Fight Scenes Against Multiple Opponents

[T.Allen.Smith]

I'm writing a fight scene where one POV character is fighting six thug types. None of the thugs are especially skilled but they are experienced brawlers. The POV is exceptionally skilled and a member of an elite warrior class. He is unarmed whereas the thugs are all wielding long knives.

My goal is to show (for the first time) the real martial power of a warrior of the POVs order. Normally, I would speed the action when fighting multiple opponents but considering my desire to showcase his superior skills (they should seem almost magical) I thought I may want to approach it differently.

The question: Which way would work best to showcase his ability?

1) Would you prefer time being slowed to show a blow by blow action sequence throughout the entire fight?

2) Would you prefer time being sped up to quickly describe this character ripping through this group of attackers?

3) Would you prefer a mix of the two, where it slows down speed in a few instances to show some action blow by blow and speeding tempo in other parts of the fight to show the character just dismantling a large section of the group?

4) Other ideas?

 

[TWErvin2]

If it's a fast fight, the description, I think, should be fast.

The dude better be pretty impressive to fend off six armed thugs attacking him at once, unless they're uncoordinated or attacking him one at a time, like in some martial arts films. Unless he can outmaneuver them, putting bodies between him and the group, or limiting their access, I don't see how he'd have a chance, unless he had super-ability beyond superior training. That, to me, would slow down the fight, not making it as quick.

I think option three would be best, but then again, it depends on your writing style and the novel itself. Well-written, either could work.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Unless he can outmaneuver them... Unless he had super-ability beyond superior training.

He does have a super-ability. All members of his order do. The ability sets them apart from normal men & women. It is how they are identified and selected for training. Although the ability itself is not fully understood even by them, it makes them exceedingly difficult to hit.

 

[Christopher Wright]

I think in this situation -- specifically, if you wanted to showcase his skill as a warrior -- you'd need to focus less on his physical skills in the fight and more on how he was approaching the tactical challenge. He has six opponents who aren't professionally trained but are experienced ("experienced brawlers") and each has the additional advantage of having a pokey/sticky thing that can make him bleed excessively in an inconvenient manner.

So as a reader, the thing that would make me buy in to his martial awesomeness is how he goes about evening the odds a bit--how he might use the landscape, objects, and the thugs themselves in a way that alleviates their advantages. Maybe he manages to set the stage for the fight in a way that suddenly four of the six thugs discover he's out of their reach, or he manages to use one thug as a human shield against some of the others, or he quickly disarms one and now HE has a knife, or... but how he manages to set that up is important.

Like in the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movies, where it shows him going through the fight step by step--who he's going to hit first, how hard, etc.

I think that's option 3, in that the planning part would be the slow bit, and the action is the fast bit.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I do use some of the things you suggest.

My main goal for this scene is to show the truly awesome ability of a member of this elite order. Until this time, any combat he has been involved in, he has held back because he doesn't wish to reveal himself.

In this fight though, he's letting himself go full tilt. Six armed men, who aren't endowed with any special abilities, pose little threat for him. That's what I want to show....

 

[TWErvin2]

I guess it depends on what you mean by 'special abilities.'

Ability to anticipate an opponent's intentions and act before the enemy can even initiate the action.
Ability to react and move far faster than any human could match or percieve.
Ability to ignore or indure, or even instantly heal injuries that would cripple or even kill a normal man.
Ability to project mentally somehow, confusing or freezing the thoughts and actions of opponents.
Ability to stop or alter time's flow for others while not being affected himself.
Ability to emanate phermones that would instinctually cause fear in and unnerve an opponent.
Ability to project sounds that distract or disorient (affecting balance in the inner ear of) opponents.
An ability which renders immunity to metal, or the ability of the body to harden to turn a blade.
Ability to creat illusions that would distract or fool an opponent.

Those are what I just tossed out off the top of my head, in addition to advanced/elite training.

Depending on what 'special abilities' are employed to win the fight over six opponents attacking at once, that would have a large impact on how the fight would be relayed to the reader.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I guess it depends on what you mean by 'special abilities.'

Ability to anticipate an opponent's intentions and act before the enemy can even initiate the action.

Almost.... This is close. For the purposes of this discussion it can be considered the same.

 

[Ankari]

1) Would you prefer time being slowed to show a blow by blow action sequence throughout the entire fight?

2) Would you prefer time being sped up to quickly describe this character ripping through this group of attackers?

3) Would you prefer a mix of the two, where it slows down speed in a few instances to show some action blow by blow and speeding tempo in other parts of the fight to show the character just dismantling a large section of the group?

4) Other ideas?

I use blow by blow to showcase efficient brutality.

To have a quick scene where your MC is ripping through the enemies makes the reader think of the ultimate power of your MC. Like Rand in WoT who burns through 1000's of trollocs like they are flies and he a giant fly swatter.

