History Main / InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1628710753068577100
%% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1323723566052329200
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[Creator/DCComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco001_5.png]]]]

-->--'''Sub-Zero,''' ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''

* The fight between the Space Angels and Guntroll during the [[TournamentArc Z.O.T. Tournament]] in ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita: Last Order''. Both groups had absolutely no reason to fight each other if not for the tournament and were indeed pretty friendly towards each other, but both had to win for various reasons. Well, at least from Alita's point of view, and she was suffering the [[ContemplateOurNavels existential crisis at the time]]. [[BloodKnight Sechs]] was an IdiotHero whose only meaning in life was fighting, and [[GenkiGirl twins]] were just too airheaded to care. So they've fought and [[Awesome/BattleAngelAlita much awesomeness ensued]].
* At one point in ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', it is revealed that [[spoiler:The giant robot enemies are actually from an alternate Earth, with a group piloting, like the main cast.]] Each of the sides are fighting [[spoiler:to keep their own ''universe'' safe.]]
* ''Anime/DeadmanWonderland'': The entire series is this. The inmates are given the choice of fighting to the death in the GladiatorGames that form the foundation of the cruel government's economy or dying when the time on their {{Slave Collar}}s runs out. Although some of the inmates, like Takami, are AxeCrazy sadists who are more than willing to kill if given the choice

* ''Anime/LupinIII'': The gang has been forced or tricked into this trope several times:
** Jigen and Goemon get into this situation in ''Anime/LupinIIIMysteryOfTheHemingwayPapers''. During their first confrontation, [[WimpFight they're able to fake a convincing stalemate]], but when they face off a second time, both are aware that it won't work again. [[spoiler:Of course, Lupin is able to rescue them before either has to kill the other.]]
** During ''Anime/LupinIIISevenDaysRhapsody'' Lupin and Jigen have to kill each other. It's a good thing they can shoot bullets out of the air.
* In the climax of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', [[SmugSnake Quattro]] forces Nanoha into a fight to the death with her brainwashed daughter Vivio. This was partially to keep Nanoha stalled long enough for the final phase of the EvilPlan to be put in motion, but mostly because [[{{Sadist}} she likes to watch people suffer]]. Nanoha manages to win the fight non-lethally, but not before exacting MamaBear fueled vengeance on Quattro.
-->'''Quattro''': Now kill each other like a good mother and daughter.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanZeroYear:'' When Bruce goes to a nomadic Norwegian tribe to learn how to fight, he isn't told the fight is to the death until after the battle commences. When he spares his opponent (after a 24-hour fight), the tribe's queen sends her entire tribe after him. Bruce incapacitates everyone who comes at him until the others are too scared of him to continue.

* In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'' #177, Wonder Woman and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} are captured by GalacticConqueror Klamos and forced to battle to the death in a tournament to decide who will become Klamos' queen under threat of Earth being destroyed. They FakeAFight and take the opportunity to expose Klamos as a robot controlled by his "assistant" Grok.

* Used in the ''Film/TronLegacy'' fanfic "A Survivor's Tale." Yori, who's been working with the Resistance, is captured and sent to the Games. Unfortunately, she has to face off against [[BrainwashedAndCrazy you know who]]...Turns into a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, though, when she's able to ''battle him to a draw.''

* Mentioned in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'', as [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Socrates]] plans on forcing two people to fight to the death [[ImprovisedWeapon with Slinkies as their only weapon.]]

[[folder:Films]]

* In ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' Spartacus and one of his soldiers are made to fight to the death. However, the one who wins will be crucified, so while they are friends, [[MoreHeroThanThou they're genuinely trying to kill each other]] because [[MercyKill it's cleaner than crucifixion]]. [[FridgeLogic One wonders]] why they gave him the satisfaction instead of just running each other through, or [[DrivenToSuicide falling on their swords]].
* ''Film/NoEscape1994'': Marek sets Robbins against [[spoiler:Casey.]]
* ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'' by Creator/MelBrooks. Brooks's character (Comicus, a comedian) and a slave he rescued earlier, Josephus, end up in one of these. [[spoiler:Comicus wins, but can't bring himself to kill Josephus; Comicus gives him a weapon back and they fight their way out.]]
* ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead'': Almost played straight, but they wind up taking a [[TakeAThirdOption third option]]. Forced into a shoot-off. Crowe's character, Cort, is forced into practically every shoot-off, but especially the one with Ellen (The Lady). Neither wants to shoot the other. Both want to shoot Herod, though.

