- —Tagline
Harley Quinn VS Jinx is the 156th episode and Season 9 Premiere of Death Battle, featuring Harley Quinn from DC Comics and Jinx from the League of Legends series in a battle between unhinged criminal ladies. Harley was voiced by Felicia Valenti and Jinx was voiced by Elsie Lovelock.
Interlude
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Wiz & Boomstick by Brandon Yates  
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Wiz: Harley Quinn, DC's fantabulous anti-hero.
Boomstick: Jinx, the Loose Cannon of League of Legends.
Wiz: We live... in a society that adheres to strict laws and norms, but these two ladies turn that system on its head with their wild enthusiasm for destruction and chaos.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
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.
Harley Quinn
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Funfair Asylum by Chris Blackwell 
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Wiz: Born to a middle-class family in the heart of Brooklyn, USA, Harleen Quinzel had long lived a life of mediocrity. She had embarrassing parents, annoying siblings—
Boomstick: And a high school life that suuucked! Even more than, like, the normal ones.
Wiz: She never quite felt like she fit in anywhere. But despite this, Harleen knew she was destined for greatness.
Boomstick: So, inspired by a childhood crush-turned-psychotic murderer, Harleen spent years training to be a world-renowned criminal psychiatrist, eventually traveling to Gotham City's infamous Arkham Asylum to research the most dangerous criminals on the planet, like Batman's arch-nemesis, the Joker.
Wiz: But after analyzing the Joker and his horrific, unspeakable history as a homicidal clown — and Jared Leto — she came to realize one truth.
Boomstick: The Joker was actually "a misunderstood angel squashed down by an unjust society" and "wrongfully harassed by that son of a bitch, Batman".
Wiz: This was the first of the Joker's many manipulations, leading Harleen to see a warped reflection of herself through him, culminating in her breaking him out of prison, bleaching her skin via chemical vat baptism, and joining him on his life of crime, descending into love-like madness and reborn as the fantastic Harley Quinn.
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Dark Euphoria by Tom Boddy
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Boomstick: And she was packin' plenty of tools of maniacal mayhem, including her iconic hammer, electric buzzers, and bombs of all shapes and sizes, like the dreaded banana cream pie, the most evil of all pie flavors.
Wiz: When she wants to get around quickly, she can use her handy-dandy pogo stick, which she straps rockets to. That doesn't seem safe.
We cut to Boomstick and Ringmaster, the latter of whom sporting Harley's color scheme and holding a gun with a loaded boxing glove.
Ringmaster: Speaking of unsafe, Harley's most versatile tool is her pop-gun, a rotating revolver with special ammo rounds! Like a boxing glove, whoa!
Ringmaster fires the boxing glove from the gun, narrowly missing Boomstick.
Boomstick: Whoa, close one!
Ringmaster: And binding confetti! Weehahaha!
He then fires confetti from the gun, which harmlessly falls to the ground.
Ringmaster: And did I mention explosive rounds, which—
He fires a round as he says this, which begins to ricochet through the entire room, eventually hitting the camera and breaking it as the screen is then covered by an image of Wiz with a malfunctioning robot arm with the tagline "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES PLEASE STAND BY".
Ringmaster: Oh no.
Boomstick: AAH! MY LEG IS GONE! OH N— Oh wait. It already was. I'm fine!
Ringmaster: Nhh... I'm gonna go...
Color bars then appear on-screen before we cut back to the analysis.
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Wiz: Harley combines her arsenal with unparalleled gymnastic skills, making her far deadlier than your average criminal. She can even keep up with experts like Deadshot and Catwoman. Even Batman at times! The peak human superhero that can dodge lightning and survive this alien device exploding, which obliterated multiple city blocks.
Boomstick: Yeah, I think that's stretchin' the term "peak human" just a bit. But hey, he's the goddamn Batman so... we'll allow it.
Wiz: Unfortunately for Harley, despite her unwavering loyalty to the Joker, their honeymoon period did not last. He spent years abusing her, physically and emotionally, tearing her down piece by piece.
Boomstick: Then, when he got bored, he strapped her to a freakin' rocket and launched her halfway across Gotham City. Guess that's one way to say "No, no, it's not you, it's me! Byeeee!"
