History Main / BattleDiscretionShot

Related to FightUnscene, GoryDiscretionShot, BigBallOfViolence and SoundOnlyDeath. Compare and contrast with ChargeIntoCombatCut, OffscreenMomentOfAwesome, RelaxOVision, and GreatOffscreenWar. Most of the time, the viewer will have to TakeOurWordForIt.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Soos lampshades this trope when watching a fight between gigantic clay stopmotion monsters in real life([[DontExplainTheJoke that would probably exceed the animation budget of the episode]]):
-->'''Soos:''' This sure is an impressive fight scene. Glad I'm facing ''towards'' it.

* ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': In "Screaming Javelins", Tom (Rick Springfield!) is saved from certain death as Wonder Woman leaps through the window of the third story apartment and deflects the bullets meant for him. She then disappears into the hallway and we only see the attempted murderers fly across the doorway entrance. Wonder Woman does reappear to get something to tie up the bad guys.

-->'''Joey''': ''[offscreen to Tristan]'' It is implied that I am punching you.\\
'''Teá''': Gasp.\\
'''Tristan''' ''[on the ground]'' Hey, no fair! You can't punch me while I'm not onscreen!

* [[https://youtu.be/UTidwW3iLHk?t=317 Bidoof's Big Stand]] of {{Franchise/Pokemon}} has its titular Bidoof suffering one of these as it fights a Staraptor in a tournament for about ten seconds interspersed with Bidoof getting knocked back into the view of the screen a few times. Her trainer is forced to duck under a Hyper Beam fired from the Staraptor and the trainer's eyes constrict with horror as she puts an arm up to block her face while a loud explosion can be heard at one point while watching it. Fortunately for Bidoof, after this, the rest of the fight gets to be on-screen thereafter to show her winning it.

'''Tristan''' Hey, no fair! You can't punch me while I'm not onscreen!

* The naval battle in the 2016 adaptation of ''Literature/BenHur'' takes place entirely from the restricted point-of-view of the protagonist who's chained up below deck as an oarsman.

* PlayedForLaughs as a CastingGag in ''WebVideo/LeVisiteurDuFutur'' where a character played by a former porn actress fights against a minor charcter in a trailer. We don't get to see the fight, and half the comedy comes from the fact that we get treated to the trailer rocking back and forth during the fight.

* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'': Great battles take place but for the most part they are only alluded to in dialogue. The movie takes the opposite approach.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': The third segment of "Recap/GravityFallsS2E6LittleGiftShopOfHorrors", Clay Day, ends with us watching the main characters as they stand there watching a fight between living claymation monsters. As Soos puts it, "Man this fight is amazing! Good thing we're facing towards it!"

* The end of the first arc of ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms''. It's spent something like twelve episodes building up to [[spoiler:Youko rescuing Keiki and claiming the throne]]- then skips over the entire [[spoiler:civil war]] in about 5 minutes. Sure, the series is meant to [[{{Shoujo}} focus more on character interactions]], but ''still''.

* Parodied in [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=006811 this scene]] of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', wherein we cut away from Jack Noir killing a regulator to [[RelaxOVision a Pawn that Jack Noir killed previously using a knife]]. And then we cut back (too early) to see that Jack Noir [[{{Gorn}} isn't actually finished killing the regulator, let alone cleaning up the copious amounts of blood.]]

It's finally arrived; the climactic moment where good meets evil, where right fights wrong, where...someone will get their ass kicked! But then, suddenly, the camera decides not to focus on the great battle, but rather on something a little more insignificant, like the pool or some other innocent area, with only the sound of the battle heard (perhaps somewhat muffled) and perhaps the occasional ScreenShake, especially in animated media. [[ReactionShot Focusing on the faces of observing characters]] gives a good gauge of the brutality of the fight without showing the fight itself; [[DistantReactionShot zooming out farther]] without reducing the battle noise is a less common variant, but still not too rare in comedies. It stays this way for the entire fight, only showing the aftermath.

'''Warning: Contains spoilers'''

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}},'' the fight between [[spoiler:Espada #0 Yammy Rialgo]] and the team of Rukia, Chad, and Renji takes place mainly off-panel. We see the opening blows of the fight and then them preparing to get serious...and then we switch to the Real World for a few months to cover the fights there. By the time we catch up in Hueco Mundo, much of the battle has already taken place, with [[spoiler: Rukia]] the last one standing.
** [[spoiler:Yammy]] again, this time he's fighting [[spoiler: Kenpachi and Byakuya]] after getting knocked around by them and having finally gone all out, then we switch to [[spoiler: Ichigo and Unohana]] on their way to Fake Karakura Town. Then after it's all over we see [[spoiler:Yammy]] defeated.

