History Main / ThrowingDowntheGauntlet

** Also subverted in the prior book, when Lord Morgarath challenges Halt, whom King Duncan orders not to accept before he can. At this point Morgarath knows he's lost the battle and is fishing for one last chance at revenge. Then played straight when none other than Horace rides in and challenges ''Morgarath'' with a gauntlet to the face.

* In ''Literature/{{Deryni}} Rising'', Charissa literally throws down a mailed gauntlet to interrupt Kelson's coronation and challenge him for the throne of Gwynedd.

** After being accused of treason, the villain of the novel ''Flag in Exile'' challenges his accuser to a trial by combat, reasoning that if his accuser can use ancient laws to accuse him, he can use them to defend himself. He also assumed that Honor Harrington was a novice with no real skill at the swords that were the traditional weapon of choice for such duels. He was very, very wrong.
** Also done in the preceding novel ''Field of Dishonor'' where Manticoran societies dueling practices were both the instigation of the big bad's plot to kill Honor and the final resolution where she gets him on the field. Much like the ''Flag in Exile'' example, people who end up across a dueling field from her tend to wind up leaving the field in a body bag.

* Mandorallen formally challenges another Mimbrate knight in ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', who insulted Mandorallen's Asturian friend. After a [[IShallTauntYou lengthy insinuation of the other's parentage]], he makes the challenge by throwing his gauntlet... [[GloveSlap into the challenged knight's face.]] [[CurbStompBattle And then proceeds to humiliate and thoroughly defeat him]].

When the recipient of the challenge is a parent, mentor, or other authority figure, this is CallingTheOldManOut. If the one being challenged is vastly above the challenger's level and fully capable of squashing him like a bug, it may resemble SmiteMeOMightySmiter. If the character is particularly angry, they may say "PrepareToDie". If the character does it ''every time'' they begin a fight, it's InTheNameOfTheMoon. If the challenge was unintended, it's FumblingTheGauntlet. When the gauntlet is a microphone and the challenger is implicitly challenging anyone to respond to what they've just said, it's a MicDrop.

* In ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'', Peter delivers a formal challenge to King Miraz, in which he [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking establishes his credentials as High King]], lists the crimes for which he plans to hold Miraz accountable, declares his intention to "prove upon your Lordship's body" Caspian's rightful claim to the throne, and concludes by giving the year as the first year of Caspian's reign as though his victory is a forgone conclusion. This is at least in part to make the challenge [[RefugeInAudacity so outrageous]] that Miraz ''has'' to accept.

* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "Knives", a disgraced noble challenges Londo Mollari to a duel by stabbing a kutari (a Centauri shortsword) into a table and announcing his intentions in no uncertain terms. Mollari (who is familiar with this type of challenge) accepts by pulling the sword out.
** It's not so much general Centauri tradition but specifically that of the unit where both of them served.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': Used for a VisualPun in "Power". When Avon challenges the leader of a primitive tribe, he uses as his choice of weapon an actual gauntlet... which he then uses to pick up a [[LowCultureHighTech live heliofusion rod and disintegrate the other guy's sword]].

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* ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'':

* In ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Motoyasu delivers a direct challenge to Naofumi after the first wave of monsters is defeated, having learned that Naofumi had been using the slave Raphtalia to fight his battles for him.

* ComicBook/TheJoker calls Franchise/{{Batman}} out via a TV broadcast in ''Film/Batman1989''.

