Basic Trope: A one-on-one Boss Battle where the protagonist fights without their typical allies' help.
- Straight: In the Chapter 5 Climax of Tales of Troperia I, Sir Robert has to fight against Claidheamh The Left Handed Brute alone. None of his other party members may interfere with him.
- Exaggerated: Sir Robert has thousands upon thousands of unique party members, but not only does Sir Robert have Marcy seal the rest away so it's just him and Claidheamh, but he also has him and Claidheamh drop their weapons and slug it out the old fashioned way.
- Downplayed: Sir Robert can try to have party members help him, but they're going to be fended off by mooks who'd ensure that the fight between Claidheamh and Sir Robert is completely uninterrupted.
- Justified:
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself.
- Sir Robert and Claidheamh are currently the only two people in the vicinity, with absolutely nobody else to help out.
- Inverted: Sir Robert and Claidheamh duke it out savagely, but this swiftly turns into an Escalating Brawl and eventually The War Sequence.
- Subverted: At first, it seems that it's going to be a one-on-one, but the two armies start jumping each other...
- Double Subverted: ...And they beat each other to either death or exhaustion, leaving only Claidheamh and Sir Robert behind.
- Parodied: Sir Robert, a puny weakling, intends to fight Claidheamh, a gigantic mass of muscle, alone, even though it would be infinitely more rational to have all his party members engage.
- Zig-Zagged: Some people may try and interfere with the fight, but others won't.
- Averted:
- All fights are one-on-one.
- Sir Robert's teammates collectively engage in combat with Claidheamh.
- Enforced: Rule of Cool, Rule of Fun, Rule of Drama...
- Lampshaded: Quirby remarks, "Well, it's just him and that big guy there! Nobody else should interfere; Seems like these two have bad blood!"
- Invoked:
- Sir Robert and Claidheamh let out these lines:
Sir Robert: I wish that you would all stay behind; This is something I must do personally.Claidheamh: [Grabs a hapless mook, and runs them through with his Claymore] This is what happens when ya try tae interfere. Don't wannae end up like this poor sod, eh?- Claidheamh explicitly tells Sir Robert in his Strongly Worded Letter to come alone.
- Exploited: Sir Robert loses the duel, but that victory is nevertheless pyrrhic for Claidheamh as the others go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge to finish the weakened Claidheamh off.
- Defied: Marcy and the others decide to aid Sir Robert in combat. And as does General Drake and the others for Claidheamh.
- Discussed: Characters discuss about the upcoming duel with Sir Robert and Claidheamh.
- Conversed: "A duel boss, huh? At least it's a nice break from all that crazy party management..."
- Implied: When recounting his tales, Sir Robert often mentions having a Badass Crew with him at all times. A character asks about the fight with Claidheamh, and Sir Robert responds with, "Not that one.", implying that he fought Claidheamh alone.
- Deconstructed: Facing off against Claidheamh alone is enough to severely cripple Sir Robert and have him perpetually confined to a wheelchair.
- Reconstructed: With this in mind, he secretly asks Marcy to give him several (if temporary) boosts in durability so that the playing field is evened out.
- Played for Laughs: Claidheamh mocks Sir Robert for handicapping himself, even though the former doesn't even have any reinforcements. As it turns out, Claidheamh is a One-Man Army and having Sir Robert along with his Badass Crew fight him all at once is actually even more fair than resorting to this trope.
- Played for Drama: Sir Robert was always known to be a bit of a chump without his crew to back him up. Now that Claidheamh has him without any form of retreating or reinforcements, Sir Robert's forced to take on the Violent Glaswegian.
- Played for Horror: Sir Robert's forced to fight alone... Because Claidheamh had absolutely rendered each and every last party member of Sir Robert's into nothing but tiny ribbons.
Don't have your party members interrupt this; It's a Duel Boss, and only you are allowed to fight the boss.
