- —Tagline
Sephiroth VS Vergil is the 87th episode and Season 4 Finale of Death Battle, featuring Sephiroth from the Final Fantasy series and Vergil from the Devil May Cry series in a battle between silver-haired swordsmen. Sephiroth was voiced by Kamran Nikhad and Vergil was voiced by Marc Soskin.
Interlude
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Wiz: The great philosopher Plato once said, "The measure of a man is what he does with power."
Boomstick: But to these guys, power IS the measure of a man.
Wiz: Sephiroth, the fearsome One-Winged Angel of Final Fantasy.
Boomstick: And Vergil, the half-demon Son of Sparda from Devil May Cry. 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.
Sephiroth
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Storm Shadow by Chris Egan, Trystan Francis & Andrew Cooksley 
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Wiz: Through the millennia, legends were passed of a source of unlimited energy: the Promised Land. Unfortunately, all hope of finding this sacred ground had been lost, until the Shinra Electric Power Company excavated the remains of a being believed to hail from the very land they sought.
Boomstick: They called this weird, naked, purple lady Jenova and thought that if they could bring her back to life, she could help them find the Promised Land. But apparently, they just didn't have any Phoenix Downs.
Wiz: If they couldn't resurrect a being who could lead them to the Promised Land, Shinra decided they would simply create their own. After many experiments in fusing Jenova's cells with those of a human's, they finally found their savior. His name was Sephiroth.
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Singer: ♫Sephiroth!♫
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Storm Shadow by Chris Egan, Trystan Francis & Andrew Cooksley
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Boomstick: With hair like that, it's no wonder he was created in a lab! Look at how majestic that mane is.
Wiz: According to Final Fantasy lore, Sephiroth has to use an entire bottle of shampoo and conditioner every single time he bathes.
Boomstick: Why do you know that? Did you join his fan club or something?
Wiz: Uh, for research! But Shinra wasn't interested in Sephiroth for his hair; instead, he was an essential part of their SOLDIER program.
Boomstick: Wait, wait. This electric company has their own private military? I'd hate to miss a payment with those guys. Especially if they sent Seph after me. I mean, look at the ridiculously long sword he keeps with him! That's his Masamune. This 7'2" behemoth of a blade is a lot like the Nodachi swords they used back in Feudal Japan. But instead of wielding something long with two hands like those, Sephiroth only needs one.
Wiz: Even that speaks nothing of his effectiveness as a warrior.
Boomstick: Yeah, you know when people spread legends of someone, they usually make him out to be even better than he really is?
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War of the Machines by Bob Bradley & Terry Devine-King
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Boomstick: It's the total opposite with Sephiroth.
Wiz: With his superhuman speed, strength, and durability, Sephiroth was instrumental in ensuring Shinra's victory in the Wutai war, conquering the last free nation on the planet; he returned home a legend.
Boomstick: But all those warm, fuzzy feelings of victory didn't last long. While on a mission to the town of Nibelheim, Sephiroth found a bunch of books on the Jenova project. That's when he discovered he was a secret science project the whole time.
Wiz: The truth crushed Sephiroth and drove him mad. In a rage, he annihilated Nibelheim, but was stopped by a mercenary named Cloud Strife. Sephiroth was impaled by the Buster Sword and fell... to his death.
Boomstick: Oh. Well, that's disappointing... which is what I would've said, if Sephiroth hadn't been dropped into a hole in the ground that led him to the giant Windows screensaver called the Lifestream.
Wiz: The Lifestream is a buried river of energy which basically maintains life across the planet. Normally, merging with the Lifestream is the equivalent of entering the afterlife, but not for Sephiroth.
Boomstick: And this is where things get weird, so buckle up! Still conscious, Sephiroth's essence floated through the Lifestream for years until he absorbed enough energy to rebuild his body. With the energy of the Lifestream, he can control other beings with Jenova cells.
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Unveiled by Bob Bradley & Terry Devine-King
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Wiz: Including the corpse of Jenova, who he manipulated like a puppet and disguised as himself.
