History Main / CombatBreakdown

* In ''Anime/MetalFightBeyblade: Metal Masters'', this is how Gingka's fight with Kyoya plays out. It starts with them fiercely attacking each other with all their strongest special moves, but ends with them so exhausted that their beyblades barely manage to touch each other before they fall over and Gingka and Kyoya pass out.
* Creator/HayaoMiyazaki's ''Anime/PorcoRosso'', several times during the same fight, no less. [[spoiler:The dogfight starts out with machine guns, then devolves into using handguns, then throwing various tools, debris, and pieces of garbage at each other, and finally degenerates completely into a fist fight on the ground with both just brutally gut punching each other in succession with neither of them making an effort to block.]] To say it looked silly would be an understatement.
* Likewise for ''Anime/BlueSubmarineNo6:'' [[spoiler:Mayumi and Hayami having just killed Zorndijk, and the Blue Fleet having already destroyed his entire empire, his son Verg goes out in murderous rage against Hayami and they both end up in a ''very'' brutal fight.]] Not really a fight ''per se''. Hiyami is just letting Verg beat the crap out of him because Zorndyke said that humanity needed to learn to talk out its problems. It was more like a voluntary NoHoldsBarredBeatdown, with Hiyami as the beaten and Verg as the beater.
* In the ''Manga/DesertPunk'' anime, the titular hero and his rival, both {{Gadgeteer Genius}}es have a duel that lasts an entire day- but it results in truly EpicFail as they abandon their usual tactics and have a BlastOut with shotguns, the handguns, followed by running out of ammo and throwing rocks at each other. Eventually, they run out of loose rocks, and flip rubber bands at each other. The watching townspeople get bored and go home, and eventually [[CrossCounter they punch each other out]].

* The FinalBattle of ''Anime/{{Scryed}}'' starts out as a fight between alter-powers and then gradually breaks down to a simple (though brutal) slug fest.
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'':
** By the time of the Simon vs Lordgenome battle, both the Gurren and Lazengann have been trashed, and the fight continues with Simon's [[MiniMecha Lagann]] and Lordgenome's ''bare fists''. [[spoiler:When Lordgenome actually ''wins'' that one, he pulls Simon out of the cockpit to gloat -- and Simon ''[[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer stabs him with his car keys]]'', with explosive results]].
** In the last episode [[spoiler:Gurren-Lagann ejects [[MetaMecha layer-by-layer]] from the titular mecha, starting from Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, to Super Galaxy Gurren-Lagann, to Arc Gurren-Lagann, slowly but surely closing in on the Anti-Spiral homeworld, a component of their own super-mecha, Grand Zamboa, upon which their central hive-mind stands, and culminating in Viral manually ejecting Lagann from Gurren and ''throwing'' Lagann at the Anti-Spiral, which drills a massive hole in him. Woah...]]
** And then in TheMovie, [[spoiler:it's taken yet another step further by having Lagann literally throw Simon at the Anti-Spiral. An epic fistfight ensues, ending when Simon creates a drill ''with his own blood'' and drills through the Anti-Spiral.]]

* Revy and Roberta's first duel in ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' begins with a car chase across the city, then becomes a deadly game of hide-and-go-seek at the docks, then finally ends up as a no holds barred fist fight that lasts ''all night''. [[spoiler:Roberta wins, just.]]

