History Series / DeadliestWarrior

*** Depending heavily on the type of weapon used. Chain mail does, of course, provide little defense against stabbing weapons (even riveted mail, if the incoming weapon has a tip thin enough to slip through the rings). William Wallace vs Shaka Zulu showed that, Shaka's ONLY effective weapon was the short thrusting spear. However, the Viking chain mail held up to a strike from a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] without hardly a scratch, due to the katana being a slashing weapon.

[[BloodSport Gladiators]] versus [[InjunCountry Apaches]]. {{Pirates}} versus [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights]]. {{Ninja}}s versus [[ThreeHundred Spartans]]. {{Samurai}} versus [[HornyVikings Vikings]]. [[ZombieApocalypse Zombies]] versus [[SpaceMarine Spacem...]] Uh... [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Never mind.]]

** After the Celtic Longsword [[spoiler:slices a gel torso's head ''in half'']], Armand refers to the head as PacMan.

* BoobsOfSteel: The [[DarkActionGirl female KGB agent]] in the KGB vs. CIA episode.
** JoanOfArc in the Deadliest Warrior Legends game, growing at least 4 cup sizes. She also has literal BoobsOfSteel with rather form-fitting chestplate armor.
* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:How Frank James kills Al Capone. With a WINCHESTER. THROUGH JAIL BARS.]]
** Also how [[spoiler: the Pirate defeats the Knight, with a flintlock shot through the opened visor of his helmet.]]
** And again [[spoiler: in Ming Warrior vs. Musketeer; one of the Musketeers gets shot through the forehead with the Ming Warrior's 3-Barrel Pole Cannon.]]

** [[spoiler: Played straight in JoanOfArc vs William the Conqueror.]]

** Many of the actual historical warriors, were in fact, much smaller dudes. To say the least of JoanOfArc.

** Many of the sims have this scenario, with the simulation of JoanOfArc vs. William the Conqueror being a literal example.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The Zombies from the Season 3 finale. They're your classic Romero-esque shamblers from the likes of ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'' and ''Film/DawnOfTheDead''. While clumsy and slow, they are nonetheless still a threat because they're completely remorseless and fearless in their pursuit of prey. They can infect with a bite, and they can only be killed by removing the head or destroying the brain.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The Vampires vs. [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombies]] match-up in Season 3.

A video game has now been released, where players will be able to make their own fights between most of the Season 1 ancient warriors and a couple of Season 2's. A sequel has followed as well, with the various {{historical domain character}}s from the show being the playable warriors. ChivalryMedievalWarfare has also [[http://tornbanner.com/deadliestwarrior/ announced an expansion to its game made with Deadliest Warrior]].

** A Roman Centurion expert calls one of the Rajput experts a [[{{Xena}} warrior princess]] when they test the chakram.

* BrokenStreak: [[spoiler: Crazy Horse's loss to Pancho Villa has ended the Native American winning streak, which the Apache started and the Comanche furthered.]]

** Season 3 is practically overloaded with authoritative asskickers. Genghis Khan vs. Hannibal Barca, Joan of Arc vs. William the Conquerer, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington vs. UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, Crazy Horse vs. Pancho Villa, Ivan the Terrible vs. Hernán Cortés, Saddam Hussein vs. Pol Pot, and UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt vs. LawrenceOfArabia.

** In UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt vs. LawrenceOfArabia, [[spoiler: the last [[{{Mook}} nameless Rough Rider]] has Lawrence of Arabia, whose armed only with his jambiya dagger, at gunpoint in trench. He immediately runs over to Lawrence and tries to strike him with the butt of his rifle. Predicably, Lawrence dodges and slashes him to death.]]

* Eigen Plot: The battle videos always play out this way. If one group brings along a rifle, a pistol, a knife and a bomb, expect each of these weapons to make exactly one kill. So if a crossbow-wielding enemy is up against someone with a sword, you'll know the swordsman will win if there's already been a recorded crossbow kill for that side.

* BadassMustache: [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] sports one. Also seems to be a requirement for a french musketeer. The Celt also sports quite the badass 'stache.

** Testing what exactly happened when [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] lived up to the nickname with a ballistic gel dummy and a ''lubed'' spike.

* AFateWorseThanDeath: In SunTzu vs. [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]], [[spoiler: Vlad doesn't decapitate Sun Tzu when he has the chance. Instead, he impales him on a wooden stake (I.E. shoving a large wooden stake up his ass, which penetrates his internal organs and comes out his shoulders) leaving him to die a slow, painful death.]]

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: William Wallace versus Shaka Zulu, UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun versus UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, Jesse James' outlaws versus Al Capone's gangsters, [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] versus Sun Tzu. Also, Hannibal Barca vs. UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan has been confirmed for Season 3, William the Conqueror vs. Joan of Arc as has Crazy Horse vs. Pancho Villa, George Washington vs. UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, Saddam Hussein vs. Pol Pot, Lawrence of Arabia vs. UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt and Ivan The Terrible vs. Hernán Cortés.

* LickingTheBlade: [[spoiler: Performed by the Apache after stabbing the Gladiator several times in the throat.]]
** [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] does this in the commercial for his match against SunTzu.

