History Main / BloodStainedGlassWindows

* A brief fight between several [[{{Mooks}} Sangs]] and [[KnifeNut Lee]] [[Creator/JasonStatham Christmas]] takes place in a church in ''Film/TheExpendables2''. It even has Christmas dress up as a priest.

%%* Unsurprisingly this happens quite often in the various incarnations of Creator/GoNagai's ''Manga/{{Devilman}}''.

* In Creator/KevinSmith's run on Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} (the "Guardian Devil" arc), a major fight between Daredevil and Bullseye takes place in a Catholic church. (See also the note on ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'' in the film section below.)
* There was such a fight in the first modern ''Series/HumanTarget'' story where Christopher Chance impersonates a priest and gets into a gun fight with his principal's would be murderers.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Franchise/WonderWoman and Franchise/{{Batman}} fight ComicBook/TheJoker possessed by Deimos, ComicBook/PoisonIvy possessed by Eris and Scarecrow possessed by Phobos in a cathedral in Gotham the three children of Ares are warping into a new [[{{Mordor}} Areopagus]] for their father. They are backed up by ComicBook/{{Artemis}}, ComicBook/{{Huntress}}, ContinuitySnarl/DonnaTroy, ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}, ComicBook/WonderGirl and ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} who eventually make their way into the cathedral after fighting their way through Maxie Zeus' blank eyed cultists in the graveyard.

* In ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'', Daredevil and Bullseye's last fight is in a cathedral. [[ImprobableWeaponUser Bullseye]] even uses shards of stained glass as impromptu shuriken.

-->'''Lee Christmas''': [[PreAssKickingOneLiner By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you... Man and knife.]]

* In ''Film/{{Hellboy 2019}}'', the final battle with Gruagach and Nimue takes place in St. Paul's Cathedral.

* Aliette de Bodard's ''The House of Shattered Wings'' has a showdown in Notre-Dame de Paris involving fallen angels, an alchemist, and [[spoiler: the vengeful ghost of a mortal apprentice betrayed by Morningstar/Lucifer himself]]. Taken UpToEleven when the BigBad [[spoiler: causes a giant supernatural banyan tree to envelop Notre-Dame and its surroundings, reducing it to even more of a ruin than it already was after the magical apocalypse, and then blows up its doors]].

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In the tenth episode of Season 3, Wilson Fisk dispatches Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter to kill Karen Page as revenge for her killing James Wesley. Dex tracks Karen down to Matt's church, where she's hiding. After Dex attacks several parishioners to lure Karen out into the main sanctuary, Matt shows up to fight him. As the fight progresses, [[spoiler:Father Lantom]] is killed shielding Karen from one of Dex's batons. Karen eventually lures Dex up to the second floor alcove, where Matt tries to fight him but is quickly overpowered. As Dex prepares to finish off his quarry, Karen swings a large cross at Dex that knocks him over the railing. The episode ends with Karen breaking down sobbing as she cradles the battered and unconscious Matt, in a shot that recreates the panel of Karen's death from Guardian Devil.

** ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare'' also has several [[UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity Russian Orthodox]] churches scattered throughout SAS campaign, such as the one near Prypiat during the mission "All Ghillied Up". Also, in the mission "DeathFromAbove" you are explicitly forbidden to demolish the church; doing so would violate [[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hague04.asp#art27 Section IV, Article 27]] of the Hague Conventions.

Commonly seen in HeroicBloodshed movies and {{Anime}}, causing much ValuesDissonance among the Westerners. May involve a ChurchMilitant or two but it's not mandatory. Bonus points if OminousLatinChanting with religious lyrics are added. Double bonus points if there are {{d|isturbedDoves}}oves flying around during the mayhem. SceneryPorn may be a factor when the building is particularly ornate or the stained glass itself is given particular attention.

* The battle against the [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Elemental Demigod]] [[PlayingWithFire Ifrit]] in ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' takes place in the Cathedral's chapel, with the [[CreepyCoolCrosses Rood of St. Iocus]] looking on from the altar.

Staging an awesome fight scene, be it a shootout or a SwordFight, a duel or a MeleeATrois, in a ([[ChristianityIsCatholic usually Catholic]]) cathedral, chapel, or church apparently has something thrilling for the directors, as does any forbidden fruit. And a shot of Jesus looking mournfully from the {{cr|eepyCoolCrosses}}oss upon the bloodshed below certainly adds FauxSymbolism to it.

