History Main / FairPlayVillain

* In TengenToppaGurrenLagann, The Anti-Spiral uses this as a last-resort tactic to stop the growth of Spiral Power, crippling itself in order to fight on equal footing with his opponents when he could kill them effortlessly.

* In the ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'' fic ''FanFic/TheLegendOfSpyroANewDawn'', [[TragicVillain Deadlock]] makes sure that Spyro and Cynder have a fair chance of saving the dragon eggs she has captured to sacrifice because [[StartOfDarkness years ago]] she was denied that same chance and can't bring herself to force it on anyone else.

[[IThoughtItMeant Has absolutely nothing to do with]] Jonny Fairplay from Series/{{Survivor}}.

* ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'' by Creator/TerryPratchett, the traditionalist vampire who litters his castle with weapons that can be used to take him down - instructions included! It's also a clever survival tactic, since the would-be hunters aren't pressured to find more permanent ways to kill him.

* The modus operandi for {{Batman}} villain ComicBook/TwoFace, who believes that chance (specifically, a coin toss) is the only fair thing in the world, and will flip a coin to make any major decisions. Of course, how "fair" this is can become skewed, such as flipping a coin to decide whether or not he should honor an agreement when the other party already held up their end of the bargain or doing multiple coin flips for every petty little thing.

* [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sometimes anti-heroine/sometimes villainess]] Lady Shiva is a BloodKnight martial artist who is constantly seeking a WorthyOpponent [[DeathSeeker to defeat and kill her in hand-to-hand combat]]. During one battle against Richard Dragon, Richard had technically defeated her and was ready to deliver a killing blow when one of Shiva's minions interrupted the fight to save her life. An angry Shiva killed the minion for interfering and restarted the fight with Richard. However, this time, she won.

* In [[StarWars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy]], Jaden Korr is captured in one mission and given the chance to fight his/her way out, because the captor [[TheMostDangerousGame wants the chance to hunt a Jedi.]] As Jedi are perfectly capable of combat even without a lightsaber, it doesn't end well for the captor.

* The modus operandi for {{Batman}} villain Two-Face, who believes that chance (specifically, a coin toss) is the only fair thing in the world, and will flip a coin to make any major decisions. Of course, how "fair" this is can become skewed, such as flipping a coin to decide whether or not he should honor an agreement when the other party already held up their end of the bargain or doing multiple coin flips for every petty little thing.

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[[folder:Comics]]
* The modus operandi for {{Batman}} villain Two-Face, who believes that chance (specifically, a coin toss) is the only fair thing in the world, and will flip a coin to make any major decisions. Of course, how "fair" this is can become skewed, such as flipping a coin to decide whether or not he should honor an agreement when the other party already held up their end of the bargain or doing multiple coin flips for every petty little thing.
* [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sometimes anti-heroine/sometimes villainess]] Lady Shiva is a BloodKnight martial artist who is constantly seeking a WorthyOpponent [[DeathSeeker to defeat and kill her in hand-to-hand combat]]. During one battle against Richard Dragon, Richard had technically defeated her and was ready to deliver a killing blow when one of Shiva's minions interrupted the fight to save her life. An angry Shiva killed the minion for interfering and restarted the fight with Richard. However, this time, she won.
** On a different occasion, Lady Shiva battled against [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Batgirl]] (later revealed to be her own daughter, Cassandra Cain) and "killed" her by stopping her heart for a length of time and then reviving her. Batgirl, as a former [[ChildSoldier Child Assassin]] that became TheAtoner, was a DeathSeeker just like Shiva, which is something Shiva didn't find particularly sporting, so she killed and resurrected her enemy just to give Batgirl a taste of death that would ease her guilty conscience. It worked, and Batgirl went on to win their duel.
* Marvel has Arcade, whose M.O. was trapping heroes in carnival-themed death traps and getting his kicks on seeing them try to escape. He claims that his Murderworlds are designed so that the heroes all have a chance to escape. A small chance, but a chance nonetheless.
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* Luxord of the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series teleports Sora's allies away to fight him as a DuelBoss, making the battle a TimedMission where they have to attack each other to deplete a time gauge.