Boomstick: Oh, what the hell! That's his mom!? Who would do that to their own mom!? I mean, I know she's a genocidal alien monster, but c'mon! She probably makes a good breakfast...
Wiz: But Sephiroth's descent into the Lifestream offered him even more. It transformed him from a mere super soldier into the most dangerous being on the planet. He's strong enough to throw a man hundreds of feet skyward, move at supersonic speeds, and withstand brutal stab wounds through vital organs.
Boomstick: He's got illusion powers that can trick people by creating an entirely fake scenario. He can lift people with his mind, including himself, and then he can just fly! That's how it works, right?
Wiz: Additionally, Sephiroth can cast magic thanks to his on-hand Materia. Materia is crystalized life energy which grants different powers depended on the type of Materia used.
Boomstick: This lets Sephy attack with fire, lightning, ice, and earth-based magic. He can block attacks with Barrier and Reflect, and heal himself with Cure and Regen. And ever since jumping into the Lifestream, he's had unlimited access to his magical powers.
Wiz: With his new godlike abilities, Sephiroth began a plan to stop mankind from drying up the planet's life force.
Boomstick: That... doesn't sound so scary. Does that mean he's an environmentalist, or...?
Wiz: But to do this, he decided to use Black Materia to summon a giant meteor to destroy the planet and absorb all of its life energy for himself.
Boomstick: So like, an opposite environmentalist. A planet vampire! I mean, we're talking about a guy who kicked a dude through solid concrete, murdered the crap out of a 32 foot serpent with a spike through the face, and tanked a dragon's flamethrower attack without even getting a teensy bit hurt.
Wiz: A particularly impressive feat considering this attack was capable of one-shotting fellow soldier Zack Fair.
Boomstick: Uh, Wiz? You might need to up your prescription, 'cause that's definitely Cloud.
Wiz: No no no, Cloud was just recalling false memories there, it was really Zack. However, it was Cloud who impaled Sephiroth pre-Lifestream with the Buster Sword.
Boomstick: And holy God, is it huge! It's like, two feet wide! You'd think a stab from that thing would just cut him in half, but Seph just kind of shook it off.
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Crisis Surge by Mark Denis
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Wiz: And in his rematch with Cloud, he blocked an attack strong enough to crater the metal around him. Considering the diameter of the crater, the surface area of Sephiroth's feet, and assuming the most likely steel composition, I estimate this attack to equal nearly 1,600 tons of force.
Boomstick: Sephiroth can use that wicked sword to stab and lift wannabe heroes by their rib cage, slice through skyscrapers, and shoot energy beams that can shred these huge Mako Cannons. And from the Lifestream, Sephy figured out he could create new bodies or even take on other forms.
Wiz: These forms greatly resemble certain creatures found in Christian and Jewish mythology.
Boomstick: He certainly looks the part when he goes into his ultimate form.
Wiz: Regardless, Sephiroth does possess a single black wing, a blatant symbol of his fall from grace.
Boomstick: So, basically Final Fantasy does everything it can to not be subtle, just like Sephiroth's most devastating attack: Supernova, which decimates an entire solar system! Wait, if Seph is that powerful, how does anyone ever beat him?
Wiz: Don't get the wrong idea here. There's a lot of debate over how Supernova actually works, but I think it's pretty clear that Sephiroth isn't creating the explosion himself. Rather, he's transporting his foes to a specific point in time within an alternate dimension.
Boomstick: Careful Wiz, don't sell him short.
Wiz: Just look at it! When he uses the attack, reality literally crumbles away like glass. This is identical to the animation for certain Summon creatures.
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Remote Expanse by Mark Petrie & Andrew Prahlow
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Wiz: According to the Official Crisis Core Complete Guide, Summons draw their targets into their own space in order to attack, and this is no different. In the Dissidia fighting games, Sephiroth goes for the simple approach and opens a dimensional hole to the explosion. The attack is even described as sending "destruction even into other dimensions." And if he could summon planet-busting meteors at will, why did he go through so much trouble to get the Black Materia, which literally summons meteors?
