Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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'''Edward:''' You know what? You're not the only one who can't stand doubters, Preach'. [[Badass Boast|Here's the REAL hammer of God!]] }}
'''Edward:''' You know what? You're not the only one who can't stand doubters, Preach'. [[Badass Boast|Here's the REAL hammer of God!]] }}
** This scene was, unfortunately, subjected to a lot of narm in ''Brotherhood,'' primarily in terms of animation. Worst of all, though, is that Ed's [[Badass Boast]] was changed to a simple, "You want it? You got it!" Combine this with it being changed from the big dethroning moment where Cornello's power is outdone in front of his followers to an ordinary fight scene, and this is pretty big disappointment.
** This scene was, unfortunately, subjected to a lot of narm in ''Brotherhood,'' primarily in terms of animation. Worst of all, though, is that Ed's [[Badass Boast]] was changed to a simple, "You want it? You got it!" Combine this with it being changed from the big dethroning moment where Cornello's power is outdone in front of his followers to an ordinary fight scene, and this is pretty big disappointment.
* The one time {{spoiler|Claire Stanfield}} of ''[[Baccano]]!'' breaks out a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner (in the fourth novel, ''Drugs & the Dominoes'') he makes it count, quoting the [[Shout-Out|first spoken lines of dialog]] in the ''history of film'': "[[wikipedia:The Jazz Singer (1927 film)|You ain't heard nothing yet!]]"
* The one time {{spoiler|Claire Stanfield}} of ''[[Baccano!]]!'' breaks out a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner (in the fourth novel, ''Drugs & the Dominoes'') he makes it count, quoting the [[Shout-Out|first spoken lines of dialog]] in the ''history of film'': "[[wikipedia:The Jazz Singer (1927 film)|You ain't heard nothing yet!]]"
** Jacuzzi in the anime, right before his [[Traintop Battle|traintop]] beatdown of Goose: "I have a gun...''in my heart!''"
** Jacuzzi in the anime, right before his [[Traintop Battle|traintop]] beatdown of Goose: "I have a gun...''in my heart!''"
* The hot-headed Kirie "Jump-to-conclusions" Kojima of ''[[Girls Bravo]]'' also does this often anytime she sees the protagonist Yukinari in a hard-to-explain situation.
* The hot-headed Kirie "Jump-to-conclusions" Kojima of ''[[Girls Bravo]]'' also does this often anytime she sees the protagonist Yukinari in a hard-to-explain situation.
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** Also done by Beatrice just before {{spoiler|killing George and Shannon}} during the second game in the anime:
** Also done by Beatrice just before {{spoiler|killing George and Shannon}} during the second game in the anime:
{{quote|'''Beatrice''': You think I'd let him say it!?! [[Baka|Duuumbaaaaass]]!!!}}
{{quote|'''Beatrice''': You think I'd let him say it!?! [[Baka|Duuumbaaaaass]]!!!}}
* [[Durarara|"Don't screw with the traffic police!"]]
* [[Durarara!!|"Don't screw with the traffic police!"]]
** [[Memetic Badass|"You just went for my head, didn't you.]] [[Berserk Button|You know, you could've killed me, right?]] [[Crazy Awesome|And you knew that, which means you were]] ''[[Crazy Awesome|trying]]'' [[Crazy Awesome|to kill me, right?]] [[Unstoppable Rage|So no matter what happens to you now,]] ''[[The Berserker|you can't complain, right?]]''"
** [[Memetic Badass|"You just went for my head, didn't you.]] [[Berserk Button|You know, you could've killed me, right?]] [[Crazy Awesome|And you knew that, which means you were]] ''[[Crazy Awesome|trying]]'' [[Crazy Awesome|to kill me, right?]] [[Unstoppable Rage|So no matter what happens to you now,]] ''[[The Berserker|you can't complain, right?]]''"
* Yusuke from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. Anyone remember in the beginning when he was fighting Suzaku?
* Yusuke from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. Anyone remember in the beginning when he was fighting Suzaku?
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== Live Action TV ==
== Live Action TV ==
* Subversion: the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S3 E12 Helpless|Helpless]]" had Buffy [[Brought Down to Normal]] for the duration, which also neutered her ability to deliver a suitable line when she finally managed to defeat the bad guy:
* Subversion: the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Recap/S3/E12 Helpless|Helpless]]" had Buffy [[Brought Down to Normal]] for the duration, which also neutered her ability to deliver a suitable line when she finally managed to defeat the bad guy:
{{quote|'''Buffy:''' If I was at full Slayer power, I'd be punning right about now.}}
{{quote|'''Buffy:''' If I was at full Slayer power, I'd be punning right about now.}}
** In the episode "Anne", Buffy has run away from home and changed her name to Anne (her middle name). In the course of the episode, she finds herself trapped in a demonic dimension where humans are made into slave labor. One of the demons is trying to break the humans' spirit by asking them "Who are you" and hitting them if they answer anything but "No one". What does Buffy answers, just before kicking everyone's ass?
** In the episode "Anne", Buffy has run away from home and changed her name to Anne (her middle name). In the course of the episode, she finds herself trapped in a demonic dimension where humans are made into slave labor. One of the demons is trying to break the humans' spirit by asking them "Who are you" and hitting them if they answer anything but "No one". What does Buffy answers, just before kicking everyone's ass?
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* In ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' "Unlimited Blade Works", when {{spoiler|Shirou uses the titular ability for the first time, against Gilgamesh: "Here I come, King of Heroes. Do you have enough weapons in stock?"}}
* In ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' "Unlimited Blade Works", when {{spoiler|Shirou uses the titular ability for the first time, against Gilgamesh: "Here I come, King of Heroes. Do you have enough weapons in stock?"}}
** Which on the internet is [[Memetic Mutation|often paraphrased]] as "KING OF HEROES, DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH SWORDS?"
** Which on the internet is [[Memetic Mutation|often paraphrased]] as "KING OF HEROES, DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH SWORDS?"
* ''[[Killer 7]]'' has Harman's first lines in the game "Good night child, it's past your bed time."
* ''[[Killer7]]'' has Harman's first lines in the game "Good night child, it's past your bed time."
** And Dan's classic, "I went to see the Devil, now it's your turn."
** And Dan's classic, "I went to see the Devil, now it's your turn."
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'': Each of the Alliance & Horde faction leaders will deliver one of these if you attack them.
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'': Each of the Alliance & Horde faction leaders will deliver one of these if you attack them.
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** In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', this ultimately fails with Kaelyn the Dove, for which she can explain why. And this is one of her One Liners.
** In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', this ultimately fails with Kaelyn the Dove, for which she can explain why. And this is one of her One Liners.
{{quote|Kaelyn: "Oh...you...oh, I don't know any profanities! How embarrassing..."}}
{{quote|Kaelyn: "Oh...you...oh, I don't know any profanities! How embarrassing..."}}
* ''[[Eve Online]]'' gives us this from the trailer for the latest expansion, called ''Incursion''. This particular one-liner precedes the collective ass-kicking of a ''galactic cluster, 4 established empires and their respective naval forces, and the player-base.''
* ''[[EVE Online]]'' gives us this from the trailer for the latest expansion, called ''Incursion''. This particular one-liner precedes the collective ass-kicking of a ''galactic cluster, 4 established empires and their respective naval forces, and the player-base.''
{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Sansha Kuvakei'''}}: "I will vanquish your fear, and commute your flesh...to dust."}}
{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Sansha Kuvakei'''}}: "I will vanquish your fear, and commute your flesh...to dust."}}
* ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]] Prophecy'' has Maestro's: "I think we haven't been properly introduced yet, I'm Maestro, you're dead,"
* ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]] Prophecy'' has Maestro's: "I think we haven't been properly introduced yet, I'm Maestro, you're dead,"
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** Rainbow Dash, when she's about to start rounding out the parasprites in "Swarm of the Century":
** Rainbow Dash, when she's about to start rounding out the parasprites in "Swarm of the Century":
{{quote|"Time to take out the adorable trash."}}
{{quote|"Time to take out the adorable trash."}}
** "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1 E19 A Dog and Pony Show|A Dog and Pony Show]]":
** "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1/E19 A Dog and Pony Show|A Dog and Pony Show]]":
*** When one of the Diamond Dogs tries to put a bridle on Applejack, she quips "If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride!" before starting to buck him off.
*** When one of the Diamond Dogs tries to put a bridle on Applejack, she quips "If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride!" before starting to buck him off.
*** "A Dog and Pony Show" also gives us the precursor to a ''verbal'' ass-kicking:
*** "A Dog and Pony Show" also gives us the precursor to a ''verbal'' ass-kicking:

Revision as of 21:28, 28 December 2014

Boy, he must've done something really bad to have this comin'.
"This is the '90s. You don't just go around punching people. You have to say something cool first."
—Joe Hallenbeck, The Last Boy Scout

It is almost an official duty of an Action Hero to deliver sardonic one-liners. And what better time to produce one than just before the execution of the other official duty - kicking ass?

