Magneto VS Tetsuo

Magneto VS Tetsuo is the 161st episode of Death Battle, featuring Magneto from Marvel Comics and Tetsuo Shima from the Akira series in a battle between telekinetic mutant revolutionaries. Magneto was voiced by Edward Bosco and Tetsuo was voiced by Joshua Waters.
==Interlude==
Wiz: Magneto, Marvel's mutant master of magnetism.
Boomstick: Tetsuo Shima, Akira's telekinetic terror of Neo-Tokyo.
Wiz: These two maestros of kinesis have ignited revolution not just in their worlds, but also the very mediums they exist within.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
==Magneto==
Wiz: In the short duration of modern civilization, likely no conflict tested humanity more than the second World War. In the primary Marvel 616 universe, this fact is no different, especially to the Eisenhardt family and their only son.
Boomstick: You may know him as Magnus, Erik, or Max. But if you ask him, he'd say his true name is Magneto.
Wiz: As a Jewish child in Nazi Germany, Magneto's early life was, well, extremely traumatic.
Boomstick: Even after eventually escaping certain death with his future wife, misfortune always followed where ever he went.
Wiz: Thanks to his unexpected mutation called the X-Gene, the mark of the superhuman. After settling down in Russia with his new family, the KGB quickly found out about this quirk, so they burned his house down with his own daughter inside.
Boomstick: Naturally, he snapped and killed 'em all. I don't blame him, I'd do that too. Too bad his wife didn't get it and ditched him, though. But that's when Magneto made a choice: since humans hurt him his entire life, he'd do the same to them in the name of mutants everywhere.
Wiz: At first, Magneto turned to the telepathic powerhouse, Charles Xavier, and his fledging team of heroes. But his new friend wasn't thrilled with the idea of, uh... subjugating the human race. So, Magneto formed his own team of mutants, the Brotherhood.
Boomstick: Magneto can telekinetically move, bend, and reshape any metal he's aware of. Bullets, vehicles, buildings, you name it. Even himself when he manipulates his personal magnetic field for flight and energy barriers.
Wiz: Magnetokinesis is far more versatile than it would appear at first glance. The blood in your body has iron in it. The air has traces of lead and mercury. Whole mountains are lined with metallic ore. The Earth itself is surrounded by a literal magnetic field.
Boomstick: So many toys for Maggy to play with! He can detect magnetic fields at such a huge range, he can even pinpoint Earth's magnetic rays while stranded on a planet in another galaxy. And guess what? He was able to use those rays to pull himself back to Earth in a single day.
Wiz: His range is even more remarkable than that. Did you know that in 1820, physicist Hans Christian Ørsted discovered that electric currents, like those of electrons and protons and atoms, produce their own magnetic fields? Magneto can fine-tune his control to affect these very sub-atomic particles.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick, with DUMMI coming in surrounded by atoms circling him.
Wiz: DUMMI here will illustrate such a particle, with positively charged protons and negative electrons.
DUMMI: (sigh) My life is as meaningless as an atom is small.
Boomstick: So what you're saying is Magneto could, like... yank one of those out?
Wiz: Correct, potentially changing an atom's entire chemical makeup. However, neutrons do not have a charge, and without the ability to adjust those to accommodate the change in atomic mass, the atom would become unstable and-
Fascinated, Boomstick takes out one of the atoms surrounding DUMMI, causing the bot's structure to grow unstable and the hosts to flee from the scene.
DUMMI: FINALLYYYY! AAAAAGGGHHH-
The robot then blows up on a subatomic level, with Wiz and Boomstick appearing at their respective corners.
Wiz: ...Do that.
We cut back to the analysis.
Wiz: Magneto's violent protest against humankind clashed with Xavier's peaceful reconciliation. Not unlike the ideologies taught by Malcolm X and Dr. King, by whom Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were inspired. Magneto would spend most of his career pushing Xavier away to prove his philosophy's superior, which meant doing battle with Xavier's school of thought. Quite literally.
