Misused: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

The important part of Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting is the word everybody. The trope is about "a world where violence solves everything". Or at least an episode. It explicitly does not mean "some character knows kung fu" or "there is a fight scene at some point" or even "the main heroes of the story are fighters".

And yet, on the page itself, many examples are misuse of that kind.

I would clean it up, but that means removing a substantial number of examples, so I'm asking for some opinions here first. Looking over the wicks, there also appears to be misuse of this name on other pages; most examples that aren't from Wuxia appear to be incorrect. For example, it lists Stardust and Questionable Content both merely because they contain a fight scene.

I don't think renaming is going to help here (it's a catchy song, so both clear and witty), but some cleanup would definitely be needed.

Axe the bad examples. Just leave a clear edit note.

Actually I would say that "Everyone knows martial arts" or "Some shows like to portray a world where violence solves everything. Everyone can and will be a martial arts master" is a better summary.

If we take this at face value, a story can only qualify if literaly every single person in the world knows some form of martial arts. And how many stories actually qualify for that extreme?

I think the definitin could use some clarification.

Also, we seem to be lacking a trope for characters that are simply martial arts experts, or stories where martial arts fights are a regular event.

edited 20th Mar '12 1:53:45 PM by Catbert

I think it qualifies if everybody relevant to the plot is skilled in martial arts, not everybody in the whole world.

edited 13th Apr '12 4:20:11 AM by Spark9

Well I thought this was a massive Kung Fu brawl with different fights going on a the same time sometimes in one massive nightmare of editing it together. (not Conservation of Ninjutsu many people in various fights and the fights crisscross sometimes.) aka Everybody In The Scene Was Kung-Fu Fighting...

IE I made a suggestion in the IP thread of this [1]◊.... (not saying that this wasn't an example of as 40 people in the movie and they all get a Fight Scene and kick ass but the image shows what I thought it was....)

edited 13th Apr '12 4:24:51 AM by Raso

Actually, looking over the examples some more, I think this page covers several tropes mixed together, and we should consider splitting it.

There is "gratuitous fight scene", there is "an unlikely character has fighting skills", there is "all plot points are resolved through violence", and there is "the entire cast knows how to fight (because it's that kind of genre). Four different tropes, I think.

edited 13th Apr '12 4:20:47 AM by Spark9

I'd have to agree.

Clocking due to lack of activity.

Crowner tab A in thread slot B.

I dunno—I tend to think the name fits better with the "gratuitous (kung-fu) fight scene" trope.

It shouldn't be "all main characters know how to fight" - it should be "almost every character knows how to fight, even minor ones and Mooks."

I guess I should add that to the crowner as a different option?

edited 12th Jun '12 2:18:27 PM by abk0100

That's pretty narrow, though. Most fight-related shows (e.g. DBZ) have a bunch of minor characters that can't fight their way out of a paper bag, and the whole purpose of mooks is that they suck at fighting.

Note that the statement "all major characters can fight" not at all implies that the non-major characters cannot fight.

edited 12th Jun '12 3:45:45 PM by Spark9

But, like the description says, this trope mainly applies to Wuxia, not shows like DBZ. It's supposed to be about Kung Fu movies where it seems like every character can participate in the choreographed fight scenes, even when it doesn't make sense.

Yes, you said "mainly" already. Tropes Are Flexible. If we can find a wuxia movie where one character doesn't fight, then it still counts.

Renewing clock. Expecting to call crowner by then.

I'd like to pick both options for the crowner. Having the base of the trope be "All main characters know how to fight" and note that it can be taken Up To Eleven when "almost everyone, including minor extras, knows how to fight, regardless of how much sense it makes."

To keep a bit of the flexibility.

Also, one of the things i was most reminded of by the trope concept that wasn't covered at all was the fact that this concept (everyone knows how to fight) is found very often in JRP Gs. Village girl? of course you know martial arts. selling flowers for a living? why shouldn't you carry around a quarterstaff to fight monsters with? Rock star, but also combatant!

Just the fact that everyone you meet, either comes with a weapon (often strange and exotic weapon) that they know how to use, just about as good as the proffesional soldier, or knows enough martial arts that they don't need to, or know magic. Seems to represent this trope very well. It should be mentioned in the description.

Crowner called. Split off other tropes.

Clock is set.

Locking due to lack of interest.