Single-Stroke Battle: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:cit_kara_no_kyoukai_-_Shiki_-_your_zombie_asplode.jpg|link=Kara noKarano Kyoukai|frame|''Shwing!'' And the [[Ludicrous Gibs|gibs]] paint a lovely picture in the moonlight.]]
 
{{quote|''"Now, Superstar Funana, we will retreat to opposite ends of the arena. We will run at each other. We will pass the other in mid-air. And fifteen seconds later, you will burst into blood."''|'''Rick''', ''[[Shortpacked (Webcomic)|Shortpacked]]''}}
 
Two enemies of nearly equal skill meet, about twenty yards apart. They may be [[Ninja]] or [[Samurai]]. They observe each other from a distance. The aspect ratio is widescreen, letterboxed if the show is shot in 4:3. They stand at opposite ends of a very wide, low-angle shot.
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Contains some [[Truth in Television]], even if embellished. Real swordfights often take only a few or even a fraction of a second (constrast this with [[Flynning]]).
 
Swordplay equivalent to [[Showdown At High Noon]]. One use of the [[Flash Step]]. Probably implies a [[One-Hit Kill]]. If the battle is one sided and the winner uses a flash step, then there is a good chance that the loser will preform a [[Snap to Thethe Side]] before realizing that they've just been cut in two.
 
{{examples}}
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* [[Lone Wolf and Cub]]. Regularly.
* ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' does this once in the battle between Selvaria and {{spoiler|Alicia}}. Despite the fact that Selvaria was winning for most of the battle.
* Tenchi and Kagato's final clash in ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]''. {{spoiler|They actually both get hit. But Tenchi's sword somehow cancels Kagato's normal regenerative powers, and his armor blocks Kagato's blade.}}
** {{spoiler|They were both bisected. Tenshi's newfound powers allowed him to regenerate instantly.}}
*** {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment of Funny|And the ship was cut in half also]].}}
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** This trope is (ab)used in Trust and Betrayal OVA, where Kenshin was still willing to kill.
* ''[[Outlaw Star]]'' does this frequently, although usually after a long battle. Subverted in episode five when Aisha doesn't collapse as expected, shattering the blade instead, because it turns out she is [[Made of Iron]]
* This is done at least twice in the original ''[[DragonballDragon Ball]]'', though with fists and feet instead of swords. First, Goku faces off barehanded against Yamcha's "Wolf Fang Fist." Later, capping off his match against Jackie Chun at the World Martial Arts Tournament (after a series of ridiculous events have already transpired such as blowing up the moon) Goku has a single stroke jump-kick faceoff with Chun. {{spoiler|And loses to Chun, who is really Master Roshi in disguise, because Roshi's legs are longer.}}
** Parodied mercilessly earlier in the same Tenka Ichi Budokai, during Jackie Chun and Krillin's match. They rush each other, there's a flash of action too fast for the eye to follow, and they land... and Krillin collapses. But since the audience (and the announcer) missed it, they pantomime the entire event all over again, for the audience's benefit, with running commentary on the dozens of techniques and attacks they used in that split-second rush.
** Actually played straight in one instance. Yajirobe defeats Cymbal with one stroke of his sword.
* ''[[Bleach]]'' plays with this. Few battles are truly of this trope in their entirety but will end this way. After [[Inaction Sequence|a few episodes of monologuing]], taunts, releasing ''zanpakuto'' and [[Explaining Your Power to Thethe Enemy|explaining their abilities]], [[Flash Back|flashbacks]], [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Superpowered Evil Sides]], random philosophy, and building up one's [[Battle Aura]], both parties agree to end the fight in a single strike. At that point, this trope gets played straight.
** Ichigo versus Kenpachi. Ichigo is the first to fall (with an intact sword), believing he's lost. Then Kenpachi confirms Ichigo won and collapses next to him, his sword being revealed as shattered. Confirmed in the [[All There in the Manual|Official Bootleg]] that Kenpachi did indeed lose the fight.
