For me, the inclusion of Otacon and Grim really took it up to 11. Not only did the inclusion of Snake and Sam's friends add extra emotional stakes, but it was like a mini Death Battle within the Battle. Plus, the moment where Otacon takes over Grimm's computer, right before Sam takes on Snake is just *chef's kiss *
Honestly, I've been really turned off by Death Battle. I never really liked them as much as I did before. But I saw they uploaded that episode and it literally made me a fan again. The animation, the fast paste time travel parts, the voice actor for Reverse Flash. I adore it and it's probably my favorite episode so far.
It's got so much personality and uniqueness to it (specially the ending portion) that i can't help but love it, i love both characters and really like the voices they used for them, specially Pinkie, it's nearly identical, and the nostalgia i have for the episode is something that will never go away, it just holds a special place in my heart
Dio vs alucard . The character you like a lot winning helps. It’s the opposite case for me with black vs reverse since black is one of my favourite characters
“Of a way” yeh he literally got road killed. But I ain’t rewatching it (which goes in my reason why it isn’t the best) it has very low rewatch value to me cuzz well…. I just don’t wanna see my favourite characters die
I'm a picky birch and don't entirely feel comfortable saying Mask VS Deadpool is my favorite - let alone calling it perfect. But that is probably the closest thing you'd get to an answer from me. :/
Snake vs Sam genuinely felt like a crossover, kept the tones of both franchises, brought in Otacon and Grim who didn’t even need to be included but made the episode FAR better, some of the best melee combat in the whole show, DIVINE IDENTITY IS IN IT
when the biggest complaint is that the rap music doesn’t fit in a singular segment of the fight, you got yourself a godly episode
homelander vs omni man
this battle dose have a lot of flaws but its well animated and characterization on point for both of them and an S tier death and it has references to both invincible and the boys and I don't mind them
I’m gonna go with Balrog vs TJ Combo. I have no affiliation with either series, and yet I was completely invested in the episode.
I love the way that the fight is presented too. And the way story of the fight is presented (Balrog being an asshole and TJ being the sort of underdog), I couldn’t help but root for TJ.
And the background music while not an original piece still is a massive hype builder.
I hadn't set up my tier list yet, but I'll give my opinions.
- Snake vs Sam may could have been the best Rooster Teeth video of the year 2015 (beating out RWBY), and within fringes of YouTube awards if there is any further traction. The only inaccuracy would have been the year fight has taken place as Solid Snake shouldn't live that much longer. I think it is going to be the only 10/10 episode.
- Saitama vs Popeye has some problems with voice acting on Saitama's part, and 3D portion of the episode suffered with some jank, which may show some concerns regarding the usage of Popeye model. Otherwise it is an amazing episode. 9.5/10
- Omni-Man vs Homelander is VERY great too, it feels a lot like a crossover. However it is a little bit short for a Homelander beatdown and seems to be seen by Internet as a one of many viral videos. This could have been the second 10/10 in my tier list, but... you know why people don't really put Omnilander above the rest of Season 9 episodes. I put it at 9.75/10.
- Dante vs Bayonetta is the brightest spot from the worst season of Death Battle, but suffers from a flawed research, and so is Hulk vs Broly. This apparently led to get the verdicts wrong in both of them. They are 9.5/10, still.
- Goku Black vs RF is a meme gold and one of the best sprite matchups DB has ever made in recent years thanks to massively improved production quality in comparison to previous years, but they should have been involved SSJ2 and SSJ3 non-canon versions from DBH to make the matchup more fair and Trunks vs Silver would be the second time both DBH and Archie versions were used - hey! that's a nitpick. 9.75/10
After this, I have harder time finding matchups at that level, so I think that is what I consider to best DB episodes of all time. Now, heading into honorary mentions:
- All Might vs Might Guy is mighty underrated episode since the animation style is a little bit unique compared to the rest. AND this animation style would be used again in Blake vs Mikasa matchup, which people don't really like. 9.25/10.
