Death vs. Maliketh

Deathbattlewatcher5

Description[]

Shrek vs. Elden Ring. 175th Episode Special. Straight up Death takes on the one who wields Destined Death.

Introduction[]

Wiz: Death, who brings the end to as many lives as it takes.

Boomstick: Maliketh, who wields Destined Death as a Black Blade.

Wiz: Death, mortality and the means to strike a lethal blow are all key factors in any fight, let alone on a Death Battle, but what happens when two wielders of those fundamental forces meet?

Boomstick: Why, a Death-Death Battle of course. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armour and skills to find out who would win a Death Battle!

Death[]

Wiz: Puss in Boots. He is our favourite, fearless hero, has never been touched by a blade and rolls the dice, to gamble with his life, and laughs in the face of death.

Boomstick: Trust us, he's not going to let you forget that either. Even though he first came from the story of the greatest hero of all time - Shrek - Puss in Boots' own legend rises with each adventure he has.

Wiz: However, there was a problem sneaking up on the ginger, and it was mainly his own fault. He took the nine-times extra life thing for granted a bit too much and soon, had landed on his ninth and final mortality chain. And it could not have come at the worse time.

Boomstick: Whilst getting tipsy on semi-skimmed, Puss found himself approached by, what surely many people believed at first, to be the Big Bad Wolf, but as a bounty hunter, eager to claim the bounty on his head.

Wiz: At first, Puss was confident in dealing with this foe common to his lifestyle but quickly himself on the back-paw.

Boomstick: Yeah, this doggo was not playing games, driving Puss to a Shawshank to escape.

Wiz: Puss was so rattled that he attempted to live out the rest of his days as one of many cats in possession of Crazy Cat Lady, Mama Luna. Upon hearing of the Wishing Star however, he set out to reclaim his missing lives and regain his supposedly invincible status. Unfortunately, the Wolf seemed one step behind him at all times. And as it turns out, it was for no monetary gain. Instead, the Wolf had taken offense at Puss claiming, and proving, to laugh in the face of death. And why? Because Death was what the Wolf truly was.

Background
- Height: Est. 8' (compared to Shrek)
- AKA Wolf, Lobo, Death
- Whistles with nine sharp inflations
- Dislikes: Cats
- Is technically a canon fairy tale character

Boomstick: We don't mean that subjectively, metaphorically, theatrically or any other "ally", this Big Bad Wolf isn't canon being broken - unlike by those Three Bears - he is literally death itself! The Grim Reaper in the form of a wolf, a combination of two terrifying natural predators.

Wiz: How exactly this works isn't really fully explained, as Death, the wolf, isn't seen "reaping" anyone when they die, like Jack Horner's men, but it's clear that he is still death itself. I believe the best comparison that can be made is to a business of sort and its boss; the process of dying being the business and the Wolf being the boss, who descends from their usual position of management to interact with the wider company for a particular purpose.

Boomstick: And in this case, the boss coming down was for very personal reasons. By being so frivolous with his nine lives and spitting on the consequences of mortality, Puss had severely ticked off Death, who decided to make sure the Cat found his last life ended very unpleasantly as punishment. At the end of two gnarly looking sickles.

Arsenal and Abilities
- Sickles
  - Connectible into double-headed glaive
- Supernatural nature
  - Teleportation
  - Invisibility
  - Immersion
  - Reality warping
  - Destruction-induction
- Hellfire generation

Wiz: Serving as a stand-in for the traditional reaping scythe, these sickles are arguably more practical, serving as close-quarters weapons which can shift between knuckle-duster-esque configurations and the usual form of body slicers.

Boomstick: But when he does want to allude to the more common Reaper weapon, Death can combine them into a duel-headed glaive. Regardless of what form they are in, he wields them like a pro and to keep himself focused, they're tallied with Puss' eight prior deaths. This also signifies that, yes, it is indeed his presence that enables one to die in the first place, regardless of manifestation.

Wiz: Which he is able to do wherever he wants. Even when Puss was travelling through the territory generated by the Wishing Star, Death was able to follow him without the supernaturally linked map to the forest picking up on him, and no matter the situation. What's more, he could evidently warp the surrounding area to his liking, overriding the vast reality alteration powers of the Wishing Star itself.

Boomstick: He can immerse himself - a lot of himself's - into surrounding surfaces like Bloody Mary, complete with sinister red tint. He can vanish from your sight even if you are directly looking at him. And with evidently just one word, he can cause things to break apart. And with a single gesture, can summon walls of hellfire, perfect for a secluded final bout.

