This article is about the Death Battle episode that uses the more powerful alternate versions of Trunks and Silver. For the DBX episode using their mainline counterparts, see Trunks VS Silver (DBX).
- —Tagline
Trunks VS Silver is the 166th episode of Death Battle, featuring Xeno Trunks from the Dragon Ball series and Archie Silver from the Sonic the Hedgehog series in a battle between powerful alternate versions of time-traveling freedom fighters. Trunks was voiced by Scott Frerichs and Silver was voiced by Esu Onsti.
Interlude
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Wiz & Boomstick by Brandon Yates  
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Wiz: Trunks Briefs, time cop of the Dragon Ball Xenoverse.
Boomstick: Silver the Hedgehog, secret Freedom Fighter from Archie's Sonic.
Wiz: While these two temporal warriors may be well known, today, we're looking at their counterparts from alternate universes.
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.
Xeno Trunks
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Hectix by Jewell Kennedy & Jonathan Plant 
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Boomstick: Everyone knows Trunks is the coolest Dragon Ball character. Don't lie; when he showed up to prove Goku wasn't the only Super Saiyan around, ya popped a Shenron in your pants.
Wiz: After witnessing his entire world slaughtered by a deadly Android duo and using his mother's time machine to hop to the past to make things right, Trunks made his triumphant return to his own time period.
Boomstick: But for this version of Trunks, that's where things start to get a bit different, when he was intercepted by this JoJo-posing fairy chick.
Wiz: The Supreme Kai of Time, Chronoa. She watches over all of time in the Dragon Ball universe and was forced to arrest Trunks for his alterations to multiple timelines.
Boomstick: Welcome to the world of Disney's Loki. Oh, sorry, Dragon Ball Heroes. An alternate universe— no, Xenoverse, where every Dragon Ball story has its own canon timeline. It's kinda like if some nerd's weird DBZ fan fiction became totally official, and it rocks!
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Feed The Machines by Piotr Pacyna
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Wiz: Unlike his more well-known counterpart, this Trunks was made to atone for his crimes against time by joining Chronoa's secret enforcers, the Time Patrol.
Boomstick: I'll give ya one try to guess what the Time Patrol does. But hey, even if it wasn't on his to-do list for the week, Trunks is the perfect guy to protect the whole multiverse. He has the usual collection of the Saiyans' ki powers, but also a magic sword straight from the Hero of Time! No, not him. Not him. That guy, yeah.
Wiz: Even with the differing timelines, it's heavily implied this Trunks has lived all the way through some variation of the Goku Black Saga. Therefore, he possesses all powers the original Trunks has, including the ability to assume the golden form of the Super Saiyan.
Boomstick: And gathering ki from other lifeforms to make this ultra huge laser sword!
Wiz: However, he has also performed a divine ritual to unlock godly ki within himself, taking on the incredible red visage of a Super Saiyan God.
Boomstick: God power sure does come in handy when he's fighting literal demons, like when these weirdos revived Mechikabura, the ruler of the Demon Realm, causing all sorts of time breaks across the Xenoverse. It's kind of a mess.
We cut to Boomstick, who introduces Jocelyn as she walks in with a notepad in hand.
Boomstick: Lucky for us, Jocelyn's even nerdier than Wiz. What useless knowledge have you got for us today?
Jocelyn: Come on, dude, knowledge is never useless. Okay, so all the major timelines in Dragon Ball Heroes are recorded in tomes called the Scrolls of Eternity. Any time somebody hopscotches through time, another one of these scrolls poofs into existence. There's just one teensy little problem: there can only be so many scrolls. Once you hit the limit, surprise, you just triggered cosmic Armageddon, and that's not even counting all the lesser timelines branching off the main ones Trunks and co. have to keep track of!
We cut back to the analysis.
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Mindwinder by Morty Vicar
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Jocelyn: Anyway, Trunks and the Time Patrol are some of the only peeps who can time warp without causing these distortions, thanks to unique devices like this armband.
Boomstick: Though sometimes, a patrolman gets ballsy and tries to mess with time themselves, like when Sealas tried to rewrite Dragon Ball Heroes; both the world and the game! Oh yeah, did we mention that? The universe is an arcade game in its own... universe.
Wiz: Eh, yes and no. In the far-off future of the Xenoverse, the Dragon Ball Heroes arcade game essentially serves as another method of time travel, allowing future warriors to visit iconic moments in the past.
Boomstick: So much for preventing the Ragnarök of the multiverse or whatever!
Jocelyn: That's where those lesser time branches come in. They don't count, just... because.
Wiz: These machines also send an avatar of the... uh, player back in time, complete with an assortment of collectible cards that can summon facsimiles of well-known characters.
Boomstick: That's right. Super Saiyan 4 Goku is a rare Reverse Holo now!
Jocelyn: Trunks himself is an avid fan, along with his disciples Beat and Note. Fun fact: Beat is a descendant of GT Goku.
Boomstick: Trunks even funded a Duel Disk-style Hero Switch so he can use his cards on the go. And you thought Trunks was cool before he went full Seto Kaiba! Hell, he somehow made the Great Saiyaman look badass. That's how you put polish on disappointment, and I thought that was pretty damn impossible!
