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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Give it up, Me-mow! [[Lampshade Hanging|You're only making]] [[Rule of Cool|my face look cooler!]]"''|'''Finn''', ''[[
Originally a Dueling Scar was a scar on the face, usually on the left cheek, resulting from being cut by a sword in a duel. They're part of the stock uniform for a sinister Nazi or obsessive, pickelhaube-wearing Prussian and have become a fairly common accessory for any sinister military man regardless of origin.
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In one of these bouts (called a ''Mensur'') two students stand a fixed distance from one another wearing armor that covers everything but their cheeks, forehead and lips and attempt to slash at the exposed skin of their opponent. There are no points, you lose by flinching or dodging and win by getting sliced in the face. The scar that results is the goal of this practice, the bigger the better! Students would even go so far as to [[Worst Aid|badly sew the edges together]] or even [[Squick|sew horsehairs into the wound]] to ensure a big, visible scar. The resulting scar is a ''Schmiss'' or Dueling Scar. Until [[World War II]] this was seen locally as a [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|Good Scar]] as it showed that the wearer was educated and brave.
If that's all there was to it this wouldn't be a trope, it would be mentioned in [[
To qualify for this trope, the scar needs to be on the face and used to make a character look more militarized and [[Badass]]. The scar need not necessarily be from a sword or an actual duel, although writers should get extra credit if they know the origin of the trope.
[[YMMV]] (because of the historical baggage) on whether these are [[Cool Scars]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* The female version of Prussia in ''[[
* In ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'', Kenshin got half of his iconic scar in a "duel" to the death (it was really more of a [[Curb Stomp Battle]], but the man who gave him the scar had such a will to live that he managed to leave his mark).
== Comic Books ==
* In the [[Marvel Universe]], [[Nazi Nobleman]] and leader of HYDRA baron Wolgang von Strucker has a massive one covering quite a bit of his head.
* Captain Marvel, Jr.'s archenemy Captain Nazi bears one such scar marring his otherwise handsome face. He's bitter about it because he's supposed to represent the Aryan ideal but he has an obvious flaw.
== Film ==
* Theodor Kretschmar-Schuldorff from ''[[wikipedia:The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp|The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]''
* ''[[The Princess Bride]]'': Inigo Montoya has two scars down his cheeks, which is understandable, given his career as a swordfighter. They are later revealed to be a [[Mark of Shame|humiliation]] inflicted upon him at the age of eleven after the first time he tried to avenge his father's murder by Count Rugen.
* ''[[
* In ''[[Casablanca]]'' Victor has a scar that looks more like it came from a mensur than anything else. Even though he is Czech not German. However, according to the other Wiki it was popular in Eastern Europe. It is not ''said'' he was in a dueling fraterinity. It just looks like he was.
== Literature ==
* In the [[Flashman]] novel ''Royal Flash'', which is a pastiche of ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda]]'', Flashman has to impersonate a German prince, and since the prince had one of those dueling scars, Flashman has to be given a scar in the same place.
* ''[[Glory Road (
* ''[[The Ship Who...|The City Who Fought]]'' by [[Anne McCaffrey]] and [[S.M. Stirling]]. The main character is a [[Wetware CPU]] whose onscreen avatar has a dueling scar because he thinks it's cool. Only one other character recognises it.
* ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]'': Commander, later Captain Mueller. Bonus points for actually being shown swordfighting recreationally in the holodeck.
* According to a tie-in storybook based on ''[[The Lion King]]'', [[Big Bad|Scar]] actually got his um, scar in a fight against a buffalo while complaining about why his parents liked his older brother Mufasa more than him. When Scar and Mufasa's parents find out that Scar now has a scar on his face, they reject him and make Mufasa the future heir to the throne, fueling his hatred.
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'': General Burkhalter has a dueling scar. Leon Askin, who played General Burkhalter actually got the scar while being beaten by members of the SS for being Jewish.
* ''[[
== Music ==
* Vocal jazz group The Manhattan Transfer is known for their cover of the song "The Boy From New York City" (originally by 60's doo-wop group The Ad-Libs). The only lyrical change from the original version swaps out the line "You ought to come and see / His pretty bar / And his brand-new car," for "You ought to come and see / '''His dueling scar''' / And his brand-new car."
== Video Games ==
* In ''[[
* The main character Squall in ''[[
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Minion Comics]]'' the main villain, Von Gernsbach, has a stereotypical German dueling scar covered partially by a monocle.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[
* General Skarr of ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* [[Kim Possible|Dr. Drakken]] has one under his left eye. Like the blue skin, it is never explained why.
== Real Life ==
* [[wikipedia:Otto Skorzeny|Otto Skorzeny]] shows off some dueling scars, and why most of the world views these as [[Good Scars, Evil Scars|evil scars]].
* [[
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Scar Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Dueling Scar]]
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