Boomstick: And Baldy's mind powers are no joke. But thanks to Magneto's psionic-repelling helmet, Professor X couldn't touch him. Magneto's survived Cyclops' earth-splitting lasers, absorbed the power of the Sun to battle Iron Man, ripped the Adamantium skeleton out of Wolverine's body, and even taken on Hercules himself. You know, the Greek legend? Zero to Hero? The guy who held up the skies of Olympus for Atlas?! That Hercules.
Wiz: Seems sensible. Magneto once used the Earth's magnetic field to overwhelm the Phoenix Force, which can effortlessly destroy planets, let alone far more.
Boomstick: Hell, if he really wanted to, Magneto could totally just fling the Earth off its axis!
Wiz: It's entirely possible he may have eventually resorted to just that. Over time, it became clear that Magneto's war was doing far more harm than good for his fellow mutants, however well-intentioned he may have been at first.
Boomstick: Luckily, he later realized he was goin' a bit overboard and began re-evaluating his perspective. Good for you, Mags! It's really tough to recognize when you're the baddie.
Wiz: It took time and patience not just for Magneto, but also from his peers, yet eventually, his path was completely changed. He even became a leader for Xavier's X-Men.
Boomstick: But don't let his new goody-two-shoes ways fool ya. Whenever there's a threat to mutants, you can bet Magneto will be there to annihilate it, forever, by any means necessary.
==Tetsuo Shima==
Wiz: Over 30 years ago, a new type of bomb was set off over Tokyo, and nine hours later, began the third World War.
Boomstick: Welcome to 2030, or 2019 if you're watchin' the anime. The buildings are taller, the motorcycles are cooler, and the future is brighter! ...Oh wait, not really. If you find yourself in the Capsule gang, you'll meet Shōtarō Kaneda, who's like your textbook anime chad: gets the ladies, beats the baddies, and cops the sweetest rigs. Man, I need to get me one of those.
Wiz: And then there's the little brother of the group: Kaneda's best friend, Tetsuo Shima. He's, well...
Boomstick: The exact opposite; a total wimp! As a kid, Tetsuo and his college thesis forehead got bullied for bein' the new kid at the orphanage. That's until big bro Kaneda came to the rescue.
Wiz: Eventually, the two went to vocational school together and formed the Capsules. But Tetsuo was never satisfied with Kaneda being the leader of the pack. Tetsuo desired more than anything to be top dog.
Boomstick: Ho ho, I can just see that monkey's paw curlin' in my mind. Or that kid walkin' down the street— SHIT! TETSUO, WATCH OUT, YOU'RE GONNA—!
----
A massive explosion occurs when Tetsuo crashes.
----
Boomstick: That definitely should've killed him.
Boomstick: But, since it didn't, Tetsuo earned himself a ticket to military confinement. Turns out they had an under-the-table program for developing child super-weapons.
Wiz: In the same program that backfired and jumpstarted the war, Tetsuo became Japan's esper #41.
Boomstick: He may not have been a natural with bikes, baddies, or babes, but this telekinesis stuff hit different. He walked out of that hospital ward effortlessly flying, reading minds, and blendin' people into strawberry jelly. Tetsuo got what he wanted: power, along with the hunger for more of it.
Wiz: A hunger that used to only be satiated with drugs. And not just any gateway drug; pills so potent that a single gram of the stuff could kill you.
Boomstick: Soooo, pretty bad. Kinda reminds me of college days huh, "Snow Wizard"?
Wiz: (clears throat) Tetsuo's main ability is his constantly increasing psionic energy, growing more and more powerful over time. This is due to Tetsuo's link to, quote, "the memories of the universe", end quote. It's weird.
Boomstick: Either way, Tetsuo leveled up from lame gangbuster to certified badass. This guy is a walking natural disaster! His telekinesis can shake the planet, easily cause earthquakes over a dozen miles below the surface, he can summon psychic barriers for defense, and crush foes with freakin' gravity wells. He can dart around as a literal bolt of lightning, or even teleport in an instant.
