Hokage-Level Fight

From Tv Tropes

A Hokage-Level Fight is an in-universe fight between two (or more) of the strongest and most experienced characters in the series. They've seen it all, they've been enemies for years, and now it's finally time to have a proper showdown (or one of many throughout the years, but off-screen for the viewers until this one).

But wait, where's the hero?

The protagonist will probably not be participating, especially if he's a greenhorn trying to make it big. If he's lucky, he'll be able to view the fight from a distance, but most likely won't participate in it.

The Trope Name comes from Naruto, where The Third Hokage is fighting Orochimaru at full strength, and ANBU members (which are the elite of the ninja world, right under the Hokage himself), can only watch in awe and lampshade the epicness of the battle.

The only thing that can overshadow the epicness and awesomeness (if done right) of this fight is the Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny, which is between characters from multiple universes. If the two characters will team up (which in this case is even more unlikely, since they've probably been enemies for years), it will result in a Story Breaker Team Up.

Such a battle may have been responsible for the wipe out of The Precursors and the result of a Sealed Evil In a Can.

Anime and manga

• Naruto, the Trope Namer, has several, most famous The Third Hokage vs. Orochimaru. Tsunade vs. Orochimaru. Jiraya vs. Pain. etc.
  • Before the start of the series, Yondaime vs. Madara Uchiha (and the Nine-Tailed Fox).
• Aizen vs. Yamamoto in Bleach. It's ironic since Aizen is the Big Bad and even he knew he couldn't beat him in a fair fight.
• Rare example of Hero Protagonist, Toriko vs. the black GT Robots and the Big Bad. The two of them seem to have known and met before, and Toriko has a long backstory that makes him worthy of this.
• WhiteBeard vs. BlackBeard in One Piece. Also most of the fights Luffy and Zorro participate in is this for their crewmates, as they're the original founders of the Straw Hats and the strongest of the team.
• Death vs. Kishin in Soul Eater. Alternately, Death and Arachnophobia's city-level fight. The pupils are rightfully amazed.

Film

• Star Wars has several examples, depending on the chronology. Maybe the most famous is Darth Vader vs. Obi Wan in front of Luke. At the end of the "first" trilogy, there's Yoda vs. Palpatine.