* With their powers burned away at the end of ''[[{{Anime/Trigun}} TRIGUN MAXIMUM]]'', Millions Knives tries to initiate this with his brother Vash the Stampede to settle their feud once and for all. [[CurbStompBattle Except Vash brought a gun with him]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and Knives didn't.]]
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'':
** Yusuke's battle with Chu ends with a stand-up slugging match with each of them having a knife at their heel to keep them from moving away.
** The first tournament arc ends with Yusuke and his opponent, a demon named Rando, completely exhausted - both combatants are depleted of energy, with Rando reduced to a tenth of his physical size thanks to a last-ditch spell gone awry. Yusuke decisively ends the fight by falling on top of Rando - [[WrestlerInAllOfUs with an elbow drop.]] Fighting until the very last gasp, and then a few punches more, is something of Yusuke's defining features in the series.
* Terry's rematch with Krauser in the second ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' OAV ends this way after the two of them have exhausted each other with their ultimate attacks.
* Most fights in ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal'' are bloody, messy and... rather clumsy looking affairs. {{Clean Cut}}s are few and far between.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
** During a MirrorMatch between Erza and her AlternateUniverse Edolas counterpart, destroy the floating island they were fighting on, [[BreakableWeapons each other's weapons]], ''[[ClothingDamage each other's clothes]]'', and use up all their magic in the process so their battle eventually breaks down to a fist fight that finally leaves them both too exhausted to move. Earthland Erza still technically wins due to convincing Edolas Erza that stealing magic at the cost of lives is wrong.
** When Juvia and Chelia get into a fight in the Grand Magic Games, it is initially a rather cool battle where both make use of their badass water and wind magic, but it soon degrades into a childish fight where they just pinch and slap each other... That is, until Gray and Lyon turn up to help Juvia and Chelia, respectively.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** Before becoming a Super Saiyan, Goku tended to end his fights in such a way, particularly against King Piccolo, Piccolo, and Vegeta. In the first one, Goku ended up crippled, and the fight ended when he propelled himself against Piccolo, bursting clean through his torso and killing him. Against Piccolo, Goku ended up with a hole the size of a fist in his shoulder, and won by dropping from the sky against Piccolo and knocking him out of the ring (they were still in a tournament fight). As for the fight against Vegeta, Goku had to push [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique the Kaioken]] further than King Kai thought was safe to have a chance, which just made Vegeta mad enough to turn into a giant were-ape. It ends with an already-weakened Vegeta getting crushed by ''Gohan's'' were-ape form, after which he has to drag himself back to his spaceship. ''Everyone'' involved needs a trip to the hospital after that mess.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', the Tournament of Power ends with base form Goku and Frieza slugging it out with an equally-battered Jiren as Android 17 provides cover fire. While still impressive, it's clear they're all on their last legs; it takes a last-ditch effort from Goku and Frieza to actually ring Jiren out, with Goku flickering between base form and classic Super Saiyan, and both Goku and Frieza have to ring themselves out in the process, leaving 17 as the only one left standing in the ring.
* The final battle in ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'', against the [[spoiler:Zonuda Robot]] ends up being a particularly memorable example of this. [=GaoGaiGar=]'s StockFootage attacks, the Broken Phantom, Goldion Hammer, and Hell and Heaven, all prove to be ineffectual against this enemy, and his [[MidseasonUpgrade Phantom Rings and Space Boosters]] are quickly destroyed. So then it gets into a brutal slugfest with the enemy robot, smashing in its head with its bare hands and legs and tearing off limbs before ripping its hands through it to pull out the core.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** This is how the battle between Madara and Hashirama ultimately went. It started with them throwing their most powerful and impressive techniques at each other. It ended with [[spoiler:a battered and exhausted Hashirama tricking an equally-exhausted Madara with a clone technique -- one of the simplest tricks in a ninja's arsenal -- and impaling him in the back with a sword, which was only possible because Madara couldn't even maintain his Sharingan to see through the deception.]]
** The final battle between Naruto and Sasuke plays out the same way (and at the same spot as the above one) - the two combatants throwing ridiculously powerful attacks at each other until they're both out of usable chakra, at which point they forgo all that and just charge in and start beating the crap out of each other. [[spoiler:By the end of it, they're so injured and completely exhausted that their punches are too slow and weak to even hurt each other anymore. Eventually though, they do go back to ninjutsu, both giving all that they had left to give. The end result costs each of them [[AnArmAndALeg an arm]].]]
** Naruto's battle with Gaara ends with a plain old headbutt. This was after Gaara's multiple transformations into his inner monster, various sand-based binding techniques, and Naruto's pulling out a thousand clones, summoning a giant frog, and so on.
* In ''Manga/SoulEater'', after all the anti-magic, enchanted weaponry, suicidal spirit-attacks and what-have-you the protagonists throw at the BigBad fail to even scratch him, [[spoiler:he is finally defeated with a perfectly ordinary fist to the face.]]
* ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'': When Ganta finally confronts the "Red Man" who killed his classmates and ruined his life [[spoiler:actually his long-lost friend Shiro, actually her long-suppressed psychotic/suicidal side]] they initially attack each other with their [[BloodyMurder blood-based powers]] but end up pounding the snot out of each other, though acrobatically (Red Man is understandable, but when did Ganta learn how to fight like ''that''?).
* Joey's fight against Marik (actually his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Odion, who was masquerading as Marik) in ''Anime/YuGiOh'' ends with both duellists collapsed on the ground, with the referee declaring that the winner will be the first to get up. [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries Children's card games]] are SeriousBusiness.