-->-- '''Phoebus''', ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''

* Phoebus and Esmeralda engage in a duel inside the titular cathedral in ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', in which Phoebus provides the page quote. At the end of the movie as well, Frollo and Quasimodo fight on the parapets of the cathedral.

* The final battle of ''VideoGame/{{Summoner}}'' takes place in the immense central chamber of the now abandoned Temple of Urath against your EnemyWithout ([[spoiler:you AND him are actually both facets of the same shattered god, Urath, of course]]). For added symbolism, he turns into an [[OneWingedAngel angel]], [[NotSoDifferent a simulcrum of you]], and a devil [[SequentialBoss as the fight goes on]].

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', a minor but still bloody ([[BlackComedy and almost humorous]]) example. Right before a showdown between the female titan and [[spoiler: titan]] Eren, it cuts to a scene of some loony priest of the wall preaching that faith is all that they need to be safe. Cue the female titan being knocked right through the church and squishing several people flat.

* Ditto for ''Manga/MyHime'', when [[spoiler: in episode 25 Natsuki and Shizuru have a fight]], they end up in one of these, even though it's in ruins.

* In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' the church in [[spoiler:episodes 25-26]] doesn't have any glass windows, and the one in episode 19 has none at all, but they ''are'' churches, and people are fighting in them, so...

* In Creator/KevinSmith's run on Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} (the "Guardian Devil" arc), a major fight between Daredevil and Bullseye takes place in a Catholic church. (See also the note on ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'' in the film section below.)

* Phoebus and Esmeralda engage in a duel inside the titular cathedral in ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', in which Phoebus provides the page quote. At the end of the movie as well, Frollo and Quasimodo fight on the parapets of the cathedral.

* The final shootout in Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/TheKiller'', with the title character and his CowboyCop ally [[TheSiege holding off a virtual army of assassins]], is probably the quintessential example.

* Happens in ''Film/TheLastTycoon'', also starring Chow Yun Fat.
* ''[[Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973 The Four Musketeers]]'' did it fifteen years earlier, with D'Artagnan dueling (and killing) Rochefort inside a church.
* ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' subverts it by having only one shot fired inside a church, but seeing how there were only two extremely badass guys involved, a SingleStrokeBattle wasn't much surprise, which might make this a straight use instead. Furthermore, keep in mind that the character in question [[spoiler:was shot ''by his best friend, through a book of poetry'']], raising the symbolism to nigh-unbearable levels. And don't forget that both are formally known as Clerics.
* The first major shootout in the present day from ''Film/OnceUponATimeInMexico'', which has Mariachi blasting up Marquez's men at a church, which starts with the bad guys ventilating the confessional he was in.

* Creator/JackieChan's ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'' has guns ''and'' swords in a church. And Owen Wilson dressed up as a monk...
* In ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'', Daredevil and Bullseye's last fight is in a cathedral. [[ImprobableWeaponUser Bullseye]] even uses shards of stained glass as impromptu shuriken.
* In ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', Storm and Jean have a brief fight with Nightcrawler in a cathedral.

* After a shootout inside, the final fight in ''Film/TheCrow'' took place on the roof of a neo-Gothic church, in a rainy night, overlooking the graveyard.
* ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'': Though Jim first encounters infected in a church, complete with large crosses, piles of dead bodies, and an infected priest, he quickly exits the premises before it comes to a fight with the many infected inside (though not before giving said priest a good smack on the head)
* ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'': Aslan's How is a sacred underground site built over the Stone Table (on which Aslan was killed). In all versions, it's the headquarters for the good guys as they plan the war.
* Film/JamesBond: The final confrontation in ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'' takes place in a mountaintop church. Bonus points for having ''literally'' bloodstained glass windows. Also the post-final final confrontation in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''.
* Happened in ''Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse'' when Alice fights a licker.
* Batman's final confrontation with the Joker in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/Batman1989'' takes place on top of Gotham Cathedral.
* The climax of ''Film/TheEagleHasLanded'' is a fierce gun battle between German paratroopers and US infantry in a pretty little English country church. During the battle, one of the paratroopers actually begins playing the film's theme music on the organ. And moments before the battle starts the priest (who had been held hostage by the Germans) is dragged kicking and screaming from the place. You know, just to remind the audience that this is a church, in case the spire, altar, pews and stained glass windows weren't enough of a clue to begin with.