Wiz: All these powers, gadgets, and cards certainly came in handy against foes like Mechikabura, but they weren't always enough. Even Super Saiyan 4 Vegito had trouble fighting the Demon King, who created a black hole to consume every timeline in the multiverse.
Boomstick: Until Trunks broke out the ultimate deus ex machina: the Key Sword! No, not that one. That one, yeah, yea-yeah.
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The Revelation by Michael "WuKong" Hsiang Lee
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Boomstick: This epic blade isn't just a sword. It can completely shut down an opponent's powers, and thanks to being powered by Pinky over there, it can summon the power of the ETERNAL TIME LABYRINTH~! Which is just really fun to say.
Jocelyn: Well, even more fun, it traps the targets in the Crack of Time, a bubble of reality outside all timelines with windows into others. And the Key Sword was powerful enough to finish off Mechikabura in a single strike!
Wiz: Obviously, this puts Xeno Trunks in the upper echelons of Dragon Ball power levels. Even eclipsing the main timeline's Goku, who could destroy the universe up to 13 times over when he first channeled Super Saiyan God.[Note 1]
Jocelyn: The same Goku who could push through Hit's Time-Skips and could fly from Grand Kai's Planet to Hell in less than a minute!
Wiz: Considering the distance of these two realms as displayed in this canon visual model, that would require speeds over 29 quintillion times faster than light.[Note 2]
Boomstick: And that was even before going God, let alone getting training from Whiskey!
Jocelyn: Uh, heh, Whis, and many of Trunks' patrol buddies are just as impressive, like... you! Well, the you who battled Demigra in the Xenoverse game when he had control over all time and space, or the you who fought the demon Chamel who threatened the whole multiverse. You are technically a canon character in Dragon Ball. Congrats, I guess, uh, maybe now you can throw that Kamehameha for real, hehe. Oh, come on, you know you want to.
Boomstick: So, the bad guys better watch out, 'cause Trunks and his time cops will always be there to stop them and protect time itself!
Archie Silver
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Destruction Level by Peter Barton
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Wiz: It's the year 3437 P.X.E. The world of Mobius has entered an era of darkness. This savage future has been ravaged by unending fires, giant monsters, ecological disasters, and general dystopia of all kinds. But standing against this harsh and bleak reality is a lone hero; a young hedgehog with silver quills named... uh... Silver!
Boomstick: So, yeah, comic book Silver doesn't sound too different from the one in the video games, right? Heh, don't count on it! This is the same comic where all the Tails in the multiverse fused together into this monstrosity, so strap in for a wild ride!
Wiz: With no family to speak of, Silver was taken in by the last elders of his damaged world, including the immortal wizard of Chaos, Mammoth Mogul.
Boomstick: Silver's goal was to become a Knight of Kronos, a time-travelling warrior who could save the future by changing the past.
Wiz: Silver's base abilities include super strength and super speed, though not quite at the same level as those of Knuckles or Sonic, respectively.
Boomstick: Well, that's okay 'cause he's got his own special weapon: mind bullets~!
Wiz: And... more. A lot more. Silver possesses the rare power of psychokinesis, allowing him to move himself or other objects around with just his thoughts. He can move anything from rocks to skyscrapers to entire mountains.
Boomstick: But that's not all he's got up his sleeves, er, gloves. He always keeps a Warp Ring on hand, a size-shifting power ring that can teleport him anywhere he likes, even other dimensions.
Wiz: And he can access the insight, resistances to corruption, and power boost many other Mobians can attain with usual power rings.
Boomstick: With all this, he was a shoo-in for school with the woolly mammoth mage. Thanks to Mogul, Silver got to learn about two other magic abilities he'd soon master. First up, "Chaos Control!", the magic Mogul pioneered himself centuries ago. This is the stuff Sonic and friends use to shoot pew-pews and turn into Super not-Saiyans.
Wiz: Then, Mogul discovered another magic: Chronos Control. With this, Silver can move through time with very little effort, made even easier thanks to his Time Stone, a gem that governs time itself.
Boomstick: After doin' tons of research — gross — Silvy and Mogul discovered that their shitty lives could all be blamed on just one person. Apparently one of Sonic's own Freedom Fighters turned traitor and ruined everything. What a twist! So, Silver set off with a full arsenal to Baby Thanos that bastard.
Wiz: Only one problem: the Archie Sonic multiverse is... complicated! Hell, "complicated" barely even cuts it. Jocelyn, how about you take this one?
We cut to Jocelyn and Boomstick.
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Power Ups by Oliver Adam Spink & Christopher Timothy White
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Jocelyn: Okay, Archie Sonic's multiverse is similar in scope to something like DC Comics, with multiple extra-dimensional layers like the Chaos Force. There are infinite universes with infinite timelines and infinite characters...
Boomstick: Oh, as if Sonic needed more of those...
Jocelyn: Including the likes of Mega Man, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Spawn.
Boomstick: Wait, WHAT?!
Jocelyn: With the Time Stone, Warp Rings, and Chronos Control, no timeline or dimension is out of Silver's reach, though, like bad sushi mixed with vodka, time-hopping this way had some weird side effects... like "decoupling" Silver from time. So, if he causes a real bad butterfly effect, he doesn't get erased like poor Marty McFly. He just has a lotta catching up to do.
