limited by how much Charka he's got left in his system, After running low, he could tag out and give Shukaku a turn fighting, until a group of crazy people literally pulled the sand monster from his body for good, that must've hurt, it's gotta be like twice as bad than that night after Chipotle.

Wiz: He died...

'''Boomstick: Oh... the same then.'''

(*Cues:  Gaara's Theme - Naruto

Wiz: Turns out losing Shukaku was actually a blessing in disguise (*Cues Gaara's theme again*), after being resurrected, Gaara spent some time re-evaluating his emotional roller coaster of a life, inspired by Naruto Uzumaki, he began to truly understand compassion, his attitude changed, his people began supporting him, he even commanded the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, and like his late father, Gaara also became...

Boomstick: A ZOMBIE?!

Wiz: Kazekage...

'''Boomstick: DAMN! Well, even non-zombie and missing Shukaku, Gaara still retained his powerful Chakra and skill over sand.'''

Wiz: In their fight, Gaara was so powerful, his father mistook him for Shukaku itself, despite the sand monster being long gone.

'''Boomstick: Gaara is stronger and smarter than ever, all thanks to his mother's love... I miss Mama Boomstick...'''

Wiz: Few can withstand the overwhelming power of this sand shinobi... or Mama Boomstick's cooking.

'''Boomstick: HEY! You're uninvited to Thanksgiving.'''

Wiz: I never was!

Boomstick: Exactly...

A person running from Gaara's sand is caught and is pulled back into the dark hallway, screams loudly as Naruto and Shikamaru looked on paralyzed in place, Gaara then silently approaches them from behind and walks past them.

Toph
(*Cues: A:TLA - Panda Lily*)

Wiz: As the only child of the wealthy Beifong family, Toph was kept a secret from the rest of the world. Hidden away, she was pampered and guarded like a fragile child. Her parents were hopeful she could someday become a noble respected member of Earth Kingdom society.

'''Boomstick: But their hopes were pretty much dashed from the moment she popped out. See those faded whites? Yeah, Toph's completely blind.'''

''Lao Beifong: My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile!''

Boomstick: Still, "fragile" is the last word that I would want to use to describe this chick.

(*Cues: A:TLA - The Seven Chakras*)

Wiz: Frustrated by her parents' stubborn coddling, Toph ran away from home at the age of six and ended up losing her way in a cave, until she was rescued by some giant Badgermoles. Yes, they're badgers and they are moles.

'''Boomstick: Imagine one of those things burrowing into your home. What kind of pest control do you even call for that? Oh wait, I know. FIRE.'''

Wiz: Like Toph, Badgermoles are blind. So they took a liking to her.

Boomstick: Well, how the hell would they know?

Wiz: And as the original artists of the craft, the Badgermoles began her training in the art of earthbending.

Toph: *Practices Earthbending a small rock, and succeeds.*

(*Cues: A:TLA - Invading the Palace*)

Boomstick: These giant varmints taught Toph how to manipulate rock and stone using movements similar to the chu-gar praying mantis martial art, Toph can telekinetically throw, grow, shrink, and alter earth in any conceivable way, making for some pretty down to earth attacks and defenses.

Wiz: The Badgermoles also taught Toph how to see.

Boomstick: Wait, these ridiculous creatures are also masters of LASIK surgery?!

Wiz: No, Toph does not use her eyes to see, of course, her other senses are extremely accurate, and as a master earthbender, Toph can sense the location of earth anywhere. Even more impressive though, the Badgermoles navigate their tunnels using an earthbending technique known as the Seismic Sense". And Toph quickly picked up on this talent. It's kind of like sonar. It works by detecting the exact location and movement of a person or object through their interaction with the ground.

Toph: I feel the vibrations in the earth, and I can see where everything is, you, that tree, even those ants.

(*Cues: A:TLA - Yuyen*)

Wiz: She feels every movement, every footstep, every heartbeat, so precisely, she can even tell if a person's lying.

'''Boomstick: A woman who can always tell when i'm lying? No thank you! Toph is so good at this that even her closest friends sometimes forget she's blind.'''

