- —Ringmaster starting every DBX from Season 4 to Season 5
Marshall, also known as Ringmaster, is the host of DBX, replacing Boomstick starting in Season 4. He is also the current announcer and an occasional co-host of Death Battle starting in Season 8, as well as the announcer of Death Race.
As his name implies, he is a showman whose main focus is bringing the hype.
History
There is little information on Ringmaster's past, but what is known is that Marshall went to college and was roommates with Boomstick.
After Boomstick received a letter from his father at the end of Death Battle's Hulk VS Broly, he enlisted the help of Ringmaster to track him down. While he and Boomstick were drinking and repeatedly clicking the random button on Instant Google Street View in search of Boomstick's dad, Boomstick told him that he knows someone who could sell him cheap pyrotechnics, which inspired Ringmaster to install a "Interactive Fireworks" into the V.I.P. seating section of his arena for his non-filmed test show for Season 6. Unfortunately, the test show went horribly wrong, and a vaguely described foreign person of authority was in the V.I.P. seating section. Apparently, that man had a pomade that was incredibly flammable, and it is because of this that Ringmaster requires a responsible party on-site to maintain coverage; in other words, a co-host. Marshall's first choice was, of course, his old friend Boomstick. However, things did not work out, as Marshall and Boomstick's "artistic differences" caused Ringmaster to publicly humiliate Boomstick during Ness VS Sans, which upset Boomstick so much that he refused to co-host the next episode.
Ringmaster's second option was Wizard, who he had previously collaborated with for Death Race, but things got even worse than when he was with Boomstick, as Marshall and Wiz do not get along at all. In Apocalypse VS Black Adam, Ringmaster tried to rid Wiz of his flying podium just like he did with Boomstick, but since they were created by Wiz in the first place, the tables were quickly turned. This made Ringmaster resort to violence and knock Wizard out cold with a bat, sending the scientist to the hospital and rendering him unable to co-host another episode.
In Donald VS Daffy, Ringmaster was able to reconcile with Boomstick, but this wouldn't last long, as the mere mention of 'research' caused things to spiral out of control, and the inclusion of Mecha-Goose Howard only made things worse. Now, Boomstick is hospitalized as well, and definitely not happy with Marshall.
Running out of options, Ringmaster brings in DUMMI for Zuko VS Roy. While the show didn't end with a disaster, Ringmaster still chose not to work with DUMMI again simply because the robot was too depressing to work with.
Desperate, Ringmaster uses cardboard cutouts of Wiz and Boomstick as his co-hosts in Sailor Mercury VS Blue Ranger, playing the role of both. His sanity becomes questionable as the fake Wiz and Boomstick, played by himself, confesses that Ringmaster's arena is a hostile work environment and wants to leave, while Ringmaster tries to stop them. When he is all alone, he laughs, and even casually mentions that he is drifting into madness.
Now out of people he personally knows, at the end of Sailor Mercury VS Blue Ranger, Ringmaster calls Perfect Cell to help him, having heard he was good at being a co-host. His new co-host appears in Palpatine VS Xehanort, and although he is much better than DUMMI at cracking jokes, Ringmaster finds Perfect Cell's cockiness due to his overwhelming power hard to deal with. This reaches its breaking point when Cell forces him to wear a Kermit the Frog outfit, causing Ringmaster to not bring him back.
In Goomba VS Koopa 2, Ringmaster is ecstatic when Jocelyn the Intern shows up, who mentions that Ringmaster has been sending her many calls, and even crying in them. Ringmaster gladly accepts her as his co-host, and she proves to not only be extremely knowledgeable, but also doesn't have any conflict with him. Although he is briefly shocked when she asks for a floating platform, which was the source of conflict with some of his previous co-hosts, he accepts, and has finally found a proper co-host.
After the season ends, Ringmaster resumes his search for Boomstick's dad (possibly to make amends), and in Death Battle's Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man, he receives a tip from an anonymous source about the whereabouts of Boomstick's father. After observing the battle between Macho Man and the Kool-Aid Man, he, alongside Wiz and Boomstick, meets up with Deadpool, who is revealed to be the anonymous source. Their search finally comes to an end when they unexpectedly find Boomstick's mother instead, who assures Boomstick that even though he never got to have a relationship with his father, the friends he made along the way are all he needs.
Personality
Ringmaster is a passionate person who wants to bring up the hype and emotions of the spectators. He also seems to enjoy watching iconic characters killing each other just as much, if not more so, than Boomstick, regardless of legalities. Ringmaster's lively personality is conveyed in the way he is animated as well, having far more cartoonish and exaggerated movements and reactions compared to the other hosts.