Boomstick: (stammering) Sorry, can you go back to the part about SONIC THE HEDGEHOG MEETING MOTHERF***ING SPAWN?!
Jocelyn shrugs before we cut back to the analysis.
Wiz: Needless to say, Silver had a hard time figuring out exactly what he needed to do.
Jocelyn: I mean, even if it was more straightforward, he's not exactly the sharpest quill on the hog.
Boomstick: Good thing Archie Silver is way more badass than he was in the video games! He's fought all sorts of epic baddies across time and space, like... Dark Knuckles!
Wiz: E-Enerjak.
Boomstick: Gesundheit — who stole the souls of every Mobian in the world! This guy threw a whole continent at our weed-haired hedgehog. Despite fighting a literal dark god with far more power, Silver won the day by turning evil Knux's own attacks right back at him!
Wiz: Not too surprising. Silver's psychic powers on their own are strong enough to teleport instantly, disrupt any technology, close tears in reality, and stop time from being pulled out of him!
Jocelyn: Also, according to the Archie Sonic comic encyclopedia, Silver still experienced some version of the events of the Sonic '06 video game. Y'know, everyone's favorite.
Wiz: Including the battle against Solaris, who could eat time, where Silver achieved the invulnerable form of Super Silver.
Boomstick: He gets a major boost to match the speed and power of Super Sonic. As Sonic Man, without this supersonic energy, Sonic was already fast enough to out-speed stopped time. Let me say that again: time was frozen, and Sonic could still move! What the hell?!
Wiz: Naturally, Super Sonic and Super Silver should both be faster than this. But, as calculating speed requires a factor of time, and this feat removes time from the equation entirely, this means Super Silver's speed is incalculable! His speed is faster than time itself permits speed to be!
Boomstick: That's stupid.
Wiz: THAT'S Archie Sonic.
Jocelyn: Hardly a Super form's most impressive feat, though. There have been a few occasions where the Archie Sonic multiverse has been completely demolished and restored, and each one used the same Chaos power Super Silver possesses. The most notable, of course, was when Super Sonic teamed up with Super Mega Man to counter the Super Genesis Wave.
Boomstick: Which completely rewrote all of time and space!
Jocelyn: Luckily, despite being right at ground zero, the Super forms were immune to the Super Genesis Wave's reality-warping power, giving Sonic and Mega Man the time they needed to save the entire multiverse!
Boomstick: Oh no, what about—?
Jocelyn: (sighs) Yes, even Spawn.
Boomstick: Oh, thank Satan!
Wiz: But even in this brave new world, Silver was nothing short of a hero.
Boomstick: As long as this dorky hedgehog is around to keep up the good fight, even the darkest timeline will have... a silver lining.
Prelude
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE... through time!
Death Battle
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Within a wide metropolitan city, a glowing aqua streak of speed flies through the sky. It is quickly revealed to be Silver the Hedgehog, and to his surprise, he soon finds himself within a barrage of yellow Ki Blasts from an unknown assailant, which he avoids. To give himself some cover, he psychically lifts up an entire building to keep behind him, but it is swiftly cut into pieces. His attacker is revealed to be Trunks Briefs, armed with his signature sword and demanding that he stand down.
Trunks: Stop! You're under arrest for unsanctioned time travel!
Silver can only show exasperation with being stopped.
Silver: Seriously?! This is what I do!
He retaliates by psychokinetically lifting up some rubble, a car, and a trash bin to throw at Trunks, but he dodges all of them and cuts one last projectile with his blade. He dashes behind Silver and knocks him around with his sword before sending him to the ground below. As Trunks goes for another slash on his grounded foe, Silver gets out of the way and throws a Super Warp Ring past Trunks, who, in his moment of confusion, witnesses it becoming a portal. Silver capitalizes on this distraction by barging into him through the portal into a devastated city and flying straight up. Trunks recovers and builds up ki in his hands to aim for Silver...
Trunks: Masenko-Ha!
...before shooting the energy blast at him, who redirects it back to its sender with his psychokinesis. Trunks jumps away before his own attack strikes him, which builds up smoke where it lands. As Trunks flies up, he notices rubble from behind him coming to form a massive boulder in front of Silver, who throws it at him, only for it to be halted in its tracks. An electric pillar of light emerges from where Trunks was crashed into, and he emerges in his Super Saiyan form before pushing back the boulder at Silver with ease. In response, Silver summons the Chaos Emeralds to transform into his Super State and tanks the projectile without budging. He takes a moment to brag to his opponent.
Super Silver: Ya see? It's no use!
Super Saiyan Trunks suddenly appears behind Super Silver, calling him out with a familiar low tone of voice.
Trunks: Rip-off.
As Silver notices him, Trunks kicks the hedgehog upwards and shoots a yellow energy ball at him, which sends him all the way to the Moon. Trunks flies past Earth's atmosphere to see the Moon glowing in a green aura before exploding, sending chunks of the Moon flying into space. Knowing what's about to happen next, Trunks can only express his disdain for his situation.
Trunks: Ah, crapbaskets...
