Basic Trope: A character uses a shield to strike their opponent.
- Straight: Alice and Bob are dueling, and she hits him with her shield.
- Exaggerated: Alice never even uses her sword, taking down Bob with nothing but shield bashes.
- Downplayed:
- Alice uses her shield to push Bob away without actually hurting him.
- Alice hits Bob with a buckler.
- Justified:
- Bob disarmed Alice of her sword, so the shield is the only thing she currently has at hand.
- Alice is trying to knock Bob off-balance so he becomes open to her sword.
- Alice is trying to take Bob down non fatally, and she deems it safer to use her shield than to try to wound his arm or leg with her sword.
- Inverted: Despite having a shield, Alice blocks Bob's attacks with her sword.
- Subverted: Alice moves to strike with her shield, but it's only a feint so she can surprise Bob with her sword.
- Double Subverted: But when he still dodges her sword, she hits him with her shield for real.
- Parodied:
- An entire war is fought only with shields, and the ensuing shield bashing contest is portrayed as slapstick.
- Shields are now known as "Bashing Boards" while swords are now known as "Guarding Rods".
- Zig Zagged: Alice and Bob switch up between hitting each other with their shields and doing feints with them in a bid to land hits with their swords.
- Averted:
- Shields are only ever used to block, never to strike.
- No one uses shields.
- Enforced: The author wants to show Alice's resourcefulness by having her strike with her shield after she loses her sword.
- Lampshaded: "Why are you hitting him with your shield? Wouldn't your sword be more effective?"
- Invoked:
- Alice reads a fighting manual with a full section dedicated to striking with a shield, expecting to need such techniques in her duels.
- Alice challenges Bob to a duel with only shields, so the only way they can fight is by hitting each other with them.
- Exploited: Bob loses his balance after being hit by Alice's shield, so she takes the opportunity to land a hit with her sword.
- Defied:
- Alice reads a fighting manual, but skips the section about shield bashing because she prefers to stick to attacking with her main weapon and using her shield only to defend.
- Alice challenges Bob to a duel with only swords and no shields.
- Discussed: "I didn't think hitting with your shield could be a viable tactic". "It works well in a pinch, you should include it in your training".
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Alice and Bob head to a field carrying nothing but shields. When they come back, they're both bruised and the shields' paint has been scraped in several spots.
- Deconstructed: ???
- Reconstructed: ???
- Played For Laughs: Alice and Bob are having a conversation in the armory. Bob cracks a joke at Alice's expense, so she angrily reaches for a shield and slams it on his head.
- Played For Drama: After Bob disarms Alice of her sword, the audience can see her desperation as she tries to knock him away with her shield just to stay alive.
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