History Main / DuelsDecideEverything

Every problem will inevitably lead to a climatic direct confrontation. Is TheHero facing the threat of war? A terrible plague? An economic recession? Inevitably, there's a tangible villain responsible for it and the solution is to confront and defeat them. Regardless of their motivations, both heroes and villains caught in the focal point of the conflict will not even bother with diplomacy, threats, subterfuge or otherwise tactics employed by people in similar RealLife situations. If they do, you can expect these strategies to backfire spectacularly, or at best delay the inevitable face-off.

* ''Ranma ½''

* ''[=~Pokémon~=]'': Get monsters to fight each other. Small nods through the game and other sources indicate that if someone doesn't have Pokémon to defend themself with (i.e., because the last one just got knocked out), even the weakest Pokémon are very much able to seriously injure or even kill a human.

[[caption-width-right:250:[[ThisIsSparta YOU]]...[[WhyDontYouJustShootHim ARE]]...[[TooDumbTooLive AN]]...[[WhatAnIdiot IDIOT]]!]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[ThisIsSparta YOU]]...[[WhyDontYouJustShootHim ARE]]...[[IAmTrope AN]]...[[WhatAnIdiot IDIOT]]!]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[ThisIsSparta YOU]]...[[WhyDontYouJustShootHim ARE]]...[[ToDumbToLive AN]]...[[WhatAnIdiot IDIOT]]!]]

[[caption-width-right:250:[[ThisIsSparta YOU]]...[[WhyDontYouJustShootHim AN]]...[[WhatAnIdiot IDIOT]]!]]

"Defeat them" should not be taken literally. In RealLife, ''if'' someone's figured the best way to deal with a situation is neutralize a specific person, they would employ whatever means necessary to do it, be it an assassination or a smear campaign. Here, it means showing this person that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours Your Kung Fu is Stronger Than Theirs]]. If you're watching ''Tales of the Knights of St. Bob'' you're probably looking at a swordfight waiting to happen, which may be feasible- but it's equally possible that you're watching something like ''Super Table Football Superstar'' and after an interminable mutual glare, one party will [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome dramatically challenge the other to a game of table football]].

* ''CustomRobo'' - Duels with toy-sized robots are shown right at the beginning to be the perfect way to attempt a robbery. [[SeriousBusiness It gets more ridiculous from there]].
** Though it's subverted slightly in that the toy-sized robots use real weapons with live ammunition, implied to actually be capable of killing people -- using them for a robbery makes sense. Dueling with them, not so much, and this still doesn't explain how you end up always fighting them in the game's toy arena...

* The Tradesmeet subquest that deals with the Shadow Druids can be resolved this way. When you reach Druid's Grove, you can challenge the leader of the Shadow Druids Faldorn. Only a Druid character can fight her; meaning you will have to send Cernd, Jaheira, or yourself (if you are also a Druid). Winning the battle ends the Shadow Druids' assaults on Tradesmeet.

* ''[=~Pokémon~=]'': Get monsters to fight each other.

Everyone has absolute respect for the authority of the ''fu-du-jour'' to decide who gets to walk away the winner. If the "Foo" in FooFu is arm wrestling, after [[AliceAndBob Bob]] has won and is walking away, [[AliceAndBob Alice]] will not even contemplate the possibility of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shooting him in the back]]. If it's psychic manipulation and Alice has just won a tiring BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, it will not occur to Bob to jump at her, pin her to the floor and start punching her in the face. And, yes, even if Bob has just lost a game of ''table football'' he will just helplessly stand there, shaking his fist in frustration- because, well, what can he do? He's been beaten in a game of table football. Game over for him, really. He's out of the picture. The best he can hope for is a rematch. Fighting Alice in any way that doesn't involve table football doesn't cross his mind.

Everyone has absolute respect for the authority of the ''fu-du-jour'' to decide who gets to walk away the winner. If the "Foo" in FooFu is arm wrestling, after [[AliceAndBob Bob]] has won and is walking away, [[AliceAndBob Alice]] will not even contemplate the possibility of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shooting him in the back]]. If it's psychic manipulation and Alice has just won a tiring BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, it will not occur to Bob to jump at her, pin her to the floor and start punching her in the face. The losing party may raise a racket about how this isn't over, but they're out of the picture for all practical purposes.