Super Silver: Yah!
Super Silver unleashes a barrage of Moon chunks upon Trunks, who, in the midst of dodging them, pulls out a Xeno card pack.
Trunks: C'mon, gimme a good pull!
He opens the pack and looks at what he has received with a wide-eyed disappointed look, the music abruptly stopping as he does so.
Trunks: (sighs) Good enough.
Throwing the cards and using his Hero Switch to summon GT Goku and GT Pan by his side (along with a dead Oolong floating in the distance) as the music picks right back up, Trunks charges at the challenge ahead with them, who destroy a boulder headed for him. Together, they all charge up and prepare to unleash a Galaxy Tri-Attack at Silver, with Trunks doing so with one of his signature moves.
Trunks: Galick Gun! HAAAAAA!!!
However, Super Silver uses his psychokinesis to redirect the energy beams back at them. The Kamehamehas strike Goku and Pan, destroying them, while Trunks manages to block his own Galick Gun with his sword. Just before the beams hit Earth, Silver expertly pulls them away from the surface and back into space (albeit with some effort), merging the two into the one aimed at Trunks. The combined force shatters his sword and engulfs him in his own energy.
Not letting down, Trunks charges ahead into the Ki Blast and assumes his Super Saiyan God form, easily pushing through the beam. He proceeds to approach and pummel Super Silver and sends him away with an enormous ki beam which shifts from green to red into the depths of space. As Silver is briefly stunned, Trunks prepares to finish things.
Trunks: Now to shut you down for good!
He pulls out his Key Sword and activates its awakened form before going to slash Silver, which results in time itself growing distorted and messing with the fabric of space as Silver glitches in and out of his super form and the Moon switching between being fragmented and back to normal. As the two struggle in this moment, they both use their ultimate techniques.
Super Silver: CHRONOS CONTROOOOL!!!
Trunks: Eternal Time Labyrinth!
The result of the rip in time that comes after is that of Silver appearing in the Crack of Time, located outside of existence, surrounded by crystals leading to separate timelines. He immediately takes note of the new environment he is in.
Super Silver: I don't think we're in Mobius anymore.
To his surprise, he is surrounded by multiple Key Swords and cyan-colored chains of time. Silver can only watch as the swords travel to the voice of his foe from afar.
Trunks: This is it, time-hog!
The Key Swords combine into their awakened form while Trunks gathers ki into his hand to create the Sword of Hope.
Trunks: The end of your future! YAAAAAAH!
With a single blade in his grasp, Trunks charges ahead with a war cry to stab Silver. But despite the oncoming threat to his life, Super Silver simply warps his orange Time Stone in front of him, calmly assuring Super Saiyan God Trunks of one thing in his attempt.
Super Silver: I told you. It's... no...
He channels his power into the Time Stone, causing Trunks' weapon to suddenly disappear from his hands to his shock.
Super Silver: USE!!!
Having been warped back in time behind Trunks and traveling to his back at high speeds, he realizes what happened and turns quickly, managing to stop his blade from impaling him. As Trunks is kept busy with the weight of his own weapon, Silver bolsters his psychokinetic power to immobilize Trunks and prevent his resistance, allowing the sword to hit its mark through his chest.
With his Super Saiyan God powers now nullified, Trunks can only scream in pain as his own reality distorts. A glitchy explosion occurs from where he stood soon after, releasing the time chains around Super Silver and allowing him to warp out of the detonating Crack of Time with his Time Stone. The triumphant Silver then reappears back at the devastated city the two fought in earlier on top of a building, his Super State wearing off as he looks off at the apocalyptic sight.
Results
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Boomstick: Oh, come on. Trunks is way past cooler than furry Kyle Reese!
Wiz: It is hard to imagine Trunks losing to anyone. However, Silver ironically had just about everything he needed to put the half-Saiyan six feet under.
Boomstick: First off, time travel wasn't much of a factor, since they were both pretty well versed in it. Either way, Silver's psychokinesis could disrupt tech like the Hero Switch and the time travel armband, leaving Trunks without his gadgets and primary method of hoppin' through time.
Wiz: Let's be frank; in base form, Silver never stood a chance at matching Trunks with his own power. Even in his Super form, it's questionable whether or not Super Silver had the physical ability to match Super Saiyan Trunks. In short, it's practically impossible to lock down exact numbers and limits for their power levels.
Boomstick: So, Trunks could have probably taken a win if he found an opening, but Silver's psychic powers have worked around similar disadvantages before. Enerjak was way stronger than him, could match the power of Super Sonic, and conquered all of Mobius, but Silver could consistently UNO Reverse Card his attacks back at him, and he wasn't even Super at that time!
Wiz: Trunks was obviously much faster than Goku's trip to Hell. He could easily be sextillions or septillions of times faster than light, maybe even more![Note 2] However, by the very nature of Dragon Ball powers, his speed must have a limit, even if it is impossible to know an exact number given what we've seen.
Boomstick: But Archie Super forms have consistently shown incalculable speeds. Sure, Goku broke through Hit's Time-Skip, but that actually has nothing to do with speed.