Wiz: Harley was left alone in the wreckage, abandoned by the one person she dedicated her entire life to.
Boomstick: Until fellow villain Poison Ivy came by. She nursed Harley back to health, literally healing her from a damaged relationship. Ivy even gave Harley a chemical concoction that granted her superhuman strength and a healing factor.
Wiz: I suppose a healthy relationship can sometimes feel like your own superpower in it of itself.
Boomstick: Yeah, and those two definitely seem to be veeeeeeery good friends. Wink!
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Wiz: With Ivy at her side, Harley went on to rebuild herself as a famous anti-hero, leading teams like the Gotham Sirens and Suicide Squad. She worked on developing new skills, built around her own strengths rather than that of her past.
Boomstick: Like learning to use her lifelong knowledge of psychoanalysis to manipulate her foes mid-combat.
Wiz: And creating tons of her own chemical concoctions, like tranquilizers and sleeping gases that can incapacitate metahumans. She even reverse-engineered her former flame's trademark Joker Venom. This deadly substance excites the laughter centers in a person's brain, and forces them to laugh until they suffocate.
Boomstick: Harley was clearly on top of the world, but nothin' caps off self-improvement like a Rocky Balboa training montage! So Harley went to Themyscira of all places to get a combat internship with the Amazons. Just like her favoritest superhero, Wonder Woman! Man, imagine goin' from bashin' random goons in Gotham to fighting alongside immortal warrior goddesses!
Wiz: She became agile enough to jump between skyscrapers and strong enough to rip an entire palm tree out of the ground with her bare hands! Based on the size of the tree and the weight of an average palm by foot, that weighs about 600 pounds. And she can hold it one-handed, so her actual strength is probably at least twice as much.
Boomstick: Enough to lift a full-grown brown bear and throw it like a ragdoll! Hell, her skills advanced so far, she was appointed a herald on the war world, Apokolips! Y'know, the planet ruled by the living embodiment of evil? Even the actual personification of the DC editorial staff likes to call her in to help with tough jams.
Wiz: As the years went on, Harley surprised literally everyone by transitioning from supervillain to superhero. She partnered up with other heroes, became a psychiatrist again, and legitimately started helping other vigilantes with trauma. Like Jason Todd, who definitely needed that.
Boomstick: In fact, the Bat Family she used to antagonize and ridicule eventually accepted her as kind of an extended member of their group, teaming up with her to save Gotham from her toxic ex. Good for her! Guess we're not gonna talk about when she went back to the Joker a couple times, huh?
Wiz: In the end, she may be a little nutty, but you'd be mad not to love Harley Quinn.
Jinx
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Behind The Shield by Matthew Slater
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Wiz: The world of Runeterra is a wonderous fantasy land of advanced technology, arcane magics, and legendary champions. But on its northern shores are two cities locked in political turmoil. For decades, Piltover's rich elite have exploited the Undercity of Zaun, forcing workers into unsafe conditions and brutalizing the populace with terrifying police enforcers.
Boomstick: Oh, so like New Jersey. You could've just said New Jersey.
Wiz: Until one day, a wild loose cannon would literally explode onto the scene. She gave those uptight topsiders a taste of their own medicine, menacing its people with bombs, gunfire, and even more bombs. This was Jinx.
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Boomstick: Jinx destroyed zeppelins, Jumanji'd the shit out of the local zoo, and... (gasps) ...switched the street signs! What a monster! Now those monkeys will never find their way back!
Wiz: Only the enforcer, Violet, could hope to stop her. But even armed with massive gauntlets weighing over 4,000 pounds each, Vi could not definitively overcome Jinx's magnificent arsenal of mechanical monstrosity.
Boomstick: Man, they're so evenly matched, it's almost like they're, uh, related...
The music briefly stops as a cricket noise is heard.
Boomstick: Anyway, Jinx can burst open birds with her trusty Zappershot pistol, turn enemies to Swiss cheese with her Pow-Pow minigun, and blow bad guys to bits with her Flame Chomper grenades.
Wiz: But Jinx's favorite weapon is her Fishbones rocket launcher. So much so, she rides it like a... rocket-powered pogo stick. Well, that seems even less safe!
