Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
| "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Lemon Demon from the album Dinosaurchestra | |
| Released | December 22, 2005[1] |
| Genre | Nerdcore, comedy hip hop, bitpop, comedy rock, rap rock, alternative rock |
| Length | 3:33 |
| Label | Bandung Recordings |
| Writer(s) | Neil Cicierega |
| Producer(s) | Neil Cicierega, Shawn Vulliez |
"The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny", often shortened to "The Ultimate Showdown", is a comical song and video released on December 22, 2005. The song was written and performed by Neil Cicierega under the pseudonym "Lemon Demon", with art and Flash animation by Shawn Vulliez.
"The Ultimate Showdown" is a massive, city-wide battle set in Tokyo started by Godzilla and Batman ultimately involving dozens of pop-culture icons, fictional and otherwise, ending with Mr. Rogers emerging victorious and then committing seppuku. It gained a large cult following among web enthusiasts[2] and became the "User's Choice" on December 28, 2005 on Newgrounds, where it has been viewed over 12 million times.[3] It appeared on several other websites including Albino Blacksheep,[4] YouTube, Transbuddha, and Weebl's Stuff. In 2006 it was included on Lemon Demon's fifth album Dinosaurchestra. As of December 2015, it had over 16 million views on YouTube.[5]
The song topped the "Funny Five" on The Dr. Demento Show for several weeks and was the #1 Request for 2006.[6] The video has since been parodied and referenced repeatedly in other flash videos. A new version of the song was later recorded specifically for the Rock Band Network and was released for the service on July 6, 2010 under the title The Ultimate Showdown (RBN Mix). In 2009, the song was rerecorded with a full band, and this track was included in Lemon Demon's 2011 EP "Live (Only Not)".
Characters
The song mentions a long list of characters, both real and fictional:
- Godzilla
- Batman
- Shaquille O' Neal (from Shaq Fu)
- Aaron Carter
- Abraham Lincoln
- Optimus Prime
- Jackie Chan
- Indiana Jones
- Care Bear
- Chuck Norris, to whom most of the bridge is devoted, portrayed as an angelic superhuman as a nod to the "Chuck Norris facts" phenomenon
- Gandalf (as both Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White)
- The Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Benito Mussolini
- Blue Meanie
- Cowboy Curtis
- Jambi the Genie
- Robocop
- The Terminator
- Captain James T. Kirk
- Darth Vader
- Lo Pan
- Superman
- Every single Power Ranger (displayed in the video as only the original five Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
- Bill S. Preston
- Theodore Logan
- Spock
- The Rock
- Doc Ock
- Hulk Hogan
- Mr. Rogers
Characters not mentioned in the song, but seen in the video include Samuel L. Jackson (being attacked by snakes); Mario fighting Sonic the Hedgehog; Santa Claus being run over by the DeLorean time machine; Goku; R2-D2 and C-3PO being taken apart by a Jawa; and Tobias Fünke.
Notes and references
- ↑ http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/285267
- ↑ Rempel, Shauna (August 26, 2006). "Copy, paste, animate". The Toronto Star.
- ↑ Emily Sweeney (June 22, 2006). "He's a hit with Internet set". Boston Globe.
- ↑ Bob Batz (April 11, 2006), Seen & Overheard, Dayton Daily News
- ↑ "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny". YouTube. December 1, 2010.
- ↑ "Dr Demento's official site".
External links
- Lemon Demon official website
- Ultimate Showdown on Newgrounds
- The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny at WikiLemon, a Lemon Demon wiki