* The Tollywood action movie ''Athadu'', being pretty much a love letter to [[HeroicBloodshed Hong Kong Blood Opera]], has its final shootout in one of these, where Pandhu, played by Mahesh Babu, faces down his former partner and fellow assassin Malli, who betrayed and tried to kill him on orders from the BigBad.
* The fight in the church in ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService''. A ''very'' incensed congregation obviously modeled on the [[ActivistFundamentalistAntics Westboro Baptist Church]] is used [[spoiler: as a testing ground for a DoomsdayDevice which triggers a HatePlague. [[OneManArmy One exceptionally highly-trained and disgustingly well-armed secret agent]] was pitted against hundreds of [[AcceptableReligiousTargets bigoted, angry]] rednecks. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXB6slJSbL4 They didn't stand a chance]]]].
* For Greater Glory, about a civil war between Catholic rebels and the Mexican government, has several scenes that qualify. Among other things, an elderly priest played by Peter O'Toole is executed against the wall of his church, and rebels hang two soldiers from church rafters.
* A brief fight between several [[{{Mooks}} Sangs]] and [[KnifeNut Lee]] [[Creator/JasonStatham Christmas]] takes place in a church in ''Film/TheExpendables2''. It even has Christmas dress up as a priest.
-->'''Lee Christmas''': [[PreAssKickingOneLiner By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you... Man and knife.]]
* The final showdown in ''Film/{{Hitman}}'' takes place at a church.
* The final showdown in ''Film/ThePurgeElectionYear'' is set in a NFFA occupied church.

* The opening scene of ''{{Film/Keanu}}'' has the Allentown Brothers blast up a group of drug dealers at a church that has been converted into a drug lab, with the [[CuteKitten adorable title character]] in the middle of it.
* In ''Film/{{Hellboy 2019}}'', the final battle with Gruagach and Nimue takes place in St. Paul's Cathedral.
* The final battle with the Demon Bear in ''Film/TheNewMutants'' takes place in the hospital's church.

* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' has a couple of second-season episodes featuring fight scenes in a church.
** The first one isn't much of a fight, but it does involve a booby-trapped baptismal font that electrocutes a Terminator.
** The second one is an ambush of another Terminator with a crossfire (pun intended) in front of the altar, complete with [[CrucifiedHeroShot Crucified Villain Shot]].

* Mr. Eko in ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has a background of killing several thugs in a church when he takes on the role of priest.

* Episode two of ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'' has Kuuga's true power awakening as he fights a Grongi in a church. Bonus points because the church is {{B|attleAmongstTheFlames}}URNING.
** ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' evokes the look of this tropes with its monster designs themselves, with the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Fangire]] actually being made of stained glass.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has a season-four episode involving a group of vampires, at Adam's instigation, invading a church to demonstrate they'd overcome their fear. The group's leader comments that after avoiding the place for years it's not that impressive.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In the tenth episode of season 3, Wilson Fisk dispatches Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter to kill Karen Page as revenge for her killing James Wesley. Dex tracks Karen down to Matt's church, where she's hiding. After Dex attacks several parishioners to lure Karen out into the main sanctuary, Matt shows up to fight him. As the fight progresses, [[spoiler:Father Lantom]] is killed shielding Karen from one of Dex's batons. Karen eventually lures Dex up to the second floor alcove, where Matt tries to fight him but is quickly overpowered. As Dex prepares to finish off his quarry, Karen swings a large cross at Dex that knocks him over the railing. The episode ends with Karen breaking down sobbing as she cradles the battered and unconscious Matt, in a shot that recreates the panel of Karen's death from Guardian Devil.

* Happens occasionally in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', although usually the "Church" in question is either openly or secretly dedicated to someone like [[LawfulEvil Bane]], [[NeutralEvil Vecna]] or [[ChaoticEvil Erythnul]].

* No matter which character you play, the penultimate fight in ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries SoulCalibur II]]'''s Arcade Mode is in a cathedral.
* The church level in ''VideoGame/MafiaTheCityOfLostHeaven'' was among the most intense ones to complete.
* ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}: Fall of Man'' offended the Church of England by using Manchester Cathedral as scenery (there is a lot of gun crime in the area, so it's a sensitive issue).
* ''VideoGame/UnchartedDrakesFortune'' has a church-gunfight level.
* The final stage of ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'', "Requiem", which has [[spoiler: 47 killing everyone at his own funeral]]. Also, ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin Silent Assassin]]'''s final battle and overall last stage were in a church, as 47 attempted to save the priest who had helped him.
* In ''{{VideoGame/Fahrenheit}}'', when Lucas visits Markus' church he has to fight off the ''angel statues'' out to get him. Although it is revealed to have been AllJustADream, if he loses, the game is over.
* ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon'''s first expansion, ''Extraction Point'', features a church in the first level. In it, a cutscene shows Fettel [[BackFromTheDead didn't quite die for real]], and the previously dormant Replica soldiers re-activate, leading to the game's first major shootout.
* ''The Opera'' mod for ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' was all about recreating HeroicBloodshed films in video game form. One level was a church as a shout out to ''Film/TheKiller''.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2: Lost Coast''. The bonus level that got released after [=HL2=] had you destroying a headcrab launcher in a church.
* ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters2'' has a level set in Notre Dame cathedral, complete with zombie priests.