And, yes, even Bob has just lost a game of ''table football'' he will just helplessly stand there, shaking his fist in frustration. Because, well, what can he do? He's been beaten in a game of table football. Game over for him, really. Maybe He'll beat Alice in a game of table football the next time they meet. Fighting her in any way that doesn't involve table football doesn't cross his mind.

And, yes, even she has just lost in a game of ''table football'' she will just helplessly stand there, shaking her fist in frustration. Because, well, what can she do? She's been beaten in a game of table football. Game over for her, really. Maybe she'll beat Bob in a game of table football the next time they meet. Fighting Bob in any way that doesn't involve table football doesn't cross his mind.

This extends beyond just getting the defeated party out of the picture. If the BigBag has been bested, [[NoOntologicalInertia their whole evil operation will fold up on itself and disappear within the day]]. The EvilArmy will not rally. There is no plan B. The superweapon TheHero managed to destroy while StormingTheCastle will have [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup No Plans, No Prototype and No Backup]]. It's as if some cosmic force had decreed that this conflict be settled with CombatByChampion. Whether the stakes are trivial or world-shatteringly huge, DuelsDecideEverything.

Everyone has absolute respect for the authority of the ''fu-du-jour'' to decide who gets to walk away the winner. If the "Foo" in FooFu is arm wrestling, after [[AliceAndBob Bob]] has won and is walking away, [[AliceAndBob Alice]] will not even contemplate the possibility of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shooting him in the back]]. If it's psychic manipulation and Bob has just won a tiring BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, it will not occur to Alice to jump at him, pin him to the floor and start punching him in the face. After being bested Alice may raise a racket about how this isn't over, but she's defeated for all practical purposes.

"Defeat them" should not be taken literally. In RealLife, ''if'' someone's figured the best way to deal with a situation is neutralize a specific person, they would employ whatever means necessary to do it, be it an assassination or a smear campaign. Here, it means showing this person that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours Your Kung Fu is Stronger Than Theirs]]. If you're watching ''Tales of the Knights of St. Bob'' you're probably looking at a swordfight waiting to happen, which may be feasible- but it's equally possible that you're watching something like ''Super Table Football Superstar'' and after an interminable glare-off one party will [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome dramatically challenge the other to a game of table football]].

"Defeat them" should not be taken literally. In RealLife, ''if'' someone's figured the best way to deal with a situation is neutralize a specific person, they would employ whatever means necessary to do it, be it an assassination or a smear campaign. Here, it means showing this person that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours Your Kung Fu is Stronger Than Theirs]]. If you're watching ''Tales of the Knights of St. Bob'' you're probably looking at a swordfight waiting to happen, which may be feasible- but it's equally possible that you're watching something like ''Super Table Football Superstar'' and after an interminable glare-off TheHero will dramatically [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome challenge the villain to a game of table football]].

Everyone has absolute respect for the authority of the ''fu-du-jour'' to decide who gets to walk away the winner. If the "Foo" in FooFu is arm wrestling, after TheHero has won and is walking away the villain will not even contemplate the possibility of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shooting him in the back]]. If it's psychic manipulation and TheHero has just won a tiring BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, it will not occur to the villain to jump at them, pin them to the floor and start punching them in the face. After being bested the villain may raise a racket about how this isn't over, but they're defeated for all practical purposes. At worst, they may resort to calling for backup that will inevitably consist of {{Mooks}} doomed by ConservationOfNinjutsu.

And, yes, even if the villain has just lost in a game of ''table football'' he will just helplessly stand there, shaking his fist in frustration. Because, well, what can he do? He's been beaten in a game of table football. Game over for him, really. Maybe he'll beat the hero in a game of table football the next time they meet. Fighting the hero in any way that doesn't involve table football doesn't cross his mind.

Once the villain's been bested, that's it for the whole EvilPlan- [[NoOntologicalInertia the whole operation will fold up on itself and disappear within the day]]. The EvilArmy will not rally. There is no plan B. The superweapon TheHero managed to destroy while StormingTheCastle will have [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup No Plans, No Prototype and No Backup]]. It's as if some cosmic force had decreed that this conflict be settled with CombatByChampion. Whether the stakes are trivial or world-shatteringly huge, DuelsDecideEverything.