Wiz: Death is seemingly indestructible to boot, able to ignore a barrier which vaporizes those fully immersed within it, and he apparently doesn't get hurt unless he wants to be.

Boomstick: So good luck actually getting him off your back, because, being Death itself, Death kind of, literally, cannot be stopped. You want to slip off the mortal coil naturally, you'd need to respect life from the get-go. Wait...do we respect life?

Wiz: You're kidding, right? With the show we run? Besides, he went after Puss, who didn't respect his lives. I'm sure we're okay.

Boomstick: Yeah...sure...I might start brainstorming new names for this show though, because invoking his name doesn't feel right anymore.

Feats
- Hijacks many of the Wish Star's abilities
- Shattered and tipped over large crystals
- Disarmed Puss before he could react
- Walked through a disintegrating barrier
- Sneaked around Puss in Boots
- Easily defeated Puss in Boots

Wiz: Regardless, Puss did, and very nearly paid the price. This is a veteran adventurer who has dodged magic resembling lightning, battled those who summoned storms, and dodged beams from a much different supernatural wolf, and said beams could travel to the moon in under a second. Yet the first time the Wolf came against him, Puss could barely draw a bead on him or break free of his grip, even drawing blood from Puss with a far too-close slash.

Popup: Death comments that "No-one's escaped me yet", and from the way he lists how he's literally death and that he always plays with his food, it's possible he's manifested and engaged in other hunts before.

Boomstick: Regardless of if he takes physical form, it's clear that Death is indeed the end of life, and that is inevitable to all living things. In fact, a wishing star in the Shrek universe - not the big one in the second Puss movie - ended up expiring, meaning that he was claimed by death. In addition, there was a mage who used a magical barrier to block the blast from a planet exploding! And it's made clear that no means of magic is able to overcome Death, not even the Wishing Star and likely not even the power of Rumpelstiltskin, who rewrote all of reality. And yet in that reality, the concept of death clearly persisted. Just ask poor Gladiator Gingy, who got eaten by a retired Puss in Boots-hang on, was the Last Wish based on pre-existing instalments in the franchise?

Wiz: Eventually, Death and Puss had their final battle, upon the Wishing Star itself, and it had a rather unique conclusion. Puss could try all he wanted but in the end, he could not overcome Death's power, both physically and literally, but ultimately, was well aware of this. Rather than fighting for a definite win, Puss instead did so in respectful defiance, acknowledging he indeed only had one life left, but that he wasn't giving it up without a fight.

Boomstick: Turns out, this was exactly what was needed to ward Death off, because without Puss being the same arrogant legend he was before, Death's mission had no justification, and he knew it. So, after cursing up a storm, let Puss off the hook, leaving him to live his final life to its fullest.

Wiz: But not without one last reminder, that eventually, Puss and Death would meet again. And that no amount of time, no number of victories and no number of wishes would ever change that. One day, Puss, and indeed any of us, will hear that whistle, and know our time is up.

Maliketh[]

Wiz: In the Lands Between, there is one power above all others which governs not just the ruling laws of the world, but even the metaphysical laws.

Boomstick: George RR Martin?

Wiz: Well, he did have complete creative control of the story and setting but I was talking about the Elden Ring. Essentially an amazing source of power taking the form of a large, ornate symbol. Sent to the Lands Between by the mysterious Greater Will, the Elden Ring was bestowed upon Queen Marika, who would go on to claim dominion of the Lands in the name of the Greater Will.

Boomstick: With a little help of some loyal followers, some emissaries of the Greater Will, her own uniquely expansive family and even a combination of the last two. But before we explain, we need to tell you about the Greater Will's rivals, its fellow Outer Gods.

Wiz: Whilst the Greater Will is pretty much the greatest power in the Lands Between, other Outer Gods were attempting to find or regain footholds there themselves. One of these is said to have sent a Twinbird to the Lands, which spawned a race of what were essentially grim reapers, guiding souls to an undetermined afterlife.

Boomstick: Not too happy with this, the Greater Will's followers drove them away but not before they left a little gift behind in the form of payback; the blackflame known as Destined Death. Like with Marika, it got itself a designated wielder in the form of the Gloam-Eyed Queen, who used the power of the Destined Death to set up the Godskin cult. And to reiterate; God. Skin. Now, to bring your attention back to the combination of Greater Will servants and Marika's family, because one of them was dispatched to deal with this cult.

