Bar Brawl: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"I don't want to get in a bar fight. People are always gettin' in bar fights. It's such a damn cliché. You hear about it all the time and you see it in the motion pictures, people are gettin' hit in the head with [[Grievous Bottley Harm|beer bottles]], and [[Chairman of the Brawl|furniture]], and--"'' (breaks bottle over man's head)|'''Jack Cates''', ''[[48 Hrs.|Another 48 Hrs.]]''}}

A [[Bar Brawl]] is a fight scene where the emphasis is less on fighting skill and more on [[Kung Shui|destruction of furniture]]. [[Window Pain|Glass will be broken]], [[Grievous Bottley Harm|ordinary bottles turned into weapons]], and very probably [[Chairman of the Brawl|a chair as well]], most likely across somebody's back. Someone will probably swing from a chandelier, [[Lampshade Hanging|even if there weren't any there to start with.]] ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|groan]]) At some point, the fighting will become widespread among the patrons who aren't involved in the instigating argument. A good clue this is about to happen is when [[The Piano Player]] secures the piano and leaves.

A '''Bar Brawl''' is a fight scene where the emphasis is less on fighting skill and more on [[Kung Shui|destruction of furniture]]. [[Window Pain|Glass will be broken]], [[Grievous Bottley Harm|ordinary bottles turned into weapons]], and very probably [[Chairman of the Brawl|a chair as well]], most likely across somebody's back. Someone will probably swing from a chandelier, [[Lampshade Hanging|even if there weren't any there to start with.]] ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|groan]]) At some point, the fighting will become widespread among the patrons who aren't involved in the instigating argument. A good clue this is about to happen is when [[The Piano Player]] secures the piano and leaves.

Bar Brawls are staples of [[The Western]], and not uncommon in [[The Need for Mead]].

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This commonly overlaps with [[Escalating Brawl]]. Sometimes it's capped with a [[Check, Please!]] moment. Compare and contrast [[Chop Sockey]].

If this scene takes place in a diner, it's a [[Diner Brawl]], though the [[Diner Brawl]] can also be the [[Porting Disaster]] of the [[Bar Brawl]].

If this scene takes place in a diner, it's a [[Diner Brawl]], though the [[Diner Brawl]] can also be the [[Porting Disaster]] of the '''Bar Brawl'''.

It happens in [[Real Life]] and the destruction of furniture is [[Truth in Television]]: when drunk, people are less likely to aim their blows properly or [[Can't Hold His Liquor|even to stand properly]].

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== Comic Books ==

* ''[[Lucky Luke]]''

** In the comic, most pianists and dancers can only play right with "atmosphere" ~~-- that~~ is, massive fights during their performances.

** In the comic, most pianists and dancers can only play right with "atmosphere"—that is, massive fights during their performances.

** In one case, the people are at the bar following a funeral and a brawl breaks out for whatever reason. At the end, Luke raises his glass to the dead man, and two participants are seen limping away, commenting on how well that fight turned out, shame the dead guy couldn't have been in it.

** Averted at another time with a town composed exclusively of men, who no longer have the heart to start brawling anymore as there's no woman to fight over.

* ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]''

** Charles Xavier would occasionally [[Flash Back]] to his past friendship with Magneto, before the two became bitter enemies. One of the most memorable of these involved the two starting a [[Bar Brawl]] with a bunch of drunken sailors because Charles didn't like seeing them pick on a cripple for "being different" ~~-- and~~ winning without using their mutant powers. Well, ''mostly'' without their powers...

** Charles Xavier would occasionally [[Flash Back]] to his past friendship with Magneto, before the two became bitter enemies. One of the most memorable of these involved the two starting a Bar Brawl with a bunch of drunken sailors because Charles didn't like seeing them pick on a cripple for "being different"—and winning without using their mutant powers. Well, ''mostly'' without their powers...

** Another X-Men comic has a bar brawl between the Juggernaut and Colossus. [[Blatant Lies|Surprisingly, there was no property damage.]]

