View source for Bloodstained-Glass Windows

{{trope}}
[[File:Wonderful Days stort.jpg|link=Sky Blue|frame|[[A Worldwide Punomenon|God knows]] why they're fighting ''here'' of all places.]]

{{quote|"Candle-light, privacy, music! [[Lampshade Hanging|Can't think of a better place for hand-to-hand combat!]]"
|'''Phoebus''', ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]''}}

Staging an awesome fight scene, be it a shootout or a [[Sword Fight]], a duel or a [[Melee a Trois]], in a ([[Christianity Is Catholic|Catholic]]) cathedral, chapel, or church apparently has something thrilling for the directors, as does any forbidden fruit. And [[Faux Symbolism]]? A shot of Jesus looking mournfully from the [[Creepy Cool Crosses|cross]] upon the bloodshed below certainly is.

Commonly seen in [[Heroic Bloodshed]] movies and [[Anime]], causing much [[Values Dissonance]] among the Westerners. May involve a [[Church Militant]] or two but it's not mandatory. Bonus points if [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] with religious lyrics are added. Double bonus points if there are [[Disturbed Doves|doves]] flying around during the mayhem. [[Scenery Porn]] may be a factor when the building is particularly ornate or the stained glass itself is given particular attention.

Also known as the [[Church Shootout]], if it only involves [[The Gunslinger|gunfire and no katanas]]. Compare [[Wedding Smashers]] and [[Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress]].

{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The famous first clash between Spike and Vicious in episode 5 of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', "Ballad of Fallen Angels," is likely a [[Shout-Out]] to both ''[[The Killer]]'' and ''[[The Crow]]''. Or so [[Wikipedia|The Other Wik]]i says.
* The final shootout in ''[[Madlax]]'' takes place in a chapel.
* Of course, this happens more than once in ''[[Noir (anime)|Noir]]'', starting with normal churches in the beginning to the big weird Soldats Cathedral Mansion complete with Nuns with Guns in the end.
* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' has a brief [[Sword Fight]] in the basement of Kotomine's cathedral near the end, immediately following [[The Reveal]].
** ''Unlimited Blade Works'' stages a few confrontations there; at least two of them display the stained glass prominently.
* The sixth ''[[Kara no Kyoukai:]]'' movie features a battle inside the church at Azaka's boarding school. Bonus points for both combatants dressed like nuns.
* The opening of ''[[Blade of the Immortal]]'' has a gun-and-sword fight with a fake priest in a confessional.
* Happens in the first episode of ''[[Hellsing]]'', complete with tons of [[Faux Symbolism]]. It was not present in the original manga, but only in the syndicated anime; whether this change was for the better is arguable.
* In ''[[Black Butler (anime)|Black Butler]]'' there is not only a battle in a church but {{spoiler|the victim is an angel. Later we find out that [[Gender Bender|s/he]] isn't actually dead yet, though.}}
* ''[[Trinity Blood]]'' likes doing this.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'' had an awesome fight sequence inside Aerith's church, ''twice''.
* ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' features an intense shootout at the entrance of the Church Of Violence during the Greenback Jane arc when the arc's title character seeks the aforementioned church as sanctuary. The show blatantly parodies the entire trope; it's an 'intense shootout' as in 'the church had an M-60 and weren't afraid to shoot '''it''' at everyone else involved'. Oh, and a pair of ''supremely'' pissed off [[Sociopathic Hero]]es and a lead nun with a [[Bling Bling Bang|Golden]] [[Hand Cannon|Desert]] [[Rare Guns|Eagle]].
* ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'': An episode in the second season features a climactic shootout between a terrorist and Section 09 in a Berlin cathedral. The terrorist, using a [[Arm Cannon|pepperpot firearm built into his knuckles]], fires at Batou, misses, and blows out an entire stained-glass window. 
* In the anime version of ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'', before Zakuro joins the team, she is targeted by Kisshu while she's praying at church, and promptly kicks his butt before the rest of the titular [[Magical Girl]]s even do anything. (In the manga, the battle took place at the audition.)
* ''[[Appleseed|Appleseed Ex Machina]]'' opens with an ''awesome'' [[Church Shootout]]. What's up with John Woo and churches?
* The final showdown between Juubei and Toshiki in the ''[[GetBackers]]''' anime. The manga starts them out in a church, but Toshiki decides midway through that the alley where they first met would be more appropriate. You can do that with Divine Design. 
* The first [[The Heartless|Akuma]] we see in ''[[D.Gray-man|D Gray Man]]'' was made from a priest and his fiancee. It does all of its killing inside an abandoned church, and it's destroyed there.
* One of the first scenes in the anime of ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]''.
* Unsurprisingly this happens quite often in the various incarnations of [[Go Nagai]]'s ''[[Devilman]]''.
* Happens near the beginning of ''[[Claymore]]'', with a demon hiding within a church.
* Ever since ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' introduced the [[Saintly Church|Belkan Saint Church]], this was pretty much inevitable. One such battle appeared in the fourth chapter of ''Force'' between Tohma and [[Blood Knight|Veyron]].
* The final episodes of ''[[Phantom of Inferno|Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom]]'' are centered on one of those.
* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'' Crona and Maka's first meeting and battle is inside an Italian church. This is also where Soul gets {{spoiler|his huge chest scar and becomes infected with the black blood.}}
* In ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' the church in {{spoiler|episodes 25-26}} doesn't have any glass windows, and the one in episode 19 has none at all, but they ''are'' churches, and people are fighting in them, so...
* Ditto for ''[[Mai-HiME (manga)|Mai-HiME]]'', when  {{spoiler|in episode 25 Natsuki and Shizuru have a fight}}, they end up in one of these, even tough it's in ruins.
* In ''[[Saiyuki]]'', the final battle against Kami-Sama plays with this: the villain lives in a temple with huge Western-style stained-glass windows, in front of which the final battle occurs. {{spoiler|They shatter beautifully after his defeat, as the temple falls to pieces around him [[Man Behind the Man|and his mentor]].}}
* Volume 2 of ''[[Dance in the Vampire Bund]]'' has a fight between Akira and Mina in a Catholic school's chapel.
* [[Played With]] in ''[[Allison & Lillia]]'', in that only one shot is fired... and {{spoiler|it's a rubber bullet.}}