Wiz: The First Shadowbound Beast, Marika's half-brother, Maliketh.

Background
- Height: Est' 15'
- Species: Shadowbound Beast
- Marika's half-brother (somehow, blame lore implications)
- Disguised himself as Gurranq, Beast Clergyman
- Hungers for Deathroot

Boomstick: Shadowbound Beasts not only have a metal name but a specific purpose; to protect those who could, or do, hold the throne as Elden Lord. And Marika decided that her bro was the perfect person to take down the Godskin. And he absolutely kicked their butts! Which is doubly impressive because the Gloam-Eyed Queen was herself one of those folks who could be an Elden Lord, an Empyrean.

Wiz: With the cult scattered and their queen slayed at Maliketh's hand, Marika was able to establish the Golden Order in the Land Between. And as for Maliketh, he was able to claim a trophy, and it just so happened to be Destined Death itself. With it in hand, Maliketh basically went from a royal bodyguard to an Angel of Death.

Boomstick: And that's literally, because Maliketh sealed the more fiery form of Destined Death into a sword, the Black Blade, which makes it a conduct of death itself. With it, he could very well do the impossible and kill any immortal being.

Popup: By sealing Destined Death in the Black Blade, Maliketh weakened several magic spells which drew upon Destined Death for their full potential.

Wiz: Including the demigod children of Marika. With Maliketh feared for this power, none would dare step a toe out of line. And why would they, unless they wanted to face Maliketh's wrath? You see, whilst demigods can eventually resurrect following the deaths of their physical bodies, the power of Destined Death can instead directly destroy their souls. Without these, their true selves will be truly deceased, unable to resurrect themselves.

Popup: Wandering Mausoleums are said to house the bodies soulless demigods, who were unwanted by Marika - if this meant literally, then it could be because Maliketh killed them on her orders.

Arsenal and Abilities
- Shockwave roar
- Armour
- Cinquedea
- Bestial Sling
- Bestial Vitality
- Beast Claw
- Stone of Gurranq
- Black Blade
  - Houses Destined Death
  - Can be disguised as a Cinquedea

Boomstick: And that's the lore side of his abilities. You get hit by that Black Blade, and it will wreck havoc on your HP. Not only will it slowly deplete, but the overall amount will actually decrease.

Wiz: Don't let his size fool you, he can leap and prowl through the air like a certain other FromSoftware red-blade wielder, giving him plenty of opportunities to strike out with that massive blade and inflict those gameplay or lore-centric effects. Even from a distance, since he can fire out energy slashes. By stabbing the blade into the ground, he can cause small scale explosions of Destined Death. And as an addition to his long, long combos, he can unleash an aura of rapid slashes in a short aura around himself.

Popup: The Black Blade is strong enough to support Maliketh's weight when he perches himself upon it.

Boomstick: And he does all this wrapped up in some sweet armour, which comes with a cape! Too bad it...also seems to cover his vision, which would explain how a piece of Destined Death got stolen from him by the Black Knives assassins. Whoops.

Wiz: With this mistake came the death of Maliketh's nephew, Godwyn the Golden, and following that, the shattering of the Elden Ring.

Boomstick: And following that, the war between the remaining demigods for those pieces of the Ring, all of them going "My precious!" over them.

Wiz: Shamed by his failure, Maliketh drew away from the majority of the Lands Between, to a place where time acts out of order. There, he took on a new identity, as Gurranq the Beast Clergyman, serving as a leader towards the Beastmen living there, even teaching them the Bestial Vitality ability, which enables healing over a period of time.

Boomstick: Like any former professional fighter who becomes a holy man, Maliketh, I mean Gurranq, can still hold his own fairly well. He can tear up the ground to throw rock shards as projectiles, send out a claw shaped shockwave or toss a massive boulder with a single swipe of his hand. And he has himself a short, well, large short dagger to use in place of his Black Blade, although it's hardly a replacement. Speaking of, where exactly did he hide it? Had to be somewhere pretty effective considering what happened last time.

Wiz: Inside himself.

Boomstick:...what?

Wiz: Maliketh sealed the Black Blade, and Destined Death within it, inside of his own body. This has led to an insatiable appetite for the Death Root, a plant produced by the curse from the soulless corpse of Godwyn. Despite this, Maliketh swore that Destined Death would never be unbound.

