Season 10 is the 10th season of Death Battle and the final season to use a traditional season structure. It premiered on May 22nd, 2023 and concluded on December 18th, 2023. It consisted of 16 episodes.
Changes
- The full season was released on a consistent schedule with no mid-season break, similar to previous seasons.
- As a result, there were no new seasons of DBX or The Desk of DEATH BATTLE to fill in a potential mid-season break.
- The television monitor in the Death Battle Lab now has a noticeable screen overlay.
- Blooper reels return since their removal in the latter half of Season 7 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Combatants' analysis previews no longer follow the format of having "DEATH BATTLE!" in the title, starting with Bill Cipher VS Discord.
- Episodes and their analysis previews no longer receive early releases for Champions/FIRST Members, starting with Frieza VS Megatron.
- From Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha to Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, each new episode would receive artwork drawn by Susie Combs to promote its release.
- Episodes now begin with a short preview of the fight animation that ends with the "FIGHT!" graphic (making its return since its last appearance in Thanos VS Darkseid), starting with Goku VS Superman (2023).
- Jocelyn and DUMMI do not have much analysis dialogue compared to the previous season, and Ringmaster makes no on-screen appearances.
Episodes
Confirmed Combatants
These are all the combatants who were confirmed to appear in this season prior to their episode being officially announced in a Next Time trailer.
Champion's Polls
As part of Death Battle's paid YouTube membership, members were able to submit matchups into a ballot in the member-exclusive Discord server, from which the crew then selected some and put into two polls that members could vote in, with the winning matchups becoming episodes this season; one animated in 2D and one animated in 3D (although it was originally meant to be a singular poll, regardless of animation style). The losing matchups were excluded from happening this season, but could still happen in future ones. Several losing matchups would indeed be confirmed later on, which were Among Us VS Fall Guys, Kratos VS Asura and Simon the Digger VS White Lantern.
Voting started on December 9th, 2022 and lasted until December 15th, 2022 at 4pm CT, with the results being revealed at the end of Gogeta VS Vegito and in the 310th episode of DEATH BATTLE Cast.[1] The winner of the 2D Poll was Bill Cipher VS Discord and the winner of the 3D Poll was Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer.
More information can be found in this video.
Polls
2D Poll
(DC VS Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)
(Gravity Falls VS My Little Pony)
3D Poll
On April 18th, 2023, Death Battle released a teaser trailer for Season 10.
Throughout the teaser, there are various pieces of footage inside or behind the on-screen text that hint towards matchups or combatants for this season. These include footage of:
- Alex Mercer (in "WE'RE COMING BACK"), naturally hinting towards Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer
- Cole MacGrath (in "THE LATEST THE GREATEST THE COMPLICATED"), naturally hinting towards Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer
- Bill Cipher (in "THE LONG AWAITED RETURN"), naturally hinting towards Bill Cipher VS Discord
- Discord (behind "DEATH BATTLE RETURNS"), naturally hinting towards Bill Cipher VS Discord
- Pigeons (in "SEASON 10"), hinting towards Phoenix VS Raven
- A man playing chess (in "SIXTEEN BRUTAL EPISODES"), hinting towards Bowser VS Eggman[3] prior to it being pushed to Death Battle '24[4]
- A figure in shadow holding a mask (in "NONSTOP NERDY NONSENSE"), hinting towards Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha[5]
- A lightning strike (in "ALL YEAR ROUND"), hinting towards Killua VS Misaka
- A person riding a longboard near a beach (in "SOME OF THE BIGGEST"), hinting towards Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon[6]
- Brain neurons (in "FIGHTS IN DEATH BATTLE HISTORY"), hinting towards Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer[7]
- Ants (in "STARTS NEXT MONTH"), naturally hinting at Ant-Man VS Atom
Cipher


At the end of the teaser, an image featuring a zodiac wheel and several cryptograms briefly flashed on-screen (pictured above), similar to the end of the Gravity Falls intro. An updated version of the zodiac wheel was later shown in the cover art of Bill Cipher VS Discord's original track, Discordant Decipher, with most of the symbols being visually updated and Discord's body passing through nine of the sectors, namely the question mark, dollar sign, lotus, star, half moon, yin-yang, crossed swords, atom, and waves symbols, implying that those symbols represent the nine episodes released as of said episode and that the question mark represented Bill Cipher VS Discord (with both being confirmed by the time of their eventual reveals).
