History Main / RunTheGauntlet

* In TowerOfGod Phantaminum single handedly enters the palace of Zahard and defeats all who stand in his way (comprised of the strongest rankers in the tower) who then makes his way towards Zahard.

** Gently parodied in Spider-Girl's fight with the Savage Six -- the entire issue was one big homage to the entire first Sinister Six issue, the leader of the Savage Six employed the same method of attack, and his brother, also a super-villain, called him an idiot. The final fight (between the exhausted hero and fresh villain) is thoroughly subverted when Spider-Girl calls in a few favors, and the last villain is confronted by just about every hero in the MarvelComics2 'verse. He wisely surrenders at that point.

** Gently parodied in Spider-Girl's fight with the Savage Six -- the entire issue was one big homage to the entire first Sinister Six issue, the leader of the Savage Six employed the same method of attack, and his brother, also a super-villain, called him an idiot.
** In another instance in ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'', the final fight (between the exhausted hero and fresh villain) is thoroughly subverted when Spider-Girl calls in a few favors, and the last villain is confronted by just about every hero in the MarvelComics2 'verse. He wisely surrenders at that point.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' did this for an entire arc in the fifth and final season, culminating in an ultimate battle royale with every single hero facing off against every single villain ever to appear over the course of the series (yet surprisingly successfully).
** Then they follow it up with every single hero fighting [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Light]], which is the inverse of this trope. We don't learn the actual result, but we can safely assume [[SarcasmMode Dr. Light won]].
* It's subverted in ''TheFlash'' because the Rogues are rarely known to pull a caper alone. They firmly believe in strength in numbers.

While it makes sense in theory, the scheme raises the question of why the villains [[MookChivalry don't just attack all at once]]. The most common reason is that they didn't plan it -- the BigBad has manipulated them into doing it. That way, the hero and villains can weaken each other for the BigBad to step in and win (LetsYouAndHimFight).

* A heroic version occurs in the ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' animé when Ash is facing Drake, the Orange Islands champion. Through most of their match, Ash has knocked out five of Drake's pokemon, while Drake has taken out only two of his. Drake sends out his trump card, a very powerful Dragonite, but Ash eventually manages to beat it by rotating his remaining pokemon and forcing Dragonite to take them down one by one. Dragonite defeats Charizard, Squirtle and Tauros one after another, but they all do enough damage that the Dragonite is exhausted by the time Pikachu is sent out. The Frontier Brains is another non-villainous version of this. While League tournaments involve hundreds of trainers, a participant in either of these special "leagues" only ever battles each of the Frontier Brains one at a time.

* One episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' centers around four of the Flash's rogues taking turns trying to kill him as Central City prepares to dedicate a museum to him. Eventually, however, one of them decides that taking turns is dumb and says that they should all attack him at the museum's opening. The others agree.

* Among the many types of gimmick matches devised in recent years, there's the "Gauntlet" match, where one wrestler has to fight three or more opponents one after another, without a break. When one opponent is pinned, the next one comes out, and the match ends either when the lone wrestler is pinned or he defeats all his opponents. One notable example was when Wrestling/ChrisBenoit took on and defeated on his fellow Radicalz (Wrestling/DeanMalenko, Wrestling/PerrySaturn, and Wrestling/EddieGuerrero).

* Among the many types of gimmick matches devised in recent years, there's the "Gauntlet" match, where one wrestler has to fight three or more opponents one after another, without a break. When one opponent is pinned, the next one comes out, and the match ends either when the lone wrestler is pinned or he defeats all his opponents. One notable example was when ChrisBenoit took on and defeated on his fellow Radicalz (DeanMalenko, PerrySaturn, and EddieGuerrero).
* In a variation, TheBigShow recently (early 2013) challenged all comers and several members of the locker room decided to come out like this. After a few matches, TheMiz stood up from the announcer table where he was filling in and decided to take the challenge, whereupon Show decided enough was enough and went backstage to rest.

** Then they follow it up with every single hero fighting Dr. Light, which is the inverse of this trope. We don't learn the actual result, but we can safely assume [[SarcasmMode Dr. Light won]].

** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' both had The Bat fight all of his villains one after the other. Deadly threats from previous episodes were reduced to petty {{Mook}}s, {{Elite Mook}}s at best.

* Typhoid Mary recruits a number of {{Daredevil}}'s enemies to put the horn-headed hero through this trope. It's also a variant in that the villains ''win'', beating Daredevil to within an inch of his life and leaving him for dead.

