Quotes / Duel to the Death

The Ten Duel Commandments

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
It's the ten duel commandments
It's the ten duel commandments
Number One!
The challenge, demand satisfaction
If they apologize, no need for further action
Nummer Two!
If they don't, grab a friend,
that's your second
Your Lieutenant, when there's reckoning to be reckoned
Number Three!
Have your seconds meet face to face
Negotiate a peace
Or negotiate a time and place
This is commonplace, 'specially 'tween recruits
(Most disputes die and no one shoots)
Number Four!
If they don't reach a peace, that's alright
Time to get some pistols and a doctor on site
You pay him in advance, you treat him with civility
(You have him turn around, so he can have deniability)
Number Five!
Duel before the sun is in the sky
Pick a place to die where it's high and dry
Number Six!
Leave a note for your next of kin
Tell 'em where you been
Pray that Hell or Heaven lets you in
Number Seven!
Confess your sins
Ready for the moment of adrenaline
When you finally face your opponent
Number Eight!
Your last chance to negotiate
Send in your seconds
See if they can set the record straight

[Alexander
Aaron Burr, sir
Can we agree that duels are dumb and immature?
Sure
But your man has to answer for his words, Burr
With his life?
We both know that's absurd, sir
Hang on, how many men died because Lee was inexperienced and ruinous!?
Okay, so we're doing this…]

Number Nine!
Look him in the eye, aim no higher
Summon all the courage you require
Then count
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Number Ten! (paces)
FIRE!!!

— Hamilton

"One shall stand, one shall fall."

— Optimus Prime to Megatron, Transformers: The Movie

"Vittorio Malvora!" I called, my voice ringing with wrath in the echoing cavern. "Madrigal Raith! I am Harry Dresden, Warden of the White Council of Wizards. Under the Unseelie Accords, I accuse you of murder in a time of peace, and challenge you, here and now, before these witnesses, to trial by combat." I slammed my staff down again in another shock of thunder, and Hellfire flooded in the runes of the staff. "To the death."
Utter silence fell on the Deeps.
Damn, there ain't nothing like a good entrance.

— Harry Dresden, White Night

"Settled things? One thing was never settled. This is a battle with swords, not some fist fight. As long as one of us is still breathing then this fight is still not over."

— Kenpachi, Bleach

"A sword fight is a matter of life or death. Furthermore, this is a battle to decide the strongest. The only way to settle things is for one to live, and the other to die."

— Aoshi, Rurouni Kenshin

"...at the end his honor was no better for it. Nothing was served, no point was proved. It was all false ... except for the deaths. Those were real."

— Aral Vorkosigan, Shards of Honor

"Two men enter, one man leaves."

— Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome

Francisco Scaramanga: I could've shot you down when you landed, but that would've been ridiculously easy. You see, Mr. Bond, like every great artist, I want to create an indisputable masterpiece once in my lifetime: The death of 007, mano a mano, face-to-face, will be mine.
James Bond: You mean stuffed and displayed over your rocky mantelpiece?
Scaramanga: That's an amusing idea, but I was thinking in terms of history. A duel between titans. My Golden Gun against your Walther PPK. Each of us have a 50:50 chance.
Bond: Six bullets to your one?
Scaramanga: I only need one.
Bond: Sounds a bit old-fashioned, doesn't it, pistols at dawn, that sort of thing?
Scaramanga: Indeed it is, Mr. Bond. But it still remains the only true test for gentlemen.
Bond: I doubt if you qualify on that score. However, I accept.

— The Man with the Golden Gun

Just before the end of his life, Hamilton engaged in a duel with Aaron Burr... It is not known whether Burr shot (1) straighter or (2) sooner, but (3) he was declared the winner, and Hamilton, his time being up, (4) expired.

— It All Started With Columbus

"Don't you dare try to stop me! This doesn't concern you! I will have revenge for my sister! I challenge you to a duel!! I will not rest until I kill you myself, you traitorous scum! When the sun sets on this day, one of us will be dead. No one will get between me and my revenge!"

— Ryoma, Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest

"No draw. No escape. One wins. One loses. We shall end this. One of us will live... And one of us will die."

— Black Knight/Zelgius to Ike, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

"It's only you and I, someone's dying tonight!"

— Lyrics from Wings of Iron, DEATH BATTLE!, "Optimus Prime VS. Gundam"

General LeMay suddenly took his cigar out of his mouth and, gesticulating wildly, challenged General Johnson to an aerial duel. He screamed, "Johnson, you fly one of those damned Huey's and I'll fly an F-105, and we'll see who survives. I'll shoot you down and scatter your peashooter all over the goddamn ground." I was eager to defend my chief, both verbally and physically (LeMay would have made two Johnsons in body weight, if not in mental poundage) but Johnson motioned to me to keep quiet and responded quietly: "I'm not a flier, but I will be happy to get qualified and take you on—we can agree on a time and place later. But let's not waste the valuable time of our colleagues on such a trivial matter."

— Bruce Palmer, Jr., in his book The 25-Year War: America's Military Role in Vietnam

"My dad died about ten years ago of injuries he sustained during a duel. When your father dies, you ask yourself a lot of questions. Questions like, 'Wait, did you say he died in a duel?' and 'Who dies in a duel?' The whole thing was so stupid. Dad spent his entire life writing this book, but he couldn't get any stores to carry it or any newspapers to review it. Finally, I guess this one newspaper thought he was pretty hilarious, because they ran a review and tore him to shreds. So my father, ever the Proud Mary, decided he would not stand for this besmirchment of his honor. He claimed the critic didn't understand what it meant to be a man, so he demanded satisfaction in the form of pistols at dawn. He wrote the paper this letter, saying anyone who didn't like his book, he would challenge to a duel, anyone in the world. He'd even pay for airfare to San Francisco and a night in a hotel. Well, eventually this found its way to some kook in Montana, who was as batshit as he was and took him up on the offer. They met at Golden Gate Park and agreed, ten paces, then shoot. But in the middle of the ten paces, Dad turned to ask the guy if he'd actually read the book and what he thought, but, not looking where he was going, tripped over an exposed root and bashed his head on a rock."

— BoJack Horseman, Bojack Horseman, "Free Churro"

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