Common variations on this trope include:

  • A form of comic subversion in which the one-liner is stupid or silly. This has the potential to stall or confuse the opponent.
  • A form of comic subversion in which the outcome of the intended ass-kicking fizzles, negating the one-liner or at least failing to justify it.
  • A Catch Phrase or Battle Cry that may have started as a one-liner, or may work as one to some degree.

Chew Bubblegum is a particularly popular example. See also Badass Boast, Badass Creed, In the Name of the Moon, My Name Is Inigo Montoya and Pre-Mortem One-Liner.

Examples of Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner include:


Anime & Manga

  • Done by Luciano Bradley in Code Geass. "Question! What is it that you value the most?" (cuts to a look of absolute fear from the victim) "That's right. YOUR LIFE!"
  • Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z has a ridiculous amount of these. "Does a machine such as yourself experience fear?!"
    • "Maybe if this were five-hundred times Earth's gravity, you would have the advantage. But ten? I don't even feel it."
    • Additionally, does it experience nocturnal emission?
    • Gohan also delivers an immensely badass one to Super Buu when he arrives on the battlefield after Old Kai unlocks his potential. Buu says to him "So hotshot, you want to fight Majin Buu?" and Gohan responds with "Fight you? No, I want to kill you," and then lays the biggest beating on Buu that he had probably ever experienced.
  • The Prince of Tennis: Ryoma's "Mada mada dane" ("You still have lots more to work on") before turning around and wiping the court with an opponent he was losing against up until that moment.
  • Another Ryoma, though from Getter Robo. He purposefully grabs hold of a yakuza boss' knife blade and tells him "What's the matter? Come on, either push or pull. You'll save face if you at least chop off one finger" before kicking his terrified ass and scaring off the rest of his thugs.
  • You really don't want to be around when Sesshoumaru of Inuyasha fame says, "It seems I've been underestimated".
  • "I... am Samurai Gun."
  • Hao Asakura of Shaman King has a minor example with his, "So tiny/small" line. Not sure if this counts since it's not restricted to being said pre-battle; indeed, it's been said as a response to an attack mid-battle, or as a post-battle One-Liner. But it seemed appropriate.
  • Touma From To Aru Majutsu no Index does this always before finishing the current arcs Big Bad

Touma: I will break it... That illusion of yours!

Greed: I'm sorry, who the hell are you?
Izumi: PISSED OFF!

    • And the end of the manga with the fight against Father. All of the alchemists are pounding on Father like there's no tomorrow, Ed's automail arm is completely destroyed, Al sacrifices his soul to bring Ed's real arm back, and at this point, Edward is majorly pissed, and brings back a line from the very first chapter:

Edward: Get up, you worthless fuck. It's time you learned why you're not in our league!

Cornello: You didn't fool me with that little display down there. Without this, the only alchemy you can perform is to your own metal arm.
Edward: You know what? You're not the only one who can't stand doubters, Preach'. Here's the REAL hammer of God!

    • This scene was, unfortunately, subjected to a lot of narm in Brotherhood, primarily in terms of animation. Worst of all, though, is that Ed's Badass Boast was changed to a simple, "You want it? You got it!" Combine this with it being changed from the big dethroning moment where Cornello's power is outdone in front of his followers to an ordinary fight scene, and this is pretty big disappointment.
  • The one time Claire Stanfield of Baccano!! breaks out a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner (in the fourth novel, Drugs & the Dominoes) he makes it count, quoting the first spoken lines of dialog in the history of film: "You ain't heard nothing yet!"
    • Jacuzzi in the anime, right before his traintop beatdown of Goose: "I have a gun...in my heart!"
  • The hot-headed Kirie "Jump-to-conclusions" Kojima of Girls Bravo also does this often anytime she sees the protagonist Yukinari in a hard-to-explain situation.

Miharu: Yes, we were in the bath together.
Kirie: Take a bath... IN! HELL!! (clobbers Yukinari)

Ange: Have a nice dream. See you in hell.

    • Also done by Beatrice just before killing George and Shannon during the second game in the anime:

Beatrice: You think I'd let him say it!?! Duuumbaaaaass!!!

Yusuke: For all your careful planning, you made one mistake. You went and pissed me off!

    • I seem to recall a really good one from that fight from the English dub that went something like this:

Yusuke: Alright, if you call off your goons now, I'll only rip out one of your lungs.
Suzaku: And if I refuse?
Yusuke: Then hold your stinkin' breath!

    • That fight Yusuke had with Jin during the Dark Tournament Saga:
Yusuke: (about to fire an attack into Jin's that will surely kill them both) Let's see which one of us can take a bigger asskicking!
—What's amusing is Yusuke's follow-up reaction: "Damn! At least one of us should have died!"
  • Sengoku Basara: "Put Ya Guns On!"
    • Every single character has one or two trademark one liners for use in the event of asskicking. Masamune who says the above also uses "Are You Ready?" and "Let's Party!".
  • Done by Teresa in Claymore. "Say your prayer you wretches. Filth like you is even lower than Youma. I am going to kill every last one of you". Do not touch her Morality Pet, for you are weak against her and Made of Plasticine.
  • Lina Inverse does this quite often.
  • Trinity Blood "Crusnik 02. Nanomachine output 40%. Activate."
  • Cowboy Bebop: LET'S PARTY!
  • Mai-Otome: Rena Sayers from the prequel series. "I'm sorry everyone, but please hang in there. If you look away, you'll die." And boy does she deliver.
  • One Piece has a good one.

Chu/Chew: What did you say was over?

Usopp: This fight! Did you know that grog burns? (Usopp lights Chu up like a Christmas Tree)

    • The perhaps most epic one: In Enies Lobby, Luffy is informed that its garrison numbers in the tens of thousands.

Luffy: And I'm alone. Get out of my way!

    • There's also post-timeskip Luffy who gives us one with only one word. He's fighting the same exact pacifista that defeated and scattered all nine straw-hats two years before. It shoots a laser made of light at Luffy who remarks; "slow." Then lays it down for good with one jet pistol.
    • Luffy stands atop a building calling out for Bellami who asks Luffy if he "even knows how to throw a punch" causing the observing crowd to burst in laugh, Luffy simply says "you want to know if I know how to throw a punch?" and proceeds to one-hit Bellami, the crowd instantly goes silent.
    • Zoro also has many of these. For example this golden line in the Fishman Island battles, when he fights an eight-sword-wielding fishman. Zoro slices the fishman's swords horizontally and stares very scarily at the merman.

Zoro: You want to kill me?! You couldn't even kill my boredom!!!

  • Gintama has a lot, whether they are hilarious lines -

Matsudaira: Wash your own shitty underwear!

    • Or serious lines -

Gintoki: Don't ever show your face around her again, you sick son of a bitch!

Hitsugi: Now then... Hoshikawa-san... Let us dance!

Dream Thief: A Meowth that can talk? We'll be rolling in dough! Now just sign this contract...
—Meowth: AFTER ALL YOU PUT ME THROUGH, I WOULDN'T SIGN YOUR REPORT CARD!!! (slashes Dream Thief's clothes off with one attack).

Achika: I have had enough! I will not allow this! I will pay you back! Because forgiveness... for one like you... could never be an option.


Comics

  • In the indie comic Cool Jerk and HomoGal, Cool Jerk tries taglines with mixed results. For example, during a bank robbery: "Who are you?" "The substantial penalty for early withdrawal."
  • Although the fight between Wolverine and Deadpool in Wolverine Origins has quite a few, there's also a notable aversion when Deadpool notes that the fight is on "for real" and is dead serious when Wolverine starts ditching the one liners and is kicking ass without them.
  • Tacitly part of Robin's job, to the point that when a recently returned from the dead Jason Todd (ex-Robin II) and the Batman of an alternate universe team up in a fight, the following happens:

Batman: You used to crack jokes at times like these.
Jason: Sorry, Batman... Now I just crack heads!
Batman: Now that is funny!

I owe you pissant white trash cocksucking sons of bitches all the hurt in the fuckin' world. So who wants to get his ass kicked first?

  • Megatron delivers a fantastic one to Sentinel Prime in Megatron: Origins.

"I've heard it said that we only gain wisdom through suffering... and tonight, I intend to make you very wise."

  • In All Fall Down, the Ghoul delivers these, in the form of announcing the sin you're committing before he takes you out.


Fan Fiction


Films -- Animation

Superman: This ends now.


