History Series / DeadliestWarrior

** Both sides in the Viking/Samurai had some light teasing, the Samurai expert is a notable subversion of this. It's not entirely clear because the guy never cracks a smile when he makes a joke, so it's difficult to tell whether or not he was serious, or just a very good DeadpanSnarker.
*** He was smirking a few times and works as a comedian outside the show, so I'm gonna have to give the edge to DeadpanSnarker.
----> [+ '''EDGE, DEADPAN SNARKER!!'''+]

*** Not a straight example; the car only expoldes because Pol Pot's man hit the barrel of petrol next to it.

** The Yakuza are portrayed as being trained to show no pain and to show no emotion in the face of enemies.
*** Or when cutting off their own fingers in the face of their own superiors.
** The Spetsnaz's reputation for toughness is demonstrated by one of the soldiers, who allows a martial arts black belt to punch him several times in the stomach--to no effect.
*** This is actually a basic part of the average modern day martial art. It involves hardening your abdominal muscles temporarily right before a punch lands.
** The Shaolin Monk, in the final showdown. Contrasted very nicely with the [[HotBlooded Maori warrior]].
*** Though their experts were almost the complete opposites; one only need to watch the shaolin going completely crazy during the emei piercers demonstration while the maori watched calmly, nodding their heads.

* AndThatsTerrible: When groups such as the Waffen-SS and Iraqi Republican Guard are featured, the narrator and the hosts frequently mention how despicable they are to get the point across that they're not endorsing their ideology or methods in any way.
** Very prominent in the Pol Pot vs Saddam battle, especially since one of the weapon's experts was a defector and another had many in his family killed by his respective leader, so they were under no illusions.

* AntiCavalry: According to Mongol historian Munkhtur Luvsanjambaa, the Mongol's glaive was meant to be used as a tool to kill the enemy's horse and its rider.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted, armor can make or break a fight.
** Most warriors in chainmail however have this trope enforced by the testing of butted chain as though it were riveted.
** In Pirate versus Knight, [[spoiler:the Knight armor was effective against Flintlock Pistols and the Boarding Axe, but penetrated by the Blunderbuss. Also, the armor withstood the shrapnel from the pirate's Grenado, though it was noted he'd still be badly concussed and stunned.]]
** In Alexander vs. Attila, [[spoiler:Attila's leather armor does nothing to prevent Alexander's lance from impaling the dead pig stand-in. On the other hand, Alexander's helmet is effective against Attila's ax, though they don't show any other tests of his armor.]]
** In Shaka Zulu versus William Wallace, the [[BladeOnAStick Iklwa]] goes right through Wallace-era mail armor. Then again, as a stabbing weapon, [[JustifiedTrope it's to be expected.]]
** Excessive emphasis is put on how unbreakable the Spartan's shield is against its opponents. [[spoiler:They're right.]]
** In Azande vs Aztec the [[spoiler: Azande [[AnnoyingArrows arrows]] fail to punch through the Aztec cloth armor, which, traditionally, is specially treated specifically against arrows]].
** In Centurion vs Rajput, [[spoiler: the Rajput's Katar went through Centurion chainmail like it was a t shirt. Likewise, the Centurion's Dolabra did the same thing with the Rajput's armor. However, it was the Katar and the Khanda that won the match for the Rajput in the end.]]
** In Ming Warrior versus Musketeer, [[spoiler: the inability of the 3-barrel pole cannon to pierce the Musketeer's steel breastplate cost it the edge over the Musketeer's wheel-lock pistol, and was also a significant factor in the Musketeer's win in the final simulation as well.]]
** In the "Back for Blood" special, [[spoiler: Samurai vs Spartan, neither warrior's spear could penetrate through the other's armor, making this part of their battle a draw]].
*** Strangely though, [[spoiler: both weapons scored fairly highly in the simulation, particularly the Spartan spear despite the fact that it was broken in the test.]]
** In Comanche vs Mongol, [[spoiler: the Comanche's war lance pierces straight through the Mongol's lamellar armor.]]
** In Joan of Arc vs. William the Conqueror, [[spoiler: Joan's armor blocked William's sword, which had been judged the superior blade in an earlier test. Furthermore, it was judged that although Joan's full plate armor was heavier, it was less restricting on the wearer's movement than William's chainmail (shattering a common CoconutEffect).]]
** In Genghis Khan vs. Hannibal, [[spoiler: the armor proved to be one of Genghis Khan's winning points, with his armor failing less than Hannibal's.]]
** In Ivan the Terrible vs. Hernán Cortés, [[spoiler: the results varied; both could penetrate the other's armor with their firearms and Cortés' alabarda was capable of rendering Ivan's chainmail-and-steel-plate combo useless, but Ivan's bardiche couldn't break Cortés' steel breastplate. Armor ended up being an important advantage for Cortés.]]
** In season 3, this is averted in a general sense; one of the 100+ X-Factors the computer takes into account is Armor Metallurgy.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst:
** Averted in the Green Beret vs. Spetsnaz sim. [[spoiler: The third Green Beret to die, and the seventh overall, is the only black character.]]
** Also averted during French Foreign Legion vs. Gurkhas. [[spoiler: The black legionnaire is the third of his team to die.]]

