We’ve got him now! The baddie is against the ropes, time to hit them with our signature move, it never fails. An all or nothing onslaught of attacks ensue, the dust settles, and there stands...... the unharmed baddie? With a confident smirk they say, My Turn. 

The My Turn trope is the classic turning point of a fight when the hero (or villain) survives an incredible attack from the opposition, but is unscathed and more confident. Ready to dish out a dramatically more incredible attack on the opposition. 

These moments are perfect for grabbing the audience’s attention and letting them know how strong a character truly is. Bonus points if the character looks frail and weak for the ultimate blindside. 

Look no further than the 2018 hit game God of War. Near the opening of the game Kratos, (the literal mythological God of War) is met with a tattooed stranger who is small and feeble in appearance, at least compared to Kratos. The stranger insults Kratos and asks for a fight, Kratos being the God he is, destroys the stranger with the hardest hit to the head I’ve seen in a video game. But the stranger gets right back up and the immortal phrase leaves his mouth. My turn, and hits Kratos with a gut punch sending him soaring over his own house! 

Now at this point most of us have seen a My Turn moment at least once before, but even though we see it coming it still has a very valuable place in action. These moments let us know that this battle will be larger than any of the battles we’ve seen with this character before, and that it won't be easy.  

This trope can be seen 1v1 like in my previous example but it can also be seen in a similar fashion when our hero is attacked by ten henchmen, oftentimes we lose sight of our hero as they’re trampled and buried in an onslaught of punches and kicks. But our hero will bounce back knocking them all away before beating them all. 

However this trope is highly versatile, in fact the first time I can remember witnessing it wasn't even in an action movie, it was in the little known 2010 film Despicable Me. After Gru’s adopted children fail to beat a rigged carnival game Gru stepped things up a notch. Reaching for an oversized laser gun Gru says My Turn in his classic accent, shortly before blasting the entire game stall out of existence. And to this day, I quote that scene at least on a weekly basis to the annoyance of friends and family. But to me it proves how powerful this trope can be and is. I was only 9 when I first saw that film, and still that comedic My Turn is branded into my mind. 

To me the My Turn trope is one of the best and most versatile tropes there is. It’s open ended nature puts us all on the back foot, in those moments when the good guy is getting assaulted by the bad guy we all pause, unsure if this will be a classic My Turn moment or if this is an elaborate set up to put us into a false sense of security. But no matter the circumstances, or how many times we’ve seen it before, the My Turn trope will always be a moment that hypes up the audience.

Jack Slater

Jack is a video game loving computer nerd, with a passion for learning new topics and exploring how the world works.