Boomstick: That would explain why the Supernova doesn't hurt him. He's not really there, just using those illusion powers of his. With all these powers, I can't believe Cloud and his friends were able to take him down.
Wiz: He's not invincible, but he's damn powerful. Ever persistent, Sephiroth departed with a final, chilling promise.
Sephiroth: I will... never be a memory.
Boomstick: Why does he sound so bored?
Vergil
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Pursuit by Chris Blackwell
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Wiz: 2,000 years ago, a great mutiny transpired in the Underworld. The demon warrior Sparda rebelled against his evil master, Mundus. To protect the world, Sparda did his best to seal the connection between Hell and Earth.
Boomstick: But then Sparda got lonely, or maybe it was just a sausage fest in there. Either way, he snuck out of Hell long enough to knock up this chick named Eva, and she popped out a couple of awesome demon slayers! Nice choice!
Wiz: You may remember the younger of the two, Dante.
Boomstick: Oh yeah, he fought that witch chick with the hair.
Wiz: But the eldest and potentially deadliest brother was the one and only, Vergil.
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Chain Gangsta by Matt Hill & David O'Brien
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Boomstick: Vergil and Dante were rivals from birth. Dante was a goofball, Vergil was serious. Dante hated his being a demon, and Vergil loved it. It's that classic odd couple scenario.
Wiz: But then one fateful day, in an act of vengeance against the late Sparda, a group of rogue demons separated the two brothers and killed their mother. Vergil was believed to be dead. But in reality, Vergil survived, and set out on his own path to seek his father's immense power for himself.
Boomstick: And he's 100% equipped to be a butt-kicking demon slayer just like his Pops. As a half-demon, Vergil can jump several times his own height, move at supersonic speeds, and heal himself quickly, kinda like that Wolverine guy. He can tough out getting stabbed through the lungs, intestines, the heart, body parts I'm pretty sure most people need.
Wiz: Not if my experiment has anything to say about it...
Boomstick: You say somethin', Wiz?
Wiz: I said not if Vergil's abilities have anything to say about it!
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Storming the Armoury by Christopher Ashmore & Benjamin Marks
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Boomstick: Well, sadly for any human, demon, or human-demon who gets in his way, Vergil also happens to carry some extra deadly weapons on hand, including a spiffy katana called Tomato!
Wiz: Yamato.
Boomstick: Eh. It's said that this sword can cut through anything, even dimensions, and probably tomatoes! Actually, Yamato was the exact thing Sparda used to seal Hell from Earth in the first place.
Wiz: Vergil's swordfighting prowess draws from his Dark Slayer Fighting Style, which emphasizes teleportation, lightning-quick movements, and even quicker slashes straight from the sheath. This technique is directly influenced by iaijutsu, the real-life Japanese art of the quick draw. And thanks to Vergil's demonic powers, he can attack so fast, the blade seems invisible.
Boomstick: Ah, the only thing better than fighting with one sword is fighting with eight! With Vergil's ghostly Summoned Swords, he can turn himself into a living Beyblade, fire them like a machine gun, or... make it rain!
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Free Runner by Barrie Gledden & Kes Loy
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Wiz: Blades may be Vergil's bread and butter, but if he needs to focus on brute strength, he switches to Beowulf.
Boomstick: He can charge up blink-of-an-eye punches and kicks that hit like a cement truck made of lead and KO some of the toughest demons in just a few hits. And hey, looks like he digs Street Fighter!
Wiz: There's one more trick up Vergil's sleeve. Thanks to his demon blood, he can access a form known as Devil Trigger, and this mode amplifies everything.
Boomstick: His strength, speed, and healing all get a huge boost, making him several times deadlier than before. Plus, he just looks badass!
Wiz: In his quest to become as powerful as his father, Vergil's abilities skyrocketed. He's taken down dozens of demons in the blink of an eye, and escaped an illusion from the sorcerer Arkham which makes normal people go crazy.
Boomstick: But if anything's gonna show off what a Son of Sparda can really do, it's pitting him against his bro. Sure, Vergil can easily avoid Dante's bullets, but why dodge them when you can spin your sword, line them all up, and fire them back! Like a boss!
