Description[]
Ludwig vs Zavok! Super Mario Bros. vs Sonic the Hedgehog! These two stand as the leaders of their series' minor villans, but which one will win a Death Battle. Will the "Ultimate Koopaling" take down the red zeti, or will the leader of the Deadly Six live up to his team's name?
Interlude[]
Boomstick: Ludwig Von Koopa, the cunning leader of the Koopalings.
Wiz: Zavok, the fearsome leader of the Deadly Six.
Boomstick: Before Mario and Sonic fight the big bad and save the world, they gotta go through a whole host of baddies to get there.
Wiz: And few pose more of a threat than these two.
Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyse their weapons, armour and skills to find out who would win a Death Battle.
Ludwig Von Koopa spins into Death Battle[]
Wiz: The Mushroom Kingdom was once a peaceful place. Ruled by the benevolent Princess Peach, it seemed like nothing bad could ever happen. That was until the tyrannical Bowser arrived with his army to lay claim to the land an-
Boomstick: Yeah Yeah we know the drill! Jack Black shows up, steals Anya-Taylor Joy, Chris Pratt beats him up and saves her. Anyway, after going 0-2 with this, admittedly pritty shitty, method Bowser realised he was gonna need some backup to thwart that plumber for good.
Wiz: And he sure found it in the form of the Koopalings, and their leader Ludwig Von Koopa. Led by Ludwig, the Koopalings immediately made themselves useful as Bowser's elite, conquering the other kingdoms of the mushroom world and turning their rulers into lowely plants and animals.
Boomstick: Wait so Bowser's new master plan to take over the Mushroom Kingdom was just to not do that and just take over everywhere else instead?
Wiz: No. This was all just a distraction to lure out Mario and the gang while he kidnapped Peach, but then Mario found out and you know the rest.
Boomstick: God damn this guy really sucks at conquering this one specific place, what Is he allergic to mushrooms or somethin'?
Wiz: Managerial shortcomings aside, Ludwig and the gang had all the power they needed to play their role to perfection.
Boomstick: These guys are tough. They withstood a giant castle falling on them, can take stomps each from Mario's infamous shoe, and even took lava baths without becomin' skeletons like old pops.
Wiz: Actually Bowser isn't their father, that got retconned in an interview in 2012.
Boomstick: Mood. Atleast their dad was around long enough to give each of them GIANT FLYING WARSHIPS WITH THEIR FACES ON THEM!
Wiz: And those ships are armed to the teeth with fleets of Bullet Bills, Cannonballs and Rocky Wrenches.
But that's not all they gained from their endeavors, each Koopaling stole the magic wand of the king they took down for their own use. Ludwigs specifically has been able to cast multiple different kinds of attacks. The orange circular attacks come out in trails of 3, the dark blue ones home in on foes, and the light blue ones spread out into 3 shots.
Boomstick: Ludwig can even use his magic to fly, an ability he has honed over time. And when one laser shootin' Turtle of death isn't enough, he can create 2 clones of himself that attack independently. He can even swap places with 'em whenever he wants!
Note: While Ludwig claims to have all the powers of his fellow Koopalings, he hasn't ever been shown to use some of the others' exclusive abilities, and so it is unclear whether or not this is true.
Wiz: And that's not all he can do, Ludwig can breathe fire and ground pound so hard that it creates a shockwave, stunning any pesky plumbers in place. Morton, who can use a similiar technique, was even able to launch stone pillars into the air.
Boomstick: Ludwig also has a bunch of gadgets and gizmos. Like a giant punching glove on the bottom of his ship, and the giant turtle robot he used in...Yoshi's Safari. And never again, sigh atleast it looks cool.
Note: While Ludwig rides a Clown Car in the Smash Bros series, he has never done so on his own in canon.
Wiz: But like all turtles, Ludwig's most reliable asset is his trusty shell. There's precious little that a world-saving toilet cleaner can do to pierce through it. Fireballs? Iceballs? A good old fashioned stomp? None of it gets through.
Boomstick: Yeah but it's not just for defence, Ludwig can use that shell to jump and spin around the battlefield like a giant turtley Beyblade on crack! He can even launch himself into the sky with it!
Wiz: Ludwig has brains to go with his Brawn. He's often described as the most quick-witted and tactical of his siblings, hence his position as leader. However, he does have a tendency to get arrogant and show-off, needing the rest of his team to keep him reigned in.
Boomstick: Oh, and he loves classical music. He even composes his own victory theme for when he wins a go-kart race. Well what can you expect from someone named after Ludwig Van Beethoven of all guys?
