Basic Trope: Four very, very badass characters that are considered the Worlds Best Characters.
- Straight: In order for your gym to be considered as the very best, your boxers will have to deal with four world champions, aptly nicknamed The Four Boxers of the Apocalypse: "Mananakop" Alicia P. Navarro, the Conqueress of Women's Boxing in the Junior Featherweight to Lightweight divisions (being named that for quite literally conquering Women's Boxing when it was still new) as well as the fastest boxer to ever step in the ring, "Krieger" Ulysses Smalls, the Warrior of the Featherweight to Middleweight divisions (being named that for causing some of the most wild, intense fights around and even breaking the ring at times), as well as the most determined and stamina-based boxer, "Ravageur" Clay T. Finnigan, the Pest of the Middleweight to Cruiserweight Divisions (being named that for essentially always being hungry for more boxers), the most savvy and technical boxer, and "Shinigami" Flash Young, The Grim Reaper of the Heavyweight division (being named that for essentially spelling doom for any upcoming boxer's career), as well as not only the physically gifted boxer but also essentially the very best of the best.
- Exaggerated: The four boxers are Masters of All, whose abilities are more powerful than shown by various world-class boxers: Alicia is so inconceivably fast that more often than not she leaves behind Speed Echoes and thus gives the illusion of having multiple Alicia variants when pictures are being taken of her in the ring, Ulysses often tries to go for 20 round matches (the usual boxing match had 15 and was cut down to 12) and is otherwise one of the most attrition-based boxers out there, Clay can pretty much analyze and calculate even the most minor of details just to make some of the most precise knock-out blows, not to mention being a bonafide Ditto Fighter that loves to copy and thoroughly deconstruct his opponent's styles, and Flash isn't known for his knockouts, but for his ring outs, due to being so big and strong that he's essentially always dominating the fight, keeping his opponent always out of range, plus the fact that he's pretty much won the boxing genetic lottery.
- Downplayed: ???
- Justified: The Four Boxers had to start somewhere in order to become this; Under the watchful eye of Clay's father, Coach Billy, these four were built from the ground up to be the ultimate test for any boxer worth their salt.
- Inverted: Four comically weak boxers that everyone knows are just little more than training dummies. If you can't beat them, you have no hope in boxing at ALL.
- Subverted: ???
- Double Subverted: ???
- Parodied: The Elite Four are good at something that's considered Serious Business in the universe; Say, hopscotch.
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: There are no four characters that are considered the strongest.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Paul Dyson, the local Smooth-Talking Talent Agent, profits off of being the promoter of the Four Boxers due to them constantly raking in so much money.
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Being the Elite Four has given all of them some sort of trouble:
- Alicia is often plagued with the fact that Women's Boxing isn't as prevalent as she hoped it would be, and being the conqueress of a relatively minor sport isn't such a big achievement, even when she's got essentially The Greatest Style in Women's Boxing. Not to mention, her feelings over her teammate Flash (who borderline rapes her) tends to get in the way as her constant attempts to look good in front of him makes her a jerkass to her opponents.
- Ulysses has a huge Inferiority Superiority Complex, not helping matters is his Aloof Big Brother Arnold who completely and utterly outshines Ulysses in every way, constantly turning his nose up at Ulysses. As a result, he tends to drag out his fights out of some sort of way of taking his grief out on his opponents.
- Clay is more often than not Only in It for the Money, and he'd make a Deal with the Devil if it means he can have all the money in the world, no matter how much it spoils his friendships. Even though his motivation of profit comes from a desire to help his ailing father Coach Billy, it definitely seems to hurt his old friend Cole Ramone, and their fight that involved Clay beating Cole unconscious with his own moves did not help matters.
- Flash had a severely Dark and Troubled Past, being sent to a horrible excuse of a rehab center in Maine and resenting his sister for it, along with a string of other horrible events, which had made him by far the most vicious, violent, and vile of the four, almost reveling in his opponents' misery, not to mention just what he does with Alicia in his spare time. His absolutely brutal fighting style he developed back in Maine tends to involve a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown against the ropes, before uppercutting them back up on their feet in order to continue his beatdown, and he often tends to brutalize just about anything that pisses him off, and these beatdowns are horrifically common.
Try to beat the Elite Four. I'm 100% betting you can't.