** PrettyLittleHeadshots are averted. Big time.

* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys: Thoroughly averted, as every French warrior that appears on the show is described and depicted as extremely badass.

* 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]]. UsefulNotes/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]].

** So far averted in Season 3 , with [[spoiler: Saddam Hussein's 56%-44% victory against Pol Pot]] being the widest margin of victory.
** This trope is likely to become much less common in Season 3 overall, since the sample size for the simulations has been increased from 1000 battles to 5000 battles.

** [[spoiler: Averted by the 18th century Pirate, who killed the Knight to steal his treasure]].

** Averted with Joan of Arc vs. William the Conquerer.

* FinalGirl: Averted in the "CIA vs. KGB" simulation, where the female members of both sides are killed in the middle of the fight.
** Also averted during Vampires VS Zombies. [[spoiler: The female vampire goes down 2nd]]
** The last surviving member of the GSG9 is female, however. [[spoiler: And then gets promptly shot down by the last SWAT member.]]

* HornyVikings: Refreshingly averted in Episode 2. The Vikings there all have realistic peaked-cap helms with noseguards. While the trailer for Season 2 showed the Celts with horned helmets, the actual episode featuring them did not.

* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Generally averted in the final showdowns, but sometimes occurs in the re-enactment spots that are shown during the weapon demonstrations.

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Averted. The katana is not granted any more special powers than it demonstrates during testing, and many western swords are shown to be just as lethal. Testing suggested that the katana could cut straight through [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill more than one unarmored body]] in a single swing, but it had absolutely no effect on chainmail.
** Interestingly, this didn't actually stop it from being a highly effective weapon in the sim itself--[[spoiler:it broke 100 kills and even slightly outperformed the Dane axe in its category.]]
** It was shut down pretty hard in Spartan vs. Samurai, though. [[spoiler:15 kills, bettering only its Spartan xiphos counterpart which scored 10 kills.]]

** Averted surprisingly with the REAL Napoleon with Dr. Dorian stating he wasn't that short at a 5'7". He ''did'', however, have a significant size disadvantage against the 6'4" George Washington.

* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Averted in the 3rd Season Finale Aftermath, in which the question of what a zombie-vampire hybrid would be like comes up. The zombie expert, vampire expert, and Dr. Dorian all agree that such a creature [[AntiClimax would just shamble into the sun and die.]] However, Geoff puts forth the possibility that a virus mutation might cause a different, unexpected, and considerably more interesting result.