Wiz: As explained by Whis, the effectiveness of time manipulation in the world of Dragon Ball depends on the difference in power level between the caster and their target, such as when Chronoa attempted a time stop on Mira and failed, due to Mira's energy being stronger. Xenoverse's Goku has also mentioned how increasing his energy affects space and time around him.
Boomstick: In any other matchup, this would be totally buck wild itself. But no, Archie Super forms just have to break time itself!
Wiz: It's also difficult to put an exact number on Trunks' maximum level of power. The strongest beings in his continuity can affect his entire multiverse, which has infinite timelines plus the Crack of Time outside. In contrast, Chaos magic wielded by a Super form like Super Sonic can rewrite the infinite timelines in Archie Sonic's multiverse, plus the extradimensional realms outside, like the Chaos Force, pocket Zones, Mega Man's own infinite universe, and yes, possibly even a multiverse with Spawn. The scope of Dragon Ball's cosmic scale simply does not compare.
Boomstick: Plus, unlike Sonic, Silver spent many years being trained how to use Chaos magic by the guy who invented it! Hell, if Mega Man could rewrite reality just minutes after learning he could even use the Chaos Emeralds at all, imagine what craziness Silver could pull off!
Wiz: Trunks' best chance was the Key Sword's ability to nullify powers, like it did to Mechikabura. However, the Super Genesis Wave explicitly could not rewrite the presence of Super Sonic or Super Mega Man, despite being able to rewrite even the extradimensional Chaos Force from whence it came. It's likely Silver's Super form could resist the Key Sword, at least for a time.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Wiz: Ultimately, while there are many versions of this battle where Trunks can win, Silver's superior abilities close out a victory more often than not.
Boomstick: To make things Brief, Silver was just hoggin' the spotlight.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is Silver the Hedgehog.
Comparison
Trunks
- + Stronger & faster than base Silver
- + Key Sword counters time manipulation
- + More variety in arsenal & summons
- - Most attacks could be countered
Silver
- + Stronger & faster in super form
- + Can redirect most ki attacks
- + Can disable Trunks' technology
- + Superior control over battlefield
- - Shorter super form duration
Original Track
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Composition
The track for this fight is “Hedge of Tomorrow” by Brandon Yates feat. Logan Adams and Mason Lieberman (the latter of whom goes uncredited on the track arts). It is a heroic lyrical rock track that pays homage to the combatants' future origins, alongside their driving desire to travel through time to prevent their world's apocalyptic ruin. The instrumental melody takes inspiration from the chord progression of "Heroic Trunks" from Dragon Ball Z. A sped-up version of "The Ruined World of the Future" from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) can also be heard halfway through the song, being played on a piano similarly to the original track, as well as near the end to symbolize Silver's victory. Additionally, the orchestral choirs heard near the end of the track are reminiscent of what is heard in the Death Egg Robot's Phase 3 theme from Sonic Forces.
Title
The title is a reference to one of the lyrics of "Live and Learn" from Sonic Adventure 2 ("Hanging on the edge of tomorrow"), with a similar lyric being used in the track ("Wishing on the edge of tomorrow"). It may also be a reference to Edge of Tomorrow, a film about a time loop (similar to the combatants' time-traveling abilities). "Edge" is replaced with "Hedge", referencing Silver's species (hedgehog) and being a play on how the word can mean "barrier" or "boundary", further emphasizing the theme of both combatants traveling through the boundaries of time itself.
Cover Arts
The original cover art done by John Mitchell depicts Silver's Super Warp Ring surrounded by the seven Chaos Emeralds. Trunks' sword is plunged through the Ring, with the part that has gone through it rusted and deformed, emphasizing the Super Warp Ring's time-traveling capabilities and referencing the combatants' bad futures that they tried to prevent. The cover art is also done in an art style similar to the Archie Sonic comics.
The cover art of the remastered version done by Tyrannii (which was created for the track's remaster following Rooster Teeth's shutdown) is set in the Crack of Time, depicting Trunk's awakened Key Sword slicing Silver's Time Stone in half, causing it to glitch out (referencing the Key Sword's property of nullifying powers and Trunks' glitchy death upon getting impaled by it at the end of the fight) as the blade enters Silver's Super Warp Ring, which features a ruined future with its buildings on fire on the other end of the portal and the track's title engraved on its side as multiple smaller rings spew out from the bottom of it. Surrounding the hilt of the Key Sword are the seven Chaos Emeralds. The artist credits at the bottom of the cover are done in the style of the Sonic the Hedgehog logo.
Lyrics
Driven from a world that cannot come to pass |
Trivia
Production
- The core connections between Xeno Trunks and Archie Silver are that they are both more powerful, alternate universe variants of heroes (Future Trunks and Silver the Hedgehog, respectively) from dystopian futures (History 2 and 3437 P.X.E., respectively) with a strong sense of justice who traveled back in time to prevent apocalyptic events that resulted in their ruined timelines (Trunks sought to stop Future Androids 17 and 18's genocide of humanity, while Silver sought to kill the Iblis Trigger to prevent Iblis from ruining the world). Both would succeed in finding the individual(s) that were supposedly responsible for the destruction of their world (both Androids 17 and 18 and Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively) and planned to kill them, but ultimately became allies with them instead after uncovering the truth about their moralities. Both also received a title and occupation as a protector of time by an immortal individual (Trunks is one of Chronoa's Time Patrollers, while Silver is Mammoth Mogul's Knight of Kronos in-training) and have battled beings known for their threat to every possible timeline and use of possession (Mechikabura and Dark Enerjak, respectively). In addition:
- Both were born with unique heritages (a half-Saiyan and an esper, respectively), which left them with powerful innate energy they use for combat (ki and psychokinesis, respectively).
