Gauntlet (ritual)

In the IDW continuity, the Gauntlet is an ancient Foot Clan ritual designed to end an irreconcilable feud between two warring clans. After a formal challenge is issued, two teams of chosen champions are pitted against one another, and fight until all of the combatants on one side have been defeated. After this, the challenger and his opponent are to fight one another to the death, although any winning combatants from the first half may also contribute to the fight. The result of this is that the clans are no longer in conflict, and are honor-bound to observe the results of the Gauntlet.

In the Vengeance arc, Splinter issued a challenge to Shredder, in order to finally remove the threat of the Foot Clan from his sons' lives. Shredder initially refused to accept the Gauntlet, but Kitsune convinced him to accept.

In the first part of the Gauntlet, the four Turtles were pitted against Bebop, Rocksteady, Bludgeon and Koya. Despite the greater size and strength of their opponents, the Turtles were ultimately triumphant due to their superior use of teamwork and intelligence.

In the second part of the Gauntlet, the Turtles all fought Shredder together, but were unable to overcome him. After meditating upon his past experiences with Shredder, Splinter finally fought his ancient enemy using his sons' weapons, mortally wounded him before beheading him, which completed the ritual combat.