"I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time."
—Evil Overlord List #75
Kung Fu movies depend on the same unwritten rules as John Carter novels: Nobody can have a gun. If they had a gun, they'd just shoot you, and you wouldn't get to go through the whole "aaaaaiiiiieeeee" number and leap about with your fists flashing, your foot cocked, and your elbow of death savagely bent. It's great to have a black belt, but it's better if the bad guys know the rules.
''Goddamit, those shots came dangerously close to my head... why can't you aim for my impenetrable body armor like everyone else!?""
— Gordon Freeman, Freeman's Mind
Now, now, boys. No pushing, no shoving - single file is the polite way to attack the hero.
— Spidey, The Spectacular Spider-Man
"932. Nowhere in the bible does it say ninjas have to line up in a straight line to fight me."
Buffy: We're never gonna make it to the warehouse.
Faith: If they keep coming one at a time, we got a shot.
Faith: If they keep coming one at a time, we got a shot.
— Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bad Girls
"They may be called the City Guard, the Palace Guard, or the Patrol. Regardless, their role in any work of fantasy is to rush at the hero, one at a time, and be slaughtered. Nobody asks them if they want to. This book is dedicated to those fine men."
"It's as if there's a sort of unwritten Geneva Convention that applies to fictional baddies, that respects not reality, or what would make sense, but instead the higher purpose of fun and a good story."
— Michael Stevens, V Sauce
"If anyone knows of Jackie Chan's whereabouts, remember: approach him as a group, but then fight him one at a time."
— Trevor Noah, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
"Take him you fools!" shouted Zarkendorf. "And do it as a group, not one at a time!"
Kenny Florian: Why aren't both bots going at him at once?
Chris Rose: That's what I'm saying!
Kenny: It's like a movie where I'm going, "Why don't both guys just attack the good guy?"
Chris: I think they've been watching too many Bruce Lee movies, Kenny.
Chris Rose: That's what I'm saying!
Kenny: It's like a movie where I'm going, "Why don't both guys just attack the good guy?"
Chris: I think they've been watching too many Bruce Lee movies, Kenny.
— Commentary for Lucky vs. Gemini in BattleBots, in which the two Gemini units demonstrated this trope in Real Life
"Forget all that formal crap 'bout comin' at me one at a time. I'LL TAKE ALL YOU BITCHES ON!"
— Mugen, Samurai Champloo
''"How many men can attack you at once? Three or four; any more and they'll start getting in each other's way. So if you know how to fend off four, you're good against fourty. Unless you fall of exhaustion, but exhausting Wolfhound was anything but an easy task."
— Discussing and justifying the trope, TheWolfhound
What are you doing? Spread out and take down one-by-one.
"The path is too narrow! We can only attack one at a time!"
— a Neko Ninja, Usagi Yojimbo
Trish: Aren't you supposed to come at me one at a time?
Mook 1: That's a hurtful stereotype.
Mook 2: Hurtful for you.
Mook 1: That's a hurtful stereotype.
Mook 2: Hurtful for you.