** Ichigo versus Byakuya. They agree that they have no strength left to prolong the fight so decide to end it in a single strike. Ichigo staggers, blood flowing everywhere as he desperately tries to prop himself up with his sword to avoid falling over. Then Byakuya staggers (but doesn't fall), blood spurts and he opens his hand, revealing his sword had shattered. He graciously concedes defeat to Ichigo on those grounds.
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* In ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', Hiei and Shigure {{spoiler|fight to the death for Mukuro's edification. Both deal out lethal wounds too quickly to spot, and have a keel-over moment afterwards. Of course, Mukuro revives them both, and even ends up falling in love (sorta) with Hiei.}}
** Hiei also pulled this trope out much earlier, in the battle against Seiryuu of the Four Saint Beasts (in the manga, anyway; the anime extended the fight by a few minutes, though Seiryuu still went down faster than the other three beasts).
* A non-sword version of this trope occurs in the Battle Frontier season of ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'': at the end of the battle between Charizard and {{spoiler|Articuno}}, both Pokémon hit each other with one last attack. {{spoiler|Charizard falls to the ground, while Articuno lands seemingly unharmed. The referee begins to declare Articuno the winner, but Charizard manages to struggle back to his feet. Then Articuno suddenly collapses.}}
** In an earlier episode, Team Rocket's Meowth has a Single Stroke Battle with a Persian involving an incredibly long and drawn out beat.
** Parodied in a duel between an Electabuzz and Scyther. After a lengthy buildup, the two charge at each other, the action freezes at the point of contact... and both fall, having run headfirst into each other.
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* [[Hellsing]] did this in a scene decidedly not drawn from the manga during the battle between Alucard and Anderson. Subverted in that Alucard doesn't actually win the showdown, [[Boring Invincible Hero|but that hardly matters]].
* Setsuna in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' suggested she and Negi do this to finish their match in the [[Tournament Arc]] seeing as they only had 15 seconds left in the match.
* in ''[[Fate Stay Night|Fate/stay night]]'' Saber and Assassin end their fight with a Single Stroke Battle.
* In [[Digimon Adventure]] 01, Wargreymon has one of these with Mugendramon(Machinedramon). Wargreymon charges at Mugendramon who just makes a dismissing sound and raises his metal claw. They strike simultaneously, and end up standing back to back for a second, then Wargreymon reverts back to Koromon and a cut appears on his face. Mugendramon looks back and gloats, but Koromon says he won't lose because all his friends are backing him up. The camera cycles through all of said friends, and ''then'' Mugendramon falls to pieces while groaning in disbelief. [[Single-Stroke Battle]] powered by [[The Power of Friendship]]
** Alternatively:
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* In the 22nd episode of ''[[Macross Frontier]]'', Alto and {{spoiler|Ozma}} ''somehow'' manage to pull this off, even though both are flying [[Humongous Mecha]] that [[Beam Spam|fire energy beams]]. They charge at each other in their respective space-planes, and fire at each other as they barely avoid collision, and follow this trope closely by only showing the results a few seconds afterwards. {{spoiler|They both suffer damage, though only Alto is crippled.}}
* Zoids, of all things, does this between the Liger Zero and the Berserk Fury in their first fight. They jump at each other clash bright light we can't see... the Liger lands on its gut with a noticeable cut on its shoulder but quickly gets back up. The Fury lands on its feet with a cut across its chest, both turn around, ready for round two.
* ''[[Claymore]]'''s cast of [[Hot Chick Withwith a Sword|hot chicks with swords]] pull these off on a regular basis. Best example? When confronted by an execution squad of six Claymores, #1 ranked Teresa ''[[Badass|takes them all out at once]]'' this way.
* In the ''[[Soul Eater]]'' anime: {{spoiler|the third and final showdown between Black☆Star and Mifune}} ends like this.
