Mortal enemies.

The Hero and his adversary are locked in brutal combat. It may be an even fight, but it might also be a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Either way, the tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. So, naturally, the writers grab a knife and cut it.

In the midst of combat, the fighting will suddenly stop. All parties involved will turn around, take a few deep breaths, then turn around and simultaneously resume fighting. Occasionally, the fighters will resort to something more nonsensical during the break, such as fixing their hair or yelling at a friend/sibling/teammate. A rather common cause is when a character crosses a joke version of the Moral Event Horizon—usually through burning a hole in the opponent's favorite jacket, a chopping off a chunk of hair, or, well... In those cases, the tea break takes the form of a "Dude, why did you do that?" (or, in the protagonist's case, "What the Hell, Hero?") Bonus Points if the hero and the opponent do something fun together as part of the tea break.

As for the initiation of the tea break, one party (usually the hero) may call a time out or some variant thereof ("Hold on just a second."). If the tea break takes place in the middle of a Montage battle (especially parts of battles that are just a sequence of stills), expect the tea break to appear completely randomly and then end just as quickly.

Obviously a comedy trope. A Combat Pragmatist may grab a weapon or heal himself during such a break and launch an attack before the opponent realizes the break is over. See Anticlimax, where the fighting never resumes, and Inaction Sequence, where a break in the fighting isn't for comedic purposes. See also Uncomfortable Elevator Moment, which can be a variation.

Examples of Mid-Battle Tea Break include:

Comic Books Played for Drama in an issue of Black Panther , where one of the rules for tribal duels is that opponents get a break from combat whenever either of them requests it.

, where one of the rules for tribal duels is that opponents get a break from combat whenever either of them requests it. The Ren and Stimpy comic book once did a story about Ren becoming Dogzilla and then fighting a giant hairball monster. During the fight, they stop for a lunch break.

comic book once did a story about Ren becoming Dogzilla and then fighting a giant hairball monster. During the fight, they stop for a lunch break. Not exactly "fun," but in an old Mickey Mouse comic, Mickey and a sword-toting foe realized in mid-fight that they had each taken severe Clothing Damage (sufficient for us to tell that Mickey isn't anatomically correct.) They stood still in shock for a moment, then rushed to the nearest two barrels.

comic, Mickey and a sword-toting foe realized in mid-fight that they had each taken severe Clothing Damage (sufficient for us to tell that Mickey isn't anatomically correct.) They stood still in shock for a moment, then rushed to the nearest two barrels. Asterix in Britain had the Britons observe Afternoon Tea religiously enough that they stop in the middle of battles for a tea break. However until Asterix introduces the leaf in question, they only drink hot sweet water. Julius Caesar, military genius that he is, responds to this and their habit of taking two-day weekends with the highly effective, albeit terribly unsporting, tactic of beginning his attacks at mid-afternoon and on weekends.

had the Britons observe Afternoon Tea religiously enough that they stop in the middle of battles for a tea break. However until Asterix introduces the leaf in question, they only drink hot sweet water. Julius Caesar, military genius that he is, responds to this and their habit of taking two-day weekends with the highly effective, albeit terribly unsporting, tactic of beginning his attacks at mid-afternoon and on weekends. Done randomly and hilariously in Hack Slash short comic "Deadbeats".

Film - Animated In Snoopy Come Home , Snoopy suddenly takes a break from fighting Lucy by prepping himself up before fighting her again.

, Snoopy suddenly takes a break from fighting Lucy by prepping himself up before fighting her again. In Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit , Gromit and Philip are fighting in a bumper car that suddenly stops working. They stop fighting to insert some more change, then they resume fighting as soon as the car starts working again.

, Gromit and Philip are fighting in a bumper car that suddenly stops working. They stop fighting to insert some more change, then they resume fighting as soon as the car starts working again. In The Aristocats while a fight is happening Roquefort the mouse tries to crack a lock on a chest. He yells for everyone to be quiet so he can concentrate and everyone holds perfectly still. The fight continues the second he unlocks it.

Literature Used in the lesser-known sequel to The Pilgrim's Progress , when Great-Heart fights the giant, Maul. Both combatants tire after a while, and take an hour-long break before resuming.

, when Great-Heart fights the giant, Maul. Both combatants tire after a while, and take an hour-long break before resuming. Used seriously in David Eddings The Sapphire Rose , the final book of The Elenium. Sparhawk and Martel agree to a quick breather in the middle of their fight to the death.

, the final book of The Elenium. Sparhawk and Martel agree to a quick breather in the middle of their fight to the death. Also played straight in Eric Flint/David Drake's Belisarius novel Fortune's Stroke: In the tales of bards, and the lays of poets, truth takes on a rosy tinge. More than a tinge, actually. The reality of a single combat between two great warriors becomes something purely legendary.

There is little place, in legends, for sweat. Even less for thirst and exhaustion. And none at all for urination.

But the fact remains that two men do not battle each other, for hours, without rest. Not even if they were fighting half-naked, with bare hands - much less encumbered by heavy armor and wielding swords. Single combat between champions, other than a glancing encounter in the midst of battle, is by nature a formal affair. And, like most formalities, has a practical core at the center of its rituals. CS Lewis's Till We Have Faces: The softness did not last. I have seen something like this happen in a battle. A man was coming at me, I at him, to kill. Then came a sudden great gust of wind that wrapped our cloaks over our swords and almost over our eyes, so that we could do nothing to one another but must fight the wind itself. And that ridiculous contention, so foreign to the business we were on, set us both laughing, face to face--friends for a moment--and then at once enemies again and forever. In one of The Icelandic Sagas, a fight to the death is put on hold so one guy can tie his jacket around his belly after a wound made his guts spill out.

Hamlet is probably an early example that is also a deconstruction. Hamlet duels Laertes, then Claudius breaks the fight and lures Hamlet into having a cup of poisoned wine. Unfortunately for him, his wife messes up his evil plan by drinking it herself.

Newspaper Comics The Far Side: "The battle came to an abrupt halt as both sides waited for the hornet to calm down."

Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends In The Bible it refers repeatedly to "the Spring when Kings go out to battle", as if it was a normal event that was assumed to happen every Spring. [1]

Video Games A semi-example (in that the fight doesn't resume) occurs in Super Smash Bros. Brawl . In one cutscene from "The Subspace Emissary", Sheik smashes Fox's Arwing, forcing him to bail. The two then land, and charge at each other, only for Peach to stop them in order to hand out cups of tea.

. In one cutscene from "The Subspace Emissary", Sheik smashes Fox's Arwing, forcing him to bail. The two then land, and charge at each other, only for Peach to stop them in order to hand out cups of tea. Video game EXample - In the Street Fighter EX series, the character Skullomania has a move sharing the command input of Gouki's Shun Goku Satsu, called the Skullo Dream. The results have always been a sendup of the traditional Henshin Hero or Sentai Superhero genre, but from EX2 onwards, there was an option of doing a version with a Mid Battle Tea Break, complete with mini fridge, tea and coffee table.