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| 10 | [[quoteright:293:[[ComicBook/DoctorStrange https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mordo_2653.jpg]]]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ->''"Wizard fight... Wizard fight!"'' |
| 13 | -->-- '''Henry''', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' |
| 14 | |
| 15 | A Wizard Duel (also Wizard's Duel or Wizardly Duel) is when two (sometimes more) characters with magical or magic-like powers ([[MagicAIsMagicA spells]], usually) battle each other using them. A trope found mostly in {{Fantasy}}, though it may apply to characters with magic-like powers of other genres. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | If both the heroes and villains [[TokenWizard have a wizard]] on their side, you can be assured this will happen at some point. Usually at or near the story's climax, probably because such a battle tends to be [[SpecialEffects visually impressive]]. Of course, if the protagonist of the series ''is'' the sorcerer, then it happens all the time, since MagicMustDefeatMagic. The battle doesn't have to be between enemies; it can occur between friends or rivals, a master and his apprentice, and so on. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Sometimes, there are specific rules that have to be followed in the duel, especially if both characters belong to a special caste or organization. Of course, if one of the participants is dishonorable, [[LoopholeAbuse expect him or her to cheat]]. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | If such rules prohibit direct attacks on each other, or the work's demographic [[NonLethalWarfare would make serious violence inappropriate]], or the duel is just more of a [[TheRival friendly rivalry]] than an all-out fight, the participants may limit themselves to ostentatious spell contests instead. In this case, AnythingYouCanDoICanDoBetter, can mean something like "any fish you can [[SummonMagic summon]], I can summon [[SummonBiggerFish bigger]]," if you will, and then they might have the "fish" fight on their behalf. [[OlderThanFeudalism This kind of duel goes right back to]] Literature/TheBible, [[OlderThanDirt if not earlier]]. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Curiously, one trick rarely used is [[LogicalWeakness to magically silence the opponent]]. This may be because it would make the duel too easy... or because an unspoken assumption of the setting is that it would not actually ''work''. (Not all magic depends on [[CallingYourAttacks incantations]], and as long as the caster isn't physically prevented from speaking in the first place an invocation's effectiveness rarely seems to depend simply on how ''loud'' it is, or perhaps all competent magi have some defense against such spells.) One exception is in RolePlayingGames, where Silence spells are [[StatusEffects fairly common]]. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | If the win condition involves the death of an opponent, see DuelToTheDeath. If the magic users are specifically using VoluntaryShapeshifting spells to get the upper hand, it's a ShapeshifterShowdown. When you've got full armies of wizards going at each other, it's a WizardsWar. |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Examples: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 32 | %% * Just about any fight that's happening on ''Manga/FairyTail''. |
| 33 | * Battles in ''Manga/FrierenBeyondJourneysEnd'' are predominately magical, given two of the protagonists are an elven mage and her human apprentice. In general, mages of the setting tend to master one signature spell or field (solid illusions, paralysis, hair manipulation, etc.) to compliment "basic" offensive and defensive spells, though masters like Frieren and Denken naturally know several powerful spells (Demons, meanwhile, go into CripplingOverspecialization by honing one spell, and one spell alone, to supposed perfection). Indeed, one of the most spectacular duels is when Frieren fights [[spoiler:a magically created replica]], leading to the two unleashing successively larger spells in an attempt to overpower each other [[spoiler:until Fern simply uses her talents as a fast-firing stealth mage to ambush it with boring, basic offensive magic]]. Creator/{{Madhouse}}'s adaptation in 2023 added even more flair with elaborate animation and OrchestralBombing. |
| 34 | * Shouta gets challenged to a magic duel by a bully during the mage exam arc in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid''. [[CurbStompBattle He takes them out in about three seconds by teleporting behind them and casting a sleep spell]]. |
| 35 | * As Ninjutsu in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' progressively establishes itself as MagicByAnyOtherName, with a fairly elaborate [[MagicAIsMagicA rules and complexity system]], the battles become more and more arcane as the manga goes on. The FinalBattle is essentially a contest of energy attacks, shapeshifting, summon magic and reality warping; and the fight with the PostFinalBoss is more of the same, only with CombatBreakdown at the end once the combatants have exhausted all their [[{{Mana}} chakra]]. |
| 36 | * In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', wizardly battles handle mostly like an [[ActionGame Action]] [=RPG=]. In particular, [[MagicalIncantation Invoked]] spells can be held for 20 second, simple spells can be thought, and some spells can be activated within another spell already active. This makes for some interesting strategies for piling spells atop each other, leaving the only limitation up to the magic-users magic pool. |
| 37 | * Lina Inverse vs. Vrumugun, Zelgadiss vs. Copy Rezo in the first season of ''Literature/{{Slayers}}''. The later seasons did not involve enemy wizards or sorcerers, they [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil moved on]] to DemonLordsAndArchdevils, {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and so on. |
| 38 | * ''Manga/ZatchBell'' is about a series of Wizard Duels between 100 children to decide the next ruler of the Demon/Mamodo World. Combines this with the [[{{Mon}} Mon Genre]], given the Demon/Mamodo children have human partners that read their spells from their spellbook to activate their powers. |
| 39 | * Unsurprisingly since the main characters are mages, the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' series has quite a few. The big, decisive battles for the seasons are often such, such as Nanoha vs Fate and Nanoha vs [[spoiler:[[BrainwashedAndCrazy Vivio]]]]. |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[/folder]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Card Games]] |
| 44 | * The very purpose of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' is to simulate a Wizard Duel. Depicted and encouraged in [[http://magiccards.info/query?q=%21Arcane+Melee&v=card&s=cname Arcane Melee]] by making spells easier to cast for everyone. |
| 45 | -->'''Flavor text:''' ''Debates between wizards are never purely academic.'' |
| 46 | * Considering Duel Monsters was originally a BlandNameProduct for ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', it's unsurprising that ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' was very similar to the earlier game. It would take a good number of releases before it became a truly different game. |
| 47 | * Another collectible card game with the same concept is ''TabletopGame/MagiNation,'' with the same beast-summoning spell-hurling gameplay. |
| 48 | * The entire conceit of ''Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards'' is assembling spells from various ludicrously named component cards and killing your rival wizards with them. For a ''very'' loose definition of the word "wizard". |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 52 | * Marvel's ComicBook/DoctorStrange has participated in many wizard's duels, considering that he is Sorcerer Supreme and the majority of his enemies are either rival wizards like Baron Mordo (as pictured in the page image) or extradimensional wizard-gods like the Dread Dormammu and Nightmare. |
| 53 | %% * As is his Creator/DCComics counterpart, ComicBook/DoctorFate. |
| 54 | * Battles between the upper-level mutants in the Marvel Universe tend to play out this way, especially when uber-telekinetics, powerful energy projectors or Omegas are involved. Fights between ultimate enemies and heroes empowered at the last second to fight them also become as spectacular. There are even occasions where both sides have weaknesses that they try to avoid or exploit and the outcome is decided when someone gets lucky with the 'rules'. |
| 55 | * In Stephanie Brown's ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl|2009}}'' series, when Stephanie unintentionally insulted the bonnet-making-craftmanship of a witch in Limbo Town she is challenged to a standard duel, to be conducted per the guidelines set in Alchan's Book of the Damned, Third Edition, Twice Removed. Stephanie opens the duel with "[[TalkToTheFist accio fist]]," though she admits afterwards that "[[Literature/HarryPotter accio face]]" would be the more accurate description. |
| 56 | * Amusingly subverted in ''[[ComicBook/TheMultiversity Society of Superheroes: Conquerors of the Counter-World #1]]''. The issue appears to set up a MirrorMatch between Doc Fate and Doctor Faust, but when Faust shows up before Fate, [[spoiler:Fate just kicks him in the balls and drags him away]]. |
| 57 | * Also subverted in a ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' comic, where Nightshade and Incubus get into a standard wizard duel [[spoiler:only for Deadshot to abruptly shoot Incubus in the head, killing him instantly.]] |
| 58 | * The Dynamite comic ''ComicBook/TheBloodQueen'' sees the witch main character Elizabeth battle the CourtMage in a magic duel so no one will stand in her way of taking over the kingdom. |
| 59 | * Alley-Kat-Abra of ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' has gone toe-to-toe with a variety of wizardly foes in classic duels, including Salvadore Doggi and the Great Gnudini in her solo stories and Feline Faust in a pseudo-crossover with the [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]] (Just'a Lotta Animals). |
| 60 | * ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': Tim ends up stuck in the middle of a fight between ComicBook/KlarionTheWitchBoy and a criminal from Limbo Town. Tim notes he's way out of his depth and things have gotten incredibly weird in record time seeing as Klarion's opponent is fusing magical creatures together to make a giant monster. |
| 61 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Circe fights the White Magicia in #100, but unfortunately her clinging to and recent transition from her mortal Donna Milton persona greatly weaken her despite her superior magical knowledge. As a result, her biggest contribution is teleporting his brainwashed and magically enhanced mooks away, while implying the magic he's using is going to kill him soon anyway. She's not wrong, but he manages to finish off ComicBook/{{Artemis}} before he dies from a combination of his magic and Diana beating him to death. |
| 62 | * ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'': The final issue of ''The Deadly Art of Sicence'' sees Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison blasting each other with lightning. Though the source of their power is [[DoingInTheWizard more technological in nature]], Edison still makes the analogy of 'blasting each other like wizards'. |
| 63 | * The first volume of ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' has a variant of this crossed with ShapeshifterShowdown. Main character [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Dream of the Endless]] challenges a high ranking demon named Choronzon to "the Oldest Game" in order to get back his helmet. The challenge plays out as a competition where each character essentially shifts into different forms to counter the other, describing how their new form will do so. It's essentially a game of wits that is over when one person can't think of a way to counter the other's latest form. |
| 64 | * In ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' story "Sagratamabarb", Gargamel duels with his titular cousin when he magically copies Gargamel's house on Gargamel's own property, and Gargamel tries to destroy it, only to find out that destroying the copy also causes damage to his own house. Gargamel makes a DealWithTheDevil that if Beelzebub would give him the victory, he could have Gargamel's soul as his prize. Though Beelzebub is chased off by a centaur summoned by his cousin, he still soldiers on and calls upon all the powers of darkness to defeat his cousin. Eventually Gargamel wins, [[PyrrhicVictory though it not only costs him his house, it also costs him his eternal soul, as Beelzebub shows up at the end to claim his prize.]] |
