History Main / OneFreeHit

* ''Webcomic/PoppyOPossum'': After tearing her way through the fighting tournament with her SuperStrength, Poppy faces the champion, Boris, who lets her have [[https://www.poppy-opossum.com/comic/poppy-2-page-19the first shot]]. She knocks the wind out of him but fractures her hand, and then the fight begins in earnest.

* ''Film/{{Dogma}}'': Everything seems lost for the heroes as demon Azrael holds the group hostage in a bar, waiting for his plan to come to fruition. When he sees Serendipity signaling Silent Bob to attack Azrael with a golf club stolen from Cardinal Glick, he stands Silent Bob up in front of him and offers him a free shot with the club, knowing as a demon he can withstand more damage than a mortal man. [[spoiler: It backfires on him when Silent Bob hits him causing a mortal wound which Azrael soon dies from. Serendipity explains that if you hit a demon with an instrument of God, the holy power will destroy anything unholy. Bethany quickly catches on: the club is an instrument of God "because Glick's exactly the kind of asshole who would bless his golf clubs for a better game."]]

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'': After Batman manages to defeat Joker's first Titan Goon, the Clown Prince of Crime offers his foe on chance to end it all for good. Batman [[ThouShallNotKill naturally]] refuses to take it.

->'''Vegeta:''' If it makes you feel any better I'll give you one free shot. But I'm warning you, if you waste it--
->'''Cell:''' ''[punches Vegeta]''
->'''Vegeta:''' ''[chuckles and wipes away a trickle of blood]'' --you're going to regret it.
-->--''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged''

* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague'': Guy Gardner took off his Green Lantern ring and [[TooDumbToLive offered Batman one free shot at him.]] One was all Batman needed.
* ''ComicBook/ThunderBolts'': Played with when Bullseye tries to attack American Eagle, who told Bullseye he'd give him the first shot. Bullseye attacks. American Eagle dodges, then proceeds to beat Bullseye to a bloody pulp.
-->'''Bullseye:''' You said... you'd give me... the first shot.
-->'''American Eagle:''' I lied.

* Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf: The Wolf taunts Littlefinger into attacking him in a blind rage. When it wears off, Littlefinger realizes he didn't so much as scratch the Wolf's armor, only making a fool of himself (as evidenced by Arya laughing herself sick). The Wolf is also disappointed and instead has Littlefinger blindfolded and tied to a tree before [[spoiler:stabbing him in the back]].

* On ''Series/{{That 70s Show}}'', after Hyde [[spoiler:sleeps with Kelso's ex Jackie]], Hyde offers Kelso one free punch as penance.

-->'''The Joker:''' "Seeing as how I'm feeling generous, I'll give you this one for free! Knock me off! I dare you! End this! Pull the plug! Stop me once and for all!"

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'': Armstrong does this to Raiden during the second phase of his boss fight, giving us the meme scene of Raiden repeatedly punching him in the chest.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' segment of "Tales from the Public Domain", when Ralph[=/=]Laertes and Bart[=/=]Hamlet are about to battle, Moe[=/=]Claudius says Laertes gets one practice stab. Laertes promptly uses this practice stab on ''himself'', falling dead instantly.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros:'' When Augustus St. Cloud makes the mistake of breaking into his archenemy's house right when his mother ([[spoiler:a veteran, retired superheroine]]) was there, she has this to say:

->'''Vegeta:''' ''[Chuckles and wipes away a trickle of blood]'' --you're going to regret it.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''ComicBook/ThunderBolts'': Played with when Bullseye tried to attack American Eagle, who told Bullseye he'd give him the first shot. Bullseye attacked. American Eagle dodged, then proceeded to beat Bullseye to a bloody pulp.
-->'''Bullseye''': You said... you'd give me... the first shot.
-->'''American Eagle''': I lied.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

-->'''Hedge''': I guess the trick is not to hit him on top of the head.

-->'''The Joker''': "Seeing as how I'm feeling generous, I'll give you this one for free! Knock me off! I dare you! End this! Pull the plug! Stop me once and for all!"

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Kenpachi Zaraki is a ridiculously strong BloodKnight. As a result, he has taken to giving himself various disadvantages so that he can still enjoy his battles. One of these is to give his opponent one free hit at the start. This also doubles as a test of strength, due to the nature of ''Bleach'''s power system weak opponents will be unable to even draw blood.

