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It's time for a DEATH BATTLE!
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Death Battle

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Pitting pop culture's deadliest characters in a duel to the death! Experts Wiz and Boomstick analyze each fighter's weapons, armor, and skills... and then the battle begins! Who will win? Who will die?
—Tagline

Death Battle (stylized as DEATH BATTLE!) is a popular web series created by Ben Singer, independently owned by Ben, Chad James, Sam Mitchell, and Austin Harper (formerly produced by Rooster Teeth), and hosted on the DEATH BATTLE! YouTube channel (formerly known as ScrewAttack). The show pits two or more fictional characters from different medias such as movies, comics, manga, television programs, literature, video games, advertisements, public service announcements, and even mythology in a simulated battle to the death. The characters are analyzed with their respective powers, strengths, and weaknesses to determine a winner.

Following the shutdown of the show's parent company, Rooster Teeth, it has become fully independent after the success of the Save Death Battle Kickstarter.

The show currently has 187 episodes, which were formerly split up into seasons until Season 10, after which it will be split up into a new yearly structure.

Season 1 had 25 episodes and a Bonus episode. It premiered on December 6th, 2010 and ended on January 10th, 2013.

Season 2 had 32 episodes and a Bonus episode. It premiered on May 31st, 2013 and ended on December 15th, 2015.

Season 3 had 14 episodes and a Bonus episode. It premiered on March 16th, 2016 and ended on December 21st, 2016.

Season 4 had 16 episodes. It premiered on February 1st, 2017 and ended on December 20th, 2017.

Season 5 had 16 episodes. It premiered on February 7th, 2018 and ended on December 19th, 2018.

Season 6 had 16 episodes. It premiered on February 6th, 2019 and ended on December 18th, 2019.

Season 7 had 20 episodes and a Bonus episode. It premiered on January 26th, 2020 and ended on December 28th, 2020.

Season 8 had 16 episodes. It premiered on March 7th, 2021 and ended on December 19th, 2021.

Season 9 had 16 episodes and a Bonus episode. It premiered on March 28th, 2022 and ended on December 21st, 2022.

Season 10 had 16 episodes. It premiered on May 22nd, 2023 and ended on December 18th, 2023.

Death Battle '24 is set to premiere on October 6th, 2024.

Death Battle '25 is set to premiere in 2025.

Format Overview

The idea of the show is to pit two or more fictional characters against each other in a simulated fight to the death, referred to as a "death battle". Matchups are decided based on the popularity of requests, debatability, entertainment, and theme.

The show is hosted by the original characters Wizard and Boomstick (along with the later additions of DUMMI, Ringmaster, and Jocelyn the Intern).

Before the fight, the hosts provide an analysis of each combatant, analyzing their backstory, character, powers, equipment, skills, strengths, weaknesses, and physicality. This is done by extensive research of each combatant's official, canon media, as well as the calculation of feats and powerscaling. If a character has multiple versions (e.g., Link), said character will be composited throughout all forms of media unless a certain version is too deviant from the main source (for example, Sonic the Hedgehog and Archie Sonic are considered two different characters, though the latter was composited into the former back in Season 1).

After the analyses, the fight animation is shown, portraying the combatants fighting to the death. The animation shows off how the combatants' various abilities and skills would interact with each other, and in later seasons, includes original dialogue provided by voice actors as well as an original soundtrack. The animation is not meant to completely accurately portray how a fight between the combatants would go, but instead exists mainly for entertainment and to display the verdict. The animation style varies with each episode, but is most commonly computer graphics 2D sprite animation and occasionally 3D computer animation. The fights are also more uncommonly animated with hand-drawn animation or even portrayed in live action.

After the fight animation, the hosts combine the information from the combatants' analyses together in order to explain the verdict, usually capping off with Wiz summarizing the important factors for the winning combatant's victory and Boomstick making a pun based on either the combatants or what happened in the fight at the very end before Wiz announces the winner.