'''Herod:''' One! *Cort finally shoots and down goes the Lady*\\
'''Doctor:''' *runs over to Ellen* She's dead. She's dead! Leave her alone. You vultures. Don't touch her!\\
'''Herod:''' Nice shooting, Reverend. You put a fox in the henhouse and he'll have chicken for dinner.\\
\\
Fortunately, [[spoiler:he missed on purpose and she just pretended to die. The doctor and the blind kid were in on it. Then Cort basically blows up the town with dynamite set up practically everywhere and the Lady gets to have her awesome moment. ]]
* ''Film/TheBarbarians'' features two imprisoned twin brothers, who are raised to hate an opponent wearing a special helmet. They're pitted against each other in gladiatorial combat wearing said helmets. When the masks come off, they recognize each other and refuse to fight.
* ''Film/{{The Count of Monte Cristo|2002}}'' has this, but subverts it when the battle ends. The protagonist, having defeated his foe, convinces the captain to allow them both to live, thus earning the loyalty of the man he was supposed to have killed.
* The TrainingFromHell that the kidnapped girls undergo in ''Film/NakedWeapon'' involves several of these in order to thin out their numbers and, eventually, end up with one girl. The first time involves the madam telling them to come out of their dorm/barracks in 5 minutes dragging another girl's body, cutting the numbers in half. The final challenge is several duels to the death. However, when the two protagonists are forced into a three-way fight with an ambitious, evil girl, they show such skill, that the madam decides to let all three live.
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Batman and Superman are fighting to the death. Batman is fighting because he believes Superman is an alien menace and needs to be killed for the safety of the world. Superman is fighting because Lex Luthor kidnapped Martha Kent (Superman's mother) and tells Superman that the only way to save her is to bring Luthor Batman's head. Batman straps on the Superman equivalent of a Hulk-buster and grabs his kryptonite weapons and the battle royale ensues.
* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' showed what was called a "mandingo fight", where two slaves in the Antebellum South (US) were forced to fight a barehanded brawl to the death as a wager between their owners. Despite Quentin Tarantino's claims of accuracy, this is ''not'' something that happened in real life (slave boxers and wrestlers were common enough, but not death matches).
* A variant in Film/{{Tron}}. Flynn is pitted against [[RedShirt Crom]] in one of these. The {{Novelization}} expands on the match. Flynn thinks it's a harmless sparring or tutorial match and doesn't take it seriously. Crom was led to believe that Flynn is a traitor and sent to kill him as a test of loyalty to Master Control. It's only when Flynn refuses the order to FinishHim that they realize the setup, though it's too late for Crom.

* In ''Dark Lord of Derkholm'', Blade and Kit (who are brothers despite being, respectively, a human and a griffin) are both forced to compete in GladiatorGames and unexpectedly encounter each other as opponents. They stage a fight until they can figure out how to escape.
* This sort of thing happens rather frequently in the ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Barsoom]]'' novels. In ''A Princess of Mars'', leads to a very cool moment where Carter and Kantos Kan escape by fighting for hours (until sunset), then faking the death of one of them whilst the other one is set free for winning.
* The entire plot of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' may be seen as this, with 24 teenagers chosen at random for a survival and fighting competition to the death. This applies notably to [[spoiler: Katniss and Peeta being the final contestants]]. However, the author finds a way to keep from killing ''all'' the people we know.
* Similarly to the above example, the central premise of ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' is a class of ninth graders thrown into an Involuntary Battle To The Death on a deserted island.
* In the Literature/ModestyBlaise novel ''I, Lucifer'', Modesty and Willie get captured by the villains and forced to fight each other in a quick draw duel to the death, Modesty's handgun versus Willie's throwing knife. They come up with a way of staging Willie's death so he can get away and send word for help.
* Toyed with in the ten ''tennis shoes adventure'' book, where two characters are recruited to fight in a gladiatorial match, by opposing teams. Neither knows the other is their opponent and after the two leaders tell the characters that the other killed their girlfriend/friends, they are willing to fight- but when they figure out who the other is, they stop.
* Igor Bereg's ''The Sky under the Ceiling'' involves a mild-mannered man being given a gift by a strange man after confessing how much his life sucks. The gift is a model aircraft hangar, which turns out to have a built-in ShrinkRay that turns the man tiny. He finds a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era fighter in the hangar in full working condition along with a number of manuals. After learning to fly, he uses the plane to destroy the hornet's nest in his office. However, a "friend" of his has ties to TheMafiya and finds out about the invention. The man is kidnapped along with a Georgian restaurant owner (the protagonist's new friend) who used to serve in the Georgian Air Force. The "friend" set up combat between the two with cameras attached to the planes. Both pretend to engage in OldSchoolDogfighting until the "friend" orders his bodyguards to start shooting (the bullets look like big missiles to the tiny pilots. The two pilots survive and return to normal size, while the police arrives to arrest all the spectators.
* In Creator/JamesSwallow's ''Literature/BloodAngels'' novel ''Black Tide'', Rafen finds himself pitted against Tarikus when they are prisoners. Tarikus tells Rafen to shoot him. Rafen TakesAThirdOption.
* In the ''Literature/ParadoxTrilogy'', the xith'cal tribe leader Reaper tries to force Captain Caldswell and John Brenton to fight to the death by using drugs to drive Brenton into a berserk rage. Ironically, Caldswell and Brenton were already mortal enemies, and under any other circumstances would probably have fought to the death entirely voluntarily. As it is, Caldswell is more concerned with escaping from Reaper than finishing off Brenton, and both end up surviving.
* For some reason, villains in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' have a crippling desire to do this to the twins Jacen and Jaina Solo. First the villains of the Shadow Academy arc arrange to have it happen via holoshroud (both of them look like Darth Vader); then the Yuuzhan Vong grow obsessed with the idea of [[HumanSacrifice having the two of them sacrifice each other to their gods]], which ends up in a lot of wasted effort and no sacrificing. Then, in the Legacy series, Jacen turns to the Dark Side and Jaina is forced to finally, actually battle him to the death (although by choice).
** The [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Vong]] at least have some level of cultural excuse for their fixation; their religion views twins as exceptionally sacred (twins are very rare among the Vong, and when they do come along they're considered an omen and are inevitably required to fight to the death), and they have a massive hatred for the Jedi and Force-users in general. Thus, the ritual sacrifice-by-combat of twin Jedi would have been an omen of massive significance, possibly (in their eyes) enough to guarantee final victory of what was left of the galaxy's indigenous governments.