* The final assault on [[BigBad Father]] in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' starts as a proper battle, with heavy artillery and alchemy attacks flying left and right, and ends with Edward beating Father senseless with his bare fists.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** This is essentially how Luffy won the final round of his fight with Crocodile. The first round had Luffy brutally [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomped]] thanks to Crocodile's devil fruit powers. The second round had Luffy get some hits in thanks to learning about Crocodile's weakness to water, but ended with Luffy being dried out. The third round is when the breakdown of the fight occurs -- seeing Luffy show up to fight him ''again'' after seemingly having been killed ''twice'' triggers Crocodile's VillainousBreakdown, which translates to how he fights Luffy. Rather than use his [[StoryBreakerPower broken devil fruit powers]] to kill his opponent, he instead takes off the protective casing on his poison hook and tries to match Luffy physically, degenerating the battle into a pure brawl. Crocodile is ''not'' a physical fighter, his Warlord title be damned, and even at that point in the series, very few people could hope to match Luffy [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower in a physical contest]]. By the time he starts deciding to use his sand powers again, Luffy had built up enough steam to plow through it and finish off Crocodile with a brutal Gum Gum Storm.
** In the twelfth movie ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'', the final battle between Luffy and the titular antagonist starts out as a proper fight with showy techniques. By the end of the fight, both Luffy and Z are so exhausted that they're reduced to slugging it out with Haki-enhanced punches until one of them falls.
* ''Manga/MajesticPrince'': Episode 18's battle with Klein. By the end of the fight every one of Team Rabbits' mechs have been rendered inoperational.
* ''Anime/Persona4TheGoldenAnimation'' has [[spoiler:the battle between Yu and Adachi. While Adachi has only one Persona, it's the incredibly powerful Magatsu-Izanagi, which takes ''all'' of Yu's Personas to bring down. In the end, neither has any Personas to summon, and the fight degenerates to a one-on-one brawl between Yu and Adachi, with Yu eventually managing to knock Adachi to the ground and pummel him]].
* ''Anime/MegaloBox'': The match between Aragaki and Joe eventually devolves into the fourth round being little but both men jabbing each other in the face, unable to make telling blows; Joe being too tired and [[spoiler:Aragaki's mind and leg protheses both giving up on him.]]

* Equally, in ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwilight'', the final fight between Hal and Sinestro ends with the two just slugging it out with their fists.

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' story The Great Divide, the two chieftains are finally convinced to fight each other for who gets to lead the village, instead of having their villagers do it. Their fight starts with the entire village watching and taking bets, but as it consists of nothing but the two punching each other, they get bored and leave, and even Asterix falls asleep while refereeing as they keep punching each other. When he wakes up, he finds they've both fallen asleep leaning onto each other, so he calls it a tie.
* The French comic ''ComicBook/CaptainBiceps'' (where the titular hero goes around fighting Expies of comic heroes and villains) has the fight against the Punisher. They start laying into each other with machine guns, then throwing knives, then fists. Exhausted, they settle on RockPaperScissors (Biceps wins).
* In ''Comicbook/IronMan: The Order'', a fight between Tony Stark and Ezekiel Stane starts with high-tech weaponry but eventually devolves into them fighting with sticks and stones.

