The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

In an era when Flash animation ruled the internet's creative landscape, one epic three-and-a-half-minute battle would crystallize the chaotic spirit of pop culture crossover fantasy into what became arguably the most ambitious animated meme of the mid-2000s.

"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, appearing as the fifth single of the project's fifth studio album Dinosaurchestra. The song describes a massive and citywide battle set in Tokyo started by Godzilla and Batman, involving dozens of pop-culture icons and ultimately lasting for a century (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025).

The creation of this ambitious project emerged from the convergence of two internet talents. In the early 2000s, Neil Cicierega popularized animutation, a form of flash animation that humorously depicts pop-culture images set to upbeat music. Steven Lerner, the owner of Albino Blacksheep, later stated that as the genre grew more popular it had begun to advance in effort, with creators drawing the characters rather than editing publicly available photos (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). This evolution in sophistication set the stage for "The Ultimate Showdown" to push the boundaries of what Flash animation could accomplish.

Cicierega adapted to this development, publishing the song "The Ultimate Showdown" to Newgrounds on December 22, 2005, with Shawn Vulliez credited for the video's animation under the name altffour (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025). The collaboration brought together Cicierega's compositional talents and narrative vision with Vulliez's sophisticated animation skills, creating a work that surpassed the typical quality standards of internet animation at the time.

The song and video tell the story of dozens of (mostly 20th century) fictional characters, historical figures and celebrities duking it out. It starts with Batman trying to stop Godzilla from destroying Tokyo before both are stopped by Shaquille O'Neal, and just gets crazier from there (TV Tropes, 2025). The narrative escalates through increasingly absurd matchups, featuring everyone from Optimus Prime to Abraham Lincoln to Chuck Norris, culminating in the unexpected victory of children's television host Mr. Rogers.

"The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" gained a large cult following among web enthusiasts. It ranked on Newgrounds as the "User's Choice" upon publication, amassing 6.5 million views within its first six months of release. It appeared on several other websites including Albino Blacksheep and YouTube, receiving over 25 million views on the latter before a takedown and replacement by Vulliez in early 2021 (Wikipedia Contributors, 2025).

The song would prove to be Lemon Demon's Breakthrough Hit, repeatedly topping the Funny Five on the Dr. Demento radio show (TV Tropes, 2025). From the album Dinosaurchestra, this is Lemon Demon's most popular song to date, The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny spent five consecutive weeks on Dr. Demento's Funny Five countdown, four of those weeks in the #1 spot. It topped 2006's Funny 25 playlist by a landslide (Lemon Demon Wiki, 2025).

The cultural impact of "The Ultimate Showdown" extended far beyond its initial viral success. The animation demonstrated the potential for internet creators to produce content rivaling professional animation studios, while the song's celebration of pop culture mashups presaged the remix culture that would dominate later internet platforms. The unexpected choice of Mr. Rogers as the ultimate victor became a beloved internet joke, transforming the gentle children's television host into an ironic symbol of hidden power.