* LightningBruiser: The Samurai in Episode 2. Agile and precise, but armored just as well as his opponent.

* RedHerring: In "SunTzu vs. [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]]", [[spoiler: the expert mentions Sun Tzu would coat the grounds ahead of time with a flammable fluid to make his flaming arrows more effective. It almost makes you think that he is going to use this to defeat Vlad at the last minute.]] Not only that, but [[spoiler:in the same battle, when Vlad pauses before delivering a killing blow to Sun Tzu, he cries out, and you expect him to just drop dead from the poison that got shot into him at the beginning of the fight.]]

* {{Badass}}: The guest experts vouching for each team seem to be chosen based on how badass they are them self. You've got people that are Spetsnaz, SWAT members, practitioners of all kinds of martial arts and more showing up weekly... and that's not even going into the individual Warriors themselves.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Experts Snake Blocker and Zero [[{{Tekken}} Kazama]].

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Al Capone vs. Jesse James, Shaka Zulu vs. William Wallace, Sun Tzu vs. UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, and AttilaTheHun vs. AlexanderTheGreat. All eight incredibly authoritative. All eight incredible asskickers.

* BladeOnAStick: Almost too many to list, the list carrying the following weapons: the Samurai ''naginata'', the Spartan ''dory'' spear, three types of halberds (used by the Knight, UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, and Hernán Cortés), the ''xyston'' of AlexanderTheGreat, the Zande ''makrigga'', the Centurion's ''pilum'' javelin, a Persian spear that didn't have a name attached to it, the Celtic ''lancea'', the Comanche war lance, a Mongol glaive, Genghis Khan's ''jida'' lance, Hannibal's ''soliferrum'' javelin, and Ivan the Terrible's ''bardiche'' poleaxe. Nearly all of them proved extremely effective.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Played straight and averted with some groups. The Spartan and the Shaolin Monk both [[spoiler:had one weapon that got the vast majority of their kills and won them the match]]. AlexanderTheGreat and the Aztec both [[spoiler:had a weapon that got the majority of their kills, but none of the other weapons matched up to the other side in kills]].

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: William Wallace versus Shaka Zulu, AttilaTheHun versus AlexanderTheGreat, Jesse James' outlaws versus Al Capone's gangsters, [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] versus Sun Tzu. Also, Hannibal Barca vs. UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan has been confirmed for Season 3, William the Conqueror vs. Joan of Arc as has Crazy Horse vs. Pancho Villa, George Washington vs. UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, Saddam Hussein vs. Pol Pot, Lawrence of Arabia vs. UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt and Ivan The Terrible vs. Hernán Cortés.

**** BrooklynRage at its finest, my friends.

* EvilVersusEvil: A selling point/set up of some of the shows. Mafia versus Yakuza, Nazi Waffen-SS versus Viet Cong ([[AndThatsTerrible the promo of which says outright they're villains]], [[ViewersAreMorons for fear viewers would think the show's producers thought otherwise]]), Jesse James' outlaws versus Al Capone gangsters, Somali Pirate versus Medellín Cartel, Saddam Hussein versus Pol Pot, and Hernán Cortés vs. Ivan the Terrible.

All of the data is then combined into one-thousand simulated fights (5,000 as of Season 3), and from there a single result is determined and recreated in a dramatic re-enacting. All of this can be seen Wednesdays at 10 PM EST on SpikeTV, or [[http://www.spike.com/show/31082 on the internet at their official site under Full Episodes]], should you live in Canada and the USA [[note]]or use a Proxy located in the USA[[/note]].

** In either a shout out or simple rehash of pre-existing choreography, the Spartan uses Achilles' FinishingMove from ''{{Troy}}'', running toward the Ninja with very long strides and then jumping up and delivering a downward stabbing attack with his spear.

* CelebrityResemblance: Season 2 Somali Pirate rep Abdi Ali. Take away the rocket launcher and the accent, and you've got a near-dead ringer for KanyeWest.

** One of the Rajput team members makes a pun on ''GuitarHero'' after demonstrating the katar.

** After slicing through Roman chain mail with a katar, one of the Rajput experts quips, "I guess that makes me the [[GuitarHero katar hero.]]"

* GenreSavvy: It's usually pretty easy to figure out who will win the final battle based on what they do during the fight. If one side is happily torturing innocents or attempting to shoot unarmed prisoners, it's a safe bet that side will lose. Also note how the side that is acting in self-defense will nearly always come out victorious.

* EverythingsWorseWithBees: In Saddam Hussein vs. Pol Pot, after the dummies are shot in a testing range, they're swarmed with bees. The hosts end up judging the damage from a safe distance.
** They also changed their fake blood formula to prevent future incidents

* GoshHornet: Assessing the ranged weapons for Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein ran into difficulties when a swarm of bees flew in and covered the backs of the final targets. The reason for this, as explained in the episode's Aftermath, is that the artificial blood they've been using was syrup-based, and the bees were attracted to the sweetness. They've since altered the formula to be soap-based instead to avoid another such incident.