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Glove Slap

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"A glove slap in a little old face will
Get you satisfaction.
Glove slap, ba-a-beee.
Glove slap, baby, glove slap!
Glove slap, I don't take crap!
Glove slap, shut your big yap!"

In a society where people, by and large, agree not to engage in random acts of violence with each other, a story can be restricted by the fact that, well, everybody's kind of agreed not to engage in random acts of violence with each other. The Glove Slap is an end-run around this. The process of slapping someone with High-Class Gloves is in itself so polite and dignified that it somehow seems socially acceptable that the natural outcome of the slap is a Duel to the Death.

Well, that's the theory anyway. A long time ago, the trope might have been used like this. But these days it's only the stuff of laughter and parody. Chiefly, no doubt, because the chances that the duel will actually be fought are low. (People who wield guns have tended to be much less chivalrous in the post-Victorian era.)

Most of the time this trope is used in such a way that accents the absurdity of the formality. Characters who otherwise have no problem with overt acts of hostility will treat the glove as being somehow significant while still recognizing that the Glove Slap means that everything is now no holds barred.

Historical, or appropriate futuristic or fantasy, settings can still play this in earnest, particularly among the elite. The idea seems to be that the blow is brazen enough to be an unignorable insult, but light enough not to be seen as a sucker-punch.

Often accompanied by such lines as "Sir, you have insulted my honor!" or "I demand satisfaction!"

Compare with Throwing Down the Gauntlet (this trope's Real Life predecessor); also compare and contract Dope Slap, when this is done against someone for doing or saying something foolish, and Zen Slap, when a spiritual mentor gives a slap to their disciple for the purpose of enlightening them. Can be played for injurious laughs in a cartoon by using Weighted Gloves.

Not to be confused with Glove Snap.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • One of A&W's commercials for the Spicy Mama burger features Allen, the restaurant manager, being slapped by Ryan after mistakenly insulting the latter's mother.

    Anime & Manga 
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Tsukuyomi challenges Setsuna to a match of swords by removing her Victorian-style glove and tossing it almost playfully at Setsuna. Setsuna merely snatches it out of the air. Later Ayaka uses this on Kuu Fei.
  • In Pumpkin Scissors, Alice challenges a corrupt Lord to a duel by throwing her glove at him across a crowded ballroom.
  • In Urusei Yatsura, when the election for class president result in a tie-vote for Ataru and Mendo, Mendo decides to settle it with a dueling method passed down through the Mendo Clan for generations...using cannons to blast an apple off of the duelists heads. Wanting to make an official challenge, Mendo prepares to throw a white glove at Ataru, who flees. Mendo proceeds to chase Ataru all over school grounds, ultimately hit Lum, who fries him.
  • Umineko: When They Cry. Beatrice crashes Erika and Battler's wedding to challenge Erika to a duel like this. Erika is forced to accept, since her refusal would forever mark her a coward in the eyes of the entire magical community.
  • In Mobile Fighter G Gundam, the chivalrous George de Sand challenges Domon this way, having been barred from an official match. This being G Gundam, he wears gloves only for this scene and somehow throws it across a distance of a few hundred yards while standing on the shoulder of his Gundam.
  • This is the custom in Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor for a magician to challenge another to a duel. It is specifically done with the left glove, as the left hand is better for casting magic (being closer to the heart). The light novels clarify that this is seen as an outdated tradition even in the setting, with alternative methods of resolving conflict being preferred.
  • Wakamatsu from Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun plans on doing this to his tormentor, Yuzuki Seo. Unfortunately, the only gloves he was able to find were a pair of cute mittens, and he's far too polite to actually hit anyone, so he winds up just giving her a pair of mittens. This, coupled with his shoujo manga addiction causing him to seal his letter of challenge with a heart shaped sticker and claiming he wishes Seo were more like her own secret persona as "The Lorelei of the Choir Club", results in Seo walking away from the meeting convinced they've started dating.