* The new [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] anime has Fuhrer King Bradley pull of a pair of these in the first few episodes, apparently slicing up enemies too quickly to be seen by the viewer.
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* 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''}}.
* ''[[Ginga Nagareboshi Gin|Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin]]'' and all it's sequals are known to do this, in tune with the idea that ''The dogs are like Samurai. [http://www.onemanga.com/Ginga_-_Nagareboshi_Gin/16/03/ For example.]
* 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 climax of the final battle between Heero and Zechs in ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' is one of these... ''in giant robots with light sabers!!!''
* The fight between ''[[Afro Samurai (Anime)|Afro Samurai]]'''s father and Justice ends with one of these coupled with a [[Diagonal Cut]]... with the winner using a ''revolver''. {{spoiler|It is not until the last episode that we learn Justice has a hidden third arm with a blade.}}
** 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! 5 Ds5D'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]].
* Much of Goemon's battles from ''[[Lupin the Third]]'' are like this. One of the best examples is in the movie ''[[Main/Mystery/Of Mamo/Recap|The Secret of Mamo]]'' where he faces off against Mamo's lead henchman Flinch; when they land Goemon has a deep cut on his arm and a broken sword-tip. Flinch laughs at him only for his head to separate into three pieces -- the broken sword was still plenty sharp.
* The second duel between Guts and Griffith of ''[[Berserk]]'' is carried out this way. Guts wins by breaking Griffith's sword with one strike.
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** Something worth noting: that episode was heavily based on a samurai legend.
* ''[[Basilisk]]'' has an interesting variation: {{spoiler|Yakushiji Tenzen gets to be on both the receiving and giving end of this trope... and ''in that order!'' First Jimushi Juubei pierces Tenzen's cheast with his [[Hidden Weapons|hidden blade]], killing him. Then Tenzen [[Back From the Dead|comes back]] and [[Half the Man He Used To Be|cuts Juubei in half]] with his katana.}}
* [[Kamui Den (Manga)|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.}}
 
== Comic Books ==
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* The last issue of [[Batman|Robin's]] solo title has Tim Drake being challenged to a duel to the death by his teacher, Lady Shiva. They meet, and have what looks like one of these, after which Tim is stumbling, with three broken ribs, while Shiva is standing triumphantly. {{spoiler|Then, Shiva collapses, and Tim explains that he slipped her a paralytic poison, activated by a heightened heart beat, ''before she even made the challenge''.}}
* The duel between [[Scott Pilgrim]] and Roxanne is a direct [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'', ending with a [[Diagonal Cut]].
* The final battle between Leonardo and the resurrected {{spoiler|Shredder}} ends this way in the first volume of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage (Comic Book)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage]]''.
 
 
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* The last fight in Kurosawa's ''[[Sanjuro]]''.
* ''Shogun's Samurai'' features a [[Cool Old Guy]] vs. [[Retired Badass]] SSB that dramatically uses a stylistic conjuction of [[Diagonal Cut]].
* Most of the fights in ''[[Elektra (Filmfilm)|Elektra]]'' amounted to this.
* The final battle of ''Azumi'': {{spoiler|Azumi and the Big Bad do this after a long swordfight. After the unseen swordstrike, both fighters are standing with their backs to each other, filmed from different angles. A small trail of blood starts to encircle the Big Bad's neck, he tries to turn while jumping and he lands.....with his head pointing the wrong way. The decapitation takes full effect only as he collapses.}}
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' fan film ''Duality'' uses this quite nicely when {{spoiler|the two Sith wannabes simultaneously kill each other, leaving the Emperor to grieve at the lost opportunity.}}
* Arguably, ''[[The Matrix]] Reloaded'' has one....in the form of Morpheus vs. an SUV. As Trinity and the Keymaker make their getaway, the Twins try to run Morpheus down. He rolls to the side at the last minute, and uses his [[Katanas Are Just Better|katana]] to slice through one of their tires as they pass him. The SUV starts to flip over, setting up Morpheus's ''next'' move - emptying his gun into the tank.
