Save Death Battle Kickstarter

The creative team behind the hit web series, DEATH BATTLE, is going independent and we need your help to fund new episodes!

—Kickstarter Description

Save DEATH BATTLE! is the name of both the community movement and the Kickstarter campaign created to secure the future of Death Battle by funding Death Battle '24 and '25.

The Kickstarter can be found here.

Kickstarter Details

Stretch Goals

• $75,000: Four episodes of Death Battle are produced, including Omni-Man VS Bardock and Bowser VS Eggman.
• $125,000: All Bankai-tier backers and higher get an exclusive Champion Coin and Light VS Columbo is produced as a Bonus episode.
• $150,000: Two more episodes are produced, including Kratos VS Asura.
• $200,000: All Gold Requiem-tier backers and higher get an exclusive vinyl album, which features unproduced Death Battle music.
• $225,000: Two more episodes are produced, including a rematch of the choice of Super Backers or higher.
• $275,000: Luis Cruz will animate for an episode with a hand-drawn fight.
• $300,000: Two more episodes are produced, including Mahito VS Shigaraki.
• $350,000: Aang VS Traveler is produced.
• $375,000: Two more episodes are produced, including Ash VS Yugi, the 200th episode.
• $425,000: Former animator Torrian Crawford will be brought back for an episode with a 3D fight.
• $450,000: Two more episodes are produced, including Simon the Digger VS White Lantern.
• $500,000: Two more episodes are produced, with former production group Ismahawk being brought back for one with a live-action fight.
• $600,000: Two more episodes are produced, including Ruby VS Maka.
• $700,000: Two more episodes are produced, including Hulk VS Godzilla.
• $737,000: Gru VS Megamind is produced for the fans helping save the show.

Reward Tiers

Note: All subsequent tiers get all the benefits of the previous tiers.

• $5 - Super: Backers of this tier get bragging rights for helping to save the show and the opportunity to vote on an episode to get a rematch, as described in the $225,000 Stretch Goal.
• $20 - Avatar: Backers of this tier are rewarded with a slew of digital goodies, including wallpapers, ringtones, snapshots, and a secret message from Wiz and Boomstick.
• $50 - Bankai: Backers of this tier are rewarded with a poster drawn by Death Battle's animation director, Luis Cruz, and the campaign-exclusive Champion Coin mentioned in the $125,000 Stretch Goal.
• $75 - Sage Mode: Backers of this tier are rewarded with their poster being autographed by Ben Singer and Chad James.
• $100 - Ultra Instinct: Backers of this tier receive a personal message from either Ben Singer, Chad James, or Billy B Burson III.
• $250 - World Breaker: Backers of this tier will be included in a Special Thanks portion of the credits for the first four episodes.
• $500 - Gold Requiem: Backers of this tier can pitch their own episode idea directly to the team in a private call and are rewarded with the campaign-exclusive vinyl music album mentioned in the $200,000 Stretch Goal.
• $1,500 - Fierce Deity: Backers of this tier are rewarded with exclusive behind-the-scenes videos covering the first four episodes.
• $2,500 - White Phoenix: Backers of this tier have their Special Thanks reward from the World Breaker Tier be upgraded to credit them as producers of the first four episodes and being included in the IMDb listings. Their matchup pitch reward is also upgraded to their matchup being guaranteed to be discussed on DEATH BATTLE Cast.
• $5,000 - Super Tengen Toppa: Backers of this tier are given VIP Access to watch the premiere of the first independent Death Battle with the team in Dallas, Texas. The reward is only available to backers in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawai'i).