* In ''Literature/TheReformedVampireSupportGroup,'' the vampires discover that werewolves exist and are subject to this. People capture kids who have recently developed lycanthropy, put them in a ring before the full moon, then [[BloodSports watch]] as the two lose control and rip each other apart. Almost every werewolf we meet in this world is a traumatized survivor of these fights.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episodes. TOS was absolutely in love with this one!
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E18Arena Arena]]". Captain Kirk is forced to fight the captain of a Gorn ship to the death. Of course, Kirk would have been pleased to blow their ship to pieces but has a change of heart when it's hand-to-hand combat.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E16TheGamestersOfTriskelion The Gamesters of Triskelion]]". Captain Kirk, Lieutenant Uhura, and Ensign Chekov are kidnapped and forced to fight alien gladiators. The last combat, between Captain Kirk and a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe, is to the death.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]". Captain Kirk agrees to fight Spock as part of a Vulcan ritual but finds out too late that it's a death duel. Spock, who does know the details, tries to stop him, but as he is in the grip of Blood Fever-induced insanity, he can't get the idea across.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E7DayOfTheDove Day of the Dove]]". The entire Enterprise crew is forced to fight a group of Klingons so an EmotionEater alien can get its fill of negative emotions.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses Bread and Circuses]]". A civilization based on Ancient Rome forces Kirk, Spock, and [=McCoy=] to participate in televised gladiatorial games to the death.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]". At the end, Captain Kirk is forced by the Yangs to fight Captain Tracy to the death in a TrialByCombat to find out who's telling the truth.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E22TheSavageCurtain The Savage Curtain]]". Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are lured down to a planet and forced to fight evil beings from Federation history for the amusement of the planet's inhabitants.
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' episode "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fun_and_Games_%28The_Outer_Limits%29 Fun and Games]]".
* An unusual use came in the first season of ''Series/BlackAdder'' when Edmund challenges a notorious warrior to a duel for calling him a bastard (parentally speaking). He rather loses momentum when the man enthusiastically replies ''TO THE DEATH!", but can't back out by that point.
* The MO of the murderer in the ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "The Fight".