Boomstick: But desperate times called for desperate measures, and that desperate time, in Maliketh's view, was the Tarnished coming for Destined Death to destroy the Golden Order's seat of power, the Erdtree.

Feats
- Defeated the Godskin Cult and the Gloam-Eyed Queen
- More than a match for the Tarnished at any point
- Sealed Destined Death within himself
- Feared by all the Demigods
- Routinely tears up the earth
- Alongside another godly flame, Destined Death could burn the Erdtree

Wiz: By plunging his shorter blade into his palm, his monkish outfit vanishes and his Black Blade returns, and the Tarnished gets to witness just why he was feared by the Demigods.

Boomstick: Demigods like Radahn, who got the nickname Starscourge because he was able to use gravity magic to completely halt the movement of the stars in the sky, and even Malenia. She was, by reputation, undefeated, yet she knew if she dared drew the wrath of her uncle, that win streak would come to a tragic end. Even though she can dodge lightning attacks and incantations based on light. In fact, two demigods clearly believed they stood no chance against him in a standard fight, forging a means to deflect Destined Death attacks. Even if the Tarnished managed to find it beforehand, it's still not going to even the playing field by much.

Wiz: After all, his victory against the Gloam-Eyed Queen is all the more impressive considering he didn't have anything like the Destined Death to help him out. He must've overcome her and her minions through sheer skill and his own strengths, and he has those to use alongside the Black Blade.

Boomstick: Unfortunately, keeping a flaming embodiment of the concept of death within a sword, which is then subsequently stored within yourself, does not make for a glowing bill of health. Since he was starving for the Deathroot, it's a given he was heavily weakened by the time the Tarnished got to him. Still, before falling, he put up one hell of a struggle.

Wiz: And with Maliketh gone, Destined Death was unsealed from the Black Blade, and the Erdtree was thus ravaged. No small feat, considering its directly connected to the star-controlling Elden Ring itself, with the Elden Ring possessing an embodiment of its will in the form of the Elden Beast, which itself is the embodiment of the concept of order. And even with Maliketh's death, not only does the Erdtree's burning show the full power that Maliketh kept back and wielded, but it is implied that should the Tarnished follow a more diabolic path than most, then their very own Maiden stand-in will swear that Destined Death will find them. A possible promise to take up Maliketh's mantle.

Boomstick: Although she will need to work hard to meet the same level as the one whose name literally means "Death of the Demigods".

Interlude[]

Wiz: Alright the combatants are set, and we've run that data through all possibilities.

Boomstick: It's time for a straight-up-slash-Destined Death Battle!

The Battle[]

Setting: Crumbling Farum Azula

Gurranq the Beast Clergyman knelt in the middle of a large, domed temple, gnawing on a Deathroot savagely. Eventually, he reduced it to fragments in his sharp teeth and reached for another. Just as he picked up another and opened his mouth to take a bite, he heard a strange whistling. He lowered the Deathroot and turned around to see a figure walking through the foggy entrance to the room, the whistling increasing in pitch as the cloaked, humanoid wolf fully stepped through. Gurranq growled softly and sniffed the air.

Gurranq: What business do you have with me? You do not smell like a Tarnished, nor Demigod, but your scent...so familiar.

Death: Perhaps you will figure it out...along with the reason I am here.

He drew out his twin sickles and Gurranq snarled, drawing out his Cinquedea stone blade.

Gurranq: Whatever reason it is, know I will only entertain it for so long.

He lowered himself onto nearly all fours, keeping the blade-bearing limb lifted, snarled and pounced towards the interloper.

FIGHT!

Death didn't move until the tip of Gurranq's blade was centimeters away from his face. Afterwards, he was behind the Clergyman, who snarled in confusion as he landed post-attack. Gurrang turned around and slashed at Death, who dodged it-

Death: Slow!

-and then a second-

Death: Sloppy!

-and then Gurranq slashing his claws down into the ground.

Death: And very sa-!