*** Similarly, this trope makes up the plot of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', for much the same reason: SelfDemonstrating/{{The Joker}} is either the leader of or leads Batman into confrontations with villains such as [[PsychoSupporter Harley Quinn]], [[MadDoctor Scarecrow]], [[GeniusBruiser Bane]] and [[ImAHumanitarian Killer Croc]]. ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' averts the trope somewhat: the villains aren't a unified force, but Batman still eventually fights half his RoguesGallery in one night. ''VideoGame/{{Batman Arkham Origins}}'' plays it straighter: now it's a team of assassins like Deathstroke and Deadshot out for Batman's blood over the course of one night, under the banner of [[TortureTechnician Black Mask.]]

* Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}}'s first fight with the Sinister Six.
** This has been [[{{Handwave}} explained]] as being so each villain would have a chance to get the 'honor' of killing Spidey himself. Spidey has since called this a "bone-headed method of teaming up" and in all subsequent fights, the Six attack en masse. Gently parodied in Comicbook/{{Spider-Girl}}'s fight with the Savage Six--the entire issue was one big homage to the entire first Sinister Six issue, the leader of the Savage Six employed the same method of attack, and his brother, also a super-villain, called him an idiot.
** In another instance in ''{{Spider-Girl}}'', the final fight (between the exhausted hero and fresh villain) is thoroughly subverted when Spider-Girl calls in a few favors, and the last villain is confronted by just about every hero in the MarvelComics2 'verse. He wisely surrenders at that point.

* Creator/AlanMoore's {{Superman}} story, "{{Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow}}?" is one part parody, one part {{Deconstruction}}, and one part LampshadeHanging.

Incidentally, the "Gauntlet" that appears in the name of this trope doesn't refer to an armored glove, or even to the notion of "throwing down the gauntlet." It comes independently from the archaic word ''gantelope'', meaning a double-file of men facing each other and armed with clubs (or other weapons) with which to strike at an individual who is made to run between them. (It was commonly practiced in the British Army; you can see how speakers with different accents would get those two words confused.) So, yes, it should be spelled "run the ''gantlet''", but [[IncrediblyLamePun the pun's]] [[{{Gauntlet}} too obvious]].

* AlanMoore's {{Superman}} story, "{{Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow}}?" is one part parody, one part {{Deconstruction}}, and one part LampshadeHanging.

* Every arc Franchise/{{Batman}} has been in lately, from ''{{Knightfall}}'' to ''Hush'' -- and also every non-canon miniseries he's ''ever'' been in, from ''Child of Dreams'' to ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'' to ''DarkVictory.'' ''Child of Dreams'' is an interesting case - none of the villains he faces are the real deal. They're crazies who ''think'' they're his iconic arch enemies.

* Every arc Franchise/{{Batman}} has been in lately, from ''{{Knightfall}}'' to ''Hush'' -- and also every non-canon miniseries he's ''ever'' been in, from ''Child of Dreams'' to ''TheLongHalloween'' to ''DarkVictory.'' ''Child of Dreams'' is an interesting case - none of the villains he faces are the real deal. They're crazies who ''think'' they're his iconic arch enemies.

* A heroic version occurs in the ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' animé when Ash is facing Drake, the Orange Islands champion. Through most of their match, Ash has knocked out five of Drake's pokemon, while Drake has taken out only two of his. Drake sends out his trump card, a very powerful Dragonite, but Ash eventually manages to beat it by rotating his remaining pokemon and forcing Dragonite to take them down one by one. Dragonite defeats Charizard, Squirtle and Tauros one after another, but they all do enough damage that the Dragonite is exhausted by the time Pikachu is sent out. The Frontier Brains is another non-villainous version of this. hile League tournaments involve hundreds of trainers, a participant in either of these special "leagues" only ever battles each of the Frontier Brains one at a time.

** Justified in Grant Morrison's ''[[ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth]]''. Batman faces all of his opponents in the eponymous Asylum, as part of a twisted game of hide and seek. They don't all just fall on him at once because they've spread out to look for him. Many of the confrontations are also purely psychological. Of course, then there's the wheelchair-bound Doctor Destiny- Him, Batman just kicks down the stairs.

* A heroic version occurs in the ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' animé when Ash is facing Drake, the Orange Islands champion. Through most of their match, Ash has knocked out five of Drake's pokemon, while Drake has taken out only two of his. Drake sends out his trump card, a very powerful Dragonite, but Ash eventually manages to beat it by rotating his remaining pokemon and forcing Dragonite to take them down one by one. Dragonite defeats Charizard, Squirtle and Tauros one after another, but they all do enough damage that the Dragonite is exhausted by the time Pikachu is sent out.

** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries' and ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' both had The Bat fight all of his villains one after the other. Deadly threats from previous episodes were reduced to petty {{Mook}}s, {{Elite Mook}}s at best.

* In an anime where [[MagicMusic singing]] is the (pretty much) only method of battle, MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch had a [[RunTheGauntlet gauntlet run]]. And it was PlayedForLaughs. Why? In the first level of the tower the bad guys made as part of some ridiculous plan or other, the first 'boss', [[{{Kawaiiko}} Alala]], was merely bypassed and ignored. In the second level was [[DragonLady Lanhua]], who was BowledOver by a bowling ball (don't ask how it go there, they don't know either). The third was [[VillainousCrossdresser Lady Bat]] was 'repelled' when his [[ViewerGenderConfusion (yes, his)]] breath [[ItMakesSenseInContext reeked of curry]]. The fourth level had [[MonsterOfTheWeek the 'planner' Napoleon]], who let them by after the heroines threatened them with a beating (he was rather short). It was at the fifth and final level where the singing ensued. But not before a [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Crowning Music of Funny]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext from the hostage the heroines were trying to rescue]].

* Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy: the episode ''Hexuba's Graveyard'', a sorceress named Hexuba brings back several former monsters of the week to fight the rangers before fighting them herself. This example include the VillainDecay, in that a monster that the Rangers previously couldn't defeat without their group power-up, Lights of Orion, is taken down by the Red Ranger alone. (To be honest, any time a monster appears for the second time in the franchise, it's rarely as powerful as it was the first time.)

* This has happened to {{Ranma}}. Needless to say it [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters took a while]].

* Pretty much every arc Comicbook/{{Batman}} has been in lately, from ''{{Knightfall}}'' to ''Hush'' -- and also pretty much every non-canon miniseries he's ''ever'' been in, from ''Child of Dreams'' to ''TheLongHalloween'' to ''DarkVictory.'' ''Child of Dreams'' is an interesting case - none of the villains he faces are the real deal. They're crazies who ''think'' they're his iconic arch enemies.
** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries' and ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' both had The Bat fight all of his villains one after the other. Deadly threats from previous episodes were reduced to petty {{Mook}}s, [[EliteMook Elite Mooks]] at best.

*** Similarly, this trope makes up the plot of ''BatmanArkhamAsylum'', for much the same reason: SelfDemonstrating/{{The Joker}} is either the leader of or leads Batman into confrontations with villains such as [[PsychoSupporter Harley Quinn]], [[MadDoctor Scarecrow]], [[GeniusBruiser Bane]] and [[ImAHumanitarian Killer Croc]]. ''BatmanArkhamCity'' averts the trope somewhat: the villains aren't a unified force, but Batman still eventually fights half his RoguesGallery in one night. ''VideoGame/{{Batman Arkham Origins}}'' plays it straighter: now it's a team of assassins like Deathstroke and Deadshot out for Batman's blood over the course of one night, under the banner of [[TortureTechnician Black Mask.]]

*** Similarly, this trope makes up the plot of ''BatmanArkhamAsylum'', for much the same reason: SelfDemonstrating/{{The Joker}} is either the leader of or leads Batman into confrontations with villains such as [[PsychoSupporter Harley Quinn]], [[MadDoctor Scarecrow]], [[GeniusBruiser Bane]] and [[ImAHumanitarian Killer Croc]]. ''BatmanArkhamCity'' averts the trope somewhat: the villains aren't a unified force, but Batman still eventually fights half his RoguesGallery in one night. ''VideoGame/{{Batman Arkham Origins}}' plays it straighter: now it's a team of assassins like Deathstroke and Deadshot out for Batman's blood over the course of one night, under the banner of [[TortureTechnician Black Mask.]]

*** Similarly, this trope makes up the plot of ''BatmanArkhamAsylum'', for much the same reason: SelfDemonstrating/{{The Joker}} is either the leader of or leads Batman into confrontations with villains such as [[PsychoSupporter Harley Quinn]], [[MadDoctor Scarecrow]], [[GeniusBruiser Bane]] and [[ImAHumanitarian Killer Croc]]. ''BatmanArkhamCity'' averts the trope somewhat: the villains aren't a unified force, but Batman still eventually fights half his RoguesGallery in one night. ''BatmanArkhamOrigins'' plays it straighter: now it's a team of assassins like Deathstroke and Deadshot out for Batman's blood over the course of one night, under the banner of [[TortureTechnician Black Mask.]]