- —Tagline
Gojo VS Makima is the 183rd episode of Death Battle, featuring Satoru Gojo from the Jujutsu Kaisen series and Makima from the Chainsaw Man series in a battle between dark demon-hunting anime mentors. Gojo was voiced by Gianni Matragrano and Makima was voiced by Kelsey Jaffer.
Interlude
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Wiz & Boomstick by Brandon Yates  
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Wiz: Satoru Gojo, Jujutsu Kaisen's sorcerer sensei.
Boomstick: Makima, Chainsaw Man's head of Tokyo Public Safety.
Wiz: These two paranormal mentors are so strong, that they change the very worlds they exist in.
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.
Satoru Gojo
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Ill Minds by Benjamin Thompson 
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Wiz: Japan, December 7th, 1989. Satoru Gojo was born, and the world changed.
Boomstick: And in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, invisible cursed spirits born from negativity threaten humanity.
Wiz: So it's up to the Jujutsu sorcerers to do battle with them.
Boomstick: And what better way to learn the trade than to sign up for Tokyo Jujutsu High?
Wiz: At this institution, a sorcerer will learn to harness their cursed energy, or the spiritual manifestation of intense emotion.
Boomstick: It's like ki, but if ki desperately needed therapy.
Wiz: With it, sorcerers can boost their physicality and perform devastating cursed techniques, anything from voodoo dolls to swapping places with mere claps.
Boomstick: And lucky for humanity, Satoru Gojo's the best sensei a sorcerer could ask for.
Wiz: Gojo isn't just the best. He's known as the strongest. His very birth forced the strength of curses to exponentially rise. Like witnessing a world record get broken, curse society shifted to match the might of Gojo's presence.
Boomstick: As a kid, Gojo knew he was the shit! He mastered the art of the rizz, the hoops, and the curse-murdering! All alongside Suguru Geto, his sorcerer BFF.
Wiz: Together, they planned on changing Jujutsu society for the better.
Boomstick: And if anyone could do it, Gojo could. Thanks to his bloodline, he got one of the most busted anime powers ever: Limitless!
Wiz: Limitless grants Gojo a nigh-perfect defense by actualizing the very concept of infinity.
Boomstick: It creates an infinite space around himself, stopping anything coming his way. The dude is literally untouchable!
Wiz: Kind of. Gojo tailored Limitless to automatically detect an object's mass and velocity. As the difference between himself and an object decreases, Limitless halves the object's velocity. It's like Zeno's paradox.
Boomstick: Think of it this way: if you're tryin' to get from Point A to Point B, first you gotta go halfway. Then you gotta go another halfway, then another, and another, an-and so on. With Limitless, you'll never arrive! Just like my alimony payments.
Wiz: Hence infinity. Yeah, it might sound complicated, but it basically creates a spatial force field around Gojo at all times.
Boomstick: Techniques on this level would burn out other sorcerers in seconds. That's where Gojo's incredible Six Eyes come in. They let him see and near-perfectly control cursed energy at the atomic level, so he'll basically never run out of juice in a fight. He isn't just built different, he was born different.
Wiz: Six Eyes and Limitless gave Gojo the power to manipulate space itself. Gojo's Lapse: Blue technique attracts and condenses space into singularities. With Reversal: Red, Gojo does the opposite, repelling space. Think push and pull. But you may be asking, "How does one accomplish this with cursed energy?" With math!
Wiz laughs maniacally as lightning is seen crackling in the background.
Boomstick: Curses!
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We cut to Wiz.
Wiz: EXACTLY! Cursed energy is typically negative, like with Blue, but when multiplied by itself, negative cursed energy becomes positive, creating... Red.
Boomstick: Ah, strawberry and blueberry.
Wiz: So, what happens when you combine a positive and a negative?
Boomstick: Uh... grape?
Wiz: Zero!
After a brief awkward silence, we cut back to the analysis.
Wiz: Ahem, by combining Reversal: Red and Lapse: Blue, Gojo creates Hollow Purple, an enormous ball of cursed energy that literally applies the concept of zero to an opponent, crushing and repelling them into nothing.
Boomstick: Gojo is a walking cursed Swiss Army knife. Levitation, teleportation, even expanding Limitless to fry his enemies. Gojo can also use positive energy to heal humongous wounds, and he's constantly refreshing his brain with it 24/7 to keep up with all of this.
Wiz: Still, there's one technique that costs more cursed energy than anything else in a sorcerer's repertoire.
Boomstick: Every sorcerer is born with an Innate Domain, a mental world shaped by their mind and heart.
Wiz: Add cursed energy to it, and these domains can be manifested physically, a technique called Domain Expansion.
Boomstick: Every sorcerer worth their salt needs one, and ya know damn well Gojo has the scariest: Unlimited Void. You get caught in this, your ass is grass.
Wiz: Exposure to Unlimited Void overloads your consciousness with a stream of infinite information. A mere fifth of a second of exposure can leave a normal person in a vegetated state for months.
Boomstick: Too bad it requires so much energy, you can only do it like, once a day. Oh wait, except for Gojo, who has done it multiple times in row. Thanks again, Six Eyes!
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Sorry Charlie by Heidi Osgood-Metcalf
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Wiz: Quite frankly, Gojo was getting so strong that the axis of the Jujutsu world began to turn on him. Like the meta of a fighting game defined by one broken character, he defined the hierarchy of power in the sorcerer world. He alone was the honored one.