* In ''Manga/NabariNoOu'', the [[spoiler:Raimei/Raikou vs. Kouichi/Shijima]] fight is mostly off-panel for a practical reason: the fight lasts for several hours. On top of that, [[spoiler:Kouichi and Shijima]] are [[{{Immortality}} immortal]], so it's a ForegoneConclusion that [[spoiler:Raimei and Raikou]] [[HonorBeforeReason are going to lose]].

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'': Happens in the last dragon training exercise. Despite [[BadassPacifist Hiccup's]] willingness to let Astrid win the exercise, by the time Astrid comes around to make her move, Hiccup has already incapacitated the dragon (and by his expression, probably by accident). Also used [[spoiler: the first time the Vikings try to take the dragons' nest.]]

* Part of the climax for ''Film/LetTheRightOneIn'': [[spoiler:Oskar is about to be drowned by the brother of the bully he beat up, his head held underwater. We only see it from under the pool, so we don't know what's happening at first, but it becomes apparent soon enough that Eli is killing the bullies when a ''severed head'' falls into the pool, followed swiftly by an arm.]]

** The big battle between the FBI and [[spoiler:Cromartie]] at the end of Season 1 to the tune of Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around." [[spoiler:Cromartie slaughters everybody except Agent Ellison, but we only see things from underwater, as bodies come crashing down in the pool one by one.]] ''And a voice spoke and said, "Come and see," [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment and I saw]]. And behold, [[IncendiaryExponent a flaming horse]], and him that was on it was Awesome, and Sweet followed after him.''
** Then subverted in the second-season episode "Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today". Cromartie's fight with the Mexican police is initially experienced through sound only through Sarah's point of view, as she's locked in the trunk of his car, but then in Cromartie's own p-o-v section we see it in full.

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' starts off with a bang using one of these. After the two-minute intro cutscene, the first level begins with you vigorously shaking the Wii Remote to make DK pound on Kalimba, which is shown from outside the (very bouncy) hut. [[note]][[CatharsisFactor You can even do it again by entering the level over and over.]][[/note]]

* The Yakuza/Springfield Mafia fight in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' takes place mostly from the view of the Kitchen. Homer is then rather bummed out that he's missing out on all the good action. Especially since "The Little Guy hasn't done anything yet, and you know when he does, it's gonna to be good"
* Happens a lot in cartoons to get around the MoralGuardians. You'll see stars and planets shooting into frame from offscreen and you get to see the onlookers wincing reactions.

* A few big battles in the animated ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' movies use the BigBallOfViolence to hide the brutality, filling the screen with dust and armor flying out (also odder things like false teeth and boxer shorts). During ''Asterix in Britain'', when Obelix is imprisoned in the "Tower of Londinium", we see him leave his cell [[OpenSaysMe in the fashion you'd expect]] of [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Obelix]], then we cut to outside the Tower, hearing the sounds of Obelix knocking the guards about (and occasionally one flying out the window) as he goes down. Once he's down, however, Asterix goes in the front, thinking Obelix is still in there, and it happens again, only this time, going up. They both then realize where the other is, and it happens ''[[RuleOfthree again]]'' until they meet in the middle.

!! Examples:

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': Just before escaping Syndrome's base in a rocket, Mr. Incredible confronts a van full of Mooks. Cue an outside shot of the van rocking and shaking as he takes them out.

* Creator/{{Pixar}} loves this one. usually involving a [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc trailer]] or [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles truck]] of some kind.

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Appears in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', when Bilbo faints during the Battle of the [[FiveRaces Five Armies.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': The third segment of "Recap/GravityFallsS2E6LittleGiftShopOfHorrors", Clay Day, ends with us watching the main characters as they stands there watching a fight between living claymation monsters. As Soos puts it, "Man this fight is amazing! Good thing we're facing towards it!"

* In ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'', this tends to happen whenever Hades pisses off another of the Olympian gods. He'll try -- vainly -- to apologize to his angry contemporary, then the screen shifts to the main cast, watching -- with horror, amusement, or a combination of the two -- a rather violent offscreen fight that was clearly one-sided against Hades.

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' starts off with a bang using one of these. After the two-minute intro cutscene, the first level begins with you vigorously shaking the Wiimote to make DK pound on Kalimba, which is shown from outside the (very bouncy) hut. [[note]][[CatharsisFactor You can even do it again by entering the level over and over.]][[/note]]

* ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'': Occurs in [[Recap/Doraemon1979E1759SoapBubbles "Soap Bubbles"]]. We don't get to see Big G punch Sneech, but we hear Sneech and see his scream written out on-screen.

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Bella faints right when the [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Cullens]] arrive and misses them killing James.

* The boxing match between [[ComicBook/HarleyQuinn]] and [[ComicBook/{{Katana}} Tatsu Yamashiro]] in ''FanFic/EightCount'' isn't shown, though the leadup is.