Wiz: Tetsuo's telekinesis can be so precise, he can target and obliterate specific parts of the body. He can heal severe wounds quickly, but even after losing a whole limb, he can craft a new one using whatever nearby materials he wants.
Boomstick: With these powers, top dog Kaneda didn't matter anymore. Who needed his approval? Tetsuo tasted that good shit and he was hooked. And when he found out another esper named Akira could deal him even more power, he rampaged through Tokyo to find him.
Wiz: And this is where versions of the story differ.
Boomstick: Ahem, spoilers ahoy!
Wiz: You may be familiar with the 1988 animation, where Akira had been dissected for research. However, in the original manga, Akira is not only alive, but even more powerful.
Boomstick: Once that little runt nuked Tokyo, Tetsuo would erect the Great Tokyo Empire with Akira and himself as its leaders. But he ended up just abusing the position for endless sex and inflating his ego.
Wiz: With Kaneda's rebellion at his front door, Tetsuo took a turn for the worse. He had to fight.
Boomstick: Tetsuo's defeated other powerful espers, dodged lightspeed lasers, and jumped to the Moon faster than anyone could blink, and then punched a big ol' hole in it! And if you ask, "Boomstick, wouldn't that mess up gravity on Earth"? You would be right, because it totally did! Screw the planet, I guess! Stupid Moon...
Wiz: Which brings us to Tetsuo's folly. His abuse of his powers spiraled until he lost control. Unfortunately for Kaneda's rebellion, this did not make Tetsuo an easier enemy to confront. Exactly opposite in fact, as Tetsuo painfully mutated into an unstoppable behemoth.
We cut to Boomstick, with a rebuilt DUMMI coming in.
Boomstick: (sarcastically) Yup. That's not totally disturbing at all.
DUMMI: I'm happy to say, the manga's version is even more disturbing.
Boomstick: I mean, I know babies can be monsters, but that's a whole 'nother level!
DUMMI: It is pain incarnate. I can relate. Another esper described Tetsuo's struggle as "ego death", which has multiple definitions, but in this case, it's likely symbolic of the version attributed to drug use.
We cut back to the analysis.
Boomstick: Yeah, it's described as a "shedding of one's own identity". Like how LSD can emulate a wild out-of-body experience and ya "come back" with a new perspective. Though this is mayyybe a little more extreme. In fact, you could say Tetsuo was shedding his human body to play with the powers of a god.
DUMMI: I wish I could shed out of my body. But in this case, Tetsuo going full out-of-body meant becoming a mound of raw, ever-expanding energy.
Boomstick: Which almost nuked Tokyo all over again! And those explosions are not normal! I would know.
Wiz: Top scientists in both the manga and animated versions described these explosions as births of a new universe.
DUMMI: Given its properties of nuclear fusion and proton collapse, Tetsuo's mutated form was likely creating a Big Bang.
Boomstick: Y'know, the thing that started our whole universe??
Wiz: Right, in the manga, it instead ended the espers and their abilities once and for all. A testament that humankind is unsuited to wield the powers of the divine.
Boomstick: Though the anime's even more trippy. Thanks to Akira and his buddies, Tetsuo got so high on ego death, he ascended time-space to become god of a new universe. Ki-Kinda worth it, right?
Wiz: And yet, Kaneda kept his empire up in his honor, now as the Great Akira Empire. Ironically, in death, Tetsuo finally received the attention he so desperately craved.
==Prelude==
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
==Death Battle==
Burning architecture and collapsed buildings make up the scene in the devastated Japanese city of the Great Tokyo Empire. Magneto overlooks the ruins.
Magneto: Even in Japan, they fail to recognize our superiority.
At a distance behind, Tetsuo Shima drops down onto the ledge of a building to correct his new intruder.
Tetsuo: Wrong country, grandpa! You're in Akira turf now.
Without warning, he flies forward and blasts the shocked Magneto in the face with telekinesis, sending him flying backwards while he begins to pursue. Magneto recovers from his surprise and the two engage in an aerial chase. 
