I agree but there's a logical reason why they wouldn't, especially if their opponent isn't very mainstream either because views matter so much now. it sucks too because my most wanted has a fairly obscure character too and his opponent would be doing most for the work for views.
Well for starters thats not really Death Battles purpose. I mean sure its a nice bonus that the show has just intrinsically with its premise but its not like the point of matchups is to advertise a character (unless theyre sponsored obviously.)
But having a character appear on the show does cause people who otherwise wouldn't to check out the series and people should not be shamed out of pushing the MU they want just because one or two characters is someone no one's ever heard of,
Asura has always had a decent fanbase in the west which has only grown with how much big streamers and other content creators have played it. also Kratos is super mainstream so he was reeling in a lot of views regardless. a more fitting example would be Killua vs Misaka which is still only at 1.7 million views, which almost every episode in '24 and '25 has already surpassed
1.7 million is still a great number and that was when they worked for RT. I don't know why people think DB is struggling so bad that they have to only do returning characters. DB has a big enough fanbase to where they can basically do what they want MU wise. Some matches will get more views than others, thats just how it is. Godzilla vs Hulk is going to do better than Ruby vs Maka just because Godzilla and Hulk are iconic characters from the 50s and 60s and Ruby and Maka are 20ish years old at best.
I DO think the best way to get obscure characters in is by having them fight a more well-known character. Case in point: Kratos vs Asura.
1.7 million is still a great number and that was when they worked for RT.
relative to modern DB standards (S8-present), it's one of three that haven't reached 2M views (about to be 1 of 2 with AmonGuys approaching 2M), so not that impressive
I don't know why people think DB is struggling so bad that they have to only do returning characters.
never said that. in fact, most of the community wants new characters and some of the best performing episodes have new characters
DB has a big enough fanbase to where they can basically do what they want MU wise.
yes but they also need to bring in new viewers which obscure matchups don't usually do
Godzilla vs Hulk is going to do better than Ruby vs Maka just because Godzilla and Hulk are iconic characters from the 50s and 60s and Ruby and Maka are 20ish years old at best.
true but there's also the point of relevance. Gojo and Makima aren't even 10 years old and their episode is almost at 7M views. conversely Manhunter and Surfer are decades old beloved characters but neither have had a mainstream major adaptation in years. Ruby vs Maka is also kind of an exception here given its long-standing history with RT and the community (more akin to Macho Man vs Kool-Aid Man)
I DO think the best way to get obscure characters in is by having them fight a more well-known character.
I agree but generally relying on a bigger character reduces the likelihood of two obscure opponents. and while Asura is lesser known, he's nowhere near as niche as characters like The Darkness who'd have to rely entirely on Venom for traction
Also it literally took a month or two to reach a million views compared to its next time Stitch vs Rocket Raccoon which made 1.4 million in just 3 days
Far more people have heard of Aura than have actually played his games. The character has a lot of appeal. To the casual viewer there's a big difference between "cool crazy videogame punch man" and "weird visual novel character I've never heard of"
His game is well known, even by those who didn't buy it, because of the great choreography and button mashing. Lucy, on the other hand, is known by literally nobody
He’s also from a Franchise that has very little media and hasn't been updated in over a decade. The versus community knows him. But not everyone knows him outside of the VS niche.
TBF there’s a difference between an “obscure” character fighting a somewhat well known character… and two obscure characters that noone cares about fighting each other.
Like Kratos vs Asura has one of the most iconic gaming characters ever fighting a still relatively known character despite poor sales… stuff like Kasen vs Fleetway is a obscure character even by Touhou standards vs a version of Sonic that hasn’t been in print since the early 2000’s.
This is still like… a show with paid employees that releases a big video every month. They gotta eat
The literal thumbnail of this post proves you wrong on that. Again, just because touhou is obscure in the west, doesn’t mean it is in the east. It’s one of the biggest things in Japan’s indie scene period.