Boomstick: Well, don't let her manic attitude fool you. Not only is Jinx tough enough to take a hit from Braum, a guy who can shake mountains with a punch, but she's wicked smart. Almost all her gear is custom-made. She's even recreated Hextech, funky science powered by magic crystals. Ooh~.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Wiz: Including her handheld teleportation device.
Wiz teleports himself and Boomstick right next to a tornado.
Wiz: Oh! My bad!
He teleports them again, this time to the DBX Arena with Ringmaster in the background playing a League of Legends match on the stadium monitor, with the words "Big Screen League Mode" displayed.
Wiz: Is that... League of Legends? What a coincidence.
Boomstick: Oh, no...
Ringmaster: Hold the phone! Are... are you talking about League of Legends over there?! IIIIII LOVE that game!
He steps off the floating platform, into the stadium hole, and then pops up in between Wiz and Boomstick, suddenly sporting Jinx's color scheme. As he does so, the match ends.
Ringmaster: I got in more than 10,000 hours! Just in our college days, huh, buddy?
He chuckles and slaps Boomstick on the arm, all while his floating platform crashes and causes an explosion nearby before we cut back to the analysis.
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Ringmaster: League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game forged in the flames of LAN parties and salty gamer tears, awwww. And, as any professional will tell ya, to play the game well, you need to min/max your character's loadout with the best possible items!
Boomstick: Yeah, and the worst mistake you can make is being new! God, it's the midterms all over again...! "No, Boomstick, stay in your lane!" "What are you doing in the jungle?" "Stop it, feeder!"
Ringmaster: Jinx's ideal loadouts include Phantom Dancer, so she can phase through objects after landing a blow!
Wiz: I'd like to phase out of this conversat—
Ringmaster: Then there's the Quicksilver Sash, which protects her from status effects like sleep, paralysis, and poison! This includes forced actions, which makes you do things ya don't wanna to do.
We cut to Boomstick and Ringmaster.
Ringmaster: Hey, Boom~. You wanna pop into a match with your old Teemo from back in the day? I can set it up right now~!
He elbows an annoyed Boomstick in the arm as he says this.
Boomstick: How about we move on to Arcane before I ARAM my foot up your ass?
Ringmaster: Awww...
We cut back to the analysis.
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Wiz: So, there's more to Jinx than what the main games depict. Before her infamous tomfoolery, most people around Zaun knew her as an innocent young tinkerer named Powder.
Boomstick: Like pretty much everyone in the Undercity, Powder had it rough. She lost her parents in a conflict with enforcers, but had a bit of luck when she joined this cool foster family along with Vi, who was, gasp, her sister all along! If you're wondering what put soap in their opera, Vi was a total badass, and Powder was desperate to also prove herself to her newfound family. And then... she made a mistake.
Wiz: Seemingly abandoned, Powder was left in the hands of the most notorious drug kingpin around. Silco was not the father she needed, but the one she wanted, teaching her to turn her perceived weaknesses into her greatest strengths. Thus, she became Jinx.
Boomstick: Even when the sisters reunited years later, they couldn't fully reconcile, setting up the game of cat and mouse... i-in the game.
Wiz: Jinx was an excellent rival, able to keep up with other skilled warriors like the bullet-dodging Ekko, and survived the worst of Zaun's toxic environments, which can kill normal people in minutes. After a near-fatal explosion, she was also infused with Shimmer, a toxic strength and speed-enhancing drug that permanently altered her body's biochemistry.
Boomstick: But Shimmer's side effects intensify her prior trauma, making her much more unhinged and prone to attacking with lethal intent.
Ringmaster: Inspiring her ultimate weapon, the Super Mega Death Rocket! This baby's been powered by both Hextech and its even more volatile cousin, Chemtech!
Boomstick: That's even MORE explosive! I forgot how much I appreciated the explodey options. Anyway, both Hextech and Chemtech are comparable in power to natural magic.
Ringmaster: On par with what a badass mage like Lux is able to cast, such as Lucent Singularity, which can totally body these big ol' rocks!
Wiz: Measuring their width with Lux's height, we can determine she destroyed almost 13,000 tons of rock from 30 meters away.
Ringmaster: Promotional trailers show Mega Death Rocket matching the speed and power of Lux's Final Spark, a much more powerful attack that fires a Kamehameha of natural light!