* Used in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/109581/1/i-did-not-want-to-die/i-did-not-want-to-die I Did Not Want To Die.]]'' The protagonist starts out with an [[CoolGuns M4A1]] carbine and in the end resorts to unarmed punches.
* Happens in ''Fanfic/RacerAndTheGeek'' during the battle of Hill 20. The fight gets ''DESPERATE''.
* ''Fanfic/TheHillOfSwords'': The final battle between Shirou and Sheffield starts off with both combatants throwing every technique in their very large arsenals. It ends with both exhausted and completely drained of power, so Shirou simply [[spoiler:distracts Sheffield long enough to grab her, then starts smashing her skull into the nearest piece of shrapnel until she finally dies.]]
* ''Fanfic/HereWeGoAgain'': The [[Literature/{{Gate}} Siege of Italica]] begins with the tanks of Charlie Company firing down on the bandit hordes with explosive shells and their coaxial machineguns. By the time the JSDF and the rest of the US Marines arrive to support them, the crews are down to leaving the safety of their tanks to engage surviving forces with small arms and the occasional bayoneting.
* The FinalBattle of ''Fanfic/{{Marionettes}}'' sees Trixie [[spoiler:having been upgraded into a 'mecha Alicorn']] facing off with [[BigBad Masquerade]] (who is already injured from a previous fight) [[spoiler:who's wearing a suit of PoweredArmor called the Puppeteer that was designed to survive conflict with Celestia]]. The fight is long and destructive, going through a large portion of the Stallion's in Black's base of Moirai, but ends with [[spoiler:a badly damaged Trixie destroying the Puppeteer with a DeathOrGloryAttack, leaving her mana engine nearly completely drained to the point she can barely move and Masquerade so badly hurt she can hardly stand. What results is two exhausted combatants no longer able to use their magic throwing tired punches at one another until Masquerade can no longer stand back up.]]
* This happens between Examon and Dorbickmon in the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ADragonInShiningArmour'' during their final fight.

* Luna and Junior's fight in ''Fanfic/TheBridge''. By the end, Luna only has use of one wing and can't fly while Junior is injured so badly he's not healing normally. Both are also battered and bloody. The final attack isn't even some big fancy move, just Luna bucking Junior really hard in the face.

* ''Fanfic/{{Juxtapose}}'': Izuku's and Hitoshi's fights over the course of the Sports Festival tournament devolve first due to being unable to fix/replace their broken weapons then overusing their Quirks in their final match, eventually leading to the two simply brawling until knocking each other unconscious.
* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': During the Strong World arc, the Straw Hats weapons noticeably break down over the course of their week of non-stop fighting, with it being especially obvious in Usopp and Conis as they specialized in ranged combat and run out of ammo after a single day.
* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'': The final battle of the Fourth Ninja War arc begins as Naruto and Hinata versus Madara Uchiha, who combine their chakras to create the Golden Avatar of Kalika to fight Madara's Susanoo. The battle escalates in the following chapter with Madara powering up his Susanoo with the chakra of the tailed beasts, while the rest of the Konoha 15 join [[AllYourPowersCombined with their own respective powers and abilities]] so the Avatar of Kalika can fight on even grounds. The battle escalates to the point they even go out of Earth's atmosphere, and the explosion of a giant meteor Madara created with Chibaku Tenseis sends both sides back to Earth, crashlanding in the Valley of the End. By then, both the Konoha 15 and Madara are running on fumes, and it takes the combined efforts of everyone to finally bring Madara down for good.

[[folder:Film]]
* The fight between the bandit and the husband in the fourth story in ''Film/{{Rashomon}}'' goes from a swordfight to a ''literal'' knock-down-drag-out where one of them ends up just throwing dirt in the other's face.
* The famous fight scene from ''Film/TheyLive'' is ''all'' breakdown. They fight like they're stone drunk, and it gets worse from there. And ''it works''.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'' with Robin and Little John's fight over the creek. It starts off as a staff fight, only for them to repeatedly snap each others' staves in half, throw away one stick, and continue fighting. By the end it's essentially become a game of Pencil Pop.
* A variation in ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'': Jen Yu fights Yu Shu Lien with the Green Destiny sword, with Shu Lien using a wide variety of different weapons against her as the sword whittles down everything she tries. Shu Lien ''still wins.''

