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Beam-O-War

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Basic Trope: Sustained energy attacks colliding in battle in a contest of strength.

  • Straight: Alice launches a Kamehame Hadoken beam, while Emperor Evulz counter-attacks with his Death Ray. The two blasts collide in the middle, and each starts straining to outblast the other.
  • Exaggerated:
  • Downplayed: The clash last for about a second before the blast explodes.
  • Justified: Both attacks work as an energy version of Like Cannot Cut Like: Alice’s beam attack is the only thing that CAN block Evulz’s death ray.
  • Inverted:
    • Evulz tries to suck Alice into his cavernous maw. Alice returns fire by trying to devour him first, also by sucking him into her maw.
    • A Pummel Duel between Alice and Evulz ends with Alice obliterating Evulz with a laser beam at point blank range.
  • Subverted:
    • Alice launches a Kamehame Hadoken beam, and Evulz seems to be charging up… before he blocks it with a force-field at the last possible second.
    • Alice’s beam immediate shears right through Evulz’s beam, leading him to scream "Inconceivable!" right before exploding.
  • Double Subverted: Evulz’s force-field was just a cover for his actual Frickin' Laser Beams, which then proceeds as normal for the trope.
  • Parodied: Beam-o-War is seen as a children’s athletic sport, along the same lines as a three-legged race.
  • Zig Zagged: Alice launched a beam attack, Evulzs instead matches it with hundreds of smaller blasts, creating a form of ranged Pummel Duel.
  • Averted:
    • Despite all the Ki Manipulation flying around, no such collisions occur.
    • Alice and Evulz's beams smash into each other, but instead of clashing they just make one giant explosion that hits both of them in the backlash.
  • Lampshaded:
    • “Y’know you should really be aiming for me and not my Death Lazor (™). Just saying.
    • "FIRE THE ANTI-BEAM BEAM!"
  • Invoked:
    • Alice blocks Evulz’s blast in this way to buy her allies some time, and to keep the otherwise superfast Evulz locked in place for the final battle.
    • The beam weapon is designed for this express purpose.
  • Exploited:
    • Evulz counters Alice’s blast with one hand, and then uses the other to shoot her in the face.
    • Charles attacks Evulz from the side while he's too focused on blocking Alice.
  • Defied: Evulz dismisses this technique as a waste of power.
  • Discussed: "Do you think shooting at his death beam would help reduce the damage?"
  • Conversed: "… aaand there they go! Place your bets on the winner of this episode now!"
  • Implied: We only hear Alice and Evulz' fight: but in one part the screen fills with glowy energy noises while both of them grunt and scream.
  • Deconstructed: Constant, continuous usage of energy beams used up a lot of Alice’s energy, and by the end of the struggle she ran out of energy, giving Evulz the opportunity to claim victory. Turns out, the Beam-O-War wasn’t the right thing to do.
  • Reconstructed: But then, the Beam-O-War bought enough time for Alice’s teammate to charge up enough energy to trigger another Beam-O-War, this time avenging Alice as he won the struggle.
  • Played for Laughs: An entire episode is one long Beam-O-War, with Alice and Evulz tossing insults at eachother and trying to goad the other into dropping their beam.
  • Played for Drama: At the end of the Beam-O-War, as sorrowful music plays both Alice and Evulz were consumed by the total produce of energy beams, ending up dead. As a result, both parties lament their partner’s death. This Beam-O-War would forever haunt them, as it reminds them of their tragic sacrifices.

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