Boomstick: So her rocket is not only super strong, but super fast! From Powder to gunpowder, Silco couldn't be prouder.
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Wiz: But her violent streak grew grim, until the day she met a particularly explosive yordle. Ziggs bonded with her over their mutual passion for destruction, but his was more tempered. Controlled. Thanks to his wisdom, Jinx learned a little bit of restraint when it came to exploding things of a more fleshy nature.
Boomstick: Helping her tone down the wanton violence and recover some of her mental stability. Like he's some kind of feline-brand Jiminy Cricket!
Wiz: And despite being on opposite sides of the bridge, Jinx and Vi remained sisters, ultimately still caring about each other in their own way. Even if they were at odds more often than not.
Boomstick: Though you better believe that when things get boring and uptight, Jinx will be there to shake things up!
Prelude
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
Death Battle
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A defunct carnival roars to life once more as a mallet belonging to the one and only Harley Quinn comes down on the hammer game, the puck easily reaching the bell. Harley claims her prize of a large plush and happily skips along to find another game.
Harley: And they say these games are rigged! Wha?
Just then a murder of crows interruptingly flies past her before being quickly murdered via fired rocket. Harley turns to find the source, none other than Jinx blasting away at crows flying all around her.
Jinx: Screw you, you emo pigeons! I'll show you a murder!
An errant shot from her Fishbones rocket launcher ends up hitting Harley's newly won prize, completely obliterating it in an explosion behind her. Jinx revels in the destruction, while Harley turns to face her.
Jinx: Oh, I just love 'sploding stuff!
Harley: Heh, I like 'splodin' stuff, too! Why don't I start with your head?!
Harley throws her mallet somewhere behind her before pulling out her popgun and taking a shot at Jinx. She avoids the shot which explodes behind her and begins her pursuit. Harley runs away from Jinx, firing her popgun behind her while also dexterously dodging some of Jinx's rockets. Meanwhile, one of Jinx's stray shots ends up killing yet another crow.
Jinx: Stay still! I'm trying to shoot you!
Jinx fires yet another rocket that Harley avoids. She takes careful aim at the bell of the hammer game and manages to ricochet the popshot off the bell, onto a crate and right behind Jinx, who is taken by surprise when it explodes.
Meanwhile, Harley retrieves her mallet and twirls it playfully before bringing it down on Jinx's head. Jinx pulls out her teleportation device and just about manages to escape another swing by Harley, reappearing behind her. Rather than taking her shot, she teasingly pretends that Fishbones is on Harley's side.
Jinx (as Fishbones): Look out! She's right behind you!
Harley: Aw, thanks pal!
Harley's sincere gratitude is for naught as she barely avoids another rocket.
Harley: Gasp! Traitor!
Berating the weapon for its betrayal and leaving Fishbones to lower its head sadly, Harley proceeds to swing at Jinx some more, only to get knocked back twice and her hammer stolen. She then puts on some Groucho Marx glasses and laughs.
Harley: You're a real firecracker! Got a light?
Harley holds a stick of dynamite in her mouth as a cigar.
Jinx: Oh, sure thing!
Jinx proceeds to fire a rocket past the dynamite, lighting it. Afterward, Harley takes off her gag glasses, laughing as she runs over and jams the stick into Jinx's mouth before kicking her away. This does not bother Jinx, as she does a muffled laugh before swiping at Harley with her own hammer until she kicks it into the air.
Harley: Why I oughta!
Harley fires some binding confetti at Jinx to restrain her, then fiercely swings her hammer to knock her into a merry-go-round. Jinx manages to regain composure as Harley chases her around the merry-go-round, smashing up several of its horses.
Harley: Hey, stop horsin' around!
She slowly gets agitated with the bound Jinx continuously evading her attacks.
Harley: Why you...!
The camera zooms out to comically show both girls running counter-clockwise on the merry-go-round only to get nowhere. Jinx finally manages to use one of the horses to push herself into Harley and knock her back. She then activates Phantom Dancer to free herself from her binds and tries to blast Harley with her Zappershot pistol, who avoids the shots. Harley retaliates by using her Popgun to launch her stretching boxing glove, which Jinx avoids and places the previously lit stick of dynamite into. Harley's boxing glove then retracts, bringing the dynamite right to her. She looks at the camera, knowing what happens next.