%%* Film/JamesBond vs. Janus in ''Film/GoldenEye''.
* ''Franchise/TheMatrix''

* In the final battle of ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', Mal and the Operative start by fighting with pistols, but [[ThrowAwayGuns rapidly lose their respective firearms]], resorting to [[SwordFight melee combat with sword and screwdriver]], before finally resorting to a [[GoodOldFisticuffs blunt bare-handed fistfight]].
* The Roman Polanski film version of ''Film/{{Macbeth|1971}}'' has the final fight between Macbeth and Macduff turn into a protracted anything-goes match including punches, kicks, and Macduff swinging at Macbeth with a piece of firewood when he's been disarmed.

* The final shown battle in ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' has the Saracens breaching Jerusalem's walls. The battle goes from a stereotypical fight to what seems like the two sides ''pushing back and forth''.
* The ending duel in ''Film/HouseOfFlyingDaggers'' has the two male leads fighting one another with their swords. Eventually the fight devolves from them fighting skillfully to them just slashing each other.
* The final duel in ''Film/RobotJox'' begins with two giant mecha fighting each other until both mechs are utterly destroyed, at which point the "jox" jump out and start swinging broken parts at each other.
* The third SwordFight in ''Film/TheDuellists'' goes on for so long the duellists are gasping for breath, propping themselves up on their swords, and occasionally mustering the strength to make wild roundhouse swings at each other. The duel is ended by their seconds when they discard their swords and just start having at each other.
* Several times in ''Film/WeWereSoldiers'', but particularly one engagement between the North Vietnamese forces and the [[TrappedBehindEnemyLines Lost Platoon]]. At one point, an American soldier can be seen bludgeoning a Vietnamese troop to death with [[ImprovisedWeapon his helmet]].
* Happens rapidly between two soldiers in ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' -- both of their guns jam, so they resort to throwing things including their helmets at one another before they can get their sidearms out.

* ''Film/TheGerman'' follows an air-to-air battle as it goes from fighter planes dogfighting all the way to two men in the woods in a fistfight.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' has this between Carl and Muntz, as they're both ''really'' old men.
* The climactic battle between ''Film/TheTerminator'' and Sarah Connor ends with Sarah, who has been stabbed through the leg by shrapnel, crawling painstakingly slowly through a delivery shaft, "chased" by the barely functioning remnants of the Terminator after a bomb has exploded whilst attached to it.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' has the first fight between the titular characters. The Winter Soldier starts the fight with an assault rifle that he quickly drops in favor of a sub-machine gun. He's forced to use a handgun, Captain America's shield, and two different knives until he's down to his holdout pistol. In the second fight, he's reduced to his bare fists.
* ''Film/AtomicBlonde'' has a ridiculously long fight between Lorraine and some KGB agents in a hotel. It is [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown highly intense]], and by the time it's done, everyone involved is struggling to just ''stand'', let alone fight.
* Happens to Sgt. Calhoun in ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' during the movie climax against [[spoiler:Cybugs in Sugar Rush]]. She is using her rifle at the beginning, but thanks to enemies' number she rather quickly runs of ammo and needs to resort to her pistol. She eventually runs out of ammo for that as well, since when she and pals are cornered on a bridge, she prepares her knife as a last resort.
* The ending of ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' uses this idea, although substituting auto racing for actual combat. Near the end of an aggressive and hard-fought race there's a spectacular crash that destroys all the cars. But Ricky and Jean are so determined to beat each other that they both get out of their cars and start running. [[spoiler: Ricky wins, barely, but both of them are officially disqualified for leaving their cars.]]
* The famous HallwayFight in ''Film/Oldboy2003'', in which Oh Dae-Su pushes through about two dozen fighters, inflicting and receiving injuries that cause the action to briefly pause until he gets his HeroicSecondWind.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E1TheMagiciansApprentice the war on Skaro]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks that led to the Daleks' creation]] is an extremely large scale example, as it went on for so long that both sides began running out of resources to power their more advanced weapons and resorted to using gunpowder-based weapons, bows and arrows, etc.

