History Main / ChessWithDeath

* The ballet ''Checkmate'' focuses on a chess game between Love (who plays with red pieces) and Death (who plays with black ones). The chess pieces then come to life and act out the game. It results in one of the Red Knights falling for the Black Queen and being unable to kill her and getting (literally) stabbed in the back for his trouble. Naturally, this leads to Death winning the game and the Black Queen taking the Red King's crown.

* The Brazilian comic book Turma da Mônica Jovem (Teenage Monica's Gang) plays with this trope on edition 40. Cebolinha (Jimmy Five) brags about being an online chess master but fails miserably to win a single match when playing on a real chessboard. He buys an old chessboard in a local store run by a strange sexy girl. She lets him take it for free, as long as he plays a match against her some day. He agrees and seeks to learn the rules of chess. He eventually becomes an expert player and even wins a local chess contest. Later in the story, he meets the strange girl again, and she reveals to be no other than Death herself. She reminds Cebolinha of his earlier promise, and they start a match. The pieces come to life, portrayed by Bug-A-Boo, Bubbly, and other in-universe characters - culminating with the Queen portrayed by Monica - Jimmy's (not so) secret passion. As he begins to fall short of pieces, he commands the King to come out of his castled position and attack. He partially succeeds until he finds himself at the verge of sacrificing the Queen in order to win the match. He refuses to do so, claiming that he loves her too much to endure her loss. The Queen retorts that she is not actually Monica, that it was him who brought her to life - and that the Queen's role is to protect the King, not the contrary. He ignores her and advances anyway. The Death, impressed by his love and determination, quits the match by dropping her King. She then greets Jimy for being so determined and pure-hearted, stating that many great leaders along human History (such as Napolean Bonaparte) were skilled chess players.

* In the 2011 short film ''Dave Vs. Death'', David [[NameOfCain Kane]] dies, and in the void between life and the afterlife he propositions Death for a game of chess. The rules dictate that for every piece David loses, one of his loved ones will die. [[spoiler:By the end, it's revealed as a XanatosGambit on David's part: all his friends were plotting behind his back, so if he beat Death then he would regain life, but if he lost, then he would take all his false friends with him to the grave. Death doesn't like the fact that Dave cheated to win and starts a new game, although Dave's "friends" are still dead.]] Death is played by Creator/JulianRichings, who had earlier portrayed Death in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''.

** Johnny Cash joined Charlie Daniels for "The Devil Came Back To Georgia", one of the few "sequel" songs in existence, as well as possibly the only one that features a TrainingMontage in the music, not the lyrics. (Johnny--from the song, not Mr. Cash--hadn't had time to practice much since his wife gave birth to their child...)

* In the PC game ''Wishbone and the Amazing Odyssey'', dying causes Wishbone to play an unnamed board game with Pluto (Hades). The first to the potion of Asclepius that restores life wins. Opting out of playing is an automatic game over.

* ''VideoGame/TheSims'' has had several variations, but only ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' plays the trope with actual chess. Living sims can challenge the Grim Reaper for a dying relative's life (assuming a chessboard is present in the vicinity). He's a strong, but not invincible chess player; Sims can generally count on succeeding if they have 8 skill points or more out of 10.

** ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' featured the same mechanic, albeit with a game of chance rather than rock-paper-scissors; the reaper will also always accept the challenge. This time, the relationship between the challenging Sim and the dying Sim determines the chance of success: If it's below 25 on a scale of -100 to 100, it's a guaranteed fail, and the maximum chance is capped at 90%.
** ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' massively expanded the range of mechanics by which Sims can plead for someone's life - by which we mean there's an entire guide for it on the fan wiki. Examples include [[DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu seducing the reaper]] (10% success chance), demanding he change his mind (40%), wailing about the death (33%), toying with him via voodoo magic (the chance varies but increases with repeated attempts), and [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu yelling at him]] ([[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome always fails]]).

* In ''Webcomic/{{Kukuburi}},'' the female protagonist plays battleship with a well-dressed, while tacky, skeleton CardCarryingVillain who suggests to be Death (and later refutes her "misconception"). The ships take the form of the flying whales present in the environment. She does not know that the attacks are reflected as bombs thrown against real flying whales - including the whale where her friends are travelling in an attempt to rescue her. Besides, he cheats.

* In ''VisualNovel/SocratesJonesProPhilosopher'', Socrates and his daughter Ari are sent to the philosophers' afterlife realm after getting into a car accident. Ari convinces the Arbiter there to let Socrates return back to the living world (she's actually still 'alive', but Socrates is not) if he can give an acceptable answer to a centuries-old "wager" of what the true source of morality is -- a wager that incidentally has been answered correctly only ''once'' in all of human history. [[spoiler:Oh, and if he fails, ''both'' of them will become trapped forever in the afterlife.]]
* In ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', defeating a Shinigami who comes for a human's life in a duel will extend their lifespan. However, it's usually Celestials and Hermits, ascended humans, who are able to consistently defeat the Shinigamis.
** Tenshi's lucky in that the only shinigami to ever defeat her was only the ferrywoman of the Sanzu river - and was only after her because she was [[BerserkButton killing spirits]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims 2'', if a Sim dies one of their loved ones can bargain for the dead Sims soul in some cases. If Death accepts, he plays a game of "Which hand is their soul in?" with the living Sim, success or failure is based on the relationship points between the two Sims.
** In [[VideoGame/TheSims1 the original game]], you played a game of RockPaperScissors with him. In the event of a tie, the dead Sim was brought [[CameBackWrong partially back to life]], as a Zombie.
*** The [=PS2=] version has a fiddling contest. [[RuleOfCool Never mind that that's Ol' Scratch.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheSims'' has had several variations:
** ''VideoGame/TheSims1'' allowed a Sim to play a game of rock-paper-scissors with the Grim Reaper for another dying Sim's life. The reaper is predisposed to declining the challenge outright, but if he accepts there's about a 50-50 chance the Sim will win the game. If the Sim loses, there's a further 50-50 chance the dying Sim will be brought back as a zombie.
** ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' featured the same mechanic, albeit with a game of chance rather than rock-paper-scissors; the reaper will also always accept the challenge. This time, the relationship between the challenging Sim and the dying Sim determines the chance of success: If it's below 25 on a scale of -100 to 100, it's a guaranteed fail, and the maximum chance is capped at 90%.
** ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' finally plays the trope to the letter, with Sims being able to challenge the reaper to a game of chess for a dying relative's life (assuming a chessboard is present in the vicinity). He's a strong, but not masterful chess player; Sims can generally count on succeeding if they have 8 skill points or more out of 10.
** ''VideoGame/TheSims4'' massively expanded the range of mechanics by which Sims can plead for someone's life - by which we mean there's an entire guide for it on the fan wiki. Examples include [[DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu seducing the reaper]] (10% success chance), demanding he change his mind (40%), wailing about the death (33%), toying with him via voodoo magic (the chance varies but increases with repeated attempts), and [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu yelling at him]] ([[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome always fails]]).

