Predicting the Opponents for the Death Battle Season 8 Characters

Cloud (Final Fantasy)

Getting the obvious one out of the way - Cloud is absolutely fighting Link. It's one of, if not the single most requested rematch of the entire show, both characters have gotten significantly more to their arsenals since last time, it would fit perfectly as episode 150, we're confirmed to be getting a highly requested rematch this season, it makes too much sense for this season. Plus, the last time we've had a Final Fantasy was back in season 4, so this would be a good opportunity to re-evaluate the franchise.

Cloud's more than likely winning this time around. The original episode is kinda infamous for giving Cloud very little to work with (basic sword, 2 relatively lacklustre materia, etc.), and this episode could rectify that and then some. I feel they'll take the Leonardo angle with Link. Since there isn't a definitive "main" Link to use, they'll use a reasonable composite that's consistent with what most/all Links can do, while excluding anything that's too .

While certainly a fight worthy of being remade, I hope that for the next Final Fantasy match, they use a non-7 character. I get that 7 is the most beloved and recognisable entry in the franchise, but Final Fantasy is more than just one game. Something like Marx vs Kefka Palazzo or Rayquaza vs Bahamut would help represent the wider Final Fantasy franchise (with the latter also being a triple whammy of including a legendary Pokémon, a non-gen 1 Pokémon, and a character from across the entire Final Fantasy franchise, rather than one specific entry).

The only reason I could see this not happening is that Cloud fights someone else and we get Master Chief vs Doomslayer as the rematch, but I really doubt that.

Watch it be Goku vs Superman 3 so nobody wins

Doctor Doom (MARVEL Comics)

Doom's in an interesting position. He has no shortage of good opponents, and it makes sense for him to come back (his initial episode kinda felt like a waste for both characters). I'd comfortably rule out Black Adam, since he's more likely to fight Apocalypse than Doom. I'd also personally rule out Lex Luthor, who already had an episode against his best opponent and that episode is generally regarded as one of the best ever (I also don't see many requested for Lex to return, so that's probably a main factor). I'd personally place my bets on Gilgamesh from Fate, and here's my thought process.

DJTiki confirmed on Discord that the complaints of comic character oversaturation (Marvel/DC specifically) have not fallen on deaf ears, and will be accounted for, at least, Season 8. Now, I don't think this means we'll get no Marvel/DC matchups whatsoever, but I do think they'll be significantly scaled back. Maybe 2 or 3 Marvel vs DC matchups, and then another 2 that involved Marvel/DC characters. 

If it were up to me, the Marvel/DC fights would be Ant-Man vs Atom (highly requested Marvel vs DC rivalry), Mr Freeze vs Dr Octopus (highly thematic while still being interesting, given their vastly different powersets, is also somewhat requested), and Black Adam vs Apocalypse (the flying brick one). 

With this in mind, I think they'll be less Marvel/DC fights, and those present are either highly requested (like Ant-Man vs Atom or Black Adam vs Apocalypse) or will feel truly unique (like Mr Freeze vs Dr Octopus). The matchups won't feel either completely redundant in the face of previous episodes (like Batgirl vs Spider-Gwen),  nor won't rob a character of a better matchup (like Venom vs Crona robbing us of Crona vs Shiro from Deadman Wonderland). 

Watch Doom fight Lex Luthor and prove me completely wrong

Ryuko Matoi (Kill la Kill)

Shadow. There's just no way it isn't Shadow. Thematic, highly requested, the matchup has history, the research team have been pushing for it since forever, it just makes sense. Ryuko's other matchups, Akame and Tatsumi, both have more requested matchups regardless (Akame almost certainly fighting Killua now, and Tatsumi is probably fighting Issei if he's fighting anyone (assuming Ryuko doesn't come back, which she could)).

I just hope to god this isn't Kill la Kill's only chance at the Death Battle spotlight. There's plenty of other great, thematic matchups with Kill la Kill characters that could make for fun episodes (Ragyo Kiryuin vs Lusamine and Mako Mankanshoku vs Chie Satonaka specifically spring to mind). To have it's only representation be losing to Shadow would be ... disappointing, to say the least.

Oh yeah, Shadow wins this one. Hopefully, Shadow can nab himself both a victory AND an actually good episode. Can we get one for Mewtwo, while we're at it? Mewtwo deserved better than whatever Mewtwo vs Shadow was.