* ''Anime/Persona4GoldenTheAnimation'' has [[spoiler:the battle between Yu and Adachi. While Adachi has only one Persona, it's the incredibly powerful Magatsu-Izanagi, which takes ''all'' of Yu's Personas to bring down. In the end, neither has any Personas to summon, and the fight degenerates to a one-on-one brawl between Yu and Adachi, with Yu eventually managing to knock Adachi to the ground and pummel him]].

* With their powers burned away at the end of [[{{Anime/Trigun}} TRIGUN MAXIMUM]], Millions Knives tries to initiate this with his brother Vash the Stampede to settle their feud once and for all. [[CurbStompBattle Except Vash brought a gun with him]] [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and Knives didn't.]]

** One of the most brutal fights of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' had Ash's Bulbasaur and an opposing trainer's Meganium start off the fight with Razor Leafs, Body Slams, and Vine Whips that also included a lot of moving. As the fight dragged on, it eventually got to the point where neither one of the combatants was even ''trying'' to dodge attacks, causing them to just be in a Vine Whip slug-fest that ended with a cross-counter that knocked both to the ground. The fight didn't end there, however, but stopped almost immediately after with a double Solar Beam.

* Illustrated neatly [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2014-10-23 here]] in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''.

A common comedy variation is for a brawl between two grown men to devolve into [[WimpFight a childish slap fight]]. When played for drama, use of this trope can evoke feelings of desperation and/or savagery as [[DramaticAmmoDepletion arsenals get depleted]], [[WreckedWeapon weapons broken]], and yet the combatants only tear into each other even harder with their bare hands.

* The SignatureScene of ''Film/AtomicBlonde'' is a ridiculously long fight between Lorraine and some KGB agents in a hotel. It is [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown highly intense]], and by the time it's done, everyone involved is struggling to just ''stand'', let alone fight.

** Standard procedure during mass aerial combat. Faced with too many aircraft moving too quickly for a human properly track, combat breaks down rapidly into smaller and smaller fights. The stories of pilots who began the fight as part of a large formation, then looked around at the end and saw a whole bunch of empty sky are numerous, while one of the best ways to score kills is to realize somebody doesn't think you're part of their fight and kill them before they realize you are.

** By the of the Simon vs Lordgenome battle, both the Gurren and Lazengann have been trashed, and the fight continues with Simon's Lagann and Lordgenome's ''bare fists''. [[spoiler:When Lordgenome actually ''wins'' that one, he pulls Simon out of the cockpit to gloat -- and Simon ''[[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer stabs him with his car keys]]'', with explosive results]].
** In the last episode [[spoiler:Gurren-Lagann ejects layer-by-layer from the titular mecha, starting from Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, to Super Galaxy Gurren-Lagann, to Arc Gurren-Lagann, slowly but surely closing in on the Anti-Spiral homeworld, a component of their own super-mecha, Grand Zamboa, upon which their central hive-mind stands, and culminating in Viral manually ejecting Lagann from Gurren and ''throwing'' Lagann at the Anti-Spiral, which drills a massive hole in him. Woah...]]

* The final battle between ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'' and [[BigBad N-Daguba-Zeba]] progresses thusly: Kuuga [[SuperMode Ultimate Form]] vs. Daguba, brutally assaulting each other until they shatter each other's {{Transformation Trinket}}s and revert to their human forms, still punching each other. However it starts and ends as a fistfight, albeit initially one between two super-powered beings.

