Awesome / The Death of Superman

The Comic Event

The Final Battle^note At that point in time, at least.

• Superman, not once, but three times continuing to take the fight to Doomsday after several other heroes have fallen. Superman becomes fully aware of what a powerful threat Doomsday is, strongly suspects Doomsday is powerful enough to kill Superman, yet Superman will not give up trying to stop him. It's easy to think Superman is a hero because he's Nigh-Invulnerable and rarely, if ever, in real danger. Here, he proves he's a true hero, willing to risk, and even give, his life in exchange for others.
  • The fight itself is a CMOA. The battle's description in the comic itself, in a nutshell, is practically Rocky vs Apollo in Rocky II taken up to eleven, with both fighters going the distance in Metropolis, pounding each other with punches powerful enough to blow out every single window in the Daily Planet. It even ends similarly, but instead of a Double Knockout, it's a Mutual Kill.
• In the immediate aftermath of Superman's death, many of his friends and loved ones do their best to revive him, with Bibbo Bibbowski using experimental defibrillators that were so strong he needed a protective forcefield to safely use them, reasoning that no one would care if he died the way they would with Superman. As Dr. Occult later explains, while it was the Eradicator's technology mixed with the Kryptonian Regeneration Matrix that brought Superman back, it was the initial efforts of the paramedics that slowed his death enough for that to work out.
• The "Funeral For A Friend" story wrapped up with Pa Kent, on the edge of death himself, meeting Clark in the afterlife, saving him from demons, and battling their way out. This stopped the Eradicator from possessing Clark's body.