Films -- Live Action

  • "I have come here to Chew Bubblegum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubblegum!" This famous example was used in They Live!, but parodying the line has itself become a trope.
  • Shoot Em Up, whenever Smith's Berserk Button gets pressed: "You know what I hate?"
  • In King Arthur, right before the Battle of Badon Hill, Arthur speaks to the Saxon leader Cedric, telling him to "Know this face, Saxon, as it will be the last thing you see before you leave this earth." With a somewhat grudging respect, Cedric mutters as he walks off, "Finally, a man worth killing."
  • The first Blade, when Whistler blows into the room where Blade is being held captive, "Catch you fuckers at a bad time?!"
    • And later on, before Blade finishes off Frost, "Some muthafuckas always trying to ice skate uphill."
  • True Grit, just before Rooster guns down Ned Pepper and his cohorts in a four-on-one horseback gunfight. "Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!"
  • Star Trek First Contact: Worf - "Assimilate this"
    • Alternatively, Data's "Resistance. Is. Futile."
  • Frequently subverted in Big Trouble in Little China. Most of Jack Burton's attempts to offer a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner seem to precede him either getting his own ass whipped, or putting himself out of action by doing something stupid. Ironically, his successes tend to be preceded by not-very-clever lines, such as saying, "What the hell!" right before he finally nails Lo-Pan (though even that attack initially misfires).
  • Last Action Hero (Before kicking a police officer in the groin):

Jack Slater: You want to be a farmer? Here's a couple of achers!

"I am ripper! Tearer! Slasher! Gouger! I am the teeth in the darkness! The talons in the night! Mine is strength! And lust! And power! I! AM! BEOWULF!"

    • "I'm 'ere to kill your monstah."
  • Three Hundred
    • THIS! IS! SPARTA!
    • And some other pretty awesome quotes: "Give them nothing! But take from them, everything!", "This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they die! Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time.", "Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, FOR TONIGHT, WE DINE IN HELL!!!", "No retreat, no surrender. That is Spartan law. And by Spartan law, we will stand and fight...and die. A new age has begun: an age of freedom! And all will know that 300 Spartans gave their last breath to defend it!", "Spartans! Prepare for glory! ", "Persians! Come and get them!" (in response to an appeal to lay down their weapons),"We're in for one wild night.", "Spartans! Push!" Needless to say, Three Hundred was full of ridiculously awesome lines. If you saw only Ho Yay on the last two, my work here is done.
      • Truth in Television, some of those—although English doesn't really have an exact analog to how "Molon labe" should be translated. Roughly speaking, what is being rendered as "Come and get them!" is more of a "You can have them if you can get to them." The modern English equivalent would be something along the lines of "You can have my weapon when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers." The line isn't really a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner, it's a Pre Getting My Ass Kicked One Liner, as was the other famous line from Plutarch: "Their" (meaning the Persians) "arrows will darken the sun!" "Then we shall fight in the shade."
          • The Spartans didn't get their asses kicked at Thermopylae. True they lost, but they did NOT get their asses kicked.
  • Straw Dogs. "OKAY! You've had your fun! And if you don't clear out now... there'll be real trouble. I mean it." Another example is "This is where I live. This is me. I will not allow violence against this house."
  • Evil Dead 2. "Groovy."

Deadite: I'll swallow your soul!
Ash: Swallow This Is My Boomstick.

Ash: Ma'am, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the store.
Ash: Come get some.
Ash: All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up! See this? This... is my BOOMSTICK!

Ash: Honey, you got reeaalll ugly.

Ash: Yo, she-bitch. [chick-chick] Let's go.

  • Grindhouse. "They just fucked with the wrong Mexican!"

Mooks: Have mercy, father.
Padre Cheech Marin: God has mercy. I don't.

Harry Callahan: We're not gonna let you walk outta here.
Crook: Who's "we", suckah!?!
Harry Callahan: (reaching for his gun) Smith, Wesson and me!

Harry Callahan: Hey! You forgot your fortune cookie! (crumbles cookie, takes slip of paper) It says, "You're shit outta luck, punk'". (commence ass-kicking, .44 Magnum-style)

    • Terry Pratchett parodies that first one in Night Watch. After going back in time, Vimes attempts to pull a "Me, Mr. Burleigh and Mr. Stronginthearm," version with a crossbow, only to discover, to his great disappointment, that he's still got decades to wait before the first Burleigh & Stronginthearm crossbows will be invented. And it was SUCH a good line, too.
  • The Lord of the Rings: "Do you not know death when you see it, old man? This is my hour!"
    • "There's plenty for the both of us! May the best dwarf win!
    • "Let them come! There is one dwarf in Moria who still draws breath!"
    • The rooster crow would've been great, if they'd left it in the movie. Ah well.
    • Not quite a one-liner, but "You Shall Not Pass!" and the little pile of taunts that preceeded it.

'Gandalf: You cannot pass! I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor! The Dark Fire will NOT avail you, Flame of Udun! Go back to the shadow!

Guile: I'm the Repo Man... and you're out of business.
Guile: This is the collection agency, Bison! Your ass is six month overdue... and it's mine!

Mac: Scared motherfucker? Well, you should be. 'Cause this Green Beret is gonna kick your big ass!

Matrix: I eat Green Berets for breakfast, and right now I'm very hungry!

Cindy: (hiding under a table) I can't believe all this macho bullshit...

    • and:

Matrix: Remember when I said I would kill you last? ... I lied.

  • The Matrix: "Dodge This."
    • Also in Revolutions, where the Merovingian is attempting to get the main characters to give him something he wants in order for him to get Neo out of the Matrix. Trinity, with at least two dozen mooks pointing guns at the heads of her, Morpheus, and Seraph, simply says "I don't have time for this shit." and then begins beating the crap out of several of the bodyguards, catching a pistol and holding it against the Merovingian's head.
  • Ripley's "Get away from her, you bitch!" in Aliens.
    • As well as "Let's rock!", followed by a long burst of Smart Gun fire.
  • The Dark Knight Saga:

Joker: (to Rachel) A little fight in you, I like that.
Batman: Then you're gonna love me.
(...)
Joker: You know how I got these scars?
Batman: No, but I know how you got these.

    • And from the previous movie:

Gigantic Con: You are in hell, little man. And I am the devil.
Bruce Wayne: You're not the devil, you're practice.

Riddick: Remember that favorite game of yours?
Kyra: "Who's the better killer?"
Riddick: Let's play.

Riddick: I can kill you with my teacup.

Nicholas Angel: (riding into town carrying an obscene amount of weaponry) Morning.

    • There's also this conversation:

Danny: How's Lurch?
Nicholas: He's in the freezer.
Danny: Did you say "cool off"?
Nicholas: No, I didn't say anything actually.
Danny: That's a shame...
Nicholas: There was a bit earlier on that you missed, where I distracted him with a cuddly monkey, then I said "Playtime's over!" and hit him with the peace lily.
Danny: (delighted) You're off the fuckin' chain!

  • One of the protagonists in Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981) has a habit of describing the eating habits of the crocodile in disgusting detail to everyone he meets. When he and his friend are stopped at a roadblock of armed mooks, they begin to recite this description in unison—then as the mooks are looking at each other in bemusement launch a Groin Attack.
  • Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood's character has a ton of amazing one liners, but some of the best Pre-Asskicking One-Liners are, "Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have fucked with? That's me." and "Yea? I blow a hole in your face and then I go in the house... and I sleep like a baby. You can count on that. We used to stack fucks like you five feet high in Korea... use you for sandbags."
    • "Get off my lawn".
  • Air Force One: "Get off my plane!"
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen gives us this exchange as a prelude to (one of) Optimus' CMoA:

Megatron: Is the future of our race not worth a single human life?
Optimus: You'll never stop at one... I'll take you ALL on!

    • Also:

Optimus: GIVE ME YOUR FACE!

    • And then, he actually took his face.
    • Another from the very beginning, when Optimus single-handedly takes down a decepticon around four times his size that's rampaging through a highway:

Optimus: Pull over!

Megatron: No, it's just me Prime!
Megatron: Then you can join them! Right into extinction!
Megatron: Oh? So unwise...*smashes the ground beneath Sam, sending him falling to his (almost) death*

Megatron: ...Besides, who would be without me, Prime?
Optimus: Time to find out.

  • Die Hard: "Yippie-kai-yay, motherfucker."
  • "My turn."
  • Mad Max: "Two men enter! One man leaves!"
  • "Here's my motherfuckin' farm"
    • Followed up by, "I'm a lead farmer motherfucker!"
  • Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy has the great quote by Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate): "Because I am good at three things: Fighting, screwing, and reading the news. I've already done one of those today, so what's the other one gonna be? Huh?"
    • Screwing?
    • Public news really deserves some credit for their sheer bad-assness.

"Public news is taking time off for its pledge drive to kick some ass. No commercials! NO MERCY!"
"Looks like we got a bilingual blood-fest."

Rorshach: Men get arrested. Dogs get put down.
(cue a prolonged scene of Rorshach hacking a man's skull in half)

Sirius: Get away from my godson. (SMACK)

Dumbledore: It was foolish of you to come here tonight, Tom. The Aurors are on their way.
Voldemort: By which point I shall be gone, and you...shall be dead.