-> '''''The Moral of The Story ([[{{Lunar}} Ghaleon]] rule):''' Every problem in the universe can be solved by finding the right long-haired prettyboy and beating the crap out of him.''

->'' Nothing is ever solved by diplomacy or politics in the world of [=RPGs=].''
--> - '''TheGrandListOfConsoleRPGCliches''', [[ConsoleRPGCliches97To120 #117]]

Every problem will inevitably lead to a climatic direct confrontation. Is TheHero facing the threat of war? A terrible plague? An economic recession? Inevitably, there's a tangible villain responsible for it and the solution is to find them out and beat the snot out of them. Regardless of their motivations, both heroes and villains caught in the focal point of the conflict will not even bother with diplomacy, threats, subterfuge or otherwise tactics employed by people in similar RealLife situations. If they do, you can expect these strategies to backfire spectacularly, or at best delay the inevitable face-off.

The "beat the snot out of them" should not be read literally. It means once the confrontation is on, TheHero will have to show the villain that [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours Their Foo Fu Is Stronger Than Theirs]]. Sure, if you're watching ''Tales of the Knights of St. Bob'' you're probably looking at a swordfight waiting to happen, but it's equally possible that you're watching something like ''Super Table Football Superstar'' and after an interminable glare-off TheHero will dramatically [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome challenge the villain to a game of table football]].

Everyone has absolute respect for the authority of the ''fu-du-jour'' to decide who gets to walk away the winner. If Foo is arm wrestling, after TheHero has won and is walking away the villain will not even contemplate the possibility of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shooting him in the back]]. If Foo is psychic manipulation and TheHero has just won a tiring BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, it will not occur to the villain to jump at them, pin them to the floor and start punching them in the face. After being bested the villain may raise a racket about how this isn't over, but they're defeated for all practical purposes. At worst, they may resort to calling up for backup that will inevitably consist of {{Mooks}} doomed by the law of the ConservationOfNinjutsu.

Once the villain's been bested, that's it for the whole EvilPlan- [[NoOntologicalInertia the whole operation will fold up on itself and disappear within the day]]. The EvilArmy will not rally. There is no plan B. The superweapon TheHero managed to destroy while StormingTheCastle will have [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup No Plans, No Prototype and No Backup]].

It's as if some cosmic force had decreed that this conflict be settled with CombatByChampion. Whether the stakes are trivial or world-shatteringly huge, DuelsDecideEverything.

Whether the stakes are trivial or world-shatteringly huge, DuelsDecideEverything.

A subtrope of SeriousBusiness. Compare CombatByChampion.

Once the villain's been bested, that's it for the whole EvilPlan- [[NoOntologicalInertia the whole operation will fold up on itself and disappear within the day]]. The EvilArmy will not rally. There is no plan B. The superweapon TheHero managed to destroy while StormingTheCastle will have [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup No Plans, No Prototype and No Backup]]. Whether the stakes are trivial or world-shatteringly huge, DuelsDecideEverything.

And everyone seems to have absolute respect for the authority of the ''fu-du-jour'' to decide who gets to walk away the winner. If Foo is arm wrestling, after TheHero has won and is walking away the villain will not even contemplate the possibility of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shooting him in the back]]. If Foo is psychic manipulation and TheHero has just won a tiring BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, it will not occur to the villain to jump at them, pin them to the floor and start punching them in the face. After being bested the villain may raise a racket about how this isn't over, but they're defeated for all practical purposes. At worst, they may resort to calling up for backup that will inevitably consist of {{Mooks}} doomed by the law of the ConservationOfNinjutsu.

And that will be it for the whole EvilPlan- [[NoOntologicalInertia upon the villain's defeat the whole operation will fold up on itself and disappear]]. The EvilArmy will not rally. There is no plan B. The superweapon TheHero managed to destroy while StormingTheCastle will have [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup No Plans, No Prototype and No Backup]]. Whether the stakes are trivial or world-shatteringly huge, DuelsDecideEverything.