History Main / InterestingSituationDuel

* In Ernst von Salomon's FRAGEBOGEN, he relates an incident from his service in Oberschlesien with a student freikorps, full of characters who thought they were still back in Heidelberg or wherever. One of these introduced himself as a "stud.math". "Yes, you look like one." A moment later, another university type comes to announce that his friend was greatly insulted, and would the Herr name his weapon? So Ernst, an artillerist who did not know one end of a sword from the other, chose heavy mine throwers. (Apparently something almost, but not quite, unlike a mortar.) Amid consternation, a special court of honor convened, and ruled that all Affairs must be postponed for the duration. Of course, afterward, they could not get hold of two heavy mine throwers.

* In LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'s "4 Hunters Finale Rematch" episode of ''Minecraft Manhunt'', [[spoiler:Sapnap and Dream chug Fire Resistance Potions and end up fighting in a lava pool, the surface of which is quickly turned to obsidian by the other Hunters. What follows is about three minutes of battle ''beneath the lava'', with Dream trying to kill Sapnap before the potions wear off and Sapnap [[TakingYouWithMe trying to make Dream waste enough time for the fire protection to end]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' had the Furious Five fight Tai Lung on a thin rope bridge. When the animators complained that they didn't know how to animate that kind of action sequence, the directors took it as a good sign because it meant that kind of action ''had never been done before'' in animation. So, the crew persevered and one of the wildest fights in the {{wuxia}} genre was created.

* In ''BakumatsuKikansetsuIrohanihoheto'' Akizuki and Kanna fight also by night, in a labyrinth of slightly translucent paper walls, that is illuminated by candelabras. Akizuki has a sword and Kanna has guns

** ''Manga/BattleTendency'':

** Starting in Part 3 with the introduction of [[FightingSpirit Stands]], most fights qualify because of the unique abilities of each participant. To list just one example from ''Manga/SteelBallRun'', a pair of characters have a gunfight in a saloon with a man who can [[SelfDuplication endlessly duplicate himself]], while also attempting to spend a large quantity of money to avoid being turned into trees.

* A recurring trope in ''Manga/UshioAndTora'' for them to end in interesting situations. Trains, planes, motorcycles...
** Used as a TrainingFromHell by Satoru to train Ushio: he has to perform an almost SingleStrokeBattle against a samurai skeleton while both are standing on the inclined thread of silk from a gigantic spider, which prevents any risk of falling but also forces Ushio to stand his ground.

* The fight in the gear room in ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy''.

* The clifftop duel in ''Film/ThePrincessBride''.
** In the original book, Inigo trained heavily for these to ensure he was CrazyPrepared for the duel with the man who killed his father.

* In ''Literature/SnowCrash'' there's a fight with some interesting conditions during the waning days of World War II. An American prisoner of war ([[spoiler:Hiro's father]]) in Japan is caught during an escape attempt by a one-legged Japanese lieutenant with a samurai sword. However, they're just outside Nagasaki, and as the lieutenant is about to execute the American, the atomic bomb drops. The American shields his eyes; the lieutenant isn't so lucky.

* ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' has [[spoiler: Thomas, who at this point is thought to be the killer but is really just a minion]], stand on a gear in a clock tower, and get into a gunfight with [[spoiler: Emily]], while using a hook as a means of fighting her. Did we mention [[spoiler: Thomas is wearing a dress while shouting derogatory insults]]?

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' has a few of these, most notably in the ending battle, where [[spoiler: Sora & co. fight Xemnas on a flying motorcycle-thing, in space, on the side of a skyscraper and in the literal manifestation of nothingness. ]]
** Also of note: [[AntiHero Roxas]] vs. [[PlayingWithFire Axel]] at the end of the (very long) prologue. Axel with a pair of gaint flaming chakrams, Roxas being the first person to ever DualWield Keyblades, fighting inside a ring of fire and occasionally ''on'' the ring of fire. Also the floor sometimes turns into lava, which has to be dispelled by hurling a column of light at the ground.
** The second-last fight of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII [[DownloadableContent Re+Mind]]'' has [[spoiler:the player controlling [[EnsembleCast Riku, Terra, Ventus, Aqua, Mickey, Lea, Roxas and Xion]] as they fight [[WolfpackBoss twelve Xehanort Replicas]] in the clouds above [[FieldOfBlades the Keyblade Graveyard]] beneath [[WeirdMoon Kingdom Hearts]].]] It's a strong contender for the series' BestBossEver.

