Mario VS Sonic (2011)

This article is about the original version of Death Battle's 13th episode. You may be looking for the re-examined version of Mario VS Sonic from 2018.
Mario VS Sonic, retroactively titled Mario VS Sonic (2011), is the 13th episode of Death Battle, featuring Mario from the Super Mario series and Sonic the Hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog series in a battle between iconic video game rivals. Sonic was voiced by Caden Redpearl.
==Interlude==
Wiz: Their rivalry is legendary and their fame unmatched. After battling for over two decades, this epic duel will finally meet a decisive end.
Boomstick: I've been waiting for this forever!
Wiz: Mario, the whimsical Italian plumber.
Boomstick: And Sonic, the hyperactive hedgehog.
Wiz: I'm Wizard and he's Boomstick, and it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
==Mario==
Wiz: Mario is one of the Star Children and possesses many special abilities with the intent of protecting his home, the Mushroom Kingdom. Even as a baby, he was obviously destined for greatness.
Boomstick: When you've got an army of dinosaurs serving you before you can even speak, you know you're gonna do great things.
Wiz: He is well known for his incredible athleticism and unmatched jumping ability.
Boomstick: Who says white guys can't jump?
Wiz: Plus, he's a powerhouse, with the strength to lift heavy objects and crush enormous castles. He also uses his bare fists to smash solid brick.
Boomstick: With his jumping skills and weight, he can pound and crush his foes into oblivion, and if he needs some extra firepower, well, he's got his entire arsenal of power-ups!
Wiz: His first power-up is the Fire Flower. With it, Mario obtains pyrokinetic abilities.
Boomstick: Really? I always thought the flower was just really spicy.
Wiz: He can create and manipulate fire to produce a variety of devastating attacks.
Boomstick: He's also got this Frog Suit thingy. While wearing it, Mario can jump even higher, swim even faster, and breathe underwater. The only problem is no one's really gonna take him seriously wearing that thing. Ha ha! Ah, look at him!
Wiz: Several different power-ups have granted Mario flight before, but none as well as the Cape Feather. With it, Mario can fly for an unprecedented amount of time.
Boomstick: The Metal Cap turns Mario's entire body into indestructible living steel. But while Metal Mario's extremely heavy, his strength and speed are boosted, giving him ten times more power and just as much agility as before.
Wiz: The Starman envelops Mario into a blinding aura of compressed energy, granting increased speed and complete invulnerability for a short time. Touching a normal enemy in this state will instantly kill the foe. And while it's not technically a power-up, Mario has a Hammer that can crush almost ANYTHING.
Boomstick: It seems like Mario's always popping 'shrooms to get more power. And with the Mega Mushroom, he gets GINORMOUS, mowin' down people, plants, environment, hell, everything!
Wiz: Mario has battled a larger variety of enemies than any other video game hero. Whether a foe is large or small, scary or goofy, dumb or deadly, nothing has ever proved too much for him.
Boomstick: Except for keepin' track of his woman! She's always gettin' kidnapped and he's always showing up at the wrong castle. Somebody needs to throw a GPS tracking bracelet on that bitch.
Wiz: He is fairly impulsive and not much of a strategist, preferring to quickly fight his way through problems before thinking things through.
Boomstick: But that doesn't matter, Italy's greatest hero can power through anything!
----
Mario: It's-a me, Mario!
----
==Sonic the Hedgehog==
Wiz: Sonic the Hedgehog is the fastest thing alive and a Freedom Fighter battling to save the world from the tyrannical Doctor Ivo Eggman Robotnik.
Boomstick: He's not so bad for a tree-hugging hippie.
Wiz: Sonic's most notable ability is his speed. He can easily break the sound barrier in mere seconds. While his top speed is unknown, he has clocked in an average of 765 mph.
Boomstick: Holy crap! This guy must blow through shoes.
Wiz: He can further increase his speed with his trademark figure 8 technique.
Boomstick: But he's not just fast on his feet. He can curl up into a spiky ball and rip through his opponents with the Spin Attack.
Wiz: His Homing Attack rockets toward an opponent and can hit multiple times.
Boomstick: And with his Spin Dash, he can reach top speeds almost instantly. How does this guy not vomit?