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', you could challenge the Grim Reaper to a game of chess in order to save someone's life. He/she better be damn good at chess.

* In Myth/MayanMythology, two young men played ball with the Lord of Death. They lost but were reincarnated as catfish.

* In Music/IgorStravinsky's opera ''The Rake's Progress'', Tom plays cards with [[{{Satan}} Nick Shadow]] for his soul. The odds are horribly stacked against Tom because he has to correctly guess three randomly drawn cards from an entire deck -- but he wins thanks to the ThePowerOfLove. (Except Nick vengefully inflicts Tom with insanity as he leaves.)

* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' had an early running gag where the various Deaths would admit that they had to accept ''any'' game as a challenge, whereupon the recently-departed would find some game their Death had never even heard of. Challenges have included poker, [[Franchise/HarryPotter Quidditch]], [[Franchise/StarWars pod-racing]], and [[Series/{{Mythbusters}} Myth-busting]], which ended up being the origin of Hitler's brain in a jar. "Pirate Slang" was deemed too humiliating by the Deaths, who let the pirates return to life.
** It is also stated that chess is no longer an option since in the 1970s, no Russians had died for about a decade. Apparently an earlier strip where chess was used was forgotten - though with the huge amounts of time-travel in the comic, this may refer to [[AlternateHistory another earth]].

!!As this is a {{Death Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound ahead]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].

[-[[caption-width-right:350:King me.]]-]

* In one issue of ''Comicbook/GhostRider'', Ghost Rider races against Death for the lives of a man, a little girl, and himself. The Rider cheated by kicking Death into a ravine.
** It should be noted that Death mentioned before they began how ThereAreNoRules. Before kicking Death's cycle, Johnny Blaze commented in his thoughts how he normally wouldn't do that to a cyclist, but Death isn't a normal cyclist.

* ''ComicBook/GrooTheWanderer'' once had a sword fight with Death. Groo won.

* One man has the audacity to play Lawn Darts with Death. That man is ''ComicBook/FlamingCarrot''.

* In the Creator/MarvelMAX ''Destroyer'' miniseries, the eponymous character is allowed to come back after winning a fistfight against several reapers.

* The Bavarian story ''Der Brandner Kaspar'' by Franz von Kobell is about someone who tricks the ''Boandlkramer'' (Grim Reaper) into playing cards for some more years of life, then gets the reaper drunk and cheats so win more years. Eventually, he will go with the reaper because all of his loved ones die.

* There is an old Bavarian folk tale about how Bavarian Death (''Boandlkramer'' meaning something like ''Bone huckster'') is supposed to collect an old man who died from being shot while poaching. He makes Death drunk and plays cards with him, cheating in the course of the game and winning ten more years on earth. However, Death has to keep book, so he takes the poacher's granddaughter 10 years early for the statistics to work out. When she arrives in Bavarian heaven (''really!'') the mistake comes to light and Death has to persuade the poacher to forfeit his additional 10 years for his granddaughter's sake.
* There is an Austrian legend about a drunkard playing ''bowling'' with Death, and in a church to boot! He tried to cheat by throwing a pin out of the window, having bet Death to match his number of strikes. [[TooDumbToLive Guess who was quickly turned into the replacement pin...]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fan comic [[http://wadusher0.deviantart.com/art/Time-Fades-Pinkie-Pie-1-608481403 Time Fades]], Pinkie makes a deal with Death. If she can make Death laugh, she gets one free mulligan.
* ''Fanfic/HarbingerFinmonster'' (''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman''): Danny's ancestor did this to save his wife.
* In the ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' fic "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096326 Hello Operator, Please Give Me Number Nine]]", a college-age Susie challenges Death to {{Calvinball}}.

* Creator/FritzLang's ''Der Mude Tod'', also known as ''Destiny'', revolves around a woman trying to meet Death's challenge to save one of three people's lives in order to get her husband back. When she fails at that, Death [[BalancingDeathsBooks asks for another soul in return]]. When she refuses to give him a baby trapped in a fire, Death takes her instead. Bergman cited this film as an inspiration for ''The Seventh Seal''.
* In the short film ''De Düva'' (U.S. title ''The Dove''), 1968. Despite the name the film was made in the U.S. Death is challenged to a game of ''"badmintonska"'', and loses. The film was nominated for an Oscar (short subject), but didn't win. Perhaps the director should have challenged the Academy to a game of badminton!
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', the cat suggested this to the titular character since the Other Mother loves to play games. So Coraline challenged the Other Mother to a game where she has to find her parents and the three lost children's souls. If she wins, the Other Mother has to let her go. If she loses, she must stay with the Other Mother forever. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the Other Mother has no intention of letting Coraline go even if she wins the game, so Coraline has to trick her into letting her escape.]]

* In Creator/SamuelTaylorColeridge's "Literature/TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner", Death and Life In Death gamble with dice, and Death wins the crew, while Life In Death wins the Mariner, and gives him a FateWorseThanDeath.