| 65 | * In ''ComicBook/EightBillionGenies'', two wish-proofed enclaves engage in a wish war against each other. This consists of a '''rapid''' depletion of genies on both sides, as each attacking wish is met with a counter-wish that nullifies its effects. The war ends in less than a minute, and the survivor is left with only ''three'' genies remaining. |
| 66 | * ''ComicBook/{{Shadowpact}}'': In issue #2, Enchantress engages her EvilCounterpart Strega in a magical duel. Strega wins and captures Enchantress but the next issue reveals the Enchantress wasn't actually trying to win the duel; she knew Strega outmatched her and was instead studying her magic to see how her spell on the town could deactivated. |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 70 | * ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': Played with, and usually played for laughs. |
| 71 | ** Dumbledore and Grindelwald's legendary duel is mentioned. Also mentioned is a previous duel between Doctor Strange and Grindelwald, the latter having become equivalent to a [[PhysicalGod Greater God]] via a DealWithTheDevil or half-a-dozen. The duel itself all but levelled Berlin and left Grindelwald in an exhausted heap, [[BroughtDownToBadass reduced to "just" his native magical powers]]. Strange, by all accounts, quite literally strolled away whistling, leaving him on a plate for Dumbledore. |
| 72 | ** In chapter 60, Loki, hunting Death Eaters, notes that when people think of wizard duels, they imagine bursts of multi-coloured power, StuffBlowingUp, and maybe a ShapeShifterShowdown. |
| 73 | --->[[LemonyNarrator Transforming opponents into stone statues is a classic, and much applauded, though it is usually expected after a long and exhausting duel. It adds a certain mystique to the battlefield. Shrinking them down and pocketing them, however, does not. The amount of fucks that were given by Loki at this point coincidentally happened to be exactly zero.]] |
| 74 | ** And in the middle of the BigBadassBattleSequence in the finale of the first book, Strange does this again, this time against EvilSorcerer Gravemoss, already a Loki-level {{Necromancer}} before he'd got hold of [[TomeOfEldritchLore the Darkhold]]. He comfortably holds his own, ''while simultaneously'' using AstralProjection to give [[spoiler: Jason Todd]] a RousingSpeech to get him to complete his HeelFaceTurn and take up [[spoiler: ''Fidelacchius'', the Sword of Faith]]. Once that's finished, he returns to his body and [[CurbStompBattle utterly crushes Gravemoss]]. |
| 75 | ** Harry Dresden and Carlos Ramirez get into one in the sequel with Voldemort. Who swats the former like a fly and spends the entire time toying with Dresden and rifling through his brain for useful information until Dresden gets lucky and manages to hurt him. Cue an enraged Voldemort [[LetsGetDangerous cutting the crap and almost killing Dresden in about three seconds flat]], only being prevented by Wanda's intervention. |
| 76 | ** Prior to the above, Wanda ends up in a full on sorcerous slugging match with Cowl, an exceptionally powerful necromancer. It's very even, forcing him to sucker-punch her, and her to resort to risky tactics to disrupt his rite of ascension, whereupon he [[KnowWhenToFoldEm decides to]] [[VillainExitStageLeft cut his losses]]. |
| 77 | ** In ''Unfinished Business'', the sequel's side-story, Strange eventually gets in a vicious duel with [[spoiler: Nimue]], who's amped up with the full power of Project Pegasus, making her a godlike repository of magical power. Unfortunately for her, Strange has spent ''eons'' fighting beings like her, and thanks to her successful psychological warfare, is ragingly pissed off. This results in a brutal duel which is mostly her trying to survive as he beats the pants off her. |
| 78 | * ''Fanfic/DuelNature'': The most important WizardDuel happens between Twilight Sparkle and Luna, a sparring match that quickly goes out of control when Twilight attempts to make up for the difference in strength with psychological warfare after finding out that Luna [[DontYouDarePityMe hadn't been trying at all in their fight]], repeatedly pushing Luna's BerserkButton in hope of breaking her concentration. |
| 79 | * ''Fanfic/GuardiansWizardsAndKungFuFighters'': |
| 80 | ** As per ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' canon, there's several magical fights between Uncle and Daolon Wong. Results vary depending on the fight. |
| 81 | ** In Chapter 22, Nerissa decides that Wong is a threat to her plans and [[EvilVersusEvil takes him on]], leading to a clash of her Raw Magic against his Chi Magic, with both also using the Talisman powers they stole earlier in the story. It ends with a draw. |
| 82 | ** Chapter 24 sees Wong finally make [[TheStarscream his move against Phobos]], leading to a magical throwdown between them. [[spoiler: Wong wins, only to be backstabbed by Miranda and Roberta, allowing Phobos a chance to take back the upper hand.]] |
| 83 | * ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'' features some of these. Friendly examples (which Quirrell disparages as a sport) include Daphne challenging Neville to a duel when he and Harry attack her mock-army -- hostile examples include Quirrell vs. Auror Bahry. |
| 84 | * ''Fanfic/TheMoonstoneCup'': The story centers around Twilight Sparkle being invited to and participating in a major formal wizard ''tournament'' -- in which more than just ponies compete for the eponymous prize and not everyone looks too kindly on her being chosen as the Element of Magic. |
| 85 | * ''Fanfic/MyChoicesTwistedTalesThroughTime'': In the past, insults and feuds among wizards were resolved using duels of magic, where the two individuals faced off and went at each other with their full magical power, sometimes resulting in grievous injuries for one or both participants. By the present day they're long since outlawed and viewed as a barbaric custom, leaving Twilight rather flat-footed when, while newly stuck in the past, she accidentally insults Starswirl V and finds herself challenged to such a duel. |
| 86 | * ''Fanfic/ThePowersOfHarmony'': Twilight and Trixie engage in one when they confront each other in the Hollow Shades. Thanks to the combat spells learned from her Guards, Twilight eventually overpowers Trixie, only for Trixie to retaliate thanks to the power of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Alicorn Amulet]]... until she realizes it's corrupting her and fights it, which causes her to pass out. |
| 87 | * ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': |
| 88 | ** [[VillainProtagonist Jade]] and [[OldMaster Uncle]] engage in a BeamOWar style one when Uncle shows up to prevent Jade from stealing the Oni masks and the Talismans from the Vault in Section 13. She manages to hold the advantage for about ten seconds before he pushes her back and [[CurbStompBattle defeats her]]. |
| 89 | ** Jade engages in another one with Tohru during the fight in the Hall of Ice. And by this point, Jade's [[TookALevelInBadass powers have increased]] to the point that the only reason she loses is because [[spoiler:the homunculus she summoned turns on her]]. |
| 90 | * ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K'' had a spectacular battle between Shinji and Kaworu. True, no actual magic was involved -- but Shinji's godlike expertise with psychics and AT-field manipulation was utterly awesome. |
| 91 | * ''Fanfic/ThisPlatinumCrown'': Unicorn nobles have these when they have a dispute they cannot otherwise peacefully resolve. First a time, a place, and a type of weapon (a variety of baked good) are selected and treated with a contact sedative. Then, each unicorn attempts to cream the other with said baked good until either one hits the other, humiliating them, or each pony runs out of ammo. If both run out of cake, cupcake, pie, or what have you, then they can either decide to walk away amiably with their honor sufficiently defended, or go for a duel ''[[DuelToTheDeath à outrance]]''. In the second case, they then go at each other with every magical ability they can call up, and keep at it until one party surrenders, is too incapcaitated to continue, or dies. |
| 92 | * In [[https://www.deviantart.com/slifofinadragon/art/Finally-Home-Ch-3-Pt-2-873519928 chapter 3 part 2]] of [[https://www.deviantart.com/slifofinadragon/ SilfofinaDragon]]'s ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' fanfic ''Finally Home'', sorceress Kyogoku Maria has one with Kagehime (the daughter of the late UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi and Nene). |
| 93 | %%* ''Fanfic/{{Webwork}}'': Daolon Wong challenges Uncle to one of these after his escape from prison. |
| 94 | [[/folder]] |
| 95 | |
| 96 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 97 | * ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' features the titular Jafar - now a genie - and the other, blue-er genie having one of these over the course of the VillainSong "You're Only Second Rate", with the two constantly changing themselves and each other into various forms, until finally, [[spoiler: Jafar emerges victorious]]. |
| 98 | * In the Disney version of ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'', Merlin and Madam Mim hold a ShapeShifterShowdown, complete with cheating and [[LoopholeAbuse creative twisting of the rules]]. [[DiscussedTrope They actually use the words "Wizard's Duel"]]. |
| 99 | * Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Wizards}}''. Avatar and Blackwolf plan to have one, but [[spoiler:[[CombatPragmatist Avatar simply pulls out a pistol and shoots Blackwolf instead]]]]. They did play it straight in the backstory, complete with ShapeShifterShowdown. Avatar won. |
| 100 | [[/folder]] |
| 101 | |
| 102 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 103 | %% * At the end of ''Film/{{Willow}}'', a duel takes place between Fin Raziel and Queen Bavmorda. |
| 104 | * Craven and Scarabus undergo a seemingly formal duel of wizards at the end of ''Film/{{The Raven|1963}}'', mostly involving waving their hands while sitting on their comfortable chairs, summoning snakes and levitating and flinging magical missiles. |
| 105 | * ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina''. The magicians Egg Shen and Lo Pan have a BeamOWar battle in the middle of the grand melee at Lo Pan's wedding. The duel is inconclusive, though Lo Pan seems to claim victory. At the very least, he claims that Egg Shen could never beat him. |
| 106 | %% * There's one in ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer'', although it's less impressive than most as the combatants fight over a closing door. |
| 107 | * Just about any one-on-one fight in ''Film/HarryPotter'' qualifies, although for the most part they are even more mundane than in the books, and wands could be replaced with multi-set ray guns for all the wizardry involved, especially in the last movies, where it's basically "VideoGame/CallOfDuty", cover-based combat and all (probably to facilitate the production of the tie-in games). |
| 108 | ** Dumbledore and Voldemort's battle in ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' is a much more traditional example than most in the movies, with moves like turning glass shards into powder and manipulating water. |
| 109 | * In ''Film/InTheNameOfTheKing: A Dungeon Siege Tale'', Merrick duels with [[BigBad Gallian]] as a distraction for [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Farmer's]] infiltration. It pretty much involves multiple swords dueling in mid-air, while the two magi are talking. [[spoiler:Muriella]] does this later with Gallian with a [[KillItWithFire flame]] spell, providing Farmer another distraction to move in for the kill. |
| 110 | * Yoda and Palpatine's battle in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' is half lightsaber-fight and half this trope. |
| 111 | * In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Yoda and Dooku have a telekinesis-and-Force-Lightning wizard's duel, before fighting it out with lightsabers. |
| 112 | * ''Film/NightWatch'' has Anton and Zabulon on a rooftop... dueling with a sword and a halogen lamp instead of spells. To be fair, though, Zabulon at that point would've wiped the floor with Anton if it came down to a standard WizardDuel. |
| 113 | * Gandalf versus Saruman in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing''. [[AdaptationExpansion Does not happen in the book.]] |
