A retrospective on Death Battle's first six seasons

So as I write this, we are starting the new decade and between seasons six and seven of Death Battle. I've been doing this versus thing a while so I wanted to comment on it. I've noticed that Deah Battle so far has followed a trend of 3 season cycles.

The first season notes a shift in Death Battle's attitude. The second season is a renaissance of this new style, and the third season makes a fall and requires a format shift. What I'm saying is, if the trend holds, expect season 7 to feel different from the prior 3 seasons.

I'm going to go over each season so far in order from least liked to most liked and comment as well as mention my favorite and least favorite episode from each season. I will say again that I judge Death Battle episodes on 4 criteria:

Premise: How interesting a fight idea is it. On a basic level I want it to be fair so I don't at the very least feel bad for one side going in. Going further I'd like if it was an interesting thing to consider. An even fight can be even while still being pretty boring to think about, like if only one ability of each side is relevant.

Pre-Fight: How informative and entertaining the pre-fight is. Accuracy of information is important, followed by presentation of said information.

Fight: How interesting the fight is. I don't get anything out of adrenaline rushes like some people do. Fast flashy motions does not make a good DB fight for me. A good fight in fiction to me is when it has interesting tactics to think about or when there is good charcter moments. Probably my biggest priority however is that the characters feel in-character and that it doesn't feel like the maker of the fight is just trying to make one side win. You'll see as a recurring theme, I really dislike when creators do not try and be unbiased and openly pull for one side to win.

Post-Fight: How accurate the verdict is, and how it's presented. An annoying thing DB sometimes does is they will hinge the fight on something that isn't said until the verdict. I know it might make it seem more obvious to actually include all relevant information, but if you need to hide information to make a fight seem like a good idea, then it's probably not a very interesting fight on the face of it.

When I am speaking of we, I am speaking of the vs community as far as I know. That said, these will be my opinions. With that said let's get into the ranking.

6: Season 3:

We don't talk much about season 3. Season 3 was a season of generally uninteresting fights for me, and it got I think arguably the highest amount wrong. A lot of people stopped watching with S3 and to me it's easy to see why. It's not neccesarily S3 had more episodes that were disliked on average then any season it's that it didn't have a lot of episodes people really liked. I have a fondness for a few, but how many would I say are good or even above out of 14? Not a very high number. This season was also racked with controversy, justified or not. You had the Bower vs Ganon ep which seems to have led to DB more closely integrating their research team, you had the unpopular concepts of Meta vs Carolina which a lot of people think was barely a DB ep, you had Pinkie vs Deadpool which was a gag episode that a lot of us didn't find funny. This episode had a really low amount of series diversity. Series diversity is a good idea in general because it lets people of different types get turns enjoying things. DB started with a huge bias towards video games, and then this is where it started turning into huge bias towards comics. This is the downfall of the first cycle of DB episodes.

Worst Episode: Ganon vs Bowser. Not the worst episode for it's general content, but it was the worst episode because of what it represented, which is Death Battle ignoring everything for....I don't. I don't know why they insisted on Ganon winning when from what I know their research team didn't think that, the casuals probably didn't think that. This ep on a meta level is just so much of what could go wrong with Death Battle. The sheer ignoring of feats (like a black hole feat they brought up), the usage of at best base intutions and at worst fan conjecture over actual evidence (Ganon's "invulnerability" "super-lava") the taking of tiny obscure points of evidence and trying to make them big deals (Bowser can't read....as stated by some obscure non-canon source when Bowser in canon has been shown to be able to read and is not an idiot). This is like almost the platonic ideal of a bad Death Battle episode.

Best Episode: Ratchet and Clank vs Jak and Daxter. Very creative fight, it was pretty even from what I understand outside of Jak and Daxter's stamina problem. A lot of good counter-based fighting without it overwhelming the basic stats. Good pre-fight analysis and post-fight analysis, the kill shot was actually an homage to the researcher that did most of the research for this ep. You can really tell this episode was the love labor of someone who really loved these two game series.

5: Season 1

Season 1 is such an odd season to talk about, the first chunk being their pre-science days. What's odd about the pre-science episodes is that very often they wouldn't actually make a wrong statement in their analysis of both characters, they would just give statements that are so generic that they don't give proper details. For instance stating that characters have superspeed or superstrength without saying the degree. When they would degree it was usually really low however. The early episodes are almot a template for what DB would later become. Like just reading a pre-fight analysis you can almost see "this is the area we add in feat and measurement". That said they were often not very accurate in these early ones. Season 1 of DB was the start of the first cycle where they were first learning that there really is a market for science and evidence based vs debating as opposed to just trying to sound cool like the pilot.