Reasons why they allow that free first shot varies; the character giving up the first shot might be a ReluctantWarrior essentially giving their opponent a LastChanceToQuit. It might be that the ArrogantKungFuGuy is trying to show off their superiority. Perhaps they're simply trying to get an idea of exactly how strong the opponent is. It could be that [[TheAtoner they feel the other person is right to be angry with them]] so they allow that free shot in the hope that the other person will be satisfied after that. {{Action Girl}}s tend to be offered a free shot often, usually by a man who [[UnderestimatingBadassery underestimates them because of their gender]] and is sure that they won't be able to hurt him. Possibly the worst case is getting a CombatSadomasochist who sees the free shot as the start of a good time.

-->'''Rose:''' I'll let you take the first swing, and if you don't put me down, I'll beat the living ''shit'' out of you until my arthritis kicks in. And I just took my Humira."

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Kenpachi Zaraki is a ridiculously strong BloodKnight. As a result, he has taken to giving himself various disadvantages so that he can still enjoy his battles. One of these is to give his opponent one free hit at the start. This also doubles as a test of strength, due to the nature of Bleach's power system weak opponents will be unable to even draw blood.

** Another episode has Barney piss off Ted and tries to make amends by saying Ted can have one free shot ... before adding NotInTheFace. Ted punches them [[GroinAttack in the groin]].

''Manga/DragonBall'':

* During Goku's first fight with Tien in ''Manga/DragonBall'', Tien's teacher, the Crane Hermit, cheats on Tien's behalf by having his other student Chiaotzu use telepathic powers to briefly freeze Goku in place, allowing Tien to land multiple blows. After the cheating is uncovered and Crane is dealt with, Tien evens things out by allowing Goku to hit him with a volley of blows without even trying to defend. Once he figures that they're even, Tien begins fighting back again.

Two people are on the edge of getting into a fight, but before any violence can start, one takes a second to tell the other that they can get the first shot in, often accompanied with a warning about what will happen afterwards.

Sometimes the trope will be played with where the person who is offered a free shot really doesn't want to take it, and will respond with a light tap, or by harmlessly striking something along the lines of a person's shield or armor rather than the other person.

** Deliberately invoked by Mr. Satan at the end of one of the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament. Trunks has just won the junior championship, giving him the right to have an exhibition match against the World Champion i.e. Mr. Satan himself. Well aware that he doesn't stand a chance against the half-Saiyan Trunks, Mr. Satan decides to make a big show out of ThrowingTheFight by giving Trunks a free hit and then "pretending" to lose to [[SuperStrongChild the 8 year old]]. The tap from Trunks sends Mr Satan flying out of the ring, but he quickly rises to his feet and [[LargeHam dramatically cries out that he's been beaten]], convincing the entire crowd that Mr. Satan is [[HumbleHero just being a good sport with the kid]], and leaving even Trunks unsure if Mr. Satan was actually effected by the blow or if he is much tougher than Trunks had thought. Only when Mr. Satan is safely inside his private dressing room and nobody can see him does he allow himself to collapse to the floor and writhe in pain.
** When Gotenks (the [[FusionDance fusion of Trunks and Goten]]) gets ready to fight Super Buu, the challenge seeking Majin allows the the fused saiyans to land multiple blows in the opening. After that, when Gotenks was about to punch him in the midsection, Buu stops Gotenks and tells the fusion to punch him in the jaw instead. Upon doing so, Buu's design changes to his red eyes and begins taking the fight more seriously.
* ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'': During the TournamentArc, one of the fighters has the nickname of "Buddha", because of his fighting and religious philosophy to forgive the first two transgressions. He tells his opponents that they must defeat him in the first two hits, because he won't forgive them for the third and will not hold back on a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.

* In Sanosuke's first chapter in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', he challenges a much larger bar patron to a fight after the guy hits one of the women working there. Before the first punch Sano invites the guy to take his best shot, and just stands there and takes it. Due to Sano's SuperToughness, not only is he unhurt, but the guy who hit him breaks his arm punching him. (Much to the disappointment of Sano, [[BoisterousBruiser who was hoping for a decent fight]].)