Harley: Aw nuts.
The dynamite explodes, causing the entire merry-go-round to be reduced to embers, Jinx managing to escape while riding Fishbones into the air and laughing. She nonchalantly lands on a moving roller coaster, only to find Harley sitting next to her with her teleportation device, who used it to escape the blast.
Harley: Neat gizmo. Got any games?
Jinx: No! My save files!
Harley and Jinx both wrestle for and repeatedly activate the teleportation device, sending themselves through different locations while still on the roller coaster.
Harley: You made me die! You—
Harley's swear is cut off by a TV signal background location before she and Jinx return to the carnival and get launched off the roller coaster. They sudddenly halt and hover in front of the Moon midair as they watch many parts of their arsenal, including Harley's trick items and Jinx's guns and teleportation tablet, get sent flying away.
Jinx: Well... that's unfortunate.
Harley nods in agreement with Jinx before the two finally follow the laws of gravity, laughing wildly as they fall together into a tent that contains a mirror maze. As the lights turns on, the slightly wounded Jinx gets up and looks around before seeing a box in front of her. Over the speakers, Harley sends her a message.
Harley: Sorry for your doodad. To make up for it, I got you some nice perfume!
The box releases a cloud of poison gas directly into Jinx's face, causing her to cough as she stumbles back.
Jinx: Smells like... (sniffs) home....
The effect of Harley's Joker Venom makes Jinx remember her past, manic scribbles appearing everywhere as she punches a mirror that displays her estranged sister, Vi. She bursts into manic giggles as her mental stability deteriorates.
Jinx: Hehehe... Get back! I'm crazy! I've got... hahaha... a doctor's note for it! Hahahaha!
Jinx pulls out her Pow-Pow Minigun and fires blindly as she continues to laugh. Harley, hidden by the mirrors, runs around as she dodges the shots.
Harley: I am a doctor, and you ain't crazy. You don't have that same smile!
Harley attacks from behind, now without her jacket, hoping to land a sneak attack with her baseball bat. However, Jinx suddenly grabs the bat as she turns around, laughing and smiling as she activates her Quicksilver Sash, which clears her mind from the effects of Harley's gas.
Jinx: I don't need a second opinion!
She shoves Harley back and throws the bat away. Before Harley can recover from stumbling, Jinx shoots her in the torso point-blank for a few seconds before rushing in and kicking Harley out of the tent and onto the hammer game.
Jinx giggles as she moves in for the kill, but what she does not notice is that the wounded Harley Quinn has readied a high-voltage joy buzzer behind her back.
Harley: Wait... Don't you wanna get in closer? Savor my emotions as you deliver the final kill?
Jinx stays in place pondering for a moment before making her choice.
Jinx: Hmmm... Nah! Bye-bye!
She fires her Super Mega Death Rocket at Harley. The missile digs into her wounded stomach and carries her high into the air.
Harley: OH SHIIIIIIIIII—!
Harley gets dragged along with the Super Mega Death Rocket to the sky until the rocket explodes into a variety of fireworks that spells out the message the message "GET JINXED" in the sky completely obliterating her body. Jinx then grabs the camera and flashes a peace sign at it as Harley's head falls onto the hammer game and rings the bell.
Results
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Boomstick: Don't just stand there, Jinx. You just won a free teddy bear! What if it's Tibbers?
Wiz: This was a complicated fight with far more factors to consider than at first blush. Harley had more direct combat experience against superpowered beings, along with better training.
Boomstick: But Jinx's physical power, diabolical weaponry, and assortment of items were just enough to roast this harlequin duck.
Wiz: While Harley lifting over 1,200 pounds is impressive, Jinx can compete with Vi, whose gauntlets weigh eight times that in the game.
Boomstick: And Jinx can take hits from a guy who can shake mountains, a bit beyond Harley's level of strength.
Wiz: Harley may have been more naturally acrobatic, but Jinx's Hextech and intangibility matched and outclassed that mobility. The teleporting tablet alone could control the entire fight, since Jinx could send herself or Harley just about anywhere.
Boomstick: And while Harley had a moderate healing factor, she's never regenerated entire body parts before, so a big enough kaboom would definitely kill her, and Jinx's weapons were strong enough to do just that.
