History Main / InevitableTournament

* The elaborately titled N1 Grand Prix in ''[[MegamanBattleNetwork Megaman: Battle Network 3]]''.

* ''{{Bokurano}}'' is a brutal {{deconstruction}} of this.

* Somewhat subverted in ''JadeEmpire'': you can compete in the Imperial Arena to advance the plot, but you don't ''have'' to. It has some significant (if optional) plot points, especially for one of your party members. It also features a bunch of rewards and a lot of tough and interesting fights.

* The ''[[DotHackGUGames .hack//G.U.]]'' series has one of these in every game of the trilogy, as each game features a different level of the Arena's ranking structure for various level brackets. They are required for progress, and unless there's a pre-requisite to gaining a certain rank or fighting a number of battles first, all story fights are static. With enough LevelGrinding, you can end up in story matches that you can win by offing all three opponents in a single attack.

** ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''

* In a variation on the theme, try as he might, [[ASongOfIceAndFire Eddard Stark]] couldn't stop his friend the king from holding an exorbitant tournament in his honor after naming him Hand of the King, never mind that the kingdom is basically bankrupt.

* [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire]]'s The Tri-Wizard Tournament.

* [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire The Tri-Wizard Tournament, of course]].
** He didn't ''have'' to [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18658_6-movie-plots-that-could-have-been-solved-in-minutes.html participate]].
*** Having one's name emerge from the Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract, which (while not very well explained but presumably similar to an Unbreakable Vow) is certainly enough to guarantee Harry's involvement.

->''[[SeenItAMillionTimes If I see one more story where some kids have to fight in a tournament to win some prize]] [[ToBeAMaster and prove they are masters at whatever it is they are doing]], [[BerserkButton I’m going to explode.]]''

* The storyline-required blitzball tournament in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' (although, to be fair, it gets more than a passing mention).

-->--'''[[http://www.mmhp.net/Commentaries/Musing07.html The MegaMaster]]''', on ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 3'''s [[FollowTheLeader similarities]] to ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''[[labelnote:*]][[HilariousInHindsight This was before the fourth game, which was widely criticized for]] ''[[HilariousInHindsight revolving]]'' [[HilariousInHindsight around tournaments.]][[/labelnote]]

* ''{{Disgaea 2}}'' has one of these spread across two chapters and the aftermath in its own chapter. [[spoiler:The whole thing was just to lure out Etna and erase everyone else out to kill Zenon. It didn't go as planned.]]

** Interestingly, the ''Mages Guild'' can culminate in an Arena fight between you and Archmage Trebonius Artorius, for the title of Archmage. The other option involves essentially getting him fired (it might seem as if you're missing out on the Necromancer's Amulet -- a terrific artifact -- that way, but there's a quest to get him to ''give'' it to you). You also fight Bolvyn Venim for the title of Archmaster of House Redoran if you're a member of that faction.

* Averted in ''{{Solatorobo}}''. Yes, there is a tournament in the form of the Duel Ship, but it's entirely optional. Only a few of the battles have skill points as a prize (which'll help inflate your rank as a [[BountyHunter Hunter]]), whereas most of the time you'll just recieve cash as a prize.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' holds not one, but two {{Inevitable Tournament}}s. The first being a hunting tournament that you compete in against two other party members. The second is a card tournament. Both you must participate in, but in neither do you need to win. In fact, this troper found the prize from the hunting tournament better if he finished second instead of first.
** To clarify, if Zidane (who the player controls in the tournament) wins, you get a cash prize (worthless, as you can grind for gil), If Vivi wins, you get a card (absolutely worthless, as it offers you nothing gameplay wise). If Freya wins, you net yourself the Coral Ring, an accessory that you can't get anywhere else on Disk 1 and whose Thunder absorbing qualities just so happen to completely nullify the end-of-disk boss's most powerful single-target attack.

* The storyline-required blitzball tournament in ''FinalFantasyX'' (although, to be fair, it gets more than a passing mention).

* ''FinalFantasyVII'' requires Cloud to engage in a round at the Battle Arena for the enjoyment of the proprietor. Afterwards, even if you lose round one to Mooks, you receive the Plot-Necessary Item.

* Somewhat averted in ''LostOdyssey''. The game has the Backyard Battles, but they're completely optional and are more a series of specific challenges than a tournament-style combat.
* ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' also has a combat tournament on the planet Taris which is related to the Bendak Starkiller sidequest players interested in picking up Dark Side points, but is otherwise optional. The game also features swoop races, where you have to compete to move the story forward.
* ''FinalFantasyIX'' holds not one, but two {{Inevitable Tournament}}s. The first being a hunting tournament that you compete in against two other party members. The second is a card tournament. Both you must participate in, but in neither do you need to win. In fact, this troper found the prize from the hunting tournament better if he finished second instead of first.

* In ''{{Gothic}}'' one of the reputation tasks involved in joining the Old Camp was challenging a New Camp fighter in the camp's arena; you could win or lose and still earn the arena master's respect. Otherwise averted, despite the claim the next fight isn't for a couple of days, the area is never open proper (interviews have confirmed it was purposeful, rather than cut-content).

* ''LegendOfDragoon'' contains a mandatory weapons tournament you have to enter, but don't necessarily have to win, though winning gives a better reward than losing of course.

* [[HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire The Tri-Wizard Tournament, of course]].

* The Starry Nights tournament in ''DragonWarriorMonsters'' is a rather large focal point of the game. The coliseum is also in nearly every Dragon Warrior ___ game and usually at least one match in it is required to progress the game.

* In ''{{Overlord II}}'', you hear talk about the Arena for quite a bit of time. Guess where you end up at the end of your foray into the Empire after the Blue Minions.
* In ''{{Red Dead Revolver}}'', the local "battle royale" tournament at Brimstone is foreshadowed as early as first entering the town. Some of the bar patrons even talk about it. By the time you enter town for the fifth time, the entire town is talking about the tournament and basically implying not-too-subtly that the player ought to enter.
* [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in MinishCap. The tournament is over before the game begins and no tournaments are held throughout the game.

** Out of the whole ''StreetFighter'' franchise, there are only a few games which don't make use of the "World Fighting Championship" setup: the whole ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' subseries and ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII: 3rd Strike''.
** ''MortalKombat'' has not used its [[ArtifactTitle title tournament]] since ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 MK3]]'', with the exception of a minor unrelated tournament in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Deadly Alliance]]'', part of Li Mei's story. ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' revisits the tournament, since it gets back to the stories of the first three games.
** The ''SoulSeries'', except for minor irrelevant tournaments in some characters' stories which serve as gathering places to find clues for their [[WalkingTheEarth quests]].
** ''StarGladiator''

** The ''MarvelVsCapcom'' series and ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom'', as little story as they have. In some of the {{Marvel}} games, this is because they are loosely based off comic book stories.
** ''BushidoBlade''

** ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]] [[LicensedGame Task Force]]''
* ''VideoGame/EvilZone'' plays with this one, since the game ''plays'' like one of these, though plotwise it comes off as a 'Standard Tournament For No Reason', since all the characters have a reason for wanting Ihadulca dead, and few to no reasons for wanting to fight one another.

** Interestingly, the ''Mages Guild'' can culminate in an Arena fight between you and Archmage Trebonius Artorius, for the title of Archmage. The other option involves essentially getting him fired (but you'll lose out on the Necromancer's Amulet that way, which is a terrific artifact). You also fight Bolvyn Venim for the title of Archmaster of House Redoran if you're a member of that faction.