* Similarly, ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict'' has a level where a bonus objective is to make sure that the church at the top of a hill survives the mission.
* Several stages in the survival horror game ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness: Sanity's Requiem'' take place in Oublie Cathedral, a NoCommunitiesWereHarmed version of the Cathedral of Notre Dame d'Amiens that serves as a front for the EldritchAbomination.
* The final battle of ''VideoGame/{{Summoner}}'' takes place in the immense central chamber of the now abandoned Temple of Urath against your EnemyWithout ([[spoiler:you AND him are actually both facets of the same shattered god, Urath, of course]]). For added symbolism, he turns into an [[OneWingedAngel angel]], [[NotSoDifferent a simulcrum of you]], and a devil [[SequentialBoss as the fight goes on]].
** After the battle, you have the option to descend to the secret basement of the temple and [[spoiler:sacrifice yourself and the eight other aspects of Urath in the forge he used for the creation of humanity order in to bring him back to life, which [[http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/summoner/screenshots/gameShotId,38702/ doesn't look familiar at all]]]].

* One of the boss fights in ''VideoGame/{{MediEvil}}'' has Sir Daniel fighting a monster made out of stained glass.

* Towards the end of ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'', the player passes through the bloodstained and bullet-damaged chapel onboard the Rickenbacker, and [[spoiler: it is probably where Polito committed suicide.]] And it's all upside down, because the gravity generator has been reversed.
* The [[spoiler: seemingly]] last area of ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' involves Gabe descending from the top of an absolutely massive church to the ground floor, killing all the way. When he encounters a large glass window, he [[SuperWindowJump jumps through it]] and resumes killing.
* The Chantry in Kirkwall serves as the scene of a couple of fights near the end of chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', as well as a fight in the "Tranquility" quest in chapter 1. Turned UpToEleven in [[spoiler: chapter 3, when the Chantry is blown to smithereens by a {{Magitek}} bomb, with SceneryGorn aplenty]].
* In ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', the first BossFight in the Queen's Tower is in a church in the Prison of Hope.
** ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' ups this a bit. The first Bell of Awakening is in a church where you first have to fight a bunch of undead in the building proper, then a pair of gargoyles on the roof. Then there's Anor Londo, city of the gods, a blend of this and StormingTheCastle.
** ''VideoGame/DarkSouls3'' takes you to the Cathedral of the Deep, [[ReligionOfEvil a sinister church]] that began worshipping the man-turned-BlobMonster that ate the gods they once followed. The boss fight is against the "Deacons of the Deep", a team of [[SinisterMinister evil holy men]], in a large temple chamber. Later, you revisit Anor Londo (see above) and the surrounding area, the Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, with the boss fight being against Pontiff Sulyvahn, the "Pope" of said ReligionOfEvil, taking place in a sanctuary.
* The battle against the [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Elemental Demigod]] [[PlayingWithFire Ifrit]] in ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'' takes place in the Cathedral's chapel, with the [[CreepyCoolCrosses Rood of St. Iocus]] looking on from the altar.
** During the game's prologue, Ashley meets, confronts, and tries to arrest Sydney at the chapel in Duke Bardorba's manor. Then Sydney summons his wyvern, D'Tok, who [[SuperWindowJump crashes through the ornate stained glass ceiling]] to battle Ashley, while Sydney himself [[SuperWindowJump leaps out the stained glass window]] at the far end of the chapel. [[SoftGlass Neither is injured]] (although, arguably, D'Tok wouldn't have noticed, what with the spears and lances already stuck in his body.)