* [[AntiVillain Grimmjow]] toward Ichigo in {{Bleach}}. After [[spoiler: killing Loly and Menoly]] and saving Orihime, he drags her to where Ulquiorra's [[LeftForDead left Ichigo for dead]] and demands she heal him so they can have a proper battle. He even turns on Ulquiorra when the latter appears and demands to know why he's having Ichigo revived. In truth, Grimmjow [[spoiler: was doing it more for the sake of his own pride, rather than fair play. He wanted Ichigo at his best, before crushing him, to pay him back for scarring him.]]

* The Duke of Ch'in in ''BridgeOfBirds'' has elaborate mazes and death traps that always give the heroes just enough of a chance to escape. Master Li eventually figures out that this is because the Duke is like a child who protects himself with things straight out of fairy tales and believes it just wouldn't be as much fun if his victims had no chance of winning.

** On a different occasion, Lady Shiva battled against {{Batgirl}} (later revealed to be her own daughter, Cassandra Cain) and "killed" her by stopping her heart for a length of time and then reviving her. Batgirl, as a former [[ChildSoldier Child Assassin]] that became TheAtoner, was a DeathSeeker just like Shiva, which is something Shiva didn't find particularly sporting, so she killed and resurrected her enemy just to give Batgirl a taste of death that would ease her guilty conscience. It worked, and Batgirl went on to win their duel.

* YuGiOh, this is standard operation for most villains, since conflicts are almost universally settled by a duel. Particularly notable is Marik, who will lure Yugi into a DeathTrap then allow him to duel for his freedom.

* In ''FinalFantasyIV'', Rubicante is a NobleDemon who heals your party before the battle, even [[LampshadeHanging announcing]] that he wants a fair battle.

[[IThoughtItMeant Has absolutely nothing to do with]] Jonny Fairplay from {{Series/Survivor}}.

* ''{{Discworld/Carpe Jugulum}}'' by TerryPratchett, the traditionalist vampire who litters his castle with weapons that can be used to take him down - instructions included! It's also a clever survival tactic, since the would-be hunters aren't pressured to find more permanent ways to kill him.

* In ''{{Pokemon}}'', everything is settled by a battle between trainers. (This also applies to the TV show.)

* In [[StarWars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy]], Jaden Korr is captured in one mission and given the chance to fight his way out. As Jedi are perfectly capable of combat even without a lightsaber, it doesn't end well for his captor.

* ''{{Discworld/Carpe Jugulum}}'' by TerryPratchett, the traditionalist vampire who litters his castle with weapons that can be used to take him down - instructions included!

* [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters Kusanagi]] ([[ShadowArchetype dark magical doppelganger]] of series protagonist Kyo) isn't evil ''per se'' (although he definitely ''[[AxCrazy looks]]'' the part; in his defense, Chizuru was BrainwashedAndCrazy when she created him), but he's equal parts BloodKnight and ArrogantKungFuGuy and is something of a crass and vulgar loudmouth. In ''2002'', he has a special intro against characters who fight with weapons, such as [[WolverineClaws Choi]], [[EpicFlail Chang]], [[SimpleStaff Billy]], and {{Whip|ItGood}}. This also doubles as a ShoutOut to [[Film/{{Akira}} a similar line delivered to Tetsuo by Kaneda]], [[ActorAllusion as both Kaneda and Kusanagi are voiced by]] MitsuoIwata.

* In [[{{Pokemon}} Pokemon]], everything is settled by a battle between trainers. (This also applies to the TV show.)

! Examples

!! Anime

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!! Video Games

!! Western Animation

* ''Masquerade'' by TerryPratchett, the traditionalist vampire who litters his castle with weapons that can be used to take him down - instructions included!

* YuGiOh!, this is standard operation for most villains, since conflicts are almost universally settled by a duel. Particularly notable is Marik, who will lure Yugi into a DeathTrap then allow him to duel for his freedom.