Boomstick: In order to destroy 13,000 tons of rock from such a distance, Lux's magic explosion would need a yield of about 20 kilotons of TNT.
Wiz: And Jinx's Hextech and Chemtech are similar to Lux's magic in speed and power.
Boomstick: Even if we scale Harley's durability to Batman surviving this massive explosion, the potency of Jinx's weaponry outpaces more than 300 times.
Wiz: Sure, Harley is legitimately intelligent, but so is Jinx, as evidenced by her inventions and routinely outwitting Vi and her task force. Plus, Jinx is typically distrusting of people she's just met, so Harley's potential mind games were likely to fall on skeptical ears.
Boomstick: Jinx was much MORE likely to shoot first and ask questions later!
Wiz: Now, Harley still had her wide array of poisons and chemical agents like the Joker Venom, which would kill most opponents in minutes. However, after living her whole life in the toxic cesspool of Zaun, her tolerance for poisons is clearly much higher than a normal person.
Wiz: Not to mention the Quicksilver Sash could simply end any unwanted effect on her.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Wiz: Ultimately, Harley couldn't stand up to Jinx's physical power, superior technology, or overwhelmingly explosive arsenal.
Boomstick: Harley clowned around, only to get her bell rung by someone out of her League.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is Jinx.
Comparison
Harley Quinn
- + Healing factor
- - Less-versatile gear
Jinx
- + Physically stronger
- + Resistant to toxins & venoms
- + Superior battlefield control
Original Track
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Composition
The track for this fight is "Mad Laugh Riot" by Brandon Yates ft. Futakuchi Mana. It is a lyrical rock track that holds great reminiscence to that of instruments and music heard in circuses and carnivals, fitting for how the fight itself takes place in one.
Title
The title refers to both combatants' twisted sense of humor, as well as Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends. "Riot" can also refer to a highly amusing or entertaining person or thing, once again referring to Harley and Jinx's sense of humor.
Cover Arts
The original cover art done by John Mitchell depicts the head of Jinx's Fishbones rocket launcher springing out of a gift box, with Harley's mallet in its mouth and Joker Venom spewing out of it. There are also three "HA!"s on both sides, with the left ones colored red and black for Harley and the right ones colored blue and purple for Jinx.
The cover art for the remastered version done by AwesomeEthan48 (which was created for the track's remaster following Rooster Teeth's shutdown) is an homage to the climax of the fight, depicting the gift box from the original cover inside the Bandleglass Mirror Maze spewing out Joker Venom. Within the mirrors are hallucinations of Harley's mallet on the left, Jinx's Fishbones rocket launcher on the right, and three manic-scribbled "HA!"s (similar to Jinx's hallucinations in Arcane) in the middle, with the middle mirror having the crack sustained to it by Jinx's punch after she inhales the Joker Venom in the fight. The title is also seen in the mirrors, with "Mad" done in the Birds of Prey font, "Laugh" in the style of Jinx's manic-scribbled hallucinations, and "Riot" in the Arcane font. The artist credits are seen on the gift box's name tag, where it's adressed to "D. Battle", the fake name Wiz used to subscribe to the "Sexy Scientist of the Month" magazines, as revealed in Martian Manhunter's analysis preview.
Lyrics
Been kinda manic, |
Trivia
Production
- The core connections between Harley Quinn and Jinx are that they are both crazy, enthusiastic, and colorful criminals who cause chaos for fun and have a liking for explosions, but despite their insanity, are actually very intelligent (Harley is a psychiatrist and Jinx is an inventor). In addition:
- Both were mentored into their current state by a crime boss who has been mutated by chemicals (the Joker and Silco, respectively) and are reflective of a part of their childhood (Joker was Harley's boyfriend and a killer, similar to her childhood crush who killed someone for her, and Silco was abandoned by his sibling the same way Jinx was).
- Both had their physiology altered via chemicals (a vat of acid combined with Poison Ivy's toxins and Shimmer, respectively).
- Both would form a relationship with a close friend who helped them gain more control over their chaotic selves (Poison Ivy and Ziggs, respectively).
- Both have rocket-powered pogo sticks (though Harley has a literal one while Jinx occasionally rides her Fishbones rocket launcher like one).