Sokka: *Drops Toph's championship belt to her, but it hits her head and she falls over*

Toph: Ow!

Sokka: Sorry.

'''Boomstick: But don't worry, they're reminded. '''

(*Cues: Unknown Theme*)

Boomstick: '''In only six years, Toph had completely mastered Earthbending. She even won the Earth Rumble VI tournament multiple times under her stage name, "The Blind Bandit". '''

Wiz: But Toph didn't stop her training with just earthbending. At first, softer earth proved difficult for her seismic sense.

Toph: I feel the vibrations in the ground with my feet, but this sand is so loose and shifty, it makes everything look fuzzy.

Wiz: But she has since demonstrated her mastery in both sandbending and mudbending, she can also change the density of earth from sand to stone and back, and before you start making any density or hardening innuendos, she's twelve.

(*Cues: Unknown Theme*)

Boomstick: I...okay...but her greatest achievement is the discovery of an all-new bending art, one thought to be impossible: Metalbending.

(*Cues: A:TLA - Yuyen again*)

Wiz: By manipulating the earthly composition within, Toph can bend nearly any type of metal just as well as stone, the exception being highly purified metals such as platinum.

Boomstick: Toph quickly mastered metalbending, and went on to teach it to others.

Wiz: She eventually even founded and led a metalbending police force.

Boomstick: And that's after conquering Earth Rumble IV, holding up a building the size of a castle, defeating an entire army almost singlehandedly, and dueling King Bumi to a standstill, and that guy's conquered an entire hostile city by himself.

Wiz: Even in her old age, Toph was capable of going one on one with the new Avatar, and her Seismic Sense could locate people across the world.

'''Boomstick: She knows when I've lied AND where I've been? Women should not have these powers.'''

''Toph: I am the greatest earthbender in the world! Don't you two dunderheads ever forget it!''

Death Battle
(*Cues: Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 - Leaf Forest*)

Gaara is shown standing alone is a rocky battlefield. At the other end of the battlefield, a building made of rock rises out of the ground. It opens up, and Toph walks out.

Toph: Whew, talk about a rough ride.

''Gaara: You do not belong here. This is sacred ground. Leave.''

''Toph: Pfft. Oh yeah, tough guy? Make me.''

(*Cues: Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 - Forest at Night*)

FIGHT!

Toph stomps the ground, making a boulder rise up. Toph punches it toward Gaara. She stomps the ground again, summoning two boulders that she hurls at Gaara. Toph punches the ground creating four more boulders and throws them at Gaara. Gaara's sand arises from his gourd and destroys the first three, before creating a shield to protect him from the rest of the boulders. The sand shield shoots Sand Bullets at Toph, who creates a rock to protect herself from the attack. She then punches her stone shield, which flies towards Gaara's position, just before his sand comes down and destroys it in slow motion.

''Gaara: Interesting. She commands stone as fluently as I control sand.''

''Toph: By the way, I can tell you're using your sand to smash up the ground underneath us for more ammo. Pretty smart for a Sandbender.''

As Toph talks to Gaara, the camera shows Gaara's sand flowing. Toph then enters a fighting stance.

Toph: Too bad I'm gonna kick your butt before you can use any of it!

Toph uses her Earthbending abilities to create sharp rocks to impale Gaara. Gaara dodges and leaps into the air.

Gaara: *groans* I can't underestimate her.

Gaara uses the Body Flicker Technique to teleport away.

Toph stomps the ground to create a large rock. She jumps up and stands on top of the rock, and then commands the rock to move forward. She brings out her steel rope to strike Gaara. Gaara appears after using his jutsu and stands up.

Gaara: I need time.

Gaara creates a sphere of sand around him. The whip attaches itself to the shield of sand, unable to penetrate it.

Toph: Huh?

The shield creates spikes on the side the steel rope is connected to.

Toph: Woah!

Toph jumps off the rock and lets go of the steel rope. The rock slams into the shield and breaks.

''Toph: Whew. Sorry, grumpy. I'm not ready to be a shish kebab just yet!''

