History Main / ForcedPrizeFight

* One [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] comic set this up between Franchise/{{Superman}} and ''Muhammad Ali''.

** Exorbitant? you get three times that if you make it through the arena without leaving.

* During the Chuunin exams in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', all the genin have to fight each other to advance, though naturally, the only kids from the same village who get matched up are those with scores to settle, and everyone else gets paired with a foreigner.
** Except Naruto and Kiba. And Sasuke and Yoroi. So really only half of the Leaf v. Leaf fights.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* The second episode of ''Anime/WeissKreuz'' is based on this trope: Fujimiya Aya goes undercover as a participant in so-called Human Chess prizefights.
* This happens in the Coliseum episodes of ''LightNovel/KinosJourney'', when Kino is forced to fight to amuse a country's insane despot.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Some of the Franchise/{{Superman}}[=/=]Franchise/TheFlash races were like this.

[[folder: Films -- Animated ]]

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'', "The Ring"

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', "Arena", "The Gamesters of Triskelion", and several others.
** {{Homage}}d in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', "Tsunkatse". Includes the trainer-becomes-opponent bit. And a guest appearance from Wrestling/TheRock! (fighting Seven Of Nine. No weight classes here!)
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode 908, "Babylon".

* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'':
** "The Coming Of Arthur", after Merlin and Arthur and, separately, Gwaine are captured by slave traders. There's an attempt to make Merlin fight Gwaine, but Arthur steps in.

* Archie Andrews is forced into a fight ring by the corrupt warden of his juvenile detention center in season 3 of ''Series/Riverdale''.

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', the prize is "graduation", i.e. "being able to leave high school[=/=]jail alive. The objective: kill your classmate without getting caught.

[[folder: Webcomics ]]
* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' - Many tests that allow the Regulars to climb the Tower are tests designed to pit Regulars against Regulars.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', "The Cat and the Canary" and "Grudge Match". Both featured a secret underground super-powered fighting circuit run by the villainess Roulette. The latter episode resorted to [[{{Brainwashed}} mind control]] to effect [[FanService girl]]-on-[[{{fetish}} girl]] {{Catfight}}s.
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' also had "War World".

* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Winner Take All" actually dupes Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy into fighting each other and other "heroes" for so-called fabulous prizes. [[spoiler:It's actually a setup so the VillainOfTheWeek can steal all the fighters' powers.]]

** And War World was also based on a storyline in ''{{Superman}}'' comics.

[[quoteright:345:[[Franchise/WonderWoman https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duel_to_death_ww.png]]]]

* In ''[[Literature/TheHollows Dead Witch Walking]]'' by Kim Harrison, the protagonist, having transformed into a mink in order to spy on the BigBad, is caught and entered into a fighting competition with other small mammals. When one of her opponents turns out to be a transformed human himself, they coordinate an escape together.

[[caption-width-right:345:Obviously, chicks dig the CoolHelmet.]]

* There's the trainer variation in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', [[spoiler:where [[LargeHam Jack Rakan]] turns out to be the final match out of the Ostia tournament]]. It was [[PlayingWithATrope almost]] going to be used in the [[TournamentArc Mahora Fest]], but then [[spoiler:Evangeline got knocked out by Setsuna]]. [[SureLetsGoWithThat But she MEANT for that to happen.]]
* ''Manga/{{Golgo13}}'': In [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Golgo_13_episodes "The Brutes' Banquet"]] 2 bloodsports followers have Golgo duel another assassin to see who wins.

* One of the stories in the original run of ''{{Franchise/Highlander}}'' comics has Duncan and many other immortals forced into this. Methos is the one to incite a breakout, and coming across a pile of dead Watchers only makes him madder, possibly due to his ties to the group in the past.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has one in ''The Pitt'' DLC: after getting captured by slavers and forced to scavenge steel ingots, the second primary quest of the DLC has you using all the equipment you gathered during your scavenge operation in pitfights against other slaves. The fight is to the death and at the beginning, the slavers dump several barrels of highly radioactive sludge into the pit to give you an additional incentive at winning quickly (before you reach 1000 rads and drop dead). There are three fights; winning the third will make the slavers impressed enough that you're freed from slavery and given all your stuff back.
* VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim has the quest "The House of Horrors" in Markarth, in which the player character and a Vigilant of Stendaar are locked in a house together by a [[{{EldritchAbomination}} Daedric Prince]] and forced to fight to the death.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' episode "Grudge Match" pits Ben against a more-than-willing-to-beat-the-snot-out-of-him Kevin, as well as other alien gladiators after being teleported from Earth.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}/Wildcat'' mini-series, members of Batman's RoguesGallery are kidnapped and forced to fight one another in a series of cage matches.

* Similar to the Justice League example above, an episode of ''Series/BirdsOfPrey'' had Huntress be captured and brainwashed into fighting other super-powered women.