Boomstick: His mere presence can cause earthquakes, he outran sonic explosions, and applied cursed energy within a microsecond.[Note 1]
Wiz: Gojo has been repeatedly stated by many to be the strongest sorcerer there is.
Boomstick: That includes his ex-student Hakari, who can dodge lightning. Or this little volcano-headed curse, Jogo, the embodiment of humanity's fear of fire, who can bring down city-shattering meteors.[Note 2] And Gojo kicked his ass with zero effort.
Wiz: But strength alone was not enough to fix his cursed world. When Geto rejected Jujutsu society to forge his own justice, Gojo's philosophy changed. Instead of doing everything himself, he would teach a a new generation of sorcerers to carry the torch when he could not.
Boomstick: It's all about settin' an example. If it means a world where his companions can stand shoulder-to-shoulder as equals, who cares if he's gotta show off a bit?
Makima
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Solitude Found 3 by Nick Kingswell
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Wiz: Ah, what a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are singing...
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Boomstick: And a giant AK-47 carpet bombed the neighborhood! The sky rains blood! Millions are dead! Dear God, Wiz, it's the end times! RUN AWAY!!!
Wiz: Calm down, there's no reason to panic. It's just that in the world of Chainsaw Man, Devils exist and your fear makes them stronger...
Suddenly, the screen freezes and the music stops.
Wiz: Never mind. Panic.
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Boomstick: Remember that spider you shrieked at, or the last time you cut yourself dicing onions? Now, the Spider and Knife Devils are the monstrous products of your nightmares. And they hate you, specifically.
Wiz: The fearsome Gun Devil stood as the epitome of terror and destruction, and was responsible for a countless loss of lives. But a group was formed to combat it and the other Devils that plagued humanity: the Devil Hunters.
Boomstick: Live in Japan and got yourself a pesky zombie problem? It's time to call the Fourth Division of the Public Safety Devil Extermination.
Wiz: A government-funded Devil Hunter unit, led by a stone-cold vixen: Makima.
Boomstick: She's dressed like Columbo with a blank stare and a sadistic streak. She's been in the game for a while and just found herself a new prize.
Wiz: The union of man and pet-devil-dog, Denji, the Chainsaw Man. Upon meeting him, she gave him a choice: live under her as a human dog, or die by her hand as a Devil.
Boomstick: Sounds sketch, but Denji's brain was set to teenage boy and... Makima's hot! So in short order, Makima got a new pet.
Wiz: Makima may seem terrifying at first, but she is a dog-lover and a cinephile! Though, you'd be ill-advised to mess with her.
Boomstick: Sure, for her position, you'd expect her to know how to defend herself. Martial arts here, swordplay there, but Devil Hunters like Makima become real threats when they make contracts with Devils, a classic Faustian bargain. Give something of yourself, the Devil gives you power.
Wiz: She can call death upon anyone she chooses through a complicated ritual and even survive being shot through the head.
Boomstick: Because as they say in the Devil Hunter world, "You need your screws loose to live."
Wiz: But she might have more than a few screws loose because, in actuality, Makima is... a Devil herself.
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Hyper Collision by NekujaK
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Boomstick: (sarcastically) Gasp! There's no way this clearly evil character could be a villain in disguise!
Wiz: The Japanese government has been keeping a close eye on Makima ever since she was born. Rightfully so; she isn't some F-tier scrub like the Bat or Leech Devils. She's the Control Devil, embodying humanity's collective fear of the oppressor. In a way, she's even more terrifying than the Gun Devil.
Boomstick: Makima can exert absolute mental control over any creature she views as inferior to her, which is basically everyone. People, animals, even other Devils become puppets under her command. She can even hijack their senses to listen and see whatever she wants.
Wiz: As a Devil, Makima's far stronger, faster, and more durable than the average person.
Boomstick: Plus, her metabolism lets her slam down as many beers as she wants to. So, uh, Makima, if you're into countlessly divorced alcoholic rednecks, uh... you know who to call.
Wiz: By drinking blood, she can heal her injuries, and her sense of smell is so potent that it can spot targets from over 300 miles away.
Boomstick: Not only can she control your mind, but your body too with telekinesis. She can mess up your internal organs or blow you away with finger guns. She doesn't shoot you with invisible bullets, she points at you and then a wound just happens out of nowhere. She controls all sorts of things with these ghooostly chains that stab her victims. Once they're hooked, they're easier to control.
Wiz: Makima has plenty of Devils in her collection. There's the massive Fox Devil, the Future Devil for precognition, and a ton of Devils that exist just to stab you.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Boomstick: But I'm definitely all about the Blow-Shit-Up Devil, the Undead Party Devil, the Flamethrower Devil, and the unholy matrimony that's the Angel Devil, which will make you see God before you die.
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Wiz: Eh. After about the 20th time, seeing God gets kind of old.
After hearing this, Boomstick steps away from Wiz in slight fright before we cut back to the analysis.
Wiz: Anyway, (clears throat) like other Devils, Makima can form contracts with people to give them power.
Boomstick: But unlike other Devils, her control powers allow her to force people into contracts that exclusively benefit her.
Wiz: Like when she forced Japan's Prime Minister into a contract that states, and I quote, (clears throat) "Any attack made on [her] will be changed into appropriate illnesses or accidents among Japanese citizens."
Boomstick: Uh... what?