Wiz: I'm surprised you know who that is Boomstick.
Boomstick: Well anywho, this Ludwig guy sounds like a boss, maybe it's time for the right hand man of Bowser's Fleet to get a promotion and fly solo.
Wiz: Well that's the opposite of what happened. With Kamek and Bowser Jr (Bowser's actual non-retconned son) joining the koopa ranks, Ludwig found himself slipping down the totem pole. Still, no matter how he stacks up in Bowser's army, and no matter how many times Mario beats him, Ludwig Von Koopa will always be ready to lead his team into Bowser's next big plot to take over the Mushroom Kingdom!
Boomstick: Wait Wiz, how old is he?
Wiz: Well we don't know for sure, but he's speculated to he around his late teens. Oh no...
Boomstick: HOLY SHIT! TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TUR-
Ludwig: Hmph. They couldn't beat us... so they decided to BE us. How odd.
Zavok invades Death Battle[]
Boomstick: The Lost Hex, a beautiful and strangly geometric planet in the Sonic Universe. On it lived a powerful and malocious race of multicoloured demons known as the Zeti, and their leader, Zavok.
Wiz: Zavok trained under the tutelage of the elderly Master Zik, who turned him into a great warrior. As well as teaching him some other boring stuff.
Boomstick: God can you imagine this guy doing math? I'm sure math doesn't want to imagine this guy doing math. Probably threatened x into findin' itself!
Wiz: Probably still better than you at it. Anyway when Zik decided to form the Deadly Six, a team of the Lost Hex's finest, his disciple Zavok made for a natural choice as the squad's leader.
Boomstick: Then things all went a little south when a certain bald mad scientist in need of new minions found out about the Zeti.
Wiz: That man was, of course, Dr Eggman. But the Zeti weren't exactly willing to keel over and except Eggman as their new master, or rather, they wouldn't have been. But Eggman happened to have the one thing that could keep them under his thumb, the Cacophonic Conch.
Boomstick: Yeah that magic shell really does a number on 'em. Just the sound of the Cacophonic Conch significantly weakens all Zeti within earshot, as well as inhibiting their control over magnetic fields, which they can use to control any machines around them. It also causes them great pain, so Eggman could basically torture them into doing his bidding.
Wiz: The Deadly Six immediately made their presence known to Sonic, giving him a real run for his money. Until everyone's favourite Blue Blur made a bit of a bone headed blunder. He launched the Conch miles over the horizon, breaking Zavok and the others from Eggman's control. Now free, Zavok overthrew Eggman and took charge.
Boomstick: That's good right?
Wiz: And then he immediately continued his plan to extract the world's energy for himself and destroy it.
Boomstick: Oh...so not good. At all. Gee who coulda' thought that a group of super-powered demons could've been more dangerous than one bald dude. Oh well, nothin' Sonic can't handle right?
Wiz: I wouldn't be so confident, Boomstick. He's shown himself to be capable of going toe-to-toe with the Fastest Thing Alive on multiple occasions. As well as his overwhelming physical strength, Zavok can fly, breathe fire and surround his fist with energy for even more powerful attacks.
Boomstick: Zavok is crazy strong! One time he was able to break apart a meter thick steel dragon with a single punch! To break that much steel he must've been hitting with around 2340 tons of force!
Wiz: And he's fast too. Zavok once flew from all the way to the horizon in just a second. Given that he was flying high enough in the air for clouds to form, the horizon must've been around 95 miles away, so he would've had to fly at mach 453! No wonder Sonic has a tough time. Zavok also has multiple vehicles at his disposal, such as the aforementioned steel dragon, which can cover itself with electricity and shoot fireballs. And the Death Queen, a giant wasp robot that shoots laser beams and spawns smaller wasps to fight alongside it.
Note: While the wasp robot was used by a phantom clone of Zavok, given his electromagnetic powers, it's likely the real version has access to it as well.
Boomstick: But as all guys know, sometimes it's all about size, not just the motion of the ocean. And that's why Zavok can grow to a GIANT RED FUCKING KIAJU!
Wiz: In this form, which Zavok refers to as his "full strength", he is considerably stronger. He also gains the ability to shoot giant orange lasers from his mouth. However, Sonic is able to easily outrun him when he grows giant, so it's likely he sacrifices some speed for the extra strength.
Boomstick: Zavok is absolutely ruthless in his pursuit of the Blue Blur. He's cunning, power-hungry and takes joy in the pain of others. He's basically the textbook definition of an evil overlord. In fact, big red's kinda puttin' Eggman to shame.