** Wolverine gets into these all the time.

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== Literature ==

* Subverted in ''[[Rats, Bats, and Vats|The Rats, the Bats and the Ugly]]'' by [[Eric Flint]] and [[Dave Freer]]. The brawl doesn't take place in a bar but in a three-star restaurant, and it's started by the proprietor.

* In Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld]]'' novels, most of the scenes in The Mended Drum ("the most reputable disreputable tavern" in Ankh-Morpork) involve a huge fight breaking out. By the time of the ''[[Discworld/Going Postal|Going Postal]]'', it's become the closest thing Ankh-Morpork has to a professional sport, complete with a standardized points system. ''Postal'' even features a scene with some bar brawlers discussing strategy. Such a history in fact, that its first ~~appearance -- unnamed~~ as the Broken ~~Drum -- has~~ a bar fight started over a chest full of gold coins, shortly before it is burnt to the ground and most of the city with it.

* In Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld]]'' novels, most of the scenes in The Mended Drum ("the most reputable disreputable tavern" in Ankh-Morpork) involve a huge fight breaking out. By the time of the ''[[Discworld/Going Postal|Going Postal]]'', it's become the closest thing Ankh-Morpork has to a professional sport, complete with a standardized points system. ''Postal'' even features a scene with some bar brawlers discussing strategy. Such a history in fact, that its first appearance—unnamed as the Broken Drum—has a bar fight started over a chest full of gold coins, shortly before it is burnt to the ground and most of the city with it.

* Twice in ''[[X-wing Rogue Squadron|X-Wing: Iron Fist]]''. Both times, they are set up ~~beforehand -- in~~ the first, the Wraiths are being set up to be carted off by fake cops, in the second, they are setting up to kidnap Imperial pilots. The fact that they consider "We start a [[Bar Brawl]]" to be a reasonable step in a covert operation tells you almost everything you need to know about the Wraiths.

* Twice in ''[[X-wing Rogue Squadron|X-Wing: Iron Fist]]''. Both times, they are set up beforehand—in the first, the Wraiths are being set up to be carted off by fake cops, in the second, they are setting up to kidnap Imperial pilots. The fact that they consider "We start a Bar Brawl" to be a reasonable step in a covert operation tells you almost everything you need to know about the Wraiths.

* In Richard K. Morgan's book ''Black Man'' (a.k.a. ''Thirteen''), the protagonist starts a few lethal barfights with lowlifes in order to satisfy his genetically mandated bloodlust.

* In ''Dark of the Moon'', the second book of P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'' series, a particularly vicious bar brawl takes place at a tavern in Peshtar, a bandit-ridden mountain town.

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* In one story from the ''[[Starfleet Corps of Engineers]]'' series, Mor glasch Tev (the Tellarite second officer) accidentally starts a bar brawl on Rhaax, due to mistaking hostility for Tellarite-esque argumentative politeness. Under his people's [[Blue and Orange Morality]], insults and blustering argument are a form of polite discourse. He misjudged in this case, though.

* In ''[[Myth Adventures|Myth-Inc in Action]]'', Chumley goes to wait outside while his sister Tananda takes on an entire bar, amusing himself by cataloguing the various damage she was causing by sound alone.

* In ''[[Mass Effect: Retribution]]'', it's made clear that the xenophobic Cerberus assassin, Kai Leng, is a huge badass when we learn why he was kicked out of the Alliance marines in the first place. He had a [[Bar Brawl]] with a '''[[Made of Iron|KROGAN]]''' and killed it with ''nothing more than a knife''. Keep in mind that krogan have redundant vital organs, meaning that you essentially have to kill them twice, and are strong enough to break a human's neck by simply backhanding them.

* In ''[[Mass Effect: Retribution]]'', it's made clear that the xenophobic Cerberus assassin, Kai Leng, is a huge badass when we learn why he was kicked out of the Alliance marines in the first place. He had a Bar Brawl with a '''[[Made of Iron|KROGAN]]''' and killed it with ''nothing more than a knife''. Keep in mind that krogan have redundant vital organs, meaning that you essentially have to kill them twice, and are strong enough to break a human's neck by simply backhanding them.

