Wizard: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle!
DEATH BATTLE!
is a battleboarding web series owned by Ben Singer (formerly hosted by ScrewAttack until 2019, and then hosted by Rooster Teeth until 2024), and presented by "Wizard" (Ben Singer) and "Boomstick" (Chad James). The point of the show is to take two similar characters from different universes and pit them against each other, analyzing their respective strengths and weaknesses to see who would win, similar to Deadliest Warrior.
The series began releasing in 2010. The first 18 episodes were featured exclusively on ScrewAttack's YouTube account, and starting with episode 19, the series was posted to the redesigned screwattack.com, and later roosterteeth.com, with a subscription allowing viewers to see it before it premieres on YouTube. Episodes 20-29 were animated by Mr. Lange, aka Short Factor (Jordan Lange), with episodes 29-onwards were done by a wide variety of animators such as 3D animator Torrian Crawford (though since Season 7 he occasionally animated 3D episodes), sprite and hand-drawn animator Luis Cruz (currently the animation director for the show), a group of SFM animators (DevilArtemis, Daitomodachi, Doovad Hohdan) and a variety of others including some guests.
With the closure of Rooster Teeth on May 15, 2024, the fate of the series was originally up in the air, especially given both the nature of the series and the fact that, unlike properties like RWBY, Warner Bros. has not expressed interest in selling it. However, on July 25, 2024, it was announced that Ben Singer officially acquired the rights to DEATH BATTLE!, with plans to crowdfund the show on Kickstarter being announced to be in development as well. The Kickstarter can be found here, and began on July 30, 2024, with the initial goal to fund the first four episodes being met in 21 minutes, ultimately earning $737,393 out of an initial $75,000 goal. With the overwhelming support, DEATH BATTLE! shifted from a seasonal format to a monthly schedule.
Since January 2025, the dubbing group Voces Conectadas has been releasing official audio tracks of a few episodes dubbed in Latin American Spanish.
The official Twitter / X can be found here and the official Facebook can be found here. Have an idea for a matchup? You can suggest it here.
Character sheet for combatants and hosts
Rules:
The (unwritten) Rules of a Death Battle are:- The warriors can only know of each other if they do know each other in canon in both official universesCase # 1Case # 2Case # 3Case # 4. Otherwise, they cannot know each other's moves. Even if they do know of each other in canon, no one is allowed to prepare for the fight Case # 1Case # 2.note
- A battle is to the Death. All fighters involved are assumed to have winning intent, and the victor is the last combatant standing, regardless of who slayed the most combatants or whose matchups are otherwise favourable.Case # 1note
- B. In cases where death is impossible or a single death is not sufficient to put a combatant out of commission for good, they must be rendered unable to continue the fight in the relevant planes of battle for the opponent to be declared the victor.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3
- C. If a fighter ends up suffering Death of Personality, this will count as a loss for them even if their body is still intact.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3
- D. If a character possesses a means to come Back from the Dead - whether by means of Resurrective Immortality, Expendable Clone, Me's a Crowd, Paradox Person, or other abilities - this will be treated as an exceedingly powerful Healing Factor, necessitating their opponent(s) find ways to counter these abilities within the rules of the battle itself - but this only applies if their method of cheating death is expedient enough for the one with the ability to conceivably return to the fight after their death(s).Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3 Otherwise, they may essentially lose the battle per point B of this rule since they are unable to continue the battle.Case # 4Case # 5
- E. If neither combatant possesses a means to kill their opponent(s) per this rule and its addendums, the battle can be declared a draw. Case # 1 Case # 2
- F: The victor is declared when the listed opponent and only when the listed opponent are dead; if anyone they were fighting alongside is still standing when the main opponent is defeated, they're allowed to live. Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3
- Pacifist warriors will not have their peaceful nature interrupt the fight, and both combatants will have any personality restraints from killing removed Case # 1. However, if their traditional arsenal uses nonlethal weapons, they cannot change it unless they can summon it at a moment's notice per rule 6-B, and will have to fight using this nonlethal arsenal.Case # 2
- The warriors of the battle will be used at their prime.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3
- B. Career Ending Injuries and depowering are ignored for the battle.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3Case # 4Case # 5Case # 6Case # 7
- C. "Future canon" will be avoided if it unbalances the fight, because while some characters will gain more power*, other characters will grow old and weak*.