Wiz: During his adventures, he has used a variety of different shields to improve his abilities. Each shield can deflect minor projectiles and have environmental advantages, though they will disintegrate after blocking a deadly blow.
Boomstick: The Fire Shield can absorb, well, fire and heat, though it can't survive underwater. No shit. But with it, Sonic can use a fiery dash attack.
Wiz: The Lightning Shield can't survive in aquatic environments either, but it gives Sonic a mid-air jump for further aerial control.
Boomstick: And with the Bubble Shield, he can breathe underwater and control his jumps with a powerful bounce. Why do we keep mentioning water, you may ask? 'Cause he can't freakin' swim!
Wiz: Sonic's ultimate power-up, however, isn't a shield at all. After absorbing thousands of Power Rings during his adventures, Sonic has become an embodiment of chaos.
Wiz: Using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds, Sonic can tap into their incredible power and summon the form of Super Sonic.
Boomstick: Super Sonic can fly, breathe underwater, and is completely invulnerable.
Wiz: Not to mention his speed is increased a thousand fold.
Boomstick: But as with most things that are unbelievably powerful, it has a time limit. Without a steady supply of power rings, it can't even last a full minute.
Wiz: And when the form finally subsides, Sonic returns to normal at peak physical form, regardless of his condition prior to the transformation.
Boomstick: While Sonic's always risking his life saving the world from all kinds of dangerous robots and demigods, he's kind of a dick.
Wiz: Sonic is cocky, arrogant, and addicted to action. He gets cranky and unstable when he's cooped up for too long.
Boomstick: And if you ignore him, hah, he'll straight up leave you!
Wiz: But despite his rough personality, he'll do whatever it takes to save the day.
----
Sonic: Ooh, I'd like to hang, but I've gotta juice!
Sonic runs away from the enemy.
----
==Prelude==
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: But first, I gotta get me some rocket boots so I can run like Sonic.
Wiz: What? Where are you gonna get the money for rocket boots?
Boomstick: Netflix?
Wiz and Boomstick read out an advertisement for Netflix.
Boomstick: But right now, it's time for a DEATH BATTLE!!!
==Death Battle==
Sonic is calmly sitting in a field when Mario emerges from a pipe. As Sonic leaps back, Mario jumps down in front of him, with the former promising to end their rivalry once and for all.
Sonic: All right, chubby. Let's settle this!
Mario: Let's-a go!
Sonic attacks Mario with fast combos and sends him onto the pipe he emerged from. Mario produces a Fire Flower and becomes Fire Mario. Sonic dodges the fireballs that Mario throws at him but gets hit by Mario's fire slide.
Mario: Wah-ha!
Mario hits Sonic a few times, then grabs him and spins him around in a circle while holding him.
Mario: Here we go!
Mario throws Sonic against the pipe. Mario then uses his cape to throw Sonic upwards, allowing him to knock Sonic to the floor, spin him around in a lariat of fire, and throw him backwards. Mario then releases a massive storm of flame, the Mario Finale, but Sonic is unscathed by his Flame Shield. Sonic used his flame dash attack to hit Mario six times. Mario counters Sonic's dash with his hammer.
A short montage of the fight begins. Sonic throws a punch and Mario dodges it, but Sonic then hits Mario with his Homing Attack in the air. Mario then uses his Super Jump Punch at Sonic, and afterward Sonic is standing impatiently next to Tanooki Mario's statue form.
After the montage, Sonic is running as Cape Mario flies after him. Sonic activates his Thunder Shield and dashes over to a volcano with a sad face. Both the hedgehog and the plumber end up inside the volcano, staring at each other on opposite sides. A Bob-omb is caught between them. Alarmed, the Bob-omb informs several other Bob-ombs that their home is being apparently invaded by intruders.
Mario: Mamma mia!
The Bob-ombs exploded, sending Mario and Sonic flying. Sonic lands in a lake but activates his Bubble Shield to keep him breathing. However, Frog Mario ground pounds him, deactivating his shield. Sonic tries to jump out of the water, but no avail.
Knowing he couldn't stay down any longer due to the lack of air, Sonic tries to run out of the water before he drowns, but his efforts are futile. Frog Mario swims up into the surface, until...
