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{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Happens a few times in ''[[Bleach]]'' with Ichigo; he sets out repeatedly to fight alone, and most of the final battles are just him and the [[Big Bad]]. But his friends and [[The Obi-Wan]] Urahara refuse to actually let him set off for battle alone.
** However, Ukitake does give Rukia a speech which amounts to this concept and {{spoiler|leads to the death of Kaien}}
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* In ''[[Berserk]]'' {{spoiler|Casca as a child}} was being sexually assaulted by a nobleman, when [[Knight in Shining Armour|Griffith rode up to save the day.]] [[Subverted Trope|However, instead of saving her himself, he threw her a weapon and told her to defend herself, then just watched to see what the outcome would be.]]
* Perhaps one of the only rules of engagement ''[[One Piece]]''{{'}}s Luffy actually pays attention to. Best highlighted early when Zoro fights with Mihawk. Zoro is losing handily, but Luffy refuses to intervene on Zoro's behalf or let anyone else do so. However, it's clear Luffy ''wants'' to jump in, but holds back from attacking Mihawk until the fight is actually over.
== Card Games ==▼
* This appears in the ''[[Munchkin]]'' cardgame by Steve Jackson Games in the form of the "Gazebo" card—which bears the text, "None can help you fight the gazebo. You must fight the gazebo alone".▼
** A reference, naturally, to ''[http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/98/Jul/gazebo.html Eric and the Dread Gazebo]''.▼
== Comic Books ==
* This is an incredibly common trope in comic books. The comic's titular star will be facing an incredible threat, and it is only logical that other heroes would show up to help. However, that would remove the limelight from the star and make every comic into a "team" book. Therefore, writers are constantly having to invent reasons why a heroes' buddies are not available or cannot participate in the fight. The really lazy ones use this excuse. Notable incidents follow:
* Carried to a ludicrous extreme in ''[[Green Lantern|Green Lantern: Rebirth]]''. Five Green Lanterns have to battle Parallax, the incredibly powerful, world-destroying embodiment of Fear. The entire Justice League shows up, and is involved in the story, but they let the Green Lanterns fight because ''they must do this alone.''
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== Fan Works ==
* Played straight in ''[[The Final Clash]]'' where Akuma demands a one-on-one fight with Ryu [[Duel to the Death|to the death]]. Snake and the others understand, but Alien Hominid goes after Akuma anyways. Yoda then Force Pulls him back to the party of heroes and says "This is something that he must do himself.".
* The second ''[[Naruto]]'' event is subverted in ''The Sealed Kunai''. Jiraiya states this regarding Naruto's fight with Kakuzu. Naruto wins, but promptly collapses afterward in utter exhaustion, causing Jiraiya to yell at him on ruining his "cool mentor" speech. Naruto makes a mental note to kill Jiraiya at some point in the future.
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== Film ==
* ''[[Transformers: The Movie]]'' played on this, with Hot Rod and Kup arriving in time to help Optimus Prime against Megatron, but Hot Rod's attempt to help actually made the situation worse.
** Also seen at the tail end of ''[[Transformers Cybertron]]'', where even with Prime insisting that the war was over (which it was), Galvatron insists on a final showdown with him, and Prime agrees to face him one-on-one. (He still winds up cheating a bit with some help from the late [[Spirit Advisor|Vector Prime]].)
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== Literature ==
* In ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' novel ''Azure Bonds'' Alias tells her party "Back away. He's mine!". Elminster not only refrained from intervention but prevented {{spoiler|Nameless Bard from shooting heavily enchanted bolt into Phalse's eye}}, and arguing that "She must finish this battle alone"... "So she can prove to herself, and to thee, that she is her own master."
** It's worth noting that in the hands of Grubb and Novak, Elminster is more often used to prevent a [[Deus Ex Machina]]. Less the case in Ed Greenwood's...
* In ''[[Dune]]'' Paul Atreides is dueling Feyd-Rautha and realizes that he could use a code word that was placed into Feyd-Rautha's subconscious to stun him for a second, thus saving his life. Paul {{spoiler|refuses to do so because This Is Something He's Got To Do Himself. Interestingly, when he says, "No, I won't do it" (meaning use the code word), that is enough to distract Feyd-Rautha so Paul can win}}.
* Referenced/parodied in ''[[Discworld]]'', specifically ''[[
{{quote|'''Victor:''' There are some things a man must do by himself.
'''Ginger:''' What, like... go to the toilet? }}
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* In ''[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]'' (book and movie both), Aslan will not allow the Narnian army to interfere with Peter's fight against one of the White Witch's wolves, saying "Let the prince win his spurs." (book)/"This is Peter's battle." (movie) After Peter emerges victorious all on his own, Aslan dubs him "Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane, Knight of Narnia."
* Lampshaded in ''End Game'' by [[Peter David]] (the finale of the pilot of the ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]'' novel series), in which [[The Captain]] fights a desperate one-on-one battle on a planet which is blasting itself apart under him. He wins, only to find himself stranded [[Convection, Schmonvection|amidst lava flows]]. His second in command then arrives in [[Hover Board|anti-gravity boots]] and rescues him, explaining that she knew he would insist on fighting alone, but now it was time to do things the easy way.
* Throughout the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' series, Ron and Hermione have a tendency to fall by the wayside before [[The Chosen One|Harry]] has a face-to-face confrontation with Voldemort. In the [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|first film]], Ron gives a "[[It's Up to You|Not me, not Hermione, you]]!" speech essentially to this effect. Ron and Hermione do often tag along despite Harry's insistence that [[I Work Alone]], but the plot [[Contrived Coincidence|nearly always conspires]] to make sure they aren't around when Voldemort shows up.
