Basic Trope: The only way to win the fight is to not fight.
- Straight: Bob tries to fight a mirror version of himself, but nothing seems to work; The mirror is defeated when Bob simply stops trying to fight him.
- Exaggerated: Bob not only has to not fight his mirror self he needs to actively take pains to keep his mirror self from falling apart while his mirror self is busy trying to kill him.
- Downplayed: Bob just has to defend against the mirror Bob, rather than refuse to fight outright, until the mirror Bob disappears.
- Justified:
- The mirror Bob is there to teach Bob a lesson in keeping his anger in check.
- The enemy is only fighting to defend himself, the moment Bob decides to stop fighting, the enemy does too.
- Inverted:
- Bob usually has to resolve his conflicts without fighting at all but instead reasoning to win via negotiation or failing that guile. Against his mirror every option instead of just shooting without giving him a chance to surrender will result in Bob's death.
- Violence is the Only Option
- Violence Really Is the Answer
- Subverted: Bob eventually wins against his mirror clone after a long, hard battle.
- Double Subverted: Until another, stronger clone comes in, which eventually makes him come to the realization that he should stop fighting.
- Parodied: Bob fights his clone until he and the clone both tire each other out. They both agree to just let Bob through.
- Zig-Zagged: Which variant works depends on the situation and standpoint. At times non-violent approaches are Unwinnable and you need to shoot first, other times violent approaches are unwinnable, and in a third case
- Averted: It's a conventional Mirror Boss fight; doing nothing will only let the mirror clone hit you.
- Enforced: After spending a lot of time fighting enemies, the developer figures it would be an interesting puzzle where fighting isn't an option.
- Lampshaded: "So I have to stop fighting to win the fight? Is this some sort of zen thing?"
- Invoked: The mirror clone was specifically created to teach the person fighting that it can't be defeated through combat.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Bob refuses to 'join' with his evil mirror counterpart at all instead exploits a clever trick to simply make himself extra-vulnerable to a powerful trap he set before luring his evil clone in. This is not only not a glitch but acknowledged as occurring and the only way to achieve the 'pure good' ending.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
Back to Sheathe Your Sword