That was 12 years ago, and a Saturday morning cartoon rabbit has better chances of hitting a general audience than a bullet hell indie game spin off manga protagonist. ‘Biggest thing in Japan’s indie scene’ is a fat participation trophy when talking about a show with a dominantly Western fan base.
Don’t give me hope for Bendy vs Mary happening over Cuphead 😭
Ok tbf Ib was definitely not obscure during its hayday in the early 2010’s, but has fallen off the radar so hard to the point people won’t really be stoked to see it happen. Hell, I’m pretty sure by the time of Bendy’s release Ib wasn’t so hot anymore.
I adore Ib, one of my favorite games, but it's only a drop in the bucket. Not even the most popular indie RPG maker horror game, which is a low bar. we all need to rally behind Madotsuki lol
Old RPG Maker horror game from 2012. People like Jacksepticeye, Markiplier, and even PewDiePie played it and got like millions of views from it, but as I said, it’s gotten obscure these days.
The main antagonist of the game, Mary, has a decently popular matchup in here with Bendy.
One of the most famous and loved comic adaptations of a hugely popular video game franchise vs arguably the most loved legacy characters in DC since he was the main Flash for decades in the comics and the beloved cartoons, which is also a variation of an already popular match-up of the base characters. I wonder how that one got popular.
The Archie Sonic comics were not one of the famous and loved nobody knew it existed and nobody knew Wally West was the Flash, we knew he was Kid Flash but as far as we knew The Flash was Barry Allen,
Idk, the Archie Comics ran for 25 years almost in tandem with the games and were the main comics for Sonic during that time. Sure, maybe not EVERYONE knew or liked them but saying that "nobody knew about them" is preposterous. Same with saying no one knew Wally was the Flash since again, Barry was dead for decades in comics and Wally was the main Flash during that time, doing a lot of things over Barry. Hell, it took an entire TV show about Barry and Wally being written out of the New 52 for years for Barry to get back. And you're still glossing over the fact that it's SONIC VS THE FLASH, A MATCHUP THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WANTED TO SEE. Even if they're not the "main" versions of the characters it's still a popular matchup.
The Underworld franchise went on for 13 years and that's obscure, and if I can correct myself very few people knew about the Archie Sonic comics and very few people knew Wally West as the Flash and I don't know what tv series you're referring to because the first series to include both Wally West and Barry Allen together was Young Justice and that's less about them and more about the junior Justice League and as far it being Sonic vs The Flash, would you class True Brit Superman vs the female yellow Optimus Prime as including two well renowned characters because the same rules would apply,
What kind of comparison is that? It's not fair comparing an ACTUAL underground/obscure comics series to THE MAIN COMICS SERIES FOR A POPULAR GAME FRANCHISE THAT RAN CONSECUTIVELY FOR 24 YEARS. Hell, Archie Comics (the publisher) as a whole is a fairly well known name since they've been doing comics since 1939 and even collaborated with DC on some comics too. That's like asking why people remember the Sonic cartoons but not more obscure cartoons.
As for the DC series, this shows that you really didn't do research since the series I'm talking about are JUSTICE LEAGUE AND JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED which are the most popular shows that had an animated Wally since HE'S THE FLASH FROM THE VERY START IN THESE SHOWS. Even the Flash's appearance in Superman: The Animated Series is considered to be Wally, so even The Flash's first appearance in a cartoon is Wally. Hell, you mentioning Young Justice does help my point since even that show has more focus on Wally due to him being on Young Justice (which is obvious due to THE SHOW BEING NAMED AFTER THE MAIN TEAM IT FOLLOWS). And, just to point it out again, he was the main DC continuity Flash for decades. He is so beloved that fans were mad when he was borderline erased from the New 52 timeline after Flashpoint, and happy when he was finally back. Even stuff like the Speed Force were introduced while Wally was the Flash.