* In ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]'', Wes Janson participates in a blastsword duel only to purposely turn it into a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown - knowing that he can't beat the other guy in a fair duel, he [[YouFightLikeACow goads him]] into making a wild swing, disarms him, then puts up his fists. The other guy tries to punch back, but he's not trained in GoodOldFisticuffs. Wes Janson then promptly just punches the guy until he is one hit from dropping... then, as a finishing blow... SLAPS him.
* In Max Barry's ''Literature/MachineMan'', the final fight between [[spoiler:ManInTheMachine Dr. Charles Neumann and crazed {{cyborg}} Carl]] sees them deal a *great* deal of damage to each other before [[spoiler:Neumann blasts Carl to smithereens with his {{BFG}} ArmCannon]].

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''

* Happens in Frank Saberhagen's [[Literature/BookOfSwords Swords]] series. Baron Doon goes three rounds against [[InfinityPlusOneSword Shieldbreaker]], which is shown in-universe to always defeat armed opponents. He keeps dropping his sundered weapons and grabbing new ones.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The short film [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjXr9Nj5ZbI "PATHS OF HATE"]] follows two fighter pilots in a brutal dogfight, the planes getting damaged and the pilots getting more demon-like as the fight goes on. They end up running out of fuel and ammo, ramming each other, emptying their pistols while parachuting to the ground, and crawling towards each other holding knives.

* The Bun-Bun vs. Oasis fight from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' started out as a pure knife fight, but quickly turned into a chase scene involving grenades, handguns, and eventually [[spoiler:Oasis revealing she can start fires with her mind]].

* In ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'' Nishi'kanta's fight with her eldest sister Snadhya'rune devolves from them lobbing their summons at each other, then mana attacks when Nishi melts the metal in their gauntlets, then after she runs out of energy and gets eaten alive by Snadhya's summoned dragon she crawls inside the summon and starts hitting Snadhya in the head with a rock.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Illustrated neatly [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2014-10-23 here]] in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''.
* The Bun-Bun vs. Oasis fight from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' started out as a pure knife fight, but quickly turned into a chase scene involving grenades, handguns, and eventually [[spoiler:Oasis revealing she can start fires with her mind]].
* In ''Webcomic/GoldCoinComics'', at a tournament, two magic users are fighting, and use up their magic. [[http://gcc.goldcoincomics.com/?page=83 Then it turns into]] a WimpFight.
* The ending conflict in the Empire of Blood arc from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' drags on like this, with the Vector Legion hammering away again and again at the Order, forcing them to improvise over and over. Near the end, you see most of them lying near dead in the desert heat before their back-up arrives. The final attack of the battle is delivered by Haley, propping her bow with her legs as one of her arms was broken by Tarquin.
* In ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'' Nishi'kanta's fight with her eldest sister Snadhya'rune devolves from them lobbing their summons at each other, then mana attacks when Nishi melts the metal in their gauntlets, then after she runs out of energy and gets eaten alive by Snadhya's summoned dragon she crawls inside the summon and starts hitting Snadhya in the head with a rock.
[[/folder]]

** [[Machinima/RedVsBlue Agent Carolina vs. The Meta]] starts off with the two {{Super Soldier}}s fighting each other using hand-to-hand combat combined with their high-tech arsenal. The fight goes into a bit of a stalemate due to [[TheJuggernaut Meta]] absorbing blow after blow and [[LightningBruiser Carolina]] [[SuperSpeed moving too fast to get a proper hit on]]. Then, Carolina [[DesperationAttack tries using all of her armor enhancements to get the upper hand]] only for the Meta to activate his [[TimeStandsStill Temporal Distortion Unit]] to freeze her in her tracks and follows it up with slamming her into a wall with his [[GrenadeLauncher Brute Shot]]. This leaves Carolina bleeding from the chest and Church focusing his efforts on using the [[HealThyself Healing Unit]] to tend to her wound. Carolina retrieves her pistol and unloads the clip in Meta, who finally starts to slow down from the multiple injuries he has sustained over the fight, [[{{Determinator}} however he still continues to advance on Carolina]]. He then throws his Brute Shot at her, slashing her across the chest, and is just about to pummel her to death when Church distracts Meta in order to give Carolina enough time to blast The Meta's head off with his own Brute Shot.

