History Main / ChallengingTheChief

A community with such a cultural tradition is usually portrayed as as {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s where AsskickingEqualsAuthority. They will also frequently approve of certain methods of attaining a KlingonPromotion. This trope might justify DecapitatedArmy.

* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': This is how advancement in the military of the [[TheEmpire Eastern Empire]] works, as they're firm believers of AsskickingEqualsAuthority. Indeed, to become the commander of one of the military divisions, you are ''expected'' to be capable of defeating anyone and everyone under your command, so this system helps in proving your credentials. Rank-based duels where lower-ranked members challenge their superiors for their positions are common, but also have strict regulations in order to avoid spiraling into uncontrolled KlingonPromotion, backstabbing, and bloodbaths. A third party must arbitrate, witnesses must be present for certification, duels are forbidden during military maneuvers, and if you challenge someone and lose or kill your opponent, you have to wait a year before challenging again in order to discourage the act of losing valuable human resources (while your higher-ranked defender can kill the challenger with no penalty under the idea of a fatal YouAreNotReady). [[spoiler:This is how Yuuki Kagurazaka is able to catapult himself from fresh addition to the Composite Division to its commander in less than a year of joining the Empire.]]

* How the Minotaur Emperor in ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' gets and keeps his job- Minotaurs settle almost all disputes through ritual combat, so the logical extension of this is that any warrior who has earned high enough distinction can challenge the Emperor for the throne. As a side-effect, this ensures that, [[ProudWarriorRace as the Minotaurs feel it should]], AsskickingEqualsAuthority.

* ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' has in its backstory that the children of Father Wolf eventually challenged and slew him for his role as protector of the world. This had ''serious'' repercussions.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFruendshipIsMagic'' The dragons have a ritual of having a challenge match every few years to determine the new Dragon Lord. Spike actually wins but passes the position to Ember, the previous leader’s daughter.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Beastmen packs, ogre tribes and some greenskins all use this trope, with different levels of ceremony. Ogres can only become tyrant of a tribe through making a ceremonial challenge against the sitting tyrant, then fighting it out in the tribe's Maw Pit and then publicly devouring their opponent's guts in front of the tribe. Beastmen challenges tend to be more impromptu, but still require a public scrap within sight of the rest of the tribe and usually involve fighting with one's horns only (horns are seen as gifts from the Chaos Gods to beastmen). Greenskin challenges depend on the nature of the greenskin, with orcs usually having public fights (usually with followers involved) to see who's deserving of being boss, while goblins prefer [[KlingonPromotion a quiet knife in the dark instead}}.

* ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'' had the "challenge the leader to stop the army" version down to a pat.

* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': This is how advancement in the military of the [[TheEmpire Eastern Empire]] works, as they're firm believers of AsskickingEqualsAuthority. Indeed, to become the commander of one of the military divisions, you are ''expected'' to be capable of defeating anyone and everyone under your command. Rank-based duels where lower-ranked members challenge their superiors for their positions are common, but also have strict regulations in order to avoid spiraling into uncontrolled KlingonPromotion, backstabbing, and bloodbaths. A third party must arbitrate, witnesses must be present for certification, duels are forbidden during military maneuvers, and if you challenge someone and lose or kill your opponent, you have to wait a year before challenging again in order to discourage the act of losing valuable human resources (while your higher-ranked defender can kill the challenger with no penalty under the idea of a fatal YouAreNotReady).

* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': This is how advancement in the military of the [[TheEmpire Eastern Empire]] works, as they're firm believers of AsskickingEqualsAuthority. Rank-based duels where lower-ranked members challenge their superiors for their positions are common, but also have strict regulations in order to avoid spiraling into uncontrolled KlingonPromotion, backstabbing, and bloodbaths. A third party must arbitrate, witnesses must be present for certification, duels are forbidden during military maneuvers, and if you challenge someone and lose or kill your opponent, you have to wait a year before challenging again in order to discourage the act of losing valuable human resources (while your higher-ranked defender can kill the challenger with no penalty under the idea of a fatal YouAreNotReady).