Christopher Wright mention the bare knuckle brawl scene where Sherlock Holmes assesses his opponent. I would do something like that. Have your MC evaluate every opponent, describe what weaknesses he sees, and the order he needs to employ to tear through them. Then show your MC tearing through them.

 

[FireBird]

The best way to do this scene would be to show how he outsmarts and outfights his opponents. The first thing I would look for is to see how the MC avoids having them surround him. If six people surround you, super ability or not, there would be a good chance you would die. I would want to see how he quickly isolates his opponents so he has the ultimate advantage.

Number 3 would be best for what you want to do. Speed up on the action and slow down a little when you describe tactics.

 

[Jared]

I'm writing a fight scene where one POV character is fighting six thug types. None of the thugs are especially skilled but they are experienced brawlers. The POV is exceptionally skilled and a member of an elite warrior class. He is unarmed whereas the thugs are all wielding long knives.

My goal is to show (for the first time) the real martial power of a warrior of the POVs order. Normally, I would speed the action when fighting multiple opponents but considering my desire to showcase his superior skills (they should seem almost magical) I thought I may want to approach it differently.

The question: Which way would work best to showcase his ability?

Blow by blows rarely work well as the only technique. I'd avoid that, regardless of what you choose to do.

So, I have a few suggestions.

1) Against multiple opponents, he's got to keep himself from being penned in and should keep at least one of the guys between him and the next closest. Instead of just hitting the person and moving on, use them as a defense or a weapon.

2) Show him thinking two steps ahead. I would like to see him knock over a garbage can or stool or something, then toss the an opponent to where it's not so that the person behind has to catch them or jump over the stool/can/whatever. That momentum would give him an advantage to toss the other person.

3) Even though you said he can anticipate their moves, he shouldn't rely upon that. He should get a sense of how someone prefers to attack, then set it up so that they can't attack that way. Or if they do, he has an advantage.

4) Show us a little bit of the start that has these elements, then cut away and go to a toss-away's POV (if the narrative style allows it) as the fight comes to an end. I know that after I finish a hard match or practicing multiple attackers, I'm not really aware of all of what's going on with my body. My attention's been focused outward. By switching to an external view, you can show the ripped clothes that he wouldn't notice, the slight favoring of one knee, how one eye is reddened and looking like it might swell. You lose the feeling of those things, but you gain the ability to more easily show the physical price he paid when he (having just gotten out of the fight) might not yet be aware of them. Also, it allows you to show how ramped up he is if he thinking that the POV is another attacker and also smacks him down.


Anyways, those are my thoughts.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

I'd point out that you seem to be approaching this as if you're writing a screenplay for a movie. This (presumably) isn't for a movie; it's for prose fiction.

Which means that the detailed, lengthy, blow-by-blow is right out. Reading about someone beating someone up is only slightly less interesting than watching someone do it. Even action scenes in movies get boring pretty quick if it's just guys beating on each other for an extended period—if you're going to do this, there had better be something visually really impressive (e.g. the multiple Smiths fight in The Matrix Reloaded).

Compare, if you will, the final Anakin/Obi-Wan lightsaber duel in Revenge of the Sith versus Luke and Vader's duel in Empire. The former one is much longer and has much more visual pizazz, but it also has almost no story or character development. The Empire fight has Vader and Luke actually talking to each other frequently, and they're making progress towards a dramatic goal.

You don't need this scene to be long to get across the point that this dude is tough. The mere fact that he defeats six guys unarmed proves that he's tough, no matter how he does it.

 

[FatCat]

What comes to my mind is to toss the blow-by-blow concept completely. If your warrior is so powerful, make the fight short and simple, as it would be to him. I'd imagine six lightly armed thugs would pose no great danger to such a character. Make the point to the reader that he either 1: is confident in his abilities to deal with the threat quickly, or 2: The outcome is a surprise to him as well, I remember you writing something to the effect of the character not really realizing how his power works, so i'm kind of thinking of the one scene in the Bourne Identity when hes sleeping in the park and the two german police officers try to get him to leave, next you know, the dudes are messed the hell up! Just some thoughts.

 

[Penpilot]

I also think that a blow by blow would be less effective than a mental sizing up of his opponents. If he's so skilled a fighter, the actual fight is a forgone conclusion, so I wouldn't dwell on it too long. I think the build up mentally of how he's going to dissect the thugs can be like cranking a catapult back and the actual fight is the release of all that tension, quick and deadly.

Also, I think scenes like this should not only be used to establish the positive aspects of his skill but it should also establish limitations too. I'll refer back to something Brandon Sanderson said. He said something to the effect what a power can't do is more interesting than what it can do.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I'd point out that you seem to be approaching this as if you're writing a screenplay for a movie. This (presumably) isn't for a movie; it's for prose fiction.

Which means that the detailed, lengthy, blow-by-blow is right out. Reading about someone beating someone up is only slightly less interesting than watching someone do it.

Agreed. As it was written last night, it's only 3 paragraphs long. Only the initial strike and the breaking of an arm are discussed in any detail.

Thanks everyone for the input.