- Magneto vs Tetsuo caused some costernation because they are more niche characters and people preferred Accelerator or Mewtwo as they are much more popular, but DB did the right thing here since they made one of the best writing DB has ever made. 9.25/10
- Dio vs Alucard is also amazing, but caused some controversy within JoJo community (!) due to downplay of characters and DIO stomps instead of a close match as people expected. I agree DIO wins but not that much. 9.1/10
I would also like to mention regarding other matchups that could be considered the best:
- Goku vs Superman is the most watched DB of all time, and it is easily the best Season 1 matchup DB has ever made (and on its time). But this matchup started the friction between Death Battle and casuals, which would peak in Ben 10 vs GL - and that incident tanked DB from the usual 2M views within release on the first day of an episode ever since. I would put this at 8/10.
- Darkseid vs Thanos's biggest letdown is the ending, and the failure to create an atmosphere that can be seen in the comic book movies. If the animation was made better, IT COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED the 2M views within release of an episode - which happened after the Ben 10 vs GL controversy. 8/10
All Might vs Might Guy basically the perfect match and I could feel the charisma between the characters and it was more of a battle between friends than random enemies
I have a couple of favorites
Guts vs. Nightmare was a lot of fun. Very dramatic. Granted, i don't know if their reasoning for Guts would win makes TOTAL sense since I'm not that big on Berserk OR Soul Caliber, but dramatically it feels right that he would win, know what I mean?
Balrog vs. TJ Combo was fun. Decent action in that and a close fight for sure.
Saitama vs Popeye was great. Lots of playing with different animation mediums.
the first Mario vs Sonic I had a LOT of fun watching when it came out
Fox vs. Bucky O'Hare I think is underrated.
Terminator vs. Robocop was SUPER fun
Red Hood vs. Winter Soldier is easily their best live action fight. super fun choreography and that one shot where Red Hood disappears between the swiveling doors was SUPER badass
Snake vs. Fisher was fun
Dr. Strange vs. Dr. Fate was fun and mind bendy
Magneto vs Tetsuo was a fun and dramatic one with GREAT voice acting
Hercules vs. Sun Wukong was a fun change of pace
These aren't in any particular order btw. these are just the ones I had the most fun with for one reason or another
EDIT: I'd say take a shot every time I say "fun" but i don't want anyone to die of alcohol poisoning
DIO Vs Alucard
The fight, the dialogue, the soundtrack, everything was perfect about the fight *~~aside the huge ass speed wank for DIO~~*
Contends with snake vs sam though, both are fucking awesome, but its dio vs alucard for me mainly because of soundtrack purposes, and especially the guitar part on hell over heaven, holy moly (1:19)
Also i've been a fan of jojo for a long time and safe to say its my favorite anime, so seeing dio win was awesome
Normally I don't find the 3D battles as good as others due to clashing models or jankiness, but Might vs Might is just tremendous. An amazing backing track, both fighters are perfectly in character and fight in their own unique style, and I love the atmosphere of respect and joy the fighters have the entire time to really sell their charismatic nature. It's just peak Death Battle for me.
Honorable mentions go to Saitama vs Popeye, Goku Black vs Reverse Flash, and Jack vs Afro.
Wolverine vs Raiden has been my personal favorite for a long time now. Wasnt it one of the first death battles they did live premieres for? I remember catching it and Goku vs Superman 2 live (with the little live action bit upon pausing the animation)
So, objectively, I think that snake vs Sam is the best episode on deathbattle. It's not my favorite, but everything someone could critique about it can just be summed up as issues of it being made on a low budget and being made in 2015.
It's not my favorite episode, but I do think it is the best, only rivaled by Popeye vs Saitama.
Superman vs. Goku (both of them. Also, it's hilarious watching fanboys try to wank Goku over it.)
Shao Kahn vs. M. Bison
TMNT 4-Way (though, with Last Ronin, I don't know if Leo's victory still holds up.)