| 114 | ** Though he does battle the Witch King (to a draw) on Weathertop in ''Fellowship of the Ring'', seen from afar by the hobbits. |
| 115 | ** Also, Gandalf versus the Balrog is at least implied in the first film. [[AdaptationExpansion DOES happen in the book]] in which an exhausted Gandalf states that he put a shutting-spell on the door. In the film the Balrog apparently can't follow them directly and takes another path, rather shaking things up as he does, implying that Gandalf (who does look pretty haggard by then) did ''something'' to impede him. |
| 116 | ** He also gets into one with the Witch King in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing''...and ''loses''. The only reason the Witch King doesn't kill him is TheCavalry arrives, and he leaves to deal with it. [[AdaptationExpansion In the book, the arrival of Rohan prevents the duel from actually taking place]]. |
| 117 | ** Also, for a given definition of "wizard", his battle with [[spoiler:Sauron]] in ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug''. Definitely the most epic (and most horrifying) so far. |
| 118 | ** Galadriel vs [[spoiler:Sauron]] in ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'', trumps all previous examples in terms of epicness and [[HamToHamCombat hamminess]]. |
| 119 | * In ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'', the climax does this twice in succession with different twists: |
| 120 | ** The first is actually a subversion, as Oz [[LateArrivalSpoiler doesn't have actual magic]], just cleverness and special effects. He's still able to use this to ''appear'' like he's shrugging off everything Wicked Witches West and East can throw at him and manages to scare them both off. Evanora (Wicked Witch of the East) retreats to her throne room, where... |
| 121 | ** Glinda the Good Witch of the South is waiting for her. They proceed to have an ''actual'' Witch Duel, culminating in Glinda breaking Evanora's power and banishing her from the Emerald City. |
| 122 | * Happens in ''Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters'' between the evil witch queen and a good witch [[spoiler:who happens to be Hansel's LoveInterest. Unfortunately, the good witch is killed]]. |
| 123 | * ''Film/DoctorMordrid'': In the climax of this film (loosely based on ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange''), the heroic sorcerer Mordrid and the villainous sorcerer Kabal do battle in the halls of the Museum of Natural History. Further complicated because Mordrid is only present through an astral projection, so Kabal can't assault him directly while Mordrid can do everything right back to him. This prompts Kabal to animate a UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex skeleton and have it attack random people to make Mordrid back off, but Mordrid fights fire with fire by similarly animating a ''Mastodon'' skeleton to hold off the dinosaur while he deals with Kabal. |
| 124 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': |
| 125 | ** Curiously, there aren't any proper wizards' duels in ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', given that most of the combat involves a mixture of martial arts and close-quarters spells; the nearest equivalent is the brief siege of the Sanctum Sanctorum, with the hopelessly-outmatched Doctor Strange himself attempting to fend off Kaecilius with a mixture of magic artifacts around the building, and Kaecilius retaliating by [[RealityWarper warping space]] in order to slow Strange down and tip him off balance. |
| 126 | ** Hilariously subverted in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. Strange drops [[MagicKnight Loki]] into another dimension for about half an hour so he has time to talk with Thor about Odin. When he finally brings Loki back, Loki is furious and quite ready to throw down... so Strange immediately teleports both Thor and Loki to Norway, avoiding a battle. |
| 127 | ** Doctor Strange gets a much more conventional wizard's duel with [[EvilGenius Ebony Maw]] in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', with Strange finally getting to show off the magic he's spent the last few years mastering, and Maw using his [[MindOverMatter telekinetic powers]]. For a time, Wong is also around to help out with an impressive bit of portal work, but eventually he's drawn away by the battle with [[TheBrute Cull Obsidian]]. In the end, unfortunately, Maw wins. |
| 128 | ** Later in the film, Strange gets an even more impressive battle with [[BigBad Thanos]] himself. Despite the fact that Thanos is armed with four out of six Infinity Stones by this point, Strange actually manages to hold his own for a time, accomplishing such feats as sending out walls of kaleidoscopic shields, transforming an incoming singularity attack into a swarm of butterflies, and pulling off a ''very'' trippy-looking DoppelgangerAttack. Ultimately, it still ends with Thanos overwhelming him - but Strange has bought enough time for Iron Man to recover and charge back into the fray. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that after seeing over 14 million possible futures, he [[ThrowingTheFight threw the fight]], [[AllAccordingToPlan knowing it was the only way they could win.]]]] |
| 129 | ** Doctor Strange gets into three duels with [[spoiler:the Scarlet Witch]] in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' with both present in Kamar-Taj and two more with each fighting an alternate counterpart via [[DemonicPossession Dreamwalking]] using the [[ArtifactOfDoom Darkhold]]. Each duel showcases the combatant's strengths with Strange exhibiting complete mastery of his magic while [[spoiler:Wanda]] has the good doctor beat in terms of raw power and persistence. Strange also has another duel with [[spoiler:his alternate counterpart, Sinister Strange]] where they essentially try to one-up one another with creative usage of magical musical notes. [[spoiler: Mainline Strange proves to be smarter at the whole MusicalAssassin thing.]] |
| 130 | * ''Film/Disenchanted2022'': Giselle confronts Malvina at the festival, intending to usurp her as queen of Monrolasia. The two duke it out with magic, beginning with a BeamOWar and following with Giselle transmuting Malvina's attacks into birds and butterflies. |
| 131 | * ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsHonorAmongThieves'': Simon, a sorcerer, faces off with Sofina toward the end of the film, who's a Red Wizard of Thay. The scene is set up like a ShowdownAtHighNoon, complete with a basket blowing across the square like a tumbleweed. |
| 132 | [[/folder]] |
| 133 | |
| 134 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 135 | * ''Literature/TheAfterward'': Ladros fights and wins against a female mage during a battle the seven companions have. It isn't hard, since he's [[TheArchmage the strongest mage in Cadrium]]. |
| 136 | * At the climax of the ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' StoryArc GrandFinale ''[[https://thecrewofthecoppercoloredcupids.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/the-fall-of-the-consistency-palatium/ The Fall of the Consistency Palatium]]'', the series' two recurring EvilSorcerer villains, Emperor Steer and Mandragora, ended up fighting over who would get to reap the rewards of the latter's masterplan and [[AGodAmI ascend to Godhood]]. The fight starts out as a classic Wizard's Duel, with Steer employing brute attacks of bolts of energy, while Mandragora draw glowing sigils in the air as protections and counters; however, when it becomes apparent their magics are evenly matched, the fight soon devolves into a schoolyard scuffle with kicks to the shins and even, at one point, Steer biting Mandragora's nose. |
| 137 | * Fairly frequent in the ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' works, and usually to the death. |
| 138 | ** Cinhil vs. the priest who poisoned his infant son, in a spur-of-the-moment affair. |
| 139 | ** Cinhil vs. Imre [[spoiler:although this one is subverted when Imre kills himself]]. |
| 140 | ** Alister Cullen vs. Ariella [[spoiler:which ends in death for both combatants]]. |
| 141 | ** Donal vs. Sief [=MacAthan=], also spur-of-the-moment [[spoiler:when Sief realizes he's been cuckolded by his king]]. |
| 142 | ** Brion vs. the Marluk, as the climax to a battle between their armies. |
| 143 | ** Kelson vs. Charissa, played straight (even including "throwing down the gauntlet") after a slight delay. |
| 144 | ** Kelson/Morgan/Duncan/Arilan vs. Wencit/Lionel/Rhydon/Bran Coris, to settle Wencit's invasion of Gwynedd. However, it's subverted [[spoiler:by "Rhydon" revealing himself to be Stefan Coram, who supports Kelson and Gwynedd in the war, and chose to rig the duel by poisoning himself, Wencit, Lionel, and Coris.]]. |
| 145 | ** Kelson vs. Conall, to clear defeat only. Kelson had no wish to give Conall an honourable death in combat. |
| 146 | ** Liam-Lajos/Kelson/Matayas/Morag vs. Mahael/Teymuraz/Branyg, prompted by Mahael's attempt to Mind Rip Liam during his investiture. |
| 147 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' Wizards occasionally duel, but due to the nature of magic on the disc, it is discouraged, as "There are still places where nothing grows" due to wizard duels, and the whole thing with the Dungeon Dimensions. There's a general analogy of "magic-as-nuclear-weaponry", with talk of standoffs, "First Use of magic", and mutually-assured destruction - "It's hard to tell which greasy smudge was the winner". |
| 148 | ** In ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'', the Sourcerer Coin walks into the great hall and challenges the most powerful wizard to a duel. Even at this point in the series when KlingonPromotion is common, they use mundane traps rather than magic because of the enormous quantity of defensive spells they all have. But because Coin is about ten they find the challenge amusing, and one of the wizards eventually decides to demonstrate some magic, casting a very difficult but harmless spell that creates a tiny garden in the palm of his hand. Coin asks why it isn't bigger, enlarges the garden so they all fit inside, dismisses it, and then obliterates his opponent instantly. |
| 149 | ** ''Literature/EqualRites'' featured a duel between Granny Weatherwax and Archchancellor Cutangle which took the form of a ShapeshifterShowdown where the clash was more conceptual than physical (at once point Cutangle transformed into a snake and Granny Weatherwax countered by transforming into a basket). It's interrupted by the approach of abominations from the Dungeon Dimensions, to Cutangle's great relief since he had a nasty feeling he was going to lose; he compared fighting Granny to being like trying to swat a fly that keeps landing on your own nose. Notably it's one of the few times in the series that Granny disregards headology completely and engages in full-blown physical magic. |
| 150 | ** The Witch Trials in "The Sea And Little Fishes" and ''Literature/AHatFullOfSky'' are the "friendly competition" type. Although that's "friendly" by ''witch'' standards; as Nanny Ogg puts it in ''A Tourist's Guide to Lancre'', "a witch is the kind of person who'd play Snap with kiddies for ha'pennies and play to win". |
| 151 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has institutionalized this, in which one of the acceptable forms for a formal duel is a contest of "energy", meaning solely magic. Harry though tends to do various other interesting/crazy/insane things to win fights. In the first book ''Literature/{{Storm Front|DresdenFiles}}'' [[spoiler:Harry's greater strength and experience gave him an advantage he needed to make up for fighting on Shadowman's home turf]]. The only formal magical duel he's been in was in ''Literature/{{Changes}}'' [[spoiler:in which he fought the ancient vampire Arianna Ortega. She was put at a significant disadvantage by this, because as a vampire she was unaccustomed to purely magical combat.]] |
| 152 | ** There are also duels of will, where two supernatural individuals attempt to exert their will over a medium. In ''Literature/DeathMasks'', Harry ends up in a duel with Red Duke Paolo Ortega where the two participants attempt to will a mote of mordite ([[HarmfulToTouch instant kill-anything stuff]] from beyond the borders of reality) towards one another. |