    Comic Books 
  • Subverted in an early Nikolai Dante story. One of the Arbatovs challenges Nikolai to a duel this way. Nikolai simply kicks him in the nuts.
    Jena: He was challenging you to a duel!
    Nikolai: Yeah, well he lost.
  • Carl Barks had Flintheart Glomgold hitting Scrooge McDuck with a glove in "The Money Champ". Before Glomgold had a chance to explain the kind of challenge, Scrooge started physically fighting him.
  • In the Don Rosa story "The New Laird of Castle McDuck", one of the Whiskervilles challenges young Scrooge to a duel with a metal glove appropriated from a suit of armor. Poor Scrooge is seeing Circling Stars after that one, but he recovers pretty quickly.
  • Superman Vol #150 features Lois Lane challenging Lana Lang to a (fake) duel to the death in this manner.

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 
  • 'Appointment with Venus: After learning Sergeant Vogel struck Lionel Fallaize when he wasn't expecting it, Captain Weiss slaps him across the face with his glove; telling him he is the reason why the German army is despised across Europe.
  • El Cid plays it straight
  • The Court Jester milks the trope for laughs in two successive scenes between Sir Griswold and Hawkins, both using heavy-duty gauntlets.
  • Woody Allen's Love and Death:
    "Hey, what is this? Slap Boris Day?"
  • Parodied in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The Sheriff of Rottingham does this to Robin to challenge him to a duel, and Robin responds by slapping him back... with a metal gauntlet.
    Robin: I accept.
  • In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Colonel Vogel slaps Henry several times with his glove until Henry grabs his wrist stopping him.
  • Buster Keaton does this in Hard Luck — in an attempt to coax his opponent into range of a shotgun with a string tied to the trigger.
  • In Casanova, Giovanni tries to challenge Casanova this way but for a variety of reasons, Casanova isn't keen on the idea... until his servant forces his hand by slapping Giovanni back.
  • A variant in Metropolis: when the Thin Man tries to bribe Josaphat into leaving his apartment (and letting the Thin Man meet Frieder in Josaphat's place), Josaphat picks up the bribe money and slaps the Thin Man in the face with it.
  • People do this frequently in Scaramouche. Given that they're usually challenging Andre, it doesn't go well for them.
  • In Please Dont Eat The Daisies, stage actress Deborah Vaughn (Janis Paige) finds Larry Mackay in Sardi's and slaps him across the face with her right glove in revenge for the bad review he gave her. A photograph of the slap gets into the New York Dispatch.
  • Played for Drama in The Quick and the Dead. Herod informs Lady that she's going to duel her Love Interest Cort, and if she refuses she'll be killed. He then slaps her with the back of his hand (he's holding gloves in it). Lady tries to hit him back only to be stopped by a Dramatic Gun Cock from Herod's bodyguards. Herod just smirks and walks off.
  • Komorovsky slaps Lara with his glove in Doctor Zhivago. Subverted in that she slapped him first with her bare hand.
  • In one of the The Count of Monte Cristo movies, Albert de Morcerf challenges the Count to a duel, but is so agitated his hand keeps slipping as he tries to remove a glove. The Count, watching with Dissonant Serenity, tells Albert that he'll consider the glove thrown.
  • What We Do in the Shadows: When the old-fashioned vampire protagonists cross paths with a group of werewolves, they begin arguing and cussing each other out, and Viago primly pulls out a glove and slaps one of the werewolves with it. The werewolf doesn't seem to get it.
  • Too Many Kisses: Don Julio, the villainous part of a Love Triangle, does this to Richard, trying to goad him into a duel. Because Yvonne has made him promise not to fight, Richard refuses.

