Battleboarding

Deadliest Fiction, one of the oldest and most well-known battleboarding sites today.

Battleboarding, also known as Versus Debating and "Who Would Win" Debating, ^{[1] [3] [4]} is an activity that involves discussing and debating around hypothetical fights between individuals; most popularly, fictional characters. ^{[1] [3] [5]} These debates are often held in forums, blogs, sites and wikis, known as versus sites or battle boards. ^{[1] [2]} Netizens who engage in battleboarding online are often called "battleboarders". ^[3]

The earliest iterations of battleboarding first appeared in various online boards and forums, though its origins can be traced back to magazines, television shows, and comic book letter columns. ^[1] Eventually, the online activity grew, becoming one of the most popular internet activities today, and spawning many online communities dedicated solely for battleboarding. ^[5] It soon evolved into its own subculture, and even went on to inspire other media. ^[1]

History

Origins

Before the advent of the internet, articles about hypothetical fights were published in magazines. ^[1] These articles range from topics like sports, comics and anime, such as Black Belt Magazine issue May 1997 which discussed about a hypothetical match between Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee, ^[6] and Wizard Magazine #133 which discussed about various hypothetical fights between American comic characters against Japanese anime characters. ^{[7] [1]} During that time, many comic book publishers also conceptualized and published "versus" storylines like Batman Versus Predator ^[8] and Justice League/Avengers . ^{[9] [4]} Many films also capitalized on the concept of fictional characters from different franchises fighting each other, such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1934), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Freddy vs Jason (2003), and Alien vs. Predator (2004).

Other inspiration behind battleboarding were television shows and documentaries whose premise involved hypothetical fights concerning a variety of subjects like zoology, paleontology, and military history. These include shows such as Animal Face-Off (which pitted animals against each other), ^[10] Deadliest Warrior (which pitted historical warriors, oftentimes from different time periods, against each other), ^[11] and Jurassic Fight Club (which was about analyzing cases where different types of dinosaurs fought one another). ^[1] Death Battle , a web series about pitting fictional characters against each other that began in 2010, is a similar show that soon inspired many battleboarding communities and fandoms. ^{[1] [12]} Death Battle, as with many other battleboarding series and websites before it, utilised "calcs", which are mathematical equations that try to calculate how strong a character or weapon is. ^[3] Other popular web series about the subject include Super Power Beat Down and Grudge Match. ^{[1] [13]}

Forums and Sites

Many internet forums about movies, comics, anime, and video games often held discussions about hypothetical fights between fictional characters from these media. ^{[2] [4]} These discussions would be the first iteration of online battleboarding. A notable early battleboarding website was stardestroyer.net (founded 1998), created by Michael Wong. The website focuses in large part on match-ups between the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises, and also includes a forum covering this as well as other more general battleboarding topics, usually related to science fiction and space opera. ^[14] In addition to the forums, several webpages written by the administrators and contributors were embedded on the site. These attempted to mathematically quantify the capabilities of Star Wars technology and prove their superiority to their Star Trek equivalents, such as Wong's "Star Wars vs Star Trek: Technology Overview" ^[15] and Brian Young's "Turbolaser Commentaries." ^[16]

stardestroyer.net had a notable impact on early battleboarding culture and also influenced official products. Curtis Saxton, author of several officially-licensed Star Wars technical reference books, thanked Michael Wong, Brian Young, and several other stardestroyer.net contributors by name in the acknowledgements section of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Incredible Cross-Sections (2002), referring to them as "prominent among the hundreds of people contributing to constructive debates about Star Wars technicalities over the years, resulting in the consensus of conceptual and physical foundations applied in these pages." Saxton's books in the Incredible Cross-Sections series contain specific numbers about the capabilities of Star Wars ships original to these publications and not used in any other official sources. ^[17] In an interview conducted by TheForce.Net, Saxton claimed to have been offered the job of writing reference books by a DK employee familiar with his "Star Wars Technical Commentaries" webpage (1995-2001), where Saxton attempted to calculate the firepower, speed, and durability of Star Wars spaceships using his background as an astrophysics student. ^[18]

One of the oldest and longest-running battleboarding forum is Comic Vine 's "battle forum", whose first post was in 2007. ^{[1] [3] [5]} Comic Vine also has one of the largest impacts on battleboarding, creating many common rules and terminologies such as "bloodlusted", "morals are off", "speed equalized", and many others. ^{[1] [19]} Another long-running battle forum is a subreddit called r/whowouldwin, where redditors can post and debate fictional fights about real or fictional individuals. ^{[3] [5]} Verdicts of these match-ups are often chosen by using evidences of a character's power, weakness, or feat, such as movie clips, comic book panel scans, and excerpts from related literature; all of which are posted and categorized in a separate subreddit called r/respectthreads. ^[1] Other influential battle forums include Fanverse, where users can post their own calcs about a fictional character's power level.