- Both are the stars of critically acclaimed adult animated series (Harley Quinn and Arcane) featured on rival streaming services (Max and Netflix, respectively), both of which wound up being visually represented in the battle in some way (Harley's design resembles her animated counterpart's, while the Joker Venom scene references imagery and characters from Arcane).
- This episode was revealed on March 8th in celebration of International Women's Day.[1]
- When initially released, the YouTube version of the episode was titled "Harley Quinn VS Jinx (DC VS League of Legends)" before eventually replacing "DC" with "Batman" in the parenthesis. This was presumably done for SEO reasons, as the fight was released the same month as the 2022 film The Batman.
- Starting with this episode, combatant analyses no longer end with a clip from the combatant's home series.
- This is due to the previous episode, Saitama VS Popeye, being temporarily copyright claimed for Saitama's end-of-analysis clip, before it was edited to remove both his and Popeye's altogether.
- This is the first episode to have Ringmaster as a co-host.
- Though he appeared in Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man first, he did not host.
- This is the first episode by the Blender team (formerly the SFM team) to use at least one custom-made model rather than a pre-existing one, as Harley's design is unique to the episode, being based on her appearances in the Harley Quinn animated series and The Suicide Squad.
- The storyboards by John Mitchell reveal that Harley's prize for winning the Test Your Strength game was originally a teddy bear instead of a stuffed rabbit, and the worlds Harley and Jinx were teleporting through while fighting over the teleportation device on the roller coaster were originally, in order, outer space, a Minecraft world (with Steve making a cameo in the background), Gotham City (with Batman making a cameo on a nearby rooftop), and a mountainside before teleporting to the TV signal background.
- It also reveals that Harley originally didn't put on the Groucho Marx glasses and instead asks Jinx, "Hey snookums, you gotta light?" Said line can still be heard in the episode's teaser trailer.
- Mad Laugh Riot was commissioned by Matthew Jones,[2][3] making it the first original track for the show that he commissioned, with the next one being Hedge of Tomorrow.
- The version of Mad Laugh Riot released on YouTube and Spotify and the version within the fight itself are significantly different, with the fight version making these changes: extending the carnival intro section, calming down some instruments when Jinx puppeteers Fishbones behind Harley, extending again when Jinx shoots at Harley with her Zappershot Pistol, building up the music only to pause when the combatants teleport to the static TV screen before halting mid-air after falling off the Undercity Asylum, then adding build-up to Jinx falling victim to the Joker Venom in the Bandleglass Mirror Maze, and finally when Harley attempts to fool Jinx into coming closer to get a killing blow, all changes that were made so that the track better fits with the fight animation.
- The fight version of the track (albeit not exactly, as the scene of Harley chasing Jinx on the merry-go-round is not drowned out from the camera's distance) would later be uploaded to the Death Battle channel as part of their series of AMVs exclusive to Death Battle Champions.
- Harley and Jinx's respective lines of "Aw nuts." and "Well... that's unfortunate." were left in, likely to add some comedic value to the pauses the music takes in those scenes.
- The fight version of the track (albeit not exactly, as the scene of Harley chasing Jinx on the merry-go-round is not drowned out from the camera's distance) would later be uploaded to the Death Battle channel as part of their series of AMVs exclusive to Death Battle Champions.
- This is the first episode since Wolverine VS Raiden to feature a comparison panel.
- Starting from this episode onwards, a majority of episodes began to include these panels as a way to better identify the differences and advantages that combatants of each episode have over each other.
Easter Eggs
- Jinx telling the crows "I'll show you a murder!" at the start of the fight is a nod to how a group of crows is called a "murder".
- The roller coaster that Harley and Jinx ride is named "Undercity Asylum", which is likely a reference to both the Undercity of Zaun and Arkham Asylum.
- During the roller coaster scene, before it speeds up, the constellation from the end of Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man can be seen to the left of the Moon.
- This is the first episode to feature the constellation in the background of the fight, with the next seven being Trunks VS Silver, Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon, Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer, Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor, Goku VS Superman (2023), Galactus VS Unicron, and Among Us VS Fall Guys.
- Harley and Jinx are briefly teleported to the events of Blake VS Mikasa while fighting over the teleportation tablet on the roller coaster.