* Happens in the ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}'' episode "The Coming of Arthur: Part One" between Arthur and [[spoiler: Gwaine]]. It was mostly a coincidence, as the instigator of the fight had no idea that the two men had ever even seen one another before.
* In ''Series/TheSight'' the villain forces Huttser and Palla into one of these by threatening to kill the survivor painfully, causing them to each struggle to give the other a merciful death.
* In the ''Series/MacGyver1985'' episode "Humanity", Mac is captured in Romania by a member of the K-Force, a PraetorianGuard [[TheRemnant still loyal]] to Romania's dead tyrant Ceauşescu. After seeing Mac fishing, he becomes upset and later reveals that the K-Force's TrainingFromHell (which begins in [[ChildSoldiers early childhood]]) forbids any sort of friendship. When he and another kid he had befriended went fishing with some rods stolen from the base, they were caught and forced to have a knife fight to the death. Naturally, he won but he still feels guilty to this day.
* In ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}'', J'onn, the Martian Manhunter, is forced into a cage fight to the death with Meghan, Miss Martian. If they refuse to fight, there is a third, humongous, deadly gladiator there to kill them. They initially fight, but J'onn convinces Meghan, that as the last two members of their species, they definitely should not be fighting to the death. Shortly thereafter, Kara, Supergirl, arrives to take out the gladiators and all the guards.
* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E21AllHellBreaksLoosePartOne "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21)]], Sam is brought to a ghost town where he and the other Special Children are manipulated by the Yellow-Eyed Demon to fight each other until only one remains.
* In ''Series/{{Flash Gordon|2007}}'', after [[BigBad Ming]] catches both Flash and Barin in his daughter Aura's room, he gleefully demands that they fight to the death for her hand in marriage (not really intending to honor the deal, since he'd much rather they kill one another). They're given flail-like weapons, with the spiked ball being coated in poison. Clearly, everyone expects Barin, an experienced warrior, to easily best Flash, whose athletic achievements are limited to marathons. At the last moment, though, Barin hurls his flail at Ming. Struck with the poisoned weapon, Ming falls. Later on, expecting to be executed, both men are visited by Aura, who tells them to leave before her father awakens. Apparently, fearing for their lives, she replaced the poison with a toxin that temporarily puts the person to sleep. Afterwards, Ming berates his daughter for ''not'' killing him when she had the chance, proving to him that she's not yet ready to rule.
* While it's more a DeadlyGame than a straight-up DuelToTheDeath, the fourth round in ''Series/SquidGame'' has the contestants asked to form groups of two. [[spoiler:Turns out that unlike the previous round, where you were pitted against other teams in tug-of-war, in this round, you have to play marbles against your ''teammate''. Did you pick your friend (or, in the case of one REALLY unfortunate team, your spouse) as a teammate? Tough luck, now you have to beat them, with the loser getting [[BoomHeadshot shot in the head by the guard's revolver]].]]
* One particular scene in ''Series/{{The Shield}}'', Vic Mackey locks 2 rival gang leaders in a shipping container overnight, with the intention of either forcing them to work out their differences or kill each other. It's very clear which option they chose when only one of them walks out when Vic opens the door the next morning...

* One of Sub-Zero's intros with Sheeva in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' has him comment this:
-->'''Sub-Zero''': You honor me with your challenge.
-->'''Sheeva''': Your clan will honor you in death.
-->'''Sub-Zero''': I did not agree to a deathmatch!
* Midway through ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', The Laws of Neverwinter force you to face and kill Lorne in single combat. You may wish to spare him [[spoiler:as he is from your hometown and a brother of your childhood friend,]] but [[YouHaveFailedMe his boss wiil kill him anyway]]. DeathByIrony for Lorne, who committed the murders you were on trial for.

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCellConviction'' [[spoiler:has a variation of this when Archer is called to terminate Kestrel. Kestrel intercepts this message on Archer's comm, left conveniently next to where he was resting. The two have a serious SpyVersusSpy duel until one mortally wounds the other. The defeated dies while noting that the other "[[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what he had to do]]" with their last breath, only for the victor to be shot in the back by Kobin.]]
* ''VideoGame/SilentScope 2'': The BigBad forces the two protagonists to fight each other in a sniping duel, with the winner taking the DamselInDistress. [[spoiler:Subverted on two accounts. The villain opens fire on whoever wins. Also the protagonists fake it rather convincingly, using paint bullets.]]
* ''VideoGame/Jak3'': Early in the game, Jak and Daxter are put through a series of gladiatorial trials to earn citizenship in Spargus City. They are quite surprised to come up against their old friend Sig at the last minute, in an arena whose only rule is "kill or be killed." [[spoiler:Neither Jak nor Sig are willing to kill each other, which pisses off King Damas enough that [[TakeAThirdOption he sends all three of them on a suicide mission as penance]].]]
* A conversation with SIGINT in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' implies that The Boss [[spoiler: killed The Sorrow, her lover]] in a similar situation, but it isn't until ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' that EVA tells Big Boss the truth, that [[spoiler: the American and Soviet Philosophers played The Boss and The Sorrow against each other without the other's knowledge and finally put them on a mission to kill the other with the threat that their child would be killed if both of them lived.]]
* The main premise of ''VideoGame/ChaosRings'' and ''VideoGame/ChaosRingsOmega'' is an involuntary ''tournament'' to the death: five couples are chosen and must combat each other until only one is left.