Wiz: The verbiage of Makima's contract is worded specifically so that she quickly heals from any damage that is perceived to be an attack, transferring said damage to some poor random citizen of Japan.
Boomstick: Oh-ho man. Imagine, like, takin' a shit and Makima gets hit and whoops, guess you're wipin' at the pearly gates!
Wiz: With these abilities and contracts, Makima set out to create the world that she wanted: no more pain, no more war, no more bad movies. The world would be perfect. But, she needed the Chainsaw Devil to do so, who just so happened to be living as Denji's heart.
Boomstick: Yup! That cute doggo is actually the Chainsaw Devil. Ooh... talk about shitty luck, kid.
Wiz: In the depths of Hell, Makima watched in awe as the Chainsaw Devil literally ate Devils and eradicated plagues from existence. Because of the Chainsaw Devil, in this world, concepts like nuclear bombs, HIV, and even Nazis do not exist.
Boomstick: He literally ate the concept of Nazis out of existence.
Wiz: However, as Makima didn't see Denji or the Chainsaw Devil as beneath her, she could not directly control him. She needed to manipulate him. So, she decided to build Denji up and then tear him down as cruelly as possible.
Boomstick: First, she murdered Denji's found family one-by-one.
Wiz: Then, she made Chainsaw Man into a public hero, stripping him of the power Devils receive by being feared.
Boomstick: All so she could control her precious Chainsaw Devil and make him press backspace on anything she didn't like.
Wiz: Her telekinetic Bangs shot the Chainsaw Devil out of orbit, and they stalemated the Darkness Devil, which embodies humanity's greatest fears.
Boomstick: Makima's stronger than Devils like the Bomb Devil, who can easily blow up buildings. Or the Typhoon Devil, which made city-spanning storms.[Note 3]
Wiz: And while fighting the Gun Devil fragment, this large behemoth moved over 300 miles in a few seconds.[Note 4]
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Crime Obsession by Roger Abaji
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Boomstick: She was pretty much unbeatable. Though ultimate power can make it pretty lonely at the top.
Wiz: Makima's quest may have been to make the world a better place through domination, but the truth she was never willing to admit to herself was that she really wanted to understand human emotion. After all, you can't control someone and love them at the same time.
Boomstick: Too bad she never quite found the answer she was looking for, when the Chainsaw Man defeated her once and for all! By cutting her to pieces, cooking her into a seven-course feast, and f**king ATE her?!
Wiz: Believe it or not, the love Makima tried to understand was her undoing. Despite the hell she put him through, Denji still loved Makima... in his own way, so the act of devouring her was its own act of love and did not count as an attack, bypassing her immortality.
Boomstick: Completely batshit insane. That's Chainsaw Man for ya. Who knows, Wiz? Eventually the Control Devil will come back, though it won't be Makima.
Wiz: While her path back to Hell was paved with good intentions, in the world of Devils, it's no surprise that Makima came so close to her ideal future.
Prelude
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: But first, a couple of rules for a unique fight like this one!
Wiz: We'll be considering Curses and Devils to be comparable beings to avoid arbitrary terminology in their power systems that might make this fight incompatible. We will also consider Gojo and Makima citizens of the same Japan to balance it out.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!!!
Death Battle
A Jujutsu High incident report is typed up with the following:
LOG: DECEMBER 6TH 20XX
An abnormal cursed incident was reported at a local Tokyo mall.
Satoru Gojo was dispatched.
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Watch Out, Samurai! by Therewolf Media
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The scene suddenly cuts to a movie theater with zombies scattered about in the seats, where Makima is seen watching a movie and eating popcorn. An unseen moviegoer next to her takes a loud slurp of their drink before reaching their hand over into her popcorn bag and grabbing a large handful, which she pays no heed to. It is then shown she is watching the climax of Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai.
The popcorn thief sitting next to her, none other than Satoru Gojo, then takes a loud slurp of a drink before proceeding to laugh at the reveal of Afro's amputated arms, spilling popcorn out of his mouth onto Makima's shoulder and the seat in front of him. As though he was not even there, Makima continues watching.
Gojo: Mmm, love this part.
He takes another sip of his drink before throwing it away behind him.
Gojo: Kill to binge some flicks right about now.
Continuing to ignore Gojo, Makima watches the flick while eating her popcorn. Gojo chokes on the popcorn he stole, coughing obnoxiously and clearing his throat while Makima brushes the popcorn off her shoulder.
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Who Wears the Crown by Therewolf Media
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Gojo: Buuut, gotta kill you instead. Can't just let a curse do as they please.
Gojo steals another handful of her popcorn, knocking the box over on her lap in the process, before proceeding to scarf it down and loudly laugh at the movie, popcorn flying out of his mouth as he does so. A calmly irritated Makima finally looks away from the screen and toward Gojo.
The cinema suddenly explodes as Gojo and multiple zombies burst out of it and fall to the floor of the mall, the former relaxed and laying his arms behind his head. Makima's stern eyes glow as she follows him down and calmly berates his rudeness, sticking her hand out as she does so.
Makima: No talking during the movie.
Makima releases chains from her outstretched palm into the heads of the zombies that accompanied her, pulling them back before throwing them at Gojo, who casually gores two of them with a punch and a kick before landing and using his cursed technique.
Gojo: Cursed Technique Lapse:... Blue!
He then tosses the blue orb of energy toward Makima and the zombies, which then forms into a singularity that pulls in and crushes everything around it into a red mist, including Makima.