Tetsuo: You're dead meat!
Tetsuo flies past several signs and rips them from their posts, before hurling them at Magneto. He dodges the first, throws the second back with his own powers, and avoids the final one. As he continues flying away, Magneto takes the time to berate Tetsuo for his aggression and lack of maturity.
Magneto: Impudent child!
Tetsuo: The hell are you calling "child"!? Rrgh... I make the rules around here!
Angered by his condescension, Tetsuo levitates several pieces of debris and throws them at Magneto, who lifts several cars to block the assault. Once it is finished, he compresses them into a metal ball and flings it at Tetsuo, who in turn redirects it with his abilities. The hunk of metal makes an impact with Magneto, who blocks it with his force field but is sent crashing into the ground. Tetsuo mockingly laughs at the fallen Magneto, who quickly reveals his lack of damage. 
Magneto: You're wasting my time.
He in turn hurls nearby metal structures at Tetsuo. While Tetsuo manages to evade the first two waves, he fails to dodge a final girder, which slices his right arm clean off, the pain of which sends him crashing into the ground. 
Magneto: Parlor tricks for the Master of Magnetism.
Within the dust cloud, Tetsuo staggers to his feet and telekinetically summons a few manners of scrap metal to his side. Sensing his foe was up to something, Magneto uses his powers to raise a building behind him, up high into the air before sending it forth to crush Tetsuo. Suddenly, the building halted in midair and the camera shows Tetsuo pushing it back with his own telekinesis, complete with a brand new arm composed of the scrap metal from earlier. Murderous rage hisses through his voice...
Tetsuo: I'll kill you. 
...before glowing bright with energy, showcasing his hotheadedness.
Tetsuo: I'LL KILL YOU!!
He forces Magneto down with a gravity well and charges forward, leaving the building to fall flat on the ground.
Tetsuo: You're history, scumbag!
He uppercuts Magneto with his metal arm into the air and proceeds to blitz him from multiple directions. Magneto recovers and, while charging at his foe, pulls the same building he threw earlier to Tetsuo's back. Tetsuo breaks it apart and builds up smoke.
As Magneto continues charging, he is suddenly attacked from multiple directions again by a teleporting Tetsuo and is kicked away with a powerful knee. Recovering, Magneto builds up magnetic power, and both clash powerful punches strong enough to disrupt the entire Earth's magnetic field.
The result after the blows is that Magneto's signature helmet falls to the ground and shatters from nearby psychic power. Tetsuo is shown choking Magneto with his metal arm and tries to focus his precise power to blow up his opponent's head. In the process, however, Magneto uses his powers to control Tetsuo's metal arm and choke him back, letting him hang mid-air in return as he saves himself.
Magneto: I believe I've had enough tantrums to last a lifetime!
Magneto amplifies his power to finish things, but Tetsuo's power gets out of control and he begins to mutate massively from where his metal arm used to be, shocking Magneto into ending his attack.
The stunned Magneto is knocked away into a building. Recovering, he looks up with abject horror to see what his opponent has become: a gross mutated blob of flesh yelling in agony. Without his helmet, Magneto suffers a telepathic attack, with Tetsuo's thoughts barraging his mind.
Tetsuo: (telepathically) Listen— Welcome— I'll handle this on my own— Can't control it— to— I'm not weak— DIE!!!
But deep within the mixed mess of emotional voices, Magneto hears a weak plea for help.
Tetsuo: (telepathically) It hurts... help me...
As Magneto pauses in confusion from his opponent's subconscious request, the mutated Tetsuo stretches out and grabs Magneto, pulling him in. Thinking quickly, he uses his magnetokinesis to extract iron from nearby blood puddles to form buzz saws, which he uses to cut the massive arm and free himself. He cuts away at more flesh limbs that try to grab him, but is grabbed again regardless.
Pulled in once more, the mutated Tetsuo begins glowing ethereally and causes a Big Bang explosion, preparing to "ascend". Magneto screams as the screen fades to white.