* Edison Hark from ''ComicBook/TheGoodAsian'' subverts this in the first volume. The son of a man he arrested earlier in the story stumbles into Edison after a night of drinking, and is eager for revenge. Edison says he'll let the guy get in a first shot, even with the [[GrievousBottleyHarm broken bottle]] in his hand, but if Edison is still standing after that first shot he's going to take the younger man out. The guy hesitates and might be on the edge of reconsidering... and then [[CombatPragmatist Edison knocks him out with one punch while the guy is distracted]] and tells the guy's friends to take him home. When his shocked date comments how he had said he was going to give the other guy a free shot, Edison just snarks that he's not dumb enough to actually go through with that. [[HardboiledDetective Eddy is a rather cynical guy]].

* ''Literature/FoundationsEdge'': While out for a jog, Speaker Gendibal of the Second Foundation encounters a number of farmers, who would normally be deferential, but in this case they uncharacteristically decide to start trouble. Karoll Rufirant, their leader, invites Gendibal to exchange hits, giving Gendibal the first shot, but it's clear that a punch from a scholar will have no impact on his muscular frame. [[spoiler:It later turns out that the farmers' minds had been expertly adjusted to push them into the confrontation.]]

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Strong Belwas, a Meereenese pit fighter, allows each opponent to slash him once before he kills them. He's CoveredWithScars, and boasts that if someone were to count them all, it would tell them how many men he's killed.

** Another episode has Barney piss off Ted, and tries to make amends by saying Ted can have one free shot ... before adding NotInTheFace. Ted punches them [[GroinAttack in the groin]].
* On ''Series/{{That 70s Show}}'', after Hyde [[spoiler:sleeps with Kelso's ex, Jackie]], Hyde offers Kelso one free punch as penance.

* This was the trademark of boxer Ricardo Mayorga, who when he wasn't fighting in the ring, was a [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll hard partying]], {{Trash Talk}}ing, AxCrazy bonafide street gangster. Although always part of his schtick, he first became well known for it during his second bout with Vernon Forrest, when he gave Forrest (who was not a light puncher by any means), ''[[https://youtu.be/R9S2eZPxxRo?t=1118 six free shots in a row]]'', with Mayorga nodding, laughing, and inviting Forrest to hit him again in between each pair of punches before Mayorga finally attempted to return fire. Afterward he did the same with most of his opponents, usually taking an opportunity in the first round or two to invite them to hit him with their best shot.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'': Once the player has finished talking to the BigBad Dagoth-Ur, Dagoth-Ur acknowledges the PlayerCharacter as the challenger, and gives them the first blow to begin. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Due to seemingly an oversight in coding however]], he will always attack right after dialogue ends.

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': If you attempt to befriend Undyne, she tries to teach you how to cook like she did with Papyrus. Unfortunately, she causes her stove to overload, which then causes her house to catch fire. When she thinks that you and her are not compatible as friends, she decides that it would be best if you stayed an enemy, like before. She then initiates a battle, and gives you the first strike. Whichever option you pick, you automatically don't have the heart to hit Undyne at full force; any attack only lowers her HP by 1 point, taking only a sliver's worth out of her health bar.

** After Cell evolves into Perfect Cell, he winds up giving Vegeta ''two'' free shots. Cell [[NoSell completely shrugs off]] the first blow and reprimands Vegeta for not hitting him as hard as he could, which Cell had requested. Vegeta unleashes his Final Flash, which is enough to actually do some damage and might even have killed Cell if Cell had taken the blast head on. Unfortunately, the Final Flash only lands a glancing blow on Cell and Cell has [[FromASingleCell an extraordinary healing factor]] that immediately undoes the damage. The rest of the "fight" between Cell and Vegeta [[CurbStompBattle lasts only seconds]].

** One episode features Stewie subjecting Brian to two {{No Holds Barred Beatdown}}s in order to collect on a bet that Brian had made and was making excuses to avoid paying. After the second beating Brian pays but refuses to talk to Stewie any longer. Stewie tries to make up for going overboard on the beatings by offering to let Brian have one free revenge blow. Brian accepts this but tells Stewie that he won't say when it is coming, causing Stewie to [[ParanoiaGambit become paranoid]]. At the very end of the episode, seemingly after everything was wrapped up and forgotten, Brian suddenly pushes Stewie in front of a bus.

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* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': At their first meeting, Toji punches out Shinji over his sister getting injured due to collateral damage from Shinji's battle with the Angel Sachiel. After Shinji saves the lives of Toji and Kensuke during the battle with Shamshel (and after Toji's sister scolds him offscreen), Toji offers to let Shinji punch him back for free as an apology. Shinji decides not to, figuring it'll be more fun if Toji owes him one.