An Asskicking Christmas



""Because this is what you think of when you think of Christmas, right? People beating the shit out of each other!""

- The Nostalgia Critic reviews He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special

A work/episode/story takes place during Christmas-time, and it's action-packed. "Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards man" kind of gets left by the wayside when some people just want some good, old fashioned fights and explosions. Maybe they're finding a way to channel their aggression from shopping?

'''This is only about action works. The way to know is if you take the Christmas elements out, it would be straight up action.'''

And even if a work isn't directly about Christmas, a lot of action works get some of their best business around this time.

Can overlap with Badass Santa (would be a a Sub-Trope, but sometimes a work with that trope takes place at other times of the year), Did I Mention It's Christmas? (if the Christmas elements aren't remotely integral to the story, just mentioned occasionally).

Compare Saving Christmas, Soapland Christmas (especially if it has a Downer Ending).

Anime and Manga

 * Full Metal Panic!!, the fifth book is Die Hard on a boat on Christmas like the movie.
 * Gundam Wing's final Story Arc took place in December, with the final battle coming on Christmas Eve; the OAV (and The Movie) Endless Waltz, which takes place a year later, labels the events of the series "the Eve Wars".
 * In Mobile Suit Gundam, the Battle for Solomon takes place on December 24, with the Battle of A Bao A Qu taking place on December 31; as the war comes to an end, it's officially January 1, 0080.
 * The final battle of Gundam 0080 takes place on December 25. What a crummy Christmas present for Al.
 * The final battle of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, which begins on the episode "Christmas Eve" and lasts throughout the night.
 * In Sky Girls, the crew of the Koryu has to scramble the Sonic Diver team when a target approaches on Christmas Eve.
 * Samurai Pizza Cats episode "The Cheese Who Stole Christmas".
 * In Dragonball Z, the battle against Freeza on Christmas. Unlike other examples, this one is likely a mere coincidence, as this isn't pointed out in-series, but it's All There in the Manual.
 * In GT, the final battle against Baby is on the day before Christmas too.
 * The Karas OVAs take place entirely around Christmas-time,  And it was the best Christmas ever.
 * Not Sarcasm Mode for the viewer.
 * Macross had Giant Alien Terrorist Santa activating bombs after a raid on Christmas Eve. Followed by the survivors singing Silent Night.
 * Although it's not heavily focused on, the climatic final battle in the manga version Chrono Crusade takes place from Christmas Eve to the dawn of Christmas. At one point, Chrono mentions to Rosette that it means they'll have something new to celebrate every year if they're victorious.
 * In Heartcatch Precure Episode 44 has the cures battling a giant snowman Monster of the Week on Christmas Eve, . Even more?.
 * The anime of Asobi Ni Iku Yo has the last three episodes take place at Christmas. The Catian mothership is attacked and taken over by Dogisian forces, and its orbit is set to decay and crash into Earth, forcing the humans to blow the ship up if the main characters can't stop it in time.
 * While hardly glorified, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is set during the lead-up to Christmas and has plenty of action which often destroys season appropriate decorations and kills bystanders doing their shopping.

Comic Books

 * In the Justice League of America comic book series there was a story in the 70s called "2000 Light Years to Christmas!" In it, the League must recover three powerful objects that some aliens have lost on Earth; one of them falls in the hands of a little girl who lost her family in a Middle Eastern war, and uses it for revenge against the invaders. While there is plenty of action, in the end the girl is convinced to surrender the object peacefully by Red Tornado. It is later revealed that the objects were actually intended as gifts... for a messiah being born in another world! Oh, and Tornado, who is android, adopts the little girl as his daughter.
 * Marvel Comics occassionally publishes Christmas Specials focused on The Punisher, which usually feature two things; Frank dressing up as Santa, and Frank killing a lot of bad guys. Oftentimes, he does both simultaneously.
 * The Silent Night chapter of Sin City
 * Lobo's Paramilitary Christmas Special