Wiz: In the same battle, they briefly created a 12-foot diameter open space in a heavy rainstorm with nothing but their sword swings.
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Exterminator by Matt Hill
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Wiz: On average, storms can fill a cubic foot space with as many as 30 raindrops. So Vergil and Dante must have destroyed 108,000 raindrops in less than a second.
Boomstick: If Vergil can swing his sword that fast, I'd bet he'd make a killing mowing lawns, or chopping meat at the deli, or giving haircuts, or doing that thing where he chops bad guys to pieces so fast they don't realize they're dead yet! Like when he popped Beowulf, the monster, not the weapon. And then he punched him so hard he flew 55 feet up and hit the ceiling!
Wiz: When comparing Beowulf's size to Vergil, he appears to be as large as an elephant. Given what's available, this seems like our best measure of Vergil's strength, but there is one issue: the Devil May Cry series makes frequent use of slow-motion to depict the absurdity of these characters, and this could be a similar case.
Boomstick: So let's look at another slow-mo feat: the rainstorm fight.
Wiz: At one point, the rain freezes in place for about two-and-a-half seconds as Vergil and Dante keep moving, indicating a 14,500% speed increase in real-time. Applying the same degree to the Beowulf punch gives us an acceleration speed of about 4,882 feet per second. With that in mind, we can apply our previous data to deduce the maximum height sans ceiling and determine Vergil's striking strength to be nearly 720 million newtons of force.
Boomstick: That's a lot!
Wiz: It matches Vergil's incredible toughness, too.
Boomstick: We already mentioned his super healing factor, but it's even more overpowered than you think.
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Hades by Dan Skinner & Adam Skinner
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Boomstick: Vergil once got completely cut in half, but healed so fast that it's impossible to even notice!
Wiz: And his regeneration ability can be worn down.
Boomstick: Yeah, that's how this weird jester guy beat him.
Wiz: But it takes a lot to pull off. And Vergil can always just use Yamato to hop through dimensions to get away if he wants.
Boomstick: Sadly, Vergil never got to rule the demon realm like he wanted.
Wiz: Instead, the Demon King Mundus permanently transformed Vergil into his puppet, irreversibly manipulating his mind in the process.
Boomstick: And then Dante kind of uh... exploded him... But one or two losses against someone who's basically goddamn Satan hardly make him a weakling.
Wiz: Hell and Earth trembles before the power of Vergil.
Vergil: It'll be fun to fight with the Prince of Darkness. If my father did it, I should be able to do it, too!
Vergil yells and charges forward.
Prelude
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: But before we get to the bloody slicin' and dicin', pick up some Blue Apron and slice and dice in your kitchen!
Wiz and Boomstick read out an advertisement for Blue Apron.
Boomstick: But right now, IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!(The transcript below is exclusive to the YouTube version of the episode.)
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: But before we get to the bloody slicin' and dicin', pick up some Blue Apron and slice and dice in your kitchen!
Wiz and Boomstick read out an advertisement for Blue Apron.
Boomstick: But right now, IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
(The transcript below is exclusive to the Rooster Teeth version of the episode.)
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!Death Battle
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One-Winged Devil by Therewolf Media
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Vergil walks with his blade sheathed among abandoned castle ruins, until he stops and notices Sephiroth appear right behind him.
Sephiroth: Hmm... you are powerful. I can see it.
Vergil turns around to face Sephiroth.
Vergil: Who are you?
Sephiroth smiles, readying Masamune to use against Vergil.
Sephiroth: Your despair.
The battle begins with Vergil and Sephiroth repeatedly clashing blades, with Vergil successfully repelling his opponent. When Sephiroth charges again after being forced back, Vergil teleports and switches to Beowulf, and attempts to strike Sephiroth with a diving kick. In return, Sephiroth uses Wall to block the attack, before following up by using Shadow Flare on an airborne and vulnerable Vergil.
