Single-Stroke Battle: Difference between revisions

* A non-lethal version of this occurs in ''[[Utawarerumono]]'' when Nawunga tests out Karula's skills in battle.

* ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' the anime was about to set up one of these between Kurogane and Seishiro when they are stopped at the last moment by Mokona. Just as well too because both characters had [[Plot Armor]] and neither could die, being that Kurogane is a main character in Tsubasa and [[Contractual Immortality|Seishiro's last battle is destined]] to be against {{spoiler|Subaru in ''X1999''}}.

* Ital wins most of his fights this way in ''Genesis Survivor Gaiarth''.

* Although [[This Is a Drill]] and not a sword, the way the Giga Drill Breaker from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' goes off - Gurren Lagann passes through the victim, swings its right arm back while retracting the drill, followed by the victim exploding - is stylistically identical to the archetypal [[Diagonal Cut]] Single-Stroke Battle.

** The duel between Afro and Kuma {{spoiler|aka Jinnosuke}} ends with one of these. {{spoiler|Just before the clash, Afro switches to a thrust, allowing him to fully utilize the greater length of his sword as well as strike faster than even the cybernetically-enhanced Kuma.}}

* In [[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]], Mizoguchi's Samurai Deck has a trap, ''Pause of the Certain Kill'', that turns battle between monsters into this. [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|It even has Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro in the illustration]].

* The second duel between Guts and Griffith of ''[[Berserk]]'' is carried out this way. Guts wins by breaking Griffith's sword with one strike.

* The climax of the final showdown between Spike and Vicious in ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' is one of these, with an additional [[Shout-Out]] to ''A Better Tomorrow II'' (Spike has Vicious' sword, Vicious has Spike's gun). {{spoiler|After both weapons are returned to their original owners, and the final attacks are made, both men fall, but Vicious goes down first, with Spike living just long enough to deliver his final line to the Red Dragons gathered before him: "Bang."}}

** Something worth noting: that episode was heavily based on a samurai legend.

* [[Kamui Den]]: Any fight involving Kamui's "kasumi-giri" is likely this. Also of note is Matsubayashi Kenpu's fight with a marauding duelist. {{spoiler|He severs both of the man's legs with a single draw and cut.}}

 

* In the opening scene of ''The Impostors'', we are introduced to two con-artists who fake an altercation in an outdoor diner, culminating with a knife fight. At the climax of the fight, they both rush each other, simultaneously cry out, and then one of them falls "dead" and the other runs off without paying his bill. In the next scene we see them argue over the fact that the wrong man "died".

* At the very end of ''[[Legion]]'', between the angels Michael and Gabriel.

 

== Literature ==

* [[Codex Alera]] has one of these {{spoiler|in the final clash between the Vord Queen and Tavi at the Princeps Memorial.}}

* The Iliad is an endless series of these - of the literally hundreds of duels, only a few take more than a stanza.

 

* Asuka / Abareblack and his brainwashed love interest Mahoro / Jannu do this in ''[[Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger]]'' (after they'd already nearly killed each other more than once). {{spoiler|The moment they run past each other becomes a a plot point - Mahoro uses it to touch their cheek-markings, which lets them communicate mentally. She uses this moment to tell him she's no longer brainwashed, and is going to be helping them from inside the enemy base.}}

* Happens near the end of ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive]]'', between the Black Ranger (Will) and his primary antagonist (as there were four enemy groups, each individual Ranger got one or more individual rivals). This was the alternate version, with the Black Ranger falling to one knee first, and the enemy going "Now that that's out of the way, time to go find the--[[You Are Already Dead|YEARGHH!]]" and [[Made of Explodium|violently exploding]].

* The ''[[Bushido Blade]]'' series may do this trope the best for video games. Any attack can be fatal, so while some battles involve extensive parrying or countering, others end with a single, perfectly placed stroke.

** This editor and his cousin used to accidentally do the same basic leap attack at the same time about one duel in five. See the trope description.

* The third mission of ''[[Vanguard Bandits]]'' features a duel between [[The Obi-Wan|Kamorge]] and [[Big Bad|Faulkner]] that ends this way. There is also a move called the Wind Strike, which essentially allows players to do this to enemies.

* ''[[God Hand]]'': The Daisy Cutter [[Limit Break|God Reel move]] looks like this. Gene blows the target into the air, slides past it, then punches his fists together, causing an explosion. {{spoiler|Azel kills off the Three Evil Stooges this way.}}

* This can happen in ''[[Halo]] 2'' if both players use the sword dash.

* The first trailer for ''[[Assassin's Creed]]: Brotherhood'' shows Ezio slashing at a horseman who goes past and stays on his horse for a while before falling off.

* A sword in ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', called the Half-Zatoichi, allows the player to one-hit kill another player who is also wielding this sword.

 

== Webcomics ==

* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' plays with this one. It's a single-stroke battle, all right... but only because the battle takes place on a small platform. The assailant falls over the edge into a deep crevasse below.

** In another instance, he slices past an enemy, and ''expects'' him to fall apart; but, [[Subverted Trope|instead]], the enemy disappears while his back's turned. So, naturally, he decides he must have sliced the poor guy's atoms to bits, making him disintegrate. [[Mind Screw|He also realizes that he must have missed.]]

* Used seriously in the main storyline of the comic [http://www.noneedforbushido.com/ No Need For Bushido] in the duel between Yorikiro and Ryoku(It is notable that they agree to sheathe their swords during a battle to invoke this), but subverted in the second video of ''No Need for Bushido: Squeaky's Paper-Cutout Theater'', where the camera perspective flashes back and forth repeatedly between Yorikiro and his opponent, seemingly to draw out the tension of the moment, only to have the camera pan out and show the two still far apart slowly ambling towards each other, meaning that they really ''have'' been taking that long to reach each other.

* This is indeed how Ninja Rick ''imagined'' his fight with [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Pat_Lee Pat Lee] went down in ''[[Shortpacked]]'', as noted in the page quote.

* Parodied in [[Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki]]:

{{quote|'''Hermod''': Repeat after me: Despite what magical girl anime has taught me, the monster does not go down with the first strike.}}

* Parodied in [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive/2457 this] Diesel Sweeties battle between [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|a toaster and a coffee machine]].

* How the fight between [[Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures|Daniel and Dark Pegasus was resolved]] in the "Warrior for Hire" arc.

* High-level kendo (say, 7-dan and above) is made of this. It's common to see opponents barely move for most of the battle, trying to get the precious few degrees, seconds and centimetres that would give them an advantage. Then, before you've realised what happened, they've passed each other and the judges have awarded a point.

* Replace swords with lances, and this trope is how medieval jousts worked. Even the subversions are the same.

* In Judo and Brazilian Jiujitsu the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih4LJ3e4Y2g flying armbar] can end matches in a single move.

* During the Bakumatsu, Ishin Shishi assassin Gensai Kawakami famously cut down Shōzan Sakuma ''in broad daylight'' in a single stroke.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fight Scene]]

[[Category:Combat Tropes]]

[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]

[[Category:Sniper Index]]