Shortly after the release of the Season Finale, Galactus VS Unicron, the Death Battle YouTube channel began revealing the answers to the zodiac wheel over the course of the next several days by posting the answers in pinned comments under the symbols' respective episodes.
Starting at the top and going clockwise, the symbols on the wheel and the episodes they represent are as follows:
- ❔ Question mark
- Revealed to represent Bill Cipher VS Discord.[8] This is because the symbol is an apt way to describe the crazy and unpredictable reality-warping natures of both combatants. The question mark is also a symbol on Bill Cipher's own zodiac wheel, with both wheels having it as the first symbol when starting from the top and going clockwise. This also confirms that Discordant Decipher's cover art was teasing this symbol as being representative of the episode, as Discord is shown entering the question mark symbol as his final stop, suggesting that it's the one related to it.
- 💲 Dollar sign (officially referred to as "money")
- Revealed to represent Killua VS Misaka.[9] This is because of how money relates to both combatants; Killua's family is extremely rich and he has been shown to have a gambling problem, while Misaka uses arcade coins as her main weapon. While subtle, the latter was also part of the fight track's name (Change × of × Heart) and Boomstick's pun at the end of the post-analysis ("But hey, at least she let Killua... keep the change."), which could've further hinted towards this.
- 🪷 Siddhachakra (later updated to a lotus symbol, officially referred to as "lotus")
- Revealed to represent Skyrim VS Dark Souls.[10] This is because the siddhachakra and lotus are symbolic of freedom from a cycle and rebirth, which fits both combatants; the Chosen Undead can choose to break the cycle of the Age of Fire by bringing the Age of Dark and is quite literally reborn again and again due to their undying nature, while the Last Dragonborn was a prisoner who gained freedom by escaping their execution and was destined to free Tamriel from the clutches of Alduin after he returned from his previous defeat.
- ☠ Skull and crossbones (officially referred to as "crossbones")
- Revealed to be Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog.[11] This is because the skull represents the fact that this is the Halloween episode (with the month of October Halloween celebrations even being known as "Skeletober" on the DEATH BATTLE Cast), while the bones represent how the canine combatants like bones, with Courage's God Bone even being featured in the fight. It's likely also a nod to the supernatural entities and monsters both canines have had encounters with and the dangers they represent, which are sometimes represented by said symbol of crossbones with a skull, particularly undead creatures.
- ⭐ Star
- Revealed to represent Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer.[12] This is simply because of the cosmic nature of the matchup and how both combatants are aliens that originated from space. It also teased the episode's kill, as Martian Manhunter died within one of the very stars used to represent the episode.
- ♻ Recycling symbol
- Revealed to represent Goku VS Superman (2023).[13] This is because of how this is the third time that Death Battle has tackled the matchup. As recycling is a term used for the act of converting waste into reusable material, it may also refer to how this episode is a proper re-examination of the matchup that avoids the mistakes made by the widely disliked and criticized Goku VS Superman 2.
- ⚖ Scales
- Revealed to represent Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer.[14] This is because both combatants' home series put a fairly heavy emphasis on each character's morality (as scales are used to symbolize the balance of moral justice in the court of law), with it being an entire gameplay system in the inFAMOUS series, while Alex Mercer's moral alignments shift rather drastically across the Prototype series.