| 153 | ** The laws of magic the setting tend to mean that any informal duel between good and bad ''human'' practitioners is going to handicap the good one. While the evil sorceror is going to be throwing fireballs with gusto, a good-aligned wizard, like Harry, ''can't'' try and kill the other one with magic lest he [[BlackMagic break the first law]]. Meaning on those few occasions Harry's up against someone who's ''not'' an acceptable target (such as in his confrontation with the Shadowman), he's forced to find another way to subdue the enemy. Harry being [[CombatPragmatist Harry]], this occasionally involves [[RevolversAreJustBetter his .44]]. |
| 154 | ** It doesn't go as planned, but Harry gets challenged to one of these in one of the short stories by Darth Wannabe and his goth buddies. When they ready their wands and crystals and what not, he opts out by [[spoiler:drawing his .44 and snarking at them]]. |
| 155 | * In ''Literature/FearStreet Seniors: Wicked'', there is the battle between novice witch Marla Newman (with some assistance from {{Muggle}} Kenny Klein) and her murderous mentors Roxanne and Elena. Marla opens a chasm beneath her enemies, briefly sets one of her opponents on fire, and then distracts Roxanne with an illusion at a pivotal moment in the fight. |
| 156 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 157 | ** This obviously happens multiple times, although the descriptions rarely get more picturesque than "X was battling Y" or "X was casting spells". Most duels are as simple as throwing a disabling spell at an opponent and hoping to take them out before they hit you with little in the way of counters, although Shield Charms are mentioned. One notable exception is Dumbledore vs. Voldemort in "Order of the Phoenix" which was truly epic and arcane. Another briefer but still impressively technical example, featuring the use of multiple different disciplines of magic, was [=McGonagall=] and Flitwick vs. Snape in "Deathly Hallows". As a subversion, a dueling ''club'' is introduced in the second book, but it only lasts for one session. |
| 158 | ** A silencing spell is used at least once in ''Order of the Phoenix'', but the opponent is able to cast spells all the same:[[note]]Although the effects are apparently weaker, according to the medi-witch patching people up in the aftermath.[[/note]] in ''Half-Blood Prince'' it is explained that experienced wizards can do magic without talking, which Hogwarts students begin to learn |
| 159 | * ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': |
| 160 | ** Yuki versus [[spoiler:Ryouko]]. Data manipulation rather than magic, but that hardly matters from the audience's point of view. |
| 161 | ** Parodied with Yuki versus Mikuru in "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina Episode 00", which consists of Yuki waving a wand and producing [[StylisticSuck extremely low-budget special effects]]. |
| 162 | * The battle between [[BigGood Allanon]] and [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils The Dagda Mor]] in ''[[Literature/TheSwordOfShannaraTrilogy The Elfstones of Shannara]]''. It's a WizardDuel that also doubles as HighAltitudeBattle, since Allanon's on a Roc, and the Dagda Mor on a BatOutOfHell. Also, [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn The Isle Witch]]]] vs The Morgawr in ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'', and [[BigBad Rimmer Dall]] vs everybody in the conclusion to ''Literature/TheHeritageOfShannara''. |
| 163 | * All of Creator/DavidEddings' epic fantasies contained these: |
| 164 | ** In ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', after 3000 years, Belgarath finally gets a chance to duel the singularly loathsome wizard Ctuchik. It ''starts'' with lightning, escalates to the two of them ripping reality open to batter each other with things from outside it, and ends with [[spoiler:Ctuchik accidentally annihilating himself in a panic]]. |
| 165 | ** Also in ''The Belgariad'', the final showdown between [[TheArchmage Belgarath]] and [[FallenHero Zedar]] is so emotionally charged that neither side can summon up the focus to wield any magic, so their epic confrontation, millenia in the making, degenerates into a combination shouting match and fistfight. |
| 166 | ** In ''Literature/TheElenium'', Sephrenia and Otha get to have a go at each other: each of them [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ancient]] sorcerers and the most privileged acolytes of [[ReligionIsMagic their respective deities]]. [[spoiler:[[UnskilledButStrong Otha]] has more raw power, but Sephrenia has the advantage of not being a total drooling idiot -- and Sparhawk ends up cutting it short by {{kill|TheGod}}ing Otha's patron god anyway.]] |
| 167 | ** In ''The Tamuli'', the sequel to ''The Elenium'', [[TheArchmage Styric archmage Zalasta]] engages in two wizards' duels. The first, in ''Domes of Fire'', is an impressive battle between him and a very powerful enemy wizard, although [[spoiler: the effect is ruined later when he's revealed to be working for the enemy himself, and the entire battle was an illusion.]] At the end of the trilogy, Zalasta returns [[spoiler:to stop Sephrenia and Vanion from getting married.]] Unfortunately for him, he's opposed by Sparhawk [[spoiler:who now wields the power of the Bhelliom, and Zalasta has absolutely no chance against him.]] |
| 168 | * The Finnish national epic, ''Literature/TheKalevala'', has a strange example. HotBlooded young sorcerer Joukahainen seeks to dethrone OldMaster Väinämöinen. Their magic doesn't seem to have a distinction between "insight into" and "power over," so when the old man goads the youngster into showing his stuff, the youngster launches into a recitation of agricultural facts like he was a Poor Richard's Almanack. Some of his knowledge is pretty impressive, such as the birth of iron, but the old man goads him until he boasts of having helped to plow the oceans and forge the sky. He then becomes TooDumbToLive by not backing down when the old man goes "Funny, I would've remembered seeing you there." The battle that follows is [[CurbStompBattle entirely one-sided]]. |
| 169 | ** This is pretty much the main form of combat, and all casting is done in the form of song. Another good example is when Lemminkäinen crashes a feast in the castle of the Master of the North. When Lemminkäinen demands a beverage, the Master conjures a river for him, but he summons a giant ox to drink it up. An exchange of insults turns into a battle of spells and counterspells: a wolf is summoned to kill the ox, a rabbit to distract the wolf, a hound to catch the rabbit, a squirrel to distract the hound, a weasel to catch the squirrel, a fox to catch the weasel, a chicken to distract the fox, a hawk to catch the chicken. It's pretty much a ShapeShifterShowdown in the form of summoning woodland animals. Finally the Master gets tired of the whole mess and challenges Lemminkäinen to a swordfight instead, only for Lemminkäinen to [[OffWithHisHead decapitate him]] with a single swing of his [[FlamingSword flaming sword]]. |
| 170 | * There's an earlier example of the [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours "magical competition of oneupmanship"]] variation in [[Literature/TheBible Exodus]], with Moses and the Pharaoh's priests. |
| 171 | * ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' |
| 172 | ** Given an interesting twist in the series. Since deadly spells activate instantly, if two mages were to meet in battle they would just kill each other simultaneously. However, mind-reading is a pretty standard ability for those that practice magic. Thus, when two magic-users meet they attempt to read each other's minds and discover what the opponent's spell will be so that they can neutralize it and come away from the duel alive. Defending your mind and attacking your opponent's at the same time is difficult; [[MagicKnight doing both while sword-fighting]] is even harder. |
| 173 | ** In the final book, [[spoiler:Carn]] and an Empire magician enter a wizard's duel. [[spoiler:Carn]] manages to gain the upper hand, and the enemy magician panicked and tried to cast a death spell. [[spoiler:Carn]] is incinerated, but before he was killed, he managed to get one last spell out, which drained the enemy magician of all the water in his body, causing him to crumble to dust. |
| 174 | %% * The evil master vs. KarmicTrickster Pumphutt in ''Literature/{{Krabat}}''. |
| 175 | * Quite a few examples in ''Literature/TheMalazanBookOfTheFallen''. Quick Ben Delat gets into a few himself, including one where he blows away both Korbal and Broach in a matter of seconds. |
| 176 | * In ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'', the Bottomless Whirlpool of Bleak Creek was created during a WizardDuel long ago. |
| 177 | * ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' |
| 178 | ** The duel between Finrod (Galadriel's big brother) and Sauron, "which is renowned" (though neither character is technically a wizard, Middle-earth having a strict definition of that term, they're both powerful magic-users). It consists of the two of them singing Songs of Power at one another, and though most of '''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' is prose, it goes into poetry for about a page to describe it. Unfortunately, Sauron wins "and Finrod fell before the throne". |
| 179 | ** Melian and Sauron have a constant WizardDuel around the borders of Thingol's realm that rather resembles No Man's Land in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, even including unfriendly fire or in this case unfriendly magic, which makes Beren's life almost as uncomfortable as Sauron's magic. Not to mention there are also OmnicidalNeutral spider demons skulking about in the no man's land. |
| 180 | * ''Literature/CounselorsAndKings'' |
| 181 | ** Played with. Heroine Tzigone has both wizard magic and AntiMagic powers, so even though she's only an apprentice she thinks she's got a duel with a SmugSnake [[TheArchmage archmage]] in the bag. Unfortunately, it turns out that while he can't hurt her directly, he's fully capable of, say, summoning a giant air elemental and telling it to pick her up and drop her. She winds up having to goad him into breaking the rules (which counts as a forfeit) in order to win. |
| 182 | ** Subverted in the trilogy's climax during [[BigGood King Zalathorm]]'s ([[spoiler:Tzigone's dad]]) battle against his ArchEnemy [[BigBad Akhlaur]]. Since both are [[TheArchmage archmagi]] of almost exactly equal power and are tied to the same SoulJar, neither is capable of permanently harming the other- until Tzigone and fellow main protagonists Matteo and Andris destroy said SoulJar, at which point Zalathorm [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to [[TakingYouWithMe kill Akhlaur for good]]. [[spoiler:Zalathorm gets better; Akhlaur doesn't]]. |
| 183 | * In ''Literature/CodexAlera'', pretty much everyone in the dominant human society has ElementalPowers, and they also have a formalized duel for settling disputes called the ''juris macto'', so among the upper ranks magical duels are fairly common (magically-assisted sword duels are also popular). Subverted in a fight between two [[WolfMan Canim]] ritaulists in the final book, where the older and more powerful ritualist {{One Hit Kill}}s his younger, more ambitious rival by ''forcibly expelling his guts from his body'' before he can so much as cast his first spell. |
| 184 | * In Castle Roogna of the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series there's an interesting version. Given that the Magicians of the setting each only have ''ONE'' type of spell, it's hard to have a simple face-to-face duel. Instead the 'good' Roogna (can alter spells) must finish building his castle before a certain deadline, meanwhile the 'evil' [[MurphysLaw Murphy]] (bad luck magic) tries to skew events so the castle never gets finished. |
| 185 | * The ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'' duology of the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' explains the Dark Side cave on Dagobah (''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'') as the result of a Force duel between Yoda and a powerful Dark Jedi, with the cave still retaining a "stain" from his death when his Dark Side power was released. |
| 186 | * ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'' has a few: |
| 187 | ** Sympathy fights are garden variety voodoo. If you got someone's blood or hair and strong enough will, you can kill someone pretty horrifically. There are also indirect duels, where two Sympathists try to exert their Alars in conflict. It's regularly noted that knives are easier than either method, but tracking spells and Binder's Chills are nothing to shake a stick at. |