Vergil is knocked back by the attack, but is no worse for wear, and the two begin speeding around the battlefield while repeatedly clashing with their attacks, with Vergil switching between Yamato and Beowulf partway through. Eventually, Sephiroth gets the upper hand with Masamune's superior reach and stabs Vergil through the chest, prompting him to teleport away.
Vergil: Okay, you're strong.
Vergil then prepares to draw Yamato again.
Vergil: But are you fast enough?
Vergil dashes towards Sephiroth at blinding speeds, getting behind Sephiroth right as he begins to charge, slashing the One-Winged Angel. He then follows up with a Judgement Cut.
Vergil: Don't move.
The attack harms Sephiroth, tearing off some of the skin around his chest and causing him to start bleeding.
Sephiroth: Ngh... I suppose it can't be helped.
Sephiroth sprouts his single wing and then causes multiples of himself to appear, and they all charge at Vergil. As he's clashing with one, Yamato goes through the copy's Masamune, confirming that they are illusions, which disappear when Vergil lands a good hit on one. He looks around as the copies fly around him.
Vergil: They're fake?
Three Sephiroths jump towards Vergil.
Vergil: Stop wasting my time.
Vergil enters Devil Trigger mode and uses another Judgement Cut to destroy the illusions at the same time. He then proceeds to clash blades with yet more illusions, once more utilizing both Beowulf and Yamato. He then looks around and sees yet more illusions flying around him.
Vergil: You're going down!
Vergil then uses his Summoned Swords in conjunction with his weapons to once again fight the horde of illusions, even repelling multiple of them at once. Once his Summoned Swords run out, he looks to see continuous illusions charging at him. Growing tired of it, he uses Judgement Cut End to dispatch of all of them. As he does this, the real Sephiroth re-emerges, having healed himself during the distraction, and then proceeds to reveal Supernova.
Sephiroth: Behold the truth!
Noticing the sudden shift around him, Vergil turns around.
Vergil: What is that!?
Sephiroth: Super... nova.
As Sephiroth explains his plan, the scene shifts to a Final Fantasy VII-esque cutscene showing the Supernova in action, with Vergil appearing in the party menu with 9999/9999 HP and Devil Trigger. It also uses Final Fantasy VII's cutscene for Supernova.
Sephiroth: I saw you could pierce the fabric of our dimension, so I cast an illusion to disguise this. Witness oblivion!
At Sephiroth's behest, the Supernova begins incinerating Vergil. As he's burning and screaming in agony, he reaches for Yamato and slices his way out of the dimension. In his weakened state, he drops out of Devil Trigger and his clothes and body are covered with burns.
Vergil: I'm... free.
The critically injured Vergil sighs in relief on escaping Supernova, but is then impaled by Sephiroth, who begins to lift Vergil up into the air via his sword. As this happens, Vergil drops his sword and sheath, too weak to do anything else due to the damage taken from Supernova.
Sephiroth: Hmph... So you are.
Sephiroth then slices Vergil in half, ending the Dark Slayer’s life.
Results
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Crisis Surge by Mark Denis
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Boomstick: Mmm... extra crispy.
Wiz: These two were extremely powerful swordsmen, but Sephiroth's cunning and stronger abilities led to his victory.
Boomstick: Wait a minute. I thought the lore said Vergil's sword could cut through anything! Why didn't it cut through Sephiroth's sword?
Wiz: Yamato was a unique weapon, but its legend clearly exaggerated. On multiple occasions, it's clashed with Dante's blade and even a common rocket launcher without cutting through either, and sometimes requires an exuberant amount of force to cut through tougher material. But let's discuss the REAL facts.
Boomstick: Like strength! So, Vergil with Beowulf could do 720 million newtons, right? But there aren't a lot of good Sephy strength feats to compare.
Wiz: First, let's compare Sephiroth to a fellow 1st Class member of the SOLDIER fighting force, who had also been experimented on with Jenova's Cells: Zack Fair.
Boomstick: Remember him? He's the Not-Cloud guy who fought that dragon.
Wiz: At his peak, Zack could cut through a large metal door with one swing, seemingly with most of his strength.
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Fire Surfer by Darren Leigh Purkiss
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Wiz: Given the size and width of the door, this feat's sheer strength comes out to 980 million newtons.
