Those are some of the best blood effects I've seen in a while. They have an Evil Dead-esque, exaggerated sense of force and quantity. The hat floating above the head is a nice touch, too.

Not too much to say about the Rain edit except I would suggest you accentuate the swords a bit more. To me, they feel a little “thin” in the middle. Good choice in pose, though.

The only aspect I feel detracts from the over-all quality is the background. It’s a nice idea for a Pit II variation, but I think you could have gone further. Perhaps adding some hand-drawn rain? I think I would have liked the re-imagined elements more too had they been integrated better into the design. Also, the distant bridge looks blury: odd, because nothing else suffers from that.

Overall, pretty cool.

One last question. The little detail you omitted, (life bars, shadows, etc,) was that intentional?

I took your critique into consideration and made a version that included actual rain. I rarely use lifebars or battle stats as they take away from the fake IMO (unless you're going for accuracy). Shadows I didnt think of.

Personally, I like the added rain. It helps convey a better sense of mood and makes the lightening feel more natural and less tacked on. Now I get the feeling that the battle is taking place in a stormy arena. Good job.

That's a good one of Rain. Nice stormy weather effects. Maybe the swords could be improved a little.