Follow TV Tropes

Following

Curb Stomp Battle / The DCU

Go To

The DCU

Curb-Stomp Battle in this series.
  • Aquaman is effectively the ruler of over three quarters of our planet's surface (and he's also not above pointing it out himself when people start giving him lip). He not only commands an army, but it's also usually portrayed as being both magically and technologically superior to that of any surface nation: head to head, he could probably defeat the Green Lantern Corps if they decided to invade Earth. If all the armies of the surface went up against the military might at Aquaman's command, it would be a very short battle in the sea kingdoms' favor.
  • Batman:
    • Knightfall: The fight between Bane and Batman ends with Bane snapping Batman's spine.
    • Jean-Paul Valley, taking up the Mantle of the Bat, paid Bane back during their rematch. Once AzBats severed Bane's Psycho Serum pump, that was it.
    • Robins Damian Wayne and Tim Drake have had a strained relationship ever since the former was introduced, sucker punching Drake out of jealousy. After years of teasing the hostility between the two, they finally had it out in Red Robin #14 and Damian got the ever loving crap beaten out of him.
      Damian: I will not lose to you.
      Tim: You lost the second I started trying.
    • Subverted in Batman and Robin; if you've read some of the confrontation between Tim and Damian leading up to this this one you probably expect another one-sided beatdown, but Damian actually seems to be doing pretty well during the first half of the fight before Tim gains the upper hand again.
    • Batman gets one handed to him by Reverse-Flash in The Button, being unable to successfully stall him even for a minute. Of course old Reverse Flash gets his arrogant ass vaporized by Doctor Manhattan moments later when he decides to investigate the bauble Batman had found a while back.
    • Robin (1993): The Master of the Iron Hand tries to take on Shiva to defend a student and as revenge for his brother's death, only for her to effortlessly defend against his ultimate technique, break his arm, and use her signature Leopard Blow killing him without any effort at all.
    • In Batgirl (2000), Cassandra Cain had a number of one-sided battles. Spoiler once convinced her to spar together. The result was several pages of stomping that left Stephanie bruised up and vomiting on the ground.
    • Batgirl (2011): After Batwoman arrives on the scene (due to working on the same case), Batgirl, unsure of her affiliation, decides to quickly incapacitate her, assuming she doesn't have much fighting experience. She ends up being very, very wrong.
    • In issue #2 of Batgirl (Rebirth), Barbara Gordon decides to enter an MMA tournament as part of her new training. After spending a week honing her existing skills toward the sport, she enters her first bout... but she gets distracted during the match and gets KO'd with a single punch.
    • Nightwing was captured by Shrike, a rival with a grudge who claimed to be one of the best assassins in the world. When it was finally time for Nightwing and Shrike to throw down, the former completely ignored the latter and kicked his ass with his back turned.
    • Dick Grayson's run-in with Cassandra Cain's Batgirl (after a Big Damn Heroes moment where she bailed out Robin) went no better:
      Batgirl: "Your arm is broken, you're bleeding to death. I'm untouched, haven't... broken a sweat. I know what you are going to do next and it... bores me. You are going to the hospital, will you be... standing up or lying down?"
      Shrike: (charges forward with blade in good hand) "GRAAAAHHH!!"
      Caption (Batgirl's thoughts): He chose lying down.
    • During the first Batman Vs. Predator mini-series, Batman's first encounter with the alien hunter is so lopsided that the only thing that saved Bruce from being the creature's next trophy was the Batmobile.
  • Captain Atom's thrashing of Midnighter in Captain Atom: Armageddon was one brutal beatdown.
  • Convergence:
    • The Injustice dome is destroyed by Telos, claiming it to be a failed experiment. Superman didn't stand a chance.
    • Electropolis versus Parallax. They get in a hit or two, but basically they have no chance against a man who once destroyed the universe and remade it. He wipes them out.
    • Deimos versus Parallax. Hal kills him in an almost casual manner.
  • In Doomsday Clock, the battle between the world's greatest superheroes and Dr. Manhattan shouldn't even qualify as this with how badly the latter wipes the floor with the former ones. The heroes don't even stand a chance against him and the only one who even deals a bit of damage against him is Captain Atom, and even that is rendered moot when he rebuilds himself and he himself goes nuclear and takes them all out.
  • A non-violent variation occurs when Superman and The Flash face off in a genuine test of speed. Turns out the Flash likes to hold back when they race for charity in order to keep things entertaining for the folks at home. When it comes right down to it, he leaves Supes in the dust.