Wiz: And put him to shame he did. He furthered the plan to use the extractor machine to take the world's energy, when even Eggman himself backed down due to the potential collateral damage. It took Eggman and Sonic setting aside their differences and joining forces to stop him and his plans. Yet, for all his evil schemes, Zavok is loyal to his fellow Zeti. He promised to share the power he extracted with the rest of the Deadly Siz and planned to hold true to his word right to the end.
Boomstick: But even after Sonic beat him down and saved the day, he still returns every now and again to take another shot at the Hedgehog. The world will never be truly safe while it's in the sights of the mighty Zavok!
Zavok: Playtime is over, hedgehog.
Interlude[]
Wiz: Alright the combatants are set, and we've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: It's time for a DEATH BATTLE!!!
Pre-Death Battle[]
Ludwig and the Koopalings emerged from a lush forest onto a large, white cliff. Ludwig paced ahead of his brothers (and sister) and stood at the peak, holding a black flag decorated with a blood-red emblem of the Koopa King.
"Check it out big bro!" Morton exclaimed, as he other siblings joined him at the precepice. Ludwig followed Morton's pointing finger to see a burning palace, under seige from 7 airships, each one adorned with a different Koopaling's face.
Ludwig chuckled, "hehe, we did do a pretty good job. The boss will be pleased." They had taken over a minor kingdom south of Mushroom Kingdom. It wasn't the big ticket, but Bowser would be happy to have it in his claws nonetheless. Besides, he would want to take Peach's castle by himself after so many years of trying.
The Koopaling leader raised Bowser's flag high into the air and planted it into the ground. The turtle's gathered around it to admire the fruits of their labour. "The Koopalings rule" Iggy yelled, and the others laughed in agreement. They did, in fact, rule.
Suddenly, a fireball burst through the trees a turned the flag (as well as Lemmy's hair) to cinders. Lemmy ran around, frantically trying to put himslef out. Ludwig turned to face the forest, his wand outstretched, as he watched 6 towering figures emerge from the greenery. "What do you think you're doing punk, this territory belongs to the Koopa King!" he shouted to the red monster at the front of the group, who he assumed had fired the shot.
Zavok laughed at the turtle, "I think you'll find that this land, and this world, is ours. If you know what's good for you, you'll stand aside kid."
"Oh really?" Ludwig retorted, "well unfortunately for you, I don't care what some red punk thinks is good for me!" The rest of the Koopalings and Deadly Six took a few steps back to give the two some space. They saw that a fight was clearly about to take place.
Zavok's fist began to glow a bright scarlet, and he charged the Koopa with a roar.
Death Battle[]
Zavok's charged fist hit it's mark, striking the off-guard Koopa square in the chest and winding him immediately. The Zeti followed up with a series of slashes with his claws, before sending Ludwig flying with another charged strike.
"Gahh!" Ludwig grunted in pain as he was knocked over the edge of the cliff-face and began to plumit to the ground below. He fluttered his legs for a moment to steady hid decent, before flying back up to the cliff. He landed behind his opponent and fired 3 circular blasts of orange magic from his wand. Zavok turned around just in time to block the attack and charged the Koopaling down once more.
This time Ludwig was ready. He retreated into his shell to block Zavok's attack. Red sparks flew as the attack connected with his armor, but when they cleared the shell was completely undamaged. The Zeti roared in anger, and rushed his unmoving opponent with a flurry of punches. After a few (ineffective) hits, Ludwig began to spin rapidly and counterattacked by ramming into Zavok's gut and making him stagger. He returned with more spin attacks from all sides, taunting his foe with laughter the whole time.
Zavok finally dodged one of Ludwig's spin attacks and flew back into the forest he had emerged from. The Koopa returned from his shell and leaned back slightly. "Hey no hiding, that's cheating!" he called out, charging a fireball in his mouth. With just a few shots of his firey breath, he began to set the Zeti's cover alight.
But then, from within the black smoke covering the sky, the figure of a giant wasp began to rise. The Death Queen burst from the flames and towered over Ludwig. Zavok laughed maniacally, "playtime is over, turtle!" his voice boomed from atop the titanic insect. The Koopa looked around him as smaller wasp robots began to encircle him. For the first time in the fight, his smile faded. Zavok's, on the other hand, had never been wider.