Rules

The rules of the show (which were established sometime around Season 3) are as follows:

  1. Combatants have no prior knowledge of each other unless specified.
  2. To ensure a fair fight, any specific moral restraints from killing are removed from combatants. All other traits are considered.
  3. A combatant's maximum personal potential is examined unless specified otherwise. Factors unrelated to combatants cannot end the battle.
  4. Unless specified, all official material related to a character is applied unless found contradictory to the primary source material.

History

Death Battle was originally produced under ScrewAttack and partnered with Revision3, who helped distribute the show by hosting it on their website, as well as helping make sponsorship deals.[1] As part of their partnership, it was agreed that the show would produce two seasons of 13 bi-weekly episodes. However, after the production of Mario VS Sonic (2011), which was intended to be the first season finale, it was instead decided that the seasonal format would be dropped in favor of simply producing the show continuously, with the season and episode counts of what would eventually become Seasons 1 and 2 having later been decided retroactively. Ben Singer stated that he felt this was an extremely time-consuming process, which impacted both the show and his health negatively.[2] After Master Chief VS Doomguy, the show ended their partnership with Revision3 and became independent.

In November 2014, both ScrewAttack and Rooster Teeth were acquired by Fullscreen (which is owned by AT&T), with ScrewAttack being made a division of Rooster Teeth.[3] However, the official merger between ScrewAttack and Rooster Teeth would not happen until a year later, after the release of Yang VS Tifa.[4]

In 2016, AT&T would buy Time Warner, which was later rebranded as WarnerMedia. WarnerMedia later merged with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery.

At the start of Season 6 in 2019, it was announced that the ScrewAttack YouTube channel would be rebranded to DEATH BATTLE!, effectively shutting down ScrewAttack.

On March 6th, 2024, it was announced that Rooster Teeth would be shut down by its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery,[5] which left the status of Death Battle as uncertain and its production on an indefinite hiatus. Chad James soon confirmed that the crew was working to find a way to keep the show going.[6] Later on, it was confirmed that no new videos would be uploaded on the DEATH BATTLE! YouTube channel after May 10th, as the crew would lose access to the channel by then, though they would still have access to the channel's community tab.[7] On the 10th, an update video was released, in which it was confirmed that the crew was in talks to keep the show going with multiple different parties, but wouldn't rush to announce anything until they were confident they were making the right call, assuring viewers to keep in touch for more updates down the road.[8]

This would be followed up on July 25th later that year, when Ben Singer announced that he, along with Chad James, Sam Mitchell, and Austin Harper, had fully acquired the rights to the Death Battle IP and YouTube channel[9] and created a Kickstarter campaign that would launch on July 30th to fund four new episodes and get the show back on track.[10] More details were given in an "Ask Me Anything" thread hosted on the r/deathbattle subreddit.[11]

Schedule

For the first two seasons of the show, there wasn't a consistent schedule, as episodes were released from anywhere between a single week to a few months, with some episodes even having to be delayed due to external factors such as hardware failure or issues in the animation process.

From Seasons 3 to 6 (and for Gogeta VS Vegito), episodes were released every three weeks. In the first two weeks, previews of each combatant's analyses were released, and in the third week, the episode was released at around 12:00 PM CST.

From Seasons 7 to 10, episodes were released biweekly. The schedule was similar to the old one, with the combatants' analysis previews being released the Monday and Wednesday before the episode is released and the episode itself releasing the following Sunday around 12:00 PM CST for FIRST Members (and Death Battle Champions starting with Gogeta VS Vegito) and on Monday for the general public. In the middle of the season, the show generally took a short break, with DBX or Desk of DEATH BATTLE taking its place for an unspecified amount of weeks before Death Battle's return (though Season 10 lacked this break in exchange for starting two months later than usual).

During Season 10, the schedule was changed slightly. Due to internal speculation that the early releases for Champions were negatively affecting the overall performance of the season's episodes on YouTube, a test of a lack of them for both Champions and FIRST Members was done from Frieza VS Megatron to Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog to see the potential difference.[12] After said tests, the early release perk was removed for both parties, with episodes going forward now releasing on Monday for the general public without any kind of early release the day prior.