* In ''Literature/AmericanGods'' by Creator/NeilGaiman, Shadow plays checkers with the god [[Myth/SlavicMythology Czernobog]], who must join Shadow and Mr. Wednesday on their quest if Shadow wins, but will bash Shadow's brains out with a sledgehammer if Shadow loses. When Shadow does lose, he asks for one more game, same terms. Czernobog responds, "How can it be same terms? You want I should kill you twice?" Shadow points out that the ExactWords is that Czernobog gets one swing; as he is an old man, he might well miss, so the second game will be for a second swing. Shadow wins, and Czernobog agrees to the terms: he will help them, and then he gets one swing. At the end, Czernobog takes his swing - but just taps Shadow's forehead with the hammer. In Slavic mythology, Czernobog was half of a duology, the other half being his [[EvilTwin good twin]] Bielebog whom Czernobog is now becoming. However, he says that he will not completely become Bielebog until the next day, and chose to give Shadow just an honorary tap out of respect for him and his actions.
* In the medieval poem "The Devil and the Juggler", a juggler's soul is accidentally picked up and dragged to hell when he dies. (He was a rather pathetic fellow who didn't deserve it, but the demon was in a hurry.) The Devil asks him to stay and work in Hell, and he agrees. When the Devil leaves on business, a wanderer turns up and asks to be able to warm himself at the fire. The wanderer wants the juggler to play a dice game. When the juggler says he has no money, the wanderer suggests he "borrows" a few souls off his boss; he can always pay them back later. The wanderer turns out to be really lucky with his dice and basically wins all the lost souls of Hell, which he sets free. When the Devil comes home he kicks out the juggler's soul... who tries to enter Heaven. There he meets St Peter, Heaven's Doorman - who turns out to be the wanderer who was lucky at dice, and he happily lets the juggler enter.

* In Richard Adams' ''Literature/WatershipDown'', the story of "El-Ahrairah and the Black Rabbit of Inle" invokes this trope as the rabbit hero attempts to maneuver the Black Rabbit, a god of death, into accepting his life in exchange for those of the rabbits in his warren - once in a game of bob-stones (the lapine equivalent of liar's dice) and then in a storytelling competition. El-Ahrairah loses both times.
** The ending implies this is how El-Ahrairah ascends to become a TricksterGod. The utterly crushing defeats (both psychologically and physically; while the Black Rabbit is not evil, there are ''consequences'' for challenging him) in the very things he's legendary for and subsequent realization that all his cleverness and manipulative skills did nothing more than drive him and his charges straight to this point finally purges him of hubris and makes his intended sacrifice worthwhile.

* The Warhammer novel Bane of Malekith uses a version of this trope as a framing device. Caledor Dragontamer, greatest mage of the elves of old, has trapped himself beyond space and time to hold open the world-saving magical vortex that was his last gift to his people. While trapped, he must play a game with Death (strongly hinted to be the elven war god Khaine) for the fate of the elves and the Warhammer World - though the pieces of the game are the mortal elves and immortal daemons battling it out in reality, and the game is in fact the unfolding events of history as they happen. Given that Warhammer is a tabletop wargame, the meta-fictional implications of this are all too apparent. It becomes clear throughout the book that Caledor and Death have played this game many times before, and thus far Caledor has always won, though never more than barely. The novel ends with Death offering a cheery "perhaps next time I shall win eh?", and an exhausted Caledor muttering "perhaps next time I will let you".

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E7TheCelestialToymaker The Celestial Toymaker]]", the First Doctor and his companions have to play games against the Celestial Toymaker, who appears again a few times in the ExpandedUniverse.
* Parodied in a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch, where Death has given up chess in favor of Trivial Pursuit -- the Baby Doom edition. The categories are: Death, Death, Hell, Armageddon, Death, and Sports.

* One route players can take through the inner region in ''TabletopGame/{{Talisman}}'' forces the player to "Dice with Death" by rolling dice against the GrimReaper. If the player rolls higher, the player's character can progress further towards the Crown of Command. If the GrimReaper rolls higher, the character loses a life and must dice with death again on subsequent turns until the player either wins or the character is killed.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': there is the demon Sigereth, [[RedBaron The Player of Games]][[note]]part of Madelrada, That Which Wears Down The Mountains; who herself is part of the Yozi known as Kimberry, The Sea That Marched Against The Flame[[/note]]. You can issue a challenge to her, either by sorcery or by being a game master of sufficient repute and casting a personally written letter of challenge to her into the sea. You can wager anything you have against her, but if you wager yourself and lose, you're turned into a soulless mannequin. If you win, you can demand something that Sigereth has, including restoring someone who lost to her. Challenging Death itself is not possible though, due to the No-Resurrection meta-rule.

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims 2'', if a Sim dies one of their loved ones can bargain for the dead Sims soul in some cases. If Death accepts, he plays a game of "Which hand is their soul in?" with the living Sim, success or failure is based on the relationship points between the two Sims.
** In [[VideoGame/TheSims1 the original game]], you played a game of RockPaperScissors with him. In the event of a tie, the dead Sim was brought [[CameBackWrong partially back to life]], as a Zombie.
*** The [=PS2=] version has a fiddling contest. [[RuleOfCool Never mind that that's Ol' Scratch.]]

* The eponymous character in the old Genesis game ''VideoGame/ChakanTheForeverMan'' gained immortality by beating Death in a duel. The point of the game is to get him to lose it. Death even shows up as an OptionalBoss.

