History Main / SniperDuel

A Sniper Duel takes the tension in this trope and plays it UpToEleven. Instead of facing off at close range with small handguns, the duelists may be hundreds of yards or even over a mile apart wielding [[SniperRifle high-power rifles]]. Both may be masters of camouflage and/or deception. Sniper duels in fiction can last days or weeks, as each tries to draw the other into a vulnerable position but conceal their own, and often [[SingleStrokeBattle end with a single shot]]. If TheSquad is caught out in the open by an enemy sniper, often their only chance of salvation is a sniper from their team, who will be the only member with the ability to save the day. Note that this is partially [[TruthInTelevision truth in television]], because, as it turns out, the best way to counter a hostile sniper is often times a friendly one, though both sides would probably field more than just a single sniper if they could, so in reality it's more likely to be a sniper team deathmatch instead.

* In ''Manga/ShiroriMajo'', the titular [[GenderFlip White Witch]] UsefulNotes/SimoHayha had a duel with the [[EvilCounterpart Red Witch]] sent by the Russians in the last volume.

* In ''Manga/FireForce'' Takehisa Hinawa of Fire Force Company 8 has a tense ranged duel with the White Clad Archer in an abandoned subway.
* In ''Manga/GoldenKamuy'', Ogata was engaged in a sniper duel. It mostly conformed to the trope, as it was primarily a battle of wits and source for tension.

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Subverted in the fourth episode of ''Manga/DesertPunk'': Kanta is attacked by an enemy sniper and is eager to put to use the sniper rifle he'd spent a large amount of his previous missions earnings on. Said rifle is rendered inoperable by enemy fire the instant he takes aim, forcing him make due with his shotgun for the rest of the battle.

* In ''Shirori Majo'', the titular [[GenderFlip White Witch]] UsefulNotes/SimoHayha had a duel with the [[EvilCounterpart Red Witch]] sent by the Russians in the last volume.

* In the ComicBook/GreenLantern story arc ''The ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'' Green Lantern John Steward engages in a sniper duel with Sinestro Corps member Bedovian. What makes this different from other examples is that they're both using sniper rifles made with their respective power rings, and they're sniping at each other from ''three entire space sectors'' away.

* There was a sniper duel partway through ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' between the SouthernFriedPrivate and a German sniper. By the end of the film, it was clear nothing the Germans had could kill him except [[TankGoodness a much bigger gun.]]
* One of the set-pieces in ''Film/TheHurtLocker'' is built around a sniper duel between the [=EOD=] team and faceless insurgents. Even when the American soldiers succeed in killing their opponents, they have to wait around for hours continuing to watch the enemy bunker to be sure that the other guys are really dead.

* Happens at least once in each of the five ''Film/{{Sniper}}'' movies.

* In ''Film/TheWall2017'', two American soldiers patrolling the deserts of Iraq find themselves attacked by a sniper. Hiding behind an old crumbling wall, they spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out where he is so they can fight back.

* In the Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Sabbat Martyr'', one of the Chaos assassins sent to kill the eponymous Imperial saint. Gaunt instructs his own top sniper, "Mad" Larkin, to keep an eye out for sneak attacks. Naturally, they end up in a duel with one another, although with a twist -- the Chaos marksman is trying to outguess Larkin and stay out of his line of fire long enough to draw a bead on the Saint instead of taking him out directly. He actually manages it, and lines up a shot while out of Larkin's field of view. [[spoiler: Fortunately, Larkin wasn't trying to go one on one; he had distracted the Chaos soldier from the Ghosts' ''other'' elite sniper, Jessi Banda, who shoots him dead JustInTime]].
* James Thayer's White Star is centered around Owen Gray, an ex-Marine sniper who suffered from PTSD in Vietnam after shooting and killing what he believed was a fellow American sniper. In reality [[spoiler: he shot and badly wounded the book's main antagonist, Nikolai Trusov, a Russian who was intent on killing the famous 'White Star,' Gray's nickname among the Vietcong.]] The finale of the book involves a tense sniper duel in a woodland area, including multiple tricks and traps both men employ to draw the other out into the open.
* An assortment of Stephen Hunter's novels and characters have notably done this, perhaps best shown in his long running {{Old Soldier}} Bob Lee Swagger. An interesting case from the novel "I, Sniper" being when he went against four trained snipers armed with years of experience from the war on terror as well as a new smart-rifle system capable of challenging his skill as the third best sniper from the Vietnam war. Sending the enemy into a valley, they tried to set up a flank on his position using both an expert sniper team and a stealth insertion for close range support. The only issue with their plan came when they realized just how good {{Stealth Expert}} Swagger was when he seemed to appear out of thin air in the middle of the valley, right next to the hidden support {{mook}} and had his recently acquired friend, the best sniper of the Vietnam war, take out the sniper team on the opposite side of the valley. The trained professionals and veterans who had spent the last few hours looking for any sign of a sniper and found nothing. Because with some things, {{older is better}} when {{taught by experience}}