* ''[[{{VideoGame/Tekken}} Tekken 5]]'' has a cathedral stage, which is where most characters fight Devil Jin in the second-to-last battle in their story modes.
** ''Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection'' has a "remixed" stage design for all the ''5'' stages; the cathedral one is in a much brighter setting, but with snow pouring in through a hole in the ceiling.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' you perform your final mission by leaping from the rafters of the Art/SistineChapel to assassinate your target during High Mass, before having a sword duel and a fistfight. [[spoiler:A fistfight with the Pope!]]
* ''VideoGame/TheGodfather''. An important plot twist ends with you and an AI controlled character blasting through the basement of a church.

* In ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Underground'', during one mission you fight in the Monastery at Monte Cassino to rescue captured Allied Soldiers.
** ''Allied Assault'' has this twice. In The Nebelwerfer Hunt there's a church with several machine gun nests in the windows you have to clear out, and Rendezvous with the Resistance has a church at the end with a secret passage to LaResistance's hideout.
* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}} 2: Durandal''[='s=] Pfhor temple in ''Ex Cathedra''.
-->''Durandal:'' This area is used by the Pfhor as a temple in their pathetically boring religion. Maybe they think that sanctity will protect it.
** The GameMod ''Tempus Irae'', a third-party total conversion of ''Marathon Infinity'', uses this a lot in Renaissance-era cathedrals (time travel is involved). The scenery was, for the time the mod was released, state-of-the-art.
* In the ''Knights of the Nine'' expansion to ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', two cathedrals to the Nine Divines come under attack by the forces of [[BigBad Umaril the Unfeathered]]. All the inhabitants of the Anvil chapel are slaughtered, but the PlayerCharacter interrupts the second attack.
* Early on in ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', you have to battle demons in the Rogues' Monastery Cathedral, which Andariel has turned into an outpost of Hell.
** The first half of the first game revolves around working your way down through a cathedral's basements and catacombs.
* The final boss battle of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII: The Revenge'' for the NES and PC Engine.

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'', one optional battle [[spoiler:with the real Black Mask]] takes place in a church. [[spoiler:And the final battle with the Joker in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown takes place in a prison chapel near the execution chamber in Blackgate Prison. Though neither place is stained with blood, there is, however, the fact that the Joker brandishes a literal [[GunsInChurch Gun in the Chapel]] and may not hesitate to bring in a {{Pretty Little Headshot|s}} to kill Batman if he doesn't counter (especially in [[HarderThanHard I Am the Night Mode]]). Joker will also try and slash at Batman with pieces of stained glass when knocked against a window.]]
* In one of the later levels ''Ministry of Smiths'' in ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' Smith has ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin taken over a church and Neo has to defeat the church full of Smiths to save Morpheus.

* ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'''s first boss battle is in a ruined cathedral.

* The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is under a complex joint-jurisdiction scheme by six different denominations of Christianity and the rules state that any movement of the furniture requires agreement by all six of the churches--and so a lot of disagreements would end up being resolved by fisticuffs. In 2002, A Coptic monk moved his chair to be closer to the shade, an act which angered the Ethiopian Monks. The resultant fistfight sent 11 people to the hospital.

* ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'': Though Jim first encounters infected in a church, complete with large crosses, piles of dead bodies, and an infected priest, he quickly exits the premise before it comes to a fight with the many infected inside (though not before giving said priest a good smack on the head)

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The final shootout in ''{{Anime/Madlax}}'' takes place in a chapel.
* Of course, this happens more than once in ''{{Anime/Noir}}'', starting with normal churches in the beginning to the big weird Soldats Cathedral Mansion complete with Nuns with Guns in the end.

* The sixth ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'' movie features a battle inside the church at Azaka's boarding school. Bonus points for both combatants dressed like nuns.
* Lelouch [[spoiler: and Suzaku]] vs. Mao in episode 16 of Code Geass, with a BigDamnHeroes SuperWindowJump in through the stained glass.
* The opening of ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal'' has a gun-and-sword fight with a fake priest in a confessional.
* Happens in the first episode of ''{{Manga/Hellsing}}'', complete with tons of FauxSymbolism. It was not present in the original manga, but only in the syndicated anime; whether this change was for the better is arguable.
* In ''Manga/BlackButler'' there is not only a battle in a church, complete with a BigDamnHeroes SuperWindowJump in through the stained glass (similar to the Code Geass example). There's also the fact that [[spoiler:their opponent is [[LightIsNotGood an ''angel'']]. Later we find out that [[GenderBender s/he]] isn't actually dead yet, though]].
* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' likes doing this.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' features an intense shootout at the entrance of the Church of Violence during the Greenback Jane arc when the arc's title character seeks the aforementioned church as sanctuary. The show blatantly parodies the entire trope; it's an 'intense shootout' as in 'the church had an M-60 and weren't afraid to shoot '''it''' at everyone else involved'. Oh, and a pair of ''supremely'' pissed off {{Sociopathic Hero}}es and a lead nun with a [[BlingBlingBang Golden]] [[HandCannon Desert]] [[RareGuns Eagle]].

