History Main / DeadlyGraduation

SubTrope of InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath. See also ARealManIsAKiller and TestedOnHumans. For a test of ruthlessness outside of training see IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten.

** In the "Shadow Academy" story arc of the Young Jedi Knights series, it's revealed that exactly this is necessary to earn the title of Darkest Knight in the Shadow Academy. Stormtrooper commander Qorl {{lampshades}} how wasteful this is, that regardless of the winner their second best Dark Jedi will die. He's told that while this is true, the two top contenders hate each other so much that neither would accept the other as his leader and thus allowing the loser to live would guarantee a future EnemyCivilWar.

* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''. Wanda gives Natasha Romanov (Black Widow) a vision of her time in the [[SpySchool Red Room]]. One scene involves Natasha training to shoot pistols at a target, then the target becomes a hooded man wimpering in the chair he's bound to. Worse is the [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror look of indifference]] on the faces of her fellow trainees.

* In the first book of the ''Literature/{{Emperor}}'' series this happens to Gaius and Marcus after Renius spent years training them. Only in this case their graduation is to fight Renius himself, veteran warrior and gladiator, to the death.

* In the Literature/ForgottenRealms novels ''Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen'' the [[spoiler:rebirth of Lloth]] is discribed in a prologue: you have thousands of spiders, they suddenly start killing and eating each other to gain power, but if one grows to strong others will team up to get it down, until only the 8 most cunning ones are remaining. [[spoiler:They then serve as the eight spider aspect avatars of Lloth.]]

* ''Series/TheAvengers1960s''. In "Invasion of the Earthmen", the villain is training students to conquer space, including a survival exercise involving two students where only one is allowed to return. Meanwhile our heroes are infiltrating the school and end up getting into a fight with the students. Steed ties one up, and he watches horrified as the other student approaches him...only to cut him free. Turns out the exercise has been cancelled as everyone has been ordered to kill the heroes instead

* ''VisualNovel/TheLabyrinthOfGrisaia'': [[spoiler:Yuuji is subjected to this at Oslo's terrorist training facility as his graduation exam. Though they were not paired up throughout the training course, they deliberately choosed the person who got the closest to him as his opponent. He was winning quite easily at the beginning, but ultimately he could not bring himself to kill her.]]

* Exaggerated in ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' with the [[RedShirt Klokateers]] [[TrainingFromHell first training step]] : all the candidates are put together in a large room and each one chooses a partner whom they must kill with their bare fists in order to make it to the next step. This becomes hilarious when one remembers that one of the Klokateers in "Go Forth and Die" is a sweet old lady who tutored Nathan in math, implying that ''she'' killed someone with her bare hands.

** While brainwashed, Bentley was also required to torture both fellow operatives and hardcore criminals rounded up by the KGB--the latter because they would require extensive torture before cracking.

* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'': The Guardians of the Veil, the SecretPolice of MagicalSociety, require their trainees to execute someone who has committed a capital offense under the Guardians' code. However, unless the Guardians already know of a valid target, they stage it with a [[ActuallyADoombot simulacrum]] or a [[ProtectiveCharm magically protected]] agent rather than kill an innocent. For bonus points, some recruits are expected to perform the execution [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner on their own initiative]] without being ordered to kill.

* Done as a first test rather than a final test in ''Film/NakedKiller''. Sister Cindy has a rapist chained up in her basement until he's gone AxCrazy, and locks Kitty in the room with him. The key to the door is attached to his waist, so Kitty has to kill him to get it, using his own chain. When she runs upstairs to give Cindy a piece of her mind, her mentor just reprimands her for taking too long and failing to notice several potential weapons in the room. Later Kitty gets payback by locking Cindy in the basement with ''two'' mad rapists. Cindy lets them grope and slaver over her gorgeous body, then kills both with her bare hands.

* The [[Film/NakedWeapon next film in the Naked trilogy]] does this particularly graphically. After years of assassin training, Madam M has half of the trainees take out the other half. Then the next day, the survivors compete to the death until only one is standing (though Madam M decides to cut the massacre short with the final free).

* The Wong Jing film ''Film/NakedWeapon'' does this particularly graphically. After years of assassin training, Madam M has half of the trainees take out the other half. Then the next day, the survivors compete to the death until only one is standing (though Madam M decides to cut the massacre short with the final free).

* ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'': The Guardians of the Veil, the SecretPolice of MagicalSociety, require their trainees to execute someone who has committed a capital offense under the Guardians' code. However, unless the Guardians already know of a valid target, they stage it with a [[ActuallyADoombot magical simulacrum]] or a [[ProtectiveCharm heavily warded agent]] rather than kill an innocent. For bonus points, some recruits are expected to perform the execution [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner on their own initiative]] without being ordered to kill.

* ''Series/TheDefenders2017''. In "Worst Behaviour", flashbacks show Elektra being trained as the Hand warrior Black Sky. In the final test of her training, ten ninjas surround an unarmed and defenseless Elektra and unsheath their katanas. The room then suddenly goes dark and [[BattleDiscretionShot we hear the sounds of fighting]]. A few seconds later, the lights come back on, and all ten ninjas are lying dead around Elektra's feet as she drops two katanas she managed to grab from them.