Ringmaster's main priority is putting on a show and being the center of it, which causes him to get frustrated whenever others unknowingly humiliate him in front of a large audience. He also has a grudge against research due to the fact that he is terrible at math. Ringmaster is also shown to be incredibly neglectful in his work to the extent that, as of Season 6 of DBX, he is required to have a co-host in order to run the show. Despite seeming self-centered at times, Ringmaster is a good friend, as he has gone to great lengths to help Boomstick reunite with his father.
Quotes
- "Let's size up the competition!" (Starting every rundown in DBX Season 4)
- "Woah-ho-ho, talk about brutal! But you know what won't be brutal? Voting for the next fight via the link in the description! Tune in next week to see who takes home the win!" (Ringmaster closing an episode of DBX)
- "Remember kids, it's not murder if they're already dead." (Ben 10 VS Danny Phantom)
- "Man, I gotta stop drinking absinthe before shows..." (Optimus Prime VS Thomas the Tank Engine?)
Appareance and Outfits
Ringmaster is a dark-skinned young man with a strange-looking pompadour and always has sunglasses covering his eyes, His normal outfit consists of a red coat, pink hair, a sand yellow dress shirt, dark red pants, and maroon shoes with yellow heels and zippers, with his DBX Season 5 redesign swapping out his shoes for simple brown ones and giving him a belt. Depending on the episode he is in, Ringmaster changes this outfit to colors that usually correspond to one of the combatants that appear in DBX, Death Race, and/or Death Battle.
- In Metal Sonic VS Mega Man, Ringmaster was seen with a blue coat, hair, and pants, a yellow dress shirt, and red shoes, referencing Metal Sonic.
- In Boa Hancock VS Rider Medusa, Ringmaster was seen with a magenta coat, more pinkish hair, a pink dress shirt, black pants, and dark magenta shoes, referencing Rider.
- In Venom VS Spawn, Ringmaster was seen with a black coat, black hair, a red dress shirt, black pants, and white shoes, referencing Spawn.
- In Link VS Trunks, Ringmaster was seen with a dark blue coat, a green dress shirt, blue hair, white pants, and sand green shoes, referencing Link with the dress shirt and pants and Future Trunks' Dragon Ball Super appearance with everything else.
- In Ezio VS The Prince, Ringmaster was seen with a red coat, red hair, a white dress shirt, black pants, and dark maroon shoes, referencing Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
- In Blake VS Inuyasha, Ringmaster was seen with a red coat, white hair and pants, and a black dress shirt and shoes, referencing Inuyasha.
- In Frieza VS Mewtwo, Ringmaster was seen with a purplish-gray coat, purple hair, a light purple dress shirt, white pants, and yellow-orange shows, likely referencing Frieza more than Mewtwo due to the hair.
- In Batman VS Iron Man, Ringmaster was seen with a black coat and shoes, blue hair, red dress shirt, and yellow pants, referencing Batman with the coat and shoes and Iron Man with everything else.
- In Season 5 of DBX and Batmobile BATTLE!, Ringmaster was seen with a black coat (with a dark gray inside), pants, and shoes along with dark gray hair and dress shirt, referencing Batman.
- In Optimus Prime VS Thomas the Tank Engine? and Vegito VS Gogeta, Ringmaster was seen in his normal outfit.
- In BATTLE CARS!, Ringmaster was seen with a light gray coat (with an orange inside), yellow hair and dress shirt, light gray pants, and dark gray shoes. Unlike his other outfits, this one does not seem to reference anyone in particular.
- In Sonic VS Mario VS Star Wars VS Initial D, Ringmaster was seen with a blue coat (with a dark blue inside), yellow hair and dress shirt, light blue pants, and dark blue shoes. While this outfit does not seem to specifically reference anyone in particular, its color scheme invokes that of Captain Falcon and Sonic the Hedgehog.
- In the HBO Max ad for Sabrewulf VS Jon Talbain's YouTube release, Ringmaster was seen with a purple coat (with a purple sequin inside) and pants, light purple hair, a white dress shirt, and dark purple shoes, referencing HBO Max itself rather than Sabrewulf or Jon Talbain.
- In Ness VS Sans, Ringmaster was seen with a white coat, hair, and shoes along with a black dress shirt and pants, referencing Sans' battle sprite.
- In Naruto Uzumaki VS Ryu Hayabusa, Ringmaster was seen with a red and yellow gradient coat, magenta hair, white dress shirt, red pants, and yellow shoes, referencing the episode's sponsor OMEN rather than Naruto or Ryu.
