History Main / BattleHaltingDuel

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* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has this in the final battle, when [[spoiler:Edward regains his arm, at the cost of Al's soul, and takes it out on Father, who'd caused the situation that necessitated Al's sacrifice in the first place. Despite pretty much everybody having contributed to beating the hell out of Father immediately prior, they recognize that for Edward, ItsPersonal, and stand down as he engages in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Father's ass]].
* ''Manhwa/KingOfHell'': Right as The War between the Black and White Sects starts, Majeh steps in the middle and challenges EVERYONE to a one-on-one duel, and proceeds to curbstomp the people that step up.
* Due to the nature of the friendly war in ''Anime/DogDays'', this happens on occasion when heroes clash, and Leonmichelle in particular is prone to draw all attention to her.

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* ''Fanfic/TheWizardInTheShadows'' has this with Harry vs [[spoiler: Voldywraith]] has this, along with a bit of LeaveHimToMe.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', the start of the final battle fits the description.

* The final battle of ''Film/TheLastJedi'' is halted when [[spoiler:Luke appears and challenges Kylo Ren.]]
* Happens in ''Film/AlexanderNevsky'' between the titular prince and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, both sides standing apart to let their bosses battle.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* Happens frequently in the ''Literature/TalesOfTheBranionRealm'' series. Justified by the fact that when one of the combatants is [[BattleAura on fire]], you probably want to stand ''away.''
* Combining with KeystoneArmy, this is how most ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' final battles end, the book's hero taking out the BigBad in single combat and the rest of the vermin fleeing for their lives.
* In the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'', the Roman army is forced to make a fighting retreat against the Rajputs, and Valentinian, covering Belarius as he escapes near capture, engages Rana Sanga. The fact Valentinian ''survives'' the initial clash and manages to give as good as he got causes the Rajputs to come to a complete halt as they see an epic duel in the offing, which quickly becomes official. The Rajputs do not pursue the retreating Romans, the army's commander doesn't even try ordering them to, and the Romans do not make any move to counterattack, watching the fight at long distance.
* ''LightNovel/ArifuretaFromCommonplaceToWorldsStrongest'' volume 10. In the final labyrinth, Kaori is in a MirrorBoss fight and is about to finish off her opponent... when all of a sudden Yue and Shea crash through one of the walls, having already beaten their trials and then gotten into a fight when an IfIDoNotReturn-type comment from Yue pissed Shea off, interrupting Kaori's fight.
* ''Literature/BrotherCadfael'' has one in ''The Virgin In The Ice'' when Olivier de Bretagne faces off against the bandit leader Alain le Gaucher, despite being in the middle of a heated battle between the sheriff's militia and the bandits.

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Related to CombatByChampion, in which case it's understood that the duel will actually ''decide'' the battle. May be caused by LeaveHimToMe. Possibly a more willing version of LockedOutOfTheFight.

-->--'''Achilles''', ''Series/TroyFallOfACity''

->''"I miss the hush. When I meet [[WorthyOpponent an opponent worthy of me]]. Everyone around us stops to watch. The din of battle drains away like a wave. And for a few moments, it's just the two of us. [[WorldsBestWarrior And then I kill him]]. And then everyone gets back to what they were doing."''

* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': This is what happens when Jiren and Goku first square off in the Tournament of Power. All other fighters stop what they're doing and gather to watch. Since Goku and Jiren are known to be likely the two strongest fighters in the Tournament, the other fighters all want to see which is stronger, and to gauge exactly what they're up against.

* In ''Disney/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', the start of the final battle fits the description.

* ''LightNovel/ArifuretaFromCommonplaceToWorldsStrongest'' volume 10. In the final labyrinth, Kaori is in a MirrorDuel and is about to finish off her opponent... when all of a sudden Yue and Shea crash through one of the walls, having already beaten their trials and then gotten into a fight when an IfIDoNotReturn-type comment from Yue pissed Shea off.

-->"I miss the hush. When I meet [[WorthyOpponent an opponent worthy of me]]. Everyone around us stops to watch. The din of battle drains away like a wave. And for a few moments, it's just the two of us. [[WorldsBestWarrior And then I kill him]]. And then everyone gets back to what they were doing."
-->-->'''Achilles''', ''Series/TroyFallOfAnCity''

* Seen in ''Troy: Fall of a City'' when Hector and Patroclus (in Achilles' armour) meet. Also discussed by Achilles, ahead of time.

* In ''Film/{{Troy}}'', the big battle between Achilles [[spoiler:look-alike]] and Hector causes the battle to halt around them, especially when [[spoiler:Achilles look-alike dies a painful death]].

* On an early-1987 edition of ''Wrestling/SaturdayNightsMainEvent'', one of the matches was a 20-man battle royal. Around the mid-point of the match, Wrestling/HulkHogan and Wrestling/AndreTheGiant (the two had recently been announced as the main event of WrestleMania 3) came together. All other action stopped while these two went at it for a little bit.

* On an early-1987 edition of ''Series/SaturdayNightsMainEvent'', one of the matches was a 20-man battle royal. Around the mid-point of the match, Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant (the two had recently been announced as the main event of WrestleMania 3) came together. All other action stopped while these two went at it for a little bit.

* Happens in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' in the Golden Age arc, though less because the soldiers are too busy or too awed to get between the general and Guts and because those that tried to interfere got killed.

Related to CombatByChampion, in which case its understood that the duel will actually ''decide'' the battle. May be caused by LeaveHimToMe. Possibly a more willing version of LockedOutOfTheFight.

* In the ''BelisariusSeries'', the Roman army is forced to make a fighting retreat against the Rajputs, and Valentinian, covering Belarius as he escapes near capture, engages Rana Sanga. The fact Valentinian ''survives'' the initial clash and manages to give as good as he got causes the Rajputs to come to a complete halt as they see an epic duel in the offing, which quickly becomes official. The Rajputs do not pursue the retreating Romans, the army's commander doesn't even try ordering them to, and the Romans do not make any move to counterattack, watching the fight at long distance.

* In the ''BelisariusSeries'', the Roman army is forced to make a fighting retreat against the Rajputs, and Valerian, covering Belarius as he escapes near capture, engages Rana Sanga. The fact Valerian ''survives'' the initial clash and manages to give as good as he got causes the Rajputs to come to a complete halt as they see an epic duel in the offing, which quickly becomes official. The Rajputs do not pursue the retreating Romans, the army's commander doesn't even try ordering them to, and the Romans do not make any move to counterattack, watching the fight at long distance.

* Happens frequently in the {{Branion}} series. Justified by the fact that when one of the combatants is [[BattleAura on fire]], you probably want to stand ''away.''

* ''KingOfHell'': Right as The War between the Black and White Sects starts, Majeh steps in the middle and challenges EVERYONE to a one-on-one duel, and proceeds to curbstomp the people that step up.

* In ''{{Troy}}'', the big battle between Achilles [[spoiler:look-alike]] and Hector causes the battle to halt around them, especially when [[spoiler:Achilles look-alike dies a painful death]].

* In the novelization ''WorldOfWarcraft: Literature/TidesOfDarkness'', the next-to-last battle between TheAlliance and TheHorde takes place near Blackrock Spire, the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orc]] stronghold. The Alliance besieges the stronghold, when the orc warchief Orgrim Doomhammer leads a counter-attack. During the battle, he encounters the Alliance supreme commander Lord Anduin Lothar. After Lothar's death, his lieutenant Turalyon [[TakeUpMySword picks up his broken sword]] and knocks out Doomhammer. The defeat of their warchief sends the the Horde into a full retreat.