History Main / MeleeATrois

** The affinity system in ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'' also aims for this being the case as often as possible. The further factions go in developing their selected affinity ([[NatureHero Harmony]], [[GoodOldWays Purity]], [[ScienceHero Supremacy]]), the more they are inclined to fully understand only those who made the same choice, not least due to them having common ultimate aspirations. This tendency makes itself felt when approaching any victory type associated with a certain affinity: while adherents of other affinities will always have something to say to you in protest, like-minded factions won't be concerned about your progress, even though there can only be one winner. Moreover, they might be interested in allying with you against the former, who, in turn, may try to stop you from making a [[MoralEventHorizon "critical mistake"]]. That said, similarly to ''Civilization V'', factions with different affinities do not automatically become eternal enemies for this reason alone, so one can conclude that the confrontation manifests itself not so much during the gameplay as in the narrative.

** The affinity system in ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'' also aims for this being the case as often as possible. The further colonies go in developing their selected affinity ([[NatureHero Harmony]], [[GoodOldWays Purity]], [[ScienceHero Supremacy]]), the more they are inclined to fully understand only those who made the same choice, not least due to them having common ultimate aspirations. This tendency makes itself felt when approaching any victory type associated with a certain affinity: while adherents of other affinities will always have something to say to you in protest, like-minded colonies won't be concerned about your progress, even though there can only be one winner. Moreover, they might be interested in allying with you against the former, who, in turn, may try to stop you from making a [[MoralEventHorizon "critical mistake"]]. That said, similarly to ''Civilization V'', colonies with different affinities do not automatically become eternal enemies for this reason alone, so one can conclude that the confrontation manifests itself not so much during the gameplay as in the narrative.

** Design-wise, the ideology system in ''VideoGame/CivilizationV'' should always lead to this trope more or less occurring in any given game. Although civilizations with different ideologies ([[MightMakesRight Autocracy]], [[OrderVersusChaos Freedom, Order]]) do not necessarily have to enter into a direct military confrontation against one another, a conflict of some kind between them is practically inevitable for a good reason, as the ideological choice of any civilization will have an impact not only on their own population but also on those of other civs (provided that the civilization in question is culturally influential enough), thereby increasing interest in chosen ideology being adopted as widely as possible. Though the difference in itself does not mean a guaranteed bad relationship until the end of the game (a penalty it gives is difficult to overcome but possible), civilizations with common ideological beliefs are still much more likely to cooperate with each other, including to counteract adherents of other worldview systems.

** The Armageddon expansion to ''HOI 2'' has a scenario that is specifically built around this trope. As a result of [[AlternateHistory alternate history]], [[SpaceFillingEmpire there are only 18 nations left in the world]], each of which is [[BalanceOfPower approximately equal in strength to the others]]. At the beginning of the campaign, all these nations are equally divided into three hostile-to-each-other ideological alliances that [[AllohistoricalAllusion resemble their real prototypes only in name]].

** The ideology system in ''VideoGame/CivilizationV'' is designed to evoke, or at least approximate this trope. Although civilizations with different ideologies ([[MightMakesRight Autocracy]], [[OrderVersusChaos Freedom, Order]]) do not necessarily have to enter into direct military confrontation, their choice will have an impact not only on their own population, but also on other civs. This means that every civilization is interested in having their ideology adopted as widely as possible, since this guarantees them internal consent, and their [[TheRival rivals]] - a series of protests, in case of disagreement. Therefore, nations with common ideological aspirations will be more likely to converge with each other to counteract adherents of other worldview systems. In theory, this should indirectly distribute all civilizations into three ideological alliances that will perceive each other's very existence as a personal insult and a threat to their way of life, but in fact, the difference in ideologies only gives a penalty in the relationship, which is difficult to overcome, but possible.
** Affinities in ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'' also work in a similar way. The further colonies go in their development of chosen affinity ([[NatureHero Harmony]], [[GoodOldWays Purity]], [[ScienceHero Supremacy]]), the less they are inclined to understand each other and the more incompatible their ultimate aspirations become. It's very noticable when trying to achieve any type of victory associated with certain affinity: while adherents of other affinities will have something to say to you in protest, like-minded colonies will not say a word to you. [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne Even though there can only be one winner]]. On the contrary, they will be more inclined to ally with you against the former, who may try to stop you from making a [[MoralEventHorizon "critical mistake"]]. Again, as in the case of ''Civilization V'', the presence of different affinities is not a verdict on any relationship between civilizations, therefore it can be said that the confrontation is noticeable not so much during the gameplay as in the narrative.