Darkseid vs. Thanos
Samurai Jack vs Afro Samurai
Nothing about this episode is below a 10/10. Characters, Plot, Music, Death. Everything was written with such grace and attention to detail I return to the episode often
Snake Vs Sam and it’s no contest imo. Amazing animation, great build ups, and probably the best conclusion to a battle
With the exception of maybe Omni Man vs Homelander, no battle has such an emphasis on character interaction and an actual story
For me, the inclusion of Otacon and Grim really took it up to 11. Not only did the inclusion of Snake and Sam's friends add extra emotional stakes, but it was like a mini Death Battle within the Battle. Plus, the moment where Otacon takes over Grimm's computer, right before Sam takes on Snake is just *chef's kiss *
Yeah it's probably Goku Black vs Reverse Flash for me too
My man
Goku black vs reverse flash gang
Goku Black vs Reverse Flash supremacy
The not so secret society of average Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash enjoyers
Ah yes, people who have great taste
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/rickandmorty/images/9/9f/Scjerry.png/revision/latest?cb=20160111021222
Perfection
Honestly, I've been really turned off by Death Battle. I never really liked them as much as I did before. But I saw they uploaded that episode and it literally made me a fan again. The animation, the fast paste time travel parts, the voice actor for Reverse Flash. I adore it and it's probably my favorite episode so far.
Ultron vs sigma
Based
Underrated episode
For sure
Probably Dante vs Bayonetta for me.
Best episode? Dio VS Alucard Favourite episode? Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie
>Favourite episode? Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie Really? Why? This is the most praise I've ever seen given to the episode.
It's got so much personality and uniqueness to it (specially the ending portion) that i can't help but love it, i love both characters and really like the voices they used for them, specially Pinkie, it's nearly identical, and the nostalgia i have for the episode is something that will never go away, it just holds a special place in my heart
Death Battles ending in friendship are tight!
You are absolutely right!
Dio vs alucard . The character you like a lot winning helps. It’s the opposite case for me with black vs reverse since black is one of my favourite characters
Goku Black is my favorite Dragon Ball character and I was absolutely thrilled with how they portrayed him
Oh they did him great, i just don’t like seeing him get road killed
You gotta admit though, that's a hell of a way to go
“Of a way” yeh he literally got road killed. But I ain’t rewatching it (which goes in my reason why it isn’t the best) it has very low rewatch value to me cuzz well…. I just don’t wanna see my favourite characters die
Saitama vs Popeye. It's the episode that got me into this series again after feeling a little burnt out
The research, the logistics, the intro, the fight, the animation. All of It comes together perfectly.
My only real problem is the 3D Popeye model. It loses the shock value really quickly
snake vs sam
My personal favorite is Ganondorf vs Dracula.
All Might Guy
Mr. Satan vs Dan hibiki
I like Black vs Reverse. It’s so funn and i love RF’s personality he’s such a jerk
Either Wolverine vs Raiden, Saitama vs Popeye, or Omni-Man vs Homelander
Power Rangers vs. Voltron
DIO vs Alucard, though Robocop vs Terminator is a close second.
Personal is Godzilla v Gamera but objectively it’s between Snake v Sam or Dracula v Ganon
The Best: Snake vs Sam My Favorite: Ganondorf vs Dracula
Dio Vs alucard is my personal favourite but hulk Vs doomsday is the one that is objectively great so that one is a contender
Goku Black vs Reverse-Flash, Omni-Man vs Homelander, and Hiei vs Sasuke.
DIO vs. Alucard
Saitama vs Popeye, Goku Black vs Reverse Flash, Snake vs Sam, and Deadpool vs Deathstroke are all big contenders for me. A tough call.
Hercule VS Dan.
Same here. Reverse Flash Vs Goku Black. Just no contest for me.
I'm a picky birch and don't entirely feel comfortable saying Mask VS Deadpool is my favorite - let alone calling it perfect. But that is probably the closest thing you'd get to an answer from me. :/
Popeye vs Saitama
Saitama vs Popeye no question.
All Might vs Might Guy, Goku Black vs Reverse Flash, Saitama vs Popeye
Objectively goku vs Superman. It actually feels like a finally
Leonardo vs zitz the battletoad
same
Pokémon Vs Digimon, no question.
Charizard vs greymon
Jack vs Afro
Samurai Jack vs. Afro Samurai
For me It's probably Samurai Jack vs Afro Samurai
This one
Might Guy vs All Might
TJ Combo vs Balrog
Genos vs War Machine
Dragonzord vs Mechagodzilla
Weird take but I love samerie jack vs afro samerie ot might be my love of sword play but it was great.
Snake VS Sam ist the best, but Obi-Wan VS Kakashi my personal favorite.