* In ''VisualNovel/SweetFuseAtYourSide'', this pops up on certain routes. [[TakeAThirdOption It's mostly dealt with]], except for [[spoiler: Urabe's bad end, where it's implied that he died and the shock (no pun intended) of his death made it impossible for the rest of the team to finish the challenge.]]
* ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' has at least one of these in ''Legacy of the Void'', when [[spoiler: Amon possesses Artanis]] and forces him to [[spoiler: fight Zeratul. Zeratul is able to sever Artanis' nerve cords and break the spell but perishes shortly afterward. This prompts Artanis to say, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone "Zeratul... Forgive me."]]]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind[='s=] ''Bloodmoon'' expansion, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of the Hunt Hircine kidnaps four of Solstheim's greatest warriors (the [[PlayerCharacter Nerevarine]], the local [[BadassArmy Imperial Legion]] Captain, the chieftain of the [[NobleSavage Skaal]], and the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Frost Giant]] Karstaag) to take place in his once-per-era hunt on Mundus. He has his werewolf minions kidnap the "prey", forces them to fight one another (as well as even more werewolves) within the maze-like glacier battlegrounds, and then the "winner" has to defeat [[WillfullyWeak one of Hircine's aspects]]. You can choose to spare the Imperial Captain, but the others must be killed in order to beat the quest.
* Saejima's final boss in ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'' is one of these. The BigBad has a man with a sniper rifle positioned to take out [[spoiler: [[TheCutie Haruka]]]], and the Big Bad will give the order to do so if Saejima and [[spoiler: [[SwornBrothers Goro Majima]]]] don't have an honest fight to the death. They both proceed to beat each other bloody, [[spoiler: but ultimately can't go through with the "killing" part. Fortunately, the assassin has a crisis of conscience and can't go through with his end, either.]]

* In ''[[Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures DMFA]]'', dragon lord Hizell sends a message to his estranged son Piroduck: PleaseShootTheMessenger or be killed by her. [[spoiler:Mab rescues Pyroduck by disintegrating the hit-messenger.]]
* [[http://www.tnemrot.com/ Domain Tnemrot]] features this. Legally, slaves registered as battlers have to fight once a week or they are recalled since high mortality rates mean they're in too much demand to be kept from the ring.
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' one of Belkar's favorite ways of [[KickTheDog kicking the dog]] is wanting to do this to others (other than sell them as slaves). For example, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0533.html when he accidentally got elected leader of the resistance in Azure City]].
** Later, in the Western Continent arc, Belkar and Roy find themselves at the other end of this, becoming [[GladiatorGames gladiators]]. Subverted though, as Belkar fights someone much weaker than he is, and Roy gets to fight [[spoiler: one of his real enemies, Thog]].

* This is how ''Webcomic/MorphE'' starts, but the one running the show makes it clear from the start that merely winning your match doesn't guarantee survival.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Creator/KevinSmith and Scott Mosier in their weekly podcast [=SModcast=], in the guise of being forced to fight each other, in a [[ItMakesSenseInContext post-apocalyptic world by vampire kings]]: Smith is so sure that he'd die that he offers himself as a sex slave, instead.
--> "God, how messed up is that? ''Escape's'' not even the top of my ''list''!"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' spoofed this, along with other ''Franchise/StarTrek'' tropes in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before". Powerful EnergyBeing (and raging {{fanboy}}) Melllvar pits the Planet Express crew against the cast of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' in a battle to see which is more worthy of his devotion.
** [[ShoutOut Impressive list. But you forgot about episode 18!]] As in, "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?," when Fry and Zoidberg get into a "Claw-Pla'q," although it is only involuntary on one end.
--->'''Fry:''' Dr. Zoidberg is my friend, and though a woman has come between us, I say we'll always remain friends. And do you know why? ''[Fry holds up his right arm and extends a finger]'' One reason- ''[Zoidberg [[AnArmAndALeg cuts off Fry's upraised arm]]. Fry stares at his severed arm in shock for a moment]'' You bastard! I'll kill you! You bastard! [[[GrievousHarmWithABody Fry picks up his severed arm and begins beating Zoidberg with it]]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' uses this when Hama forces Aang and Sokka into one - which Katara has to stop, naturally, leading her to learn blood-bending.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' had a variation. An episode where Mark Chang, prince of Yugopotamia, challenges Timmy to "Ditch eh phat". Since the Yugopotamians are creatures terrified of things like flowers, teddy bears, and chocolate, Timmy accepts immediately, expecting an easy time. Then Mark explains he sneezed [[TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment and meant Death Combat]]. And he couldn't back out now...