  • cue the most epic duel in the film franchise at that point*

Harry: "Sorry Professor, I must not tell lies." Cue Umbridge's ass kicking.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: Hello there.

    • Shortly afterwards in that same scene, Grievous boasts about how he was trained by Count Dooku in the Jedi Arts.

Obi-Wan: Good, because I trained the Jedi who killed Count Dooku.

Mace Windu: In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic... (fires up lightsaber) you are under arrest, Chancellor Palpatine.

"Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
"Your move, creep."

  • Kick-Ass: It should be no surprise this has many, but probably the most famous is Hit-Girl's. Wherein she starts by inverting the normal order of things by killing the boss first, then addresses the mooks: "Okay you cunts...let's see what you can do now." *counts foes and watches to see which one makes a move first* "Eenie...meenie...minie..." *a mook goes for a weapon* "MOE!"
  • Jaws

"Smile, you son of a -" *BOOM*

  • Played and lampshaded in Pulp Fiction, by Jules Winfield who recited Ezekiel 25:17 (although an extended version) and admits he liked to do it before killing someone.
  • In Soldier, one super soldier is getting ready to battle a squad of improved versions.

"There are seventeen of them. What do you plan to do?"
"I'm going to kill them all."

Alice: I told you I'd be bringing a few friends.
Wesker: *Smirking* ...You should have brought more.

Scott: I dislike you.
 Todd: Tell it to the cleaning lady on Monday.
Scott: What?
Todd: Because... because you'll be dust on Monday.
Scott: Huh?
Todd: Because I'll be pulverizing you sometime over the weekend.
Scott: I'm sorry... what?
Todd: And the cleaning lady... cleans up... dust. She dusts. And she has weekends off, so... Monday. Right?
Envy: What in the hell are you talking about, Todd?

  • Judge Dredd. During Dredd and Rico's Final Battle. Slightly subverted in that Rico ends up doing most of the ass kicking at first.

Rico: I'm the only one who never lied to you.
Dredd: I'll be the judge of that.


Literature

  • Harry Potter:
    • "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"
    • Also: "You shouldn't have done that."[1]
  • In Summer Knight, Harry Dresden rushes into a battle against a faction of The Fair Folk, belting out, "I don't believe in fairies!"
    • In Welcome To The Jungle, when asked what his profession is, Harry replies he works in "accounts payable" because he "makes sure everyone gets what's coming to them." Later, when he's going off to confront the Big Bad we get this exchange:

Will: But what if you need help? Where will you be??
Harry: Balancing some books.

    • In Small Favor, Harry comes up with this after Michael is shot.

Fuego. Pyrofuego. BURN.

    • Later, in Changes, when vampires are attacking his building and the people inside it, Harry comments internally on wizards being subtle and quick to anger.

Harry: Fuck Subtle. *steps around the corner and starts roasting some vampires*

Shagnasty: You are not a holy man. You do not follow the Blessing Way. You have no power over me.
Listens-To-Wind: Don't plan to bind or banish you, old ghost. Just gonna kick your ass up between your ears. Let's go. Which he proceeds to do.

    • In Ghost Story, we get this line from Mortimer right before he obliterates the Corpsetaker's ghost:

"But it seems to me, you half-wit, that you probably shouldn’t have left a freaking ectomancer a pit full of wraiths to play with."

"Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?"

      • An even earlier version attributes it to Frederick the Great, King of Prussia at the battle of Kolin.

"Ihr Racker, wollt ihr ewig leben?"

    • This quote is echoed once again in Starship Troopers.
    • Also, in Necropolis, Kowle's "Where is your courage? Where is your strength? Where is your conviction?" with the questions punctuated by the execution of his own men.
  • Discworld: "Where's... my... cow? Is that my cow? It goes hruuugh IT! IS A HIPPOPOTAMUS! THAT! IS! NOT! MY! COW!"
    • AND NOW THERE REMAINS ONLY ONE FINAL QUESTION -- HAVE YOU BEEN NAUGHTY... OR NICE?
    • WHILE IT IS TRUE WE HAVE TO RIDE OUT, IT DOESN'T SAY ANYWHERE AGAINST WHOM
    • Subverted, but at the same time a Crowning Moment of Awesome: "C'mon if you think you're hard enough!!!"
      • Some old man told me you live and learn. Well, I have lived, and now I've learned that the edge of a sword is infinitely long. I've also learned how to make damn good yoghurt, although this is not a skill I intend to employ today. Shall we go get' em, boys?
  • The Last Battle: "This is my password. The light is dawning, the lie broken. Now guard thee, miscreant, for I am Tirian of Narnia."
  • Watership Down. Bigwig's Determinator speech, "My Chief Rabbit has told me to defend this run, and until he says otherwise I shall stay here," scares the hraka out of the Efrafans, who mainly respect brute strength and have assumed up to this point that Bigwig was the Chief Rabbit of his warren. If he's not, there must be an even bigger Badass Bunny around somewhere. Has emotional meaning as well, since Bigwig swore never to call Hazel the Chief Rabbit until the day he stops fighting.
  • Éowyn's speech to the Witch-king in The Lord of the Rings. This is the second half.

"But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund's daughter, and you stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you if you touch him."

Smug Snake: After all, what do you think the odds are of you managing to defeat fifteen of my best?
Merlin: Better than average.

  • In Illium, Zeus and the Greek pantheon stand ready to destroy the combined Greek and Trojan armies (long, spoilery story), and then all of humanity. He delivers the classic "Any last words" line in a godly fashion... to which Achilles responds "Surrender now, and we'll spare your goddess's lives so they can be our slaves and courtesans." Despite being a fairly stupid (but awesome) asshole in this story, that may be the best response to such a line, ever.
  • Rastignac's "It's between you and me now, Paris!" in Le Père Goriot.
  • The Wheel of Time has :

Mat Cauthon: Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande! (For the honor of the Red Eagle! For the Honor of the Rose of the Sun! The Rose of the Sun!)
Mat Cauthon: Dovie'andi se tovya sagain. (It's time to toss the dice.)
Mazrim Taim: Asha'man, Kill!

  • The Elenium's confrontation between King Wargun and Sparkhawk, when the King is pulling rank and Sparhawk doesn't feel like cooperating.

King Wargun: I have a thousand picked men at my back!
Sparhawk: How many are you prepared to lose?

  • The Sten series book Fleet of the Damned provides this: "We are now attacking a Tahn battlefleet. There are at least two battleships with the fleet. We are going to kill them." Ironically, Sten didn't consider this an example, and in fact felt it would be a waste of time to give an "England Expects." He was commanding an obsolete heavy cruiser, and they did destroy one state-of-the-art battleship, and cripple the other beyond repair.
  • Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen - Memories of Ice

After Quick Ben unleashes half of his warrens (sources of magical power) to blast Korbal Broach through a wall, Bauchelain, partner of the aforementioned Korbal Broach, notes that Quick Ben's power is most impressive, but that, in retrospect, he ought to have saved at least half his warrens.
"But Bauchelain," replies Quick Ben, "I did."
He then blows Bauchelain through the wall too.

  • In the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher, Aldrick ex Gladius, one of the recurring antagonists, is widely renowned as the second best swordsman in the known lands, only being passed up by one other. He often uses this fact to unnerve his opponents, and his skill ensures that it's hammered in quickly enough.

Aldrick: The only man to best me with a blade was Araris Valerian....and you aren't Araris.

    • Subverted, however, in the first book. The person he's attacking isn't Araris...but he's very close by. Aldrick's brief Villainous Breakdown when Araris intervenes is a sight to behold.
  • From True Grit by Charles Portis (and both film versions), we have this exchange before the final showdown:

Rooster: I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned, or see you hanged at Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience. Which'll it be?
Ned: I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!
Rooster: Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!

"There be many fires, scum, some hotter than others - but save the fires of Hell - all fires - may be - quenched - by - blood!"

  • In Bryan Young's Lost At The Con, the alcoholic gonzo journalist protagonist is trying to defend a young female cosplayer from handsy frat boys, and getting his ass kicked, when suddenly...

Cybernetic!Abraham Lincoln: A house divided against itself cannot stand. [starts punching frat boys in the face]

  • Jason Grace in The Lost Hero has one badass and laconic enough to be worthy of a Roman Praetor; "My turn."


Live Action TV

Buffy: If I was at full Slayer power, I'd be punning right about now.

    • In the episode "Anne", Buffy has run away from home and changed her name to Anne (her middle name). In the course of the episode, she finds herself trapped in a demonic dimension where humans are made into slave labor. One of the demons is trying to break the humans' spirit by asking them "Who are you" and hitting them if they answer anything but "No one". What does Buffy answers, just before kicking everyone's ass?

Buffy: I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And you are?.