Gojo then hears a sword grinding on the ground from his right and notices a rejuvenated Makima charging at him. She proceeds to make a slash, but Gojo's Infinity gradually decelerates its movement until it might as well not be moving, preventing her from landing her strike. He then teasingly pokes the still blade and makes a mocking failure sound as she stares straight at him, unamused.
Gojo: Whomp-whomp.
Gojo then aims his fingers directly at her face and charges up his Red, all while Makima stares at it blank-faced and unmoving. It blows her away, obliterating her entire torso. We then suddenly cut to a lone man sitting in a toilet stall reading a newspaper before he abruptly explodes into red chunks due to the effects of Makima's contract, taking the fall for her fatal injuries.
Cutting back to the combatants, Makima regenerates the top half of her body before landing on the ground to banter with Gojo.
Makima: Careful, I could've died, but that much won't matter to you soon.
Gojo: Don't worry. I'm Satoru Gojo, the strongest.
As he partly lifts up his blindfold to reveal one of his blue Six Eyes, Makima giggles a bit, amused by her opponent's behavior.
Makima: Confident, strong, and idiotic.
Chains suddenly emerge from her back to connect with several silhouettes of the Hybrids on the upper floors of the mall behind her.
Makima: We'll be sure to write it on your tombstone.
She then shoots a chain from her finger at Gojo, which he destroys with his Red technique. Makima and the Hybrids disappear as soon as a broken chain link obstructs Gojo's sight, and several weapons are thrown from the second floor to attack Gojo. However, Infinity easily halts them in their tracks and allows him to teleport into the air above.
As he searches for his hidden opponent, Makima appears and makes a fox-shaped hand sign, with Gojo between her fingers.
Makima: Kon.
The Fox Devil is summoned and bites down on Gojo from behind, though he easily bursts it open from the inside before shooting another Red orb at Makima, who is again blown to pieces.
Gojo then notices the Flamethrower Hybrid stepping behind him just as he begins shooting flames, which he does not bother dodging as Infinity does the work for him, leaving him to chuckle as Makima regenerates.
Makima: I hope we don't kill you too quickly.
More zombies charge at Gojo, who easily tears through them with martial arts.
Gojo: I should be good, since you're so weak.
After dealing with the minions, he uses Blue to pull Makima toward him, who takes the opportunity to point her finger at him and...
Makima: Bang.
A hole is suddenly blown through Gojo's torso, knocking him back in shock as he realizes his Infinity has been bypassed. Seeing this, Makima maniacally chuckles and continues her attack.
Makima: Bang. Bang.
Shooting two more holes into his chest, Makima prepares her fourth shot as Gojo laughs slightly.
Makima: Bang!
She shoots off Gojo's right leg and lets out more laughter as a pained Gojo slides across the ground, leaving a bloody trail. A chain then comes from her hand and connects with Gojo's forehead. Her opponent now detained, Makima approaches to give him a command, stepping on his remaining leg while she does so.
Makima: Now, be a good boy and play dead.
Makima starts to laugh maniacally as she summons the Angel Devil, using 1,000 years of his collected lifespan to prepare an attack to finish Gojo off, though he is not done yet.
Gojo: Should I bark too? I'm getting really tired of your pets...
Regenerating his chest wounds with reverse cursed technique, Gojo quickly expands the barrier of Infinity, completely charring Makima's body and annihilating her minions. As his leg completely regenerates, Gojo prepares his ultimate attack.
Gojo: Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void.
Just as Makima regenerates her body, she is caught within the Unlimited Void. Though she positions her hand for another Bang, she is powerless to do anything, paralyzed and staring in awe and fear at the infinite amount of information flooding into her brain. Using this opportunity, Gojo prepares his final attack: Hollow Purple.
Gojo: Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honored one.
Frozen in place as the purple orb approaches her, Makima's screams of terror are the only thing that she can let out as she is atomized by the attack, which breaks the domain and leaves Gojo in the fiery Tokyo mall. Victorious, Gojo leans back against a lone pillar and lets out a deep breath before relaxing himself.
As the mall continues to burn, the scene suddenly cuts to another Jujutsu log that reads as follows:
Satoru Gojo eliminated the one known as the Control Devil.
1012 non-sorcerers were killed.
Results
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Who Wears the Crown by Therewolf Media
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Boomstick: So, do you think that place is offering discounted tickets or... too soon?... Eh, I'll order online.
Wiz: Gojo and Makima were complicated to compare. On the surface level, Gojo had a lot going for him.
Boomstick: It's no surprise, given that his reputation in Jujutsu Kaisen is that of its pinnacle! At least it was...
Wiz: First of all, it's unlikely Makima would see Gojo as inferior to her, in a similar way to how she saw Denji, so she wouldn't be able to immediately control Gojo.
Boomstick: Gojo's birth caused a giant shift in the world of curses. Plenty of people have recognized that after only seeing him once. Being better than everyone is literally Gojo's thing.
Wiz: Plus, Gojo automatically refreshes his brain with positive cursed energy 24/7. Even if Makima could control him, it wouldn't last very long.
Boomstick: Gojo was obviously stronger, too. The best feat we can compare Makima to is the Typhoon Devil's storms, but that's nothing compared to the meteor created by Jogo, who is leagues below Gojo in strength.
Wiz: However, considering she reacted to the Gun Devil fragment, Makima would actually be a bit faster, though she would need to be able to get past Limitless for her speed to matter.
