Versus Title



When you are creating a work in which two clearly distinct entities are in conflict or compete against each other, a common way to name your work is to identify the two entities and insert a word or symbol indicating the conflict.

These most frequently take the form of X Versus Y (or X vs Y). Titles of this form were particularly common for older B Movies, and is now something of a Dead Horse Trope within that field, though often used straight in homages. They continue to be frequently used in names of episodes of Western Animations and Live-Action TV shows.

Another variant, replacing "Versus" with a simple X, as in Alice X Bob, is particularly common in Video Games developed in Japan. Where it is a crossover, it may take the form of X Meets Y, although these are relatively rare.

May involve an Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny or Cool Versus Awesome. Where both entities are antagonists, this may be an Antagonist Title. Similar to The Noun and the Noun and Name and Name. Often mirrors Character Name and the Noun Phrase.

Anime and Manga

 * Dragonball Z episode "The Nameks Versus Frieza".
 * Grendizer Vs Great Mazinger.
 * Pokémon episodes "Haunter Versus Kadabra" and "Princess Versus Princess".
 * Pokémon Special also uses this as Idiosyncratic Episode Naming, with a few exceptions like saga finales.
 * Shin Getter Robo Vs Neo Getter Robo.
 * Several chapters in One Piece.

Comic Books

 * Asterix vs. Caesar.
 * Dracula vs. King Arthur.
 * Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash.
 * Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X.
 * Jason vs. Leatherface.
 * Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe.
 * Spy vs. Spy.

Fan Works

 * My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fanfiction Progress has all its chapters titled "Luna vs. [subject of chapter]".
 * Zero vs. Kira

Film

 * Many of the Abbott and Costello's later movies had titles of the form Abbott and Costello Meet (something else from Universal).
 * Alien vs. Predator.
 * A variation occurs in the case of Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. The movie is actually about Ecks and Sever teaming up.
 * Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.
 * Boa Versus Python.
 * Dahmer vs. Gacy and its sequel Dahmer vs. Gacy 2: In Space.
 * Dinocroc Versus Supergator.
 * Eagle vs Shark.
 * Earth vs. The Flying Saucers.
 * Earth vs. the Spider.
 * Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.
 * Freddy vs. Jason.
 * The American titles given to Godzilla movies followed this pattern: Godzilla vs. (Destoroyah, Gigan, Hedorah, Mechagodzilla etc.). King Kong vs. Godzilla came before any of these.
 * Hulk Vs Wolverine and Hulk vs. Thor.
 * Humans Versus Zombies.
 * Joe Versus the Volcano.
 * Karl the Butcher vs. Axe
 * Komodo Versus Cobra.
 * Kramer vs. Kramer (also the original book, on which the film was based).
 * Mega Python Versus Gatoroid.
 * Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus, and it's sequel Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus.
 * Monsters vs. Aliens.
 * The People vs. Larry Flynt.
 * Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys.
 * Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
 * Strippers vs. Zombies.
 * The crossover movies for the Super Sentai series, such as Tensou Sentai Goseiger vs. Shinkenger: Epic on Ginmaku.
 * The Navy vs. The Night Monsters.
 * Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.
 * Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl.
 * Wife vs. Secretary, based on a novel of the same title.
 * Versus. That's it, that's the whole title.

Live-Action TV

 * All in The Family episodes "Edith Versus the Bank" and "Edith Versus the Energy Crisis".
 * Buffalo Bill episode "Buffalo Bill Versus the Kremlin".
 * Chuck uses this as its Idiosyncratic Episode Naming.
 * CSI episode "Grissom Versus the Volcano".
 * Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "Larry vs. Michael J. Fox"
 * Deadliest Warrior uses this as its Idiosyncratic Episode Naming.
 * Good Vs Evil (originally known as G vs E).
 * Reality Show Hogan Knows Best episode "Hogan Versus City Hall".
 * Leave It to Beaver episode "The State Versus Beaver".
 * Mama's Family episode "Harper Versus Harper".
 * Man v. Food.
 * Man vs. Wild.
 * Melissa and Joey episode "Joe Versus the Reunion".
 * Parenthood episode "Man Versus Possum".
 * Private Benjamin episode "Ross Versus the Robot".
 * Smart Guy episode "T.J. versus the Machine".
 * The Super Sentai "Vs. Series" of Crossover movies featuring two teams together. However, it's rare for the "vs." to actually mean that the teams end up fighting each other; more often they become allies immediately.
 * The Beverly Hillbillies episode "Granny Versus the Weather Bureau".
 * The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis episode "Dobie Versus the Machine".
 * Zorro (1957) episode "Zorro Versus Cupid".