The smaller wasps charged Ludwig with their stingers, each one ready to pierce through his scales. He jumped as a few of them collided mid-flight and exploded. The Koopa then continued to dodge the other robots as they flew harmlessly over the horizon. With a wave of Zavok's mighty hand another wave of foes spawned and the Death Queen began to fire it's laser cannons, suppressing Ludwig's movement.
"Ahh" the Koopaling leader cried out as one of the attackers caught him with it's charge, drawing blood from his left arm. Running out of options, he retreated again into his shell and launched himself away from the cliff. Zavok chuckled to himself as the cowardly Koopa fell to his certain demise. But, just for fun, he continued his barrage on the turtle, though the Queen's laser deflected off of Ludwig's shell without a scratch.
Then, Ludwig's airship flew up from the palace below to catch it's commander. He landed with a thud and returned from his guard, planks of wood broke into splinters as he slid across the floor. Zavok watched the turtle's stunt from on high and smiled slightly. This turtle was, at the very least, an amusing adversary.
"All units, ATTACK!!!" Ludwig's voice boomed across the ship as his minions took their battle stations. Zavok charged back into the fray on his machine, the smaller robots joining him at the flanks. A fleet of Bullet Bills and cannonballs took to the sky, joined by 3 blasts of dark blue magic that looped around the battlefield. The Koopa forces collided with Zavok's robots in powerful explosions, filling the sky with smoke clouds and debris. When the smoke cleared, a small group of bullets remained chasing at the Zeti.
Zavok lept from the Death Queen towards the airship. With a wave of his hand, he took control of the Bullet Bills and sent them barrelling towards Ludwig. The Koopa hid in his shell to defend from the bullets. One by one they made contact, finally starting to leave small cracks on the shell. Ludwig emerged, surprised and slightly concerned by the damage. Nonetheless he put on a brave face and raised his wand as Zavok landed on his ship.
A fireball shot out of Ludwig's mouth towards the Zeti, but Zavok parried the flame with a punch. The crimson giant slowly approached his opponent, chuckling to himself as he walked. A lone Bullet Bill charged towards him and blew up at a wave of his hand. The Koopaling gasped, then shot 3 bolts of light blue magic from his wand. The first 2 missed Zavok completely, but the 3rd struck him in the face, knocking him back a little.
Zavok recovered and went for a shoulder barge, his entire body radiating red energy. His attack connected with Ludwig's chest, right where his heart was positioned, sending the Koopa barrelling through to the back of the ship. His shell took the brunt of the force as he hit the decking, small pieces of blue armor splintering off as it protected him.
Ludwig struggled to stand up, his ears ringing, as his opponent approached through the Koopaling-shaped hole in the cabin. Zavok gleefully took note of the fear that was slowly creaping into the eyes of the Koopa as he realised who he was facing.
He grabbed Ludwig by the neck and choked him tightly. An orange blast shot from the turtle's wand as he struggled against Zavok's grip. Then, in a moment of desperation, he ripped off one of the spikes that had become dislodged from his shell. He drove it into the Zeti's arm and finally felt himself breathe again. Zavok fell back onto an unlit burner and roared with furious pain. "Enough of this, time to burn!" he belowed, charging a massive fireball.
"Couldn't agree more!" Ludwig retorted as the burner under Zavok ignited. A piller of flame shot up and threw the Zeti into the air. "Get 'em, boys!" The Koopaling called out with reinvigorated energy. Rocky Wrenches began to throw their metal tools from all over the ship, each one aimed at the invader. Zavok parried some of them with his claws but the sheer number of them overwhelmed him quickly, and he guarded his face with his muscular arms as a wave of wrenches sliced him.
Then, Ludwig's 3 homing shots finally converged on their target, striking him in the back and creating a navy blue cloud of flame. As the sky cleared Zavok looked at his biceps, trails of blood ran down them. It was hard to see amongst his red skin, but he could feel it tingle. "How..." he said, genuinely surprised by the situation he found himself in. "Alright then, looks like I'll have to use my FULL POWER!" He winced as he pulled the spike from his arm.
Then his bleeding arm began to grow, and the rest of him grew with it. His body expanded until it was was larger than even Ludwig's airship. The Koopa watched in horror as the Zeti towered over him from the sky. A beam of orange energy shot from Zavok's mouth towards the ship. With just a knod of his head, he sliced both the airship and the Death Queen hovering above clearly in two.
Ludwig flew away in panic as the ship went crashing down. He looked back as Zavok landed and gave chace to him. He urged himself to fly faster but the Zeti caught up due to sheer size. He landed a giant red fist straight at Ludwig and sent him hurdling to the floor.