->'''Melllvar:''' To prove who is more worthy of my fanatical devotion, I shall pit you against each other in armed combat... to the death!\\
'''Bender:''' Where did you get an idiotic idea like that?\\
'''Melllvar:''' [[Franchise/StarTrek Episodes]] [[Recap/StarTrekS1E18Arena 19]], [[Recap/StarTrekS2E16TheGamestersOfTriskelion 46]], [[Recap/StarTrekS3E6SpectreOfTheGun 56]], and [[Recap/StarTrekS3E22TheSavageCurtain 77]]. [[note]]Melllvar is using the production order, rather than airing order[[/note]]\\
'''Fry:''' Great list. Except, you forgot episode [[Recap/StarTrekS3E7DayOfTheDove 66]]! Ha ha ha ha ha!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "Where No Fan Has Gone Before"

* Saejima's final boss in ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'' is one of these. The BigBad has a man with a sniper rifle positioned to take out [[spoiler: [[TheCutie Haruka]]]], and the Big Bad will give the order to do so if Saejima and [[spoiler: [[BloodBrothers Goro Majima]]]] don't have an honest fight to the death. They both proceed to beat each other bloody, [[spoiler: but ultimately can't go through with the "killing" part. Fortunately, the assassin has a crisis of conscience and can't go through with his end, either.]]

* ''Anime/DeadmanWonderland'': The entire series is this. The inmates are given the choice of fighting to the death in the GladiatorGames that form the foundation of the cruel government's economy, or dying when the time on their {{Slave Collar}}s runs out. Although some of the inmates, like Takami, are AxeCrazy sadists who are more than willing to kill if given the choice
* During the Battle City arc of ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Marik mind-controls Joey, and forces him and Yugi into a duel. Both are attached to chains attached to an anchor; winner gets the key to his shackles, loser takes a plunge into the ocean. Oh, and Tea's tied to a chair with a large crate over her head, so no one can interfere. It would have worked except for the fact that it was escapable.

** Jigen and Goemon get into this situation in ''Anime/LupinIIIMysteryOfTheHemingwayPapers''. During their first confrontation, they're able to fake a convincing stalemate, but when they face off a second time, both are aware that it won't work again. [[spoiler:Of course, Lupin is able to rescue them before either has to kill the other.]]

* This sort of thing happens rather frequently in the ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Barsoom]]'' novels. In A Princess of Mars, leads to a very cool moment where Carter and Kantos Kan escape by fighting for hours (until sunset), then faking the death of one of them whilst the other one is set free for winning.

* The main premise of ''VideoGame/ChaosRings'' and ''VideoGame/ChaosRingsOmega'' is an involuntary ''tournament'' to the death: five couples are chosen, and must combat each other until only one is left.

--->'''Fry:''' Dr. Zoidberg is my friend, and though a woman has come between us, I say we'll always remain friends. And do you know why? ''[Fry holds up his right arm and extends a finger]'' One reason- ''[Zoidberg cuts off Fry's upraised arm. Fry stares at his severed arm in shock for a moment]'' You bastard! I'll kill you! You bastard! [[[GrievousHarmWithABody Fry picks up his severed arm and begins beating Zoidberg with it]]]

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the Joker has rigged two boats with explosives and gives each boat the detonator to the other. If one boat blows up before midnight, the other is spared. If not, Joker blows them both up. [[spoiler:After much-protracted discussion and agonizing, each decides not to blow the other up, and Batman stops the Joker from carrying out his threat.]] Plenty of fans have guessed that the Joker was lying about which explosives the detonators would trigger.
** Earlier, when Joker kills Gambol, he turns to the crime boss's men and tells them he's hiring, but there's only one spot. He then drops a broken pool cue between them...
** The boat thing is also complicated by the fact that one is filled with ordinary people, while the other is filled with convicts.

* One particular scene in ''Series/{{TheShield}}'', Vic Mackey locks 2 rival gang leaders in a shipping container overnight, with the intention of either forcing them to work out their differences or kill each other. It's very clear which option they chose when only one of them walks out when Vic opens the door the next morning...

