History Main / CatchingTheSpeedster

** Put into practice when Prince Oberyn Martell steps into the role in "[[Recap/GameOfThronesS4E8TheMountainAndTheViper The Mountain and the Viper]]". Oberyn acrobatically leaps around the Mountain while repeatedly stabbing him with a spear, and eventually the Mountain goes down... only to smack Oberyn in the face when the Prince gets annoyed that the Mountain might die without confessing to the rape and murder of Oberyn's sister Elia, and then crush his skull. [[spoiler:What nobody knows yet is that it was a MutualKill: Oberyn's spear was poisoned.]]

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': In "The Weakness", the team runs into a Controller with an as-yet-unknown alien host with a strong resemblance to Andalites and SuperSpeed. It's only taken out at the end after Marco's rattlesnake morph manages to bite him.
-->Marco had struck the Garatron while he was moving at full speed. Like snatching a bullet out of the air.
--><You're fast, Yeerk,> Marco said. <I'm faster.>

A combat trope in which a fast character fights a slower opponent who manages to react to their speed and get a good hit in. If they're fighting a MightyGlacier, expect the ensuing counterattack to be [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutal.]] This trope can be used as a kind of WorfEffect where even the fastest member of any team proves useless against the new threat. A FragileSpeedster will usually be put out of commission by this maneuver. May happen because the enemy has SuperReflexes. If they don't, this can run into heavy FridgeLogic since from the speedster's perspective their opponent ought to be effectively not moving.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Non-lethal example, but the climactic final battle of the "End Game" saga sees Sonic and Dr. Robotnik go one on one in the Annihilator's control room. The small size of the room and Robotnik's girth negate the advantage of Sonic's speed, and the Doctor can deliver quite a few hits by simply grabbing Sonic and slamming him into the wall. It's telling that the battle only ended because the Annihilator went off but had been sabotaged, causing it to only target Robotnik. Had things gone without that hitch, Robotnik would have won.

* A TeleportSpam variant occurs in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' with Spider-Man and Doctor Strange fighting in tandem against Thanos. Strange opens portals while Spider-Man appears and disappears through them to sneak some hits in. This works for all three attacks before Thanos chokes him out mid-leap.

-->'''Marv:''' I got you now, ya little bastard. Let's see you hop around now. .

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'': FragileSpeedster and all-around psychopath Lady Clementine uses her speed-enhancing techniques to perform strike and run hits on Momonga (Ainz's Adventurer Guild alter ego). Unfortunately, once Ainz has decided he's learned all he needs about her techniques, be catches Clementine with an arm against his chest and pins her with the second. What comes next is several minutes of Ainz slowly crushing the life out of his opponent as she struggles and slashes ineffectively against him.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

A combat trope in which a fast character fights a slower opponent who manages to react to their speed and get a good hit in. If they're fighting a MightyGlacier, expect the ensuing counterattack to be [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutal.]] This trope can be used as a kind of WorfEffect where even the fastest member of any team proves useless against the new threat. A FragileSpeedster will usually be put out of commission by this maneuver. May happen because the enemy has SuperReflexes.

* ''Anime/SonicX'': In Episode 24, Sonic damages Eggman's E-88 robot, but one of its chips happens to fall into his ear, causing him to run indefinitely and being unable to stop. Until the robot is destroyed, the heroes try different ways to catch Sonic, like attaching a hellium balloon to him, leading him into a mud trap, or trapping him in a hamster wheel.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'': The shapeshifting monsters [[MonsterOfTheWeek Worms]] in their true form move at the speed close to TimeStandsStill. To combat them, the organization ZECT has developed a series of Rider Systems that can fight at the same speed. Stronger Worms and Rider power-ups have greater speeds, resulting in a bit of LensmanArmsRace.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'': The main premise of the cartoons, Wile E. Coyote tries to catch the incredibly fast Road Runner for dinner using various [[AcmeProducts ACME-made traps and gadgets]] and ends only injuring himself every time.

Compare UntouchableUntilTagged, SeeTheInvisible and TouchTheIntangible. Contrast SpeedBlitz for when a speedster gets off scot-free. See also NotTheFallThatKillsYou for the vertical variant.

* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'': FragileSpeedster and all around psychopath Lady Clementine uses her speed enhancing techniques to perform strike and run hits on Momonga (Ainz's Adventurer Guild alter ego). Unfortunately, once Ainz has decided he's learned all he needs about her techniques, be catches Clementine with an arm against his chest and pins her with the second. What comes next is several minutes of Ainz slowly crushing the life out of his opponent as she struggles and slashes ineffectively against him.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Non-lethal example, but the climactic final battle of the "End Game" saga sees Sonic and Dr. Robotnik go one on one in the Annihilator's control room. The small size of the room and Robotnik's own girth negate the advantage of Sonic's speed, and the Doctor is able to deliver quite a few hits by simply grabbing Sonic and slamming him into the wall. It's telling that the battle only ended because the Annihilator went off but had been sabotaged, causing it to only target Robotnik. Had things gone without that hitch, Robotnik would have won.

* A TeleportSpam variant occurs in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' with Spider-Man and Doctor Strange fighting in tandem against Thanos. Strange opens portals while Spider-Man appears and disappears through them to sneak some hits in. This works for all of three attacks before Thanos chokes him out mid-leap.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': In "The Weakness", the team runs into a Controller with an as-yet unknown alien host with a strong resemblance to Andalites and SuperSpeed. It's only taken out at the end after Marco' rattlesnake morph manages to bite him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'', the local Flash {{Expy}}, Red Rush falls victim to [[spoiler:Omni-Man]] after pressing the offensive one time too many. [[spoiler:It leads directly to his death.]]

[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'': The main premise of the cartoons, Wile E. Coyote tries to catch the incredibly fast Road Runner for dinner using various [[AcmeProducts ACME-made traps and gadgets]] to catch him and ends only injuring himself every time.

[[folder: Webcomics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeathOfSuperman'':
** After ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} gets taken out by Doomsday, ComicBook/TheFlash takes up his mace and begins whacking away at Doomsday with it, moving too fast for Doomsday to retaliate. Eventually, Doomsday stops attacking and merely defends, as his eyes watch Barry's movements. Finally, the beast predicts where Barry will go next and Barry runs headfirst into a well-time punch, resulting in a OneHitKO.
** As Franchise/{{Superman}} faces Doomsday alone, he attempts to fight the creature in the air, using his [[FlyingBrick speed and flight]] to knock Doomsday around and carry him out of Metropolis. However, as he goes in for a hit, Doomsday [[SuperReflexes reacts quickly enough]] to clothesline Superman, catches his cape, and starts headbutting Superman repeatedly as the two fall back into the city.

* In the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' episode "The Battle of the Badge", Ash's Charizard defeats Falkner's much faster Pidgeot by aiming a Fire Spin where Pidgeot is about to maneuver.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Downplayed. During their fight, Hunter repeatedly teleports around Amity while trying to get through her defense. However, she turns this against him by jabbing her staff right where he's about to appear, forcing Hunter to halt his attack and opening him up to nasty punch.