The Dueling Game refers to the duels that take place in Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Background[]
The Dueling Game was created by Akio Ohtori so that he could find a sword more powerful than the Sword of Dios so he could break open the Rose Gate and gain the "power to revolutionize the world".
The Dueling Game[]
During The Student Council Saga[]
Each Student Council member has a rose which is unique in color to them. To enter the arena, Utena Tenjou opens a gate with a splash of water onto her rose seal. Utena is seen walking up a long staircase to enter the arena. Upon entrance to the arena, Anthy Himemiya, in her costume as the Rose Bride, places special touches onto her betrothed's costume by waving her hands and arms. She then goes into a trance like state and summons the power of Dios from within her which allows the duelist engaged to her to pull the sword of Dios from her body. After the sword is withdrawn, she is able to watch from the sidelines. The first duelist to have the rose knocked from their chest loses.
During The Black Rose Saga[]
The Black Rose Saga makes slight changes to the process of the dueling game. Music plays in the background as Anthy goes into her trance, though her dialogue to summon the power of Dios and Utena's regarding the power to bring the world revolution are still heard. Where the arena was empty during the Student Council saga, desks fill it in the Black Rose Saga. On the desks sit the things that represent each Black Rose Duelist's breaking point. Where the student council willingly volunteered themselves believing that they were chosen by End of The World, the Black Rose Duelists were preyed upon by senses of either mistreatment or anger, usually towards a student council duelist.
Their swords are drawn from the bodies of those they resent (i.e. Kozue Kaoru's sword came from her brother Miki Kaoru; likewise, the sword with which Shiori Takatsuki, Juri Arisugawa's former love dueled, came from the heart of Juri Arisugawa herself).
When the duelists are defeated, the bodies of the former ringbearers are burned.