    • When Buffy is gone, Willow tries to replicate her punning—doing it herself between Seasons 2 and 3 (when Buffy was in L.A.), and programming it into the Buffybot between Seasons 5 and 6 (when Buffy was dead). With minimal success: "That'll put marzipan on your pie plate, bingo!"
    • Dark/Royally Pissed Off Willow is actually quite adept at badass one-liners. Standouts include I. OWE. YOU. PAIN. and "Bag of tricks?" "Bag of knives ".
    • Which brings us to the most cold-blooded pre-killing line of all time: "Bored now." Which was made more poignant by the fact that it was Vampire Willow's catchphrase, last heard 3 years before.
  • Angel attempted a ton of these. One of the few that stuck was in the series finale. Angel is being tossed around humiliatingly by one of the chief mooks, who takes time to gloat over this, explaining that Angel cannot defeat him, that the power of The Big Bad flows in his blood. Cut to Angel switching to vamp face.

Angel (in vamp face): Can you pick out the one word there you probably shouldn't have said?

Max: What did I say would happen if I caught you peeping again?
Guy: Can't help it Max, you're the bomb.
Max: Kaboom. (Max delivers a Groin Attack.)

  • Doctor Who: "EXTERMINATE!"
    • "Who are you calling small?"
    • "This is a FIGHTING hand!"
    • "I'm quite spry for my age..."
    • "You're a bad dog." "Affirmative."
    • "I'm River Song. Check your records again."
    • "I'VE GOT A SAYING, FEEL THIS!"
    • "Would you like me to repeat the question?" (more post-asskicking, but still awesome.) Before that moment, there was this. " Where. Is. My. Wife. " By the same guy: "Heil!"
  • Gene Hunt of Life On Mars 2006 and Ashes to Ashes is especially fond of these—among the most memorable being his first line in the latter series:

Gene: Today, my friend, your diary entry will read "Took a prozzie hostage and was shot by three armed bastards."

    • Which was based on his original, fondly remembered "You are surrounded by armed BASTARDS!" Gene get's a ton of these.
    • Alex also gets a pre/post one-liner in the first series;

Gene: *Generic prostitution insult*
Alex: *SLAP*

Gene: Better now?

Alex: No. *Punches him in the jaw* Better now. Come on ladies, let's get pissed.

  • On Community, during the second paintball game, a third City College stormtrooper runs up to the two celebrating that they've won. It's actually Pierce in disguise, and when asked who he is, his only reply is "Your mother's lover!" before opening fire and winning the game.
    • In the first Paintball game they take down the chess club with "Checkmate, bitches!"
  • Possibly the most emphatic of all. In the finale of the second series of Primeval, after Cutter is being played with by a Future Predator:

Cutter: Enough. *proceeds to shoot Future Predator*

    • Cutter gets a lot of these.

Cutter: *when faced with giant mer creature* Time to go home.

  • At the end of the first series of Merlin, this gem.

Merlin: *Gets up from normally deadly injury* You should not have killed my friend. *And then proceeds to harness lightning by merely lifting his hand (in the Merlinverse, powerful magic requires incantation)*

Guinan: (fires a blast into the air) This is a little souvenir I picked up from Magus III. That was setting number one. Anyone wanna see setting number two?

Janeway: (to a blustering Kazon captain) You know, I'm an easy person to get along with most of the time. But I don't like threats, and I don't like bullies, and I don't like YOU.

    • "Hello. I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway. Welcome to the bridge." immediately before the self-destruct detonated and blew up a parallel universe duplicate of Voyager
  • Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Both used and spoofed in the episode "To the Death", where the crew of the Defiant team up with the Jem'Hadar to track down some renegades.

Jem'Hadar First: (to his Mooks) I am First Omet'iklan, and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember: Victory is Life!
Chief O'Brien: (to his Redshirts) I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I am very much alive, and I intend to stay that way.

Eliot: What smells like crank and cries like a little girl? (breaks his legs) Right answer!

Mal: Looks like business ain't running so much as crawling away. You wanna meet the real me now?

    • Simon Tam: Yes, she always did love to dance.
    • River Tam: You've always taken care of me... My turn.
  • Flash Forward 2009's Simon had a good one, after confronting the good that chopped off his finger.

Simon: Word of advice? Next time, take the trigger finger.

Psycho Red: We're the Psycho Rangers.
Psycho Black: We're faster than you.
Psycho Blue: Smarter than you.
Psycho Yellow: Stronger than you.
Psycho Pink: But we're evil!

  • Parodied, then discussed in Power Rangers RPM at the start of the "Ranger Red" episode, where Scott and Ziggy comes across a group of Grinders terrorizing a mother and her baby.

Scott: Shh... You'll wake the baby.
Ziggy: Yeah, and if you wake the baby, I might just have to sing you all a sweet little lullaby, and then tuck you into bed without any dessert, or even a single goodnight kiss... (notices Scott staring at him) Oh, wait, wait, what am I even saying. That... that didn't even make sense. I'm really sorry, um... kinda new at being a Power Ranger. I'm, I'm still working on my, uh... my hero one-liners, so...
Scott: Look, Zig. I told you. They're called 'one-liners' for a reason. We're action heroes. When it comes to talking -- (Scott takes out three Grinders with a Capoiera kick) -- less is more.

  • Boardwalk Empire: more of a Pre-Fingorn One Liner—Chalky sits down with a Klansman and tells him a story about how his carpenter father was asked to build a bookcase by a white man, and after he worked long and hard on it, the man and his friends rewarded him for his troubles by lynching him. Chalky then unrolls a set of his father's tools, and the Klansman nervously asks what he intends to do with them. Chalky just replies "Well...I ain't buildin' no bookcase."
  • SG1's Jack O'Neill and Atlantis's John Sheppard, both of whom are masters of this trope, with too many examples to mention. And the rest of their teams are no slouches either.
  • From Enos: A cop pops out of hiding and pulls a gun on two thugs, saying, "Your tax dollars at work."
  • From Sanctuary

Vampire Queen Afina: You're out of your depth, mongrel.

Nikola Tesla: I'd rather be a mongrel than a stuck up, inbred bitch.


Music

  • The Protomen's song Vengeance might as well be made up of Megaman one-liners, since the track is about Megaman slaughtering Robot Masters. An actual quote from the song is: "Send me the best you've got! Send me your strongest machines. The fight my brother fought here, now, will end with me" Also, after he actually trashes the first wave of robots he's not nearly satisfied so he says: "All you wounded, those of you who can, pick yourself off the ground, hurry back, tell your leader you'll need more men." as he prepares for the second wave.
  • Limp Bizkit gets one in their song 'Break Stuff', that leaves the ass-kicking to your imagination:

"I pack a chainsaw. I'll skin your ass raw. And if my day keeps going this way, I just might BREAK YOUR FUCKING FACE TONIGHT!"

  • An exaple that is both this and a Post Ass-Kicking One Liner (after one ass-kicking, but before the next) from Tenacious D's Tribute

Needless to say, the beast was stunned.

Whip-crack went his whoopy tail,

And the beast was done.

He asked us: "Be you angels?"

And we said, "Nay! We are but men! ROCK!"


Professional Wrestling

  • CM Punk, a true comic fan, has been using the Thing's catchphrase "It's clobberin' time!" throughout his career. Right as he comes through the curtain, he stops on the stage and delivers the line right before his match. [1]


Religion


Theater

  • Shakespeare's action scenes often use Pre-Asskicking One-Liners—like Macbeth and Henry IV Part 1.
    • Macbeth: "Lay on, Macduff, and damn'd be him who first cries, 'Hold! Enough!'"
    • Henry V, "God for Harry! England and Saint George!"
    • Several from Romeo and Juliet:

Tybalt: What, drawn and talk of peace?! I hate the word. As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. Have at thee, coward!
Mercutio: Come sir, your passado.
Romeo: This shall determine that.


Toys

Nidhiki: Hi, dear. I'm home.


Video Games

CHARNAME: Is it true that dragon meat tastes like chicken? Never mind; I'll find out for myself.

    • Minsc has the best battle cries. "Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes! Raaagghhhhhhh!!"
    • Even better: "Jump on my sword while you can, evil! I won't be as gentle!"
    • My personal favorite is if he's in your party during the final confrontation with Jon Irenicus. "Evil, meet my sword! Sword, meet Evilllllllllllllllll!"
  • Mass Effect, made by the same company as Baldur's Gate, includes a whole lot of team chatter that qualifies, including a shout-out to Minsc's famous line:
    • Tali: "Go for the Optics, Chikkita! Go for the Optics!"
    • Jack: "Hello, Dead People!"
    • Mordin: "Flammable! Inflammable! Forget which! Doesn't matter!"
    • Grunt: "I! AM! KROGANNNNNN!"
    • Kasumi: "Going silent!" *cue Stealth Hi Bye and Back Stab*
    • Commander Shepard is full of these. If we were to list all the one-liners s/he says we would probably have to give Mass Effect its own section. AGAIN!
    • Emily Wong got one in a Twitter feed. She was in an aircar, unarmed, bleeding, with a Reaper right in front of her. She had only one choice. Her last message: "You want to see how a human dies? At ramming speed." A shame she almost certainly accomplished nothing with it.
  • Every Fighting Game you can find these days.
  • Most phrases said by video game bosses before the Boss Battle, especially in RPGs. Most well-known example: "I, Garland, will knock you all down!".