* The main villain of the ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' series, Gruntilda Winkybunion, sets up the penultimate confrontation with the character as a GAME SHOW in the first two games. Not only that, but in the second game she gives quiz questions during the ACTUAL final battle; answering them makes her go easier on you because she's... just that nice?
** More likely obsessive-compulsive, given her reliance on speaking in rhymes in the first game.
* ''VideoGame/DragonFable'': Ash Dragonblade will, in his storyline, challenge Death to TabletopGame/TicTacToe because it's SeriousBusiness.
* The Flash game ''Necrorun'' has knights challenge death to a jousting match. Except you ''play'' Death, and it's a platformer where you need to aim your lance to kill the targets.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Pirate101}}'' Captain Blood manages to obtain immortality when he challenges Death to a game of poker. However, it's not because he beat Death. He's immortal because after Death showed a winning hand he left the table for a bathroom break. Since he has never played his hand, Death still hasn't technically won so Death can't claim his soul. Death is ticked about this and has rewritten the rules to ensure this doesn't happen again.
* In the PC game ''Wishbone and the Amazing Odyssey'', dying causes Wishbone to play an unnamed board game with Pluto (Hades). The first to the potion of Asclepius that restores life wins. Opting out of playing is an automatic game over.
* ''VideoGame/ReturnToZork'''s final showdown pits the player against the BigBad Morpheus in a game of Survivor [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame for both their own lives and the Kingdom of Zork]]. The game is chess-like and only has two pieces. The Mage Canuk and The Wizard Trembyle, [[HumanChess who actually are those two characters]] that have been [[TakenForGranite turned to stone.]] As well as all the other major magic wielders in the game whose statues blankly observe the contest. If Morpheus wins, the player shares the fate of the others. If the player wins, the spell over the others is broken, and [[BigDamnHeroes they use their considerable power to send him back to]]...[[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere where is he from again?]]
* In ''VisualNovel/SocratesJonesProPhilosopher'', Socrates and his daughter Ari are sent to the philosophers' afterlife realm after getting into a car accident. Ari convinces the Arbiter there to let Socrates return back to the living world (she's actually still 'alive', but Socrates is not) if he can give an acceptable answer to a centuries-old "wager" of what the true source of morality is -- a wager that incidentally has been answered correctly only ''once'' in all of human history. [[spoiler:Oh, and if he fails, ''both'' of them will become trapped forever in the afterlife.]]
* In ''VideoGame/WitchesLegacy 7: Awakening Darkness'' Jack plays checkers with Death. When Jack wins Death creates a bridge over a chasm so he can continue chasing Cassandra, who possessed his sister.
* In ''VideoGame/WitchesLegacy 11: Rise of the Ancient'' the Ancient One plays a board game version of ElementalRockPaperScissors with the Shadow Guard, with her return to the living world as the wager. When he protests her victory, she suggests and wins a rematch, resulting in the release of a number of imprisoned witch souls.
* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'', Alexander gets to challenge Death to save the souls of his lover's parents AND to leave the Realm of the Dead free. The challenge is especially difficult: make Death cry. Alexander succeeds.
* In ''VideoGame/MarthaIsDead'', Guilia dreams of meeting Death with Martha not long after [[spoiler:her boyfriend dies and she is shot]]. Death can't tell them apart but tells the girls it is time for Guilia to die. The girls drew lots by tossing a medallion and then the one that loses goes with him, trusting the choice to Fate. Death knows that while Fate plays by its own rules, Fate is Death's ally and would always choose the proper girl. However, the medallion only had Martha's name on it and thus both Fate and Death are cheated.
-->'''Death''': One thing is for sure. I will correct my ignorance and give Fate back its blindfold.

* In a tribute to Creator/GaryGygax, ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' has Gary playing [[http://xkcd.com/393/ D&D with Death]]. He's going to be there a while.
** Aaron Williams neatly reverses the whole thing in [[http://web.archive.org/web/20101216052536/http://crispygamer.com/comics/backward/backward-2009-04-13.aspx this]] Backwards Compatible strip about the death of Dave Arneson.

* A mild subversion occurred in the webcomic ''Webcomic/ThoseDestined'': The being claiming to be Death was lying, and had no power to resurrect the protagonist. However, since he had bet his own soul, [[http://thosedestined.pensandtales.com/?date=20041207 his nemesis]] [[http://thosedestined.pensandtales.com/?date=20041209 was more than happy]] [[http://thosedestined.pensandtales.com/?date=20041211 to help]].

* ''Webcomic/ThreePanelSoul'' inverted the trope - the mortal narrator won the Devil's eternal soul in a game of mancala. He eventually traded it to an angel for [[http://www.threepanelsoul.com/comic/on-angels-p2 "the ideal method of grilling grilled corn on the cob."]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Kukuburi}},'' the female protagonist plays battleship with a well-dressed, while tacky, skeleton CardCarryingVillain who suggests to be Death (and later refutes her "misconception"). The ships take the form of the flying whales present in the environment. She does not know that the attacks are reflected as bombs thrown against real flying whales - including the whale where her friends are travelling in an attempt to rescue her. Besides, he cheats.

* In ''[[http://mortifer.smackjeeves.com Mortifer]]'', Vlad tells the story of how, after receiving a grievous head injury from hitting a demon with his car, he challenged said demon to a game, in order to keep the demon from killing him.
--> '''Vlad:''' "It was meant to be a card game. Zebidiah believed because I had a head injury, I couldn't think. Well... And that of course was very true. But cheating always works well... So when I had the chance, I pulled out a gun and shot Zebidiah down."
** Not only did it work, it left Zebidiah unconscious long enough for Vlad to tattoo his name on Zebidiah's arm, enslaving him.
* In [[http://skin-horse.com/2011/todays-comic-837/ this]] ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'', Tigerlily Jones explains how she won the plans for her ultimate weapon by beating the devil at Jenga.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'', James really just wanted to get a glass of milk (and maybe midnight snack) from the kitchen but got ''[[DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu invited]]'' to a friendly game of poker by, well, a FairFolk {{Psychopomp}}, a HumanoidAbomination, an AnthropomorphicPersonification of Fear and a StringyHairedGhostGirl of the vengeful type. As he survived the experience they either let him decline or he won, we don't know which he didn't tell.

* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', the rebel leader Mae Torazo ends up playing chess with the Grim Reaper after her death. She wins the game and is allowed to possess her corpse for a limited period of time to have her revenge on the people who murdered her.
* In ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest V5'', [[spoiler: Tessa Blackridge]], given her choice of game (except Twister) to challenge Death for her life, chooses Go Fish. She loses.
* A young boy is seen competing against death in some unseen mobile/handheld video game in this [[http://amorphia-apparel.com/design/billy/ T-Shirt]], apparently successfully given that it is entitled "...And Billy Lived Forever"

* An example which is more PlayedForLaughs than most comes from ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'', in which Kravitz the GrimReaper offers Merle a chance to save Noelle's soul through a quick game of cards. Merle happens to have a deck of cards on him, [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu but it's a cheat deck]]. Kravitz doesn't spot the cheat, so Noelle is free to go.
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', winning a contest with Death all depends on [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0718.html choosing the right contest.]]

* The entire premise of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' stems from this. In the show's pilot episode, Billy & Mandy play a game of limbo with the Grim Reaper for the soul of the former's dead hamster. Grim loses thanks to Mandy's cheating, forcing him to be their "friend" forever. Cue the rest of the series with [[HilarityEnsues hilarious results]].
** It turns out not to be the first time. An early episode of the show has Mandy meet an old lady who somehow beat Grim at ''a staring contest'' in order to continue living on as ghost.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Hell Is Other Robots", the Robot Devil explains that the [[ContractualGenreBlindness Fairness In Hell Act]] requires him to give visitors the option of challenging him to a fiddle contest to win back a robot's soul (in this case, Bender's). A solid gold fiddle is even part of the deal[[note]]Fry asks about its practicality, thinking it'd weigh hundreds of pounds and sound terrible; the Robot Devil says it's more for show than anything else[[/note]]. Losers only get a smaller, silver fiddle, and the Robot Devil may kill them at his discretion (in this case, Fry). Of course, playing well on a solid gold fiddle is pretty hard as it is, and the Robot Devil's prehensile tail serves as a third arm. Leela, who accepted the challenge with the explanation that playing the fiddle was just like the drums, yells "Time for the drum solo!" and [[SubvertedTrope beats the Robot Devil unconscious with the gold fiddle]].
* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' dies in a motorcycle accident because [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin he refused to wear his helmet in the heat of pursuit.]] Eventually he challenges the Grim Reaper for one more hour in the world of the living so [[UnfinishedBusiness he can defeat the criminal he was chasing.]] The game? Darkwing simply has to do something that Death can't do; he does a cute finger trick with his hands. Death, [[DemBones lacking]] necessary muscles, tendons, and other body parts, fails to copy him.

* On ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' we have [[KidHero Finn]] getting in a ''music battle'' against Death [[ItMakesSenseInContext to save the soul of a plant]].
* Death appears in ''WesternAnimation/ChillyBeach'' to take away Dale, who opts to challenge him and then proceeds to annoy Death by taking too long to pick what game they're going to play. It leads to this exchange:
-->'''Death:''' "CHOOSE! or I shall choose for you!"
-->'''Dale:''' [panicked] "Uh, hockey!"
-->'''Death:''' "Very well." [summons a hockey rink and puck, then proceeds to slapshot said puck into the goal so fast it burns a hole through the net] "...By the way, hockey is what ''I'' would have chosen."
-->'''Dale:''' "Aw, crap."

* Parodied in the first ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' to feature Death. While hanging out at the Griffins' trying to work off his sprained ankle, he and Lois play ''[[TabletopGame/GameOfLife Life]].''
-->'''Death:''' [[LampshadeHanging I guess I should find this ironic, but really I'm just bored.]]
* In ''BIONICLE: Mask of Light'', the hero Takanuva confronts the evil Makuta in a Kolhii match (a sport similar to lacrosse) to determine the fate of the Matoran villagers. Unlike many examples, ''Makuta'' actually proposes the confrontation in order to toy with his opponent.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', Spawn challenges Malebolgia to a fiddle contest. Spawn's act is flawless, while Malebolgia sounds like he's scraping a chalkboard. Unfortunately, the demons are the judges, so Spawn loses.
* Parodied on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'', where [[TooDumbToLive Stumpy]] challenges the GrimReaper to a rap battle. As the Reaper has actually come for [[spoiler: [[MakesSenseInContext Adele the flower]]]]'s soul and not Stumpy's, he blatantly ignores him.
* A Halloween episode of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' sees Brain challenge one "Mr. Itch" (implied to be Satan) to rhythmic gymnastics for Pinky's soul (which he had voluntarily offered to Mr. Itch in exchange for Brain becoming the ruler of the world) -- but Mr. Itch specifies that if Brain wins, he loses control of the world and can never try to take it over again. Brain goes through with it anyway, and his routine is scored a perfect 10. Mr. Itch barely even tries, but as the judges are his own minions, they give him a score of 11. The ResetButton is only hit when [[spoiler:Pinky reveals that he actually sold his soul for ''two'' things, one of which Mr. Itch cannot provide, which means the original deal is void.]]
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' has Stanley signing a contract for good luck to the Devil (who's passing off as a guy named "Bub"). When the time to collect the soul comes, The Mask decides to compete against Bub in a dancing contest at the Coco Bongo.

* One comic in [[Webcomic/{{Exiern}} Exiern]] featuring a female death has an old man challenge her to a game of chess for his life. She strips naked, and [[DistractedByTheSexy he can't concentrate on the game]] enough to win.

