Kneel Before Zod: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|'''General Zod:''' "You will bow down before me, Jor-El. I swear it! No matter that it takes an eternity! ''You will bow down before me! Both you, and then one day, your heirs!''"|''[[Superman (film)|Superman]] The Movie''}}

 

Compare/Contrast [[Kneel Before Frodo]].

 

== Advertising ==

 

 

* ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]''

** The Digimon Kaiser threatens to kill Daisuke's friends unless he bows down and begs for their lives. Daisuke actually complies. And then he gives Daisuke a sadistic choice (choose one friend to be spared), leading the poor kid to attempt a heroic sacrifice/take the third option.

* ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' episode "Control Freak!". Jesse of Team Rocket puts on a golden mask that gives her control over Pokemon. It takes over her mind and makes her even more arrogant than normal. She calls herself Queen of the Pokemon and commands her "lowly subjects" (James and Meowth) to bow to her. After she demonstrates the mask's power, they do so.

* In ''[[Black Butler]]'' season 2 episode 6 Alois requests that Claude make Sebastian do this.

 

== Comic Books ==

{{quote|'''President:'''' Oh, God...

'''Zod:''' ''(correcting)'' '''''Zod.''''' }}

{{quote|'''Xerxes:''' Cruel Leonidas... [[What the Hell, Hero?|required you to stand]]. I ask '''[[Deal with the Devil|ONLY]]... that you [[Evil Sounds Deep|KNEEL]]!'''}}

** Leonidas [i]does[/i] kneel in the end; only so that he can get one last shot at Xerxes. He doesn't kill him, but he does make him bleed.

** Palpatine wanted this from Luke, but it didn't work out so well.

** Jabba The Hutt also states that Han and Chewbacca have the option of pathetically begging for their lives should they choose to exercise it. Han tells Jabba off while Luke confidently gives the gangster one last chance to be bought off by letting them go. Less than 5 minutes later, Jabba learns the hard way that he should have listened.

* ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'': "Now. You. Will. '''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abqAwKLpeqs=related KNEEL!]'''"

* Naturally, [[Monty Python]] have some fun with this in ''[[Life of Brian]]''.

{{quote|'''Centurion:''' Oh, and throw him the floor again, sir?

'''Pilate:''' Oh yes, fwow him to the fwooah, please!

''(Brian is already kneeling on the floor, so they pick him up and throw him back down again)'' }}

* ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]''

** The first thing psychopathic assassin Red Grant does to James Bond when he captures him in ''[[From Russia with Love]]'':

[...]

'''Grant:''' The first one won't kill you. Not the second. Not even the third. Not till you crawl over here and you '''kiss my foot'''. }}

{{quote|'''Blush:''' Now ''write this''. The greatest rapture of my life was afforded to me on a boat off Nassau by ''Fatima Blush''.}}

** It happens in the book version of ''The Man with the Golden Gun" -- or at least, it's a crime Bond charges Scaramanga with having committed in the past.

'''The Nome King:''' ''Lower.''

''(Mombi lowers herself until she's practically lying on the floor)''

''(Mombi flinches as she tries and fails to lower herself further, while the Nome King bellows with laughter)'' }}

* In ''[[The Last Dragon]]'', Sho-Nuff tells Leroy to bend down and kiss his Converses. Slightly subverted when Sho-Nuff then proceeds to kick Leroy in the face.

* Defied in ''[[The Ten Commandments]]'', the Charleton Heston one. Ramses tells Moses to command the conquered Ethiopians to kneel before Pharoah, but Moses informs him that he's brought the Ethiopians in friendship and sort of tells Ramses to mind his own business.

{{quote|"Command what you have conquered, my brother."}}

** During the subsequent fight in Stuttgart, he even attempts to forcefully make Captain America bow before him, but to no avail.

 

{{quote|'''Ba'alzamon:''' Kneel! Kneel, and acknowledge me your master! In the end, you will. You will be my creature, or you will die.}}

* [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]

** In ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]'', Joruus C'Baoth has foreseen that Mara Jade will kneel before him. {{spoiler|She does, in order to [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|strike him dead]].}}

** And in ''[[Star Wars Legacy]]'', Darth Krayt [[Mate or Die|forces Cade to sleep with Talon]].

* Randall Flagg demands Glen Bateman kneel to him near the end of ''[[The Stand]]''. Bateman's response? {{spoiler|Laughter. Of course, he gets killed, but it's a serious break to Flagg's aura of invulnerability.}}

 

** The later Zod, a younger version preserved as sort of a backup, does this with his soldiers frequently in a more ceremonial manner.

