The Gloves Come Off: Difference between revisions
replaced: Order of the Stick → The Order of the Stick
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During a fight, a person can have a lot on their mind. They're trying to defeat their opponent, while avoiding injury themselves. They may be trying to protect [[Innocent Bystander]]s, or avoid unnecessary collateral damage. Perhaps they're laboring under [[The Fettered|self-imposed restrictions]] or they're just [[I Am Not Left-Handed|holding back for fun]]. For whatever reason, they're not giving things their all.
Until
When a character is pushed hard enough, they can reach the point where defeating the enemy in front of them is their one and only goal. Everything else, even their own survival, becomes secondary. The reason for this varies. Perhaps their enemy has sent them into an [[Unstoppable Rage]]. Maybe they've realized that the won't be able to defeat their opponent unless they focus on winning to the exclusion of all else, or they've reached the [[Godzilla Threshold]] and now they have nothing to lose by going all out. Whatever the cause, the character will cast off anything holding them back, heedless of what it may cost them later.
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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Kira and Athrun take the gloves off during the [[Wham! Episode]] of ''[[Gundam Seed]]''. Until then, they'd been holding back due to being each other's [[Forgotten Childhood Friend]] and Kira's [[Reluctant Warrior]] tendencies. But when they manage to {{spoiler|each kill a friend of the other in self-defense}}, they throw themselves into genuine battle to the death for the first time.
* Vash the Stampede reaches this point near the end of ''[[Trigun]]'', when he {{spoiler|kills Legato Bluesummers}} in order to save Millie and Meyrl. Oddly for this trope, the act itself is rather understated, rather than being an epic fight scene.
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== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', {{spoiler|Vaarsuvius}} reaches this point when unleashing a [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] by making a literal [[Deal with the Devil]](s). As expected for this trope, the results are not exactly what anyone hoped for, and leads to some solid [[Character Development]] for all involved parties.
** [[Evil Sorceror|Xykon]] gives us a villainous example as a result of the above. While he survives the attack with relative ease, in the process he {{spoiler|loses his [[Soul Jar|phylactery]]}}, which prompts him to stop screwing around and get back to work. Sort of an odd example in that the cost ''causes'' the boost in effectiveness, rather than being a result of it.
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