Sephiroth: Well, that's an interesting sword you're carrying. (indicating Sora's weapon)
Donald: It's the Keyblade.
Sephiroth: I see. So that's a Keyblade. (to Sora) And I suppose you must be its chosen wielder.
Sora: So what if I am?
Sephiroth: I wonder if it won't change it's mind, once I defeat you.

    • Zack Fair, a non-villain example: "...and above all...protect your honor...AS SOLDIER!! COME AND GET IT!!!" To a whole army.
    • Dissidia Final Fantasy has all characters say something when the battle starts, and a good part of the time it'll be this trope, or some sort of mocking comment about the opponent. The prequel Dissidia 012 went further with custom introductory quotes for storyline battles where both character speaks. For example, this gem from the Final Boss:

Garland: "I will grant you true and utter annihilation!"
Lightning: "Bring it on! I don't need a second chance!"

  • From Chrono Cross: "Now, let love bleed! Darker and deeper than the seas of hell!"
  • Gene from God Hand has a few of these, even more irrelevant than usual because he doesn't give a damn about his opponent. "You can wax on wax off all you like, I'm still kicking your ass" is probably the most well-known. Probably the most amusing is the one word he spouts in response to the Mad Midget Five's Team Shot:

"Douchebags!"

    • Elvis' "I'm gettin' hungry, hombre!"
  • Team Fortress 2 has those whenever an ubercharge is used on a Heavy. "Is good time to run cowards!"
    • NOW IS COWARD KILLING TIME!
    • I AM BULLET-PROOOOOOOF!! *Commence ass-kicking*
    • The Soldier's Buff Banner when used also makes him utter one of his battle cries.
    • Also, every character on both teams at the very start of a round. They can also be used at any time through the "Battle cry" voice command.
    • The "Meet the Medic" short gives us this:

Medic: Now? (creepy chuckle) Let's go practice medicine.

  • "Can't let you do that, Star FOX!"
    • "Andross has ordered us to take you down."
    • "Peppy! Long time, no see!"
    • "Andross' enemy is my enemy!"
    • "Your daddy screamed REEEEEALL good before he DIED"
    • "Think you're tough eh? In that case, IT'S SECRET WEAPONS TIME!"
  • "Let's rock, baby!"
    • And Nero's "Let's roll."
      • Nero's got more, from "Hell yeah!" accompanying cutting downward in the air, "You're going down," for one of his longer but more powerful attacks, and "Sweet!" when Devil Trigger is activated.
    • When using Buster on Sanctus, one of his lines is "You are the demon. NOT ME!"
    • "Foolishness, Dante, foolishness. Might controls everything, and without strength you cannot protect anything. Let alone yourself."
  • Bayonetta has several, including Dante's "Let's rock, baby!"
  • This is part of the reason why Duke Nukem is such a Badass, even though he lifts a few lines from other sources. Example: "Come on out, Morphix. There's only two ways this can end, and in both of 'em, you die!"
  • From Vampire: The Masquerade -- Redemption, said by a crusader who has survived to the modern nights.

Christof Romuald: Stand, sir, or wouldst thou arrive in hell squatting upon thy arse?

Bao-Dur: "I think he wanted us to give the General to his poorly trained collection of bounty hunters."
Atton: "Well that makes sense. Which one do you want?"
Bao-Dur: "I'll take the stupid one who decided to threaten us rather than shoot us when he had the chance."

  • More than a few of these in Kingdom Hearts, especially from the Organization XIII baddies.
    • Axel, Demyx (below), Larxene, and Xemnas:

Axel: "Oh? So you really do remember me this time. I'm sooooo FLATTERED. But you're toooo LATE!"

Axel (during the intro sequence of the boss fight): "Come here! I'll make it all STOP!"

Xemnas: "I cannot feel sorrow... no matter what misery befalls your worlds."

Zexion: "Then I shall make you see... That your hopes are nothing--nothing but a mere illusion!"

  • Many Time Crisis bosses:
    • Sherudo Garo (Time Crisis Stage 2 boss): "Since you have traveled so very far, be my guest and let me ENTERTAIN YOU!"
    • Wild Fang (Time Crisis 3 Stage 3-1): "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wild Fang, and it's a pleasure to meet YOU!"
    • Marcus Black (Time Crisis 4 Stage 1-3): "You want it? Then come over here and TAKE IT!"
    • Jack Mathers (Time Crisis 4 Stage 2-3): (in response to Captain Rush asking "Where's your patriotism?") "What good is patriotism?"
    • Wild Dog (Time Crisis 4 Stage 3-2): "A bunch of annoying little flies..."
  • Altered Beast: "WELCOME TO YOUR DOOM!"
  • The beginning of a Gears of War multiplayer match normally has someone saying something.
  • In Fire Emblem 7 before taking down the Big Bad, all characters that are taking part in the battle get to deliver one, or at the very least the group they're fighting for. The best is Canas' "Let this battle be forgotten by history, that is all I ask."
  • "It's time for revenge." "Let's attack aggressively."
    • And the lesser known "What is this place?" "Keep your eyes peeled!" *gun cocking sounds*
  • In Blood Omen 2, before the first boss, the boss in question says that Kain will die if he fights the Sarafan Lord, Kain says that may be true, and then adds, "But you will never know how it ends, Faustus, for I will bury you first of all."
  • One female voiceset in Neverwinter Nights says "I hope you like pain!" when you attack an enemy
  • Super Smash Bros..:

Lucario: Watch the power of aura! (Kamehame Hadoken)
Meta Knight: Know my power! (Flash Step)
Snake: It's show time! (calls helicopter with grenade launcher)

Sonic: Now I'll show you! (screams as he flies straight through everything)

  • Blaz Blue has some characters with truly justifiable one liners.

Hakumen: Give everything, and you might live a little longer!

Nu-13: Activate termination protocol.

  • "I am matter... I am antimatter... I can see your past... I can see your future... I consume time... And I will consume you!"
  • In Fate Stay Night "Unlimited Blade Works", when Shirou uses the titular ability for the first time, against Gilgamesh: "Here I come, King of Heroes. Do you have enough weapons in stock?"
    • Which on the internet is often paraphrased as "KING OF HEROES, DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH SWORDS?"
  • Killer7 has Harman's first lines in the game "Good night child, it's past your bed time."
    • And Dan's classic, "I went to see the Devil, now it's your turn."
  • World of Warcraft: Each of the Alliance & Horde faction leaders will deliver one of these if you attack them.
    • One attack on the Horde capital city of Orgrimmar featured this especially well. The raid organisers were targetting Thrall, warchief of the orcs, and forgot (as many do on both factions) that the leader of the trolls also spends most of his time in Thrall's keep. They charged Thrall at full speed, only to hear from behind, "Dis gonna be de last mistake you make, mon" seconds before Vol'jin the Shadowhunter tore their formation apart, starting with the healers at the back.
    • "Leeroy Jenkins!"
    • "Arcanite Reaper, HOOO!"
    • During the Gunship Battle we have "You DARE board my ship? Your death will come swiftly." if you're on Horde and "What's this then?! Ye won't be takin' this son o' Ironforge's vessel without a fight!." if you're on Alliance.
    • During the Wrathgate cinematic, Saurfang the Younger delivers this gem:

Rise up, sons of the Horde! Blood and glory await us!

    • The standard Battle Cry of "FOR THE HORDE!" or "FOR THE ALLIANCE!" can work as one of these.
  • In Metal Gear Solid, Snake and Otacon are trapped inside a building while the Big Bad circles it in an armed helicopter. Snake tells Otacon to go fix the elevator so they can move on, and Otacon asks Snake what he intends to do. Snake's response? "I've got to go and swat a noisy fly."
    • Metal Gear Solid also had Gray Fox's: "A cornered fox is more dangerous than a jackal!" though YMMV on that, since he died shortly after saying it.
    • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: "You want eternal rest? I've got it right here."
      • Also, a couple from Solidus in the same game: "I applaud your attitude. Well, if you have a death wish, I'll be happy to accommodate you; see you in hell!" "Stupid Machines!"
  • The video game adaption of The Warriors had each warrior give one of these when entering rage mode. Here is an example from each warrior:
    • Cleon: Here comes the motherfucking warchief, asshole!
    • Swan: I'm gonna march right through you!
    • Ajax: You stupid fucks!
    • Snow: Enough of this bullshit! You're fucking finished!
    • Rembrandt: Let me show you how the Warriors bump!
    • Vermin: All right, all right, that's fucking it!
    • Cowboy: I'm gonna go wild on you asshole!
    • Fox: I'll show you how to flex!
    • Cochise: Bring it on sucka!
  • Bayonetta: "Don't fuck with a witch!"
  • S.W.I.N.E. has units that always drop a taunt whenever they spot an enemy or score a kill. The combatants are rabbits (French accent) and pigs (German accent). The best are the rabbit artillery units.

