Why Do We Care About the Winner of a Death Battle?

It’s a fictional show. About fictional characters. Having a somehow even more fictional fight. Why do some people feel the need to show some very real anger?

Blake’s cool. Mikasa’s also cool. They can’t get along because it’s Death Battle, but in different circumstances these two wouldn’t be the biggest enemies. They probably wouldn’t be friends either, but that’s not the point. We all know that this whole thing is just for entertainment, so why not have some fun? Let’s appreciate the wonderful animation, music, sound design and fight choreography. And if we have a chuckle at some research (which admittedly sometimes is pretty impressive) that’s all the better.

Sure, there’s other people who get way more into the Death Battles, but that’s not you. While they’re fuming from the mouth how Death Battle forgot one obscure fact that renders the fight useless, you like to relax and chill out with some vanilla ice-cream and a noncommittal portion of plain yoghurt. But those fans that get the most upset after their favorite inevitable loses (or even doesn’t perform as well as they’d hoped)? More power to them – it means that they’re just that much invested in the show and deeply care for it, wishing it was shown to everyone not familiar in the best light possible.

So let’s all just stop speculating, patiently wait for the episode and then admire the effort put into this marketing ploy designed to convert some percentage of the YouTube demographic into new RWBY fans by putting it right next to a hot media franchise with some crossover appeal.