Toph creates a sand pillar to flatten Gaara's sand shield. It hits it, but the pillar breaks.

''Toph: Come on! Are you really that scared of a little blind girl? I'm touched.''

She runs at Gaara's sand shield and grabs hold of one of Gaara's spikes. She changes the spike's density to make it much harder, spins it around in her hand, and then slams it into the sand sphere, piercing straight through. Gaara flies out of the back. When he stands up once more, Gaara is wearing his sand armor, and it begins to crack.

''Gaara: Your eyes. Those are not the eyes of loneliness, like mine. They are... blank.''

''Toph: Impressive insight, "Gloomsville". I'm digging the whole "wearing sand" thing though. That's new!''

(*Cues: Hidden Leaf Village Riverside Theme - Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3*)

Gaara flies into the air on a cloud of sand, and begins firing sand bullets at Toph. She summons a rock in front of her and holds it up like a shield. Gaara's sand bullets begin to pummel the rock. However, the rock shatters after receiving too many hits, and she is hit by a barrage of sand. Gaara then uses sand to pick up Toph and restrain her.

''Toph: Hey! No fair!''

''Gaara: You need your arms to control the Earth. I will remove them!''

Toph lowers the sand's density from inside, and is able to stick her arm out. She then punches the sand and it transforms into stone. She then shatters it, and is released from Gaara's grip. The stone falls to the ground.

''Toph: Dream on, creep! It will take a lot more sand than that to take me down!''

Gaara: That's the plan!

Gaara uses sand wave to overwhelm Toph. An enormous amount of sand begins rushing towards Toph.

Toph: Oh, crud...

Toph creates two stone pillars to protect herself, and before the sand can reach her, she begins wrapping her steel rope around her body. The enormous wave of sand hits. When it clears, a hole opens up in the ground, and Toph rises up on top of a boulder out of the hole, completely covered in solid steel armor.

Gaara: Sand coffin!

He traps Toph in a giant coffin of sand.

Gaara: Sand Burial!

The sand constricts tightly around Toph. No sounds can be heard coming from inside. Gaara spins around to face away from her.

Gaara: It is done.

The ground begins to tremble. Toph leaps out of the sand, and her steel armor shatters and falls to the ground in mid-air.

''Toph: Jeez! I almost felt that.''

Gaara: That's Impossible!

''Toph: Are you kidding? Pay attention, Sandy. I'm about to school you!''

(*Cues: Sansukumi - Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 4 )

Toph assumes a horse stance and begins to yell as if she is powering up. A barrage of boulders begin to rapidly rise up out of the ground. Toph launches them all at Gaara. He uses sand to stop them all. Behind him, Toph rises out of the ground on top of a massive earth column. Six more earth columns rise up out of the ground next to her, surrounding Gaara. Gaara attempts to attack Toph with his sand. Just as it is about to hit her, time slows, and Toph reaches out and redirects the sand so it misses her. The sand loops around the pillars, then turns and starts to rush back towards Toph again. The six earth pillars bend down in front of Toph, protecting her, and the sand slams into them harmlessly. Gaara attempts to recover, but Toph appears behind him on another rock pillar, grabbing Gaara by the neck. He struggles, but he can't break free.

Toph: Gotcha...

Toph uses sandbending to compress Gaara's sand armor down into his body, crushing him within his own armor. As he lets out one last scream and dies, the camera moves upwards as blood comes out from under the screen. The scene then fades back to Toph, who throws Gaara's sand armor down at the ground. As it hits the ground, it makes the sound of porcelain/glass shattering.

Toph: That's how it's done!

K.O.!

Results
(*Cues: A:TLA - Season 3 Main Theme*)

'''Boomstick: Aww, oh (bleep) (bleep) (bleep) (bleep) god-damn (bleep) son of a (bleep) (bleep) weasel! Why did another anime character have to lose?!'''

Wiz: Yeah... but, here's why... Gaara's sand is monstrous and its speed and power could easily obliterate most foes, but with Toph, it's another story.

'''Boomstick: Really? She's freaking blind for God's sake, and he can fly!'''