Sonic: Now I'll show you!
Super Sonic hits Frog Mario and emerges from the lake.
Super Sonic: How's that plumber?
Mario: Woohoo!
Mario slaps on his Metal Cap, becoming Metal Mario.
Super Sonic tries to attack him, but Metal Mario grabs him and throws him aside. Super Sonic tries a few more attacks but to no avail. After Metal Mario sidekicks Super Sonic away, he produces a Power Star.
Using the combined powers of the Metal Cap and the Power Star, he attacks Sonic with the Mario Tornado, only for the power to suddenly wear off.
Super Sonic: So you're a bit tougher than I thought, huh? But now it's time for me to finish... this...
Mario produces a Mega Mushroom and becomes Mega Mario.
Super Sonic: Whoa...
Super Sonic continuously attacks Mega Mario, but his attacks do very little. Instead, Mega Mario punches Super Sonic away and the power of the Chaos Emeralds wears off, causing Super Sonic to return to peak physical bluish form.
Sonic: Uh-oh.
Sonic falls to the floor. His only option is to use the Figure 8 technique to run from Mega Mario as he gives chase.
Sonic: You're too slow!
Sonic outruns Mega Mario, who returns to normal size, albeit a bit dizzy.
Mario: D'oh!
After Mario was worn out, Sonic then returns back to the red capped plumber.
Sonic: Now's my chance!
Sonic knocks Mario back and forward with the Spin Attack before kicking Mario to the ground in mid-air. He then Spin Dashes into his back, grinding him to death as Mario cries out in pain. The blue speedy hedgehog then jumps off the defeated plumber with blood leaking out of his corpse, ending their rivalry in gory fashion.
==Results==
Boomstick: Now that's what I call a Death Battle!
Wiz: Their power-ups seemed evenly matched, countering blow for blow.
Boomstick: Mario was even capable of countering the unstoppable Super Sonic!
Wiz: But with their arsenals exhausted, Mario was no match for Sonic's natural speed. Even if they had used their lesser known power-ups like the Ice Flower or Super Emeralds, there's no reason to say the result would be any different.
Boomstick: Looks like Mario just couldn't keep up.
We cut to the "Sonic" winner card.
Wiz: The winner is Sonic the Hedgehog.
==Trivia==
===Production===
*The core connections between Mario and Sonic are that they are both some of the most popular and iconic video game characters in existence, having had a rivalry going on between them and their companies (Nintendo and Sega, respectively) in the gaming industry ever since the 1990s and having revolutionized the gaming industry ever since their very first game (Mario invented the platformer genre with the original Donkey Kong and Sonic sparked the 16-bit era with his eponymous first game). In addition:
**Both are adventure-loving, thrill-seeking, red and blue heroes who excel in a certain athletic ability (jumping and running, respectively) and have a variety of transformations from different items they come across, including invincibility power-ups (for example, the Super Star, Rainbow Star, and Invincibility Leaf for Mario and the Invincible item box for Sonic), some of which grant them super forms that make them invincible (for example, Invinicble, Rainbow, and White Tanooki for Mario and Super and Hyper Sonic for Sonic).
**Both are arch-enemies of tyrannical egotists ruling a large empire who are hellbent on conquering the world/universe (Bowser and his Koopa Troop and Doctor Eggman and his Eggman Empire, respectively) and would later fight each other in Death Battle '24.
**Both have younger sidekicks who are easily frightened (Luigi and Tails, respectively) and have previously fought each other in Season 2, dumb but powerful treasure-guarding rivals turned allies (Donkey Kong and Knuckles the Echidna, respectively) who also previously fought each other in Season 2, doppelgänger/counterpart arch-rivals and frenemies (Wario and Shadow the Hedgehog, respectively), and love interests associated with the color pink (Princess Peach and Amy Rose, respectively).
**Both have teamed up with an alternate version of themselves (Paper Mario and Classic Sonic, respectively).
**Both have traveled through space to help motherly figures and their factions (Rosalina and the Lumas, and Mother Wisp and the Wisps, respectively) and fought against alien invasions (the Shroobs and the Black Arms, respectively) and ancient deities that wanted to spread their worlds into eternal darkness (the Dark Star and Dark Gaia, respectively).