After the show became independent following the closure of Rooster Teeth, the schedule was changed once more. Starting with Death Battle '24, the show will no longer use the traditional bi-weekly seasonal structure established in Season 3; instead, episodes are now planned to be released on a constant monthly schedule,[13] with the current plan being 12 episodes per year starting in Death Battle '25. However, it was also stated on multiple occasions that this is to be a minimum they wish to maintain, meaning more frequent releases are potentially possible and this schedule is not set in stone.

Episodes

Staff

Death Battle Animators
Lead Luis Cruz
Sprite Zack Watkins • Gus Espinal • Anh Thu Duong • OriginTheHero • MORØ • Sorya Tith
3D DevilArtemis • Daitomodachi • David Roldan • Josh Ornelas • Jose Rodriguez • Plake Snissken • Hannah Novotny • Megan Pellino • Will Sherburne • Erika Soosaar • Charles Johnson
2D Chris Bak • William Ball • Jordan Battle • Gil Calceta • Susie Combs • Abby Duel • Tanya Fetzer • Andrew Lhotsky • Quinn Weston • John Mitchell • Jan Shaffer
Live-Action Ismahawk • Billy B Burson III • Candace Kei
Former Ben Singer • Jordan Lange • Mali De'lisser • Eric Marte • Jawuan Hobbs • Aquila Harukaze • Donald Gagnon • Shaq Focus • Larry Hall • Da Vaughn Henderson Jr. • Chris Bastin • Joshua Wright • Xander Farrell • Neil Robertson • Brandon Bent • Min Kim • Kervin Alcindor • S.K. Alam • Benny Landa • Jamix007 • Torrian Crawford • Kristina Christofferson • Dyrique Hallman • Pierre McCauley • notoriouskog • CrazyChrisTyler • Blind Ferret (Nancy Choquette, Natasha Artemova, Julie Savard, Eugen Balan) • Andrea Caprotti • Adele Kraus • Jerome Rodgers-Blake • Alex Carriles • Nano Afrane • Vincent Cappelluti • Alyssa Lisiecki • Christina Ausmus • Matt Drury • Nicole LaCroix • Hannah McCravy • Joe Vick • Peter Dang • Andrea Ratsos • Melanie Stern • Vito Ferber • David Fischer
Death Battle Actors
Main Cast Ben Singer • Chad James • Chris Demarais • Billy B Burson III • Lisa Foiles
Season 1 Nick Landis • Curtis Arnott • Caden Redpearl • Chad James • Zak Wilson • Erica Mendez • Jim Sterling • Lawrence Simpson • Michael Agrusso • Kimlinh Tran • Lauren Moore • Sean Hinz • Nick Cramer • Sam Mitchell • Bryan Baker • Drake McWhorter
Season 2 Christopher Guerrero • Edwyn Tiong • Xander Mobus • Joe Gaudet • Chris Niosi • Stuart Schlomach • Doug Drury • Marissa Lenti • Joshua Tomar • Curtis Arnott • Jason Marnocha • Kira Buckland • Chuck Huber • Gianni Matragrano • Jay Britton • Christopher Sabat • Brad Venable • Ben Reynolds • Whitney Rodgers • Scott Frerichs • Tim Paige • Alejandro Saab • Barbara Dunkelman • Tia Ballard • Nathan Sharp • Todd Haberkorn
Season 3 Christopher Guerrero • Stephen Fu • Marissa Lenti • Morgan Berry • Dawn M. Bennett • Daniel J. Edwards • Joshua Tomar • Matt Shipman • Todd Haberkorn • Anthony Bowling • Edwyn Tiong • Craig Skistimas • Lucas Schuneman • Gianni Matragrano • Chris Niosi • Curtis Arnott • Matt Hullum • Burnie Burns • Miles Luna • Alena Lecorchick • Jen Brown • Geoff Ramsey • Gus Sorola • Joel Heyman • Elsie Lovelock • Alexander Gross • Parker Bohon • Kaiji Tang • Katelyn Barr • Brittany Lauda
Season 4 Christopher Guerrero • Eileen Montgomery • Gianni Matragrano • Adam Wennick • Alejandro Saab • Jeff Fabre • Morgan Berry • Melonie Mac • Andre Meadows • Matthew Patrick • Austin Hargrave • Nick Landis • Amanda Lee • Scott Frerichs • Howard Wang • Valentine Stokes • Amber Lee Connors • Terri Doty • Marissa Lenti • Chris Jai Alex • Gabriel Kunda • Christopher Sabat • Chris Rager • Jonah Scott • Natalie Van Sistine • Dawn M. Bennett • Adam Park • Stephen Fu • Todd Haberkorn • Kent Williams • Alex Moore • Kamran Nikhad • Marc Soskin