| 188 | *** However, attacking a person with Sympathy in earnest is highly illegal. "Malfeasance" has been outlawed for centuries, and it's been nearly a century since anyone's been caught doing it before the events of the book. It's a sort of internal policing amongst magicians to keep the muggles from burning them at the stake. |
| 189 | *** Also, there is a type of charm, called a gram, that when worn renders someone immune to direct sympathy attack. These seem to be expensive and difficult to craft, but would tend to render such fights pointless. |
| 190 | ** Namers can have much more primeval fights - they command raw forces of nature if they know its name. There's only been one duel between two people who know Names as of the second book, and it tore up the surrounding countryside. When Kvothe related it to [[CloudCuckoolander Elodin]], the latter was seriously impressed. |
| 191 | * In A.L. Phillips's ''Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned'', these are called duels of power, and have the slight quirk that the rules are enforced by the magic of the world itself, and so are physically impossible to break. As there are only three such rules (1. If the challenger has a genuine grievance against the challenged the duel cannot be refused. 2. If you are in a duel, you can't use magic on someone outside of the duel, and if you are outside of a duel you can't interfere. 3. Duels end only through death or unconsciousness), this is generally not a problem. |
| 192 | * Happens in ''The Story of the Second Dervish'' in ''Literature/ArabianNights'' where a princess fights a Djinn by the two transforming into different creatures and attacking each other; a lot like the Disney ''WesternAnimation/SwordInTheStone''. |
| 193 | * Incuel in ''Literature/ToughMagic'' is a FictionalSport that involves [[KungFuWizard kung-fu wizards]] duking it out. As it a fairly major part of the series, wizard duels abound. |
| 194 | * Several magical type duels occur in ''Literature/TheWillBeDone'', special mentions including when Myssia wins five duels in a row, and [[spoiler:the final battle between her and Praen]]. |
| 195 | * ''The Revolutions'' contains multiple examples of magical combat, but the only proper ''duel'' happens between Lord Podmore (newspaper magnate/powerful magician) and Archer (terrifying old woman), in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Much collateral damage ensues, not least because by the end of it they're actively mind controlling the patrons ''en masse'' and making them fight each other. |
| 196 | * In ''Literature/TheGoblinEmperor'', the emperor always has two bodyguards with him, one of whom is a magic user. The protagonist recalls having read that the one time a magic user attacked the emperor, this lead to an epic wizard duel between the attacker and the emperor's bodyguard. |
| 197 | * In ''Literature/TheBlackMagicianTrilogy'', formal mages' duels are held in an Arena with an exceptionally powerful AntiMagic barrier, with each combatant's personal shields augmented by adjudicating mages. The setup allows the use of deadly magic but prevents it from doing anything worse than pushing a combatant to exhaustion. |
| 198 | * Happens frequently in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', especially at the climax of a book. Because the One Power is much better suited to causing wanton destruction than containing it, magical battles are mostly tactical, with the combatants trying to gain the element of surprise or distract their opponent enough to hit them with a deadly attack or a shield that will disable their magic. If they're very close in skill and power, they can prevent one another's attacks from forming, resulting in a duel that looks to a {{muggle}} like two people just staring at each other. |
| 199 | * In the ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' short story "[[http://temporarilysignificant.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-home-crowd-advantage.html The Home Crowd Advantage]]", Peter is challenged to a formal wizard duel. "No gods, no staffs, first man to stay down for the count loses and we suspend the contest if the building collapses." [[spoiler: Peter [[MundaneSolution tases]] the guy while counting them in. It's later established that casting any powerful spell would probably have killed him, and he [[SuicideByCop probably knew this]].]] |
| 200 | * Wizard duels are a frequent occurrence in the ''Literature/ThousandSons'' trilogy, since [[VillainProtagonist Ahriman]] and many of his allies and enemies are all powerful sorcerers. These fights often see the combatants blasting each other with telekinesis and elemental powers, enveloping their weapons with fire or lightning, deflecting attacks with telekinetic shields, invading each other’s minds, having their souls leave their bodies to engage in astral combat, and more. |
| 201 | * ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': Valerie engages in one with a Good mage, but their spells keep cancelling each other until they're used up, and it ends in a draw, with them going their separate ways. |
| 202 | * ''Literature/SchooledInMagic'': Several of these occur in the books, such as Emily fighting necromancers. Some sorcerers also engage in them to settle quarrels or as entertainment for others. |
| 203 | * The climax of ''Literature/CastleHangnail'' is a magical duel between the protagonist, a Wicked Witch, and the villain, an Evil Sorceress. It's specifically referred to as 'the type people write songs about' (because Sorceress spells are powerful and flashy, while witches are stubborn and tricky). |
| 204 | * ''Literature/ShadesOfMagic'': The ''Essen Tach'' are an annual international contest of ElementalPowers where participants face off in a tournament bracket. It's ostensibly well-refereed, fair, and non-lethal, but accidents do happen. Further complications arise when Kell and Lila, both [[MasterOfAll Masters of All]], enter under false identities. |
| 205 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends: Literature/TheApproachingStorm'': Played for laughs. It isn’t an actual fight, but Tolut, an obstinate, Force-sensitive local councilor, levitates a pitcher of water (with great effort) to demonstrate that the Jedi are nothing special. Luminara then effortlessly lifts several pitchers of water significantly higher than Tolut managed to and dumps them on his head. Tolut sheepishly concedes that he was wrong about how powerful Jedi are. |
| 206 | * A StoryWithinAStory told by one of the characters in (of all things) ''Literature/PanTadeusz'' describes a wizard duel between (again, of all people) [[UsefulNotes/NapoleonicWars Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander Suvorov]]. Apparently it was a rather classic shapeshifter duel where each tried to up-end the other by transforming into ever stronger animals. |
| 207 | * ''Literature/OfFireAndStars'': In Zumorda this is a common practice apparently (the people all do magic there). |
| 208 | * In ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series, Wencit of Rūm engages in a number of duels with dark wizards. They tend to be [[CurbStompBattle rather short and one-sided affairs]] in which he's rarely in any real danger - he is, after all, [[TheArchmage the oldest, most experienced, and most powerful wizard alive]] - but his white wizard's oath requires that he give dark wizards the chance to defend themselves before he kills them. |
| 209 | * ''Literature/TheWitchOfKnightcharm'' is set at an evil WizardingSchool where the students are encouraged to fight in these in order to boost their class rank and gain extra privileges. One of the first things the protagonist sees after joining the school is a duel between the top-ranked student and a talented newbie who wants to show what she can do. [[spoiler:The top-ranked student effortlessly kills the newbie, showing how dangerous the duels can be.]] |
| 210 | * ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Kimberly Magic Academy is a WizardingSchool for an order of {{Military Mage}}s called the Gnostic Hunters, and its curriculum therefore puts significant emphasis on use of magic in combat. An entire class is devoted to teaching "sword arts", i.e. the use of blades and spells together in close combat. |
| 211 | ** Nonlethal duels with both magic and sword are a common way of settling student conflicts, and Tullio Rossi organizes a dueling tournament in volume 2 to decide on the strongest first-year. In volume 6, Teresa Carste also gets into an argument with a classmate, Dean Travers, which they agree to settle with a duel, which devolves into a playground brawl when he hits her RelativeButton. |
| 212 | ** The climax of volume 1 pits Oliver and Nanao in a duel against [[spoiler:fourth-year Vera Miligan, in order to rescue Katie after Miligan kidnapped her to do some exploratory surgery when she was able to get Marco the troll to talk]]. |
| 213 | ** In the epilogue of volume 1, [[spoiler:Oliver faces Professor Darius Grenville, one of his mother's murderers, in a DuelToTheDeath, which Oliver wins in a SingleStrokeBattle by using the Fourth Spellblade to cut Darius's hand off]]. |
| 214 | * ''Literature/SweetAndBitterMagic'': Tamsin and Marlena, both witches (along with twin sisters) have a vicious, lengthy spell battle toward the end of the book. |
| 215 | * ''Literature/TheJeremiahSchool'' has a "wizards versus prophets" duel, where the prophets of a Christian boarding school can call down fire, control the elements of nature, command animals, and even literally speak life and death. The first one in the story is with Peter Stone and the three students of Luciferian Academy, which is hardly a duel as Peter easily disarms the wizards by causing lightning to strike their wands and destroy them. |
| 216 | [[/folder]] |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 219 | * ''Series/OnceUponATime'' only featured a few direct magic battles throughout its entire run, highlights being a street battle between the Wicked Witch of the West and the Evil Queen and later Emma Swan vs. Merlin. The spin off ''Series/OnceUponATimeInWonderland'' featured the earliest onscreen battle between Aladdin's Jafar and the sorceress Amara. |
| 220 | * When [[TheDragon Meemy]] first arrives in ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'', he challenges the heroes to one, besting each of them in their own magical specialty, and then becomes a giant so tall that their HumongousMecha form only reaches the tops of his feet. |
| 221 | * In ''{{Series/Spellbinder}}'', one of these is held between [[CoolOldGuy Regent Correon]] and [[BigBad Spellbinder Ashka.]] Slightly subverted, as the Spellbinders employ advanced LostTechnology rather than magic, but since they don't really understand how any of it works, the [[ShockAndAwe power suits]] that Correon and Ashka blast each other with are treated as magical. |
| 222 | * In ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'', this is how control of the family wizarding power is resolved; the child who wins the Family Wizard Competition becomes a full wizard and gains complete powers, while the losers are BroughtDownToNormal. In TheMovie, Alex and Justin are forced to execute the duel significantly earlier than expected to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. In the series proper, [[spoiler:no actual duel occurs at the end of the series, but the competition instead involves a series of three different challenges which include multiple [[SecretTestOfCharacter Secret Tests of Character]].]] |
| 223 | * ''{{Series/Merlin 2008}}'' engages in a few of these with fellow sorcerers over the course of the series. He wins all of them. |
| 224 | * Another Merlin example, the famous Wizard has a Magic Duel with a Dark Fairy Goddess at the end of the ''Series/{{Merlin 1998}}'' Miniseries. |
| 225 | * Though ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'' mostly fights against Phantoms, there are times when he faces other wizards, such as Sorcerer in [[Film/KamenRiderWizardInMagicLand the movie]] and [[spoiler:the White Wizard/Wiseman in the series]] |
| 226 | * The final episode of ''Series/{{Wandavision}}'' is centred around an all-out magical brawl between Wanda and [[spoiler: Agatha Harkness]], conducted while Vision and other allies are preoccupied with their own battles around Westview. Wanda has the advantage of being [[StrongButUnskilled immensely powerful, but unfortunately lacks self-control]]; her opponent is much more experienced, much more manipulative, ''and'' able to absorb Wanda's magic - so every time Wanda manages to land a hit, the weaker she gets. [[spoiler: In the end, Wanda is able to win by using Agatha's AntiMagic rune trick against her, disabling her enemy's powers and allowing her to take back all the power that was stolen.]] |