**Sonic was originally created by Sega to compete with Mario.
**Both characters star in the spin-off series Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
**Both have been playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series together since Sonic's debut in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
*As part of the , this episode was planned to be the Season 1 Finale. However, during its production, Ben Singer decided to forgo the planned seasonal format (though it would later be readopted, starting with Season 3).User blog:CrossoverKing96/Road to 100 (Archive) Haggar vs Zangief
*As part of the Save Death Battle Kickstarter, any backers who pledged for any of the reward tiers could vote in a survey to decide a rematch to be made for Death Battle '25, with this episode having been one of the available options, though it ultimately lost to Master Chief VS Doomguy.
===Easter Eggs===
*Sonic's "Now I'll show you!" line is a reference to his line upon using his Final Smash, Super Sonic, in the Super Smash Bros. series.
**This line would become a recurring element of Sonic's later episodes, with him reciting it after becoming Hyper Sonic in the rematch of this episode and his Archie counterpart saying a similar line before collecting a Super Emerald during Flash VS Sonic.
===Errors===
*In Mario's "Frog Suit" slide, "Absolutely" is misspelled as "Absoluteley".
*Sonic's weight is listed as being 35 pounds, when it's actually 77 pounds, or 35 kilograms.
*In Sonic's "Background" slide, "Unknown" is misspelled as "Unkown".
*Sonic's age is listed as 16 in this episode, which is accurate to his age listed in Sonic Jam but inconsistent with all other sources of his age published afterward, which consistently put him at 15 prior to Sega removing reference to his age altogether.
*Due to using Mario's (at the time) Super Smash Flash 2 sprites, Fire Mario uses his cape against Sonic despite not actually using the power-up until after the montage.
===Other===
*This is the first Nintendo VS Sega-themed episode, with the next five being Luigi VS Tails, Donkey Kong VS Knuckles, Mewtwo VS Shadow, Mario VS Sonic (2018), and Bowser VS Eggman.
**This is the first time the Sega character wins, with the next one being Luigi VS Tails.
**This is the first Super Mario VS Sonic the Hedgehog-themed episode, with the next four being Luigi VS Tails, Donkey Kong VS Knuckles, Mario VS Sonic (2018), and Bowser VS Eggman.
***This is the first time the Sonic character wins, with the next one being Luigi VS Tails.
*This is the first Super Smash Bros.-themed episode, with the next eight being Zelda VS Peach, Link VS Cloud (2012), Bowser VS Ganon, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Wario VS King Dedede, Ken VS Terry, Link VS Cloud (2021), and Sora VS Pit.
*This is the third episode to be redone later in the series, after Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2010) and Goku VS Superman 1, and with the next three being Link VS Cloud (2012), Goku VS Superman 2, and Master Chief VS Doomguy.
*This is the first episode in which only one combatant received a voice actor, with the next nine being Luke Skywalker VS Harry Potter, Eggman VS Wily, Hulk VS Doomsday, Lucario VS Renamon, Crash VS Spyro, Blake VS Mikasa, Link VS Cloud (2021), Boba Fett VS Predator, and Skyrim VS Dark Souls.
*WatchMojo.com ranked this episode at #9 on their "Top 10 Screw Attack: Death Battle Episodes" list.
==References==
Category:Death Battles
Category:Season 1 episodes
Category:Mario episodes
Category:Sonic episodes
Category:Animated Sprite battles
Category:Fights animated by Ben Singer
Category:Fights with voice actors
Category:Death Battles with cameo appearances
Category:'Mario VS Sonic' themed Death Battles
Category:'Rivalry' themed Death Battles
Category:'Super Smash Bros.' themed Death Battles
Category:'Nintendo VS Sega' themed Death Battles
Category:'Heroes' themed Death Battles
Category:'Protagonists' themed Death Battles
Category:'Video Games' themed Death Battles
Category:'Eponymous Characters' themed Death Battles
Category:'Mascots' themed Death Battles
Category:Death Battles with power-ups
Category:'Animal VS Human' themed Death Battles
Category:'80s VS 90s' themed Death Battles