After a few seconds, however, it is revealed that Magneto is fine, having manipulated the energy to contain the explosion within his hands. He then expresses sorrow over his opponent's suffering.
Magneto: Poor child...
Resolving to fulfill his foe's request, Magneto weaponizes the blast into a laser to cut through the mutated Tetsuo and most of the street. A human arm frees itself from the blob to show that Tetsuo is back in normal form.
Despite being in a much weaker state and missing an arm, Tetsuo charges forward to attack again with psychic energy, but Magneto charges a laser from his finger and blasts it directly through his skull, quickly and mercifully putting an end to his agony.
With tears coming from his blank eyes as he falls, the dying Tetsuo closes them in peace and relays a final telepathic message of gratitude to Magneto.
Tetsuo: (telepathically) Thank you...
As the deceased Tetsuo's former mutated body dissipates, the exhausted Magneto lets out a sigh.
Magneto: (sighs) You're welcome.
With the fight done, he goes his own way, leaving the devastated battleground behind as the screen cuts to black.
==Results==
Boomstick: TETSUOOOOOOOO— (coughs) Ah, god. Uh, shit. I'm never doing that again.
Wiz: Tetsuo's esoteric telekinesis and other bizarre abilities certainly gave Magneto pause, but the Master of Magnetism had greater control over his foe.
Boomstick: The numbers don't lie. Tetsuo cratering the Moon was insane, but Magneto punched Iron Man with the force of the Sun. And while Tetsuo jumped all the way to the Moon, Magneto could move across galaxies!
Wiz: Against Tetsuo and his human form, Magneto obviously held a sizable advantage in power and speed.
Boomstick: But stats aren't all that matters. With his precise telekinesis, Tetsuo could just target Magneto's organs. GG, right?
Wiz: Yes, but Magneto had similar skills. There are very few substances on Earth that lack any metallic or magnetic component, and Magneto is very creative with his powers.
Boomstick: Which he could use to predict Tetsuo's teleportation and even shut down his telekinesis. And his scraps with Xavier prove he can handle Tetsuo's messing with his head. The biggest challenge for Magneto was when Tetsuo's gross mutated power came into play.
Wiz: Especially given how the detonations from this form were compared to that of a Big Bang... although the authenticity of that observation is questionable. In truth, the Big Bang was a sudden expansion of matter on a universal scale, whereas Tetsuo's explosions are more akin to nuclear blasts. Clearly intentional, given the post-war symbolism of the Akira story.
Boomstick: The whole "creating an alternate universe" bit wasn't even part of the original material, so we can't exactly call it canon.
Wiz: But let's just say the comparison wasn't superfluous. Let's say Tetsuo did in fact cause a Big Bang capable of creating or destroying an entire universe, alternate or otherwise.
Boomstick: Turns out Magneto had the tools to stop that, too. Helmethead could overpower Hercules, who was strong enough to hold up the skies of Olympus, which is literally Heaven AND an alternate universe!
Wiz: This doesn't necessarily mean Magneto could easily destroy a universe with a snap of his fingers, but it does prove he can match a similar level of power. And context is everything. Tetsuo's Big Bang eruption specifically exhibited proton collapse, meaning its atomic structure was primarily an unstable mess of neutrons and electrons, and Magneto has detected and commanded unstable electrons before. This means Magneto had every means available to take control over this Big Bang.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Boomstick: Damn. And I thought he could just move some metal around. It's like the question posed by some of the greatest prophets of our time... Fuckin' magnets. How do they even work?
Wiz: Magneto's astonishing power and intelligent control over all things magnetism triumphed in the end.
Boomstick: Tetsuo pushed his luck, but didn't have the metal to pull off the win.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is Magneto.
==Comparison==
===Magneto===
:+ Stronger, faster, tougher
:+ Magnekinesis countered Tetsuo's offense
:+ Magnetic senses countered Tetsuo's mobility
:- Inferior "healing" options
:- Tetsuo could eventually grow more powerful
===Tetsuo===
:+ Could kill Magneto without his shield
:+ Telekinesis had a broader range of effect...