* Famously occurs in Ingmar Bergman's ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'', pictured above. This is the better-known origin of the "chess with the reaper" form of this trope.[[note]]But not ''the'' origin: The Knight mentions that he has seen Death play chess on paintings. This is true, the motif of Death playing chess exists [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Taby_kyrka_Death_playing_chess.jpg/450px-Taby_kyrka_Death_playing_chess.jpg as a motif in a Swedish church]] (although whether or not the game is chess or checkers or some other game is hard to make out)[[/note]] Interestingly here Death isn't above cheating slightly. At one point he impersonates a priest the knight confesses his sins to and mentions that he has a strategy that he is sure will beat Death. So Death (still pretending to be a priest) asks what it is. So the knight tells him. Death thanks him for the knowledge and leaves. The knight also tips over the chessboard (mainly to distract Death so that Death won't see his friends slipping away) and claims not to remember where the pieces were. Death, however, has not forgotten.
** This scene was lampooned in ''[[Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer (500) Days of Summer]]'', with Cupid replacing Death.
* Momentarily referenced during "We're Doing a Sequel" in ''Film/MuppetsMostWanted'', where the Swedish Chef is shown playing chess with the Reaper.

* In the 2011 short film ''Dave Vs. Death'', David [[NameOfCain Kane]] dies, and in the void between life and the afterlife he propositions Death for a game of chess. The rules dictate that for every piece David loses, one of his loved ones will die. [[spoiler:By the end, it's revealed as a XanatosGambit on David's part: all his friends were plotting behind his back, so if he beat Death then he would regain life, but if he lost, then he would take all his false friends with him to the grave. Death doesn't like the fact that Dave cheated to win and starts a new game, although Dave's "friends" are still dead.]] Death is played by Creator/JulianRichings, who had earlier portrayed Death in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''.

* In Creator/TeresaEdgerton's ''Literature/TheGrailAndTheRing'', Tryffin plays a series of chess matches with the king of TheFairFolk for the freedom of his party (not realizing, upon entering the series, that the local rules of the game are different from those with which he is familiar).

* In the ''Literature/TheDemonata'' series by Darren Shan, the first real scary scene has Grubbs' mother, dad, and sister brutally butchered because they lost a game of chess against [[BigBad Lord Loss]]. The same book ends with Grubbs playing Loss in a game of chess for the same reason his parents did.
* Terry Jones' ''The Saga of Erik the Viking'' has the eponymous character play Death to fulfill a bargain made earlier in the book for the life of one of his men. He was steadily losing, but Death was banished before the game ended.
* One of the oldest written accounts comes from Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Book of the Duchess", which features a knight who played chess with Fortuna (the Greek Goddess of Luck) for the life of his wife.

* A [[http://cowderoy.net/graphics/boi.htm 1936 French chess story/puzzle]] has a drawing of 16th-century chess player Paolo Boi playing chess with a suspiciously devilish-looking woman. According to the story/puzzle, Paolo Boi once played a chess game with a beautiful and mysterious woman and managed to get the upper hand on her but just as he was ready to announce mate in two, his white queen suddenly turned black and the woman smugly said that he had no chance of winning now that his queen belonged to her instead. However, Paolo Boi noticed that he could ''still'' mate in two even without his queen and the woman, seeing this too, vanished in a huff, causing him to realize that he had been unknowingly playing chess against the devil. (No word on if losing would have caused him to lose his soul or worse, though.)

* In a Brazilian soap opera ''Vampi'', a romantic-horror comedy about a normal guy and a vampiress, the final showdown against the equivalent of Dracula is about to happen. One kid well known to be nerdy was challenged to a game of chess against him. The kid won the game, who makes the vampire losing his coolness and flip the table in rage.
* The opening to ''Series/TheColbertReport'''s "Cheating Death" segment shows Stephen Colbert tricking Death into looking away, then rearranging the pieces, as well as several other forms of cheating such as playing a ShellGame. In the final episode, [[spoiler:Death finally catches Stephen cheating and tries to kill him, so Stephen shoots and kills Death in self-defense, thus making himself immortal.]]

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' lampshades this trope.
-->'''Xander''': If Death ever tries to challenge you to a game of Chess, don't. He's some kind of whiz.
* The concept is parodied in ''Series/{{Beetleborgs}}'', where the Grim Reaper is Little Ghoul's uncle, and plays chess with his niece simply to pass the time.

* Russian band King and Jester has a song called "Henry and Death" in which Henry the King, a chess prodigy, defeated every worthy opponent in his kingdom and decided to challenge the Death itself. He loses due to death knowing his every move in advance.

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', you could challenge the Grim Reaper to a game of chess in order to save someone's life. He/she better be damn good at chess.
* The "Chess Event" against Medivh in [[Videogame/WorldOfWarcraft Karazhan]]. Failure to win the game results in the players' deaths. Medivh cheats.
* In ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'' this is one of a number of ways for your character to return to life after being killed. Notably, the more you play him, the more he ups his game; at his best, he's practically impossible to beat by mortals like you (going by the sheer difficulty of the Watchful challenge needed). You can also play dice, which stay random and slightly in your favor.

* The ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII'' expansion "The Reaper's Due" added an event where an aging character plays a game of Chess with a random courtier whom he realises is Death. Success grants bonus health (making that character live longer) whereas failure means Death collects.

* [[http://www.dawnoftimecomics.com/index.php?id=291 This]] ''Webcomic/DawnOfTime'' strip features an unconventional gambit.
* ''Truck Bearing Kibble'' has [[http://web.archive.org/web/20120503000201/http://truckbearingkibble.com/comic/2008/11/03/blue-screen-of-death/ this]] variation.

* ''WebVideo/PushingUpRoses'' discusses the history of the trope in her ''[[https://youtube.com/watch?v=lub4wv7Gr0E Best Portrayals of Death]]'' video. She even does the video in skeleton makeup and has a chessboard in front of her at one point.
* ''WebOriginal/TheShortestStory'' has [[https://shorteststory.com/index.php?date=2019-04-25 a story]] where the protagonist spends all his life mastering chess so he could win a game against Death. [[spoiler: When Death does arrive, he just calls them a nerd]].
* A meme on Chess.com about 17th century master [[MemeticBadass Gioachino Greco]] says that he's immortal because the Grim Reaper got sick of losing to him, even when Greco gave him [[SelfImposedChallenge queen odds]].