** Inverted in the Season 9 episode "Pandora". {{spoiler|When Clark finally reveals himself to the recently restored Kandorians, Major Zod says their savior has come and commands his troops to "Kneel before Kal-El".}}

** Season 9's Major Zod had at least one time saying "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD" pretty much every single episode he was in. It should me mentioned however that 'Major' Zod took the Zod you know and love and made him [[Up to Eleven|more awesome...]]

** Ironically enough, Lois pulls a "Kneel Before Zod" moment in the season 10 episode "Harvest". When Clark, weakened by Blue Kryptonite, is buried alive by a rural community who plan to sacrifice Lois in a ritual to ensure a bountiful harvest, he manages to regain enough of his strength to escape his grave and rescue Lois. When the villagers see Clark survive gasoline burns that would have killed a normal man instantly, Lois [[Large Ham|goes full-on Charlton Heston on them]], declaring that Clark has been sent by God to punish the villagers [[Pulp Fiction|"with great vengeance and furious anger"]], thus forcing the Blue-K enhanced villagers to back away long enough for Clark and Lois to make their escape. As they watch Clark speed off with Lois, the townsfolk all kneel.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]''

{{quote|'''Fenric:''' The choice is yours, Time Lord. I shall kill you anyway, but if you would like the girl to live... kneel before me.

'''Ace:''' I believe in you, Professor.

'''Fenric:''' Kneel if you want the girl to live!

'''Seventh Doctor:''' ... {{spoiler|Kill her.}} }}

** "KNEEL! KNEEL BEFORE THE MIGHT OF SUTEKH!"

** Borusa uses the mind-power enhancing Coronet of Rassilon to force the Fifth Doctor to kneel before him in "The Five Doctors".

* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''

** Played with in the episode "Wishful Thinking", where a small child who gains super-strength yells "Kneel before Todd!" when toying with teenagers who used to bully him.

* In ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'', on hearing that a team of strong contenders will not feature in the University's Physics Bowl Tournament, Leonard invokes this trope.

* Parodied in an episode of ''[[Mock the Week]]'', discussing the recent Church of [[wikipedia:General Synod of the Church of England|England Synod]]:

{{quote|'''Frankie Boyle:''' Wasn't General Synod the villain in ''Superman II''? "'''Kneel before Synod!'''"}}

* ''[[Mortal Kombat: Conquest|Mortal Kombat Conquest]]'': From Shao Kahn to Raiden in the series finale episode:

* The 1960's ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' series episode "The Spell of Tut". King Tut does this to Robin the Boy Wonder.

* In an episode of ''[[Charmed]]'', the valkyries of Norse legend arrive in San Francisco. Then, they meet a perverted biker.

 

== Radio ==

'''Kremmen:''' I think I'll enter on my knees. }}

 

 

== Video Games ==

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

** An NPC for the An'Quiraj world event was called "General Zog". If a player did the "/kneel" emote to him, he would reply with "General Zog acknowledges your submission with a glance."

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]''

** Played with in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'': Saix simply asks Sora to show just how important Kairi is to him. Sora, who [[Ain't Too Proud to Beg]], kneels of his own volition.

** Seifer's [[Catch Phrase]] for the game: "KNEEL LOSER!"

* Happened on ''[[Mitadake High]]''. They said no. Badguy shot them in the face.

{{quote|"The Imperial war machine has been unleashed. Do not struggle against what is inevitable. All who stand in the way of our divine destiny will be swept away by the march of history. You will bow before us, or you will cease to exist."}}

* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', {{spoiler|the protagonist gets the option to demand people to bow down to him once it is revealed that he was the former Big Bad.}}

* ''[[Guild Wars]] Factions'' has shiro doing this to some spirits he has captured.

* In the fight against {{spoiler|Odin}} in ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'', you can avoid instant death from his ultimate attack by using one of two commands that cause your character to kneel. There's still a chance that you will die from the damage done, but you at least reduce the chance.

** "''Sit'', {{spoiler|would you kindly.}}"

** In the ''Bioshock II'' opening, Sofia Lamb casually tells Subject Delta to "Kneel, please." Unfortunately for Delta, the [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] Lamb has already put him under [[Compelling Voice|Hypnosis]]. [[Moral Event Horizon|After he kneels, she hands him a pistol]] [[Psychic-Assisted Suicide|and commands him to put it against his head]]. '''"Fire."'''