The sheer force of the attack knocked Ludwig out for a few moments. Then he hit the ground, and the sound of his shell shattering on the dirt awoke him. "Gaaaaah" he screamed in pain as the shards scattered across the dirt. He tried to stand but he fell back down, his leg clearly broken.
"It's over turtle" came the booming voice of Zavok overhead.
"Not yet" Ludwig replied, and with a wave of his wand, 2 copies of himslef appeared at either side of him. The real Koopaling winched as they flew up to face the titanic Zeti. Each Koopa fired their light blue attacks at Zavok, but they had little effect on a monster that size. The red giant brought forth a massive fireball at the 3 Koopas, 2 avoided it gracefully while the remaining clone became ash.
The real Ludwig charged at the Zeti's chest with his wand at the ready, while one of the clones charged down Zavok's eye. "You can't trick me Koopa!' the beast yelled as he swiped at the real one. With the original Koopa's broken shell and battered body, it was easy to tell which was the imposter. He punched at the one aiming for his chest and fell right into Ludwig's trap.
In a flash the 2 Ludwigs swapped places. Zavok's giant fist connected with a dissappearing clone while his eyes watched the real Ludwig Von Koopa appear before him. "Looks like I can!" he jeered as he waved his wand a final time, and the Zeti began to shrink. He looked down at his hands as they morphed into tiny leaves. Zavok gave a final scream of rage with his Pirahna Plant vocal chords, and his transformation was complete.
Ludwig made a show of breathing a massive fireball, before giving a tiny puff of flame to set Zavok on fire. He pulled out another black flag as his foe turned to smoldering dust. The victorious Koopaling planted the flag on the peak of the Ash pike, and walked off. Whistling a tune of his own composition as he went.
K.O!!!
Results[]
Boomstick: Holy crap, that turtle just sent him down to SHELL!
Wiz: That's right, Boomstick. This was an incredibly close fight, with each combatant holding multiple advantages over the other. In fact if you were to just add up the categories, this could be a tie or even a win of Zavok. Though unfortunately for the Zeti, things just aren't that simple.
Boomstick: Zavok definitely had the advantage in raw power and speed, but it wasn't as clear cut as it might seem. Ludwig was definitely not reaching mach 453, but he has fought with Mario, who dodged lightning attacks from the likes of Lakithunder and King Lakitu. That easily put him around mach 352 himself. Zavok also was the only one to have actual combat training, thanks to Master Zik. So Wiz, why did Ludwig win?
Wiz: While it's true that in a straight fist fight, Zavok wasn't going to lose, Ludwig still had some big points in his favour. The main one, of course, being his shell. Take the time where he tanked the entirety of Bowser's Castle falling on him. While we can't know the exact size and weight of the castle, due to inconsistencies between shots, real life castles can way tens or even hundreds of thousands of tons. And Ludwig was completely fine! That's way more than the 2340 tons of force that Zavok was putting out. Even if we go as generous as we possibly can eith his giant form, and give it say a 50x multiplier akin to Super Saiyan, it may not have been enough to break through.
Boomstick: But he still can't beat Goku, right?
Wiz: Probably not.
Note: While Zavok has fought Sonic, who has taken on universal beings such as Solaris, he has always done so with the aid of his super forms, which Zavok has never fought.
Boomstick: But what about Zavok's electromagnetism? Couldn't he just turn anything Ludwig threw against him?
Wiz: While that would have worked on some of his machine-based forces, notice how when Ludwig is defeated in SMB3 the ship disappears. This may mean that the ship itself is sustained by his magic instead of being a machine that Zavok can control. Anyway remember that Ludwig is no slouch, he would catch on quickly enough to not give Zavok many opportunities to use his magnetic abilities.
Boomstick: And in the end, all Ludwig needed was one opening to turn Zavok into a helpless plant. The Zeti had absolutely no defence or recovery from something like that, other than the classic strategy of "Don't get hit" and that wasn't gonna work forever.
Wiz: The leader of the Deadly Six was a formidable opponent, but Ludwig's smarts, durability and transfiguration gave him the win.
Boomstick: Looks like Zavok got dun-dun-dun-duuuuun in!
Wiz: The winner is Ludwig Von Koopa.
Next time on Death Battle[]
"Look, I'm just going to be super pissed if you all finally decided to give up the moment I switch sides."
"And I...I must leave and infiltrate the Blood Spirals"
EMERALD SUSTRAI VS ZHALIA MOON (RWBY VS HUNTIK: SECRETS AND SEEKERS)