''Death Battle'' (stylized as ''DEATH BATTLE!'') is an American animated web series about battleboarding. Originally published by the website ScrewAttack in 2010, the show has changed considerably over its history. It is the longest-running web series in the battleboarding genre, and has gained a cult following.

Format

The show is narrated by fictional hosts named Wiz and Boomstick, respectively voiced by series creators Ben Singer and Chad James. These characters were originally disembodied voices, but as the show progressed they became animated characters. Wiz is a genius scientist who presents scientific information and mathematical calculations, while Boomstick is a street-smart redneck that discusses weapons, armor, and feats. Each episode of ''Death Battle'' features a matchup between fictional characters from different media that have similar powers, skills, or backstories. The majority of each episode showcases background information about each character while analyzing their abilities and feats, and ends with a fully-animated battle scene that decides the winner of the matchup, taking into account the prior analysis. The show's formula is inspired by shows such as '' Animal Face-Off'' and '' Deadliest Warrior'', but uses fictional characters in place of animals or historical warriors. Notable episodes of ''Death Battle'' include " Goku VS

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VS Unicron", and " Gojo VS Makima". ''Death Battle'' has featured multiple styles of animation across different episodes, including 2D pixelated animations and 3D animations integrating

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technology. The show's battle animations typically feature high levels of graphic violence.

Spin-off shows

''Death Battle'' has had multiple spin-off series. ScrewAttack created the series ''Desk of Death Battle'', which showcases pop-culture trivia that the ScrewAttack team found interesting while researching and writing the main show, presented by ''Death Battle'' supporting character Jocelyn the Intern, who is voiced by Lisa Foiles. Additionally, ''DBX'' is a spin-off series that, like ''Death Battle'', features both 2D and 3D animated battles, but with winners decided by a poll among fans rather than research or debate.

History

ScrewAttack (2010–2019)

''Death Battle'' debuted in 2010 as a web series published by the website ScrewAttack; ''Death Battle'' became ScrewAttack's most popular show. The website began to shift its focus towards the show, and in 2019 ScrewAttack rebranded to focus exclusively on ''Death Battle''. The show was acquired by Rooster Teeth, and all of ScrewAttack's existing content was moved to the Rooster Teeth website.

Rooster Teeth (2019–2024)

''Death Battle'' was published by Rooster Teeth from 2019 until 2024, at which point Rooster Teeth was shut down by its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. In 2020,

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

sponsored a promotional episode of ''Death Battle'' to advertise the second season of '' The Boys''. Rooster Teeth created a spin-off

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based on the show, titled ''Death Battle: The Game''.

Independent (2024–present)

Following the closure of Rooster Teeth, fans of ''Death Battle'' speculated about the show's future, and the hashtag "#SaveDeathBattle" trended on

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. The rights to the show were acquired by series creators Ben Singer, Chad James, Austin Harper, and Sam Mitchell, making it an independent series. In July 2024, the staff of the show announced a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign to fund future episodes. The campaign surpassed its original goal of $75,000 within the first twenty-one minutes of launching. The campaign ended on August 29, 2024, and raised a total of $740,000 from 7,836 backers.

Episodes

: Plus bonus episode

Season 1 (2010–2013)

Season 2 (2013–2015)

Season 3 (2016)

Season 4 (2017)

Season 5 (2018)

Season 6 (2019)

Season 7 (2020)

Season 8 (2021)

Season 9 (2022)

Season 10 (2023)

2024 episodes

After ''Death Battle'' became independent, the show stopped using the original season format, with episodes instead being internally categorized by year of release.

2025 episodes

Reception

''Death Battle'' is one of the most popular web series dedicated to battleboarding, and the show's YouTube channel has been described as a "central hub" for fans of the genre. The show has a cult following, and several online communities exist both for discussing the show and writing fan-made episodes. It also inspired similar shows such as ''Super Power Beat Down'' and ''Grudge Match''. ''Death Battle'' helped popularize the use of mathematical calculations to determine the strength of fictional characters; in the battleboarding fandom, such calculations are called "calcs". The show has also inspired a number of

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...

sites and crossover fiction, most notably Death Battle Fanon Wiki.Frederickson, Laurence A. (April 21, 2020).
The Elegant World of Fan Fiction: Its Effects on Literature in the 21st Century
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. p. 6 It has also faced occasional controversy and backlash online surrounding the chosen winners of some episodes.

Notes

References

{{Rooster Teeth 2010 web series debuts 2010s American adult animated television series 2020s American adult animated television series Action comedy web series Adult comedy web series American adult animated action television series American adult computer-animated television series Rooster Teeth franchises Television shows about death games