Basic Trope: Two characters fight until one or both of them dies.
- Straight: Charlie impugns Bob's honor for the last time; Bob challenges him to a duel.
- Exaggerated: Charlie and Bob fight their duel alongside armies trained to fight to the death on their behalf.
- Downplayed: Bob challenges Charlie to a strenuous test of skill. Loser leaves town.
- Justified: Charlie and Bob participate in a culture where dueling is the preferred method of resolving long-standing rivalries.
- Inverted: Charlie and Bob agree to fight Dan instead of each other.
- Subverted: Charlie agrees to the duel, only to flee the county when the time comes.
- Double Subverted: Bob hunts Charlie down to get his satisfaction, and they begin fighting together.
- Parodied: Charlie challenges Bob to pistols at dawn for accidentally bumping into him.
- Zig Zagged:
- Bob and Charlie agree to fight, but cannot agree on a schedule that works for both of them; eventually the matter is dropped... until Charlie commits another offense and Bob challenges him again.
- Death is an option/consideration to end a fight, but not necessary. The loser's fater ultimately depends on the winner.
- Averted: Neither party is willing to kill the other over their actions.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "There is only one way to resolve this matter, and you can bet your britches it involves lethal force."
- Invoked:
- Dueling is used by society as a way for young guns like Bob and Charlie to blow off steam without hurting anyone but each other.
- A Dueling Guild establishes rules and regulations for when and where duels can take place.
- Let's You and Him Fight
- Exploited: Alice manipulates Charlie into a duel with Bob to get rid of him.
- Defied: Charlie and Bob's fathers both died in duels; they resolve to settle their differences in a non- or less-than-lethal way.
- Discussed: Bob is a dueling expert, having written several books on the subject.
- Conversed: Charlie boasts at having survived close encounters with death in a number of duels.
- Implied: Both men carry pistols on their belts as a matter of course.
- Deconstructed:
- Charlie and Bob both die as a result of little more than injured pride, leaving their wives widowed and children orphaned.
- Charlie and Bob both recognize that dueling is a poor way to resolve differences, but cultural pressure and inertia resigns them to it anyway.
- Reconstructed: Some things are more precious than mere living, and getting shot solely because of one's big mouth can teach a man how to behave properly in polite society.
- Played for Laughs: The duel is conducted using pies.
- Played for Drama: The psychological ramifications of potentially killing a man are addressed in full.
"You fool! Unless we go back to the main page we'll die here!"
"Perfect. Then that's the way it shall be."