The popularity of battle forums inspired the creation of websites dedicated only for battleboarding. ^[1] These include The Outskirts Battle Dome, a website that popularized the use of "power levels" in battleboarding; the aforementioned stardestroyer.net; and Space Battles, a website whose forums and threads are filled with posts about hypothetical fights between fictional characters as well as other related topics. ^[20] Another influential battleboarding site is the now defunct Fact Pile, and its sister site, FactPileTopia. Fact Pile is one of the first battleboarding site that actually listed down and documented winners of their match-ups. The site closed down in 2016 along with its forum, wikia, and YouTube channel. ^[1] Besides these, blogs about battleboarding were also created, such as dreager1.com. ^[21]

Wikis

Nowadays, the most popular battleboarding communities can be seen in Fandom, with two of the oldest and most popular being Deadliest Fiction and VS Battles Wiki. ^{[1] [2]}

Deadliest Fiction is a Deadliest Warrior -inspired fanon created in July 2010 by a group of historians, academics, and pop culture enthusiasts. ^{[3] [5]} Being one of the most influential and accurate battleboarding sites around, ^[1] Deadliest Fiction allows users to create hypothetical match-ups in the form of blogs, where other users can vote and debate around who will win in the comment section. Once a verdict is reached, the site allows the user to create a simulated fanfiction of how the fight would happen. ^[12]

Around the same year in October, a similar battleboarding site named VS Battles Wiki was created. ^{[1] [5]} In the VS Battles Wiki, users can create profiles and power levels of fictional characters, post match-ups in its threads and forums, and list down the winners and losers of these threads in said character profiles. ^[3] The wiki is considered the most active wiki battleboarding site today, with over 1 million visitors per month. ^[1] However, throughout the years, the VS Battles Wiki has had its share of controversies, such as alleged inaccuracies in their profiles. ^{[1] [3]}

There have also been websites and fanfiction wikis inspired by the battleboarding internet show Death Battle . These include the long-running G1 Death Battle Fan Blog, r/deathbattlematchups, and the popular Death Battle Fanon Wiki and DBX Fanon Wiki. ^{[12] [3]} Death Battle also released its own dice and card game, complete with rules and effects taken from battleboarding. ^[3]

Subculture

In its rise in popularity, battleboarding has given birth to a unique online subculture with its own rules, activities, and terminologies. ^{[1] [5] [3]} Several of these influences have become present in other online communities and popular media. ^[2] Some of the common slang and terminologies used in battleboarding subculture includes:

• Battle Field Removal - Often abbreviated to "BFR", this is a rule that a fight can end if one character is taken out of a battlefield. This rule is used for characters who have the powers to teleport or transport enemies without actually killing them.
• Battle Royale - A term originating from Comic Vine where multiple characters are pitted against each other. The name is probably derived from the film Battle Royale or the video game genre of the same name. ^[5]
• Bloodlusted - A hypothetical situation wherein the characters are pitted against each other while in a furious, berserker-like state. ^{[1] [3]}
• Calc - These are calculations battleboarders use to determine how strong a character is, or his or her powers or weapons.
• Composite - A term originating from r/whowouldwin that denotes a version of a character that contains all of his or her feats across different versions or alliterations. This version is mostly created by battleboarders and sometimes tends to be disregarded as original characters. ^[5]
• Feat - An accomplishment that a certain character has done using his powers, weapons, or other ability during combat.
• Hax - A term used to denote powers, moves, or attacks that can affect or damage an enemy even if said enemy is durable or invincible.
• Lowballing / Downplaying - The opposite of wanking where battleboarders instead exaggerate how weak a character is.
• Morals Off - A hypothetical situation wherein the characters are pitted against each other while disregarding whatever good moral compass they have. ^{[1] [3]}
• Power Level - Also known as "tiers", this refers to categorizing different fictional characters in terms of how powerful they are.
• Power Scaling - A term used in battleboarding that refers to creating an artificial stat or feat for a character by analyzing another character they have proven at least comparable to in canon. ^{[22] [23]}
• Prep - A hypothetical situation wherein the characters being pitted against each other are given some time to prepare for the fight.
• Respect Thread - Forum posts or articles that contain all of the scans and feats of a character.
• Scan - These are actual screenshots, scanned pictures, or even actual pictures of comics, manga, or literature that battleboarders use as evidence that a certain character has performed, and can probably still perform, an actual feat. ^[1]
• Speed Blitz - Taken from the German word "Blitz" and popularized by the World War II strategy known as "Blitzkrieg". Like its namesake, speed blitz is a term used for choosing a winner because he is too fast for his opponent to be able to effectively react. Essentially, it's making a verdict on a match-up due to advantages in speed.
• Speed Equalized - A hypothetical situation wherein the characters are pitted against each other while disregarding any advantages they have in terms of speed (unless their powers are literally super speed). This situation was born out of the observation that most characters have inconsistent speeds and they can theoretically fight at whatever optimal speed the people choose them to be in, in a fight. ^[1]
• Stomp - A description used for the result of an unfair match-up where one character has no means of winning the fight, with the act of "stomping" referring to a character winning such a match-up.
• Standard Battlefield Assumption - Often abbreviated to "SBA", is a term used when people pit two characters against each other without any added rule or situation. This generally means that the fight that'll take place will start with characters meeting each other for the first time, without any prior knowledge of each other, and starting off at a relatively medium distance while in their base forms.
• Tank - A term used for when a character is durable enough to withstand attacks from his enemies. The term is taken from the war vehicle of the same name. ^[5]
• Wanking - A term that refers to an error where battleboarders exaggerate how strong a fictional character is, usually by overcomplicating a certain feat or abusing power scaling.
• X-Factor - A term originating from Deadliest Warrior and Deadliest Fiction. X-Factors are essential stats in a character that cannot be quantified like other stats such as strength or speed. Instead, x-factors are about comparing characteristics like experience, brutality, calmness, and logistics between each character. ^[5]