* The 2015 NBC TV series ''The Player'' has one in the episode "L.A. Takedown."
* An episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' ends with Gibbs using his sniper skills to take out another sniper who's about to assassinate someone.
* ''Series/FBIMostWanted'': "[[Recap/FBIMostWantedS01E05 Invisible]]" climaxes with a duel between Lt. Weitzen, who is picking off FBI agents from his hide, while Clinton scans the scene through his sight, looking for anything which will allow him to get a fix on Weitzen's position.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' features a lot of sniper dueling, particularly of the spotter-vs-ace variety; you can snipe enemies from a very long distance while sneaking, and they'll spend precious aiming time trying to figure out if you exist. [[AscendedGlitch Yeah, it's that kind of game]]. Unfortunately, once spotted, the enemy bowmen will proceed to go CRAZY PRECISE nuts with their [[AbnormalAmmo ebony]]-[[ArmorPiercing grade]] [[NoKillLikeOverkill arrows]]. Enemy mages also have unusually precise elemental attacks and have cone attacks that go long distances and clip through walls, so you'll need to dodge those.
* Happens, [[JustifiedTrope with good reason]], in the frontlines of ''VideoGame/{{Verdun}}''. Since most of the maps are pretty open, and there are scoped rifle troopers on both sides, it takes some [[ImprobableAimingSkills fancy shooting]] to take out the enemy sniper before he makes ''you'' buy the farm. End result is that there can be a surprising number of ScopeSnipe kills.

* Parts of ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' games, ''especially'' ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', can play out like this, with beam rifle-armed Jackals sniping at you, and you sniping right back. Unfortunately TheComputerIsACheatingBastard -- they [[BottomlessMagazines don't have the limited ammunition]] that you do, and on higher difficulties they can draw a bead on you [[TheAllSeeingAI the moment you stick your head out]]. It's sometimes possible to run up closer and splat the snipers with close-range fire, but that's risky, especially at higher difficulty levels where they can one-shot you.
* ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}} 3 : Destination Berlin'' features a duel in Stalingrad between the playable sniper and a German sniper, in a ShoutOut to ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates''.

* Invoked in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. First time you encounter a sniper, Elizabeth finds a sniper rifle and tosses it to you (though you don't need to take it).
* Dark Pit in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' hides out in two of four locations during his featured chapter, and one of those features him atop a mountain, with a staff (the game's BoomStick equivalent of a rifle) that carries a ''wicked'' range. Naturally, you can pack a staff of your own and snipe him right back.
* It tends to happen annoyingly often in ''VideoGame/{{Xenonauts}}'' if both sides are unwilling to leave their cover. This is actually a poor tactic on the player's part, since aliens have unlimited ammo...

