Death Battle is a web-show pitting fictional characters against each other in death matches. It’s generally pretty entertaining, though it’s sometimes a little uncomfortable seeing beloved characters getting eliminated (even if it’s all meant to be hypothetical).

The funny part is how much effort is put into the analysis, with extensive engineering calculations trying to quantify the exploits of anime, video game, and cartoon characters, even when the feats are utterly ridiculous (e.g. “how much force is required for Kirby to throw a giant frying pan, with the worm monster in it, to the sun and back?”). But besides that, the fights are often pretty cool: the idea of, say, Superman fighting Goku, or Godzilla fighting Gamera.

One of the most recent ones, pitting Bowser against Dr. Eggman, accompanied by their respective armies, is possibly the best one yet.

I’m just sharing the fight animation: if you want to watch the whole episode with the analysis, go here.

The reason I wanted to share it is the excellent writing and characterization on display for the two combatants, particularly in how well their respective leadership styles are showcased. What we have here is a superb illustration of a modern versus classical leadership.

Dr. Eggman is an engineer, whose army is almost entirely comprised of robots designed to do his will and execute his plans without question. Only one character in his ranks – Sage – even has any free will at all. His essential goal is to rule the world so that he can impose his will upon it and form it as a predictable, controllable machine (the analysis correctly points out that this is at the core of his conflict with the free-spirited Sonic). His approach is to create a perfect plan behind the scenes and have it executed by perfectly-controllable underlings. That is, Dr. Eggman could be considered an ideal Marxist: a completely planned society with himself and Sage as the central planners.

Meanwhile Bowser is fundamentally a king; he is the ruler of a particular people, to whom he bears a certain responsibility. The analysis emphasizes that, though Bowser is a bad guy because of his efforts to conquer other kingdoms, he is actually very good ruler to his own people. He leads them, cares about their well-being, and fights side-by-side with them. They, in turn, are fanatically loyal to him and follow him of their own free will.

This is reflected in the fight, where Bowser is constantly on the front lines, seeking out the fiercest fighting and the toughest opponents, Richard the Lionheart-style. Eggman, on the other hand, doesn’t even show up on the battlefield until he thinks he’s already won. Even then, he’s dependent on his underlings to do the heavy lifting for him, most notably Metal Sonic. When he actually ends up toe-to-toe with Bowser (unintentionally), he takes one hit and then has to hide behind Sage and Metal.

And this is reflected in their respective armies: the Eggman Empire is composed of disposable drones (at one point Sage even uses them as ammunition), while Bowser goes out of his way to try to protect his troops, most dramatically jumping in front of the Death Egg laser. The result is that the remnant of the Eggman Empire flees when they realize they’re about to be fired upon, while the Koopa Troop stands its ground to the bitter end.

Bowser’s army is even shown as a hierarchy, one that is not always fully onboard with him, as it includes King Boo, who is palpably uninterested in the rest of the troop and bails midway through after the fashion of an uncooperative vassal. On the other hand, his chief lieutenants – Kamek and Bowser Jr. – are with him on the front lines. Even better, their personal relationships and loyalty prove key to the battle; not only do Kamek and Bowser Jr. put themselves on the line, but it’s seeing his son injured that drives Bowser to unleash his most powerful attack in a frenzy of parental rage: an attack strong enough to simply overwhelm the Chaos Emerald-empowered Metal.

In other words, Bowser’s leadership is personal, based on the free loyalty and relationships between himself and his men, and he takes personal responsibility for them. Eggman’s is abstract, impersonal, and he takes no responsibility for his troops, who exist solely to enact his will. That is, Bowser leads by principle and example, while Eggman leads through carefully crafted plans. Predictably, Bowser’s style proves much more flexible and tenacious on the battlefield, while Eggman struggles to react to the unexpected (said unexpected manifesting as the force of the personal relations on the other side).

The result of all of this is that, at the end of the battle, Eggman finds himself alone on the battlefield, all his troops having either fallen or fled, while Bowser is stripped to the bone, but still fighting with his son and troops at his back.

I think this is why this episode has gotten so much positive reaction: in addition to the solid writing, animation, and so on, the outcome feels not only logical, but righteous.