Boomstick: Makima had more Devils than you can shake a fin at, but most were rendered moot against Limitless. Knives, fire, bombs, zombies, it's all stuff Gojo's dealt with before, and with zero issues.
Wiz: And Gojo could easily wipe out her demonic crowd with Red and Blue whenever he wanted to.
Boomstick: The Future Devil could clue her in on anything nasty coming her way, but that wouldn't last forever. Plus, with Gojo's Six Eyes and teleportation, she had zero opportunities to break away and set up her instant kill moves.
Wiz: But, Gojo would obviously lose if he couldn't permanently kill Makima. Six Eyes couldn't inform him of Makima's contract with the Prime Minister, and eventually, one of Gojo's attacks could cause his death instead, even if it took a while.
Boomstick: And Makima did have a way past Limitless with her finger guns. Makima could land attacks directly on Gojo's body, meaning there's no projectile for Limitless to detect and infinitely slow down.
Wiz: Though when they did land, Gojo's healing ensured that he repaired his body quickly.
Boomstick: On the flip side, Makima didn't have a counter to Gojo's Domain Expansion. Unlimited Void overloads its target with unlimited information; it's not really an attack.
Wiz: You could call it an attack on the senses, but even if she could transfer it to other Japanese citizens, she still could not escape an infinite amount of information.
The analysis visuals pause for a moment cinema-style before shuttering to a new page.
Boomstick: We can compare this to the Doll Devil, who was defeated by a technique similar to Unlimited Void.
Wiz: Despite being able to transfer her mind across a large number of hosts, the Doll Devil was still trying to transfer infinite information across finite people. Even with all of Japan as mental meat shields, Makima would still be overwhelmed.
Boomstick: Wait, doesn't that mean Gojo just unintentionally killed basically everyone in Japan?
Wiz: Don't think about it. Regardless, Gojo is immune to his own Unlimited Void, so he was still unaffected.
Boomstick: Good for him. The moment Unlimited Void landed, Makima would be stuck, opening her up for a good ol' Hollow Purple.
Wiz: Her contract isn't perfect. Makima only ever regenerated as long as there was some mass to come back from.
Boomstick: But Hollow Purple disintegrates anything it touches to zero. Literally. There's no way she was regenerating from that.
Wiz: Sure, Control as a concept will always exist, but a reincarnation of the Control Devil isn't Makima.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Wiz: This was one of the craziest fights we've ever had. However, with Gojo's raw power, broken counters, and unbelievably busted Limitless, Makima lost control over this fight.
Boomstick: Makima thought she had Gojo by the ball-and-chain, but in the end, she was left Hollow.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is Satoru Gojo.
Comparison
Gojo
- + Stronger
- + Better area control with Red & Blue
- + Hollow Purple exceeds Makima's regeneration
- + Infinity & RCT countered most of Makima's offense
- - Slower
Makima
- + Faster
- + Contract countered some of Gojo's offense
- + "Bang" & Control Chains bypassed Limitless
- - Weaker
- - Would not & cannot control Gojo
Original Track
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Who Wears the Crown by Therewolf Media
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Composition
The track for this fight is "Who Wears the Crown" by Therewolf Media ft. Donna Caruthers (who goes uncredited on the track cover). It is a lyrical rock track of varying tempos that incorporates small bits of the Japanese instruments and piano used in Jujutsu Kaisen's soundtrack and the high-energy pacing and breakcore style of Chainsaw Man. The breakcore beat is similar to "The Devil Appears" from Chainsaw Man, and part of the melody and rhythm resembles a slowed down version of the intermission theme from Jujutsu Kaisen.
Title
The title is a reference to a Shakespeare quote from Henry IV, Part 2, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," which symbolizes the difficulty of being the most powerful, relating to how both Gojo and Makima's immense levels of strength and untouchable statuses cause them difficulties in their relationships with others. The title also acts as a hypothetical question of who would wear said hypothetical crown and be of higher status over the other, which this battle would determine. Additionally, Makima is the Horseman of Conquest, who is commonly depicted as wearing a crown in various artworks.
Cover Art
The cover art done by John Mitchell depicts the combatants' signature eyes (one of Makima's red-ringed yellow eyes on the left and one of Gojo's blue Six Eyes on the right) in front of red and blue spatial fields merging to form a brief purple field in the middle in the style of a Venn diagram, referencing the Reversal: Red, Lapse: Blue, and Hollow Purple techniques of Gojo's Limitless ability. Makima's chains surround the spatial fields as small strands of red, blue, and purple energies emerge from them.
Lyrics
[NOTE: Singers are emphasized by the below typographies.] |
Trivia
Production
- The core connections between Gojo and Makima are that they are both anime demon hunters who work for a demon-hunting organization (Tokyo Jujutsu High and the Public Safety Devil Hunters, respectively), being their strongest member, with their dominating strength being revered and/or feared by nearly all in their worlds, to the point of altering their entire worlds (Gojo's birth altered the balance of the world by making cursed spirits become stronger, while Makima is the enemy of several nations). In addition:
- Both of the demons they hunt are born through humanity's negative feelings (cursed spirits and Devils, respectively).
- Both took in their series' main protagonist (Yuji Itadori and Denji, respectively) after they fused with a powerful being (Sukuna and Pochita, respectively), and though they were supposed to be executed, they took them into their organization and became a mentor figure for them instead.