* One of the men on trial with Fisk in the ''[[Knight and Rogue Series]]'' was arrested for getting into a bar brawl, though it's implied that he and the man he was fighting do so frequently enough that people only care anymore if they happen to destroy furniture.

* Also happens, of all places, in a ''[[Bionicle]]'' book, ''Raid on Vulcanus''. After the first attempt at the titular raid has been thwarted, [[Jerkass]] Strakk starts a fight with the chef at Vulcanus' inn, prompting the temperamental Kiina to step in between. Strakk then gets into a full-blown brawl with her, wrecking the place.

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== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Star Trek]]'', "[[Star Trek: The Original Series|The Trouble With Tribbles]]". When the cast of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' was to be [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6KGOkzbf_c spliced into original series footage] for the episode "Trials and Tribbleations" (which returned via [[Time Travel]] to "The Trouble With Tribbles"), one of the more difficult tasks they faced was learning how to avoid the more realistic fight choreography used today in favor of 1960s-style stage fighting so they would not look out of place during the [[Bar Brawl]].

* ''[[Star Trek]]'', "[[Star Trek: The Original Series|The Trouble With Tribbles]]". When the cast of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' was to be [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6KGOkzbf_c spliced into original series footage] for the episode "Trials and Tribbleations" (which returned via [[Time Travel]] to "The Trouble With Tribbles"), one of the more difficult tasks they faced was learning how to avoid the more realistic fight choreography used today in favor of 1960s-style stage fighting so they would not look out of place during the Bar Brawl.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' had SEVERAL bar brawls: two in Ten-Forward started by edgy crewmen who were being influenced by some external force, one in one of Barclay's holodeck fantasies, and another in Alex's Ancient West holodeck program. Honorable mentions go to Riker for minor bar violence on two separate occasions, neither of which erupted into full-scale brawls. Also, one of the Ten-Forward incidents led to Guinan's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]: she fired off a blast from a rare antique phaser rifle over the heads of the brawlers, mentioned that she'd just fired it on setting one, and then asked if anyone cared to see setting ''two''. {{spoiler|Nobody did.}}

* ''[[The A-Team]]'' was rather fond of them, as it allowed an impressive and plausible fight scene without killing anyone. (As opposed to the impressive implausible shootouts [[A-Team Firing|without killing anyone.]])

* ''[[Red Dwarf]]''

** A [[Bar Brawl]] in ''reverse'' in the episode "Backwards". As Lister puts it, "It's not a bar room brawl, it's a bar room ''tidy''! Unrumble!"

** A Bar Brawl in ''reverse'' in the episode "Backwards". As Lister puts it, "It's not a bar room brawl, it's a bar room ''tidy''! Unrumble!"

** There's also the one in "Gunmen of the Apocalypse", where the cast are in a virtual Western-style world. Rimmer's special skill in this is beating the crap out of everyone. Which he does.

* Serenity's crew in ''[[Firefly]]'' gets into these constantly. Especially on Unification Day.

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* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'': SG-1 starts one in "Upgrades" after another patron insulted Daniel. Two (much bigger) guys stand up for each member (sans Teal'c), and Jack even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it as cliché. They are under the influence of [[Super Strength]]-granting [[Applied Phlebotinum]] armbands, courtesy of the Tok'ra. Asskicking ensues.

* ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]'': Subverted in "The Canary's Song." Lightman [[Grievous Bottley Harm|smashed a bottle]] on the bar and threatened the miners with it, but an actual fight didn't ensue.

* There is one great [[Bar Brawl]] in each of the first three seasons of ''[[Babylon 5]]'':

* There is one great Bar Brawl in each of the first three seasons of ''[[Babylon 5]]'':

** In the first season, one is started by a guy trying to hit on a drunk Ivanova, resulting Ivanova beating up everyone in the bar. [[Da Chief|Garibaldi]] refused to arrest her.

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* The Wizards of the Coast card game, ''[http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/drdd/20071109 Inn Fighting]'', is based entirely around this trope.

* Classic ''[[Traveller]]''

** Introductory Adventure (a.k.a. Adventure 0) "The Imperial Fringe". The adventure is started off by a brawl in a tavern, after which the [[PC~~|PCs~~]] meet their patron, Administrator Galadden.

