History Main / MoreDeadlyThanTheMale

* In ''Film/RatRace'', Nicholas "Nick" Schaffer, a well-mannered attorney, teams up with Tracy Faucet, a friendly, yet [[BewareTheNiceOnes temperamental]] helicopter pilot, during their race from Las Vegas, Nevada to Silver City, New Mexico for the cash prize. If one wants to know how unpredictable Tracy was, they should check out the moment when she's attacking her now ex-boyfriend Shawn Kent, whom she dumped [[BerserkButton out of his romantic infidelity]] from her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', Jack and his friend The Scotsman are off on a quest to save the Scotsman's wife, a good head taller and bit wider than the muscular Scotsman, from being sacrificed by some demons. Jack and the Scotsman get to her, nagging about their lateness and pathetic fighting styles, and get her to the main hall where they are surrounded by hundreds of demons. Jack and the Scotsman fight to their last bit of energy when the Demon Lord orders his people to kill them and put the "fat one" back in the pot. [[BerserkButton The Scotsman's wife does not take kindly to being called that]], so she [[CurbStompBattle jumps into the battle alone beating back every single demon]] before taking down the Demon Lord himself.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' has a '''very''' comedic example: Yzma is this to Kronk, as both characters used to work with each other rather mischievously, but Kronk himself is proven to be far more saintly than Yzma is, who displays a rather limited sense of moral conscience, ''even'' towards him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Nala, Simba's best friend and love interest, has easily beaten Simba in all their "fights". She pinned him twice in a row as cubs, and the second time was after Simba tackled her by surprise while she was smirking proudly after the first time. They get into a much more serious fight as adults, and although it seems much more even she still beats him the same way she did the first two times as kids, flipping him in midair and slamming him to the ground pinning him. She might have even killed him if he didn't recognize her from this move. [[spoiler:Although Simba does "beat" Nala eventually, pinning her himself, rolling down a hill romantically is hardly considered a fight.]]

This trope describes a setting where the [[MenActWomenAre men are fully capable of conventional violence]], but the women have a [[BewareTheNiceOnes hidden but apparently bottomless capacity for lethal mayhem]]. To help this trope along, expect the bad guys to dismiss Alice in favor of disabling Bob, Charlie, and Donald, [[GenreBlindness assuming she could never be a threat]]. She won't correct them: in fact, she's likely to [[DoubleAgent capitulate or collude]] with her captors, suffering indignities no one would expect her to tolerate, just [[BestServedCold to make her final revenge all the more brutal and more satisfying]]. Should you be foolish enough to want to trigger such behavior in a female, try [[MamaBear pestering her offspring]], [[WomanScorned crossing her in love]], or [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend threatening her love interest]].

One explanation for this would be, ironically, MenUseViolenceWomenUseCommunication. Guys will settle their disputes with a ritualised scuffle (which wouldn't be practical if it was likely to kill the loser), and they also enjoy play-fights that don't cause lasting injury. Gals settle their conflicts by talking and prefer other kinds of fun. So when a woman is roused to the point of fighting, it's with full intent to harm if not kill. And if she can't win a fair fight, what's her incentive to fight fair?

Remember, this does ''not'' describe a situation where Bob is weak and Alice is strong. This is when Alice is depicted as far more ruthless, more cunning, and ultimately more bloodthirsty than her SpearCounterpart, even though -- or maybe because -- she is physically smaller and weaker. Bob may be visibly larger and more aggressive, so he tends more toward forms, codes, and displays of power; meanwhile, the wily Alice [[CombatPragmatist bothers not with such things]].

This trope describes a setting where the [[MenActWomenAre men are fully capable of conventional violence]], but the women have a [[BewareTheNiceOnes hidden but apparently bottomless capacity for lethal mayhem]]. To help this trope along, expect the bad guys to dismiss Alice in favor of disabling Bob, Charlie, and Donald, [[GenreBlindness assuming she could never be a threat]]. She probably won't correct them: in fact, she's likely to [[DoubleAgent capitulate or collude]] with her captors, suffering indignities no one would expect her to tolerate, just [[BestServedCold to make her final revenge all the more brutal and more satisfying]]. Should you be foolish enough to want to trigger such behavior in a female, try [[MamaBear pestering her offspring]], [[WomanScorned crossing her in love]], or [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend threatening her love interest]].

One explanation for this would be, ironically, MenUseViolenceWomenUseCommunication - guys will settle things down by a ritualised scuffle (which wouldn't be practical if it was too likely to kill the loser) or play-fight (being killed is no fun). Gals don't fight unless they're really, ''really'' serious about it, since they settle their minor conflict by talking and prefer other kinds of fun. So, they fight to the death. And when you have no chance in a fair fight, that's no incentive to fight fair.