Film

 * The first two Die Hard movies. The Nostalgia Critic actually named the first film the greatest Christmas movie ever (in the second edition).
 * The first Lethal Weapon
 * Batman Returns. The main story begins with the Red Triangle Circus crashing Gotham's tree-lighting ceremony, complete with clowns with uzis, a gatling gun mounted on a barrel organ, a firebreather setting a toy store ablaze, and the strongman beating down a Salvation Army Santa with his own sled.
 * Spoofed at the beginning of Scrooged, with a fake trailer for The Night The Reindeer Died.
 * Enemy of the State.
 * First Blood is set during Christmastime, probably to demonstrate that Rambo is also braving the bitter cold during his ordeal.
 * Chuck Norris's classic Invasion USA takes place at Christmastime. There's a shootout/truck chase inside a mall full of holiday shoppers.
 * Events in Maniac Cop 2 take place during Christmas.
 * In Ernest Saves Christmas, the guy who's slated to replace Santa Claus has an acting gig for a Show Within a Show movie called Christmas Slay, which appears to be this kind of movie—and a Slasher Film to boot. Obviously intended as satire.
 * Santa with Muscles: Hulk Hogan saves an orphanage from Mad Scientists... while having Easy Amnesia and believing he's Santa Claus.
 * The Stallone movie Cobra takes place during the Christmas season, although it's not hugely emphasized.
 * Behind Enemy Lines: Burnett's troubles begin when Admiral Reigart puts him on a reconaissance mission, forcing him to miss the Christmas celebration on the ship.
 * All three Home Alone movies. Kid defeats gang of thieves by turning his house into a Death Course. In the first two movies, it helped set the scene for the conflict between Kevin and his family. In the third... it was just because.
 * The Long Kiss Goodnight is set during Christmas time.

Literature

 * In L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Santa's toys are stolen by creatures who want kids to receive them through evil deeds rather than good. This pisses off the Great Ak and the forest immortals, Santa's chief supporters, and a war between mythical races ensues.
 * "Santa Claus vs. S.P.I.D.E.R." by Harlan Ellison. When he's not wearing the red suit, Kris looks and acts something like James Bond. And the red suit's got body armor, rockets in the boots to jump long distances, machine guns and high-pressure flamethrowers up the sleeves.... "Ho ho ho."
 * Zig-zagged in Hogfather. The driving plotline involves The Grim Reaper and his Badass granddaughter Saving Christmas - and apparently ensuring the Sun will continue to rise - after a Psychopathic Manchild assassinates the Disc equivalent of Santa on the orders of an Always Frighteningly Lawful Neutral Celestial Bureaucracy. It does, however, contain something of a True Meaning of Christmas message with the revelation of what would have happened instead of the Sun rising:
 * Stationery Voyagers has two episodes back-to-back. In the first, Minshus is born while Syuthan blows up Ruktarusk in an exceedingly glorious fashion. Then, Nicklo DiMyral rescues three maidens who were kidnapped by a pimp-by convincing a team of Arnabs on horseback to help out.
 * Legacies is a Repairman Jack novel set shortly before Christmas; one early incident features Jack dressing up as Santa to beat the living crap out of a scumbag who stole toys from a children's AIDS clinic.

Live-Action TV
"The Doctor: Actually, that's not true. Christmas is a time of peace and thanksgiving and... What am I on about? All my Christmases are like this."
 * Unlike Power Rangers, the series where it gets its footage - Super Sentai - plays with this quite often.
 * Engine Sentai Go-onger sees the heroes team up with Santa using his magic sack to fight one of the main generals of the Gaiark
 * Power Rangers did have the season 3 episode "I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger". However, we haven't seen a Christmas Episode in a long time because the seasons begin in February and end in November.
 * Every time the new series of Doctor Who has a Christmas Episode, something disastrous happens. Aliens invade (the Sycorax), giant spaceships threaten to crash and destroy the Earth, weird robot Santas go around murdering people, and more alien invasions in the form of the Racnoss and her children. In fact, Christmas episodes are extra-long and twice as epic as normal episodes, second only to season finales in terms of how they'll go all-out.
 * Lampshaded in "Voyage of the Damned" - The Doctor and Astrid land on Earth at Christmas time and find the city deserted. Just when you think that's the mystery of the episode, Bernard Cribbins tells him the reason that the city is empty is that everyone has evacuated the city thinking that something awful is going to happen. (They're right.)
 * Lampshaded again later on in the same episode:


 * A Very Supernatural Christmas.
 * Both Community holiday episodes have a scene of this.
 * The Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring Santa Claus Conquers the Martians features a host skit in which Crow presents his very own Christmas song: "Let's Have a Patrick Swayze Christmas", which combines holiday sentiment with allusions to Swayze's role in Road House.
 * Riff by Tom Servo: "Big John Call IS Santa Claus in "O Little Town of DEATHlehem!"
 * Chuck versus Santa Claus.
 * Also, Chuck versus The Santa Suit from Season 5.
 * The Monk Christmas episode Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa, the end of which features Monk pursuing a jewel thief and beating him with a giant candy cane yard decoration.
 * A Saturday Night Live sketch from the 1980-1981 season had a fake trailer for a movie called "Kung Fu Christmas," starring Caine (David Carradine's character from the show "Kung Fu," played by Carradine himself) and Bruce Lee (played by Eddie Murphy).
 * An episode of Xena that takes place around Winter Solstice, with her and Gabrielle acting out Scrooge's Christmas story.