Worst Episode: Justin Bieber vs Rebecca Black. Even when this came out it felt dated. Nobody was still making fun of Rebecca Black and making fun of Justin Bieber was already kinda cliche. Regardless this was just tacky and tasteless. There are worst Death Battle episodes but there are none that are less good. I honestly don't know of a single good thing I can say about this ep, it was just mean-spirited killing off a bunch of teenage singers because they were commonly disliked. And even ignoring the tastelessness it's just a boring ep. The characters have no powers (to the point Boomstick claimed he had to fill the arena with weapons so we weren't just watching two people punch each other) and there was no feat analysis. I'm not sure what feat analysis you even COULD do with "Friday" though I guess Justin Bieber has feats in his songs. Regardless this was boring and mean-spirited.

Best Episode:  Spider-Man vs Batman. I know it's common to say Goku vs Superman 1 is the best ep of Season 1 and it undoubtly has the best presentation but it's internal logic is solidly in the middle of season 1's level of accuracy. Spider-Man vs Batman is probably the most right episode of Season 1. Granted Peter and Bruce both have massive arsenals and giant lists of feats that they didn't get into but the basic logic is sound that Spider-Sense should hard counter Batman's stealth, there's no prep, and Peter's stats are clearly higher. There's a lot more you could say but this really does feel not just accurate but also like a proper explanation. If there was a 50 Page Death Prediction Spider-Man vs Batman made by a serious vs debater, this feels like it would be the abridged version. It's really just a very solid episode which is surpising given when it came out.

4: Season 6

Season 6 has been a bit of a disappointment. It's the fall of the second cycle and while it's not the worst season of Death Battle it does feel like a bit of a step back. There was a regression into base intuitions and conjecture as opposed to evidence based arguing massively downplaying some of the verses that have been most downplayed in the vs community, which is disappointing given the researchers who are serious vs debaters more heavily involvement. The fights were more often very one-sided. There was the Sasuke vs Hiei controversy using an arguably inflated anime calc to put Hiei over Sasuke who canonically should be stronger and faster then even that version of Hiei and whose abilities are a lot better. There was also the Green Lantern vs Ben 10 controversy. While I think based on what I have been told and seen that Hal does in fact beat Ben, I can totally see why the controversy was so big mostly because DB didn't do a great job explaining it leading to the greatest Death Battle dislike so far. It's better then the prior seasons by good margin but there is define room for improvement for season 7.

Worst Episode: Johnny Cage vs Captain Falcon. I had to decide between two similar seeming episodes on the front of it, this and Dragonzord vs Mechagodzilla. They're similar in that both are massive downplaying of two verses that are often downplayed and are wrong in my opinion. There's two reason I put this lower. One is that if you do a proper analysis of the latter, it's actually kinda even and arguable (Basically speed vs power) while the former Johnny Cage really should have stomped. But moreso I think is the fact that this episode is just really bad analysis in general. I also think the fight is arguably worse, though neither are my type of fight in general. While both lack much in the way of tactics, this episode gives a really false impression of Johnny Cage's character, especially after the development he got in the newer games while in Dragonzord vs Mechagodzilla it only really gives a false impression of the Dragonzord's power level. Also really Death Battle? Have we still not learned to not make an episode right before new content that can give upgrades is about to come out? Yeah yeah, profitable, business blah blah blah.

Best Episode: Ganondorf vs Dracula: Welp, you did it researchers, you got the episode you wanted. And despite the massive wank both these characters get I think you did a pretty good job at keeping the analysis of both reasonable. I think the fight was pretty cool to watch, even if it's sad it wasn't an army vs army fight since we haven't had one of those in seasons and seems like are never going to get another one.

3: Season 2

Death Battle has called the S1 episode Rainbow Dash vs Starscream quintessentially Death Battle but I think Season 2 is closer to what quintessentially Death Battle is; sometimes really good, sometimes really bad, very often controversial. Season 2 is by far the longest season and with the largest diversity of matchups, and so naturally it's in a weird position of having a large number of good and bad eps. I went back and forth about it vs season 6, that said I feel like I got more out of season 2 then I got out of season 6, even if season 6 was arguably more consistent. Season 2 I felt the glimmers of potential of what Death Battle could become whereas with Season 6 I'm just disappointed it still hasn't improved in some areas. It's hard to talk about S2 in aggregate because it's so large and varied.