* One level in ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed: The Run'' has a vehicular equivalent. Jack and a rival race down a highway in Colorado undergoing avalanche blasting. Evading the snow and debris falling on the road is just as much a part of the race as beating your opponent.

* It's hard to imagine a battle quite as interesting as the Franzea stage in ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'', which mashes up the world of ''VideoGame/LocoRoco'' with ''VideoGame/MetalGear''. Think about that for a second.
** Many of the stages in the game are around this level of absurdity. Highlights include ''[[VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} Stowaways]]'', a stage placed inside the cargo bay of a plane in flight which then blows open forcing you to battle on ''trucks being dragged behind a flying plane'', or ''[[VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet Dreamscape]]'', which constructs itself from the ground up as you battle before suddenly turning into a game show, or the dojo from ''VideoGame/ParappaTheRapper'' which gets blown up midway through the battle by a giant mech from ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}''.
* Nearly every level in ''VideoGame/PowerStone'' and its sequel is comprised of one of these.

* The ''[[VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves Among Thieves]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception Drake's Deception]]'' games from the ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' series feature fights against {{Giant Mook}}s and bosses in all kinds of interesting situations. Like, say, on the roof of a speeding train (and later, a speeding truck) as it climbs the Himalayas. Or in the corridors of a hijacked cruise ship while it flips, floods and sinks. Or on the cargo ramp of a plane while it flies over the Rub'al Kahli Desert. Or inside that same plane while it's being torn apart by sudden depressurisation and random explosions. Or on a stone bridge in an ancient city that's slowly being consumed by a giant vortex of quicksand.
** All situations can be neatly summed up by Nate in the second game, who is busy avoiding fire from a ''helicopter'' while battling many mooks on his way up the train.

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* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "X" has Robin fighting his EvilCounterpart, Red X, as they both make their way through an elaborate security system involving loads and loads of laser beams. Then they have a rematch in "Revved Up" where they fight each other while riding motorcycles and chasing after another supervillain who keeps throwing obstacles in their path.

* Pretty much every episode of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown''. The titular showdowns, in fact, automatically make the areas they take place in ''more'' interesting than they would be otherwise, temporarily warping them into a distorted, far-out arena.

* Starting around the Hallelujah Land Arc in ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'', most of the fights have some gimmick or situation our heroes must contend with. From Fighting on bungie cords to brawling on giant robots on an ice rink, they get pretty crazy, but par the course [[WidgetSeries for this show.]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E3RobotOfSherwood "Robot of Sherwood"]], the Twelfth Doctor duels RobinHood with a ''spoon''... and kicks the outlaw's ass. Robin really shouldn't have [[BerserkButton cut a button off the Doctor's coat]].

** ''Film/Octopussy'' has the climatic fight between Bond and Khan on Khan's private plane - on the outside of the fuselage.

** The second film has Ip Man being challenged by other martial arts masters while on a round table.

** ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' has a really epic fistfight between Film/JamesBond and [[TheDragon Necros]] while both of them are hanging out the back of a cargo plane. In ''mid-flight.'' And a time bomb is about to go off...

* ''Series/IntoTheBandlands'': The fight choreographers for the series liked to stage fight scenes with characters balanced on top of things - walls, cars, scaffolding, stacked-up furniture, the tops of chimneys.