Before he could finish his sentence, Gurranq dragged his claws against the ground and tore up a barrage of stone fragments, which all shot straight towards Death. Death quickly struck out with his sickles, deflecting the stone fragments before crossing his blades before himself to block Gurranq's stab attack. Death was pushed back by the impact and Gurranq came at him a second time, his short blade a blur as he struck out at Death, who deflected or blocked each hit. After a brief blade lock, Death knocked aside Gurranq's blade and went on the offensive before he could fully recover. Gurranq gritted his teeth as he blocked Death's slashes before leaning back as one of his upwards slashes came dangerously close to his skull. Gurranq stumbled backwards and when unable to regain his footing as Death prepared to attack with an X-cross attack. So instead he slashed out with his claws and sent out slashing projections. They sliced through the end of Death's cloak as he spun around to essentially squeeze between the projections. Gurranq was able to catch his breath and he and Death returned to trading deflections and attacks, with the latter, performing a spinning jump attack which resulted in his sickles impacting against Gurranq's stone blade numerous times. Gurranq slashed out to force Death back before striking the ground with his blade, sending boulders flying into the sky which subsequently rained down towards Death. With slashes from his sickles, Death cut them apart before switching one of said sickles to its collapsed form, using it like a knuckle duster to smash the last one to bits.

This, however, left him open for Gurranq to tear a giant boulder out of the ground and hurl it straight at him. Death was struck full on, flying backwards before planting his feet on the ground to halt himself. He returned to his full height and brushed debris off himself.

Death: Not bad...

He converted his other sickle into its collapsed form and dashed towards Gurranq, who tossed out massive chunks of earth towards him. He smashed these apart with the collapsed sickles and closed the distance, using the collapsed sickles to then essentially box Gurranq, pushing him back with a barrage of reinforced punches. Dizzied from the strikes to his face, Gurranq couldn't react before Death suddenly unfurled his sickles and swung the blades' tips into both his shoulders. Gurranq thus opened his mouth and unleashed a powerful roar, which possessed enough force to push Death back and thus tear the sickles free of his flesh.

Gurranq took in a deep breath as he tapped into Bestial Vitality, his wounds and bruises healing.

Death: Uh-uh, I do believe that's cheating.

Gurranq directed an angered glare at Death before looking down at the back of his hand, where a talisman tied to his hand.

Gurranq: Oh Death...become my blade once more.

He lifted his stone sword and stabbed it through both the talisman and his own hand. Death raised an eyebrow and watched as Maliketh drew the knife out of his palm, which was thus transforming into the Black Blade on its way out. His robes and cloak burned away, revealing his true identity as Maliketh.

Death: Well, I hope this will prove to be much more...interesting!

He growled out the last word with barely concealed anger as Maliketh rose to his full height, hoisted the Black Blade above his head and slashed downwards with it, sending a massive slash of red energy towards the wolf. With a slash from both his sickles, Death was able to dispel the slash but found, in the second his vision had been obscured by the slash, Maliketh had leapt into the air. Suspended by momentum, Maliketh spun around and sent out another slash towards Death, who stepped backwards to let it leave a steaming gouge in the ground. Maliketh grabbed onto a nearby pillar before stabbing his sword outwards at Death, sending out a beam of red Destined Death energy. Now it was Death's turn to leap into the air, shooting straight over the beam and towards Maliketh, who launched himself off the pillar before Death could reach him. The Shadowbound latched onto another pillar post-jump before jumping to yet another as Death followed with a leap of his own, slicing through the pillar with his sickles. This time, when Maliketh grabbed onto a third pillar, he used the hold to spin around it and lash out with a kick. It connected with Death's stomach due to the wolf continuing his leaping pursuit; the wind was knocked straight out from him and he smashed straight through the pillar he'd just jumped from, falling among debris.

Just before he hit the ground, Death flipped about to land on his feet, before stepping backwards to avoid the Black Blade as it was stabbed into the ground. Said ground then cracked as Maliketh brought both his feet down on it, and as a result cracks instantly cobwebbed the entire floor.

Before either one could react, the entire stone ground came apart and both went tumbling into the cloudy grey abyss of Farum Azula.

As both beings fell through the clouds and floating rubble, with Death above Maliketh due to his lighter weight, they locked gazes. In the next moment, Maliketh thrusted his Black Blade upwards, attempting to skewer Death. Instead, the wolf flipped forwards, slid down the full length of the sword and zipped past Maliketh, slicing his helmet as he went by. Maliketh growled, turned himself over and swung the Black Blade downwards, using the momentum to both close the downwards distance and attack in one go. Death struck the Black Blade with a sickle, but the force of the downwards attack sent him shooting down faster. Thus, Death smashed into a floating circular stone area, sending a cloud of dust to rise all across it.