In other media

Battleboarding has gone on to inspire other media with its subculture and terminologies. Many web series such as "Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny", Seth The Programmer, and Jobbers and Goons were inspired by it. ^{[1] [24]} Internet personality Rainey Ovalle created a viral skit posted in Twitter that parodied battleboarding. In the skit, he and a friend debated a fight between Deku from My Hero Academia and Saitama from One Punch Man , with the argument getting increasingly and humorously intense. ^[4]

Invincible creator Robert Kirkman once participated in a similar debate concerning his character, Mark Grayson, against other famous comic book characters like Superman and Thanos. ^[25] Buzzfeed also has a category in their website concerning "Who Would Win In A Fight" debates. ^[26] According to video game developer Nick Antonis, the company Naxeex took inspiration for their superhero sandbox games from battleboarding shows and sites such as Death Battle and the VS Battles Wiki. Antonis stated, "You can always count on them to be updated on new series and characters. Actually, a lot of our games, stories, and characters were inspired by these websites." ^{[27] [28]}

References

1. Hannigan, Carl. "Versus Sites and Battle Boards". Voice Media Group . August 6, 2023
2. Kaczynski, John Francis. "The Fun and Difficulty of Battleboarding (EDITORIAL)". Literary Hub . July 31, 2023
3. Mountain, John. "The 5 Best Battle Boards Online". Substack . August 22, 2023
4. Polo, Susana. "'Who Would Win?' is a wonderful vice that must be enjoyed responsibly". Polygon . March 21, 2022
5. "General Terms in Battleboarding". Archived from the original on 2024-01-03. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
6. May 1997, Black Belt Magazine , Don Wilson Cover
7. WIZARD Magazine Issue #133 (October 2002) ASIN B003AE0VE8
8. Batman Versus Predator II at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original )
9. Cowsill, Alan (2010). "2000s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 311. ISBN   978-0-7566-6742-9. [JLA/Avengers] was an event that...proved to be one of the biggest and best of the DC and Marvel crossovers, incorporating many of the two companies' greatest heroes and villains.
10. Wallenstein, Andrew (2004-03-19). "TV Review: Discovery Channel's 'Animal Face-Off'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
11. Sale, Andrew. "BOOB TUBE SCOOP: 'Deadliest Warrior' attacks". Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
12. Frederickson, Laurence A. (April 21, 2020). The Elegant World of Fan Fiction: Its Effects on Literature in the 21st Century . University of Texas at Austin. p. 6
13. "Super Power Beat Down Director Aaron Schoenke Interview". Den of Geek. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
14. "StarDestroyer.net main site". Archived from the original on February 6, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
15. "StarDestroyer.net Star Wars vs Star Trek section". Archived from the original on August 20, 2001. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
16. "StarDestroyer.net Turbolaser Commentaries". Archived from the original on June 5, 2001. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
17. Curtis Saxton. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Incredible Cross-Sections. DK Publishing. April 23, 2002. Acknowledgements (p. 32).
18. TheForce.Net: Curtis Saxton interview. Archived from the original on December 12, 2004. Accessed December 9, 2024.
19. Katzman, Gregg. "Does Batman always win? Batman vs Wolverine". Comic Vine . December 28, 2012
20. Space Battles Forums
21. Dreager1. "The Ultimate Fighting/Review Site". Blogger .
22. Johri, Saarthak. "'Reach' culture: The online malaise on media literacy". The Michigan Daily . September 28, 2022
23. Ahmad, Suzail. "One Piece: Why Power Scaling Ruins The Experience". Game Rant . October 18, 2022
24. Rempel, Shauna (August 26, 2006). "Copy, paste, animate". The Toronto Star . Retrieved October 1, 2010.
25. Editorial. "Mark Grayson vs the world: Can invincible really topple Thanos & Superman?". Desi Martini. October 20, 2023
26. Buzzfeed: Who Would Win In A Fight
27. Alexandros, Martin Hati. "The Everyday Life of a Cyprus Video Game Developer". The Cyprus Chronicler. October 18, 2023
28. "The Everyday Life of a Cyprus Video Game Developer". Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.