- All consistent and canon sources available during the time of the episode's release will be examined by the hosts, Non-canon sources will be allowed only insofar as they do not conflict with canon.Case # 1Case # 2 Characters with multiple incarnations, such as Link, Spider-Man, Deadpool and Godzilla, will be composites combining the best aspects of their various incarnations, unless said incarnation is drastically different from other incarnations. If a specific incarnation of a character is chosen, the canon used will most likely be the most popular depiction*. The research will avoid biases.
- B. If one warrior is allowed abilities from a non-canon source, the other warrior must be allowed to use their own non-canon sources as well.
- C. Also, if a certain depiction of the warrior has them ridiculously overpowered or inconsistent*, or powers that would be difficult to examine logically*, then it will not be used.
- D. Not every weapon owned by the warriors in every canon will be used. Instead, only the ones they are commonly using or their best or most iconic weaponsCase # 1Case # 2 will be used.
- E. If a warrior originated from non-English language media, the English dub will not be used if it contradicts the original source in any way.*
- F. A piece of media that claims to be canon but clearly isn't will be avoided.* Also, alternate forms of media might be avoided if they are inconsistent with the main media series.*
- G. Because the warriors are examined by their prime per rule 4, they cannot use abilities that they canonically lost in their past before reaching said prime.*
- H. Claims made by fans will only be considered canon if the official franchise or character from an official source recognizes it as such.
- All sides of the Death Battle are expected to fight without the assistance of allies they might posses outside the context of the battle.Case # 1Case # 2 The context of the battle itself may allow for outside support.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3
- B. While fighters start out only with their standard kit, as defined by rule 5-D, if they possess a means to obtain, or summon, additional equipment at a moment's notice and without outside preparatory time or aid, then it is fair game for them to use it.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3 Opponents may interfere with this if they are capable of doing so.*
- C. The above also goes for summoning additional fighters to the battle, but these fighters must be directly at the control of the summoner and cannot act on their own accord.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3Case # 4Case # 5Case # 6Case # 7.
- D. Empathic Weapons and sentient suits of armor that are likewise part of a fighter's usual toolkit are likewise allowed.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3Case # 4Case # 5Case # 6Case # 7Case # 8Case # 9Case # 10Case # 11Case # 12Case # 13Case # 14Case # 15Case # 16 In these situations, the ally cannot fight independently unless the nature of the battle calls for it per the main rule.
- The terrain chosen for the fight will be neutral territory. This is not a flat location with no distractions, but rather a location both fighters have experience fighting in. This becomes important if a character's skills use it.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3Case # 4
- B. If the fight can't take place in neutral territory because it would render one of the combatants unable to exists in a fight-capable form there, it won't be.*
- C. If a fighter has the ability (usually via teleportation) to change the environment into one specifically favorable to them, they'll be able to do so normally.Case # 1Case # 2Case # 3Case # 4
- The winners are determined before the animation through quasi-scientific analysis of their abilities, and the character who is found to have the higher probability of defeating their opponent will win.
- B. The animation at the end of the episode is nothing more than a fun little dramatization showcasing the fighters' abilities and does not influence the verdict, nor is it necessarily an accurate representation of how the fight would go if the combatants actually met. Because the animation is inconsequential to the analysis, it is thus allowed to show events that break any of the above rules for the simple reason of Rule of Cool.
Spin-offs:
- 1 Minute Melee: Spin-off envisioned as just the fight animations with no research, so the winner would be decided solely based on the creator's preference. Due to "undisclosed mismanagement", One Minute Melee has split off to its own publisher (Hyun's Dojo) in 2016.
- DBX: A new "no research" spin-off created after the One Minute Melee split, with its pilot premiering alongside Death Battle's season 3 premiere.
- DEATH BATTLE! Cast: Spin-off live podcast featuring debates over who would win a matchup, with a different matchup each episode. It also focuses on topics related to the show such as news updates or previews for upcoming episode fight animations.
- The Desk of Death Battle: Spin-off covering bits of trivia about characters discovered by the Death Battle researchers that wasn't presented in their episode.
- Death Race: Spin-off where characters race to get to the finish line by any means necessary, aired during Death Battle season 7's mid-season break.
- Ballot Banter: Member-exclusive live-stream series started in 2022 where the crew discusses their thoughts on matchups that have been pitched to them.
Death Battle provides examples of:
Tropes with their own pages:
- The Bad Guy Wins
- Bond One-Liner
- Crossover Foil
- Cruel and Unusual Death
- Curb-Stomp Battle
- Excuse Plot
- Mythology Gag
- No Body Left Behind
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner
- Shout-Out
- Take That!