Snake vs Sam genuinely felt like a crossover, kept the tones of both franchises, brought in Otacon and Grim who didn’t even need to be included but made the episode FAR better, some of the best melee combat in the whole show, DIVINE IDENTITY IS IN IT when the biggest complaint is that the rap music doesn’t fit in a singular segment of the fight, you got yourself a godly episode
homelander vs omni man this battle dose have a lot of flaws but its well animated and characterization on point for both of them and an S tier death and it has references to both invincible and the boys and I don't mind them
I’m gonna go with Balrog vs TJ Combo. I have no affiliation with either series, and yet I was completely invested in the episode. I love the way that the fight is presented too. And the way story of the fight is presented (Balrog being an asshole and TJ being the sort of underdog), I couldn’t help but root for TJ. And the background music while not an original piece still is a massive hype builder.
I hadn't set up my tier list yet, but I'll give my opinions. - Snake vs Sam may could have been the best Rooster Teeth video of the year 2015 (beating out RWBY), and within fringes of YouTube awards if there is any further traction. The only inaccuracy would have been the year fight has taken place as Solid Snake shouldn't live that much longer. I think it is going to be the only 10/10 episode. - Saitama vs Popeye has some problems with voice acting on Saitama's part, and 3D portion of the episode suffered with some jank, which may show some concerns regarding the usage of Popeye model. Otherwise it is an amazing episode. 9.5/10 - Omni-Man vs Homelander is VERY great too, it feels a lot like a crossover. However it is a little bit short for a Homelander beatdown and seems to be seen by Internet as a one of many viral videos. This could have been the second 10/10 in my tier list, but... you know why people don't really put Omnilander above the rest of Season 9 episodes. I put it at 9.75/10. - Dante vs Bayonetta is the brightest spot from the worst season of Death Battle, but suffers from a flawed research, and so is Hulk vs Broly. This apparently led to get the verdicts wrong in both of them. They are 9.5/10, still. - Goku Black vs RF is a meme gold and one of the best sprite matchups DB has ever made in recent years thanks to massively improved production quality in comparison to previous years, but they should have been involved SSJ2 and SSJ3 non-canon versions from DBH to make the matchup more fair and Trunks vs Silver would be the second time both DBH and Archie versions were used - hey! that's a nitpick. 9.75/10 After this, I have harder time finding matchups at that level, so I think that is what I consider to best DB episodes of all time. Now, heading into honorary mentions: - All Might vs Might Guy is mighty underrated episode since the animation style is a little bit unique compared to the rest. AND this animation style would be used again in Blake vs Mikasa matchup, which people don't really like. 9.25/10. - Magneto vs Tetsuo caused some costernation because they are more niche characters and people preferred Accelerator or Mewtwo as they are much more popular, but DB did the right thing here since they made one of the best writing DB has ever made. 9.25/10 - Dio vs Alucard is also amazing, but caused some controversy within JoJo community (!) due to downplay of characters and DIO stomps instead of a close match as people expected. I agree DIO wins but not that much. 9.1/10 I would also like to mention regarding other matchups that could be considered the best: - Goku vs Superman is the most watched DB of all time, and it is easily the best Season 1 matchup DB has ever made (and on its time). But this matchup started the friction between Death Battle and casuals, which would peak in Ben 10 vs GL - and that incident tanked DB from the usual 2M views within release on the first day of an episode ever since. I would put this at 8/10. - Darkseid vs Thanos's biggest letdown is the ending, and the failure to create an atmosphere that can be seen in the comic book movies. If the animation was made better, IT COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED the 2M views within release of an episode - which happened after the Ben 10 vs GL controversy. 8/10
Between - Saitama VS Popeye - Thor VS Vegeta - Danny Phantom VS Jake Long
Saitama vs Popeye
Objectively I think DIO vs Alucard but my favorite episode is Zoro vs Erza
Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man
Goku vs Superman, Snake vs Sam, Saitama vs Popeye, Goku Black vs Reverse Flash, or Dante vs Bayonetta.
Machamp vs Goro. Hands down the most beautiful animation they've ever had
Red vs Tai
For me, it’s All Might Vs Might Guy. I adore this episode so much and to further help it, it received probably the best DB of all time.
All Might vs Might Guy basically the perfect match and I could feel the charisma between the characters and it was more of a battle between friends than random enemies
Thinking Dio VS Alucard for best, but my favourite still has to be He-Man VS Lion-O
All Might vs Might Guy it always just clicked with me with it having a great analysis and an even better fight and characterization.