Season 5 Christopher Guerrero • Kira Buckland • Edward Bosco • Bryce Papenbrook • Justin Briner • Nick Cramer • Ricco Fajardo • Austin Lee Matthews • Daman Mills • Mike Varker • Kaiji Tang • Devante' Johnson • Danielle McRae • Richard Barcenas • David Matranga • Lindsay Jones • Danny Shepherd • Tyler Tackett • Kamran Nikhad • Nicholas Andrew Louie • SupremeOverlordOfIce • Patrick Rodriguez • Jonah Scott • Steven Kelly • Justice Washington • Curtis Arnott
Season 6 Christopher Guerrero • Kaiji Tang • Todd Haberkorn • Natalie Van Sistine • Jeannie Tirado • Terri Doty • Michael Kovach • Paige Stork • Nicholas Andrew Louie • Bradley Gareth • Kara Eberle • Corey Pettit • Kieran Flitton • Kestin Howard • Emily Fajardo • Alejandro Saab • Noel Wiggins • Steven Kelly • Jason Marnocha • Curtis Arnott • Hitomi Farrell • Tony Salvaggio • Kyle Phillips • Howard Wang • William T. Sopp • Beau Bridgland • Jennifer Alyx • Kyle Igneczi • Sam Mitchell • Kyle Taylor • Joshua Kazemi • Austin Harper • Dick Splitter
Season 7 Christopher Guerrero • Kai Jordan • Zeno Robinson • Blythe Renay • Caitlyn Elizabeth • Jon Allen • Alejandro Saab • Howard Wang • Mark Allen Jr. • Emma Breezy • Lucas Schuneman • Kestin Howard • Dave J. Dixon • Ricco Fajardo • Steven Kelly • Nicholas Andrew Louie • Dom Dinh • Amber May • Natalie Van Sistine • River Kanoff • Dante Basco • John Van Doren • Noel Wiggins • Joshua Waters • Alena Lecorchick • Yong Yea • Conrad Haynes • Billy Bob Thompson • Anna Chloe Moorey • Kay Eluvian • Linsay Rousseau • Tyler Tackett • Tim Neff • Kerem Erdinc • Adam Wennick • Sarah Anne Williams • Brendan Blaber • Matt Hullum • Gus Sorola • Geoff Ramsey • Dan Godwin • Burnie Burns • Jason Saldaña • Michael Malconian • Shara Kirby • Suzie Yeung • Mark Phillips • Richard Barcenas
Season 8 Phillip Sacramento • Kestin Howard • Brendan Blaber • Jenny Yokobori • Tom Laflin • Gianni Matragrano • Steven Kelly • Yoshi Amao • Brent Mukai • Francesca Calo • Jonathan Bullock • Austin Lee Matthews • Kdin Jenzen • Corrine Sudberg • Liam Swan • Adam Gibbs • Reagan Murdock • Michael Kovach • Valentine Stokes • Anthony Sardinha • Tom Schalk • Barbara Dunkelman • Curtis Arnott • Matt Hullum • Amanda Julina Gonzalez • Shara Kirby • Nicholas Andrew Louie • Ryan Abedi
Season 9 Felicia Valenti • Elsie Lovelock • Cassandra Wladyslava • Lauren Mayfield • Zack Maher • Benji Buckley • Jonah Scott • Nick Landis • Tom Schalk • Yong Yea • Edward Bosco • Joshua Waters • Blythe Melin • Alex Mai • Christian Young • Kamran Nikhad • Caitlyn Elizabeth • Mornal • Steven Kelly • Wolf Williams • Scott Frerichs • Esu Onsti • Kestin Howard • Yssa Badiola • Noel Wiggins • Ryan Solis • Phillip Sacramento • Jose Estrada • Michael Kovach
Season 10 Gavin Hammon • Chris Okawa • Liam Swan • Giselle Fernandez • Finty Kelly • Delton Engle-Sorrell • Jeff Schine • Jason Marnocha • Nicholas Andrew Louie • Corey Pettit • Kira Buckland • Xander Mobus • Kevin Rivera • Kamran Nikhad • Paul Guyet • John Patneaude • Martin Billany • Tom Schalk • Gianni Matragrano • Kelsey Jaffer • Billy B Burson III • Edward Bosco • Brent Williams • Elliott Crossley • Michael Kovach • Wolf Williams • Brent Mukai
Death Battle Musicians
Primary Musicians Brandon Yates • Therewolf Media
Guest Musicians Blake Robinson • Nathan Sharp • Trocadero • David Levy • Meredith Hagan • Mason Lieberman • Carlo Decanini • Omega Sparx • Cameron Sather • Sithu Aye • RichaadEB • Jonny Atma • ToxicxEternity • JT Music • SWATS • Myriani • Jun Mitsui • John Scigulinsky • Tre Watson • Daniel Vincent Galvan • LadyIgiko • Tiggs • Futakuchi Mana • Logan Adams • Victor Borba • The Death Battle Fan Choir • Infotron • Mr. Goatee • Nathaniel Wolkstein • Donna Caruthers
Sound Mixers Dale Brunson • Anthony DiGiacomo
Death Battle Writers
Writers Ben Singer • Chad James • Nick Cramer • Sam Mitchell • Jessica Davis • Sean Hinz • Liam Swan • Genevieve Guimond • Thac Nguyen • Matthew Jones • Hershel Lousyton • Joshua Kazemi • Djmah'di Rivers • Cian Mulrooney