- In Apocalypse VS Black Adam, Ringmaster was seen with a red, pink, and yellow gradient coat along with black hair, dress shirt, and pants and red shoes, referencing the episode's sponsor OMEN with the coat and shoes and possibly Black Adam with everything else.
- In Donald VS Daffy, Ringmaster was seen with a light blue coat, yellow hair and shoes, a black dress shirt, and white pants, referencing Donald Duck with the coat and pants, Daffy Duck with the dress shirt, and both with the hair and shoes.
- In Zuko VS Roy, Ringmaster was seen with a red coat, dark blue hair and pants, a yellow dress shirt, and brown shoes, referencing Zuko.
- In Sailor Mercury VS Blue Ranger, Ringmaster was seen with a dark blue coat (with a white inside) and pants, blue hair, a light blue dress shirt, and white shoes, referencing the Blue Ranger.
- In Palpatine VS Xehanort, Ringmaster was seen with a red and yellow gradient coat, red hair, and a white dress shirt and pants, referencing the episode's sponsor OMEN rather than Palpatine or Xehanort.
- Later, in the episode's prelude, Ringmaster was seen with his normal pink hair along with an all-light green outfit, black shoes, and a Kermit hood as part of his contract with Perfect Cell that he initially declined, referencing DevilArtemis' version of Kermit.
- In Goomba VS Koopa 2, Ringmaster was seen with a red, pink, and yellow gradient coat along with magenta hair and shoes and a white dress shirt and pants, referencing the episode's sponsor OMEN rather than Goomba or Koopa Troopa.
- In Harley Quinn's analysis cutaway in Harley Quinn VS Jinx, Ringmaster was seen with a red and black coat and pants, yellow hair, a white dress shirt, a maroon left shoe, and a black right shoe, naturally referencing Harley.
- Later in Jinx's analysis cutaway, Ringmaster was seen in his normal outfit while playing League of Legends on the DBX Arena's big screens. After noticing Wiz and Boomstick, he falls down a hole in the middle of the main stage and reappears in between them, now wearing a magenta coat, light blue hair, and a white dress shirt, naturally referencing Jinx.
.png "Ringmaster (HBO Max).png (312 KB)")
(HBO Max ad)
(Main Outfit)
(Kermit Costume)
(Harley-themed)
(Jinx-themed)
Gallery
Trivia
- Ringmaster's sunglasses have been shown to change shape as he expresses different emotions.
- The reason why Ringmaster is legally mandated to co-host DBX as of Season 6 is because of an incident involving fireworks. This was briefly implied in Gogeta VS Vegito but fully explained in Ringmaster's production notes posted by Billy Burson on Twitter.
- Ringmaster has made several cameo appearances in Death Battle:
- In Deadpool VS Mask, he appeared in a DBX advertisement on the side of the bus that Deadpool fell through at the beginning of the fight.
- In Bill Cipher VS Discord, a pony version of him can be seen floating around in the background during the revolving scene of Bill Cipher firing lasers at Discord.
- In Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor, said pony version of him can be seen amongst other various cameos on the "Cameo Drop" arcade cabinet (where he also appears on the side of) in the Blips and Chitz that Rick Sanchez and the Doctor wound up in partway through their fight.
- In Mulan VS Lucina, it is revealed that he mains Lucina in the Super Smash Bros. series.
- In Sonic VS Mario VS Star Wars VS Initial D, it is revealed that Ringmaster, like many Mario Kart players, is terrified of the Blue Shell.
- In Yoda VS King Mickey, it was revealed that his real name was Marshall and that he and Boomstick were roommates in college. It's also revealed that he has been helping Boomstick track his father.
- In Heihachi Mishima VS Geese Howard, Ringmaster plays the role of the announcer of the final round of the King of Iron Fist and King of Fighters crossover tournament.
- In Harley Quinn VS Jinx, it is revealed that he plays and is a big fan of League of Legends, having played over 10,000 hours on the game.
- In Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, it is revealed that he has a Nintendo Switch. He later disappears during Jocelyn's analysis of Michael Myers, presumably having been killed by Jason Voorhees.
- He made his first physical appearance in Death Battle in Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man.
- He made his first appearance as a co-host in Harley Quinn VS Jinx.
| Death Battle Hosts | |
|---|---|
| Main Hosts | Wizard • Boomstick • Ringmaster • Jocelyn the Intern • DUMMI |
| Secondary Hosts | Mecha-Goose Howard • Mama Boomstick |
| Crossover Hosts | Black Noir • DevilArtemis Cell |