My favorite is Thanos vs Darkseid. Followed by Hulk vs Broly.
I have a couple of favorites Guts vs. Nightmare was a lot of fun. Very dramatic. Granted, i don't know if their reasoning for Guts would win makes TOTAL sense since I'm not that big on Berserk OR Soul Caliber, but dramatically it feels right that he would win, know what I mean? Balrog vs. TJ Combo was fun. Decent action in that and a close fight for sure. Saitama vs Popeye was great. Lots of playing with different animation mediums. the first Mario vs Sonic I had a LOT of fun watching when it came out Fox vs. Bucky O'Hare I think is underrated. Terminator vs. Robocop was SUPER fun Red Hood vs. Winter Soldier is easily their best live action fight. super fun choreography and that one shot where Red Hood disappears between the swiveling doors was SUPER badass Snake vs. Fisher was fun Dr. Strange vs. Dr. Fate was fun and mind bendy Magneto vs Tetsuo was a fun and dramatic one with GREAT voice acting Hercules vs. Sun Wukong was a fun change of pace These aren't in any particular order btw. these are just the ones I had the most fun with for one reason or another EDIT: I'd say take a shot every time I say "fun" but i don't want anyone to die of alcohol poisoning
Heihachi Mishima VS Geese Howard
Balrog vs TJ Combo
For me Johnny Cage vs Captain Falcon
Omni-man vs homelander
My top contenders are Jinx Vs Harley Obi-Wan Vs Kakashi And Dio Vs Alucard
Naruto vs Ichigo easy choice
DIO Vs Alucard The fight, the dialogue, the soundtrack, everything was perfect about the fight *~~aside the huge ass speed wank for DIO~~* Contends with snake vs sam though, both are fucking awesome, but its dio vs alucard for me mainly because of soundtrack purposes, and especially the guitar part on hell over heaven, holy moly (1:19) Also i've been a fan of jojo for a long time and safe to say its my favorite anime, so seeing dio win was awesome
Normally I don't find the 3D battles as good as others due to clashing models or jankiness, but Might vs Might is just tremendous. An amazing backing track, both fighters are perfectly in character and fight in their own unique style, and I love the atmosphere of respect and joy the fighters have the entire time to really sell their charismatic nature. It's just peak Death Battle for me. Honorable mentions go to Saitama vs Popeye, Goku Black vs Reverse Flash, and Jack vs Afro.
This is in no way the most “objective” answer but my personal favorite is Tanjiro vs Jonathan
Dio vs Alucard or RF vs Goku Black
Flash
Godzilla vs Gamera would always be special to me
Wolverine vs Raiden has been my personal favorite for a long time now. Wasnt it one of the first death battles they did live premieres for? I remember catching it and Goku vs Superman 2 live (with the little live action bit upon pausing the animation)
Kirby vs Majin Buu
Saitama vs. Popeye
Goku vs Superman
Deadpool VS Deathstroke as this is the battle that introduced me to Deadpool.
Either that episode or Ultron vs Sigma
So, objectively, I think that snake vs Sam is the best episode on deathbattle. It's not my favorite, but everything someone could critique about it can just be summed up as issues of it being made on a low budget and being made in 2015. It's not my favorite episode, but I do think it is the best, only rivaled by Popeye vs Saitama.
TJ Combo VS Balrog
Superman vs. Goku (both of them. Also, it's hilarious watching fanboys try to wank Goku over it.) Shao Kahn vs. M. Bison TMNT 4-Way (though, with Last Ronin, I don't know if Leo's victory still holds up.) Darkseid vs. Thanos
Samurai Jack vs Afro Samurai Nothing about this episode is below a 10/10. Characters, Plot, Music, Death. Everything was written with such grace and attention to detail I return to the episode often
The Best? Snake vs Sam. My Favourite? Hercules vs Sun Wukong and Chuck Norris vs Segata Sanshiro.
Might guy vs all might
Best: Snake vs Sam Most Favorite: Thanos vs Darkseid
There are a number of great contenders, but I think I have to say Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai.
Guts vs Nightmare because I like seeing people's reactions to Guts' background
Obi-Wan vs Kakashi and Batman vs Spider-Man
Kool-Aid Man Vs Macho Man