:- ...though his application was less versatile
:- Overexertion risked bodily harm
:- Far less combat and tactical experience
==Original Track==
===Composition===
The track for this fight is "Ego Death" by Therewolf Media. It is a futuristic-sounding synth-based techno track, reflecting the cyberpunk setting of Akira. The track briefly shifts to an eerie, horror-like style with chants for Tetsuo's transformation scene.
===Title===
The title refers to the psychological term "ego death", also known as "psychic death", wherein an individual suffers a complete loss of self-identity and has a transformation of the psyche, which both combatants have undergone. It also more literally refers to their large egos, causing of death, and psychic powers. It is also a term related to psychedelic drugs (and the specific term for it that DUMMI brings up when describing ego death in Tetsuo's analysis), with Tetsuo being known for heavily using drugs after gaining his powers.
===Cover Art===
The cover art done by John Mitchell depicts Magneto's helmet and Tetsuo's cape with mutated flesh surrounded by two different telekinetic energies and two steel beams.
==Trivia==
===Production===
*The connections between Magneto and Tetsuo are that they are both telekinetic, caped mutants who became villains, went on egomaniacal power trips, and sparked a revolution following their horrific abuse under governmental forces. In addition:
**Both of their powers are associated with fundamental concepts of physics (Magneto manipulates electromagnetism, one of the four fundamental forces of physics, while Tetsuo's psychic powers have a connection to the Big Bang, a physics theory used to explain the origins of the universe).
**Both were once close comrades to a hero (Professor X and Shōtarō Kaneda, respectively) who ended their relationships due to their villainous ways, but would return to thwart them time and time again despite being much weaker.
**Both have sought others for their goals (Magneto attempts to recruit other Mutants to his cause, while Tetsuo sought out Akira).
**Both have ruled over large domains of land they reformed into factions (Genosha and the Great Tokyo Empire, respectively).
**Both formed a group in which they were the leader to spread their ideals (The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the Great Tokyo Empire, respectively).
**Both of their names are associated with metal, particularly iron (Magneto's name references magnetism, and his surname, Eisenhardt, contains "Eisen", the German word for iron, while Tetsuo's name contains the Japanese kanji for iron, "鉄").
**Both came into action following World Wars (World War 2 and World War 3, respectively).
**Both were separated from their mothers at a young age.
**Magneto once fought Kenji Uedo, an intentional homage to TetsuoGillen Lights the Way for "Generation Hope" - CBR.com who shares many similarities with him.
*This episode aired exactly 100 episodes after Magneto's alleged son's episode, in which he appeared as a cameo.
*The clips of World War 2 in Magneto's analysis are different in the YouTube release of the episode compared to the Rooster Teeth release. This was likely done to avoid the risk of YouTube demonetizing the episode due to Nazi imagery.
*According to the 281st episode of DEATH BATTLE Cast, this episode almost made it into Season 8.Mickey Mouse VS Bugs Bunny | DEATH BATTLE Cast #281
*On August 3rd, 2023, Therewolf Media released an 8-bit remix of Ego Death.
===Easter Eggs===
*Magneto's "Background" slide mentioning that he dislikes wooden guns is a reference to the infamous moment from the 1978 The Fantastic Four cartoon where Magneto was defeated by being tricked with a wooden pistol.
*Wiz suggesting that Magneto could've resorted to tilting the Earth's axis had he not re-evaluated his ideals is a reference to the comic event Ultimatum, where the Ultimate Universe's Magneto (who never went through the character arc that led to mainline Magneto becoming an anti-hero) flooded New York by doing just that.
*Tetsuo getting his right arm cut off and replacing it with metal in the fight is a reference to the same happening to him in the Akira movie.
*In the scene where Tetsuo is frantically communicating to Magneto telepathically, he utters "Welcome... to... DIE!!!" amongst his other messages, a reference to the iconic mistranslated line and meme from Magneto in the 1992 X-Men video game.