* In the anime version of ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'', before Zakuro joins the team, she is targeted by Kisshu while she's praying at church, and promptly kicks his butt before the rest of the titular {{Magical Girl}}s even do anything. (In the manga, the battle took place at the audition.)
* ''[[Manga/{{Appleseed}} Appleseed Ex Machina]]'' opens with an ''awesome'' Church Shootout. What's up with John Woo and churches?
* The final showdown between Juubei and Toshiki in the ''Manga/GetBackers''' anime. The manga starts them out in a church, but Toshiki decides midway through that the alley where they first met would be more appropriate. You can do that with Divine Design.
* The first [[TheHeartless Akuma]] we see in ''Manga/DGrayMan'' was made from a priest and his fiancee. It does all of its killing inside an abandoned church, and it's destroyed there.
* One of the first scenes in the anime of ''Manga/BlackCat''.
* Unsurprisingly this happens quite often in the various incarnations of Creator/GoNagai's ''Manga/{{Devilman}}''.
* Happens near the beginning of ''{{Manga/Claymore}}'', with a demon hiding within a church.

* In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' the church in [[spoiler:episodes 25-26]] doesn't have any glass windows, and the one in episode 19 has none at all, but they ''are'' churches, and people are fighting in them, so...
* Ditto for ''Manga/MaiHime'', when [[spoiler: in episode 25 Natsuki and Shizuru have a fight]], they end up in one of these, even tough it's in ruins.
* In ''{{Manga/Saiyuki}}'', the final battle against Kami-Sama plays with this: the villain lives in a temple with huge Western-style stained-glass windows, in front of which the final battle occurs. [[spoiler:They shatter beautifully after his defeat, as the temple falls to pieces around him [[TheManBehindTheMan and his mentor]].]]
* Volume 2 of ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund'' has a vicious vampire invasion on students hold up within, Mina's near-singlehanded rescue of same, and a brutal fight between Akira and Mina in rapid succession within a Catholic school's chapel.

[[folder:Comicbooks]]

* On December 29, 2019 in a church in Texas, a shooter [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqWibXye6YE was stopped]] by 71-year-old armed parishioner by the name of Jack Wilson. Wilson killed the shooter within only 6 seconds with only two shots. From 50 feet away.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' features an intense shootout at the entrance of the Church Of Violence during the Greenback Jane arc when the arc's title character seeks the aforementioned church as sanctuary. The show blatantly parodies the entire trope; it's an 'intense shootout' as in 'the church had an M-60 and weren't afraid to shoot '''it''' at everyone else involved'. Oh, and a pair of ''supremely'' pissed off {{Sociopathic Hero}}es and a lead nun with a [[BlingBlingBang Golden]] [[HandCannon Desert]] [[RareGuns Eagle]].

-->-- '''Phoebus''', ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''

* Phoebus and Esmeralda engage in a duel inside the titular cathedral in ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', in which Phoebus provides the page quote. At the end of the movie as well, Frollo and Quasimodo fight on the parapets of the cathedral.

Also known as the Church Shootout, if it only involves [[TheGunslinger gunfire and no katanas]]. A fight in a CreepyCathedral may lead to this. Compare WeddingSmashers and BloodSplatteredWeddingDress.

[[folder:Videogames]]

** ''VideoGameDarkSouls3'' takes you to the Cathedral of the Deep, [[ReligionOfEvil a sinister church]] that began worshipping the man-turned-BlobMonster that ate the gods they once followed. The boss fight is against the "Deacons of the Deep", a team of [[SinisterMinister evil holy men]], in a large temple chamber. Later, you revisit Anor Londo (see above) and the surrounding area, the Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, with the boss fight being against Pontiff Sulyvahn, the "Pope" of said ReligionOfEvil, taking place in a sanctuary.

* The climactic fight at the end of ''Film/LadyHawke''.

* Batman's final confrontation with the Joker in Creator/TimBurton's 1989 ''{{Film/Batman}}'' takes place on top of Gotham Cathedral.