* RevolversAreJustBetter: In the Back For Blood special, [[spoiler:this is averted. The Webley revolver was matched up against the Makarov pistol; even though the Webley had greater reliability and stopping power, the Makarov was given the edge due to it's higher capacity and faster reload.]] During the final showdown, [[spoiler: when it comes down to a handgun shootout between the two survivors, both run out of ammo at the same time. The Spetsnaz commando was able to reload first and kill the IRA terrorist.]]
** In Jesse James vs. Al Capone, [[spoiler: this is averted again. The Colt 1845 & Peacemaker were put up against the Tommy Gun, and, while both of them were capable of delivering killing blows, the edge was given to the Tommy Gun for its rate of fire and capability of hitting a target with more bullets than the revolvers.]]

* RockBeatsLaser: Mostly averted throughout the show, as the newest and most advanced weaponry almost always wins (much as it does in RealLife). Exceptions are [[spoiler:Shaolin Monk versus Maori Warrior (in the weapons comparisons though not the actual result) and Jesse James' outlaws versus Al Capone's gang.]]
** [[spoiler:The Spartan, an Iron Age warrior, has also consistently performed well outside his technological zeitgeist, beating the steel-using Ninja and Samurai.]]
*** Due in large part to his shield. [[spoiler: The Spartan's shield generated more kills than the Ninja's entire arsenal, and was key in edging out ahead of the Samurai.]]
** [[spoiler: Played straight in "Mongol vs. Comanche". Despite being from a later historical period, the Comanche use weapons which seem more primitive than those wielded by the Mongols. Nevertheless, they come out the victors.]]
** [[spoiler: Played straight in "Teddy Roosevelt vs. Lawrence of Arabia," where Teddy's [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] wins out over Lawrence's Vickers machine gun due to greater reliability.]]

* SingleStrokeBattle: Averted. The show's computer simulates 1,000 battles (5,000 as of the 3rd season) so that the winner is not determined by a single "lucky blow." The choreographed battles always feature the combatants trading blows with all of their weapons before one combatant wins. In the squad battles, it usually comes down to one last man on each side.

** Averted by the winners of Viking vs. Samurai, Maori vs. Shaolin Monk, and George Washington vs. Napoleon Bonaparte:
*** [[spoiler: The Samurai just did a chiburi flick and sheathed his katana.]]
*** [[spoiler: The Shaolin Monk respectfully bows to his fallen foe.]]
*** [[spoiler: Washington just cleaned his sword with a cloth and looked at the sunset.]]

** Averted in Jesse James vs. Al Capone, where [[spoiler:the Bowie Knife being overkill in hand-to-hand combat is one of the main reasons given for their giving the smaller stiletto the edge.]] However, [[spoiler:this does not take in the sim, where the Bowie Knife gets more kills.]]

* TwoOutOfThreeAintBad: Averted in the Dragunov vs. [=HKG3=] test during the second half of the Back For Blood special: [[spoiler: Skoti Collins, one of the IRA, managed to kill 2 out of the 3 targets with the IRA's preferred sniper rifle]]. The good doctor, in response to Collins' statement, said that two out of three might work in sports, but in warfare, it's a different story.

* WorthyOpponent: Ultimately, most of the experts exhibit this towards the end, especially in the Centurion vs. Rajput episode, where both sides would continually give props to the other's weapons and their capabilities.
** Often, the winning warrior in the simulation show some sort of honor to their fallen opponent. Though some show this better than others, and, of course, averted by a few warriors who explicitly ''don't'' show honor to fallen opponents.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Experts Snake Blocker and Zero [[VideoGame/{{Tekken}} Kazama]].
** Also host and computer expert Max Geiger. Anyone with a name like that is clearly either a scientist or a robot.
** Geoffrey Desmoulin's middle name is "Thor." Additional points for having the initials GTD
** There's more from Season 2. One of the Rajput experts is named Gugun Deep Singh. One of the Medellín Cartel's experts is named ''[[Film/TheGodfather Michael Corleone]]'' Blanco.
** In Season 3, one of the Crazy Horse experts is named Moses Brings Plenty.
*** His other expert goes by the name of Delano "Blu" Eagle.
** One of the WEAPONS actually gets one of these. The Ming Warrior's landmine has a proper Chinese name that translates as "Underground Sky-Soaring Thunder".
** For an English speaker, UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler's sword gets a nod. It was called the Kilij, pronounced pretty much phonetically (read: ''kill-age''), and, well, let's just say it lived up to its name.