* The fight between the Space Angels and Guntroll during the [[TournamentArc Z.O.T. Tournament]] in ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita: Last Order''. Both groups had absolutely no reason to fight each other if not for the tournament, and were indeed pretty friendly towards each other, but both had to win for various reasons. Well, at least from Alita's point of view, and she was suffering the [[ContemplateOurNavels existential crisis at the time]]. [[BloodKnight Sechs]] was an IdiotHero whose only meaning of life was fighting, and [[GenkiGirl twins]] were just too airheaded to care. So they've fought and [[Awesome/BattleAngelAlita much awesomeness ensued]].

* ''Anime/DeadmanWonderland'': The entire series is this. The inmates are given the choice of fighting to the death in the GladiatorGames that form the foundation of the cruel government's economy, or dying when the time on their {{Slave Collar}}s runs out. Although some of the inmates, like Takami, are AxeCrazy sadists who more than willing to kill if given the choice

* ''Anime/LupinIII'': The gang have been forced or tricked into this trope several times:

* ''ComicBook/BatmanZeroYear:'' When Bruce goes to a nomadic Norwegian tribe to learn how to fight, he isn't told the fight is to the death until after the battle commences. When he spares his opponent (after a 24 hour fight), the tribe's queen sends her entire tribe after him. Bruce incapacitates everyone who comes at him until the others are too scared of him to continue.

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the Joker has rigged two boats with explosives, and given each boat the detonator to the other. If one boat blows up before midnight, the other is spared. If not, Joker blows them both up. [[spoiler:After much protracted discussion and agonizing, each decides not to blow the other up, and Batman stops the Joker from carrying out his threat.]] Plenty of fans have guessed the the Joker was lying about which explosives the detonators would trigger.

* In ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' Spartacus and one of his soldiers are made to fight to the death. However the one who wins will be crucified, so while they are friends, [[MoreHeroThanThou they're genuinely trying to kill each other]] because [[MercyKill it's cleaner than crucifixion]]. [[FridgeLogic One wonders]] why they gave him the satisfaction instead of just running each other through, or [[DrivenToSuicide falling on their swords]].

* ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead'': Almost played straight, but they wind up taking a [[TakeAThirdOption third option]]. Forced into a shootoff. Crowe's charcter, Cort, is forced into practically every shootoff, but especially the one with Ellen (The Lady). Neither wants to shoot the other. Both want to shoot Herod, though.

* ''Film/TheBarbarians'' features two imprisoned twin brothers, who are raised to hate an opponent wearing a special helmet. They're pitted against each other in gladiatorial combat wearing said helmets. When the masks come off, they recognize each other, and refuse to fight.

* Toyed with in the ten ''tennis shoes adventure'' book, where two characters are recruited to fight in a gladiatorial match, by opposing teams. neither knows the other is their opponent, and after the two leaders tell the characters that the other killed their girlfriend/friends, they are willing to fight- but when they figure out who the other is, they stop.

** "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E18Arena Arena]]". Captain Kirk is forced to fight the captain of a Gorn ship to the death. Of course, Kirk would have been pleased to blow their ship to pieces, but has a change of heart when it's hand to hand combat.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E16TheGamestersOfTriskelion The Gamesters of Triskelion]]". Captain Kirk, Lieutenant Uhura and Ensign Chekov are kidnapped and forced to fight alien gladiators. The last combat, between Captain Kirk and a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe, is to the death.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]". Captain Kirk agrees to fight Spock as part of a Vulcan ritual but finds out too late that it's a death duel. Spock, who does know the details, try to stop him, but as he is in the grip of Blood Fever induced insanity, he can't get the idea across.

** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses Bread and Circuses]]". A civilization based on Ancient Rome forces Kirk, Spock and [=McCoy=] to participate in televised gladiatorial games to the death.
** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]". At the end Captain Kirk is forced by the Yangs to fight Captain Tracy to the death in a TrialByCombat to find out who's telling the truth.

* An unusual use came in the first season of ''Series/BlackAdder'', when Edmund challenges a notorious warrior to a duel for calling him a bastard (parentally speaking). He rather loses momentum when the man enthusiastically replies ''TO THE DEATH!", but can't back out by that point.

* In the module ''[=IM1=] The Immortal Storm'' for the original ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Immortal Rules, the PlayerCharacters are made to do this ''by their own patrons!'' Well, sort of. Its like this: Being Immortals, their patrons are the Hierarchs, bigwigs among immortals, and each player represents one of the four playable Spheres. (An NPC assumes the role of the Entropy Sphere.) Throughout most of the module, the players have gathered parts of a DismantledMacGuffin, which the Hierarchs assemble. Then, one of the players has to throw it into the eye of the eponymous storm, causing it to dissipate and preventing the end of existence. Whoever does so will gain a ''lot'' of power and respect for his own Sphere, and as one might assume, each Hierarchs wants that prestige going to his own Sphere. The players who defeated in this battle can't truly die (they're immortal, after all) so this is sort of a dog-and-pony show to get a bunch of JerkassGods to stop arguing. However, the losers ''do'' get restitution in the form of one new Immortal Power. Possibly serves as a warning to the players, as ''they'' might eventually be candidates for their patrons' positions.