** In fact, Ron and Hermione don't even see Voldemort in person until the last book. (In the [[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)|fifth film]], they at least get a glimpse of him, but that part wasn't in the book.)
*** In [[
*** [[Fridge Brilliance]]: This gives a good reason. Anyone
** [[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|The last book]] has the most overt invocation: Harry says to a crowd of people about to watch his final confrontation with Voldemort, "I don’t want anyone else to try to help."
* During ''Unholy Allies'', one of the tie-in novels for ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'', a renegade vampiric assassin challenges one of the protagonist's allies to a duel. When another ally suggests getting involved, Madeline (another vampire assassin) promptly invokes this trope ... but does say that she'll step in immediately should their ally die.
* Subverted in Swedish science fiction novel ''Iskriget (The Ice War)'' in which protagonist Johnny realizes that it up to him to be the hero, after which decision he immediately enlists the help of a team of skilled Jewish mechanics to build the equipment he needs to execute his plan.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' features this in the musical episode "Once More With Feeling", when Giles insists that Buffy save Dawn on her own as she is becoming too dependent on his support. The gang eventually does show up to help her out.
** Later on, he does admit she needs backup.
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Abed: Yeah, okay, I will. (Beat.) IN HIS FACE!!! }}
==
▲* This appears in the ''[[Munchkin]]''
▲** A reference, naturally, to ''[http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/98/Jul/gazebo.html Eric and the Dread Gazebo]''.
=== Tabletop RPGs ===
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' contains the Deck of Many Things. Characters draw cards from it and receive various effects, two of which fall under this:
** The ''Comet'' card will cause the character who draws it to gain a level... if he or she defeats the next monster(s) encountered single-handedly.
** The ''Skull'' card makes a dread wraith (or, in earlier editions, a "minor death") appear and attack the character, who must then defeat it alone (anyone who helps gets a dread wraith to fight as well)... and if the character loses, he or she is slain forever.
* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'' has (had?) a rule for this: once two heroic characters declare a duel, only the one character and their mount may attack the other character, and vice versa.
== Video Games ==
* In the game ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]] 64'', near the end of Venom, the final mission, Fox will leave behind his teammates to "go it alone" against the final boss.
** Does it count if you don't notice they're missing in the first place?
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== Web Animation ==
* Used in ''[[Pucca]]''.{{context}}
==
* Parodied in [https://web.archive.org/web/20100219074921/http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0069.html this] ''[[Adventurers!]] strip.''▼
▲* Parodied in [http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0069.html this] ''[[Adventurers!]] strip.''
* Subverted in ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', where [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0409.html Hinjo calls Roy off] so he can try to reason with fallen paladin Miko. That goes about as well as you'd expect, and Miko is about to kill him when Roy says "Oh, screw this!" and swats Miko into unconsciousness.
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' uses the phrase in [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=441 its tribute] to ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4''.
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== Web Original ==
* In the novel ''Exams'' of the ''[[Whateley Universe]],'' massively over-powered characters Tennyo and Fey insist on Jade fighting two (mediocre) supervillains herself, to prove something important about Jade to Jade: she's not really cut out to be a pacifist.
* ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]'' has a memorable subversion. When Tien's best friend/dojo mate is killed by Nappa, Tien attacks furiously to try to avenge him... and promptly starts getting his butt kicked by Nappa. Gohan, watching from the sidelines, asks his [[Mentor]] Piccolo if they should help, but Piccolo replies that this is something Tien has to do himself. We then cut back to Tien, who is getting a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] from Nappa and is frantically screaming for help.
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== Western Animation ==
* In one episode of ''[[Care Bears|Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot]],'' Grizzle manages to steal Funshine's belly badge and uses it to try and take over Care-a-lot. Funshine tricks Grizzle and gets his badge back to prove the episode's [[An Aesop|aesop]], but the fact remains that there were myriads of still-badged Care Bears who didn't lift a finger to help him.
* In the [[Grand Finale]] of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Aang shows up [[Just in Time]] to fight [[Big Bad]] Ozai before he [[The End of the World as We Know It|ends the world as they know it]]. Several of his allies were present and about to have a crack at him, but decide that Ozai is Aang's fight, and proceed to ruin the rest of Ozai's [[Evil Plan]].
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** They were also severely outclassed by comet-empowered Ozai - Aang and Iroh were about the only ones who stood a chance in the first place.
** Still, it's not like the rest of the Gaang just sat down doing nothing while Aang fought Ozai: Zuko and Katara were fighting Azula, Sokka, Suki and Toph were sabotaging the Fire nation fleet while Iroh and the White Lotus were reconquering Ba Sing Se.
* ''[[Justice League]]''
** When
** At the conclusion of the "War World" two-parter, Draaga insists on [[Leave Him to Me| fighting Mongul himself]]. He has good reason to, as Mongul is a despot whose rule depends on [[Bread and Circuses]], who was blackmailing Draaga into compliance for years. The heroes step aside and let him do so, simply telling him to watch Mongul's left hook
* In ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes]]'' "Panther's Quest", Black Panther insists Wakandan tradition says he must defeat Man-Ape by himself. Captain America respects this, but when Man-Ape orders the Dora Milaje to take out the Panther, Cap intervenes.
{{quote|'''Cap''': You can face Man-Ape alone. Anyone else is fair game.}}
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== Real Life ==
* The origin of this trope is, perhaps, more historical than legendary. During the Battle of Crécy, King Edward III of England left his son, the Black Prince, and his retainers without reinforcements so that he could "win his spurs, for I want him, please God, to have all the glory." The Prince survived and was gifted with the crest of the defeated King of Bohemia.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Narrative Devices]]
[[Category:Unisex Tropes]]
[[Category:Solitary Tropes]]
[[Category:Stock Phrases]]
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