Maliketh landed amongst the smoke, sniffing and peering around for his opponent. Instead, he swore he instead swore the outlines of complete strangers; a man holding a katana with horns growing from the front of his head, a scrub-wearing tentacle-mouthed being scuttling past, someone with a wide hat and electricity cackling around him and a bespectacled woman holding a massive pair of scissors.

Death: What's the matter, feeling a little...

Maliketh whipped around in the direction of the voice. Instead of Death in the cloud he saw the outlines of a swordsman in a long white robe, a group of teenagers in armour overlooked by an especially large figure, a sharply-dressed man with a big smile and a cackling laugh, and a tall, cat-like being in Egyptian clothing. As he looked on at the figures in apprehension, Death's face formed out of the fog right over his shoulder.

Death: Haunted?

Startled, with his fur even raised on edge, Maliketh spun around, slashing out with the Black Blade and sending Destined Death slashes out in every direction. They cut through the outlines and the cloud, dispelling it and removing its presence from the stone area. Death was also revealed and Maliketh fixed him with a furious gaze, to which Death responded with a mocking smirk. The Shadowbound Beast lunged at Death, who combined the ends of his sickles to make a duel-headed glaive; by spinning it in front of himself, he created an afterimage which deflected the downwards slash of the Black Blade. As the Black Blade instead smashed into the ground next to Death as a result, the wolf darted forwards and drove the shaft the glaive into Maliketh's nose. Blood spurted from it as the Shadowbound reared backwards and Death lashed out with the blurring glaive, slicing him across his arms and legs. Covering his bleeding face with his forearm, Maliketh drew back and slashed out with the Black Blade, forcing Death to pull backwards. Covered in wounds, Maliketh let out a roar and jumped towards Death, spinning forwards to send a massive Destined Death slash towards him. Death sliced the attack apart with his glaive but it carried more power than he'd accounted for and he stumbled backward. Maliketh landed in front of him, and slashed out widely and quickly with the Black Blade, forcing Death backwards. The wolf attempted to block a downwards strike with his glaive's shaft, but the Black Blade cut straight though it and lodged right in front of him; before he could react, a flurry of red slashes came from the lodged blade, slicing Death all over his body.

The wolf immediately felt the repressive effects of Destined Death and fell onto all fours, Maliketh looking down at him.

Maliketh: You should have heeded the tales told of me. Death is my tool to bear, be it in flesh or steel.

Death looked up, an eyebrow raised.

Death: Do you stand by that boast?

Maliketh swung the Black Blade above his head, igniting it with Destined Death power.

Maliketh: Always.

As Maliketh swung the blade down, Death dragged his separated sickles against the ground and unleashed a wave of dark-red hellfire up towards Maliketh's attack. The Destined Death and hellfire merged violently, resulting in a massive explosion that created a wall of fire between the two. Maliketh peered into the blaze, stunned by the sight of Death walking straight through it, despite the presence of Destined Death fuelling the expanding blaze.

Maliketh: What...are you?

Death: That which you claim to have such...dominion over...

Death spat the last phrase and as Maliketh swung the Black Blade down towards him once more, he finished his sentence.

Death: Death.

The word reverberated around the area, causing the fire to spike upwards, and a soundwave travelled up the Black Blade; before it could fall upon Death, it shattered. The Rune of Death was left hanging in the air where the Blade had broken, Maliketh staring at it in shock as the wolf appeared to materialize from around it, fixing him with a smirk and his sickles draw back.

In the next second, Death was behind Maliketh, his arms crossed over his chest, the sickles they held coated in blood as Maliketh's head left his body. It tumbled through the air, tangled in its own long white locks and crashed to the ground. Death looked back for a moment before turning away and flicking away the blood from his sickles - both of which bore an effigy of Maliketh's head marked with an X.

KO!

Outcome[]

Boomstick: I have just witnessed more death here than in an entire season of Death Battle! Get it?

Wiz: Yes, and getting the outcome of this battle might be a bit tough. Trust me, we have the reasons, but this was still a very complex battle, especially considering their relationship to the mortal coil.

Boomstick: Speed and strength were particularly cumbersome, but they could have easily been equal. Both scale to light-like attacks and have power over star-level beings, like that not-The Last Wish Wishing Star and Radahn. And if Rumpelstiltskin's magic, which is capable of rewriting the whole of reality, is indeed as useless against Death as the Wishing Star's is, then Death could be way above Maliketh might wise, although we do acknowledge this may be pushing it. But the thing was, speed and strength, at least put to numbers, didn't really matter.