* KnifeNut: Apaches are portrayed as such. One Gladiator expert remarks upon seeing a knife throw that now the knife can't be used again. Apache expert Snake Blocker insists that Apache warriors would each carry as many knives as would fit on their person; he then proceeds to withdraw several knives from his waistband and various sheaths about his person, including one that was apparently hidden IN HIS HAIR.
** Navy [=SEAL=] Rob Roy fits this when he uses a ''three-inch knife'' to completely destroy a gel torso by disemboweling it, cutting off one of its arms, cutting its head off and ultimately leave the knife sticking straight up out of the neck.

* ProngsOfPoseidon: The Gladiator's trident net is tested against [[spoiler:and given the edge over]] the Apache's knife. In the final simulation, [[spoiler:the trident & net combo proves to be the gladiator's deadliest weapon]].

* GoodOldFisticuffs: Played with in the "Yakuza vs. Mafia" episode. [[spoiler: The nunchaku look impressive, but the baseball bat ultimately delivered a harder hit.]]
** Even though it wasn't mentioned in the episode, Theodore Roosevelt was a champion boxer and black belt martial artist, [[spoiler:against Lawrence of Arabia, it allows him to stun his opponent long enough to finish him off in the simulation.]]

* BaldOfAwesome: Barry Jacobsen's pate is downright [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Picard-esque]].
** Richard "Mack" Machowicz has one too.

* BadassMustache:
** UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler sports one. Also seems to be a requirement for a french musketeer. The Celt also sports quite the badass 'stache.
** One Musketeer was baby-faced. [[spoiler: He dies by headshot, without the facial hair to protect him.]]
** Theodore Roosevelt's is downright amazing.

->''"WHO...IS...'''''DEADLIEST?!'''''"''

Much like the Series/MythBusters ([[{{Dissimile}} except]] [[BloodierAndGorier drenched in]] [[{{Gorn}} gallons of blood]]), these guys approach age-old curiosities from the standpoint of the scientific method. Fighting styles are brought in, demonstrated, and boiled down into data. Weapons are examined by experts in very tightly-controlled tests. Descendants and masters [[TrashTalk argue their case about their strengths and decrying the others' weaknesses.]]

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 Creator/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]].

Plans for a movie based on the series [[http://www.spike.com/blog/deadliest-warrior-is/99844 have been announced.]]

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

** Revealed to be the premise of Vampire vs. Zombies at comicon.

* TakeThat: Several times toward Twilight at their 2011 Zombie vs. Vampire ComicCon panel.
* TakingYouWithMe: In the dramatized Somali Pirate vs. Medellín Cartel battle, [[spoiler:after being shot and [[NotQuiteDead left for dead]] by a Pirate, a Cartel member detonates a nearby car bomb that the shooter had inadvertantly gotten into after seeing the money and drugs in the trunk, killing them both]].

** RealityEnsues: ''It's shown to fracture a skull.''

* UnderdogsNeverLose: RealityEnsues for the most part in this show, but there have been some notable instances where a single weapon helped usher an otherwise-doomed warrior to victory. Examples include [[spoiler:the Shaolin Monk and Theodore Roosevelt]].

* BeeAfraid: 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.

*** FauxActionGirl: The [[spoiler: C.I.A]] female agent got no kills while her counterpart claimed at least 2, unless you see the [[spoiler: dead drop spike as a third kill]].

* AxCrazy: UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler....just, Vlad the Impaler.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deadliestwarrior.jpg]]

*** [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "Lay off the sake, brother!"]]

* BadassGrandpa: Several of the older experts qualify, given that they've usually spent several decades in their field. One notable example: [[TheMafia Thomas freaking Bonnano.]] He has family ties to one of the cornerstone families of the Sicilian Mafia, and knows his way around a [[MoreDakka Tommy gun.]] Even though he appears to be about sixty years old or so, he's not a guy you want to mess with.
* BadassIsraeli: Israeli Commandos.
* BadassLongcoat: The Jesse James gang.