== [[Comic Books]] ==
* There was such a fight in the first modern ''[[Human Target]]'' story where Christopher Chance impersonates a priest and gets into a gun fight with his principal's would be murderers. 
* In [[Kevin Smith]]'s run on [[Daredevil]] (the "Guardian Devil" arc), a major fight between Daredevil and Bullseye takes place in a Catholic church. (See also the note on ''[[Daredevil (film)|Daredevil]]'' in the film section below.)
* "God only knows", a volume of the European comic book ''SODA'', focuses almost entirely on a gun fight in a church. Which the main character takes part in while suffering from [[Easy Amnesia]] and believing he's a priest.

== [[Film]] ==
* The final shootout in [[John Woo]]'s ''[[The Killer]]'', with the title character and his [[Cowboy Cop]] ally [[The Siege|holding off a virtual army of assassins]], is probably the quintessential example.
** Woo knows exactly how [[Rule of Cool|utterly cool]] this is when done well. In ''[[Face Off]]'' he had the [[Big Bad]] march onto the scene with arms outstretched and his head bowed providing a bit of [[Ominous Latin Chanting]].
* ''[[The Three Musketeers (1973 film)|The Four Musketeers]]'' did it fifteen years earlier, with D'Artagnan dueling (and killing) Rochefort inside a church.
* ''[[Equilibrium]]'' subverts it by having only one shot fired inside a church, but seeing how there were only two extremely [[Badass]] guys involved, a [[Single-Stroke Battle]] wasn't much surprise, which might make this a straight use instead. Furthermore, keep in mind that the character in question {{spoiler|was shot ''by his best friend, through a book of poetry''}}, raising the symbolism to nigh-unbearable levels. And don't forget that both are formally known as Clerics.
* The first major shootout in the present day from ''[[Once Upon a Time In Mexico]]'', which has Mariachi blasting up Marquez's men at a church, which starts with the bad guys ventilating the confessional he was in.
* Averted in ''[[Highlander]]'', as Immortals are forbidden to fight on holy ground.
* [[Jackie Chan]]'s ''[[Shanghai Noon]]'' has guns ''and'' swords in a church. And Owen Wilson dressed up as a monk...
* In ''[[Daredevil (film)|Daredevil]]'', Daredevil and Bullseye's last fight is in a cathedral. [[Improbable Weapon User|Bullseye]] even uses shards of stained glass as impromptu shuriken.
* In ''[[X2: X-Men United|X 2 X Men United]]'', Storm and Jean have a brief fight with Nightcrawler in a cathedral.
* ''[[Kill Bill]]'' had this, too, in the chapel where the Bride was supposed to be married. 
* After a shootout inside, the final fight in ''[[The Crow]]'' took place on the roof of a neo-Gothic church, in a rainy night, overlooking the graveyard.
* Somewhat avoided in ''[[28 Days Later|Twenty Eight Days Later]]''- Though Jim first encounters infected in a church, large crosses are prominent and the first Infected he meets is actually a priest fully dressed for services, the closest thing to a fight scene that takes place there is Jim running away while infected chase after him. Waste of a good scene, I'd say, but the actual fight afterward involves [[Incendiary Exponent|flaming zombies]] so I'll shut up.
* In all versions of ''[[Prince Caspian]],'' Aslan's How is a sacred underground site built over the Stone Table (on which Aslan was killed). In all versions, it's the battle headquarters for the good guys. In the most recent film version,  {{spoiler|the battle plan for the battle after Peter's duel involves ''destroying Aslan's How!'' (It really, um, unlevels the battlefield when that happens...}}
** Er, {{spoiler|The structure over the table, and the table itself are pretty much untouched. Only the handy battlefield outside is undermined.}}
* [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]: The final confrontation in ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'' takes place in a mountaintop church. Bonus points for having ''literally'' bloodstained glass windows.
* Happened in ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|Resident Evil Apocalypse]]'' when Alice fights a licker.
* Batman's final confrontation with the Joker in [[Tim Burton]]'s 1989 ''[[Batman (film)|Batman]]'' takes place on top of Gotham Cathedral.
* The climax of ''The Eagle Has Landed'' is a fierce gun battle between German paratroopers and US infantry in a pretty little English country church. During the battle, one of the paratroopers actually begins playing the film's theme music on the organ. And moments before the battle starts the priest (who had been held hostage by the Germans) is dragged kicking and screaming from the place. You know, just to remind the audience that this is a church, in case the spire, altar, pews and stained glass windows weren't enough of a clue to begin with.
* Korean-made anime-style film ''[[Sky Blue]]'' has just such a scene, complete with stained-glass Jesus fitting right into the composition of the scene (see image at top).
* The "final" battle between Freddy Krueger and the main protagonist of ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]] 4: The Dream Master'' ends with a battle in a Catholic church.
* The climactic fight at the end of ''[[Ladyhawke]]''.

== [[Literature]] ==
* The climax of the ''[[Book of the Short Sun]]'' occurs during the protagonist's son's wedding at the local manteion when [[Our Vampires Are Different|inhumani]] attack and the local regime is overthrown

== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* [[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]] has a couple of second-season episodes featuring fight scenes in a church. 
** The first one isn't much of a fight, but it does involve a booby-trapped baptismal font that electrocutes a Terminator. 
** The second one is an ambush of another Terminator with a crossfire (pun intended) in front of the altar, complete with [[Crucified Hero Shot|Crucified Villain Shot]].
* ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' has at least one hand-to-hand fight in a church.
* Mr. Eko in ''[[Lost]]'' has a background of killing several thugs in a church when he takes on the role of priest.
* ''[[General Hospital]]'''s Jason Morgan, Sonny Corinthos and Reese Marshall get into a big one of these against Faith Rosco and her men [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtRECU5j14w here]. Jason even goes [[Guns Akimbo]] at one point during the shootout.
* Episode two of ''[[Kamen Rider Kuuga]]'' has Kuuga's true power awakening as he fights a Grongi in a church. Bonus points because the church is [[Battle Amongst the Flames|BURNING]].
* ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]'' averts this. As mentioned in Film above, the only real rule the immortals follow is not fighting on holy ground.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' has a latter-season episode involving a group of vampires getting over their fear of churches. 