    • It's a Retcon. Those races were between the Silver Age versions of those two characters back when Superman really could keep up with the Flash. There had been one official Post-Crisis race between Wally and Superman but, while Superman had been reduced in power, so had Wally and Wally only barely won. It was only when Barry returned at his full power level that it had to be explained that clearly, Barry must have been holding back during all those races (which is odd given that some of those races did have serious stakes and weren't just for charity.)
    • The Flash versus Quicksilver is basically a joke ever since Wally got his full powers back in the early nineties. In their first fight, Wally was owning Pietro until he had to stop to save some kids and Pietro jumped him. But Pietro had a moment of conscience, giving Wally more than enough time to drop him.
      Wally: He who hesitates... is lost.
    • In one of the early races, both Superman and the Flash learn that a group of mobsters are manipulating the outcome of the charity race in order to make money on bets. Not only do the two heroes ruin the betting pool, they team up to administer the more usual type of curb-stomp on the mobsters.
    • A bit more balanced in their encounters in JLA/Avengers. The Speed Force (Wally's power source) doesn't exist in the Marvel universe so the winner of the match depends on which universe they're fighting in even after Wally starts packing a Speed Force battery for his trips to the Marvel U.
  • Green Lantern:
    • Green Lantern: Rebirth: In a Continuity Nod to the "Batman punching Guy out" moment, when the recently reincarnated Hal Jordan floors the Dark Knight with, as Gardner exclaims with glee: "One punch! ONE PUNCH!"
    • Green Lanterns: After starting the "Out of Time" arc off having his Power Ring destroyed, with only a few tiny shards embedded in his arm remaining of it, Simon and Jessica are thrown back in time and Simon has to spend the majority of the arc feeling helpless and relying on Jessica for pretty much everything. Come the climax of the arc, the first Green Lantern fledglings take the battle to the Volthoom of the past, who curbstomps them all, completely killing 3 of them.
    • Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Surprisingly enough, Parallax-powered Sinestro is no match for Hal in his pure-willpower form. Sinestro's constructs don't even affect Hal, and he can't stop the destruction of his base.
  • Infinite Crisis: There's really no other way to describe the "battle" between Superboy-Prime and the Teen Titans. The Titans never had a chance, Superboy included. In a subversion, Superboy wins anyway in a Dying Moment of Awesome by tricking the less-experienced Prime into letting Superboy destroy the Macguffin. He lost the fight, but won the objective.
  • Justice League of America:
    • Played for laughs with Batman and Guy Gardner in Justice League International: "One punch! ONE PUNCH!"
      Black Canary: Batman belted him— and I missed it?! Oh God, I'm depressed.
    • Justice League 3000: Locus is so powerful, the Wonder Twins order the League to retreat from the planet that she is on. They don't and a battle ensues in her favor.
    • Justice has Supergirl vs Poison Ivy. The former is super-strong, invulnerable and has literally burning eyes. The latter controls plants. No contest.
  • Superman:
    • Several times during her Post-Crisis series, Supergirl fights an evil Superwoman. At the beginning of Who is Superwoman? the villain seems a serious menace, but when they fight for the second time, Supergirl stops holding back and trashes Superwoman until she's pleading for mercy. Superwoman would engage Kara again at the end of New Krypton, only to get trashed off-panel.
    • In A Mind-Switch in Time, Lex Luthor attempts to trap Superboy into a time-loop. Unfortunately for him, Superboy's mind has been accidentally swapped with his older counterpart, who is not only experienced enough to beat teen Luthor's tricks but also pissed off because of all crap future Luthor will put him through. Lex is literally and promptly beaten to the ground.
    • In Superman: Up, Up and Away!, Lex Luthor declares he'll beat a depowered Superman with his bare hands. Superman only needs two punches to knock him out.
    • In Red Daughter of Krypton Supergirl faces up to Lobo, who can usually fight toe to toe with Superman. Kara goes berserker and beats him up so brutally that Lobo decides to play possum.
    • What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way? has Superman vs the Elite. To educate the Elite, a new group of violent and cynical superheroes who want to kill him, Superman gives them such an insane beating that the last one standing really believes Superman has crossed his sacred line and killed all of his teammates. Then Supes proceeds to show said last man standing exactly how powerless normal people feel when reckless metahumans treat them as their playthings. Supes doesn't actually kill any of them, but rather knocks them out using various methods, meaning that while taking all of them down seemingly effortlessly, he was still holding back.