- 🌓 Half moon (later updated to resemble a waxing crescent moon)
- Revealed to represent Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha.[15] This is because both combatants are related to the Moon; Darth Vader commanded the Death Star, which has been compared to a moon, while Obito helped orchestrate the Eye of the Moon Plan. This is even referenced in the episode's track title, "That's No Moon". The half moon symbol being half-black and half-white could also represent the dark and light sides of the Force, which Vader has switched between, or simply how both combatants have switched between the sides of good and evil in general.
- ☯ Yin-yang (officially referred to as "yin and yang")
- Revealed to represent Phoenix VS Raven.[16] This is because yin and yang represent light and darkness, and both combatants are heroes who struggle with their own inner demons made manifest (Dark Phoenix and Dark Raven, respectively). This is even referenced in the cover art for the episode's track, "Forevermore", as it depicts the Phoenix Force and Raven's Soul-Self encircling each other in a yin-yang formation. It may also reference this page from Avengers vs. X-Men #12, where the Phoenix Force and Scarlet Witch's Chaos Magic form a yin-yang in the last panel.
- 🤵 Man in suit (officially referred to as "suit")
- Revealed to represent Gojo VS Makima.[17] While this mainly represents Makima's Devil Hunter uniform, which is a suit, it could also be symbolic of the demon-hunting organizations Gojo and Makima work for (Tokyo Jujutsu High and the Public Safety Devil Hunters, respectively) and their high-ranking authority in them. It could also relate to their roles as mentors, as most teachers are often depicted wearing suits or uniforms.
- ⛧ Pentagram
- Revealed to represent Galactus VS Unicron.[18] While a demonic connection only fits one of the combatants (Unicron is so synonymous as "Robot Satan" that it was even referenced in the title of his analysis preview and in his analysis proper, while Galactus' only real connection would be through battling demonic characters like Mephisto), it's possible the symbol could represent the episode through a contrast between the original and inverted pentagrams (as the former represents life, which lines up with Galactus' goal at the end of the universe and temporary status as the Lifebringer, while the latter represents evil, which Unicron fundamentally embodies).
- 🧪 Flask in spiked wheel (later updated to remove the spiked wheel, officially referred to as "beaker" and revealed with test tube emojis)
- Revealed to represent Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor.[19] This is because flasks, beakers, and test tubes are synonymous with science, which fits both combatants, as Rick and the Doctor are known for being two of the smartest scientists in their respective series. It also correlates with how both Rick and Morty and Doctor Who are science-fiction series.
- ⚔️ Two crossed swords (officially referred to as "swords")
- Revealed to represent Guts VS Dimitri.[20] While this more clearly references Guts' status as a swordsman, Dimitri's status is more broad, given things such as his Swordbreaker ability, Fire Emblem's iconography typically alluding to swords (such as the silhouette of Falchion being Fire Emblem's series symbol in the Super Smash Bros. series), or the fact that Dimitri can technically equip a sword for combat and is proficient at doing so, even if he does not do so in the episode itself. It may also represent both combatants being medieval warriors.
- ⚛ Atom
- Revealed to represent Ant-Man VS Atom.[21] This is simply because of the combatants' abilities to shrink to sub-atomic sizes, as well as it being an obvious reference to the Atom.
- 🌊 Wave
- Revealed to represent Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon.[22] This is because the beach and surfing are synonymous with Lilo & Stitch, with the beach theme having been heavily emphasized in this episode's promotion (in its Next Time trailer, thumbnail, and the fight itself). It may also relate to the common analogy of comparing space (where both combatants originated from) to an ocean (which is prone to the creation of waves).
- 🔀 Shuffle symbol
- Revealed to represent Frieza VS Megatron.[23] This is because both combatants shuffle themselves around via their many transformations, especially in regards to Megatron's species, as Transformers move their components around whenever they transform.
At the bottom of the image are the words "Reveal the way" and two links, the top one leading to an Atbash cipher decoder and the bottom one leading to a Vigenère cipher decoder, prompting viewers to go and solve the cryptograms themselves, similar to how multiple pieces of Gravity Falls media featured cryptograms that audiences can decipher.