** Speaking of Death Battle, the finale of Season 1 of the spinoff, Death Race, features [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario, driving his Standard Kart]] vs. Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog, driving his Speed Star vs. [[VideoGame/FZero Captain Falcon, driving the Blue Falcon]] vs. [[Franchise/StarWars A Scout Trooper, riding a 74-Z Speeder Bike]] vs. [[Film/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown, driving the DeLorean]] vs. [[Manga/InitialD Takumi Fujiwara, driving his Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86]]. The catch? They have to deliver pizza to the finish line. [[spoiler: This causes the [=DeLorean=] to lose via disqualification despite technically reaching the finish line first, because their pizza was damaged (and possibly a different pizza) Takumi won because all the other racers aside from the [=DeLorean=] offed each other- Mario killed the Scout Trooper, Sonic blew Captain Falcon away, and then both Sonic and Mario offed ''themselves'' while trying to take each other out, with Mario dying first.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' had the Furious Five fight Tai Lung on a thin rope bridge. When the animators complained that they didn't know how to animate that kind of action sequence, the directors took it as a good sign because it meant that kind of action ''[[DoingItForTheArt had never been done before]]'' in animation. So, the crew persevered and one of the wildest fights in the {{wuxia}} genre was created.

* In the manga of ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', at one point Sousuke is captured and forced to fight an enemy mook. The twist? Sosuke is using a basic infantry [[RealRobot Arm Slave]] while his opponent is using a production version of Sousuke's [[SuperPrototype Arbalest]]. Sousuke manages to win by collapsing a large temple on top of both of them, knowing that the stronger hydraulics on his AS would allow him to dig his way out of the rubble while the Arbalest remained trapped.

* Joseph's battle with Esidisi in part 2 of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' does not take place over a spike filled pit. But standing ''on top of the spikes''. While Esidisi can stand on them with no harm, Joseph must concentrate and channel hamon to avoid impaling his feet.
** Starting in part 3 with the introduction of [[FightingSpirit Stands]], every fight becomes this trope because of the unique abilities of each participant. To list just one example from later in the series, a pair of characters have a gunfight in a saloon with a man who can [[SelfDuplication endlessly duplicate himself]], while also attempting to spend a large quantity of money to avoid being turned into trees.

* BattleAtopThePoles

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':

** The Water Citadel is a hollowed-out mountain filled with high-pressure water, which bursts freely from strategically-placed traps such as logs, boulders, and so on. The primary antagonist of the arc, [[EmbarrassingFirstName Pantyhose]] [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Taro]] uses Akane as bait to lure Ranma and the others to this mountain. Once there, not only do they have to battle their enemy, but also stay dry as much as possible--for Ranma's Jusenkyo-cursed team, a random splash would turn them into [[BalefulPolymorph weaker, or helpless, forms]], but it would turn Taro himself into [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever a gigantic, massively powerful minotaur chimera]].

* ''Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'' has a bunch of these, but the best is the fight that takes place [[IHaveTheHighGround on top of a bamboo forest]] - i.e. standing on giant, flexible stems of bamboo.

Subtropes of the InterestingSituationDuel include:

** Done again in ''Film/DieAnotherDay''. Only this time, the plane flies through a [[EnergyWeapon solar-powered laser beam]] and starts to fall apart. And speaking of laser beams, there was another InterestingSituationDuel earlier against TheDragon; Bond and Mr. Kil fight to the death inside a room full of out-of-control laser beams and must dodge the deadly beams while they're in the middle of trying to kill each other.

** ''Film/{{Doctor Strange|2016}}'' takes inspiration from ''Inception'' and turns it UpToEleven. Subjective gravity in an Escheresque cityscape that is constantly branching and folding in on itself, a fight between astral forms that loosely interact with the physical world around the unconscious body of one of the participants, and a battle on a city block that is in the process of exploding...''backwards in time''.

** ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'': The third film has a battle between two ships during a storm, ''on a friggin' huge whirlpool!'' With the crew of both ships dueling on each ship at the same time. With a sword fight taking place [[UpToEleven on top of one of the cross beams of one of the ships]]. And the Captain of one ship [[MundaneMadeAwesome performing a wedding while swordfighting]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'': Sir Francis Haddock and Red Rackham have a SwordFight while trying to light/extinguish a PowderTrail. At the climax of the movie, Captain Haddock and Sakharine duel with ''docking cranes!''

* ExcuseMeWhileIMultitask