- Both have access to a powerful form that makes them golden in color (Super Saiyan and Super Silver, respectively).
- Shiro Maekawa, one of the writers of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), confirmed that Silver's character was based on Trunks.[1]
- Both of their mainline counterparts have previously fought each other in Season 1 of DBX.
- In the 297th episode of DEATH BATTLE Cast, Ben Singer stated that the reason Xeno Trunks and Archie Silver specifically were used instead of their mainline counterparts was due to how easily Trunks would beat Silver normally due to the massive power difference between Dragon Ball and Sonic the Hedgehog.[2]
- He would later elaborate on this in the 299th episode of DEATH BATTLE Cast, stating that Xeno Trunks VS Archie Silver was ultimately done due to how more interesting the matchup is compared to normal Trunks VS Silver, namely in how Dragon Ball Heroes, Online, Xenoverse, and Archie Sonic gave the two more source material to work with and consider.[3]
- Matthew Jones would add on to this, stating that a fight between the mainline versions of the two had been overdone on the Internet and that Silver in the games did not actually have much material to begin with.[4]
- Hedge of Tomorrow was commissioned by Matthew Jones,[5] making it the second original track for the show that he commissioned, after Mad Laugh Riot.
- Starting with this episode, the Death Battle YouTube channel began to release the "Next Time" trailers for upcoming episodes as dedicated YouTube Shorts.
- This production change was eventually removed in Death Battle '24, as episodes that year and beyond switched up the "Next Time" trailers to horizontally cover the top half of the screen rather than being vertical and to the side.
- When Ian Flynn (head writer of the Archie Sonic comics from Issue #160 onwards and the creator of Archie's version of Silver) was asked on his opinion of the fight on Twitter, he stated that he disagreed with the result because he believed the inclusion of Chaos Emeralds and Time Stone was unfair, and that even without the Key Sword and other gadgets, Trunks could "nuke Silver from orbit."[6]
- Silver's voice actor is credited as "Esu Onsti", but it is heavily implied to be his current voice actor from the video games, Bryce Papenbrook, as the alias itself is actually Silver's infamously well-known quote from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), "It's no use!", written backwards. It's likely Papenbrook may not have been credited to avoid the legal issues surrounding getting him to voice a character that he would legally and contractually not be able to voice.
- If this were the case, this would be the 10th episode in which one or more of the combatants are voiced by their official voice actors, after Iron Man VS Lex Luthor, Yang VS Tifa, Meta VS Carolina, Naruto VS Ichigo (unconfirmed), Raven VS Twilight Sparkle, Ultron VS Sigma (unconfirmed), Weiss VS Mitsuru, Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki, and Red VS Blue, and with the next one being Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor.
- This would also mean that this is the sixth episode where a non-Rooster Teeth character is voiced by their official voice actor, after Iron Man VS Lex Luthor, Naruto VS Ichigo (unconfirmed), Raven VS Twilight Sparkle, Ultron VS Sigma (unconfirmed), and Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki, and with the next one being Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor.
- If this were the case, this would be the 10th episode in which one or more of the combatants are voiced by their official voice actors, after Iron Man VS Lex Luthor, Yang VS Tifa, Meta VS Carolina, Naruto VS Ichigo (unconfirmed), Raven VS Twilight Sparkle, Ultron VS Sigma (unconfirmed), Weiss VS Mitsuru, Zuko VS Shoto Todoroki, and Red VS Blue, and with the next one being Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor.
Easter Eggs
- At the end of Trunks' analysis preview, Boomstick's response to the chupacabra's name, "You're making that up," is a reference to a similar response said by Sarge in the 2nd episode of Red Vs Blue, "Red Gets a Delivery".
- Ironically, while the Key Sword was mistaken for the Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts during Trunks' analysis, the Key Sword is likely to have been inspired by the Keyblade.
- In Trunks' analysis, Boomstick refers to Whis as "Whiskey", something he had called him prior in Beerus VS Sailor Galaxia.
- The Elizabeth Tower (the clock tower of the Big Ben) from DIO VS Alucard makes an appearance in the background of the ruined future when Silver redirects Trunks' Masenko back at him.
- Upon turning into Super Silver and towards the end of the fight, Silver utters his game counterpart's infamous "It's no use!" line from Sonic The Hedgehog (2006).
- When Silver transforms into Super Silver, Trunks responds by calling the transformation a rip-off, referencing how the super transformations from Sonic the Hedgehog are seen as a rip-off of/homage to the Super Saiyan transformation from Dragon Ball.
- It's also a call-back to Vegeta VS Shadow, as the former had the same reaction upon seeing the latter's Super Shadow transformation.
- This may also be a nod to how Silver's creation was inspired by Trunks himself.