* While it was led up to with a long choreographed battle, all that was was a long lead up to one of these between [[Highlander (Film)|Connor MacLeod and the Kurgan]] to end it all.
* In the beginning of ''[[Troy]]'', Brad Pitt as Achilles does this to an enemy army's champion, who didn't even have time to react because Achilles strolled up to him so casually.
{{quote| "Is there no one else? ''Is there no one else?''"}}
* ''[[Zatoichi]]''. The duel on the beach between Zatoichi and Hattori Gennosuke probably counts for this, with bonus points for having the two duellists' badassery played up throughout the film, so it's clear that the fight between them will be epic. They even have a sequence of Hattori imagining how the fight will go, and altering his stance and grip to give himself a chance. It isn't enough.
** In the 1964 ''Adventures of Zatoichi'', the final duel takes place at night in the snow and ends with them running at each other, swinging, continueing past one another and then pausing. Zatoichi's opponent starts to drip blood into the snow, concedes defeat, and falls dead.
* Maximus in [[Gladiator (Filmfilm)|Gladiator]] does this against a soldier on a horse. It even includes Maximus falling to his knees from the attack before the soldier falls off, dead.
* Nameless and Long Sky engage in this after first playing out a battle in their minds in [[Hero (Filmfilm)|Hero]].
* Hanzo, a Yakuza gangster and one of the Predators do this in [[Predator|Predators]]. {{spoiler|Both die, but [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|the Predator falls first]].}}
* 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".
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== Literature ==
* Played seriously in David Weber's ''Flag in Exile'', where [[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]] has to face a traitorous nobleman in a [[Right Makes Might|Trial By Combat]]. She took a second stroke, swinging back the other way from her initial stroke, but the first would've been fatal by itself without the second one decapitating her opponent.
* The final battle in [[Harry Potter]] and the Deathly Hallows is a magical variant of this trope. {{spoiler|Harry and Voldemort circle each other. Harry explains that the horcruxes are gone, Voldemort is mortal, and he's doomed to lose the fight ahead. Harry's words lay out how hopeless the situation is and offer Voldemort a chance at salvation. Voldemort scoffs at the offer, the two each cast a single spell, Voldemort's wand flies from his hand, lands in Harry's, and Voldemort drops dead on the floor.}}
* [[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.
* The fight between [[Battle Butler|Willikins]] and [[Psycho for Hire|Stratford]] near the end of ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Snuff|Snuff]]''. Willikins doesn't even bother to do the runup.
 
 
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== Video Games ==
* The Explorer in ''[[Age of Empires III (Video Game)|Age of Empires III]]'' is always given 2 or 3 special attacks that often end in a single stroke battle
* Baiken's Instant Kill from ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' is a classic Single Stroke Battle, concealed by a paper screen. (After the beat, there's a splash of blood onto said screen as the blow takes effect.)
* Sora in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]] II'' can initiate a reaction command when fighting a Samurai Nobodies. When pressed, everything else on the screen freezes as Sora and the samurai take stance. There are even cherry blossoms fluttering over their heads. After about 2 or 3 seconds, the words "The End" appear in one of your (now empty) command boxes. You have to get to and click on "The End" in time to win the face-off. Regardless of who wins or loses, the two opponents suddenly strike each other, the screen goes white for a second, and the victor is shown behind the victim with their weapon drawn as the opponent recoils with pain.
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* The opening to the NES game ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' features such a scene. It plays out almost exactly as the scene described in the main article.
** Its arcade predecessor, featuring Ryu versus one of the hockey-mask [[Mook|Mooks]]. The Continue screen is just as dramatic.