| 227 | [[/folder]] |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 230 | * Homaged (above) in the duel between Granny Weatherwax and the wizard Cutangle in ''Literature/EqualRites'', Music/SteeleyeSpan perform an old English ballad ''The Two Magicians'', in which a wizard and a witch engage in a shape-shifting battle involving continual transformation into, er, ''male'' and ''female'' archetypes. In a funny sort of way, both parties can eventually claim, by the last verse, to have "won".... |
| 231 | * The American Stoner/Sludge Metal band [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weedeater_(band) Weedeater]] plays this trope straight with their most popular (and aptly titled) song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBOGaIy87Og Wizard Fight]] |
| 232 | [[/folder]] |
| 233 | |
| 234 | [[folder:Myths & Religion]] |
| 235 | * OlderThanFeudalism: In the Egyptian tale ''Prince Khaemwase and Si-Osiri'', the story-within-the-story features a duel between an Egyptian wizard and an Ethiopian wizard at the royal court in Memphis. The effects are quite dramatic: starting fires, manipulating the weather, creating flying boats, turning into invisible geese, causing humongous blocks of stone to materialize in midair, etc. Though Egyptian, this tale only dates to the 1st century CE. |
| 236 | * The ''Literature/BookOfExodus'' has Aaron dueling against the Pharaoh by turning his MagicStaff into a snake, and the Pharaoh sends his own sorcerers to turn their staves into snakes. But Aaron's snake swallowed the Pharaoh's snakes. The Ten Plagues incident also involves Moses dueling against Egyptian sorcerers, but it only lasts until the plague of lice, when the Egyptian magicians try to mimic the plague but are unable to. |
| 237 | * In [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddhist myth]], Tibetan yogi Milarepa is told by a dakini spirit that fellow master Dampa Sangye is coming. In order to test Sangye's spiritual awareness, Milarepa uses his power to turn into a clump of flowers, but Sangye sees through it and kicks him, and further reveals that, in fact, he had a meeting with spirits last night and all together cursed Milarepa to teach him a lesson for his arrogance. Milarepa finally acknowledges his inferiority and praises him, and is initiated in Sangye's wisdom. |
| 238 | [[/folder]] |
| 239 | |
| 240 | [[folder:Pinball]] |
| 241 | * This is the premise of Creator/WilliamsElectronics' ''Pinball/{{Sorcerer}}'', which has the player challenging an EvilSorcerer. |
| 242 | * ''Pinball/{{Seawitch}}'' depicts a battle between two SeaMonster-riding witches. |
| 243 | * ''Pinball/MagicGirl'' is ultimately about helping the titular protagonist challenge a BigBad WizardClassic for possession of the Wizard Ball. |
| 244 | [[/folder]] |
| 245 | |
| 246 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 247 | * ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': ''Certamen'' is a formal contest of wizardly skill that channels the magi's arts in flashy but non-lethal forms, usually ending in exhaustion at worst. It's the preferred method in the [[MagicalSociety Order of Hermes]] for settling disputes that have gone beyond just words, generally including most legal disputes. It's designed as a less-violent alternative to Wizard's War, where wizards can kill each other without legal repercussions. |
| 248 | * The indie game ''Brawl Arcane 28'' is so much about this that the list of required miniatures is essentially one wizard and their summoned minions. |
| 249 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonCrawlClassics'' has an adventure module dedicated to this. In ''Enter the Dagon'', one of the party members (if they are a magic user), is invited to take part in a legendary tournament where wizards duel each other until only one is left alive. Between duels, the other party members work to sabotage the other contestants. |
| 250 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 251 | ** [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons2ndEdition 2nd Edition]]: The ''High-Level Campaigns'' supplement has alternate rules for staging a wizard's duel, mostly to avert the standard rules' tendency for the wizard who'd won initiative to [[RocketTagGameplay blow the other duelist away in a single round]]. The combatants generate a shared MentalWorld with special rules for turn-by-turn advantage and interactions between different types of magic, and may dictate the consequences for defeat. |
| 252 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'': The ''Dawn of the Emperors'' boxed set includes an Alphatian spell called ''Duel-Shield''. It traps two wizards in an impenetrable force-field sphere, allowing them to battle each other to (always) the death, without risk to bystanders or property. Alphatian law forbids all dueling except inside a ''duel-shield'', so wizards there only risk it if they really, ''really'' hate each other. |
| 253 | ** [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition 3rd Edition]]: |
| 254 | *** Preventing the other wizard from casting is a valid tactic. If he can't speak, he can't use spells with a verbal component (this can be overcome with the metamagic feat Silent Spell), and immobilizing his hands will block him from casting spells with a somatic component (the counter is Still Spell). |
| 255 | *** ''Complete Arcane'' has rules for formalized magical duels that don't end in one of the participants being carried out of the ring in a bucket... unless you take advantage of the rules for cheating, anyway. They follow protocols for preparing defensive spells and, in the case of non-lethal duels, regulate which types of magic can be used. |
| 256 | ** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' likewise allows for "mageduel" within a magically enclosed area, although here the same magic also keeps them nonlethal. Given and policed by local gods of magic, so they and the participants get to show off without the counterproductive parts where wizards get killed and viewers are too busy running away to enjoy the show. Of course, wizards still duke it out "for real" all the time, formally or spontaneously. |
| 257 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'': Thaumaturgists seem designed for this, their apprentice spells comprise a magic DeflectorShield and two universal {{Counterspell}}s, one of which is Silence, and their Journeyman spells include defenses that redirect spells back at their caster. But they have no directly damaging spells so many learn other forms of magic such as [[ElementalPowers Elementalism]], or [[MagicKnight melee combat]] in the Witch Finder's case. |
| 258 | * ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' (and its spiritual predecessor, ''Ars Magica'') feature the rite of Certamen, a tradition by which two wizards engage in a duel to resolve their problems. It converts their magic into a non-lethal form that still lets them throw flashy effects at each other to the point of exhaustion. |
| 259 | * ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' carries on the tradition as the Duel Arcane, wherein each participant chooses one Arcana to serve as sword, and another to serve as shield. The Duel takes place in a magically created arena so that their sword and shield Arcana manifest as flashy illusions to attack and defend with. Most Duels will have the combatants attack one another's willpower first and eventually moving on to actual physical damage. The Duel Arcane is the preferred method of resolving disputes in mage society, since it is quick, has no collateral damage, and will probably leave no lasting harm on participants (duels to the death are rare, if they are even legal). Occasionally, mages engage in [[CookingDuel less traditional duels]]. |
| 260 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': |
| 261 | ** Spell duels are actually pretty rare, as wizards would prefer not to waste a bunch of spell slots on one enemy. As a result, spellcaster conflicts usually consist of exactly as many "save-or-die" spells needed to take one side out of the picture rather than showy explosions and lightning bolts. Technically supported at the same time, as the game provides rules for formalized spellcasting duels. These rules expand on the counterspell system, making it easier to help prevent duels from ending in a single round and making them more dynamic as casters decide which spells to spend slots on countering and which to let land. |
| 262 | ** The sourcebook ''Occult Adventures'' introduces {{Psychic|Powers}} duels that draw the contestants into a shared MentalWorld, manifesting mental constructs to defend themselves and attack each other. Despite the abstract arena, [[YourMindMakesItReal the damage caused is real]]. |
| 263 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': In the supplement ''State of the Art 2063'', some magicians in the Sixth World are stated to participate in formal magical duels with their opponents. One of the major magical groups, the Illuminates of the New Dawn, has a set of rules similar to the old rules for dueling with weapons. They include the challenged party being allowed to determine the terms of the duel, the dueling area being warded to prevent the spells from affecting bystanders, and the presence of seconds and a judge to keep things orderly. The opposing magicians are sworn to accept the outcome of the duel, such as resolving the dispute between them. |
| 264 | * ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': |
| 265 | ** The game has these in spades, both in the background and on the tabletop. |
| 266 | *** The spellcasting system in the game means that your wizards are essentially in a constant duel with your opponent's wizards throughout the battle, with his wizards attempting to thwart and dispel the spells of your side and vice-versa (although a lot of the damage tends to accrue to the army the wizard is accompanying rather than necessarily the wizard himself). The 2011 ''Storm of Magic'' supplement takes this up to eleven by introducing a range of super-powerful spells and cantrips for more direct wizard-to-wizard duelling and scenarios which are won by occupying magical node points with your wizards and denying them to the opponent. |
| 267 | *** Magical duels to the death are almost innumerable in the background books, but the most prominent example of the (usually) non-lethal kind is the octannual ritual duel between senior Imperial College Wizards for the honour of becoming the Supreme Patriarch of all the magical colleges for the next eight years. The goal is to be the first wizard to grasp the Patriarch's staff of office at the centre of the ritual duelling chamber. |
| 268 | ** ''TabletopGame/BloodBowl'': The background plays this trope for laughs. The reason each team is only allowed one wizard on their coaching staff, who is only allowed to cast one specially pre-approved spell during the game, is because wizard Blood Bowl fans supporting rival teams tend to get so out of hand in their excitement that before this ruling was introduced a game of Blood Bowl could often degenerate into a wizard's duel. Which is not what the other fans turned up to watch. |
| 269 | * ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': The "Broken Realms" campaign includes a suitably epic one between two mage-''gods'': Teclis, the god of knowledge and magic vs Nagash, the god of death and necromancy. [[spoiler: Teclis wins]]. |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 273 | * Naturally, with characters like [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]], [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 Ness]], [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Palutena]] or [[Franchise/FireEmblem Robin]], ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' has a lot of these. Virtually every character can hurl some kind of spell or use some kind of psychic powers. |
| 274 | %% * Pretty much every single fight in ''VisualNovel/AnOctaveHigher'' is one of these, given that everyone in the city can cast magic. |
| 275 | * While frowned upon by the faculty of ''VideoGame/{{Academagia}}'', it is possible to duel other students. There are even specialized dueling actions, skills, and spells. |
| 276 | * Used as the penultimate boss fight in Blue's game in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier''. The winner absorbs the loser's magic and personality, giving them the ability to master opposing schools of magic. During the battle, every other turn, a different type of magic becomes more powerful. |