Music
"Back in the corner the radio is playing And over the racket Gabriel Heater is saying "Peace on earth everybody and good will toward men" And yust at that moment someone slugs Uncle Ben."
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic's "The Night Santa Went Crazy" and "Christmas At Ground Zero".
 * Yogi Yorgesson "I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas":

"Rudolph, he will change his name 'Cause rudolph just sounds pretty lame. Now we'll call him Ragnagord, the evil reindeer overlord."
 * "Santa's Gonna Kick Your Ass" by The Arrogant Worms
 * On Mp3.com, a comedy team called Prime Example did a spoof advertisement for the ultimate Christmas TV special "Violent Night" in which Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown, and the Little Drummer Boy team up to save Christmas from a war on Christmas by the Grinch, Ebeneezer Scrooge, the Abominable Snowman, and Satan. Arnold Schwartzenegger plays a Terminator-esque Santa Claus with an assault rifle, and Clint Eastwood plays a Dirty Harry-esque Ebeneezer Scrooge with a shotgun... coming up next on Fox!
 * Gothic Christmas by Within Temptation is a joke over-the top variety.

Radio/Audio Drama

 * The Charles Russell era Christmas Episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar titled "How I Played Santa Claus and Almost Got Left Holding the Bag" has Johnny pursue a criminal (who's a thief and a murderer) at a store during Christmas, and end up in a long protracted fight scene with the criminal.
 * The Bob Bailey era serial, The Nick Shurn Matter, has, in the fourth part, Johnny Dollar engage in a brief shootout in a blizzard against Nick Shurn's henchman Benny Stark, in order to save the life of a witness to one of Nick Shurn's crimes.

Religion and Mythology

 * Older Than Feudalism, in The Bible, no less. Chapter 12 of the book of Revelation is hardly serene.
 * And Tsion Ben-Judah gets to witness it in the Left Behind book The Indwelling.
 * Even older than that, although not by much: the original birth of Christ in the Gospels took place against a backdrop of Roman occupation, mass infanticide, parents fleeing the country to save their baby...

Tabletop Gaming

 * Santa's Soldiers from Deep 7 Games. It's a parody of the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials where you are playing a paramilitary strike team of cute Christmas elves.

Video Games

 * Merry Gear Solid is the result of giving a Christmas theme to the twisted world of Metal Gear Solid.
 * Parasite Eve begins on Christmas Eve, though the game itself takes place over the course of five days.
 * Death Smiles II and its console version IIX are Danmaku shooters themed around and set during Christmas. If they don't count, nothing does.
 * The first Yakuza game takes place around Christmas. This results in just the occasional Sexy Santa Dress around the red light district.
 * The bombing of Valais Airbase and the subsequent Operation Valkyrie in Ace Combat Zero take place on December 25, 1995.
 * Garden Gnome Carnage, it's all about beating down cristmas elves who are trying to scale your building and deliver christmas presents. And it's sequel Hyper Princess Pitch where you invade mecha-santa's toy factory and kill/destroy everything you see.
 * Super Robot Wars W loves this one, as they have the Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz finale set on a year's Christmas day, and the Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid finale on the next year's Christmas Eve. They also have levels set on both New Year's Eves, too. And one in St. Valentine.

Web Comics

 * Sluggy Freelance had some epic confrontations between Santa Clause and Bun-Bun, culminating in the Holiday Wars where Bun-Bun attempted to take over all of the holidays. This annual event has been quiet for several years now; too quiet...
 * Far Out There has "Bridget and Alphonse's Horrifying Christmas".

Web Original

 * This SMBC.
 * Santa-Fu
 * Vendetta: A Christmas Story
 * The Whateley Universe authors really like this trope. "Christmas Elves" has Fey and Generator in a fight to the death inside a Syndicate hardsite. "Ayla and the Grinch" has Phase against a serial killer. "There's an Angel in Father John's Basement" has Seraphim, "Christmas Crisis" has Tennyo, "Have Yourself an Evil Little Christmas" has the Bad Seeds, "Summoning Sweeties" has Gateway and Bladedancer, "The Case of the Poisonous Patent" has Loophole and her friends, "Have Yourself a Monkey Little Christmas" has Chaka and Bladedancer, ... And all of these take place during the same Christmas break!
 * In the Global Guardians PBEM Universe, the Denver Defenders once defended the Anthropomorphic Personification of Christmas, in the form of Santa Claus, from a group of rampaging nihilistic teenaged supervillains known as the Young Gods.
 * The Christmas Tree Of Might, the 2010 Christmas special for Dragon Ball Abridged.
 * Played with in Lord Slug Abridged. It's not Christmas, but Goku thinks it is because of all the snow.