== [[Video Games]] ==
* No matter which character you play, the penultimate fight in ''[[Soul Series|SoulCalibur II]]'''s Arcade Mode is in a cathedral.
* The church level in ''[[Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven|Mafia the City of Lost Heaven]]'' was among the most intense ones to complete.
* ''[[Resistance]]: Fall of Man'' offended the Church of England by using Manchester Cathedral as scenery (there is a lot of gun crime in the area, so it's a sensitive issue).
* ''[[Uncharted]]: Drake's Fortune'' has a church-gunfight level.
* The final stage of ''[[Hitman (video game series)|Hitman]]: Blood Money'', "Requiem", which has  {{spoiler|47 killing everyone at his own funeral}}. Also, ''Hitman 2'''s final battle and overall last stage were in a church, as 47 attempted to save the priest who had helped him.
* In ''[[Fahrenheit (2005 video game)|Fahrenheit]]'', when Lucas visits Markus' church he has to fight off the ''angel statues'' out to get him. Although it is revealed to have been [[All Just a Dream]], if he loses, the game is over.
* ''[[F.E.A.R.]]'''s first expansion.
* ''The Opera'' mod for ''[[Half-Life (series)|Half-Life]]'' was all about recreating [[Heroic Bloodshed]] films in video game form. One level was a church as a shout out to ''[[The Killer]]''.
* ''[[Half-Life (series)|Half-Life]] 2: Lost Coast''. The bonus level that got released after HL2 had you destroying a headcrab launcher in a church.
* ''[[Time Splitters]] 2'' has a level set in Notre Dame cathedral, complete with zombie priests.
* ''[[Call of Duty]] 2'' features a church in one level, but it's just one of several buildings you have to clear.
** ''Call of Duty 4'' also has several [[Orthodox Christianity|Russian Orthodox]] churches scattered throughout SAS campaign, such as the one near Prypiat during the mission "All Ghillied Up". Also, in the mission "[[Death From Above]]" you are explicitly forbidden to demolish the church; doing so would violate [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hague04.asp#art27 Section IV, Article 27] of the Hague Conventions.
* Similarly, ''[[World in Conflict]]'' has a level where a bonus objective is to make sure that the church at the top of a hill survives the mission.
* Several stages in the survival horror game ''[[Eternal Darkness]]: Sanity's Requiem'' take place in Oublie Cathedral, a [[No Communities Were Harmed]] version of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris that serves as a front for the [[Eldritch Abomination]].
* The final battle of ''[[Summoner]]'' takes place in the immense central chamber of the now abandoned Temple of Urath against your [[Enemy Without]] ({{spoiler|you AND him are actually both facets of the same shattered god, Urath, of course}}). For added symbolism, he turns into an [[One-Winged Angel|angel]], [[Not So Different|a simulcrum of you]], and a devil [[Sequential Boss|as the fight goes on]].
** After the battle, you have the option to descend to the secret basement of the temple and {{spoiler|sacrifice yourself and the eight other aspects of Urath in the forge he used for the creation of humanity order in to bring him back to life, which [http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/summoner/screenshots/gameShotId,38702/ doesn't look familiar at all]}}.
* The opening fight scene in ''[[Devil May Cry]] 4'' has Nero fight Dante in a church,  {{spoiler|right after Dante puts a bullet in Sanctus's head}}. It's a [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] kind of church though, but come on, [[Mundane Made Awesome]]?
* One of the boss fights in ''[[MediEvil (1998 video game)|Medievil]]'' has Sir Daniel fighting a monster made out of stained glass.
* Although the battle doesn't take place in a church, [[Kingdom Hearts|Sora and Roxas]] fight upon the Stage of Awakening, which is a platform decorated like stained glass.
* Towards the end of ''[[System Shock]] 2'', the player passes through the bloodstained and bullet-damaged chapel onboard the Rickenbacker, and  {{spoiler|it is probably where Polito committed suicide.}} And it's all upside down, because the gravity generator has been reversed.
* The  {{spoiler|seemingly}} last area of ''[[Syphon Filter]]'' involves Gabe descending from the top of an absolutely massive church to the ground floor, killing all the way. When he encounters a large glass window, he [[Super Window Jump|jumps through it]] and resumes killing.