    • The Death of Superman: Right after coming back "from death" and regaining his powers, he easily curb-stomps Cyborg Superman, who had killed thousands of people by destroying Coast City while he was gone. Superman punches straight through his chest, impaling him on his arm. Then vibrates his arm at super-speed, disintegrating the wretched android.
    • Not to mention all the "Red Kryptonite turning Superman evil or unhinged" incidents. Did Green Fury/"Fire", hope he Wouldn't Hit a Girl? Not on Red Kryptonite. She got stomped.
    • In The Supergirl from Krypton (2004) Darkseid apparently kills Supergirl, and Superman, after shedding some tears for his cousin, dons his red eyes of doom and gives Darkseid the beatdown of a lifetime. It helps that Superman uses a motherbox to teleport him and Darkseid to the Sun. It turns out that fighting a berserk Superman in the Sun isn't a good idea.
    • In Last Son, Lex Luthor is ambushed by one of General Zod's guards, during an Enemy Mine with Superman. Luthor proceeds to use Green Kryptonite gas to choke the guard, burns off most of his skin with red solar radiation, and then puts a bullet through his head, gloating the entire time. The rest of his Superman Revenge Squad (composed of Metallo, Parasite, and Bizarro) do the same to the rest of Zod's forces.
    • Superman has one with Apollo in Superman/Wonder Woman. Apollo, backhanding Superman, boasts Superman cannot defeat him because he is a god. Then, he hits Superman with a solar blast. Supercharged with solar energy, Superman throws Apollo around.
    • At the start of The Death of Superman, the monster Doomsday is attacked by the entire Justice League (sans Superman). When Supes showed up, the League was shattered. Keep in mind, Maxima was one of the members at the time, and she's practically a Gender Flip version of Superman.
    • When Doomsday fights Darkseid in Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey, the beast tanks Darkseid's Omega Beams, then brings the despot to the brink of death.
    • In the sequel story, The Doomsday Wars, a Doomsday piloted by Brainiac effortlessly defeats half of the JLA (1997) team, who had four of the Big Seven (Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, Wally West Flash, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman) and the son of Darkseid, Orion, as well (Superman and Batman were initially otherwise occupied- and Batman couldn't do much against Doomsday's raw power anyway- and Aquaman was monitoring things from the Watchtower).
    • During that time Superman was dead, there was the moment where the Cyborg Superman shows his true colors, shooting the Eradicator in the back, then shooting him in the head. He doesn't give him a chance to fight back.
    • Near the end of Legion of Super-Heroes story arc The Great Darkness Saga, some few dozens of heroes are facing up to three billions of Daxamites (a Kryptonian offshoot). The Legionnaires and their allies do their best, but they can't triumph over such an army.
      Narrator: "Battle, however, is an unlikely word for such a one-sided affair".
    • Last Daughter of Krypton:
      • As soon as she is away from Kryptonite, Kara pummels to the ground the army of mercenaries sent against her by Simon Tycho.
      • Reign is crushing the US Army as carving a trail of destruction across New York until Kara arrives to stop her.
    • In The Killers of Krypton, it takes Hal Jordan two minutes and fifteen seconds to get the Royal Flush Gang knocked out and tie up. He insists he took so long because he just ate a Reuben.
    • Strangers at the Heart's Core:
      • When Supergirl finally meets the criminal gang called The Visitors face-to-face, she blasts their weapons out of their hands, wraps a steel beam around them, and is ready to punch them into oblivion. She only stops because her mother talks her out of it.
      • Once his weaponized sled is destroyed, Klax-Ar is simply punched across America.
    • In Superman vs. Shazam!, the two titular heroes have been manipulated into fighting each other as irrational madmen. When the USAF is deployed to stop their crazy and destructive rampage through America, they predicatbly achieve nothing except for getting shot from the sky by two even angrier heroes.
    • Subverted in Starfire's Revenge. The "fight" among Supergirl and a group of Starfire's bank robbers involved Supergirl staying put and swinging her arms as the crooks slammed themselves uselessly into her super-tough body... But then her invulnerability abruptly vanished, and one crook got a lucky blow to her head which knocked her out.
    • In Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Kara wrenches Krem's mercenary's sword from his grip and knocks him out with a single punch. Ruthye noted Kara looked like she was swatting a bug.
      Ruthye: I was not as uninitiated to battles as you might assume due to my youth and the gentle reputation of my gender. [...] But until that day, I never saw anyone so unafraid of death that they understood in their heart and belly a simple and perfect truth— There was no one alive stronger than them.
