In ages past, bathhouses were a popular gathering spot. People could relax and shoot the breeze while soaking and getting clean. Because it was a shared luxury amenity, modesty was put aside in favor of cleanliness and community. The increased difficulty of sneaking in weapons makes this environment feel safer, so law-abiding citizens and criminals alike let down their guards, creating a perfect opportunity to strike. Examples of Bathhouse Blitz are found primarily in Period Piece media, but may appear in modern works, particularly in works from Eastern cultures. This trope features a traditional bathhouse/ shared sauna, a requirement that all participants disarm and disrobe, and often the instigator will have to infiltrate the environment to find their target. This attempt can either be completely successful as a stealth operation or lead to an all out brawl. Either way, it ends in an Interrupted Bath for the target and depending on the motive of the instigator, it may also be a Deadly Bath.
For Bathhouse Blitz to be in play at least one party in the ensuing altercation must enter the bathhouse/ sauna with the intent of attacking, kidnapping, or killing the other party. Contrast with Bathroom Brawl which is usually a spontaneous attack in the modern version of toilet spaces where all participants are fully clothed and possibly armed. Contrast with Camping a Crapper which is a premeditated attack where the instigator simply waits for nature to call for the victim. Contrast with Toilet Horror where the aggressor is driven by a supernatural force or single-minded drive to kill.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- In Beastars, Legoshi gets into one fighting Riz, who has learned that Legoshi knows about his dark secret. Funnily enough, the school's janitor walks in on them and they quickly stop fighting, convincing them both that they should fight somewhere else without interruptions.
- Ranma ½: Subverted when the family, with Ryoga in tow, goes to a hot spring resort. The usual antics occur, but a strange presence lurks about, eventually kidnapping Akane. Ranma ultimately defeats the strange intruder by luring it in using his girl form as bait, only to discover that the person preying on the resort guest is the owner himself. The resort is rundown and has fallen out of favor. By attacking guests from the shadows, he guarantees they will go back with wild stories of monsters and ghosts, attracting more curious tourist and warriors looking to test their mettle.
- Done a wide scale in Vinland Saga, when the English launch a surprise attack on the Danes on the day they all bathe outdoors.
Film — Live-Action
- The Blacksheep Affair have a scene where the villain, Kenzo, was in a Turkish bath when a bunch of nude thugs tries intimidating him. Unfortunately for the thugs, Kenzo turns out to be an excellent fighter who took out his captors in a Full-Frontal Assault. Complete with a Groin Attack on naked testicles.
- Deadpool 2: A scene in the beginning of the movie depicts Deadpool storming a Yakuza bathhouse, with all the combatants fighting with katanas. Wade stops the fight after getting blood splashed in his eyes and tries to wipe them with what he thinks is a towel, but actually turns out to be the loincloth worn by one of the Yakuza.
- In Eastern Promises, Nikolai is tricked into taking Kirill's place in a meeting at the local sauna with the Chechens following Kirill's unsanctioned murder of the Sokya at the beginning of the movie. Nikolai arrives, undresses, and waits in the sauna room as expected. The Chechens show up seeking vengeance and attack Nikolai with knives forcing him into a brutal fight to death.
- Played with in GoldenEye when 007 and Xenia Onatopp wrestle in a sauna. Thanks to Xenia's penchant for Orgasmic Combat, the scene plays as much as foreplay as fighting.
- Played with in Night Moves (2013). Josh strangles Dena in a sauna/steam room, but she hid in there deliberately because she thought he might attack or kill her, and there isn't much of a fight.
- Showdown in Little Tokyo: Kenner and Murata confront the Yakuza while the entire gang is taking time off to visit a private bathhouse, so a brawl with the heavily tattooed gangsters inevitably ensues.
- The first kill of Stiletto happens when Raina slits Ernesto's throat from behind while he is in the sauna.
Literature
- Dark Skies: When senator Lucius Cassius invites his fiancée Lydia to the bathhouse early in the morning, she thinks he only wants pre-maritial sex. But the bathhouse is eerily empty and it turns out that Cassius has arranged to have Lydia killed and her body dumped into the tunnel that drains the baths and leads somewhere underground. she survives but only due to a lot of luck and possibly a Divine Intervention.
