Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Difference between revisions

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Anybody can get into a fight, but it takes someone very confident, very desperate, or very pissed off to stand up and ''demand'' that someone fight them. And it takes a [[Badass]] to do it with style.

This is Throwing Down the ~~Gauntlet -- so~~ named for the medieval practice of literally throwing down one's actual gauntlet before the person one wanted to challenge, making it both [[Truth in Television]] and [[Older Than Print]]. It can take any number of forms, depending on the character and the reason for the challenge. It may include a [[Badass Boast]] or [[Badass Creed]], a list of the reasons the challenger has for beating the challenged down, and a detailed description of the ways in which the challenged is now [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|doomed]]. It might be a [[World of Cardboard Speech]] in which the challenger explains himself and how he's reached this point. It might be a calculated effort to goad the challenged into accepting the contest and fighting their hardest, either in order to test them or just because the challenger [[Blood Knight|likes a good fight]].

This is Throwing Down the Gauntlet—so named for the medieval practice of literally throwing down one's actual gauntlet before the person one wanted to challenge, making it both [[Truth in Television]] and [[Older Than Print]]. It can take any number of forms, depending on the character and the reason for the challenge. It may include a [[Badass Boast]] or [[Badass Creed]], a list of the reasons the challenger has for beating the challenged down, and a detailed description of the ways in which the challenged is now [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|doomed]]. It might be a [[World of Cardboard Speech]] in which the challenger explains himself and how he's reached this point. It might be a calculated effort to goad the challenged into accepting the contest and fighting their hardest, either in order to test them or just because the challenger [[Blood Knight|likes a good fight]].

Whatever the form, Throwing Down the Gauntlet is the act of challenging someone to a fight or some other competition, preferably in the most [[Badass]] way possible.

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== Western Animation ==

* In one ''[[Simpsons]]'' episode, Homer sees the glove-slap in a movie and starts using it in real life to get whatever he wants. This goes really well until he tries it on a [[Southern Gentleman]] ~~-- who~~ ''accepts'' his offer of a duel.

* In one ''[[Simpsons]]'' episode, Homer sees the glove-slap in a movie and starts using it in real life to get whatever he wants. This goes really well until he tries it on a [[Southern Gentleman]]—who ''accepts'' his offer of a duel.

** Later in the episode, he runs away after being challenged to a duel by [[Jimmy Carter]].

* The "formal duel" episode of ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' starts with Jerry stealing a glove and slapping Tom with it. When he tries it again after all the botched duels, Tom just snatches the glove and chases Jerry around with it.

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** And the slap isn't actually the challenge - it's the provocation for the slappee to challenge you. Being struck was the one insult which could only result in a duel.

* England's last ''legal'' occurrence of this was in 1818, in the famous case of Ashford v Thornton. Thornton was tried for murdering Ashford's sister and, after proving an alibi, was acquitted. Ashford was talked into demanding a private murder retrial. However, there was an ancient, very rare option for the defendant in such cases. The defendant (barring certain exceptions, which didn't apply here), could demand a trial by combat. Thompson demanded such a trial, throwing down a gauntlet having been brought to him, and Ashford backed down.

* When hockey players prepare to brawl, they quite literally throw down the ~~gauntlet -- namely~~, stripping off their gloves and throwing them to the ice. Fighting with gloves ''on'' is a separate penalty. Those gloves are sturdier than they look, you can tear skin open with them once they're cold enough. That and removing the helmet are the only official rules on fighting, though there are a lot of unwritten ones.

* When hockey players prepare to brawl, they quite literally throw down the gauntlet—namely, stripping off their gloves and throwing them to the ice. Fighting with gloves ''on'' is a separate penalty. Those gloves are sturdier than they look, you can tear skin open with them once they're cold enough. That and removing the helmet are the only official rules on fighting, though there are a lot of unwritten ones.

* In japan striking your sword's scabard against another one is a challenge for a duel to the death

** [[Honor Before Reason|Even accidental ones cause this]]