    Literature 
  • In David Eddings' Malloreon, one of the protagonists, Sir Mandorallen (a knight, as his title implies), challenges a man who insulted his friend to a duel by throwing down his gauntlet. Well, throwing? He misses the floor and hits the guy straight in the face. With a steel gauntlet. Ouch.
  • This is how Erast Fandorin is often manipulated into duels. "Manipulated" because he never accepts challenges otherwise, as he always wins them.
  • In Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts novel His Last Command, an aristocratic officer declares Ludd had insulted him and engages in this. Ludd punched him and declares the duel over.
  • In 1632, when Chip (an American from the year 2000) feels a downtimer (1632 German) Alex Mckay has stolen "his" girlfriend, he slugs Alex. Alex (a VERY experienced military man who had his teeth fixed by a modern dentist without any anesthetic) then takes this as an obvious request for a duel. Upon seeing Alex is serious (he draws a sword and offers Chip the use of another of his swords), Chip runs in terror. Chip gets no sympathy from his friends, as they point out he was Bullying a Dragon.
  • In The Dragon Knight, the main character experiences the glove slap firsthand. Then mentions that it was an armored gauntlet, and it really, really hurt.
  • Played straight in Protector of the Small as a challenge to a jousting match, and treated as a grievous insult, so that Kel feels sufficiently provoked to take the guy up on it when she'd said she wasn't going to compete unless she had to.
  • The Crowner John Mysteries: In Crowner's Quest, John slaps Jocelin da Braose is the face with a glove when issuing him with a challenge to a trial by combat.
  • Sir Nigel: Two knightly mercenary bands temporarily out of work due to a truce decide to have a joust. When looking for the pretext they could use, one claims French women are prettier, to which Nigel responds by dipping his finger in his wine and touching it to the man's hand, saying "This in your face!" The other man laughs and thanks him for not ruining his clothes.
    "But we must have cause for quarrel, Nigel. Now here I drink to the ladies of Brittany, who of all ladies upon this earth are the most fair and the most virtuous, so that the least worthy-amongst them is far above the best of England. What say you to that, young sir?
    Nigel dipped his finger in his glass and leaning over he placed its wet impress on the Breton's hand. "This in your face!" said he.
    Beaumanoir swept off the red drop of moisture and smiled his approval. "It could not have been better done," said he. "Why spoil my velvet paltock as many a hot-headed fool would have done."

    Live-Action TV 
  • 'Allo 'Allo! - M. Alphonse ze undertaker challenges Rene in zis manner.
    • Lieutenant Gruber does this to René when he comes to search the café - but, being Gruber, he rather fails to intimidate.
  • Doctor Who:
    • Done by "Sir Gilles Estram" in the story The King's Demons.
    • Also by the Graff Vynda-K in The Ribos Operation. The Doctor snatches the glove and returns the slap.
  • Game of Thrones: Jaime gets a rough version of this during his training, when Bronn yanks his golden hand off and then slaps him to the ground with it.
  • The Goodies. In the Camelot episode, Graeme challenges the Villain of the Week to a medieval duel with a rather pathetic glove slap. The villain accepts with a much harder slap, knocking Graeme over. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry."
  • Star Trek: The Original Series: Captain Kirk does this to Trelane.
  • In an early episode of Family Matters, Urkel challenges a bully to a boxing match by hitting him in the face with a big leather mitten. (It was winter.) It made a satisfying thump.
  • In an episode of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide Seth Powers is upset that Moze is dating Faymen. Even though they have broken up, he calls it off as "taking time off from each other." Faymen comes in, Seth challenges him for Moze's heart and honor(or something), pulls out a white glove and slaps him with it. Faymen follows suit.
  • Charmed had Simon summoning a glove and slapping Henry with magic for a duel over Paige.
  • On Gilligan's Island, when Mrs. Howell gets a secret admirer, Mr. Howell does this to the male castaways when accusing them of making advances on his wife.
  • On Drake & Josh, Josh (disguised as a doctor) does this to Drake before he is about to perform surgery because the staff believes he is a famous doctor (which is inevitably proven wrong in the end of the episode).
  • On Chappelle's Show Charlie Murphy tells the story of when Rick James (played in flashback by Dave Chapelle) slapped him in a nightclub. An incensed Charlie Talking Heads:
    First of all you don't slap a man! Even when slapping was fashionable. They did it in Paris, a guy would come up they'd be like 'whap-pap' "I challenge you to a duel!" They would have a gunfight after that! Someone had to go!
  • In an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon and Barry Kripke are disputing who gets to move into a recently vacated office. Sheldon finally tells him, "I challenge you to a duel. I'd smack you with a glove but I've packed all my winter clothes away."
    • In a later episode, the gang takes up fencing in a class taught by Barry after Sheldon and Amy break up. When Barry finds out about the breakup and expresses interest in Amy, Sheldon again challenges him to a duel, but he ends up slapping Leonard with his fencing glove.
  • Fuller House: Fernando challenges Matt to a duel, by slapping him with a dishwashing glove.
  • Played straight in the Enemy at the Door episode "The Prussian Officer". Reinicke challenges the aristocratic Prussian officer von Bulow to a duel by slapping him in the chest with his gloves in front of their fellow-officers, after von Bulow humiliates him (and inadvertantly gets the woman he loved killed).