*** It was a tie by any mean between Napoleon and Washington, considering the latter barely won with 50.4%

* {{HSQ}}:[[invoked]] Very high within the show itself, since the hosts gape and gasp after just about every weapon demonstration.
** Shaolin Monk versus Maori Warrior arguably has the biggest moment in the series when the tiny dude takes the Emei piercers to a dummy's head. The smallest person to appear on the show goes to town on the poor piece of ballistics gel, putting over a dozen stabs into the face and skull, including a kick, and finally delivers a hit with enough force to remove most of the head. At one point near the beginning, he stabs into both eyes and pulls them out, ''leaving the eyes on the other side of the piercers for the rest of the fight''. Geiger's reaction?
---> "Holy fuck, man. What the fuck was that?"
** This was even brought up in the aftermath, with several comments essentially going "What the fuck, man? Seriously. What the FUCK?" He explains that, after one of the Maori experts declared the weapons little more than knitting needles, he decided to go all-out to give a full demonstration of what the Emei piercers could do.
** Rob Roy, the Navy [=SEALs=] representative, puts the Shaolin Monk representative to shame with his own moment: going absolutely insane with his tactical knife on a gel dummy. He stabs it in the gut and neck OverNineThousand times, ends up cutting the head and arm off, and then sticks his knife where the head used to be. He also slashed and stabbed the face apart. There's a good reason Max is left standing stunned, mouth agape in shock at Rob's brutality. He was trying to outdo the similar antics of the Ka-Bar wielding Israeli commando, who had started with a lethal neck strike then continued on for disemboweling.
*** Also, if you [[FreezeFrameBonus pay attention to the knife]] just before Rob sticks it in the neck stump, the tip has been broken off of the knife. That is a ''COLD STEEL'' knife, which are billed as "the strongest knives in the world", which was broken by using it for it's purpose (albeit in a hilariously over-the-top manner). Holy Shit indeed.

* TooDumbToLive: In George Washington vs. Napoleon Bonaparte, [[spoiler: only Napoleon and Washington are left, and Napoleon successfully knocks Washington off his horse with his sword. Instead of charging at Washington and attempting to slash him with his cavalry sabre, ''he gets off his horse and runs over to duel him'', which ultimately leads to his demise.]]

** Geoffrey clearly thinks the Navy [=SEALs=] vs. Israeli Commandos match-up is a fight between good guys, as shown in the Aftermath of Comache vs. Mongol. Whether he's right or not is a matter of...[[InternetBackdraft heated debate.]]

* BadassIsraeli: [[CaptainObvious The Israeli Commandos.]]

** Especially [[TropeNamer the Spartan]] [[CaptainObvious experts.]]

* TheCartel: [[CaptainObvious The Medellín Cartel]].

** While this show has been broadcast on TV in Great Britain, it is notable that episodes featuring Irish terrorists have yet to be seen. Your Freedom Fighters Are Our Murdering Terrorist Scum...

* GoodVersusGood: SWAT versus GSG-9.

* WhiteAndWhiteMorality: Geoffrey clearly thinks the Navy [=SEALs=] vs. Israeli Commandos match-up is a fight between good guys, as shown in the Aftermath of Comache vs. Mongol. Whether he's right or not is a matter of...[[InternetBackdraft heated debate.]]
** Also [=SWAT vs. GSG-9=], a battle between two police forces. Hell, they even both specialize in counter-terrorism.

*** [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "Lay off the sake, brother!"]]

** The Aztec Jaguar's macuahuitl is shown to [[IncrediblyLamePun execute]] this, being capable of decapitating a stallion in 3 hits. And there's also the Celt's longsword, which sliced a gel torso's head in half. Finally, we have the CIA's garrote, which consists of nothing more than just 2 small sticks and some [[RazorFloss piano wire]]. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Even that is enough to slice open a torso's throat and decapitate it.]]

-->''Kieron'': I'm Kieron Elliott, and thank you for... [[CrowningMomentOfFunny ah, fuck it.]]