* The Chantry in Kirkwall serves as the scene of a couple of fights near the end of chapter 2 of ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', as well as a fight in the "Tranquility" quest in chapter 1. Turned [[Up to Eleven]] in  {{spoiler|chapter 3, when the Chantry is blown to smithereens by a [[Magitek]] bomb, with [[Scenery Gorn]] aplenty.}}
* In ''[[Demon's Souls]]'', the first [[Boss Fight]] in the Queen's Tower is in a church in the Prison of Hope.
** ''[[Dark Souls]]'' ups this a bit. The first Bell of Awakening is in a church where you first have to fight a bunch of undead in the building proper, then a pair of gargoyles on the roof. Then there's Anor Londo, city of the gods, a blend of this and [[Storming the Castle]]. 
* The battle against the [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|Elemental Demigod]] [[Playing with Fire|Ifrit]] in ''[[Vagrant Story]]'' takes place in the Cathedral's chapel, with the [[Creepy Cool Crosses|Rood of St. Iocus]] looking on from the altar.
** During the game's prologue, Ashley meets, confronts, and tries to arrest Sydney at the chapel in Duke Bardorba's manor. Then Sydney summons his wyvern, D'Tok, who [[Super Window Jump|crashes through the ornate stained glass ceiling]] to battle Ashley, while Sydney himself [[Super Window Jump|leaps out the stained glass window]] at the far end of the chapel. [[Soft Glass|Neither is injured]] (although, arguably, D'Tok wouldn't have noticed, what with the spears and lances already stuck in his body.)
* ''[[Mortal Kombat 3]]'' features a background known as the Kombat Temple (also known as the Church), which returned for its updates and ''Mortal Kombat Gold''.
* ''[[Tekken|Tekken 5]]'' has a cathedral stage, which is where most characters fight Devil Jin in the second-to-last battle in their story modes.
* In ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' you perform your final mission by  {{spoiler|leaping from the rafters of the Sistine Chapel to assassinate Pope Alexander VI during High Mass, before having a sword duel and a fistfight. [[Mundane Made Awesome|A fistfight with the Pope!]]}}
* ''Godfather''. An important plot twist ends with you and an AI controlled character blasting through the basement of a church.
* In ''[[Red Faction]] II'', one of the later chapters takes place in and around a church of sorts. The boss fight for the chapter is against {{spoiler|Quill}}, whom, appropriately enough, fires at you from a balcony in front of the stained glass window. [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)|The fight ends with you shooting them]] ''[[Soft Glass|through said window.]]''
* In ''[[Medal of Honor (series)|Medal of Honor]]: Underground'', during one mission you fight in the Monastery at Monte Cassino to rescue captured Allied Soldiers.
** ''Allied Assault'' has this twice. In The Nebelwerfer Hunt there's a church with several machine gun nests in the windows you have to clear out, and Rendezvous with the Resistance has a church at the end with a secret passage to [[La Résistance]]'s hideout.
* ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]] 2: Durandal'''s Pfhor temple in ''Ex Cathedra''.
{{quote|''Durandal:'' This area is used by the Pfhor as a temple in their pathetically boring religion. Maybe they think that sanctity will protect it.}}
** The [[Game Mod]] ''Tempus Irae'', a third-party total conversion of ''Marathon Infinity'', uses this a lot in Renaissance-era cathedrals (time travel is involved). The scenery was, for the time the mod was released, state-of-the-art.
* In the ''Knights of the Nine'' expansion to ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'', two cathedrals to the Nine Divines come under attack by the forces of [[Big Bad|Umaril the Unfeathered]]. All the inhabitants of the Anvil chapel are slaughtered, but the [[Player Character]] interrupts the second attack.

== [[Web Original]] ==
* Although not strictly speaking a church, Gavin, Tariq and Terrence's raid on the Hymn of One Headquarters in the ''[[Kate Modern]]'' episode "Resolution" is a semi example.
** An actual, albeit animated, church fight scene occurs in the later episode "The Wedding Video".
* In each version of ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', there is always a church of some kind on the island. They seem to be among the most popular areas for the handlers of the board, as many people commonly request for a "church fight out" to happen.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fight Scene]]
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
[[Category:Bloodstained-Glass Windows]]