**The meme is also referenced in Magneto's analysis preview title, "Magneto Welcomes You to Die in DEATH BATTLE!".
*Boomstick shouting Tetsuo's name at the start of the post-analysis is a reference to how Tetsuo and Kaneda are known for shouting each other's name in the Akira film.
*Boomstick saying "Fucking magnets. How do they even work?" at the end of the post-analysis is a reference to the meme of the same name.
**Boomstick had previously made the same joke in Godzilla VS Gamera.
===Errors===
*Tetsuo's age is listed as 19 in his "Background" slide, despite his actual age being 15 in both the anime and manga.
*Tetsuo's right arm is still human for several shots after he had already replaced it with metal.
*When Tetsuo is choking Magneto with his metal arm, in the faraway shot, his arm is not only flesh, but both characters are covered with blood that disappears when it cuts to the close-up of Tetsuo and Magneto.
===Other===
*This is the 12th Anime/Manga VS Comic Book-themed episode, after Goku VS Superman 1, Goku VS Superman 2, Android 18 VS Captain Marvel, Carnage VS Lucy, Optimus Prime VS Gundam, Genos VS War Machine, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, Saitama VS Popeye, and Thor VS Vegeta, and with the next five being Trunks VS Silver, Frieza VS Megatron, Goku VS Superman (2023), Omni-Man VS Bardock, and Simon the Digger VS White Lantern.
**This is the ninth time that the Comic Book character wins, after Goku VS Superman 1, Goku VS Superman 2, Optimus Prime VS Gundam, Genos VS War Machine, Obi-Wan Kenobi VS Kakashi, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, Saitama VS Popeye, and Thor VS Vegeta, and with the next three being Trunks VS Silver, Goku VS Superman (2023), and Omni-Man VS Bardock.
*This is the 18th Marvel VS non-DC-themed episode, after Thor VS Raiden, Beast VS Goliath, Darth Vader VS Doctor Doom, Wolverine VS Raiden, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Android 18 VS Captain Marvel, Shredder VS Silver Samurai, Carnage VS Lucy, Ultron VS Sigma, Black Widow VS Widowmaker, Deadpool VS Mask, Genos VS War Machine, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Iron Fist VS Po, Korra VS Storm, and Thor VS Vegeta, and with the next three being Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon, Galactus VS Unicron, and Hulk VS Godzilla.
**This is the eighth time that the Marvel character wins, after Thor VS Raiden, Darth Vader VS Doctor Doom, Ultron VS Sigma, Black Widow VS Widowmaker, Genos VS War Machine, Korra VS Storm, and Thor VS Vegeta, and with the next one being Galactus VS Unicron.
*This is the fifth episode in which the winner shows respect for their fallen opponent (via Magneto saying "You're welcome." to Tetsuo after he telepathically thanks the mutant for mercy-killing him), after Goku VS Superman 2, All Might VS Might Guy, Korra VS Storm, and Tanjiro VS Jonathan Joestar, and with the next six being SpongeBob VS Aquaman, Gogeta VS Vegito, Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha, Guts VS Dimitri, Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer, and Goku VS Superman (2023).
*On April 13th, 2024, the DEATH BATTLE! YouTube channel uploaded the full fight animation of this episode on its own, likely to capitalize off of the release of X-Men '97's fifth episode, "Remember It", which released three days earlier.
==References==
Category:Death Battles
Category:Season 9 Episodes
Category:Marvel episodes
Category:X-Men episodes
Category:Animated Sprite battles
Category:Fights animated by Kiid
Category:Fights animated by Zack
Category:Fights with voice actors
Category:Death Battles with comparisons
Category:'Anime VS Comics' themed Death Battles
Category:'East VS West' themed Death Battles
Category:'Antagonists' themed Death Battles
Category:'Marvel VS non-DC' themed Death Battles
Category:'Villains' themed Death Battles
Category:'Anti-Hero VS Villain' themed Death Battles
Category:'David VS Goliath' themed Death Battles
Category:'Protagonist VS Antagonist' themed Death Battles