* Capcom's cutesy arcade fighting game''[[Street Fighter|Super Gem Fighter]] [[Super-Deformed|Mini-Mix]]'' features the ninja Ibuki from ''[[Street Fighter III (Video Game)|Street Fighter III]]''. One of her Supers in this game was to dash at the enemy (all kitted out for it, too!): contact results in a single stroke that slices the enemy into tiny cubes (it's all very cartoonish).
* Parodied in the ''Samurai [[Kirby]]'' minigame where Kirby and his opponent [[Cosplay|dress up]] as samurai and attack each other with [[Improbable Weapon User|silly weapons]] such as paper fans and frying pans.
** Except for Meta Knight, who you attack with your sword. He's damn near impossible to beat, as well.
*** If you do manage to beat him, his mask gets [[Defeat Byby Modesty|cut in half]].
** The minigame was originally a western gunslinger duel, where the guns that Kirby fire get increasingly ridiculous.
* A version of this appears in ''[[Soul Series|Soulcalibur]] III'', just before the penultimate battle in story mode (regardless of which character is played or the story path). Siegfried and Nightmare square off in the cutscene, swing their swords simultaneously, there's a one-second beat, then one of them falls over. Which one survives to fight the player depends on which character you are playing at the time: good characters fight Nightmare, evil ones fight Siegfried. If you have chosen either of those characters, you simply fight the other.
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** Also, playing vs matches with health set to 0% can do this, handy for farming the vs match total count.
* In the awesome manga adaptation of ''[[Mega Man X|Rockman X2]]'', X is challenged to a duel by Flame Stag, who previously lost a duel and is itching for revenge. Stag, having received an upgrade from the [[Big Bad]], and X, who has been blinded, rush past each other in a dormant volcano. X is then shown bleeding (oil?), while Stag is completely unharmed. X then crumples to the ground. Of course, {{spoiler|there's no way X is going to lose here, and Stag suddenly bursts into flames, due to some crazy close-range tampering by X earlier when passing by. The Irony is that had Stag not been upgraded, he might have been able to contain the damage.}}
* The [[PSPlay Station 2]] game ''[[Shinobi]]'' carries this to its logical conclusion: upon defeating an opponent, a timer would start to count down at the bottom of the screen, and each time another opponent was defeated the timer would start over. Meanwhile, the protagonists magical vampiric katana would glow, with the glow intensifying with each successive kill, and the damage inflicted by an attack also increasing. When all goes well, every enemy in an area is killed within the fairly limited time available, at which point the camera flashes to each defeated enemy in turn before returning to the protagonist (in a suitably cocky victory pose, sword sheathed), at which point every enemy would simultaneously slide apart. Also, several boss fights are effectively impossible without the extra damage potential that comes from killing six monsters in seven seconds.
* The Odin summon from various ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games would randomly kill all on-screen enemies (or would simply deal a good chunk of damage to a single foe). The ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kma-7vYJ43Y version] follows the trope to a T (except for Odin being mounted). Appropriately, {{spoiler|Odin's unexpected death in that game at the hands of Seifer came in the form of a one-stroke battle as well.}}
** To put that last part in perspective, {{spoiler|Seifer [[Counter Attack|counters]] Odin's Zantetsuken with a move (judging by the kanji shown afterward) called the "Zantetsuken Reverse". It only involves Seifer ''raising his free hand''. That's right. ''[[The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort]] was used to enact a Single Stroke Battle.'' Luckily for the player, this cutscene leads to a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment from [[Final Fantasy V|Gilgamesh]], who shows up several turns later to one-shot Seifer with some [[Razor Wind]] and then joins the party as a semi-Guardian Force replacement for Odin.}}
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** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has a "Flash" command obtainable by increasing the level of the "Slash-All" materia. Flash instantly kills all enemies...[[Useless Useful Spell|but only if "Death" attacks are allowed by them]].
** The Yojimbo summon in ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' has the special move ''zanmato'', which follows the trope exactly and cleaves pretty much any in-game enemy in half, as a non-standard enemy death scene to boot.