(Warning long and probably boring rant ahead, feel free to skip this section)
Worst Episode: Iron Man vs Lex Luthor. Yeah, this is my most controversial DB opinion. I dislike this ep more then I dislike Yang vs Tifa, albeit Yang vs Tifa would be the next worst episode. Is it because I'm "biased". If it was because of my personal like I would have said Kratos vs Spawn was my least liked ep of season 1, I would have said Bayonetta vs Dante was my least liked of season 3, and I would have said Hiei vs Sasuke was my least liked of season 6. If I was biased, why is it that in my own death predictions, when I greatly favor a character they almost never win. It's not biased it's because I legitimately dislike every line and scene in this episode. The premise is unbalanced, yet I have to constantly explain why Lex absolutely stomps Tony, and I don't like doing that because since I like DC a lot more then Marvel people assume I'm biased (and also because people bizarrely wank Tony to Solar System Level as if that was at all consistent for him). I would have greatly liked Lex vs Victor (Dr. Doom) and Tony vs Samus because those are both even fights. The pre-fight analysis were uninteresting and had the bizarre part where they showed Lex's teraton feat in Injustice and had him use it on Joker. I don't know if it was intentional but this seemed like it was not including the important info like "Joker was amped at the time" so they could say a normal human could survive it and therefore not have to admit Lex having that high level since they had Tony at only gigatons. Their analysis did that thing I hate when DB does where they use ambiguity to ignore feats like this is still early season 1 (allows Lex to survive things no one reasonably should) and trying desperately to ignore the fact that Lex scales to Superman with either the warsuit or with the serum so as to not have to admit they made a mistake and Superman isn't infinitely strong. This episode I dislike so much is because DB refusing to admit they made a mistake and grow, this is stagnation. They focused a lot on Lex's arsenal in the mediocre game DC Universe vs Mortal Kombat that no one cares about anymore. But to continue on the fight is so disappointing. The random references felt cringe, and the Lex felt out of character. Lex Luthor is not the type of person to just sit there and let Tony throw a bunch of attacks like a Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain. He would have been planning things, creating contingenies. The fight is all flash and no substance, exactly what I don't care about in fights. This is TONY STARK vs LEX LUTHOR. Two of the most intelligent men in the Marvel and DC Universes, universes with famously superintelligent beings. Why is it their tactics and technology feel so unbelievably boring and uninspired. Part of why I dislike the ep so much is it's so lacking, there's so little. They don't use a lot of their most impressive or iconic stuff. Lex usually uses a super serum to gain powers like Superman in most medium. Of course if they admit he can basically himself a kryptonian they'd have to say Iron Man loses. Also and not that anyone cares but I also hate the "I've been playing human line". I'm a humanist kind of person and I really don't gel at all with disparaging comments towards humanity. I really hate when people say "you don't like the episode because you're biased" when I can rant on and on and on about all the things I don't like this episode that don't have to do with the verdict. Moving on.

Best Episode: Solid Snake vs Sam Fisher. For a long time this was my favorite episode of Death Battle.  Yes, the fight is one-sided for Snake, pretty much everyone know this. That is pretty much the only bad thing I can say about this ep though. The Pre-Fight analysis was amusing and informative (even if it does lowball Snake to make it seem kinda fair), gave a good impression of both characters in an entertaining why and they really expressed upfront and center the feat that they use as evidence of Snake winning (the microwave feat) in his section. It's not covered up, it's made very clear. The fight is spot on. It's atmospheric and entertaining and tactical. It's a death battle fight that despite it's flips doesn't feel like a death battle fight because it's actually stealth based and they so rarely have anyone stealth based in the series. There was tactics and mindgames, there was a good fight, there was the epic "you're pretty good moment" and the well placed call back to the "snake...snake....SNAKEEEE" line from Metal Gear. The verdict was correct and they explain it very logically and using strictly evidence that they already presented exactly as they are supposed too. I have heard the argument that they didn't say that microwaves emit radiation similar to an emp, but I think that's a really weak argument. They can't be expected to explain much real world physics in the pre-fight analysis because there's no clear cut off point (do they have to explain for instance that water puts out fire), real world physics is expected to just be known. Maybe I explained that poorly but they can't be expected to explain all the ways the real world works and can't be expected to know what their audience doesn't know about the real world. But yeah the radiation comparison is a clever real world comparison, like a classic science-fiction novel (for instance the aliens dying to simple diseases in war of the worlds).

2: Season 4

Season 4 was refreshing to say the least after Season 3. Season 4 was the step from Death Battle being vs debating for casuals to being serious vs arguments and having to be contended with on the same level of arguments as the established vs sites. The eps were maybe not as outright entertaining or consistent as the number 1 spot, but it really did feel like Death Battle had become a lot more like the vs debating we do generally as a matter of course, and we were able to expect a certain level of vs knowledge and quality from them. From season 4 onwards the only mistakes Death Battle would go on to make are mistakes that are at least somewhat commonly made in the vs community, ie things that some people at the very least argue about. It was the evolution of Death Battle.