SubTrope of InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath. See also TestedOnHumans. For a test of ruthlessness outside of training see IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten.

** In the episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E21AllHellBreaksLoosePartOne "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21)]], the Yellow-Eyed Demon brings all of the Special Children who have developed psychic powers to a ghost town where they are manipulated to fight each other until only one remains, so he can determine who is the strongest.
In "[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/SupernaturalS12E17TheBritishInvasion The British Invasion]]" it's revealed that Doctor Hess forced young Mick Davies to fight his best friend to the death in order to graduate from British Men of Letters training.

* The main premise of Monokuma's DeadlyGame in the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' series: Lock a class of high school students in a ClosedCircle, where the only way to leave is to kill one of your classmates and get away with it. If the other students correctly identify you as the culprit (which is decided by a vote), then you will be given an extravagant, [[DeathByIrony personalized]] execution as punishment for your crime. If they get it wrong, however, you get to "graduate" and go free... while ''everybody else'' gets executed in your place.

* ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'': Phoenix's case in Turnabout Succession involved this. Both Zak and Valant Gramarye were ordered by Magnifi Gramarye to bring a gun to his hospital room and "shoot straight in the forehead." [[spoiler: Zak passed by shooting the clown doll straight in the forehead. Valant lost by not firing at all.]]
* The main premise of Monokuma's DeadlyGame in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': the only way anyone can escape their ClosedCircle GildedCage is to kill one of their classmates, then successfully cover up the crime. If the others students can't figure out who the murderer is, the culprit gets to leave... while the rest suffer a brutal punishment. If they're ''caught'', though... [[HangingJudge well]]...

* ''Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond''. When Ian Fleming undergoes the commando course at Camp X, he's told of the K Protocol, a final secret test an agent must undergo before being sent into occupied Europe. Later Fleming wants to be put in charge of a frontline commando unit. His boss Admiral Godfrey will only agree if he passes the K Protocol, which turns out to be: go to a room and kill a man. "Now you know what the K stands for." Fleming hesitates at the moment of firing and is disarmed by his intended victim, who pulls the trigger on Fleming's revolver...fortunately [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets the bullets are duds]]. Admiral Godfrey tells Fleming not to feel too bothered, as he didn't pass the K Protocol either.

** ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'' includes a graduation test for Pteppic, in which he's supposed to assassinate someone who is sleeping in a room "guarded" by one of his teachers. Pteppic is terrified by the idea of actually killing someone, however, and ends up firing his crossbow at nothing rather than kill (but still hits the target due to a "lucky" shot). Rumour among the student body is that the victim for an exam is a student who previously failed said exam, but it turns out to just be a dummy under a sheet. They're also perfectly allowed to inhume the examiners to pass with full marks... but the savvy ones don't tend to risk it.

* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E21AllHellBreaksLoosePartOne "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21)]], the Yellow-Eyed Demon brings all of the Special Children who have developed psychic powers to a ghost town where they are manipulated to fight each other until only one remains, so he can determine who is the strongest.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson", the commander of Rommelwood Military School mentions to Bart and Lisa's class that the MilitarySchool used to force its students to fight to the death to see who could graduate (which makes Lisa nervous). Turns out that it's a BaitAndSwitch -- [[RealityEnsues the Supreme Court ordered the school to stop this practice]] because it was a blatant act of child cruelty, so the school started to use a DeathCourse called "The Eliminator" as its UltimateFinalExam instead.

* ''VisualNovel/GrisaiaNoMeikyuu'': [[spoiler:Yuuji is subjected to this at Oslo's terrorist training facility as his graduation exam. Though they were not paired up throughout the training course, they deliberately choosed the person who got the closest to him as his opponent. He was winning quite easily at the beginning, but ultimately he could not bring himself to kill her.]]

** In the present day Treadstone agent Doug [=McKenna=] has a dream of being chained up underwater, and [[ColdEquation fighting another man in similar straits]] for the key to release his chains before he drowns.

* ''Series/{{Treadstone}}''. John Bentley has the "shoot the hooded man as a final test" as in ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'', in this case to check his conditioning as a Soviet ManchurianAgent (he finds the corpse later and removes the hood to find he's killed a fellow CIA agent). In the next episode, Treadstone agent Doug [=McKenna=] has a dream of being chained up underwater, and [[ColdEquation fighting another man in similar straits]] for the key to release his chains before he drowns.

* ''Series/{{Treadstone}}''. John Bentley has the "shoot the hooded man as a final test" as in ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'', in this case to check his conditioning as a Soviet ManchurianAgent (he finds the corpse later and removes the hood to find he's killed a fellow CIA agent). In the next episode a Treadstone agent has a dream of being chained up underwater, and [[ColdEquation fighting another man in similar straits]] for the key to release his chains before he drowns.