- Amongst other things, a can of "Segar's Spinach" from Saitama VS Popeye can be seen flying from the roller coaster cart after it flies off the tracks.
- The "Bandleglass Mirror Maze" is a reference to the Bandleglass Mirror item from League of Legends.
- Jinx's Odyssey and Star Guardian skins, as well as Claggor and Mylo, can be briefly seen as manic scribbles as Jinx gets infected with Harley's Joker Venom.
- Said scribble-styled hallucinations are a reference to the same hallucinations Jinx has in Arcane.
- Harley trying to trick Jinx into coming closer to kill her by telling her to "savor the emotions" is a direct reference to the ending of Joker VS Sweet Tooth, where the Joker tricked Sweet Tooth into coming closer to kill him using the same tactic, albeit Harley doesn't succeed.
Errors
- Because Jinx's design is asymmetrical, her render being flipped in the thumbnail means her outfit/tattoos are on the wrong side.
Other
- This is the 10th DC VS non-Marvel themed episode, after Goku VS Superman 1, Goku VS Superman 2, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Raven VS Twilight Sparkle, Ben 10 VS Green Lantern, Black Canary VS Sindel, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Flash VS Sonic, and Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, and with the next three being SpongeBob VS Aquaman, Goku VS Superman (2023), and Gurren Lagann VS White Lantern.
- This is the first time that the non-Marvel character wins, with the next one being SpongeBob VS Aquaman.
- This is the 12th Video Game VS Comic Book-themed episode, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Kratos VS Spawn, Thor VS Raiden, Fox McCloud VS Bucky O'Hare, Wolverine VS Raiden, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers, Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight, Ultron VS Sigma, Black Widow VS Widowmaker, and Black Canary VS Sindel, and with the next one being Trunks VS Silver.
- This is the fourth time that the Video Game character wins, after Fox McCloud VS Bucky O'Hare, Wolverine VS Raiden, and Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers.
- This is the is the sixth Cartoons VS Video Games-themed episode, after Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2010), Zitz VS Leonardo, Fox McCloud VS Bucky O'Hare, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), and Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight, and with the next one being Aang VS Traveler.
- This is the fourth time that the Video Game character wins, after Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2010), Fox McCloud VS Bucky O'Hare, and Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015).
- This is the 18th Females-themed episode, after Rogue VS Wonder Woman, Felicia VS Taokaka, Chun-Li VS Mai Shiranui, Zelda VS Peach, Ivy VS Orchid, Yang VS Tifa, Cammy VS Sonya, Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers, Android 18 VS Captain Marvel, Raven VS Twilight Sparkle, Black Widow VS Widowmaker, Weiss VS Mitsuru, Black Canary VS Sindel, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Batgirl VS Spider-Gwen, Blake VS Mikasa, and Korra VS Storm, and with the next three being Scarlet Witch VS Zatanna, Phoenix VS Raven, and Ruby VS Maka.
- This is the fourth episode whose track includes female singers, after Meta VS Carolina, Gray VS Esdeath, and Blake VS Mikasa, and with the next four being Skyrim VS Dark Souls, Gojo VS Makima, Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Galactus VS Unicron.
- This is the ninth episode to have an Antagonist defeat a Protagonist, after Godzilla VS Gamera, Ryu VS Scorpion, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Hulk VS Doomsday, Sephiroth VS Vergil, Gray VS Esdeath, Hulk VS Broly, and DIO VS Alucard, and with the next two being Black Adam VS Apocalypse and Bill Cipher VS Discord.
- This is the fourth episode to have a Villain defeat an Anti-Hero, after Hulk VS Doomsday, Sephiroth VS Vergil and DIO VS Alucard, and with the next two being Black Adam VS Apocalypse and Bill Cipher VS Discord.
- On February 3rd, 2024, the DEATH BATTLE! YouTube channel uploaded the full fight animation of this episode on its own, likely to commemorate the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which released the day prior.
- This is the first Season Premiere whose full fight was reuploaded by itself, with the next two being Yoda VS King Mickey and Black Panther VS Batman.
References
- ↑ https://twitter.com/DEATHBATTLE/status/1501317791487442946
- ↑
- ↑ Oh yeah I also paid for the guest singer of this fight.
