THE NARRATIVE OF VERSUS CROSSOVERS

Whenever an action crossover between two, or more, characters occur in any official material (not fan made), people tend to presume right away that it will be a definitive fight to the death with a clear winner and no bias towards one side over the other. While this mindset is not certain for some, most seem to think this would or should be the case, disregarding the fact that in most, if not all official crossovers have a thing called a narrative, story, plot, etc. Whatever you may call it, in official material, narrative is king, and so must be a justifiable excuse as to how two or more characters meet, why they meet, and why do they engage in conflict against one another.

Based on a bit of research and careful analysis, I've concluded that a majority of Vs. crossovers commonly have two scenarios that we might've seen before and be most familiar with. This may not entirely be the case as there have been exceptions, they are the few exceptions that proves the rule. Keep in mind, there are tons of crossover types, but we are specifically talking about the ones where they primarily pit two main titular characters against each other.

In Scenario A, someone has to be the "bad guy", the instigator that propels the events of the narrative forward and brings the "good guy" out into the light and into battle. And because one of the two is made out to be the villain, the hero must always be the victor for the sake of the plot.

*Note: the "good guys" don't have to necessarily be good in the traditional, heroic sense, only for them to be the lesser of two evils, one who is not interested in so much violence and destruction as much as the other, only to be left alone and mind their own business. This type of characterization is what is commonly referred to as an antihero.

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This one I am sure you are most familiar with.

Similar to Scenario A, Scenario B still delivers on the premise of two characters crossing over and interact with each other, in this case fighting. However…

Neither of the two heroes are the instigators but are lead to believe the two are. They are being manipulated by a third party influence (the true villain of the story), pulling the strings from the shadows, pitting the other two parties against each other while he proceeds with his evil schemes. The good guys are unaware of the third party at this point in the story.

At some point in the story, at the height of the conflict, the two face the revelation that neither of them are the bad guys, confused by what has happened and by each other, but ultimately conclude that the whole thing was a misunderstanding…

Realizing that neither of them are a threat, and this was most likely a set-up by a third party villain, the two heroes form a partnership, now allies with a common goal and a common enemy and join forces to stop the greater evil.

*Note: in certain cases, there can still be a definitive winner before the misunderstanding revelation, but for the sake of plot, no one must die. If one is to claim victory over the other, it will most likely be victory by knockout, no victory by death.

No longer pawns and their alliance presenting a threat, the villain steps out from the darkness to finally reveal himself, desperate yet determined in a last ditch effort to do the deed himself if he is to succeed.

TEAM-UP! And just like Scenario A, the good guys will always triumph over evil for the necessity of the narrative.