** The Armageddon expansion to ''HOI 2'' has a scenario which is specifically built around this trope. [[SpaceFillingEmpire There are only 18 nations in the world]] that remained as a result of [[AlternateHistory alternate history]], each of which is [[BalanceOfPower approximately equal in strength to the others]]. At the beginning of the campaign, all these nations were equally divided into three hostile to each other ideological alliances that [[AllohistoricalAllusion resemble their real prototypes only in name]].

** Pit vs [[CloningBlues Dark Pit]] vs Underworld Forces in Chapter 6.

** After the Foot Clan got taken down a few notches, New York became a battleground between what was left of the Foot, the mob, and the Purple Dragons gang.

** The "Turtles in Space" arc has the Turtles caught in the crossfire between two galactic dictatorships that are nearly identical in their corruption, militarism, and insanity.

* The first book in the ''ComicBook/XMen''/''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' trilogy ''Gamma Quest'' concludes with a three-way brawl at Niagara Falls. The Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man and the Vision) and the X-Men (Cyclops, Beast and Storm) try to make contact with Bruce Banner to ask for his expertise in gamma radiation after gamma-based technology is involved in the abduction of the Scarlet Witch and Rogue, only to end up fighting after Banner's transformation is provoked by the Canadian army. With neither team aware of the other's missing members (and fake X-Men having recently attacked a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier), the fight features such developments as the Hulk tearing Vision's arm off, Storm disabling Iron Man's armour, and Cyclops and Captain America basically stalemating as their optic blasts and shield parry each other, until Beast manages to calm the Hulk down long enough to explain the situation.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'', several fights can involve a three-way between your group, the enemy army, and a giant monster that will kill anything that gets in its way. While this sort of fight is usually restricted to a SideQuest in regular missions where you can ignore the giant monster in favor of defeating the enemy army, auxiliary missions have this as their defacto scenario, often with two or more giant monsters before an enemy army suddenly shows up to attack. However, the Scarlet Blaze route noticeably has two situations where this occurs in the main missions, with the first technically being optional: [[spoiler:if you kill Jeralt on Chapter 10, Byleth will later convince Claude to turncoat on Edelgard during the fight in the Valley of Torment, turning what should have been a united front against the Kingdom of Faerghus and Church of Seiros into a free-for-all with the Adrestian Empire, Faerghus/Church, Leicester Alliance, and Byleth all fighting for their own own purposes. The second is the final mission of the campaign, which has the Empire, the Church, and the Agarthans all fighting each other in Garreg Mach and the FinalBoss being a DualBoss against Rhea and Thales together who are also taking potshots at each other the whole time, rather than just being one or the other on the other routes.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', the Darkwraiths and Ghrus in Farron Keep are hostile to each other. The Ghru may still attack you while fending off the Darkwraiths, but the Darkwraiths are much stronger and would prioritise on killing the Ghru first, usually resulting in the Darkwraiths defeating a pack of Ghrus before focusing on you.
** [=PvP=] in general can potentially lead to one of these fights if the player ends up fighting invading phantoms from different factions who don't just team up against you. The sequels take it up even further if you use the Seed of the Giant Tree during these encounters, as it makes the enemies hostile to the invaders in addition to already trying to kill you.* ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'':

* The final battle in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheDialOfDestiny'' has the Romans and Greeks fighting the Siege of Syracuse when Voller's neo-Nazis show up through the time fissure, and a panicking Klaber begins attacking both sides indiscriminately.