- Both are high-ranking figures in their worlds (Gojo is both the strongest sorcerer of today and the head of one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families, while Makima is both one of the Four Horsemen as the Control Devil and a high-ranking Public Safety Devil Hunter), but are also rebels toward their organizations and attempt to subvert their worlds' status quo (Gojo frequently defies the higher-ups and despises the emphasis on tradition in the Jujutsu world and seeks to teach his students to go beyond that, while Makima is secretly a Devil seeking to create an "ideal world" using the Chainsaw Devil's power and would fight against other Public Safety members seeking to stop her).
- Both possess uniquely colored hair and eyes that are indicative of their supernatural power and status.
- Though both appear friendly and rather normal on the surface, they are known for having darker sides (Gojo is often cold-blooded during battle and is capable of accepting civilian sacrifices when he has to, while Makima is a ruthless sociopath who kills and manipulates anyone she wishes to further her own goals), as well as having difficulties forming meaningful relationships with others due to their strength.
- Both are known for being extremely hard to hurt due to an ability of theirs (Infinity and an immortality Contract, respectively) as well as possessing an immense power that is unique to them (the Six Eyes and Limitless combo and Control, respectively) but would still end up dying at the hands of their students (Sukuna in Megumi's body and Denji, respectively).
- This is also a battle of opposites, as while Gojo seeks to make a better world for his students and ensure that the youth don't have to suffer as he and his peers did, Makima exploited Denji's youth and manipulated him, ruining his life and forever traumatizing him.
- Both of their anime adaptations were also produced by MAPPA and released in the 2020s.
- The authors of Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man (Gege Akutami and Tatsuki Fujimoto, respectively) are friends and even draw influence from each other in their works.
- This episode was revealed the day before Chainsaw Man author Tatsuki Fujimoto's birthday.
- Kaiji Tang, the official voice actor for Gojo, has expressed his approval for the episode in a tweet.[1]
- One of Death Battle's 2D animators, Susie Combs, drew art as a teaser for the episode.[2]
- This is the eighth episode she made art for, after Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha, Phoenix VS Raven, Guts VS Dimitri, and Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer, Bill Cipher VS Discord, Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer, and Frieza VS Megatron, and with the next one being Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog.
- This is the first episode to explain specific rules for the fight during the prelude.
- This episode's storyboards by John Mitchell feature a bonus extended ending scene that takes place a week after the fight, where Gojo crosses paths with Denji and Nayuta (Makima's reincarnation) and has a brief interaction with them before they go their separate ways.
- Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai being played in the movie theater at the start of the fight was a hint toward the next episode, as it would be the first episode since it to be a fully hand-drawn episode animated by Luis Cruz.[3]
- This episode makes a cameo appearance in Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor, as the scene where Gojo shines his Six Eyes before expanding the barriers of Infinity on Makima in the climax of the fight can be seen playing on one of the "Death Battle Arcade Battle" arcade cabinets in the Blips and Chitz that Rick Sanchez and the Doctor wound up in partway through their fight.
- At the beginning of the season, a teaser trailer was released which included a Gravity Falls-inspired zodiac wheel with 16 symbols on it, each representing and hinting toward an episode in the season. After the release of the Season Finale, the Death Battle YouTube channel began revealing the answers to the zodiac wheel by posting the answers in pinned comments under the symbols' respective episodes. This episode was revealed to be represented by the suit symbol.[4] While this mainly represents Makima's Devil Hunter uniform, which is a suit, it could also be symbolic of the demon-hunting organizations Gojo and Makima work for (Tokyo Jujutsu High and the Public Safety Devil Hunters, respectively) and their high-ranking authority in them. It could also relate to their roles as mentors, as most teachers are often depicted wearing suits or uniforms.
Easter Eggs
- Gojo and Makima's "Background" slides respectively having "Among Us" and "buffets" struck out in their list of dislikes reference their respective deaths; Gojo was bisected by Sukuna, which led to people comparing his bisected body to that of an Among Us Crewmate's dead body, while Makima was turned into various meals and eaten by Denji.
- The clip of the "bad movie" that plays in the background of Makima's analysis as Wiz explains how Makima set out to create her ideal world is this scene from the critically panned The NeverEnding Story III.
- During the prelude, one of the clips used for Gojo is of him performing the infamous "Griddy" in Fortnite.
- The text that appears at the very start and end of the fight references Jujutsu High's incident reports in Jujutsu Kaisen, which are seen at the beginning of various arcs. It could also potentially double as a reference to similar incident reports seen in Chainsaw Man's Gun Devil arc.
- The in-universe date the fight takes place on, December 6th, is the same day that the first episode of Death Battle, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran, was released.
- The date is also the birthdate of MORØ, one of the animators for this episode.
- Coincidentally, the date is one day before Gojo's birthday.
- The movie theater setting at the start of the fight is a reference to Makima and Denji's cinema date.
- In the opening shot, several Season 10 combatants can be seen in the back row seats, namely the losers of the first four 3D fights of the season: Darth Vader, Guts, the Chosen Undead, and Alex Mercer. They can be seen again when Gojo is choking on Makima's popcorn.
- Their presence and the setting of the fight as a whole could be a reference to Fire Punch (another manga made by Fujimoto), in which the afterlife is depicted as a movie theater. This would not only fit with all these combatants who died in their respective episodes, but also with Gojo and Makima, who both died in their series prior to the episode's release.
