History Main / DeadlySparring

* ''Film/RockyIV'': What starts as a simple exhibition match between Apollo Creed and [[ColdWar Soviet]] boxer Ivan Drago gets serious when Drago starts [[CurbStompBattle really laying into him]]. Despite this, Creed [[HonorBeforeReason refuses to throw in the towel,]] [[spoiler:leading to [[CasualtyInTheRing his death]].]]

[[quoteright:1000:[[Anime/OnePiece https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1002101596_photo_u1.jpg]]]]

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': Starting with ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', characters will engage in some brief banter before a fight, whether it's done in tower mode or player vs player. Characters who are friends or otherwise on the same side will often frame this as sparring or practice, even though [[GameplayAndStorySegregation they can still cripple or kill opponents even when they're helpless]]. Some of the intro dialogues will sometimes lampshade this by noting how one character has a history of not holding back during "sparring", or that they have a bad feeling that things may get out of hand. Take the page quote from ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', which is an exchange between Raiden a [[PhysicalGod god who defends Earthrealm]] and Liu Kang, [[TheChampion his chosen champion]] as they prefer to face each other in a sparring match.

* ''Creator/MarvelKnights ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Logan accidentally stabs Peter during a sparring session in issue #13. This, as well as an earlier incident in which Peter walked in on Logan and MJ in what seemed like a compromising position, result in Peter going berserk and attacking Logan in issue #14. The only thing that stops further violence is Peter passing out from blood loss.

* ''Creator/MarvelKnights ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Logan accidentally stabs Peter during a sparring session in issue #13. This, as well as an earlier incident in which Peter walked in on Logan and MJ in what seemed like a compromising position, result in Peter going berserk and attacking Logan in issue #14. The only thing that stops further violence is Peter passing out from blood loss.

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperForceGo'': In "Versus Chiro", Mandarin creates numerous faulty clones of Chiro for the purpose of eliminating the monkey team from within. The first clone that impersonates Chiro tries to kill the monkeys during a training session by dialing up the training to level 10, beyond what the monkeys can take during sparring.

** ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': The Red Skull is known to have Taskmaster send him students for sparring practice, whom he then kills during their sessions. [[ForTheEvulz The only reason he does so is that he savors the horrified realization his opponent has when they figure out he intends to kill them]].

* Myth/ClassicalMythology: [[LadyOfWar Athena]] and her mortal friend [[ActionGirl Pallas]] were having a friendly sparring match that ended with Athena [[AccidentalMurder accidentally]] [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling]] Pallas with a thrown javelin. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Out of guilt]], Athena [[MeaningfulName chose to add Pallas' name to her own]]. [[DependingOnTheWriter In some versions of the story]], it is Athena's father Zeus who kills Pallas [[OverprotectiveDad out of concern that she would hurt his daughter]].

** ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': Anyone who trains with the Kingpin is at risk of a Deadly Spar. Fisk hates being made to look bad and will kill a sparring partner if they are too good of a fighter. Similarly, if a sparring partner is too easy, he'll still kill them because he sees them as a waste of his time and money.

* ''Film/{{Elektra}}'': A flashback shows Elektra brutalizing her sparring partners, much to Stick's disapproval. He orders her to leave the dojo as it is clear she cannot control her violent tendencies.

* ''Film/RomeoMustDie'': Mac and his friends invite Han to play a "friendly" game of pick-up football with them. It becomes clear that this is just an excuse to smack Han around. Han turns it around when he is told it is legal to hit the guy holding the ball, [[LoopholeAbuse passing the ball to other players and then hitting them]], giving Mac and his friends ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine.

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* ''LightNovel/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': This trope is [[DefiedTrope defied]] when Oliver Horn and Nanao Hibiya square off for a demonstration duel in their first period sword arts class. Both fighters prove themselves both MasterSwordsmen, with Oliver's sword arts training matching well against Nanao's battlefield experience as a {{samurai}}. When the duel starts getting ''very'' serious, the instructor calls a halt to the match because their intensity has broken the dulling spell he'd placed on their swords beforehand. Nanao, who was trained in a sword school that idealized a DuelToTheDeath with a WorthyOpponent one admires and respects, asks Oliver for a rematch without restraints afterwards, and is hurt when he refuses--starting their RomanceArc off on a rough note.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'': A fourteen-year-old John is confronted by four [=ODSTs=] (short for Oribital Drop Shock Trooper) before being ordered into a boxing ring to fight five men at once. Due to his [[SuperSoldier SPARTAN augmentations]], John winds up killing two men and maiming the rest without breaking a sweat. This incident led to widespread distrust and resentment toward the Spartanss by most [=ODSTs=] in the Marine Corp.

* ''LightNovel/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': This trope is [[DefiedTrope defied]] when Oliver Horn and Nanao Hibiya square off for a demonstration duel in their first period sword arts class. Both fighters prove themselves both MasterSwordsmen, with Oliver's sword arts training matching well against Nanao's battlefield experience as a {{samurai}}. When the duel starts getting ''very'' serious, the instructor calls a halt to the match because their intensity has broken the dulling spell he'd placed on their swords beforehand.

* ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'': In the fifth book, [[ProfessionalKiller Hugh the Hand]] is given a [[MorphWeapon magical blade that can transform into any weapon]] by the Sartan. The oldest recorded use of the weapon involved two elven brothers going through their deceased father's treasures; one brother took the dagger while another grabbed a different blade. When they playfully sparred, the dagger suddenly changed into a longsword and impaled the one brother, much to the horror of the brother who was wielding it.

-->--''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''

* ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'': A fourteen-year-old John is confronted by four [=ODSTs=] before being ordered into a boxing ring to fight five men at once. Due to his [[SuperSoldier SPARTAN augmentations]], John winds up killing two men and maiming the rest without breaking a sweat. This incident led to widespread distrust and resentment toward the SPARTAN Program throughout the Marine Corp.

* ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'': This is mentioned to be a problem regarding Darth Vader. He buys combat droids for the purposes of training, but is such a skilled and ruthless fighter that he ends up destroying all but one of the five droids in question. He does order more of the surviving droids' series, indicating this may less be accidental and more an attempt to find a suitable sparring partner.

* Music/AmonAmarth's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55OJ17cHeJA "The Way of Vikings"]] depicts a sparring match between two Jomsvikings who are best friends but are still fighting all-out. The second verse ends:
-->''Sun beats down with intense heat''
-->''The swordsmen start to break''
-->''Pain shoots through their tired feet''
-->''With every step they take''
-->''In this fight of iron wills''
-->''One man takes a knee''
-->''The other goes for the kill''
-->''Like an enemy''

* ''Film/DieAnotherDay'': When Bond and Graves first meet, they decide to have a somewhat friendly fencing match. The match grows more and more competitive due to both men's egos -- and [[spoiler:the fact that Graves is actually the temperatmental and vengeful Colonel Moon]] -- eventually escalating into a full-on SwordFight with the intent to draw blood.