* ''WesternAnimation/IronWithin'': The Dark Eldar attack the Imperial Guard stronghold in the planet for their periodical harvest of prisoners to be enslaved or sacrificed, and since the odds are against the humans the officers decide to use the ancient rituals to summon the Emperor's "angels" (i.e. the Space Marines) which legends say they would come in time of need when called. The calling codes are still functional, what the officers didn't know was that they were linked to a chapter that is now renegade, the Iron Warriors, who effectively come but then proceed to strike both the Dark Eldar and the guardsmen (at least those who show signs of weakness like wavering or do make the imperial salute, which is anathema to the Iron Warriors because they greatly hate the Emperor).

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has the episode "Daring Don't" which features [[MacGuffin The Ring of Destiny]]. This is fought over by Daring Do with the Mane Six who need to destroy it, Dr. Caballeron with his henchponies who want to sell it for the money and Ahuizotl who wants it to use for his dark ritual.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'':
** Gang lords auction on a disc with the key to New York. This leads to a battle between Spidey, Hammerhead, Silver Sable, Rhino, and Roderick Kingsley, the guy who actually bought the disc. The winner of the fight? [[spoiler:Norman Osborn, who sold Kingsley a fake disc knowing it would never survive the ensuing chaos, and now has all the money Kingsley gave him and the real disc.]]
** Also, the brawl between Tombstone, Doc Ock, and Silvermane in "Gangland" with Spidey watching from the side, only getting involved to prevent collateral damage. The villains form a (very) brief alliance to take him down, but Tombstone turns on them to [[SlaveToPR maintain his image, as he couldn't be seen in public siding with the bad guys.]] The winner? [[spoiler:Norman Osborn ''again'' as his main rivals were arrested, or in the case of Tombstone had their assets severely crippled.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'':
** After the Foot Clan got taken down a few notches, New York became a battleground between what was left of the Foot, the mob, and the Purple Dragons gang.
** Most of the major conflicts in the series are less Turtles vs. Shredder and more Turtles vs. Shredder vs. Baxter Stockman (who eventually pulls a TheStarscream on Shredder and remains a persistent thorn in both sides' sides by hitching his wagon to the aforementioned mob and later Bishop). Stockman usually gets eliminated from the three-way first, though.
** The "Turtles in Space" arc has the Turtles caught in the crossfire between two galactic dictatorships that are nearly identical in their corruption, militarism, and insanity.
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
** The second season of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' is Autobots vs. the Decepticons still working with Megatron vs. Starscream [[spoiler:and [[MesACrowd his clones]]]], with lone enemies like Swindle, Blackarachnia, and Meltdown showing up occasionally.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'': Autobots vs. Decepticons vs. Unicron.
** ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'': Autobots vs. Decepticons vs. Alpha Q and Team Rodimus (before their HeelFaceTurn).
** ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'': Autobots vs. Megatron's Decepticons vs. Starscream's Decepticons.
** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': In the midst of the general Autobots vs. Decepticons conflict, several third parties such as M.E.C.H., a temporary independent-acting Starscream, Airachnid and her Insecticons, Unicron, the Predacons and the Terrorcons joins in the fray, often as an enemy to either one of the main factions or to both. And put in with all the ever-shifting alliances and loyalties, backstabbings and betrayals Series/GameOfThrones style to go with it.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'':
** In the episode "Flirting with Disasters", it was Danny vs. [[DatingCatwoman Valerie]] vs. Technus. Danny's prime target is Technus, though he has to shake Valerie off without hurting her. Valerie primary aims for Danny, though being a ghost hunter, she would eventually have aimed for Technus. Technus concentrated more on world dominating, but he would have warded off both of them as he attempted throughout the episode.
** Also, briefly, Danny vs. Vlad vs. Valerie in "Reign Storm" before they all decided to [[EnemyMine team up]] against a bigger foe.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', Shego, Monkeyfist and Duff Killigan all fight each other for possession of Ron's naked mole rat Rufus. Added awesomeness here as they fight on, in and around the Eiffel Tower, with Kim intervening to save Rufus from harm.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' episode "Hail Hydra!", there is an EnemyCivilWar between HYDRA and A.I.M., with the Avengers trying to stop it, and S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to stop ''everyone''.