* In the climax of ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo: The 40th Day'', BigBad Jonah threatens to destroy the city with a nuke unless one of the heroes shoots the other to prove their willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. There is no [[TakeAThirdOption third option]]. If you're playing Co-Op, the first player to reach the trigger gets to make the decision on whether to shoot Jonah (and thus trigger the countdown on the nuke, dooming the city but giving you two time to escape together), or to shoot their buddy and save the city.
* ''VideoGame/SplinterCellConviction'' [[spoiler:has a variation of this when Archer is called to terminate Kestrel. Kestrel intercepts this message on Archer's comm, left conveniently next to where he was resting. The two have a serious SpyVersusSpy duel, until one mortally wounds the other. The defeated dies while noting that the other "[[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what he had to do]]" with their last breath, only for the victor to be shot in the back by Kobin.]]

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' has Connor attempting to stop his people (the Native Americans) from entering the war between the Americans and the Colonists. He succeeds, but is forced to kill his childhood friend.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' has at least one of these in ''Legacy of the Void'', when [[spoiler: Amon possesses Artanis]] and forces him to [[spoiler: fight Zeratul. Zeratul is able to sever Artanis' nerve cords and break the spell, but perishes shortly afterward. This prompts Artanis to say, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone "Zeratul... Forgive me."]]]]

* [[http://www.tnemrot.com/ Domain Tnemrot]] features this. Legally, slaves registered as battlers have to fight once a week or they are recalled, since high mortality rates means they're in too much demand to be kept from the ring.

* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Creator/KevinSmith and Scott Mosier in their weekly podcast [=SModcast=], in the guise of being forced to fight each other, in a [[ItMakesSenseInContext post apocalyptic world by vampire kings]]: Smith is so sure that he'd die that he offers himself as a sex slave, instead.

--->'''Fry:''' Dr. Zoidberg is my friend, and though a woman has come between us, I say we'll always remain friends. And do you know why? [Fry hold up his right arm and extends a finger] One reason- [Zoidberg cuts off Fry's upraised arm. Fry stares at his severed arm in shock for a moment] You bastard! I'll kill you! You bastard! [[[GrievousHarmWithABody Fry picks up his severed arm and begins beating Zoidberg with it]]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' uses this when Hama forces Aang and Sokka into one - which Katara has to stop, naturally, leading her to learning blood-bending.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' uses this, too, when Hama forces Aang and Sokka into one - which Katara has to stop, naturally, leading her to learning blood-bending.

* ''VideoGame/SilentScope 2'': The BigBad forces the two protagonists to fight each other in a sniping duel, with the winner taking the DistressedDamsel. [[spoiler:Subverted on two accounts. The villain opens fire on whoever wins. Also the protagonists fake it rather convincingly, using paint bullets.]]

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Conviction'' [[spoiler: has a variation of this, where Archer is called to terminate Kestrel. Kestrel intercepts this message on Archer's comm, left conveniently next to where he was resting. The two have a serious ''SpyVersusSpy'' duel, until one mortally wounds the other. The defeated dies while noting that the other "[[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what he had to do]]" with their last breath, only for the victor to be shot in the back by Kobin.]]

* ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'': Early in the game, Jak and Daxter are put through a series of gladiatorial trials to earn citizenship in Spargus City. They are quite surprised to come up against their old friend Sig at the last minute, in an arena whose only rule is "kill or be killed." [[spoiler:Neither Jak nor Sig are willing to kill each other, which pisses off King Damas enough that [[TakeAThirdOption he sends all three of them on a suicide mission as penance.]]]]

* In ''VisualNovel/SweetFuse'', this pops up on certain routes. [[TakeAThirdOption It's mostly dealt with]], except for [[spoiler: Urabe's bad end, where it's implied that he died and the shock (no pun intended) of his death made it impossible for the rest of the team to finish the challenge.]]

* toyed with in the ten ''tennis shoes adventure'' book, where two characters are recruited to fight in a gladiatorial match, by opposing teams. neither knows the other is their opponent, and after the two leaders tell the characters that the other killed their girlfriend/ friends, they are willing to fight- but when they figure out who the other is, they stop.