** In ''[[Crisis Core]]: [[Final Fantasy VII]]'', one of Zack's memories of Sephiroth triggered by the DMW involves him doing this to a monster. Of course, it's [[Cutscene Power to Thethe Max]].
** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' has a variation. In an early cutscene, we are shown two knights fighting. One rushes at the other, sword raised for a downward strike, but the other merely steps out of the way before striking.
** The final ability of the Samurai in ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]]'', Iainuki, attempts to kill off all enemies when used, after a long charge time. The catch? It doesn't always hit, and undead enemies get back up with full health.
* Similarly, in ''[[Breath of Fire]] 2'', Jean's "Chop" wiped out all enemies.
* Vergil of ''[[Devil May Cry]] 3'' has this as a special attack - his "Rapid Slash" move consists of charging straight ahead and drawing his katana. Half a second later, anything that was in his path gets cut to pieces.
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* In ''[[Tekken]] 3'', Yoshimitsu's move "Yoshimitsu Blade" is a nasty two-handed whack in the stomach with the hilt of his energy sword. However, if the target happens to be running at full pace towards you, Yoshi quickly turns the sword upwards at the end of the move and runs the poor sap through, dealing heavy damage.
** ''[[Tekken]] Tag Tournament'': the ending cutscenes for Yoshimitsu and Kunimitsu begin the same way, with them engaging in this. {{spoiler|Whoever the player used wins against the other.}}
** Also happens in the ending cutscenes of ''Tekken 5'' for Anna and Nina, although in this case, it was for a movie shoot. If it's Anna's ending, she (the victor) fakes her defeat against the script (unlike Nina's ending). It does pay off for Anna, though, as the blow had the unintentional effect of [[Clothing Damage|causing a wardrobe malfunction for Nina]], treating [[Distracted Byby the Sexy|the film crew]] ([[Male Gaze|and the player]]) a peak at [[Defeat Byby Modesty|an embarrassed Nina hastily trying to cover herself]] as a [[Sexophone]] plays in the background. Anna gets a chuckle out of her sister's predicament.
* In the ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' games, the player has the ability to break their POW gauge in order to allow an Issen attack, which effectively describes this trope, but it's generally seen as a cheap attack. Issen will do more damage to the enemy the less damage your character has, and will do almost a 3/4 of the maximum health when only a sliver of health is left for your character. If both characters use Issen, the battle will usually end in a draw.
** One of the ''[[Samurai Shodown]] 64'' games resolved draws using this trope. Also one of Ukyo Tachibana's desperation attacks from that era was an ''issen''-like attack. Genjuro also can use it in one of the crossover games he appears in.
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* ''[http://www.e4.com/game/straw-hat-samurai/play.e4 Straw Hat Samurai]'' is a game based on this trope.
* 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 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'', called the Half-Zatoichi, allows the player to one-hit kill another player who is also wielding this sword.
* In [[Dragon Quest|Dragon Quest 9]] the move 'Blind Man's Biff' has an animation which looks rather like this. Although, as it strikes a random opponent, it's not going to allow for a Single Stroke battle unless it's against a single opponent you're assured of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44zE8d97yZE OHKO-ing].
 
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== Webcomics ==
* The ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' cartoon ''[http://www.homestarrunner.com/underconstruction.html Under Construction]'' parodies this trope, with the anime-inspired Stinkoman battling "Stickly Man," a shovel-wielding animated GIF, in a Single Stroke Battle that's clearly an [[Homage]] to ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]''.
* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Webcomic)|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.]]
* Kobayashi the Discount Ninja from ''[[Kid Radd]]'' tries to use this several times. All attempts end badly for him. It's also used in the [[Fourth Wall]] Week episode "[http://home.att.net/~miller.daniel.r/comic119.htm#title SAMURAI]", between Radd and Bogey, with the variation that {{spoiler|both sides lose}}.
* 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 (Webcomic)|Shortpacked]]'', as noted in the page quote.