* The Combine Snipers in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' are, ironically, immune to your sniper weapon (a crossbow) and most firearms. However, you can duel them with [[NoKillLikeOverkill the RPG]] to great effect.
* ''VideoGame/SilentScope'' is a series of video games dedicated to sniping, and there are modes for sniper duels with an element of hide and seek.
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has a potential called "Sniper Killer", unique to Cezary Regard, that makes him ideal for facing off against other snipers; with this potential, he can inflict additional damage against enemy snipers.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' features an optional mission on a NewGamePlus that involves fighting a boss while being attacked by a sniper. Once the boss is down, [[TheStraightAndArrowPath Trey gets out his bow]].
* Happens in the background lore for ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''. Ana Amari, the Second Commander of Overwatch and a fantastic sniper, lost a duel against an almost supernaturally skilled [[NebulousEvilOrganization Talon]] sniper. While she could have won and had the sniper in sight, she hesitated when she recognized the shooter as the wife of another Overwatch agent, and, due to light issues with PTSD, couldn't bring herself to end the job. [[HesBack She got better, though.]]
** Actual sniper duels rarely happens in actual gameplay. The best characters to take care of snipers tend to be fast and mobile harassers or assassins, not other snipers. As [[FragileSpeedster Tracer]] demonstrates in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyBUMabtslI Alive]] against Widowmaker (aforementioned Talon sniper). Widowmaker ''does'' get some call out lines referring to this trope, however. On spotting an enemy sniper, she may say, "Sniper. Leave this to me." On scoring a kill on an enemy sniper, she may say, "Heh. Amateur."
* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAlliedAssault'': In the mission "Sniper's Last Stand", [[PlayerCharacter Lt. Mike Powell]] has to make his way through the shelled-out ruins of Landeneau, France, which is crawling with German snipers.
* The ''VideoGame/SniperElite'' series, natch. There's often at least one enemy sniper in each level trying to do to you what [[BoomHeadshot you're doing to his comrades]]. You're free to engage at range and go for a ScopeSnipe... or sneak into their vantage point and [[BackStab backstab them]], if you're feeling crafty.
** Multiplayer matches zig-zag this to hell and back, with up to 12 players possessing the same arsenal they have in singleplayer. Players will often find themselves with a single nemesis after one headshot too many, but it's just as likely that an entire team will be waiting to gun someone down. Free-for-alls can get particularly tense, shifting between individual duels and large-scale [[MexicanStandoff Mexican Standoffs]] depending on how many people are scoping each other out at a given time.

->''Nothing personal, mate. I'm just better.''

* In the ComicBook/GreenLantern story arc ''The ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'' Green Lantern John Steward engages in a sniper duel with Sinestro Corps member Bedovian. It's CrazyAwesome because they're both using sniper rifles made with their respective power rings, and they're sniping at each other from ''three entire space sectors'' away.

Sometimes the duel is used to highlight the differences between two factions (possibly a hero and a villain), where one is a ColdSniper and the other is a FriendlySniper. The characters often possess ImprobableAimingSkills and the fight may end with a [[BoomHeadshot headshot]] and for truly badass characters, a ScopeSnipe. {{Combat Pragmatist}}s who lack either the skill, equipment or patience to engage in a Sniper Duel may instead [[AvertedTrope avert it]] by calling in an [[DeathFromAbove airstrike]] or [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill artillery strike.]]

* ''Manga/{{Golgo 13}}'' has been in a few of these.

-->-- '''The Sniper''' from ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', after winning a duel like this

* Subverted early in ''GIJoeARealAmericanHeroIDW''. Cobra has sent a sniper team to kill Stalker, who's already out in the field. When both he and the Cobra sniper take out each other's spotter, it seems ripe for this. Instead the Cobra trooper sneaks around and tries to confront him at close range.

** Also common in multiplayer across the series, as per ''Team Fortress 2'' below: due to the incredible potency of sniper rifles compared to other weapons, snipers will usually prioritize enemy snipers as targets to try and keep those weapons away from teammates that can't easily retaliate.

* The climax of the action film ''Film/UndercoverVsUndercover'' haS the ActionGirl Eva dueling DarkActionGirl Susan facing each other with sniper rifles, Eva on ground level while Susan is on a platform a few hundred meters above. Susan, remembering her sniper training that "A sniper gauges the distance using their senses instead of sight", instantly broke out of cover with her eyes closed, and fires a shot towards Susan's position - nailing Susan in the forehead.

* ''Film/MysteryRoad'' ends with two in rapid succession (with the victor of the first duel then having to take on a second enemy). In both duels, The two snipers take turns firing at each other, with each adjusting his sights as he sees where his shot hits, and with the first one to correctly zero in destined to be the winner.