| 277 | * ''Franchise/TouhouProject''. The very basis of Spellcard Duels in ''Gensokyo'' is to resolve conflict amongst the land's residents in a nonlethal way, with magic [[MacrossMissileMassacre missiles]] / [[MoreDakka bullets]] - [[BulletHell lots of them]]. |
| 278 | ** It can be made lethal too, as happened in extra stage of ''VideoGame/TouhouEiyashouImperishableNight'' with [[spoiler:Fujiwara no Mokou]], who is immortal. The characters reason that, since she ''can't'' die, there's no point in holding their magic back. [[spoiler:Mokou]] herself ''endorses'' this; being supremely powerful and immune to both death and injury, she reasons that all she has left to train is her pain endurance. |
| 279 | ** Similarly, fairies are presumably killed when shot, but like the above, re-spawn immediately if killed. In ''VideoGame/YouseiDaisensouTouhouSangetsusei'', where the only playable character is the fairy Cirno, this is represented by the usual Lives counter being replaced by a Motivation bar. You have as many lives as you could ever need; you only lose when Cirno stops having fun and wants to stop. |
| 280 | ** In the even more ancient days of Gensokyo, there was no regulation for Spellcard Duels. It's highly implied that the regulation is enforced to prevent the (relatively) already cramped sealed-world from collapsing entirely. |
| 281 | %%* ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998'': The wizard mooks of the Magic Crafter levels often engage in these if left to their own devices.%%Engage in what? |
| 282 | * ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' pits a supernatural spellcasting monster called a Black Guardian against Peter Jacob, who is in fact a normal human who realized his capacity for magic only about an hour before the fact, so this counts. |
| 283 | * In ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersUndying'', the battle against Keisinger in Oneiros. Both of you have an identical and sizable array of spells (with the exception of flight, yours [[VideoGameFlight is limited]], his isn't,) which you've painstakingly acquired through the length of the game, you're both flying around at the top of a ziggurat floating in his insane pocket dimension, ducking behind columns, using shield counterspells and charging up blasts of lightning and fireballs to cast at each other [[DualWielding with distinct gestures for each hand]] in first-person. |
| 284 | * ''Franchise/FireEmblem'': |
| 285 | ** Duels between sages tend to not be all that impressive, as they have extremely high magical resistance. [[SquishyWizard However, in a battle between a sage and a physical unit....]]. Except in the 4th game where offensive magical units have generally mediocre magic defense but can use extremely powerful magic or have skills making their power ridiculously high when activated (Tiltyu's wrath ability can double her 40ish power, and her daughter can double 50ish power on characters with a maximum of 30 resistance). |
| 286 | ** There also is the "Magic Triangle" of [[HolyHandGrenade Light Magic]] beating [[BlackMagic Dark Magic]], and Dark Magic beating [[ElementalPowers Anima Magic]], which beats Light Magic. |
| 287 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII: Shadows of Amn'' |
| 288 | ** [[BigBad Irenicus]] in has a few cutscenes where he combines this with a CurbStompBattle, dispatching multiple enemy wizards in a manner of seconds. There are also several spells usable in game that are specifically designed for wizard duels, most notably the ones that protect the user from spells and the ones used to remove those. |
| 289 | ** There is also a part in the tavern in the Drow City where your party mage can participate in such fights. Finally, Edwin apparently tried this with Elminster in the epilogue, but lost and got turned into Edwina again. |
| 290 | * As the vast majority of characters on Chaos's side in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' specialize in magic, and Terra is the only warrior of Cosmos that does, many of her battles turn into this. Several of her comrades also use magic, but she's the only one who does so exclusively. Her cutscene battles with Ultimecia and Kefka also sorta count. |
| 291 | * If you're playing as a Magic User in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIII'', you get to engage in one of these against the shaman of the Leopardmen. It ends badly when the shaman, enraged at being outclassed, summons a demon to possess him. You can either fight him normally or use a Dispel potion to cancel the possession, [[MercyRewarded which makes a bigger impression with the Leopardmen]], [[DefeatMeansFriendship as well as winning the shaman's thanks for saving him from his impulsiveness]]. |
| 292 | * In the ''Legacy'' DLC of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', a mage Hawke will briefly engage in a magical duel with [[BigBad Corypheus]] before killing him, [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition though not completely]].]] |
| 293 | * ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has one between Magister Erimond and [[spoiler:Warden-Commander Clarel.]] [[CurbStompBattle It's pretty one-sided]], [[NoSell as she brushes aside everything he throws at her]] and [[UnstoppableRage smacks him around like a rag-doll]]. [[spoiler:It only ends when Erimond brings in the Red Lyrium Dragon.]] |
| 294 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': |
| 295 | ** One of the later loyalty missions features [[LadyOfWar Justicar Samara]] and [[spoiler:her daughter]] [[SerialKiller Morinth]] engaging in a [[MindOverMatter biotic]] duel to the death. However, though Samara is the more experienced of the two, Morinth is equal to her in terms of sheer power; as such, after blasting each other against walls and battering each other with furniture, they end up caught in a BeamOWar that can only be resolved by [[TheHero Shepard]] intervening, [[spoiler:possibly killing Samara in the process]]. |
| 296 | ** If you let him, Niftu Cal tries to engage the mercenary Captain Wasea in one of these. Unfortunately, since Niftu Cal is a) a Volus merchant with absolutely no combat experience pitted against an asari commando[[note]]considered to be some of the deadliest fighters in the galaxy[[/note]], and b) tanked up on drugs that have him believing that he's a "[[AGodAmI biotic god]]," the confrontation is ''hopelessly'' one-sided: he fires one biotic blast [[DepthDeception the size of a pea]] that fizzles just in front of Wasea's nose, and promptly gets imploded by Wasea's riposte. |
| 297 | * During the battle in West Harbor at the beginning of ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', the town's resident wizard Tarmas engages the githyanki mage leading the attack in a rather spectacular wizard duel. His apprentice Amie tries to help her master, but the githyanki basically rolls his eyes and one-shots her with a flame arrow spell. |
| 298 | * Using ClarkesThirdLaw with LostTechnology, ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' does this on a number of occasions: |
| 299 | ** In [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI the first game]], Altaïr fights [[spoiler:Al Mualim]] at the very end, countering his opponent's use of the Apple of Eden to summon the ghosts of his first nine targets and then his DoppelgangerAttack with AuraVision, using it to see through the illusions. |
| 300 | ** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio and [[spoiler:Rodrigo Borgia]] both use their respective Pieces of Eden to fight each other at the end of the game, with Ezio in particular imitating [[spoiler:Al Mualim's]] DoppelgangerAttack from the first game. |
| 301 | ** In ''The Tyranny of King Washington'' DLC for ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', both Connor and Washington use more overtly magic-like abilities--Washington's are still derived from an Apple of Eden like most of the other "magic" throughout the series, but Connor's is never given a realistic explanation and is explicitly related to spirit animals that he encounters. |
| 302 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': |
| 303 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', Mages Guild Archmage Trebonius Artorius ''is'' a talented [[MagicKnight Battlemage]], but proved so hopelessly incompetent at managing Guild affairs that his mainland superiors [[KickedUpstairs Kicked him Upstairs]] to run the Guild branch in [[ReassignedToAntarctica the most backwater district in the Empire]] where he could do the least amount of damage. While there is a peaceful way to claim his title, it leaves you ''co''-head of the Guild with Trebonius, which is obviously less desirable. More likely, you'll [[ChallengingTheChief challenge him]] to a [[KlingonPromotion duel to the death]] in one of these. Given that, unlike future games in the series, factions in ''Morrowind'' have attribute and skill requirements for advancement, you will both likely be quite magically skilled for said duel. |
| 304 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'': If your magic skills are at a high enough level, you may encounter a "challenger" in your travels who wishes to duel you with magic. This rarely plays out straight, though, seeing as how there's nothing stopping the player from simply '''FUS RO DAH'''ing him over the castle walls and [[DisneyVillainDeath watching him plummet to his death]], or simply drawing your [[{{BFS}} huge greatsword]] and cleaving him in twain the second the duel begins. And that's if the guards don't intervene first: apparently, no-one told the challenger that the Nords don't like the idea of someone flinging fireballs around in the castle walls. (This encounter becomes particularly hilarious if you happen to be the Archmage of the [[WizardingSchool College of Winterhold]], a position you didn't claim by being a magical weakling.[[note]]Unless you did; [[GameplayAndStorySegregation it doesn't actually take much mojo to claim the office.]][[/note]] It also gets funnier if you drain his magicka with a load of lightning magic or magicka poison. He whips out a tiny dagger and starts wailing on you with it, and then when you pull out your own weapon and do the same, [[HypocriticalHumour he starts bitching that it's supposed to be a magic duel, fought with magic]]). |
| 305 | * ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'': The Witch Hazel (which permanently turns zombies into puff-shrooms) targets and prioritizes transforming Wizard Zombies (which temporarily turns plants into useless sheep until he's killed). According to WordOfGod, she's the arch-nemesis of Wizard Zombie. |
| 306 | * ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' features one of these at the very end of "Sympathy For The Devil," the second dungeon of the Hell Dimensions arc. Here, [[{{Satan}} Eblis]] Dominus Inferni in Profondis decides to end the demonic revolution that's been undermining his rule over Hell by taking out the [[RebelLeader ringleader]], the Oxford magician [[DarkMessiah Theodore Wicker]]. While this might seem hideously once-sided at first, it turns out that Wicker is a lot more resilient than he looks: not only is he the single greatest practitioner of [[ThinkingUpPortals portal magic]] seen in this Age, but the rituals that allow him to survive the Hell dimensions have left him effectively [[TheAgeless immortal]], allowing him millennia to hone his affinity for combat magic. With both combatants effectively too evenly matched, they end up getting stuck in a BeamOWar, forcing them to finish the battle through proxies: Eblis calls in an {{Oni}} hitsquad, while Wicker calls upon the players to defend him. |
| 307 | * ''VideoGame/Wizard101'': How else would you fight things? |
| 308 | * In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'', Puyo matches in-universe amount to this, according to ports of the first arcade game; the spell Owanimo is used to convert four similarly-colored creatures (such as Puyo) into energy that attacks the opponent. Probably best not to think too hard about how an UnSorcerer like Rulue can not only play the game, but be pretty good at it. |
| 309 | [[/folder]] |
| 310 | |
| 311 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 312 | * The wizards' duels in ''The Book of Gray Magic'' lean heavily on the multiple types of magic in that world and the teamwork between users of opposed magical styles. The climactic duel in the first chapter, ''VisualNovel/BrilliantShadows'', [[spoiler: ends tragically, with multiple deaths on both sides of the conflict.]] |