    Theatre 
  • Cyrano de Bergerac: Invoked by Christian and Cyrano, but neither of them plays it straight:
    • At Act I scene III, Christian wishes to throw his glove at De Valvert, but then...
      Christian: [who is watching and listening, starts on hearing this name] The Viscount! Ah! I will throw full in his face my...
      [he puts his hand in his pocket, and finds there the hand of a pickpocket who is about to rob him]
      Hey?
    • At Act I scene IV, Cyrano talks about it to provoke De Valvert... and also because Cyrano is so poor he doesn't have gloves.
      Cyrano: I wear no gloves? And what of that?
      I had one... remnant of an old worn pair,
      And, knowing not what else to do with it,
      I threw it in the face of... some young fool.
  • Discussed in A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde:
    Mrs Allonby: Miss Worsley would not let you kiss her.
    Lord Illingworth: Are you sure?
    Mrs Allonby: Quite.
    Lord Illingworth: What do you think she'd do if I kissed her?
    Mrs Allonby: Either marry you, or strike you across the face with her glove. What would you do if she struck you across the face with her glove?
    Lord Illingworth: Fall in love with her, probably.
    Mrs Allonby: Then it is lucky you are not going to kiss her!
    Lord Illingworth: Is that a challenge?

    Video Games 
  • A solution to a puzzle in The Curse of Monkey Island, where you have to prove to a dapper pirate that you're a gentleman.
    • And he'll only accept that you are one if you can take him in a duel. And he won't duel you until you serve him with the proper insult (and apparently just calling him a doody-head isn't insulting enough).
  • Elona Plus has an item called the Duel Glove that you can throw at any NPC to make them hostile, letting you kill them with no Karma penalty.
  • In the Mario Party games, there is a white glove item that, when used, triggers a duel with any of the other players on the board.
  • Nightshade from Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time combines this with Petal Power, using its petals to smack zombies for huge damage. His Almanac entry shows that he comes from an ardent line of smackers who have proudly slapped around three kings, four ambassadors and a president.
  • Team Fortress 2 has the Hot Hand as a melee weapon for the Pyro. It's a rubber glove that grants a speed boost upon slapping an opponent with it. It even announces that the player got a "SLAP KILL!" in the killfeed when an enemy dies to it.
  • In Hylics 2, there is a dedicated button for doing this. Slapping an enemy with the correct timing increases the party's Will for that battle, and slapping bugs heals the party.