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fic "FanFic/ACureForLove" L challenges Ryuk to a game of tag.
* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fic "Fanfic/KiraSweetheart" L gets Ryuk hooked on ''VideoGame/EverQuest''.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/9672/near-death-experience Near Death Experience]]'', the protagonist Pinwheel and two other ponies meet Death, who will let them go if they can best him in challenges of strength, skill, and wits. Death wins the first two challenges easily and claims the other two ponies, but lets Pinwheel go when she wins the Test of Wits.
* In a weird way, the four are playing a kind of {{LARP}} for their lives against Jeft in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', though they don't know it. He throws them in with his favorite gaming character, Jim Hunter, in an effort to get them to fight, which is something Jeft has been itching for over the course of the book. However, the four “beat” Jeft by befriending Jim instead of fighting him. And Jeft indeed has several tantrums over this, especially when Jim decides to give up his {{BFS}} and return with the four to C'hou. The tantrums are meant to be quite lethal, but the first (the Battle on the Plains of Death) sees the four and Jim winning, and the second (when Jeft brings Blackfire to life and it tries to kill the four while Paul tries to separate it from Jim) is averted when the four decide to just leave rather than rescue Jim.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fan comic [[http://wadusher0.deviantart.com/art/Time-Fades-Pinkie-Pie-1-608481403 Time Fades]], Pinkie makes a deal with Death. If she can make Death laugh, she gets one free mulligan.
* ''Fanfic/HarbingerFinmonster'' (''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman''): Danny's ancestor did this to save his wife.
* In the ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' fic "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096326 Hello Operator, Please Give Me Number Nine]]", a college-age Susie challenges Death to {{Calvinball}}.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'' example is parodied in ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey]]'', with the heroes besting the Reaper (who looks almost ''exactly'' like he did in ''The Seventh Seal'') instead in games like Battleship, Clue, and Twister. The Reaper is a SoreLoser here, [[BestOutOfInfinity insisting on a rematch]] each time he loses. Eventually the Reaper gives up [[DefeatEqualsFriendship and joins them]]. The multiple wins become a plot point in the novelization and comic adaptation, where the boys get killed several times during the final showdown with their {{Evil Twin}}s and make Death bring them back each time by citing all the games. Likewise, in the novelization, the villain tries to invoke this after he is killed, coincidentally suggesting the same games Bill and Ted played with Death. The Grim Reaper refuses since he just found out he is ''really bad'' at those games.
* The climax of the 1986 film ''Film/{{Crossroads 1986}}'' is a guitar battle between Eugene and [[Music/SteveVai Jack Butler]] (the Devil's chosen one) for Willie Brown's soul. Eugene wins.
* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'': Will Turner's game of Liar's Dice against Davy Jones, pitting his soul against the key to the Dead Man's Chest. In the spirit of the game itself, the trope is subverted--all Will really wants is the key's location, so he can steal it later. Interestingly enough, he technically loses, but just as Jones is starting to gloat--"Welcome to the crew, boy..."--Will's father ups the bet so as to save Will.
* Creator/FritzLang's ''Der Mude Tod'', also known as ''Destiny'', revolves around a woman trying to meet Death's challenge to save one of three people's lives in order to get her husband back. When she fails at that, Death [[BalancingDeathsBooks asks for another soul in return]]. When she refuses to give him a baby trapped in a fire, Death takes her instead. Bergman cited this film as an inspiration for ''The Seventh Seal''.
* In the short film ''De Düva'' (U.S. title ''The Dove''), 1968. Despite the name the film was made in the U.S. Death is challenged to a game of ''"badmintonska"'', and loses. The film was nominated for an Oscar (short subject), but didn't win. Perhaps the director should have challenged the Academy to a game of badminton!
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', the cat suggested this to the titular character since the Other Mother loves to play games. So Coraline challenged the Other Mother to a game where she has to find her parents and the three lost children's souls. If she wins, the Other Mother has to let her go. If she loses, she must stay with the Other Mother forever. [[spoiler:As it turns out, the Other Mother has no intention of letting Coraline go even if she wins the game, so Coraline has to trick her into letting her escape.]]
* In ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'', the song "Beelzeboss" shows the aftermath of the devil managing to break the seal put on him by a wizard and coming to Earth, intending to end it. Tenacious D challenges him to a rock off: if they win, he must return to hell; if he wins, then Kage will be taken back to hell with Satan for [[BlackComedyRape conjugal purposes]]. In the end, Tenacious D is [[spoiler:outclassed in skill - at least according to the devil - but win due to luck and knowing the story of how he was beaten last time]].

--->[[AC: I was the boot.]]

--->[[AC: Death: An extremely stupid one to play against someone who spends every second practicing his swing.]]

--->[[AC: Did you say humans play it for fun?]]
--->"Some of them get very good at it, yes. I'm only an amateur, I'm afraid."
--->[[AC: But they only live eighty or ninety years!]]

* The Bavarian story ''Der Brandner Kaspar'' by Franz von Kobell is about someone who tricks the ''Boandlkramer'' (Grim Reaper) into playing cards for some more years of life, then gets the reaper drunk and cheats so win more years. Eventually, he will go with the reaper because all of his loved ones die.
* ''Literature/TheStoryOfTheYouthWhoWentForthToLearnWhatFearWas'': The youngster spent three nights in a haunted castle, where he plays nine-pins with a bunch of skeletons.