* Parodied in [[Questionable Content]] [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1485 here].
* Also parodied in [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/1/15/ this] [[Penny Arcade]] strip, just one of several examples. Basically, any sequence involving the Cardboard Tube Samurai will invoke this trope.
* Done in [[Dead of Summer]], more literally than usual. {{spoiler|[[The Protomen (Music)|Panther's]] evil clone}} doesn't even get a chance to react before being destroyed.
* 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.}}
* [[Truck Bearing Kibble]], with [http://truckbearingkibble.com/comic/2007/10/19/potato-head-san/ Potato Heads].
* 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 MabsMab's Furry Adventures|Daniel and Dark Pegasus was resolved]] in the "Warrior for Hire" arc.
* Appears in ''[[Girly]]'', with fakeout [[Clothing Damage]] on the victor and a trace of [[Alas, Poor Villain]].
* Played straight in ''[[The Water Phoenix King]]'', "Temple of the Comet," when Gilgam's old comrade Momba Kawunei arrives at the inn, having been [[The Uriah Gambit|sent to the wilderness in hopes that the bandits will finish him off]] which doesn't encourage his subordinate's respect very much. It helps that one of them has a [[Magitek]] weapon.
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== Web Original ==
* Outright abused in [http://endling.deviantart.com/art/S-Rumble-Vs-Seth-Part-1-61164253 Ree v. Seth, parts two and three], when {{spoiler|the trope starts as usual. All of Ree's demons fall off, and she congratulates her opponent. He informs her that she probably shouldn't be in the tournament, then tells her she won. Then he basically explodes blood.}} The artist even lampshades it in the description.
* [[BunnykillBunny Kill]] just can't get enough of these. Part 3.2 has a grenade-vs-blade standoff.
** After a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] as the result of heroic [[Unstoppable Rage]] because {{spoiler|his new girlfriend and partner got killed}}, Part 4 ends with [[Snow Ball]] delivering a [[Flash Step]] punch to the [[Big Bad]]. After a second, the [[Big Bad]] starts coughing up blood, then he stumbles forwards and expires on the floor.
* The final boss fight in ''[[College Saga]]'' ends with one of these.
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== Western Animation ==
* Occurs twice in the second ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 (Animation)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' series, first during a duel between Leonardo and the Shredder in the show's first season, in an adaption of a similar battle in the first volume of the original comic, the second in a duel between [[Posthumous Character|posthumous character]] Hamato Yoshi and [[Rival Turned Evil|rival turned evil]] Yukio Mashimi in the fourth.
* Used often in ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', though one example stands out. A race of mountain-dwelling rock people drive their entire culture towards the creation of a sword of incredible power. It is frozen in a block of ice after being molded out of hard crystals and molten slag, tempered by dragon fire and hammered by dozens at once, sharpened on a grindstone powered by starving boars with meat hanging in front of them running on a treadmill, has runes written on it by a druid, who calls down lightning to strike it. It crackles with lightning as we see it cut through solid stone as if it were butter. A gladitorial competition is held to find the mightiest of their warriors, who is sent to face Jack with the sword. Jack [[Katanas Are Just Better|cuts the sword in half without even breaking his stride.]]
* Used by Asajj Ventress to take care of the last fighter in the battle that introduces her, and the nearest thing to an actual threat to her, in ''[[Clone Wars]]''.
* Used without swords in the fourth season finale of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures (Animation)|Jackie Chan Adventures]]''. Two of the best fighters in the show both charge Tarakudo at the same time, in mid-air...and both of them are knocked to the ground completely beaten a second later, with Tarakudo landing on his feet completely unharmed.
* ''[[G.I. Joe]]: Resolute'' has this with Snake-Eyes vs a random mook. The mook had an assault rifle. I think we all know what happened. (Hint: [[Swipe Your Blade Off|this]].) Subverted later when he does the SSB with Storm Shadow and ''neither'' fall.