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* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** After [[CurbStompBattle stomping out]] the rest of [[ Starfleet]], the Borg are on their way to finish off Earth. They are intercepted by the Enterprise, a ship they nearly destroyed and whose captain they kidnapped. The ship arrives with the sole purpose of ''daring'' the Borg to attack them.
--->'''Locutus:''' There are no terms. Surrender your vessel and escort us to [Earth]. If you attempt to intervene... we will destroy you.\\
'''Captain William Riker:''' Well then... take your best shot, Locutus, because we're ''about'' to intervene.
** Naturally, for a race that [[ProudWarriorRace prides itself on warrior honor]], the Klingons have at least three different ways of doing this shown in the series:
*** Smacking or punching another Klingon in the face is usually a sign of dominance and will not result in anything worse than a punch to the face in return, but smacking him with the back of the hand is a challenge to a duel to the death. Captain Sisko found this out in the [=DS9=] episode "Apocalypse Rising"; thankfully for him the recipient was Worf, while training them to infiltrate Klingon territory. Aware of Sisko's mistake, Worf didn't accept.
*** Taking one's dagger and plunging it into a table between oneself and another Klingon is another challenge to a duel to the death, as seen in the [=DS9=] episode "Sons and Daughters". Luckily for [[spoiler:Alexander Rozenkho]], who knew damn well what he was doing, the recipient of the challenge, also Worf, declined to kill him.
*** Finally, a challenge can be done simply by telling the other Klingon, often times challenging his fitness to lead other warriors. Worf got involved in this twice, once as part of a gambit to reignite the fire for combat in Martok, and another to [[spoiler:kill Gowron, leader of the Klingons, and install Martok in his place.]] Riker also pulled this off in the TNG episode "A Matter of Honour", which ended non-fatally.
* This is fairly commonplace on BBC's ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' and has, in fact, been the driving force behind several episode plots. Usually the issue addressed is Arthur's HonorBeforeReason attitude. In many cases, it ''literally'' involves throwing down a gauntlet.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Crownies}}'', Richard does this to Tatum by pulling off a pair of imaginary gloves.
* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "Knives", a disgraced noble challenges Londo Mollari to a duel by stabbing a kutari (a Centauri shortsword) into a table and announcing his intentions in no uncertain terms. Mollari (who is familiar with this type of challenge) accepts by pulling the sword out.
** It's not so much general Centauri tradition but specifically that of the unit where both of them served.
* Riley and Jonesy the hockey players from ''{{Series/Letterkenny}}'' have a tendency to do this whenever they cross paths with Wayne and Daryl, though the latter two usually convince them not to or just make them so mad that they leave. In "Hockey Players" they do throw down baseballs gloves to show they mean business. They also mention this being done on their behalf by a family member or first date after somebody insults them, and they're not too keen on actually going through with it.
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Used for a VisualPun in "Power". When Avon challenges the leader of a primitive tribe, he uses as his choice of weapon an actual gauntlet! Which he then uses to pick up a [[LowCultureHighTech live heliofusion rod and disintegrate the other guy's sword]].
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** Immediately after the lead Yuuri becomes [[AccidentalMarriage accidentally engaged]] to [[{{Bishounen}} Wolfram]] by way of slap, [[RoyalBrat Wolfram]] knocks a bunch of cutlery to the floor in a rage, and Yuuri kneeling to pick it up provokes a malevolent chuckle of victory: [[DistressedDamsel he]] just formally agreed to an honor duel.

* In the finale of ''Film/{{Commando}}'', [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger John Matrix]] gets Bennett to release his daughter by appealing to his inner KnifeNut and challenging him to a knife duel.

* In ''Roleplay/TheDaoOfTheAwakened'' Song Chyou challenges Ling Daiyu to a duel by insulting and slapping her.

* Bound to happen in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' when there are [[FeudalJapan Kuritans]], [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Clanners]], or (some of the more honorable) [[KnightInShiningArmor Mercenaries]] around.

* England's last ''legal'' occurrence of this was in 1818, in the famous case of ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashford_v_Thornton Ashford v Thornton]]''. Thornton was tried for murdering Ashford's sister and, after proving an alibi, was acquitted. Ashford was talked into demanding a private murder retrial. However, there was an ancient, very rare option for the defendant in such cases. The defendant (barring certain exceptions, which didn't apply here), could demand a trial by combat. Thompson demanded such a trial, throwing down a gauntlet having been brought to him, and Ashford backed down. [[ObviousRulePatch The law was changed to make trials by combat formally illegal.]]

* Near the end of Inazuma arc in ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'', The Traveler confronts the agent who's responsible for the unrest across the land. The agent mocks The Traveler and reminds them that they're a nobody and a wanted criminal at that. Recounting all the atrocities done through the agent's manipulation, The Traveler then challenges her to a [[DuelToTheDeath Duel Before the Throne]], where status does not matter, and the loser is instantly executed.