I don't know how you can still argue that very few people know that Wally was the main Flash in the main DC timeline, the popular animated adaptations of the Justice League had him as The Flash from the start, and Wally was integral to one of the biggest parts of Flash mithos with the Speed Force.
Archie Comics were not popular due to Sonic, The Sonic comics sold a consistent 6000 copies throughout most of their run to contrast the highest sales for a comic book was for X Men #1 selling over 8.2 million copies, and it's not like the comics were advertised,
As far as Wally West is concerned unless you're paying really close attention to the Justice League cartoon you wouldn't know that was Wally, even I thought it was Barry, maybe I got confused because you said the series came out of the New 52 and both Justice League and Justice League Unlimited predate the New 52 by 10 years, and finished in 2006 which was 14 years before the battle came out with more people being familiar with the Arrowverse tv series, The Flash which was still going on at that time or the movie Justice League which came out 6 years before the battle came out before the battle came out so it was still fresh at the time with both having Barry Allen as the main Flash,
I’ll comment on my most wanted MUs because obscurity is a varied term
Arceus vs Aslan
Arceus popularity self explanatory, Pokemon and all. Narnia is a classic book that’s gained notoriety in this community but is fairly mainstream overall (at least in Ireland)
Mordecai and Rigby vs Finn and Jake
Not obscure in the slightest. If you know cartoons you’ve at least heard of these guys
Meta Knight vs Zero
Not the most mainstream characters, but well known and pretty much everyone in this community knows who they are
Steve vs Terrarian
Minecraft massively popular, Terraria maybe a bit niche but was a big game in its prime
Thomas Shelby vs Tommy Angelo
This is interesting, Tommy Angelo comes from a fairly well known game in Mafia. Shelby comes from a really popular show in Peaky Blinders (highest rated live action and 3rd highest rated 2013 series on IMDB). Despite that he feels like a really obscure character in this community.
Whereas in reality he’s more known than maybe 1/3 the characters that appeared this season, like Bardock, Joker, Asura, Mahito, Simon and Kyle.
I don't think this is that hot a take. The amount of Killer Instinct early on and the fact the team has shown excitement to use characters like Bucky O'hare and Asura demonstrates they enjoy having the chance to do so.
The main thing keeping them out is less a lack of will and more practical unfortunately. I remember the ballot banter where they discussed Beyblade vs Bakugan and they totally understood it and thought it was a perfect idea they'd love to do...but they also need to pay thier staff and those series just aren't gonna bring the views and revenue necessary to like...live.
I don't think the crew is greedy or anything, but this is thier job and they naturally don't wanna go bankrupt. So obscure stuff is gonna be a rare occurrence and, as unfortunate as it is, some characters are genuinely just too far down the ladder to be viable for them to put the production value of the show towards in any capacity.
How much do they already pay them to cover comics spanning generations and I don't think viewership is the problem, Ben 10 vs Hal Jordan is one of their most popular videos and people were pissed Ben lost that should say something.
F-Zero is an obscure franchise but Smash Bros is not and Captain Falcon is one of the most iconic characters from those games. Hell, do you think that episode would exist if CF wasn't a Smash character (ignoring the fact 90% his moveset comes from there)?
You just said that to a Latin American, if you called Ben 10 obscure from where I come from you'd get publicly crucified.
Besides, isn't this the most controversial episode in all of DB specifically because of Ben losing? It shouldn't be the case if Ben 10 was an obscure series with a small fandom
Ben 10 is a series that got forgotten to the wasteland the minute CN decided to pull a Wanda Maximoff and say "No more action cartoons," and now he only exists in the memories of his fans,
And it's you should mention that because the next season had the community going Sauron who? Are you trying to tell me LOTR is obscure?
What do you mean? The reboot of Ben 10 was still going when the episode came out. Seriously, if Ben 10 is so obscure and unknown how come it has four series, a reboot, like five movies and a freaking game show? Most CN series don't even get to half of that
And it's you should mention that because the next season had the community going Sauron who? Are you trying to tell me LOTR is obscure?