Boomstick: And Seph was way stronger than Zack! In fact, if we look at their strength stats when they fought that dragon, Sephiroth was three-and-a-half times stronger than Zack!
Wiz: Putting Sephiroth's strength output at over three billion newtons. That's almost as much force as 30 Hiroshima bombs.
Boomstick: Strength isn't everything, though. Vergil was technically faster than Sephy, but Sephiroth has handled people of similar speeds before. Plus, Sephiroth could survive plenty of hits because his healing power is broken.
Wiz: The capabilities of Vergil's healing factor was nearly unprecedented, but it had its limits. In contrast, Sephiroth's healing abilities were only limited by his pool of magic... which was unlimited.
Boomstick: Well, he also had to take some time to cast each healing spell, but that's why he distracted Vergil with his illusions.
Wiz: We know Vergil was susceptible to illusionary and mental attacks, as it's happened to him multiple times and even lead to his in-canon demise.
Boomstick: And Sephiroth's illusions could hide his ultimate technique. Yeah, Vergil's healing was pretty awesome, but it was never gonna hold up under an exploding sun to the face.
Wiz: Vergil put up a good fight, but he couldn't match Sephiroth's superior strength, magic, and techniques.
Boomstick: Looks like this devil's cried for the last time.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is Sephiroth.
Original Track
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One-Winged Devil by Therewolf Media
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Composition
The track for this fight is "One-Winged Devil" by Therewolf Media. It is a dark and somber track that is primarily rock with hints of orchestra and piano. The rock is likely associated with Vergil due to the metal nature of Devil May Cry's soundtracks, while the more somber, orchestral parts evokes "One-Winged Angel", Sephiroth's theme from Final Fantasy VII.
Title
The title combines the alias of both characters; Sephiroth is known as the "One-Winged Angel", while Vergil is a demon and comes from the Devil May Cry series.
Cover Art
The cover art done by Luis Cruz depicts four of Vergil's Summoned Swords impaling Sephiroth's single wing.
Trivia
Production
- The core connections between Sephiroth and Vergil are that they are both silver-haired video game swordsmen who are the sons of powerful beings (Jenova and Sparda, respectively), seek to obtain their power, and ultimately serve as major bosses and antagonists in their series. In addition:
- Both have an integral connection to their games' main protagonists (Sephiroth was initially assumed to be Cloud Strife's old partner and is responsible for the destruction of Cloud's hometown of Nibelheim, while Vergil is Dante's twin brother).
- Both have been revived from death.
- This is also a battle of opposites, as the two have a contrasting angel/devil theme, with Sephiroth having an angel motif to him (often referred to as the "One-Winged Angel"), while Vergil is a half-demon from the Devil May Cry series.
- This is the final episode to play the original Death Battle theme, "Invader" by Bryan Kei Mantia and Peter Joseph Scaturro.
Easter Eggs
- During his battle with Sephiroth's illusion clones, Vergil utilizes one of Chun-Li's super moves, Hoyokusen, to dispatch one of them.
- The UI and Supernova cutscene from Final Fantasy VII are used toward the end of the fight to show Vergil's health along with his Devil Trigger gauge as Supernova goes off.
- The way Sephiroth impales Vergil and lifts him up with his sword is a reference to what he did to Cloud Strife during the Nibelheim Incident and their battle in Advent Children. However, Sephiroth impales Vergil from behind instead in front of him.
Other
- This is the fifth episode to have an Antagonist defeat a Protagonist, after Godzilla VS Gamera, Ryu VS Scorpion, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, and Hulk VS Doomsday, and with the next six being Gray VS Esdeath, Hulk VS Broly, DIO VS Alucard, Harley Quinn VS Jinx, Black Adam VS Apocalypse, and Bill Cipher VS Discord.
- This is the second episode to have a Villain defeat an Anti-Hero, after Hulk VS Doomsday, with the next four being DIO VS Alucard, Harley Quinn VS Jinx, Black Adam VS Apocalypse, and Bill Cipher VS Discord.