Merchandise

Official Death Battle merchandise was available on the Rooster Teeth store. The merchandise is primarily various T-shirts, but also includes a hat and a card game.

Gallery

Trivia

  • Ben has stated that the series was heavily inspired by Monty Oum's Haloid, Deadliest Warrior, and Machinima's Versus. However, since Versus did not have any conclusive winners, Ben decided to do an actual series with fully animated fight sequences.[14]
  • The original series' name was going to be "Who Would Win?", and the original pilot episode (done completely by Ben) even used that title. However, it was later changed to the current name when Chad joined the show.
  • As of Season 10, every season has featured at least one combatant from the series Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
  • As of Season 10, every season has featured at least one combatant from the companies Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Hitotsubashi Group.

See More

Spin-offs

Trivia

External Links

References

  1. ↑ User blog:CrossoverKing96/Road to 100 (Archive) Akuma vs Shang Tsung, Rogue vs Wonder Woman
  2. ↑ User blog:CrossoverKing96/Road to 100 (Archive) Haggar vs Zangief
  3. ↑ Exclusive: Fullscreen to buy online video producer Rooster Teeth
  4. ↑ User blog:CrossoverKing96/Road to 100 Archive: Hercule vs Dan, Yang vs Tifa
  5. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/deathbattle/comments/1b85d86/roosterteeth_closure_megathread/
  6. ↑ Chad's statement
  7. ↑ Update on Rooster Teeth shutdown
  8. ↑ Is DEATH BATTLE dead???
  9. ↑ https://x.com/BenBSinger/status/1816584247765008726
  10. ↑ https://x.com/BenBSinger/status/1816584250306769362
  11. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/deathbattle/comments/1ec7blw/we_own_death_battle_ama/
  12. ↑ Spinal vs Cervantes (Killer Instinct VS Soul Calibur) Who wins a DEATH BATTLE Debate?
  13. ↑ #SaveDEATHBATTLE Kickstarter Livestream
  14. ↑ User blog:CrossoverKing96/Road to 100 (Archive) Samus vs Boba Fett
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