If one decodes the top cryptogram using the Atbash decoder,[Note 1] it will reveal the following message:
Normal teasers are a bore, for all the fights and death in store
Use the keys to match the lines, you never know what clues you'll find
Deciphering the cryptograms labeled from one to six requires the Vigenère decoder and keys that can be found using codes hidden throughout the teaser, with the first five codes corresponding to a previous Death Battle episode and the nth word spoken in it by either Wiz or Boomstick (e.g., the code "DvA 559" refers to the 559th word spoken in Deku VS Asta, which was "melee"). Using the keys, the decoded messages are as follows:
- Key: MELEE (Code: DvA 559) — X people out, but keep it silent
- Key: UNLUCKY (Code: CvL 1139) — Kill them all, and treat them violent
- Key: TREE (Code: BvG 581) — Beast without but not within
- Key: PANTHEON (Code: OMvHL 1043) — The end will come from what begins
- Key: CAROUSEL (Code: BvSM 692) — A dark reflection of the past
- Key/Code: DEATHBATTLE — Season 10 is coming fast
Aside from the sixth cryptogram hyping up the release of the season, the messages correspond to an episode in the season's lineup. As confirmed by Djmah'di Rivers,[24] they are as follows:
- Revealed to represent Killua VS Misaka. This is due to Killua's status as an assassin (thus crossing/X'ing people out on a hit list) and how the "×" in Hunter × Hunter is silent, as well as how the more shady parts of Academy City (namely Accelerator killing enough of the Sisters to become a Level 6 Esper) were kept under wraps. The key of "MELEE" relates to Killua's physical fighting prowess.
- Revealed to represent Guts VS Dimitri. This is due to both combatants' violent natures after being betrayed and them killing every enemy that got in their way of revenge, as well as Dimitri's "Kill every last one of them!" quote. The key of "UNLUCKY" relates to how both combatants underwent several traumatic and unfortunate events in their lives, as well as how Dimitri's Luck stat in Fire Emblem: Three Houses is below average at best.
- Revealed to represent Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon. This is due to both combatants being (mostly) good-natured individuals despite their beastly appearances. The key of "TREE" relates to the concept of the family tree and both combatants finding their own families, as well as how Rocket Raccoon's best friend is the tree creature Groot.
- Revealed to represent both Phoenix VS Raven and Galactus VS Unicron.
- For Phoenix VS Raven, this is due to both combatants' powers heralding both the beginning and end of their respective multiverses.
- For Galactus VS Unicron, this is due to how both combatants existed since the start of their current multiverses and how their presences signify the end of the world. Additionally, Season 10 started with Ant-Man VS Atom, a matchup featuring combatants who can shrink to become the smallest ones on the show, and ended with this episode, which featured two of the biggest, with both episodes ending with the winner (who coincidentally was the Marvel character on both occasions) growing to gigantic sizes before killing their opponent with an attack that ultimately disintegrated their bodies, thus starting and ending the season with episodes featuring extreme sizes and the same kill concept.
- The key of "PANTHEON" relates to all four combatants being/wielding the powers of gods or forces of nature, as Jean Grey wields the power of the Phoenix Force, Raven wields the power of her dad Trigon, Galactus is often compared to abstract beings in Marvel, and Unicron is the embodiment of evil in Transformers.
- Revealed to represent Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha. This is due to the matchup as a whole being a dark reprise of Season 7's Obi-Wan Kenobi VS Kakashi, as it features Obi-Wan and Kakashi's students who fell to the side of evil. The key of "CAROUSEL" relates to both combatants' story arcs having them go from being a protagonist to an antagonist and back to a protagonist, revolving around the two sides of morality similar to how a carousel/merry-go-round works.