* In ''[[Blood]]'', two of the lines Chernobog says when you fight him are ''"Bow down to me"'' and ''"Kneel before me"''.

* Shao Kahn of ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' is fond of this trope, being the Emperor of Outworld and all. "Bow to me!"

{{quote|'''Dearche:''' A lowly fragment like you dares to raise your hand against your lord? Such arrogance! KNEEL BEFORE ME!}}

 

* ''[[Darths and Droids]]'': [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0139.html "Cyborgs under my command, Kneel before Valorum!"] It is [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0206.html later] revealed that the GM [[Actor Allusion|planned to name Valorum "Zod"]].

* ''[[Girl Genius]]''. The Sturmvoraus family test their [[Compelling Voice]] by ordering Lady Vrin to kneel. Earlier they'd realised that Agatha Heterodyne had the voice when she walked on stage (playing [[Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter]] Lucrezia Mongfish) and commanded "KNEEL YOU MISERABLE MINION!" whereupon the entire audience instantly dropped to their knees.

* ''[[Homestuck]]'': {{spoiler|[[Monster Clown|Gamzee]] demands that [[Genius Bruiser|Equius]] kneel before him, playing on Equius's strong belief in/fetish for [[Fantastic Racism|submission to his superiors]]. Equius does indeed kneel after having [[Death by Irony|an arrow fired through his knee, and is promptly strangulated to death]]. What drives the scene into outright horror is that it's also heavily implied that Equius is ''[[Too Kinky to Torture|getting off on his own murder]]''.}}

* ''[[Pibgorn]]'': "[http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/2011/04/22/ Now, in acknowledgement of my supremacy, prostrate yourself before me.]"

{{quote|'''Fructose Riboflavin:''' Bow before your new master, whelp!

'''Bob:''' ''(sitting in cramped spaceship cockpit)'' Bow? I barely have room to scratch my nose in here. }}

 

== Web Original ==

== Western Animation ==

* Spoofed in ''[[Robot Chicken]]''. "Lay down on your backs before Zod! Now, using your lower abdominals, raise your legs and hold on a five-count before Zod!" [http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=6219080d1b72a381a10b08ba60195a03 See here.]

** Mojo Jojo tries to extort this out of Blossom by dangling a [[Bound and Gagged]] [[Dude in Distress|Professor]] over a [[Lava Pit]].

* In ''[[The Batman]]'', Lex Luthor forces Superman to do this by drugging him with a combination of [[Kryptonite Factor|Kryptonite]] dust and Poison Ivy's mind-control pollen.

** "Kneel Before Grodd!" Gorilla Grodd travels forward in time to take over the Ape Army and beat the Tiger Army. He succeeds, and has the Tiger leader "Great Caesar" bow to him; complete with [[Agony Beam]].

** Fox also tries to make Bronze Tiger kneel before him at the end of "Return of the Fearsome Fangs!", and Bronze Tiger pretends to comply so he could attack Fox while his guard was down.

** Degaton does it to Batman and the Justice Society in "The Golden Age of Justice!".

* Has happened on ''[[Veggie Tales]]'' a few times, in the dramatizations of the above-mentioned stories from [[The Bible|The Book of Daniel]]. Mr. Nezzer even wrote [[Villain Song|a song]] that people can sing as they bow to his giant chocolate rabbit idol. Yeah, it's a weird show.

** Vertigo in the two-parter "Reunion", when using her powers on [[Wolverine]]:

{{quote|'''Vertigo:''' On your knees!

'''Vertigo:''' Surrender to Vertigo.

'''Wolverine:''' [[Defiant to the End|Never!]] }}

{{quote|'''Vertigo:''' Kneel. Become one of the master's slaves. They cannot help you.}}

* The episode "Betrothed" of ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' had Blackfire telling Starfire: "That's right. Bow down before your Grand Ruler!" Cue Starfire retaliating with "You may be the ruler of this planet, but you are ''not'' the ruler of ME!"

* The ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die" has the eponymous Scott force Cartman to get down on his knees, beg him for his money back, and act like a "little piggy".

* In ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', Tarakudo: King of the Shadowkhan does this often. Captain Black once responded with, "The only king I bow to is [[Elvis Presley]], and I don't see you wearing blue suede shoes."

 

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{{reflist}}

[[Category:Evil Gloating]]