Add-Ons

• $50 Add-On: Exclusive Death Battle Shirt
• $69 Add-On: Mogg - Custom Video Message
• $75 Add-On: Wiz - Custom Video Message
• $75 Add-On: Boomstick - Custom Video Message
• $75 Add-On: Ringmaster - Custom Video Message
• $100 Add-On: Exclusive GOLD Death Battle Shirt
• $200 Add-On: Campaign Exclusive Vinyl Music Album
• $300 Add-On: Pitch your Matchup to Wiz & Boomstick!
• $350 Add-On: Your Own Custom Battle Music
• $1,500 Add-On: Get your matchup on Death Battle Cast!
• $10,000 Add-On: Executive Producer Credit

1/11

The following are optional add-ons backers can add to their pledged reward tiers:

• $50 (Exclusive Death Battle Shirt): Backers receive a campaign-exclusive T-shirt featuring the updated Death Battle logo made for the Kickstarter. This add-on is exclusive to backers of the Bankai tier and above.
• $69 (Mogg - Custom Video Message): Backers receive a personal message from Mogg Slothman.
• $75 (Wiz/Boomstick/Ringmaster - Custom Video Message): Backers receive a personal message from either Ben Singer, Chad James, or Billy B Burson III, similar to backers of the Ultra Instinct tier and above.
• $100 (Exclusive GOLD Death Battle Shirt): Backers receive a campaign-exclusive T-shirt featuring the updated Death Battle logo made for the Kickstarter and with metallic gold vinyl. Similar to the normal T-shirt, this add-on is exclusive to backers of the Bankai tier and above.
• $200 (Campaign Exclusive Vinyl Music Album): Backers receive the campaign-exclusive vinyl music album mentioned in the $200,000 Stretch Goal, similar to backers of the Gold Requiem tier and above.
• $300 (Pitch your Matchup to Wiz & Boomstick!): Backers can pitch their own episode idea directly to Ben and Chad in a private call, similar to backers of the Gold Requiem tier and above.
• $350 (Your Own Custom Battle Music): Backers receive a custom battle track from Brandon Yates for a matchup of their choice, similar to his "What If?" commission tracks.
• $1,500 (Get your matchup on Death Battle Cast!): Backers can get their own episode idea to be discussed on DEATH BATTLE Cast, similar to backers of the White Phoenix tier and above.
• $10,000 (Executive Producer Credit): Backers receive a producer credit on the first four episodes, similar to backers of the White Phoenix tier and above.

Reward Packs

Due to the overwhelming success of the Kickstarter, on August 14th, 2024, reward packs were added in response to certain rewards running out of stock. Each pack rewards backers with not only the campaign-exclusive poster, Champion Coin, digital downloads, and the opportunity to vote on an episode to get a rematch, but also an extra reward or two exclusive to each pack.

• $200 - Reward Pack Green: Backers receive both the normal and gold versions of the campaign-exclusive T-shirts.
• $350 - Reward Pack Blue: Backers receive the ability to pitch their matchup idea to Liam Swan and Sam Mitchell.
• $400 - Reward Pack Red: Backers receive both the normal and gold versions of the campaign-exclusive T-shirts, as well as the campaign-exclusive vinyl music album.
• $550 - Reward Pack Gold: Backers receive the ability to pitch their matchup idea to Liam and Sam, as well as the campaign-exclusive vinyl music album.

History

Origins & Initial Movement

On March 6th, 2024, it was announced that Rooster Teeth would be shut down by its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, 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. Later on, it was confirmed that no new videos would be uploaded on the DEATH BATTLE YouTube channel after May 10th, as the crew will lose access to the channel then, though they would still have access to the YouTube community tab. 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.

During this time of uncertainty, several members of the Death Battle community had come together on social media to spread their support for the series and hopes for its continuation under the hashtag "#SaveDEATHBATTLE", with it even managing to get trending on Twitter on several occasions.

Kickstarter Announcement

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 and created a Kickstarter campaign that would launch on July 30th to fund four new episodes and get the show back on track. More details were given in an "Ask Me Anything" thread hosted on the r/deathbattle subreddit.

On the 30th, a livestream was aired on both Death Battle's YouTube channel and the HangTime Twitch channel.

Kickstarter Campaign

The $75,000 base goal was funded in 21 minutes. By the end of the first day, $487,000 had been funded. By the end of the first week, over $600,000 had been funded. Ultimately, the Kickstarter ended on August 29th, 2024 with a total of $737,370 funded by 7,770 backers, nearly 10 times the amount of money initially requested. Additional money was funded as Late Pledges for any remaining rewards, leading the total to be raised up to $740,000 funded by 7,836 backers when pledging closed altogether on September 9th, 2024.