* Happens frequently on ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', often unintentionally.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Beware the Creeper", the Joker and Harley Quinn are trying to take down the Creeper, since the Joker feels that he's ruining his "act". The Creeper is trying to get revenge on the Joker (and seduce Harley) for turning him into the Creeper. Batman and Robin are trying to stop all of them from causing even more chaos than they already have. HilarityEnsues.
* The "Shanghai" trilogy of ''WesternAnimation/DCNation'' shorts ends in a three-way fight between Catwoman, Bane and [[spoiler:Batman]] over a valuable scroll, cutting to a suspiciously similar image of shadow puppetry as the battle goes on.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Birdman|1967}}'', the evil organization F.E.A.R. mind controls the leaders of three nations to go to war with each other as part of their plans.
* ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'': In the episode "Robot's Pet Cat", after Romeo uses his Animal-Metamorpho Ray to turn Catboy into a cat and makes him Robot's pet, it leads to a struggle for control over the invention between The PJ Masks (who want it to turn Catboy back to normal), Robot (who wants to destroy the invention to prevent Catboy from being turned back) and Romeo (who wants it to turn more people into animals for his new zoo).
* The WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder episode “The Battle Royale” features nearly every villain in the series introduced up to that point fighting over an [[MockGuffin allegedly]] all powerful ring of invincibility. A particularly large example, with no less than ELEVEN sides fighting all at once (although [[HarmlessVillain Something the So and So]] barely even counts as his own side), six of which are supported by their respective armies of {{Mooks}}. And that’s just before [[KnightOfCerebus Lord Dominator]] shows up.
* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'' features Carmen and her allies against both V.I.L.E., a secretive, extensive criminal organization, and A.C.M.E., a secretive, extensive ''crime fighting'' organization. Each organization believes (or at least, suspects) Carmen is working with the other. Carmen is only actively fighting against V.I.L.E., though, whereas she's merely trying to evade A.C.M.E.'s capture, and [[EnemyMine she happily works alongside A.C.M.E. Agent Argent.]] She was even considering formalizing the alliance with A.C.M.E. (who were beginning to realize she wasn't the enemy) toward the end of season two until she found out [[spoiler:the head of A.C.M.E. killed her criminal father in the line of duty, leaving her to be raised by V.I.L.E. in the first place; meanwhile, the cyber-attack Carmen did against A.C.M.E. to confirm this information soured the relationship on that side as well, making Carmen Sandiego their number one target. This leaves them opposing each other until the end of Season 4, when A.C.M.E. and Team Carmen finally team up to take down V.I.L.E. for good]].
* ''WesternAnimation/IronWithin'': The Dark Eldar attack the Imperial Guard stronghold in the planet for their periodical harvest of prisoners to be enslaved or sacrificed, and since the odds are against the humans the officers decide to use the ancient rituals to summon the Emperor's "angels" (i.e. the Space Marines) which legends say they would come in time of need when called. The calling codes are still functional, what the officers didn't know was that they were linked to a chapter that is now renegade, the Iron Warriors, who effectively come but then proceed to strike both the Dark Eldar and the guardsmen (at least those who show signs of weakness like wavering or do make the imperial salute, which is anathema to the Iron Warriors because they greatly hate the Emperor).

** Another example can be found in ''Brood War'' when the UED follows Fenix, Raynor, and Mengsk to Aiur and not only encounters Fenix' forces there, but also a bunch of Zerg broods that are still around.