    Western Animation 
  • The Simpsons:
    • The episode "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)", where Homer is inspired to do it by a Zorro movie and keeps it up once he realizes people will just give him what he wants because they don't want to duel. He receives his comeuppance (and the rest of the episode's premise) when he slaps an actual Southern Gentleman in the course of slapping a long line of people.
      Homer: Why oh why did I slap a man who says "suh"?!
    • Later in the episode, the Simpsons have fled their home to avoid the duel and come across Jimmy Carter working on Habitat for Humanity. Homer, obviously not having learned anything, tries to needle him into building him a house; Carter pulls out a glove and Homer screams and drives away as fast as he can.
  • Tom and Jerry, episode Duel Personality - Jerry gets sick of the chase in one episode, somehow lands inside a glove drawer, motions Tom to stop and proceeds with the glove slap after which they seem to agree to a series of organized feuds involving cannons and slingshots. After the battles are over and Tom is again chasing Jerry in the same way as before, Jerry glove slaps Tom again, except this time Tom takes the glove and slaps Jerry over and over when chasing him.
  • Looney Tunes:
    • In "Knights Must Fall", Bugs Bunny reacts to such a challenge from a knight by yanking the knight's steel gauntlet off and smacking him with that.
    • "Hare Trimmed" has Bugs load his glove with a brick for the return slap he gives to Sam.
    • In "Jack Wabbit and the Beanstalk," Bugs takes his gloves off and slaps the giant's face, challenging him to a duel.
    • Parodied in "Porky Pig's Feat", Porky and Daffy from the 1940s, where Daffy, after being slapped and challenged by the manager of the Broken Arms Hotel ("You have insulted me! We meet on the field of honor! My Card."), he returns suit ("You have insult me! We meet on the field of onion!") and slaps back with a horseshoe-stuffed glove, and then slaps him in the face with flypaper ("My Card, you cad!").
    • Foghorn Leghorn does this to a genetically-enhanced rooster with his comb in "Cock-a-Doodle-Duel".
  • Played with in one of the Max Fleischer Popeye cartoons, "Choose Yer Weppin," when an upper-class gentleman slaps Popeye in the face with his white gloves. Popeye then takes the gloves out of the man's pocket, puts it on his hand, and then punches him square in the jaw with it.
  • Teen Titans: In "Date With Destiny" Starfire does this to Kitten. Through a TV screen.
  • In the Steampunk short, A Gentlemen's Duel, the Englishman Weatherby delivers one to his rival suitor, the French Dubois, which also musses the latter's mustache. However, it's a dainty tap compared to Weatherby inadvertently sucker-punching the lady of both men's affections when he's struggling to remove his glove in the first place.
  • The B-plot of one Kappa Mikey episode has Ozu force Lily and Gonard into a fake relationship for publicity, then have Guano 'cut in' for added drama. This results in the two 'rivals' slapping each other with progressively bigger white gloves.
  • In the Goofy short "The Art of Self-Defense", a history of fighting includes a scene of two 17th Century gentlemen slapping each other repeatedly. One sneaks his snuff-box inside his glove during a break.
  • On Jimmy Two-Shoes, Jimmy does this to accept a challenge from Lucius because he Saw It in a Movie Once. Lucius responds by slapping him with a concrete hand.
  • On The Marvelous Mis Adventures Of Flapjack, Captain K'nuckles receives this by a feudal lord after he insults him by not referring him as "Your Lordship." A rather shameful duel ensues, which surprisingly ends in a draw.
  • In the Family Guy episode "Brian in Love", this is Stewie's response to Lois accusing him of peeing on the living room rug.
  • In the Thunder Cats episode "Excalibur", Mumm-Ra challenges Lion-O to a duel this way after disguising himself as King Arthur.
  • In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "No Pictures, Please", Patrick is angry that the bus depot doesn't sell balloons, so he puts on two gloves, then pulls one of them off and slaps the ticket clerk with it.
  • Bender from Futurama has been known to manage a recognizable version of this by removing his hand and hitting someone with it. In The Beast With a Billion Backs, this led right into a Duel to the Death with Calculon.
  • In Ed, Edd n Eddy, Jimmy of all people stages this to Edd, to challenge him to a fake fight at "The Pit". Because the sockhead had been hit with a scarlet letter, this was done intentionally.

    Real Life 
  • Truth in Television, sort of: Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia admitted he would've liked to have done this to pundit Chris Matthews on the latter's show. No, really! (Conan O'Brien had a field day with that one.)
  • Another possible origin of this is seen in the 1777 Code Duello. If one person insulted another but then apologized, then fighting a duel was dishonorable. But if one gentleman struck another, then no verbal apology would be sufficient, and a duel would be necessary. Therefore, striking a person with your glove was a way to demand the other person duel you. As mentioned on the Throwing Down the Gauntlet page, this was not actually Truth in Television- you did not strike them across the face with the glove, but slapped them twice lightly across the chest before throwing the gauntlet down, allowing them to challenge you for the insult by picking it up.
  • Sap gloves are made so that doing this will be adding injury to insult. They're leather or vinyl gloves weighted with steel or lead shot in the knuckles. A punch can One-Hit KO an opponent or break through wooden doors. A wearer without strength or martial arts training can break cinder blocks with them.

 
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Alternative Title(s): The Glove Slap

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Gauntlet Slap

The Sheriff of Rottingham challenges Robin Hood to a duel, slapping him with a glove. Robin accepts... and grabs a metal gauntlet to slap back.

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