* The Marines in ''Manga/OnePiece'' are not so...''barbaric'' to use such a method. Unfortunately, the conflict over the Fleet Admiral position ''degenerated'' into a variation of this between [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Aokiji]] and [[GeneralRipper Akainu]], with no small part due to their opposing ideologies and the fact that they hated each other. The feud was so bad, that the higher-ups just went ahead and had the two fight a DuelToTheDeath on the barren island of Punk Hazard to get the position filled already. Apparently things were too bitterly divided for anybody to bring up a more reasonable compromise like "Hey, this Kizaru guy is an Admiral too, does anybody object to him?" [[spoiler:The winner would be Akainu, but he spared Aokiji's life in a rare moment of sympathy, and the latter proceeded to ditch the Marines, having no desire to serve under his rival or a form of justice he was opposed too...though he still covertly serves the World Government as a spy among the Blackbeard Pirates, with his very public falling out providing a perfect cover story.]]

* The Gorons in ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' series have a culture revolving nearly entirely around physical strength. The strongest and toughest Goron is the tribal chieftain, no exceptions. This comes into play in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', wherein the Gorons will not allow you to enter their mines until you beat one of their elders in a sumo contest (which is actually impossible to win unless you cheat with the iron boots).

* Subverted in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' core games, in which you challenge the champion, and win, you are declared the new champion. Some Key NPC's treat you as such, and you are granted to Champion-only areas, but when you return to the Pokemon League, the old Champion is still there, often using the same lines as earlier. You aren't expected to stay there and defend the title, probably due to the idea being boring for the player. Played straight in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', in which after becoming Champion you can have Title Defense battles against various characters looking to supplant you. Also played straight in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' where Leon actually retires and converts Rose Tower into a battle facility.

--->'''Clank:''' Just keep the mask on. He thinks you are his new leader.

* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'':
** It follows the trope but subverts its usage. [[spoiler:Paul Atreides refuses to face Stilgar, the chief of the Fremen sietch Paul belonged to, in ritual combat because they both knew Paul would win and Paul wanted Stilgar to remain chief of the sietch as Paul went to war for the whole planet Arrakis.]]
** It's played straight in the latter ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' books; ''Literature/ChapterhouseDune'' particularly for the Honored Matres. First Logno ascends by killing Dama, but her reign is short lived when Murbella easily takes her out using a combination of Bene Gesserit training and Honored Matre speed.

* ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers]]'':

[[folder:FanWorks]]

-->-- '''Lex Luthor''', ''Series/LoisAndClark'' ("The Phoenix")

* Queens in ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' get power from challenging their mother, sister, aunt or grandmother to a fight to the death.

* In the ''Comicbook/BlackPanther'' comic books, there's an annual event where every citizen of Wakanda has the right to challenge T'Challa for both the Black Panther identity and leadership of the country. There's also an ancient tribal clause that grants the right to challenge Black Panther to one-on-one combat, and if the challenger wins, they become the new Black Panther.
* In ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'', [[Literature/TheJungleBook Mowgli]] finds a wolf pack who might know where to find the missing Bigby. The wolves won't talk, so he challenges the alpha male for leadership. It works.

* Can easily happen in ''{{TabletopGame/BattleTech}}'''s Clan society, where trial by combat is a common way for the ruling warrior caste to settle disputes and grudges already and even ''rank'' is generally determined by combat performance up until one reaches the highest levels. Seeking advancement or the removal of an incompetent-looking immediate superior by challenging them for their position is explicitly ''allowed'' as long as protocol is observed (and can often pass even if it's not, depending on circumstances).