Worst Episode: Megazord vs Voltron. Remember what I was saying about Dragonzord vs Mechagodzilla? Yeah this episode is basically that and has the same problems I was alluding to above. The only difference is that it has better presentation and Megazord should beat Voltron a lot more clearly then Dragonzord vs Mechagodzilla. I know a lot of people for whatever reason don't accept the speed feat at the end of PRIS, but Megazord can tank attacks from large planetary to low stellar level beings at full power, meaning that Voltron wouldn't have been able to even hurt the Megazord even if on paper it looks fairly even. Of course the main problem is the sheer level of downplay. This episode, as you may have noticed, isn't as bad as the worst episode for the prior 4 seasons and that's what I mean by a certain minimum level of quality and DB becoming more like the vs debating we do as a matter of course. Megazord vs Voltron doesn't feel like watching casuals debating a matchup, it feels like asking reddit their opinion and having it animated with good presentation. It's annoying that it's downplay is so bad, but we're getting into the realm of what I consider more understandable mistakes.

Best Episode: Balrog vs TJ Combo. Very well presented and very good fight. Both the characters are fairly even in terms of actual vs capacity from what I understand but it's mindset and fighting style that gave TJ Combo the edge which is much more interesting tactically. There's some actual theming going on too which is nice and surprising to see, and it's a good character moment to watch, described by one of my friends as TJ Combo beating the man he used to be. The fight was entertaining and the information about boxing presented well and engaging. Really good episode.

1: Season 5

Without a doubt in my mind, the best season of the series so far. It's hard to say how the average or worst episodes compare between S4 and S4, S4's being more safe and general while S5 being often having more out there ideas and flaws. S5 was a lot less safe in it's interpretations as S4. That said S5 had way more good episodes, having 4 episodes I would consider on the same tier of quality as the best 1-2 episodes of any other season. Season 5 was the best mostly because it had everything S4 but just a higher percentage of eps were in the high tiers had.

Worst Episode: Black Panther vs Batman.  I don't agree with the verdict but it's not one I think is wrong per se, I think you could make a good argument. What I more object to is the notion that they scoured Batman's material and couldn't find anything to get past Black Panther's armor. A: They didn't read all of Batman's comics, I don't know that for certain but Batman has literally over 10,000 comic appearences, I'm pretty sure they didn't. B: I know of things Batman has that gets past it. Batman has used hypnosis, outright magic, as well as tech that goes past armoring and an intelligence that rivals deities that can see the entire multiverse. I know you didn't want to include that because it shoots your "he doesn't powers" thing in the foot but I don't know why you are still clinging to that. In S1, sure, this was before you were an evidence based thing. But I don't think anyone in the vs community outside the casuals actually thinks Batman's level of ability could exist in the real world. I don't know why DB refuses to admit Batman has superhuman feats, my guess is to preserve the "Batman is just a human and has no powers" myth. But it's especially baffling if you are going to mention stuff like "Bruce can dodge the Omega Beams of Darkseid" and then say he's not superhuman. So yeah, not terrible by any stretch, but their logic is pretty baffling here and seems designed to try and maintain the casuals who don't wanna think of Batman as having abilities.

Best Episode: Doctor Fate vs Doctor Strange. I love magic. Magic is so cool, imo. Magic gives you an unlimited range of options to play with and these are legit two of the best magic-users in fiction. You've got a huge huge range of options. The analysis of both was good and gave all the relevant information. Fate and Strange's sheer level of power and versatility were captured well, and the analysis was presented entertaingly. The fight was fantastic. I guess you could say it isn't that complex fight choreography but I think they did pretty well given they have to actually animate it. The mystic imagery was really cool and the being thrown through dimensions was great. But the real reason this is not just my favorite episode of the season but my favorite episode of the series is because it has one of my favorite memories of vs debating, a prime example of why I love this hobby when Fate's helmet got thrown but then circumnavigated the entire universe to return to him. That right there is why I love this hobby. The interesting tactical considerations that would never be considered outside of it, the mind-blowing usage of real world physics in a competitive environment like the curvature of the universe. Both characters felt mystical and otherworldly in their power and overwhelming. The part where Strange astral projects into the Helm of Fate Fate calls the other ones inside the Helm....oh it was so cool. And the post-fight analysis I thought was right on the money, perfectly logical and contains good points. It could maybe have been more thoroughly explained but I recognize they have time contraints we don't while typing these things. Fate vs Strange is exactly the type of fight I am into vs debating for.





Happy 2020s everyone. Hopefully DB's progression continues into it's third cycle.