Wiz: Ohoho! In the OFFICIAL "Behind The Scenes extras" of the Avatar: Book 2 DVD we found this...

A small caption on the screen says "Did you know? Toph can feel the Earth even if it isn't connected to the ground?"

Wiz: Toph can feel the Earth, even if it isn't connected to the ground.

Boomstick: Toph is tough, but her real strength lies in her precision and technique, and with her Earthbending and Seismic Sense, she could see Gaara's attacks coming the instant they began, regardless of if he was in the air.

Wiz: And while Gaara's chakra-infused sand is controlled by his late mother, it's still sand. Just like in an Earthbending duel, Toph was able to influence it long enough to misdirect or block attacks. Also remember, Gaara added his father's Gold Dust to the mix, giving Toph two different bending options, just in case. Unlike Platinum, Gold contains traces of Iron and Copper,and can be metal-bent.

Boomstick: To top this off, Gaara keeps himself covered in his Sand Armor, so Toph could always sense where he was.

Wiz: And it's specifically stated that the Sand Armor uses up large amount of Gaara's own Chakra, not his Mother Sand, so when he ran low on Chakra, it became difficult to maintain. Thus, Toph had no problem turning Gaara's greatest defense into his worst weakness.

'''Boomstick: Gaara couldn't sand up to Toph, Ahaha! I know you're floored, I really ground that one in, didn't I? What can I say, It's my Earthly Delight.'''

Wiz: Ugh... The winner is Toph Beifong.

'''Boomstick: No need to gravel about it, can't we just bury the hatchet? I'm out.'''

Trivia

 * The connection between Gaara and Toph is that both are young prodigies of earth manipulation that hail from upper-class households. Both have also endured mistreatment by their families; Gaara's father tried to use him as a deadly weapon, whereas Toph's parents were very controlling and exaggerated their daughter's vulnerability simply because she's blind.
 * This is the fourth episode of Death Battle to pit 2 combatants, each of the opposite gender, against each other; the first four were Boba Fett VS Samus Aran, Yoshi VS Riptor, Justin Bieber VS Rebecca Black, and Starscream VS Rainbow Dash with the next one going to Dante VS Bayonetta.
 * Currently, it is third in terms of the like/dislike ratio behind Zelda vs Peach and Goku vs Superman, due to people thinking that Gaara was downplayed.
 * This is the tenth Death Battle episode to have at least one combatant have an original Death Battle voice actor (this time being both Gaara and Toph); the first nine were Vegeta VS Shadow, Mario VS Sonic, Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, Eggman VS Wily, Goku VS Superman, He-Man VS Lion-O, Terminator VS RoboCop, Tigerzord VS Gundam Epyon, and Deadpool VS Deathstroke.
 * This is the first Death Battle featuring both a Naruto character and an Avatar character. And Toph being the first character made by Nickelodeon.
 * The Toph sprites for this Death Battle were custom-made by the Toph Sprite Sheet Project which was lead by AkumaTH1, who is also an ODBFB member.
 * While not an official member, Chris Guerrero has guest starred in TeamFourstar's DBZ abridged series, such as Cooler in the movies and Dr. Gero in the android saga.
 * Originally this episode was going to be released on January 28th, but due to issues, it was delayed until February 7th.
 * This Death Battle has more post-match puns by Boomstick than any previous, at six.
 * This is the first episode to not have an aftermath after the fight since Pikachu VS Blanka; the last three were Goku VS Superman 2, Pokemon VS Digimon and Joker VS Sweet Tooth.
 * Toph was originally going to be the second character from Avatar to compete in Death Battle. Aang was originally going to fight Harry Potter, but as the fight was too one sided, they changed him to Luke Skywalker instead.
 * This is the first Death Battle to use the famous censorship beep sound, however, that is only used in the results/conclusion compared to everything else in the episode. Most certainly for comedic effect.
 * Near the end of Gaara's section marks one of the few times Wizard has poked fun at Boomstick, specifically Boomstick's mother's cooking.
 * Boomstick's poor attitude of Gaara losing was actually based on Chad James' (the actor playing Boomstick) reaction to him losing to Toph.