Wiz: Indeed, for when fighting Death, there is one, inescapable problem...

Boomstick: You can't! Don't forget, this wolf guy isn't some champion or just downgraded avatar, he is the concept of Death, which decided to take form to accomplish his goal of killing Puss whilst death as a concept, which he also is, continued to function. He is both the wolf and the concept, and you can't really defeat a concept.

Wiz: That same invincibility extends to the Wolf as well. Puss outright states that defeating him is impossible, because, again, he is Death, and his second better showing against him was to prove he understood the point of respecting his final life, and that Death would be victorious no matter what he did. Given the powers that Death is shown to use, but not in combat, it's clear he was holding back significantly.

Popup: This isn't even just a matter of Death possibly being able to "will" Maliketh dead; the Tarnished, a far weaker opponent, bested Maliketh through careful footwork and perseverance. With Death scaling to Puss dodging beams which can reach the moon in a second, so he could likely pull off the same thing.

Boomstick: Powers which include vanishing from someone's direct line of sight, destroying objects just by speaking and immersing himself into the environment, all of which make him pretty much untouchable.

Wiz: Death additionally states that no-one has ever escaped him. With this in mind, it's clear that so long as someone is susceptible to dying, then Death or the Wolf is perfectly capable of overtaking them. And ultimately, Maliketh does perish in the battle against the Tarnished, proving he is fully vulnerable to conventional death.

Popup: Due to Farum Azula's odd relationship with time, two different versions of Maliketh exist; both are similarly capable of perishing.

Boomstick: That's the first big fact to discuss, and now the second is the power of Maliketh's weapon, Destined Death. Despite its probably connection to an Outer God responsible for psychopomps - for those uneducated types, grim reapers - it does not seem to be the concept of Death itself in the Lands Between. It's more the special power to kill immortals, since the Tarnished can kill lots of enemies without the need for Destined Death, which, by the way, is sealed within Maliketh's flesh for most of the game and which weakened specific techniques deprived from it.

Wiz: Destined Death is vital in damaging the Erdtree and the Elden Beast attached to it, which is said to be the incarnation of order. Whilst this does sound like something similar to the Wolf itself, the Tarnished is actually able to harm the Beast without the need for Destined Death abilities and deal to it a definitive death, a drawback the Wolf is not shown to have.

Boomstick: And even if Destined Death is death itself, and is an outright killer of concepts, the Wolf can negate the power of something very similar; the Wishing Star, which like the Elden Ring and Destined Death, is a power source from outer space, and is capable of reality warping. Not only can the Wolf hijack control over the altered reality, but he can outright ignore its vaporizing barrier. Considering it only works when a person's whole body is immersed inside, instead of partial destruction, this is still magic, not science, at work, and which the Wolf completely nullifies. And that's plenty to suggest Death could just ignore Destined Death.

Wiz: There is one more thing to consider, and that Maliketh would have screwed himself because of the kind of person he was. He religiously guarded a source of power which many would consider a violation of respecting death, and used it to cow others into submission. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that Death wouldn't find this very flattering either, considering his character. With Maliketh ironclad in his commitment, Death would not give up the fight until Maliketh would eventually fall.

Boomstick: Just as we are all meant to in the end. Unless I can find a way to substitute beer for blood.

Wiz: Maliketh was an extraordinarily dangerous opponent, especially against those usually considered unkillable, but against Death's nature - unstoppable, untouchable and un-dissuadable - it was his turn to meet his fated end.

Boomstick: And it was Destined Death would win.

Wiz: The winner is Death.

Next Time[]

My Hero Academia

Overwatch

Kyoka vs. Lucio

Trivia[]

The connection between Death and Maliketh is that they are both canine-like entities who have intrinsic ties to the concept of death; the former is the embodiment of death itself and the latter wields the Black Rune of Death. Both were also mistaken for other roles/identities; a common bounty hunter and the Beast Clergyman, respectively. Both are also foes towards resurrecting adventurers (Puss in Boots, who has used his nine lives, and the Tarnished, who revives upon each death, respectively) who seek powerful relics (the Wishing Star and Elden Ring, respectively), for honor-bound reasons (Death is angered by Puss' disregard for his many lives and Maliketh is eternally loyal to Queen Marika). Both are also immensely feared by others (by Puss and by the Demigods, respectively).
This battle would have been in 2D
The original music would have been called "Destined Deaths", based on the Great Rune Maliketh wields and how Death emphasises everyone will die some day