** Introductory Adventure (a.k.a. Adventure 0) "The Imperial Fringe". The adventure is started off by a brawl in a tavern, after which the [[PC]]s meet their patron, Administrator Galadden.

** "The Traveller Adventure". While in a bar on the planet Zila, the [[PC~~|PCs~~]] are mixed up in a fight between crews from Oberlinded and Akerut ships. This leads to a meeting with Marc hault-Oberlindes, owner of Oberlindes Lines.

** "The Traveller Adventure". While in a bar on the planet Zila, the [[PC]]s are mixed up in a fight between crews from Oberlinded and Akerut ships. This leads to a meeting with Marc hault-Oberlindes, owner of Oberlindes Lines.

* The Deep 7 game ''Arrowflight'' has a pub known as the "Drink and Fight", where patrons are expected to have a drink and then have a good fight. The current champion is the tavern's owner, an ex-mercenary.

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* ''[[World of Warcraft]]''

** A lot of world [[Player Versus Player]] ends up in an Inn. Inns usually are bars... when 4 Blood Elves walk into an Alliance Tavern where there's 3 Alliance Players and a [[Scrub|Death Knoob]]... it's on.

** Starting a [[Bar Brawl]] is part of a quest line in the Blackrock Depths dungeon.

** Starting a Bar Brawl is part of a quest line in the Blackrock Depths dungeon.

** The ''Cataclysm'' expansion of ''World of Warcraft'' features the Speedbarge Bar in Thousand Needles. Goblins and Gnomes in the same room, all just waiting to be set off by your character [[Grievous Bottley Harm|throwing an easily bought bottle]]... and it's actually a quest for you to do so. The quest givers even encourage doing it again.

* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]''

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** There's also the Typical Tavern, with "A Barroom Brawl" as one adventuring area.

* You can start one in ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]''.

* ''[[Uncharted|Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception]]'' opens with Nate and Sully starting a brawl in an old-fashioned English ~~pub -- specifically~~, they take on [[The Dragon]] and his thugs in the parlour, but it spills over into the rest of the pub and the English patrons are more than keen to give the troublemaking Yanks a good thumping. It's done to teach the player ''Uncharted 3'''s new hand-to-hand combat mechanic, and setting this tutorial in a pub gives the player an opportunity to hit bad guys in the head with bottles, pool cues and fridge doors.

* ''[[Uncharted|Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception]]'' opens with Nate and Sully starting a brawl in an old-fashioned English pub—specifically, they take on [[The Dragon]] and his thugs in the parlour, but it spills over into the rest of the pub and the English patrons are more than keen to give the troublemaking Yanks a good thumping. It's done to teach the player ''Uncharted 3'''s new hand-to-hand combat mechanic, and setting this tutorial in a pub gives the player an opportunity to hit bad guys in the head with bottles, pool cues and fridge doors.

* ''[[Tron 2.0]]'', like the ''[[Tron: Legacy]]'' example above, has one of these. Jet goes to the Progress bar to help Ma3a assimilate some code that could protect her. And in the middle of the process, in barges [[The Corrupter|Thorne]] and a horde of virus-inflected Z-Lots, forcing Jet into fighting them off long enough to protect Ma3a. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, the code's horribly bugged, and the corrupted Ma3a forces Jet to run for his life with ''both'' Thorne and Ma3a on his tail.}}

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** Hawk and Dove's debut on ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' involves this trope in a sports bar. The trophy case gets demolished ''before the fight actually starts.''

* An episode of Disney's ''The New Adventures of [[Winnie the Pooh]]'' has a card player in a Western saloon start a brawl with his opponents over being told to "[[Most Common Card Game|Go Fish!]]"

* In one episode of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', there is a [[Bar Brawl]] and the Jukebox is used as a weapon.

* In one episode of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', there is a Bar Brawl and the Jukebox is used as a weapon.

{{quote|'''Patron One:''' Let's fight!

'''Patron Two:''' Them's fight'n words. }}