Steven Quartz Universe (Steven Universe)

Full disclosure, I've never seen Steven Universe. All I know is that everyone is requesting him to fight Star Butterfly, a character from a show I also haven't watched. Both are each others most requested matchups, and the fight has the making for a good hand-drawn episode. More Western cartoon characters are always appreciated, especially since Death Battle has yet to fully tap into that specific branch of media (I'm still wanting for Bender to fight Crypto to Destroy All Humans!).

To be clear, I've definitely heard other opponents for Steven (Lucas from Mother 3 has been thrown about a bit and I would be down with the Mother series finally being on Death Battle), but Star has far and away been Steven's most consistently requested matchup. Make it hand-drawn, get some good voice actors in, should be good.

Mikasa Ackerman (Attack on Titan)

So the character included in the teaser is actually Annie, but the teaser never shows her face and Annie doesn't really have any notable matchups and everyone thinks it's Mikasa, so I'll just talk about Mikasa. Her opponent is probably Blake from RWBY.

I'm kind of hoping that Blake is Mikasa's opponent, not because I have any personal investment in either character or the matchup itself, but because a friend has been requesting this matchup for years at this point, and to see him get his most wanted episode would be nice. Also, Blake absolutely wins this fight. Even leaving the conversation of "Rooster Teeth bias" aside, Blake's arsenal and speed is more than enough to put Mikasa down.

As an aside, if Blake is Mikasa's opponent, I kind of doubt that we'll get Ruby vs Maka this Season. While an outright confirmed matchup, and certainly one that fits the whole "history" theme of this season, I kind of doubt we'll get 2 RWBY characters in one season, especially since I feel that they want to wait until RWBY is finished before using Ruby in a Death Battle.

Also, if it turns out the Attack on Titan character is Eren, he's either fighting Ken (Tokyo Ghoul) or Wander (Shadow of the Colossus). I'm personally not really sold on either matchup, but they're Eren's most popular opponents.

Yoda (Star Wars)

Hey, guys, it that character that everyone keeps mistakenly thinking Ben won't allow on the show! Jokes aside, I think it's pretty obvious that it's Yoda, and not R2/Luke. R2 is a funny thought, but not much beyond that (not sure how you would stretch the joke of R2 fighting to an entire episode), and Luke ... I don't know, after the criticism that season 7 got on using too many returning characters, I don't think they would then make half the teased characters returning combatants. So, Yoda it is.

Yoda really only has 2 major opponents that are requested, being Meta Knight and Kingdom Hearts Mickey. I'd personally place my bets on Meta Knight. Mickey is less requested as his opponent nowadays, and Yoda doesn't have any other super-requested matchups, plus if Mickey comes to Death Battle, it'll be to fight Bugs Bunny first. Meta Knight also doesn't invite a massive Disney lawsuit, so he has that going for him.

As for who I think wins, probably Meta Knight, even accounting for the Expanded Universe. Meta Knight is consistently portrayed as strong, or even stronger, than Kirby. The only thing giving me hang ups on a definitive Meta Knight victory is that, to my knowledge, Meta Knight has never displayed telekinesis resistance, but Meta Knight still holds more than enough advantages for me to say he definitively wins this.

So, this would mean Season 8's lineup so far includes:

Cloud vs Link (2021) (Final Fantasy vs Legend of Zelda)

Shadow the Hedgehog vs Ryuko Matoi (Sonic the Hedgehog vs Kill la Kill)

Doctor Doom vs Gilgamesh (Marvel vs Fate)

Yoda vs Meta Knight (Star Wars vs Kirby)

Blake Belladonna vs Mikasa Ackerman (RWBY vs Attack on Titan)

Steven Universe vs Star Butterfly

Dio Brando vs Alucard (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure vs Hellsing)

This already gives us 6 new series represented in Death Battle across 7 episodes, equal to the whole of season 7. Hell, if you don't count The Seven Battle Royale, since it's a bonus episode, it's actually more. This gives me cautious optimism the season 8 could be the best season we've gotten yet. With the already confirmed characters, and the fact that every episode is apparently finale-worthy, I'm reasonably hyped (though I believe that "every episode is finale-worthy" is moreso referring to the quality of the matchups, rather than the episodes actual quality (though I'd love to be proven wrong and have every episode on the production and polish level of season finales).

Either way, still excited. Happy 10 year anniversary Death Battle, let's make it something to celebrate.