- Gojo noting how he loves the climax of Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai (where Jack emerges victorious) may be a reference to how Kaiji Tang, who is Gojo's official English voice actor, voiced Jack for said episode.
- An outlet for the Knives Inc. store from DIO VS Alucard can be seen on the mall's bottom floor.
- Smough's Great Hammer, the Moonlight Greatsword, and Guts' Dragonslayer can be seen as some of the weapons for sale in the store's display window, most noticeable when Gojo creates Blue upon landing on the mall's ground floor and a little later on when Makima says "Confident, strong, and idiotic."
- Bill Cipher makes four cameos during the fight:
- A stone carving of Bill can be seen next to Dragonslayer in the Knives Inc. display window.
- This is the fourth episode to hide a stone carving of Bill in the background of the fight, after Phoenix VS Raven, Guts VS Dimitri, and Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer, and with the next four being Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor, Goku VS Superman (2023), and Galactus VS Unicron.
- A graffiti drawing of Bill seemingly hanging himself can be seen in the toilet stall the Japanese citizen who died was in.
- Two images of Bill can be seen as Makima gets caught in Gojo's Unlimited Void; the first features him still stuck in the Nightmare Realm after the end of his fight, while the second depicts the start of his distortion within his Mindscape after being hit by Discord.
- A stone carving of Bill can be seen next to Dragonslayer in the Knives Inc. display window.
- A Cool S can be seen graffitied inside the bathroom stall the Japanese citizen who died was in.
- There are multiple easter eggs featured on the newspaper the Japanese citizen is reading (which features two Death Battle skull logos and katakana translating to "DEATH TIMES" at the top of the front page), namely:
- An image of a scientist that looks similar to Wiz with the logos for Cash App, Patreon, Ko-fi, Venmo, and PayPal next to him, with the Japanese text underneath roughly translating to "Local scientists will do all the science for you. (Free not applicable)".
- Kira's logo, with the text underneath roughly translating to "Just one more thing. Why do you think you are fleeting? That weight will become yours." "Just one more thing." is the catchphrase of Columbo, with the newspaper article as a whole referencing how Liam Swan wanted Light Yagami VS Columbo to become an episode[5].
- An image of a giant unicorn in space, with the Japanese text underneath roughly translating to "Galactic unicorn. We have entered the solar system." a pun that references Galactus VS Unicron, a popular Death Battle matchup.
- Galactus VS Unicron would later end up being the Season 10 Finale just four episodes later.
- An advertisement for the Wimpy's Burgers restaurant from Saitama VS Popeye appears when Gojo fires Red after killing the Fox Devil, and an outlet for it can be seen after Limitless protects Gojo from the Flamethrower Hybrid's fire.
- Gojo's line "I should be good, since you're so weak." is a reference to this line he told Jogo: "It'll be fine. After all... you're weak."
- Aside from Bill, multiple individuals make split-second cameos as Makima gets caught in Gojo's Unlimited Void, namely:
- Makima's canonical fate of being cooked into food, specifically the dishes seen at the bottom of this page.
- Chihiro Rokuhira, the main protagonist of the manga Kagurabachi, which has been the subject of multiple memes since late September 2023.
- The Atom, specifically during his death at the end of Ant-Man VS Atom.
- Gojo's bisected body from Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 236 with the visor of a Crewmate edited onto it (calling back to Gojo's "Background" slide).
- Martian Manhunter, specifically during his death at the end of Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer.
- Columbo (also referencing how Liam Swan wants Light Yagami VS Columbo to become an episode[5])
- Alongside his catchphrase being referenced in the "DEATH TIMES" newspaper earlier in the fight, this is the fifth episode to hide Columbo in it as an easter egg in some form, after SpongeBob VS Aquaman, Sauron VS Lich King, Gogeta VS Vegito, and Bill Cipher VS Discord, and with the next three being Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor, and Galactus VS Unicron.
- A heavily pixelated version of this image of Death Battle's storyboard artist John Mitchell, as revealed in the storyboards.
- The screaming face of Liam Swan, one of the writers of this episode, taken from a DEATH BATTLE Cast episode.
- Said face is also a sticker in the official Death Battle Discord server.
- Gojo's final line, "Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honored one.", comes directly from his rematch with Toji Fushiguro.
- Gojo's pose while charging Hollow Purple is based off the shot of him charging it when he used it against Hanami.
Errors
- Throughout the episode, Wiz and Boomstick mispronounce Makima's name as "Mah-kuh-mah" instead of "Mah-kee-mah".
- On Makima's "Background" slide, the "″" symbol is missing from the inches of her height.
- When Gojo is choking on Makima's popcorn and the past Season 10 combatants can be seen in the back seats, they are noticeably rearranged from where they were in the opening shot. Most noticeably, Darth Vader is now in the center and to the left of Alex Mercer rather than on the far left of the cinema, and the combatants are sitting closer to each other compared to the opening shot.
- After Makima says "We'll be sure to write it on your tombstone," and Gojo fires Red at her chain, multiple weapons are thrown from the mall's second floor to attack Gojo; this does not resemble any ability that Makima possesses. Considering the fact that this happens immediately after the Weapon Hybrids are first shown on the mall's upper floors, it's most likely that this was supposed to be the Hybrids attacking. However, only the Spear Hybrid is known to throw weapons, but even then, he has only ever been shown throwing one spear at a time, whereas several weapons (a majority of which are not spears) are shown being thrown in the scene.
