History Main / KneelBeforeZod

* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheSecretDoor'', Princess Malucia mentions this in her villain song.
-->Y'see this crown? It means ''bow down''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle'', Lydia sings that all will bow to her once she rules the Diamond Castle.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Ugandan dictator Idi Amin forced white expatriates to kneel before him, [[HumiliationConga with the event captured by photographers]] for propaganda purposes.
* The refusal of a midshipman to do this before his captain helped bring about the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermione_(1782)#Mutiny HMS Hermione mutiny.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''Videogame/SaltAndSanctuary'': The Scarecrow you often encounter talks about even the most powerful beings out there kneel to him, and that you will, one day, join them. Even if you persist, one day you will break, sink into despair, and finally kneel before it. [[spoiler:And in the fight with the Nameless God himself, whose voice was in that same Scarecrow, he at least forces the physical gesture out of you by forcing you to take fall damage to access his arena, which makes you kneel to the ground briefly.]]

** After moving to the roof of Las Noches, Ulquiorra's ultimate goal in fighting Ichigo is to get him to give up trying to win, first by activating [[OneWingedAngel Resurreccion]] and overpowering him, and then releasing his ''second'' form just to drive his opponent's inferiority home. [[{{Determinator}} Ichigo]] refuses despite being outgunned, so Ulquiorra settles for going for the kill.

** In ''Manga/FairyTail100YearsQuest'', [[spoiler:[[{{Lunancy}} Moon Dragon God]] Selene declares herself the new leader of Diabolos after [[KlingonPromotion killing Georg Raizen]] and tells the assembled Dragon Eaters to kneel while flexing her BattleAura. Everyone but [[BloodKnight Kiria]] struggles to stand and she goes on the attack. It [[CurbStompBattle doesn't]] [[WeaponizedTeleportation end well]] for Kiria.]]

** After moving to the roof of Las Noches, Ulquiorra's ultimate goal in fighting Ichigo is to get him to give up trying to win. It doesn't work very well.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''
** After Jafar gains the Genie's lamp and wishes for the Sultanate and the powers of a sorcerer: "We will never bow to you!" ("[[LampshadeHanging Why am I not surprised]]?") Naturally, the evil Jafar can magically compel obedience from the Sultan and Princess Jasmine. However, prior to Jasmine's defiance, the Sultan noticeably begins to bow.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]]: When the Doctor ends up in 1834, [[spoiler:the Master]] follows her there and, holding a roomful of people hostage, demands she kneel before him if she doesn't want any more of them to die. She actually does it.

* The last episode of ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' has Akito angrily grab a kneeling Tohru by the hair and force her to get on both her hands and knees before him. He then states that he will "make her regret she ever had anything to do with the Sohmas", that she will "suffer as we suffer", and demands that she "beg him for forgiveness" and "swear that she'll never interfere with the Sohmas again." [[spoiler: It fails in the end: while Tohru does briefly give into despair, she ultimately brings herself back and helps Kyo anyway. As a result, Kyo's ParentalSubstitute Kazuma [[KneelBeforeFrodo bows to]] ''[[KneelBeforeFrodo her]]''.]]

* Played with interestingly in LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms. The mythical beasts known as the ''kirin'' are the only ones able to locate the future Kings/Queens of their lands, and the biggest proof of one person's worth to be chosen as the sovereign is that they're the '''only''' persons a kirin can kneel in front of. They're literally and physically unable to kneel to anyone else, even if they ''do'' try doing it. [[spoiler: That's why {{evil prince}}ss Joei gets Keiki stuck in his Beast form, aside of keeping him mute: if he cannot bow to her, the falsehood of her claim to the throne would be revealed.]]

* The refusal of a midshipman to do this before his captain helped bring about the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermione_(1782)#Mutiny HMS Hermione mutiny]].

* Music/GamaBomb's [[https://youtu.be/q2ChWRjTic8 "In The Court of General Zod"]]. The song quotes this line verbatim.
* Music/{{Motorhead}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCaXIwkOSJw "King of Kings",]] noted for its "Bow down to the king" chorus.
* Sanctuary's [[https://youtu.be/OOoklqEDlFw "Battle Angels"]].

** General Zod of ''Film/SupermanII''. Here's the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKDFop0aqYQ clip]].

* ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'': "Now. You. Will. '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abqAwKLpeqs=related KNEEL!]]'''"

** In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Loki demands this of a crowd in Stuttgart, Germany, and the scared crowd obliges, except for [[BadassBystander one elderly man]] who tells Loki that "[[ANaziByAnyOtherName there are always be men like you]]", and he would rather hold his head high and remain DefiantToTheEnd than kneel before one. Loki moves to kill him before Captain America swoops in in the nick of time to save him and the crowd. During the subsequent fight in Stuttgart, he even attempts to forcefully make Captain America bow before him. Cap instead gives him a kick to the face.

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' has a variant when King Ghidorah, [[CurbStompBattle handily]] defeats Rodan and more narrowly puts Godzilla himself down for the count. Rodan, who [[IFightForTheStrongestSide fights for the strongest side]], has no problem bowing to him. At the end of the movie, [[spoiler: when Godzilla returns and incinerates Ghidorah, reclaiming his title as King of the Monsters, Rodan and a few other {{kaiju}} appear and [[KneelBeforeFrodo bow to him.]]]]

* ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'': Parodied using General Drayfox, [[PoliticallyCorrectVillain an incredibly PC supervillain]], who wants [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero his enemy]] to kneel before him -- unless he objects to it for religious reasons, in which case he's free to demonstrate obeisance in an alternative, culturally-appropriate manner.

** In an episode, Forrester is practicing the speech he plans to give after conquering the world, and even says "Kneel Before Zod!" He also shouts "You will bow down before me, son of Jor-El!" at one point.

* Shao Kahn of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat'' is fond of this trope, being the Emperor of Outworld and all. "Bow to me!" (Ironically, this and his other gloats is a weakness that can leave him vulnerable to an attack by the player.)

** ''Series/Daredevil2015'': The effect happens in season 3 episode 9 when Ray Nadeem is compelled to be the one who takes off Wilson Fisk's ankle monitor.
** ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Shades has to kneel before Bushmaster when visiting him on Mariah's behalf in Brooklyn to collect money that Bushmaster's predecessor Nigel Garrison had promised Mariah.
** ''Series/IronFist2017'': When Madame Gao [[TrespassingToTalk turns up in his apartment unexpectedly]], Harold Meachum [[DramaticShattering drops a glass in shock]], and she orders him to get down on his hands and knees on the broken glass as a sign of submission.