Times where someone demands others kneel before them in Comic Books.
- Xerxes in 300 to Leonidas. It doesn't work the first time; the second seems to, but only because Leonidas was preparing an attack. Apparently, it's a regular part of his gaining new territories, servants, etc.
- Angel: In Spike: After The Fall the villain does this to Illyria; it turns out to be a Berserk Button and Illyria follows this by killing her.
- Taken to extreme in Paperinik New Adventures: Zoster does this to the whole universe after obtaining the powers of Xadhoom:"On your knees, worlds! Kneel now! Or I'll erase you with a single gesture!"
- The DCU:
- Superman:
- General Zod, of course with a hearty "Come to me, Son of Jor-El. Kneel before Zod!" This has pretty much become his Catchphrase in the comics.
- Likewise, Gorilla Grodd has adopted his own version to be on multiple occasions, likely because his name ends in the same "-od" sound. He once even shouted it while brandishing a spoon and, in the same comic, tried to bite off Lex Luthor's head. He was a little unhinged.
- Max Lord in his fully evil head of Checkmate phase liked using his Compelling Voice for this.Max Lord: You'll forgive me for saying so, princess, but you look good on your knees.
- And then she snapped his neck. And then he came back.
- In a Wonder Woman Vol 3 issue, the monster Genocide grabs an innocent woman by the neck, and demands that Wonder Woman kneels before her/it. Wonder Woman does so, leading to:Wonder Woman: Is this supposed to give me a sense of defeat, monster?
Genocide: No. A better view. [rips the woman's head off]
- Superman:
- Dastardly & Muttley in Their Flying Machines: In "Truce Or Consequences" (Hanna-Barbera Fun-In #10, Gold Key, January 1972), Yankee Doodle Pigeon is lured to the enemies' side during a 24-hour truce, is hypnotized and made to pose for pictures depicting him as a traitor. When Yankee Doodle regains his senses and discovers what has happened, he accuses Dastardly of violating the truce (Dick's response: "Sue me.") But the villain counters that there are only thirty seconds left in the truce and Yankee Doodle will find himself AWOL. He genuflects to Dastardly pleading for an honorable way out.
- A later Judge Dredd story shows that during the "Necropolis" arc Chief Judge Silver, after botching a suicide attempt, was captured by the Dark Judges and forced to kneel before Judge Death. When he refused, they killed and revived him as a zombie to further humiliate him.
- Marvel Universe:
- In the Infinity War epic-over from Marvel, the Magus, who has the eponymous gauntlet forces Thanos the Magnificent Bastard to his knees. Thanos dryly notes that he isn't doing it willingly, nor will he continue doing it unless forced before explaining to the Magus just how badly the villain had miscalculated.
- In the Spider-Man/Human Torch: I'm With Stupid miniseries, a publicity-craving Torch tries to single-handedly storm the Latverian embassy. He's promptly frozen solid by "subthermic cannons", forcing Spidey to rescue him by pretending to join forces with Doctor Doom. Doom demands that Spidey kneel and swear his eternal allegiance. When Spidey does so without any fuss, Doom realizes that they're just words and asks him to back it up. Spidey lifts up the frozen Torch as though he's going to dash him on the ground, then web-swings out.
- Ultimate Marvel:
- The Ultimates: Herr Kleiser has nearly defeated Captain America, and he wants him to say "I surrender, Herr Kleiser. Make it quick". Instead of that, that gave Cap the conviction to turn the tables on him and gain the upper hand. He pointed to the "A" in his mask and asked: "Surrender? SURRENDER?!! YOU THINK THIS LETTER ON MY HEAD STANDS FOR 'FRANCE'?"
- Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra: An inverted case, as it is Elektra who captures and humiliates Trey, and forces him to kneel while he cries like a little girl.
- Ultimate Spider-Man: Shocker, in the middle of robbing from a van, tells one of the drivers to crawl over and give it to him. Then, Spider-Man shows up and takes Shocker down.
- Scooby-Doo! Team-Up: While under the belief his plan to make the Amazons lose their super strength worked, the Duke of Deception approaches Wonder Woman and tells her to kneel before him.
- Star Trek (IDW): Just like its original source material (the TOS episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before"), Gary Mitchell attempts to force Kirk to do this after being mutated by the barrier.