I'm going to open a can of whoopass on these pigs!
I'm supposed to be afraid? You gotta be kidding me...
Adieu, mon ami...
Whoa, brother! You really had to eat that much slop?
Off ya go to hog heaven!
(Hungarian version) Here, lead pill from the pharmacy!
(Hungarian version) I'm gonna kick you so hard you'll fly home!

Lucia: Dragons of Althena, come forth!
Ruby: This is it! Let's go!
Nall: Let's rock!

  • In Yggdra Union Gulcasa give the anti heroic version of this trope during his first confrontation with Milanor.

Milanor: So you're the big man around here, huh? Get ready!
Gulcasa: We haven't been introduced, so I'll think of you as "Prey".

  • "You talk too much".
  • Persona 3 has a lot of great lines after you knock down an enemy and get a chance to have all four characters gang up on it, such as Akihiko's "Oh, I've been waiting for this!" and Junpei's "Come back here, you son of a-!"
    • "I make my living as an elevator attendant but... I know several effective ways of inflicting pain. Don't worry, I'm not as fragile as I look. Try to kill me... if you can."
      • And its Spear Counterpart: I am he who governs power. I should pose a challenge, even for you. I advice that you do not hold back. Fight as though you intend to kill.
    • Every Shadow boss in Persona 4 starts with "I am a Shadow, the true self..."
    • Kanji: "I LIVE FOR THIS PART!
  • "Target verified. Commencing hostilities." The last words you will hear.
  • Do not...toy with me
    • also: "Haven't I killed ALL of you yet?!"
  • "It's game time."
  • "Hasta luego."
  • In Tales of Symphonia, Corrine dies to protect Sheena from Volt. After Lloyd motions her into action Sheena yells "For the sake of everyone that risked their lives to protect me, Volt...I DEMAND YOUR POWER!! The party then kills the God of Thunder and Lightning.
    • Lloyd and Kratos team up to do this at the Iselia Ranch. As Forcystus emerges from the front doorway after shooting Lloyd, Kratos says very calmly that he is disappointed that this is how the great Desian hero Forcystus meets his end. He doesn't need to do anything though, as Lloyd does the asskicking part for him WHEN HE SHANKS HIM. Kratos has some choice lines when he finishes off Kvar ("Feel the pain" *slash* "Of those inferior beings" *slash* *sheathes sword* "as you burn in hell") and before right after you kill Remiel in the first time in the tower of salvation and Kratos show up and as the fight starts he say "Do you earnestly think you can defeat ME?"
  • Darksiders: "You can look at me in the eye when I kill you."
  • Red Faction: Guerrilla: Alec Mason cracks quite a few of these during the game, but the most epic one happens in the end, when the Red Faction is about to shoot down the Hydra, the largest warship ever known to man.

Kobel: This is Admiral Kobel of the EDF Hydra. What is your status?
Mason: Just fine, Admiral, but yours is about to go red.

Alright, who ordered death?

Bob Page: "Soon, I will become pure energy. I will burn like the brightest star."
JC Denton: "You're gonna burn alright."

  • From No More Heroes, Travis will deliver quite a lot of these (In addition to Pre- and Postmortem One Liners.)
    • v.s. Skelter Helter: "And when you see your brother in hell, tell him, that he's still a DOUCHE!"
    • v.s. Nathan Copeland: "Hale-fucking-lujah!"
    • v.s. Matt Helms: "Time for some pro-bono ghost-busting!"
    • v.s. Jasper Batt Jr. (last form): "Come on, Prez! Unleash your hate! Your anger! Everything! I'll take it all and FUCKING kill you with it!"
    • Travis gives a good number of these in the first one too.

To Dr.Peace: "This is what I LIVE FOR. Fighting your own kind, nothing's more gratifying!"
To Destroyman: "If challenge had a taste, you'd be quite delicious."
To Holly: "Normal assassins don't shoot the shit like this. They see their target and KILL THEM!"
To Harvey: "IT'S KILLING TIME!"
To Bad Girl: "You're no assassin. You're just a perverted killing maniac."
To Jeane: "All of your sorrows end today, Jeane."

  • Asura's Wrath: Come on! (To a fucking planet-sized god, and he wins.)
  • Neverwinter Nights' NPCs and PCs have voice that sets will occasionally have them say one of these once they attack an enemy.
    • Dark Hero: "NO QUARTER!"
    • Reserved Guardian: "Let the earth take you!"
    • Confident: "I'll handle this one!"
    • Dramatic: "Your death has been too long delayed."
    • In Neverwinter Nights 2, this ultimately fails with Kaelyn the Dove, for which she can explain why. And this is one of her One Liners.

Kaelyn: "Oh...you...oh, I don't know any profanities! How embarrassing..."

  • EVE Online gives us this from the trailer for the latest expansion, called Incursion. This particular one-liner precedes the collective ass-kicking of a galactic cluster, 4 established empires and their respective naval forces, and the player-base.

Sansha Kuvakei: "I will vanquish your fear, and commute your flesh...to dust."

Mech Power Up Voice Over: "Reactor online, sensors online, weapons online. All systems nominal."

Arcanus: How many times must I prove that you little insects can't hurt me?

Hou Zan: Once more, apparently.

    • Subverted, Arcanus teleports away.
  • Played quite nicely in Portal 2, although the person the one-liner was directed at never actually got their ass-kicked;

G La DOS: I hope you brought something stronger than a portal gun this time, otherwise I'm afraid you're about to become the immediate past president of the Being Alive Club. Ha Ha.
G La DOS: "You remember turrets, the pale spherical objects full of bullets? Oh wait, that's you in five minutes."
G La DOS: "...I suppose we could just sit in this room and glare at each other until one of us drops dead... but I have a better idea, it's your old friend, deadly neurotoxin. If I were you, I'd take a deep breath...and hold it."
Wheatley: Hello! This is the part where I kill you! Chapter 9: The part where he kills you. (Achievement Unlocked: The part where he kills you) BGM: The Part Where He Kills You

Jeyne: "If any of you pretend to piety, pray to your gods now."

Neku: "Another world awaits!"
Joshua: "And you're going."

    • Also, Neku and Beat's max fusion level 3:

Beat: "Let's start it up!"
Neku: "No let's end it!"

  • In Eternal Sonata, if you build up enough echoes before unleashing a special attack, the character will say something awesome.

Falsetto: "By thunder and lightning will you be thrown. By wind will you be scattered. Heaven and Earth! Howling Thunder!"
Fredric: "There is power within my melodies! Listen! Piu Grave!"
Salsa: "Descend from Heaven and shatter the Earth! Deadly Orbit!"
March: "The bright light within me is apart of all things that shine! Super Nova!"
Polka: "Stay out of my way! Pure Geyser!"

Bill: "Goddamn Smoker! You're going to have to use that tongue of yours to pull my foot out of your ass!"
Bill (Sacrifice Comic): "Hold your horses, I'll be with you in a minute."
Nick: "I have not...come this far...to die now!"
Ellls: "Kill all sons of bitches...that's my official instructions."

Coach Oleander: Kochamara does not speak giant monster boy language.
Raz: The only word you're gonna need is "ouch."

  • In Wario World, Wario frequently utters the line "I'm-a number one!" before boss battles.


Web Animation

  • Just before fighting O'Malley in Red vs. Blue, Church rattles off a number of these lines such as: "You're just one big headache, and I've got a whole pistol full of aspirin!" and: "I've got half a mind to kill you! And the other half agrees!"
    • With Tex snarking in the background. Even though those are clever, they're very corny.
    • "My name is Michael J. Caboose. And I. HATE. BABIES!!!"—Just before massacring an army single-handed.
    • At the end of season 1, Donut, before killing Tex at super-long-range with a plasma grenade: "HEY, BITCH! REMEMBER ME? I SAVED SOMETHING FOR YA!"
    • "Okay, so who's first?" The next episode is a 7-minute episode of her absolutely demolishing Sarge, Grif, Simmons, and Tucker at the same time, without even breaking a sweat. Also they're all armed and she's not. It doesn't matter.
    • Still the best one goes to Washington "Peace talks have broken down, now we do it OUR way"
    • How has anyone forgotten "You just got Sarged!" Hilariously subverted when he doesn't get to finish it once.
  • "I have to kill fast, and bullets too slow!"