* ''Film/MysteryRoad'' ends with a sniper duel between Jay and Pete, with each using their preferred rifle. Jay is at the top of a hill, taking cover behind a fallen tree, while Pete is at the bottom, taking cover behind his crippled truck. They take turns firing at each other, with each adjusting his sights as he sees where his shot hits, and with the first one to correctly zero in destined to be the winner.

* Tends to happen by merit of player judgment in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', where the majority of snipers tend to think their primary targets are other snipers. This strategy has been criticized for making the Sniper class almost totally redundant and contributing very little to the team.
** Not that there is anything wrong with protecting allies by taking out enemy snipers as a sniper. But when they focus entirely on sniping each other, it becomes pointless. 2fort and Turbine are maps infamous for this (and a few other things), since both teams have opposite balconies perfect for sniping connected near-directly to their spawn rooms. These balconies have no areas of cover which protect you from the other balcony and still have a clear shot at the floor below, and the only enemies who are likely to stand on the balconies for extended periods of time are other snipers. Most of the strategically important parts of the maps are enclosed areas where snipers are at a disadvantage... so snipers on these maps never do anything ''but'' duel each other. It doesn't help that often, the best class to counter a sniper is another sniper, given that the majority of classes lack effective long-ranged options and the aforementioned balconies can't be reached easily on foot. This leads to non-sniper players switching over just to handle the sniper who keeps shooting them - needless to say, this snowballs quickly.
** This behavior is somewhat justified. Enemy snipers ''will'' ShootTheMedicFirst and are difficult for most classes to take out- but when they use their scopes they move very slowly and have limited vision, making them extremely vulnerable to you. Also, the enemy sniper is usually aware of this, and will shoot you if you try to focus on anybody else. Once the sniper duel is won, it's an opportunity for the winner to focus on ''everyone else'' while the enemy Sniper respawns.
** Of course, tunnel vision ''also'' makes snipers on the balconies vulnerable to anyone who manages to get the drop on them, like rocket/sticky-jumping Soldiers and Demomen, and the occasional Scout who who has a loadout that can get him up there as well (or simply uses the stairs up to the balcony on Turbine). Oh, and they become an easy target for Spies. The best snipers are significantly more alert to their surroundings, as basically almost every other class can kill a Sniper easily if they get the drop on them, and using a full charge on an enemy Sniper is only worth doing if you're going for a body-shot, as an uncharged headshot will kill them in one hit and Medics rarely overheal Snipers, making it less worthwhile to be scoped in all the time.
** Fortunately, this behaviour is ''significantly more restricted'' on other game modes and maps where the action is often moving around, or where Snipers are significantly more accessible to attack by other classes, making sniper duels more spontaneous for the most part.

* One of the set-pieces in ''Film/TheHurtLocker'' is built around a sniper duel between the [=EOD=] team and faceless insurgents.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' features a variation on this in Part 4. On one side is Jotaro and Josuke standing out in the open, with two Stands capable of launching bullets at lethal velocities with their fingers. Their deadly opponent threatening to melt them into blobs of flesh on the other side? [[MakesSenseInContext A small rat]], which also happens to be a Stand user whose Stand can shoot flesh-melting darts from afar. The conflict plays out much like a sniper duel anyway, due to the former trying to suss out the location of the latter, who has to avoid giving itself away.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' features a variation on this in Part 4. On one side is Jotaro and Josuke standing out in the open, with two Stands capable of launching bullets at lethal velocities with their fingers. On the other... [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext is a rat]], which also happens to be a Stand user whose Stand can shoot flesh-melting darts from afar. The conflict plays out much like a sniper duel anyway, due to the former trying to suss out the location of the latter, who has to avoid giving itself away.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' features a variation on this in Part 4. On one side is Jotaro and Josuke standing out in the open, with two stands capable of launching bullets at lethal velocities with their fingers. On the other is a stand-wielding rat hiding in the grass with an artillery stand that fires flesh-melting darts. The conflict plays out much like a sniper duel anyway, due to the former trying to suss out the location of the latter, who has to avoid giving itself away.