- The Deed of Paksenarrion: In Oath of Fealty, Kieri Phelan faces an assassin while naked in the bathtub. The assassin kills the bath attendant, but Kieri throws a bar of soap to distract the assassin and then runs across the room, grabs a metal water pitcher, and kills the assassin by hitting him on the head with it.
- In the Dreamblood Duology, a rival clan assassin attacks Wana in the bathing pools, expecting to cause a Naked Freak-Out. However, Wana was raised in a culture with no nudity taboo, so he dishes out a brutal Full-Frontal Assault instead.
- In The Eldest Curses Shinyun drugs and kidnaps Magnus while they are in a bathhouse to sacrifice him to a demon.
- Ender's Game: In a more modern version of the trope, Bonzo and his lackeys corner Ender in the Battle School shower intending to humiliate and beat him for his perceived insults against them. Ender goads Bonzo into attacking alone. He then takes full advantage of being soaped-up and slippery, and easily turns the tables on Bonzo accidentally killing him in the process.
- In The State Counsellor, Erast Fandorin is holding a secret meeting with his new boss in a public bathhouse when a group of revolutionaries tries to assassinate them both. Fandorin escapes by climbing onto the roof and using his Ninja skills to jump down to safety, while his boss darts out through the women's section, turning the female bathers' fury onto his pursuers.
Live-Action TV
- 1000 Ways to Die: "Gang Banged" involves a gangster's son seeking to avenge his father's death by following his killers, rival gangsters, into a sauna and attempting to kill them, but he slips on his own sweat and his gun misfires, puncturing a steam pipe and melting his face, cooking him to death.
- In Sledge Hammer!, Hammer and Doreau barge into a sauna used by gangsters to interrogate a suspect. Hammer's usual robust approach is spoilt by the fact both cops go in fully-dressed: the heat and humidity causes their clothing to shrink. Visibly.
Video Games
- Assassin's Creed Origins: In order to assassinate Eudoros, the Snake, Bayek must infiltrate the local bathhouse. As Eudoros is the royal scribe, there are guards posted through the space requiring Bayek to climb and sneak. A successful assassination still puts all the guards on high alert and Bayek must stealth escape the bathhouse while the guards swarm looking for the assassin. This is all done while wearing a simple towel around his waist.
- In Borderlands 3, the DLC "Bounty of Blood" includes a large bathhouse taken over by bandits that The Vault Hunter(s) must fight through.
- In the Fallout: New Vegas quest "Beyond the Beef", Chauncey meets with you in the Ultra-Luxe sauna to privately discuss recent disappearances, which he knows were the work of a conspiracy of cannibals. Mortimer, the leader of the conspiracy, sends a hitman to silence Chauncey, who you then have to fight.
- GoldenEye: Rogue Agent: One part of the level "Hong Kong" has the player character inadvertently enter a bathhouse run by the Hong Kong Triad. They must then shoot their way through in order to escape. The Bathhouse also appears as an arena in multiplayer mode.
- Hitman (2016): One campaign features Agent 47 infiltrate a sauna to reach Yakuza lawyer Yuki Yamazaki. A successful infiltration leads to 47 trapping Yamazaki in the sauna and cranking the temperature dials as high as they will go, causing Yamazaki to succumb to the heat.
- Like a Dragon series spinoff Like a Dragon: Ishin! has Ryoma fighting Saigo in a bathhouse, with both of them completely nude and shielded only by Censor Steam. This gets a Call-Back in Yakuza Kiwami, when Kiryu and Majima get into an argument
about whether the movie Passionate Manly Bathhouse Battle (based off that scene in Ishin!) qualifies as porn. It's one of the few times Kiryu starts the fight instead of Majima.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Crime Lord Sigismund Dijkstra conducts all his business in his bathhouse. Entrance requires Geralt to exchange his clothing and weapons for a bath towel in order to meet with Dijkstra. Geralt ends up caught in the middle of an assassination attempt when a group of Whoreson Jr's gang overrun the bathhouse looking to kill the crime lords. Geralt, Dijkstra, and said small group defend the bathhouse with Dijkstra's secret stash of weapons.
Cleaver: First ever barney with my prick hangin' out. Harggh!
