Althanas Battle Tropes

[Breaker]

I've been thinking about tropes a lot recently, and as I also started thinking about potentially writing a few battles again, I realized there are a finite number of Althanas Battle Tropes.



The "Teach me, Sensei."
In this trope, one of the characters has sought out a battle with the other in order to learn from them. Usually the "teacher" is a higher level and/or ICly famous in some way, and the "student" will have a driving reason to learn.

The "Vengeance will be mine!"
The two characters have a preexisting relationship of some sort, because of which one of them wishes to kill or harm the other. As often as not, the reason for vengeance is the last battle they fought.

The Fiting Fiter
One of the characters is engaging in the battle because they like fighting. Nuff said.

The Bored Battler
One of the characters is engaging in the battle because they are bored and extremely desensitized.

The Angry Assassin
One of the characters is engaging in the battle because they are angry with someone other than their opponent, and couldn't find their punching bag.

The Test of Mettle
One of the characters engages in the battle because they wish to test their combat abilities or push themselves past their breaking point, usually against a higher level character.

The Training Day
One or both of the combatants is competing simply to hone their skills, usually resulting in extreme Citadel overkill.

The Paid Performance
One of the characters has been paid to fight the other for some reason, be it a prizefight or other reasons entirely.

The Fiters to Lovers
What starts as a battle swiftly devolves into lovemaking, and everybody wins.


Those are just a few of the ones I've written myself over the years. Which ones have you participated in? Can you think of any that have never been seen before?

[Yvonne]

Apologetic Attacker
Likely to occur when the protagonist needs to incapacitate or remove someone from the equation, and the individual is innocent or hasn’t done anything wrong given current circumstances. The attacker will apologize or at the very least feel guilty about their actions but perform them anyway from a feeling of necessity. A blunt, bludgeoning object or weapon is normally utilized to subdue the person (such as a blackjack), and the victim is often hidden safely afterwards because the hero knows they’ve done something questionable.

I Surrender, Suckers
They’re cornered. They know it. They surrender. You accept their offer and lower your guard - surprise! They strike! The wound is grievous. This allows them a position from which victory is assured or escape becomes a possibility, turning the tables. A variation involves the enemy allowing themselves to be captured, so that in time they can undermine you or your organization from within.

Wounded Gazelle
Using injuries, real or fake, to influence others into doing what you want. Refers to a mother gazelle (as well as certain birds and deer) pretending to be injured to lure a predator away from her young. Once creating enough distance the pretense is dropped and the mother bounds away, leaving the predator in the dust. A.k.a. crocodile tears. When humans use this trick their motives are often less noble.

There are so many tropes I'll have to come back to this later, haha. Too busy right now.

[Breaker]

I can't stop thinking of them now.


The Sadist
This character goes into the battle knowing that they are likely to win, mostly for the pleasure of hurting their opponent.
The Masochist
This character goes into the battle knowing they are likely to lose, because they either enjoy or are conditioned to accept pain.
The Born Loser
This combatant is fighting because they lost their last fight, and is likely to lose again.
The Sexpert
This warrior is focused entirely on seducing their opponent, seeing it as the only/most likely path to victory.
The Dirty Harry
One warrior, usually less powerful than their opponent, relies on a strange display of good fortune in order to win a come-from-behind victory.
The Madonna
An immortal character foreshadows winning the battle by coming back from the dead, and then does so.
The Picky Eater
One character initiates the battle because they are hunting members of their opponent's species.
The White Knight
The battle begins because one combatant is defending a third party from the other combatant. Usually this is a maiden, senior citizen, or tavern.
The Black Knight
The fight starts because one combatant attempts to stop the other from going somewhere.
The Green Knight
One warrior attacks the other because they are disrespecting the natural earth in some way.


I'm still not making these up, I'm just remembering them.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Uncle Sam Needs You

One member of the battle is looking to recruit the opponent into the organisation they work for / own.

[Zack Blaze]

Can not believe nobody has thought of this one yet.

That Is Mine Now

The fighter is attempting to collect something their opponent has, be it something of value, a weapon, or simply something sentimental.

Give It Back

Can be a follow up to the previous trope, something has been taken from the character and they are fighting to reclaim it from their opponent.

[The Rambler]

Test Giver:

Kind of a reverse of the "Teach Me!" trope. This one, the more experienced character is forcibly testing the other, to see if they've reached some unknown/unstated threshold. The test giver takes it upon themselves to do this, not asked to by the the younger one and their target may not even be aware that they are being tested. "Are you ready for this level of threat? Are you ready for 'x' level of work?" Are the variety of thoughts prompting the test giver.

[Breaker]

The "It's my first time, be gentle!"

This character goes to battle for the first time in their life because of some sort of coming-of-age tradition in their family or organization.

[Flamebird]

Now It's Personal!
A fighter initially joined because they just wanted to fight or was bored, but the opponent provokes them in a way that draws out a more personal reason to fight (an insult, a memory being triggered, etc.) and with it - character development.