Western Animation

 * South Park parodied this with "Red Sleigh Down".
 * Beavis and Butthead spoofed this with them flipping through channels, including a show where RoboCop saves Christmas.
 * Danny Phantom did a lot of fighting on Christmas... Although it was all in rhyme.
 * American Dad
 * The show typically has a rather surreal Christmas Episode, but Season 5's "Rapture's Delight" takes the cake, with a bizarre crossover parody of Left Behind and homage to Mad Max and Escape from New York. After the Rapture, Badass Jesus recruits a grizzled, bitter, hook-handed Stan on one last mission to raid the Antichrist's lair and rescue Francine using lots of guns and explosives. It must be seen to be believed.
 * In season 6, Steve accidentally killed Santa, so the family buried his body in the woods. Only, Santa wasn't quite dead, and using the powers of science Santa was healed, only to swear revenge on the Smiths. This eventually lead to a bloody battle between the family and Santa and his army of elves. Although the battle was cut short because he had to leave at daybreak, he promised to return to kill them next year.
 * Parodied on Family Guy with Kiss Save Santa, because everyone knows "Pterodactyls hate nothing more than the screech on an electric guitar."
 * The Darkwing Duck Christmas Episode, "It's a Wonderful Leaf". Sure enough, it is aggression from Christmas shopping that drives Bushroot to be The Grinch.
 * Transformers Animated: 'Human Error'. Soundwave reappears for the first time since season one and  Sari recruits a bunch of second-string characters to help free them, and it all ends in a literal example of Autobots Rock Out.
 * Kim Possible: In "A Very Possible Christmas", Ron goes off on his own to stop Dr. Drakken so Kim can spend the holiday with her family. It doesn't go too well, but everything works out in the end.
 * Batman: The Animated Series:
 * "And now, the Christmas Special nobody wants to see, but everyone will watch. It's Christmas with the Joker!"
 * There's also the second Christmas special, with three stories set over the Christmas to New Year period. The first story has Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy kidnap Bruce Wayne, the second has Batgirl, Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya fighting Clayface in a shopping mall on Christmas Eve, and the third has Batman and Robin stopping The Joker from murdering thousands of people at the New Year countdown in Gotham Square.
 * There's the Justice League Christmas special where Green Lantern and Hawkgirl spend their holiday in an alien bar, asskicking.
 * The Venture Brothers Christmas special has Brock, dressed as Santa, in a no-holds-barred fight with the party-crasher Krampus.
 * In addition to the Dragonball Z examples above, Robot Chicken once did a Christmas sketch in which Goku and Gohan go to the North Pole to fight a half-Santa, half-snowman monster. Eventually Mrs. Clause morphs into what Tetsuo becomes at the end of Akira and Santa resolves never to visit Japan ever again.
 * The Powerpuff Girls "Twas the Fight before Christmas".
 * One Codename: Kids Next Door episode was this, on top of being a giant spoof of comic book superheroes.
 * Buzz Lightyear of Star Command has the episode "Holiday Time". It's a generic "villain steals Christmas" plot with an awesome fight scene between Zurg and Buzz Lightyear featuring Bullet Time and backed by a pounding techno track.
 * Futurama: two Christmas specials with a killer robot Santa and a sack full of ammunition-related puns ("your mistletoe is no match for my T.O.E. missile"). Plus this shows up again in the animated film Bender's Big Score, including an awesome song "This Trinity's Goin' to War" when Robot Santa used his toy workshop on Neptune to manufacture weapons, with the help of Kwanzaabot and the Hanukkah Zombie.
 * Not to mention the finale of broadcast season seven The Futurama Holiday Spetactular that has not only a Chirstmas storyline but also action filled Robanukah and Kwanzaa.
 * Regular Show's Christmas Special. The action doesn't only consist of combat (such as chase scenes).

Real Life

 * George Washington crossing the Delaware.
 * The Battle of the Bulge.
 * Awesomely defied by The Christmas truce, a combination Crowning Moment of Awesome and Crowning Moment of Heartwarming during the first year of World War I wherein the soldiers on both sides got out of the trenches and voluntarily stopped the war without orders from command (and in some cases against orders), to have a real Christmas. They played football (European style) in the no-man's lands between the trenches. There are also stories of exchanging gifts (including German and Canadian soldiers near Vimy Ridge) and decorating trees.
 * One group took advantage of this to capture a strategic point, to the shock of everyone.
 * There's also a story of a group of American and German soldiers meeting in a forest on Christmas, both seeking shelter from a snowstorm, the elderly German woman who lives there doesn't allow them to fight in any way, and it ends with them singing Christmas carols together even though they don't understand each other's language.
 * Hanukkah, a minor Jewish holiday that happens to take place near Christmas, devoted to remembering a major asskicking.
 * The Battle of Ortona, one of the major events in the Italian Campaign of WWII. It took a month and over 500 Canadian lives (the German casualties were never counted) to take the town from the Fascists.