Credits
Name | Scores Composed |
---|---|
Therewolf Media | Not Actual Size, Change × of × Heart, Jailhouse Rocket, Forevermore, Mind Over Matter, Who Wears The Crown, Forever Terror Night, Wubba-Lubba-Allons-Y, All-Consuming |
Brandon Yates | Fireborn, That's No Moon, God's Hand, Discordant Decipher, [inHuman], Final Formers, Super, All-Consuming |
The Death Battle Fan Choir | Fireborn |
Logan Adams | God's Hand (uncredited on track cover), Super (uncredited on track cover) |
Infotron | Discordant Decipher |
Mr. Goatee | Discordant Decipher |
Omega Sparx | [inHuman] |
SWATS | [inHuman] |
Nathaniel Wolkstein | [inHuman] (uncredited on track cover) |
Donna Caruthers | Who Wears The Crown (uncredited on track cover), Forever Terror Night |
Tiggs | All-Consuming |
Trivia
- Season 10 is tied with Season 4, Season 5, Season 6, Season 8, and Season 9 for the fourth highest amount of episodes with a total of 16, after Season 2, Season 1, and Season 7, and followed by Season 3.
- Season 10 is tied with Season 6 and Season 7 for the third highest amount of returning combatants with a total of five (Darth Vader, Raven, Guts, Son Goku, and Superman), after Season 8 and Season 2, and followed by Season 5, Season 9, Season 4, Season 3, and Season 1.
- Season 10 is tied with Season 9 for the third highest amount of new series introduced with 15 (Dark Souls, The Elder Scrolls, Hunter × Hunter, A Certain Magical Index, Lilo & Stitch, Fire Emblem, Gravity Falls, inFAMOUS, Prototype, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Scooby-Doo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rick and Morty, and Doctor Who), after Season 1 and Season 2, and followed by Season 5, Season 3, Season 6, Season 8, Season 4, and Season 7.
- Season 10 has the highest amount of lyrical tracks with a total of 10.
- Aside from a ScrewAttack poll determining the opponent for what would become Zitz VS Leonardo, this is the first season to allow fans to vote for unique matchups, with the next one being Death Battle '24.
- This is the first season to:
- not have any combatants from Sega.
- not have a mid-season break since Season 6.
- have an equal amount of sprite and 3D animated episodes.
- This is the third season to not feature a joke episode, after Season 5 and Season 7.
- The Death Battle crew has officially ranked this season on the 363rd episode of DEATH BATTLE Cast.[25] The final tier list can be seen here.
Notes
References
- ↑ Ash & Pikachu VS Tai & Agumon | DEATH BATTLE Cast #310
- ↑ Join us for Kratos vs Asura, our 3D matchup poll runner-up!
- —Kratos VS Asura | DEATH BATTLE Cast #319 Description
- ↑
- ↑ https://x.com/slashtiki/status/1818304196837560511
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ ❔❓❔ QUESTION MARK ❓❔❓
- ↑ 💲💲💲MONEY💲💲💲
- ↑ 🪷🪷🪷 LOTUS 🪷🪷🪷
- ↑ ☠☠☠ CROSSBONES ☠☠☠
- ↑ ⭐⭐⭐ STAR ⭐⭐⭐
- ↑ ♻♻♻ RECYCLING ♻♻♻
- ↑ ⚖⚖⚖ SCALES ⚖⚖⚖
- ↑ 🌓🌓🌓 HALF MOON 🌓🌓🌓
- ↑ ☯☯☯ YIN AND YANG ☯☯☯
- ↑ 🤵🤵🤵 SUIT 🤵🤵🤵
- ↑ ⛧⛧⛧ PENTAGRAM ⛧⛧⛧
- ↑ 🧪🧪🧪 BEAKER 🧪🧪🧪
- ↑ ⚔⚔⚔ SWORDS ⚔⚔⚔
- ↑ ⚛⚛⚛ ATOM ⚛⚛⚛
- ↑ 🌊🌊🌊 WAVE 🌊🌊🌊
- ↑ 🔀🔀🔀 SHUFFLE 🔀🔀🔀
- ↑
- ↑ Season 10 Tier List! Let's Rank Our Episodes! | DEATH BATTLE Cast