Music

 * Lostprophets song "Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja".
 * The World/Inferno Friendship Society song "Me V. the Angry Mob,"
 * General Patton Vs. The X-Ecutioners, a collaboration album between Mike Patton and hip-hop trio The X-Ecutioners.

Video Games

 * Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja
 * Calorie-kun vs. Moguranian
 * Capcom is fond of titles of this form as noted in Capcom vs. Whatever.
 * Desert Rats vs. Afrika Korps.
 * Ford vs. Chevy
 * Ghouls vs. Humans
 * Games in the Gundam vs. Series.
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong
 * Maximo vs. The Army of Zin.
 * Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
 * Mr. Do! vs. Unicorns
 * North vs. South.
 * Plants vs. Zombies.
 * Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney
 * Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army and its sequel, Raidou Kuzunoha VS King Abaddon
 * Robocop vs. The Terminator.
 * The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants, Bart vs. the World, Bart vs. the Juggernauts
 * Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman.
 * Ys Vs Sora No Kiseki - a PSP game published by Falcom.

Web Comics

 * PvP: Player vs Player
 * Princess Pi comics almost always have titles in this format.

Web Originals

 * Red vs. Blue
 * Man Vs The World
 * Four mini-movies from Quirky Misadventures of Soldine the Cyborg YouTube series, all following the Monster of the Week format:
 * Soldine vs. Vagineer
 * Soldine vs. Handsome Rogue
 * Soldine vs. Madic
 * Soldine vs. Robosol

Western Animation

 * The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Hulk Versus the World".
 * The Batman vs. Dracula.
 * Dan Vs. is an interesting case, where the Episode Finishes the Title, such as the first episode, New Mexico, intended to be read as Dan Vs. New Mexico.
 * Eek! The Cat episode "Eek vs. the Flying Saucers" (a play on Earth vs. the Flying Saucers).
 * Samurai Jack episodes "Jack Versus Demongo, the Soul Collector", "Jack Versus Mad Jack", "Samurai Versus Ninja", "Samurai Versus Samurai", "Jack Versus Aku", and "Robo-Samurai Versus Mondo Bot".
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 episode "Raphael Versus the Volcano".
 * The Simpsons has a number of episodes like this, such as Homer Vs Dignity and Marge Vs The Monorail.
 * The Tick uses this as its Idiosyncratic Episode Naming.
 * Voltron: Defender of the Universe episode "Voltron Versus Voltron"

Real Life

 * It is standard in civil court cases in many western countries to be named in the form Plaintiff v. Defendant.

This Very Wiki

 * Career Versus Man
 * Cavemen Versus Astronauts Debate
 * Cool Versus Awesome
 * David Versus Goliath
 * Emotions Versus Stoicism
 * Enthusiasm Versus Stoicism
 * Evil Versus Evil
 * Evil Versus Oblivion
 * Family Versus Career
 * Flesh Versus Steel
 * Good Versus Good
 * Good Witch Versus Bad Witch
 * Harmony Versus Discipline
 * Kids Versus Adults
 * Magic Versus Science
 * Man Versus Machine
 * Meat Versus Veggies
 * Order Versus Chaos
 * Player Versus Environment
 * Player Versus Player
 * Right Hand Versus Left Hand
 * Romanticism Versus Enlightenment
 * Scry vs. Scry
 * Slobs Versus Snobs
 * Subbing Versus Dubbing
 * The Magic Versus Technology War
 * Tiger Versus Dragon
 * Watsonian Versus Doylist