| 313 | * ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' has a duel between Caster and Rin, which both admit is kinda ridiculous because a schoolgirl is no match for an ancient sorceress. But Rin has an ace up her sleeve: [[spoiler: she's also trained in hand-to-hand combat, so the duel is just a ruse for Rin to get close enough to tear Caster apart.]] |
| 314 | * * ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' has Beatrice vs Virgilia and Battler vs Beatrice, which, while framed as "debates", happen to be the bloodiest, most spectacular debates the world has ever seen. ''End of the Golden Witch'' has similar debates, albeit with laser [[SinisterScythe scythes]] and the summoning of [[HolyHandGrenade angels]] to prove that one's points have "greater merit". It doesn't even have to be a real debate, either: bickering over [[spoiler:candy]] is enough of an excuse to break out all the spectacular spells and summons in ''Umineko''. |
| 315 | [[/folder]] |
| 316 | |
| 317 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 318 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=820 Terra vs. Magus]] match, which seems to be more a contest of skill, if rather HotBlooded, than genuine attempt to fry each other. And a fight [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=991 here]] (some spoilers). |
| 319 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': |
| 320 | ** In the prequel book, ''Start of Darkness'', we get to see the epic battle between Xykon and Dorukan. It mostly consists of Xykon casting [[CombatPragmatist "Energy Drain"]] over and over until Dorukan is helpless. |
| 321 | ** Also in ''Start of Darkness'', the battle between Xykon and Fyron (Eugene's teacher); Rather than winning through magic, Xykon feigned defeat, then bashed in Fyron's head when the wizard's guard was down. |
| 322 | ** Vaarsuvius [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0065.html versus Zz'dtri of the Linear Guild.]] It isn't a particularly impressive battle, though, as Zz'dtri is able to [[NoSell effortlessly counter anything V could throw at him.]] Except Summon Lawyers. |
| 323 | ** Vaarsuvius and Zz'dtri go at it again in the Empire of Blood arc, but this time V gets the upper hand by [[spoiler:dominating the Linear Guild's kobold rogue and using him to fight Zz'dtri]]. |
| 324 | ** The duel between [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0456.html Redcloak and the High Priest of Azure City]]. With ''[[SarcasmMode lots]]'' of [[LampshadeHanging special effects]]. |
| 325 | ** By contrast, V and Xykon threw down with a rather higher special effects budget. [[UnEqualRites Arcanists get all the perks...]] |
| 326 | ** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0873.html Durkon vs. Malack]], reclaiming the dignity of divine spellcasters everywhere. |
| 327 | ** The appropriately-named "[[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0935.html Caster Fight!]]" showcases a duel between V and the psion Laurin. [[spoiler:V wins by pointing out that Laurin's expended a lot of power today already, while V has a ton of spells left, which prompts her to just teleport away. Though in this case, V had been told beforehand how Laurin preferred to fight - bring out the big guns as early and often as possible - and deliberately conserved their power, in addition to forcing Laurin before the battle to cast Dimension Door a number of times in pursuit of the Order.]] |
| 328 | * Wizard Duels are a staple of ''Webcomic/TheWotch'' comic, and tend to be marked by high mobility. Those wizards aren't about to stand and get spells hurled at them -- they move. |
| 329 | * The climactic duel in ''Webcomic/SchwarzKreuz'', which technically is a vampire duel, but full of [[MasterOfIllusion illusions]], [[DeadlyDodging turning into mist]] and VoluntaryShapeshifting. |
| 330 | * In ''Webcomic/SneakyGoblins'', Sonya and Murdock [[http://www.tolcraft.com/comic/page-57/ fight]] over whether she gets to use his [[CrystalBall seeing-orb]] on this page and the next. |
| 331 | * ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': |
| 332 | ** In his youth Duane was deeply involved in Alderode's dueling culture, partially because he was not from a wealthy family and is an excelent wright with a mutation that gives him an edge in spellcasting and the wealthy can pay someone else to duel for them. |
| 333 | ** Duane and Quigley duel each other when they first meet, with Duane winning and then dumping Quigley on the ground and telling him to stay down. Sette also steals Quigley's battle pymaric "Swarm" during the duel when it started giving him an edge over Duane. |
| 334 | ** Quigley fights two Ethelmik wrights using spellcasting the night the Deadly Nevergreen is destroyed. He manages to kill both of them, one being blown up by his own backfiring spell when Quigley blocks his attack. |
| 335 | [[/folder]] |
| 336 | |
| 337 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 338 | * ''Literature/DesolateEra'': Ning engages in a series of magical duels called Dao Debates with more senior students as a form of hazing. |
| 339 | %% * ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Elven Mage Fey and the Necromancer in all three Boston brawls. |
| 340 | * ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': |
| 341 | ** In the very first episode, Glynda Goodwitch tries to prevent Roman Torchwick's plane from escaping, but ends up engaging in a magic battle against the pilot, [[Characters/RWBYCinderFall Cinder Fall]]. What ensues is a duel where Glynda controls the weather and transforms the ensuing debris into large objects, only to be countered by Cinder's spontaneous outbursts of fire. |
| 342 | ** "The Lost Fable" has the largely offscreen battle between [[spoiler:Salem and Ozma]] that triggers their ForeverWar and seems to consist mostly of them throwing raw magic at each other. It winds up destroying the castle they're in, killing their four daughters, and both combatants dying but coming back. |
| 343 | * ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'', being a show that pit two characters with similarities against each other, had "ComicBook/{{Raven}} vs. [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]]", pitting two powerful emotion-fueled mages and their repertoire of spells against each other. Likewise, "ComicBook/DoctorStrange vs ComicBook/DoctorFate" pits two powerful practicioners of magic from rival comic companies against each other. "WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse vs. [[WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil Star Butterfly]]" pits two young teens with magic or magic-like powers against each other. |
| 344 | [[/folder]] |
| 345 | |
| 346 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 347 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': |
| 348 | ** Agni Kai, a duel between two firebenders, is a formalized version of this in the Fire Nation. |
| 349 | *** Three major examples involve Zuko. The first one was against his father, Fire Lord Ozai, as punishment for speaking out of turn in a strategy meeting. The second was against Zhao with the prince's pride and honor on the line. The last was against his sister Azula, with the title of Fire Lord on the line. |
| 350 | ** Most fights between benders qualify, but also standing out are Katara's duel with Pakku and her fight with Hama. |
| 351 | ** The most extreme example would be Aang Vs. Fire Lord Ozai in the finale. During the duel, Aang manages to finally unlock the Avatar State and is able to bend the elements with almost like gesture-magic - only the Avatar State's power gives each gesture an absolutely titanic effect. For example, clenching his fist crushes boulders to a hundredth of their size. |
| 352 | * In the sequel series to ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', "pro bending" is a team version popular as a spectator sport. |
| 353 | * Believe it or not, one of these happened in season three of the original ''[[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Transformers]]'', when some Autobots pursued a fugitive into another, magical dimension. |
| 354 | * Uncle against Daolon Wong in ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures''. |
| 355 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 356 | ** In the season 2 finale, [[BigGood Princess Celestia]] faces off against [[VileVillainSaccharineShow Queen Chrysalis]] in a magical duel that, for bonus points, overlaps nicely with [[ProjectileSpell Projectile Spells]]. To everyone's surprise, [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength including her own]], Chrysalis had absorbed so much power from [[EmotionEater consuming the love]] shared between Princess Cadance and Shining Armor that she was able to walk [[TheWorfEffect away the victor]]. |
| 357 | ** The later episode "Magic Duel" features the "I can do it better" variant between Twilight Sparkle and [[EnsembleDarkhorse Trixie]]. The first time Trixie uses an AmplifierArtifact to perform an [[FountainOfYouth age spell]] which Twilight can't do and she is forcefully removed from Ponyville. She returns for a rematch and uses a false amulet and smoke and mirrors to fake three even more powerful spells in order to get Trixie to steal the powerless amulet and removing her real one. |
| 358 | ** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E16CampfireTales Campfire Tales]]": In the legend told by Rarity, Sable Spirit and Mistmane battle by using powerful unicorn magic. Both make plants grow to surround the opponent like a cocoon, and summon dragon spirits to clash against each other. |
| 359 | * The ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner'' short "WesternAnimation/TheWhizzardOfOw" began with one of these between two {{Evil Sorcerer}}s standing up on high rocks. It results in a MutualKill, and their equipment landing in Wile E.'s lap, [[PlotTriggeringDeath beginning the cartoon proper]]. |
| 360 | * Papa Smurf has a few duels with wizards in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'', one of them being with Hotap in "Papa's Family Album", another being with the druid leader in "The Smurfs' Time Capsule". |
| 361 | * The ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Wizards Only, Fools" portrays an annual tournmant where many of Ooo's greatest wizards gather to prove who's magic is the strongest, and to get a kiss from Princess Bubblegum. |
| 362 | * In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheSecretDoor'', Alexa and Malucia get into a duel with their magic wands. |
| 363 | * Even ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' gets into the act with "The Magicks of Megas-Tu", an episode of the somewhat-obscure animated season which aired in 1972. The episode involves an alternate universe where magic works, and Kirk is forced into a formal magical duel with one of the Megans. |
| 364 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' season 1 features three duels. The first one is between Luz and Amity, but really just consists of the former running away from the latter’s abominations while Eda’s traps trigger. Then there are the two duels between the Clawthorne sisters, which have stunning animation and incredibly creative usage of magic on both sides. |
| 365 | ** The second season features an intense duel between [[ChildProdigy teen prodigies]] [[spoiler: Amity and Hunter]], with extensive uses of [[MorphWeapon Abomination magic]] and [[TeleportSpam teleport attacks]], respectively. |
| 366 | * Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' where Cartman pretends to be a psychic detective. At one point he is forced to have a "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Tj_l4PcPs psychic battle]]" with a group of rival psychic detectives, but because both Cartman and the detectives are just pretending to be psychic and don't have any real powers, the "battle" consists of them [[SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud shouting sound effects]] and waving their hands at each other while looking constipated, before declaring it a draw. |
| 367 | * The ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'' episode "Tiger Trails" starts InMediasRes with Uncle Grandpa and a boy named Caleb in a "wizard battle" with an evil wizard [[ShapedLikeItself named Evil Wizard]]. |
| 368 | * ''The Literature/{{Discworld}}'' reasonably-official animated short "[[https://vimeo.com/77104562 The Duel]]" is about two wizards in Unseen University fighting over a book, with increasingly powerful magics being used in the process. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well for either of them.]] |
| 369 | [[/folder]] |
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