My knowledge in Lord of the Rings is limited but as far as I know, Sauron in the movies (where most people know LOTR from) appears as just a big fire eye. His name is recognized but the way DB portrayed him is pretty obscure for people that aren't into LOTR (at least comparing it to the really recognizable characters such as Gandalf, Frodo and Legolas)
It got all of that in its prime now they don't even recognise it and as far as the remake goes nobody watched on account of it being a TTG style remake bullshit,
And while yes Sauron is mostly a giant eye, he does take on that look in the movies and they should at least know the name,
How can you make these bold ass assumptions with a straight face?
the remake goes nobody watched on account of it being a TTG style remake bullshit,
I heard it wasn't as bad as people said it was and most of the hate came from nostalgic fans and the ugly redigns but aside from that, the point is that the franchise wasn't dead when the episode came out, nor had it pass such a ridiculous time that the fandom would be entirely dead.
And I repeat, if Ben 10 is an underground series, how the Hell is the epiosde where Ben 10 loses the most controversial epiosde of Death Battle?
And while yes Sauron is mostly a giant eye, he does take on that look in the movies and they should at least know the name,
Under that same logic, who the Hell hasn't heard lf Ben 10
They don't, Yeah people said it wasn't as bad as it was made out to be but people chose not to watch it, because of their connection to the original and having been spurned before leading to low ratings, leading to cancellation, Cartoon Network used to push it but now they hardly acknowledge it,
As far as who the hell hasn't heard of Ben 10? simply put even when it was popular it was hardly Lord Of The Rings it wasn't a million dollar franchise like that,
It (and Robotboy to a degree) are something that while popular, is something you probably wouldnt know about unless your a cartoon fan. So it's still pretty niche
It also depends on how the community sees it, I hope this doesn’t sound mean but the series has a really tunneled vision of what series are popular and what not, for example Heavens Official Blessing may seem like an obscure series but it’s known as the most popular manhua and gathered 27 million views in a day for its trailer
Chromeskull, a slasher killer from a 2002 horror film (if I remember correctly) called "Laid To Rest" and its 2018 sequel, I recently made a post explaining the connections
Dude I'm still cooked, my favorite matchup includes a character from a niche 90's anime from a large franchise that isn't too popular in the West, and a niche furry JRPG from a niche franchise.
It's not as big as it was in It's heyday nobody was really talking about Ben 10 until that episode unless you count Kuro The Artist, and CN just pushed it to the way side.
Yes, well now it's a dead franchise forgotten by it's creator,
And even it's prime it was never Looney Tunes popular, Looney Tunes is a household name Ben 10 wasn't, Looney Tunes was mentioned in other shows, I doubt Peter Griffin even knows what an Omnitrix is,
I agree, but Legend of Dragoon will NEVER get on the show, because of its obscurity. Obscurity works to a point, like Asura or Kyle Rayner levels, but nothing more than that.
I mean I posted a LoD MU in DBM, and it flopped harder than a dead fish in a desert. I feel like the reason they did Bucky was because someone on the crew or in Screw Attack grew up on the show and requested it. Looking back, wish I had the money to donate to pitch one.
It's hard to gage what series people in this community are familiar with, they know about Mob Psycho 100, Kamen Rider and SCP, but if you said "one ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring them all and in the darkness bind them," they'd think you were talking about a Green Lantern oath,
I'd love to see Grimlock from Transformers and Quantasaurus Rex from Power Rangers fight but I don't think most people know who those two actually are.
100
u/unja-bunja Jun 28 '25 edited Jun 28 '25
I agree but there's a logical reason why they wouldn't, especially if their opponent isn't very mainstream either because views matter so much now. it sucks too because my most wanted has a fairly obscure character too and his opponent would be doing most for the work for views.