The Animated Adaptation

• The League against Doomsday. While he trounces each and everyone of them some of them get some decent blows in.
  • Hawkman was the first to deal the first blow to Doomsday. He may be curbstomped later on, but he was notably the first of the League to deal some damage, as seen from the visible tear in Doomsday's containment suit, exposing his red eye.
  • Green Lantern was next, and he was no slouch either. His Hard Light constructs may be broken by Doomsday, but his first strike takes the cake. He formed a giant jackhammer and used it to pound on Doomsday for a few seconds straight. In fact, his Badass Boast that a member of the Green Lantern Corps like him eating monsters like Doomsday for breakfast would most likely have had merit. Only if the monster he's facing wasn't Doomsday.
  • The Flash also deserves a mention. Being visibly pissed off that his friend Green Lantern has been injured in the fight, he picks up Hawkman's mace and starts mercilessly hitting Doomsday with it from every direction. If it had been any other villain, they would have fallen.
  • Props to Batman for simply surviving Doomsday's onslaught as long as he does without any powers or way to hurt the monster. In fact, his bombs dealt some good Clothing Damage to Doomsday's containment suit, exposing half his head and half his torso. Take note that the same suit withstood orbital reentry as the asteroid he's in was torn apart. Which made one think, how strong are Batman's bombs?
  • Aquaman and Martian Manhunter tag-teaming Doomsday. The former stabbed the beast with his trident, piercing him, right before being taken out of the fight. You can even hear Doomsday roaring in pain as the trident electrocuted him. The latter gave Doomsday a few good hits worthy of Superman himself, processing the beast's mindless, aggressive thoughts, all the while phasing through Doomsday's blows like it's nothing for him. In fact, the martian could have been a tough opponent for Doomsday, if only he wasn't tossed into a gas station, setting him on fire.
    • After failing repeatedly to get his hands on the phasing Martian Manhunter, Doomsday roared in frustration right in his face. The martian didn't even flinch at it.
    • The fact that Doomsday could think. It was able to catch Martian Manhunter, right as the martian tried to phase through him to get to Batman's aid. He was then easily tossed towards the aforementioned gas station, taking him out of the fight.
  • Wonder Woman takes him on one on one and manages to hold her own, bashing her shield on his face multiple times, swiftly dodging his blow as she was backed onto a building, and as she realized the Lasso couldn't work on Doomsday, being the mindless beast he was, she then used it to toss him against a truck. This being Doomsday however, he quickly recovers and follows up with a CMOA of his own, as he shatters her sword by punching it point-first. Note that, when Wonder Woman throws down with Doomsday in Metropolis, she'd already fought him offscreen with the rest of the Justice League, as she's obviously bloodied and battered before this. And still does better than anyone save Superman himself against the monster.
  • Lex Luthor also deserves an honorable mention for managing to keep Doomsday at bay and inadvertantly helping Superman, as despite his reasons for wanting to stop Doomsday being self-centered. Impressively, he opens the fight with a massive blast from his Shoulder Cannon then follows it up with a brutal beatdown that Doomsday barely got out of with an uncontrolled burst of Heat Vision that turned the tide back in its favor. He's the only one, bar Superman himself who ever held a conclusive upper hand over Doomsday.
• Superman finally entering the battle against Doomsday. The whole League has barely been able to slow him down, Wonder Woman held him off for the longest but even she's been beaten to within an inch of her life. Doomsday picks up Diana's broken sword, preparing to stab her with it, when familiar red beams blast him away. Superman and Doomsday do a mutual Punch Catch, and the force blows out every window on the street. Just the start of showcasing not only how closely matched Superman and Doomsday are, but also how terrifyingly powerful and utterly destructive they both are.
  • In a cross between Awesome and Heartwarming for Superman, not only did he keep Doomsday at bay, he saved several civilians during the battle. Notable examples are shielding a woman stuck in a car from another car thrown by Doomsday, covering a kid from the collapsing bridge tower, and stopping Lois and Jimmy Olsen's helicopter from crashing. Even saving Lex Luthor as his mech was destroyed.
  • One thing that must be stated was the Kryptonian's usage of improvised weapons. One of the most prominent examples was right after saving Lois and Jimmy. After spotting an incoming Doomsday, Superman quickly cut off the helicopter's tail with his Heat Vision, and used it as a makeshift baseball bat to launch Doomsday upwards. The sheer speed in which he did so, and the slow-motion as the hit connects to the beast, was nothing short of amazing.
  • No awesome moments for Doomsday? He constantly adapts to Superman's attempts in stopping him. Stuck in a stalemate during the aforementioned Punch Catch? His instinctive, albeit unstable, Heat Vision made Superman bleed. Superman tangling him in a bridge's suspension cables? He ripped them off with his growing protrusions, destabilizing the entire bridge. Superman knocking and flying him past the cloud layer? He grabbed his cape and flung him around, pounding him continuously on the way back down, even covering Supes' face right before he managed to fire his Heat Vision.
  • One of the greatest highlights of the fight was the final showdown between the two shortly after Luthor's out of the equation. The highlight was a Cross Counter between the two beasts, and the sheer force of their punches demolished the entire Hall of Justice.
• When Lois thinks Superman was close to being dead, she throws a rock at Doomsday and stands her ground refusing to back down even as Doomsday advances towards her, unafraid of dying, her determination is what gives Superman the last bit of energy he needs to finish off Doomsday in a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Superman's final all-or-nothing attack against Doomsday. It was an awesome Heroic Sacrifice on the caliber of suplexing Doomsday from orbit and impaling him with a Kryptonite spear, perfectly showcasing Superman's Heroic Resolve. Uttering a Big "NO!", Superman mustered everything he got into one final strike. After launching into a flight, which shattered the very ground he's standing on, he flew right to the beast, striking him so hard his head turned a full 180 degrees.
  • Doomsday deserve some props. He successfully gored Superman with his bone protrusion, right as his head was turned a full 180 degrees. He fulfilled his purpose as a Doomsday Weapon, taking Superman down with him. The kicker? He did all that mere seconds as he was dying.
    • One thing had to be pointed out. As Superman landed his final blow, keen-eyed viewers could see that Doomsday hasn't gored him yet by that time. That means just like what a certain evil speedster did to prolong his life just as a bullet was ripping through his head, Doomsday only had mere moments, a split second, to deliver the final blow. And boy, did he deliver.
• The entirety of the fight between Superman and Doomsday is one to the animators themselves, who perfectly showcased a titanic struggle between two powerful beings in animation, arguably even more so than its predecessor. You can even feel the power behind each of their blows, every Kung-Fu Sonic Boom and every No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, and the overarching tension leading towards the titular Death of Superman.