- The constellation from the end of Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man can be seen near the top-left corner of the screen as Silver gets sent flying towards the Moon by Trunks.
- This is the second episode to feature the constellation in the background of the fight, after Harley Quinn VS Jinx, with the next six being 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.
- When Silver prepares to throw chunks of the Moon at Trunks, the latter says "Ah, crapbaskets...", referencing the famous recurring phrase in Dragon Ball Z Abridged, which Trunks' voice actor, Scott Frerichs, reprised his role from in this episode and was a part of.
- Boomstick saying "Oh, thank Satan!" could also be another reference to how Hercule Satan's fans loudly shout "Hail Satan!" when supporting him in the series.
- When Trunks uses the Dragon Ball Heroes cards, two of the three characters he pulls are GT Goku and Pan, referencing Dragon Ball GT, where that series' iteration of Trunks traveled with those two. The third is Oolong, who just floats uselessly in the background, having apparently died in the vacuum of space after he was summoned.
- This also references an Ultimate Unit Attack seen in Heroes, where GT Trunks, GT Goku, and Pan fire teaming blasts.
- Oddly enough, Oolong is actually a Special Type unit in Heroes, which could possibly make sense given their roles in the fight.
- Silver's line of "I don't think we're in Mobius anymore." is a reference to the classic line from The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy says "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," which is commonly misquoted as "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
- Past time-traveling Death Battle combatants Koopa Troopa (from the events of the Goomba VS Koopa 2 DBX), Link, Green Lantern, Cable, Booster Gold, Wally West, Archie Sonic, and Reverse-Flash can be seen within some of the crystals in the Crack of Time.
- Wiz, Sailor Pluto, Blaze the Cat, Bardock, Blinx, Crono, Fleetway Super Sonic, Waldo, and the Goomba's Shoe from the Goomba VS Koopa 2 DBX can also be seen in some of the other crystals.
- At the start of the post-analysis, Boomstick complains about how Trunks was "way past cooler" than Silver in reaction to the latter's victory. This is a reference to one of Sonic's catchphrases in the Sonic the Hedgehog TV series ("Way past cool!"), as well as the unused song "Way Past Cool", which was intended for the 1993 Sonic the Hedgehog TV series.
- He also compares Silver to a "furry Kyle Reese", a nod to the character of the same name from the Terminator series, who travels back in time to prevent a futuristic demise, much like Trunks and Silver.
- Ben Singer previously used this nickname for Silver in his chart explaining why Mewtwo fought Shadow the Hedgehog over Frieza or Silver.
- He also compares Silver to a "furry Kyle Reese", a nod to the character of the same name from the Terminator series, who travels back in time to prevent a futuristic demise, much like Trunks and Silver.
- Wiz stating how "it is hard to imagine Trunks losing to anyone" at the start of the post-analysis may be a nod to how Future Trunks never lost on any of the Internet's more prominent VS shows before the release of this episode.
- Likewise, Wiz stating how Silver "ironically" had what he needed to win against Trunks right after and how "there are many versions of this battle where Trunks can win" at the end of the post-analysis may be nods to how virtually all Trunks VS Silver animations on the Internet prior to this episode ended with Trunks as the victor.
Errors
- On Trunks' "Background" slide, "identity" is misspelled as "identify".
- In the "As Determined in Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash" pop-up in Trunks' analysis, Reverse-Flash's name is spelled without a hyphen.
- Trunks' analysis specifies that "the same Goku" that clashed with Beerus was also the one that flew through the Other World. This isn't technically true, as the latter feat only happened within Toei's filler in the Dragon Ball Z anime, which is only canon to GT's Goku, not Super's.
- Right before Silver transforms into Super Silver, his aura is not animated properly, instead being completely static.
- The cards that Trunks pulls are from a booster pack from the Dragon Ball Super Card Game instead of an actual Dragon Ball Heroes pack. Furthermore, the cards that are animated are Super Hero Licenses instead of actual cards, though this might be because the back of the specific cards would be hard to find online.
- Despite it shattering when blocking the redirected Kamehamehas and Galick Gun, Trunks' broken sword can be seen fully intact within his scabbard in some scenes, such as when pummeling Silver after going Super Saiyan God and while trying to stop his own Key Sword from impaling him.
- During the scene in which Trunks is attacking Silver after going Super Saiyan God, some debris from the moon briefly disappears a split second just before cutting to the next scene.
- When Trunks prepares his final attack on Silver with the Sword of Hope, the front end of his boot can be seen moving up out of its usual place.
- In the downloadable versions of the song on YouTube and Spotify, the purple Chaos Emerald isn't glowing on Hedge of Tomorrow's original track cover.
- The version of the track cover that John Mitchell posted on Twitter and DeviantArt misspells "feat." as "frat." and has the bottom portion of the background cut off by a black rectangle.
Other
- While a DBX episode on this matchup has technically happened, it was between Trunks and Silver's mainline counterparts and not the alternate versions used in this episode specifically. As such, this episode will be omitted from past and future trivia points on Death Battle episodes shared with DBX.
- Ironically, the thumbnail for said DBX uses the same artwork of Archie Silver that's used in the Death Battle's thumbnail instead of a render of his video game counterpart, who was used in the DBX itself.