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

* In ''Videogame/FalloutNewVegas'', according to Benny, this was how he became the chief of the Boot Riders raider gang (before they became the Chairmen). He challenged the then-chief to a knife fight and took advantage of the fact that he was naturally faster than him.
* Brutes in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' vie for power this way. One of the tie-in novels, ''Literature/HaloContactHarvest'', reveals that this is how Tartarus (TheDragon of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'') got his position. Specifically, the chief was [[{{Patricide}} his uncle]], and he was [[SoProudOfYou never prouder of Tartarus than when he killed him]].
* The Gorons in ''Zelda'' series have a culture revolving nearly entirely around physical strength. The strongest and toughest Goron is the tribal chieftain, no exceptions. This comes into play in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', wherein the Gorons will not allow you to enter their mines until you beat one of their elders in a sumo contest (which is actually impossible to win unless you cheat with the iron boots).
* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' verse, this is typically how regime changes happen on [[DeathWorld Tuchanka]]. Should he survive Mass Effect 1 and claim chieftain-ship over effectively all of Tuchanka, Wrex fully expects this to happen to him some time eventually. [[spoiler: And hopes it's Grunt who does it.]]

* In ''Videogame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid'' Alarak challenges Ma'lash, the leader of the Tal'darim to a psionic duel known as "Rak'shir", in which one must force the other into a pit. During the duel, while their allies can't directly attack the opponent, they can be bolstered psionically by nearby units, meaning that your goal is to escort Alarak and take out any enemy units helping out Ma'lash.
* Joked about in the sixth ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' game when CuteWitch Marisa asks NinjaMaid Sakuya whether the position of Chief Maid works like this. It doesn't.

* ''WebComic/DragonBallMultiverse'': In at least one universe, the Saiyan monarchy works like this, and, when [[CassandraTruth no one believed him]] when he claimed Frieza would destroy them, Bardock takes advantage of this trope by challenging King Vegeta to combat and defeating him, making him king long enough to order the Saiyans to ambush Frieza and kill him.

* The Kingdom of Wakanda in ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' has a system in which during the coronation ceremony, nobles with royal blood from each of the five constituent tribes are given the opportunity to challenge the crown prince in a fight to the death/submission. The winner becomes the new king of Wakanda. By the time of the film, the challenge ritual seems to have becomes a minor point of formality kept for tradition's sake. When M'Baku ''actually'' challenges T'Challa for the throne, everyone is genuinely shocked.

* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'' has the "[[YouKillItYouBoughtIt You keep what you kill]]" principle embedded in Necromonger religion which leads to this trope occurring for Riddick.

* Subverted in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' core games, in which you challenge the champion, and win, you are declared the new champion. Some Key NPC's treat you as such, and you are granted to Champion-only areas, but when you return to the Pokemon League, the old Champion is still there, often using the same lines as earlier. You aren't expected to stay there and defend the title, probably due to the idea being boring for the player. Played straight in ‘’VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', in which after becoming Champion you can have Title Defense battles against various characters looking to supplant you. Also played straight in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' where Leon actually retires and converts Rose Tower into a battle facility.

* Subverted in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' core games, in which you challenge the champion, and win, you are declared the new champion. Some Key NPC's treat you as such, and you are granted to Champion-only areas, but when you return to the Pokemon League, the old Champion is still there, often using the same lines as earlier. You aren't expected to stay there and defend the title, probably due to the idea being boring for the player. Played straight in ''Videogame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', in which after becoming Champion you can have Title Defense battles against various characters looking to supplant you. Also played straight in ‘’VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' where Leon actually retires and converts Rose Tower into a battle facility.

* Subverted in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' core games, in which you challenge the champion, and win, you are declared the new champion. Some Key NPC's treat you as such, and you are granted to Champion-only areas, but when you return to the Pokemon League, the old Champion is still there, often using the same lines as earlier. You aren't expected to stay there and defend the title, probably due to the idea being boring for the player. Played straight in ''Videogame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', in which after becoming Champion you can have Title Defense battles against various characters looking to supplant you.

[[folder:Anime & Manga