* Agent Texas VS Agent Washington and the Meta in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue {{Machinima/Re|dVsBlueTheRecollection}}velation'' begins with Tex taking every advantage she can get. She carbombs them so they're weak and disarmed before the fight even starts, hides weapons all around the battlefield for her to utilize with great effectiveness, and rigs more explosives along the cliff face to alter the playing field even further. Unfortunately, she's facing the two Freelancers [[MadeOfIron who are capable of surviving things]] {{Rasputin|ianDeath}} would succumb to. She gets shot in the back by Wash, which slows her movements. Then, she's thrown into close-quarters combat with The Meta, her kabar against his {{B|FS}}rute [[GrenadeLauncher Shot]]. In the end, she's stabbed in the face in one of the most brutal finishers of the series.

* In older editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', this will often happen to SquishyWizard type characters, particularly at lower levels: when they're out of spell slots, their viable combat options often degenerate to slinging crossbow bolts, and often even without proficiency in crossbows. Squishy Wizards (and most other spellcasters) in newer editions have the privilege of having unlimited use of cantrip spells, so even though cantrips are generally weaker than levelled spells, they're never truly out of magic. That said, the pathetic damage of most cantrips meant that a spellcaster with any proficiency at using a ranged weapon was probably going to contribute more with that.
** In the most recent edition (5e), cantrips were intentionally beefed up a ''bit'' in terms of damage and mechanics to make sure that, for a dedicated spell caster, they are pretty much always a more effective option than trying to use a mundane weapon.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': This was seen as a problem, and both editions out as of 2021 try to solve the problem. So does GaidenGame ''TabletopGame/{{Starfinder}}''
*** First Edition, as a successor to 3.5 Edition in light of 4th Edition's controversial status, tries to fix this by giving all SquishyWizard type characters some combat effective ability to use when not casting their leveled spells on top of their woefully weak cantrips. For example, Witches have Hexes which can be nearly as good as leveled spells, specialist Wizards might have nice powers like Blinding Ray or Diviner's Fortune to blind enemies or buff allies, and Clerics have reusable domain powers.
*** Second Edition, its own product, makes everyone at least able to have a viable chance to attack an enemy with weapons. Additionally, Second Edition buffs cantrips to make them completely viable attacks. Coupled with how most full casters become Legendary in their attack proficiency, these cantrips become nearly as good as a tricked-out fighter's sword.
*** Starfinder just gives the Squishy Wizard types guns just as good as everyone else's and makes them almost as capable of shooting them as everyone else. Those characters won't steal the Soldier's or Operative's spotlight in a firefight, but they will not be ineffective either.

* A variant of the card game War is discarding top cards if there are two or four of them (such as the aces of A-A-10-7). Since such [[MutualKill Mutual Kills]] tend to be high cards, lower cards become more and more important as the game goes on.

* After nearly three hours of epic HighFantasy swordplay, the final duel between Aragorn and the Uruk-Hai captain Lurtz devolves into a comparatively fast but extremely vicious physical brawl between the two of them stabbing, choking, punching, headbutting, and generally beating the absolute hell out of one another. It only ends when Aragorn [[RasputinianDeath cuts off his arm, stabs him in the chest up to Anduril's hilt, and finally cuts off the Orc's head.]]

** Downplayed and quickly Subverted in VideoGame/{{Wario}} vs. [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]] as the two start off in their [[SuperMode Super Modes]] (Wario-Man and Masked Dedede) before they lose those forms and start relying on their other powerups and wackier abilities just to one up each other before things start to escalate.

** VideoGame/{{Wario}} vs. [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]] has the two start off in their [[SuperMode Super Modes]] (Wario-Man and Masked Dedede) before they lose those forms and start relying on their other powerups and wackier abilities just to one up each other.

** VideoGame/Wario vs. [[Franchise/Kirby King Dedede]] has the two start off in their [[SuperMode Super Modes]] (Wario-Man and Masked Dedede) before they lose those forms and start relying on their other powerups and wackier abilities just to one up each other.