[[folder:Mythology]]
* Played with in the story of Sisyphus. The game was not a formal institution, but nevertheless, he played it. Among his more popular exploits, he once evaded his fate by tying Thanatos to a tree and running off.
* Myth/GreekMythology: Arachne entered a weaving contest with Athena; in the end, Athena turned her into a spider. There seem to be a few variations on the tale.
** Arachne won the contest. However, Greek Gods are just [[JerkassGods sore losers]]. Note that this version was popularized by Ovid, who had a known [[BiasSteamroller dislike of authority]].
** Arachne won and Athena drove her to suicide in revenge, eventually immortalizing her as a spider in apology for overreacting.
** Both tapestries were exactly as beautiful as the other, but Arachne wove in mocking depictions of the Gods which is just TemptingFate [[BullyingADragon given her opponent]].
** Arachne LOST fair and square, and hanged herself. Out of pity, Athena changed her into a spider so that she and her descendants could have all of eternity to practice their weaving.
* Also from Myth/GreekMythology, Marsyas entered a musical contest with Apollo. He lost, so Apollo flayed him. Why did Apollo flay him? Some would say it was because Apollo was that vain. Others would note that Marsyas, a satyr (aka horrendously ugly), stipulated that if he won, Apollo would have to do him some favors. This is not to mention Marsyas's choice of performance, which ended up being a very bawdy flute piece against Apollo's divine cithara-plucking. Excessive punishment, yes, but not entirely undeserved.
** At least one version has Apollo losing the first round, then demanding a rematch under his terms: that the musician must play while holding his instrument upside-down and singing. Since Marsyas was using a wind instrument, he had no chance.
* In the myth of ''Theatre/{{Alcestis}}'', Heracles challenged Death to a ''wrestling match'' over the soul of his friend Admetus' beloved wife, to repay said friend's [[SacredHospitality hospitality]]. [[SuperStrength Heracles]] [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu won]].
* From the ancient Myth/{{Egyptian|Mythology}} tales of Prince Khaemwase, the sorcerer-prince Khaemwase Setna went on a quest to find the [[MacGuffin Book of Thoth]]. He found it, but it was guarded by an even better sorcerer, who challenged him to several games of draughts (checkers). Setna had no chance against a guy who'd been perfecting his game for several hundred years, and each time Setna lost, he would sink lower into the ground and was due to be completely swallowed up on his fourth game. However, his brother managed to get [[FunctionalMagic the amulet of Ptah]] and save him before he was killed, allowing Setna to grab the Book of Thoth and run. Though Egyptian, this story is only known from the 1st century C.E.
* There is an old Bavarian folk tale about how Bavarian Death (''Boandlkramer'' meaning something like ''Bone huckster'') is supposed to collect an old man who died from being shot while poaching. He makes Death drunk and plays cards with him, cheating in the course of the game and winning ten more years on earth. However, Death has to keep book, so he takes the poacher's granddaughter 10 years early for the statistics to work out. When she arrives in Bavarian heaven (''really!'') the mistake comes to light and Death has to persuade the poacher to forfeit his additional 10 years for his granddaughter's sake.
* There is an Austrian legend about a drunkard playing ''bowling'' with Death, and in a church to boot! He tried to cheat by throwing a pin out of the window, having bet Death to match his number of strikes. [[TooDumbToLive Guess who was quickly turned into the replacement pin...]]
* In Mayan myth, two young men played ball with the Lord of Death. They lost but were reincarnated as catfish.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': Dogbert once escaped death by walking away from the game (Scrabble in this case) on his turn and leaving the issue unresolved. Death should've specified a time limit beforehand.
[[/folder]]

* In ''VideoGame/MarthaIsDead'', Guilia dreams of meeting Death with Martha not long after [[spoiler:her boyfriend dies and she is shot]]. Death can't tell them apart but that Guilia must die. The girls drew lots by tossing a medallion. Death knows that while Fate plays by its own rules, Fate is Death's ally and would always choose the proper girl. However, the medallion only had Martha's name on it and thus both Fate and Death are cheated.
'''Death''': One thing is for sure. I will correct my ignorance and give Fate back its blindfold.

* A well-known joke references Tabletop [=RPGs=], with Death suddenly complaining, "Oh god, he's taking out another rulebook!"

* A well-known joke references Tabletop RPGs, with Death suddenly complaining, "Oh god, he's taking out another rulebook!"

** In the episode "One For the Angels" a salesman talks death into letting him stay alive until he can make the sales pitch of a lifetime, e.g., "one for the angels." Death agrees, whereupon the salesman smugly quits his job. Unfortunately, Death [[BalancingDeathsBooks still has to take a soul]], and chooses a little girl who lives in the same building. To save her life, the former salesman distracts Death with a series of enthralling sales pitches, keeping Death occupied until after the appointed time - and willingly sacrificing his life in the process since now that he's made his sales pitch of a lifetime, his bargain with Death is now complete and Death gently walks with him into Heaven.
** The episode "A Game Of Pool" features this when a man (Jesse Cardiff) who dedicated his life to pool would "give anything" for a chance to play Fats Brown, the pool player that everyone says was the best, and better than Jesse is. Fats Brown then gets a call from his heavenly pool table to report to Jesse's pool hall, where Fats then appears and accepts Jesse's challenge - if the stakes are for Jesse's life. Jesse accepts, and they play pool. Both are very good, but Fats gets on Jesse's nerves when he notes that ''all'' Jesse did was pool - he didn't get married or see the world or anything. Jesse thinks that Fats is just trying to psych him out. Before making the final shot, Fats says that winning this game may have undesired consequences - but Jesse blows him off. (Fats adds that he was required to say that.) Jesse makes the shot, and Fats acknowledges that Jesse is, in fact, the best pool player ever. Jesse laughs hysterically for a while - but the scene then cuts to Jesse asleep at the heavenly pool table, getting an announcement to report to a pool hall in Sandusky, Ohio. In the meantime, Fats Brown has gone fishing.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'' the First Doctor and his companions have to play games against the Celestial Toymaker, who appeared again a few times in the ExpandedUniverse.

[[folder:Web Video]]

* Parodied hilariously in ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney''. The boys challenge Death, but [[BookDumb since they don't know the rules of Chess]], they convince him to play other games... like {{TabletopGame/Clue}}, {{TabletopGame/Battleship}}, and Twister. Because Death is a SoreLoser, he keeps challenging them to "best two out of three", "best three out of five", and so forth until he finally gives up. In the original script (used for the novelization and comic adaptation), this becomes a ChekhovsGun during the final showdown, wherein where Bill and Ted get killed several times by their evil robot duplicates and get Death to bring them back by bringing up all the times they beat him.