Trivia

• On July 22nd, Ben Singer and Chad James posted to Twitter an image showcasing the color green, teasing the Save DEATH BATTLE! Kickstarter campaign.
  • This would soon be followed by several other members of the Death Battle crew posting the same image.
  • A later post from Ben clarified the specific hex code (#05ce78). This green is the one used in Kickstarter's logo and promotional work, thus further hinting at the reveal.
• The "SAVE Death Battle!" livestream was hosted by the Twitch channel "Hang Time!", whose founder Shaun Bolen used to work with many of the Death Battle crew under the ScrewAttack era.
• During the livestream, it was confirmed Wile E. Coyote VS Tom Cat has not been forgotten about, indicating that it'll be one of the future episodes.
• All the Reward Tiers are named after various Death Battle combatants' super forms and transformations, with every tier's description reinforcing the reference:
  • "Super" is named after the numerous Super Saiyan transformations from the Dragon Ball series.
    • This is reinforced by its description telling backers that they "are the light in the darkness", referencing the original dubbed version of Goku's speech to Frieza on Namek after he first went Super Saiyan.
  • "Avatar" is named after Aang and Korra's Avatar State.
    • Its description tells backers that "we're all connected thanks to [their] support", referencing how the Avatar State allows Aang and Korra to communicate with past Avatars.
  • "Bankai" is named after the Bankai forms from the Bleach series.
    • Its description tells backers to "cast [their] fear" and "look forward" to the poster reward, referencing Zangetsu's speech to Ichigo telling him to abandon his own fears in Chapter 66.
  • "Sage Mode" is named after Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya's Sage Mode.
    • Its description tells backers that they "have the guts to never give up", referencing Jiraiya's speech to Orochimaru in Chapter 166.
  • "Ultra Instinct" is named after Son Goku's Ultra Instinct transformation.
    • Its description states that backers have "gone even further beyond", referencing Goku's line before he entered Super Saiyan 3; while it's not a reference to Ultra Instinct specifically, the line is commonly used by people to describe a character becoming more powerful with a new form/transformation, including Goku himself.
  • "World Breaker" is named after the Hulk's Worldbreaker form.
    • Its description tells backers that "[their] support is an absolute win", referencing the memetic line that Hulk says in Avengers: Endgame.
  • "Gold Requiem" is named after Giorno Giovanna's Gold Experience Requiem, being the only Reward Tier to not be named after a super form or transformation of a previous or confirmed upcoming Death Battle combatant.
    • Its description tells backers that "what [they're] seeing is indeed the truth", referencing the line GER says as it directly speaks to Diavolo before killing him.
  • "Fierce Deity" is named after Link's Fierce Deity Mask and transformation.
    • Its description tells backers that "[their] courage is legendary!", referencing how Link is the bearer of the Triforce of Courage and the name of his home series, The Legend of Zelda.
  • "White Phoenix" is named after Jean Grey's White Phoenix of the Crown form.
    • Its description tells backers that "now and forever, [their] support rises like fire," referencing the eternal cycle of reincarnation associated with the mythological phoenix and Phoenix herself.
  • "Super Tengen Toppa" is named after Simon the Digger's Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann energy mech.
    • Its description tells backers that "we will evolve beyond the show we were a minute before" thanks to them, referencing Simon's drill analogy that he says to the Anti-Spiral.
• The characters featured in the thumbnail for the matchup pitch reward are Domon Kasshu and Master Asia from the Mobile Fighter G Gundam series.
• The version of the pitch video on the Kickstarter itself is slightly different from the version on YouTube, as it lacks the teaser for Bowser VS Eggman and cuts back to Ben and Chad after showing Omni-Man VS Bardock, likely to avoid getting into issues with Nintendo (either for the official voice clip of Bowser being used or simply using Nintendo's characters unofficially at all).
• Aang VS Traveler took the $350,000 stretch goal's placement of a documentary showing the history of Death Battle after it was decided that the Kickstarter should prioritize the main show rather than any side content. However, Ben Singer has confirmed that they still aim to pursue this documentary in the future.
  • Back when it was still the $700,000 stretch goal, the amount of money needed to reveal the matchup after Aang VS Traveler used to require $690,420 as a joke before being dropped to $650,000.