    • The Hunt for Reactron: Reactron is a trained soldier, but he is nothing but a snivelling coward without his Kryptonite-powered armor. When Thara turns into Flamebird, Reactron quickly learns his Kryptonite is useless against a goddess as Thara makes quick work of him.
    • Way of the World:
      • The story opens with Supergirl and Wonder Woman fighting a gang of bank robbers. The gang has clearly no chance to even inconvenience both heroines, and they are defeated as Kara and Diana are having a casual conversation.
      • Supergirl runs into Clayface right when she needs to let off steam after failing to save a little kid. Kara lets him land some few blows and then she grabs Clayface and drops him from the outer edge from the atmosphere.
    • In The Phantom Zone, Batman intercepts a looter. When the crook actually pulls out and waves a knife in front of his face, Batman swiftly decks him.
      [Batman's] words are spoken softly, and with contempt. Then, a single blow fractures the man's jaw...disarms him...and sends him sprawling.
    • Death & the Family: As soon as Supergirl cuts Insect Queen off from her minions, it becomes obvious the villainess cannot beat the Kryptonian hero in one fair fight. Kara pounds on Insect Queen to her heart's content, and is not even fazed by the only punch Insect Queen throws during their duel.
    • The Day the Cheering Stopped: When two mooks try to stop Superman from rescuing Jimmy Olsen, the Kryptonian superhero simply ignores their guns and tosses both of them off the boat and into the waters.
    • "Brainiac Rebirth": When Brainiac decides to attack Systus 2 to turn its population into his slave army, his ship's beams quickly kill one quarter of the population. Systus' army responds by quickly launching one-hundred missiles, which are easily and even more quickly re-routed into their own cities. Systus 2 surrenders, and Brainiac remarks he has needed less fire-power than he calculated beforehand.
    • In Day of the Dollmaker, most of villains interrogated by Supergirl are defeated within one panel. Dollmaker himself is no threat, being forced to resort to holding hostages when his murder toys are swiftly crushed.
    • Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom:
      • Supergirl and Maelstrom's first battle ends up with Kara knocked out after managing to land only one punch.
      • When Maelstrom engages Superman, the latter puts the former in a chokehold and shoves her into a Boom Tube.
    • In Girl Power, Supergirl faces off against Lex Luthor for the first time, but she is too young and unexperienced to pose a threat to him. Thus, Luthor quickly uses a Kryptonite blast to weaken her before beating her up easily.
    • The Death of Luthor: Supergirl takes two seconds to trash a pack of robotical soldiers who attack her during her quest in a frozen alien world.
    • The Death of Lightning Lad: As the Legion of Super-Heroes is hunting down the remains of Zaryan's army, Superboy, Supergirl and Ultraboy spot a fleeing squad of warships. The trio tear through the ships as if they were made of paper, completely shrugging their weaponry off.
    • The Earthwar Saga: When the Legionnaires intend to enter the Weber's World conference room, security chief Ontiir sends security robots to stop them. Superboy, Mon-El, Wildfire, Sun Boy and Colossal Boy not even break up a sweat.
    • Supergirl's Greatest Challenge: Without the surprise factor and a device to send Supergirl into the Zone, the Chameleon Men can do nothing but whine impotently as Kara kicks them out of the Legion's base.
  • Wonder Woman:
    • Wonder Woman (1942): Back in the Golden Age random gangsters and domestic abusers would try to kill Wonder Woman when she confronted them despite her actions in WWII and her powers being well publicized. It never worked out well for them and the only times their freedom from incarceration lasted beyond the first two panels of their attacks was when Diana had hostages and bystanders to protect before taking them out.
    • Wonder Woman (1987): Pretty much all the White Magician's fights against criminals and "villains" are completely one sided in the Magician's favor, because he can control the stolen Star Labs tech they're using to be a legitimate threat and he generally uses it to kill them outright when their tech "tragically malfunctions" during the fights.
    • The Legend of Wonder Woman (2016): During their first real fight the Duke of Deception is only stopped from killing Diana due to the intervention of the gods. She was unable to harm him and left near death by the encounter.
    • Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia: Wonder Woman delivers two to Batman with their first counter being little more than just Diana one-punching Bruce across the street after he attempts to barge into her house despite being warned not to.
    • During the Judgment In Infinity storyline, the Horseman of War sends a battalion of animated war tanks after Supergirl, who disposes of them without breaking a sweat.
  • In Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! the fight between Extant and the Justice Society of America. By the time he was done, two were dead (Atom and Hourman) and all but one were old men (Alan Scott's ring protected him from Extant's attack).

Top