- Gojo expanding the barrier of Infinity in order to burn Makima and incinerate her minions is an ability he has never shown to possess in Jujutsu Kaisen. It was likely a misinterpretation of a similar scene of him expanding Infinity in order to crush Hanami in Chapter 85 of the manga, which could appear as if he had incinerated them.
- The streak of blood on the side of Gojo's face that he gets after sliding on his own blood disappears for the rest of the fight after the hand-drawn shot of him charging up Hollow Purple.
- In the post-analysis, after Wiz says "Don't think about it," and the screen cuts to the panel of Kenjaku saying "Unlimited Void affects everything but Gojo himself...", the first frame of the panel being shown has the sentence's zoom-in edit briefly overlay over the speech bubble's outline before vanishing and then playing the edit.
Other
- This is the 19th Anime-themed episode, after Zoro VS Erza, Natsu VS Ace, Lucario VS Renamon, Naruto VS Ichigo, Jotaro VS Kenshiro, Roshi VS Jiraiya, Sasuke VS Hiei, Mob VS Tatsumaki, All Might VS Might Guy, Gray VS Esdeath, Beerus VS Sailor Galaxia, Sanji VS Rock Lee, DIO VS Alucard, Madara VS Aizen, Tanjiro VS Jonathan Joestar, Deku VS Asta, Gogeta VS Vegito, and Killua VS Misaka, and with the next two being Mahito VS Shigaraki and Ash VS Yugi.
- This is the 12th Hitotsubashi-themed episode, after Naruto VS Ichigo, Jotaro VS Kenshiro, Roshi VS Jiraiya, Sasuke VS Hiei, Mob VS Tatsumaki, All Might VS Might Guy, Sanji VS Rock Lee, Madara VS Aizen, Tanjiro VS Jonathan Joestar, Deku VS Asta, and Gogeta VS Vegito, and with the next one being Mahito VS Shigaraki.
- This is the 25th Male VS Female-themed episode, after Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2010), Yoshi VS Riptor, Justin Bieber VS Rebecca Black, Starscream VS Rainbow Dash, Gaara VS Toph, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Dante VS Bayonetta, Meta VS Carolina, Tracer VS Scout, Zoro VS Erza, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Lara Croft VS Nathan Drake, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Carnage VS Lucy, Captain Marvel VS Shazam, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Mob VS Tatsumaki, Gray VS Esdeath, Beerus VS Sailor Galaxia, The Seven Battle Royale, Red VS Blue, Shadow VS Ryuko, Steven Universe VS Star Butterfly, and Killua VS Misaka.
- This is the eighth time that the Male wins, after Yoshi VS Riptor, Dante VS Bayonetta, Zoro VS Erza, Captain Marvel VS Shazam, Beerus VS Sailor Galaxia, The Seven Battle Royale, and Shadow VS Ryuko.
- This is the fifth Mentors-themed episode, after Roshi VS Jiraiya, All Might VS Might Guy, Obi-Wan Kenobi VS Kakashi, and Yoda VS King Mickey.
- This is the seventh episode to feature an original track with lyrics by Therewolf Media that isn't a collaboration with Brandon Yates, after Ryu VS Jin, Optimus Prime VS Gundam, Ben 10 VS Green Lantern, Hulk VS Broly, Sauron VS Lich King, and Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon, and with the next one being Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog.
- This is the fourth episode with an original track to feature lyrics sung by Therewolf himself, after Samurai Jack VS Afro Samurai, Optimus Prime VS Gundam, and Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon, and with the next one being Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog.
- This is the sixth episode whose track includes female singers, after Meta VS Carolina, Gray VS Esdeath, Blake VS Mikasa, Harley Quinn VS Jinx, and Skyrim VS Dark Souls, and with the next two being Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog and Galactus VS Unicron.
- This episode marks the first time in which five vocal tracks were released within consecutive episodes (preceded Bill Cipher VS Discord's "Discordant Decipher", Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer's "[inHuman]", and Frieza VS Megatron's "Final Formers", and followed by Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog's Forever Terror Night).
- This is the seventh episode in which one or both combatants die more than once (as Gojo obliterates Makima's body once with Blue, then twice with Red, then burns her body to a crisp when expanding Infinity, and finally atomizes her entirely with an Unlimited Void and Hollow Purple combination attack), after Hulk VS Broly, Link VS Cloud (2021), Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, DIO VS Alucard, Skyrim VS Dark Souls, and Phoenix VS Raven, and with the next one being Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor.
- This episode reached #2 on YouTube's Trending page.
- Prior to this episode, Therewolf Media made a track for this matchup called "Curse Control" as part of his "What If?" commission tracks.
- This makes it the seventh episode that received its own commission track before its release, after Blake VS Mikasa, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Guts VS Dimitri, Bill Cipher VS Discord, and Frieza VS Megatron, and with the next six being Galactus VS Unicron, Bowser VS Eggman, Kratos VS Asura, Ash VS Yugi, Simon the Digger VS White Lantern, and Ruby VS Maka.
- This is the first one to be done by Therewolf Media.
- This makes it the seventh episode that received its own commission track before its release, after Blake VS Mikasa, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Guts VS Dimitri, Bill Cipher VS Discord, and Frieza VS Megatron, and with the next six being Galactus VS Unicron, Bowser VS Eggman, Kratos VS Asura, Ash VS Yugi, Simon the Digger VS White Lantern, and Ruby VS Maka.