Web Comics

Alien: Human! You belong to me.
Buck: Thanks, but actually, I belong to me. And I don't share.

Doc: Rayner, you killed my mentor, and you kidnapped my sidekick. I met Death himself last night, and he's going to follow me all the way to your house. You made it personal.

Doc: I'm trying to think of that thing I said earlier today, when I was riding that raptor there, and how Death was mad at me... and somehow I applied it to you? I forget it now. It would have been good. But, uh, whatever. You're like, the lamest Great Dane since Marmaduke, and I'm gonna kill you. Whatever, who cares. Let's go.

Zz'dtri: Parody is protected speech.

  • Oasis tries to use some of these in Sluggy Freelance, but she doesn't quite have the hang of it.
  • Gilgamesh Wulfenbach attempts one here in Girl Genius. He fails. Although he does pretty well here (starting with the last panel, and continuing for the next few pages).
  • In Everyday Heroes, Summer lampshades the above quote from Scarface.
  • Gordon Frohman of Concerned fails to assassinate Gordon Freeman before the explosion of the combine portal, because he's too busy coming up with a line.
  • In this Sam and Fuzzy strip, Nicole delivers a good one just before decapitating Sin with a circular saw-looking thing.

Nicole: Oh, come on Sin... everyone loves a surprise hit.

  • Digger by Ursula Vernon. "Remember Tunnel Seventeeeeen!!!"
  • Brianna from Servants of the Imperium tells Twink "May the Emperor have mercy on your soul... because I will not."
  • Subverted in Sinfest in a Ninjapiece Theatre strip when Slick, the Pimp Ninja threatens Yellowtail (the Geisha Slut) with "I kill you so hard your ancestors will die!"
  • Mandatory before every fight in What the Fu.
  • In No Need for Bushido, Brother Wu delivers a rather appropriate one to the trash-talking Ken.

Brother Wu: It seems we are not the ones in a position to have our asses kicked. (kicks Ken's ass into a wall)

Web Original


Western Animation

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender's Pakku gets a pretty excellent one before fighting Katara: "If you want to learn waterbending so badly, STUDY CLOSELY!!"
    • "I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother." "No you're not."
    • "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname Dragon of the West?"
    • "They're mine!"
    • "Trust me, Zuko, it's not gonna be much of a match."
  • The Legend of Korra has Korra, in the first episode confront a gang of three thugs. Surprised by the fact that anyone has the nerves or stupidity to challenge them, the confrontation leads to this exchange:

Thugs: Who do you think you are?
Korra: Why don't you come and find out?

  • In Total Drama Island, by the end of the fight between Izzy and Chef in "Hide and Be Sneaky":

Izzy: Bye bye! (kicks Chef)

  • Ben from Ben 10 loves to spout these before turning alien and leaping into action. They tend to be incredibly cheesy, but give him a break, he's a Kid Hero.
  • Played with in the The Simpsons several times. In the episode "Simple Simpson" when Homer becomes Pie Man. After a series of heroic exploits and delivering multiple pastry-based one-liners just before subduing his various victims, he eventually just uses, "I have run out of pie-related puns!"
    • In the episode "Itchy & Scratchy Land", while fighting out-of-control animatronic Itchy and Scratchy robots with cameras, Bart says in Schwarzenegger-esque voice "Hey mouse... say cheese." followed quickly by "With a dry, cool wit like that, I could be an action hero." It's played with even further when moments later, Homer emerges from a pile of defeated robots, saying "Die, bad robots, die!... With a dry, cool wit like that, I could be an action hero."
    • In a Halloween episode, Homer has to think of a witty remark to say before he assassinates Kent Brockman... but when he thinks of it, he realizes that there's nobody around and so he doesn't have to say it.
  • Clone High: "More tea, Wesley?"
    • "Bah! Chamomile!"
  • My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic:[2]
    • Rainbow Dash, when she's about to start rounding out the parasprites in "Swarm of the Century":

"Time to take out the adorable trash."

    • "A Dog and Pony Show":
      • When one of the Diamond Dogs tries to put a bridle on Applejack, she quips "If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride!" before starting to buck him off.
      • "A Dog and Pony Show" also gives us the precursor to a verbal ass-kicking:

Rarity: "I am not whining. I am complaining. Do you want to hear whining?"

    • In "The Return of Harmony", Twilight Sparkle gives one just before she and the mane cast defeat Discord with the Elements Of Harmony. Probably one of the most Badass ways of invoking The Power of Friendship ever.

Twilight Sparkle: "All right, ladies. Let's show him what friendship can really do!"

    • In "It's about Time," when Twilight prepares to kick the ass of Cerberus. Yes, that Cerberus. The moment is ruined by Fluttershy, but it's still pretty awesome.

Twilight Sparkle: "Hey, Cerberus! You look like you could use some obedience training. Magic obedience training."

  • Transformers: "One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall." So nice, they used it twice. Also, and more to the point, "Megatron must be stopped."
    • Surely the true one-liner is in this exchange:

Megatron: Why throw away your life so recklessly?
Optimus: That's a question you should ask yourself, Megatron.

    • At the end of The Movie, Rodimus Prime gets two in the same scene.

Rodimus Prime: (after wrestling the MacGuffin from The Dragon) This is the end of the road, Galvatron. (throws him through a wall)
Rodimus Prime: (as he activates the Deus Ex Machina MacGuffin) Now... light our darkest hour!

    • Almost everybody gets one of these.

Devastator: PREPARE FOR EXTERMINATION.
Frenzy: First we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside!
Wreck-Gar: You check in, but you don't check out.
Grimlock: Me Grimlock want to munch metal.

    • Bulkhead is the current reigning king of one-liners. He spouts one in every episode so far.
  • Kim Possible
    • Both heroes and villains often break them out, with Shego especially fond of them. With everyone recovering from a cold, Shego declares, "Looks like someone's been drinking a lot of fluids -- and retaining every ounce..."
    • This, from The Movie.

"You're right, Drakken. Boys? Dating? Oh, it's hard. But this? Is easy." Boom.

  • Teen Titans
    • This is Robin's job. It gets a bit ridiculous at times.
    • Starfire gets one in one of the first episodes.

Starfire: I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am stronger than I look. (WHAM)

    • Raven and Beast Boy have them during their Berserk Button moments,

Raven: Don't come any closer.
Beast Boy: I am not a man, I AM AN ANIMAL!!!

  • Earthworm Jim: "Eat dirt, everything in the vicinity!" (and about a billion variations thereof...). Brilliant when you think of it. He's an earthworm and his kind generally tends to eat... well..
  • Stripperella. "Look out crime. I'm gonna to take a bite out of you. But... not in a way you're gonna find... pleasurable."
  • Darkwing Duck:
    • "Let's get dangerous!"
    • Darkwing Duck's shift from comic relief to serious threat post-"Dangerous" constitutes its own trope.
    • "Suck gas, evil doer!"
  • Danny Phantom has the title character spout a few of these. Unfortunately it doesn't run in the family: Jazz's one-liners are terrible. Except for when she's saving Danny for once, and it's combined with a Don't Say Such Stupid Things and a Shut UP, Hannibal:

Jazz: Excuse me. I don't know this kid, but I hope it's okay if he gets a second opinion.

  • Metalocalypse: "That's my bread and butter you're fucking with." If anyone utters that, you know, RUN!
  • Robot Chicken: "GO F#%* YOURSELF!"
  • King of the Hill: "That's my purse!! I don't know you!" (kicks person in the balls). Seriously, you can't tell me you wouldn't get caught off guard by some fat kid yelling "That's my purse!" then yelling "I don't know you!" before kicking your nuts into your throat is a great way to finish it.
    • Also, from the episode where Bobby and Joseph become professional panhandlers.

Bum: What're you gonna do, tell my mommy?
Hank: No, I'm going to kick your ass up one side of the street and down the other.

  • Dexters Laboratory: A mix-up involving cereal-prize decoder rings leaves Deedee being threatened by the Pony Puffs, and Dexter having to team up with Action Hank to save her. As Hank bursts through the wall with his team to save Dee-Dee from being dunked in scalding-hot oatmeal, he delivers that classic line:

Hank: Breakfast is no longer being served! Prepare to get brunched -- in the face!

Needham: It's T. T. Kaaaaaaaay B.!
Others: Time to kiiiiiiiick butt!

    • The only thing villains hate to hear more than that one is the one that means you're well and truly screwed:

Needham: It's P.B.T.!
Others: Pay-back time!

Scooby Doo: Bad Dog. Time to heel.

    • He followed it up with something even more bad ass, especially given his utterly cold delivery.

Scooby Doo: Play Dead.

  1. ↑ Obviously not to be confused with Ben Drowned.
  2. ↑ What, you didn't think a My Little Pony show would have examples of this?
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