** On Green Bit, a fight takes place between Law, Fujitora, and Doflamingo.
** During the Dressrosa arc, the fighting eventually boils down to the Straw Hats and their allies (including the Revolutionaries) who want to take down Doflamingo, the Donquixote Pirates who want their enemies dead, the Marines who want to capture the Straw Hats and Doflamingo's crew and stop the whole mess and the confused citizens who are trying to survive by capturing people on Doflamingo's blacklist.

* Tomodachi Game contains several instances of multiple sides intellectually (or sometimes physically) fighting against each other. The most notable instances include the Gambling arc, where four different groups of people gamble against each other (although this mostly results in a series of one vs one or two vs two fights instead of full on battle royales), and the Friends Murder Arc where several people and groups are scheming against each other to feed the enemy players to the "money zombies," and of course, everyone is also trying to avoid the money zombies themselves.

* The WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder episode “The Battle Royale” features nearly every villain in the series introduced up to that point fighting over an allegedly all powerful ring of invincibility. A particularly large example, with no less than ELEVEN sides fighting all at once (although [[HarmlessVillain Something the So and So]] barely counts as his own side), six of which are supported by their respective armies of {{Mooks}}. And that’s just before [[KnightOfCerebus Lord Dominator]] shows up.

* The WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder episode “The Battle Royale” features nearly every villain in the series introduced up to that point fighting over an allegedly all powerful ring of invincibility. A particularly large example, with no less than ELEVEN sides fighting all at once (although [[HarmlessVillain Something the So and So]] barely counts as his own side). And that’s just before [[KnightOfCerebus Lord Dominator]] shows up.

* The WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder episode “The Battle Royale” features nearly every villain in the series introduced at that point fighting over an allegedly all powerful ring of invincibility. A particularly large example, with no less than ELEVEN sides fighting all at once (although [[HarmlessVillain Something the So and So]] barely counts as his own side). And that’s just before [[KnightOfCerebus Lord Dominator]] shows up.

* The WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder episode “The Battle Royale” features nearly every villain in the series introduced at that point fighting over an allegedly all powerful ring of invincibility. A particularly large example, with no less than ELEVEN sides fighting all at once (although [[HarmlessVillain Something the So and So]] barely counts as his own side). And that’s before [[KnightOfCerebus Lord Dominator]] shows up.

* ''WesternAnimation/IronWithin'': The Dark Eldar attack the Imperial Guard stronghold in the planet for their periodical harvest of prisoners to be enslaved or sacrificed, and since the odds are against the humans the officers decide to use the ancient rituals to summon the Emperor's "angels" (i.e. the Space Marines) which legends say they would come in time of need when called. The calling codes are still functional, what they didn't know is that they were linked to a chapter that is now renegade, the Iron Warriors, who nevertheless strike both the Dark Eldar and the guardsmen (at least those who show signs of weakness like wavering or do make the imperial salute, which is anathema to the Iron Warrior because they greatly hate the Emperor).

** Ladies and gentlemen... The Battle of Marineford. Whitebeard and his entire fleet set to attack Marine Headquarters, where the Admirals, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and all the important Marines have gathered. Luffy had brought in the Impel Down convicts, among them Crocodile, Buggy, and Jimbei, with the former two not feeling any particular loyalty to him. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:Hancock attacks ''everyone'', be it Pirates or Marines, without prejudice. Luffy had a chat with Whitebeard and while they do not work against each other, they do not work together. Luffy also basically declared his hostilities towards Whitebeard even as he protected him from Crocodile, who attacked him because he defeated Crocodile in the past and Crocodile wants revenge. The remaining Seven Warlords are all practically factions in themselves. It's hard to tell just how many factions actually fight, and for whom.]] In the end, [[spoiler:another faction, the Blackbeard Pirates, shows up so that [[BigBad Blackbeard]] can take Whitebeard's power and use it to destroy Marineford, and yet ''another'' faction, Shanks and his Red Hair Pirates, shows up after Blackbeard leaves to end the war by basically threatening that his fresh crew will beat down the exhausted survivors if they keep fighting.]] All in all, there are at least five different factions, with individuals breaking off from their group to do their own thing in the middle of all of this.