- This is the 13th 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, Black Canary VS Sindel, and Harley Quinn VS Jinx.
- This is the ninth time that the Comic Book character won, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Kratos VS Spawn, Thor VS Raiden, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight, Ultron VS Sigma, Black Widow VS Widowmaker, and Black Canary VS Sindel.
- This is the 13th Comic Book VS Anime/Manga-themed episode, after Goku VS Superman 1, Goku VS Superman 2, Android 18 VS Captain Marvel, Carnage VS Lucy, Optimus Prime VS Gundam, Genos VS War Machine, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, Saitama VS Popeye, Thor VS Vegeta, and Magneto VS Tetsuo, and with the next four being Frieza VS Megatron, Goku VS Superman (2023), Omni-Man VS Bardock, and Gurren Lagann VS White Lantern.
- This is the ninth time that the Comic Book character won, after Goku VS Superman 1, Goku VS Superman 2, Optimus Prime VS Gundam, Genos VS War Machine, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, Saitama VS Popeye, Thor VS Vegeta, and Magneto VS Tetsuo, and with the next two being Goku VS Superman (2023) and Omni-Man VS Bardock.
- This is the third Sega VS Hitotsubashi-themed episode, after Vegeta VS Shadow and Weiss VS Mitsuru, and with the next one being Joker VS Giorno.
- This is the second time that the Sega character wins, after Weiss VS Mitsuru, and with the next one being Joker VS Giorno.
- This is the second Dragon Ball VS Sonic the Hedgehog-themed episode, after Vegeta VS Shadow.
- This is the first time that the Sonic the Hedgehog character wins.
- This is the second Alternate Universe-themed episode, after Miles Morales VS Static.
- This is the first episode to feature Logan Adams in the track, with the next two being Guts VS Dimitri and Goku VS Superman (2023).
- This episode marks the fourth time in which two vocal tracks were released within consecutive episodes (following Black Adam VS Apocalypse's "Fallen Gods"), after the times with All Might VS Might Guy and Miles Morales VS Static, Batman VS Iron Man and Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, and Thor VS Vegeta and Omni-Man VS Homelander, and with the next three being with Sauron VS Lich King and Deku VS Asta, Bill Cipher VS Discord and Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer, and Goku VS Superman (2023) and Galactus VS Unicron.
- This is the sixth episode where a combatant sends their opponent to their turf (via Trunks banishing Silver to the Crack of Time through the collision of both of their time manipulation techniques), after Ryu VS Scorpion, Flash VS Quicksilver, Thanos VS Darkseid, Iron Fist VS Po, and Korra VS Storm, with the next one being Phoenix VS Raven.
- This is the second episode in which the home turf combatant loses, after Korra VS Storm, and with the next one being Phoenix VS Raven.
- This episode reached #6 on YouTube's Trending page.
- This is the fifth episode in which Boomstick is angered by the outcome of the battle, after Gaara VS Toph, Cable VS Booster Gold, Batman VS Iron Man, and Excalibur VS Raiden.
- This is the sixth episode the Moon was used, damaged, or destroyed in the fight, after Vegeta VS Shadow, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, and Black Adam VS Apocalypse, and with the next three being Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha, Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer, and Goku VS Superman (2023).
- This is the 20th episode where Boomstick yells a variation of his pre-fight catchphrase (via saying "IT'S TIME FOR DEATH BATTLE... through time!"), after Akuma VS Shang Tsung, Rogue VS Wonder Woman, Felicia VS Taokaka, Eggman VS Wily, Terminator VS RoboCop, Pokémon Battle Royale, Fulgore VS Sektor, Tigerzord VS Gundam Epyon, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Guts VS Nightmare, Solid Snake VS Sam Fisher, Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki, Bowser VS Ganon, Joker VS Sweet Tooth, Meta VS Carolina, Mega Man Battle Royale, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Scarlet Witch VS Zatanna, and James Bond VS John Wick, and with the next nine being SpongeBob VS Aquaman, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Sauron VS Lich King, Gogeta VS Vegito, Phoenix VS Raven, Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, Galactus VS Unicron, Kratos VS Asura, and Ghost Rider VS Spawn.
- This is the third Future-themed episode, after Batman Beyond VS Spider-Man 2099 and Cable VS Booster Gold.
- On December 19th, 2024, the DEATH BATTLE! YouTube channel uploaded the full fight animation of this episode on its own as part of a compilation of Sonic-related Death Battles alongside Bowser VS Eggman, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Donkey Kong VS Knuckles, Shadow VS Ryuko, and Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers to commemorate the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film, which came out the following day.
Notes
- ↑ As determined in Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Travel time: 32 seconds
Distance approx. 7.18x1026
2.99 x 1019 Speed of Light
References
- ↑ Sonic 06 - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. WeeklyTubeShow
- ↑ Zelda vs Lucina | DEATH BATTLE Cast #297
- ↑ Ainz Ooal Gown VS Grim | DEATH BATTLE Cast #299
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ https://twitter.com/IanFlynnBKC/status/1577019700537864192
- ↑ https://x.com/IanFlynnBKC/status/1577043513891397632
- ↑ https://x.com/IanFlynnBKC/status/1577046622793789440
